Chapter 88 – A New Demon King

I told them to go ahead and start the housewarming party.

Then again, it was a bit awkward to even suggest it, seeing as the drinks were already flowing.

That Katrinne girl was the center of attention, putting on a one-woman food show.

“Well, have a good trip.”

“You’re not coming with me?”

Seo Hyun-ji let out a short sigh at my words.

“You want people to get the wrong idea?”

The wrong idea? What wrong idea?

“Forget it, just go by yourself. He’s at the café right up ahead. Wait a minute. You’re stretching my collar! Are you going to let go?”

The world has gotten so convenient these days.

They even have navigation systems with built-in celebrity features.

The only flaw is that this one has a bit of a strong ego.

“Who are you calling a navigation system? And for your information, I’m still active in the industry.”

“If you’ve decided to live as a Hunter, then you’re not really in the entertainment business anymore.”

“Hmph… I’m just focusing on being a Hunter for the time being. I’ll return to the entertainment world… But are you really not going to let go? P-people are watching!”

Is that so?

The navigation system seemed to have a point, so I let go of her collar.

It didn’t seem like she was going to run away now anyway.

This should have clearly taught her the difference between guiding someone willingly and being dragged along.

I mean, does it make sense for the one who arranged the meeting to just leave?

Even on a blind date, the person who set it up is supposed to be there.

To introduce everyone, say how well they’d get along.

Isn’t that how it’s supposed to work?

Of course, I wouldn’t really know, since I’ve never been on one.

“By the way, aren’t you worried at all?”

“Worried about what?”

At my question, Seo Hyun-ji sighed briefly before continuing.

“That this might be some kind of trap.”

“A trap?”

“You know, that kind of thing. Where you trust someone, but it turns out to be a trap and you end up in a crisis.”

Aha, so that’s the kind of thing she’s into.

Since our dear Ms. Seo Hyun-ji is an actress, she must have a thing for these kinds of dramatic plots.

“Wh-why are you looking at me like that?”

“Oh, no reason. Just thinking maybe you should watch a few less dramas.”

“Don’t you know you need input to get output? Telling an actress not to watch acting…”

“Ah, so it’s a ‘what goes in must come out’ kind of thing?”

“Do you always have to put it like that…?”

Seeing the look of distaste on her face, a small laugh escaped me.

“If I were worried about traps, I wouldn’t have made the offer in the first place.”

Traps are everywhere.

In relationships between people. In war. In politics.

Usually, they’re born from someone’s malice. Those kinds are mostly predictable.

But the ones not born of malice, the ones created by pure chance—those are the real headache.

In other words, there’s no such thing as 100% certainty in this world.

“Rather than worrying about a trap that may or may not exist, I choose to act first.”

If it’s not a trap, it doesn’t matter. But if it is?

That’s not so bad in its own way.

It clearly shows me who my enemies are.

“Of course, that’s because I’m confident I can smash any trap to pieces.”

“Wow, listen to you brag.”

Bragging, huh.

Of course, it might look that way to Seo Hyun-ji.

But anyone who knows me wouldn’t say that.

I don’t challenge the impossible. At least.

The possibility of someone stronger than me among the moderates.

None.

When I talked with Seo Hyun-ji before, she said she was the only one who had an S-rank awakening.

So, was she happy about it?

No, she actually wasn’t pleased about awakening as an S-rank.

The reason is simple.

Seo Hyun-ji is a true moderate. She wanted to blend into this world rather than walk a path of struggle and conflict.

She wants to live as the celebrity Seo Hyun-ji, not the Hunter Seo Hyun-ji. But she can’t stand by and watch her clan be in danger.

In other words, if there had been someone with greater talent than her.

She would have been able to lay down some of her burden.

And the café we’re heading to now.

It’s a small café with few customers. There’s a Starbangs a little further down the road, but…

In a café that small, how many allies could they possibly station?

A trap is only effective when it’s powerful.

If a hundred men ambush an army of a hundred thousand, how much damage could they really do?

Meaning, an operation of that scale is nowhere near enough to trap me.

“I heard you were pretty amazing over there.”

Seo Hyun-ji asked.

“I don’t even remember the other world. But everyone from my side seems to know what you did, Team Leader.”

Indeed, there probably isn’t a single person on the continent who doesn’t know me.

Because I did some crazy things.

A bitter smile escaped my lips without me realizing it.

“Um, by any chance.”

“Yes.”

“Back in the capital… never mind.”

“…?”

“It’s nothing.”

“There are two things you should never do in this world. One is starting to say something and then stopping, and the other is…”

Seo Hyun-ji frowned.

Seriously, do you know how annoying it is when people stop mid-sentence? It keeps you up at night.

“Ah, it’s nothing important.”

“If it’s nothing important, then you can just say it.”

“Hmph. It really is nothing.”

After hesitating for a long time, Seo Hyun-ji finally spoke.

“Have… have we met before?”

No.

There’s no way we could have.

Besides, she said she was just a kid in the other world.

“What was your name there?”

“That’s…”

Seo Hyun-ji hesitated.

“I need to at least know your name to remember if I’ve seen you or not.”

“El… Never mind. You said you crossed over in high school and just came back, Team Leader. The timeline wouldn’t match up.”

With that, Seo Hyun-ji hurriedly pushed me forward.

“Come on, let’s go in.”

Before I knew it, we were inside the café.

The café was still empty of customers.

There was only one customer, sitting off to one side.

A white-haired man with glasses and a small child.

Did he come with his grandson? They looked like a kind grandfather and his grandson.

The grandfather met my eyes. Then, with a benevolent smile, he stood up.

He certainly had the air of a clan leader.

An impression of seasoned wisdom that spanned ages.

“Well then, Elder. I will wait outside with Ms. Hyun-ji.”

“Go ahead.”

“…?”

The grandfather said that to the child, then gave me a slight bow and left the café.

Only the kid and I were left in the café.

What’s this.

“Sit.”

The kid was speaking informally to me.

The urge to go over and give him a fist drill surged within me.

“The Elder?”

“Indeed.”

Then again, in a world where all sorts of crazy things happen, why wouldn’t a kid like this be the Elder?

“Thank you for last time.”

First, I thanked him for accepting my proposal during the agency terror incident.

The Elder.

It has to be him, right?

The kid in front of me was wiping the chocolate parfait from around his mouth with a tissue, but he wasn’t doing a very good job.

It was an eyesore.

“Hmm, from the look on your face, it seems I still have some around my mouth. Would you mind helping me?”

“If this was going to happen, you probably shouldn’t have sent your nanny away.”

“Haha. Is that so? I suppose you’re right. But it’s best that only the two of us know what we’re about to discuss. It consumes less probability that way.”

The Elder laughed as if amused and held out his hand.

Ah, his hand is dirty too.

This guy looks like a kid, so he acts like one too.

I helped him wipe his hand with a wet wipe.

If he keeps this up, I might just toss him in my inventory and run a cleaning skill on him.

“You must have many questions.”

“First, I’m curious why a snot-nosed brat is speaking so informally to an adult.”

“What, I thought you’d understand something like that. We’ve lived those kinds of lives, haven’t we? Where what you see on the surface isn’t everything. That sort of thing.”

Correct.

“First, I apologize for coming to you during your housewarming party. We needed to make a quick decision. No, the decision has already been made. However, persuading others of a decision already made is another matter entirely.”

I understood what he meant.

No matter how much of a clan leader he was, he couldn’t control everything with a single word.

It might be different for the Villains with their boss-like temperaments.

“What kind of help will you offer us?”

He was direct.

In that case, I wouldn’t drag it out either.

“I have a plan to develop the abandoned lands left after the Gate incidents.”

Seoul Station, for example.

Humanity, unable to properly defend itself during the first Gate incident, cannot live on land overrun with demonic energy.

That is the current public perception.

“I plan to build a town on that land. You can call that my support.”

“A town?”

“Yes, along with resident registration numbers to live here.”

The conveniences of modern civilization have advanced dazzlingly compared to the past. But the dangers have grown just as much.

Cases of people dying without a sound have also increased.

There were also people eaten by monsters that weren’t stopped in time.

The task of forging resident registration cards for those who went missing like that is handled by Im Jae-joon’s side.

And the Villains have no legal status to live here. Let alone a place to live.

It would surely be an attractive offer for them.

“For us, it’s more than we could ask for.”

The boy smiled brightly.

The interesting thing was that even on such a young face, you could see the wisdom of age.

A kid like an old man.

“What do you want from us?”

“I heard you can travel between dimensions.”

“That is correct.”

“Is that young appearance of yours related to dimensional travel?”

At my words, the Elder gave a serene smile.

Something cannot be born from nothing.

To gain something, something must be sacrificed.

The mana stone bombs used by the Villains were the same.

They activate a Gate using the despair absorbed by the mana stones and the lives of children as a medium.

Because dimensional travel and Gates are closely related.

“I want to travel between dimensions.”

“Why?”

“Do I need a reason?”

“Yes. To answer your question, it is possible. I can even open the way for you.”

It’s simpler than I thought.

“But is there really a need for that?”

“It seems better than floating in the sky and becoming a hot spot on social media.”

“No, what I mean is, does that child want it?”

She’s a good kid.

Would she want her subjects to be floating aimlessly in an unknown world?

The answer is no.

“I’ll say it again. Even without my help, that child can already travel between dimensions.”

“…”

“Don’t pretend you don’t know. You must have already noticed.”

Yes, of course I know.

Knights suddenly coming down from the floating island to here?

That’s impossible.

Of course, Katrinne must have opened a dimension.

“That child is simply hiding it. Of course, her power probably hasn’t recovered enough to move the entire floating island. No, let me be precise.”

The Elder continued.

“That floating island came here because of a desperate wish. Would returning to her original world truly be happiness for that child? I think not. I believe you already know the answer.”

I know.

From the moment she met me, after losing her family, surrounded by beasts that sought to use and devour her.

She has placed her blind faith in me.

No, perhaps I’m the same.

“I’ll give you the answer. This is the answer to what you’re truly curious about. We’ve talked about happiness, so now let’s talk about safety.”

Safety?

“If that child returns to her original world, do you think she’ll be safe? Don’t get angry. I may look like this, but I’m an old man who’s lived hundreds of years longer than you.”

It seems I was frowning without realizing it.

The Elder waited until my expression softened.

“Ahem. Sorry to interrupt, but could I order one more chocolate parfait?”

I thought he was just reckless. Is he surprisingly considerate of others’ moods?

“You don’t need to ask me, just go ahead and…”

“I have no money.”

…This kid-Elder.

“Thank you. Two would be even better. No, I’ll eat them both. Anyway, to finish what we were talking about.”

There was something that had been nagging at a corner of my mind until now.

The fact that ordinary residents became otherworldly monsters and crossed over to here.

And the Villains who crossed dimensions to live here.

Why did they come here, as if fleeing from the place they used to live?

“The continent we came from has already been conquered by the Demon King.”

The kid’s words made me frown involuntarily.

The Demon King is here.

His words made it sound like there’s another Demon King over there.

“Yes, a monster on a completely different level from the previous Demon King. A greedy one.”

“Didn’t you perform the summoning ritual for a new Hero?”

At my question, the kid-Elder placed two chocolate parfaits in front of himself with a satisfied look and picked up his spoon.

“We did.”

“And?”

“He died.”

He took a large spoonful of chocolate parfait, putting a final, definitive point on the conversation.

“In the first place, we fled here. From a continent ruled by an immortal Demon King.”