The serene temple, bathed in warm sunlight and filled with the sound of chirping birds—
Should have been echoing with chants of Buddhist scriptures at this hour.
But instead, an eerie silence filled the space.
Blood and corpses lay scattered everywhere.
Before the tranquil visage of the Bodhisattva Guanyin—
Crunch—
“Uuuuh—.”
A monk was being devoured alive.
Rows of circular teeth busily ground through his intestines, chewing and tearing without pause.
The creature, resembling a giant leech, had multiple tentacles extending from its grotesque body, tightly restraining the monk in its grasp.
He could neither struggle nor scream as the monster’s gnashing teeth ripped into his abdomen.
The only blessing—
Was that pain had long since abandoned him.
All that remained was cold and fear.
As death crawled over him, consuming him bite by bite, the monk summoned the last of his strength to turn his head.
Through blurred vision, he saw a child.
A young shaved-headed novice monk, peeking from behind the great Buddha statue.
Tears streamed down the boy’s terror-stricken eyes.
The monk wanted to tell him to run—
But he could no longer speak.
His intestines, liver, and stomach had already been devoured.
He forced his lips to move, but only faint wheezing escaped.
His world darkened, his vision shrinking—
Until only the novice monk’s trembling eyes remained.
He prayed.
Not for nirvana, nor for his own salvation.
But for the monster—
To be satiated enough to spare the boy.
To overlook him.
To move on without noticing.
To let the child live.
And as his sight plunged into total darkness, his sense of touch faded, and—
“AAAAAAH!”
The child’s scream shattered the silence.
‘Ah...’
Despair filled him in his final moment.
Then—
“Finally found you.”
A deep, unfamiliar voice rang through the temple.
Crrrk?
The monster, still dripping with fresh blood, snapped its head back in alarm.
A man stood there.
His face was twisted into a vicious scowl, his mere presence radiating an oppressive aura.
The monster instinctively knew—
It had no chance against him.
The killing intent pouring from the man locked its body in place.
Within a fraction of a second, it made its decision—
Flee.
The man blocked the entrance, so the creature launched itself toward the ceiling.
KWAJIK!
Its thick body smashed through the wooden beams, and its tentacles lashed outward, tearing the roof apart.
KWAJIK! KWAJIK!
The ceiling collapsed, sending massive debris crashing down—
Right onto the young monk.
Frozen in terror, the boy stared up at the falling wreckage, unable to move.
Then—
A firm grasp lifted him into the air.
And then—
KUGUGUGUNG!
The debris slammed into the ground, missing him entirely.
Wide-eyed, the young monk found himself face-to-face with the man.
“You okay?”
The boy couldn’t answer.
His gaze drifted to the ruined temple.
The once-sacred hall of prayer, now a crumbling disaster zone.
The statues of Guanyin, Buddha, and Maitreya, buried beneath rubble.
And beneath them—
Lay the monk who had raised him.
Then, the realization struck.
The man had saved him—
But in doing so, had let the monster escape.
“AAAAAAH!”
He wanted to scream—
To beg the man to chase after the creature.
To forget about him.
To avenge them all.
He had so much to say—
But his voice wouldn’t come out.
Yet—
“Don’t worry. I never let my prey escape.”
The man spoke as if he had heard the boy’s unspoken plea.
And just as he said—
There was no escape for the monster.
“KIIIEEEEK!”
With a wet squelch, the leech-like creature crashed down from the sky, slamming into the ruins.
KWAANG!
“K-KRRHHHHH!”
A massive white tiger descended upon the monster, pinning it down with its claws.
Its tentacles lashed out in desperation—
But the tiger moved with terrifying speed, weaving through them effortlessly.
SWIPE!
With a flash of razor-sharp claws, the tentacles were shredded.
“GYAAAAK!”
The monster screeched in agony, thrashing violently.
With each attack, the tiger evaded, moving like a blur.
Then—
It lunged.
Jaws clamped around the creature’s throat.
But—
Crunch!
Even with its neck torn apart, the monster’s tentacles kept moving.
The tiger leapt back, dodging just in time.
And then—
KWAANG!
The ground erupted, and—
A clawed hand burst through the creature’s abdomen.
The man, watching the scene without emotion, finally spoke.
“Good job, Baldie.”
The hand impaling the monster belonged to a giant mole, a beast under the man’s command.
He gently set the young monk down and approached the dying creature.
With malice burning in his gaze, he looked down at the pathetic, writhing thing.
“...So you’re the piece of shit that ate our Naru.”
His foot came crushing down on a tentacle.
SQUELCH!
Blood splattered as the severed limb wriggled, the monster shaking violently in pain.
“Not so fast.”
WUUUUNG—
A glow emanated from the man’s body, flowing into the dying creature.
Just moments ago, the monster's body had been torn to shreds—
But now, it was healing at an alarming rate.
“KYAAAAAK!”
As soon as its body regenerated, it lashed out with its tentacles toward the man.
But—
KWAJIK! PUWAK—!
Two tentacles were crushed under his foot, severed instantly.
The remaining three were effortlessly sliced apart by a single casual swing of his hand.
SWIPE!
"Stay still."
Once again, a glow radiated from the man, healing the monster.
It thrashed violently, but each time—
He stomped it down without flinching.
This cycle continued for a long while.
The young monk watched—
And felt strangely satisfied.
He had been taught to recite sutras, train his mind, and cherish all life.
Yet—
Watching the creature that had murdered his loved ones suffer and perish filled him with an overwhelming sense of justice.
Still—
Something felt off.
It was as if—
He wasn’t the only one watching.
Slowly, the boy turned around.
And—
Gasp!
Dozens of animals were gathered, watching the man’s rampage in complete silence.
Deer, roe deer, owls, rabbits, wolves, foxes, and squirrels stood right behind him.
Farther back—
Larger beasts—
Bears, lions, hippos, giraffes, zebras, cheetahs—
Encircling the entire temple.
At that moment, the man spoke behind him.
“Alright, everyone. Let’s head home.”
At his words—
The animals all moved at once.
The young monk stared blankly at the sight.
Then, the man held out his hand to him.
“My name is Cha Hyun-seung. Want to come with me?”
“...Yes!”
Without hesitation, the young monk grasped his hand and descended the mountain with him.
It had been three days since the construction of the territories began at Seoul Station and Sindorim Station.
[The ‘Viscount’s Domain’ has been established.]
The first to be completed was Sindorim Station, under Ha Dong-gun’s control.
‘Good.’
So far, Oh Eon-ju was holding out well.
It seemed their efforts in eliminating monsters in advance had paid off.
‘The new citizens are adjusting well, too.’
But there was one thing that concerned him.
‘Cha Hyun-seung. Where did he disappear to?’
While building the forward base at Seoul Station, they had cleaned up the surrounding area.
Yet—
There had been far fewer monsters than expected.
Instead—
They found countless survivor groups.
During their search—
They discovered thousands of survivors living near Yongsan and Namsan Tower.
Their leader—
Was a man named Cha Hyun-seung.
He commanded an army of animals.
The reason there were no monsters near Seoul Station—
Read 𝓁at𝙚st chapters at ƒrēewebnovel.com Only.
Was because Cha Hyun-seung’s beasts hunted them down before they could spread.
Many survivors claimed—
That they owed their lives to Cha Hyun-seung’s animals.
But strangely—
Most of these people were not directly affiliated with him.
90% of them were drifters, merely surviving in his territory.
According to survivors, Cha Hyun-seung despised humans.
Even if someone swore loyalty to him—
He refused to accept them.
Some claimed he even chased people away.
He allowed them to live in his domain but offered no direct assistance.
Yet—
When they went to meet him in person—
Cha Hyun-seung and his animals ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) had completely vanished.
‘I wanted to recruit him as a vassal...’
Rumors claimed—
His army of beasts could tear through orcs like snacks.
‘Even boss-level monsters avoided his domain.’
Which meant—
He himself was monstrously powerful.
At least SR-ranked.
Unlike JHS’s Jeong Hyun-su, whom they had no choice but to oppose—
Cha Hyun-seung was someone he wanted to join forces with.
‘If someone born SR-ranked became my vassal... just how powerful would they become?’
At that time—
Seoul Station was a chaotic battleground.
Tens of thousands of survivors had formed clashing factions.
Cha Hyun-seung did not intervene, so people fought, killed, and held grudges.
‘Sorting out the worst criminals was a nightmare.’
General Lee Hak-gi had been a massive help.
Compared to the real scum—
Those who enslaved the weak were the least of their problems.
There were murderers, organized rapists, and cannibalistic cults.
These were not people who changed due to extreme conditions.
They had always been monsters, merely restrained by society.
Once laws vanished, their true nature surfaced.
Such individuals were expelled.
They resisted—
But against his vassals, their only option was to flee.
Through all these efforts, they had finally stabilized the area.
But then—
“Kgh!”
Oh Eon-ju, who had seemed fine moments ago, suddenly let out a pained groan.
And—
“Oppa! Something’s wrong!”
Seo Ye-jin, who had spread rats for real-time surveillance, sounded the alarm.
“It’s Yongsan Park! The twin brothers were attacked!”
Instantly, he focused Absolute Dweller’s Eye toward Moon Ji-hoon and Moon Sang-hoon’s location.
‘...This is bad.’
A frozen forest.
The twins, battered and barely standing.
And a towering figure glaring at them with fury.
A man over 190cm tall, built like a war beast, with wild, unkempt hair and a rugged beard—
Cha Hyun-seung.
He bared his fangs and growled—
“This is my territory.”
Before him—
Moon Ji-hoon and Moon Sang-hoon, struggling to stay on their feet.
Their faces swollen and battered, barely able to speak.
“...We have to stop him.”
“Kgh... I know that, dumbass.”
Yet—
Cha Hyun-seung lunged forward.
‘Open Dongdaemun.’
Luckily—
The battle was happening right at the edge of the domain.
BZZZT!
Stepping through the newly opened gate—
‘Invisible Hand.’
He caught Cha Hyun-seung mid-charge.
“!!!”
Cha Hyun-seung’s eyes widened in shock as he was suspended mid-air.
Locking eyes with the man—
He spoke calmly.
“Let’s cool down for a moment.”