Chapter 14: The Path of Madness

‘W-What should I do?’

Seyul panicked.

He had only stepped outside with a light heart, but now something huge was happening.

He didn’t know exactly what was going on, but he could tell it wasn’t an ordinary situation.

Should he keep going?

“…I have to.”

He hesitated for a moment, but the hesitation didn’t last long.

It hadn’t even been an hour since he made up his mind to go outside.

Turning back now wasn’t an option.

‘Maybe it’s just this area, and things will calm down if I go a little farther.’

If he kept moving, he might get away from the commotion.

Hoping for the best, Seyul pressed forward toward his destination.

But then

“Kyaaah!”

“I don’t want to die!”

“Has anyone seen my child?!”

“My store… Oh no!”

“Mommyyy!!!”

“Somebody, please help!”

“Move!”

“Don’t push!”

“That bastard just trampled someone!”

“Look over there!”

“There’s a thief stealing in the middle of all this?!”

“Please, someone help!”

“There’s no time for that!”

“I need to save myself first…”

The uproar only grew louder.

Hearing the chaos unfold around him, Seyul had no choice but to accept reality.

‘The source of all this is near my destination.’

The commotion was coming from the park or somewhere close to it.

That was the epicenter of the disaster.

“What kind of rotten luck is this?”

Wasn’t this exactly what they meant by “bad timing”?

The one time he finally decided to go outside, a disaster struck.

And the source of that disaster just happened to be the place he had firmly decided to go to.

It was such a ridiculous coincidence that he almost felt like someone was playing a prank on him.

“W-What should I do?”

Now, he wasn’t just panicking cold sweat was trickling down his back.

Even as he agonized over his choices, his feet didn’t stop moving.

And at that moment

“Hey, kid!”

“What are you doing here?!”

A few of the fleeing people rushed toward Seyul.

They were older, and judging by Seyul’s small frame, they assumed he was just a student.

“Get out of here right now!”

“Hurry!”

They urged him to flee, their faces filled with desperation.

Seyul found their reaction baffling.

“No, it’s fine. I just have some business at the park ahead”

He tried to decline politely, but they didn’t even listen.

“Are you crazy, kid?!”

“The park?! In this situation?!”

“A monster appeared! A monster!”

Seyul’s eyes widened at the word.

“A monster…?”

Monsters.

The enemies of humanity that had begun appearing while he was in another world.

They possessed strength far beyond that of humans, and modern weapons were useless against them.

These creatures appeared unpredictably through special phenomena called “Gates.”

In the early days, humanity had been powerless against them and had nearly lost control of Earth.

Now, there wasn’t a single person on the planet who didn’t know about them.

But Seyul had never seen one in person before.

Fortunately, monsters didn’t appear frequently.

“Is there a monster at the park right now?”

Of all places, did a monster really have to appear near the park the very place he was headed to?

It was ridiculous.

The fleeing people nodded hastily.

“It appeared right at the park entrance!”

“We were there when it happened. We barely made it out alive.”

“Luckily, there was a Hunter at the park.”

Another unfamiliar word caught Seyul’s attention.

Hunter.

Ever since monsters started appearing.

The Awakened Ones appeared, ready to face the monster.

‘Of all things, why is there a Hunter here too?’

Unlike monsters, Seyul had at least seen one Hunter since returning.

But to him, they were no more welcome than the monsters.

If anything, they were even more troublesome.

After all, weren’t dragons technically monsters too?

That alone made dealing with them uncomfortable.

‘Maybe I should just leave.’

For the second time, Seyul’s resolve wavered.

Not only was there someone he didn’t want to meet, but this wasn’t a game.

In a game, if an enemy blocked his path, he could just crush them and move on.

But this was different it was an accident.

If a construction site or some incident forced a roadblock, people would naturally take a detour.

Insisting on pushing forward in a situation like this wasn’t persistence.

‘It’d just be madness.’

As he hesitated

“There’s a Hunter fighting at the park right now, but you should still run.”

“He doesn’t seem reliable.”

“You know those guys who don’t even fight monsters properly and just focus on livestreaming?”

“Before the monster appeared, she was just some woman running around the park doing weird stunts for her stream.”

The passersby tried to convince Seyul with their arguments.

“A Star Hunter, huh? Those types are all the same. ”

“Acting all high and mighty, calling themselves elite when they stream or play games. ”

“But when a real monster appears, they start making excuses and run away.”

An older man scoffed, his voice dripping with disdain.

Star Hunters

Famous Hunters who built their reputations through media rather than actual combat.

And apparently, the Hunter at the park fell into that category.

To the older generation, people like that weren’t trustworthy.

That was why the man spoke with such disapproval.

But

“…!”

Surprisingly, his words struck a nerve in Seyul.

‘Was I just putting on an act too?’

Boasting was something he did in games.

And now, he couldn’t help but compare it to himself.

In games, no matter what happened, he had always moved forward.

Yet here, in reality, he was hesitating.

Sure, he had reasons to turn back now.

But had he never had reasons before?

Even when a god tried to dissuade him

Even when he had no power and was blocked by countless enemies

He had kept moving forward, determined to carve his own path.

But now, in reality, he was using the excuse of “madness” to justify turning back.

The thought made his whole body heat up in shame.

The idea that he had only ever been putting on a show in a game

It sobered him up instantly.

“Alright. Then let’s go crazy.”

If walking forward made him insane

Then he would gladly lose his mind.

This time, he would truly commit.

Gritting his teeth, Seyul stepped forward, heading straight for the park.

“…?”

The passersby who had been trying to stop him were left speechless.

He had suddenly declared himself crazy and was now heading directly into danger.

“Has he actually lost it?!”

“That place is off-limits!”

“Stop! Think for a second!”

They tried to reason with him, but

“Let go of me. I’ve already decided to be crazy.”

To them, it sounded like complete nonsense.

“This kid must be in shock. He’s not thinking straight.”

“This won’t do! We need to drag him out of here!”

Deciding that Seyul wasn’t in his right mind, they attempted to forcefully pull him away.

“W-What the hell?!”

“H-He won’t budge!”

Even with multiple grown men trying to restrain him, Seyul didn’t stop moving.

“What kind of strength…?”

Not only was he unaffected by their grip

He was actually dragging them along with him.

‘S-So soft…’

‘And he smells nice…’

On top of that, the sensation and scent coming from him were

Rather… distracting.

It was the passersby, not Seyul, who ended up flustered.

“MONSTER!!”

Suddenly, a bloodcurdling scream rang out from nearby.

“Aaargh!”

“Ugh!”

The people holding onto Seyul fell backward in terror.

Not just them

Everyone in the area froze in fear.