“You’re insane.”
The results exceeded my expectations.
B-rank+
I now possessed power on par with A-rank.
But to others, it was an out-of-standard existence that couldn’t be measured.
To everyone else, I would still appear to be F-rank.
I clenched and unclenched my fist.
The density of the aura gathering at my fingertips was different.
If before it had been like a match flame that could go out at any moment, now it was like an active volcano ready to erupt at any time.
“With specs like this, it’s a pretty satisfying start.”
I stood up and brushed the filth from my clothes.
My body felt light as a feather.
The sensation of defying gravity felt good.
—Bzz, bzz.
The spare smartphone in my pocket vibrated.
Of course, it wasn’t a phone registered under my name.
It was a burner phone to avoid being tracked.
The sender was my information broker.
[I secured the item you requested. But the atmosphere isn’t good. Have you seen the news?]
I wiped my wet fingers on my clothes, swiped the screen, and opened an internet window.
[Real-Time Search Terms]
ㅁ Isha von Estelle Enraged
ㅁ Wave of Mourning for Dessor
ㅁ Dragon Slayer’s Identity
ㅁ Seoul Lockdown
ㅁ I Han
My name was already in fifth place.
That was faster than I expected.
Those Association bastards. They usually just waste tax money, but they’re quick only at times like this.
Calmly, I checked the breaking news comments.
[I Han? Never heard of him.]
[They say he’s F-rank. Does that even make sense?]
[An F-rank killed a dragon? Did he use a nuke or something?]
[Earth’s author is writing whatever he wants again.]
[I Han’s personal info got leaked. No parents, lives in a gosiwon in Sillim-dong. The Saintess is personally heading to his address right now ㄷㄷㄷ]
[Wow, insane lol. Isha’s going herself? If that guy gets caught, there won’t even be bones left.]
On the screen.
Footage of Isha traveling by helicopter was being broadcast live as a news special.
Her long white hair whipped in the wind.
Her expression was cold, but her eyes were bloodshot and red.
A murderous aura that looked as if it would burst through the camera lens at any moment and burn the world down.
“Sorry, Isha.”
I murmured softly as I looked at her on the screen.
‘The only thing waiting for you at the gosiwon you’re heading to now is a scrap of underwear I took off.’
Your anger is justified.
You lost your family, so of course it is.
That rage will make you stronger.
The more desperate you are to kill me now,
the more viciously you’ll train, and the more desperately you’ll crave power.
That is the picture I want.
You can’t be a Saintess softened by peace. You must become a woman of iron, burning with vengeance.
Only then can you stop all the calamities to come.
I sent a reply to the information broker.
[I know. We’re changing the meeting place. In front of Gate 3, District B.]
After pressing send, I threw the smartphone to the ground and crushed it underfoot.
Leaving the crunching fragments behind, I headed for the exit.
A bounty of one hundred billion won.
The hatred of all humanity.
The pursuit of the strongest person in the world.
To anyone else, it would look like the worst possible situation, but I felt great.
Because the world was moving exactly according to the board I had designed.
“Now, shall I start preparing to loot the library in the west?”
***
—Bang!!
The door to the worn-out gosiwon room was ripped off and slammed into the opposite wall.
Before the dust could even settle, Saintess Isha von Estelle walked into the cramped room.
The golden fighting spirit radiating from her entire body instantly evaporated the damp air of the gosiwon.
“…He’s not here?”
Isha’s eyebrow twitched.
A narrow bed barely big enough for one person to lie on.
A few pieces of clothing.
A half-eaten cup noodle container.
It was far too shabby to be the hideout of the one who had murdered the empire’s guardian dragon.
“Saintess, there are no mana reactions in the area. It seems he fled quite some time ago.”
The Association agent who followed her in reported while breaking out in a cold sweat.
Instead of answering, Isha scanned the room.
Post-it notes and newspaper clippings were plastered all over the wall.
A handwritten memo caught her eye.
[Great Seoul Air Raid, First Target: Isha von Estelle — Death]
[Variable: Desolatus’s Rampage. Must be eliminated before then.]
[Required Materials: Dragon’s Heart, Key to the Western Library, Demon King’s Horn.]
“What… is this?”
Isha’s eyes wavered.
On the map, the locations and times of monster gate occurrences were written down to the minute.
Some of them matched events that had already happened with perfect accuracy.
Among them, the phrase written in red pen in the most conspicuous spot stood out.
[Isha von Estelle is too soft. She must be kept alive, even if I have to turn her into a demon.]
“Keep… me alive?”
Isha let out a sneer.
You killed my family and claim it was to keep me alive?
What kind of absurd sophistry is this?
He was either a mad zealot or a delusional lunatic.
Her fingertips trembled faintly.
The look in that man’s eyes when they had just faced each other.
Hidden behind that vile smile that had mocked her.
Those strangely calm eyes would not leave her mind.
“Saintess! Please look at this!”
The agent found an old notebook in the desk drawer and shouted.
Isha’s expression hardened as she opened the notebook.
Inside, it was densely filled with details about her habits that even Isha herself had forgotten, the weaknesses in her swordsmanship, even the dates when her menstrual cramps were severe.
“……Ha.”
Isha crumpled the notebook in her hand.
Her rage rose until it could rise no higher, then cooled to ice.
He wasn’t some common thief.
He was a stalker who had observed and analyzed her for a long time, who knew everything about her.
Or else an executor for some vast force behind the scenes targeting her life.
“F-rank I Han. No, there’s a high chance even that identity was forged.”
Isha turned around.
“We’ll be moving soon too, so mobilize all of the Association’s intelligence. Every place he might go, every person he might contact.”
“Saintess, where do you think his possible destination might be?”
Isha recalled the next target written on the wall.
[Western Arcane Library.]
“There.”
***
A junkyard on the outskirts of Seoul.
In the air thick with the fishy smell of metal mixed with the stink of oil, I frowned.
“They’re five minutes late.”
Sitting on top of a crumpled scrap car, I tapped my wristwatch.
In front of Gate 3, District B.
A place with few people around, perfect for an illicit trade.
At the same time, it was also a good place to bury someone without a trace.
[Information Broker: I’m almost there. Traffic’s a bit bad. lol]
Looking at the message on the smartphone, I pulled the corner of my mouth down.
Traffic is bad?
Right now, my senses are picking up more than ten stealthy presences approaching me.
[Enemy killing intent detected.]
“As expected.”
One hundred billion won.
It was more than enough to sell off the professional ethics of an information broker.
From his perspective, I probably looked like nothing more than an F-rank who had somehow gotten lucky and killed a dragon.
He must have calculated that since I was the guy who stole the Dragon Heart and ran, if he captured me and handed me over, he could take the bounty and monopolize the items I had too.
“Why don’t you come out? The weather’s a little too muggy for hide-and-seek.”
Silence followed my words.
—Thud.
From behind the junkyard containers, men in black suits came walking out in a crowd.
At their head was a bald man wearing a greasy smile, Information Broker Mr. Park.
“Oh my, Mr. I Han. You’ve got sharp instincts. As expected of the hero who killed a dragon.”
Mr. Park tapped the steel pipe in his hand against his palm.
“But what can I do? That’s how things work in this field. Nobody can stand against money.”
“The item?”
I ignored Mr. Park’s nonsense and asked.
Mr. Park jerked his chin, directing my gaze.
The subordinate beside him held up an attaché case.
“I did bring it. The master key to the Western Arcane Library. I used up half my connections getting this thing. But you see…”
Mr. Park’s eyes gleamed greedily.
“It’d be a waste to just hand over something this precious, wouldn’t it? Mr. I Han, the price on your head is soaring through the roof right now.”
“So?”
“Surrender quietly. Then we’ll split it half and half, and I’ll get you out of the country. How’s that? Isn’t that a pretty reasonable offer?”
The thugs around us laughed crudely as they tightened the encirclement.
A quick scan showed their average level was C-rank.
Among them, one or two seemed to be in the early B-rank range.
If I hadn’t possessed the omnipotent power of the dragon,
I would have pissed myself and begged like a fly for them to spare me.
“Reasonable, huh.”
I slowly climbed down from the scrap car.
The moment I landed, a slight cloud of dust rose from the ground.
“My calculations are a little different.”
“What?”
“I take the item, and you all get away with your lives. Isn’t that more reasonable?”
Mr. Park’s face flushed red and blue.
“You bastard, do you seriously not understand the situation?”
“That’s exactly what I should be saying to you.”
“Hey, stomp him! Beat him half-crippled and drag him in front of the Saintess!”
The moment the order fell, the muscular man closest to me swung his fist.
A punch enhanced by a strengthening-type skill.
The sound of it cutting through the air was heavy.
—Whoosh.
To my eyes,
‘How boring.’
it looked so slow it was almost yawn-inducing.
Without even taking my hands out of my pockets, I merely tilted my head slightly.
—Vwoom.
The fist brushed past my ear.
“Huh?”
In the instant the man panicked,
I lightly extended my foot.
A tap to the shin.
“Gaaah!!”
I had only tapped him.
Yet the man’s leg bent at a grotesque angle.
The bones of a C-rank Hunter snapped like dry reeds.
I stepped on the head of the man as he collapsed screaming and leaped.
“Wh-what the hell! Why is that bastard so strong?”
Mr. Park recoiled in horror and stumbled backward.
“S-shoot! Fire magic at him!”
The mages in the back cast fireballs and ice arrows.
Sorry, but I had already burrowed inside their range.
The mana of the Dragon Heart spread through my bloodstream and throughout my body.
Hot.
Electrifying.
So this was the body of a B+ rank.
I reached out and struck down the incoming fireball with my bare hand.
—Boom!
Flames scattered in every direction, but not a single scorch mark remained on my palm.
“N-no way. He knocked away magic with his hand?”
I grabbed the terrified mage by the collar and slammed him straight into the ground.
—Bang!
The concrete floor of the junkyard cracked like a spiderweb.
“Next.”
I turned my head with a beastlike smile.
“H-he’s a monster!”
Five were left.
They had already lost the will to fight and were trembling.
“R-run!”
“Where do you think you’re going?”
I picked up the steel pipe lying on the ground.
‘Control your strength.’
I threw it like a javelin toward my target.
—Shiiik!
—Thwack!
It pierced the shoulders of the fleeing men and lodged in the door of a scrap car.
The situation was over in an instant.
I approached Mr. Park, who was sitting on the ground, trembling.
The crotch of his pants was soaked.
“S-spare me. P-please… I was blind. I went mad for money……”
Mr. Park slammed his head to the ground and begged.
I crouched down and met his eyes.
“The item.”
“H-here! It’s right here!”
Mr. Park held out the attaché case with shaking hands.
When I opened the case, an antique brass key was emitting a faint light.
[Grade: B-rank]
[A key that allows entry through the administrator entrance of the Western Arcane Library.]
[Effect: Opens an administrator entrance accessible through a route separate from regular users. (Single-use.)]