Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Trash of The Count's Family - 18
Trash of The Count's Family - 18
The Ranger Brigade members started to stretch their bodies that felt light after finally
having their chains come off.
Peek peek.
Flip, flip.
Her chubby hands that were holding the document were shaking.
Tap!
She finished reading and handed the document to Solena as she turned toward Cale.
However, it had already happened. She had no choice but to go along with this new
plan.
She looked away from Cale Henituse who had a sly expression on his face.
“Let's go.”
“Okay.”
“Leader?”
Bud smiled at the Ranger Brigade members who were looking at him in confusion.
Sniff sniff.
She looked toward the Ranger Brigade members and Cale as she started to speak.
“We will finish all preparations so that we can move as soon as we get your
signal.”
Cale slightly bowed toward
Rosalyn waved her hand while Cotton's baggy priestess robe fluttered as she headed
toward the entrance of the underground hideout.
“Follow me.”
speak. “It should be easy changing your hair colors with magic,
right?”
She was talking to Cale but her gaze was focused on Eruhaben.
Snap!
Cale, Bud, and Eruhaben’s appearances changed with that small snap.
They all now had the common brown hair. Of course, the shades of the hairs were all
different.
Cale brushed his light brown hair back and put the priest robe over his clothes.
Screeeech.
"We are heading to the Temple of the Demonic God. Follow me closely.”
The Deputy Chief Priest's true trusted subordinates were already waiting outside.
Cale, Bud, and Eruhaben headed to the center of those trusted subordinates.
“Let’s go.”
Cale, who was standing at the center of the formation, looked toward the center of
Section 2.
However, the person standing in front of him slightly tilted his head to the side.
“Are you in a position to say that you can’t do something right now?”
Smile.
‘This crazy-!’
“Ugh!”
He wasn’t afraid of the Dark Elf half-blood in front of him. This bastard was unique
because he could use magic, but that wasn’t a big obstacle for Mock.
However, he could not say the same for the woman behind his back right
now. “I just want to get rid of anything related to the White Star.”
The pressure she then gave off was even stronger than Dragon Fear.
Mock was sweating bullets because of this pressure that was focused solely on him.
Clang!
“You talk too much. Just hurry up and answer whether it is possible or not.”
‘Motherf*cker!’
Nobody cared and the weakest but most heinous bastard pushed a document toward
Mock.
Alberu gently continued to speak to Count Mock who was glaring at him.
“Just report to the White Star following the script when I give you the signal later.” “…
Mock was at a loss for words at Informant Bob's response. Alberu didn’t care as he
got up and patted Count Mock's shoulder.
“You're dead if he finds out because you're so stiff like earlier. Let’s practice a lot so
that you look natural. You have to do it naturally. Got it?”
Alberu left him in the room and walked out with Duke Fredo and Choi Han.
It was because Lord Sheritt said that she would watch over Mock.
Raon, who was sitting in front of a video communication device, fluttered his wings as
soon as they came in.
Alberu pointed to a seat in the strategy room next to Duke Fredo, who still thought
that he was actually Bob.
Alberu, Choi Han, and Fredo all sat down inside the strategy room.
They just had to wait for Cale to contact them now.
She gently cheered on the priest whose arms were full of gifts for the citizens and
entered the Temple of the Demonic God.
Of course, her trusted subordinates were holding gifts and other items as well.
“Ah! Deputy Chief Priest-nim! Did everything go smoothly with what you needed to
do?”
“Amazing.”
Cotton lightly responded to Cale who was following behind her while disguised as a
priest.
Cale was stealthily looking around rather than looking at her.
He heard Eruhaben's voice in his mind. Cale nodded his head without making it look
too visible.
This place that the Chief Priest was said to take special care to maintain was pretty
empty even though it was festival time.
The Temple of the Demonic God had set up close to a hundred long tables in the
garden to treat the visiting citizens.
Sniff sniff.
Cotton headed deeper into the Temple as Bud’s sniffing became more frequent.
“Those who are carrying things, deliver the goods to their respective locations. The
rest of you come with me.”
She gave orders to her trusted subordinates and over half of them started to move
elsewhere.
Cotton only took Cale's group and a few of her trusted subordinates as she walked
forward again.
Cale heard Eruhaben's voice and observed the large door in front of him.
A black door that did not fit this white building was blocking their way.
Multiple priests stationed outside the door holding swords and spears recognized
her. “You are working hard even during a day like today.”
busier.” “I understand.”
it. Screeeech-
opened. ‘Ho-’
‘What is that?’
There was a seriously heinous looking human sculpture on the high platform at the
center.
“Let's go in.”
The air in here was colder than in the other parts of the temple. That temperature
and the heinous human sculpture together gave him the chills.
Boom!
Cale turned toward the closed door. He heard Cotton’s voice at that moment.
He turned toward Cotton. Her trusted subordinates quickly walked over to the black
door and stationed themselves there as she motioned with her hand.
Clang.
“Since this place was created, the rule is that nobody opens the door while Gersey,
the White Star, or I am praying in here.”
Smile.
“That was the only way for the White Star to progress with becoming a member of
the Demonic race without any disturbances. And that is going to be advantageous for
us right now.”
“We are going to go underground using the hidden passage in this sculpture. Just
wait a little bit.”
“Who is that?”
“This human's face looks extremely heinous and as if he has fallen into despair. But I
cannot tell who it is.”
“Me neither. But it must be someone related to the White Star if he would create this
sculpture.”
“Sort of.”
“…What?”
Cotton was the one with the most shocked reaction. She stopped opening the passage
and turned toward Cale in shock.
passage.” “Ha………”
Cotton started to frown as she resumed moving the device to open the passage. It
seemed to require a special power to activate, as the ring on her finger was giving off
some kind of power.
“Who is it?”
“Ho-”
Eruhaben gasped in
Eruhaben who had been looking at the sculpture while wondering if a human being
could have such a heinous expression had to look at the sculpture in a different light
now.
his mind.
‘How does Cale know about the White Star’s bare face?’
Eruhaben had not heard about the information Cale had gathered from Duke Fredo
yet.
“He has such a vicious expression. He wouldn't look so heinous if he had a regular
expression on his face.”
As for Cale, he was looking at the sculpture of the White Star’s bare face with an odd
sensation.
‘My face really looks despicable with that kind of heinous expression.’
Seeing this face on a sculpture made him really think that Kim Rok Soo and the White
Star looked quite similar.
Cale found it laughable that such a sculpture existed at the center of the Temple of the
Demonic God.
It made him think that the White Star really was out of his mind.
Screeeeeeeech, screeeeech-
Cale saw the sculpture move up at that moment. He stopped walking and turned
toward Cotton.
Cotton pointed to the passage that appeared now that the sculpture had moved up.
“We need to hurry because you wasted some time with the hostages.”
you?” “I did.”
It seemed like a typical underground passage, however, it was extremely large. It was
wide enough for ten adults to walk side by side.
‘Something is weird.’
He could clearly tell that the temperature here was much lower than outside. ‘…
This is weird.’
For some odd reason, it made Cale start to have an ominous feeling.
This unexplainable sense of uncertainty swept over him. It gave him the chills.
“As the information Duke Fredo gave you should have said, the underground facility
is divided into three locations.”
“Gersey and the White Star can go to all three places. I am only allowed in two.”
Tap. Tap.
The sound of the four people walking down echoed through the passage.
“But the most important place is the third location. The place I can't go. We must go in
there and destroy it today.”
“What proof do you have that the third location is the most important?”
Cale asked since the reasoning was not mentioned in the information he received last
time.
Why was Cotton emphasizing that the third location was the most important?
“We don't have time, so I’ll explain on our way over. I definitely have proof to back
me up.”
Her eyes seemed confident that the proof she found was reliable.
At the end of the staircase… This place looked like a naturally constructed cave.
“It is a dead mana storage facility. The White Star absorbs the dead mana here
periodically.”
The numerous large beautiful glass containers were full of black liquid.
However, Cale calmly counted the number of glass containers as he started to speak.
“Please.”
“It’s easy.”
Eruhaben said it was easy, but it was actually difficult. There were quite a lot of them.
Shh.
Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep-
“What?”
“This is the signal my trusted subordinates were to send if they were caught! Who is
it? Who found us? It’s not the White Star!”
“Gersey! I'm sure Gersey is the one who found us! My trusted subordinate would not
have been able to send me a signal if it was the White Star! They’d be dead long
before they could do that!”
“Why? Gersey was supposed to come an hour later, so why did he come here earlier?
He’s kept this rule for many years, so what changed?”
chaotic. Beeeeeep-
Beeeeeeep-
It was at that
moment. Crack!
“Damn it!”
Baaaaaang!
“…This orb is connected by the power of those who serve the Demonic race. Only
another priest could destroy it.”
“Based on Gersey’s personality, he would have immediately contacted the White Star
after suppressing my subordinates. He will only enter the underground passage
after doing that. He does not make rash movements. He is the thorough type.”
“You're saying that it is better to destroy this place before the White Star comes
rather than handling Gersey?”
“In order to destroy the cave, it is best to destroy it from the innermost area.”
She looked at the map as she started to walk to the inner area of the cave.
Not getting all this dead mana was a pity, but it was not a facility that needed to be
destroyed.
“Aaaaah!”
There were whirlwinds at the tips of Cale's feet and her feet.
Cotton looked down at her feet for a moment before nodding her head.
He could feel the numerous lives that were lost in order to create this much dead
mana.
“…I told you that the third location was the most important, right? I also said I have
proof that is the case.”
“Yes.”
Who the hell were Gersey's trusted subordinates that they were making so much
noise heading down?
Cale noticed a wall and door at the end of the glass containers.
She looked at the map over and over as she continued to speak.
“The underground facility was created when the white castle was created. I
participated in its creation, but the innermost area of this facility… I couldn’t hear
anything about the third location.”
He had heard that it took a long time between the beginning of the Endable
Kingdom's construction and the end.
But the Deputy Chief Priest who seemed to be in her twenties had participated in all
of it and was still alive?
“I did think that it was an important place at first, but I didn’t suspect anything after
that.”
"But once our grasp on the Mogoru Empire ended, Gersey started to enter the third
location very frequently.”
“Haaaaa.”
“…What?”
Cale's face stiffened as Cotton started to speak faster.
“It happens every eight hours. Gersey brings his trusted subordinates with him and
brings 'feed’ to the third facility.”
“…Sometimes it was humans, but there were other living beings as well. Regardless of
their origin, they brought eight living beings three times a day.”
Cotton who was extremely sensitive to Gersey's movements and had been observing
his daily routine had picked up on this odd routine at some point.
"His subordinates find the feed from outside. Gersey isn’t with them at that time.”
It seemed that although Gersey was always with his subordinates to come in here and
deliver the feed to the third location, only his subordinates went out to find the feed.
“Once I figured that out, I cast an illusion and stealthily followed them once.”
“I heard one of the subordinates talking at that time. He’s the only one of Gersey’s
trusted subordinates who can talk. This is what that bastard said.”
Tap.
She grabbed the lock on the door to the second location as she continued to speak.
She was repeating the things Gersey’s subordinate said at that time.
“He said, ‘we need to hurry up and find the feed for those monsters!’ ” “…
Monsters?”
“ ‘The day those terrible things are no longer sealed… We must give everything we
have to fulfill our liege's orders as that day will be the day our liege and our
majesty’s dreams all come true!’ ”
“…And then?”
“I got caught.”
Ooooooooong-
“I had to quickly run away because Gersey's subordinates found me. I barely made it
back alive.”
Bud, who had been thinking about what she just said, started to speak.
“All of their dreams will come true on the day the seal is removed. It seems like… the
third location is very important as the Deputy Chief Priest mentioned.”
“I have a feeling that the seal will be removed on the last day of the
“I was thinking the same thing. That is why we need to hurry up and destroy that
place first.”
“Do you think we can destroy it if those terrible monsters are there? Aren't we in
danger?”
“Do I look weak?”
Bud flinched and waved his hands around after hearing Eruhaben’s question.
“It shouldn't be too dangerous if they are still sealed and Gersey and his subordinates
are able to freely come and go to give the feed.”
“It’ll get complicated if Gersey undoes the seal first. That is why we have to move
before he gets here. Am I right?”
“Move.”
“What?”
Cale put his hand on her shoulder and pulled her back.
counts-?” “Eruhaben-nim.”
“Step back.”
Cotton was moved back with Cale and Bud each grabbing one of her hands.
Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang!
“…Holy shit!”
Pat. Pat.
“I think it’s time to blast our way forward since they already know we’re here?” “…
Crazy bastard.”
‘You destroyed the wall because of that? What if the cave starts to crumble?!’
Cotton had a lot of things she wanted to say, but just quietly stepped forward again.
Cale followed behind her and he noticed numerous machines and magic circles that
filled this large area.
"The White Star had to go through many purifications with Gersey here.”
“Purification?”
“His human body needed to be purified in order for it to become a body that was
suitable for a member of the Demonic race.”
Cale nodded his head and looked toward Eruhaben and Bud.
Ooooooong-
Blue aura started to shoot out from the tip of Bud’s sword.
“They're here.”
Eruhaben looked toward the stairs at the first location that was visible through the
destroyed wall.
Boom!
Cale could see the things that made loud noises as they entered the underground
area. He could not see them clearly as they were too far away.
“They’re so big.”
Bud could see five large robed priests entering the underground facility.
“Mm, I can't smell them because they’re so far away. But there doesn’t seem to be a
mage and they don’t seem that hard-”
“Shut up!”
“Son of a-!”
Baaaaaang!
They then welcomed the dead mana flowing out with their whole bodies.
“All of them are corpses except for one! They are dead corpses with dead mana
bombs inside them!”
Cotton looked disgusted as she had not expected Gersey to tell them to destroy the
glass containers.
They looked like bombs that had become even bigger after absorbing more dead
mana.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
Eruhaben could tell that they really were corpses based on their lifeless faces.
“That’s right! They have no free will! They just obey everything Gersey tells them to
do!”
“Follow me! The second facility isn't the problem! We need to get to the third location
right now!”
“Why are you so scared of Gersey’s subordinates? Aren’t you fine even if the dead
mana bomb goes off?”
“I.”
Cale had a lot of things he wanted to ask after seeing her hesitate. However, he
pushed those questions aside for now after hearing Bud’s voice.
The large things that looked like balloons covered in dead mana were rushing toward
them extremely quickly.
Cotton started to
frown. Shaaaaaaaaaaa-
“Ahhh! Hey!”
“Be quiet!”
A whirlwind was surrounding the two of them. Cale had grabbed Cotton's collar and
thrown her into the wind.
The two of them had almost instantly arrived at the door heading into the third
location.
“Block them!”
Chhhh!
Grey aura started to gather above his head as he opened his fan.
“That is!”
Bud, who had seen that power in the northern mountain, channeled more of his aura.
His aura that was now shooting up over 3 meters long was pointed at the
approaching
subordinates and Gersey.
Boom!
“Block them.”
A half-transparent gold wall instantly appeared and blocked the cave path.
The spot where the wall dividing the first and second locations had been was now
filled by Eruhaben's gold wall.
His eyes looked toward the grey aura gathering above Gersey as he said that.
It was highly likely that this was a power from the Demon World as Saint Jack
explained to Cale.
Especially when that Dragon could not use his full power because he was close to the
end of his lifespan?
Eruhaben pushed aside these questions he had about himself. He could not show any
weakness right now.
Cotton didn’t even respond to Cale as she put her ring up against the black door’s lock
right away.
“…You know how to open this door even though you can’t go inside?”
“I don't know.”
‘What?’
Baaaaaang! Baaaaang!
Bud was destroying every machine he came across while Eruhaben was making his
golden wall even sturdier while sweating.
‘Eruhaben-nim!’
The reason Cale brought Bud and Eruhaben with him was because he thought that
Bud could use his sense of smell to figure out the identities of the mysterious things
from the Demon World while Eruhaben's wisdom would be extremely helpful.
But she didn't know how to open this lock?
“Rip?”
Cale started to look confused before he saw Cotton take something out of her pocket.
It was a small dagger marked with odd markings and covered in bandages so that the
blade could not be seen.
The spatial pocket bag inside Cale's inner pocket started to rumble.
Cotton started to speak as Cale started to think about each item that was in his
pocket.
“I can't open this door because the power of the Demon World is infused in it.
However, I can rip it with this item.”
“…What is that
item?” “A divine
item.”
The dagger appeared and she walked toward the door with the dagger in her hand.
Her voice reached Cale’s ears.
“The God of War.”
That was the God of War's divine item that he found in the storage room by the field
in Clopeh Sekka's residence.
“Those who serve the God of War always hide themselves in the midst of wherever
there is a war.”
Riiiiiiiiiiiip!
Cale could see the firm door starting to rip as if it was made of paper.
“Mm!”
The ripped door slowly spread apart as a cold aura flowed out through the gap.
“Gasp!”
Swipe!
But Cale pushed her hand away and walked over to the widening gap.
The cold and ominous air that he had felt ever since walking into the area by the
sculpture in the Temple of the Demonic God…
But the moment he felt the thing flowing out through the gap in the door…
Cale, no, Kim Rok Soo immediately realized what that ominous feeling had been.
Smell, touch, and sight. This was an ‘emotion’ from the past that even his ‘Record’ that
recorded everything could not remember.
There was a large area with stones giving off light in the ceiling looking like stars.
There were eight eerie octagonal altars on top of the platform. Those altars were
large enough that three humans would need to hold hands in order to fully surround
it.
Boom. Boom.
“Ah.”
Cale, no, Kim Rok Soo’s hand that was on the gap of the black door subconsciously
tensed up.
In the past, Kim Rok Soo had used his ability to anticipate the arrival of the second
strongest monster to invade earth one hour prior to its arrival.
And Kim Rok Soo had said the following after he was the only survivor after team
leader Lee Soo Hyuk and Choi Jung Soo had died.
‘Reporting in about the current situation. I will now start explaining about the battle
patterns of this unranked monster.’
Why?”
The monster that had killed all of his teammates was visible as a statue in front of
him.
“Cale Henituse, what is it?”
He didn't even seem to hear Cotton calling his name as he just stared inside the black
door with a piercing gaze.
Cotton couldn't help but flinch at Cale's gaze that looked ready to beat someone to
death.
“Hey!”
He pulled firmly enough that Cotton frowned before her eyes opened wide.
‘He's shaking?’
Cotton finally realized that there was something else in Cale’s eyes in addition to this
anger to beat someone to death.
She could see an octagonal platform, eight altars, and eight sculptures.
‘…Six of them.’
Cale had records of six of those sculptures, no, six of those monsters, in his mind.
They were the monsters that were evaluated to be the six strongest monsters in
Korea and the world. The ones on the altar looked exactly the same as the ones
recorded in his mind.
When he was in Korea, the records of these unrankable monsters had been shared
via video throughout the world and Cale was the person in his company who
remembered the most information about these monsters.
It was his duty as the new team leader to keep his team members safe.
This was especially true because his new team all had family members waiting for
them, unlike himself.
That was why Kim Rok Soo had gathered more information about monsters than
anybody else.
Foreign records, research, videos… He found anything he could get his hands on and
recorded them in his mind.
Monster rankings, appearances, battle patterns, attacks, he didn't even disregard the
trivial information.
He also knew how many lives they had taken in Korea and the world.
‘Motherfucker!’
Cale clenched his shaking hands into fists. He shared the thoughts that had been on
his mind since earlier once his hands stopped shaking.
Something that Gersey and the White Star might be preparing that wasn’t from this
world.
‘Does that mean monsters from the Demon World appeared on Earth? Why?’
He could see Cotton hesitate for a moment before responding to his question.
“I don't know. There’s a chance that that is the case, but I can’t be sure.”
“Huuuuu.”
He turned back toward the gap in the black door that was wide enough for a person
to walk through.
“Deputy Chief Priest, according to what you said earlier, the White Star and Gersey
brought them ‘feed.’ They brought feed for monsters, but I don't see any living
creatures inside there.”
“…That’s right.”
churn.
Cotton and Cale made eye contact. The two of them realized that they were thinking
about the same thing.
Both of them imagined the terrible sight that would happen after that even without
discussing it.
The disasters that had struck Earth rushed past his mind like a movie.
“…The altars with the sculptures are all slightly different in height. Do you think
there is a reason for that?”
“What?”
‘They’re different!’
Cotton could see that Cale was starting to look even worse.
‘Shit!’
The altars were different in height as Cotton mentioned. That was why they looked
so uneven.
That monster was the unranked monster that was ranked sixth of the group.
And the monster that was said to be the strongest monster in the history of Earth…
was on the third highest altar.
“…Does the height of the altar show the strength of the monster?”
In that case…
‘…There are two altars higher than the highest-ranked monster on Earth.’
That meant…
Cale got the chills. The strongest monster in the history of Earth was truly a calamity.
But there were two that were even stronger than that one?
Cotton was worried about Cale's complexion but continued to speak as they needed
to take care of this problem first.
"We need to destroy that seal, well, this facility. We don’t have much time. We have
no time to hesitate. You know that too.”
Baaaaaang!
Cale turned around in shock after hearing an explosion that was loud enough to make
his ears go numb.
Craaaackle, crackle.
The half-transparent gold wall was starting to shake while being hit with a grey
current.
“Eruhaben-nim!”
Gersey was on the other side of the half-transparent wall, removing his fan that was
covered in grey aura.
The grey aura was gathering above Gersey’s head and forming a large orb.
Peek.
‘…This is bad.’
Gersey had attacked the gold wall just now with about one-third of the aura from this
grey orb.
He somehow managed to block it, but Eruhaben was worried about what came
Cale, why aren't you going inside? You need to hurry up and destroy it so we can
teleport and run away!
He was preparing for the worst and thinking about running away.
Cale headed back to the black door after hearing that. Cale had to show decent results
when Eruhaben was pushing himself so hard.
“Hurry up.”
Cale put a leg through the gap in the black door. His foot touched the bottom of the
large hall.
Shaaaaa-
‘I must know.’
Cale grabbed and then let go of the golden top's whip before pushing the rest of his
body through.
Cale who confirmed that the Elementals who had stealthily followed them were there
and then motioned to Bud with his eyes.
Bud walked next to Eruhaben and pointed his aura sword at Gersey who was on the
other side of the wall.
Eruhaben who had been listening to Cale and Cotton's conversation started to shout
again.
“Shut up! It seems like you are trying to summon a monster from the Demon World
based on their conversation, but the summoning should be impossible if we destroy
the location of the summoning! How dare you try to lie!”
Smirk.
again. Chhhhhhhh-
“Who said anything about summoning? Those sculptures are prisons with the
monsters sealed inside. The moment you destroy that prison…”
The fan that absorbed over half of the orb was pointed at the wall.
‘It’s bad news for both the White Star and us if we destroy the seals!’
Gersey kept his mouth shut. The corners of Cale’s lips started to go up.
He then moved completely in through the black door. He looked at Gersey through
the crack in the black door and continued to speak.
What?”
Smirk.
“If they are prisons holding the monsters captive, then I just need to run and take the
prisons with me.”
bastard-” Ooooooong-
Cale! That’s enough provoking! I don’t care if you steal it or whatever, just hurry!
“If you don't push yourself too hard, sir-”
Sure, sure! I won't overdo it and I will get out of here alive! So hurry! We can just
leave everything and run away if all else fails!
Cale leisurely responded to Eruhaben's urgent voice before he quickly started to head
toward the octagonal platform.
His expression was completely different than when he had just leisurely responded.
“Haiyah!”
Cale heard Cotton climb through the door behind him as well but did not have the
time to look back.
He needed to hurry.
Tap.
He then quickly started to compare the sculptures’ appearances with his records.
“Ah!”
He looked back.
Cotton.
He also looked at Gersey who looked like he would swing his fan to attack him but
was instead just glaring at him.
“Did you find something? Do you think we really can't destroy these things?”
feed!” Ooooooong-
Black smoke started to rise from the empty center of the platform.
A dull noise echoed in the hall along with the black smoke.
Boom! Boom!
“Ugh! Why did you suddenly use your wind, w, what the…?!”
Cotton groaned at the sudden impact and her eyes opened wide as she tried to look at
Cale.
Her eyes were focused on the black smoke on top of the platform.
The black smoke was spreading thick and quickly, looking as if it could fill the whole
area in an instant.
“Damn it.”
As for the other person who also crashed into the wall… Cale glared at Gersey who
was on the other side of the black door.
This black smoke must have been the way to provide the feed to the
The black smoke only roamed around the platform and did not flow out of it.
“It looks like there is a transparent barrier separating the platform and the area
underneath the platform once the black smoke came out.”
“I guess it needs to be like this so that Gersey can provide the feed and then he and
his subordinates could safely get out.”
“But doesn’t it seem like it would be impossible to steal the sculptures like this?”
Cale got up and headed next to Cotton. He was now underneath the platform.
Gersey who was outside the black door could not see him.
However, Gersey clicked his tongue as if he could see what was going on. He had
more blood flowing out from his mouth than Eruhaben did.
“Hehehe.”
“Are you sad that you failed to give the feed to them?”
“But thanks to that, you are unable to steal nor destroy the sculptures.” “…
Bud who didn't know about the black smoke and the transparent barrier started to
frown while Gersey laughed and turned around.
He spoke to Bud in his mind while Gersey greeted the White Star.
“It’s only loud because you are making it that way, isn’t it?”
“Hahaha, is that so? Well, it looks like I need to get rid of you first before Cale
Henituse can steal those things.”
Chhhhhhhhhh-
Gersey grabbed his fan and charged toward the gold wall.
Tatap!
He lightly kicked off the ground, jumped up into the air, and struck down with the
hand holding the fan.
Baaaaaaaaaang-!
The fan started to
shake. “Ugh!”
“Chief Priest!”
‘Power?’
There was a gap on the door, but it was not wide enough to see everything.
However, he could feel the aura flowing out through the door.
“…P, perhaps-”
“That ‘perhaps’ seems to be the case.”
It looked like both their big plan and the current situation might end up twisted.
“I'll go first.”
The White Star walked past Gersey who was somewhat out of it and swung his sword
toward the gold wall.
He started to frown.
Slash.
“Ugh!”
Thankfully, he had been preparing to escape, so he was not injured too much from
the wall breaking.
However, he had no choice but to open his eyes wide and turn around.
“Fuck!”
Eruhaben could see the black door and the wall exploding.
Baaaaang!
“Ugh!”
“Shit!”
Bud was about to urge her to respond until he realized that her body was shaking.
What the?”
reaction.
“Cale!”
The White Star was also shouting as he urgently rushed forward and passed
‘Ah!’
Bud finally thought to look for Cale. Cotton had been flung out, but Cale had not.
He overcame the fear that was filling his body and looked back toward that
Cale had plopped on the ground right in front of the thing that was giving him such
terrible fear.
He had not been flung out with that explosion just now, but he was on the ground
because he fell down.
The unranked monster that had killed all his teammates… A pressure that was much
worse than when he had gone up against that monster was overwhelming him.
The hand was so large that it could almost touch the ceiling of the hall.
All he did was move toward Cotton who was observing the black smoke and the
transparent barrier.
But the black smoke inside the transparent barrier… That had suddenly disappeared
and a large black hand shot up from the platform.
He thought it was weird that they didn't have a scratch on them after such a large
explosion, but he had no time to look into that right now.
His heart was beating as if it wanted to explode and he had chills all over his
body. Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-
slumber. ‘What?’
Before Cale could even think about the meaning behind those words…
“Cale! Dodge!”
Cale's mind was filled by a voice that seemed to come from the black hand as
Eruhaben shouted.
Here is another punk who has found a way out of god’s hand and escaped his fate.
The black hand reached out and surrounded Cale while making an eerie
door. The Tiger warriors stationed outside would not knock like this.
Lock debated whether he should open the door or not. He wondered if he should call
the adults who were all gathered in the strategy room.
He heard a voice from the other side of the door at that moment.
‘Huh?’
It made sense why the Tiger warriors would have let this person through.
Lock quickly opened the door as he was relieved that it was someone he knew and
welcomed the person.
“Cage-nim!”
Lock warmly welcomed her but Cage didn’t even respond to his greeting as she
urgently rushed into the black castle.
“Did something-”
Lock was trying to ask what was going on in shock before stiffening up after seeing
what, no, who, was in Cage’s hand.
Lock who barely managed to get some words out looked toward the person who was
being dragged by the collar.
This person was Saint Jack who looked as if he didn’t know what to do.
"Dragon!”
Saint Jack gave an awkward greeting, but… His greeting was drowned out by Cage’s
shout.
“Excuse me?”
"A Dragon that can cast long-distance teleportation! Or at least Miss Rosalyn! No, it
needs to be a Dragon, a Dragon!”
“Just what-”
“Excuse me?”
Lock became anxious after suddenly hearing her mention Cale but Cage looked around
as if things were urgent before running toward the stairs.
Cage continued to look around as if she couldn't even see Lock who was anxiously
following behind her and then resumed speaking.
“Young master Cale and I made a vow of death, you know? There’s a power you feel
gathering around your hand when you make a vow. It is the power that lets you
know whether that person kept or broke the vow.”
It was the eerie feeling that seeped into the bodies of the people making the vow of
death.
“Really?!”
Jack who had been dragged here without knowing why looked toward her in shock.
However, Cage didn’t respond to his question and just continued to speak.
“There should be someone else who is feeling this right now. He should be feeling
that something is weird.”
Screeeech.
They then heard a door opening on the second floor.
Choi Han was walking out of the strategy room with a confused yet serious
Choi Han who said he had important business to take care of was coming out with a
serious expression before finishing his work.
He looked extremely happy to see Cage. It was as if he had found the person who
could answer his question for him.
Choi Han stepped onto the stairs and walked toward her.
“Miss Cage, when did you get here? You see, umm, I made a vow of death with Cale-
nim once-”
“The presence that entered your body when you made the vow disappeared, right?”
“People who make a vow of death are able to tell whether the vow was kept or
broken by that power in their body.”
The presence inside the body would tell the other person that the vow was broken
and that the other party was dead.
“But there are times the presence itself disappears from a person's body. That means
that the vow of death is cut.”
There was only one reason a vow of death would become useless.
“…Who?”
Cage did not recognize Alberu who was wearing a mask and changed his voice and
looked at him with wariness.
Peek.
He had followed behind Choi Han because he found it odd that Choi Han suddenly left
the room with an odd expression and managed to hear part of what Cage said.
Choi Han then peeked toward the closed strategy room door.
“I closed the door as soon as Cale was brought up, so they shouldn't have been able to
hear inside.”
“We need to go to the Endable Kingdom. We need to hurry over to the Endable
Kingdom.”
Choi Han’s fingertips were shaking. The same words continued to come out of his
mouth.
“Be quiet!”
Choi Han could see Alberu’s expression after hearing him shout in an annoyed voice.
Never.
‘Cale Henituse died? He suddenly died like that? He died even with Eruhaben and Bud
by his side? Was that possible?’
Bang!
“Mm.”
He then groaned.
Raon approached them while holding a video communication device with his shaking
paws.
Crackle. Crackle.
Crackle!
The video communication device was starting to crack because of the mana. The
mana continued to get bigger and stronger as it fluctuated around Raon.
“…T, they said that the human d, disappeared. G, Goldie gramps- gramps, he-”
Alberu took a deep breath after seeing Raon being unable to speak.
Lord Sheritt, Duke Fredo, and the Dragon half-blood were inside the strategy room.
Fredo had his arms crossed as he observed them with an odd expression.
‘Cale Henituse. Just what the hell are you going around doing? Did something happen
to you?… First of all.’
In that case…
“Choi Han.”
“Yes, sir.”
His skin, eyes, and hair color all changed at the same time.
“……!”
Alberu continued to speak as Duke Fredo's eyes opened wide and his jaw dropped in
shock.
Choi Han and Alberu started to walk in different directions after that.
properly. He couldn’t open his eyes and his ears felt numb.
‘I remember getting caught by the black hand and being dragged somewhere… ’
For some odd reason, Cale was breathing even though he felt as if he was suffocating.
It’d be one thing if he could even squirm, but his body wasn’t allowing him to make
any movements at all.
Child who has escaped the hand of god and his fate.
Cale felt his heart sink after suddenly hearing the chilling voice.
The first of his senses to be permitted back to him was his hearing.
Humans, no, living beings are meant to be born and then eventually die. That is
the law of nature and their fate. You've gone against that.
‘Who is this? Is the black hand talking? What is the black hand?’
Furthermore, time is warped for you as well. You are you, but also not you.
Cale Barrow. I thought that only that child was qualified to carry on my powers.
But you are the same.
Me?
Just as the Divine race worships the gods, there are beings the Demonic race
worships as well. I am a being the Demonic race worships.
I've been in a deep slumber, waking up for a short duration of time over and over
after being sealed by the gods a long time ago.
“…So, who the hell are you?”
But a terrible fear filled his body each time the hand touched him.
I am
wickedness.
‘What?’
I am solitude. I am despair.
This was a being that brought out a human's instinctual fear and anxiety.
A being whose presence itself turns into fear, but something that still exists
somewhere.
‘Mmph!’
You have faced solitude, resigned in front of despair, were in pain, and had to face
the wickedness surrounding you many times. Furthermore, you escaped your fate
and the hands of a god, your time is warped, and you are you but not you at the same
time.
As Kim Rok Soo, he had lost all things that were precious to him and escaped his fated
death.
Child.
The corners of Cale’s lips were shaking as one corner started to rise.
‘I'm a human who even rejected becoming the Saint for the God of Death.’
Hahahaha-
“Ugh!”
Cale felt as if his ears would rip apart at this laughter that was shaking the area. It felt
as if his eardrums would truly burst.
However, the other being seemed to enjoy this situation quite a bit.
How could the two of you have moved in such different directions while being
placed in the same situation?
“So what?”
I also find it entertaining that you keep talking back without giving up.
“Ugh!”
me. ‘What?’
Call me when you need me. Only I can destroy your despair for you.
‘Where am I going?’
‘Ugh!’
All connections he had with the world started to break once again.
“Huuuuuuu!”
“Ugh!”
His body flew up into the air before falling down to the ground.
Boom!
“Ugh,
ugh!”
Someone had hit his stomach as soon as he returned to his senses, making him fly up
before rolling on the ground.
“Ugh!”
‘Cement?’
It was cracked and partially destroyed, but he could see the cement floor.
This material was something that did not go with Cale Henituse's world.
“Hey! You bastard, can’t you even stand up straight? Where did that arrogant attitude
of yours from just now go? Hmm?”
“Kekeke! Hey, hey, control yourself. You kicked him so hard that he can't even get up.”
“Uggh………!”
Cale tried his best to hold back his groan as he flipped his body over.
Cale then saw people step between him and the grey ceiling.
“That's why he should have just done what we told him to do, instead of acting up!”
These people who were sneering at him and looking down at Cale with scorn…
They were
Korean. “Ha!”
“He… hehe.”
“What the hell? Did this bastard go crazy after getting hit once?”
This was less than 1 year since the world was flipped over.
The winter of the cataclysm had passed, spring and summer had come by, and then it
was fall.
It was late fall when the unranked monster appeared in Seoul and filled the world
with fear.
It turned the world into chaos and the largest number of people died at that time.
This was the fall when the pretty useless Kim Rok Soo was the most useless in his life.
Cale had opened his eyes as Kim Rok Soo at the end of that fall.
The blood flowing out of the corner of his mouth told him that this situation was real.
“…Damn it.”
‘Whether you are wickedness, despair, or solitude… That black hand bastard… ’
“How annoying.”
“What? What nonsense is this lunatic spewing now?! Do you want to die?”
“This bastard! How dare a bastard who could easily die at any moment look at us
with such a gaze?!”
Death and fear that could not be compared to what they faced since the cataclysm
had swept the area where that unranked monster had appeared.
In fact, that terrible incident let the world create societies again and stand back up.
A few of the people who made it back alive from that incident location ended up
becoming the central figures of the Korean society.
“…Team leader.”
Team leader Lee Soo Hyuk was one of the people who had experienced that incident.
‘Hey, do you know where I saw our team leader in the past? I'm someone who
survived that incident as well. You remember that terrible incident? I survived that
incident. I also saw our team leader fight.’
The two of them managed to survive that situation, but many lives were taken by that
unranked monster.
Choi Jung Soo had spoken with a teary expression in the past.
“Ugh.”
He couldn't help but groan because of the pain he felt throughout his body.
“Hey. Why did you have to run your mouth instead of doing what we told you to do?”
Cale, no, Kim Rok Soo ignored that comment that was directed at him.
He put some strength into his shaking legs in order to stand up little by little.
This was when Kim Rok Soo's body was weaker than ever.
Maybe that was the reason, but this weak ass body of his was this helpless after only
being kicked once by an ability user.
“Ugh!”
“Ugh!”
Cale fell on the ground again after someone kicked his calf.
Cale recalled the name of the man looking at him from deep inside his memories.
Shelter.
A shelter was a place in the early days of the cataclysm where monsters never
approached, a safe place in this hell where monsters could appear at any moment.
People considered the shelters a gift from ‘some being’ to allow them the chance to
fight against the monsters, similar to how that being had given some people abilities.
‘And Park Jin Tae is the ruler of this shelter I'm in right now.’
He clearly treated the ability users and regular people differently, treating the ability
users much better.
Furthermore, he would approve of you even if you were not an ability user, as long as
you were useful.
That was why people who were on Park Jin Tae’s good side got to rest peacefully
inside this shelter.
Kim Rok Soo's early twenties started at the lowest spot in Park Jin Tae's
Although Park Jin Tae was smiling gently and speaking in a warm voice, he was coldly
staring down at Cale.
‘What is going on right now? Is it an illusion? Was it one of those dreams he’s had
until now whenever he fainted?’
He then thought about those blood-colored eyes that called itself solitude and despair
and had sent him here.
‘Call me when you need me. Only I can destroy your despair for
‘Why do they all do whatever the fuck they feel like doing?’
“Hey, Kim Rok Soo. Did you not hear the leader-nim telling you to answer him?”
One of the men behind Park Jin Tae scolded Cale. He lifted his foot up and looked
ready to kick Cale again.
“Yes, Leader-nim!”
Park Jin Tae shook his head before starting to speak again.
Most of the building walls were crumbling or cracked, and they were barely standing
with their tall shapes mainly gone.
There were many buildings where the metal frames were barely standing as well.
“Yes, that building you are looking at right now. Don’t you want to go back to the
shelter?”
“…The shelter that has been maintained for the longest time in this area since the
cataclysm.”
Even the shelters continued to bleed the humans, as if to tell them that there was no
eternal sanctuary.
The three-story building Cale was looking at had remained a shelter since the first
day of the cataclysm.
That was why people called these shelters the ‘Central Shelter.’
Cale went through his memories one by one before saying one of the facts he recalled.
He would normally have been angry at the fact that Kim Rok Soo called him Park Jin
Tae instead of leader, but Park Jin Tae's anger subsided because Kim Rok Soo had
accepted him as king in his calm and confident voice.
This was the first time that this arrogant and venomous bastard had accepted Park
Jin
Tae as the owner of this place.
“How dare you call the leader-nim by his name? Do you really want to die, you
bastard?!”
Park Jin Tae continued to look at Kim Rok Soo who was looking at him even as his
subordinate started to shout.
“…Jin Tae.”
The white-haired grandmother cautiously walked over to Park Jin Tae and Cale.
“Why don't you stop? I'll make sure to talk to Rok Soo.”
This was someone whom he could never see anymore except in his distant memories
because she had passed away.
Grandma Kim.
Nobody knew her first name. They just knew that her last name was Kim and called
her Grandma Kim.
She was the only person Park Jin Tae could not treat horribly in this
shelter. Cale avoided Grandma Kim’s gaze as she looked at him with
concern.
More than getting kicked in the stomach as soon as he opened his eyes…
Park Jin Tae did not say that latter part out loud while Cale calmly agreed with him.
Cale was thinking to himself without realizing that Park Jin Tae was looking at him
with an odd gaze.
He looked into the eyes of Grandma Kim who was looking at him with concern.
All central shelters that existed on earth during this time lost their special properties.
That meant that the central shelters were attacked by monsters and destroyed.
And they would attack differently than normal, as if they were trying to invade the
shelters.
Central shelters that looked different than before would appear exactly 24 hours
after the first central shelters were destroyed.
Then, there was Grandma Kim. Oh, there were some other people as well.
People that team leader Lee Soo Hyuk had saved were here.
Team leader Lee Soo Hyuk who had now left for more dangerous places had been the
‘center’ of this central shelter before Park Jin Tae.
‘And the team leader left this place in Grandma Kim and Park Jin Tae's
care.’ Both Grandma Kim and Park Jin Tae were good people at that time.
‘Of course, Park Jin Tae revealed his true nature as soon as the team leader left and
started to rule over this central shelter like a tyrant.’
The central shelter had to create a new system under the person who was the
strongest attack-type ability user after Lee Soo Hyuk.
And that system was one that Park Jin Tae wanted.
‘…But even Park Jin Tae found it difficult to handle Grandma Kim.’
Park Jin Tae could not treat Grandma Kim, who had healing abilities,
Park Jin Tae watched Kim Rok Soo sit back down before letting go of his hand.
He then turned around and walked away from the shelter building.
Lee Chul Min who was Park Jin Tae's right-hand man caught up to him and started to
speak.
"Are you going to let Kim Rok Soo go like this? Shouldn’t we beat him to a pulp when
we have the chance?”
Lee Chul Min's shoulders slightly shook after seeing that gaze.
Park Jin Tae quietly looked at him for a while before finally starting to speak.
“Excuse me?”
“…Kim Rok Soo is the only initial shelter member who still considered Lee Soo Hyuk,
the person who has still not returned, to be this shelter's king.”
Many people came and went from the central shelters since the beginning of the
cataclysm.
These people were called the initial shelter members and Park Jin Tae just
considered them ‘Lee Soo Hyuk's people.’
Lee Soo Hyuk who left to help a different region that was having difficulties had not
returned, and Grandma Kim, as well as the rest of Lee Soo Hyuk's people had started
to accept Park Jin Tae's system one by one.
This useless bastard without any abilities never accepted Park Jin Tae as the owner of
this place.
“No, that bastard is someone who didn't accept the concept of, ‘king’ in the first
place.” Honestly speaking, Kim Rok Soo's acceptance did not matter.
He was the same as the other useless parasites that were surviving in this shelter.
That was why even an ability user like Lee Chul Min was worried that he got on Park
Jin Tae's nerves just now.
“Ha, haha-”
Park Jin Tae started to refreshingly laugh out loud for the first time in a long while.
He did not look toward where Kim Rok Soo was anymore and headed for the hunting
ground.
Hunting.
That's what it was called, but it was more of a difficult battle for food that could result
in them losing their lives.
Grandma Kim confirmed that Park Jin Tae was moving away before putting her hand
on Cale’s shoulder.
“Aigoo, why didn't you just run the errand for him?”
As Grandma Kim mentioned, Park Jin Tae always made Kim Rok Soo, who didn't
accept him as king, to run errands for him.
He seemed to have been beaten up today after trying to not do that errand.
It hurt.
Flinch.
The blood-colored eyes. It was the voice of the bastard who sent Cale into this
situation.
Look for me if you want to escape this despair. Then you won’t have to face these
past despairs any longer.
Yes, I'll just watch. Until you ask me for help, that
I mean that you will become a member of the Demonic race and carry on my will.
But will that continue to be the case? Will you be okay while you are helpless and
facing these despairs again?
I will just sit back and watch all that. I will wait for the day you come to me with
delight.
This is just an endless despair that will repeat itself without ever ending, and a
test.
Flail around in despair. I will give you the power to escape from despair.
Cale felt a warm hand over his hand that was on his stomach.
"I like your temperament, but can’t you be a little more flexible?”
She knew that Park Jin Tae was in the wrong, but she could not attack him.
All she could do was treat the injured with her healing abilities.
She might be the reason Kim Rok Soo managed to survive under Park Jin Tae since
team leader Lee Soo Hyuk left.
“I'll need to stay on good terms with Park Jin Tae for now.”
That bastard was a dictator and treated people differently based on their abilities,
however…
That was how Kim Rok Soo and some other people who had no abilities were able to
escape.
‘What are you doing? Why the hell are you so slow? A bastard like you without any
abilities should at least run! Get lost! You're in my way, so hurry up and run!’
Cale recalled the things Park Jin Tae had shouted to him in the
past. Park Jin Tae ended up dying while fighting to the end.
Park Jin Tae was a bad bastard and he hated him, but…
Kim Rok Soo was able to survive in the past thanks to him.
Seomyeon, Busan.
He started to recall the faces of his friends one by one, starting with Raon.
How would he be in the real world right now? Would he have fainted?
There had to be a way to get out of here without accepting the blood-colored eyes’
offer. He recalled the last thing the blood-colored eyes told him.
‘Flail around in despair. I will give you the power to escape from despair.’
‘Flail around in despair? That won’t happen. I’ll just make it not a despair anymore.’
He had no way to know for sure, but he felt as if he would only be able to return if he
destroyed the despair.
It was his
intuition.
Didn't that sound like he would be able to get out of this situation and return to the
real world if he had the power to destroy the despair within it?
‘It’s doable.’
He needed to figure out the people who would fight based on the present and his
information of the future.
Cale’s abilities were only awakened after he started working for his company.
That was why, realistically speaking, it would be close to impossible for Cale to
awaken his future abilities as he pleased.
‘…But I’ve experienced the sensation that comes with abilities being
If he thinks about that sensation and does similar things as to when his abilities
actually awakened, couldn't he potentially get them awakened sooner?
‘…It’s fine if my abilities don’t awaken while I'm at the central shelter, but it would be
great to have them when I go up against the unranked monster.’
Cale's expression stiffened and Grandma Kim tightly grabbed Cale’s hand that was
over his stomach.
Shaaaaaaaaaaa-
“…How can you use your power for such a useless thing?”
Grandma Kim's abilities could only heal external injuries and had limited uses per
week.
She could use it as many times as she wanted for small injuries such as bruises, but
she had a strict limit for injuries such as bone fractures or significant blood loss.
The amount of healing power necessary was different based on the type of injury.
That was why Park Jin Tae wanted Grandma Kim to use her powers for healing his
precious attack team members who could fight against monsters.
Cale slowly raised his body after seeing that warm smile.
“Hyung!”
Two students, one who seemed to be in college and the other in high school, rushed
over and started to support Cale.
“Ah.”
‘Of course, they have abilities that other ability users look down
Cale suddenly felt as if someone was clenching his heart and found it hard to breathe.
“I'm fine.”
But his face and voice did not show any signs of it.
Lee Jin Joo snorted, but her eyes were full of concern as she checked to make sure
Kim
Rok Soo was okay.
Cale gently pushed Lee Jin Joo and Lee Seung Won away and walked in front of them.
“Let’s go inside.”
The siblings blankly looked at Cale for a moment before shaking their heads and
following him inside.
“You should just let us support you. Why are you walking so slowly?”
The people inside the central shelter all had work they needed to complete every day.
Of course, those jobs were only given to people who had Park Jin Tae's approval.
Kim Rok Soo did not have his approval, which was why they always tried to start shit
with him in the name of running errands.
Grandma Kim smiled while looking at the siblings who were walking away.
“Grandma.”
“Hmm?”
“Today?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Grandma Kim looked at him with confusion while wondering why he was asking
such a thing before answering in a soft voice.
“Today is the 24th.”
“October?”
“Just because.”
October 24th.
Fuck.”
He smiled toward Grandma Kim who was looking at him with concern after hearing
his coarse language.
Grandma Kim, who had not seen Rok Soo smile in a while, opened her eyes wide in
shock for a moment before gently smiling and nodding her head.
Cale repeated the word in his mind as he continued to walk next to her.
It was the start date of the incident that would fill the hearts of the people who barely
started to adjust to the changes since the cataclysm with despair.
Grandma Kim headed for her post while Cale took in the sight inside the central
shelter.
There were a lot of different people doing their jobs on the first floor of the building.
There was a fake wall that came up to his waist once he got past the entrance area.
He could see people pretty much right next to one another once he got past that fake
wall.
They had not awakened their abilities and didn’t have any skills nor techniques that
were necessary in the world right now.
'Of course, people will realize that is not the case later on when society is revitalized.’
Step step.
The second floor of the central shelter was where the ability users and useful humans
resided.
It was a time when any spot that allowed someone to escape the rain and wind was
considered lodging and any nice cloth they could find was used as blankets.
Park Jin Tae and his lackeys went out to find food for the group.
‘They did fight against some, but unlike the future, this was a time when even grade 3
monsters were difficult to handle.’
People had awakened their abilities but still could not use them properly.
Abilities could be used for many things, and this was called 'development.’
The only things that kept it from being completely dark at night were the fireplaces
around the shelter that had fires that never went out.
‘They’re so skinny.’
Park Jin Tae's lackeys only gave just enough so that they did not die.
‘That’s the only way they can spread it out to everybody inside this shelter.’
It was not easy to find food.
That was why the ability users who had good relationships with Kim Rok Soo would
offer him some of their shares from time to time.
Even though the times seemed hopeless, the hearts of the people living through it
had not gone completely dark.
That was why Cale didn't think Park Jin Tae was a bad
person. ‘There are many places that don't even give out food
to death.
In such a situation, although Park Jin Tae looked down and messed with people like
Kim Rok Soo, he still gave them enough food to survive.
‘Well, he does beat up resistant people like me though. No, he just really hated me.’
But he still gave out enough so that their legs would have enough strength to run
away if they ever ran into a monster.
The bastard had turned this central shelter into his own kingdom, but he still kept
himself humane.
He did not cross the line a fellow human should not cross.
‘The fact that Park Jin Tae pushed the skillful people up might have been the reason
this system was able to be maintained.’
All societal systems had been destroyed at that time.
How many ability users would want to share the food that they worked so hard to
find?
But since Park Jin Tae treated the ability users well, they stayed with this food
sharing system.
‘And Park Jin Tae is currently a very strong attack-type ability user.’
There was a reason team leader Lee Soo Hyuk left the place to Park Jin Tae.
Park Jin Tae was a very strong dealer and a decent tanker.
Lee Chul Min and the others who followed Park Jin Tae were not bad for the early
stages either.
‘There’s also Grandma Kim, Jin Joo noona, and Seung Won.’
There were also many other people he needed for this task.
Kim Rok Soo’s spot was the only spot in the building where rain leaked through the
cracked ceiling.
“Why are you talking to yourself like that?”
Park Jin Tae placed the ability-less Cale to the first floor and he chose this leaking
spot as his spot.
“Hey mister. Why don't you go elsewhere if you want to talk shit?”
Cale looked toward the middle-aged man lying on the next spot.
He was one of the people that team leader Lee Soo Hyuk had saved.
“Hey! I heard you got beat up by Park Jin Tae and his gang. Are you okay?”
Jang Man Soo raised his neck and leaned on the wall.
“Those terrible bastards. Where is there even to hit such a skinny kid? They’ll be
punished by the heavens!”
“Hmm? Grandma did? Aigoo, why does that grandma care about you so much? Why
did she heal a good for nothing like you?”
“Oh come on~ Of course not. Kehehe! I just said it! It was a joke, a joke!”
Cale quietly looked at Jang Man Soo who was joking with him.
He was someone who lost his entire family because of the cataclysm.
He had a wife and two kids and was on his way to work when it happened.
He barely managed to get back to his house only to see that all of them were already
dead.
He apparently ran for his life from monsters to get to his house.
There had only been one thing on his mind as he did that.
He was thinking that his family was alive at home and that he would take his family
somewhere safe.
But he charged toward the monster the moment he saw that his family was dead.
He just felt as if he could only continue to live if he ripped the monster in front of him
to pieces.
The monster took both of his legs and Jang Man Soo was planning on dying.
He didn't think there was a reason to live in this world without his family.
But the team leader saved him and Jang Man Soo was someone who was barely alive
and living on.
“Hey mister.”
"What is it?”
“Hey mister.”
As Jang Man Soo looked toward Kim Rok Soo who was acting differently than normal
with confusion…
“Me? You're talking to me? What help can I be? Did you go crazy after getting beaten
up?”
“Mister.”
He died fighting.
‘Kehehe! I'm relieved! This time, I'm going first after protecting people!’
His ability apparently awakened not long before the central shelter was destroyed.
His memory of Jang Man Soo remained with Kim Rok Soo that once he became Cale…
That was why there was no way to tell unless they saw the person using the ability or
the person told them.
There were some ability users whose appearances changed with it, but Jang Man
Soo's case wasn’t like that.
‘But Kim Rok Soo realized that? And he knows what my ability is as well?’
“W, what?!”
His mouth that had closed back in shock dropped once more at this even more
shocking comment.
Jang Man Soo raised his voice with an extremely shocked expression.
“Shh.”
Jang Man Soo was looking at Kim Rok Soo as if he was looking at someone he had just
met.
“Mister.”
But Kim Rok Soo's eyes were more serious than ever.
Each word that Kim Rok Soo said to him struck Jang Man Soo’s ear.
“I plan on letting everybody here move to the new central shelter without dying.”
Smile.
“N, no! Rok Soo, I'm not saying you're lying about having an ability! It’s great if you
got an ability! You’re qualified to get one! But, that-”
He could not speak properly. He then continued to speak after seeing Kim Rok Soo’s
firm gaze.
“…Knowing people's abilities and the future… it’s hard to believe that such an ability
exists.”
Jang Man Soo said that and then lowered his head for a
Jang Man Soo didn’t know what else to say. Of course, there were a lot of things he
wanted to say.
‘He figured out my ability? Did he awaken an ability that lets him know other people's
abilities? No.’
That would not explain everything.
‘He guessed my ability correctly, so there's a good chance he’s telling the truth about
the central shelter too.’
He was living life day by day without thinking much about it, but that was why Jang
Man Soo had been able to observe the people in this shelter while sitting off to one
side.
‘Kim Rok Soo is not the type of person to lie about something that involves people's
lives.’
If he was to do something like that, then it would have to be someone else wearing
Kim Rok Soo's skin.
“Hey mister, do you want me to say the things you say when you sleep? Or maybe
you want me to imitate your snoring?”
“Ahem. I guess you really are Kim Rok Soo based on how you are nagging me like
“…Haaa.”
“…The cent-”
Jang Man Soo stopped midsentence and looked around. Everybody seemed to be doing
their work as nobody was paying any attention to them.
He continued to speak quieter and stealthier than Kim Rok Soo had done.
He was thinking about the terrible scene that would play out if the central shelter
was destroyed.
Pat.
“That’s not true. Mister, you still don’t know the strength of your ability.”
As Cale mentioned, Jang Man Soo knew that his ability had awakened but had never
used it before.
He was thinking that a shield was useless for someone like him who couldn't even
walk.
life.’ Jang Man Soo did not want to say this thought out
Especially people who had helped him even when he couldn't walk properly?
He thought of his dead daughter. His daughter would have started college and
showed the world everything she had if the world didn't end up like this.
That daughter and Kim Rok Soo were the same age.
That was why he wanted to give even one thing extra to Kim Rok Soo who was trying
his best to survive after having already lived a difficult life.
“…I.”
Jang Man Soo could feel Kim Rok Soo's hand that was on his shoulder pushing down.
Kim Rok Soo's hand seemed to be cheering him on while his voice was full of
certainty.
“Shields are only cool if they stand firm without moving.”
His mind that had been still without any movement was causing small waves every
time Rok Soo said something.
“Bad! How can a stick like you carry a husky person like me?”
“Yes?”
The time that had stopped on the day of the cataclysm, no, the moment he got home
and saw the terrible state of his family members, was starting to move again.
Cale was going to make it so that he could use his power effectively and efficiently.
Jang Man Soo working with Cale meant over half of the people here could live.
There were no monsters there because it was right by the shelter, but more
importantly, there were no people there. It was a perfect spot to have a secret
discussion.
“Of course.”
Cale carried Jang Man Soo on his back and walked out the back door.
“…I'm sorry.”
He staggered at first, but they were quickly able to get outside as their spots were by
the door. Thankfully, nobody seemed to be paying attention to the two of them.
Cale put Jang Man Soo down on a flat area of the destroyed building next to the back
door.
Click.
The old back door was closed and Cale started to speak.
“Okay.”
Jang Man Soo looked at Cale with both nervousness and determination.
“What?!”
“Hooo!”
Jang Man Soo patted his thigh with his hand over and over as if he didn’t know what
to do.
“Oh, and the new central shelter will not open until 24 hours after this central shelter
is destroyed.”
“…Huh?”
Cale looked at the blankly staring Jang Man Soo and calmly continued to speak.
“The first goal is achieved since you said you will help me out, mister.” “…
“…Are you planning on meeting with Park Jin Tae? Do you think that bastard will
believe you?”
Smile.
Jang Man Soo realized that Kim Rok Soo had changed after seeing this smile every so
often.
It made him think that this punk really might have gotten an
Drip. Drip.
A drop of blood flowed down to his chin and fell to the ground. “…
Huuuuuu.”
The man took a deep breath before looking down at the person blocking his path.
Park Jin Tae who had returned from hunting was looking at Kim Rok Soo.
Lee Chul Min, one of Park Jin Tae's subordinates, started to frown.
“Hey! You mindless bastard! Can't you see that we just got back from hunting? Hmm?
Can’t you see our conditions?”
Cale slowly looked around at the people who had gone hunting.
That was why he could tell that this hunt was neither a game nor predators hunting
easy prey.
They probably went to a mart or grocery store to gather the food that was still edible.
It was usually canned food or ramen, but those were very precious as well.
Cale responded to Lee Chul Min who was glaring at him as if he wanted to pierce a
hole through his head.
He seemed to have gotten angry at the fact that Kim Rok Soo who was two or three
years younger than him spoke informally to him.
‘Lee Chul Min, this bastard was the first to run away.’
He had run away while Park Jin Tae was helping the weak and useless people escape
first.
The weak who were being led by Lee Chul Min became frantic when Lee Chul Min ran
away and the situation turned even more chaotic.
moment. ‘You won't be able to run away this time, you bastard.’
Lee Chul Min had the third strongest attacking ability in this place.
Smile.
Seeing a normally vicious bastard’s face becoming vicious made him seem very
“Enough.”
He was very tired after coming back from the hunt, but…
Lee Chul Min was shocked at this response, but Park Jin Tae started to walk toward
his room on the third floor as if he said everything he needed to say.
Cale turned away from Park Jin Tae and motioned to Grandma Kim and the Lee
siblings
who were anxiously watching him chat with Park Jin Tae.
“Let’s go up.”
Park Jin Tae sat down on a couch that was extremely rare in this world and looked at
Cale.
Lee Chul Min, Grandma Kim, Lee Jin Joo, and Lee Seung Won were in Park Jin Tae's
room.
Grandma Kim sat down on the chair to Park Jin Tae’s right, but everybody else was
standing as they looked at Cale.
However, Cale paid no attention to the gazes focused on him and just made eye
contact with Park Jin Tae.
“I awakened my ability.”
“……!”
Even Lee Chul Min looked at Kim Rok Soo up and down in shock.
“Hyung!”
“…What?”
“Ah, of course, I'm also able to see a few pieces of information other people are not
able to see.”
Lee Chul Min mouth opened without him thinking about it.
“What nonsense-”
“Hey!”
Lee Chul Min tried to keep Cale away, but Park Jin Tae raised his hand to stop him.
Cale lowered his body and whispered quietly so that only Park Jin Tae could hear as
Park Jin Tae quietly said his name.
“Tomorrow at noon. There will be a moment when the sun is covered by a shadow.”
The room was chaotic because of Cale’s revealed ability and his interaction with Park
Jin Tae.
"After that one minute, all central shelters around the world would become ineffective.”
“The nearby monsters will all start to attack the central shelters that are no longer
useful.”
Cale was the only one speaking in this terrible silence with all eyes focused on him.
“I always thought this son of a bitch was crazy! How dare you spew such bullshit
without knowing what you should and should not say? Huh?”
“Enough!”
Park Jin Tae's loud voice filled the room at that moment.
“Leader-nim!”
“Be quiet!”
Lee Chul Min's anger instantly subsided after hearing Park Jin Tae get angry.
“…Explain it in detail.”
Cale turned away from Park Jin Tae and looked at Grandma Kim and the siblings.
“…Hey.”
“Hyung… this-”
On the other hand, Grandma Kim was the calmest person in the room.
She gently smiled toward Cale. However, Cale could tell that this was a forced smile.
She didn’t want to show that her mind was completely chaotic.
She was putting on a front for Kim Rok Soo who was speaking.
“Hey, Rok Soo. You know the weight of your words, right?”
Tomorrow at noon.
A solar eclipse would happen throughout the world at the same time.
That alone was enough to realize that this was no regular solar eclipse.
Park Jin Tae recalled what Cale said word for word before repeating the last part.
“…Finally, the monsters will charge in like a tsunami and attack the central shelter.”
“The monsters will not randomly attack together. They will attack based on their
Grade.”
“…Grade?”
“…Monster Grades-”
However, people had investigated the issue of the central shelters and the monsters
later on.
It had been based on what people remembered, but they were able to gather a lot of
information that way.
“It starts with those at Grade 3 and below. Then the Grade 2 monsters will come.
Finally, the Grade 1 monsters will attack. Of course, Grade 1 monsters are the
strongest.”
That was why there was talk in the future about whether this pattern was some sort
of training for humans to be able to fight against the unranked monsters.
Park Jin Tae looked toward Kim Rok Soo with difficult
but… ’
Kim Rok Soo had felt different than normal after being hit earlier.
That was the reason he had chosen to chat with him, but…
more?” That response made Park Jin Tae shut his mouth.
He heard the thing Kim Rok Soo whispered in his ear once again.
It was such a large secret that he couldn’t even get angry at the fact that Kim Rok Soo
was speaking informally to him.
Cale chuckled at the gesture and walked over to Park Jin Tae.
Park Jin Tae's grip tightened on the couch as he watched Cale walk over.
“You’re going to say that the old and weak people are getting in your way of fighting
and evacuate them first. Then will be people like me who don’t have any abilities.”
“The last. Once it is the last moment and everybody else is gone… That’s when you
will run away.”
Cale moved away from Park Jin Tae's ear and looked at him.
The two of them made eye contact and Cale started to speak again.
“Ha, hahaha-”
“…Haaa.”
"What is your
plan?” “Leader-
nim!”
Lee Chul Min who had quietly been standing there raised his voice as if he couldn’t let
this continue, but Park Jin Tae didn't even give him a glance.
“We must create an attack team. We will then initiate a defensive battle. The center of
the defensive battle will be-”
“Silence!”
Tap!
The sound of his hand slapping down on the wooden armrest sharply echoed in the
room.
Grandma Kim.
She was the one who had told Lee Chul Min to be quiet.
“Yes, ma'am.”
Park Jin Tae showed his agreement with Grandma Kim by remaining silent.
Cale continued to speak.
“The center of the defensive battle will be Jang Man Soo. It needs to be
him.” Everybody in the room flinched at this sudden name that was
mentioned.
Park Jin Tae subconsciously started to mumble after hearing what Cale
The extremely calm voice made it seem as if he was telling the truth.
“And Park Jin Tae, you will be the center of the attack team.”
“But isn’t it better to go to a different temporary shelter rather than protecting this
central shelter?”
He thought it would be better to move to a temporary shelter and avoid the monsters’
attacks that way instead of defending if a horde of monsters were going to attack.
The central shelters were much larger than the other shelters. That was why they
would need to split up and go to different shelters.
idea.” “…Why?”
“Unfortunately, the monsters will attack the temporary shelters as well. Of course,
the number of monsters attacking those shelters will be less than here at the central
shelter, but it will not be a small number as it will be based on the number of people
who will be at the temporary shelter.”
“Ho.”
But what Cale said next put the people even more at a loss for words.
“Furthermore, the temporary shelters will gradually lose their abilities once the
central shelters disappear.”
Even Lee Chul Min did not bare his fangs at Cale this time. “…
So, you’re saying that in the end, all shelters will disappear?”
“Yes.”
Lee Chul Min's voice was shaking after hearing Cale’s firm response.
His voice could not help but shake as he imagined hell on earth.
“The world will only be without any shelters for three hours.”
He didn't question whether Cale was telling the truth or not anymore.
They had all faced this unbelievable situation known as the cataclysm
That was especially the case if the worst-case scenario was going to be hell.
“Does a Grade 1 monster have to be as strong as the bastard with three horns?”
Monsters did not have names yet and were called out by their characteristics at this
time.
“O, our attack team can’t handle it if more than four of them come at once! We will
die! But they're going to come like a tsunami? How is that possible?”
“Of course, there will be less of them than the Grade 3 and Grade 2 monsters.”
“That’s obvious! There aren’t as many of those strong bastards! Even still, even still,
there has to be at least more than ten of them, right? Especially if all of the ones
around us come to attack!”
“Definitely more.”
He continued to speak.
“No.”
Unlike Park Jin Tae's voice that was full of hesitation, Kim Rok Soo’s voice had no
hesitation at all.
“We can move to the new central shelter without any of us dying.”
“…How?”
Smile.
The skinny young man with a sharp gaze started to smile brightly.
The blood-colored eyes bastard had made a big mistake.
“Data.”
“…Data?”
The ability that Cale had awakened while he was Kim Rok Soo could not be used
‘right now.’
But that did not mean that the memories he had gathered had disappeared.
His power came not from the present nor the future, but from his experiences in the
past.
It was important to awaken his ability, but there was a reason he thought that this
battle at the central shelter was doable even without it.
Cale who was in Kim Rok Soo's body right now, the man who had lived as Kim Rok
Soo until he was thirty-six and then lived as Cale continued to speak.
“Weaknesses, movement patterns, attacking styles, and destructive force. I also know
the order in which the monsters will attack.”
That had been the foundation for how humans were able to create societies on Earth
again, the thing that allowed them to go from being weaklings to proper opponents
of the monsters.
All of them looked toward Kim Rok Soo with complicated expressions.
One person walked over to Kim Rok Soo and grabbed his hand. “…
Grandma.”
“You're a good kid. You also have a strong will. Who would I trust if I can't trust
someone like you?”
“We don’t have much time so we will trust your prophecy for now, Kim Rok Soo. Lee
Chul Min!”
“Yes, sir!”
Lee Chul Min opened his mouth to speak as if he was a trained soldier.
“Yes si-”
Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang!
“Aaaaaah!”
“O, outside!”
Cale looked out the window after hearing this sudden explosion as well.
This was the first time he heard an explosion like this since coming here.
Park Jin Tae was shocked at his action but Cale pushed Park Jin Tae aside and ran out
the door.
The black Yong shooting up into the sky was the culprit behind the explosion.
He quickly ran down the stairs and headed outside the building.
He heard Jang Man Soo who was waiting on the first floor calling his name, but Cale
didn't have any time to look back.
He heard Park Jin Tae and Lee Seung Won’s voices behind him as well, but he still
could not look back.
The sparkling black Yong that was shooting up to the sky was turning faint and
disappearing.
He would soon be past the boundary and it would not be weird if monsters appeared
at any moment to attack Kim Rok Soo.
“Hey!”
distance. “…You-”
However, the distance between him and the approaching person slowly became smaller.
“Choi Han.”
“What?”
Choi Han quietly looked at the skinny and shabby Kim Rok Soo as he continued to
speak.
“Cale-nim, you are currently unconscious and imprisoned inside a black orb.”
“I went to the Endable Kingdom, but I was unable to get near it. It is impossible to get
near it.”
His clothes did not match this world, but his physical appearance that was perfect for
Korea was looking at him, at Kim Rok Soo.
“That is why I found a way to squeeze into Cale-nim’s mind, into the test.”
Cale was shocked that Choi Han knew about the test.
“How can you get involved-”
“…What?”
“I made a deal with the God of Death so that I could get involved with this test.”
Cale suppressed his emotions that were trying to make him tear up and opened his
mouth to speak.
“He said that I would live longer than Raon. I didn't want that. I didn't want to be left
alone. So, I matched my lifespan to Raon's.”
“Who is this?”
Choi Han smiled brightly and responded once he heard Park Jin Tae and Lee Seung
Won who had followed Cale.
Cale had to bite his lips after hearing that because of the emotions filling his body.
“I'm sorry.”
That was the only thing he could offer Choi Han right now.
Cale was grumbling, but his face was unable to contain the emotions flowing inside
him.
Lee Seung Won who walked up to Cale looked at this with shock.
It was extremely rare for Kim Rok Soo to show his emotions like this.
But Park Jin Tae was even more shocked than Lee Seung Won.
The fact that Kim Rok Soo was trying his best to get rid of the gratitude and emotions
visible on his face was shocking.
There had been many things to be shocked about thanks to Kim Rok Soo today, but
nothing was as shocking as this look right now.
‘Who is this? Is it someone he knew before? He seems extremely happy to see him.’
He was shocked by Kim Rok Soo, but he was also shocked at this new person that had
shown up.
Park Jin Tae barely managed to open his mouth to ask the same question again. “…
Park Jin Tae was cautiously looking at Choi Han without being able to directly look at
him.
Smile.
Park Jin Tae could see Kim Rok Soo smile while looking at him.
Park Jin Tae realized it after seeing that smile on Kim Rok Soo's face.
Park Jin Tae’s mouth opened and closed without being able to say anything.
That ability was quite abstract but in some ways, extremely detailed.
Park Jin Tae could tell whether an opponent was stronger or weaker than him based
on the pressure he felt.
There was less pressure if they were weaker and stronger pressure for stronger
opponents.
That was why he had quietly done his job without complaining while Lee Soo Hyuk
who was stronger than him was at this central shelter.
‘That’s also why the death rate during Park Jin Tae's hunts was 0%.’
There were times when they came back without any food, but at least nobody who
went hunting with Park Jin Tae ever died.
It was because Park Jin Tae avoided all the strong enemies.
It was because of the past when the central shelters were destroyed.
Grandma Kim had said the following to Park Jin Tae as the shelter was falling.
Grandma Kim asked back and Park Jin Tae looked around at Grandma Kim and the
others who didn't want to run before almost shouting at them.
‘I can tell!’
‘…It’s doable now, but we can't deal with the bastards behind these bastards! We
must run away!’
‘I told you I know! It’s my ability! I'm able to tell whether something is strong or weak
based on the pressure I feel!’
‘I’ve never felt such pressure before! We’ll all die if we don't run!’
But the punk who said that didn't run away until the end.
He did that even though he should have known that he was going to die.
Based on Park Jin Tae's strength at that time, the pressure he felt was probably
extremely heavy to the point of death.
He would have felt the strength of the Grade 1 monsters charging at them like a
tsunami. Cale had only one term to describe Park Jin Tae.
‘Crazy bastard.’
Park Jin Tae was quite a crazy and funny bastard, but Cale could now understand why
he had not run away.
Cale quietly observed Park Jin Tae who was quietly staring at him with a piercing
gaze. Park Jin Tae's clenched fists were probably full of sweat right now.
Based on the cold sweats on his forehead, his back was probably covered in sweat as
well.
The pressure that the current Choi Han gave Park Jin Tae must be severe.
Cale put some strength into the hand placed on Choi Han's shoulder.
Cale pretended not to see Choi Han's gaze and continued to speak.
Park Jin Tae and Lee Seung Won could see the total trust in Kim Rok Soo's eyes.
Park Jin Tae was peeking at Choi Han even as he said that. ‘…
He wondered whether Kim Rok Soo was telling the truth, but he had no choice but to
accept it.
Park Jin Tae had felt an incomparable pressure coming from Choi Han that was
worlds apart from the Grade 1 monsters they discussed earlier.
Lee Soo Hyuk would be nothing in front of this punk named Choi
He thought that they might be able to survive through the horde of Grade 1 monsters
as Kim Rok Soo expected, especially with such a person here.
‘Of course, I don’t know for sure.’
This Choi Han character was stronger than one Grade 1 monster,
flowing through.
He couldn't expect how Choi Han would compare to a large number of monsters.
He looked away from Choi Han after hearing Kim Rok Soo's voice.
Park Jin Tae then closed the door and left the room.
chat. “Sit.”
Cale sat down on a chair and pointed to the chair across from him while saying that
and Choi Han sat down.
The two of them silently looked at each other until Cale opened his mouth to speak.
“Currently, the Gate to the Demon World… Well, the Endable Kingdom is impossible
to approach right now.”
The sinkhole. The entrance to that hole was covered by a black barrier right now.
Cale immediately started to speak after hearing that it was not possible to teleport.
“What about Eruhaben-nim and Miss Rosalyn? What about
right?” “Yes.”
Cale didn't think Deputy Chief Priest would be a simple priestess as she could use
the God of War's divine item, but he had never expected that she would be the Holy
Maiden.
“…The place she had kept the Ranger Brigade members imprisoned?”
“Yes, that place. Eruhaben-nim and the others are currently sheltering there. It is
apparently not budging even at the White Star's side's attacks.”
“According to Eruhaben-nim, that place has the God of War’s blessing, so it should be
able to last for at least three months.”
Originally, the Temples of the God of War were shelters for the weak during times of
war.
Although that place was not an official shelter, it had the god's blessing and was
created by the Holy Maiden, so it should be able to last three months as Eruhaben
mentioned.
Something is weird.”
The Gate to the Demon World was one of the Eastern continent's Three Restricted
Areas.
exceptions?” “Yes.”
“…Like what?”
Choi Han hesitated for a moment. Cale became tense while wondering what he would
say and Choi Han finally started to speak.
“I don’t know.”
“What?”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t have time to hear about it. I had to rush here.”
What could he say when Choi Han didn’t hear the explanation because he came to
save him?
But Choi Han peeked at Cale before quickly adding on.
“You should be able to hear about that from Eruhaben-nim or Deputy Chief Priest
Cotton once we return.”
“Yes, Cale-nim. Based on what Eruhaben-nim told us, you've been unconscious
inside the black orb for three days so far.”
“Hold on!”
“Yes.”
“…The White Star and his subordinates have a tight formation around the black orb
you are stuck in, making it impossible for Eruhaben-nim nor anybody else in the
Endable Kingdom to approach.”
“Similarly, the others and I tried to approach from outside the sinkhole, but we could
not break the black barrier covering the sinkhole. And then-”
‘Don’t tell him too much about what is going on over here. He’ll definitely push
himself too hard because he is worried.’
Alberu was the busiest person around Choi Han right now. He was doing a lot to
make up for Cale's missing spot.
‘Choi Han. Yes, first of all, you… You go and help Cale. Help him with that test or crap
or whatever. I don't know the contents of it, but I want you to help him quickly finish
it and prevent him from becoming a member of the Demonic race.’
Choi Han had told Alberu about what he was going to offer the God of
Death. Alberu had added on to Choi Han who was walking away.
“Anyway, that was the situation before I came here to rescue you, Cale-
nim.” Cale brushed his face with both hands after hearing that.
“I'm sure that’s not everything. I guess you don't plan on telling me what else is going
on?”
“…Yes.”
He had not said it because Alberu told him not to say it, but Cale already seemed to
have an idea about what was going on.
Choi Han made eye contact with Cale as he was getting upset. “…
Choi Han closed his eyes for a moment before opening them and starting to speak.
"According to Miss Cage, Cale-nim is currently inside the ‘Enemy of the gods’ who is
the ‘nameless god’ and also the 'sealed god’s test.’ ”
Cale thought about those blood-colored eyes that said it was wickedness, despair, and
solitude.
Choi Han started to reveal the conversation he had alone with the God of Death.
“He said that you must overcome the test in order to survive that god’s test.”
“But nobody has been able to overcome the test without that god’s help until now,
which was why I came here to help.”
“Because I have the longest lifespan. I had extra lifespan that I could use to make a
deal.”
“I had it.”
“The God of Death said he needed compensation in order to get involved in the affairs
of another god, even if that god is sealed. That is the rule.”
“ ‘Rule’ my ass. They do whatever the hell they want whenever they want.”
Choi Han shook his head at Cale's comment.
“Miss Cage said that the God of Death needed to make a sacrifice as well. This god is
strong even if he is sealed, so the God of Death had to pay a steep price to meddle in
that god’s test. Don’t hate the God of Death too much. That is what Miss Cage said.”
“Don’t worry. I hate both the God of Death and the sealed god equally. There’s no
hating one more than the other.”
“…By the way. Can that sealed god bastard change this test as he pleases?”
Cale looked toward Choi Han in shock after hearing such a confident response.
Choi Han had asked the same question to the God of Death.
“He said that there are rules for a god to approach a human. Those rules are absolute
and even gods cannot change them, although the method a god uses to approach
humans is all different.”
Cale suddenly recalled how the World Tree told him that the gods share their will
with this world by making deals or contracts with humans.
“One of the absolute rules for the God of Death is to make a vow of death. Similarly,
this sealed god can create tests per his absolute rule, but he cannot mess with the
contents of that test.”
‘That sealed god was sealed because he broke a rule once. Of course, it was not a
test- related rule.’
That was the reason the God of Death cooperated with Choi Han who said he wanted
to come here.
Choi Han had not clearly heard about the test from the God of Death.
“That’s right. This is my past. It’s when I was twenty years old.”
“…I don't know for sure, but… I think I just have to overcome my past
“Cale-nim. The God of Death told me to tell you this if it seems as if you don't know
much about the test.”
“The past cannot be changed. However, you can overcome the despair of the past that
remains in your heart.”
Cale was silent after hearing Choi Han’s comment before he nodded in agreement.
“I'm aware.”
“I can't use any powers here to battle. You will have to do
It was obvious that Choi Han had not told him everything he knew.
efficiently.
He would take care of things one by one in order, just as he had planned.
“There will be a big battle tomorrow. Many people's lives depend on the results of
that battle.”
“Yes, Cale-nim.”
There was a reason the unranked monsters brought fear into the world.
The unranked monsters were capable of destroying the new central shelters.
That was why the future society that used the central shelters as its foundation
feared the unranked monsters the most and considered them their biggest enemies.
Seomyeon, Busan.
That was where the new central shelter would appear and the unranked monster
would try to destroy that central shelter and kill all of the humans in the nearby area.
“Of course.”
“And that monster might appear in our world as well. The chances of that are high.”
“Choi Han.”
“Yes, Cale-nim.”
‘We are guaranteed to defeat the first unranked monster if you are by my
side.’ Cale held back what he wanted to say and said something else.
“Call me hyung. Everybody will think it’s weird if you call me Cale-nim.”
“You are older than me, but… I'm twenty years old.”
Choi Han quietly looked at that hand before reaching his own hand
Cale felt as if he could finally breathe a little better and felt relief from the sense of
responsibility and burden he felt here for the first time.
11 am.
Cale quietly watched Lee Seung Won who was peeking at him while speaking.
“Keep going.”
Cale looked up after seeing the uncertainty in Lee Seung Won’s eyes.
building. ‘Cale-nim.’
Cale recalled the conversation he had with Choi Han last night.
‘What is it?’
‘The God of Death said this in passing… But either way, this is what he said.’
Choi Han had wondered if it was important, but he still said it as if it was nothing.
‘The sealed god is not able to return to the past, but he is able to push his way into a
different dimension.’
Choi Han then shrugged his shoulders, saying that was it.
Cale, who had been extremely busy since last night, was finally able to think about it
now that he had some time.
‘He's able to open a path into a different dimension?’
Did that mean that this place was not a test created with his past as the background?
“Hmm? Oh, nothing much. I was just thinking about the dimension thing you
mentioned last night.”
“Ah.”
They were the same age, but Lee Seung Won found it difficult to speak to Choi Han for
some reason.
Choi Han also stayed next to Rok Soo hyung and did not try to chat with the others.
Cale nodded his head at Choi Han who had stopped speaking after peeking at Lee
Seung Won.
“But I came into your consci-, mm, anyway, that was the condition.”
Since Choi Han had come into Cale's consciousness, he didn't think it was a different
dimension or anything like that.
Unfortunately, Cale didn’t trust either the God of Death nor the sealed god.
Gods. He had never seen them lie, but he had seen them not tell the entire truth many
times.
That was the question Lee Seung Won had asked Cale just now.
“It’ll be useful.”
The more that this world was real to Kim Rok Soo and Cale Henituse…
Lee Seung Won’s ability was necessary.
If getting rid of Cale’s, or actually, Kim Rok Soo's despair was the conditions for
passing this test…
That made it more important for Cale to create a future for them.
That way he could… Wash away the despair he had for not just this one moment, but
the future that would come.
He put his hand on the shoulder of Lee Seung Won, the boy who was only three years
younger than him in this place.
“Data is the future. Even weak humans are able to defeat a monster if they know its
weakness. Being able to think. That is the greatest strength humans have.”
‘Recording.’
It was a random badge that had been rolling around inside the building.
“Seung Won. The information you create with your abilities will become the hope for
this world.”
“…To survive-”
“…Yeah.”
However, it was just the difference of whether it was needed now or for the
They were looking at the area inside the boundaries where monsters did not come.
“You'll see how even people without abilities can fight and win.”
Screeeech.
Cale looked toward Park Jin Tae who had opened the door to the roof and was
walking in.
Park Jin Tae was with Lee Chul Min as they walked over to Cale.
“I delivered your message to the other central shelters. We went to more temporary
shelters as well.”
“Pfft.”
“Of course they did. Who wouldn’t? We were telling them that all of the shelters
would be destroyed and that monsters will come charging in.”
Park Jin Tae and a few others had urgently gathered teams to go visit the two central
shelters close to this one.
They also stopped by the temporary shelters they knew of along the way as well.
They had informed all of those shelters about the things Kim Rok Soo had told Park
Jin Tae.
They also handed them the things Kim Rok Soo told them to deliver.
“We also brought the people who believed us back, just as you
wanted.” One corner of Cale's lips went up after hearing Park Jin Tae’s
comment.
“Was it just because I wanted it? Didn’t you bring them because you wanted to save
them? Isn’t that why you kept doing it all morning even though it was supposed to
end at dawn?”
Park Jin Tae had been busy since last night and all morning today bringing people over
from many places.
Smirk.
Cale smiled once more and Park Jin Tae started to frown as he started to speak
again. “I handed out all of our food except for one day's worth.”
Park Jin Tae did not give out all of the food they had gathered during the hunts.
They always put aside a portion of the food with long expiration dates.
“Yes. That’s the only way for them to be able to deal with your plan.”
Park Jin Tae took a step toward Cale. He then started to speak in a concerned
“…I haven't seen any monsters nearby since last night. It’s quiet even when we are
out past the boundary. It looks as if the monsters are hiding from the humans.”
“It’s the calm before the storm.”
Lee Chul Min had a stiff expression while standing behind Park Jin Tae as
well. He seemed to have felt the eerie fear surrounding them as well.
“Grandma Kim told me to give you a message. She said that the things you asked for
are all prepared.”
Park Jin Tae and Choi Han were right behind him.
Lee Seung Won watched them for a moment before starting to speak.
“All central shelters will be destroyed at 12:01 pm. The temporary shelters will
slowly be destroyed as well. The monsters will continuously attack for 24 hours.”
Lee Seung Won closed his eyes for a moment before opening them back.
“However.”
“Kim Rok Soo has prophesized all of this and I, Lee Seung Won, believe everything he
said. We will now start the first record.”
Lee Seung Won clenched the badge and headed down from the
‘Hmm.’
He could feel the whispers and anxious gazes being focused on him.
It was not very loud inside the building because everybody was speaking quietly.
It was only one day, but there were many things prepared throughout the building
that Cale had asked for.
“Grandma.”
Grandma Kim was in charge of everything inside the building while Park Jin Tae was
going to the nearby shelters last night.
Park Jin Tae told people that he was leaving everything to her, so everything was able
to quickly proceed as Grandma Kim had a good reputation with everyone.
Jang Man Soo who was sitting on a chair near the door waved at him.
It was a watch.
Tick tock.
A lot of time had passed as he slowly came down while looking around.
“Yes, hyung-nim.”
In the open area outside the building… There were many ability users gathered in
this area inside the boundaries of the central shelter.
They were looking at Cale with anxiety, distrust, confusion, and all sorts of other
emotions.
“You're here?”
Lee Seung Won's older sister, Lee Jin Joo, awkwardly smiled and greeted him.
Jang Man Soo was now next to Cale. He had been lowered right in front of the
He was looking at Kim Rok Soo, who was standing up straight despite the anxious,
fearful, distrusting, and angry gazes focused on him, in amazement.
Park Jin Tae could see some distrusting gazes as he watched them move.
Those were the grumbles and questions directed toward Park Jin Tae, the leader of
this central shelter, who had been moving around because of Kim Rok Soo since last
night.
However, he decided to wait as well since he said he would trust Rok Soo.
Soon.
“3.”
The sun was still bright and the sky was clear.
“2.”
“1.”
Everybody felt as if they were losing strength in their arms and legs.
It was because they could imagine the terrible nightmare that was to start.
Park Jin Tae started to frown in this world where he could not see
Cale put his hand on Lee Jin Joo's shoulder as she was curled up in fear from the
darkness.
{Last night, or maybe early today. You should have received information from the Park
Jin Tae shelter.}
Her voice was loud enough to reach the nearby shelters and the other two central
shelters.
Normally, she would not use her ability as it would draw monsters to them, but it was
different if the monsters were going to come anyway.
To the people in the other shelters who had not believed Cale’s words that Park Jin
Tae had delivered to them…
The new central shelters would be the size of 3 - 5 current central shelters combined.
‘But that means that 3 - 5 of the original central shelters will disappear.’
3 - 5 of the original central shelters would disappear and a large central shelter
would take their place.
It was about time for that voice to stop talking for a moment.
{I hope to see you all at the new central shelter. Let's all survive together.}
Cale who was listening to the ticking of the watch that still had batteries started to
speak.
“10 seconds.”
{Good luck.}
‘3, 2.’
“1 second.”
“Ho!”
Step.
Park Jin Tae stopped walking back after looking out in front of him.
“…F*ck……”
There were so many Grade 3 monsters that Kim Rok Soo mentioned moving toward
them that he couldn't see the end.
The Grade 2 and Grade 1 monsters would be waiting their turn behind them.
Park Jin Tae could hear Lee Chul Min's astonished voice.
Everybody couldn’t help but feel fear and despair at the reality of the situation.
They had prayed that it wouldn’t happen, but this nightmare, no, this real situation,
was suffocating them.
Everybody turned toward Cale who was standing right in front of the boundary.
But he needed to do something about the people who were afraid of the reality of the
situation.
Choi Han started to run toward the Grade 3 monsters charging toward them.
Jang Man Soo subconsciously grabbed Cale’s clothes.
“T, that-”
The ground was shaking because of the monsters moving toward them.
Jang Man Soo looked at Choi Han who was heading out on his own and then at Cale
without knowing what to do.
His face was already covered in sweat and his pupils were shaking in fear.
The moment the central shelter was destroyed, Jang Man Soo could not act properly
at first because he was suppressed by chaos and fear.
He felt the same fear that he had felt when he had lost his legs and feet even though
there was nothing underneath his knees.
“Mister.”
“Huh, huh?”
Cale started to smile while looking at Jang Man Soo's eyes that were full of fear.
“It’s okay.”
“Take a look.”
He could see Choi Han kick off the cement ground and jumping up into the air. “…
Ah.”
Jang Man Soo had seen many sword-using ability users such as the former shelter
leader Lee Soo Hyuk, but he had never seen a sword like Choi Han’s.
But he was familiar with the thing coming out of the tip.
“…A Yong.”
Yong. The tip of the sword moved from the sky to the left.
Baaaaaaaaaang!
The footsteps of the monsters disappeared from the spot the sparkling black Yong
had passed by.
All that was left were the corpses of the dead monsters that fell to the
ground. “…Ah-”
Jang Man Soo felt as if electricity was flowing throughout his body.
People were even quieter than when the world had been covered in darkness.
This darkness that appeared in front of them under the clear eye and in the face of
despair was sparkling brightly in everyone's eyes.
Jang Man Soo's eyes headed toward the back of the boy who had landed on the
ground again.
them. “Kekeke-”
“Kahahahaha!”
Park Jin Tae was laughing so loudly that his shoulders were moving up and down.
But the moment this Choi Han punk used his powers…
The pressure he felt from the Grade 3 monsters had all disappeared.
That person could have gotten stronger by now as well, but he still could not compare
to Choi Han.
No matter what.
“Roooooooooooooooar!”
“Rooooooooar!”
New monsters came forward while stepping on the corpses of the dead monsters in
front of them.
Choi Han's black Yong had stopped the monsters in the front, but he couldn't stop the
hundreds of monsters all on his own.
“Roooooooooooooooar!”
“Screeeeeeeech!”
Tang.
The holster fell to the
ground. “Leader-nim.”
Lee Chul Min and the other members of the attack team all looked toward him.
He walked toward Kim Rok Soo, Jang Man Soo, and Lee Jin Joo.
He could not feel any type of pressure from Kim Rok Soo.
But Park Jin Tae felt a different kind of pressure while walking toward him.
His gaze seemed to have complete confidence that he would be able to do something.
He started to laugh.
He wrapped his hand around the cold item in his pocket and grabbed it.
Click.
A small pistol revealed itself to the world in Park Jin Tae’s right hand.
Most of the weapons used by humans prior to the cataclysm were still useful.
However, they were not useful compared to the abilities used by ability users.
Weapons from prior to the cataclysm were not very useful against these monsters.
A monster they might barely be able to kill with almost a hundred missiles could die
easily from an ability user’s odd ability.
But such irregular things had become the new normal in this
world. This gun was a new weapon in ability user Park Jin Tae’s
hand.
Jang Man Soo started to speak while looking at Park Jin Tae who was walking toward
them.
He clenched his eyes shut after seeing Kim Rok Soo smiling at him.
He then tilted his body to one side. He spread out his arms.
He had lost his two legs, but his two arms were fine and could use this power still.
Drip.
The moment a cold sweat flowed through Jang Man Soo’s forehead and fell to the
ground…
"Fucking crazy!”
Wall rose up on the southern and northern sides of this square building.
They were much higher than even the monsters that were taller than
‘It worked!’
“Hehehe.”
“Yes, mister.”
“But I think I can only hold this up for about two hours.”
“That’s enough.”
He looked away from Jang Man Soo and raised his head.
The Grade 3 monsters would attack from the east and west since the southern and
northern sides were blocked.
Choi Han had come back and Cale patted his shoulder instead of telling him, ‘good
job,’
and started to speak.
“Hyung.”
Cale had to listen to Lee Seung Won who had walked up behind him.
The uncertainty was somewhat gone from Lee Seung Won’s eyes
They had pulled off all of the doors and windows of this building last night.
Grandma Kim was looking down at Cale from the top of the roof.
Tae. “Leader-nim.”
“Keke.”
‘North, south, east, and west. The Grade 3 monsters approaching on all sides will be
different.’
‘If we block the north and the south, the monsters coming toward those directions
will end up divided and follow behind the monsters to the east and west. The
monsters at the front of the eastern and western sides are slightly more difficult to
handle.’
‘The Grade 3 monsters coming from the west are poisonous monsters.’
The monsters in the front right now were poisonous monsters Park Jin Tae had
faced before, just as Cale had said.
So many monsters were coming toward them that the ground was shaking.
Park Jin Tae stood in front of those
moment.
Lee Jin Joo started to speak only loud enough for the people in their central shelter to
hear.
{Fire!}
Park Jin Tae could see flaming arrows flying above him.
People were throwing items that were on fire out of every building window.
Some of them were shooting arrows, but most of them were just throwing stuff while
trying to make sure that they wouldn’t hit Park Jin Tae's group with it.
Fire.”
Park Jin Tae quietly mumbled to himself before turning his head.
Tilt.
‘Fire.’
Park Jin Tae's hand started to move after seeing Cale mouthing for him to fire.
The targets were the monsters spewing poison in the front as well as the fire thrown
by the others.
Tang!
“Explode!”
Baaaaaaaaaang!
Park Jin Tae looked toward the non-ability users on top of the building and started to
shout.
Click, click!
“…The battle for everyone to move to the new base together has started. Approximately
24 hours remain. We must survive here for 24 hours.”
Baaaaaang!
A black sword was chopping down Grade 3 monster after Grade 3 monster on the
east. Tang!
Fire was burning on the west. The fire was burning the monsters to death.
He could see Kim Rok Soo looking around at the battlefields while standing next to
Jang Man Soo.
Lee Seung Won moved his hand that was clenching the badge up to his mouth and
continued to record.
‘We need to keep as many of our fighting-capable people safe until night
The night sky looked as if the stars would rain down as if they were snowflakes.
Rustle.
“Alberu.”
Alberu Crossman turned his head toward the voice behind him.
“Aunt.”
She was one of the few people here who knew of Alberu in his current appearance.
Alberu.
Tasha’s eyes looked at her nephew whose face was covered by a mask as he was in
his quarter Dark Elf appearance.
She could feel the fatigue and pressure on her nephew even with the mask covering
half of his face.
She looked down to look at where her nephew was looking.
“I don’t know when that black barrier would disappear.”
The black barrier that was covering this large hole was visible even underneath the
night sky.
There were numerous people gathered a bit away from the black barrier.
There were numerous other people gathered by the black barrier as well, and the
lights were not going off even in the middle of the night.
Tasha noticed his gaze and opened her mouth to speak again.
“Your majesty.”
“Your majesty.”
He started to speak again to Alberu who did not respond.
“Bob.”
Pfft.
“The Western continent is quieter than I expected. The Eastern continent as well.”
He actually did not have time to chat with Fredo nor even his aunt.
Choi Han and Alberu were not the only ones who knew about this.
There was a meeting that took place in the Jungle's Section 7 shores in the past.
At the end of that meeting, the representatives of four kingdoms and one tribe
gathered together and made a vow of death.
All those people had made a vow of death in order to maintain the secret.
Alberu knew that his tent would be extremely loud with video communication
devices going off with calls from the Breck Kingdom, Whipper Kingdom, the Jungle,
and the Whale tribe once he went in.
There were not many people he could trust enough to tell everything.
The reason the Western continent was quiet was because the leaders were keeping
the fact that Cale Henituse was missing because of the Demonic race a secret.
Alberu and the Roan Kingdom’s chief executives were busy controlling the
information going out with the other kingdom’s chief executives nonstop.
Raon had told him some of what was going on after chatting with Eruhaben earlier,
but Eruhaben's side was still unable to properly deliver any messages about the
Endable Kingdom right now.
heavy.
But Alberu was thinking that it would have been okay if that was the only thing.
“…Cale Henituse.”
That bastard.
Choi Han.
Alberu ignored Fredo, turned around, and headed toward his tent.
He started to pray.
Whether it is a test or whatever, just destroy it all and come back. You bastards.’
around. Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeep-
Beeeeeeep-
Beeeeeeeep- beeeeeeeeeeeep-
Alberu took his mask off while listening to the video communication devices going off
all around him.
He returned to the blonde hair and blue eyes crown prince Alberu Crossman and
touched the corner of his lips with one hand.
Your highness!
Alberu Crossman had a relaxed smile on his face as he greeted people again while
hiding his fatigue and the pressure he was feeling from the situation.
Umm!”
Lee Chul Min looked as if he had been unfairly treated, but Park Jin Tae didn’t even
look at him.
He was only looking forward and his hands were quickly moving.
Aim.
Fire.
Tang!
Baaaaaang!
There was an explosion with the bullet at the center. A monster's body that was burnt
to a crisp joined the pile on the ground.
There were corpses like this piling up on the eastern and western sides of the
building. “Ugh.”
Park Jin Tae bit down on his lips, but blood still managed to drip out.
‘I’ve never seen the leader use his ability so much before!’
“No!”
“Did you forget that we are following Kim Rok Soo's orders? You guys just support
me!”
‘Shit!’
That was the signal that the ingredients for the flaming arrows and fireballs were
The corners of Park Jin Tae's lips started to go up after hearing his subordinate’s
comment.
“Hey! Of course I'm laughing, should I be crying when everything is going exactly as
Kim Rok Soo said it would?”
Jang Man Soo was sweating bullets but was still capable of fending off their attacks,
forcing the monsters to gather to the east and west to attack the now-defunct central
shelter.
Park Jin Tae looked toward the only person on this battlefield who seemed to be
surrounded in peace and silence.
Baaaaang! Baaaaang!
Kim Rok Soo was focused on the shield that seemed to be barely holding
“Run!”
Craaaaaaack. Craaaaaaack-!
Park Jin Tae could see cracks starting to appear on Jang Man Soo’s shield.
“Hurry!”
He urged on his subordinates who were already running away after hearing Rok
Soo's order.
Park Jin Tae saw a black-haired punk running very quickly at that moment.
The attack team members on the eastern side had already headed for the door and
Choi Han picked Jang Man Soo up.
“Huff. Huff.”
As Jang Man Soo barely managed to open his tired arms and got on Choi Han’s back…
Park Jin Tae took something out of his pocket and put it in his ears.
“Screeeech-!”
The monsters were charging in from the now defenseless eastern and western sides.
Slam!
“Huff, huff.”
“Rok Soo!”
Cale made eye contact with Grandma Kim as he was catching his breath and
immediately headed toward the ledge.
Baaaaaaaaaang!
The shields on both the northern and the southern sides crumbled.
That made the furious monsters explosively charge forward in their place.
“Go!”
Park Jin Tae shouted to Choi Han and Choi Han quickly headed for the door.
Park Jin Tae was covering Choi Han's back as he
voice.
Lee Jin Joo nodded her head and Cale lowered his hand.
{Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!}
“Roooooooar!”
“Cooooooooooooo!”
“Screeeech-!”
There was blood dripping out of all of their ears. Some of the weaker Grade 3
monsters started to stumble and fall as well.
The charging monsters stopped moving for a moment.
There were extremely weak psychokinesis or weak gusts of wind coming out of the
tips of those hands.
All these people who were not much help during hunts were on the roof ledge with
earplugs in.
They started to push with everything they had once Cale gave the signal.
Plop.
The items they had moved to the roof since last night without stopping started to fall.
Boooom!
“Roooooooooar!”
“Crooooooooo!”
Three monsters fell after being hit by that large piece of a building.
That was the beginning.
Pieces of the buildings and all sorts of things started to fall on the Grade 3 monsters
behind them.
“Rooooooooooar!”
“Screeeeeeech!”
“Rooooooooooooar!”
Park Jin Tae watched a monster in front of him falling over after a sharp chunk of
cement landed on its head.
“Kahahaha!”
Choi Han had pulled him in and the people inside the building quickly started to close
the door.
Screeeeeech- boom!
They then almost instantly piled heavy things in front of the closed door.
The first-floor windows were boarded with wooden planks and other items as well.
Park Jin Tae ignored all of this and immediately started to run to the roof.
He had quickly run up to the roof and started to speak while looking down.
‘This bastard, Kim Rok Soo, he really-’
She then walked over to Cale who was standing by Lee Jin Joo and grabbed his hand.
This was another wall that would protect the central shelter.
“Yes. It should take some time for them to climb over these monsters and debris to
attack. Good job.”
But the smile quickly disappeared from Park Jin Tae's face.
“Some Grade 1 monsters should attack soon if things go as you said, right?”
Park Jin Tae could see the Grade 2 monsters slowly revealing themselves behind the
Grade 3 monsters.
“You said that Grade 1 monsters would appear after the Grade 3 monsters disappear
but before the Grade 2 monsters start coming.”
Cale closed his eyes and then reopened them.
In the past…
As there was a shift from the Grade 3 monsters to the Grade 2 monsters…
It was as if they were tasters, giving a taste of the true attack from the Grade 1
monsters that would soon come.
Cale made eye contact with Park Jin Tae who was looking at him.
“Is it doable?”
Cale continued to think while listening to Park Jin Tae ask him a question.
The people who protected this building and tried to buy the others time to escape
had all died because of just a few Grade 1 monsters.
It was a funny story.
It was back when Kim Rok Soo was looking up information on the unranked
monsters and their appearances and recording everything that he found.
There was something eye-catching regarding this destruction of the original central
shelters and the monster attacks prior to the appearance of the first unranked
monster.
The Grade 1 taster monsters that appeared during the shift from Grade 3 to Grade 2
monsters were what had destroyed Kim Rok Soo's first central shelter.
‘It was difficult to fight against even one Grade 1 monster during this time.’
The upcoming Grade 1 monsters’ attack and the invasion of the unranked monster in
the near future.
“The overall situation is that the monsters will attack by their grade, but as I
mentioned before, there are some special moments in between.”
Jang Man Soo and Choi Han who was carrying him on his back walked over to Cale.
“…Will we be able to defeat the Grade 1 monsters? Especially when there will be 7 of
them?”
“Keep it up!”
The people on the roof ledge were throwing everything they had, including weak
attacks, toward the Grade 3 monsters trying to climb over the wall of fallen
monsters and debris.
They couldn’t know that seven Grade 1 monsters would soon appear.
“It’s possible.”
He was looking at Choi Han who was carrying Jang Man Soo with a piercing gaze.
Smile.
Park Jin Tae smiled toward Choi Han who was looking at him.
Cale started to speak at that moment.
What?”
Park Jin Tae and the others all opened their eyes in shock.
“Night.”
Park Jin Tae shut up after hearing Cale say one word.
Night.
“The moment the sun goes down… The moment the sunset completely disappears…”
“The monsters will go crazy. They will become much more violent than before and
their attack strength will multiply by 1.5 times.”
Kim Rok Soo who had run away with the crumbling central shelter behind him
remembered that night clearly.
He had crawled into a gap between some building debris and watched while keeping
quiet.
He had seen how the night was turned into hell by those crazed monsters.
That night was brutal for the humans who could not gather together and had to split
up because the central shelter crumbled down.
“Choi Han needs to stay out of this battle for us to be able to survive the night.”
Cale and Choi Han would not be able to get any sleep during the night.
now.” “…Then-”
Park Jin Tae bit down on his lips. He barely managed to ask.
“Leader-nim!”
Everybody looked toward Lee Chul Min who was standing on the ledge and pointing
somewhere.
The Grade 3 monsters around the building were doing everything they could to get
inside the building and kill the humans.
But the Grade 3 monsters in the distance that had not gotten close yet were slowly
moving away.
A completely different type of pressure than the Grade 3 monsters was starting to
overwhelm the people.
Tick tock.
already.
“A, and-”
From within the Grade 3 and Grade 2 monsters that were similar in height…
“I'm relieved. At least the Grade 1 monsters are all coming from one direction.”
The seven monsters would appear from the south.
A monster with a snake head, a monster that seemed to be a mix of a lion and a tiger,
and a skeleton-like monster.
“Kim Rok Soo, you said that seven of those bastards would come attacking from the
south at 3 pm?”
“I did.”
Park Jin Tae became annoyed at his calmness and looked toward Kim Rok Soo.
“Hmm?”
He then flinched.
“Hey, you-”
It was because Kim Rok Soo was looking somewhere else and
smiling. The others who looked toward Cale as Park Jin Tae did
flinched.
Foresight.
They had to feel the greatness of Kim Rok Soo's foresight ability. They recalled how
Kim Rok Soo had been right about everything until now.
“Choi Han will not fight.”
He knew Kim Rok Soo must have a way for them to defeat them on their own, but he
was worried.
‘What?’
However, Cale was still looking to the north as he put a hand on Lee Jin Joo's
shoulder. “Noona.”
“Hmm, hmm?”
“Repeat what I say loud enough so that it can reach that building.”
It was a pretty tall building that was barely standing up as half of it was broken.
‘Hmm?’
Park Jin Tae could see human-like figures where Cale was pointing.
‘Two people?’
Park Jin Tae got chills and looked toward Cale, but Cale was just telling Lee Jin Joo
what to say.
“Stop peeking glances while running away. Come here if you want to survive.”
Cale recalled a conversation in his mind even as he told Jin Joo what to say.
‘Team leader-nim, team leader-nim! Are you not going to wake up?’
When he had to face his despair while under Elisneh the First's illusion in the Molden
Kingdom…
The rookie Jung So Hoon had asked if he had wanted some ramen.
‘Team leader-nim! Is this the time to be eating ramen? Are you eating one too
because that punk is eating one?’
She was one of the vanguard members for Cale’s attack team.
She was married and had a cute daughter named Bae Eun Soo.
Cale recalled a conversation he had with Kim Min Ah while he was Team leader Kim
Rok Soo.
‘Yes, sir. I was running away, saw that place, and ran away again. I'm more shocked
that you were from there. You managed to survive even without any abilities at that
time.’
She had mentioned that she had visited the central shelter where Cale had been.
In fact, she was there on the day the central shelter crumbled.
‘I was with the punk who would become my husband at that time. I dragged him
around. Ahahahaha!’
Cale called out toward the two people who were in that building up north and looking
toward them.
“Huh?”
“No, I
don’t.” “…
Then?”
“Didn't I tell you I have the power of foresight? The two of them are
{Stop peeking glances while running away. Come here if you want to survive.}
Park Jin Tae walked over to Cale after Lee Jin Joo said that.
“…Ho.”
A man was flying with a woman on his back as Cale had mentioned.
He could see the woman pointing to this side and shouting something.
Kim Rok Soo had an ability that was much scarier than either of those kinds of
abilities. “Hey!”
The woman who was on the man’s back pointed to where Cale was standing.
“Who the hell are you guys?! How do you know who we are?”
Wave wave.
Bae Puh Rum and Kim Min Ah chatted with each other for a bit before getting closer
to the roof.
“…What?”
Both Kim Min Ah and Bae Puh Rum looked toward Cale in shock.
“Your older brother is in that building over there. He’s in a terrible state right now
because of the large injury on his side.”
Cale recalled how Kim Min Ah had looked sad in the past.
‘I fought with my brother there. He told me to leave him behind and fly away with
Bae Puh Rum.’
‘But I stayed with him until the end. I was relieved I got to spend my brother’s last
moments with him.’
‘Of course, Bae Puh Rum had to work his ass off to carry me and run away after that.’
"We will heal your brother’s external injury. In return, I hope that the two of you can
fight with us at this shelter.”
“Then the two of you, and Kim Min Ah, your brother as well… All of you will survive.”
Kim Min Ah and Bae Puh Rum were high school students at this time.
The people who were standing on the ledge lowered their hands and looked toward
Cale.
retreating.”
They moved farther back than where the Grade 2 monsters were standing. They
looked like actors moving off stage after the first act was completed.
Boom.
A Grade 1 monster with a Bear’s body and purple tiger stripes stomped and shook
the ground.
Just one monster moving forward felt as if tens of Grade 3 monsters were moving
toward them.
He then stood at the door heading down from the roof and pointed to some people.
“Park Jin Tae, Kim Min Ah, Lee Chul Min, Bae Puh Rum. The four of you will fight with
me.”
“Park Jin Tae, Kim Min Ah, Lee Chul Min, and Bae Puh Rum will each take care of one
monster.”
“You saying that I can take care of one by myself is already not understandable. But
what? Three of them? You?”
He started to frown.
die?”
‘But what? He’s going to take care of three Grade 1 monsters? With his feeble body?’
Park Jin Tae was frowning as he walked toward Cale looking as if he would grab Cale
by the collar at any moment.
Park Jin Tae felt so much pressure after seeing Choi Han quietly stare at him.
Both Kim Rok Soo and this Choi Han bastard… They both seemed crazy.
Kim Rok Soo dying would make it very difficult for them to survive.
“…Hyung.”
“Hey.”
The Lee siblings were looking back and forth at Cale and Park Jin Tae and didn't know
what to do.
“…Okay.”
Bae Puh Rum who had taken a step forward took two steps back at Kim Min Ah’s
comment.
However, his eyes were still full of uncertainty while looking at Cale.
“Excuse me?”
Bae Puh Rum looked toward Kim Min Ah. Kim Min Ah slightly nodded her head and
Bae Puh Rum immediately flew up and headed toward the building they had been at.
Kim Min Ah's older brother was there.
Kim Min Ah wasn’t looking at Bae Puh Rum as she was quietly looking at Cale with
her arms crossed.
Screeeeeeeeeech-!
Boom!
Kim Min Ah could see two Grade 1 monsters approaching them from behind Cale's
shoulder.
The other was a wolf monster that looked as if it had a black snakeskin on its
“Two of them, two of them, and then three of them. They will come in that order.”
“Of them, the Grade 1 monster that seems to be a mix of a lion and a tiger… The Dark
Tiger. That bastard is the leader of those seven monsters.”
Park Jin Tae looked past the two monsters in front and toward the Grade 1 monsters
behind them.
‘Mm.’
The gaze was too sharp for monsters they had thought lacked intelligence or had very
low intelligence even if they had any.
The shelter people on the roof were starting to get scared and frantic.
Park Jin Tae could feel the fear of death and the hopelessness on their faces.
‘No!’
But to spend that night without any hope and full of fear?
“Me first!”
“You said I was strong enough to take one down, right? So, I will take care of one.”
Boom. Boom!
The two Grade 1 monsters that were slowly approaching as if they were initiating a
battue made Park Jin Tae's palms become sweaty.
But he would not be able to do anything if he could not overcome this pressure.
At the time he had become the youngest person to win an Olympic Gold Medal…
He then turned his back to Park Jin Tae and looked south.
He was looking at the two approaching monsters. He then looked toward the five
monsters quietly observing the people at the shelter.
do-” “I have…”
He couldn't hear their voices, but these powers let him know from the moment he
opened his eyes that he had come here as Cale.
Cale quietly looked into Choi Han’s eyes before nodding his head.
He continued to walk.
Park Jin Tae and the Lee siblings ran toward Cale in shock.
“Hey, are you crazy?! Stop!”
Park Jin Tae could see Cale's foot step into the air at that moment.
“Rok Soo!”
Cale’s body had walked off the roof ledge and fallen down.
Park Jin Tae and the Lee siblings frantically ran over and grabbed the roof ledge.
“Hyung!”
Shhh.
“…Huh?”
“…The wind-”
He made eye contact with Kim Rok Soo who looked up at that moment.
‘No.’
In fact, the current Kim Rok Soo had not awakened any abilities at
all. Swoooooooosh-
Cale closed his eyes while feeling the wind surrounding him.
Cale recalled what the White Star had said a long time ago.
‘My goodness. Cale, you don't even know how to use your ancient powers properly.’
The White Star had said that Cale didn’t know how to use his ancient powers
properly.
He then recalled the conversation he had with Mercenary King Bud on their way to
Wind Island.
‘What are you talking about? You can hear the voices of the ancient powers? How
does that make any sense?’
Bud had said that they could not hear the voices of ancient powers.
Cale’s body that had been quickly falling started to slow down.
He recalled the other conversations he had had since that conversation with Bud.
That was why the Super Rock had said that the White Star kept the strong ancient
powers in his soul and carried them with him with every reincarnation.
His powers became stronger and more complete as time passed because of that.
Wind, water, fire, earth, wood. All five of them had chimed in at the same
Ancient powers were powers that had become embedded in the 35+ years old Kim
Rok Soo's soul, powers embedded in Kim Rok Soo who had suddenly woken up in
Cale Henituse's body.
And ancient powers only became complete once they became fully absorbed by the
soul.
He had not completely absorbed the ancient powers into his soul.
The wills of multiple ancient power owners were still with him.
The Indestructible Shield. The glutton priestess had said the following.
‘Eat us. Gobble up our existences. Each time one of these voices disappears… ’
Each time he got rid of the former owner’s will and made them disappear…
The cheapskate, Super Rock, glutton, thief, and the Sky Eating Water. Each time one of
them disappeared…
That would mean that Cale's soul had full ownership of that ancient power.
Cale understood the meaning behind those words once he came here.
He could not hear the voices of the ancient powers when he opened his eyes here.
But he could feel the portion of power that was embedded in Kim Rok Soo, in Cale's
soul.
He could only feel about half of the strength of his normal ancient powers.
Of course, even this much was a significant burden to the weak twenty years old Kim
Rok Soo’s body.
But these powers were the reason he made up his mind that it was worth trying to
fight and to save everyone even without Kim Rok Soo's abilities being awakened.
Similar to how his life as Kim Rok Soo was extremely helpful to him right
The powers embedded in his soul, as well as Choi Han being here, made him become
more certain.
The parts he had been uncertain about were slowly being revealed.
This might not just be a simple testing ground.
Choi Han was here, and the fact that this world might not be an illusion had changed
Cale’s mindset.
“Hehehe.”
He looked at the people looking down at him from the second and third-floor
windows before looking up at the roof.
He could see Park Jin Tae, Kim Min Ah, Lee Jin Joo, and the others looking down at
him from the ledge.
Park Jin Tae thought that he had made eye contact with Cale’s nonchalant gaze.
Park Jin Tae who was about to ask suddenly got chills throughout his body.
difference.
Actually, he was not the only one who had felt the difference. “…
Kim Min Ah’s hands were shaking as she held onto the ledge.
Choi Han continued to say the things Cale had told him to tell these people who could
not look away from Kim Rok Soo.
“Your potentials. Your futures. You will now see the true value of your powers.”
Cale slowly started to walk with the Dominating Aura surrounding him.
“Screeeeeeeeeech-!”
“Grrrrrr- grrrrrr-”
Cale opened up his arms toward the two monsters showing him hostility.
Crackle, crackle.
Rose gold fire flowers and current started to flow around him.
“Time to go.”
Adding the powers he had gained as Cale to Kim Rok Soo's record…
Cale laughed while thinking about his time as team leader Kim Rok
Soo. “Screeeeeeeeeech-!”
Cale was flying toward the body of the skeleton monster charging at him.
The rose gold colored light was gathered in his hands as if they were guns.
The moment Cale thought that this testing ground might be a real world…
He started to think.
‘If this is a different world and I need to leave this place to return home… ’
Originally, the twenty years old Kim Rok Soo was pretty useless.
However, as he passed 25, 30, and then 35, Kim Rok Soo became a decent person.
He had grown.
If even he had grown, what if these people who were supposed to die here ended up
surviving and growing?
Cale moved even faster toward the 3-meter tall mummy-like skeleton monster charging
toward him.
Jang Man Soo had barely managed to crawl over to the ledge and peeked out while
holding onto the railing.
He could see the wind surrounding Cale and the reddish-gold light in his hands.
Jang Man Soo had seen people being eaten by this black wolf that was covered in
snakeskin.
He had also heard that people who said goodbye to him as they went hunting were
squashed by that bastard’s front paw.
Kim Rok Soo looked too weak and tiny compared to this house-sized snake wolf.
“Roooooar!”
The black snake wolf charged at him from the right with its jaw open.
Jang Man Soo’s eyes opened and his hands that were holding the railing started to
shake.
‘No.’
“Rok Soo--!”
Baaaaang!
“…A shield?”
A silver shield with two wings open was blocking the black wolf.
“…Holy crap. How many powers does this son of a bitch have?”
He heard Park Jin Tae mumbling, but Jang Man Soo could not say anything.
It was only big enough to block the black wolf's face and front paw.
Kim Rok Soo was not using the shield to block the enemy, but so that he could keep
moving forward.
Jang Man Soo made eye contact with Cale who was on the other side of the shield.
It was as if he was teaching him that this was how to use a shield even though he was
in the middle of a battle.
Jang Man Soo looked toward Park Jin Tae. But Park Jin Tae was not looking at him. He
was speaking.
“He’s obviously using the shield like that for you to see, Mr. Jang Man Soo! Isn’t that
obvious?”
He still couldn’t take his eyes off the rose-gold light in Cale’s hands.
“Crazy bastard.”
Park Jin Tae realized that the pressure flowing out of Cale had disappeared at some
point.
“Screeeech!”
Cale, who had been looking at Jang Man Soo, started to walk
again. Craaaaaaack-
This Indestructible Shield was not even at half power after all. “…
now. Swoooooooosh-
Cale rode the wind and shot forward before the shield broke.
“Roooooooooooooooar!”
Kim Min Ah walked over to Bae Puh Rum. To be more specific, she had walked over
to her brother who was on his back.
"Oppa!”
Choi Han also walked over to Kim Min Joon and made eye contact with him.
Kim Min Ah flinched for a moment before stepping back. It was because she saw
Grandma Kim standing behind Choi Han.
Grandma Kim immediately put her hand on Kim Min Joon's infected
“Screeeeeech!”
Cale. Swoooooooosh-
The bandages on both of its arms instantly turned into sharp whips that struck down
to split Cale in half.
However, there were no openings. Actually, even if there were any openings, they
would only last a few short seconds. It swung its bandage whips around before
striking down at Cale.
Park Jin Tae who had escaped from that monster in the past to survive started to
frown.
“Please look at Rok Soo hyung. I'm just repeating what he told me.”
Park Jin Tae’s eyes opened wide as he quickly looked back at Cale.
An area where the bandage whips could not reach was there.
Cale then quickly took five steps forward. He mumbled the things he had told Choi
Han.
It was a monster’s unchanging pattern that all monsters Grade 1 and lower
had. Cale could see the bandage monster raise its left arm.
Cale could see a red rock in the spot of the bandage monster’s armpit when it raised
its arm.
“Aim.”
Park Jin Tae was hearing Choi Han's voice, but it felt as if Kim Rok Soo was talking to
him.
“Fire.”
The moment Park Jin Tae saw the bandage monster raise its arm… He saw a rose gold
light shooting toward its left armpit.
Park Jin Tae subconsciously took his gun out of his pocket.
“Screeeech-!”
He heard the monster’s scream and Choi Han's voice at the same time.
“Screeech, kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!”
Sharp thorns shot out from on top of the bones that had been covered by the
bandages and headed for Cale.
Cale’s body was already passing through the monster’s skeleton legs.
Park Jin Tae got the chills seeing him move so boldly.
Who would ever think about moving through a Grade 1 monster’s legs?
He passed through the legs as if he was lying down and sliding through before raising
his arms.
Crack, crackle!
The Fire of Destruction, two strands of its fiery thunderbolt struck the leg bone by its
thigh.
“Explode!”
Baaaaaang!
The fiery thunderbolts exploded. The skeleton monster’s screaming shook the
area. “Screeeeeeeeeeeeech---!”
It would immediately enter berserk state once the second weakness was attacked
and become twice as strong.
He could see Park Jin Tae standing on the roof and looking at him with a focused gaze.
The black wolf to the right jumped over the skeleton and charged for Cale.
The fourth fiery thunderbolt pierced through the black wolf’s right ankle.
fire. “Roooooooooar!”
“Jump.”
Cale kicked off the ground. He stepped on the wolf’s head and his body shot up.
Then he was able to make eye contact with the bandage monster.
“Screeeech-!!”
He made eye contact with the skeleton monster that was swinging its bandages and
thorny bones while looking at him.
Choi Han made a comment. The word ‘bullet’ etched itself in Park Jin Tae’s mind.
Baaaaaang!
They were only strong enough to cause explosions where the monster’s eyes should
be.
Cale used the explosion to move and his body rolled on the ground.
The skeleton monster’s last weakness was its eyes that had turned red.
The skeleton monster’s body started to tilt without even being able to scream.
“Roooooooooooooooar!”
The skeleton monster’s body was starting to fall on the black wolf.
The black wolf that had one ankle ripped off was doing its best to dodge the
skeleton's body.
It was because there was fire coming out of where the skeleton's red eyes had
exploded. The black snake wolf that had snake skin could not let that fire touch its
body.
However, Choi Han's voice reached Jang Man Soo's ears at that moment.
The snake wolf could not move forward. And on top of it…
“Roooooooooooooooar!”
A burning skeleton head, its sharp thorny bones, and bandages that would easily
catch fire fell on the snake wolf.
Baaaaaaaaaang-!
“I only managed to memorize the first battle. Rok Soo hyung will tell you about the
rest.”
Park Jin Tae, Jang Man Soo, Kim Min Ah, and the others all looked away from the
burning monsters and at Cale who was heading back to the building.
How long had it taken him to take down those two monsters?
“Damn it.”
Damn it!
He felt as if he could take down the bandage monster. He felt as if he could take down
the black snake wolf as well.
Jang Man Soo's hands were shaking as well. Jang Man Soo started to speak.
“Umm, umm, hey, Jin Tae. Don’t you think we could take care of the bandage monster
and snake wolf when the Grade 1 monsters come to attack?”
Park Jin Tae chuckled while looking at Jang Man Soo who was speaking while looking
at him with an awkward expression. That was all he could do.
He felt as if he could take down these monster bastards that he had run away from all
this time as Jang Man Soo said.
‘Of course, we don't have the experience.’
It was not easy to move around while attacking the monsters following the pattern
with proper timing as Kim Rok Soo had done.
It would only be possible if they trained over and over to make that pattern feel
Was it possible?
Could a person move like that because they had foresight and used data? ‘…
However, Cale, who had memorized these patterns as if they were his own instincts
and had tons of experience that Park Jin Tae did not know about, let out a small sigh.
His body felt slow compared to when he had been team leader Kim Rok Soo. He was
weak.
Even the ancient powers that weren’t even at half strength were difficult for this body
to handle.
Drip.
Cale wiped away the small amount of blood at the corner of his lip and looked up at
the roof.
A corner of Park Jin Tae’s lips was up as he looked down at Cale with an odd
expression.
Cale chuckled at Park Jin Tae and started to speak.
Everybody inside the building was looking at Cale through the windows or on the
roof. Boom!
They heard two more monsters approaching, but they were still focused on Cale.
Cale quietly took in their gazes and started to speak as if that was easy to do.
Kim Min Ah who heard Bae Puh Rum's question was staring at Cale with a piercing
gaze before she responded.
Bae Puh Rum nodded his head while looking south with a concerned gaze.
“Exactly.”
This monster that had the head of a snake but the body of a giant that could be seen
in mythologies was approaching them.
Kim Min Ah looked at the other monster next to it while calmly speaking.
“…And the other has a head of a bird but the body of a snake.”
The two monsters were slowly approaching. They seemed to be enjoying a nice walk.
“…What the hell do they want? Why did these monsters appear?”
“But isn't it doable since they’re both just half and half?”
“…Min Ah.”
Kim Min Ah looked away from Bae Puh Rum who sounded as if he wanted to cry.
She knew Bae Puh Rum was a punk who acted this way on purpose.
Kim Min Ah flinched as she was about to say that they should go down.
Cale was gently stepping on the ledge and walked onto the
roof. Swoooooooosh-
Cale sounded as if he was saying they were walking to the convenience store just
outside or something.
“Yeah.”
Park Jin Tae had his gun in his hand and looked extremely heated to fight.
“No.”
“What?”
However, Cale sternly shook his head.
“This monster matches well with the Kim Min Ah-Bae Puh Rum pairing.” “…
Them?”
“Are you saying children should stay back because it is dangerous while adults like
you should fight, Mr. Park Jin Tae?”
Park Jin Tae instantly started to frown and looked away from Cale.
you.” “What?”
Kim Min Ah took out a hair tie and tied her straight hair into a ponytail as she
continued to speak.
Bae Puh Rum scratched his head and walked in between Park Jin Tae and Kim Min
Ah.
“Ahem, umm, hyung-nim? Min Ah, Min Joon-hyung, and I have survived with just the
three of us. That should be all I need to say, right?”
Park Jin Tae started to smile after seeing Bae Puh Rum speak awkwardly but confidently.
“Let’s go down.”
Choi Han had put his hand on the decently healed Kim Min Joon's shoulder.
“I took care of the urgent parts. We can check on him later to make sure.”
Grandma Kim removed her hand from Kim Min Joon’s injury with a tired face.
The infected wound that had been covered in pus and blood still had left a scar, but it
looked much better.
This was the reason Park Jin Tae and the others all listened to Grandma Kim even as
they expanded their level of influence in the central shelter.
“Thank you,
thank me.”
Grandma Kim shook her head at Cale and reached her hand out toward him.
“I'm okay.”
“…You too-”
Okay.”
Grandma Kim looked at him with a concerned expression before stepping back.
“Grandma.”
Lee Jin Joo and Lee Seung Won helped to support Grandma Kim.
“Huh?”
“Me?”
“Yeah.”
“…Yes?”
He had heard about most of the situation while Bae Puh Rum carried him over. He
had seen Kim Rok Soo take care of two Grade 1 monsters in less than thirty minutes
while he was being healed.
But Kim Min Ah grabbed his arm. Bae Puh Rum could see the cold look in Kim Min
Ah's face.
She could see the two approaching monsters and everybody looking at them.
“I don’t think it makes sense to try to get some rest in this situation.”
Although the clothes were a mess, he could tell it was a uniform. Even his shoes were
military boots.
Kim Min Joon reached his hand out toward Choi Han.
Kim Min Joon had seen Choi Han’s sword art that had destroyed the Grade 3
monsters while on the other building with Kim Min Ah and Bae Puh Rum.
“Of course.”
Cale looked toward Kim Min Joon and Lee Seung Won while starting to speak.
“Mr. Kim Min Joon and Mr. Lee Seung Won will move together during this battle.”
Cale continued to speak as Kim Min Joon looked toward Lee Seung Won.
“Voice delivery.”
Lee Seung Won and Lee Jin Joo looked toward Kim Min Joon.
Cale quietly watched the three people looking at each other before turning around.
Boom!
The two monsters that were slowly approaching had gotten close.
The two monsters stepped on the burnt corpses of the monsters from earlier.
Crack.
The corpses of the two monsters they had feared until now crumbled and turned into
ashes.
ledge. “Please come down and wait with Lee Chul Min. You are up
next.” Swoooooooosh-
He then headed down while being surrounded by the wind once again.
Bae Puh Rum followed behind him while carrying Kim Min Ah. “…
“Yes, leader-nim!”
“Follow me!”
Lee Chul Min hesitated after hearing Park Jin Tae's order but followed behind him as
if he had no choice.
Of course, Choi Han, Kim Min Joon, and Lee Seung Won were already going down the
stairs.
Cale, Bae Puh Rum, and Kim Min Ah were already on the ground.
Gulp.
Bae Puh Rum became tense as soon as he saw the snake-headed monster and the
snake-bodied monster getting closer.
Unlike when he faced off against other monsters, just looking at these monsters made
him fearful.
Bae Puh Rum quickly started to think. He then looked toward Cale.
‘Mm!’
Pfft.
Cale was having this thought while looking at Bae Puh Rum.
‘It’s interesting seeing him this naive too.’
He was a government worker in the newly created Korean Seoul Central Shelter ‘Ga’
Precinct.
Cale recalled what Kim Min Ah had told him in the past.
Unlike the past where mayors and aldermen were elected, a new system of
government officials was created after the cataclysms with the central shelters at the
core.
administration. Each leader of the central shelter was called the ‘Precinct
Leader.’
Cale put his hand on Bae Puh Rum who was cautiously asking him a question.
Cale remembered that Bae Puh Rum was in charge of the Seoul Central Shelter ‘Ga’
Precinct's region defense as a section chief.
“Excuse me?”
People had said that Bae Puh Rum controlled the wind as he moved.
“Yes?”
“Yes?”
“Have you not thought about using the wind in a different way?”
Pat. Pat.
“Excuse me?”
Bae Puh Rum asked back, but Cale didn’t pay him any attention.
Kim Min Ah was observing the Grade 1 monsters with a sharp gaze. She seemed to be
inspecting them.
That was why she could not fend off a single monster properly.
There was a requirement to be in charge of an attack team in the vanguard at the
company where Kim Rok Soo was a team leader.
"W, what?”
Lee Chul Min’s eyes opened wide as he was about to walk out of the building through
a window on the second floor.
Boom!
She was easily grabbing this spear that was three-times her height.
"Who is she?”
“…Crazy bastard.”
shake. “Just-”
Boom!
Another large spear struck down on the ground and caused the dust to
rise. Shaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-
The spear was pointing its sharp blade toward the sky as if it was going to pierce the
sky.
A portion of the Sky Eating Water's power was being activated in Cale’s hand.
Cale could once again feel that only a portion of the ancient powers had been
absorbed by his soul.
The method the ancient powers gave him to make them stronger…
‘Gobble up our existences. Each time one of these voices disappears… You'll become
stronger.’
That was why he could feel the wills of the owners of the ancient powers and he
could always be with them.
Cale thought about how the Super Rock and the other owners of the ancient powers
would be concerned about him once he returned to his original world.
Pfft.
spear. Chhhhhhh-
The water covered his hand and then pointed at the enemies instead of the sky.
“Follow me.”
Cale kicked off the ground and said one more thing.
"This is attribute tutoring, so watch carefully and do what I do.”
The snake-headed giant was walking toward them with its large club. This monster
was over 3 meters tall.
“Roooooooar!”
at all.
In fact, it was much quicker than the snake wolf and the skeleton from earlier.
Cale started to speak as Kim Min Ah and Bae Puh Rum gulped after seeing the club
being raised.
“Bae Puh Rum! Take Kim Min Ah and move 2 meters to the left!”
Bae Puh Rum subconsciously grabbed Kim Min Ah and quickly moved about 2 meters
to the left as if he was possessed.
It was much faster to fly slightly off the ground than to run.
Bae Puh Rum saw Cale moving 2 meters to the right at the same time.
‘That’s the opposite direction.’
Tap.
Kim Min Ah kicked off the ground as soon as she got away from Bae Puh Rum.
She could see Cale raising his spear on the right side as well.
In that short instant… Kim Min Ah and Cale made eye contact.
“Don’t think about the direction and just stab forward with all of your strength!”
“Ah.”
Kim Min Ah finally understood what Cale meant when he told her she didn’t need to
control her ability.
hands. Oooooo-
Kim Min Ah could feel the immense amount of strength moving to her
Crack.
“Now!”
Kim Min Ah pushed her spear forward.
Baaaaaang-!
Cale's spear had struck the giant’s club to make that loud noise.
That was why it had changed the direction of its club that had been heading down to
respond to Cale’s attack.
Craaaack-
“Ugh.”
“Roooooooooar!”
spear.
Driiiiiiiiiiiip.
The monster’s black blood dripped down from the spear that had pierced the giant’s
thigh.
The monster could not dodge the attacks from both sides.
They came right after one another.
The scary thing about this snake-headed giant was its skin that they could not
damage no matter how many times they attacked.
Cale, who had stood back up as if he was never pushed back in the first place, created
another water spear as he started to speak.
“Easy, right?”
A smile appeared for the first time on the stoic Kim Min Ah's face.
“Roooooooooar!”
The monster headed for Kim Min Ah who had injured it.
“Kim Min Ah, I’m not going to say anything anymore, so follow me with your eyes.”
Cale trusted Kim Min Ah's abilities.
Her spear was so strong that Kim Min Ah couldn’t control it to go where she wanted it
to go at this point in time.
She might accidentally harm her allies or attack nearby buildings and cause chaos.
‘…If that person makes the monsters stop moving! If the monster is standing still
where this person tells me to stab…!’
Cale moved toward the giant’s back and stabbed with his water spear as Kim Min Ah
had those thoughts on her mind.
“Forward! Stab!”
Kim Min Ah followed Cale's voice and swung her spear from the front.
Their directions were opposite, but their movements were similar as if they were
reflections.
Baaaaaaaaaang!
“Roooooooar!”
power. Craaaaaaack.
Cale immediately started to move again. His body was heading for the monster’s left
ankle.
“Stab!”
Kim Min Ah's spear stabbed deep into the giant’s right ankle.
“…Wow… shit.”
Cale.
“Go bring the bird-headed snake over. That thing only goes for one person at a time.”
“Excuse me?”
“Mmph!”
shock. “Shhhhhhh-!”
Bae Puh Rum could see a bird-head opening its beak and sticking out its snake tongue
to where he had just been standing.
The bird-head chased behind Bae Puh Rum with its beak
open. Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh-
The snake body moved very quickly. Bae Puh Rum felt as if the bird's beak was right
behind his back.
‘Faster…! Faster!’
Bae Puh Rum used everything he had to fly even a tiny bit faster.
He didn’t know what was going on, but his speed was slowly starting to increase. “…
Holy shit!”
Bae Puh Rum arrived right in front of Cale who was holding his spear and aiming for
the giant’s side.
Bae Puh Rum started to frown. His speed was too fast for him to stop.
“Y… you!”
Cale moved to the side after saying that short statement. Bae Puh Rum's eyes opened
wide.
The giant's side was now in front of Bae Puh Rum instead of Cale.
‘Damn it!’
‘Crash into the giant? Into a monster with such thick skin? Am I going to die?’
Swooooooosh-
“…Ah?”
The wind, this large wind arrow, was giving Bae Puh Rum both relief and courage.
Baaaaaang!
The wind arrow cradling Bae Puh Rum struck the giant.
“Roooooooooooar!”
“Ugh!”
Cale shouted.
The giant and the Bae Puh Rum bounced off in different directions after crashing.
down. And as for the person who had been standing still as Cale had told her to
“Stab!”
Kim Min Ah stabbed her spear forward with everything she had as soon as she heard
Cale’s voice.
Crackle.
She used so much strength that the cement underneath her feet started to crack.
"Screeeeeeeeeech!”
And the spear stabbed accurately into the mouth of the open bird’s beak.
Cale had approached her at some point, grabbed her, and quietly whispered as he
moved her back.
“Push.”
“Let go.”
snake. "Sss-ssss--”
The bird-headed snake fell on the ground without even being able to scream
happened. “…I-”
“You won.”
Kim Min Ah looked toward the angry snake-headed giant that was getting back up
after falling down when Bae Puh Rum crashed into it.
Cale took the lead and Kim Min Ah pulled out the spear that was sticking out of the
monster’s body and followed behind him.
Bae Puh Rum looked at his body that didn't have a single injury in shock as he
followed behind them.
The Sound of the Wind that Cale had created… Those whirlwinds were still by his
side.
‘I knew he would figure it out quickly.’
Bae Puh Rum was slowly starting to understand the method of controlling the wind.
Kim Min Ah followed behind Bae Puh Rum who was moving in front of them.
Bae Puh Rum had quick speed, could change directions quickly, and act as a tanker.
Then there was Kim Min Ah who couldn't control the direction of her ability but the
power behind it was scary.
“The two of you… If you are thankful for the things you learned from me… Help me
out and go somewhere with me.”
“…Where?”
Bae Puh Rum asked and Kim Min Ah slightly looked back.
“Roooooooooar!”
It was already injured in multiple places and looked ready to fall at any moment.
The images of his allies who would take care of the attacking was slowly being
created.
The couple looked confused after hearing an unexpected location. Cale shared his
thoughts with them.
The two of them tilted their heads in confusion before charging toward the snake-
headed giant as dealing with this monster came first.
Cale also kicked off the ground and followed behind them.
The snake-headed giant should soon fall to these two who were getting a feel for how
to take care of it.
The Dark Tiger that was a mix of a lion and a tiger was looking at Cale with a piercing
gaze.
It was scary and looked as if it wanted to rip Cale up into pieces right now.
The Dark Tiger’s eyes opened wide as if it had read Cale’s lips.
Smirk.
< The leader of the Grade 1 taster monsters is 1.5 times stronger than regular Grade
1 monsters and has a unique trait. >
< This was a trait that was only found in the leader of the taster monsters since the
start of the cataclysm. >
The leader of the taster monsters was the only monster that could communicate with
humans.
Cale then added the Dark Tiger to his list of allies that would make up the attack team
to fight against the unranked monster.
‘…Damn it.’
He then started to speak to the person who had come to see him.
“The curse that the Sun God placed on the Crossman blood.”
The curse that the Sun God placed on the Crossman household.
< The touch of the Sun God will always be by your side. >
< Never set your eyes on taking over the sky. >
< The moment a person with that darkness becomes the head of the household, the
sky will be destroyed and the ground will tremble. >
Alberu recalled the words he had read thousands of times.
Ha!”
“Anyway, I was told you would receive an equivalent compensation if you place that
on the scale for the deal.”
Cage ended up learning his secret, but it would not matter if the curse was removed.
He knew that Choi Han had made a deal with the God of Death. He didn’t know the
details and Choi Han didn't tell him what he had offered in return, but it couldn’t
have been something small.
“What benefit does the God of Death get by taking the curse of my bloodline?”
“Gods are unable to personally help. That is why he wants to help in a different way.”
“Gods love and cherish heroes. Especially heroes who have escaped their
“But why do you think it is the God of Death who is offering this deal?” “…
Then?”
Cage turned around and headed toward the entrance of the tent.
Flap.
“…Saint Jack.”
Why?”
“He said that, ‘I need to fix my mistake, the path that went wrong a long time ago.’ He
also said that right now was the only time to do it. This is his only chance to do so.”
This video communication device looked different than regular ones as it had a perfect
split of black and white.
“Should you agree to the deal, only you will be able to use this video communication
device as the person making the deal. You'll be connected right away.”
highness.”
“This video communication device will become the only way to communicate with
young master Cale.”
Alberu reached his hand out toward the video communication device.
The large snake-headed giant’s last scream echoed through the area.
“Roooooooar!”
down. Boom-!
There was black blood dripping out of the fallen snake-headed giant's entire body as
it had holes everywhere.
‘I did it……!’
“Huff, huff.”
However, she was breathing heavily and both of her arms were shaking.
The hand she mainly used to hold her spear was also visibly shaking.
Bae Puh Rum walked over and asked about Min Ah's condition with concern.
"Bae Puh Rum, I think I'm at least better than you are right
He wasn't injured even though he crashed into the giant like a rocket over and over
while controlling the whirlwinds Kim Rok Soo had given him, but he was still a mess.
Of course, he had some minor injuries and bruises, but it was a win if he could defeat
a Grade 1 monster with these kinds of injuries.
She put some strength into her legs and stood up straight.
She had never fought while using her ability as much as she wanted.
Maybe that was the reason her whole body was shaking.
It didn’t hurt.
These issues would disappear once her body got used to her ability.
She became more shocked the more she thought about it.
She observed how Cale somewhat wiped the blood flowing out of the corner of his
lips as she talked to him.
Cale’s nonchalant praise was making Kim Min Ah weirdly emotional for some reason.
The two of them finally felt that they had really defeated this giant after hearing Cale,
who only seemed slightly older than them, praising them.
Cale looked toward her and Kim Min Ah expanded on what she had said out of
He then walked over to Park Jin Tae and Lee Chul Min who were standing outside the
main door to the building.
Bae Puh Rum started to speak with a blank expression as he watched Cale walk away.
Huh?”
Bae Puh Rum’s eyes opened wide as he looked toward Kim Min Ah.
Kim Min Ah looked at him with a confused expression and Bae Puh Rum cautiously
asked.
“Yeah.”
“…Min Ah.”
"What is it?”
“To be honest with you, I didn't say this earlier while we were fighting the giant
because the timing didn't seem right. Can I say it now?”
“Sure.”
Bae Puh Rum smiled brightly at Kim Min Ah giving him the okay and started to speak.
“You were so cool when you were swinging the spear earlier. I think you’re the
coolest person in the world. I couldn't take my eyes off of you earlier.”
Kim Min Ah truly was the only one in Bae Puh Rum’s eyes.
Pffft.
“Keep going.”
“Hmm?”
“Praise me more.”
“You're so cute.”
Kim Min Ah looked toward Bae Puh Rum as if he was cute and Bae Puh Rum couldn't
help but smile widely after seeing her gaze focused on him.
Cale who had been heading back to the building had stopped and was looking at Bae
Puh Rum and Kim Min Ah.
“Ahem.”
“Hem!”
Kim Min Ah and Bae Puh Rum slowly avoided Cale’s gaze.
Bae Puh Rum flinched after hearing that while both of them responded to him.
Bae Puh Rum and Kim Min Ah entered the building after giving responses that suited
their personalities while two other people walked over to Cale.
He already had his gun in his hand as if he was itching to use it.
“What is it?”
Park Jin Tae slowly turned his head after seeing Cale looking right at him.
Before he and Lee Chul Min had walked over toward Kim Rok Soo because they
knew it was their turn…
Lee Seung Won, Kim Min Joon, and Lee Jin Joo were off to one side doing something
and Choi Han had just been chatting with Lee Seung Won as well.
But then, Choi Han had split off on his own to walk over to him.
Choi Han then looked toward Lee Chul Min who walked away once Park Jin Tae
nodded his head.
Park Jin Tae looked toward Choi Han after seeing that Lee Chul Min was far away.
punk.’ ‘…What?’
Park Jin Tae looked toward Choi Han in shock at this sudden change in demeanor, but
Choi Han was calm.
He had heard everything about how Kim Rok Soo had been treated from Lee Seung
Won.
Pat. Pat.
Choi Han looked almost identical to Cale as he patted Park Jin Tae’s shoulder.
Park Jin Tae got the chills at the suffocating murderous intent focused only on
‘Why? Why did you do it? Ah, nevermind. There were no good reasons based on
what I heard.’
Choi Han had recalled what Lee Seung Won had told him.
‘Hyung was the only one to get beat up. Only Rok Soo hyung. They came up with
random reasons to beat him.’
‘N, no. That’s not the case. This was the first time he was beaten up, but they always
treated him badly.’
Choi Han’s sunken gaze looked toward Lee Chul Min who was quite far away from
Park Jin Tae.
“Haaaaa.”
The person sighing was Lee Chul Min, Park Jin Tae’s trusted subordinate and an
attack- type ability user.
Cale looked right back at him and Lee Chul Min eventually dodged his gaze and
started to frown without Park Jin Tae knowing.
Cale held back a snort after seeing Lee Chul Min’s reaction.
‘Lee Chul Min, it’ll be hard for you to escape this time.’
This bastard was someone who had escaped on his own while pretending to listen to
Park Jin Tae’s order to ‘Let the weak and useless people escape first!’ when the
original central shelters had lost their powers.
leader.’
‘I'll make sure to use you properly. I’ll make it so that you want to run
Cale would take these two people to Seomyeon, Busan no matter what.
Based on team leader Lee Soo Hyuk's personality, he would flip a lid once he heard
about what happened at the central shelter once he left.
Cale was planning on taking Grandma Kim and the Lee siblings with him as well. They
would probably tell Lee Soo Hyuk everything.
Cale suddenly got the chills but shook his head to get rid of that feeling and started to
speak.
south. Boom-!
A giant bear that was over 5 meters tall and required them to look far up in order to
see its face took a step forward.
That word made Park Jin Tae clench his fists. He definitely realized that it was his
“Shaaaaa- Shaaaaaaaaaa-”
Disgusting bastard.”
“You can probably tell based on how it looks, but that is the human mask spider. It’s a
spider that wears a human face like a mask.”
Lee Chul Min slowly stepped back as the 3 meter tall spider wearing a crying child's
face as a mask got closer.
Smile.
What?”
Lee Chul Min urgently looked to see Park Jin Tae's reaction as his pupils started to
shake. Park Jin Tae looked away from Cale and Lee Chul Min with a stoic gaze.
Lee Chul Min's heart sank after seeing that and he urgently started to speak.
Lee Chul Min started to frown while looking at Cale’s relaxed smile. He now needed to
give everything he had in this fight.
Lee Chul Min heard Park Jin Tae's voice at that moment.
“That’s right, Chul Min. You should fight at least once with everything you have.”
“…Leader-nim?”
“You’ve always been hiding your strength instead of fighting with everything you had.
Did you think I would not know that?”
“…Ah.”
Lee Chul Min could see Park Jin Tae smiling while looking at him. Park Jin Tae raised
his gun.
‘Damn it!’
But neither Cale nor Park Jin Tae were giving Lee Chul Min a look. Lee Chul Min
became annoyed at this, but he pushed it down.
There was a simple reason for it.
He found Kim Rok Soo annoying and Park Jin Tae scary,
place.
Lee Chul Min looked toward the monster majestically stepping forward behind the
bear and spider.
This monster had a mane like a lion, but it looked like a tiger.
It's black, grey, and white stripes were more beautiful than vicious while its black
mane was rich and shiny.
Park Jin Tae quietly mumbled the name he had heard from Kim Rok Soo.
But he couldn't just stand there and watch the monster forever.
“……!”
Park Jin Tae and Lee Chul Min's eyes opened wide.
It was Korean.
“…A deal?”
Cale was able to come up with this plan as soon as he had learned about these
monsters. There was a hypothesis that arose in the future about this Grade 1
monster.
< The monster that could communicate was a taster monster but still could give
orders to the other Grade 1 taster monsters. In that case, wouldn’t it possibly be able
to give orders to other Grade 1 monsters or lower-grade monsters? >
The Dark Tiger was strong and had many abilities, but it also had many other things
Cale needed.
“Yes, a deal.”
“As you might have already realized, you'll end up dying by our hands in the end.
Wouldn't it be better to join us than to die?”
Lee Chul Min and Park Jin Tae looked toward Cale in shock.
Kim Rok Soo was talking about being on the same side as a monster.
How could that be?
‘Absolutely not!’
It made no sense.
However, Lee Chul Min gasped in shock after hearing the Dark Tiger's response.
"Why not?”
These monsters that had suddenly appeared… And the abilities suddenly given to
humans and the odd events.
‘The Demon World and the sealed god. I'm sure they’re related somehow.’
This monster that could communicate was a precious source of information to figure
that out.
“How disappointing. Dark Tiger, it would have been great if you could join me.”
“Grrrrrr.”
The Tiger quietly growled and shook its head left and right.
It then looked down and quietly looked at its body. The Dark Tiger's eyes opened
wide as it raised its paw.
Lee Chul Min flinched but the Dark Tiger just raised its front paw and patted the
ground a few times.
“…Ho!”
The Dark Tiger laughed in disbelief. It then looked as if it was deep in thought.
This was a comment about this situation he had seen in the future.
< For some odd reason, these monsters that could communicate tried to speak to the
humans. They tried to communicate at least once. >
< Of course, these monsters attempted to communicate before saying, ‘there’s no point
to chat with you.’ and then killed the humans. >
< The important question is, why did these monsters try to communicate with
humans? >
< Wouldn’t they have had no reason to communicate if they just wanted to kill all
humans and destroy the original central shelters? >
< There must be a reason these monsters tried to communicate with humanity. >
This Dark Tiger's goal.
orders.” He started with that statement in order to figure out its goal.
The Dark Tiger's eyes had opened wide as Cale had started to
speak. “……!”
It then returned to normal before those black eyes slowly looked around at the two
remaining Grade 1 monsters it presided over, as well as the monsters surrounding
the building at a distance. Finally, it looked toward the humans.
It seemed to be slowly observing the people who had come out of the building.
“Mm.”
The Dark Tiger saw something and its eyebrows started to twitch before it looked at
Cale.
He realized that a word he had used had caught the Dark Tiger's interest.
“Me?”
“…Hey, Kim Rok Soo. What the hell are you doing?”
Cale heard Park Jin Tae whisper to him, but he ignored it and only focused on the
Dark Tiger.
“Grrrrrrr!”
“Shaaaaa- Shaaaaaaaaaa-”
Cale looked past the Poison Bear to the Dark Tiger behind it.
The decision of the Dark Tiger that was the leader of the Grade 1 taster monsters.
Cale could tell its decision based on the Poison Bear and the human mask spider’s
movements.
This Dark Tiger would try to kill Cale if it determined that Cale was not worthy of
chatting with it as the records had mentioned.
He then started to speak to Park Jin Tae and Lee Chul Min.
“We will kill those two and capture the Dark Tiger alive.”
“What?”
Park Jin Tae and Lee Chul Min gasped in shock, but they didn't have any time to keep
talking.
The Poison Bear was close to Cale, Park Jin Tae, and Lee Chul Min after taking a few
steps with its long legs.
“…Poison!”
Black smoke was starting to rise from the Poison Bear’s body.
“Dodge!”
Park Jin Tae and Lee Chul Min quickly dodged after hearing Cale's voice.
Baaaaang!
“Ugh!”
As Park Jin Tae frowned after seeing the dust… He heard a chilling noise.
The spider came to attack them through the dust the Poison Bear had
Park Jin Tae couldn't see the monster because of the dust, but he could imagine
where it was based on the noise.
Park Jin Tae couldn't see anything because of the dust but immediately moved 3
meters to the right.
“Fire!”
He launched a bullet.
“Shaaaaa-!”
Green spider web started to pour out of the human mask spider’s mouth at the same
time.
Baaaaaaaaaang!
But the spider web did not burn from the fire. The fire just followed along the spider
web toward the spider itself.
“Fuck!”
Lee Chul Min reached for his back after hearing Cale calling him.
Clang!
hands. Swoooooooosh-
He could feel the whirlwind surrounding his feet. Lee Chul Min immediately
understood what Kim Rok Soo was telling him to do.
Siiiiiiizzle-
“Start running!”
Tang! Tang!
Park Jin Tae could see his bullets heading toward the Poison Bear behind the spider.
He could see a rose gold colored thunderbolt shooting forward along with his bullets.
Crackle. Crackle.
He could see Kim Rok Soo who was surrounded by rose gold light.
Park Jin Tae started to speak as he saw the rose gold thunderbolt and the bullets
flying toward the Poison Bear.
His instincts were telling him something.
“Explode!”
His instincts were saying it was time for him to say that.
Baaaaaang!
The aftershock hit the front of the Poison Bear and the back of the human mask
spider. “Shaaaaa!”
The human mask spider started to scream with the burning spider web in its mouth.
Lee Chul Min ran across the burning spider web and reached the spider's
‘How can I slash all of them? I'm strong and accurate, but I’m slow!’
‘Ah!’
Lee Chul Min could feel a strong attack hit the spider's chin at that moment.
Lee Chul Min then kicked off the spider web and jumped up.
He observed the spider that was flailing in pain after Park Jin Tae's attack.
Lee Chul Min was someone whose accuracy was the only attribute that could rival
Park Jin Tae even while using sickles as weapons.
The fact that his accuracy rivaled that of Park Jin Tae, who had been a national
representative for shooting showed how delicate and sharp Lee Chul Min’s sickles
were.
“Shaaaaa-!”
Lee Chul Min made eye contact with the spider's eyes.
Crack!
The sharp ends of the sickles in both of his hands accurately struck the mask behind
the spider’s face.
image. “Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii--!”
Who in their right mind would have expected this mask to be the spider’s weakness?
They would just think that this mask was just for camouflage. ‘…
Lee Chul Min had not heard Park Jin Tae and Choi Han’s conversation, but he had
seen Choi Han's piercing gaze focus on him as well.
He heard Park Jin Tae shout at that moment and felt his left side go cold.
“Gasp!”
The spider's sharp legs that looked like large spears were striking toward him. The
spider that was now spurting green blood not just from its mask but from its real
eyes as well was charging toward Lee Chul Min.
“Shaaaaa- Shaaaaaaaaaa!”
It looked as if it was rampaging before death, trying to take him with it as it died.
“Son of a…!”
Swooooooosh-!
Lee Chul Min watched the large spider web brush past his head.
‘Holy shit!’
‘…I'm alive.’
Lee Chul Min was about to sigh in relief before quickly raising his head. He suddenly
had a question.
‘He was helping those high schoolers almost as if he was pampering them, but why
do I have to struggle like this?’
It was because he thought that he would die if he was hit even once by the human
mask spider’s legs.
Gasp!”
Baaaaaang!
A rose gold thunderbolt struck down on the spider’s eyes that were covered in green
liquid.
The spider's body was shaking as if it had really been struck by a thunderbolt.
The spider started to shake with its legs stretched out before it stopped moving.
“…I, is it dead?”
They needed Lee Chul Min’s level of accuracy, Park Jin Tae’s shooting ability, and Kim
Rok Soo's abilities.
Lee Chul Min had felt how amazing Kim Rok Soo's ability truly was after participating
himself.
“Cough!”
Lee Chul Min could see Kim Rok Soo coughing up blood as Park Jin Tae shouted.
Black blood was dripping down from Kim Rok Soo’s mouth.
Lee Chul Min finally remembered that Kim Rok Soo was an extremely feeble person.
“…Ah.”
Lee Chul Min's heart sank while watching the staggering Kim Rok Soo.
‘This bastard-’
Bear. “…Ah.”
Park Jin Tae heard Cale's voice as Lee Chul Min's eyes opened
“Belly button?”
The place he was calling the Poison Bear’s belly button was the only white spot on
the Poison Bear’s lower belly.
It was about the size of a baby’s palm, which meant it was very small compared to the
Poison Bear's body.
Park Jin Tae urgently twisted his body and fired a bullet.
Tang!
B, bang!
The number of bullets was determined by how much of his ability he could use.
Park Jin Tae didn't have much left after using his abilities without any rest today.
“Fire.”
Park Jin Tae suddenly recalled how he had told Lee Chul Min to give everything he
had. Kim Rok Soo was repeating his own words back to him.
Kim Rok Soo's nonchalant gaze seemed to overlap with Choi Han’s gaze from earlier
for Park Jin Tae.
The two of their gazes seemed oddly similar to the point that Park Jin Tae felt as if
what Choi Han had said earlier was said by Kim Rok Soo.
Park Jin Tae clenched his eyes and opened them back as he started to speak.
“Fine! Okay! I'll squeeze it out!”
“Now.”
Because of the bullet that had exploded after hitting the poison smoke…
The Poison Bear was a scary monster because of its immense strength and large
body. Furthermore, they couldn’t approach it because of the poison surrounding its
body that would be critical to them if they came in contact.
That fire was their one chance to pierce through the bear's poison and attack it.
The fact that the size was extremely small and barely larger than the monster’s belly
button didn't matter.
over.
There was a black fang in the back of the Poison Bear's neck.
The black fang that bit the bear as if the poison didn’t matter at all twisted the Poison
Bear’s neck instantly.
“Gr, grrrrrrrrrrrrrr-”
The Poison Bear was now just whimpering as its body tilted forward.
Boooom!
Pat.
Then a Tiger’s front paw was placed on top of the Poison Bear's body. “…
Why?”
It was the Dark Tiger's black fang that had ripped out the Poison Bear’s neck just
The Dark Tiger that was nonchalantly standing there looking majestic was giving
them a different type of fear.
‘Ah!’
The Dark Tiger wasn’t even looking at the Poison Bear as it was observing Kim Rok
Soo.
Park Jin Tae could tell that the silence would soon be
“I.”
Smile.
‘It’s smiling?’
Crossman.” “…What?”
‘What did this tiger bastard just say? Who?’
He could see Kim Rok Soo, himself, being reflected in the Dark Tiger's eyes.
This, what-”
Cale was at a loss for words while the Dark Tiger smiled elegantly like a certain
someone.
“Let’s chat. Let’s talk about what is going on. I'm curious about a lot of things as well.”
“…This crazy-”
The Dark Tiger started to speak in a tone that sounded almost as if it was sighing.
Cale was not the only one who was wondering what was going on.
“Son of a…”
Park Jin Tae had never seen anything like this since the world became like this.
Lee Chul Min, who had small injuries here and there from rolling around the ground,
walked up to Park Jin Tae and started to speak.
Lee Chul Min could not hide his shock as he stumbled through the monster’s name.
He was more nervous about this monster not acting like a regular monster than its
foreign-sounding name.
“Grrrrrr-”
“Screeeeeeeeeeeeech---!”
Park Jin Tae turned toward the noisy Grade 2 monsters that had been pushed to the
back by the taster Grade 1 monsters.
“Grrrrr!”
“Kruuuuuu-”
The monsters were all making suppressed noises.
“Ha!”
Park Jin Tae could not help but share his thoughts. “…
‘Mm!’
Lee Chul Min and Park Jin Tae saw someone running past them toward Cale who was
close to the Dark Tiger.
“Rok Soo
hyung!” It was
Choi Han.
Park Jin Tae and Lee Chul Min could hear Choi Han’s shocked
voice. The Dark Tiger and Cale heard his voice as well.
People either dropped their jaws in shock or closed their mouth after hearing that
voice. Lee Seung Won who was watching subconsciously started to speak.
A tiger, the Grade 1 monster Dark Tiger, was calling a human its
Lee Seung Won could see a smile appear on the anxious Kim Rok Soo's face.
Of the many people looking at them, Lee Seung Won subconsciously started to speak
again.
They then heard Kim Min Ah's brother, Kim Min Joon, quietly mumbling.
“…The world is vast and there are a lot of shocking things. This would be a total hit if
we still had TVs……”
“Yes?”
Alberu turned toward Cale after hearing the brusque voice respond.
The pale Cale had looked very weak to the point he would feel pity every so often
while looking at him, but he wasn’t as bad as this person in front of him right now.
It was different than the wealthy Cale Henituse missing his meals despite his affluence.
This person whose face looked even sharper because their cheekbones were visible
due to their extremely skinny cheeks was enough to make Alberu’s heart feel heavy.
‘This punk looks quite bad, but the others are pretty similar.’
Alberu had just observed the people who were looking out of the building windows
or standing on the roof.
Alberu heard Cale’s voice, no, the voice of this man called Rok Soo.
“…I was thinking that this spot you prepared is quite terrible.”
Only a few people were still outside as most of the people had gone back into the
building.
The Grade 2 monsters were still at a distance creating a wall around them.
Cale was currently in between the wall of monsters and the building. He was sitting
at the center of the area where they had just fought against the taster Grade 1
monsters facing Alberu.
Alberu had expected them to go somewhere quiet, that was why he was looking at
Cale who had prepared this clearly open area in shock.
This was a spot where neither humans nor monsters were willing to approach.
It was Park Jin Tae who was one of the people who had not gone back into the
building.
Park Jin Tae flinched at the Dark Tiger looking at him before quickly looking away
after hearing Cale's voice.
“Until 5 pm… As long as this Alberu Crossman hyung-nim is sitting here, the Grade 2
monsters will not attack.”
< The taster Grade 1 monsters attacked the central shelter for a few hours and
tormented or killed the people inside. >
< The things that happened after that fell into one of three categories throughout all
of the central shelters. >
First.
< At exactly 5 pm. Once the leader of the taster Grade 1 monsters moved away from
the central shelter… The Grade 2 monsters came charging in. >
Second.
< Even if the leader of the taster monsters did not leave the central shelter area, the
Grade 2 monsters still came charging in at 5 pm. >
Third.
< If the leader of the tasters left the central shelter area before 5 pm, the Grade 2
monsters started to attack even before 5 pm. >
"We are safe until 5 pm, so please tell everyone to get some rest.”
Park Jin Tae was hesitant but had no choice but to trust Cale. He had seen enough
until now.
“I got it.”
“Yes, sir. Please rest well. You’ll need to fight again later.”
Cale had an odd smile as he said that. Park Jin Tae felt the back of his neck going cold
for some reason, but he ignored that feeling and went back to the building.
Cale, Choi Han, and Alberu were the only ones here
“…Your highness.”
Alberu's tiger face tilted sideways in confusion as he looked at Choi Han. Choi Han
finally managed to ask in a heavy voice.
“Yes.”
“Fuck.”
and… “Why-!”
An angry Choi Han whom he had never seen get angry before.
“Huh?”
Alberu subconsciously gave a confused response before Choi Han, who seemed to be
barely suppressing his anger started to speak.
“I was enough, so why did you give up your lifespan-!”
“Huh?”
Alberu gave another confused response which made Choi Han subconsciously start to
get angry again.
Alberu must have give up a part of his lifespan or something equivalent to it.
There was a fire burning in Choi Han's heart thinking about that.
“Excuse
me?”
“Hmm?”
Choi Han and Cale turned toward Alberu at the same time.
Their sparkling gazes made Alberu subconsciously start to tell them about what had
happened.
He told them about how Cage came to his tent and had served as a messenger to
connect him with Saint Jack.
“The deal was that I would get a device that would allow me to talk to Cale in order
for returning the curse of the Crossman bloodline. I was only told that I could chat
with you through this device.”
That device was a black and white video communication device.
“I thought I was going to have a video call with you since they gave me a video
communication device. But that…”
“A sleep induction
device?” “Yes.”
“I was told that holding onto that video communication device would put me to
sleep within five minutes and make me remain asleep for one or two hours. I was
told that I could chat with you in my dream. I took that as only the two of us chatting
together.”
“Ah!”
“Hmm?”
Cale gasped while Alberu looked at him in confusion. Choi Han responded for Cale.
“Time moves faster in your world than it does here. It’s only been two days here.”
“What?”
However, Cale nodded his head and deciphered what was going on.
“…There shouldn’t be any issues if you remain here as the Dark Tiger while you are
asleep, your highness.”
The one or two hours that Alberu sleeps in their world would be multiple hours
here, but there shouldn't be much of an issue if the time he slept here was in his
dream.
“Mm, for the flow of time to be different… But there shouldn't be any issues if it is in
my dream. It won’t affect the world I'm in while I get to spend more time with the
two of you.”
Alberu nodded his head as well. His mane majestically fluttered in the
The Dark Tiger’s reaction had become weird during their conversation. Cale realized
that that must have been when Alberu had opened his eyes as the Dark Tiger.
‘The monsters that appeared on Earth definitely have a connection to the Demon
World or to the sealed god.’
‘The God of Death and the Sun God… Actually, all the gods might have tried to
intervene with what happened on Earth.’
The proof of that was the leader of the taster monsters in front of him right now.
‘Maybe the monsters that were capable of communication… Held a much deeper
meaning.’
Cale could see Choi Han's shoulders flinching as he organized his thoughts.
He turned his gaze before realizing that the Tiger’s black eyes were staring at Choi
Han with a piercing gaze.
“Mm.”
Choi Han avoided Alberu’s gaze while the Dark Tiger started to frown, making it look
heinous.
“Mm.”
Choi Han avoided Alberu's gaze again and looked toward Cale. He was asking Cale to
do something.
Alberu stopped looking at Choi Han and looked toward Cale as well.
“Now then. I pretty much explained my side of the story, so now it is my turn to listen
to your story.”
“Mm.”
“I know about the test and the sealed god and little bits here and there based on
everything I've heard.”
Even without considering the monsters, the crumbled buildings and roads, the
people's appearances and clothing… Their abilities…
“And why…”
‘What do I do?’
Alberu asked in a low voice as Choi Han had all sorts of thoughts going through his
head.
It was the question that Choi Han had been worried about.
Alberu continued to speak while looking at him. He was not done talking yet.
"The way you fought earlier while coughing up blood didn't seem like someone who
was just trying to clear a test.”
The Cale he knew seemed very affectionate, but he was cold in some aspects.
Cale had a stoic expression on his face during the battle just now as well, but Alberu
could feel the desperation and solemness underneath that stoic face after having
spent so much time with Cale.
Alberu recalled the image of Cale fighting just now and added on.
“No matter what it is you tell me, I'll sincerely listen to anything you tell me.”
His eyes were the same as Cale Henituse although everything else looked different.
The dark reddish-brown eyes calmed down and continued to observe Alberu as if
they had never been shaking in the first place.
“Your highness.”
“Yes.”
Cale continued to speak without any hesitation after he opened his mouth to speak.
“…Huh?”
It was actually weird that Cale Henituse had not asked him about them as soon as he
saw him.
“They’re fine. As Choi Han probably told you, they were quite chaotic at first, and
even before I fell asleep, they were talking about destr-, mm… Anyway, the Molan
patriarch is making sure to feed them properly.”
“Yes. They are eating very well because I told them that you said they need to eat
“…Huh?”
Huh?”
“For reference, my name is Kim Rok Soo and I worked at a company in this world
until I was thirty-six years old until I suddenly woke up in Cale Henituse's body and
have lived as Cale Henituse for the past two years.”
Alberu Crossman, the Roan Kingdom’s crown prince, quietly mumbled in his shocked
tiger face.
He could see both Cale and Choi Han nod their heads in response.
They both seemed quite nonchalant about it, and that made Alberu slightly annoyed
even as his mind was a chaotic mess.
“Oh, just so you know your highness, this is something only Raon, Choi Han, and now
you know about.”
“No, that…”
Alberu closed his mouth without being able to finish saying what he wanted to say.
“Ho.”
But his expression was slowly returning to normal. It was because he recalled word
for word what Cale had just said.
‘For reference, my name is Kim Rok Soo and I worked at a company in this world
until I was thirty-six years old until I suddenly woke up in Cale Henituse's body and
have lived as Cale Henituse for the past two years.’
If it was two years ago, then that was the year Cale had used the Silver Shield at the
capital.
Alberu slowly started to realize the hidden reason behind why Cale's reputation
started to change.
“That is the case, however… This appearance is also my past appearance from when I
was around twenty years old.”
Cale stopped talking and looked toward Choi Han as if he realized something.
Choi Han smiled after seeing his gaze and started to speak.
Alberu who also looked toward Choi Han flinched after hearing that statement.
“…There's more?”
“Choi Han is my friend’s paternal cousin once removed. He’s an elder in my friend’s
family.”
“…Ho.”
The Dark Tiger’s pupils started to shake once again, but Cale and Choi Han
continued to speak without caring.
“He’s right, your highness. Choi Han is quite old. In fact, he is probably older than
your grandfather, the deceased former Emperor. Am I right?”
Alberu who had been listening to the two of them started to speak again after a long
pause.
The Dark Tiger started to shake its head. Its majestic mane was elegantly waving in
the air.
“There are more details, but I believe we’ve mentioned the big issues.”
Alberu looked at them with an even deeper frown before starting to sigh as he
nodded his head.
It was quite funny, but Alberu felt that his secret about being a quarter Dark Elf was
nothing in comparison to Choi Han and Cale’s secrets.
It felt even more like that because of Choi Han and Cale’s nonchalant demeanors as
they shared their secrets.
Alberu found it funny that he was having such a thought right now, but liked what he
just thought about.
He could feel the emotions behind the two people who told him their secrets.
Whether it was Choi Han who said it as if it was nothing but had his fists clenched or
Cale who was focused on observing his expressions…
Either way, they trusted Alberu and told him their secrets.
“I like it.”
“Excuse
me?”
“…Excuse me?”
The Dark Tiger sternly shook its head before adding on.
anyway?”
Cale could see that Alberu's gaze was focused on him after asking that question.
He was quite happy to be able to meet people from his past whom he had to let go of
once before, but the people of his present where he had not lost anybody yet was
precious as well.
Cale truly wanted to create a future with the people of his present.
This world he was going through this test could be a real world and the people he
was looking at could really be living breathing people, but…
Kim Rok Soo's 36 years. The memories he had with these people during that time
were not there.
Cale heard Choi Han's voice as he organized his thoughts once more.
Unlike Cale, who could adjust pretty well even after returning to his twenty-year-old
self, Choi Han was not confident that he could live a normal life as a high school
student.
‘It’s impossible.’
He had not forgotten that his name was Choi Han, but he had forgotten about a lot of
other things.
Many of Choi Han's emotions had been buried or broken during those times, but
they had newly blossomed to arrive at where he was now.
Even though they had not taken care of the White Star yet… Even though a lot of
things were uncertain and things could be dangerous for Choi Han and the people he
had connected with, Choi Han still liked how it was right now.
Choi Han recalled a portion of the conversation he had with the God of Death,
something he had not told anyone.
Choi Han flinched after subconsciously saying that out loud before making eye
contact with Alberu and Cale.
“That’s very true.”
Choi Han chuckled at the two of them who were strongly showing their agreement
and nodded his head.
Alberu quietly observed Choi Han and Cale who seemed to be more at ease and kept
his mouth shut.
Originally, Alberu was planning on telling Cale about how the White Star had
smacked him in the back.
However, he kept his mouth shut after seeing the desperate expression on Cale’s
face during the battle and hearing that this was Cale’s past from when he was twenty
years old.
It was not something that could be resolved even if he mentioned it right now, so he
decided not to tell them for the time being.
Pat.
Cale put his hand on the Dark Tiger's furry front paw.
“…What is it?”
Alberu felt iffy after seeing that Cale was smiling brightly.
He found the smile to be even more suspicious as he suddenly called him hyung-nim
after calling him ‘your highness’ until just a moment ago.
It felt extremely sly after he thought about the fact that Cale was at least 38 years old.
“Hyung-nim, around when are you going to wake up?”
“I don’t know how the Dark Tiger would act once you wake up.”
Alberu who had been feeling iffy looked down at his body after hearing a normal and
understandable question before he started to speak.
“I'm dominating this body so it should move as you tell it to move if I order it to
follow your orders while my mind is not here.”
Then Alberu could chat with Cale again as the Dark Tiger once he fell back asleep.
Smile.
“…Right?”
For some reason, Alberu had a bitter taste in his mouth after seeing that
“Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii--!”
A sharp screeching noise filled Alberu’s ear. As the Dark Tiger’s eyes looked up at the
sky…
“It’s here.”
“Hey, Kim Rok Soo! Isn't that a Grade 1 monster? Why did another Grade 1 monster
appear? I thought you said there were only seven of them!”
Another Grade 1 monster, a large hawk-like monster with stiff grey feathers, was
headed this way.
Although it was screeching like a monster right now, this monster was actually
another leader of the taster monsters that was capable of communication.
“First. At exactly 5 pm. Once the leader of the taster Grade 1 monsters moved away
from the central shelter… The Grade 2 monsters came charging in.”
In addition…
“Second. Even if the leader of the taster monsters did not leave the central shelter
area, the Grade 2 monsters still came charging in at 5 pm.”
And
finally…
“Third.”
“If the leader of the tasters left the central shelter area before 5 pm, the Grade 2
monsters started to attack even before 5 pm.”
Although there would be no leader monster there, the remaining Grade 1 taster
monsters and the Grade 2 monsters would all come charging in.
The Steel Feather Hawk, another leader of the taster monsters that was headed
toward this building…
This hawk was the bastard who had attacked the central shelter closest to this central
shelter.
It fell under the third category as it had come to attack this place as well.
He didn’t know everything that was going on, but he could deduct something from
what Cale just said.
{Starting now.}
Her heart was shaking even as she said the things Kim Rok Soo told her to say in
advance.
Lee Jin Joo's voice echoed to the two nearby central shelters that could hear her.
She was speaking to the two other central shelters that would be doing their best to
resist the Grade 1 monsters with the information from Cale that Park Jin Tae had
delivered.
Park Jin Tae who had been headed toward Cale stopped moving and looked toward
Lee Jin Joo with his eyes opened wide.
Grandma Kim remembered the conversation she had with Kim Rok Soo and stood up.
{The first round of reinforcements will take care of all of the taster monsters.}
“Choi Han.”
Cale’s gaze was focused on Lee Jin Joo even after hearing Choi Han's response while
also looking at the Steel Feather Hawk.
“Play around with that Steel Feather Hawk for a while. At least until 5 pm. You can get
some rest while training Lee Chul Min.”
Choi Han’s eyes sparkled for a moment before he nodded his head with an innocent
expression.
“Yes, hyung-nim.”
Cale started to smile after hearing a reliable response.
He then looked past Park Jin Tae who was now close to him and looked toward
“Ho.”
Park Jin Tae could not hide his shock at the fact that Cale was going to go help
another central shelter with this leader monster.
However, the Dark Tiger started to smile and revealed its hidden fangs.
“First.”
Each central shelter's attack teams had people who might not be at Park Jin Tae's
level but were at least pretty close.
The central shelters had crumbled in the past because of the taster monsters, but
they should still be holding on thanks to the information Cale had given them.
That meant that everybody was doing their best to hold on.
That meant that there was only one thing for Cale to do.
Park Jin Tae and Alberu looked toward Cale while Choi Han seemed calm.
‘How could they launch a counterattack against these monsters? Was something like
that even possible?’
Park Jin Tae could see Cale’s calm gaze after he asked that
voice.
However, the corners of Cale's lips that had twisted up gave Park Jin Tae the chills.
At the central shelter closest to the one Cale was at…
“Fuck!”
Jae Ha-Jung who was taking on the role of supporter at this location was frowning
with both of his hands shaking.
The tree trunks coming out of his hands were tightly binding a large iron door.
Baaaaang! Bang!
But the iron door looked ready to break at any moment from the banging.
The door had dents here and there and it was starting to bend, slowly causing gaps to
appear on the sides.
“Kihehehe!”
The banging on the iron door became louder every time it laughed.
“Fuck!”
He started to frown.
The monster was toying with the people who were hiding inside and doing
everything
they could to resist.
end. “Hyung-nim!”
Bae Cheol-Ho, the ‘General’ at this central shelter, clenched his hand that was
holding a piece of paper after hearing Jae Ha-Jung's desperate voice.
It was the information that Park Jin Tae, the leader of the nearby central shelter, had
brought him last night.
He had thought that the fearless Park Jin Tae had finally gone crazy after hearing
that it was information from one of his shelter’s ability users with the power of
foresight.
The monsters appeared along with the solar eclipse. The weaker Grade 3 monsters
came charging in first.
This extremely accurate foresight gave him the chills, but this information allowed
them to last until now.
“Ugh.”
“Huff, huff!”
“Kihehehe!”
He could hear the red monkey monster’s laugh as the other monsters started to
approach.
He could see the Grade 2 monsters getting closer through the only crack on the
boarded windows that they had purposely left in order to be able to look out.
The other Grade 1 taster monsters that had been leisurely enjoying the situation from
the rear were approaching as well.
disappeared. “Hyung-nim!”
"General-nim!”
Bae Cheol-Ho could hear people shouting for him from multiple directions.
The veins on the hand clenching the paper looked ready to burst, but he was just
looking at the iron door that was on the brink of breaking with a stoic expression.
Jae Ha-Jung shouted toward Bae Cheol-Ho while looking as if he was going to cry.
His shaking hands and sweat-drenched body were telling them that he had reached
his limits.
If it was difficult to last inside the building, he needed to at least head outside and
lure the monsters away.
Jae Ha-Jung.”
{Starting now.}
They could not forget the voice that they heard during the solar eclipse. It was the
voice that had been providing them with information every hour.
{The first round of reinforcements will take care of all taster monsters.}
Some people had tried to give up on the central shelter and run away when the
Grade 3 monsters came to attack, but most of them had stayed in the building.
Bae Cheol-Ho had also convinced them with the information in his hand.
Bae Cheol-Ho then moved his hands toward the iron door that was barely being
maintained by the tree trunks rather than to his weapon.
He put more strength into his shaking hands with an annoyed expression.
“Sigh.”
Other people were shaking their heads but still walked over to the iron door and
pushed against it with their hands.
“Ask the people on the second floor! See if they have anything else to throw outside!
What is up with the kid making the flaming bottles?”
“Haah, shit! Throw whatever we can! We need to prevent as many monsters from
getting near here!”
It should get at least a little better than now if they could hold on for just a bit longer.
As they started to think about how much time must have passed since they heard the
voice…
Jae Ha-Jung could feel his legs slowly starting to lose strength.
“Ugh!”
“When do you think they’ll get here? Hopefully they get here quickly!”
Bae Cheol-Ho could not respond to that question. It could not be helped.
He was thinking about the distance between Park Jin Tae's central shelter and this
central shelter.
They were pretty close in comparison to most central shelters, but it was still quite
the distance.
‘It's not just the distance we have to worry about right now.’
They said to hold on a little longer, but Bae Cheol-Ho was certain that it would be a
long time.
Forget it passing 5 pm as they fought against the monsters to get here, if the sun went
down…
But his mind was full of concern about how to get past this difficult situation, as he
could not just irresponsibly give them false hope.
That was why it was the thing he could trust the most right now.
“Hyu, hyung-nim!”
Bae Cheol-Ho then heard the person who was looking out the crack in the window on
his behalf shouting in shock.
Bae Cheol-Ho urgently looked toward the person thinking that the reinforcements had
arrived.
"General-nim!”
A scout who was on a higher floor ran down the stairs in shock as he called out to
Bae Cheol-Ho.
Bae Cheol-Ho then saw the person who had called him from the window.
“Ah.”
They all then heard the scout who was coming down the stairs.
“T, there’s another monster that appeared in the sky! It seems to be a Grade 1
monster based on its size!”
They had been toyed with by the Steel Feather Hawk that was 1.5 times stronger than
the other Grade 1 monsters until now.
The Steel Feather Hawk that had toyed with them left after saying that.
The remaining Grade 1 monsters started to run wild after that and the Grade 2
monsters started charging forward.
The information said that only seven Grade 1 monsters would appear right now.
The person looking out the window continued to speak at that moment.
“Damn it!”
Bae Cheol-Ho moved his hands away from supporting the door and urgently ran
toward the crack in the window.
Ho.”
His gasp put even more fear on the faces of the others inside the building.
Bae Cheol-Ho looked up at the sky before barely managing to open his mouth.
“Yes, sir. We will move the old and the weak firs-”
“Hold on!”
The person had to stop talking after hearing Bae Cheol-Ho shout.
He looked toward Bae Cheol-Ho in
confusion. “Hyung-nim?”
“…What is that?”
Bae Cheol-Ho moved his face closer to the window instead of looking at the other
person.
His gaze was focused on the monster that was descending faster and faster.
“…A person?”
He saw that Bae Cheol-Ho's eyes that had been full of despair and disappointment
slowly focus again while his voice no longer sounded weak.
But he could now see the people who had originally been covered by the monster’s
large body.
Baaaaaang!
“Ugh!”
“Dodge!”
The people who were supporting the iron door grabbed Jae Ha-Jung and moved back.
And a large hole appeared on the iron door that could not hold out any longer.
“Kihehe! Kihehehe!”
The red monkey monster outside the hole was laughing while looking at
them. Screeeech-
The iron door with the large hole slowly started to crumble.
Boom!
The iron door fell and there was nothing left to protect them. “…
Ah.”
The monkey with red fur and red eyes looked excited. It seemed excited at the fact
that it could now kill these people.
“N, no-”
“Kihehe?”
Boooom!
The people inside could hear a loud noise as a shadow covered the iron door.
“Kihehe?”
The monkey slowly turned its head after seeing a shadow cover its body.
“Grrrrrrrrr!”
“Grrrrrrr!”
“Screeeeeeech!”
It was the same for the people inside the central shelter.
“Kiiiiiiiiiii, kiiiiiiiiii-”
The monkey's red eyes looked toward the arrogant black eyes looking down at it.
“…A tiger.”
A black tiger with a lion's mane had landed on the ground and was now looking at the
red monkey and the people inside the central shelter with a nonchalant expression.
“Ah.”
He could see Cale who was standing there with a relaxed smile.
“Hyung-nim.”
Alberu started to speak with a frown on his face. “…
hope. “Hyung-nim.”
“…What is it?”
Unlike Alberu who responded weakly, Cale pointed toward the red monkey and
shouted in a refreshing manner.
Damn it.”
The moment the Dark Tiger’s large body moved…
One of the people watching from inside the shelter started to mumble.
“…A thunderbolt.”
The Dark Tiger's large fangs dug into the red monkey's neck.
“Kiiiiiiiiiiii, kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiik!”
Everybody dropped their jaws in shock after hearing the whimpering of the monster
that had been such a source of fear for them.
subside. Boom-!
The people inside could see the Dark Tiger lightly wipe its mane as well as the person
still on top of the tiger.
It was because the Dark Tiger and the person on top of it turned their backs to him.
“Your highness, I thought you said you know everything about the leader monster
except one thing.”
Alberu was able to learn ‘everything’ about this leader monster once he was
connected to the monster’s body.
‘I'm able to go through all of the Dark Tiger's memories, however… I can’t figure out
where this bastard came from.’
‘The true owner of this body definitely knows where it came from, but that memory
seems to have been erased once I was brought inside.’
“Please, let's hurry since we need to quickly figure that one thing out as well.”
“Haaaaaaaaa. Fine.”
“Grrrrrr!”
They could hear the monsters growling from all around them.
“…For the crown prince… to do such… Such… things that bring down my dignity……”
“Your highness.”
The Dark Tiger opened its mouth and bared its heinous fangs.
“Roooooooooar!”
The Dark Tiger’s thunder-like roar made the air around the central shelter start to
shake.
‘Cale. This leader of the taster monsters seems to be able to affect the Grade 2
monsters to a degree as you suspected.’
Cale had focused on something in addition to the fact that the leader of the taster
monsters was capable of communicating in the past.
Command.
Could the leader monsters command the Grade 2 and Grade 3 monsters?
‘I looked through this body's memories and noticed that the Grade 3 monsters feel
intense fear and pressure from this body while the Grade 2 monsters feel significant
fear and pressure.’
The two of those were quite different, but there was something he could gather from
this information.
“Kiiiiiiiiiiii!”
“Grr! Grr!”
“Rooooar!”
The Grade 2 and Grade 3 monsters all felt fear from the leaders of the taster
monsters.
The Grade 2 monsters showed a bigger reaction than when the Dark Tiger had first
appeared and urgently retreated back.
The Grade 2 monsters started to surround the building, similar to the Grade 2
monsters at Cale's central shelter.
‘Ah, Cale. You mentioned the taster monsters, right? The other Grade 1 taster
monsters only feel a small amount of fear and pressure.’
As Alberu had mentioned earlier, unlike the Grade 2 monsters that had retreated, the
remaining Grade 1 monsters were warily glaring at the Dark Tiger and Cale.
The monsters showed a small amount of fear, but they quickly realized that they
outnumbered them and started to look for an opening to attack.
“Looks like we can’t show them any openings.”
Chhhhh-
Crackle!
The water spear was in his right hand while a rose gold thunderbolt was in his left
hand looking like a spear.
“No. I cannot end up fainting. I'm just showing them that I have these powers in order
to act tough and make them be more cautious about attacking us.”
“Ah, is that
But the Grade 1 taster monsters that could not hear their conversation tensed up
because of their wariness of the Dark Tiger and this human's power and they did not
dare to attack.
The people inside the central shelter could not believe what they were seeing.
This man was firmly standing on top of this large tiger while controlling it as if it was
part of his body.
Then there were the powers of water and fiery thunderbolt in that man’s hands. “…
They had heard about ability users with multiple abilities because of Lee Soo Hyuk,
one of the most famous ability users during this time, but they had never seen it for
themselves.
Jae Ha-Jung started to think about the abilities of this man in front of him.
“…Water… thunderbolt.”
He also controlled a monster. The only occupation he could come up with was-
“…A tamer?”
He couldn’t come up with a term for someone with all these abilities.
Jae Ha-Jung was standing quite far away, but he could see the smile on the man’s face.
‘He can look so relaxed even while having all these monsters in front of him.’
‘We will now send the first round of reinforcements. Please hold on a little longer.
The first round of reinforcements will take care of all taster monsters.’
He then heard the leader of this central shelter, Bae Cheol-Ho, start to shout.
“Oh, my goodness!”
He was looking toward the sky from which the Dark Tiger had descended. It was
focused on that spot.
He was looking at the other people who were also descending from the sky.
“Eldest Uncle!”
“Puh Rum!”
The others with him had no choice but to quickly descend as well.
“Eldest Uncle!”
Bae Puh Rum ran past the red monkey's corpse and entered the building. Bae Cheol-
Ho had already run down as well.
“My goodness!”
Bae Puh Rum couldn't hide his shock at the fact that Bae Cheol-Ho had been so close.
This was his Eldest Uncle whom he had seen many times even aside from the major
holidays.
It was at that
Bae Cheol-Ho noticed the people who had descended with Bae Puh Rum.
Puh Rum snapped back to his senses after hearing the voice and moved away from
Bae Cheol-Ho.
The person who had greeted Bae Cheol-Ho started to speak.
Bae Puh Rum quickly moved to Min Ah's side and started to speak.
“Tell him
later.” “Okay.”
Puh Rum quickly shut up after hearing Kim Min Ah’s stern voice. But everybody could
tell their relationship based on their flushed cheeks.
Kim Min Ah then bowed toward Bae Cheol-Ho and quickly turned around.
“…Huh?”
Kim Min Ah immediately headed out of the building. Bae Cheol-Ho subconsciously
reached out.
But Bae Cheol-Ho's hand could not reach Kim Min Ah.
Boom!
A large spear stabbed down on the ground. Kim Min Ah easily grabbed the spear and
started to walk toward the Dark Tiger's side.
Was none other than Park Jin Tae, whom Bae Cheol-Ho knew to be the leader of the
other shelter.
That Park Jin Tae who was said to have a terrible personality started to frown as he
responded.
Bae Cheol-Ho looked confused as he watched Park Jin Tae respond in a grumbling
tone but hurrying over after putting Jang Man Soo, who was on his back, down on
the ground.
He then quietly swore after making eye contact with Bae Cheol-
However, he heard Cale calling for him again and started to speak to Bae Cheol-Ho.
“…Grandma Kim here will tell you everything you need to know.”
Bae Cheol-Ho quickly bowed toward the grandma with a benign smile before
looking back at Park Jin Tae.
Bae Cheol-Ho looked toward Park Jin Tae who responded in a brusque tone as he
pointed outside with one hand.
The expression on Park Jin Tae's face disappeared for the first
Bae Cheol-Ho’s eyes opened wide. He was shocked to hear such a response from the
greedy Park Jin Tae.
“You'll understand once you see what happens. We can survive if we do as he says. All
of us.”
Boom-!
Bae Cheol-Ho watched the last of the Grade 1 taster monsters that had attacked this
central shelter fall to the ground.
“…Ho.”
He had not expected all of the Grade 1 taster monsters to truly fall.
This was the man who had stood on top of the Dark Tiger’s back and gave orders to
Kim Min Ah, Park Jin Tae, and Bae Puh Rum to get rid of the monsters one by one.
“My name is Bae Cheol-Ho. Thank you very much from the bottom of my
That was why he tried to say something else, but Cale shook his head.
“We don’t have much time because we need to go help the other nearby central
shelter as well, so I will keep it short.”
Bae Cheol-Ho thought about the third shelter in the vicinity after hearing Cale say
that they didn't have much time.
“Of course. Please feel free to say whatever you need to say.”
Bae Cheol-Ho grabbed Cale’s hand with both hands as he said that.
“I need to tell her in person, but… We are thinking about launching a counterattack.”
“Excuse me?”
As Cale's expression turned blank after hearing Bae Cheol-Ho answering the same way
over and over…
A woman wearing round glasses started to walk down from the second floor.
Cale looked into the focused eyes behind the glasses and nodded his head.
Che Soo Jung approached Cale with both suspicions about why he was looking for her
as well as gratitude for taking care of the taster monsters.
“Ah, Mr. Bae Cheol-Ho. Do you know about Mr. Joo Ho-Shik?”
“…Of course I know him. Isn’t he the leader of the other central shelter?”
Park Jin Tae, Bae Cheol-Ho, and Joo Ho-Shik.
The central shelters led by these three people were the ones in the nearby
vicinity. Bae Cheol-Ho did not look happy while thinking about Joo Ho-Shik.
Even Lee Soo Hyuk who had been the strongest person in this area had found it
difficult to handle Joo Ho-Shik.
He was very good to the people in his shelter, but he was difficult to talk to. He was
someone who believed in an unusual religion.
He continued to speak.
Cale found his expression and action to be awkward and slowly pulled his hand away
as he continued to speak.
“Yeah.”
The wind was starting to get colder as the beginning of winter approached.
Cale watched the Earth’s sunset for the first time in a long while as he started to
Night.
For the people who had to suffer for a long time in despair…
A night of potential that could bring forth a different future was approaching.
Boom- boooooom!
The iron door that had been barely repaired was shaking loudly.
“The monsters really are running wild as Mr. Rok Soo said!”
Jae Ha-Jung got the chills the more he thought about it.
As Kim Rok Soo had mentioned using his ‘foresight,’ the Grade 2 and Grade 3
monsters became crazy once the sun went down and started to attack the central
shelters together.
Jae Ha-Jung wondered if he would have died when the Grade 1 taster monsters had
appeared.
He was relieved that this was not ‘an unexpected night’ and it was now ‘a night
where they finished the minimum preparations they needed.’
Jae Ha-Jung started to
speak. “Hyung-nim! Is it
bearable?”
“Puh Rum.”
Wind was gushing out of Bae Puh Rum’s two hands as he stood by the
window. Swooooooosh-
Baaaaang!
“Kaaaaaaaa,
kaaaaaaaaaaaaa!” “Grrrrrr!”
The monsters that were hit by the wind rockets retreated back. The people inside
the building did not miss that opening and started to attack the monsters outside
through the window.
thing. “Screeeeeeeeeech-!”
There was a sharp screech and a large hawk’s claws attacked the monsters.
The owner of those claws, the Steel Feather Hawk, shot up into the air.
“Screeeeeech! Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-!”
Steel feathers shot out like arrows and attacked the monsters once it flapped its large
wings.
The Steel Feather Hawk was relentlessly attacking to prevent the Grade 2 and Grade
3
monsters from approaching the central shelter building.
‘Tonight. There will be a leader monster stationed here for the night.’
The Steel Feather Hawk that had left this place after saying that there was nobody
here worthy of chatting with was now protecting this place.
Bae Cheol-Ho made eye contact with the Steel Feather Hawk at that moment.
‘Mmph!’
As Bae Cheol-Ho's shoulders subconsciously flinched after looking into the hawk’s
strong gaze…
Bae Cheol-Ho let out a sigh of relief and turned around, only to make eye contact
with Bae Puh Rum.
“Ahem.”
Bae Puh Rum started to smile as Bae Cheol-Ho had an awkward expression on his face.
“Uncle, don’t worry too much. I'll work hard too. Our Rok Soo hyung-nim said that I
have a lot of talent.”
‘I'm certain that you will be enough for this shelter to hold on.’
It was just that it had reached Bae Puh Rum's ears in a slightly more exaggerated way
than he had intended.
“We only need to hold on until they start the ambush from the rear!”
The people around them firmed their resolves and nodded their heads.
Buzz.
It was one of the items that Kim Rok Soo had left for Bae Cheol-Ho.
It was not a regular walkie-talkie but a medium for an ability user's ability.
Ah. Ah.
Kim Min Joon. Kim Min Ah’s brother was the owner of these walkie-talkies.
…Haaaaaaaa.
Kim Min Joon sighed on the other side of the walkie-talkie before continuing to speak.
Bae Cheol-Ho turned away from the disappointed Bae Puh Rum and responded.
Although night had just started… They were already waiting for the sun to rise
Ah. Ah.
Grandma Kim looked around once more after hearing his question.
She had then gone to Bae Cheol-Ho's shelter to heal the wounded.
Finally, she had come to Joo Ho-Shik's central shelter and was spending the night
Most of the windows here were tightly boarded, but the door was
Baaaaang!
“Roooooar!”
“Screeeeeeeeech!”
“Ugh!”
Jang Man Soo's arms were stretched out to either side as he focused his full attention
on the shields.
A 3-meter tall white rabbit mumbled in an imposing voice as it attacked with its fluffy
back paw.
“Screeeeeeeeeeeeech!”
“Rooooar!”
Grade 2 and Grade 3 monsters were falling to the ground with each kick.
“Rooooar!”
Grade 2 and Grade 3 monsters lost their lives because of its large rabbit ears.
“Huuuuaaaaaah!”
“Rooooooar!”
“Rooooar!”
She didn't need to worry about controlling the direction nor attacking the wrong
thing right now.
As long as she didn't attack behind her… It was fine as long as she didn't swing the
spear toward the building.
The window behind her was open even though the rest of the windows were all
tightly boarded.
‘Grandma Kim is someone who has seen a lot of battlefields. Jump through the window
and get inside if grandma says to run.’
Kim Min Ah kept those words on her mind as she swung her spear.
Grandma Kim looked around at the Joo Ho-Shik shelter’s people around her. All of
them looked determined to overcome this trial.
Grandma Kim held back her thoughts as she made eye contact with a man.
This was the person who was acting as the leader with Joo Ho-Shik not being here.
He was not the only one. Most of the people in this shelter were full of
“Foresight? I didn't think I would meet someone with such a power in person! Even
the strongest monsters are on our side now! It’s all thanks to that sir!”
“We will definitely be victorious! We all just need to give it our best!”
Jang Man was extremely busy maintaining his shields, but he still put on an awkward
smile. Grandma Kim had a similar smile on her face as well.
too.”
…Thank you very much, grandma. I will contact you if anything unexpected happens,
ma’am.
Buzz.
He heard Lee Jin Joo's voice as he looked down at the walkie-talkie for a moment.
“I agree.”
Kim Min Joon could see Lee Seung Won who was crouching next to Lee Jin Joo and
recording the information from his communication.
Kim Rok Soo had told these three people the following information.
‘Recording, message, and amplification. These three things together can create an
information network. The three of you are important right now, but you need to use
those abilities for the future.’
He had been struggling with the thought that his sister and her friend had strong
and useful abilities in this world but that he was just baggage.
But he now knew that that was not the case.
The walkie-talkie in his hand started to
glow. Buzz-
Baaaaaang--!
Kim Min Joon who was on the roof could see a black Yong that swept through the
monsters.
“Fuck! Tell me before you attack! I'm an ally! You need to give me time to dodge!”
They were focused on the man who lowered his sword and coldly glared at the
monsters that were starting to fill the spot the black Yong had charged through just
now.
Choi Han.
Buzz.
“There are no issues yet. I will contact you again later as we discussed.”
I understand.
Buzz.
Cale just needed to activate the walkie-talkie as Kim Min Joon instructed him to call
back.
Cale put the walkie-talkie back into his pocket and looked around.
He could see the desolate city that had no lights as the electricity had been cut.
Furthermore, there were dry blood marks and bone fragments that he couldn't tell
whether they belonged to monsters or humans.
Cale could see all of this even though it was night time.
Crackle.
It was because of the light inside the small glass bottle in his hand.
Currently, they were stealthily moving with Cale in the front, followed by Alberu,
Park Jin Tae, Joo Ho-Shik, and Che Soo Jung.
Park Jin Tae had peeked toward Alberu warily before walking forward and speaking
to Cale.
Nobody else other than Cale had a light with them as they followed him.
“That won't do. There are monsters around the streets as well, sir. We need to quietly
get to our destination.”
Park Jin Tae pouted and looked back after hearing Cale's stern response.
He flinched at the Dark Tiger's eyes he saw right away. He then looked toward Joo
Ho- Shik and Che Soo Jung beyond the Dark Tiger before sticking right next to Cale.
“Hey.”
“I understand having Che Soo Jung here since she's famous for her
abilities.” Che Soo Jung was famous as the Flaming bottles thrower.
She was so strong that there were rumors prior to this incident about how the monsters
who managed to survive her flaming bottles attacks would hide whenever they saw
here.
That was why Park Jin Tae had thought that it was a smart decision to include her in
this nighttime ambush squad.
Park Jin Tae frowned at how Cale was slowly starting to speak informally to him
before sighing and quietly whispering.
“Hey. Joo Ho-Shik is a crazy bastard. Even Lee Soo Hyuk found him difficult!”
He had been loud enough for the nearby Alberu to hear. Of course, the two people
behind the large tiger did not hear it.
Alberu and Park Jin Tae heard Cale’s voice at that moment.
“I know.”
Cale knew Joo Ho-Shik better than Park Jin Tae did.
Why?
A lot of people died at Joo Ho-Shik's shelter, but a larger number of people still
managed to survive in comparison to other places.
In addition, they had not scattered and instead had come together as a group once
they ran out of the building.
Joo Ho-Shik who survived this ordeal would go on to create a 1 person guild.
He was the guild leader, assistant guild leader, the secretary, and guild member.
He just said that his religion was salvation just for him and never even revealed what
that religion was to the world.
Nobody other than Joo Ho-Shik knew the name of Joo Ho-Shik's religion nor any
information about it.
This was something that most people knew about the eccentric Joo Ho-Shik in the
future.
Cale, who had gathered information about the important guilds as part of his job,
knew a few more things.
Joo Ho-Shik's 1 man guild was something created because of his ability.
And Joo Ho-Shik had used all of his money to restore the destroyed lands of
Korea. The destroyed mountains, fields, rivers… He spent money in all sorts of
places.
“He’s very crazy. He’s also someone who does a lot of good deeds.”
“Wait, what the hell do you mean he is crazy but a good perso-?!”
Park Jin Tae pounded his chest as he could not speak loudly and looked toward Cale
in disbelief.
Park Jin Tae got the chills for some reason after hearing Cale's firm response.
Joo Ho-Shik never told anybody about his ability, but he used that ability as he
pleased. That was why people had selected him as their leader.
However…
Joo Ho-Shik's ability was a topic of question for everyone. They didn’t know what it
was.
“Pffft.”
Cale chuckled. Park Jin Tae was about to get annoyed before his eyes clouded over.
“Perhaps?”
Faith?”
Smile.
Faith.
Joo Ho-Shik could make an ability user's ability stronger based on the level of faith.
‘Park Jin Tae and his flame bullets, Che Soo Jung the Flaming bottles thrower, and
Joo Ho-Shik, the ability amplifier.’
If these three people were together…
Tonight…
‘No.’
“Hmm.”
Flinch.
Park Jin Tae turned his head after hearing a voice behind him.
The Dark Tiger smiled after making eye contact with Park Jin Tae.
“Over here.”
Even with all the neon signs that had lighted up Korea at night time having
disappeared, even as people were getting tired from surviving in this world that was
full of monsters…
‘Crazy bastard.’
This guy was a crazy bastard for a different reason than Kim Rok Soo.
“Hmm. I see.”
Joo Ho-Shik quietly observed Cale for a bit before starting to speak again.
Cale didn't even look at Joo Ho-Shik and responded as he motioned to Che Soo Jung.
“Is there much to faith? All you need is to have faith in yourself.”
“The mind of someone with the great power of foresight is truly different. I wish to
learn about such a faith as we-”
A stoic Che Soo Jung moved in between Joo Ho-Shik and Cale.
There was a jigae that was wider than her on her back.
Che Soo Jung easily ignored Joo Ho-Shik and looked toward Cale.
Click.
Paat.
The walkie-talkie was soon covered by a bright light and… Cale started to speak.
“We’ve arrived at the starting point for the operation. I will now explain the
operation one last time.”
The Grade 1 monsters would attack tomorrow as the final hurdle for humans to
overcome.
< While the Grade 2 and Grade 3 monsters attacked the central shelters in a state of
madness, the Grade 1 monsters were all waiting and relaxing at a set distance. >
< They were all gathered together in one spot. >
< They quietly waited for their turns without hunting any humans. >
That was the reason that on this night when the central shelters lost their powers…
The people who escaped from the central shelters and hid throughout the city were
able to survive.
“Current location. In between the Grade 1 monsters and the Grade 2 and Grade 3
monsters by Park Jin Tae's central shelter.”
In this spot that was in between the Grade 2 and Grade 3 monsters attacking the
central shelters and the Grade 1 monsters who were quietly waiting together to hunt
tomorrow… In between these two groups…
Buzz.
Cale moved his mouth away from the walkie-talkie and walked into a
building. 24 hours.
That was how long they had to last until the new central shelter appeared.
Cale said goodbye to Alberu and the Dark Tiger disappeared into the darkness.
The people following behind Cale looked toward where he was pointing.
First, they saw the shelter where Park Jin Tae was the leader.
He could see the Grade 2 and Grade 3 monsters attacking the shelter.
The gun in Park Jin Tae's hand pointed toward the sky.
“Fire.”
Park Jin Tae pulled the trigger as soon as Cale gave the command.
Baaaaang!
Kim Min Joon, who was on top of the roof of the shelter, could see fire shooting up
into the sky in the distance.
“We’re starting!”
Buzz.
Kim Min Joon looked forward after confirming that the connections were still stable.
His hands were starting to get sweaty. His forehead was starting to get sweaty from
nervousness as well.
Kim Min Joon had many questions on his mind, but he didn't doubt it.
And not long after the fire in the distance shot up in the air…
“Roooooooooar!”
The owner of that roar easily jumped over the monsters that were retreating from
feeling instinctual fears and stood next to someone.
Choi Han started to speak to the Dark Tiger standing next to him.
“You're here.”
“Yeah.”
Kim Min Joon shouted the moment the Dark Tiger appeared.
Bae Cheol-Ho at the second central shelter immediately shouted toward the Steel
Feather Hawk.
“Now!”
Rabbit. “Now!”
The large White Rabbit moved to the front of the building entrance and stood in front
of Jang Man Soo's shield.
Alberu and the two leader Grade 1 monsters standing in front of their respective
central shelters all recalled what Cale had said earlier.
‘Even if the Grade 2 and Grade 3 monsters are crazy from the madness… They will
still have an instinctual fear toward the leaders of the taster monsters.’
The Steel Feather Hawk and White Rabbit were not regular Grade 1 monsters.
Unlike the Grade 1 taster monsters that would appear between the Grade 2
monsters and the Grade 1 monsters, they were 1.5 times stronger than the Grade 1
monsters.
Even if Cale's hypothesis in the future about their being able to control the other
monsters was wrong… These leaders of the taster monsters were sources of fear for
the Grade 2 and Grade 3 monsters.
That was why it was easy for these leader monsters to handle two or three Grade 2
and Grade 3 monsters at once, even if they had gone crazy.
They had gone easy on them at the start as Cale had asked.
The White Rabbit's red eyes started to glow before its white fur started to turn stiff
like thorns.
The leader monsters started to reveal their strength to the Grade 2 and Grade 3
monsters without holding back.
“Screeeeeeeech---!”
The Steel Feather Hawk's sharp screech that was completely different from earlier
rumbled through the night.
They could not overcome their instincts even while in states of madness.
The monsters felt the same fear from the Dark Tiger's
“Whimper.”
“Whimper.”
Step. Step.
The wild monsters trying to kill the humans had to curl up in fear at the existence of
even stronger wild monsters.
These stronger monsters did not let their prey get away.
“Die!”
Hundreds of sharp feathers shot out from the Steel Feather Hawk’s wings and
attacked the monsters.
“Rooooooooar!”
“Roooooooooar!!”
Rabbit. “Roooooooooar!!”
The corpses of the monsters that were destroyed by the White Rabbit’s two feet fell
to the ground.
“Whimper.”
side. All they could feel was their instinctual fear of the leader
monsters.
One Grade 3 monster slowly stepped back before turning around and starting to run.
The Steel Feather Hawk laughed before launching another loud screech that would
fill their minds with fear.
The Grade 2 and Grade 3 monsters slowly started to run away one by one.
“Ha, haha-”
Even if the leader of the taster monsters were strong, these Grade 2 and Grade 3
monsters were running away out of instinct without realizing their numbers advantage.
“…Surviving this night was this easy by having the leader monsters by our side.”
“Hyung-nim. It might have felt easy because we knew what we had to do, but…”
Jae Ha-Jung had a similar thought for a moment as well, but he had a different
thought first.
The leader monsters did not keep trying to communicate with the humans.
“Furthermore, wasn’t all of this only possible because we knew the monsters’ traits
and battle styles?”
“…It would have been impossible if we didn’t know everything like we did.”
It was impossible to do this unless they knew everything that would happen as if it
was recorded somewhere.
Who in their right mind would think about drawing the leader monsters to their side?
“Is a miracle.”
Bae Cheol-Ho, Jae Ha-Jung, and the people around them all looked at each other with
the same thought on their minds.
“Uncle!”
Baaaaaang!
Baaaaang!
window.
These were the fires that Kim Rok Soo had mentioned.
However…
The fire seemed much bigger than what Kim Rok Soo had explained.
“Uncle, you had that thought too? I wondered about the same thing.”
Bae Cheol-Ho realized that he was not mistaken after hearing Bae Puh Rum's
response.
This was something that Cale had not expected as well.
Actually, nobody, including Park Jin Tae and Che Soo Jung, expected this as well.
“…Holy crap!”
Park Jin Tae watched the fire shooting up with a look of disbelief before looking to his
side.
Joo Ho-Shik was watching the burning building with a gentle smile on his
“Ha!”
Park Jin Tae just laughed as he was at a loss for words after hearing that comment.
Park Jin Tae, Che Soo Jung, and Cale had used their fire-related abilities just now.
Park Jin Tae just felt as if something supported him as he used his ability, making it
even more explosive than normal.
“He said… that it would only make it slightly stronger, didn’t he?”
“He wasn't wrong. Your ability and my ability were only slightly
Che Soo Jung clenched a flaming bottle in her hand as she looked toward someone. “…
Baaaaang! Baaaaang!
These empty buildings were all starting to explode one by one as they spread the fire.
Cale couldn't even use half of his Fire of Destruction right now.
He couldn't even use that less than half ancient power at max power.
Three times.”
‘It can affect ancient powers as well? This faith ability can do that?’
“Didn’t you say that you would then use your wind ability?”
Cale… Swooooooosh-
The fire followed the direction of the wind and Cale's will to aim for the monsters
without spreading elsewhere.
He was pointing at the buildings they had confirmed were empty, the buildings they
would now light on fire.
He had no way of knowing how Joo Ho-Shik's power was capable of amplifying
ancient powers.
Cale slowly started to modify the plan in order to pressure the enemies more than he
originally planned. He might need to fight a little more ferociously, but that was the
more certain method now that Joo Ho-Shik was here.
Cale looked toward Che Soo Jung, Park Jin Tae, and Joo Ho-Shik as he started to speak.
“…We will light the paths of the monsters escaping from the three central shelters on
fire.”
“However, we will not touch the three locations where the Grade 1 monsters are
staying.”
The Grade 2 and Grade 3 monsters that have nowhere to run would run to the places
with no fire as they ran away in fear of the leader monsters.
Their natural instincts for survival would lead them that way.
“The escaping Grade 2 and Grade 3 monsters will end up in the Grade 1 monsters’
resting areas.”
How would the Grade 1 monsters react to the Grade 2 and Grade 3 monsters not
following the plan and running toward them?
right?” Swooooooosh-
The wind coming out of Cale’s hand surrounded the four of them.
"We will also gather the Grade 1 monsters to one spot as well.”
The Grade 1 monsters and the Grade 2 and Grade 3 monsters that wouldn't be
thinking straight in their states of madness…
They were moving through the streets they expected the monsters to use.
Fire destroyed the buildings and blocked the paths of the monsters as the four people
flew by.
Park Jin Tae couldn’t help but be astonished while looking at the fires.
Che Soo Jung moved past him as they were moving past building after building while
being surrounded by a whirlwind and threw a flaming bottle.
Baaaaaang!
Tang!
The fire shooting out of the national shooting representative’s hand burned brighter
than usual as it reached its target.
Baaaaang!
The people in the distance could see the fires better as the number started to
increase. The fires were creating a large circle that looked as if they were headed
toward the
three central shelters.
However, the people at the central shelters knew that that wouldn't be the case.
However, the beautiful fires were so clear that it gave them the chills.
“…Ha, haha-”
As the Grade 2 and Grade 3 monsters ran away from the Steel Feather Hawk…
They were met by fires that were starting to look like a tsunami.
Watching the monsters being surrounded on both sides made Bae Cheol-Ho think
about the day that had been so long.
times. Squeeze.
“Yes, Hyung-nim.”
Screeeech.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes, uncle.”
Everybody other than a small number of people to protect the buildings all headed
outside.
They then heard Kim Min Joon's voice through the walkie-talkie.
Attack.
It was now their turn to attack the backs of the escaping enemies.
Just as how it was in the future… Just as how people had acted in Kim Rok Soo's
memories…
The humans who had been dodging and hiding from the monsters all charged out of
buildings to take back their homes.
As Cale had mentioned before… The person who would fight the most tonight…
The person who had been defending against the Grade 2 and Grade 3 monsters alone
at one of the central shelters would now…
‘Choi Han.’
‘After we take these people to the new central shelter… We’re going to go see Choi
Jung Soo.’
‘Yes. Choi
Han.’ ‘Yes?’
‘Have you considered taking in another student? It’s a punk named Choi Jung Soo.
He’s pretty talented with the sword.’
Choi Han who quickly ran across the roofs of buildings to get past the escaping
monsters could see Cale who was waiting for him.
Cale shrugged his shoulders at Choi Han’s response before looking toward a spot
where the fire had not reached.
Although there was no fire there, the light from the fires lit up that area.
“Grrrrrr.”
“Grrr.”
The Grade 1 monsters whose rest was ended not out of their own volition bared their
fangs toward Cale and Choi Han.
These monsters that were much stronger than the Grade 2 and Grade 3 monsters
were starting to get up one by one.
The shining black aura at the tip of Choi Han's sword looked ready to turn into a
black Yong at any moment.
“Let’s go.”
Ca… ge?”
Jack and Cage were looking at him with nervous gazes from the other side of the
couch Alberu had been lying on.
Jack and Cage flinched after hearing the first words he said after waking up, but
Alberu did not have time to focus on them.
He had just been biting monsters apart in the body of a monster named the Dark
Tiger until he opened his eyes only to suddenly find himself back here.
“Excuse me?”
“It’s nothing.”
He shook his head at Cage's question. Alberu then noticed the curiosity behind the
two priests’ eyes as they looked at him.
‘I'm sure they want to know how Cale and Choi Han are doing.’
“Yes, your highness. There wasn’t even a call to the emergency line because you
prepared everything prior to falling asleep.”
“That’s a relief.”
That was why Cage had wondered whether she should wake him up prior to the
discussed time.
They did not do so as he looked peaceful other than the fact that he was sweating so
much.
The two priests didn’t know because they were faced away from it, but there was a
small amount of red sunset coming in from the tent entrance.
He couldn't see Raon but the entrance flap lifted a little more.
“Meeeeeow.”
“Meeow!”
Two kittens walked in first and then the tent entrance was tightly closed before the
young black Dragon revealed himself.
"Crown prince!”
“Yes, Raon-nim.”
The three of the slightly lifted Alberu's tent entrance flap every so often to signal
whether it was okay for them to enter.
Even though Ron and Beacrox were taking care of the three of them, they were both
busy managing the Molan household and taking care of things here.
It might even be because they wanted to hear some news about Cale and Choi Han,
but…
“…He needs to rest, nya, it’s probably because he hasn’t been able to rest, nya.”
Maybe it was because they've seen him frequently since they were young.
These three were probably imitating Cale who acted rudely around him all the time.
nim.” “Really?”
Alberu started to think while looking at the young Dragon and the young Cats who
seemed relieved after hearing what he just said.
Would he tell them about Cale and Choi Han, or would he remain silent? Alberu was
debating what to do.
‘What is it?’
He recalled a short portion of the conversation he had with Cale while they were
moving.
‘Then it is probably best not to tell them everything and instead just give them a brief
positive explanation. Keep things positive, you know? It’s a simple request, right?”
“Thanks to a deal I made with the Sun God earlier, I am now able to chat with Cale
Henituse every so often.”
Hong who was putting his paw into the cookie basket stopped moving while On
looked frozen stiff as she was looking at Alberu.
“He also asked if you, Raon-nim, and On, and Hong were doing well. He asked if you
were eating properly.”
There was a small smile on Alberu’s face as he responded without any hesitation.
“Yes, Raon-nim.”
“Of course, but please just quietly tell Ron Molan and bring Beacrox and Ron over
here. I think I’ll need to explain it to the two of them.”
“I got it!”
“Oh, and please don't tell the others about it yet. I'll call them over separately and tell
them myself.”
Raon looked at On who nodded her head and quickly headed toward the tent
entrance with Hong and Raon.
On then suddenly stopped, turned around and bowed toward the crown prince.
She always spoke informally and added, ‘nya,’ so he thought that was her style, but
she seemed quite mature just now.
“I'm thankful, nya! I'll pay you back for it, nya!”
Alberu gently responded after hearing Raon and Hong as
The children averaging nine-years-old looked even more relieved after seeing his
demeanor and energetically exited the tent. They seemed excited that they had a
mission to complete for the first time in a long while.
Alberu quietly observed them before turning toward Cage and Jack.
“I hope that you two could bring some people over as well, priest-nims.”
“Ah, of course!”
Saint Jack urgently jumped up from his seat. He had a bright expression on his face.
On the other hand, Cage’s expression that had been bright until a moment ago
seemed a bit odd.
“Please bring Miss Rosalyn. Ah, Saint-nim, could you please bring your
sister?” “Yes, sir! Of course. I will go and quickly bring Hannah over.”
“That’s wonderful. Thank you very much. It looks like we will all need to have our
first meeting in a long while.”
Saint Jack slightly bowed to Cage and Alberu and headed out of the tent.
Cage slowly followed behind him. She stopped at the entrance once Jack left and
turned around to look at Alberu.
“Your highness.”
“I tend to be pretty sharp because I've been to a lot of places. That is why… Really-”
She could not continue to speak.
‘Really, is young master Cale-nim really okay? Your expression seems kind of fake,
your highness.’
It was because Alberu started to speak as she stood there unable to finish her
Cage closed her mouth after hearing his response. She then bowed and left the tent.
Alberu was now left alone in the tent once Cage left.
“Huuuuuu.”
He could feel that his hair was still wet with sweat.
The disgusting feel of it made Alberu start to frown as he recalled what Cale said
again.
‘Then it is probably best not to tell them everything and just give them a brief
positive explanation. Keep things positive, you know? It’s a simple request, right?’
“That damn bastard. He's pushing all the difficult things to me.”
Fires, explosions…
Alberu could not stop frowning while thinking about the two punks who were at the
center of it all.
"What?”
"Ah, this bastard is just going to speak informally to me now all the time, isn’t he?”
He then raised his voice again and shouted loud enough for Kim Rok Soo to hear.
The Dark Tiger had a somewhat blank expression on its face. The Dark Tiger made
eye contact with Cale at that moment and Cale shouted toward it.
There was a flash in the Dark Tiger's eyes and it quietly started to move its large
“Man, people are going to think I am taking a break or something. Do you know how
hard-!”
But Cale had already turned his head back and resumed fighting.
“Fuck!”
Park Jin Tae frowned before touching the gun in his hand.
No.
Baaaaang!
Kim Min Ah had pierced a monster that had tried to ambush Park Jin Tae from the
It was a snake-headed giant, the same monster that Cale taught Kim Min Ah to fight
against earlier.
Kim Min Ah said something else as she moved past Park Jin Tae.
“It’s just that I only recently learned how to fight properly. Isn't that the same for
He was getting faster and faster at dealing with the Grade 1 monsters by following
Kim Rok Soo's data.
The people Kim Rok Soo had designated as the attack team were slowly starting to
get a feel for their potential.
Tang!
Baaaaaang-!
“Roooooar!”
“Grr- grrrrr!”
Monsters were falling down as a shining black light shot up between them.
It was quite far away, but it was the only thing clearly visible in the
There was a person whose body was surrounded in rose gold current next to the
shining black light.
Furthermore, the person dressed in white was visible thanks to that rose gold light as
well, and Joo Ho-Shik, the person dressed in white, clenched his hands together.
“I have faith!”
He could see these two people fighting no matter where they were.
They were too visible in this battlefield full of Grade 2 and Grade 3 monsters and
Grade 1 monsters as well.
That was why he could not stop.
That was also the reason that Cale could not stop.
He knew that people all around them were looking at him and Choi Han.
Joo Ho-Shik who had been shouting, ‘I have faith!’ over and over was sticking to Choi
Han and Cale to provide them significant support.
“Roooooooooooooooar!”
Cale moved after looking at three Grade 1 monsters charging toward him.
Crackle!
Slash, slash.
Choi Han stood in front of Cale and made it so that Cale could not keep moving
forward.
His hands were slightly shaking. There was dry blood by his
Joo Ho-Shik's ‘faith’ was surprisingly able to amplify Cale’s ancient powers and Choi
Han’s aura.
Actually, for some odd reason, Joo Ho-Shik's ability actually supported Cale and Choi
Han better than the others.
‘Why?’
Cale had many questions, but he chose to listen to what was going on rather than
thinking about that again.
The fire and explosions destroyed most of the Grade 2 and Grade 3 monsters and the
Grade 2 and Grade 3 monsters that had suddenly been ambushed while they were
resting were unable to move quickly because of their large bodies and had their
weaknesses attacked by the humans.
Monsters kept appearing no matter how many times they slashed and killed.
It was especially difficult because of the Grade 2 and Grade 3 monsters that became
1.5 times stronger from madness.
They were so crazy that they continued to charge forward even after receiving injuries
that would normally make them become afraid, fall, or run away.
“Haaaaa.”
‘When. When will the sun rise? If the sun came up… ’
Cale started to think about Joo Ho-Shik who had asked him the time and Park Jin Tae
who had seemed a bit out of it.
He could then feel that the people were starting to slow down.
Even if the people he had gathered for this attack had grown at rapid speed and
showed their talents…
“Yes, hyung-nim?”
Unlike Choi Han's shining black aura, the black Yong required Choi Han to use a lot of
strength. That was why he was fighting with his aura right now.
“Yes, I can.”
“Huuuuuu.”
Choi Han took a deep breath before pointing his sword toward the sky.
Black aura started to gather around his sword and slowly started to take the form of a
black Yong.
Choi Han flinched after hearing Cale’s statement, but he stayed still as he could not
break his concentration.
Cale gathered fiery thunderbolts into both of his hands as Joo Ho-Shik shouted.
Cale could feel his fiery thunderbolts becoming stronger thanks to Joo Ho-Shik's
ability.
He would use his fiery thunderbolts along with Choi Han’s black Yong to sweep
through the battlefield.
Then the Grade 1 monsters should retreat back and the allies would feel revitalized.
Cale had such thoughts as he started to look toward the tip of Choi Han's sword that
was pointed to the air.
That would be where the black Yong would soon open its jaw and charge through the
battlefield.
Ah.”
…Hyung?”
He could see the madness disappearing from the Grade 2 and Grade 3 monsters as
the
world became brighter.
< Once the night passed, the Grade 2 and Grade 3 would no longer be crazy and
would stop attacking the central shelters. >
< They could no longer attack, as it was now the Grade 1 monsters' turn to attack. >
< This was a rule that was followed at all original central shelters that were attacked.
>
But the crazy Grade 2 and Grade 3 monsters, humans, and leader monsters… Along
with the fire and explosions… The chaos created by all sorts of things managed to
kill many Grade 1 monsters.
And…
Park Jin Tae, Kim Min Ah, Bae Puh Rum, Bae Cheol-Ho, Che Soo Jung, etc.
They looked up at the sky that was lighting up before looking toward Cale.
It was a smile that let them know that they had won, that they had
“Let’s finish the rest and head toward our new base.”
Everybody laughed and tightly clenched their weapons with shaking hands.
But once the sun came up all the way…
Cale calmly said something to everyone there who were clenching their weapons.
Huh?”
In this situation?’
The Grade 2 and Grade 3 monsters were quickly retreating, but the still alive Grade 1
monsters were still here.
Last night…
It was something they were unable to see during that hell-like chaos.
That something was located where Choi Han and Cale had mainly been fighting. “…
There were cold corpses of quite large monsters underneath the corpses of the
Grade 2 and Grade 3 monsters that had charged in here.
Similar to how there were taster monsters between the Grade 3 and Grade 2
monsters, there were supposed to be taster monsters between the Grade 2 and
Grade 1 monster switch too.
Cale looked toward the Grade 1 monsters that were just glaring at them after seeing
that the humans were not attacking as he continued to speak.
“They’re just huge. The second taster monsters are much easier to deal with than the
first taster monsters.”
Although they were larger than Grade 1 monsters, their strength was only between
Grade 1 and Grade 2 monsters.
< As for the second round of taster monsters, the Grade 1 monsters did not attack
the central shelter for a set amount of time even after all of the taster monsters were
defeated. This was different than the situation with the first round of taster
monsters.
>
< The first round of taster monsters were special while the patterns for the second
round of taster monsters were easier to understand. >
Honestly speaking, it was the first round of taster monsters that were weird.
It was the transition between Grade 3 and Grade 2 monsters but Grade 1 monsters
came out as tasters and their leader was much stronger than regular Grade 1
monsters.
That was why these Grade 1.5 monsters in the second round of tasters… Truly fit the
term, ‘taster.’
“We are safe until 9am as the Grade 1 monsters will not attack the shelter. Everybody
can go back and get some rest.”
Shake.
Choi Han slightly shook his sword and monster blood fell off the sword and onto the
ground.
“…Ho.”
‘They were able to locate the taster monsters and kill them all during that chaos?
Those two really went hunting.’
‘…They didn't only kill the taster monsters. They were the ones to kill the most
Grade 1 monsters as well.’
Bae Cheol-Ho, Kim Min Ah, and Park Jin Tae. They each had different thoughts but
came to the same conclusion.
‘Amazing.’
‘…Crazy bastard.’
"We survived.”
The conclusion was that all their different emotions reached the conclusion that they
had survived.
Cale walked away from the spot where the Grade 1 monsters had gathered and
motioned to the others.
Originally, the Grade 1 monsters would be split up into three to attack the three
central shelters later, but…
Cale had used the fire and the Grade 2 and Grade 3 monsters to gather the Grade 1
monsters to one spot.
Park Jin Tae looked around at the people who had gathered here and asked Cale the
question.
“Between 9am and 12pm… Every shelter in the world will disappear for three hours.”
Other temporary shelters were slowly losing their powers one by one.
And all shelters would disappear from Earth for the last three hours of this 24 hour
cycle.
“We will only focus on defending for the remaining two hours.”
Cale looked at his allies who were covered in monster fluids and blood, as well as
small injuries, as he continued to speak.
“Jang Man Soo, Jae Ha-Jung, and Kim Rok Soo. These three people will each cast
shields on the three central shelters. Bae Puh Rum will move around with Joo Ho-
Shik so that Joo Ho-Shik can use his ability on each central shelter's defender to
support them.”
“Hold on!”
"I do.”
“Ho.”
“Of course, other ability users will need to fight the Grade 1 monsters during those
two hours of defense. But once it becomes noon…”
They could tell that the solar eclipse was the signal to show that this day of battle was
over even without him saying anything.
Cale saw that they understood and pointed toward the central shelter.
“Grrrrrr.”
It was not the only one. The Steel Feather Hawk and the White Rabbit came over as
well, and Cale started to speak to the two monsters.
“Let’s discuss the deal in detail after we move to the new central shelter.”
“Hmph. Fine. Just know that you'll be in serious trouble if you try anything funny.”
The Steel Feather Hawk and White Rabbit each said something before stepping back.
Cale then got on the back of the Dark Tiger that had lowered its head.
Cale called Choi Han over with a serious expression as the others quietly watched.
“Choi Han.”
‘Hmm?’
Cale laid down on the Dark Tiger's soft fur and… He then instantly fell asleep.
Choi Han looked at him with a satisfied gaze before turning his head. The others were
looking at him with all sorts of emotions.
Even the two leader monsters were looking at Choi Han and Cale with confused
expressions.
Choi Han debated what to say after seeing their expressions before he started to
speak. “I’m relieved that Rok Soo hyung did not end up fainting. I will see you all at
9am.”
Choi Han smiled innocently and followed behind the Dark Tiger that was slowly
returning to the central shelter.
“…My goodness.”
Park Jin Tae who was watching this shook his head as he followed behind Choi Han.
“As I expected.”
Only Joo Ho-Shik was looking at Choi Han and Cale with an odd gaze.
He had many thoughts in the past regarding this ability that had suddenly appeared
after the cataclysm.
Is there a god?
Joo Ho-Shik who had nothing to believe in other than himself had started to think
about god even though he didn't believe in a religion.
“…Hmm. They said that both of them had suddenly appeared, right?”
Both of them also used powers that were different from the others.
He could tell the difference clearly because he had used his 'faith’ ability to support
them.
"What are you doing? Why are you standing there with a blank expression?! Are you
not coming?”
Park Jin Tae had turned back and was grumbling at Joo Ho-Shik in an annoyed voice.
Joo Ho-Shik smiled gently and started to walk toward his central shelter.
Park Jin Tae watched Joo Ho-Shik with a suspicious gaze before starting to walk
again. “Grrrrrr.”
“Screeeeeech---”
The still remaining large number of Grade 1 monsters were biding their time and
glaring at the humans.
The Grade 1 monsters were attacking more intensely than ever before.
Buzz. Buzz.
Mr. Kim Min Joon! This is Bae Cheol-Ho! Please send Mr. Joo Ho-Shik over here!
Kim Min Joon quickly responded into the walkie-talkie after hearing Bae Cheol-Ho’s
request from the second central shelter.
Please have him come as soon as possible! Jae Ha-Jung is barely holding on!
Baaaaang! Baaaaang!
Bae Cheol-Ho's voice was hard to hear because of the loud noises.
well. "Grandma!”
Baaaaang! Baaaaang!
Kim Min Joon could hear the banging noises on the other side of the walkie-talkie. He
subconsciously started to speak.
Jang Man Soo was responsible for the third central shelter’s defense.
Are you okay over there?
Kim Min Joon looked forward after hearing Grandma Kim's question.
Jae Ha-Jung had received the most of Joo Ho-Shik’s ‘Faith’ ability since their defensive
plan had started. Next was Jang Man Soo.
The defender of this central shelter where Kim Min Joon was at had received Joo Ho-
Shik's help the least.
All the other ability users other than Choi Han were sent to the other central
shelters as well.
Even if the Dark Tiger is there… You guys have the least amount of ability users.
Baaaaang! Bang!
They were heading toward the two wings that spread out from the shield and
covered the entire building.
Kim Min Joon could see Kim Rok Soo who was standing there with his hand on the
shield.
But it looked as if the shield and two wings were coming out of Kim Rok Soo's whole
body and protecting this place.
Kim Min Joon could see Kim Rok Soo's face properly because he was closer to Kim
Rok Soo than the others.
Blood had started to flow out of the corners of his mouth again.
And although he was standing firm, his hands and arms were slightly shaking.
Kim Min Joon heard Lee Jin Joo's voice at that moment.
Kim Min Joon heard Lee Seung Won mumbling next to him.
“The current time is 11:55 am. Defender Kim Rok Soo’s shield is still standing firm
while Choi Han and the Dark Tiger are continuing their attacks from outside the shield.”
The two black figures outside the half-transparent silver shield were darting through
the battlefield.
They couldn’t stop all of the Grade 1 monsters, but Choi Han and the Dark Tiger were
taking care of most of them.
Cale would not have been able to last so long if they had not been able to do so.
Kim Min Joon looked toward Kim Rok Soo, Choi Han, and the Dark Tiger for a
Buzz. Buzz.
Kim Min Joon quietly responded to Grandma Kim's voice from the still connected
walkie-talkie.
The people at all three central shelters slowly looked up at the sky.
Although it had felt like hell, they could now reflect on it as they had survived.
“Ugh.”
Cale kept his groan quiet as he kept his two arms forward. The silver shield stayed up
without shaking at all.
Hand, feet, head… The monsters aimed for Cale’s shield with everything they had.
“Huff. Huff.”
Cale could see Choi Han breathing heavily on the other side of the shield.
Choi Han was very strong, but he still had a limit to his stamina as he was human.
However…
{10.}
{9. 8. 7… }
{4. 3… }
{2. 1.}
Now.
‘I… ’
“I changed
My record.
My regret.
My despair.’
Cale closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them back.
Once he opened his eyes to a world of darkness because the sun was covered up…
Everybody was looking at the place Cale had talked about the whole day.
{The place you see right now is our new base.}
He motioned to the people who had been inside the building all day while shaking in
fear.
And…
He was telling them they should quickly move to the new central shelter, their new
base.
The core ability users of the three central shelters who had been the only ones to
have ‘zero deaths’ in this 'first central shelter destruction incident’ gathered in the
large castle at the center of the large new central shelter.
Park Jin Tae suppressed his wildly beating heart and barely managed to speak.
Park Jin Tae, Kim Min Ah, Bae Puh Rum, and the others.
“Yes.”
It was time.