Chapter 69: The King Who Begged to Die

The Black Manticore is the king of the Hallasan Gate.

It spends the entire day lying at the mountain’s summit, exuding a languid air.

But this appearance isn’t due to laziness by nature.

It is for the sole purpose of conserving all its power.

It hides its fangs and claws, biding its time to ruthlessly bite and tear apart any who dare trespass into its domain.

However…

“Chomp, chomp!”

Now, that kingly figure is nowhere to be seen, reduced to nothing more than prey.

Its lifeless eyes vanish into the jaws of the new king.

The new king, the one that has just claimed the throne, looks very much like the Black Manticore.

A lion’s luxuriant mane and powerful torso, bat wings, a scorpion’s tail tipped with a venomous stinger, and more.

But there is one thing that’s different.

Its head.

The Black Manticore bore the head of a lion, but the new king does not.

It has a gaunt human head.

It is Ji Sang-wook’s head.

“Ji Sang-wook…!”

Just then, a voice called his name.

With lifeless eyes, Ji Sang-wook raised his head and looked around.

Chunks of red, bloody meat dripped from the flesh clamped in his jaws.

Hunters had surrounded him, weapons drawn.

They hesitated, unable to decide whether to attack.

It was because of sentiment.

They weren’t exactly comrades, but they were familiar faces—Hunters who’d run the same Gate and gotten to know each other.

That was their mistake.

They let him seize the initiative.

Ji Sang-wook, transformed into a manticore, lunged at the Hunters.

“Block him!”

“No, don’t block! Dodge! We can’t stop him at our level!”

Another mistake.

They weren’t one party.

Two or three parties had hastily joined forces, but there was no one person clearly in command.

“Gasp, dodge! Just dodge, no matter what!”

A Hunter barely avoided Ji Sang-wook’s claws and shouted in fright.

The ground cracked beneath the claws and began to corrode.

Poison.

The same Hunter who had yelled to dodge shouted again.

“I’ll give the orders now!”

No one objected.

Everyone could see she was the only one calmly grasping the situation.

As Ji Sang-wook’s attacks continued, she gave out orders.

Maybe it was thanks to that.

The Hunters, who hadn’t been working in sync, quickly fell into step.

They began to pick up on each other’s skills and habits, managing a semblance of party play.

But that was all.

No matter how smoothly the gears meshed, facing the monster before them was still impossible.

The enemy they were facing possessed the power to shatter all their gears at once.

They couldn’t even maintain the battle line and kept being forced back—proof of the gap between them.

“…?”

“Huh?”

At that moment,

Ji Sang-wook, who had been fiercely attacking, suddenly turned away.

With the bat wings on his back, he flew low and returned to where he’d been.

Yes, his original spot.

Where the chunk of meat he hadn’t finished eating still lay.

“W-we survived…?”

The Hunter who’d first discovered the poison in his claws muttered under his breath.

Ten Hunters all glared at him simultaneously.

‘We survived.’

‘Did we beat it?’

‘We can get out of here!’

Those were words Hunters should never utter.

Saying or hearing such things was a surefire way to tempt fate.

The Hunters, thinking they needed to withdraw before their luck got any worse, began to slowly edge away.

To make their escape.

“Stop…!”

The order came.

The Hunters immediately halted their retreat.

They had no idea why they should stop, but nonetheless, they froze in place.

Whether they understood or not, obeying orders without question was the reason they’d survived as Hunters this long.

Standing still, they looked to the Hunter who’d given the order.

She bit her lower lip, glaring at Ji Sang-wook.

Ji Sang-wook tore at the meat with his jaws, but his gaze remained fixed on the Hunters.

Seeing that, the Hunters realized.

Though he had returned to his meal for the time being, if his new prey tried to run, he’d chase after them.

And when that happened, he wouldn’t let them live as he had this time.

They cursed their fate, having become prey that could neither move nor escape.

“Damn it!”

“This is all your fault for saying we survived.”

“Huh? You’re blaming me for that?”

“Who else would I blame—”

“Enough. Let’s focus on building the defense line first.”

The Hunters agreed with her suggestion and sprang into action.

So long as they didn’t move further away, Ji Sang-wook would not attack.

That meant they had a little time to prepare before he came at them again.

They couldn’t afford to waste a single precious moment, so they set up net traps and other defenses.

Of course, they knew.

A hastily built defense line wouldn’t hold for long and would collapse in an instant.

But no one bothered to voice that uncomfortable truth.

All they could do was keep building, hoping to survive a minute or a second longer.

“Saessak, did you really feel that way?”

Just then, a man’s voice rang out.

The Hunters turned, looking at one another’s faces.

But soon realized the voice didn’t come from any of them.

Come to think of it, the voice was coming from the path leading up to the summit, not from their own group.

They all turned their heads toward the source.

“What? No way. How could you say that? Why would I doubt you?”

“Don’t get all sulky over something like this. Okay?”

“Are you listening, Saessak? Hey, Baek Saessak?”

A man stood alone, muttering to himself.

His hair was tied back, and despite being inside a Gate where phones and the internet didn’t work, he was holding a smartphone.

Not just holding it—he kept staring at the screen and talking, as if he were on a call with someone.

For a moment, the thought crossed the Hunters’ minds: ‘Is this guy crazy?’ and then passed.

If he were crazy, the Gate manager wouldn’t have let him in. More importantly, he would have died under the Gate’s mana pressure.

Then what kind of person was he?

While they wondered, the man shook his head, ponytail swaying with each motion.

“Baek Do-woon…?”

The Hunter who had given the orders murmured a name.

At last, the other Hunters recognized him.

And like anyone who sees a familiar face, they started murmuring among themselves.

“It is! That’s Baek Do-woon!”

“Baek Do-woon? Who’s that?”

“Oh, come on. That guy who’s on TV all the time lately!”

“TV? You mean Baek Do-hee’s brother?”

“Yeah, him!”

“What’s someone so famous doing here?”

Chattering, the Hunters’ eyes all turned to Do-woon.

He let out a deep sigh, then put his smartphone away.

“Right, let’s clear the quest first.”

Do-woon muttered something odd and started to walk forward.

Then, noticing the Hunters’ stares, he gave them a beaming smile and greeted them.

“Hello?”

He smiled brightly, not at all like someone facing a monster.

Perhaps because of that, the Hunters found themselves responding peaceably as well.

“Ah, hello.”

“Wow, you all must be having a tough time because of that guy, huh?”

“No, not really… Um, what?”

“I’ll take care of things from here. That’s fine, right?”

“Well, of course…”

“Then that’s settled. That one’s mine.”

And with that, he walked past the Hunters.

As they watched him go, one thought arose in all their minds.

A Hunter muttered it aloud.

“That guy’s got a screw loose, huh?”

Ten Hunters all turned to look at him.

He stuck out his lower lip and shrugged.

“What? What? I’m right, aren’t I? You were all thinking it too.”

“…”

The Hunters couldn’t refute him and turned to look ahead.

Their thoughts didn’t matter right now.

What mattered was that he was the man who’d fought and defeated A-rank Hunter Kim Mu-yeon.

Especially, he was known for killing Kim Mu-yeon—who, with Heart Break, had achieved the combat power of an S-rank Hunter.

If anyone could stop Ji Sang-wook, now a monster, it would be him.

“Wait, what? Is he really just going to walk up like that?”

Someone muttered anxiously.

Do-woon was walking out unarmed, empty-handed.

Not only that.

He wasn’t even wearing armor, just casual clothes.

No matter how strong he was, shouldn’t he at least take out a weapon and put on armor?

“Hey—”

“Wait! Ji Sang-wook is looking this way!”

The Hunters quickly tightened their grip on their weapons.

Ready for battle.

But Do-woon raised his left arm and lowered his palm, signaling them to stay put.

Their eyes all turned to one person—the one they’d designated as the leader.

She nodded, choosing to go along with Do-woon’s wishes.

It was the obvious choice.

Right now, the only way to survive was to do as he said.

Even if he did seem a bit crazy.

“Hey, it’s been a while.”

Do-woon addressed Ji Sang-wook.

The reply was not human language, but a beast’s wild roar.

The Hunters were dumbfounded.

No matter how you looked at him, Ji Sang-wook was a monster now.

Trying to talk to him would only get you a monster’s growl in return.

But Do-woon continued to speak.

“If you’re still human, don’t bark like a dog. Speak.”

“Groooowl!”

“Fine, if you really want to be treated like a beast, I’ll do just that.”

Ji Sang-wook, who’d been growling, crouched down and lowered his body.

A completely different posture from when he’d faced eleven Hunters.

It was the posture of prey before a predator.

Wham!

Before anyone realized it, Do-woon’s right fist struck Ji Sang-wook’s face.

No, to be precise, it struck his mouth. His fist smashed through teeth and rammed straight into Ji Sang-wook’s mouth.

“Ugh, that’s disgusting.”

He yanked his fist back out.

Now, in his right hand, he held a long glass bottle. The bottle was broken, and its contents couldn’t be seen.

A hissing sound escaped through Ji Sang-wook’s broken teeth.

And then,

“…Baek Do-woon?”

What came out of his mouth was not a beast’s growl, but human speech.

Life returned to his previously dull eyes.

The Hunters were shocked.

None of them had expected that Ji Sang-wook, who had become a monster, might still retain his human will.

Naturally, they wondered what exactly Do-woon had done to him.

Seeing him throw that glass bottle, at least, they understood he’d given him some kind of potion.

A potion strong enough to bring a monsterized person to their senses.

It must have been rare and incredibly expensive.

“Ah, ah! Baek Do-woon!”

“Oh, coming at me now?”

“Please!”

“Hmm?”

Tears flowed from Ji Sang-wook’s eyes.

A pleading voice spilled from his lips.

“Kill me…!”

At those words, the Hunters went silent.

They didn’t know why he’d become a monster, but now they realized this was not the result of his own will.

They looked at Do-woon, whom Ji Sang-wook had begged to kill him.

They all thought they knew what answer would come.

‘I understand, Ji Sang-wook. I’ll grant your wish.’

They expected that kind of reply.

If it were ‘Knight Lee Tae-cheon’ whom they knew, he certainly would have answered that way.

And Do-woon was that knight’s closest friend.

As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together, so they thought he’d answer the same.

“Kill you?”

“Yes, it’s my last request. Please, kill me.”

Ji Sang-wook begged again.

Hearing that, Do-woon replied in an indifferent voice.

“Nope.”

What came out of his mouth was far removed from what anyone had expected.