The First Gate.
It was like a temple of the gods.
Huge marble buildings stood there as if built by giants, and even the statues were larger than buildings in Seoul.
"Bastards, I told you to survive, and all of you went and died."
Corpses lay sprawled throughout the inside of the Gate.
The Hunters' bodies were mostly cut open or had concealed weapons embedded in them, but the Shadow Unit members were different.
Burned, crushed, torn apart.
The manner of slaughter was so far beyond the human realm that it could have been believed to be the work of magic beasts.
In front of Yohan, the sole survivor, stood A-grade Hunters and the Fist King, Baek Gwon-yu-seong.
"Brutal bastards."
"Is that something men from a group that kills people should say?"
"Shut up. At least we don't kill people like insects."
"Haah.... Surrender quietly. Then I can spare your life, at least."
Yohan tore a strip from his collar and tied the sword hilt to his hand.
At that, Baek Gwon-yu-seong and the other A-grade Hunters gripped their Ego Weapons tightly.
Unlike Yohan's shabby sword, the Ego Weapons radiated power. They were the only weapons with which Hunters could defeat magic beasts, and they were the proof of Awakening that showed one was a Hunter.
"Looks like you have no intention of surrendering...."
"Yeah. There's something I absolutely have to do."
"What on earth are you doing all this for? Thrashing around until the brink of death like this?"
He simply wanted to live. Normally, at that.
He was sick and tired of seeing people's blood, and Yohan was no psychopath.
It had drained his emotions, and the mental exhaustion had kept piling up.
He wanted to escape this yoke and live peacefully with only his mother in a quiet countryside village.
"Hand it over. That thing in your hand."
"So the Shadow Unit was after the Wish Vessel as well."
"Yeah, so if you don't want to die, you'd better hand it over."
As Yohan dragged his exhausted body along and raised his sword, the Hunters and Yu-seong took their stances.
Yohan took a black pellet from his coat and set it off.
'Hunter weakness 1. They overestimate their own abilities.'
As smoke spread and hid Yohan from view, he immediately threw another black pellet into the air.
Seeing the object rise into the air, the alarmed Hunters quickly deployed magic circles.
Then they fired spells at the pellet.
As A-grade Hunters, they could easily hit such a small pellet.
At that, the white phosphorus inside exploded and scattered through the air.
"That's a white phosphorus bomb! Everyone, coat your bodies in mana and get out of there!"
Before Yu-seong's order had even finished falling, Hunters exposed to the white phosphorus began appearing one after another, their bodies melting.
The Hunters struck by the burns and by the smoke that destroyed them from the inside collapsed while making grotesque sounds.
To minimize the damage as much as possible, Yu-seong thrust his fist toward the air.
BOOM.
At that, the waves in the air changed violently, blowing the particles away along with the white phosphorus smoke.
'Crisis response: C. Ability: A. Command: B. He falls under Classification B-01.'
Yohan, who had been inside the smoke, had anticipated this and moved away.
'Then I need to deal with the supporters first.'
Hidden behind a statue, he performed his own routine and maintained his composure.
'Hunter weakness 2. They have fought battles against magic beasts, not battles against people.'
Yohan scattered black pellets into the air again.
Gripped by fear of the white phosphorus, the Hunters could not easily shoot the pellets down.
As a result, the black pellets fell exactly where Yohan wanted them.
Smoke covered everything around them.
Inside the smoke, the Hunters' spells were giving off light.
"Stop your skills! You're exposing our positions!"
"Just wait a moment! With the Wind God's Blessing, I can clear this smoke...."
THUD.
The female Hunter who had been trying to clear the smoke with Wind God's Blessing dropped her head to the floor.
When sticky liquid spurted up and splashed around them, the Hunters rapidly began to panic.
Just as they did in battles against magic beasts, they had briefed one another and let slip crucial information.
'You have to kill sound, too, not just light.'
Panicked, the Hunters each cast their strongest skills.
As a result, they violated Yu-seong's order not to reveal themselves with light.
"Aaaaargh!"
"Urgh!"
As people fell to the soundlessly moving shadow and blood splattered everywhere, Yu-seong decided he had to clear away the irritating smoke first.
"Rising Dragon Fist."
The smoke vanished with the single punch he thrust over his head.
Then he saw that the Hunters who had been beside him had been carved into pieces.
"Damn it!"
"That's why you should've handed it over when I told you to."
Riding the wind the Fist King had created, Yohan descended leisurely from the air.
Then he gave the sword tied to his hand one shake toward the ground.
Drip, drip.
The blood on the blade scattered indifferently.
The Fist King, who had been raging at the sight of the Hunters' corpses, suddenly began to calm down.
It was a Hunter's Authority.
Every Hunter possessed a different Authority. The Fist King's Authority was self-control, which allowed him to regain composure in any situation.
'Must be nice. Some of us have to make pointless routines and carve them into our bodies.'
"O nameless one of the Shadow Unit. I shall judge you an adversary of the Fist King."
"What's he talking about?"
At Yu-seong's declaration, his body began to swell.
His muscles grew, and the amount of mana increased even further.
The ground where he stood was carved into an arc.
"I intended to use this on the Gate's boss when there was no other way to win."
"A Unique Trait, huh. It looks S-grade on the surface, but with limits on its power, it probably belongs in B-grade. The Ice Witch was better, honestly."
"What is this fellow talking about?!"
"Ah, just a habit. Fist King, Sword God, Witch—when you classify them, they're all the same."
Yohan's hand began to tremble instinctively before the overwhelming creature.
Yohan performed his routine once again.
With the right hand holding the sword, he tapped his heart twice, brought the blade forward to look at his reflected face, then shook the blade toward the ground.
His trembling hand calmed, and the tension in his body eased.
His thoughts began spinning quickly, allowing him to maintain his composure.
He bent his body forward, poised to charge at any moment.
BANG—!
With a single leap, Yohan lunged at Yu-seong.
Yu-seong watched Yohan and thought.
'To get close, he will surely deflect the first attack!'
Then what Yu-seong had to do was deliver a second attack with no delay.
Yu-seong pulled his right hand back toward the trajectory Yohan was charging along, then thrust it out.
BOOM—!
An overwhelming sound tore through Yohan's eardrums.
Yohan did not dodge the incoming bullet of air and took it head-on.
Because of that, his left arm was torn away, and blood was flowing from his ears.
'He took that...?'
SQUELCH.
Before Yu-seong had the time to make the second attack with no delay, the sword lodged in his chest.
"How could you... an S-grade Hunter like me...."
Yu-seong grabbed the blade embedded in his chest and coughed blood.
"Hunter weakness 3. He is still only human. This is the difference between the path you and I have walked."
Yohan pushed Yu-seong away with his foot and pulled out his sword.
Yu-seong lay collapsed, his body trembling.
"Let me ask one thing before I die."
"What?"
"What are you? With that level of skill, you could even save the world."
"Me? Hm...."
Yohan briefly wondered how he should introduce himself.
"Powerless."
"To think the one who killed the Fist King is a powerless man who can't even kill magic beasts. Impossible...."
And so the Fist King closed his eyes in the First Gate, defeated by an existence he could not understand.
"But it's true."
Indeed, the Shadow Unit was a group formed by selecting the Powerless from among the Hangeom Family's branch lines.
If someone could Awaken as a Hunter, the Hangeom Family's rule was to send them to the Academy, so to the Family, it was only natural.
"A monster of a bastard."
Yohan murmured quietly as he lifted the Wish Vessel lying beside Yu-seong.
Then he leisurely headed out of the Gate.
***
Outside the Gate stood the Hangeom Family Head, Hangeom Do-cheol.
His very bearing as he stood there radiated pressure.
Yohan thought it might perhaps be the influence of his ability, the Gravity Blade.
'This is why I hate getting involved with monsters.'
Do-cheol stroked his long, drooping beard and looked at Yohan indifferently.
"I have completed the mission."
"Walk with me for a moment."
"Yes, sir."
'I'm in so much pain I could die, and he wants to walk?'
Yohan felt dizzy from the blood flowing from his missing arm.
Noticing this, Do-cheol briefly placed his hand on the hilt of his Ego Weapon, the Gravity Blade.
At that, the severed arm stopped bleeding and shriveled up.
"Your skill is as impressive as ever. To handle such a broad-ranging ability so delicately...."
"Ho ho, even so, I have grown quite old."
Unlike his imposing bearing, Do-cheol's manner of speech was gentle.
He usually treated capable people who produced results this way, and inflicted severe punishment on those who did not.
That was Hangeom Do-cheol's way.
The two walked endlessly across the grassland.
It was Yohan who broke the dead silence.
"I completed Final Mission: Codename Zero. Please take this and let me go now."
"Do you know how to use the Wish Vessel?"
"I have no interest. And if I knew, I would have used it myself."
"I see.... Then, as a gift to you for completing the final mission, I shall tell you."
Even if he learned how to use that crap, it would not be useful for anything.
Rather than Do-cheol's words, Yohan was more worried about whether he could farm as a one-armed man right now.
Where should I get land? What should I plant?
As he was mulling over this and that, Do-cheol snapped his fingers.
Ghk.
Yohan felt pain as if someone had seized his heart, and he sank to the ground.
'He shouldn't even be holding his sword.'
Then he vomited a large amount of blood into the Wish Vessel.
"What is this...."
"The method for using the Wish Vessel. It requires the blood of one who has received a great deal of resentment. You, who have killed hundreds, thousands, are the suitable one."
Do-cheol snapped his fingers once more, and as Yohan's heart clenched even harder, he poured out even more blood.
"You have accomplished the great work we could not achieve."
This was not Do-cheol's ability, gravity manipulation.
The thing that ate the heart in response to a signal was Gu Poison, a forbidden art among curses.
It was a curse in which the practitioner implanted an insect inside a person's body, and when they sent a signal, it made the insect eat the heart.
"You... placed a curse on me?"
"You know it well."
"Why on earth?! I lived like a dog under you, killing countless people!"
Enduring the pain of his heart being squeezed, he reached for the dagger inside his coat to cut off Do-cheol's head before his eyes.
Then Do-cheol snapped his fingers one last time.
"Kghk."
Yohan collapsed on the spot, pouring a large amount of blood into the Wish Vessel.
"Your tenacity alone is extraordinary. There was a reason you were the leader of the Shadow Unit."
"D-Damn it."
Do-cheol's words began to sound more and more distant to Yohan.
"If you had a Trait, or at least attended the Academy, things would have been different. Blame your powerless self."
With one gesture from Do-cheol, Yohan's heart burst.
Just when had he been toyed with?
From the beginning?
If it was the beginning, when was that?
From the moment he entered the Shadow Unit?
If I had power, would the Family have taken care of Mother?
If I had power, would I not have had to work like this?
If I had power, I wouldn't have met such a miserable death.
In Yohan's unfocusing eyes, the jewels embedded in the Wish Vessel began to shine.
"The Wish Vessel! It has finally begun to activate! Answer my wish, Wish Vessel!"
The sound of Hangeom Do-cheol laughing heartily did not reach Yohan's ears.
'Damn it. If only I had power....'
"Why are you not answering my wish?!"
Behind Hangeom Do-cheol's fading shout, an unknown voice sounded in Yohan's head.
[Responding to the user's desire.]
[Curse: Gu Poison lifted.]
[Illusion Art: Visual Hallucination and Auditory Hallucination lifted.]
[Awakening new ability.]
[Power granted.]
[Returning to the past.]
***
The place where Yohan opened his eyes was a room inside the house where he had lived ten years ago.
He immediately checked the calendar.
It was exactly ten years before the moment of his death.
Then he looked straight into the mirror.
A youthful face without a single scar entered his sight.
Yohan recalled the unknown voice he had heard just before he died.
―Returning to the past.
'Did I really return to the past?'
His age was seventeen. The season was spring.
It was the time when he failed to Awaken as a Hunter and could not enter the Academy, when his mother was taken from him by the Hangeom Family and he ended up entering the Shadow Unit.
"Mother! What about Mother?!"
Yohan immediately got up and went out of the room.
He went down the stairs from the second floor to the first.
The familiar smell of curry stung the tip of his nose.
From beyond the kitchen door on the first floor came a clattering sound.
'I can see Mother....'
Yohan swallowed and pushed the doorknob down.
Then he pulled.
And there....
"Yo-Yohan, did you sleep well? Yo-Yohan, did you sleep well? Yo-Yohan...."
There was a jointed doll in the shape of a woman.