Chapter 41 – Seoul Station Disaster (1)

It is a world where weakness is a sin.

A world where, from the moment of birth, your station is decided and your life set in stone.

A life of not knowing your parents’ faces, of being abandoned in back alleys to scavenge through trash.

The boy thought this was natural.

He never questioned why he couldn’t wear clean clothes like other children, or why he couldn’t eat his fill as they did.

Such thoughts were a luxury.

Many children were beaten to death for stealing when they couldn’t bear the hunger, and many more starved.

The boy simply survived.

He didn’t know why. He just didn’t want to die in this filthy place.

He searched for odd jobs in his squalid state and was repeatedly turned away. But he met a kind person and found work.

But the world was not so easy. The seemingly good-natured shop owner was a vicious employer.

The boy was abused with cruel beatings. The abuse did not last long.

Because he cut the owner’s throat while he slept.

He felt no revulsion at his first murder. The strong prey on the weak. The boy knew this to be a simple truth.

The boy was arrested for murder. But in a stroke of luck amidst his misfortune, he was conscripted into the army.

The kingdom was frequently at war, and the training for soldiers was grueling.

Still, for the boy, it was a decent life.

He no longer had to starve and could receive proper wages.

Death always seemed to be beckoning from just ahead, but it wasn’t as dangerous as he thought. As long as he moved like a cog in the machine, he could survive.

But that was only in wars between human territories.

One day, a war broke out not against humans, but against monsters.

The Demon King’s army.

Ferocious orcs led the vanguard, and an undead army that feared no death descended upon the kingdom.

The kingdom’s army, which had seemed invincible, was annihilated. The defensive lines that had held so firm crumbled, and everyone struggled to survive on their own.

The boy now foresaw his death.

Only monsters swept across the battlefield, which had turned into a giant dining table. Beyond the fallen front, the fortress city itself began to be invaded.

The ramparts fell, and the castle gates were breached. Inside, a banquet and buffet began, solely for the monsters.

In that moment, which seemed to be the end for humanity, there was nothing that could stop the Demon King’s army from conquering the continent.

Or so it was thought.

In that instant, something extraordinary happened.

The monsters, which had been engaged in a merciless slaughter, began to be swiftly dealt with.

Barely a hundred knights rescued the people in peril.

The boy blankly witnessed a miracle.

At the forefront of the knightly order performing this miracle was a man who wielded golden flames.

He led a small band of elite knights and cut down the monsters without mercy.

Wherever he went, a path was forged.

The people who witnessed the miracle chanted the name of the Hero who had descended upon the kingdom.

The young hero, drenched in blood, wore a grim expression even as he received the people’s cheers.

The boy felt he understood why.

Though he had saved many, many had also died.

The boy wanted to be like that young hero. For the first time, there was something he wanted to become, something he wanted to admire.

The young hero with sorrowful eyes opened his mouth.

“You crazy bastard.”

The harsh curse cut through the space between past and present.

The boy—no, the Company Man—was delighted. He hadn’t been mistaken.

It was the Hero.

The hero who had saved the continent, seared intensely into the hearts of all.

“Leaving a mess like this everywhere you go.”

Rage filled the Hero’s face. He seemed to be taking issue with the scene the Company Man had created.

He was extremely sensitive to the deaths of people unrelated to him, as if he bore a mission to protect them all.

“They are people who have nothing to do with you.”

The Seoul Station dungeon, where the two now stood, was a place of gruesome death. It could well be called a massacre. But if there was one peculiar thing, it was the low moans that could still be heard here and there.

Sacrifices.

An act to whet the appetite of a deeply slumbering monster.

Though he could kill them, he intentionally didn’t. Not a death in an instant, a flash, but one that allowed the desperate will to live and the thick despair to billow up like smoke.

“I was just going to collect the bounty on you again. But I’ve changed my mind.”

The Hero muttered under his breath and drew a sword from his inventory.

“You need to die.”

The Company Man felt his heart pound.

The hero he thought was dead was right before his eyes. Close enough to touch if he reached out his hand.

The shadows lurking within him seemed to scream, wanting to leap out.

***

When I first came to the location that Demon King bastard told me about, I doubted there would actually be a Villain here. But the Company Man really is.

Near Seoul Station, which has become like a land of the dead, there are people moving about, digging for magic stones.

They look like zombies. Dressed in tattered clothes, with hollow eyes, fumbling for any magic stones that might have fallen to the ground—they already seem to have lost their minds.

Then again, no one in their right mind would live in a place so full of demonic energy.

What is the government doing? Letting people live in a place like this.

First, let’s deal with the problem at hand.

The Villain stands before me as if he’s been waiting.

But his expression is strange. After getting beaten by me once and thrown in prison, I expected him to charge at me, seeking revenge.

‘Insight.’

I activated the legendary skill I’d gained from demonic energy.

Depending on the skill level, I can observe the target, but at its current level, all I can do is grasp their emotions.

-Shadow Summoner Ryu Ji-tae

Status: Excitement, Ecstasy, Joy

‘What is with this guy?’

I can tell just how crazy he is.

He’s dismantled human bodies like they were Lego toys and is happy about it.

A guy like this doesn’t deserve to live.

He needs to die.

“Before I kill you, there’s something I want to ask.”

“Who? Me, ask you? Or you, ask me?”

This guy still hasn’t come to his senses after the last beating. Has this open space made him cocky?

Come to think of it, the last dungeon was a narrow cave. It was disadvantageous for him, whereas this place is to his advantage.

“How did you cross dimensions?”

I’ve been thinking about it the whole way here.

I don’t get it.

I don’t understand how residents of the other world can appear in dungeons as boss monsters, but it’s even stranger that this guy can travel between dimensions perfectly fine.

Perfectly fine, at that.

“It’s a cliché, but.”

The Company Man opened his briefcase.

“I’ll tell you if you win.”

With a wide smile, he pulled out a handful of pitch-black folders and threw them.

The black folders writhed in the air like living snakes.

I immediately used Phantom Step.

Everything in my vision momentarily slowed down.

As I dodged the black folders flying at me, I chose the closest option and closed in.

The Company Man looked surprised to see me right in front of him in an instant. He snapped his fingers in the air.

I feel a chilling energy rise from the ground beneath me.

Tendrils of shadow shot up.

I slashed away all the minor branches and simultaneously pulled a dagger from my coat and threw it.

He reached out to block my dagger. A pitch-black curtain deflected it. I threw a second dagger as I closed the distance.

He blocked it again and retreated.

In that time, I was right in front of him.

I see the Company Man’s lips curl into a smirk. As if he’d planned something.

I pulled one foot back and sprang away.

Sizzle, fwoosh!

Pitch-black shadow flames scorched the spot where I had been.

“!”

The Company Man flinched, as if he hadn’t expected me to dodge. The moment he reached for me, my sword struck him first.

Crack!

The HP Shield sparked as it collided with my sword.

One hit.

I dodged his shadow smoke, spun halfway around, and swung my sword.

Two hits.

Without checking the result, I continued my assault.

Three hits.

Four hits.

I invoked my only attack skill, Soul Breaker, and struck the Company Man.

His HP system was brutally shattered and collapsed.

The shadow barrier broke as well, and he went tumbling to the ground.

“How about it? I think it’s time we had a talk.”

Hearing my words, the Company Man started cackling to himself.

Does he enjoy being covered in dirt? What’s he so happy about?

“You’re a long way off.”

“Get up and talk.”

“With the Hero’s power, you should have taken me down with the first blow.”

Look at this lunatic.

“You’ve grown accustomed to a peaceful life and forgotten your true nature.”

“Uh, did I hit your head too hard? Sorry. Guess I struck you a bit too forcefully, huh?”

As I spoke, I checked on the fallen people around us.

The person looking up at me seemed to be suffering from a high fever due to severe blood loss. I could feel their gaze, tears streaming down their face, begging me to save them.

I put the people into my inventory, just as I did in the dungeon where I first met the Company Man.

“I’d like an honest answer. How did you guys cross dimensions?”

“Do you want to return to the other world?”

The Company Man’s eyes crinkled as he asked. Return to the other world? Is he insane? I just barely made it back to a place with the conveniences of modern civilization.

Do they have ramen there? A TV? There aren’t even cars, so you have to ride horses. Well, they did have carriages that operated like taxis, but they were only two horsepower, so they were slow.

“That wouldn’t be it. You want to send your little lord back, don’t you.”

The Company Man hit the mark with a sly grin.

Katrinne.

The place she belongs isn’t here in the modern world, but the world she originally lived in.

The place where she was born and raised. And for the sake of her subjects, who are floating in the sky of another world for reasons they don’t understand.

“You know quite a lot.”

“Of course, I know. It’s only natu—Gaaah!”

What’s he smiling about like he did something right.

I plunged my knife into the back of his hand.

Blood gushed endlessly from his pierced hand like an active volcano.

“You don’t have to tell me. I think we’ll have plenty of time to get to know each other.”

This guy knows a lot. I have no intention of just throwing him back in jail to get the bounty.

It doesn’t matter if he doesn’t talk.

I can just wait until he feels like talking.

“Your inventory ability. Do you think it’s just a simple inventory?”

The Company Man suddenly started spouting nonsense.

“There’s no need to cross dimensions. Everything is already beginning as planned.”

“I don’t think I need to listen to any more of your nonsense. For now, let’s play a little game of catch.”

As I tried to put him in my inventory, the Company Man let out a low laugh and spoke.

“It’s already too late.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the dungeon began to shake.

“Because the people offered as sacrifices have already drawn their last breath.”

I was going to put the Company Man in my inventory and then try to save the others.

This bastard spoke as if he knew exactly what I was thinking.

-Shadow Summoner Ryu Ji-tae

Status: Excitement, Ecstasy, Joy

Even after getting beaten to a pulp by me, his status window still says that. I guess you have to be insane to do something like this.

The dungeon, fed with sacrifices, began to collapse. An ominous energy spewed forth from deep within.

They summoned something.

“What did you want to bring out by offering sacrifices? Don’t tell me you wanted to summon a childhood pet?”

“You’ll find out soon enough. It will be a good thing for you, too.”

“Uh, right. Now, goodbye.”

I infused my sword with mana.

And just as I brought the sword down.

A vicious killing intent carried on the wind. And a bloodcurdling roar echoed all around.

Something that seemed to deny all living things began to emerge, tearing the dungeon apart as it came.

“Keoheok, keuheub…! Let me tell you one thing….”

Blood dripped from the tip of my sword. The Company Man, who had struggled to block my sword with his shadows, had his neck slightly grazed by the blade.

“Today, keuheuk, you didn’t find me. I invited you. And….”

Even with a blade at his throat, the light in the Company Man’s eyes didn’t fade. On the contrary, his face was filled with ecstasy.

“Everything in the direction that monster is heading will be obliterated.”

Something so massive it made the dungeon entrance look small burst out.

Hard scales reminiscent of a shield.

Vertical pupils the size of a person.

A wingless dragon. A monster called an Earth Dragon had now manifested here.

It opened its massive maw and roared once more.

As if warning all living things of their impending death.

“Hero.”

The Company Man gasped for breath, a smile on his face.

“How much do you trust the Demon King?”

The monster, which had earned the title of the strongest on land even in the other world, began to move toward the concrete jungle built by humans.