CH 17

During the height of the war, there was a story that circulated among the people.

While the demon army had their deathly roar, the alliance of nations had the breath of their king.

The ‘king’ that the alliance referred to was not the ruler of a kingdom or empire, but a man who had climbed from the lowest point to the highest point alone, a transcendent being who was the spiritual lord of countless wanderers, and a source of pride and glory for his people.

He was the mercenary king, Baron.

Defying the tradition of dragon’s blood, he had taken his place on the throne of their mighty army, and here on Earth, in another dimension, he revealed his grandeur in his majestic breath.

There was no reason for it to be noisy as it was only his breath.

But because it was the breath of a king, there was an immense weight to it.

And the Bukhansan Mountain was pressed down by it.

Countless monsters descending the mountain range all stopped in unison, kneeling and trembling as if it were a promise they had made, while humans also could not escape unscathed from this unfortunate event.

Although the “will” was heavily infused to target the presence of otherworldly creatures, it was difficult for Baron to fully unleash his king’s breath due to his state.

Both human and monster movements came to a halt, but humans were the first to regain their senses and act.

Baron’s “will” was at play, however haphazard it may have been.

“I don’t know why, but…”

“Kill them first!”

“Kill them before they regain consciousness!”

This cry echoed throughout the mountains of Bukhansan as they began to shoot bullets into the frozen monsters.

“Deal with the bodies later, for now, retreat!”

“We’re going down fast!”

Afterward, a chaotic retreat ensued.

Anyone with even a little experience and career could sense that this situation was far from normal, and that a swift retreat was the only way to survive.

While monster corpses could fetch a good price, that only applied if they were still alive, so there was no attempt to collect them.

Meanwhile, this scene of carnage infuriated the owner of the mountain.

“Grrrr…”

As if the recent territorial dispute wasn’t enough, his frustration hit a boiling point.

And all of this was happening during wrong time.

He bellowed in rage, pouring all of his pent-up emotions into it.

“Roaaarrrrr!”

The frozen “slaves” were awakened by his cry.

The momentarily still waves of monsters began to rush down the mountain once again.

ΔΔΔ

Park Man-ho heard about the news of the Lion’s Mask when he arrived at Bukhansan through the shortest route.

“I had a feeling that something was up when White Tiger’s Shadow Unit was attached, but I never expected it to be this bad. read only at salmonlatte . com. This annoying watermark is not there.Damn it!”read only at salmonlatte . com. This annoying watermark is not there.

He had a hunch of discomfort and therefore attached his own Lion’s Mask Unit, but he never imagined that they would be the ones who suffered.

He even thought that this might be one of Kim Jung-hoon’s traps, but the information was directly passed on to him by one of the the Lion Mask agents who had experienced it.

It was hard to believe, but he had no choice but to believe it.

“What the hell….Who is that beggar?”

Suddenly, a hypothesis came to mind.

‘What if that beggar… is a superhuman?’

Unfortunately, that was the extent of his thought.

One breath!

Followed by one roar!

Two shocks hit his entire body and passed through.

He had experienced something similar in the past.

“Crazy…”

He shivered.

A curse slipped through his frozen expression.

“… Level 7?”

What was even more painful was that it wasn’t just once.

“What the hell is going on right now?”

His pupils, looking at Bukhansan, were shaking uncontrollably.

ΔΔΔ

Baron’s head turned in one direction.

“There it is.”

Amidst the previous roar, he was able to identify the culprit behind the signs of anomaly in Bukhansan.

“It’s definitely not an ordinary one.”

He had already felt its presence.

He just didn’t know exactly where it was, but he was able to pinpoint its location from the previous commotion.

Moreover, since it sounded like it was calling out to him, it was difficult to ignore the summons.

“Alright, Don’t come soon.”

He nodded his head and looked down below.

Was it thanks to the information he got from Kim Jin-nok?

It wasn’t too difficult for him to find the practical training site of the students of Haneul University.

After roughly determining the direction and approaching, he naturally found the location of the talisman and followed the scent to find Lim Seon-hee.

It wasn’t a proper mentor-desciple relationship, but perhaps it was the only connection he had left in this world.

“It’s a hassle, but I can’t just leave her to die.”

In fact, if he had heard the roar before discovering them, the situation might have been a little different.

The energy contained in the roar was that interesting.

“Well, now that I’ve already found them…sigh.”

Currently, he was watching over the Haneul University students from atop a tall tree, but was this the expected situation?

“Is it an orc attack?”

There were no professors present, and the students were engaging in a battle with an orc group. read only at salmonlatte . com. This annoying watermark is not there.Baron stopped walking and decided to watch the situation for now.read only at salmonlatte . com. This annoying watermark is not there.

“It’s not bad, but it’s not good either.”

Overall, the students’ level was lacking.

However, he still waited and watched. read only at salmonlatte . com. This annoying watermark is not there.It was because he had a particular image in mind.read only at salmonlatte . com. This annoying watermark is not there.

After a while, the moment he had been waiting for arrived.

ΔΔΔ

It was truly a strange sensation.

Suddenly, it felt like the world had expanded, and she could perceive every movement of those behind her, one by one.

It didn’t feel unfamiliar.

‘It’s like when I awakened my powers…’

Lim Seon-hee watched as her flame arrow pierced through the orc’s skin, digging deep inside.

If it had been a few moments ago, it would have just grazed the surface and bounced off.

“I’ve grown!”

She realized that her abilities had taken a step forward.

D-Rank!

This meant that she was not just a mere student anymore; she was standing in a position where she could hand out her card to the guild. read only at salmonlatte . com. This annoying watermark is not there.It also meant that she had gained one more reliable source of power on the battlefield.read only at salmonlatte . com. This annoying watermark is not there.

Intoxicated by this exhilarating feeling, she continued to shoot flame arrows relentlessly until she suddenly felt dizzy and collapse to her knees.

“Ah…”

Her body had stiffened from exerting too much force.

Only after she had overused her powers did she realize her mistake. read only at salmonlatte . com. This annoying watermark is not there.But by the time she noticed, an orc that she had previously provoked was already charging at her with a club in hand.read only at salmonlatte . com. This annoying watermark is not there.

Even the seniors were trying to suppress it by loading their guns, but since they weren’t equipped for such a battle and their firepower was insufficient, they couldn’t do much.

Freshmen weren’t allowed to carry weapons, and relying on their powers made it clear that their firepower was limited.

In fact, not only did her peers not cover for her, but they were also too busy looking after themselves. read only at salmonlatte . com. This annoying watermark is not there.The upperclassmen, including Ji Kang-tae, each took on one orc, leaving no room to spare for their juniors.read only at salmonlatte . com. This annoying watermark is not there.

‘I just barely advanced a rank, and now it’s ending like this.’

As if seeing her past flashing before her eyes, she felt a premonition of her demise. read only at salmonlatte . com. This annoying watermark is not there.The most recent and memorable incident was etched in her retina.read only at salmonlatte . com. This annoying watermark is not there.

‘Mister…’

She don’t know why, but the face of a man lying in the park, basking in the sun, at this hour came to mind.

It was when she was repeating the face in her mind.

Crack!

The club that was flying towards her broke, and an unexpected shadow overlapped it.

“Ugh…this is annoying, really.”

And then a familiar voice made her eyes widen.

The shadow, face, and appearance that filled her vision made her realize that it wasn’t an illusion or a hallucination, but the truth.

“…Mister?”

“What are you so surprise about?”

Lim Seon-hee, who was dumbfoundedly looking at Baron, asked in a vague voice.

“This…isn’t a dream, is it?”

At that moment, a finger hit her head.

Thwack!

Stars flashed before her eyes, and Baron reminded her of reality.

“You don’t even know how to control your own body properly. read only at salmonlatte . com. This annoying watermark is not there.Ugh…you still have a long way to go. read only at salmonlatte . com. This annoying watermark is not there.Tsk!”read only at salmonlatte . com. This annoying watermark is not there.read only at salmonlatte . com. This annoying watermark is not there.

He said this as he told her to step back.

“I need to burp.”

Just as he said this, Baron suddenly let out a random burp.

Eurgh…

It was a sound that made her frown, but as soon as he did, the knees of the orcs bent.

‘Tsk…that clears it up.’

Baron, who had neatly expelled the residue of magic stone, looked at the students as he patted his refreshed stomach.

“What are you doing? You have to finish them.”

The students, who were confused by the sudden and incomprehensible situation, finally displayed their abilities and rushed towards the orcs, and before long, the victory of the battlefield was decided.

And around this time, as if representing the upperclassmen, Ji Kang-tae stepped forward and asked.

“Who…are you?”

Knowing that the strange and uncomfortable sound from earlier came from this man with a haggard appearance, there was a lot of tension in his attitude.

The strange sound that made countless orcs kneel at once was unfamiliar and mysterious to him, despite having considerable on-the-ground experience.

However, Baron’s response was completely unexpected.

“Rather than that, you should prepare to leave now.”

“….What do you mean?”

“Uninvited guest will be arriving soon.”

Baron’s gaze went up the mountain.

Was it due to the influence of the earlier burp?

Or had it already started moving to find him?

The owner of the mountain was coming down.

Toward him,

In a straight line!

With great army.

ΔΔΔ

It was a massive migration.

As a result, there was no way to not know.

“Monster movement! Move!”

Several helicopters flew through the sky, relaying reconnaissance reports through the radio.

In the midst of it all, some were shot down, and there were cases where communication was cut off with screams, due to the start of the Gargoyles’ full-scale activity, dominating the skies of Bukhansan.

Of course, each helicopter had skilled individuals and its own weaponry to defend against them, so they didn’t easily succumb. read only at salmonlatte . com. This annoying watermark is not there.However, they were gradually limited in their range of activity due to the overwhelming number of monsters.read only at salmonlatte . com. This annoying watermark is not there.

Nevertheless, important information was conveyed, and on that basis, large guilds and skilled individuals began to move.

“There is a massive migration towards Suyu-dong!”

“Request support from the nearby guild as well.”

“Draw a separate boundary line and set up a blockade.”

Amid the chaotic communication on the radio, the arrival of a large number of monsters that made many people nervous and anxious had arrived at their destination.

“Ha… What the hell is this?”

And there, the target of those monsters, the man named Baron, looked at the “mountain owner” with a wry smile.

“A bear, really?”

He had expected a more impressive monster or beast. read only at salmonlatte . com. This annoying watermark is not there.But what was this?read only at salmonlatte . com. This annoying watermark is not there.

“Why a moon bear?”

Compared to the large and unruly monsters that followed behind, the moon bear’s appearance was almost cute, making him laugh uncontrollably.

Was it because he didn’t like its appearance?

“Roar!”

The moon bear let out a fierce roar.

“Can I…catch that?”

‘I hope I don’t get caught by animal control or something.’

He started to think about the ridiculousness of the idea, but he didn’t let it sink in.

It was because the monsters started to rush in.

ΔΔΔ

Lim Seon-hee and the students of Haneul University were rapidly descending the mountain. read only at salmonlatte . com. This annoying watermark is not there.While Ji Kang-tae had heeded Baron’s warning and focused on the safety of the freshmen instead of indulging his curiosity or excitement, they couldn’t ignore the ground shaking behind them.read only at salmonlatte . com. This annoying watermark is not there.

They witnessed a massive swarm of monsters rushing towards him from a distance.

“Gulp… Are those monsters?”

The students of Haneul University were collectively shocked as they saw countless large monsters charging towards the mysterious man.

Though to them, the highest level monsters may have been as distant and lofty as the sky, they couldn’t help but be alarmed as they saw the creatures getting crushed and thrown in all directions like overturned cargo trucks.

“Could it be that he is a superhuman?”

Someone muttered, and it inevitably led to new questions.

“He seemed Korean.”

“Yeah.”

“Are there any superhuman among Koreans?”

“Not many, but it’s not impossible.”

“Who could it be?”

As they pondered, Ji Kang-tae snapped them back to reality.

“No time to lose focus. read only at salmonlatte . com. This annoying watermark is not there.We need to concentrate on getting down the mountain!”read only at salmonlatte . com. This annoying watermark is not there.

With that shout, the students who had momentarily stopped resumed their steps.

Quaaaang!

Though the loud noises behind them tried to hold them back, they couldn’t risk their lives for a moment of curiosity. read only at salmonlatte . com. This annoying watermark is not there.They focused on descending the mountain and ran with all their might.