‘Haah. That guy is spouting nonsense again...’
I frowned as I observed Choi Hyung-jun through Absolute Dweller’s Eye.
‘He sounds no different from a cult preacher.’
Using words like miracle and his esteemed name only made it sound more like religious propaganda.
Still, I didn’t stop him from spreading my name.
After all, this was an officially recognized method in the rescue team’s manual, known to be effective in restoring stamina.
In fact, for those who had received citizenship, simply knowing my name triggered the effects of Power of Trust, passively enhancing their physical stats.
The moment someone recognized my name, they would experience a minor recovery in their stamina.
Because of that, it was difficult to outright forbid him from doing it.
[Hyung-jun, gather the people. Start organizing those who can move on their own. We’ll begin registering them as citizens.]
"Oh? O-Oh. Yes, understood."
Choi Hyung-jun.
A good-natured man who used to live next door and was the first person to register as my retainer.
However, he was too much of a coward to participate in combat, so I never assigned him to battle-related tasks.
Naturally, this made him the lowest-ranked among my retainers.
Even so, at level 33, he had grown considerably strong despite never hunting monsters.
He had gained experience points steadily through assigned quests, gradually leveling up over time.
Among all my retainers, he was the only one who hadn’t received significant investments—but at the same time, he had been given special treatment.
I had never sent him to a battlefield.
‘Because he’s just not built for it.’
To be honest, he’d be more of a hindrance than an asset in combat.
He still had a deep-seated trauma from his first goblin encounter—he was the type of person who struggled to harm monsters, even in self-defense.
And yet, despite his shortcomings, he had earned his place.
He had been with us from the beginning, making various contributions, and even now, he was fostering orphaned children whose parents had been killed by vampires.
For the most part, his duties as a retainer were limited to overseeing shifts at the forward base.
Yet, even he had been deployed to the Jamsil incident.
That alone spoke volumes about the severity of the situation.
When the Great Landfall occurred, I had used teleportation to minimize the impact.
Even so, the aftershock alone was devastating.
Casualties continued to rise in real-time.
Every available retainer, along with the rescue and medical teams, was working at full capacity to manage the crisis.
The first priority was rescuing those trapped in the disaster zone and securing a proper evacuation shelter.
Once gathered, these survivors were then transported to Konkuk University Station, the only forward base in Seoul, where they were granted citizenship before being relocated to Busan through Namdaemun.
Kim Da-bin was personally overseeing the operation, ensuring the rescue effort proceeded without delay.
But then—
"Hm?"
A disturbance arose from the group Choi Hyung-jun was leading.
***
Lee Joon-young was in a full-blown panic.
Just moments ago, he had been blissfully enjoying canned cola and pre-packaged food at the shelter.
Sure, some old man had been preaching about a guy named Kim Jae-hyun, insisting they remember his name—but that was a trivial detail.
All that mattered was that he and his comrades were being fed and taken care of.
But then—
"Huff, huff... Guys... Huff..."
"What’s wrong with you? Hey! Joon-young! Snap out of it!"
"W-We... need to... get out of here...!"
Joon-young was hyperventilating.
The reason was simple.
They were heading toward the place where he had lost his closest friend.
The old man who had been rambling about Kim Jae-hyun had offered them warm showers and real beds to sleep in.
It had sounded too good to be true.
But with so many powerful awakened individuals around, it didn’t seem entirely impossible.
Desperate for a glimmer of hope, he had followed.
But this crazy old man...
Had led them straight into hell.
Joon-young finally realized where they were going.
They were heading toward the territory of the Blade Golem.
The realization hit him like a freight train, sending him into a full-fledged panic attack.
‘It’s too late to turn back now!’
The gruesome memory resurfaced in vivid detail—the day his closest friend had been torn ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) apart by the Blade Golem.
That suffocating fear of death was now tightening around his chest.
‘I need to run—now!’
But no matter how much he wanted to, he couldn’t articulate it.
His lungs were burning, his vision spinning.
Right now, he was more likely to pass out from sheer shock than anything else.
“Hhhhk! Hhhhk—!”
He was really going to die.
Not even from facing the monster itself, but from his own trauma and terror.
There could be no crueler way to go.
But just as he was about to succumb to despair—
Wuuuung—
Something unfamiliar surged from deep within his body.
‘What is this...?’
And at that moment, the old man who had led them here rushed toward him.
In his hand was a black plastic bag, which he promptly pressed over Joon-young’s mouth and nose.
“Hhhhk! Hhhk!”
The plastic bag swelled and collapsed in rhythm with his gasping breaths.
And gradually—
His breathing steadied.
‘I... I’m alive.’
Relief washed over him.
But it didn’t last.
"Feeling better now?"
The very sight of the man responsible for bringing them here reignited his fury.
Still trembling from his near-death experience, Joon-young lashed out.
"What the hell were you thinking?!"
"...Huh?"
"Do you even know where we are?! Are you one of that Blade Golem’s underlings or something?! Was all that food just bait to lure us in—?!"
"Blade Golem?"
"Yeah! Because of you, we’re all going to die here!"
Joon-young’s rant was abruptly cut short.
Because the old man...
Had gone pale.
"Y-You’re saying... there’s a Blade Golem here...?"
For a moment, his face was filled with terror.
But just as quickly as it had appeared, the fear vanished.
His expression returned to an unsettling calm.
‘...What the hell is with this guy?’
That momentary look of panic had been completely erased.
And then—the words that followed left Joon-young utterly dumbfounded.
"Ahh. I see."
The old man smiled reassuringly.
"That monster has already been dealt with. There’s no need to worry."
"...What?"
"Aizen? Huh? Could you say that again? Ahh, Aizenblade? Yes, they say it was a monster entirely covered in blades. The forward base we’re heading to was built after that creature was eliminated."
The man’s strange way of speaking made Lee Joon-young’s expression darken.
‘Is this guy... crazy?’
It sounded like he was receiving information in real time from someone else.
‘Did we just get ourselves into something really messed up?’
His trust in the man plummeted, and an overwhelming sense of urgency gripped his chest—he needed to get out of here, now.
And then—
ROAAARRRR!
A monstrous tiger, the size of a van, leaped at them.
In that instant, as everyone turned pale with fear—
"...Hkk!"
The one most visibly terrified was none other than the man who had been leading them this whole time.
Joon-young barely had time to process this before he made up his mind—he had to grab his comrades and run.
But before he could—
KWAJIK!
A spear shot out of thin air, impaling the giant tiger from its neck through to its spine.
KABOOOOM!
The creature’s body detonated into a bloody mist.
"......."
The entire scene had unfolded so quickly that no one could react.
Everyone simply stood there, staring blankly at the vanishing corpse of the monstrous tiger.
"Phew. Thank you, Jae-hyun-nim."
Joon-young gawked at the man in disbelief.
A moment ago, he had been the most terrified of all of them, practically sweating bullets.
If that was an act, then the man deserved an Academy Award.
And judging by his reaction, it was clear that he hadn’t been the one who had killed the tiger.
Then where the hell had that spear come from?
‘Could it be... the power of this Kim Jae-hyun person?’
That tiger wasn’t some low-tier goblin.
It radiated a presence that would’ve made even orcs look like easy prey.
And it had been obliterated in a single strike?
A chill ran down his spine.
Watching the corpse disappear was disturbing, but what was even more terrifying was the realization that at any moment, he and his group could have been killed just as easily.
‘Holy shit.’
This was a completely different kind of fear from what he had felt with the Blade Golem.
With the Blade Golem, at least he had run away.
Even if it wasn’t by his own strength, he had still escaped.
But what he had just witnessed—this level of power?
There was no escape.
A suffocating sense of helplessness crushed him.
Updat𝓮d from frёewebnoѵēl.com.
It was as if his very life was being dictated by the whims of the unseen force controlling this man.
And then—
‘That black energy surrounding the spear.’
He had seen it before.
The woman who healed people with her abilities.
The individuals who had been saving others, wreathed in the same dark aura.
It clicked in an instant.
‘That black energy... belongs to Kim Jae-hyun.'
Suddenly, the bizarre behavior of their guide started to make sense.
And for the first time, he considered the possibility that this Kim Jae-hyun had actually killed the Blade Golem.
Joon-young cautiously asked,
"Excuse me. Are you... speaking with him right now? With Kim Jae-hyun?"
"How did you know?"
‘How did I know? You’re literally making it obvious.’
Joon-young didn’t bother pointing that out.
"Where is he now? Is he nearby?"
"He’s in Busan at the moment."
"Ah, I see. Busan... Wait. What?"
Joon-young blinked.
Had he misheard?
He asked again, just to make sure.
"Did you just say... Busan?"
"Yes, Busan. I came from there myself, actually. Haha."
Joon-young’s mind reeled.
Busan.
The distance between Busan and Seoul.
The strength of the monster that had just been killed.
And the sheer number of people who followed this man.
‘...Is this for real?’
Just from what he had personally witnessed, this was already beyond comprehension.
But if everything this man had claimed was true?
Then immense power wasn’t even an adequate way to describe it.
No words could do it justice.
And suddenly, he needed to know.
"So... where exactly are you taking us?"
"Hmm. First, you’ll be taken to the forward base, where you’ll receive citizenship. After that, you’ll be assigned housing and can start living there."
"...Alright. Let’s go."
There was no resistance.
Joon-young and his comrades followed without issue, arriving at Konkuk University Station.
But after receiving their citizenship and entering what they believed was the forward base—
They were left utterly speechless.
"Holy shit."
The subway station was clean.
The lights were on.
People were walking around, chatting casually.
And then, he saw the sign:
(Jeonpo Station).
Joon-young muttered,
"...Where the hell are we?"
What they had assumed was Konkuk University Station was actually connected to Jeonpo Station through Namdaemun.
But the real shock was yet to come.
"One chocolate ice cream, please."
"That’ll be 3,000 won."
A working ice cream stand.
Beyond that, a computer repair shop, an art vendor—actual stores.
And people... shopping.
A civilization that should have crumbled under the weight of the apocalypse was thriving here.
"This way, please."
They followed their guide out through Jeonpo Station’s Exit 8.
And that was when they saw it.
People casually eating gimbap inside restaurants.
Music playing naturally from speakers in burger joints and cafes.
The smell of sizzling meat from barbecue grills.
People, dressed up, leisurely strolling down the street.
Cars smoothly driving down clean, well-maintained roads.
"I-I... W-What is this...?"
Joon-young felt his breath catch in his throat.
Because what lay before him—
Was normal life.
The very world that had been destroyed by the appearance of monsters.