Chapter 787

“Ah.”

Jin Taekyung let out a single exclamation.

At that moment, he felt the full blessing of the supernatural power that had come to him.

Clear chimes, audible to him alone, rang without pause, while countless holographic windows rose above the ruins and filled his vision.

Ding. Ding. Ding.

System

You have achieved the unbelievable feat A Coronation for One Person Alone!

The World Hunter Federation appoints you as its Alliance Leader!

You have gained a tremendous amount of EXP and Fame!

System

You have defeated Lv. 175 Michael Silbert!

You have gained a tremendous amount of EXP and Fame!

You have achieved the rare feat Cut the Weeds and Pull Up the Roots!

We offer our unreserved praise for your bold decision to cut down the diseased grass and pull out its roots for the sake of the forest we all share.

But remember: the great fire that could consume the forest is more dangerous than any disease.

You have gained a tremendous amount of EXP and Fame as a reward for your achievement!

You have gained 20 points as a special bonus reward!

Level Up!

Level Up!

Most of your injuries and Stamina have been restored by the stacked effects of leveling up!

The special debuff Broken Body rejects the power of healing!

…

…

…

Countless notifications filled his eyes and ears.

At the same time, a warm radiance no one else could see or feel welled up from deep inside Jin Taekyung.

Whoosh.

Energy washed over him like a downpour—something that deserved to be called purification, not merely healing.

It enveloped the waste that had built up inside him, his damaged blood vessels and organs, his broken bones, and his torn skin.

Shhhhh.

The terrible pain throughout his body rapidly faded.

Beneath the sticky blood covering him from head to toe, wounds no one had noticed healed without a trace.

But none of that mattered to Jin Taekyung.

Not compared to the relief he felt.

It’s over.

He let out the breath he’d been holding.

Michael Silbert lay dead, his eyes wide open. Jin could no longer sense any trace of life in him.

There was no doubt.

The bastard was dead.

More cunning than any enemy Jin had ever faced, the scheming man who had shaken him to his core had been born human and left this world a monster.

No. Perhaps by now his soul had tumbled into the abyss reflected in those staring eyes.

Just like Jin’s final farewell to him, in the moment the cold spearhead pierced his throat.

“…Go to hell.”

Jin spat out the words and gripped the spear shaft. He twisted it hard, cutting through the monster’s neck.

Slash. Splash.

A jet of green blood erupted as Michael Silbert’s head came free of his body and rolled across a pool of blood.

At the same moment, as if on cue, a tremendous roar erupted. No—it was both a roar and a cheer.

Boom! Boom-boom-boom!

Rumble!

The hundreds of surviving Hunters roared as one.

Their mana-charged shouts burst through the compressed air. Feet and weapons pounded the ground without pause, shaking the National Assembly building.

Some were simply overjoyed. Others trembled with anger that had yet to fade. Still others stared at them blankly and began to cry.

Jin Taekyung let the spear that had ended it all hang limply at his side.

“…Fuck.”

What was the big deal? What the hell was so important about this?

He didn’t know himself.

Why had the curse suddenly come out? Why was he crying like an idiot while everyone else celebrated?

But a voice at his ear supplied the answer.

“I don’t know what stupid thought is going through your head right now, but I’ll tell you one thing.”

The Skeleton King put a hand on Jin’s shoulder.

“The people who died aren’t your fault. I became a monster against my will, too.”

“…!”

“So stop bawling like an idiot. No one is blaming you or holding you responsible.”

Jin fell silent at those prickly but warm words.

Then, amid the endless cheering and rumbling, he let out a wry chuckle.

“Hey.”

“Hmm? Did you call?”

“Why are you acting all serious, you monster bastard?”

“…!”

“What are you looking at? Keep your eyes nice and polite.”

The Skeleton King had been quietly hoping for a response, though he’d tried not to show it. Now, he muttered with a stunned look on his face.

“Is this truly what human nature is like…?”

“I can hear you.”

“I meant you to.”

“A monster… talking back?”

“Ah, enough already!”

Teasing the Skeleton King—no, teasing his friend—was always fun.

Jin laughed at the Skeleton King’s fit of outrage, wiping his tears with his blood-soaked sleeve.

“And don’t think I missed you wiping your tears. It’s too late to hide it.”

“…You’re spreading lies, you bastard. When did I do that? Got proof?”

“No proof, but I’ve got witnesses. Plenty of people saw you besides me—huh?”

Grab.

Jin suddenly staggered. The Skeleton King caught him by the arm, his eyes widening.

“You…”

“Ah. The floor’s slippery with blood.”

Jin answered with a grin. But he couldn’t hide the tremble at the corners of his mouth or the crushing exhaustion in his half-closed eyes.

It was only natural.

Leveling up twice had healed most of his injuries. But everything that had happened on the way here, and the strain it had left on his mind, was more than a young man barely in his twenties could bear alone.

The sleepless nights and countless battles had begun the day he learned the truth about Michael Silbert’s hideous nature and ambitions.

For the past few weeks, Jin had fought day and night.

And Michael Silbert and his countless monster hordes weren’t the only enemies he’d faced.

There was the world’s condemnation, growing harsher by the day. There were the disasters he’d heard about on the news from every corner of the world, and his own self-loathing at being powerless to stop those deaths.

Jin had fought himself, and he had fought the world.

Now that he’d finally defeated Michael Silbert, even standing still demanded superhuman patience.

But…

I can’t.

He forced his drooping eyelids open.

Not yet. He had to hold on a little longer. Just a little longer.

Until he finished what he’d started.

Sirens had begun to mingle with the cheers, drawing closer. He couldn’t collapse before he told the world the whole truth about what had happened here today.

No matter what.

Thud.

Using the spear he’d driven into the ground as a cane, Jin Taekyung leaned against it and murmured in a voice that seemed about to fade away.

“Thanks so fucking much, Assistant Hwang¹, you son of a bitch…”

“Are you really all right…? Wait, what did you just say?”

“Hey, Golgoli.”

“Huh?”

“You should use a spear too. Not a sword.”

What? Out of nowhere?

The Skeleton King blinked, unable to make sense of it.

“Why?”

“Compared to a sword…”

“Compared to a sword.”

“A spear…”

“A spear.”

“Looks cooler.”

“Looks coo—fuck.”

The Skeleton King sighed.

Why had he listened so closely to that inhuman bastard? Half of what Jin said was nonsense, and the other half was abuse directed at him.

I’m the idiot.

But the Skeleton King said nothing more. He only let out a long sigh.

He didn’t want to wake his friend, who had fallen into a deep sleep as if he’d passed out, still leaning against the spear planted deep in the ground.

You’ve worked hard. Rest.

Perhaps everyone felt the same.

As if they’d never cheered at all, the hundreds of Hunters pressed their lips together in silence and simply looked on.

They watched the young man who had been braver and shone brighter than anyone else here today.

The superhuman who had stood against the whole world and kept to his path, even when the truth ahead was too dark to see through.

Could I have done what he did?

Each of them asked themselves the question and arrived at the same answer.

No one there could have.

They would have fallen, been scraped raw, battered and broken, and finally gone down, never to rise again.

But that young man, barely in his twenties—Jin Taekyung—had done it.

However many times he fell, he got back up. However badly he was battered and broken, he refused to stay down.

He alone had become a signpost and a light for those lost in the darkness.

The one who led everyone from the front.

The one who shared the pain of the wounded without ever yielding to weakness, who pressed bravely onward with an indomitable will.

And people had a word for someone like that, a word filled with all the reverence and love in the world.

Hero.

The moment that short word filled their minds, everyone there was overcome by a feeling they couldn’t describe.

Hero. They knew the word all too well.

At some point, the whole world had begun calling them heroes. One ordinary day, they’d gained unexpected powers, fought monsters, and become humanity’s sword and shield.

But why?

Why did that word, heard so often it had nearly worn grooves in their ears, make their hearts swell like this?

Why did looking back leave them both ashamed and choked with emotion?

One image kept coming back to them: the look in Jin’s eyes as he shouted the truth without fear, surrounded by hundreds of weapons.

And the sight of a young man weeping alone, while everyone cheered at the end of the fierce battle.

Perhaps that was why the reinforcements entering the ruined National Assembly stopped without realizing it and held their breath.

And why, in a silence so deep it seemed you could hear a needle drop, someone let out the breath they’d been holding.

“Fuck.”

People turned toward the voice and were surprised three times.

First, that anyone could deliver a curse in such a refined tone.

Second, that a curse could sound so awkward.

And finally, that the person who had managed both at once was the last man they’d expected.

Prince Felix paid their stares no mind.

No. He no longer cared.

“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”

What a relief.

His pronunciation was still clumsy, but with each curse, something knotted in his chest seemed to loosen.

Felix found himself chuckling.

Damn it. What was so important about any of it?

Bloodline. Dignity. Appearances. Etiquette.

Everything he’d taken pride in for more than thirty years suddenly felt empty and burdensome.

He wanted to cast it all off, right then and there.

So he did.

For the first time in his life, he cursed like a dockworker and threw off the armor bearing the royal crest.

He wondered for a moment what expression His Majesty the King—his father—would wear if he saw him like this. But, well…

Did it matter?

Step. Step.

With everyone watching, Felix slowly crossed the ruined chamber and stopped.

Then he spoke without preamble.

“It looks as though you could use another pair of hands. If you don’t mind, may I help?”

At Prince Felix’s most courteous offer yet, the Skeleton King nodded. He was supporting Jin Taekyung, who had collapsed into sleep against the spear shaft.

“If you wish, then do so, human prince.”

Felix’s reply astonished everyone nearby.

“Please call me Felix, Mr. King. My friend.”

“…!”

He gave the people staring at him a faint smile. As he took Jin by one shoulder, another hand reached out to help.

“You…”

“Watching from over there, it looked as though you still needed another pair of hands.”

Choi Minwoo answered calmly, and more hands joined them.

One trembling hand belonged to Chuck Hagel, who was already acting as though he were going through withdrawal. The small hand covered in unusually thick calluses belonged to Faye Chen.

As for Magic Johnson, he stared at the staff in his hand for a moment, then suddenly grinned.

“Sometimes everything I’ve learned feels useless. Like right now.”

He tucked the staff away and strode over to lend a hand.

At first glance, it made no sense.

A Grand Mage who had mastered hundreds of spells, and the finest Hunters, capable of slicing through several metric tons² of concrete in an instant, had all gathered to lift one young man.

But this was how they chose to show him their respect.

Rustle. Rustle.

Only the soft brush of clothing broke the silence. Hands multiplied until there were hundreds of them, passing the sleeping young hero slowly overhead like a gentle ripple across a lake.

As carefully as if they were handling glass.

Careful not to disturb the peace that had finally found him, if only for a little while.

When they laid Jin down on the ground, everyone realized something.

The inaugural ceremony of the New World Hunter Federation, which would be recorded in the history of humanity, was not over yet.

The young man before them would be both the beginning and the end of the Great War to come.

Shing.

The cold scrape of steel cut through the silence.

A sword slid slowly from its sheath and pointed toward the sky.

Soon, countless weapons—dozens, then hundreds—glinted in the sunset streaming through the shattered stained glass.

In the ruins, steeped in the reddish warmth of flames, they were turned toward the young man immersed in an unbreakable peace.

No.

Toward their new Alliance Leader.

Ding. Ding. Ding.

…

…

…

The chimes, audible to just one person, rang clearer and louder than ever.

Loud enough to bring a smile to the lips of someone deep in sleep.

Loud enough to melt the guilt still lingering in a corner of his heart.

And so, at the end of a long and fierce day, a new page of history was turning.