"...Crazy."
How far had he run? By the time Uju's dull body grew exhausted and breathless, he discovered the first corpse.
That corpse was the delivery man who had brought him his pizza not long ago. With the motorcycle strewn nearby and his helmet smashed to pieces, it looked as though some goblin had pounced on him from atop a wall.
"Well... if he died here like this, he probably would have died even if I hadn't called for delivery. May you rest in peace."
To lighten his guilt, Uju offered plausible words and prayed for the man's soul. He almost certainly would have died while delivering somewhere else, but since he happened to die here while delivering Uju's pizza, needless guilt crept in.
"Anyway, where did the Gate open?"
Monsters would still be emerging from the Gate entrance. So he should avoid that direction if possible, but since a corpse was found in the direction of the mart, he had a very bad premonition.
However, turning back now was quite difficult as well. Any mart other than the one he was heading to was too far, and if a Gate had opened in this direction and it was dangerous, he had to confirm whether it was 'truly' so. And if it was dangerous, he had to know how dangerous. He had planned to rush home with food and hole up there, but if a Gate had opened right nearby, he needed to grab only things he could eat immediately and run right back.
Anyway, thanks to this corpse, he realized he shouldn't run but approach carefully, so he began moving slowly. Still, having run quite a distance, even moving slowly, he reached a point where the mart was visible before long.
"Gek-gek!"
"Kieek!"
"Kyahaa!"
"......These fucking bastards."
Having laid eyes on the mart, Uju couldn't hold back and spat out a stream of curses. Not because of the human corpses strewn about. Seeing through the glass windows those precious, everyday provisions entering the filthy goblins' mouths, restraining himself would have been the stranger reaction. On top of that, seeing the large ice cream freezer that had been outside the mart building smashed to pieces made anger he didn't know he had flare up. If the outside had been devastated like that, what kind of mess would the inside be? He was beginning to doubt whether any salvageable food remained.
'One, two, three......there are more than twenty of the bastards feasting outside alone.'
Still, counting the number of goblins eating his precious everyday food outside made his excitement subside. There were far too many. It was fortunate, in a way, because if he got excited and his gun muzzle shook, he would miss even shots that should hit. Though their numbers were unfortunate.
-Clack
Still, Uju had a gun. And not just any gun, but this small, beautiful submachine gun. If he shot well with this, he could easily sweep away about twenty of them. If he stayed calm, it was possible. Hadn't he confirmed it earlier when he test-fired? That this body was not the past body of Lee Uju, the field recovery team member who had been dreaming empty dreams, but the body of Lee Uju the Psychopath Happy-Trigger Pleasure Killer.
It couldn't be helped. The gun felt far too familiar even though it was clearly his first time shooting. Whenever his mind felt like it would waver, gripping the gun would stabilize him. Moreover, this marksmanship where every shot hit its target was clearly not his own skill. It wasn't the regressed Lee Uju in charge of the mind, but this world's Lee Uju who had written that horrifying diary—this body remembered his shooting.
So he could do it. He could do it. He could do it...
"I said I can dooooo it!!"
He leaped out and opened fire.
-Ratatatat!
"Kieeeek!!"
"Hahahaha!!"
He was definitely not a Psychopath Happy-Trigger Pleasure Killer. There was no doubt about that. No doubt......but why did he feel so good?
"You vermin bastards...! Die, all of youuuuu!!!!"
At first, he seemed to be properly hitting vitals like heads and chests, but at some point he was just hitting randomly. Drunk on the pleasure of 'taking down monsters,' he had stopped aiming.
"Ha, hahaha...hahahahaha! You worthless trash! Dying so easily like this! Because of you, I......!!"
Only after reflexively, unknowingly blurting those out did Uju realize his true feelings. He hadn't been feeling good. He had been venting his pent-up rage. If they died this easily, if it was this simple...... Thinking of the past, of Hunters who had ignored their own abilities as if they were doing something great, not lending a single hand—this sight was truly pleasure itself.
-Rtatatat...click-click
"Hahaha...haa...is it over already?"
In fact, he had finished killing them all a while ago; filled with rage, he had sprayed bullets and wasted his ammunition. Uju scratched his head in reflection and quickly drew his pistol.
"Kyaak!!"
The ones inside the mart had been watching their comrades die amid the chaos, and belatedly leaped out once the noise stopped. It was a cold judgment, yet simultaneously a foolish one. Whether one stops despite being able to do more, or stops because one truly cannot—only by checking or preparing is it a cold and accurate judgment.
-Bang-bang-bang-bang!
He killed the ones coming out one after another with headshots.
"Keeeek!!"
Seeing the goblins that had tried to rush out flee back inside in shock, he grinned widely in a good mood.
"So this is a unique skill? What a unique skill."
Now completely relaxed, he twirled the pistol in his hand and acted with leisure. That said, Uju wasn't letting his guard down. Not knowing how many were still inside, not entering was an excellent decision.
"......Did everyone around here die?"
After watching the mart entrance for a moment and realizing they had no intention of coming out further, he looked around. Honestly, he found it a bit strange. No matter how much goblins possessed physical abilities rivaling adult men despite their small stature and wielded weapons, he had thought it impossible to kill every single person who had been in this mart. At least in his knowledge, goblins had no way to catch and kill fleeing people one by one.
"Ugh, this person died horribly."
While looking around with such doubtful feelings, he discovered a horrifying corpse right beside him. Though there were no significant external injuries, the entire body was swollen like a drowned person's, looking ready to burst. He looked closely to see if perhaps the person had just been born that way, but that didn't seem to be the case. Their eyes were wide open with an expression full of agony; it was as if they had been poisoned...
"Poison?!"
The moment he thought 'poison,' a horrifying realization struck him. The one and only possibility that would allow goblins to kill every fleeing person without leaving a single one alive...!
Uju urgently turned his head to look at the mart entrance. But it seemed his fears were needless anxiety. Not a single goblin was peeking from the mart entrance.
"......Haaa."
Uju let out a sigh of relief and looked down at the corpse again. Among goblins, there were occasionally those that attacked from a distance with poison needles. If there were several of them, it explained both such corpses and why everyone had died without anyone escaping. Since ordinary people would die instantly from even a graze, if they were grazed while fleeing, they could crawl in agony and die far away like this.
But if there were no goblin stingers, why had this person died like this?
Unfortunately, that question didn't last long.
-Thwip!
A goblin that had approached stealthily shot a poison needle, hitting Uju on the nape of his neck.
"......Fuck."
Before the question of 'when' could consume his mind, his body counterattacked reflexively.
-Bang!
The goblin collapsed with its brow pierced by the bullet, unable to even scream. For the first monster to successfully attack him, it was a far too futile end.
"F...uck."
But Uju had no leisure for such sentiments now. He urgently pulled out the poison needle and touched the wound; he could feel it was already swollen to the size of a fist.
"Shittt!!"
Overcome with emotion, he threw the gun. The thought suddenly crossed his mind that if he got excited and moved violently, his blood would circulate faster and he might die even sooner, but he couldn't control himself. Thinking that he would now die like that corpse over there, he simply couldn't calm down. To think he had regressed only to meet such an end—how futile. To die by a method he had thought possible after considering everything! How......stupid was that.
He wanted to shed tears of frustration, but he couldn't even do that. Having been hit in the neck, the poison seemed to have already reached his eyes.
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【The King of the 72nd Legion】 has taken notice of your exploits.
A mission is proposed to you.
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"......!!"
Something strange suddenly appeared in his blurred vision. It was a format he was seeing for the first time, yet the form itself was very familiar. Something strange like a hologram, very similar to the status window possessed by Awakened Hunters.
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Mission - Forge a contract with 【The King of the 72nd Legion】.
Rank.F
Forge a contract with 【The King of the 72nd Legion】 and become a contractor.
Reward - One vial of antidote
Will you accept? Y/N
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Having quickly read all the contents, he didn't know what it was, but since it offered an antidote, he quickly accepted. While raising a trembling finger, he thought that if this was truly like a status window, he only needed intent—and it was fortunate that it really worked.
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【The King of the 72nd Legion】 has proposed a contract.
If you contract with him, you may become his contractor and receive help, or as his contractor, you may have to do things you do not wish to do.
Detailed contents can be checked [here].
Will you truly contract? Y/N
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Without checking what it was babbling about, he accepted the moment he saw the letter Y. He had to survive first, didn't he?
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Mission complete!
One vial of antidote is awarded as a reward.
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A glass bottle containing a clear green liquid was already gripped in Uju's hand. Though it was called an antidote, judging by its appearance, it was unmistakably a potion. Uju downed the potion without hesitation.