Chapter 103 – Horror Express (2)

In the world of the Awakened, a thief was nothing more than a herbivore.

All he had were skills to steal a little better.

He had no ability to defend himself or attack someone else.

No, even if he did, there was nothing he could do to the supreme powerhouse before him.

*Gulp.*

Saliva slid down his throat.

Hunter Lee Hyunbin casually opened his mouth.

“Though I met a frieeend~!”

He suddenly started singing.

What was going on?

The thief trembled in fear.

Was this a new method of arrest? No, was he trying to have some fun before catching him?

“A hundred million years ago~. In the old days~!”

The thief sensed something was off.

Hyunbin averted his eyes as if he hadn’t seen him at all. Then he opened the main gate.

‘He’s coming in here? Don’t tell me…!’

The thief realized this house was Lee Hyunbin’s.

Of all the houses to pick, why this one?

He remembered once scoffing at a story about a robber who broke into a police officer’s house.

‘I’m even worse!’

This wasn’t just any hunter’s house, but an S-rank hunter’s.

Robbing a cop’s house was child’s play compared to this.

Lee Hyunbin stepped inside the property. He glanced around.

Fearing he’d be spotted, the thief crouched down.

If he could just blend into the darkness.

Just then, Lee Hyunbin looked at the CCTV camera.

Seeing that, the thief’s heart sank.

The mud he’d thrown to block the camera was now falling to the ground with soft thuds.

“I miss her so much~! Let’s all go find the mom I miss~!”

Once again, Lee Hyunbin acted as if he hadn’t seen the mud falling from the CCTV camera.

Somehow, his voice seemed to have gotten louder, too.

The thief was so scared he thought he would go mad.

He must have seen me, so why was he reacting like that?

His heart felt like it wasn’t just pounding, but being ground into dust.

Suddenly, Lee Hyunbin stopped in his tracks.

Seeing this, the thief’s heart began to hammer against his ribs.

“…?”

Hyunbin suddenly started dancing.

‘Is this some kind of hunting ritual?’

It reminded him of the rituals primitive tribes performed before a hunt.

The thief’s teeth chattered as he shivered.

But the dance was strange. Somehow, it didn’t feel unfamiliar.

-Seriously, I can’t understand these popular kids. Nowadays, they’re doing this challenge, claiming this stupid dance wards off ghosts.

-Ghosts don’t exist. Monsters, maybe.

He recalled a conversation he’d had with a friend.

In this day and age, it wasn’t hard for anyone to see a dead body if they wanted to. As a result, horror stories that might have been popular in the past were now circulating widely.

‘No way…’

The thief felt a sense of premonition.

The way Hyunbin had clearly made eye contact, only to slightly avert his gaze.

The thief took a transformation mask out of his bag.

He’d brought it to avoid being identified, but now that he was blending in with the darkness, it might prove surprisingly useful.

“Hehehe.”

He chuckled lowly.

The moment he did, the dancing Hyunbin flinched.

“Hehehehehe.”

The thief chuckled lowly again. Then, he bravely stood up.

Lee Hyunbin slowly turned his head.

His eyes met the thief’s.

A pale face with long hair fluttering under the moonlight.

Seeing it, Lee Hyunbin’s expression hardened.

He turned and fled into the house as if he hadn’t seen a thing.

“What, are you scared?”

The thief sneered.

“Of me?”

How long had he been chased by Gaders, branded as a Villain?

He was merely a righteous thief who robbed the rich and always donated about 10% of his takings.

The Gaders had labeled him, a righteous thief, a villain.

And this was Lee Hyunbin, the highest-ranking Gader of them all, a Special Gader.

An opportunity to humiliate him had just presented itself.

A chance to wash away all the sorrows of righteous thieves like himself in one fell swoop.

* * *

What was that just now?

What in the world was that?

A virgin ghost? A head like that was just floating there. On my wall, no less.

Until now, I thought I was seeing things. But I wasn’t.

I definitely saw it. Definitely!

I quickly took off my shoes and turned on the lights.

“Katrinne. Hey, Katrinne.”

Is she asleep? The lights are off.

I’m not looking for her because I’m scared, of course.

I just want to confirm if what I saw was real.

Even now, that head is floating by the wall…

Why is it coming over here?

The floating head flew this way.

The head, now outside the living room window, was trying to get in.

*Thump, thump.*

*Thump, thump.*

The head was trying hard to get inside. But it couldn’t.

“Pfft.”

A laugh escaped me.

I gave the finger to the ghost trying to enter my precious, comfortable home and said.

“Hey, this is bulletproof glass!”

Money is worth what you pay for it.

Expensive glass is just this good.

Even a ghost can’t break through bulletproof glass. I’m going to make an ad for this.

But then, the thing slowly vanished somewhere.

Did it give up?

Only then did I relax and stand up.

Come to think of it, this house is safe.

As if some ghost could just waltz in.

My Katrinne is a priestess. A priestess.

She can turn any undead-type monster to dust with a single spell.

A ghost is basically a type of undead, right?

Reassured, I found myself regretting not buying the winged Huggies diapers.

Not that I was going to use them, but they might be useful for exorcism.

Yes, it pays to be prepared.

Just then, I heard a knocking at the door.

“Open up…”

An eerie voice.

“Open up…!”

The knocking came again.

“Katrinne. Katrinne, are you asleep?”

My voice trembled in spite of myself.

I called for my Katrinne, but there was still no answer. Was she not home?

“Katrinne, want to get some late-night snacks?”

The response came from the door.

I heard the beeping sound of a keypad being pressed.

Then, the door that should never have opened, opened.

“Open up…!”

You already opened it. You opened it yourself, so why are you still telling me to open it!

The head bobbed back and forth as if it were having the time of its life.

A ghost had entered my home. The home I trusted!

What do I do now? Should I run?

The ghost approached me, grinning widely.

“Are you scaaared of me~?”

That hideous face, with long hair fluttering where its neck should be.

It was a situation bound to inspire fear.

I took a heated eye mask out of my inventory.

I use it sometimes when I’m tired. It’s disposable, but it’s comfortable.

It lets my eyes rest.

“What are you doiiing~?”

The ghost asked kindly. I put on the eye mask.

The reason ghosts are scary is simple.

It’s because you can see them.

If you can’t see them, there’s no reason to be scared.

I took another breath.

Then, I swung my fist with all my might toward where I sensed the ghost’s presence.

*Crack!*

The impact landed.

“Keuk!”

The ghost, so relaxed until now, let out a scream.

Another punch.

“Gah!”

The feeling of my fist connecting was good.

I beat the ghost like a madman. As much as I had been scared.

“Hoo.”

When it fell silent, I took off the eye mask.

“…”

Who is this person?

“Who are you…?”

“Hehe…”

A man in a strange spandex suit sneered and said.

“I made the Special Grade feel fear. I can control emotions…!”

The man fainted after saying that.

What the hell. Is he crazy?

* * *

-Special Gader Hunter Lee Hyunbin arrests self-proclaimed righteous thief Hong Gildong after a fierce struggle.

An article appeared in the newspaper.

With this, my list of achievements grew by one.

Hah… Honestly, my own power frightens me.

At this rate, I might just become widely known as a modern-day great figure.

That Katrinne girl slept like a log through everything that happened last night.

What would have happened if I hadn’t come home in time to catch him?

And the three foreign brothers, they’re a problem too.

If you’re going to be knights, you should protect your master.

How could they just sleep soundly while their master was in danger?

Because of last night’s incident, I had to do an interview, so the kids went to the guild without me.

I think I need to put them through some intense training as soon as I get there.

It’s definitely not for revenge or anything.

When I entered the team office, it was quite noisy.

What’s this?

“Pffft. And then Ajeossi just!”

Katrinne mimed kicking a shuttlecock with her right foot, then rhythmically drew a cross left and right.

This time, she kicked with her left foot, then drew another cross as she stepped.

The ghost-warding cross dance.

“He ‘pretended’ not to see, pfft, but he’d actually memorized the whole dance.”

“He’s so lame, isn’t he?”

Seo Hyun-ji burst into laughter at Katrinne’s words.

It wasn’t just those two; everyone else was the same.

“The Captain sang a song. To forget his fear.”

Testimonies from the foreigners followed.

“Puhahaha!”

Someone was rolling on the floor, clutching their stomach.

A familiar head of blonde hair.

Just then, Kim In-ho made eye contact with me.

He started to tremble.

“Then Ajeossi goes, ‘Hey, this is bulletproof glass!’ Ooh. It was like watching a movie.”

“Ahem. Ahem ahem.”

“In-ho oppa, what’s wrong? Did you catch a cold?”

“Keuhum, ahem ahem.”

Everyone turned to look behind them. Then, as if they’d all caught a cold, they started coughing and scattered.

So they were awake.

When I was looking for them, no one showed up.

“Where is everyone going?”

“Something suddenly came up…”

“Let’s play together.”

The three foreign brothers and Katrinne exchanged nervous glances.

“I said, let’s play.”

“…”

* * *

I made the traitors experience a two-hour, short-term, full-course training session.

They worked so hard, they were all sweating from their eyes.

After squeezing every last drop out of them, I went up to the rooftop.

“Haa.”

Why am I surrounded by people like this?

Me, a person of such fine character.

‘Ah, but there was one exception.’

There was one person who believed and followed my every word, no matter what I said.

Never talked behind my back, either.

She would do whatever I told her to.

‘I wonder if she’s doing well.’

She was a talented one, too.

Even though she was an elf.

* * *

A sub-space where nothing could be seen.

A woman was walking through it.

It had taken a great deal of courage to enter this place.

She had carefully chosen the day of revelation to come here.

She had waited for more than ten years.

After he left, many things had changed.

With each of his achievements that crumbled, humanity edged closer to ruin.

‘Past this place, the Sir Hero will be…’

The woman with luscious green hair steeled her resolve once more.

She walked and walked again through the space where she couldn’t see an inch ahead.

She had no idea how long she had been walking.

All her senses felt paralyzed.

And finally.

A light began to appear.

Her eyes, not yet adjusted to the light, stung so much she could barely see ahead.

But if she went forward, she could have the reunion with the Hero she had dreamed of.

Her eyes adjusted, and the tunnel of darkness disappeared.

The green-haired woman looked around.

There were many people with black hair.

Like the Hero.

‘This is the place where the Sir Hero was born and raised.’

She felt her eyes welling up with tears.

A concrete jungle, different from the place she had lived.

People living clustered together within it.

The system connected to her was damaged, but the translation and knowledge systems were partially activating.

The conversations of the people, which had been incomprehensible, now sounded familiar.

“What’s with that woman?”

“Looks like she’s here for a game cosplay event.”

“She’s a nerd, but pretty. Doable.”

“No way. Have you considered her feelings? Show some respect for others.”

She looked around.

It was one thing to cross dimensions through the ancient gate.

But coming through the dimension didn’t mean she would arrive right next to the Hero.

‘The system is damaged, so I can’t use my skills.’

The system had been damaged while crossing dimensions. If she could use telepathy or tracking skills, she could at least find the Hero’s whereabouts, which was a shame.

Still, she was satisfied.

She could finally meet the Hero.

Clutching her racing heart, she asked a nearby person to find out the Hero’s location.

“Excuse me, I’m sorry but…”

“Ah, yes? Me?”

The man flinched when the woman dressed as an elf spoke to him.

“Do you happen to know where Sir Hero is?”

“……”

The man was taken aback by the cosplayer’s strange character concept.

“Um… what’s a Hero?”

“He is the savior who protects this world and makes it prosperous.”

The man’s reaction was strange.

He quickly fled, as if trying to escape the situation.

She asked another person.

“Excuse me, do you know of the Sir Hero?”

“Does anyone know where the Sir Hero is?”

“The Sir Hero always saves us.”

She asked several times, but no one answered.

She was at a loss.

Communication was fine, but confirming the Hero’s whereabouts was difficult.

It was strange.

‘Could it be that this isn’t the dimension where the Sir Hero is?’

She felt a sense of bewilderment.

Feeling hungry, she sat on a park bench and ate some elven rations.

It was a relief that just a small amount provided vitality.

The journey to find the Hero seemed like it would not be an easy one.

‘No, the Sir Hero must be here. I have to find him!’

Lost and wandering, she spent that night sleeping in the park.