“What’s this, you haven’t gone to school yet?”
When I stepped into the living room, I saw Karin slurping down ramen with a satisfied look on her face.
It wasn’t the weekend; it was a weekday.
“I have practical training today, so I’m going in late.”
“Practical training? What kind of training?”
“You didn’t get the parental notice?”
When I fiddled with my phone, a long message popped up.
It was roughly this: Like vocational students, she’d be going to the site where she’d eventually work, as a kind of field study.
“School’s gotten nice these days. Back in my day, if you were even a minute late, you’d have to stand with your hands up.”
“Says the eternal latecomer.”
“If you had any conscience, you shouldn’t be the one saying that.”
“…On behalf of another world, I apologize.”
The place Karin attends is called Hunter High School. In other words, she’s going to hunt Monsters.
“Seoul Terminal Dungeon?”
“Yeah, that’s where the first Gate Incident happened. They say there’s a lot of teaching materials there.”
When the Gate Incident happened eleven years ago, it was a living hell, but as time passed, it became abandoned and desolate.
The Monsters that show up there are usually E or F-rank, so it’s not considered that dangerous.
This morning, I’d just brushed off the story when I heard it.
‘Damn it.’
Of all times, right now, at this very moment.
I couldn’t understand why such an absurd Monster would appear at a time like this.
I shoved the office worker into the Inventory. Then, I drew Sword #2, the Two-Handed Sword.
Since I hadn’t used it once today, it still shimmered with a bright, bluish Aether energy.
The Earth Dragon was running rampant even now, slaughtering everything in its path.
The vagrants scavenging Magic Stones among the ruins didn’t escape in time, and were crushed like tomatoes.
How much do you trust the Demon King?
The office worker’s words still seemed to ring in my ears.
I had no idea how much this guy actually knew.
Not to brag, but let’s just say I’m the most famous person in another world, so it makes sense he’d know me.
But the Demon King is different.
After all, the image of that guy strutting around with giant horns doesn’t match up at all with that handsome Chaebol Second Generation.
How much do I trust him?
I don’t.
I’m not an idiot, and I don’t have the blind faith to trust him unconditionally.
We were enemies, clawing at each other for our lives. In the end, we just acknowledged each other as worthy adversaries.
We know each other too well. If we become enemies again, it’s a headache; if he’s an ally, he’s reassuring.
There’s no eternal enemy. There’s no eternal ally, either.
‘More importantly,’
The real problem right now is how to stop that absurd Monster.
Should I pull the office worker back out and ask him how to stop it?
No, that’s pointless. Once a summoned creature takes the bait and is called forth, it won’t stop until it satisfies its desires.
And the Earth Dragon’s appetite is tremendous.
Let’s think rationally.
With my current power, it’s impossible to stop that enormous Monster.
If I still had my Hero of Salvation powers from another world, maybe.
I called the Demon King.
—It’s going well.
“Going well, my ass. The Earth Dragon just showed up!”
—Earth Dragon?
“Anyone you can send to help?”
Im Jaejoon was silent for a moment before replying in a low voice.
No. By this era’s standards, the Earth Dragon is at least a 4-star Monster.
Currently, the strongest Boss Monster class worldwide is 5-star. The difference of just one star is huge.
Look at restaurants. The difference between a one-star place and a steakhouse is like night and day.
“So what do you expect me to do, shake a rattle and hope it goes away?”
—We have to request backup from other Guilds. It’s probably the same situation everywhere.
Today is the day the Wizard System predicted the Gate disaster.
Because of this unprecedented Gate scale, all S-rank and A-rank elite Hunters were called in.
“Don’t tell me you’re in a Gate raid right now?”
—Yeah.
Shit. I’m screwed.
Normally, a Gate raid takes at least three hours.
That means to gather enough people to take down a Monster like this, I’d have to hold out for at least half a day.
—I’ll get in touch as soon as there’s cooperation with another Guild.
I hung up with Im Jaejoon and called Karin immediately.
The signal beeped a few times. She didn’t answer.
The Monster would soon leave the contaminated zone and come this way. And this direction is probably—
WOOOOO!
The Earth Dragon let out another deafening roar.
Just how loud could it be?
It lived its whole life in the forests of another world; the etiquette of modern humans was beyond its imagination.
Do you want to get reported for noise pollution?
I gripped Sword #2, the Two-Handed Sword, and poured in a huge amount of mana.
As if in response, Aether radiated out with a buzzing blue light.
Honestly, I know this is insane.
But I also know exactly what’ll happen if I let the Monster charge in like this.
I approached the Monster slowly. Time to slash with everything I’ve got.
Thunk!
With a dull sound, the Two-Handed Sword bounced off.
Well, of course. I expected as much.
My Strength stat is 42. With a normal max stat of 99, that’s far from weak.
But it didn’t even scratch this Monster.
Soul Breaker.
I unloaded my only attack skill into it. I should say I slashed, but to be honest, it was more like a blunt blow.
My attacks didn’t have any effect. It’d probably be more effective to use a club.
But maybe it tickled a little. The Monster suddenly turned and opened its jaws wide at me.
BOOM!
A split-second slower and I’d have been in trouble.
Rows of teeth on the roof of its mouth reminded me of a shark. If I got bitten, I’d be dead, HP and all, in an instant.
‘Still,’
The fact that it reacted at all is a good sign.
I stepped onto the Earth Dragon’s thick leg and climbed onto its back.
It’s huge. Really huge.
I swung the Two-Handed Sword wildly. Forget swordsmanship, I hacked away like a madman.
If it would even slow this thing down a bit, I’d have to do something crazy.
Crack, thunk! Squish! Crunch!
A few of the Earth Dragon’s scales shattered on its back.
Struggling had some effect.
I tried to run toward its head.
If I could stab its eyes, maybe it would hurt a little.
But the creature thrashed around as if it was at a rodeo.
Barely hanging on to its scales, I held on.
But only for a moment.
Damn.
The scale I was holding onto broke off. I plummeted to the ground and stared up into the monster’s fierce, slit-pupiled eyes.
It opened its mouth wide at me. I felt a chill down my spine.
Wait, it’s really going to use Breath just for me?
The most lethal attack of the dragon race. Fire, no different from instant death, spewed from its mouth.
FWOOOOSH!
The wedge-shaped blast of fire burned and vaporized everything in its path.
A sound like an explosion boomed as searing heat washed over the area.
Satisfied, the beast lumbered off.
Ring ring. Ring ring.
My phone rang. My whole body ached.
With effort, I looked at the screen and saw Karin’s name.
—Uncle, did you call?
“Where are you right now?”
Fortunately, it didn’t seem like anything had happened to Karin yet. I could see pillars of bright red flame rising from the fenced-off city area in the distance.
—I’m out for practical training, but we had to stop because of emergency evacuation. Uh, Uncle?
Karin’s voice sounded flustered.
—Uncle, I think I heard something weird just now.
She must have heard the Earth Dragon’s roar.
—Uncle, where are you? You’re not at home, are you?
At least Karin seemed safe.
The bizarre situation I’d been worried about didn’t happen. Now, the problem was me.
Let’s see. Am I okay?
Let’s try moving my hands. They move. Feet are fine too. Where’s my sword? Oh, there it is.
I picked up the sword, which had fallen where the flames hadn’t gone out yet.
I gripped it and poured in my mana. The Aether was still full. But the blade was badly damaged.
It was still usable, but I’d have to give up on any sharpness.
‘I’ve done all I can.’
I stalled for as long as possible.
The authorities moved faster than I expected.
KA-BOOM, BOOM! KRAKAKAKAK!
From my spot in the front row, I watched the Earth Dragon get pounded by all sorts of modern weaponry.
Would’ve been nice to have sunglasses.
—Uncle? Uncle, where are you?
“Just watching the fire.”
No matter how much of a Monster the Earth Dragon was, there was no way it could withstand modern weaponry.
I started wondering how I could squeeze some experience points out of the soon-to-be-mangled thing.
WOOOOOOOO!
The Earth Dragon roared again. Explosions erupted from all sides, buildings collapsed, and everything went still.
—Where are you watching the fire? Uncle, don’t tell me…
I hung up on Karin for now.
I was sure the Gate Countermeasures HQ was evacuating citizens and had the Military pummeling the Earth Dragon.
I moved again. Quickly.
What I arrived at was literally hell.
The Earth Dragon had rampaged through the concrete jungle, smashing all the advancements of modern civilization that tried to stop it.
Survivors were trembling, foaming at the mouth.
A soldier who’d tried to hold himself together looked down at his torn-off lower body and sobbed, before losing consciousness. No, he died.
I snapped myself out of it.
I searched the survivors, but it was pointless.
They were all torn apart like rags. Something in my chest twisted.
I followed the trail the Earth Dragon left behind.
The whole area was filled with corpses. And, feasting on those bodies, huge bugs blocked my way.
Flesh Beetles. The parasites living on the Earth Dragon.
When they saw me alive and well, they bounced and lunged at me.
SPLAT!
I swung the Two-Handed Sword like a flyswatter and smashed them all.
KYYAAAA!
Screams erupted from everywhere. A citizen caught in the Earth Dragon’s grip struggled. He was sucked into the Earth Dragon’s mouth, and his screams were cut off.
“S-save me. Sa…!”
SPLUT!
The Earth Dragon, busy gorging itself, trampled a woman who’d pleaded for her life.
A child who watched, searching for her suddenly disappeared mother, began to cry.
It was reflex.
Before I knew it, my body sprang into action.
I sliced off the Earth Dragon’s tentacle as it reached for the child with the Two-Handed Sword.
Dirty fluid splattered down like rain. I put a hand on the shoulder of the now-motherless child and tucked her into my Inventory.
If I’d moved a little faster, could I have saved the child’s mother?
If I hadn’t let myself relax, thinking the Military would handle it, would there have been less tragedy?
I don’t know.
I’ll never know.
—Synchronization Rate rising.
As I kept saving people, my innate authority started returning, little by little.
—Weapon Master LV Max has been activated.
—Hero of Salvation function has been activated.
A crisis only makes me stronger.
But this was no time to smile.