Everything was red.

All he could see was a world drenched in crimson.

‘What is this?’

Go Byeonggap couldn’t make heads or tails of it. He just instinctively wiped at his eyes.

Only then did he realize it wasn’t a red curtain but blood that had been blinding him.

“Ugh!”

His face stung. And that wasn’t all—from head to toe, not a single spot on his body didn’t ache.

He replayed how he’d ended up like this.

‘Right…’

A memory from just a few minutes ago flashed through his mind: the moment the black monster’s shockwave sent him flying.

As the brief recollection faded, his vision went red again. Go Byeonggap irritably rubbed his eyes and pushed himself up.

‘All limbs intact.’

Thank heavens. He quickly began breathing circulation to recover his body.

Right at that moment—

-ZZZZZZTTT!!!

“Kh!”

A deafening roar split his eardrums as the whole world blazed bright, like a lightning strike.

And then, far in the distance, he saw it—a pillar of lightning that looked tall enough to touch the sky itself.

That had to be Sim Seungseop’s handiwork.

Go Byeonggap lowered his hands from his ears and started moving his feet.

“Byeo… Byeong… gap…”.

“!?”

A voice, suddenly, from behind him.

Go Byeonggap spun around on reflex, tracking the sound. There, in a mangled heap, lay Kim Daeyeop.

“Ah, a-ah… Son of a—!”

Kim Daeyeop was pinned under the rubble of a collapsed building. His lower body was utterly crushed; only his torso and head had managed to squeeze out.

‘Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!’

He couldn’t even figure out where to start. So he just clawed at the debris, grabbing whatever came to hand.

“Byeo… Byeonggap… kuhack! krrrhk!”

Kim Daeyeop coughed up a gush of blood. Clots of it slithered out in thick, wet gobs.

“Don’t talk! Goddammit!”

“M-Mr. Byeonggap… the radio… to HQ…”

Kim Daeyeop barely got the words out. His eyes flicked toward the radio on one side of his pack.

“You have to… radio… I’m… done for…”

“I said shut up and save your strength!”

Go Byeonggap, like a man possessed.

No—half out of his mind, really—he tore through the concrete pile. His fingertips blistered and split open, but he didn’t stop.

How long did it take? Finally, he pulled Kim Daeyeop free from the rubble.

The man’s whole body came into view. The state of him was gruesome.

‘His legs…’

Everything below the knees was simply gone, and above that, it looked like so much ground meat.

‘The pack!’

Go Byeonggap snatched up the supply bag that lay just a few steps away. His hands shaking, he tore open the pouch with the potions. By some miracle, they were intact.

Just as he was about to force-feed Daeyeop an elixir, his hand froze mid-motion.

‘Can’t give him this yet.’

The elixir’s potency went without saying. But even it couldn’t regrow lost limbs.

A potion only aided the body’s natural healing.

‘Have to give him the dumplings first.’

Go Byeonggap opened the Ancient Shop, Daeyeop’s staring eyes be damned. He bought two of each kind—bloodmend, fleshmend, bonemend dumplings.

“Open your mouth!”

“Nngh…”

“Chew! I said chew and swallow!”

Kim Daeyeop managed to chew and force down the dumplings. The effect was immediate.

His lower body, which had been reduced to pulp, rapidly reconstructed itself. The missing shin and calf regrew from scratch.

Go Byeonggap followed up with the potion. Daeyeop’s face, pale as death a moment ago, flushed back to its natural color.

“Haah, haah!”

“You’ll be okay now. You’ll be fine.”

“No, this isn’t the time. We need to… contact HQ!”

“I’ll do it. More importantly, where’s Mr. Hoyun?”

“Th-there, over that way…”

Go Byeonggap scoured the direction Kim Daeyeop had pointed. A few minutes later, he found Jeong Hoyun, unconscious.

‘It’s fine. He’s just out cold.’

Jeong Hoyun was relatively intact. His whole body was fractured, but none of his limbs had been torn off.

Byeonggap quickly forced a dumpling and a potion down his throat.

When Go Byeonggap returned to his original spot, Kim Daeyeop had slumped down and was fiddling with something. Up close, Byeonggap saw he was working the radio.

But his expression was anything but good.

“Damn it!”

No need to ask why. One look told Byeonggap the radio was smashed to pieces.

Kim Daeyeop looked up at him with a ‘What do we do?’ expression.

“Mr. Daeyeop. Take Mr. Hoyun and head down.”

“Huh?”

“If you retrace our steps exactly, you won’t run into any monsters. Find another squad and ask for help.”

“What about you, Mr. Byeonggap?”

“……”

Go Byeonggap turned his head instead of answering.

In the distance, a boom still rang out every five seconds. He couldn’t see it, but he knew—the raid team was there.

Kim Daeyeop caught Byeonggap’s intent and shouted at once.

“What are you planning to do? We’re not at that level!”

“Still, I have to go.”

Go Byeonggap rose to his feet.

“We need to report this situation ASAP. Our whole fate rests in your hands, Mr. Daeyeop.”

“Ah, no…”

“Go! Now!”

“Damn it! Fine!”

Kim Daeyeop sprang up. He hoisted Jeong Hoyun onto his back and ran for all he was worth.

Watching the two leave, Go Byeonggap faced forward again.

Crackle! Boom!

About a kilometer ahead. Roars and explosions rained down like a natural disaster.

The moment he took a step toward it, a chill raced down his spine. His body screamed danger signals without pause.

Maybe Kim Daeyeop was right.

He’d grown stronger, sure, but that place was way out of his depth.

And… more than anything, the goblins weighed on his mind.

‘If I die, what happens to the kids?’

What was the point in asking?

If he died, the goblins died too. Trapped in Asvillam, waiting for a Lord who’d never return, they’d slowly wither away.

“…Fuck!”

But he still had to go.

There was no rational reason for it. He was just following what his gut told him.

Call him an idiot—he couldn’t help it.

He burst forward with internal energy, sprinting furiously. The thicker the death that pricked his skin, the less he stopped.

After a long run, something caught his eye. A severed limb. Human.

Whose was it?

Bu Yeonggeon? Han Changhun? Song Hangil? Sim Seungseop?

Or maybe it was Jeong Seongyeong?

The answer to that question came sooner than expected.

“Gkk!”

A massive canyon flanked by towering cliffs on either side.

He’d thought canyons like this only existed in America or Africa — but here one was, right on the Korean Peninsula.

That idle observation barely finished forming before something went flying and slammed into the cliff face.

It was Squad Leader Bu Yeonggeon. Notable detail: he was missing an arm.

CRASH!

Something enormous slammed into the cliff.

A black, colossal monster.

The one that had torn Squad C to shreds.

‘Balrog!’

It was a balrog, registered as S-rank danger.

Standing about four meters tall, its pitch-black body blazed with unceasing flames.

Eyes, nose, ears, mouth — every single orifice spewed fire without pause.

Its massive horns resembled a mountain goat’s, its wings like a bat’s. Its long tail drooped and twitched, looking like a thousand-year-old serpent.

Anyone less than steel-nerved would die just from the sight of it.

“KARRRAAAA!”

BOOM! CRRRACK!

The balrog drove its fist into the cliff. The impact point shattered, and a thirty-meter radius around it collapsed helplessly.

Go Byeonggap scrambled out of the way to avoid being crushed by the falling rock.

‘Is Yeonggeon still alive?’

He didn’t take his eyes off the balrog. In the next instant, the creature was sent hurtling backward as if struck by a giant bat.

Bu Yeonggeon burst through the dust cloud.

ZZZCRACK!

A colossal column of lightning crashed down onto the pinned balrog. Tens of thousands of bolts filled the canyon.

But even after taking that brutal assault, the balrog rose stubbornly to its feet.

“Ah…”

Sim Seungseop collapsed, blood spewing from five different holes. He had spent every ounce of his strength.

“You fucking bastard! Die!”

Jeong Seongyeong’s voice rang out. She dropped like a stone, axe raised high above her head.

“KRRROOOAAAR!”

“Ugh! — Kyaa!”

The balrog blocked her axe with its wing, then punched. Seongyeong flew like a tennis ball and smashed into the cliff.

Another crater formed in the rock face. The balrog didn’t stop — it spewed fire, targeting Seongyeong.

Yeonggeon swiftly got in front of her, deploying a massive barrier.

Flame met shield. The barrier held for a moment, then shattered.

Both of them were swallowed by the fire.

‘Even among S-ranks, the gap is this huge?’

This wasn’t like the lower-tier world where one monster was as good as another. Even among S-ranks, the weight class difference between the top tier and the mid tier was immense.

‘Why are there only three? Where are the rest?’

Something was off. Song Hangil and Han Changhun were nowhere to be seen.

Go Byeonggap swept his gaze across the ravaged ravine, hunting for any trace of the two.

Then he found them — sprawled out together as if they’d fallen in sync.

Han Changhun’s entire body was charred black; Song Hangil’s waist was bent at a grotesque angle.

He could roughly guess what had been done to them.

‘No. If we lose the healer, we have no chance.’

Go Byeonggap swallowed hard, watching the battlefield.

The potion in his hand grew damp with sweat.

‘I have to save at least Han Changhun.’

Luckily, the balrog wasn’t paying attention to him.

A torrent of simulations played in his mind. Picking the optimal one, he steadied his breath.

One shot. He only had one shot.

—Thwack!

He pushed off the ground — lunged across the ravine like a wolf.

The distance to the fallen two closed in an instant.

30 meters.

20 meters.

15 meters.

Almost there——

“Grrrroooo…”

“What!?”

Why was the balrog right in front of him?

Just a moment ago — no, a second ago — it was way over there!

The balrog coiled its massive fist. Before anyone could react, it shot forward.

Time seemed to crawl, as if the world had frozen. He could see the fist closing in in real-time.

But it was something he could neither dodge nor block.

‘I’m going to die.’

Go Byeonggap felt death coming.

Then someone stepped in front of him.

“Hey, you crazy bastard! What are you doing here!?”

It was Jeong Seongyeong.

She unleashed karma with a ferocious aura and deflected the enemy’s attack.

“Are you insane!? Stop screwing around and run——!”

“Kraaah!”

“Huh?”

Jeong Seongyeong vanished from sight. She was sent skidding across the ground, bouncing dozens of meters away.

The balrog’s assault didn’t stop. It kept kicking relentlessly.

‘Damn it! I can’t dodge!’

This time, there was no one to block for him.

Go Byeonggap hurriedly assumed a defensive stance. At the same time, he maximized his output of internal energy to reinforce his body.

In a flash. The balrog’s brutal foot struck Go Byeonggap, and he flew helplessly, smashing into the cliff.

-Boom! Crash!

He shattered rock and burrowed several meters in. Debris fell and pelted his body. Excruciating pain engulfed him.

“C-cough! Ugh!”

His mind went blank. It felt like he’d lose consciousness any second.

‘All the bones in my body… must be broken… Damn. Am I even alive?’

Moving even a single finger felt impossible.

That one blow made it clear: no matter what he did, he couldn’t take down the balrog.

‘How the hell am I supposed to beat something like that? Should I summon goblins and fight together? …Bullshit. Five S-ranks couldn’t do it—what the hell are goblins supposed to accomplish?’

“Cough!”

His gut burned as if a fire had been lit inside. His organs must have burst apart.

‘Heal first…’

Byeonggap cycled his internal energy and took up breathing circulation. Once he could barely move his body, he opened the Ancient Shop.

All his potions had shattered, so he had to buy and eat a rice ball instead.

He shoveled the rice ball into his mouth, and only then did his airway clear. It felt like he’d walked the razor’s edge between life and death.

As the pain subsided, a hollow laugh escaped him for some reason.

“…Dammit. What’s all this even for?”

The situation hadn’t improved one bit. Even if he healed his body, he couldn’t even scratch the monster outside.

“Shit.”

He stared at the shop window in despair.

The Ancient Shop. Even this bizarre shop didn’t sell some magic sword that could kill a balrog.

At that point, he thought about just giving up and fleeing into Asvillam.

Admit it. He was never at the level to be in this fight in the first place.

“Yeah. Let’s run.”

Just as he was about to give it all up.

One product caught his eye.

* * *

Bu Yeonggeon staggered to his feet. His face was twisted in despair and agony.

‘I misjudged. And I was arrogant.’

A clear misjudgment. He’d thought five mid-tier S-ranks could contend with the balrog. But that was utterly delusional.

The bastard was stronger than he’d imagined, and the team was on the brink of annihilation.

‘This is all my fault. All of it.’

He should have given the retreat order the instant he saw it.

No. He should have fled the moment they first caught sight of the balrog.

But regret was spilt milk now.

‘I… I have to be the bait.’

That was the only move left.

Sacrificing himself as bait to let the rest of the squad escape. It was the only way to save even one more person.

The problem was…

‘I’m scared.’

He was terrified. Dying—he was too damn scared of dying.

S-rank or not, he was still just a man. At only twenty-eight, he had too many attachments to life to die.

“…”

The truth was, Squad C was already decimated.

Song Hangil and Han Changhun had fallen long ago. Sim Seungseop, who’d been pouring out karma like a madman, had collapsed from exhaustion.

He himself had lost an arm. The blood loss was so severe that even standing was precarious now.

“Die! Just fucking die already!”

Jeong Seongyeong was the only one still intact. Even alone, she kept her fighting spirit blazing.

But unfortunately, spirit alone couldn’t break the balrog.

“Kee-yahk!”

In the end, even Jeong Seongyeong fell. The relentless onslaught of flames and brute force had broken her.

Jeong Seongyeong lay sprawled on the ground, completely wrecked.

“KRAWWW!”

The balrog let out a roar. That thunderous cry brimmed with confidence.

‘Just a little more. One more push and it would’ve been over!’

The balrog wasn’t in prime condition either. If anything, it was closer to a wreck.

If only the team had had one more healer… No. If Han Changhun hadn’t been taken out so pathetically, victory would’ve been theirs.

“KRAWWW!”

“Eek! Aagh! Ugh!”

The balrog stomped Jeong Seongyeong’s collapsed body, grinding her underfoot. It meant to pulp her completely.

Each time the balrog stamped its foot, the earth cratered. From within that pit, thin moans burst out one after another.

‘Stop… Isn’t that enough?! You’ve already won!’

He screamed inside.

The reality of having to watch that gruesome scene was too wretched to bear.

‘…Let’s just die. Die and apologize to the squad.’

He dragged up his last reserves of karma, fueled by rage. Even if he died, he meant to land one hit on that monster.

If he couldn’t, he’d die from sheer frustration.

He exploded his karma and shouted.

“That’s enough―!”

“That’s enough, you goddamn monster.”

Right then. Someone appeared and blocked the balrog’s path.

Unbelievable. It was Go Byeonggap.

Go Byeonggap stood guarding Jeong Seongyeong, stopping the balrog’s foot. Somehow, the balrog couldn’t budge.

The thing seemed deeply displeased by this turn of events.

“KRAWWW!”

“Get back, sir!”

The balrog balled its fists and slammed the ground.

Bu Yeonggeon expected Go Byeonggap and Jeong Seongyeong to be crushed together.

But that catastrophe didn’t happen.

—Shink!

The instant a blade of light flashed.

The balrog’s two arms were cleanly severed.