Chapter 2: Welcome to Earth, Hero Roy

Suddenly sensing a killing intent from behind, Roy grabbed Kim Chan’s arm and rolled to the side.

His body, trained through countless battles, moved on instinct.

Thud.

A small crater formed in the spot where Roy and Kim Chan had just been.

If they hadn’t dodged in time, their bodies would’ve been flattened like the floor.

“Where the hell did that damn Toad come from?”

Roy’s face twisted in disbelief when he realized what had attacked them.

Toads usually lived in swamps.

But when he looked around, there wasn’t a swamp in sight—just a mess of junk.

“Wait… you’re human. How did you come out of a sudden dungeon gate? That portal just opened a minute ago…”

Kim Chan’s head spun as he tried to process the events unfolding around him.

As far as he knew, this was impossible.

“A sudden dungeon gate? What the hell is that supposed to be…?”

Their conversation was completely out of sync.

The words made sense, but the meaning didn’t connect.

Roy quickly realized something about this whole situation was off.

Just moments ago, he had been stabbed in the chest by Kairus.

But now, Roy’s chest showed nothing but a tear in his clothing.

The place where the blade had pierced him was smooth—no wound, no scar.

Ding!

[Hello, Hero! Welcome to Earth!]

“Hero?”

“What?”

Roy narrowed his eyes at the translucent message floating in front of him.

A young girl’s voice echoed in his head.

He was used to hearing voices—he communicated telepathically with spirits, after all.

“Mulkiber.”

He called out the name of the one he was most familiar with—the Spirit King of Fire, whom he had first summoned when he awakened as a spirit master.

[Oops! Mulkiber isn’t responding right now!]

“That’s impossible.”

“Why are you looking so scary all of a sudden…?”

“You seriously don’t see this? Don’t hear it either?”

The message box floating in the air twinkled like it was mocking him.

Kim Chan trembled, frightened by Roy talking to himself while staring into thin air.

They’d just barely escaped death, and while Roy was technically his savior, the man was now muttering unintelligible things to nobody.

Thud.

“That kind of monster would’ve gone flying with just one breath from Mulkiber…”

Even while distracted, Roy dodged another whip-like strike from the Toad’s tongue.

He didn’t need to summon a spirit to avoid attacks from low-tier monsters like a Toad.

[As expected of a Hero! You dodged a Toad’s attack with your bare hands! So cool~!]

A vein bulged on Roy’s temple.

It sounded like the voice was cheering him on, but something about its overly cheerful tone rubbed him the wrong way.

It was clear he was in a dire situation.

Yet the unknown voice floating around in his head sounded like it was enjoying some kind of action movie.

“Get it together. You wanna die to that thing?”

Roy dodged another incoming attack and gripped Kim Chan’s arm tighter.

Kim Chan just stared at him, dumbfounded.

“Do you have any weapons? Or powers?”

“I haven’t leveled up yet…”

‘Leveled up’? What’s that supposed to mean?

Roy clenched his teeth as he glanced around.

He couldn’t feel any magic circulating in his chest.

He needed to figure out what was going on, but first, he had to get out of this situation.

“Over there!”

Right now, they were completely exposed in front of the Toad.

Roy made a quick decision and moved toward the space behind a stack of boxes.

Thud! Thud!

Each time the Toad’s tongue struck the boxes, clouds of sand spilled out onto the floor.

[Hero, how are you feeling right now? Frustrated? Oh! By the way, my name is Earth! Feel free to just call me Earth!]

“I’m seriously gonna lose it…”

Roy swore under his breath.

He always told himself to work on that habit, but foul language just came out naturally when he was under pressure.

His mentor had been just as rough-tongued when teaching him spirit magic.

He had traveled the continent under the pretense of training, hanging out with mercenaries who were notorious for their crude language.

More than half the members of the Royist Knights—where Roy had served as commander—were commoners or peasants.

Naturally, their way of speaking wasn’t exactly refined.

At this point, some of the curse words swirling in Roy’s head were downright unrepeatable.

That’s how desperate he felt.

He couldn’t even take on a Toad properly right now.

“Grrrkk.”

“Grrrk. Grrrrk.”

“Grrrk. Grrrrk.”

Kim Chan’s wide eyes quivered in fear.

To Roy, the Toads’ croaking sounded like a chorus of death.

“There’s no way… I’m really gonna die here, aren’t I…?”

The number of Toads had grown from one to three.

Worse, they were gathered near the only exit.

It didn’t look like they’d be able to slip past them.

***

As the hopeless situation sank in, tears welled up in Kim Chan’s eyes and rolled down his cheeks.

He wasn’t even an adult yet.

Up until now, the worst thing he thought could happen in life was failing to debut as a Hunter Idol.

Never did he imagine he’d die in some random dungeon warehouse.

Kim Chan shut his eyes tightly, gripped by fear and despair.

BOOM!

“The gate’s over here!”

The warehouse door, which had been firmly shut, exploded off its hinges with a loud bang.

A burly man with a massive hammer burst into the warehouse.

“What the hell are you two doing in here?”

The middle-aged man’s eyes widened.

He hadn’t expected anyone to be inside, but there were two people.

“Wait… are you Kim Chan?”

“Director Hwang Guman!”

Hwang Guman rushed toward Roy and Kim Chan.

He swatted away a Toad’s tongue with his giant hammer like it was nothing.

The severed tongue flopped to the floor, and the wounded Toad howled in pain.

“We’re saved…”

Kim Chan collapsed to the ground in relief.

He knew Hwang Guman well—he was a famous scout in the Hunter Idol industry, and one of the founding members of a top-tier entertainment company.

Recently, he’d gone independent and started his own agency.

He had tried scouting Kim Chan multiple times, even calling his personal phone every day.

But Kim Chan, wary of joining a rookie agency, turned him down and auditioned for more established companies instead.

Had they met under different circumstances, Kim Chan would’ve avoided him out of awkwardness.

But right now—on the brink of death—he had never been happier to see someone.

“Grrrk.”

The wide-eyed Toads turned their attention to Hwang Guman and leapt at him.

Even the one missing a tongue joined the attack.

Somehow, they understood that defeating this man was their only shot at survival.

Toad’s combined attack reflected sharply in Hwang Guman’s eyes under the overhead light.

Thwack. Thud. Thud. Thud.

“If a monster! Dares! To hurt! A human! That’s what you get!”

Every time he casually swung his arm, chunks of black flesh splattered in every direction.

“Gueeek…!”

“Grrrk…”

Toad’s weakness was its head.

Creatures with poor eyesight used their hearing to track prey instead of their large, useless eyes.

Its ears twitched, trying to follow the hammer’s arc, but it was futile.

Before it could react, heavy blows pounded its entire body.

***

“You two, get back!”

Roy grabbed Kim Chan’s frozen arm and pulled him away from the gruesome scene.

The monster’s blood and flesh were toxic.

The enclosed space was already filled with noxious gas leaking from Toad’s body.

“Cough, cough.”

“Take off your shirt and cover your nose and mouth. Breathing it in too long will make you dizzy.”

Kim Chan did as Roy said, taking off his shirt to cover his face.

Roy also covered his nose with his arm, scanning the situation with sharp eyes.

Thankfully, Hwang Guman’s skills were more than enough to handle multiple Toad at once.

Zzzing!

A faint line appeared on the warehouse wall, and the metal framework of the structure collapsed with a loud crash.

“We’re from the Korea Hunter Association! Please evacuate toward the auditorium exit!”

Men in black uniforms poured into the warehouse, quickly taking down the Toad that Hwang Guman had been fighting alone.

“Let’s get out that way.”

Swinging his arm to fling off the fluids clinging to his hammer, Hwang Guman approached Roy and Kim Chan.

He could handle himself, but those two had no combat ability.

Kim Chan, in particular, looked pale enough to pass out at any moment.

Now that Association hunters were here, the situation would be resolved quickly.

“Yes, sir. Cough, cough.”

Kim Chan followed Guman’s lead, and Roy came right behind them.

Something about this place still felt off.

Roy had a gut feeling it was best to stay out of sight from those black-uniformed people.

***

[Hero! You’ve already gathered allies? Earth is so touched!]

A translucent screen reappeared before Roy’s eyes.

He felt a throbbing tension in the back of his neck, like a teenager suddenly developing high blood pressure.

The auditorium was in complete chaos, with people flooding out after hearing a dungeon had suddenly appeared.

“This way!”

Pushing past the panicked crowd, Hwang Guman led Roy and Kim Chan toward the parking lot.

But that area wasn’t much calmer either.

The only relief was that event staff and Association hunters were actively helping people evacuate.

“I parked the car somewhere around here…”

“What kind of car is it?”

Kim Chan, looking much better after getting some fresh air, asked Guman.

“A black SUV. It’s custom-built, so it’s a bit bigger than normal.”

“Is it that one over there? But… there’s someone lying on the hood.”

Being taller than Guman, Kim Chan scanned the area and spotted a large black vehicle.

Following the direction of Kim Chan’s finger, Roy saw a tall man lying motionless on the hood of the SUV.

The man didn’t seem aware of the commotion around him—he wasn’t moving at all. With his pale skin, he almost looked like a corpse.

But when Hwang Guman saw him, his face brightened.

“Doha!”

“Lee Doha…?”

The name that came out of Guman’s mouth made Kim Chan tilt his head in confusion.

‘Lee Doha.’

Kim Chan knew that name.

Among all the aspiring Hunter idols, Doha was one of the rare S-rank trainees.

It was said that several major entertainment agencies had tried to recruit him, only to be rejected.

So this is where he ended up—Hwang Guman’s agency.

At the sound of Guman’s booming voice, the man’s brow twitched.

Then his eyes slowly opened, revealing clear amber-colored irises.

“…Mister?”

“Doha, get up. It’d be better to head back to the office for now.”

“…Okay.”

Despite the lack of color in his face, Lee Doha’s lips were a soft, healthy pink.

His reply came in a slow, sleepy tone as he climbed down from the car hood.

His movements looked sluggish at first, but the way he landed on the ground was surprisingly agile.

Though there were unfamiliar people around, Doha simply glanced at them without a word.

He opened the car door, slipped into the passenger seat, buckled up, and closed his eyes again—all in one smooth, natural motion.