Dohyeon had no talent.
Usually, when someone was lacking in one area, they would distinguish themselves in another.
But Dohyeon lacked talent in every conceivable area.
That did not mean he had no strengths whatsoever.
Tenacity bordering on the obsessive.
A determination that refused to let him give up.
Stubborn diligence bordering on stupidity.
It might have sounded as though he had many strengths, but they all boiled down to one thing.
He was someone who relied purely on hard work.
If Dohyeon did not work hard, he fell behind.
If he slacked off, he was left by the wayside.
He had already fallen behind countless times, so he knew all too well that he could not survive if he did not at least put in the effort.
And so, once again today, Dohyeon had no choice but to work hard in order to survive.
TA-TA, TA-TA-TA, TA-TARA-TA-TA…
As always, the reveille bugle rang out.
But then,
Crackle. Bzzzt-
Perhaps something was wrong with the speakers, because the static was especially bad today.
Dohyeon sprang upright.
‘Is it finally today?’
Deep down, he had prayed the day would come even a little later, but contrary to his wishes, it had arrived far too quickly.
‘For my sake—and for Yuha’s—I’ll make it back alive no matter what!’
Yuha was Dohyeon’s younger sister.
There was a four-year age gap between them.
Dohyeon was twenty-three, and he had been raising his little sister alone since he was fifteen.
Eight years ago, both of their parents had died during the “Lizardmen’s Counterattack” incident. Ever since, he and Yuha had faced every hardship together, with no one else to rely on.
That had only been possible because Dohyeon was an Awakened.
Dohyeon had awakened at the young age of fifteen.
But what good was awakening?
His fury over his parents’ deaths had merely triggered his awakening. His Talent Grade had hit rock bottom.
Rage tended to work that way.
When mind-shattering fury powerful enough to burst straight through one’s skull stimulated the brain, there were occasional cases in which it produced tremendous abilities for one extremely brief moment.
Dohyeon happened to be one of those rare cases. He had awakened, but the absurd result on his report card had been “Talent Grade F.”
Even so, Dohyeon was not disappointed.
He was fortunate to have awakened at all, even at Grade F. Otherwise, caring for his sister would have been impossible.
In any case.
Dohyeon was an Awakened, but Grade F was practically the same as having no talent. To earn money, he had enlisted in the Monster Suppression Unit, where soldiers had to make up for their shortcomings with sheer physical effort.
The Monster Suppression Unit.
Commonly called the “MSU,” it was a military unit that acted as a living shield to buy time whenever monsters invaded Earth through a Gate.
Sometimes, they crossed through Gates to exterminate monsters, but even then, their role as living shields remained unchanged.
To Dohyeon, the MSU was like the Grim Reaper, never knowing when it might bring him death.
At the same time, it was also a welcome livelihood that allowed him to support Yuha, his only family.
His life might have been held hostage, but as long as he survived, the money he could take home was substantial.
At the sound of reveille, Dohyeon hauled his stiff body to its feet.
That was when it happened.
“Monsters have invaded! It’s a massive army!”
Bae Man-deuk, the youngest member of the 17th Squad and the last man on night watch, suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs.
Kang Uk, the tanker who had been sleeping beside Dohyeon, jolted awake and sprang to his feet.
“Whoa!”
Perhaps because he was so massive, he kicked a locker while scrambling upright.
The impact made the locker shake violently, knocking down the ballistic helmet resting on top.
As luck would have it, the helmet struck Yun Du-sik—the foulest-tempered man in the squad—hard on the head.
“Ah, shit! What the hell was that?!”
Yun Du-sik glared at Kang Uk as though he might punch him on the spot.
“Why are you glaring at me? Man-deuk’s the bastard who started it.”
Kang Uk shrugged, and Yun Du-sik’s gaze swung toward Bae Man-deuk.
“Didn’t I tell you I’d kill you myself if you pulled that shit again?”
“Come on. Aren’t you all a little too on edge because we’re crossing the Gate today? Relax. Just relax.”
Bae Man-deuk grinned as he slowly backed away.
“Go die, you bastard!”
Yun Du-sik lunged at Bae Man-deuk and gave him a thorough beating.
The 17th Squad’s barracks descended into chaos first thing in the morning.
“Enough screwing around! Get your asses outside already! Anyone who’s late will have his ass kiss the top of my boot!”
Dohyeon might have been young, but as soon as the squad leader spoke, the situation finally settled down.
Everyone hurried into the MSU’s distinctive black uniforms, then stampeded out toward the parade ground.
More than nine hundred members of the MSU had assembled there.
The unit consisted of sixty squads, with fifteen soldiers in each.
After the assembled troops filled the parade ground with their run and finished their calisthenics, the battalion commander gave a brief speech.
Today, they would attack the Forest of Silence on the Croat Continent, where the dark elves were stationed. It was the familiar refrain about uniting as one and achieving the complete annihilation of the enemy.
As if inspired by the battalion commander’s impassioned speech, every member of the MSU raised a fist and let out a thunderous cheer.
After breakfast, the members of the 17th Squad returned to their barracks and prepared for deployment.
Dohyeon had packed his gear and was sitting in front of his locker, maintaining his personal weapon, when it happened.
BANG!
A gunshot rang out from nearby.
Everyone jumped in alarm and rapidly assumed combat positions.
After ordering every member of the squad to wait in a crouch, Dohyeon carefully opened the barracks door and checked the corridor.
But there was nothing there.
A few squad leaders were cautiously peeking out from other barracks, but there was no sign anywhere that the enemy had attacked.
Then an announcement came over the speakers.
[Attention, all MSU personnel. The gunshot just heard was caused by an accidental discharge at the guard post. Disregard it and continue preparing for deployment in your barracks.]
Fortunately, it had not been an enemy surprise attack.
Everyone grumbled as they stood down, then returned to relaxing comfortably.
Amid all that, a piece of news reached the barracks.
One of the troublemakers from the 3rd Squad had died in the accidental discharge.
It had been less an accident than a man-made disaster.
A soldier named Park Gyu-ho from the 3rd Squad, who deserted his post as routinely as eating a meal, had returned drunk at that hour, and that had been the cause of it all.
He had been so intoxicated that he could not even control his own body, yet he refused to obey the guard’s instructions. The rookie guard overreacted and ended up firing his weapon.
Just like that, a life had been lost for no good reason.
His death sent a major stir through the MSU on the eve of a large battle.
Someone had died in an accidental discharge with a full-scale battle against the dark elves just ahead of them.
It was an incredibly unlucky day for the MSU.
But the MSU’s operation was not canceled.
After finishing lunch, the MSU finally marched toward Gate KR-173 shortly after one in the afternoon.
The Gate was located about five hundred meters from the base.
It was roughly four meters tall.
Monsters of Grade 3 or higher could not pass through it.
At most, the Gate could accommodate lycans about the size of tigers or lizardmen slightly larger than humans.
However, the danger level was still quite high because, unusually, the dark elves’ stronghold lay beyond Gate KR-173.
Twelve armored vehicles and more than nine hundred fully armed MSU soldiers waited before the Gate, whose surface undulated like blue waves.
First, drones connected by fiber-optic cables passed through the Gate.
Once the drones had checked the situation on the other side and no problems were found, the battalion commander used the loudspeaker mounted on a vehicle to shout at the top of his lungs.
“Advance!”
At his thunderous command, more than nine hundred MSU soldiers began entering the Gate at once.
Most members of the MSU were ordinary people, but about twenty percent were Awakened.
They might have been called Awakened, but most possessed Grade E or F talent and were not extraordinarily powerful.
Of course, their physiques and abilities still surpassed those of the non-Awakened.
They had skills and stats, so as long as they put in the effort, they possessed limitless potential to grow stronger.
The same was true for Dohyeon.
Although he was an Awakened with Grade F talent, he possessed a skill called Equivalent Exchange, and he had saved his own life by using it whenever he faced mortal danger.
The price, however, was brutal.
The more dangerous the situation in which Equivalent Exchange was used, the greater the price that had to be paid.
Three years ago, Dohyeon had nearly died in a battle against orcs and saved his life by paying with his left leg.
The ligaments in his knee had ruptured as a result, leaving him with a limp that persisted to this day.
A year ago, he had fallen into a trap dug by lizardmen. Once again, he had barely survived by using Equivalent Exchange.
This time, however, the price had been the muscles in his right wrist, which were torn apart.
Since then, Dohyeon had been unable to use his right hand properly and had been forced to live as a left-hander.
Even so, Dohyeon had remained in the MSU and continued fighting to survive in this apocalyptic world, where monsters poured out of Gates, and because he refused to become a burden to his sister.
Given the condition of his body, the MSU rightfully should have discharged him by force.
But Dohyeon proved more useful to the MSU than one might expect.
He was skilled at handling soldiers with utterly rotten personalities, and his ability to sense danger was exceptional.
Others called it talent, but it was something Dohyeon had earned through effort, not a gift he had possessed from the beginning.
Four years had already passed since he became a squad leader.
He swept his gaze across the soldiers riding in the armored vehicle with him.
Like him, they wore full combat gear, down to their ballistic helmets.
Despite the imminent all-out battle against the dark elves, they were relaxing inside the armored vehicle without a care in the world.
There was Kang Uk, a man in his late twenties who always took the front line and fulfilled his role as a tanker without fail.
There was Yun Du-sik, the oldest member of the squad, whose personality was foul but whose spearmanship was second to none.
There was also Song Ha-jun, who had a slender build and a refined face handsome enough to put celebrities to shame, and who served as a powerful ranged damage dealer from the rear.
Even Bae Man-deuk, a master of the axe who had enlisted at a young age and was always full of energy, showed no trace of tension.
These four were the seemingly immortal squad members who had survived without a single death since Dohyeon took command of the 17th Squad.
That was how close they were to Dohyeon.
‘I hope we can all survive together again today.......’
Dohyeon prayed for his squad members’ survival and steeled his own resolve to make it out alive as well.
Meanwhile, the armored vehicle passed completely through the Gate.
The world beyond it was filled with fantastical beauty.
A vast field stretched before them.
Dense forests encircled its far edge like a fortress wall.
Beyond those woods, a colossal cliff towered into the sky, completing a scene that looked like a painting.
The armored vehicle carrying Dohyeon crossed the field and stopped at the forest’s edge.
The terrain ahead was too rough for armored vehicles to proceed any farther.
From there on, they would have to cross the forest on foot.
The dark elves’ stronghold was located in a canyon between the cliffs.
Even when artillery fire was directed at it, the magic-wielding dark elves erected powerful defensive spells every time, preventing the bombardment from inflicting any damage.
That left no choice but to deploy troops directly and advance on the stronghold in close-quarters combat.
From the moment Dohyeon entered the forest, he sensed a strange incongruity.
It felt very similar to the sensation he had experienced when he fell into the lizardmen’s trap a year ago.
‘This is bad.’
He felt like a moth flinging itself into a trap laid by the dark elves.
Their drone reconnaissance had uncovered no particular dangers.
The dark elves had merely arrayed themselves for a last stand inside the canyon and were waiting for the MSU to approach.
That meant they, too, were preparing for close-quarters combat.
Their numbers were lower than expected, with only about five hundred confirmed.
But it did not make sense.
More than nine hundred MSU soldiers were marching in for a fight to the death, yet the dark elves were making their last stand with a mere five hundred?
Something smelled rotten.
Even so, the battalion commander insisted there was nothing to fear and pressed ahead with the advance.
Roughly an hour after the entire MSU entered the forest,
FWIP-FWIP-FWIP-FWIP-
As if they were fools, the dark elves loosed arrows in a forest packed with trees.
Naturally, most of the arrows struck trees along the way, while those that slipped past were all blocked by the shields of the tankers positioned at the front of the MSU formation.
As the tankers lowered their stances, the soldiers waiting immediately behind them formed a line and opened fire with their personal weapons.
RAT-TAT-TAT! RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
Thousands of rounds fired in bursts struck down the dark elves with destructive force dozens of times greater than that of their arrows.
Monsters from other worlds did not die easily to ordinary bullets.
Only Magic Bullets engraved with special runes using mana could inflict serious damage, and such rounds were mixed into the ammunition currently being fired by the MSU soldiers.
After that round of fighting ended, the MSU resumed its advance.
They pursued the fleeing dark elves and drove them all the way to the canyon in one relentless push.
The dark elves fled deep into the canyon to escape the MSU soldiers hounding them from behind.
Seeing this, the battalion commander issued another order to advance.
‘This is seriously wrong.......’
Dohyeon could not bring himself to obey the order so readily.
The other squads had already entered the canyon, but Dohyeon remained outside.
“Squad Leader, what are you doing? Aren’t we advancing?”
Yun Du-sik questioned Dohyeon, who stood blocking the way.
“Wait a moment. I’ve got a really bad feeling about this.”
“If this is about that accidental discharge this morning, just ignore it. If we stand around here, we might end up getting shot by our own side.”
Yun Du-sik jerked his thumb over his shoulder several times.
Dohyeon glanced back and saw the battalion commander, surrounded by five elite squads, glaring at him with a fearsome expression.
“We’ll enter last. There’s nothing to gain by taking the lead.”
“Okay. Everyone, hold position.”
Yun Du-sik might have been eight years older than Dohyeon, but no one respected Dohyeon’s authority as squad leader more reliably than he did.
Only after most of the MSU had entered the canyon did Dohyeon finally wave his left hand forward.
“Move in.”
“Go, go, go!”
The 17th Squad entered the canyon as though being herded inside by the elite squads behind them.
The battle was already raging up ahead.
Magic Bullets were not available in unlimited quantities, so they had to conserve them as much as possible.
Gunshots thundered everywhere, and arrows came flying from every direction.
The occasional fireball hurtled toward them as well, but the tankers’ defensive skills blocked most of those attacks.
Then, without warning,
THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD!
“AAAAARGH-!”
A series of heavy impacts rang out, and dozens of MSU soldiers at the front screamed as they collapsed in droves.
They had been impaled and killed like meat on skewers by enormous harpoons.
Each harpoon alone was ten centimeters thick.
The massive harpoons rendered even the tankers’ shields useless.
And that was not all.
The number of dark elves, which they had believed to be only five hundred, suddenly doubled to one thousand.
Dark elves who had thoroughly concealed themselves with magic revealed their presence atop the canyon walls.
They dropped enormous boulders from above. The MSU soldiers packed into the narrow canyon could not even react before they were crushed beneath them.
It was such an obvious trap.
Dohyeon could not understand the battalion commander, who had ordered the advance without considering this possibility at all. Even more incomprehensible was the complete lack of preparation for any unexpected development.
Screams erupted from every direction.
Arrows poured down like rain, and MSU soldiers died helplessly one after another.
Their first mistake had been blindly setting foot in a canyon like this.
“Everyone, retreat!”
Dohyeon intended to save at least his own squad.
He had just turned around to head back toward the canyon entrance when—
BWOOOOOOOO!
A familiar roar sounded from the rear, and a group charged toward them amid clouds of dust.
They were Raiphants, massive monsters that stood four meters tall.
Each Raiphant had the head of a rhinoceros and a body reminiscent of an elephant.
Raiphants carrying dark elves on their backs were charging into the canyon.
Their merciless assault devastated the elite squads protecting the battalion commander in an instant.
With even their escape route blocked, Dohyeon’s vision went dark.
At this rate, they would all be massacred.
‘I need to find a way out!’
Dohyeon rapidly scanned his surroundings.
Then he spotted something.
One dark elf in black armor stood out as he rode atop a Raiphant, slaughtering members of the elite squads with his sword.
‘The chieftain!’
Dohyeon instinctively knew that dark elf was the chieftain leading this force.
Standing upright, Dohyeon aimed his rifle, which was loaded with a Magic Bullet.
Even with screams erupting and explosions raging all around him, he calmly steadied his breathing.
‘If I can kill him with this, we can turn the tide.’
Dohyeon intended to kill the dark elf chieftain and open an escape route by any means necessary.
He aimed at the chieftain’s head, waited for the right moment, and pulled the trigger.
BOOM!
Flame burst from the muzzle.
The Magic Bullet struck the chieftain squarely in the head.
But the chieftain did not fall.
His head merely jerked to one side.
He instantly located Dohyeon, the man who had attacked him.
Fierce blue light blazed from the chieftain’s eyes as he kicked off the Raiphant’s back and soared into the air.
Then—
THUMP!
He landed directly in front of Dohyeon.
“Damn it.”
Sensing his own death, Dohyeon sprayed Magic Bullets at the chieftain on full auto.
But it was useless.
The chieftain swung his sword with astonishing speed, splitting every Magic Bullet flying toward him at point-blank range.
Then—
CRACK!
The chieftain’s sword cut the rifle in Dohyeon’s hands cleanly in two.
Even then, Dohyeon could not give up.
He wanted to survive by any means necessary, return to Earth, and see his sister’s face again.
“Equivalent Exchange.”
Dohyeon activated his skill.
Then he pictured what he wanted in his mind.
Dohyeon’s wish was to drive his sword into the chieftain’s head.
His desire took form and appeared before his eyes.
▶Choose the price to be paid through Equivalent Exchange.
①Success Rate: 99% / Price: Life
②Success Rate: 11% / Price: Severed Left Hand
③Success Rate: 2% / Price: Immobilization for 5 Seconds
Three choices.
But to bring down the dark elf chieftain, Dohyeon would have to surrender his life.
‘So this is as far as I go.’
He had wanted to survive by any means necessary, but he could no longer see a path to survival.
Still, if he brought down that chieftain, at least some of his squad members might survive.
Dohyeon made his decision.
‘I choose option one.’
The instant he made his choice in his mind,
WHIIIIIIINE!
A strange light burst from his body.
At that exact moment, the chieftain allowed him no opening and struck first with his sword.
At this rate, Dohyeon’s head would be sent flying before his skill could even activate.
Just then,
“Move, Squad Leader!”
Kang Uk suddenly threw himself in and shoved Dohyeon aside.
SLASH
The chieftain’s sword severed Kang Uk’s neck instead of Dohyeon’s.
“DAAAAMN IT!”
Dohyeon screamed, and only then was he able to activate his skill.
BOOM!
Dohyeon kicked off the ground and shot forward like a bullet.
The chieftain’s sword came flying at him again.
With exquisite timing, Dohyeon ducked at the waist and forcefully drew the sword hanging at his right hip.
SKRRAAAAPE—!
Dohyeon’s sword deflected the chieftain’s blade and twisted its angle aside.
The difference in their strength was enormous, but he had managed to slide the blade away at the perfect angle.
The chieftain’s eyes flew wide open.
He appeared unable to believe that a mere human had not only evaded his sword but even deflected it.
Dohyeon’s bizarre movements did not end there.
With the chieftain’s sword still knocked aside, he spun his body around and brought his own blade down.
The sword, brimming with powerful mana, sliced clean through the chieftain’s right arm at the forearm.
Blood sprayed, and shock filled the chieftain’s eyes.
Dohyeon continued the sword’s arc and drove it into the chieftain’s neck.
CLANG!
The blade glanced off the armor, slid into a gap, and bit into the chieftain’s neck. Then—
THUNK-
The blade had clearly pierced the chieftain’s neck, yet Dohyeon felt as though its tip had struck a wall.
The chieftain glared terrifyingly at Dohyeon, raised his remaining left hand, and formed a magic circle over his palm.
“Just die already!”
Dohyeon screamed as he slammed his right hand hard against the sword’s pommel.
CRUNCH!
He felt something break, and the sword punched all the way through the chieftain’s neck.
“Ghk!”
The focus vanished from the chieftain’s eyes, and his body pitched forward.
Dohyeon, whose bones had been wrenched out of alignment by his impossible movements, could no longer endure either. Still gripping his sword, he sank to his knees.
Then the chieftain’s blood ran down the blade, touched Dohyeon’s hand, and rapidly seeped into his body.
Pain stabbed into Dohyeon’s heart like a needle, stealing his breath.
He could not move his body.
At that moment, someone’s shout pierced his ears.
“How dare this fucking bastard lay a hand on Lord Kirantal!”
The instant he heard the voice, Dohyeon felt a sting in his neck.
The world began to spin around and around.
He could no longer feel anything from his body.
And then—
THWACK!
The world went black.