Volume 1, Episode 18
018
That was how it was on Planet Rumer.
He had to do whatever it took to survive, and he always had to keep his senses sharp.
The days he had slept comfortably were few enough to count on one hand, and the same went for meals.
And anything that threatened his survival.
Crack.
He had to destroy it all.
Because that was the only way to survive.
“Kuh, kuhk.”
Lee Seojun, gripping the throat of raid member Lee Seungheon.
“Stop!”
Raid leader Yun Hyeongi, who witnessed this scene, shouted urgently.
“What do you think you’re doing!”
He knew they were having an aura clash.
And that it would result in Lee Seojun’s victory.
‘This isn’t it.’
But he hadn’t known it would be like this.
He had thought Lee Seojun would show his skills in monster hunting, or that it would be a trivial scuffle.
‘This bastard, he’s really planning to kill him.’
He had never imagined it would turn out this way.
To think he would try to kill a raid member whom he had called someone trustworthy.
Lee Seojun was crazy.
“Stop!”
He was clearly out of his mind.
Yun Hyeongi hurriedly intervened.
But the situation had already been settled long ago.
Flinch.
No one stepped forward after witnessing the overwhelming strength Lee Seojun had shown just moments ago.
They merely stared with wide, startled eyes, watching with the gazes of bystanders.
Then, at that moment.
“It seems you poisoned me.”
Lee Seojun’s dry voice echoed throughout the space.
“What…?”
Yun Hyeongi’s pupils widened in shock.
He wondered if he had perhaps misheard.
“You said poisoned?”
He had thought they were having an aura clash, but this was not it.
To think it was actually this.
“Th-that’s!”
Raid member Kim Sanguk, barely conscious, shouted while lying on the floor, lifting only his head.
“Poison! That’s absurd!”
As if he felt wronged, he looked at Yun Hyeongi and shouted loudly.
But that lasted only a moment.
“I merely added a little basic debuff potion. I never thought playing a prank on the newbie would turn out like this….”
The voice that had been coming out loud grew smaller and smaller until it was barely audible.
Kim Sanguk’s gaze was once again directed at the ground.
Flinch.
At that, Yun Hyeongi flinched and furrowed his brow.
“You… crazy….”
Even he, who had awakened as a Hunter not long ago, knew.
They seemed to think basic debuff potions weren’t even considered poison, but he mustn’t forget.
“This is a Gate! You bastards!”
A trivial mistake, a slight change in condition.
That alone could have a tremendous impact.
A Gate was a place where you could lose your life if you were careless.
“…….”
But come to think of it, that had been the case.
They had given him their trust and followed him since before he awakened, but that was….
‘Because in the end, it had to be me.’
The youngest son of the Tyrion Guild Master.
A Hunter who had just finished the tutorial.
The fact that they had to bet everything on someone like him meant they were disposable goods abandoned by Tyrion.
“Huu….”
As Yun Hyeongi was sighing deeply with these thoughts.
“Trash is,”
Lee Seojun said.
“Just trash, nothing more.”
“…….”
At that, Yun Hyeongi couldn’t give any answer.
He had lost his words.
“Moreover, didn’t you say they were trustworthy?”
Lee Seojun said with sunken eyes.
As Yun Hyeongi hesitated and was about to nod.
“Who is Yun Hyeonsu?”
An unexpected name burst from Lee Seojun’s mouth.
“Hyungnim?”
“This bastard was reporting to someone called Yun Hyeonsu.”
Lee Seojun pointed at the collapsed Kim Sanguk.
-Yes. I think we’ll enter the Gate shortly.
His senses had grown extremely sharp as his mana level increased.
Because of that, before entering the Gate, he had heard a suspicious voice some distance away.
He had quietly headed there while erasing his presence.
-Understood. Yes. I will report again after the raid is complete. Raid Leader Yun Hyeonsu.
Then he had seen Kim Sanguk secretly making a call while looking around.
“……!”
Yun Hyeongi’s eyes went wide.
Tremble. Tremble.
His enlarged pupils now began to shake uncontrollably.
It was something he knew nothing about.
“I understand…. I understand….”
Yun Hyeongi looked greatly shocked by the sudden revelation.
“Once we get out of here, all of this will be—”
As he opened his mouth to Lee Seojun with a trembling voice.
Swish.
“Kuh, kuhk!”
Lee Seojun had already moved and gripped Kim Sanguk’s throat as he lay on the ground.
Crack.
A horrifying sound of breaking bones.
“Again?”
Lee Seojun dropped raid member Kim Sanguk like garbage, his body hanging limp and powerless.
“That’s your way.”
Lee Seojun strode out.
“Don’t get it wrong. I’ll move according to my own way.”
He could never leave anything that posed even the slightest threat to his survival.
* * *
Not all of the Hunters who had poisoned Lee Seojun were dead.
-I’ll take responsibility. So please.
At Yun Hyeongi’s earnest request, Lee Seojun stopped after killing only one.
-If troublesome matters arise….
-I know. I said I know.
Yun Hyeongi had promised firmly.
Fortunately, Yun Hyeongi was the youngest son of the Tyrion Guild Master.
He could easily silence them, and erase the death of a single Hunter.
-An aura clash?
That had ended long ago.
Moreover, Yun Hyeongi was mistaken about this aura clash.
This was not an aura clash between Lee Seojun and the raid members.
Only then could Yun Hyeongi realize once more.
‘He was originally that kind of human.’
Lee Seojun.
That the bastard had brought an aura clash upon him.
-If left alone, both would die on their own. Is there any reason I must go out of my way to save them?
The things he had shown in the tutorial.
He must never forget them.
‘That bastard.’
That he was a devil incarnate, without blood or tears.
That Lee Seojun was someone who moved solely for his own benefit.
He must not think of him as an ordinary human, even for a moment.
That was why he had to always keep it in his head.
-Just as you use me, I will use you too.
That he and the bastard were in a relationship of thoroughly using each other.
He had to think that way.
‘I must.’
Because only then would he not make such a mistake again.
“…….”
Yun Hyeongi could feel none of the joy or pleasure that his raid party had embarked on its first raid.
In the heavy atmosphere, he merely watched Lee Seojun’s mood.
But this was not only Yun Hyeongi.
Tremble. Tremble.
Raid member Lee Seungheon, whose neck had been grabbed by Lee Seojun moments ago.
He too trembled all over, watching Lee Seojun’s mood with an expression full of fear.
Gulp.
The remaining six raid members also stood frozen in place, swallowing dryly.
Everyone was overwhelmed by the shocking scene he had shown.
Then, amid that.
Tap, tap.
Lee Seojun coming back from somewhere alone.
“Where have you been coming back from?”
Watching him, Yun Hyeongi asked out of curiosity.
“You’ll know when we get there.”
Having said that, Lee Seojun stepped forward first, lost in thought.
‘Isn’t the whole point of a “level” that it goes up by hunting monsters?’
Player. System.
He had ordered Lee Hyeonu to investigate such things.
-For now, nothing in particular has come up from what I’ve investigated. I’ll look into it further.
But nothing could be found.
-By the way, I don’t know exactly what this is, but words like these appear in games….
However, he had obtained a hint from Lee Hyeonu’s words.
‘Hmm.’
Recalling memories of Earth in the past, games had similar tendencies, and he was experimenting based on that information.
One hunts monsters to level up.
He had thought that restricted abilities would be unlocked bit by bit that way, but it was not so.
No matter how many Gate monsters he hunted, he did not level up, nor could he acquire experience.
Crack.
Furthermore, he could not use his special skill and ability, Fusion, on ordinary Gate monsters.
He had a guess.
‘In the end….’
The place where all these things had been accomplished.
It was that he had to hunt Special Gates.
That was the moment it became certain once more.
Trudge. Trudge.
As Lee Seojun walked forward in the lead, Yun Hyeongi and the hesitating raid members soon followed.
As they all moved forward like that.
Tap.
As if they had made a promise, everyone stopped in their tracks.
“Heop.”
And upon seeing the scene before their eyes, one raid member covered his mouth and retched.
That was the beginning.
“What the…. Uweeehk!”
Other raid members also began retching one after another.
They were all quite experienced Hunters.
But the horrific scene unfolding right before their eyes was.
“Uuuk. Uuuuuuk!”
Something they had never experienced.
“This is….”
What awaited there was a field of corpses.
Yun Hyeongi barely managed to cover his mouth.
Tremble. Tremble.
His pupils trembled faintly.
“Did you do this?”
A question directed at Lee Seojun.
He who had gone out alone….
“Yeah.”
Had hunted the monsters on the path forward and piled them into a mountain.
* * *
Shhhiek!
Lee Seojun’s knife-hand fiercely cleaved the air.
“Kwuaaak!”
At that, the Iron Oak guarding the door let out its death throes and collapsed.
Kwoong!
A massive noise shook the earth.
Swoosh.
At the same time, the eyes of everyone present turned toward the iron door that looked extremely solid.
‘Boss room.’
In the heavy atmosphere, the Gate raid had somehow reached its end.
What was fortunate, however.
“Follow me.”
Was that Lee Seojun had blended in somehow.
Before they knew it, all Hunters were following Lee Seojun.
Trudge.
The Hunters’ gazes were directed at Lee Seojun’s back as he moved forward in the lead.
‘Just what is that guy….’
What was Lee Seojun’s true identity?
Curiosity flooded in, but….
-Crack.
He couldn’t muster the courage to find out.
The cruelty he had shown.
-Uuuk. Uuuuuuk!
The shocking sight of a mountain of monster corpses.
-Don’t get it wrong. I’ll move according to my own way.
The overwhelming charisma that made even Yun Hyeongi—their raid leader and the youngest son of the Tyrion Guild Master—follow him.
Gulp.
Because of those things, not even the smallest courage welled up.
Just thinking about it made his whole body go numb.
To think he would have such thoughts about a comrade with whom he had to break through the Gate.
This was clearly wrong.
‘This is the first time I’ve felt this way.’
However, if it were only these things, Lee Seojun would be no more than a tyrant who would lead the raid party to ruin.
‘…But it’s certain.’
His definite skills gave a strange sense of faith.
Squeeeeak!
And now could truly be called the climax.
The firmly closed iron door opened with a massive noise.
“I’ll handle it alone.”
At the same time, Lee Seojun opened his mouth toward everyone in a dry tone.
“…….”
At that, all Hunters directed only their gazes at Lee Seojun, answering with silence.
‘Normally.’
They would have asked if he was crazy wanting to die, and immediately tried to dissuade him.
If it had been anyone other than Lee Seojun who spoke just now, that would actually have happened.
Even though they had taken on a slightly lower-level Gate.
“Kuwaaaaaaak!”
A boss monster possessing strength and solid defense incomparable to an Iron Oak.
The Iron Turk was a creature that required at least five or six Hunters to swarm it for an hour to clear.
‘This is absurd.’
That was why, normally, saying he would break through alone was not even worth half a penny.
Swoosh.
But the raid members all knew this, yet no one stepped forward.
Kwoong! Kwoong!
They merely watched the approaching Iron Turk while holding their breath.
And Lee Seojun.
Taat.
Rushed at the creature alone.
The strongest villain in history returned.