Chapter 40: Level Up, and an Unexpected Crisis

<Eek!>

The Wind God kept screaming as he was repeatedly slapped.

It was futile to try and escape from Seyul’s grasp.

The moment he tried to shake off the hand, Seyul cleverly shook the head he was holding.

Strangely, this caused all the strength to drain from his body, collapsing his posture.

Despite the enormous difference in power, he couldn’t shake off Seyul.

Finally.

Unable to endure any longer, the Wind God chose to flee.

The Wind God disappeared in an instant, and only then did the slapping stop.

<What will I do if you go alone!>

As the Wind God vanished, the Water God hurriedly followed.

Now only the Light God remained here.

<You, you were unbelievably strong!>

Left alone, the Light God was so shocked he even stuttered.

It wasn’t just from watching Seyul beat up the Wind God.

Even for Seyul, deceiving three gods simultaneously would have been impossible.

<I’ve never seen a martial artist reach such heights as you! Even the first Ruby Warrior would have been half a level below you in pure skill>

While Seyul was focused on the Wind and Water Gods,

The Light God, who had glimpsed Seyul’s true abilities, exclaimed in admiration.

But Seyul remained silent.

He just stared blankly at his own hands,

The same hands that had been grabbing hair and slapping cheeks moments ago.

In any case, his opponent had escaped safely, and he had let them slip away.

[They ran away?]

[Why are these gods so good at running away]

[The Wind God who’s good at running away]

The viewers had the same reaction.

Though he had humiliated the opponent who had greatly backstabbed him, it was disappointing that he couldn’t finish them off.

[What now?]

Just as they were dejectedly discussing what to do next,

Seyul started trudging along.

<What are you doing?>

Even when the Light God asked, Seyul didn’t answer as he walked towards the nearly dead corpses.

“Urgh, hehehe!”

A being lying on the ground, laughing or crying, with parts of its body blown off.

It was Alje, who had been the leader of the allied monsters.

“Haha, I believed so much. I thought you were a god who came to save us! Is this the price of faith? Were you planning to use us from the start?”

Alje muttered, shedding tears of blood.

To him, the Wind God had been an unparalleled benefactor.

The being he trusted more than anyone actually had ulterior motives.

Because of his scheme, he was betrayed at the moment of revenge and left dying like this.

He couldn’t help but be shocked.

“Can you heal this guy?”

Seyul watched the muttering Alje silently before blurting out.

He was addressing the Light God.

“He’ll die if left like this.”

<I know, but>

The Light God trailed off.

Though he desperately wanted to save him, it was beyond his abilities.

<Healing isn’t my specialty, so it’s impossible with my powers. The one with healing abilities was that water fellow who ran away earlier>

“Then even if a full recovery is impossible, can you at least provide first aid?”

<It’s impossible. In the case of high-ranking monsters, they can self-heal any wound as long as they’re alive. But even if strengthened by Drain and blessings, these are fundamentally low-ranking monsters>

No matter what, they were bound to die.

The Light God didn’t hide this fact as he explained.

The viewers outside the screen let out sighs.

[So they’ll die in the end?]

[No!]

[They already had such an unfortunate past]

[To be used and then discarded like this]

[They’re dying after only suffering]

[ㅠㅠ]

Though it was a brief encounter, the viewers sympathized with Alje and his comrades’ unfortunate past.

But now, far from revenge, they ended up like this, so the mood turned gloomy.

While everyone felt conflicted,

On the surface, only Seyul seemed to maintain his composure.

At least until he suddenly raised his spear and pointed it at the dying Alje.

<Why?!>

[Why are you pointing your spear at him?]

Both the Water God and the viewers were surprised.

Even the dying Alje’s eyes flickered upon seeing the spear pointed at him.

“You’re going to die soon anyway.”

Seyul spoke to Alje, surprising everyone.

“If you’re going to die anyway, don’t you think it’s better to die cleanly with one strike rather than suffering?”

“Are you saying you’ll kill me if I agree?”

“Of course.”

An unhesitating answer.

Alje smiled faintly.

“You’re frighteningly kind. Truly kind. …Then please, kill me. I have no desire to live anymore.”

At the crucial moment, their revenge failed due to the betrayal of the benefactor they trusted.

No matter how much resentment he had, it was difficult to continue living.

“Any last words?”

“If possible, the Wind God….”

“I’ll take care of that without you having to say it.”

“Is that so? Then I have nothing else to say.”

“Understood. Farewell.”

As soon as the words ended, the thrust spear took Alje’s life.

And then

“Any last words?”

Seyul repeated the same action with the other monsters who were barely clinging to life.

<Seyul!>

The shocked Light God urgently called his name.

<Do you intend to ease the suffering of all these dying ones with your own hands?>

“Yes.”

<They were your comrades, albeit briefly. Is there really a need for you to do this? If you want, I can->

“No, I’ll do it.”

Seyul was resolute.

Though the Light God was worried, it was precisely because they were comrades that he had to do this.

‘We briefly moved towards the same goal, and I also considered them temporary comrades. ‘

‘And if I had noticed those guys’ tricks earlier, they might all have lived. So it’s my duty to ease their suffering with my own hands.’

Seyul steeled his resolve and went to find the dying ones.

“Th-thank you.”

“I’m just sorry for dirtying your hands.”

He took their lives one by one with his spear.

But none of them resented him.

They too preferred to die cleanly rather than die groaning in pain.

“Me too….”

“Please, I beg you.”

Before long, even the enemies,

The monsters who had been under Graham’s command, begged Seyul to kill them.

Even though they were enemies, they were suffering just the same from the Wind God’s trap.

Seyul showed mercy and killed them.

Then <Level Up> appeared repeatedly.

Killing many powerful monsters at once, even if not all high-ranking, gave quite a lot of experience.

Finally, what remained was:

“This can’t be, this can’t be….”

Graham, who kept muttering as if out of his mind.

Becoming stronger and having everything in the palm of his hand.

That was the ambition Graham had burned with.

He couldn’t believe that he who had such aspirations was now dying so pitifully.

“Die.”

Seyul thrust his spear into Graham’s chest.

Not to ease his suffering, but because he hated the idea of this guy living even one second longer while all his comrades were dead.

After finally killing them all, Seyul blankly looked up at the sky.

[It feels somewhat wistful]

[It’s solemn]

[There seems to be a tinge of sorrow on his back]

[He did just kill his comrades, even if they weren’t together long]

[Here, cheer up with this]

<Unicorn donated 555,000 won>

Everyone worried about Seyul, who had visibly become depressed.

“Light God.”

After staying like that for a while, Seyul addressed the Light God.

“Where are the Wind God and Water God?”

<You intend to kill them both, I see>

“Do you dislike that?”

<No, I no longer have any good feelings towards those two either>

Sighing as if he truly felt that way,

<Before I tell you their whereabouts, there’s something you need to know. Aren’t you curious? Why I followed you in that form>

The Light God mentioned his disguise as Luminous.

What on earth was he trying to say?

The viewers all tensed up waiting for the next words, but…

“Ah, I got a call.”

Seyul, who had been waiting for the next words with a stern face, suddenly said he got a phone call and ended the broadcast.

[…]

[Hey]

[You cut it off at this timing?]

[You do have to answer if you get a call, but]

[You shouldn’t do that at this moment]

[After killing your comrades with your own hands and striking all those solemn poses!]

[How can you suddenly say “phone call” like that?!]

[The mood is totally ruined]

[Come back!]

[The Light God was about to reveal something!]

[At least listen to that before you go]

The timing was too exquisite.

The expectant viewers rioted for the first time in a while.

“Who is it?”

But Seyul, who had cut off the broadcast, wasn’t comfortable either.

He had ended it because the call came just as he was determined to kill the Wind God.

Frowning, he checked the caller ID.

“Noona?”

The one who called was Seyul’s older sister.

Her name was Han Serin.

The eldest daughter of three siblings, a few years older than Seyul.

“Why are you calling?”

Serin usually works at this time and comes home in the evening.

It was strange that she called when there was no particular reason to, so he asked and a trembling voice replied.

“Seyul, turn on the TV quickly!”

“Why?”

“Just hurry up and watch!”

His sister suddenly yelled at him to watch TV.

Startled, he followed her order.

“Breaking news! The Korean branch of the Hunter Association is under attack by villains!”

Every channel he turned to was broadcasting this content.

‘Where did they say was under attack?’

Seyul’s expression turned grim as soon as he saw the breaking news.

It wasn’t because an important facility was under attack.

‘Semi is there right now!’

It was because that place was where his hunter sister was supposed to go to work today.

The Korean branch of the Hunter Association.

As the name suggests, it’s the branch established in Korea by the association that oversees hunters.

Naturally, all Korean hunters are affiliated with the branch.

They don’t need to visit every day,

But since they’re affiliated, they should show their face at least once when they have time.

Everyone has a day they go regularly, and today was the day Semi was supposed to go to the branch.

‘And villains were definitely some kind of unidentified hunters who use monsters to do bad things, right?’

He recalled information about villains in his mind.

It was clearly a crisis situation.

“You need to do something!”

His sister’s urgent voice came through the phone as his younger sister suddenly found herself in danger.

“I was shocked when I saw it, and you’re the only one I can rely on!”

“I got it. I’ll go there right now.”

Though he didn’t particularly want to meet hunters, he had no choice.

Seyul left the house to save his younger sister.