“Ah~ Yeon-hee! It’s been a while.”
“… H-hello.”
Jo Gi-man greets Yeon-hee in an annoyingly syrupy manner that never fails to make her cringe.
He seems to catch on to the chilly atmosphere around Yeon-hee and a flash of realization flickers in his eyes for a moment.
Then, suddenly, his pace halts, and he begins to twist his head slowly in my direction.
‘Is this some kind of horror movie…?’
Jo Gi-man seems to sense something different about me, staring at me with intensity.
‘I wasn’t expecting him to catch on. The real question is, how much will he recognize my abilities?’
He begins to scan me from head to toe, channeling his magic, only to tilt his head in confusion.
‘Get lost, seriously.’
“Is that a summoned creature I haven’t seen before, Yeon-hee? It feels oddly familiar… Could it be that skeleton soldier I saw in your studio?”
“……”
Yeon-hee keeps her mouth shut, but for Jo Gi-man, that silence is enough as he nods knowingly.
“……. Hm. I see. That’s surprising. It’s evolved into a form I’ve never seen before.”
Jo Gi-man circles around me, then eventually turns away.
‘… Huh, thanks to [Low-Level Recognition Impairment]? He’s not reacting as strongly as I thought.’
I felt a sense of unease as he circled me, but cautiously hoped he might not take my progress too seriously.
“Jo Gi-man.”
At that moment, Kang Yeon-su, who had been watching us, firmly said Jo Gi-man’s name.
Since we weren’t on friendly terms outside, Jo Gi-man looked at her with a slightly displeased expression.
“What is it?”
“Ugh… Remember the contract you had with Yeon-hee before—”
“?!”
Just as Yeon-su was about to interrogate him about the contract, a being of immense magical power descended from the sky.
Khuuuuuuuung─!!
– Whooooooaaa!! It’s Hyun Joong-gil!!
– We finally have hope!
– Whoaaa!! It’s a real-life sighting!
The reaction to Jo Gi-man’s arrival was at 30, but when Hyun Joong-gil showed up, it jumped to over 90.
‘That guy also has a surprising flair for showmanship, even though he acts all dignified all the time.’
Seeing someone I was glad to see, I felt a sudden surge of irritation.
“……”
When Hyun Joong-gil dramatically made his entrance, I didn’t miss the slight twitch of Jo Gi-man’s eyebrows.
‘He can’t stand anyone getting better treatment than him. What a petty guy.’
Jo Gi-man.
Looking back to my past life, he wasn’t particularly intelligent or prepared for the future analytically.
Moreover, when it came to battles, he wasn’t exceptionally perceptive either, ending things by overwhelming opponents with high specs.
His strength was likely the result of his accumulated strength from six lives.
‘Hmm…’
Going over this one by one raised some questions.
‘Why would the Seven-headed Dragon choose such a guy as its incarnation?’
It was a recurring question.
There must be some criteria for the Evil God known as the Seven-headed Dragon, but honestly, it didn’t make sense to me.
From a pure abilities standpoint, wouldn’t characters like Nam Yong-seok or Cha Jin-hyuk be better choices?
‘Well, to grant the ridiculous ability to live seven lives again, there might have been some constraints on the choice of incarnation…’
I tried hard to understand it that way.
For a moment, Yeon-su, who had been distracted by Hyun Joong-gil, and Jo Gi-man resumed their hurried conversation, quickly moving back to the makeshift control center they had set up.
They gathered hunters with decision-making power for a brief meeting, and soon agreed to take down the monster.
The decision had already been made the moment Jo Gi-man and Hyun Joong-gil arrived, but this meeting served as a procedural precaution to prevent any disagreements later on.
During the short time of the meeting, Jo Gi-man thought.
‘That monster must be Dnarr Panijial; it’s probably his doing, isn’t it? That clever bastard, when did he push the schedule forward like this?
He must have ruined dozens of gates, so how was he supposed to receive help from that world? Was there another way to gather strength?’
He had always pulled this trick in previous rounds, but this time, it was much sooner than expected.
The monsters Dnarr called forth were always on par with Great Beasts. This time, they didn’t seem to be of that caliber, likely due to the rush.
The problem lay in the fact that every time Dnarr summoned a monster, they were always different.
‘That means he doesn’t specifically summon certain monsters.’
That’s why he had ordered Park Jin-gon to report in real-time, and the information he received included sightings of a monster he had never seen before.
Recalling the previous occasion where he hadn’t shown up and it had been a close call, Jo Gi-man hastily stopped ‘eating’ and rushed over.
‘I took a hit, but returning immediately was the right call. That monster… there’s something odd about it. If I hadn’t come, who knows what disaster might have struck.’
The death of hunters didn’t concern him at all.
However, having too many deaths leading to drastic changes was something Jo Gi-man wanted to avoid, so maintaining a balance was necessary.
‘Haa— Dnarr, this bastard, has messed up my schedule.’
Knowing Dnarr’s rough hiding place, Jo Gi-man had a desire to fly over and slap him right away, but he thought it wouldn’t be bad to handle the events that would transpire later.
Besides, he hadn’t checked in on Lee Yeon-hee for over two months, so it was also time for an evaluation.
A Drake of an unfamiliar property spewing black smoke and a skeleton soldier who had changed beyond recognition. Plus, an S-class hunter with rabbit ears.
‘So much I’ve never seen before. I’ve never met a beastwoman like her. Did someone who should’ve been dead survive through a singularity?’
Jo Gi-man swallowed as he gazed at Baek Ah-rin’s sturdy thighs.
‘I’ll save the rabbit for later. That Drake, is it shadow-type? Then there’s a high possibility it’s optimized for special movements.’
In the previous rounds, Lee Yeon-hee wouldn’t even dream of fleeing, no matter what happened, but the girl with the dazed face in the distance seemed like a completely different person.
Thinking it would be troublesome if she started running away on that Drake, Jo Gi-man pondered.
‘That monstrous girl… despite not having any growth interval while undergoing facial damage, her growth surpasses last time. However, considering the growth of other hunters, it’s not shocking. It’s quite ambiguous.’
The more worrying matter was the skeleton hiding its strength beside her.
‘That skeleton soldier… didn’t it say in Jung Joo-in’s info that it had taken the sorcerer tech? The aura it’s emitting feels more like a knight’s.
And it’s not just the appearance that has changed. There’s an unknown energy coiling inside. But I have no idea what that could be.’
But that was all he could gather.
The Skeleton Soldier had an oddly faint presence, making it difficult to gauge its abilities.
Even if a skeleton could hide its sense, that made it even more puzzling.
‘I wish I could take a look with [Demon Eye]. But that damn Yeon-su keeps blocking me. I could just kill her outright, seriously.’
Jo Gi-man had tried to use his [Demon Eye] while circling around Il-wol, but Yeon-su had set up a strong magical barrier.
‘That girl could be hiding something. I should smash the skeleton’s head and check what’s changed.’
Jo Gi-man decided that once the subjugation was over, he would snatch the Skeleton Soldier from Lee Yeon-hee and see what had happened to it.
If Yoon Han-gyeol, who always disguised himself with [Mimicry] showed his face to Yeon-hee, she would have no idea it was him.
‘Depending on the outcome… I might have to dispose of Yeon-hee early.’
Everything had twisted, and none of the original plans were going in order.
So, he felt that it might even be okay to leave out her holding off the Orc Legion while gaining benefits in the Giant’s Dungeon.
Additionally, he would need to revise the scenario where she, along with the righteous hunters’ efforts and sacrifices, dramatically appeared to tidy up the Orc Legion.
.
.
.
I watched Jo Gi-man leave the meeting, seemingly indifferent.
‘Hmm… something feels… off.’
Before entering the meeting, the slight change in Jo Gi-man’s demeanor didn’t slip my notice.
Although it was just a thin line, I felt like he was aware of me, or was that just my delusion?
‘…… I should prepare for the worst scenarios. Who knows what he might do… I might really have to use all ten of my lives.’
As soon as the meeting concluded, Jo Gi-man approached Hyun Joong-gil, who was floating in meditation, and spoke respectfully.
“Guild Leader Hyun. I’m planning to use [Sky Thunder Palm]…”
“…… Understood. Let’s get started immediately.”
Jo Gi-man was a versatile figure with various skills across different domains, difficult to find something he couldn’t handle alongside his swordsmanship and magic prowess.
Hyun Joong-gil, on the other hand, was a traditional swordsman who delved solely into swordsmanship.
Although it wasn’t officially recognized, the two had teamed up informally several times during monster subjugations and had earned a mutual respect for each other’s skills.
Of course, alongside that admiration, Jo Gi-man also harbored jealousy and fear for Hyun Joong-gil.
He was someone who’d wither away on his own if left alone but was also a crucial figure in stopping the world’s destruction.
While Jo Gi-man had never eaten Hyun Joong-gil before, he was thinking of trying something different this time.
‘It’s better to act before I start getting anxious. I’ll take the penalty, no problem.’
Jo Gi-man nodded and soared into the sky.
Then he started preparing one of his main attack skills, [Sky Thunder Palm].
Crackle crackle── zap──
As Jo Gi-man stretched his arm towards the sky and started reciting an unknown incantation,
An overwhelming energy began to converge around him, and despite it being morning, the area lit up like a dark theater, engulfing several kilometers around in darkness.
The hunters, having heard of Jo Gi-man’s abilities, weren’t alarmed by the sudden darkness.
They were excited to witness a skill regarded as the strongest lightning attribute.
Everyone looked up, eager to see one of his signature moves that had earned him the title of Korea’s strongest.
Meanwhile, Hyun Joong-gil stepped out of his unique space and drew his beloved sword from his pocket dimension.
Whoooooooooooosh─
The sword he wielded, crafted from the spoils of the Great Beast ‘Bazuki’, glowed pure white from the handle to the blade’s tip, and as Hyun Joong-gil drew the sword, the ‘Black Monster’ began to twitch.
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