CH 5

He was sleeping and living on the streets.

“It’s not that difficult.”

He had enough experience.

“I used to beg for money all the time. This is nothing.”

He was a veteran of this lifestyle.

Especially, even before being called the “Mercenary King,” he already held the title of “King.”

“If I was called a king from the beginning, wouldn’t I be at the maximum level if I was ranked by level? Ha!”

He ended up becoming a Mercenary King by accident after retiring from being a former tree cutter.

“This is easy.”

Baron quickly adapted to street life, thinking back to his early days in that world. Before he knew it, he had become a seasoned homeless person, blending in with their community so naturally.

“Gathering information always starts from the bottom.”

That was the practical reason he became homeless.

Based on his experience in that world, he wanted to collect information of past years.

That’s how he became a member of the street community and realized he had forgotten something important.

“Oh! The internet.”

It was also a moment when he admitted that he had become too alienated from this world.

“Ugh… I can’t believe I forgot about it.”

He felt like a primitive being living near the ocean and drawing water from a well.

Whenever he remembered, he would find time to visit the library and browse the sea of information on the public computers, picking up what he had missed along the way and storing it in his mind.

Of course, on such days he had to clean up in the park restroom.

“I’m not a night person, and I can’t risk getting caught at the entrance.”

There was also the hassle of dressing as neatly as possible, so he didn’t use it too often.

Digging through the used clothing collection box was also a bit of a hassle.

“I have pull myself together every time I go.”

One might think it would be better to earn money and return with a decent status, but unfortunately, it was too late for that.

“Homelessness… It’s too comfortable!”

He had adapted well to this lifestyle.

Was it more comfortable than when he was at the top of the social ladder in the past?

“To be honest, it was… life was too harsh there.”

Since the war was raging, it was difficult to find proper food, and even the food he managed to obtain was only rotten with a taste of dirt.

But it was different here.

“If you’re hungry, you can go to a free cafeteria, and if you’re tired, you can just lie down and sleep anywhere, and you can wash and relieve yourself in the park restroom. This is heaven.”

Especially when it came to the restroom, it overwhelmed his previous life.

“The bidet is really…”

It was a shining example of civilized society.

Clap, clap, clap, clap!

Moreover, he had a very special body that could go a few days with only a couple of meals, so he didn’t have to go around looking for the cafeteria on the days it opened.

If he pushed himself, he could easily stretch it out for about two weeks.

“Hey time~ Hey month~” (This is a lyric from a popular Korean song)

It was a perfect trio of eating, sleeping, and relieving oneself all in one place.

“This is the true meaning of a nomadic lifestyle.”

Unlike the other homeless people, he didn’t envy their hard life, but rather found his leisurely lifestyle of playing and eating all day long to be refreshing.

Other veteran homeless people even gave him a thumbs up, saying that he was a bastard, so what can he say?

Living like this, half a year had passed in the blink of an eye.

Baron, dressed neatly after a long time, went to the library and surfed the internet as usual, the ocean of information. His recent interest was in weapons developed to fight monsters.

“So, it’s difficult to face monsters with conventional firearms,” he muttered to himself. The existing weapons could only handle up to level 2 monsters. It was said that they could withstand level 3 monsters to some extent, but the problem was that it required an excessive amount of firepower, almost to the point of wasting ammunition.

That’s why they poured their efforts into weapon development, and one of the things that was born was the enhancement of firepower using the remains of monsters. The most basic example is using monster corpses to make bullets, and the weapon used by the guilds, including the North Wind Guild, during the previous human-faced spider’s incident in Ilsan was such a type of weapons.

It was said that the level of the monster remains used in each bullet affects the possible level of opponents. “It’s a trap that the processing level also goes up depending on the monster’s level,” he thought to himself.

Anyway, for that reason, money was attached to the remains of monsters, and here again, interesting information followed. “Magical stones,” he whispered to himself. They were crystals that purified magic power and were similar to the Dragon’s Heart, a transcendent species of the other world, and were also known as the Philosopher’s Stone were located inside those monsters.

“How can a single monster contain such a thing? It’s amazing…” Of course, not all of them had it, but even a small crystal could be easily obtained once the monster reached level 3.

“Hmm…is it the influence of the dimensional rift?” It was natural that even bigger and clearer magical stones could be obtained at higher levels.

The information shown on the internet naturally transitioned into the development process through magical stones in weapons. “The development process through magical stones,” he read.

This was the emergence of a new energy source. This was a success achieved when the rifts started occurring ten years ago, and since then, existing technology has been coping with and converting to this new energy. Therefore, there was no significant change in the level of civilization visible from the outside compared to 20 years ago. However, it was not an exaggeration to say that there was a significant change inside.

Baron nodded his head and switched to another tab on the internet to catch a new wave, enjoying surfing here and there with the overflowing information. “The world has really become a better place,” he muttered out of habit. In reality, not much had changed since he had been here, having gone through a breakdown and recovery. But for him, who had been immersed in that world for over 300 years, these embodiments of civilization were truly no different from a new world or another dimension.

His hand, which had been clicking the mouse noisily, fell silent at the unavoidable news.

[Level 6 incident in Ilsan… incident… casualties…]

‘Il-san…’

When investigating information about rifts, he occasionally saw related search terms such as “Level 6” and “Ilsan.”

[Astronomical damage… Troop annihilation…]

The articles that were typically displayed on the main page were so provocative that they overflowed with painful incidents, and the few pictures that occasionally appeared had to be pixelated.

Ilsan! Was it because it was a place that momentarily made him think about his family? Looking at the uncomfortable pictures that were interspersed among the painful news, it felt so uncomfortable that he couldn’t even touch them.

[Total destruction… number of casualties…]

He excluded himself from clicking on anything related to it. No, he ran away. Hadn’t he already experienced pain from unwarranted hope before? Was that the reason?

“I keep avoiding it. Sigh…” He intentionally avoided and circumvented any searches related to it. It was no different this time. He subtly turned his direction away. Hope for his family was shattered once again. Of course, he briefly considered meeting relatives or old acquaintances, but soon he shook his head. “If we are meant to have a connection, we will meet someday.” He had no intention of forcing himself to find them. “Besides… there are more level 6 upper rifts abroad.”

The news related to the upper rifts had more diverse information overseas than in Korea. Even if you don’t touch on the news in Ilsan, there are sufficient ways to obtain information about the upper rifts.

When feeling down, it’s necessary to release some tension. “Reading webtoons that I’ve missed is the way to go. Hehe…”

As it has been accumulated for a good 20 years, it could be said that it’s the best way to kill time without much thought.

In fact, recently, it seems like he’s visiting the library more for these internet distractions rather than collecting information.

It was during a moment of great enjoyment.

“Long time no see,” a shadow fell onto the seat next to him and the person spoke up.

When he turned around, he saw a girl who appeared to be a high school student smiling at him.

“Huh? Seon-hee, what are you doing at this time? Aren’t you supposed to be at school?”

“Do you think I’m still in high school? College students have been on vacation since last week, so I have the freedom to enjoy this time.”

“Heh…looks like you had a lot to catch up on from last year.”

“That’s how it is for all students preparing for college entrance exams.”

Lim Seon-hee, shrugged her shoulders is a student who had crossed the threshold into college this year after enduring the difficult college entrance exams.

Their relationship began at a free cafeteria.

When Lim Seon-hee participated in volunteering at a free meal service, she became acquainted with Baron, who appeared at the library with a neat appearance. Surprised and curious, she approached him and they began to have proper conversations. Furthermore, it was important that they shared similar interests.

It was a meeting between Lim Seon-hee, who entered the Hunter Department, and Baron, who was investigating dimensional rifts to understand the past 20 years. Building a friendship between them was not difficult.

“Are you searching for information about the rifts today too?”

“Well… I read some webtoons too. By the way, it’s the first vacation you have since you entered college. Why don’t you go somewhere to have fun?”

“I plan to go to the beach later.”

“Okay. By the way, I haven’t seen you in a long time. Can you spare some change for me?”

Although the library was small, it was the only place nearby where computers could be used with coins instead of membership cards. This was why he frequented the place, as there was no need to obtain a membership card. In addition, since the old computers could not play games and the fees were very low, he could earn enough for a day’s worth of usage with just a few coins.

“Didn’t you bring any money?”

“Aha~ Come on, help out your neighbor in need.”

He rubbed his hands and, as if she had no choice, Lim Seon-hee dug out some coins from her wallet. Baron was overjoyed and immediately immersed himself in his search.

Observing him with a smile, Lim Seon-hee soon headed to the inner reading room.

Baron, who had been engrossed in the monitor, glanced at her back for a moment.

“Come to think of it… I think she said she’s a Baek Hwa-seon fan.”

He recalled the face of the banner star of White Tiger Guild, known as Korea’s top talent.

She was a young talent who rose to A-Rank at the age of 25, showing the potential to reach S-Rank in the future and become Korea’s first superhuman. When he searched about her, a face always came to mind.

A woman who was born as an ice fairy and became a queen, traditionally called a goddess!

It didn’t mean that he liked her, but rather that the current position of Baek Hwa-seon was similar to his from the past. Especially the fact that she was recognized worldwide stood out.

“Aside from being a beauty, there’s not much difference.”

He shrugged his shoulders and recalled the current location of Baek Hwa-seon.

“It would be too much for her to be a goddess before S-Rank, and now she’s probably just… transitioning from a fairy to a queen?”

Why was he suddenly having these thoughts?

“Wouldn’t she be surprised if she knew Baek Hwa-seon was right next to her?”

Baek Hwa-seon was in this Choryang Library was the reason.

Of course, no one noticed her since she covered her face and entered the third reading room with individual partitions, except for Baron.

“There is no beauty who can escape my aesthetic eyes.”

Is it because he has an eye for seeing through the disguise of even a succubus?

“They were amazing at night… gulp!”

There was no better marrow looter than a demon who invaded even his dreams.

Baek Hwa-seon seemed to live nearby and occasionally showed up at the library like him, but her identity had never been exposed because she always covered her face. Even the reading room where Lim Seon-hee had just entered was the third reading room, so it was as if he had a dream girl nearby.

He shook his head, he thought about telling her, but thought that there was no need for him to pry into the reason why Baek Hwa-seon had covered her face.

“There could be unnecessary complications.”

It was better to block any troublesome issues in advance.

Of course, things don’t always go according to plan in this world. From the start, Baron couldn’t simply rely on himself to avoid a collision accident.

“Mister, mister, I think I saw Baek Hwa-seon.”

“pooh!”

Baron unconsciously spat out the rice he was chewing in his mouth.

“kyaaaak! Disgusting, nasty. What is this?”

The liberation army occupied the solemn occasion, planting their flags in the lunch boxes, and Lim Seon-hee had to put down her chopsticks with sour expression.

Although it was a lunch box that had been brought more than usual in case she saw Baron, it had now become a lunch box solely for Baron.

“I heard that they give you eggs with the ramen at the convenience store.”

Baron apologized and took the lunch box, and Lim Seon-hee had to go to the convenience store with a sour expression.

While waiting for the water to boil, the conversation that had stopped suddenly continued.

“When I came out of the bathroom, I saw a familiar shoes.”

It was a limited edition sneaker that had come out five years ago and was not easily recognizable by anyone since it was an old item.

However, of all people, Lim Seon-hee was there.

‘Keeping the top and bottom well hidden, but got exposed on the ground.’

At first, it seemed like the shoes were hidden well. It was not surprising to think that when seeing a completely worn-out pair of sneakers.

But Lim Seon-hee was different.

“Since I’m a big fan of her, I’ve been collecting them since her debut as a Hunter.”

That’s why she didn’t miss the shoes. Her curiosity led her to stare at the woman and eventually discover the shadow of a Baek Hwa-seon and her suspicions grew even more from her attire that tried to conceal her identity.

‘I don’t think that’s just a fan level, right?’

Baron refrained from saying anything.

In the previous conversation, she mentioned “I think I saw it” because she was not entirely certain.

“What if you’re right?” he asked.

Lim Seon-hee scratched the back of her head in response.

“I shouldn’t ask her for an autograph, should I?”

Even though she was a fan, she prided herself on being a respectful one and didn’t want to intrude on Baek Hwa-seon’s private life. But as she thought about it, it seemed difficult to resist the temptation to get her signature.

However, she couldn’t hide the disappointment that filled her face, so Baron offered some advice.

“If you really want to say something, just leave a note or something. Stick a Post-it note with ‘Keep Fighting’ on the drink. Well… that should be enough.”

“Oh! That’s a good idea.”

It was perfect for maintaining a comfortable distance between them.

And this insignificant action brought about an extraordinary incident.

ΔΔΔ

The man who had closed his eyes and spread the “eyes of the observer” opened his mouth with an terrifying look.

“How dare you…disturb the goddess’s rest. How rude!”

The man who was crouched in the darkness stood up.