When I heard the report that another group of monsters was approaching,
I thought to myself as I headed that way.
‘I got lucky.’
If I wanted to raise my authority here,
then just like when I forced Junggu to kneel, I needed to show strength.
In other words, I needed to act tough.
The problem was...
‘The monsters they’re fighting right now... even if there aren’t that many of them, each individual one is fairly strong.’
On the other hand—
‘The monsters that are said to be flocking over here might be numerous, but each one of them is nothing special.’
Ice-Branch Goblins, was it?
Goblins as a species generally have good heads on their shoulders and live in packs, so they’re definitely a tricky type of monster, but—
‘If you look at it one by one, individually, they’re solidly in the “pretty weak” category.’
And in practice—
– Kehrek... I smell blood up ahead!
[Cold-Eye Tribe Goblin]
– The prey are fighting each other!
– Perfect time to swoop in and gobble them up, so damn sweet, right?
– So sweet, so sweet!!!
There were a lot of monsters approaching,
but the mana most of them were giving off was only “red.”
“Not bad.”
A monster group where they’re strong but the numbers are average.
A monster group where they’re weak but the numbers are enormous.
In that case—
For someone like me, who needed to “act tough,”
it was better than fighting alongside that expedition force
to go much farther out
and fight alone.
*****
More than ten daggers floated up into the air.
I lined those daggers up flat in a row in front of me.
Then swept my hand over them.
[Soul-Melting Poison – Nepenthes]
When you’re dealing with strong monsters, a lot of them have some level of resistance.
And with shop-bought daggers, there are plenty of cases where it’s hard just to pierce the hide deep enough to inject poison.
No, there are countless cases where they simply bat the daggers away altogether.
On the other hand—
No matter how many of them there are—
SWISH!
– Kehrek...
– Wh-what the hell!?
– Kekekkehrekkeh...! My, my brother just dropped dead!
If it’s an enemy I can kill with just a single graze,
then it also means I can handle them in an incredibly simple way.
– Revenge, revenge!
Of course, that didn’t mean there were no problems.
Even if they’re enemies I can kill with a mere graze,
if there are enough of them, it’ll still be hard to protect my body—
that was the concern.
‘That’s why I said we didn’t need support troops.’
The forces meant to protect my body—
were things I couldn’t show other people yet.
“Master of our Master! We’ll take the rear!”
“Ugh, please stop doing dangerous things already!”
First to appear
were the two vampires who had been in my shadow.
And behind them...
SLIDE...
several figures
revealed their shapes in addition.
“All right, then.”
The vampires forming a line to protect me, and the figures standing behind them.
With their protection at my back,
I launched my [Chefs] and said,
“Let’s all get to work.”
*****
“Feels like I kept you waiting. We just now finished cleaning up over here.”
“Eh? Ah... no... how should I put this, no, it’s fine.”
This was the result.
After the battle ended,
I had started gathering and organizing the monster corpses together with my subordinates.
And that cleanup had only just finished now.
‘Hmm, I thought I’d finished the fight pretty fast, though.’
I wiped only the last of the blood off my blade, intending to rejoin the main force.
‘I didn’t expect the main force to be the ones to come first.’
The moment I sensed human presence in the distance,
I had to hurriedly shove every troop that wasn’t me back into the shadows.
‘For them to have processed those monsters fast enough to get here already... this expedition might be much stronger than I expected.’
In my mind, my evaluation of the humans of Gyeonggi Province went up by one notch.
“......”
“......”
“Hmm?”
But in the eyes of the people looking at me,
there was nothing but blank shock.
...Well, anyway.
Even if there had been various twists and turns—
“There, over there!”
“We’ve arrived, we’ve arrived!”
“Everyone calm down! There might still be monsters nested further inside, so we’re going in carefully!”
the Association’s expedition force
succeeded in retaking the first Wall.
*****
After that,
the advance continued.
A few battles and a few victories,
and then more advance.
As a result—
“To think we’ve succeeded in retaking the third Wall...!”
the expedition force
had succeeded in retaking a total of three Walls.
“This result is unbelievable. To think we’d be able to advance this far in just three days!”
“Uh, is it really that incredible?”
“Of course it is!”
Jo Beomseok,
who was absurdly excited for someone his age,
looked down at the tanks parked in the middle of the Wall.
“This is the power of a real army...”
“......”
Maybe the fact those tanks were actually moving held a big meaning for him.
He stared blankly at the tanks.
“Heh.”
As I stared blankly at his intoxicated expression,
Jo Beomseok cleared his throat and said,
“Ah, ahem. My thanks. It’s all thanks to your help.”
“Aw, it’s nothing much.”
“That’s excessive modesty. From making it possible for us to use all that hardware, to playing the role of a detached unit every time monsters popped out on the way... If not for you, it would have taken us at least one or two weeks to get here.”
Then he turned his head and said,
“In any case... we’ve managed to advance at a ridiculously fast pace up to this point. But from here on out, we’ll have to be careful.”
“Is that so?”
Unlike the face full of emotion he had worn when he was looking at the military hardware,
Jo Beomseok’s expression was a bit more serious now as he spoke.
“We’re quite close now to the place we expect to be the Source of the Cold.”
“Ah, that’s true.”
“Up to now, we haven’t had any encounters with what we’d consider the monster at that Source... but now that we’ve gotten this close, the probability that they’ll try to respond somehow is high.”
“Is that so?”
“Of course, that’s if you think from a human standard. But if I were their commander, the likelihood I’d make some kind of move around here would be high. If we assume they’re just mindless monsters, we could get burned badly. We’ll have to stay as alert as possible.”
He wasn’t wrong.
So far, our pace had been extremely fast.
In truth,
given an Awakener’s physical abilities, if we ran full tilt, it was a distance we could reach in a day.
I had once sprinted here alone and rescued Southern Branch, who were being driven into a corner and hunted in these parts.
‘Calling it fast when it took three days just to reach about halfway to the destination might be a stretch, but...’
for a method this safe,
it was incredibly fast.
“In any case, get a good rest today. Tomorrow we’ll have to push through an even harsher environment.”
After finishing my conversation with Jo Beomseok,
I left the room and walked around inside the Wall.
When I happened to lift my head a bit—
– Artillery battery, over this way!
– Good, good... ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) a little more. Okay! All batteries installed!
Up on top of the Wall,
I could see the artillery batteries Southern Branch had brought being set up.
‘He said like this, they can reproduce about eighty percent of Southern Branch’s defensive power, right?’
Not only those artillery batteries,
but to secure as much line of sight as possible even in the blizzard,
several Awakeners had formed teams and were lighting torches nearby, taking measures to keep those torches from going out.
Even this Wall alone was enough to provide a considerable guarantee of safety.
On top of that, with those artillery batteries as well,
for something that was supposed to be a long-range expedition, the degree of safety was almost luxurious.
‘...Not that I don’t have the thought that I’d like us to advance a bit faster, if possible.’
Since I still didn’t know for certain what state my parents were in,
for me it was a situation where every minute and every second felt precious.
‘...Calm down. Don’t get desperate.’
I shook my head somehow,
and told myself over and over that this was the fastest route.
“Look over there.”
“...It’s Shin Youngjun.”
In the middle of that—
‘...Huh?’
I heard my name from somewhere.
“If it’s Shin Youngjun... is that the same person I’m thinking of?”
“Yeah. The one they say has killed the most monsters in this expedition...”
Just in case—
I rolled my eyes slightly,
and spotted a few humans in the distance looking over at me.
“They say he’s unbelievably strong...”
“There’s a rumor he might be stronger than the Chair.”
“Come on, no matter how strong he is, he can’t be that strong.”
...It was a little embarrassing, but—
‘Up to here, this is all according to plan.’
I’d shown them my ability, and I’d fought together with them.
I could see that my authority inside this group was rising.
“Why has such a strong person never had their name known until now?”
“This is just a rumor, but... there are people saying he lived beyond that [Demon Realm].”
“He’s from the Demon Realm...? That kind of thing is impossible, that’s just nonsense.”
“If it’s impossible to survive beyond the Demon Realm, then how is the kind of strength that guy showed possible?”
“How is that the same thing?”
Given the level of strength I’d shown,
of course there were people who’d started to get curious about my true identity.
And it seemed the “backstory” I’d spread around Northern Branch had started to spread through this expedition force as well.
‘Not bad.’
My backstory of having survived beyond the Demon Realm implied I was a considerable powerhouse.
That too would be a huge help in raising my position within the expedition force.
But then—
“I... I saw that man slaughter the ‘Ice Goblins’.”
One man spoke,
his tone like he’d seen something terrifying.
“Ah, you were one of the people assigned to that support detachment, right?”
“Yeah... but, you know, back then.”
“Mm?”
“That man... not only did he slaughter that countless number of monsters all by himself, he sat on top of the pile of corpses he’d made... calmly wiping his blade.”
“......”
“No matter how monstrous they are, they’re still living beings, and he killed that many of them... I couldn’t help thinking, how can anyone be that calm? How should I put it.”
As he spoke,
the man shivered like he was getting goosebumps.
“It felt like... he doesn’t see life as life.”
At that,
a faint layer of fear crept into the eyes of the people who had been talking about my strength.
“...Did he give up his humanity to get that strong, or something like that?”
“A monster wearing human skin...”
“We’re lucky he’s on our side, but it’s still unsettling.”
At those words,
I let out a small laugh inside and thought,
‘If you act tough, well, you get talk like this too.’
People feel a sense of closeness toward strength that’s around their own level.
Toward strength that surpasses theirs, they feel awe.
‘And toward strength that goes beyond even that, they sometimes feel fear.’
Since I had joined late and needed to build my position,
I had to act as tough as possible and stack up achievements.
And because of that maximum-level “acting tough,” there were now people who felt fear from me.
‘Well, it doesn’t matter.’
Even if the impression I gave them was fear,
that in itself could serve as a form of authority.
Gyeonggi Province wasn’t my domain anyway.
After I rescued my parents here,
I’d just save the humans and go back to Gangwon...
“What are you all doing over here?”
“Y-yes?”
Right then,
someone approached the people who were talking about me and spoke up.
“I thought so, turns out you really are Third Squad from our branch. What exactly are you doing here right now? Aren’t you supposed to be out securing line of sight at twelve o’clock?”
A familiar face and voice.
It was Jo Beomseok’s grandson, Jo Jun.
“Ah, we were just about to head out...”
“If you’re about to head out, should you really be standing around chatting?”
“That’s, uh...”
“If you have time to say anything else, move your feet and get going!”
Like that,
after he shooed off the people who had been talking about me and sent them to their task—
“Youngjun.”
“Ah, yes. Captain Jo.”
he slowly walked toward me from afar and said,
“You heard everything they were saying, right?”
“Mm, well. It turned out that way.”
“...Haa. I suppose since their levels are still low, they don’t really understand the senses... the hearing of high-level Awakeners.”
Then,
the man lowered his head with an embarrassed expression.
“Our group members did something offensive.”
“Offensive?”
Apparently,
Jo Jun thought I would be hurt by the things they’d said.
“But it didn’t bother me at all.”
“...Is that so?”
I truly hadn’t minded.
Maybe if it had been Legion juniors saying it, that would be another story,
but the words of the people here in this place weren’t that important to me.
“...You’re a strong person, Youngjun. Not just in combat, but in this way too.”
“Come on, this isn’t worth making a big deal over.”
“You say it like it’s nothing, but I’m not good at enduring things like that.”
“?”
“Even if they didn’t say it with some huge malice... to badmouth the person who helped them, behind his back.”
He let out a sigh and said,
“Did you know? The reason those people were assigned to that work detail is because they did so little in the last battle.”
“Ah, is that how it was?”
“Yes. They wouldn’t be that tired, which is exactly why they get sent out to work like that.”
Then,
Jo Jun looked at my face.
“And that was possible thanks to you, Youngjun.”
“Huh?”
“Because you handled so much of the fighting, we had breathing room in our combat strength. It’s thanks to that that those people could get through without fighting.”
“Ah, I didn’t know that.”
“Yet the ones who got to pass through with nothing but safe work are the ones calling you a monster behind your back...”
I’d been wondering why he was getting so angry over someone else’s business.
I guess that was why.
“Anyway.”
Now that we’d opened up a conversation,
Jo Jun looked like he figured this was as good a chance as any.
“Youngjun. Would it be all right if I asked you a few questions?”
“Questions?”
He looked at me and said,
“Honestly, I’ve never even heard rumors about a powerhouse like you. I’m curious what you were doing until now that you’re only appearing like this, and I’m also curious why you’re helping us.”
Mm.
So this was that.
‘He’s saying he wants to get a read on my background.’
Fortunately,
I already had my response for this part,
my [backstory] and [concept] fully prepared.
“The truth is...”
I recited to Jo Jun
the concept I had been playing in Gyeonggi Province.
“I see... you’ve... had a hard time, over there beyond the Demon Realm.”
“Haha, you could say that.”
It was more or less the same story I’d told Han Iseo.
It felt a bit weird to say it myself, but—
for something I’d thrown together in a hurry, I thought it was a pretty natural, well-crafted backstory.
But then—
“I don’t know if I should say this, but...”
After listening to my entire story,
Jo Jun scratched his cheek and said,
“I don’t know exactly what it is... but call it a gut feeling.”
“...?”
“I’ve done a lot of counseling for soldiers, so I’ve developed a sense for this kind of thing.”
I was wondering what he was trying to say when—
“Youngjun... it seems like there’s something you want to hide.”
“...Sorry?”
The man who had kept saying my voice felt familiar.
At the words that came out of his mouth,
I felt goosebumps crawl up my back.
