Chapter 84

Chapter 84

The President’s expression was grim as he read the report.

“So what you’re saying is, there’s a high chance a Level 9 monster will appear?”

“Because its impact is so strong, we’ve decided to call it Twin Horns.”

“Huh?”

“It’s a cute way of saying Plus Plus. I thought the official designation should be Plus Plus.”

Cheon Myeongguk added that last part. I’d said Twin Horns was cuter, but the mood made it clear that wasn’t being accepted.

“That might be better. The moment you call it Level 9, people will think the end of the world is coming.”

The world didn’t end, though.

Having lived through the future, I knew the world kept spinning along, busy as ever.

Just with more people dead and more monsters, so everyone had to struggle that much harder to hold on.

Come to think of it, back when I was Blood Lord, I probably killed more monsters than most large guilds. I was out of my mind, but I was contributing to the world in my own way.

“At any rate, it was the right call not to announce this information in Japan. If you had, it would have caused an uncontrollable panic.”

To be precise, I’d forgotten because someone came at me. I lost the timing while beating the hell out of him, but I decided to treat it as if it had all been intentional.

“Other countries must be anticipating it too.”

“The possibility has been raised here as well. Plus-tier monsters are a different species that has reached a ‘new stage’ with Force manipulation and gift awakening. But if Transcendent Choi Junho says it with conviction, the meaning changes.”

“You think so?”

“Because nothing you’ve said so far has been wrong. As if you’d lived through the future and come back.”

“……”

So the President really isn’t a position just anyone can hold. He knew I’d seen the future.

“I’m joking. But if there’s a precognition gift out there, let me know. I’m curious about next week’s lottery numbers.”

“Should I try guessing?”

“Please do.”

Thanks to the President’s joke, the mood softened considerably, and we were able to wrap up the discussion.

On the way home, I sank into thought about Twin Horns monsters.

I’d never faced one directly myself. They were extremely rare, and clever enough to flee whenever they sensed a disadvantage. That was why we judged them highly intelligent, and why there were almost no successful hunts on record.

They were also genuinely powerful—strong enough that when they awakened their gifts, they could shatter defensive gifts. That was why hunting teams gradually shifted toward small, elite groups of Awakened.

There was still time, so the smart ones would come up with countermeasures on their own.

Anyway, the car’s rattling seemed to be getting worse. I should replace it soon. Maybe there’s a decent used one out there? I’m not the type to pay much attention to cars, so buying new feels like a waste.

Meanwhile, I arrived at my parents’ house. They said they’d cook for me since I’d just come back from a business trip.

It had been a while since I’d seen them, and they looked like they’d been doing well, which put my mind at ease.

“How have you been?”

“Very good.”

“That’s a relief. If anything’s uncomfortable, tell me anytime.”

“We’re still fine, so don’t worry too much.”

We ate in a warm atmosphere. This kind of comfort was something I could only feel around my parents. Talking with them, I realized all over again that I’d returned to the past with my mind intact.

If I’d gone mad, I wouldn’t have been able to spend time like this.

That was why this moment was precious. I never knew when or where I might lose my mind.

That was the whole reason I’d gotten Immunity to All Poisons, and it had malfunctioned anyway.

My mother, who had been talking about the well-maintained apartment complex and the neighborhood association members she’d recently gotten friendly with, suddenly asked cautiously.

“But son, just how rich are you?”

“I’m not sure. Do you need spending money?”

Would giving them about a trillion won let them spend without a care?

At my words, my mother hurriedly shook her head.

“No, no, it’s fine. We’ve got plenty from selling things in Cheongju.”

“Don’t be like that, just take it.”

“See, this is why having good sons and daughters is the best.”

Then she mentioned that Yunhee had given them spending money not long ago. That kid, keeping it from me. I nearly became the only unfilial child by accident.

But does she have money to give our parents while obsessing over idols? She’ll need savings for when she gets married someday.

While I was thinking that, I noticed my parents glancing at me.

“Is there something you want to say?”

“Can I say this?”

“You can.”

“That, you know, the young lady from Shinseong Group.”

“You mean Team Leader Lee Sehee.”

“Yes, Team Leader Lee. Do you two happen to meet often?”

“We do, often.”

My mother’s expression brightened instantly. What part of that was the good part?

“So you’re on good terms?”

“Not bad. I’d say we’re on good terms.”

“Oh my! Can I hope it develops into something more?”

My mother’s face sparkled with anticipation. Why was she asking me this now?

“We’re already on good terms.”

“What? Really?”

“Junho, your mother means dating.”

My father, who’d been watching, spoke up. My mother gave his thigh a light slap.

“Why do you have to say it so bluntly when they’re working on their youth?”

“We’re not dating.”

So we’d been asking and answering completely different questions this whole time.

At my words, my mother’s face twisted with shock and horror.

“Didn’t you just say you were on good terms?”

“I meant a business relationship. Lee Sehee’s business skills are outstanding. I’m benefiting from it.”

“Hah!”

My mother shook her head, and my father patted her shoulder.

“What was I even expecting.”

“…Just give up on Junho. You unfilial boy.”

“……”

I hadn’t done anything, and I’d become an unfilial son.

* * *

I visited the Shinseong Guild to inform them about the Japanese Prime Minister’s request.

When I mentioned the increased volume of the Big Bang Series and the joint venture company, Lee Sehee’s eyes flashed, if only briefly.

“What a shame. If I’d gone myself, I would have squeezed them dry. Ah! I’m not blaming you, Junho. They probably pulled tricks because they didn’t want to deal with me.”

The way she smacked her lips as she said that—why did it look so unsettling?

I recalled what the Vice Minister had said. I was curious just how bad she was for that kind of comment to come out, but it was probably better not to ask.

Lee Sehee agreed to handle the rest of the negotiations, and we moved on to the next topic.

“The government has requested cooperation regarding Plus Plus-tier monsters. They say it’ll display power on the level of a Harmful-class Level 9? We’re barely managing against Plus-tier as it is…”

She went on to reveal that the Shinseong Guild was conducting its own research. They’d made considerable progress on Plus-tier monster research, so they intended to bid on the next Plus-tier.

It wasn’t really any of my concern, though.

“You’re confident?”

“Of course. We’ve studied thoroughly, and we won’t be careless. I expect it’ll appear soon.”

Being called South Korea’s top guild, they must have solid countermeasures in place.

Maybe I’ll go watch how they hunt one.

When I said that to Lee Sehee, she accepted readily.

She said she’d gained a reliable insurance policy, but I’m just going to watch?

She says just having me observe is reassuring. I guess there are things I don’t quite get.

The conversation, which had been flowing warmly, suddenly took a strange turn when Lee Sehee pouted her lips.

“Anyway, I’m hurt.”

“About what?”

“You only give Dahyun training.”

“Ah, that?”

Lee Sehee had brought it up in passing a few times. Each time, I’d let it slide. Not that I meant to ignore it—there just wasn’t any need for me to step in.

Because.

“I don’t have any talent for teaching.”

“What? Why not?”

“I trained her pretty intensely, but she couldn’t quite make it to the next level. Dahyun works hard, so if she can’t get past the wall, it’s the teacher’s fault.”

“That’s strange? That’s not what I heard.”

Not what she heard? What was different?

Lee Sehee, tilting her head repeatedly, said.

“I don’t mind, so please make time and coach me too sometime.”

“It’ll be very hard.”

“Of course. If I’m going to face Plus-tier monsters, I need to sharpen my senses.”

“I’ll run you into the ground.”

“I like that kind of thing.”

Everyone around her would be singing her praises, and she likes being run into the ground? I couldn’t tell if it was lip service or sincerity.

If Lee Sehee was motivated, I suppose I should teach her.

But I’d been thinking that maybe I had no talent for teaching, since Jung Dahyun couldn’t reach Level 7.

It’s probably that my standards differ from others’, and the fact that Blood Devour played a decisive role in my own growth.

I should push her harder.

“Look forward to it.”

* * *

After Choi Junho left, Lee Sehee began organizing the contents of their conversation.

“The Japanese Prime Minister’s request. Junho resolved it for now, but there’ll be more to squeeze out, so we’ll dispatch a negotiation team…”

Japan was a wealthy nation. Even if you’d wrung out every last drop, you could always wring out more. Even if the major points had been negotiated with Choi Junho, aiming at the periphery would yield scraps.

Beyond that, they needed to prepare for the new-tier monster to be designated Plus Plus. And they planned to take an active role in hunting Plus-tier monsters.

Choi Junho agreeing to coach her was a huge catch.

Him offering to come along as an observer for the hunt, too.

As insurance, he was the best insurance there was.

Like this, one step at a time.

Building points of contact was an important task.

“But Dahyun and Junho say different things. And it’s different from what Uncle says too.”

Lee Sehee recalled how Baek Gunseo had praised Jung Dahyun highly after seeing her recently.

Had he said her growth was astonishing?

Baek Gunseo thought of Jung Dahyun like a disciple, so he wouldn’t say anything baseless.

Yet his reaction differed from Choi Junho’s, which meant something didn’t add up.

Whose words were right?

The next day, at the Plus-tier monster hunt meeting, she got the chance to ask Baek Gunseo.

“I don’t know what Choi Junho did, but he worked some kind of magic. He has a natural talent for teaching.”

“That’s different from what Junho says. He says he has no talent for teaching at all.”

“Nonsense! If he had no talent, how would he have raised Jung Dahyun to Level 7?”

“What? Dahyun reached Level 7?”

This was news she hadn’t heard.

At Lee Sehee’s startled reaction, Baek Gunseo’s face flickered with a look of having slipped up.

“Mm, I didn’t mention it last time because I thought you’d be shocked. Yes, Dahyun rose to Level 7. By the timeline, she should have just barely reached it, but her Ki is extremely stable. All of it must be thanks to Choi Junho’s teaching.”

“…I never knew he had that kind of talent for teaching too.”

“There’s no one as multi-talented as him. What’s funnier is that Dahyun herself thinks she’s Level 6.”

“Why would that be?”

If it were her, she’d have been bragging to everyone she met.

Humility in hiding one’s skill was fine, but for someone like her, the more you revealed, the more advantageous it was.

“She has a strict side to herself, and Choi Junho probably didn’t tell her either.”

And yet Choi Junho himself thought Jung Dahyun was Level 6.

There were several things that didn’t add up, but regardless, it was a tremendous achievement.

Though she spent more time on administrative work than training, Lee Sehee was also a talent called a genius.

Having been rivals with Jung Dahyun since childhood, she had no intention of just watching her pull ahead.

“I’m going to suck him dry.”

Lee Sehee clenched her fist and resolved firmly.

* * *

Jung Dahyun thought she’d made recent progress. She could feel herself getting noticeably stronger, but the problem was that her opponent was Choi Junho.

When instructional spars took place, she felt herself reduced to a scarecrow who couldn’t do a thing. Even when she squeezed out everything she had, all she could manage was briefly defending herself, and in the end she got beaten like she was being disciplined.

Yesterday’s session had been the same. He’d gone easy on her because she had a mission today, but Jung Dahyun couldn’t do a thing and spent the whole time rolling on the floor.

“Still a long way to go.”

Even by her own estimation, she was full of shortcomings. The road ahead was long. She didn’t know when she’d reach Level 7, and the talent that had once been called genius felt utterly insufficient.

But she couldn’t wallow in self-pity forever.

Jung Dahyun recalled her mission.

Today, a raid was scheduled on a villain organization that had long engaged in human trafficking.

“Let’s go.”

The Villain Task Force slipped quietly out of Seoul and arrived at a warehouse in Bucheon.

It was within the Seoul metropolitan area and close to Incheon, and the intel said villains were operating freely here.

“All snipers eliminated.”

“Sentries eliminated.”

At the reports coming in from all sides, Jung Dahyun nodded. The warehouse was in an uproar, as if they’d discovered their dead comrades.

They had to strike while the enemy was in chaos.

Jung Dahyun put strength into the hand gripping her sword. The familiar cold sensation calmed her mind.

She thought a great deal about herself had changed.

Before, she would have wanted to end the situation with minimal casualties. That hadn’t changed. But now, she believed she had to treat villains harshly to achieve minimal casualties.

Because the more villains she dealt with—even one more—the safer her comrades would be.

It was a thought she could never have had before. But after meeting Choi Junho, something had shifted in the word “justice” she held.

This path was right. When one villain disappeared, a thousand citizens could go about their lives in safety.

She still hadn’t gotten used to the epithet Rakshasa Girl, but it matched her justice.

“I’ll take the lead, so everyone follow me.”

Jung Dahyun took the front, and the reserve force blocked the escape routes.

Entering the warehouse, Jung Dahyun swung her sword from the front. A crescent-shaped Force blade burst out and sliced through the villains’ legs.

A fountain of blood began to drench the factory floor.

“Kyaaah!”

“Aagh! My legs!”

“P-please, spare…”

Contrary to his words, a villain pulled a gun from his coat, and Jung Dahyun cut his throat. Blood splattered across her face.

“If they resist, you may kill them!”

With Jung Dahyun’s shout, screams began to erupt everywhere.

Ratatatat!

Some villains fired guns, but the snipers lost their lives to Jung Dahyun’s focused assault. As if following their Team Leader’s disposition, the Villain Task Force Hunters killed the villains without mercy.

By the time the roughly eighty villains in the warehouse had been reduced to fewer than half in an instant.

The hesitating villains still didn’t surrender to the end. If they held out even after suffering this many casualties, it was one of two things: they had backing, or they had something they absolutely could not give up.

And the chilling laughter that echoed through the warehouse made it clear it was the former.

“Heh heh heh. That’s enough out of you.”

Along with him, a man around 165 centimeters tall appeared—elderly, but hale.

Deputy Team Leader Eom Gyeongyeong recognized the man's face and screamed.

"Team Leader, it's the Blood Calamity Demon."

"The Blood Calamity Demon?"

Jung Dahyun recalled the epithet of a villain she had long forgotten.

Ha Gwangil, the Blood Calamity Demon.

A villain who had crossed over from China twenty years ago and made a name for himself through infamy. It was said that Baek Gunseo—then a newly rising transcendent—had severed his right arm, and he had fled back to China.

He was a villain who had committed every manner of atrocity, claiming South Korea was too small for him. When bored, he attacked hunting teams and slaughtered them. When a civilian got on his nerves, he killed the entire family. He hunted down promising Awakened and killed them. His crime of killing an infant and drinking its blood had once plunged all of South Korea into rage.

Beyond that, he had committed grotesque atrocities too numerous to list. Baek Gunseo still regretted letting Ha Gwangil escape.

Ha Gwangil, appearing for the first time in twenty years, had a perfectly intact right arm.

Despite his rather small frame, his eyes gleamed with bloodlust.

"So you're Baek Gunseo's disciple? If I capture you and demand one of that bastard's arms, this old grudge will dilute somewhat."

Ha Gwangil had known his identity from the very start.

He was right in front of her—there was no avoiding him. She had to face him.

Steadying her breathing lightly, Jung Dahyun shouted to the Villain Task Force.

"I'll hold the rear. Everyone, retreat."

"T-Team Leader?"

"That's an order!"

"...I'll request reinforcements. Hold out just a little longer."

Deputy Team Leader Eom Gyeongyeong led the team members out of the warehouse, and Jung Dahyun blocked the entrance. Her resolve was to stop Ha Gwangil no matter what.

Sword in hand, she scanned every corner of the Blood Calamity Demon.

He was a notorious Level 7 villain who had made his name twenty years ago. Even if he wasn't a transcendent, his skill had to be at its peak.

...So why was her Intuition calm?

"Cack-cack-cack!"

With a bizarre laugh, Ha Gwangil charged. The moment their swords met, Force tangled and a violent explosion erupted.

Jung Dahyun, who lightly dispelled the aftershock by stepping back, realized one thing.

He wasn't strong.

To be precise, he was manageable.

Claaang!

Sparks flew as they exchanged a dozen sword strikes in an instant. Jung Dahyun didn't just block all of Ha Gwangil's attacks—she landed sharp counterattacks.

It wasn't difficult at all. Choi Junho was far stronger, faster, more monstrous, and more terrifying.

There was even room to counter. Was it a trap? It could be. If this were the real Blood Calamity Demon, he would never reveal such an opening.

"You're not bad, brat."

Ha Gwangil charged with a sinister laugh, but she blocked everything.

Could it be that it hadn't been an intentional opening after all?

Jung Dahyun slipped through a gap once and swung her sword, and Ha Gwangil's pauldron went flying.

The sword of a villain who had once rung out with infamy... was only this much?

Had something happened to him? Had Ha Gwangil's injuries been so severe that his Level had dropped?

Sword in hand, Jung Dahyun asked.

"You—what are you plotting, impersonating the Blood Calamity Demon?"

"W-what? You bitch! What did you just say!"

"Don't lie. The Blood Calamity Demon is a Level 7 villain. There's no way he'd be as weak as you."

Just what scheme was this? Was the real Blood Calamity Demon moving elsewhere?

If so, her retreated team members were in danger.

"I need to finish off this impostor quickly and go..."

Having been openly dismissed, Ha Gwangil's face contorted hideously.

"You bitch!"