Chapter 224 – Downfall (1)

From the moment humanity launched a rocket into space, it achieved dazzling progress, enough to challenge the gods themselves.

It was thought that civilization could advance no further. Everyone thought so.

But that was arrogance.

A new world is coming.

It was considered an absurd statement.

After all, humanity was already the ruler of Earth, looking toward expansion into space.

But he had said it.

That a new world would soon open, and all preparations must be made accordingly.

It was a story simply forgotten.

He solidified his position and climbed the ranks.

Although he had their help, every bit of his effort bore fruit, leading him to the highest position.

Then, the era of the Gates began.

Humanity, who thought themselves rulers of this land, was attacked by unknown monsters.

They mocked humanity’s weapons and crushed them with overwhelming violence.

And, as the story everyone knows goes, the first-generation Awakened returned from the survival game.

While others were fanatical about the heroes who appeared in the Gate era, Shin Chae-ho, who would later become the Director of the Disaster Agency, felt a sense of awe toward a different person.

A new world had truly arrived.

He gave Shin Chae-ho warriors. In addition, he delivered items of unknown origin.

With his support, Director Shin Chae-ho established the Wizard System. Furthermore, under the protection of various factions, he became the master of the Disaster Agency, which managed Hunters.

Director Shin Chae-ho was several steps ahead of everyone else, monopolizing everything.

Thanks to this, his position rose endlessly, reaching a point where even congressmen could not treat him carelessly.

The day of revelation would soon arrive.

Director Shin Chae-ho began to study the system.

Surprisingly, this intangible entity was connecting reality and another dimension through an incomprehensible algorithm.

The day of destruction is coming.

But there was nothing to worry about. As he had prophesied, he would become the king after the fall.

To become a king, he needed to acquire more powerful warriors.

He continued his research on system integration.

He used those with the ability to process and research mana stones to modify humans.

After implanting mana stones into their bodies, he attempted adaptation tests.

Of course, it was a cycle of continuous failure. But it didn’t matter.

Weren’t there billions of humans to experiment on?

The sacrifice of the few for the sake of the many.

For a great civilization and an achievement no one has ever accomplished, some sacrifices are necessary.

In the midst of this, the Director had the Wizard stolen from him.

Not only that, but the agency was also attacked.

The research on the Wizard had not even been properly conducted yet.

Extracting the vast knowledge and power contained in the brain of the Wizard—the regressor—was still a fledgling endeavor with modern technology.

The only consolation was that they had managed to extract some packet data from the regressor.

They tried inserting the regressor’s Combat Codex into a human.

But it failed.

Not just the codex data, even implanting just a mana stone core would turn them into monsters or kill them.

The saying that failure is the mother of success was nothing but a trashy excuse.

The Director thought so.

He failed continuously. He had no idea how to succeed.

As he executed the illicit doctors who complained of trauma and wished to leave the underground facility, a personnel vacuum slowly began to form.

This wouldn’t do. At this rate, he wouldn’t be able to create an army by the day of revelation.

He had to stand tall.

It was then.

One of his subordinates was revealed to be a Villain.

He was a subordinate he usually cherished. In particular, he was someone who had greatly aided his research.

It was a waste to discard him. But he was someone who had to be disposed of.

Instead, the Director interrogated the Villain about the whereabouts of the regressor’s brain.

But he didn’t get the answer he wanted.

However, there was an unexpected proposal.

That more of the Wizard’s Children could be created.

Originally, only two of the Wizard Children had been successful, and they had died before long.

At the thought of restarting the project, the Director put him in charge of the underground laboratory.

And, just as he had hoped, the Wizard Children were born.

The Director was delighted.

He could climb to a high place once again.

Children with the power of a god who followed his commands.

They were monsters that even the most renowned S-Ranks in South Korea couldn’t handle.

The regressor’s power was truly like that of a god.

Surely, he thought, everything would go smoothly from now on.

No, it had to.

“I will not let your deaths be in vain.”

The man he thought of as his pet dog suddenly revealed his true colors.

He couldn’t understand.

He thought they got along well and saw no reason for him to bare his fangs at him like this.

It was a shame to lose South Korea’s strongest Hunter.

As long as he had the Wizard Children, there was nothing to worry about. But the Deliveryman’s image was good to use as a figurehead.

The Director watched as his warriors were brutally crushed.

The Wizard Children, estimated to be above SS-Rank, were being slaughtered by a single Hunter.

It was understandable for the test subjects to fall. But those there now were the completed versions.

Each time Hyunbin swung his two-handed sword, a warrior died.

Though they were empty shells whose flames of life had already vanished, they still had the faces of children.

Lee Hyunbin swung his sword at such opponents without hesitation.

Their mangled flesh littered the floor.

“Ha.”

The Director burst out laughing as he watched his warriors get annihilated in an instant.

“I knew you could do it. Impressive.”

The Director spoke, but Hyunbin met him with only a cold gaze.

He realized.

Hyunbin had no intention of letting him live.

In the face of such overwhelming violence, things like human rights had no meaning.

The Director stepped back.

He couldn’t collapse so absurdly here.

He was the one chosen to be king after the fall.

He couldn’t be killed by a mere miner like that.

“Kahat!”

A mute Wizard Child gathered its mana and fired a railgun.

The intertwined currents of electricity rushed toward Hyunbin, but he raised a hand and blocked the railgun.

*Crackle-!*

Sparks flew from the lightning searing his hand.

As if feeling no pain, Hyunbin didn’t even blink as he grabbed the warrior’s neck with his electricity-charged hand.

*Sizzle-!*

The warrior was instantly electrocuted and began to convulse.

*Crunch.*

The last remaining warrior died at Hyunbin’s hand.

Hyunbin looked down at the dead children.

They were children who had already lost their lives when the cores were implanted in their bodies.

Now, they were merely moving like A.I.

“The Director has already fled.”

“I know.”

Hyunbin looked at the Villain standing in his spot and continued.

“So why aren’t you running?”

“Because there’s no point in running.”

The Villain said with a laugh. Then, he raised his sword to prepare for his end.

“But if you’re prepared to die, why did you install hidden cameras?”

At Hyunbin’s words, the Villain’s lips curled up. He had sharp eyes to notice the cameras in the midst of such a fierce battle.

While fighting, Hyunbin had been destroying the cameras at the same time.

“I didn’t install them. The paranoid Director set them up to watch me.”

“Why are you trying to commit suicide?”

“Suicide?”

“Charging at me is suicide.”

At Hyunbin’s words, the Villain burst out laughing. As he said, it was suicide.

“What do you gain from doing this to helpless children?”

The smile on the Villain’s lips vanished at Hyunbin’s words.

“They were children who were going to die anyway.”

At that answer, Hyunbin’s grip on his sword tightened.

“Didn’t you guys have some fun invading our world?”

“I’ve said this to someone else, but your target is wrong.”

Hyunbin had taught Seol Ji-hoon where to aim.

So he wouldn’t direct his anger at the wrong place.

“But it’s too late for you.”

“It is an honor, Hero.”

The Villain bared his teeth as he watched Hyunbin imbue his sword with mana.

*Thump, thud!*

Hyunbin’s two-handed sword charged forward menacingly.

The Villain didn’t even think of dodging and thrust his sword at Hyunbin.

*Thwack!*

The tip of the Villain’s skill-infused sword couldn’t reach Hyunbin. It failed to break through his absurdly tough HP shield.

*Shhhk.*

But Hyunbin’s sword cleaved through the Villain’s body.

Coughing up blood and crumbling like a sandcastle, the Villain looked at Hyunbin.

Hero.

The hero who saved the other world.

His comrades had respected him, yet resented him.

The reason was so childish.

It was because of the baseless belief that if he had remained in the other world as the Supreme King, such a tragedy would not have occurred.

A prime example of someone with such thoughts was Kei.

‘A porter who carries a burden on his back, equal to the number of people he has killed.’

The fact that he, the strongest Hero in the other world, had awakened as a porter in the modern world was a comedy in itself.

No, perhaps it was a profession that suited him perfectly, one who did not take the weight of others’ lives lightly.

‘I’ve done all I could…’

The Villain muttered this as his vision turned red.

He would follow his dead comrades. And he had exacted the revenge his dead comrades could not.

In his own way.

“For the Hero…”

Prevail.

The Villain prayed that his sacrifice could save him.

***

“Gasp, gasp…!”

The Director escaped the underground laboratory.

Ignoring the agents asking if he was alright, he frantically searched his inner pocket.

Holding the phone he’d grabbed, he scrolled through his call history with a trembling hand. Then, he called a familiar saved number.

A few rings.

-Yes, Director.

“Driver Kim! Get the car ready, now!”

-What? Ah, I understand!

The Disaster Agency couldn’t protect him now.

Then where was the safest place? A place where not even the great Lee Hyunbin would dare to cause a scene.

There was only one such place in this country. The place where all the politicians gathered.

“Where are you going?”

“…!”

The Director saw the man standing before him.

A Hunter with looks handsome enough to put a male idol to shame.

Seol Ji-hoon, whose name suited his white hair, stood before him.

“Hunter Seol.”

The Director made a calculation in his head.

The relationship between Seol Ji-hoon and Lee Hyunbin was subtle.

They were clearly rivals before. Now, Lee Hyunbin had recommended Seol Ji-hoon as a Special Hunter.

He was wearing the white power suit that only Special Guarders wore.

‘Perhaps.’

Today, Lee Hyunbin had come without his white power suit.

In other words, it meant he had no intention of being an agency Special Guarder.

The reason he had turned his back on the agency was because they had taken in a Villain.

The Seol Ji-hoon before him now was a Villain. Since they came from the same place, there must be a sense of kinship.

After all, they came from the same dimension.

Only then did a smile form on the Director’s lips.

The calculation was complete.

“You, you’ve come at a good time.”

“…?”

“Help me. Lee Hyunbin is going crazy right now.”

The Director spoke to Seol Ji-hoon as friendly as he could.

He was the one who had acknowledged him, a Villain, as a Special Guarder.

“The reason I was here.”

Seol Ji-hoon slapped away the Director’s hand that was gripping his own.

“Was to wait here to capture you.”

Seol Ji-hoon took off his white gloves and threw them to the ground. Then he took out a new pair from his coat, put them on, and continued.

“No, should I say it was to kill you?”

“Wh-what crazy talk is this? This bastard is in league with Lee Hyunbin! You agents there, aren’t you going to arrest these Villain bastards right now?”

The Director gestured at the hesitating agents.

He was frustrated that they couldn’t grasp the situation.

Just then, with perfect timing, Driver Kim pulled up in the car.

The Director moved quickly past Seol Ji-hoon, who was blocking him.

If he could just get in the car and leave this place, he could figure something out.

*Crunch! Crunk!*

Just then, the car began to crumple as if crushed by something.

“The only place you’re going is hell.”

“Th-this bastard…! You Villain bastard, how dare you…!”

Shields of light began to flash behind Seol Ji-hoon’s back.

Seeing this, the Director stumbled backward and started to run.

As Seol Ji-hoon chased after the fleeing Director, agents blocked his path.

“Hunter Seol, stop…!”

But they couldn’t stop Seol Ji-hoon.

He was an S-Rank Hunter, and a dual-class one at that.

Even specially trained agents were no match for him.

“Gasp, hah…!”

The Director, instantly out of breath, ran at a near-walking pace.

Seeing Seol Ji-hoon quickly catch up, the Director’s face contorted.

“You bastard, you think you can survive after pulling a stunt like this? Huh?”

He wasn’t one to yield to the Director’s threats. Seeing Seol Ji-hoon’s cold face, the Director instantly changed his tune.

“Aigo, Hunter Seol. Why are you being like this? Think about it. Are you not planning to live in Korea anymore? Who do you think you have to thank for becoming a Special Guarder from a Villain? It wouldn’t have happened without my power. The power of the state. It’s the foundation of who I am, Shin Chae-ho. What that bastard Lee Hyunbin is doing is a crime, a crime. Are you going to become a criminal bastard?”

The Director’s final struggle began.

“Do you think Lee Hyunbin just forced his way in with brute strength?”

At Seol Ji-hoon’s sarcastic remark, the Director’s eyebrows furrowed.

“The Guarders in the basement have already turned their backs on you.”

Seol Ji-hoon swung his shield.

*Crack!*

“Keuk!”

Struck unexpectedly by the skill wielded by the S-Rank Hunter, Director Shin Chae-ho tumbled to the ground, letting out a scream.

Gasping for breath in agony, the Director’s lips, mixed with blood and saliva, trembled.