Chapter 278 – Epilogue (11)

Mr. Hyunbin is a good fighter.

In sparring alone, he’s skilled enough to overwhelm Yeomje, the number two ranked hunter.

But a real battle with monsters is a different story.

To fight all sorts of monsters efficiently, you need awakened abilities.

Above all, the HP shield that only hunters possess is so crucial it’s called a lifeline.

There are teachers at Raon Academy who used to be hunters.

People who retired due to injury, or those whose low rank made it difficult to remain active.

There had been suspicions that Mr. Hyunbin might be an awakened person, too.

No ordinary adult could be that strong.

But no matter how much they searched the hunter registry, there was only one hunter named Lee Hyunbin.

The legendary hunter who single-handedly rampaged through the demon world before perishing in battle—the Delivery Man.

The muscular, bear-like Lee Hyunbin and the rather handsome teacher Lee Hyunbin were completely different people. There was a strange resemblance, but that legendary hunter couldn’t possibly have a hobby of viciously tormenting people, could he?

“What the… Hyung… If you were alive, you should have said something…”

Kim Tae-yang, the strongest hunter in the country, staggered to his feet and called Hyunbin “Hyung.”

He seemed so moved to see him again that his eyes were welling up with tears.

Han So-yul couldn’t understand what was happening.

“Mr. Hyunbin, it’s dangerous, get back…”

She had no idea how Hyunbin, a civilian, had managed to get to the operation zone.

No matter how passionate a teacher he was, he wouldn’t come all this way just to catch students skipping class.

In that moment, Han So-yul saw it.

As Hyunbin raised his hand, an inventory space materialized at his fingertips.

Having an inventory space meant he was an awakened person linked to the Order System.

In other words, a hunter.

“Time for a summary.”

A brilliant, pure white light extended from the sword Hyunbin drew.

Han So-yul was speechless at the overwhelming magical power.

‘That weapon…’

She had seen it once before.

It was the holy sword the Delivery Man, Lee Hyunbin, had used to slaughter the Demon Kings.

Hyunbin walked forward.

A demon made of flames opened its mouth wide and charged at Hyunbin.

*Swish.*

Hyunbin had only swung his sword horizontally once.

That alone was enough for the demons to be swept away and vanish in the incandescent light of the blade.

“What is that…”

Hong Jae-young muttered to himself.

For once, Han So-yul agreed with Hong Jae-young.

*Swish.*

One slash.

*Swish.*

And another. The crocodile demons were nowhere to be seen.

The ground, which had been boiling with lava, gradually cooled and returned to its original state as Hyunbin approached.

It was strange. Just his presence seemed to make the suffocating pressure that had made it hard to breathe disappear.

-I have been waiting…!

The moment Behemoth spotted Hyunbin, it launched its tentacle snakes.

The tentacle snakes now had the bodies of fiends. They laughed sinisterly and charged straight at Hyunbin.

“In battle, evasion is the most important fundamental. No matter how well you attack, if you lose your life, it’s all over.”

Hyunbin said this as he calmly dodged the flying tentacle snakes and continued walking forward.

His movements were so relaxed, it was as if he were taking a stroll.

“Is the enemy’s attack too fast? Dodge faster. Are there too many attacks? Avoid the entire radius.”

Hyunbin dodged the rain of tentacles with minimal movement.

*Tap, tap.* Stepping lightly, Hyunbin almost looked like he was playing.

“And what did I say you need to do to accomplish this?”

He suddenly turned and asked the question, startling Han So-yul. Horrifying tentacles were transforming and lunging right at him; this was no time to be casual.

Hwang Jae-hoon answered Hyunbin’s question.

“You told us to watch the trajectory.”

“Correct.”

Just as he said, every attack has a trajectory.

Unless you’re a master swordsman, the path of an incoming blade is mostly fixed. The defensive technique to intercept this path beforehand is the parry.

It’s a technique already used in practical martial arts and special forces training.

“And to see the trajectory?”

“You need good eyesight…?”

Han So-yul hesitated, and a sad expression crossed Hyunbin’s face.

“Wrong.”

Hyunbin dodged without even looking back.

“Training. And more training. Nothing is more important than the basics. All advanced techniques are only possible because of a solid foundation.”

As he spoke, Hyunbin reached out to the tangled mass of tentacles.

Having chased Hyunbin around, the tentacle snakes had become hopelessly entangled with each other.

Seeing them struggling, unable to move, Hyunbin swung the holy sword once.

*Swish.*

A trajectory of light left an afterimage as it slashed through the air, and all the tentacles were severed.

The twitching tentacles, splattering blood everywhere, slowly turned to ash in the light.

-Because of you, I was forced to make the extreme choice of self-destruction. But you survived, and I died. Or so I thought. But my immortal ability proved greater than I imagined. I never thought I’d get another chance thanks to it.

Behemoth charged toward Hyunbin, its steps causing the ground to tremble.

The sky above the town was filled with black clouds, churning as if about to unleash a downpour.

-I have surpassed the Demon Kings to become a Great Demon King. And after losing everything, I became a Demon God. Behold, this overwhelming power!

Behemoth, looking like it had descended to bring about the end of the world, fired a beam of darkness.

*KABOOM, KRAKOOM!*

Kim Tae-yang dodged the beam. Its immense magical power suggested that a mere graze would melt his body away.

‘He’s even stronger than before.’

Kim Tae-yang trembled involuntarily.

The enemy had released the restrictions on its power.

And he could feel the creature’s overwhelming magical energy.

It was like the vast sky itself.

So high it would blind you to look up. So wide you couldn’t tell where it ended.

Unconcerned by Kim Tae-yang’s tension, Hyunbin nonchalantly continued his lesson.

“You all know that every being connected to the System has a magic stone, right?”

“I know! You can sell magic stones for money!”

Hong Jae-young said, raising his hand.

“That’s not wrong. Magic stones are valuable because they’re a new energy source that contains magical power. There’s also something called magic stone sickness, which affects unawakened civilians. It’s because the magical power building up in the stone needs to be used, and if it isn’t, it has a negative effect on the body. Of course, it’s different for the awakened. Oh, this will be on the test. Make a note of it.”

-Hero, what are you talking about?

Behemoth roared at Hyunbin, who was ignoring it despite standing right in front of it.

Only revenge.

It had returned with this hideous yet powerful body for that single purpose. But the target of its vengeance was treating it like it didn’t even exist.

“The magic stone functions as a link to the Order System. In other words, no matter how well something regenerates, or how big it is…”

Hyunbin said, pointing at Behemoth.

“Even something like that is finished once you destroy its magic stone core. Usually, you raid large monsters because it’s hard to destroy their core. This is part of the third-year curriculum, so for now, just watch.”

-This… this madman…!

Only then did Behemoth realize it was being treated as a teaching aid and erupted in fury.

A giant foot moved to crush Hyunbin.

*CRUNCH!*

Dirt and stone fragments flew in all directions.

“For beast-type monsters, it varies by individual, but for humanoid types, it’s usually in the heart. Our teaching aid is a composite type, so where would it be?”

Hyunbin looked up.

Behemoth, no, Agares, stretched out its hand. As it did, thunder and lightning rained down from the blackened sky.

“The correct answer would be ‘find the main body,’ right? This part will be on the test, so give it four stars.”

Why would that be on the test…

The Top 3 wanted to say that, but for now, they just watched the absurd situation unfold.

The person who had been tormenting… no, teaching them, was actually the Delivery Man.

The legendary hunter they thought was dead.

That fact alone was enough to make the kids unable to hide their excitement.

All of the tremendous attacks Behemoth created failed to leave a single scratch on Hyunbin.

“Mr. Hyunbin, should I give you a lift up?”

Han So-yul asked, cupping her hands around her mouth.

The location of Behemoth’s main body was high up. Climbing the enraged monster, now rampaging to kill Hyunbin, seemed nearly impossible.

Hyunbin looked at the dried blood from Han So-yul’s nosebleed and clicked his tongue lightly.

*Just as I thought, she’s not muscular enough, so her stamina’s low, hence the nosebleed.* He thought to himself that he’d have to train her hard when they got back, then spoke.

“Did you forget what I said in class?”

“Huh?”

“Win the battle before it starts.”

It sounded familiar, but Han So-yul’s memory was hazy. She was usually sleepy in class, after all.

“First, create the conditions for victory.”

-Fine. Let’s see if you’ll still ignore me if I kill your students first.

Having been continuously ignored, Behemoth opened its mouth.

*FWOOSH-!*

The hellfire spewing from its mouth caused the surrounding temperature to rise.

Seeing the breath attack aimed at them, the startled Top 3 fled the attack’s range, just as they had been taught.

They fled with all their might, but the breath attack never came. When the kids looked back, they witnessed an unbelievable sight.

*SWISH!*

With a sharp cutting sound, Behemoth’s neck was torn open.

*SWISH!*

Behemoth’s thick legs were sliced off as if they were paper.

As Hyunbin swung the holy sword, only a trajectory of light remained in the air.

Each time the trajectory slashed horizontally, and then again, Behemoth’s torso was carved up like sliced ham.

Blood poured out like a flood. In an instant, the flood was evaporated by the holy sword’s light, turning to smoke.

-Gyaaaaaaah!

Agares’s wailing screams echoed continuously.

Finally, Hyunbin came face to face with it.

The upper torso of Agares, standing on the ground after its entire body had been sliced away.

-Hero…!

The enraged Agares roared as if its blood was boiling.

“And just like that, you create an environment where you can easily destroy the magic core. Piece of cake, right?”

“…”

No one could say a word in response to Hyunbin.

Even Kim Tae-yang was speechless at the sight of Hyunbin’s overwhelming power.

Four years ago, he had thought Hyunbin’s power had reached its peak. But here he was, one-sidedly slaughtering an even stronger Agares.

How much stronger was he going to get?

Was this man trying to become a god?

At that moment, unable to bear the humiliation, Agares gritted its teeth.

-This time, I will take you with me!

Agares lunged and clung to Hyunbin. Kim Tae-yang was horrified by the sight.

“Look out!”

It was the same self-destruct attack that had caused a massive explosion four years ago.

A warning signal struck Kim Tae-yang’s mind like a bolt of lightning.

He was about to reactively step forward when…

“Well then, that concludes our field trip.”

-…!!!

“Store.”

Agares, which had been about to explode, vanished without a trace.

“And that’s the end of class.”

With that, Hyunbin turned to his students as if nothing had happened.

The surroundings fell silent.

“Haha…”

Kim Tae-yang laughed.

There had been no need for him to worry.

That was Lee Hyunbin for you. Just what you’d expect from the strongest hunter.

“Whoa! Whoa! Mr. Hyunbin! You were the Delivery Man?”

“That’s insane. Freaking awesome!!!”

“…”

The three students each reacted differently to the overwhelming display of power Hyunbin had shown.

“Why did you fake your death?”

“Why were you hiding your identity? Hiding your true power?”

Han So-yul and Hong Jae-young clung to his arms and started bombarding him with questions. It was a stark contrast to moments ago when they were trembling in fear of death.

Perhaps their moods changed so quickly because they were still young students.

“My dear students. Is everyone okay?”

“We’re alive thanks to you, sir!”

“Your timing was perfect! No wonder you’re so damn good at fighting!”

“I’m glad you’re all safe.”

Hyunbin smiled gently as he looked at his safe and sound young disciples.

Seeing Hyunbin’s smile, Hwang Jae-hoon swallowed nervously without realizing it.

“Tae-yang, grab him.”

“Huh? Okay, Hyung.”

“…!”

Hwang Jae-hoon hastily tried to run, only to be blocked by Kim Tae-yang.

There was no way to escape the country’s number one ranked hunter.

Sensing a sudden strange shift in the atmosphere, Han So-yul and Hong Jae-young took a step back from Hyunbin.

“I’m. So. Glad. You’re. Okay.”

“Sir…?”

“Time for supplementary training, right?”

“Huh…?”

Han So-yul and Hong Jae-young’s pupils began to tremble.

Hyunbin smiled brightly, radiating a holy aura.