Chapter 251 – The Reason We Fight (1)

The fog is thick.

Where am I…?

I tried to speak, but the words wouldn’t come out.

Hye-gyeong trembled at the strange sensation.

‘Seo-yeon…!’

She tried to call out for her best friend, but no sound escaped her lips.

I have to get out of here.

Hye-gyeong wandered through the fog, desperate to escape this unknown place.

Just then, she stepped on something squishy and fell.

As Hye-gyeong got back up, she saw what she had stepped on.

Ugh…!

It was human entrails.

Grrr….

A low, terrifying growl echoed around her.

Hye-gyeong saw figures emerging from the mist.

They were people with purplish skin. No, they couldn’t be called people.

They looked like a fusion of a rhinoceros and a human.

Fiends…!

They’re dangerous. A race known to enjoy cannibalism.

But the fiends had already started charging.

She ran.

With her slow pace, escaping them was nearly impossible.

Eventually, she stumbled and was trampled by the fiends.

No, that’s what she felt.

…!

Hye-gyeong watched as the fiends passed right through her.

No, they didn’t even make contact with her in the first place.

As if she were invisible.

“Kieeeek!”

The fiends were screaming as they charged at someone.

Shink, thwack!

With sickening sounds, the fiends’ necks were sliced clean off.

…!

Hye-gyeong couldn’t believe her eyes.

In an instant, countless fiends lost their lives. A muscular man, his blade dripping with blood, stood over them.

Hye-gyeong knew him.

No, everyone in the Republic of Korea knew him.

The Deliveryman, Lee Hyunbin.

‘Seo-yeon’s uncle.’

Feeling a sense of relief upon seeing Seo-yeon’s uncle, Hye-gyeong moved toward him.

He was already registered as a Villain, a person of interest, but she didn’t believe the stories people told.

The Seo-yeon’s uncle she knew was a good person.

Just then, Hye-gyeong stopped in her tracks.

The expression on Seo-yeon’s uncle’s face was very different from what she was used to seeing.

With sorrowful eyes, he looked down at the corpses.

Flesh, brutally torn and devoured by the fiends. Looking at it, Seo-yeon’s uncle muttered grimly.

“Won’t let… death…”

More fiends began to swarm in. From the front—no, from the back, and from both sides.

It looked like a massive army converging to take down Seo-yeon’s uncle alone.

It’s dangerous.

Hye-gyeong mouthed the words that wouldn’t come out.

There were hundreds of fiends, at a rough estimate. No matter how strong Seo-yeon’s uncle was, there was no way he could emerge unscathed from an attack by so many.

That’s what she thought.

Shink!

Slice!

Seo-yeon’s uncle was strong.

So strong that the word ‘strong’ wasn’t enough to describe him.

He cut down and carved through all the fiends that rushed him in a single exchange.

After clearing the situation in an instant, he stood tall, alone.

The surroundings were littered with the corpses of fiends.

He had won the battle, but his expression showed no sign of joy.

If anything, he looked lonely and desolate.

Hye-gyeong tried to speak to him.

To thank him for protecting her.

But still, her voice wouldn’t come out.

Frustrated, Hye-gyeong strained her throat.

And in that moment.

“Huh.”

Hye-gyeong’s eyes shot open.

She patted herself down and saw that she was in her pajamas.

Looking around, she found herself in her dorm bed.

She let out a quiet sigh.

The dream had been so realistic that her palms were drenched in sweat.

What a strange dream.

It was just a dream, yet she felt it so vividly, as if she had actually been there.

‘Seo-yeon’s uncle.’

Lee Hyunbin was usually hailed as an incredibly strong, invincible hero. But the man she saw in her dream seemed lonely for some reason.

‘Ugh, I need to get a grip. I’m part of the Seoraksan Family.’

For her, there was only Hunter Seol Ji-hoon.

Muttering to herself, Hye-gyeong glanced at the clock, and her eyes widened.

She was late.

Hye-gyeong scrambled to get ready and dashed toward the academy.

It was a good thing the dorm was close to the school; if she’d had to take the shuttle bus, she would have been in big trouble.

Arriving just before class started, Hye-gyeong let out a sigh of relief and opened the classroom door.

“Good mor—”

The atmosphere in the classroom was strange. It was incredibly noisy.

“You had it too?”

“This is crazy. I had it too.”

“Lee Hyunbin was fighting hundreds of fiends all by himself?”

“With that two-handed sword?”

“Yeah. He was fighting like mad to save people being eaten by the fiends.”

Hye-gyeong blinked as she listened to the other students.

‘What are they all talking about?’

Somehow, what they were saying didn’t sound unfamiliar.

“Hye-gyeong! Perfect timing. You had it too, right?”

“Had what?”

“The Deliveryman dream!”

It seemed everyone had had the same dream.

* * *

-Authorities are investigating the current situation, and renowned researchers are…

-Sharing the same dream. Is this connected to the invasion from another world?

-The Prophecy of Doom. Is it real?

The Republic of Korea was in an uproar.

Every Hunter connected to the System had had the same dream.

The prophecy of doom had originally been visible only to Hunters.

The government had tried to keep it quiet to avoid national panic, but they couldn’t stop the news from spreading overseas.

Hunters who streamed as a hobby shared facts and theories about the prophecy of doom that had begun appearing to them, and this information quickly spread through Hunter communities.

The government claimed it was all baseless, but by now, everyone who needed to know, knew.

Because now, even ordinary people, not just Hunters, were seeing the prophecy of doom, along with a man fighting the denizens of the Demon World all by himself.

-Everyone is seeing the same thing. A man fighting fiends alone. That man is the famous Korea Monster. The savior of Europe’s Hunters.

-Why is he trying to conquer the Demon World alone? And what is this ‘doom’ he is fighting against?

-There is still much we don’t know about the System. We’ve just taken it for granted because it’s always been there.

The incident caused a stir overseas as well, and in Korea, it even led to televised debates.

“Everyone connected to the Hunter System is having the same dream. What could this unprecedented event signify? And what is the meaning of this countdown to doom?”

“Hunter Lee Hyunbin, or I should say Villain now. Should we forgive everything just because he’s strong? The Republic of Korea is a nation of laws. We cannot forgive Awakened individuals who justify murder! Look at him now. The people of another world—they’re still people, aren’t they? Yet he’s slaughtering them. Is that right?”

“What kind of nonsense is that? Are you saying cancer cells deserve respect just because they’re cells? Admiral Yi Sun-sin killed enemies to protect our country, so does that make him a murderer?”

“That’s a completely different situation. What is someone not even qualified for a debate doing here?”

“We’re straying from the topic. We are here to discuss the prophetic dream the entire nation is witnessing.”

The host tried to calm the panelists, but they only pushed their own opinions.

In other words, it was a broadcast that couldn’t be called a debate.

Of course.

Because no one understood what was happening.

What was clear, however, was that people feared the ominous feeling the word ‘doom’ carried.

The next day.

Every person on Earth had the same dream again.

No, in reality, it was as if they had become observers.

What they could see was a single Asian Hunter silently fighting his enemies.

Shink, thwack!

As if he never tired, the Asian Hunter sliced through the fiend soldiers.

Some observers covered their eyes at the gruesome sight, while others cheered for the Asian man who hunted with such vigor.

Crossing a field of corpses, the Asian man was heading somewhere.

In that moment, the observers saw.

“I don’t want to die. I want to go home… sniff, sniff.”

There were crying Americans and Thais.

Like dogs in a puppy mill, they were trapped in iron cages, waiting to die.

The despair in their eyes slowly began to change.

Because they saw the Asian man approaching, cutting down the monsters.

The observers were watching this moment of salvation in real time.

As always, Hye-gyeong woke up from the dream.

Though it was a dream, the emotions felt so real that the corners of her eyes were damp.

Even at her young age, she could understand.

Seo-yeon’s uncle was rescuing the people who had been taken to the Demon World.

A task that even the government and their own families had half given up on. Without wanting any reward.

* * *

The stench of blood is overwhelming.

I’ve lost count of how many I’ve cut down.

Four Demon Kings’ heads. Dozens of Legion Commanders’ heads.

And the number of monsters is now beyond counting.

The number 4 sword I was using, the Sainchamsageom, is a legendary item, but its durability is getting dangerously low after felling so many enemies.

No, honestly, the fact that it has held up after cutting down this many foes is a testament to its quality as a masterwork blade.

It’ll barely last through the next battle, and after that, it will probably be unusable.

I need to start procuring weapons locally.

I walked through the field littered with the Demon King’s army’s corpses, looking for a usable weapon.

What’s with the guy who brought a pickaxe and a shovel? Are they just a ragtag bunch?

Elite soldiers should all be equipped with standardized weapons.

Fiends are like humans. Their dining preferences and actions are just a bit different.

Oh, and their heads smell strongly of horns, I guess?

The thousands of fiends I just killed were all basic soldiers.

No, they were troops who hadn’t even received proper training.

And yet, I annihilated every last one of them.

The reason is simple.

They will eventually become my enemies.

And they took up arms to kill. If so, they must have been aware that they could die.

War is just this meaningless.

Because war is simply choosing the most violent, most irrational method to satisfy one’s own greed.

Even though I claim to know this better than anyone, I stand at the center of a war.

I don’t know how many days I’ve been fighting.

Day and night, I slaughtered all the enemies that surrounded me.

I was starting to get hungry, so I rummaged through my inventory and found some bread.

The expiration date should be fine.

I tore open the plastic and took a hearty bite of the bread.

I picked up a few usable weapons.

No, I say usable, but very few could actually be called weapons.

Even with my Weapon Master skill allowing me to use anything as a weapon, a pickaxe seems a bit much.

The problem is that they sent these guys to attack me with such crappy weapons in the first place.

The reason they sent out ill-prepared soldiers is simple.

To buy time.

Their true elite forces are probably gathered somewhere to raid me.

And they’re buying the minimum amount of time needed for all the dispatched Demon Kings to return.

Isn’t it laughable?

I’m alone. On their side, they have all the so-called strongest fighters.

Moreover, they have an army of hundreds of thousands. Yet they fear me, a man with not a single soldier.

Is it because they’re cowards?

They’re being overly cautious. This has actually made the situation worse for me.

‘Is this how I die?’

A bitter smile formed on my lips.

It’s clear the Demon Kings aren’t all talk.

A Hero is a being that stands opposite a Demon King.

If there are 72 Demon Kings, then there are 72 Heroes.

What kind of existence is a Hero to them?

Probably like Villains who annoyingly charge in, backed by the System’s overpowered benefits.

In other words, beings they can kill whenever they want.

Hateful beings that, if left alone, will grow in an instant and hold a knife to their throats.

But that’s only true for the lower-ranking Demon Kings.

To the high-ranking Demon Kings who have amassed power over long ages, a Hero is merely an object of amusement.

A being they can kill whenever they please. That’s all.

Knowing this better than anyone, the Demon Kings are gathering as many troops and summoning as many of their own as possible to strike me.

What I had originally hoped for was a scenario where the Demon Kings would arrogantly say, “He was the weakest among us. Now, it is my turn to step forth.”

That was the development I wanted.

But life never goes as planned.

Life is tough.