An unprecedented Monster Wave had occurred.
The A-rank monsters confirmed so far already numbered two.
In response, the Hunter Association issued a hunter mobilization order to the surrounding regions, and the guilds dispatched their affiliated hunters.
“Hurry up and go!”
“Don’t push! It’s completely jammed here too!”
The nearby area was already a scene of utter chaos.
Hunters were appearing, but no one knew what would happen next.
At the very least, getting as far away as possible from the area where the Monster Wave had occurred was the best option.
Even though it was the middle of the night, those who thought so joined the long evacuation lines.
Around the evacuating people, hunters and soldiers were controlling the crowd.
“You can’t go that way! It’s dangerous!”
“Please follow the controls!!”
But their shouts were nothing more than echoes.
It was only natural.
There were not one but two A-rank monsters.
Even those who were not hunters knew full well the infamy of A-rank monsters.
And it was not as if there were only A-rank monsters there.
There were monsters presumed to be B-rank, as well as numerous lower-rank monsters.
It was a situation that would not be strange to call a living hell.
In a word, peace had been shattered.
And as peace shattered, people remembered.
The nightmare from twenty-five years ago.
The time when dungeons and monsters first appeared in the world.
“Phew, I wonder how long it’ll last this time. I hope it wraps up quickly without much damage…”
One hunter at the scene grumbled.
Not even a full day had passed since this Wave broke out.
No, only a few hours had passed, and yet the atmosphere was already bleak.
As the world overcame crisis after crisis, it had once again been maintaining an air of peace.
For a while—perhaps even forever—people had come to believe that peace would continue.
But that belief had been broken.
Anxiety had even begun to arise that perhaps incidents like this would become more common from now on.
In fact, increasingly powerful monsters had gradually begun to reveal themselves.
Just like now.
“It’ll be wrapped up soon. Still, we’ve got it pretty good, don’t we?”
A colleague approached the hunter who was venting his complaints.
They were hunters affiliated with the Firebird Guild.
“The Divine Guild guys went to deal with the A-rank monsters, didn’t they? Two of them, at that.”
“If it’s the Divine Guild, then Kim Suho must’ve gone too. Since the enemies are undead, it makes sense for a paladin to be deployed.”
The A-rank monsters that had appeared in this Monster Wave were a Death Knight and an Arch Lich, both undead.
Against the undead race, attacks with the light attribute were the most effective.
And the guild best suited for that was the Divine Guild.
Kim Suho, in particular, was the perfect fit.
Having gone to the Eldorad Continent and even received ordination as a paladin from the White Order, he would probably be able to eliminate the cause of this incident with ease.
Although they belonged to different guilds and thought of each other as competitors in their own way, they had no choice but to unite in the face of such a grave crisis.
“Yeah, just please don’t let them come our way.”
At least when their own lives were on the line.
“Tsk. Still, what the hell is the world coming to?”
He had heard that they had yet to find the point of origin where the Monster Wave had broken out.
In such a situation, the mere mention of a Death Knight and Arch Lich combination made his heart tremble.
They were beings beyond merely being strong.
Their skill that turned people into monsters was truly vicious.
If they were not dealt with quickly, it would only be a matter of time before this entire area was filled with ghouls and skeletons.
In their minds, they were desperately hoping the Divine Guild hunters would resolve the situation.
Of course it would be dangerous, but one’s own life was the most precious thing.
If there was one fortunate thing, it was that they were lucky.
Compared to the Divine Guild, they were controlling civilians in the rear.
While the two hunters were deep in conversation, screams rang out from the line behind them.
“Kyaaaak!”
“What the hell! Why are there monsters here!”
As screams burst out from all over, people began to flee.
It instantly turned into a pandemonium.
“Fuck!”
At the sound, the hunters turned their heads as well.
There really were monsters there.
They were dwarfish creatures with green skin.
“…Goblins.”
All of them were armed with equipment.
“Don’t tell me monsters are going to keep popping out!”
“Report to the higher-ups immediately! Everyone else, prepare for battle!”
The hunter controlling the scene shouted orders to those around him.
If there was one fortunate thing, it was that the only monsters were goblins.
Goblins were not particularly troublesome opponents.
They were a problem because they acted in groups, but as individual entities, they were truly weak.
“They’re coming! Get ready!”
The goblins were approaching.
The Firebird Guild hunters took stances to brace for the impact that would soon come.
Gulp—
Just as everyone swallowed and tensed up.
“Huh?”
The goblins suddenly stopped in place.
“…Everyone, stand by!”
Someone spoke from behind the goblins.
That being emerged from among the goblins and revealed itself.
“……”
Everyone was shocked.
At the same time, they fell silent.
There were even those who rubbed their eyes and checked again to see if what they were seeing was truly real.
“A c-crown…?”
The goblin that had revealed itself looked different from ordinary goblins.
Its physique was somewhat larger, and unlike normal goblins, it exuded charisma.
Above all, the crown on its head reminded them that it was a Goblin Lord.
“Does this even make sense?!”
The hunters despaired.
There had definitely been two A-rank monsters.
And the Divine Guild was supposed to deal with both of them.
But a third A-rank monster had appeared.
It was the Goblin Lord.
The Goblin Lord was a being that freely commanded all goblins while devising strategies, making it exceedingly troublesome.
“Fuck! Hurry up and bring the team leader here!”
“T-Team leader? Which team leader?!”
“You idiot! Get a grip! Team Leader Jeong Yerin, who else?!”
The hunter shouted.
The team leader who came from his mouth was Jeong Yerin.
She was the daughter of the Firebird Guild Master, and not long ago, she had cleared a dungeon.
By coincidence, that dungeon had been a Goblin Lord dungeon.
When everyone had thought it was impossible.
Jeong Yerin had subjugated the Goblin Lord and returned alive.
That was why the Firebird Guild hunters looked for Jeong Yerin first.
The monster before them now was also a Goblin Lord.
Because of that, there was hope that Jeong Yerin might be able to do something.
“For now, everyone, fall back little by little!”
Now that they knew there was a Goblin Lord, retreating was the best option for the moment.
The Firebird Guild hunters began to fall back little by little while waiting for Jeong Yerin.
The Goblin Lord stood in place and observed the opponent’s movements.
The goblins, too, waited for the orders of the Goblin Lord, their mid-boss, in disciplined stances.
The place where the Goblin Lord currently stood was an area close to the dungeon where the dimensional gate was located.
It had come here to secure an escape route in preparation for carrying out its great master’s orders and then returning.
Of course, their forces were so powerful that one could wonder whether such a thing had any meaning.
Already, this place had the Death Knight, the knight commander, as well as the Arch Lich, the inspector.
On top of that, with Chief Administrator Celia present, from the Goblin Lord’s perspective, there was little need to worry.
There was probably no need to go this far, but for now, it was an order from a superior.
It was simply a matter of faithfully carrying it out.
“Keh-heut, some of you, scout the surroundings!”
The Goblin Lord ordered some of its subordinates to scout the surrounding area.
The enemy humans had fully shifted into a defensive posture.
Because of that, the Goblin Lord intended to send its subordinates around the perimeter and find an opening.
They were fellows who already had experience as a reconnaissance unit.
Drawing on that experience, they divided themselves into groups on their own and began searching the surrounding terrain.
And a moment later.
Fweeeet—
A signal came from the unit that had gone out to scout.
Anyone who belonged to the reconnaissance unit knew what the current signal meant.
‘Intruders…!’
As agreed in advance, all of them began sprinting in the direction from which the signal had come.
“What’s this? There were goblins here too?”
At the location where the signal had come from, there were guests who had arrived first.
All of them were armed.
They gave off an atmosphere like adventurers.
Beneath them lay the goblin subordinates, collapsed.
The Goblin Lord opened its mouth, seething with anger.
“Who are you bastards, keh-heut?”
But the other side was not flustered.
Instead, after looking the Goblin Lord up and down, they spoke boldly.
“A crown? Team Leader, it’s definitely a Goblin Lord.”
“So it is. To think we’d run into a Goblin Lord.”
The identity of the woman at the front was Jeong Yerin.
She was affiliated with the Firebird Guild and was the daughter of the guild master.
And until recently, she had been struggling in the Goblin Lord dungeon.
Normally, it would have been right for her to rest, but upon receiving a report from a guild member that a Goblin Lord had suddenly appeared, she had no choice but to deploy in haste.
It was an A-rank monster, but she was not trembling.
Having already taken down a Goblin Lord once, she felt no fear in the current situation.
“Everyone, prepare for battle!”
Rather, strength surged within her.
Jeong Yerin shouted toward her team members.
There were many goblins.
On top of that, there was even the A-rank monster, the Goblin Lord.
But there was no trace of tension on Jeong Yerin’s face.
Because it had been she and her team members who had subjugated the Goblin Lord dungeon that everyone had thought impossible to clear.
Thanks to that, all of her team members were overflowing with confidence.
‘Once this is over, I really need to contact Mr. Ganghyeon.’
The fact that they had been able to subjugate the Goblin Lord dungeon had truly been a coincidence.
If not for the man named Lee Ganghyeon whom she had met at the café, it would never have been possible.
Jeong Yerin recalled what had happened back then once, then steadied her stance.
“You all know, right? The enemy is a Goblin Lord! Don’t overdo it, and just chip away at the edges!”
This strategy, too, had been taught to them by Lee Ganghyeon, and above all, it had played a tremendous role in their subjugation of the dungeon.
Because of that, she was confident in this battle as well.
The hunters charged toward the goblins.
Watching that scene, the Goblin Lord also activated its skill at the same time.
A faint red light began to spread from its entire body.
[Aura of War]
Empowered by the Goblin Lord’s skill, the bodies of the surrounding goblins also became wreathed in red light.
The breathing of every goblin grew ragged.
But they were not exhausted.
Rather, strength began to overflow through their bodies.
Above all, their bodies felt incredibly light.
The strength of all the goblins had been enhanced.
It was the effect of the Goblin Lord’s skill.
The Goblin Lord absolutely could not forgive the enemy.
What had its great master ordered, and what had Chief Administrator Celia said?
‘Minimize casualties…’
But it had already lost some of its subordinates.
In the end, it had stumbled from the very first step.
Therefore, it had to make up for this mistake.
“Go all out!”
Along with the Goblin Lord’s shout, the goblins began to retreat.
The Goblin Lord also grinned and headed backward.
They were not running away.
They had belonged to a reconnaissance unit from the start.
The true strength of a reconnaissance unit came from guerrilla attacks.
Fighting the enemy head-on in a frontal battle was foolish and stupid.
They only needed to defend this place.
The night was long.
Everything would proceed according to the will of the great one.
* * *
In the middle of the night, I took a taxi and rushed to the location where the Monster Wave had occurred.
Of course, because the taxi refused to go close, saying it was dangerous, I had no choice but to get off nearby.
“Maru, let’s go.”
As before, Maru had covered his entire body with a robe and a black mask.
And as soon as I got out of the taxi, I also covered my entire body with the robe I had prepared in advance.
Naturally, I wore a mask on my face as well.
Anyone who saw us would find us suspicious, but right now, this was an emergency.
A Monster Wave, no less.
Naturally, the monsters making up the Monster Wave belonged to me.
After returning from the Eldorad Continent, I had started a game.
While playing that game, I had developed a dungeon and gathered monster subordinates.
Those very fellows had caused the present situation.
Since they had belonged to me from the very beginning, they were not a threat to me.
That was why I had to hide my identity all the more.
Even if something happened, those guys would not attack me.
But if that became obvious, what would other people think of me?
That absolutely could not happen.
It would only make things more complicated.
Together with Maru, I slowly set off down the road.
The closer I headed toward the center, where the Death Knight and Archlich were, the fewer people there were.
Even when I came across people here and there, they were evacuating in the opposite direction from me.
How long had I walked?
As I kept moving forward, I encountered an unexpected group.
“What the hell?”
A group of five spotted me first and reacted.
“The one beside him is a person… no, doesn’t look like it. A summon?”
“Who cares? It looks weak anyway. Our prey came to us all on its own.”
“Kek. That’s true too.”
They looked back and forth between me and Maru, snickering.
Their expressions were utterly vile.
Behind them, people lay collapsed.
Not a single one of them looked normal.
In the case of the women, even their clothes had been torn open.
“……”
But that wasn’t the problem.
None of them were breathing.
They were all dead.
They hadn’t been attacked by monsters; they had simply been killed by the people right in front of me.
“Hey, done looking? Since you got to see something good, take out everything you’ve got.”
One of the group spoke to me.
“Huh? That weapon that bastard’s carrying looks pretty good.”
Someone took interest in the demon sword Maru held.
“……”
I was so dumbfounded by the sight of them that I couldn’t even speak.
The bastards in front of me were Hunters too.
There were people like this from time to time.
Bastards who only looked after their own interests, even amid danger.
This was clearly a dangerous situation where a monster wave had broken out.
“Kneel and hand that weapon over to us. Who knows? We might just spare your life.”
Instead of protecting the area, they were oppressing their fellow humans.
“Ha… This bastard still won’t listen? If you’re weak, then know your place and kneel, you shithead!”
When I said nothing, the bastards came toward me with angry faces.
For a moment, memories of the past surfaced.
Even while being discriminated against and bullied at the academy, I had stubbornly endured it all.
After barely graduating, I worked as a porter, but even that was not a smooth life.
And what about my life in another world?
Hadn’t there been bastards targeting me until just a short while ago?
Of course, even one of my classmates from the academy had been involved behind the scenes.
‘Ha.’
Yes, I knew it too.
This was what happened when you were weak.
Right now, this was a world where only the strong ruled the weak.
The voice of the weak held no meaning.
It was a world where if you were strong, even committing a crime was not a crime, but if you were not, the mere fact that you were weak became a sin.
“…Nothing has changed at all.”
I muttered quietly.
Of course, I was in no position to say that.
If you got down to it, the current situation had practically happened because of me.
The damage had probably snowballed, and even now it was still ongoing.
Yes, it wasn’t as if I had done well either.
I knew that perfectly well.
But these people had crossed the line in a different sense.
“Maru.”
When I briefly called his name, Maru raised his sword.
Then he thrust it at the enemy with all his strength.
Shlk—
The sword pierced the heart of the bastard approaching Maru.
“Huh?”
In the blink of an eye, one of them died.
The group that had been his companions wavered.
Their faces said they had never imagined Maru would be this powerful.
When people realized the other party was stronger than themselves, most of them reacted like this.
The bastards who had tried to kill me in the dungeon had looked the same.
That was what power was.
“I thought about it too weakly.”
Perhaps it had merely been sympathy.
Or perhaps I had wanted to appear moral to myself.
I could see their flustered expressions.
And I could see the corpses behind them.
If I hadn’t had this kind of power either?
If the other side had been stronger than me?
The person lying on the ground over there might have been me.
But there was no such thing as “if.”
They fell simply because I was strong.
No matter what anyone said, in the end, it all came down to power.
No matter how much I put moral actions forward, that was only the conscience of a single person.
That could not change the world.
“Maru.”
Those with twisted values, who abused their power.
“Kill them all.”
In the end, what eliminated them and changed the world was power.
That power would be able to create the better future I dreamed of.
Corpses piled up on the ground.
Normally, cleaning up afterward would have been difficult, but didn’t I have a useful trait?
- The trait “True Master of the Dungeon” has activated.
- Will you use the corpses of these Hunters as offerings for your dungeon?
The corpses lying on the ground slowly vanished.
This absorption was different from the offerings Celia sent me.
Their corpses would later be used for the development of my dungeon.
That, too, was my power.
But I knew.
No matter how powerful a strength was, it meant nothing if I could not control it.
“Let’s go.”
Now it was time to move forward again.
So that I could seize power for myself.
* * *
Before long, I reached a position where the Death Knight was visible.
And beside it, I confirmed that the Archlich was there as well.
They were all staring ahead, but I couldn’t tell what they were looking at.
Still, Celia’s figure was visible, very small in the distance.
Celia should be doing well.
Thinking that much, at least, Lee Ganghyeon gave Maru an order.
“Maru, go bring those bastards over here.”
Once the order was given, Maru charged forward with the black-tinged demon sword in hand.
His targets were the Death Knight and the Archlich.
“!”
However, there was no way the Death Knight, a being of a higher rank than Maru, would fail to notice.
The Death Knight immediately turned and met Maru’s sword head-on.
Clang—
The demon sword and the shield with the maid outfit attached collided, sending up black flames.
Then the Archlich beside it opened its mouth.
“Clack-clack-clack. Rattle.”
(You are the same as us, so why are you interfering with the plan? This is the plan of our great master.)
As the Archlich spoke, it lifted a feather quill.
Then the Skeleton waiting beside it opened a bottle of ink.
The Archlich dipped the quill into the ink and immediately began writing something in the book it was holding.
- Dared to rebel against Master’s plan and commit insubordination. This is not a matter that can be resolved with a point deduction, and I hereby request immediate dismissal from position.
But Maru also had plenty to say.
“Clack-clack-clack-clack.”
(This is the order Master gave me.)
At Maru’s words, the Archlich raised its head.
Come to think of it, it could feel a familiar energy.
Far in the distance, a being wearing a black robe came into view.
Ah.
The Archlich nodded.
- Listens far too well to the words of our great and noble Master. This is grounds for praise.