Chapter 30

Chapter 30

The man who should never have come to save her

had appeared.

While Yoo Ah-rin remained shocked,

Baek Cheon-myeong faced the Returnee that had emerged from the shadow.

"Baek... Cheon-myeong?"

"You know me."

"O, of course."

The man, Kim Ho-jun, looked to the side.

Shin Ji-min stood beside Baek Cheon-myeong.

Originally,

her role had been to imitate Yoo Ah-rin

and lure Baek Cheon-myeong toward a prepared location.

So why was she standing here with him?

Kim Ho-jun realized something.

His expression twisted.

"Shin Ji-min, d, did you betray us?!"

Shin Ji-min looked awkward.

"Uh, well..."

Could this really be called betrayal?

The people she was supposed to betray were already dead.

And the dead normally didn't talk.

Her current master was Kang Ha-min.

That master-servant relationship would never change.

"Sorry about that."

The moment Shin Ji-min apologized,

Kim Ho-jun's eyes widened even further.

"Enough talking."

Baek Cheon-myeong cut in.

He had already heard everything from Shin Ji-min on the way here.

There was no reason to listen any longer.

More importantly,

"You prepared something rather interesting."

To Baek Cheon-myeong,

this situation was honestly amusing.

The reason was simple.

"It's been a long time since someone targeted me."

After becoming the Sword God,

had anyone still dared target Baek Cheon-myeong?

Even Buddha would quietly pretend not to see Baek Cheon-myeong's actions.

But in this world,

Baek Cheon-myeong's name wasn't fully known yet.

He had broken records,

but that was all.

To outsiders,

he still looked like a low-level Hunter.

Considering his growth speed,

people probably saw this as the perfect time to eliminate him.

Of course,

Baek Cheon-myeong's strength was already complete.

Only Kang Ha-min knew that.

"Let's see how many of you are actually worth something."

The corners of Baek Cheon-myeong's lips slowly rose.

He possessed another title.

Heavenly Slaughter Star Lord.

Why had he gained such a title?

Because of the countless powerful enemies whose blood had stained his sword.

Baek Cheon-myeong also desperately enjoyed fighting strong opponents.

"I hope your people can entertain me a little."

His smile was beautiful.

Chill.

But an inexplicable warning ran up Kim Ho-jun's spine.

His skin turned cold,

as though a sword tip were already resting against his throat.

It was the instinctive terror of encountering a creature that should never be provoked.

Something was wrong.

The moment Kim Ho-jun understood that

and stepped backward,

"Why run now?"

Kim Ho-jun suddenly felt as though the entire world had twisted.

A world of swords expanded from Baek Cheon-myeong

and swallowed him instantly.

Kim Ho-jun's widened eyes lost focus.

Baek Cheon-myeong was already returning his wooden sword.

"It's already over."

At that moment,

Kim Ho-jun's vision became filled with blood.

By the time he understood what had happened,

his body was already falling.

Thud.

Kim Ho-jun hit the ground.

His head had been shattered badly enough that he couldn't move anymore.

Thank you, Mr. Baek Cheon-myeong.

He hadn't killed him.

No matter what else happened,

Baek Cheon-myeong always followed Kang Ha-min's orders exactly.

"...What exactly is happening?"

Meanwhile,

Yoo Ah-rin pulled herself together and asked.

With her intelligence,

she had already guessed that the attackers were Returnees.

But she still didn't know everything.

"A group of Returnees prepared a plan to target me."

"Yes, I figured that much out. But why?"

Yoo Ah-rin looked toward Shin Ji-min.

She appeared to be one of the Returnees.

For some reason she was helping Baek Cheon-myeong,

so maybe she knew the answer.

"Ah, yes."

Suddenly,

Shin Ji-min responded toward empty air

as though someone had spoken to her.

Her posture immediately became nervous.

It clearly looked like someone responding to a superior.

"There's a group formed by Returnees called Astra."

Was there someone else behind this?

Yoo Ah-rin looked confused.

Baek Cheon-myeong glanced toward Shin Ji-min.

She immediately straightened.

It was a silent warning not to reveal Kang Ha-min's existence.

"Astra plans to eliminate S Rank Hunters and create global chaos."

Yoo Ah-rin's eyes slowly widened.

"...They're going to eliminate S Rank Hunters to create national chaos?"

S Rank Hunters were extremely important military assets for every country.

They were the forces that maintained the surface after Hunters achieved Tower Ascension.

If Astra truly had the ability to hunt S Rank Hunters,

they were an enormous threat.

But at the same time,

it sounded like a terrible strategy.

"Do they really think S Rank Hunters will stay quiet while being hunted?"

S Rank Hunters were highly individualistic.

But they were still human.

If their lives were threatened,

they would naturally share information and work together.

That would likely end with Astra being destroyed.

"...That's exactly what Astra wants."

Shin Ji-min's next statement was unexpected.

"The longer S Rank Hunters gather together and waste time, the fewer new Hunters will achieve Tower Ascension."

If their lives were being targeted,

they wouldn't recklessly continue climbing the Tower.

As a result,

the Tower's progress would slow even further.

That was what Astra wanted.

Yoo Ah-rin's expression hardened.

If the Tower wasn't updated for four full years,

the Tower would impose a Trial on the world.

Yoo Ah-rin knew that too.

The 161st Floor.

Progress had been stopped there for three and a half years.

The Hunters who had already achieved Tower Ascension were probably doing everything they could.

But the fact remained that progress had stopped.

Ultimately,

the only thing people on the surface could do was send the Hunters with the highest potential upward.

And now the Returnees are deliberately trying to trigger the Second Trial?

This was a time when Hunters should have been focusing entirely on the Tower.

If Returnees interfered,

Tower progress would become even slower.

"Why would they do something like that..."

Shin Ji-min's expression turned empty.

"Because it would be better if a world like this simply ended."

Hatred.

Quiet hatred appeared inside Shin Ji-min.

Returnees had been abandoned by this world.

They had survived the nightmare of Dimensional Breaks

and finally returned.

Yet the world treated them as experimental subjects that might become useful military assets.

Ordinary people were disgusted by Returnees

and barely cared about them.

Their hatred was a natural result.

It was the price the world paid for abandoning them.

They wanted the world to understand that price.

That was the belief behind the Returnee organization,

Astra.

"..."

Behind Baek Cheon-myeong,

Kang Ha-min remained silent.

Many thoughts filled his face.

His childhood friend,

who had disappeared inside a Dimensional Break,

came to mind again.

If that friend had suffered the same fate,

would Ha-min have stayed quiet?

Probably not.

He would've protested against the government somehow.

He would've tried to fight back.

But even so,

I can't let the Returnees destroy the world.

Their anger couldn't take this direction.

They deserved compensation for their miserable lives.

But if they expressed that pain by destroying everything,

both Returnees and the rest of the world would only lose more.

They needed something.

Something capable of changing the basic lives of Returnees.

"Enough useless talk."

Baek Cheon-myeong suddenly turned.

He had sensed people in the distance.

"You take that woman away."

"I'm going to see these Astra people myself."

"Ah, yes."

Shin Ji-min obediently followed Baek Cheon-myeong's order too.

Even among corpses,

there was a hierarchy.

Baek Cheon-myeong launched himself away.

Yoo Ah-rin walked outside with Shin Ji-min.

Then she quietly spoke.

"...I'm sorry."

This wasn't Shin Ji-min's responsibility alone.

In the end,

all of society had failed to protect Returnees.

Yoo Ah-rin apologized for that.

Shin Ji-min merely turned her head away.

"It's already too late."

The time when an apology could solve anything

had passed long ago.

Astra's Korean branch.

Returnees had gathered inside an abandoned building in Incheon Chinatown.

They were discussing the current situation.

"We've lost contact with Shin Ji-min and Kim Ho-jun."

"We can't track Baek Cheon-myeong's location either."

"He's supposed to be a low-level Hunter even if he's S Rank, right? We can't even track him. What is going on?"

The atmosphere among the Returnees was chaotic.

For Hunters,

Level was an absolute measure.

That was why they had believed killing low-level Baek Cheon-myeong would be easy.

But the situation had become far more troublesome than expected.

"Now that Shin Ji-min has been captured, our existence will be exposed."

"The foreign branch already failed to kill Deus, so investigations have started. What are we supposed to do?"

"Damn it. Ever since returning, we haven't had a single peaceful day."

Complaints exploded among the Returnees.

Returnees were extremely vulnerable to stress.

They had survived extreme situations,

so many suffered from severe trauma.

Anxiety quickly spread through the group.

"Everyone, calm down."

One man silenced all of them.

He sat at the center of the Returnees.

A massive body.

Scars covering his entire frame.

Sharp beast-like teeth protruding from his mouth.

Thick fur covering his body.

He looked exactly like someone who deserved to be called a monster.

His name was Ha Cheol-ryong.

He had rescued more Returnees than anyone else here.

Government facilities.

Private corporations.

Places where Returnees had been captured after their information was erased.

Ha Cheol-ryong had personally attacked those places

and rescued countless Returnees.

Because of that,

the others always listened when he spoke.

"Mr. Cheol-ryong, do you have a plan?"

"No. Plans don't matter anymore."

Among all the Returnees in the Korean branch,

Ha Cheol-ryong was one of the strongest.

He was powerful enough to fight an S Rank Hunter alone.

That was why he was the only person here who could sense the presence approaching them.

Pressure unlike anything he had felt even beyond Dimensional Breaks.

Ha Cheol-ryong instantly realized they had made a mistake.

That man was far more dangerous than they had expected.

"All of you stay here."

"I'll meet Baek Cheon-myeong myself."

"What? Alone?"

"That's dangerous!"

If Baek Cheon-myeong was already coming toward them,

then he probably knew their objective.

The others tried to stop Ha Cheol-ryong,

but he ignored them.

"If I don't return within one hour, everyone leaves South Korea."

With those words,

Ha Cheol-ryong left the building.

The other Returnees looked shocked,

but he pushed past them and moved alone.

If he made the wrong choice,

everyone here could be caught.

He had to settle this by himself somehow.

Ha Cheol-ryong reached the rooftop.

He steadied his breathing

and looked upward.

He's coming.

The moment he felt it,

Tap.

A light, quiet landing echoed,

like a bird settling onto a tree branch.

At the same time,

BOOM.

Pressure completely unlike that soft landing spread in every direction.

Dust rolled away from Baek Cheon-myeong in a perfect circle.

Ha Cheol-ryong's instincts reacted first.

Baek Cheon-myeong slowly straightened.

Long black hair reaching below his waist moved gently in the wind.

Between those impossibly dark strands,

one side of a perfectly beautiful face appeared.

A crimson eye shone coldly.

"You're Ha Cheol-ryong, correct?"

He knew his name.

That meant someone had already been captured.

Ha Cheol-ryong exhaled

and tightened his fists.

Normally,

his body didn't react even when facing serious threats.

But now,

he was visibly tense.

His shoulders had risen.

His fingers tightened until the joints turned white.

His lips were dry.

His heart pounded violently,

but he forced his breathing to calm.

Get yourself together.

Ha Cheol-ryong suppressed his trembling breath.

"...If you already know everything, then let me say this first."

He forced the words out.

"I'm responsible for all of it."

"The other Returnees only acted because I threatened them."

So end this with me.

That was what Ha Cheol-ryong was asking.

Despite his desperate request,

Baek Cheon-myeong looked completely uninterested.

He clearly didn't care about emotional excuses.

"Enough of that meaningless story."

Baek Cheon-myeong returned the wooden sword at his waist.

Ha Cheol-ryong looked confused.

Then Baek Cheon-myeong casually spoke.

"My master says he wants to talk to you."

It was a completely unexpected statement.