A staggering number of nearly five thousand people have been sacrificed because of this guy, and currently, more than sixteen thousand people are suffering because of him—an unparalleled villain.
Of course, he probably didn’t kill all those people himself.
It seems that the total number of everyone suffering from drugs has been tallied up to an absurd figure, but anyway, that wasn’t really important to me.
‘With numbers this high, it’s likely spread widely among low-rank hunters. It’s much more serious than I thought.’
If these people start leaking information about ‘Evolved Creatures’ to other hunters in a pyramid fashion, the damage will increase rapidly over time.
‘I need to catch this bastard quickly, even if it’s a stretch. The rewards might be lackluster, though.’
I don’t know when I’ll finish Killbard, but for that moment, getting the compensation to eliminate the drug’s side effects was essential.
Of course, whether I could properly consume it was questionable, but there wouldn’t be any harm in preparing.
‘Hmm— if I could just have ten small skeletons, it would make gathering materials for Killbard much easier.’
My hunting efficiency drops when I go alone, but if I had ten working as a team, I’d be able to take on not just ‘Minescarabe’ but also ‘Frizkana.’
But for now, the only option was to die ten times, so that was just a delusion.
– You can observe the wrongdoing of [Demon King Hwang Tae-wook].
‘First, let’s see what that face looks like.’
The moment I expressed affirmation to the message, a veil of darkness descended, and my consciousness was transported.
* * *
‘Is this… a factory?’
It looks like it used to be a factory. An unpleasant space filled with haphazardly scattered mechanical devices and hundreds of different blood scents floating in the air. Judging by the strong smell of Evolved Creatures, it was undoubtedly the place where they were created.
“Ooh—ahh, what a fragrant place. So this is the first factory, huh. Hehehe…”
A man emitting a deflated laugh with a nostalgic look caught my eye.
He stood at about 190 cm tall, his body thin and fragile, with dozens of sharp scars crisscrossing his face, revealing a rough life.
Snake tattoos covered his neck, and his bulky leather jacket seemed odd for someone not involved in the dark world, and now he was scratching his left eyebrow while moving a cigarette from hand to mouth.
‘That jerk must be Hwang Tae-wook… I’ve never seen that face before.’
Since only my consciousness was moved, my senses weren’t intact, but I could vaguely gauge his presence.
‘… Is he at the top tier of A-rank?’
I had been encountering stronger villains, so that much was expected; the problem was elsewhere.
Next to him was a scantily clad woman.
I vaguely remembered her from my past life because I had been continuously tracking the activity of sorcerers, whose specialty was detection magic, thanks to my ability [Stealth].
‘That’s troublesome. That woman’s detection magic is top-notch, so I might be in danger.’
My [Stealth] may have been enhanced, but it was limited to human senses and items.
It was said that I wouldn’t be easily detected by stronger beings, but whether I could deceive a sorcerer’s powerful detection magic was something I had to test.
‘Is ambushing impossible… No, an ambush isn’t just an attack using stealth.’
If we’re in such a confined space, how about hitting her with [Meteor] outright?
That might deal significant damage to the relatively slow-moving female sorcerer.
If I could take her down, then using stealth to land a blow on Hwang Tae-wook would also be possible.
‘But I don’t want any variables to pop up. Just like with Haseirin, I need to hit him hard and fast.’
Just a minute ago, I was ready to throw down, but if the situation changed, so must my response.
“How’s the Sixth Factory these days?”
Hwang Tae-wook’s question was answered by the sorceress next to him.
“It’s operating at over 90% capacity. I even feel like we might save this country at this rate.”
‘It seems like they’re on informal terms, so she isn’t one of his subordinates… By the way, the Sixth Factory? Just how much have these bastards expanded?’
“Hehe. Just hearing about it makes me feel all excited.”
“Can you step back a little?”
“Not now. This place holds a certain significance for me; I can’t let it get tainted.”
“Stop whining.”
‘Are they lovers…? Anyway, neither of them is easy to deal with. Hwang Tae-wook is definitely a warrior type.’
He seems to have other abilities, but it’s hard to pin down.
At that moment, a massive presence suddenly entered my detection range.
‘If it’s just those two, I could manage to win somehow, but damn it. Why is that bastard here?’
“Stop screwing around. Let’s go! Those bastards can’t help but make a scene.”
The man who suddenly revealed his presence was shouldering a giant scythe bigger than himself.
He called himself ‘Shinigami’ and was suspected of having slaughtered countless hunters from low-level dungeons; he was an S-rank hunter.
In short, a murder addict with a personality disorder.
And a money-obsessed bastard.
‘Shinigami… If that guy is here, then even a suicide attack won’t work. An S-rank involved in a quest? The difficulty just spiked tremendously!’
Of course, the target was definitely Hwang Tae-wook, and that guy wouldn’t always be with him. So if I play it right, I might be able to clear the quest without worrying about him.
‘The problem is that it’s hard for me to time my move.’
This region they were in was blinking slightly left of the central point on the Korean map.
‘It seems to be around Cheongju. It’s not too far, so it might be better to go directly and time my move.’
Since there are opponents who can challenge me and those who can’t, this time it’s obviously the latter.
*
‘Sigh— nothing’s easy.’
Back in the front yard, I took a moment to relax and sort through my thoughts.
‘First the Lizardman, then Hwang Tae-wook. That’s the plan.’
If I can take him out with a self-destruct, I’ll be satisfied, but it would be troublesome if I couldn’t even attempt that.
‘It seems I’m not at the level where I can risk my life and fight him. How far does the system want to elevate me?’
Of course, that’s not a bad thing for me. In fact, it’s what I want. But there are times when I feel a bit deflated.
– ‘Small Skeleton’ heads toward the center and encounters ‘Frizkana’!
– The ‘Small Skeleton’ attempts an ambush but is ultimately defeated and suffers severe injuries while retreating!
‘Ouch… Attempting to take on ‘Frizkana’ is foolish since it’s an A-rank monster. Am I still lacking in assessing the enemy’s strength?’
I still had a small trace of existence surviving and active.
I wished it would keep growing, but it had somewhat simplistic behavior.
‘It would be nice if it could survive and I could meet it later.’
For now, that seemed quite distant.
* * *
“Come in.”
As the pleasant aroma of black tea filled the office, the information agent sitting across from Dnarr spoke up.
“There’s information about a large-scale expedition heading to North Korea.”
“What’s the timeline? Has it been decided?”
“It’s highly likely they’ll go up right after the guild battle ends. That means the situation is urgent.”
“Oh ho— that’s good. That’s really good.”
After summoning ‘Debsorpia,’ Dnarr Panijial hastily moved his hideout after realizing something had gone awry.
The information agent from the Blue-eyed Organization brought quite an interesting piece of news.
“They’re going to hunt the Great Beast… I can’t understand why they waited so long after giving time to the Devouring Creeper for this.”
A place referred to as the [Cursed Ancient Relic].
It was where Dnarr had summoned the Great Beast ‘Debsorpia.’
“I remember reading a short line written in an ancient tome long ago. Devouring Creeper… Surely it’s something of a much lower tier compared to the Debsorpia I summoned.
Giving it time was a serious mistake. But for us, it’s an opportunity we can’t afford to miss.”
It was clear that this nation should have been slowly sinking into chaos because of the existence of ‘Teeth,’ yet for some reason, it was stabilizing lately, which was dissatisfying for Dnarr.
Already, countless dimensional portals were opened all around the world.
For this stability to be maintained paradoxically required the chaos of this world.
“What about other nations?”
“Our forces in a country called France are mysteriously being picked off one by one by an unknown force… Other than that, there are no problems reported from other nations…”
The information agent lowered his head and looked somber, as if the situation was somehow his fault.
Since he had also crossed over from another world like Dnarr, he probably felt a huge responsibility towards the current events.
“Is this unknown force the organization called ‘DOH’ that I mentioned last time?”
“That’s right. We have no evidence to confirm it, but we suspect it highly.”
Dnarr was filled with concern upon realizing there was an unexpected obstruction following Jo Gi-man.
“Aside from the rumor of handling high-quality Evolved Creatures, nothing is known, not even about the organization’s leader.”
“That’s true.”
“What’s the strength of that organization?”
“At least over 20 S-rank hunters, and there are speculations that a Transcendent-level strongman might be backing them.”
“Damn it… things are getting messier by the moment.”
Dnarr stroked his chin, momentarily lost in thought, but soon shook his head and spoke.
“It’s best to untangle the situation in Korea first, where the dimensional flow is the most unstable. We’ll wait for the right moment when they’re headed up there. Prepare the secret arts once again.”
“We used up a third of the ‘Evil-Infused Crystal’ in the last casting. Although we have stored some since then, it seems difficult to summon a Great Beast like ‘Debsorpia.'”
“Don’t worry. The fact that it survived in that relic means it has some degree of combat power. Whatever beast we summon, it should have some effectiveness.”
“Yes, I’ll get right on it.”
As Dnarr nodded vigorously, the information agent vanished from the spot in an instant.
“Huh— I wonder how my master is doing.”
Ever since the last summoning of the Great Beast, Dnarr hadn’t been able to contact his master, blocked by some mysterious immense power, which made him quite anxious.
“If my master were here… He’d probably say that this is the perfect opportunity.”
Calmly sipping his tea, he began to carefully consider whether he should directly participate in this operation.
* * *
The morning of the semifinals dawned.
I offered another prayer to Goddess Irmana, who had been unusually quiet lately, and spent time guiding my summoned creatures.
Since the match time was slightly delayed, we had some leeway.
“Today, my opponent will be a little tough for Il-wol, right?”
“Tap?”
As Yeon-hee emerged from the front yard, freshly showered and completely finished with the breakfast I had prepared, that was her remark.
It so happened that our semifinal opponent was a Paladin from the Arena Guild, whom I had faced not long ago in a B-rank dungeon, and Yeon-hee was worried that I’d be at a disadvantage due to our elemental strengths.
‘Oh, did I not mention it?’
When I explained that I was no longer weak against light thanks to the rewards I received from the Temple of Light through Ran, Yeon-hee gasped and leapt with joy.
‘She seems awfully happy.’
After hugging me tightly, she cheerfully smiled, saying she would do her best to win today.
Since I haven’t interfered much other than blocking attacks that could harm Yeon-hee, I plan to act as a bystander and guardian once again.
“Today, we have to ride the Sword Dragon to the arena.”
“Tap tap?”
“No, it seems I got a message this morning. They asked us to enter the arena riding a Drake at eleven…”
The world has changed drastically since the gates opened, but it was still a world run by capital.
This was a typical request from those viewing the guild competition purely as a money-making spectacle.
*Sigh— I guess I should oblige.*
We complied with their request and gracefully arrived at the arena riding the Sword Dragon right at eleven o’clock.
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