Unlike the sharp-sensed Gyeom-shin, Jang-pil had not yet sensed it.
That monsters were approaching.
"...By the way, is the Gladius Guild really a guild with a future?"
The cost of Jang-mi's surgery was not all that high.
They simply had not known how to earn it.
They had simply run out of time.
"Why? Because you don't trust Yeon Da-hee?"
"N-no. It's not an issue with Ms. Da-hee."
Therefore, there was still more than enough time to save her.
Now, Gyeom-shin would no longer commit the mistake of carelessly trusting anyone, either.
He would make people trust him, while never rashly trusting others himself.
"You're just anxious, right? Afraid that we won't be able to save Jang-mi if the guild's growth is too slow."
"......"
At first glance, abandoning the thriving Kaiser Guild and choosing the Gladius Guild made it seem as though they had moved even further away from saving Jang-mi.
"I can guarantee you this one thing. It's much better than you staying at the Kaiser Guild, hyung."
However, on the contrary, this was the way to survive.
"No matter how much money those bastards have, they won't lend you a single red cent, hyung."
"How on earth would you know that?!"
Once the Gladius Guild skyrocketed in the future, it had never once dropped out of the top guild rankings.
"Well... let's call it a hunch."
Even when Gyeom-shin's own guild had briefly faltered, they had remained strong and intact.
"...And did you forget how many times you nearly died because of that goddamn hunch of yours?"
"Yeah, because I'm a man who only looks forward."
"That's why... to me, you always felt like a child left by the water's edge."
Gyeom-shin thought the reason for their strength was loyalty and good faith.
"Right, I wanted to work together with you someday anyway, so this actually worked out for the best."
Unlike his own guild, where only strong Rankers had gathered, the Gladius Guild was a place where only upright people with unyielding convictions came together.
"Quitting the Kaiser Guild is a huge shame... but honestly, becoming a Hunter affiliated with a new guild alongside you isn't bad at all."
They supported one another.
In other words, it meant it was a guild where the risk of being betrayed by someone was remarkably low.
"Same goes for me, hyung."
One only had to look at its Master, Yeon Da-hee, to see that.
"Because people come before power."
She, too, had upright eyes filled with deep conviction.
Her entire life, she had used her sword solely to protect citizens and her comrades.
"...That's not like the usual you. After all that time you spent running wild saying you'd become the strongest in the world."
From the day she first inherited the guild from her father right up until the moment she died.
To save her comrades, she had not hesitated to brave death itself.
That was the Gladius Guild.
"...I changed my mind."
In the past, Gyeom-shin had never acknowledged them.
He had only clicked his tongue at their foolish choices that led to the deaths of countless Rankers.
He had sneered at it as powerless justice.
"I realized it doesn't matter. Something like power."
"What...?"
However, things were different now.
"Coming from a bastard who used to stop at nothing just to gain power, what kind of..."
"I'm telling you, none of that matters at all."
The atmosphere of the Gladius Guild, where everyone protected one another, was a massive advantage.
'Because when it comes to my power as a Hunter, being carried by this sword alone is more than enough anyway.'
Especially when it came to executing the traitors.
CREAK.
"Hey, there's something I've been wanting to ask you since earlier—what on earth is that sword that showed up out of nowhere...?"
"...Shh."
While having that conversation, they reached the depths of the monastery.
As they opened the door and stepped into a place where no light reached, the sound rang out clearly.
"...Hyung, they're coming soon. Those bastards."
"......!"
The sound of the bastards swarming in all at once.
THUD—! THUD—! THUD—!
And the bastards that appeared before long were...
"Kieee-!"
Bloodthirsty Goblins.
"Eeegh?!"
When dozens of them appeared all at once, Jang-pil broke out in a cold sweat, assumed a combat stance, and drew his sword.
"Damn it! H-how many of them are there...?!"
SHING—!
However, Gyeom-shin remained calm.
Because it was a path he had walked into already knowing what awaited.
"Looks like there are roughly thirty of them."
"You jerk! Hurry up and get ready for battle too..."
Instead, he spread both arms wide.
"Come on, then."
As if provoking them to hurry up, charge in, and tear him apart.
"Go ahead and kill me if you can."
Jang-pil was appalled at the sight.
"You...! You crazy bas...!"
He looked at Gyeom-shin as if looking at a crazy bastard.
SMIRK—!
Because even madness seemed to linger within that smile brimming with confidence.
['Analyzer' has been activated.]
However, Gyeom-shin had not lost his mind.
「 Monster Name: Goblin
Grade: D0 / Level: 80
Type: Warrior / Attribute: Earth 」
It was a tactic he had deliberately baited them into.
Because thanks to his Player trait, even the enemy's combat power was visible to him as exact data.
"Hyung, you were trying to ask me something earlier, right?"
"W-what are you talking about in a situation like this?!"
SHAAAH—!
Gyeom-shin himself was weaker than the Goblins.
If he took even a single hit, it would mean instant death.
However, the Demonic Sword Ades was not like that.
SHAAAAH—!
Slumbering within it was a tremendous power against which mere Goblins could not even compare.
"About what kind of sword this is."
Tap-tap—!
Tap-tap-tap—!
Thus, this bold tactic of offering himself up as bait worked like a charm.
Recognizing Gyeom-shin as easy prey, the Goblins lunged at him in a flash.
"B-be careful, Gyeom-shin...!"
FLARE—!
Before long, blue flames flowing out from Ades wrapped around Gyeom-shin like a protective barrier.
It was the signal that all preparations were complete.
BLAZE—!
KABOOM—!
At the same time, the dozens of Goblins that had charged at him were ground away by the blue flames before they could even swing their weapons.
KA-KA-KABOOM—!
"Kieeeeek-!"
Brilliant flames spread across their entire bodies.
The Goblins could only fall helplessly before Ades's blue mana.
"Kieeek!"
Surrounded by the flames, the bastards let out horrific screams as they burned up and turned into pitch-black piles of ash.
"Kieeeeek!"
ZZZZZING—!
Completely pulverized from their skin down to their bones as if turning into powder.
They had been gruesomely ground into dust by the mana spewing forth from Ades.
"Th-this is...!"
Jang-pil stared at the Demonic Sword with a dumbfounded face, as though he could not possibly believe his eyes.
Having lost his will to fight, he even dragged his weapon along the ground as if all strength had drained from his arm.
"H-how could something like this...!"
Because Demonic Swords were rare, this was the very first time Jang-pil had ever experienced something like this.
"It's this kind of sword, hyung."
"W-what did you say...?"
Wearing a smile brimming with confidence, Gyeom-shin showed Jang-pil.
"This Demonic Sword is everything I have, and..."
Just what kind of sword this blade of vengeance, filled to the brim with his hatred and resentment, truly was.
"It's the proof of my existence."
***
Jang-pil was a Hunter much younger than the age at which Gyeom-shin had died.
In other words, he was still an inexperienced rookie.
"......"
Trudge, trudge.
Having witnessed that astonishing spectacle, he was now walking while even keeping his guard up around Gyeom-shin.
"...Why? Just because I'm holding a Demonic Sword, do I look like a demon to you, too?"
He had been completely overwhelmed by Gyeom-shin.
"...I can't believe it. Isn't a Demonic Sword a Legend-Grade weapon?"
In the first place, the profession of Hunter itself meant a superhuman who far surpassed modern civilization.
"Yeah, there's no way that picky Sword Flower would have made me Vice Guild Master after looking at just any ordinary sword, right?"
"......"
Because the combat power of each individual was far stronger than a person holding a gun.
For that reason, Awakening as a Hunter was also an extremely rare occurrence.
"You... how did you get that sword?"
Yet the monsters before whom even such Hunters felt the greatest wall were none other than the owners of these Demonic Swords or Holy Swords.
"Just by chance."
"What...?"
"I just raided a Hidden Dungeon and it happened to drop by chance."
And Jang-pil, a rookie Hunter, had witnessed one for the very first time.
To Jang-pil's eyes, Gyeom-shin could only look like a god.
"Would you believe a lie like that if you were me?!"
"Then you don't have to believe it, hyung."
Moreover, even among Demonic Swords, Ades belonged to the very highest tier of powerful blades.
"What? Are you playing word games with me right now..."
"What really matters is something else anyway, isn't it?"
It was a sword that even brought the dead back to life.
Among all the Demonic Swords that would be unearthed over the next ten years, it belonged to the most powerful tier.
"Found it."
"What...?"
The warm-up had only just ended.
"A hefty bastard that'll save our Jang-mi."
From now on, it was time to perform a sword dance and get a little more familiar with Ades.
DING—!
[The boss monster has appeared.]
The boss zone came into view right before their eyes.
THUD-THUD-THUD—!
'It's finally shown itself.'
Gyeom-shin had been aiming for this from the start.
It was a tiger's den he had walked into knowingly.
"W-what the hell is that bastard now...?!"
['Analyzer' has been activated.]
"This is a beginner dungeon, so how could a bastard like that be here...!"
Because he possessed the experience of the strongest Hunter.
"Lee Gyeom-shin! Don't tell me you brought me here knowing a bastard like that would show up...?!"
"Of course. We have to hunt a bastard of at least that level for them to recognize our skills, don't we?"
"What?! Hah, this crazy jerk...!"
He had deliberately come to the place that housed the strongest monster among beginner dungeons.
"I should've suspected something from the moment you came straight here! Damn it...!"
"It's fine, hyung!"
Ample confidence was steeped in the single Demonic Sword held in his hand.
「 Monster Name: Dark Goblin
Grade: D0 / Level: 120
Type: Ghost / Attribute: Darkness 」
"Trust me."
Gyeom-shin led the entire situation.
"Because we're going to walk out of here proudly carrying that Goblin bastard's head."
"......"
The Master of his past life, who had been dragged around at every turn by the opinions of his guild members, was no longer there.
On the contrary, he was the exact opposite.
"...All right, got it!"
He gave Jang-pil such a sense of trust that the man believed in him even when led straight into the jaws of death.
Jang-pil willingly followed Gyeom-shin.
'From the start, I should've only kept people like hyung in my inner circle.'
With this, it was proven.
That a single trustworthy comrade was far better than a hundred strong Rankers.
'If I'd done that, I never would've been betrayed.'
Gyeom-shin felt as though he were finally walking the right path as a Hunter.
"Since it's either die or pass out anyway, I'll put my trust in you, Gyeom-shin!"
From now on, he planned to steadily complete the grand map according to his own will.
"I knew you'd say that, hyung."
A blood-stained map that would allow him to sever the heads of every last bastard who had betrayed him.
"...Let's go, hyung!"
Grrrr...!
Aiming the Demonic Sword at the monster with a fierce gaze, Gyeom-shin spoke.
"Because our future only begins once we take that bastard's head first...!"
Tap-tap-tap—!
SWISH—!
Then, he charged at the bastard.
***
Before he knew it, the subordinate Goblins summoned by the Dark Goblin were surrounding Gyeom-shin as well.
"Haa... Haaa..."
Several hours had already passed since the battle began.
[Your level has risen to 60.]
DING—!
Even though the grueling battle had continued for a long time, he could not easily bring down the Dark Goblin.
"Kieeek-!"
It was because of the automatic health regeneration passive skill attached to the bastard.
Every time he was just about to kill it, it recovered all over again.
[Stage 1 of the Demonic Sword, Ades's 'Status Abnormality Skill' has blossomed.]
However, his efforts bore fruit.
Along with the rise in his level, he had even obtained a new skill.
'Oho...?'
Furthermore, as he fought against the boss monster, he felt a pleasant sensation as though his stiff body were gradually loosening up.
[From now on, you can inflict the Status Abnormality, 'Combustion,' upon enemies.]
'Combustion, huh... Not bad.'
A skill that inflicted a Status Abnormality was a prized skill in the Hunter industry.
Wrapping the newly acquired skill around the Demonic Sword, he immediately put it to use.
"Let's see you try blocking this, too...!"
SWOOOOOSH—!
At that, along with a wall of blue flames, an astonishing sight unfolded right before his eyes.
FLARE—!
[The target has been afflicted with 'Combustion.']
The very moment the bastard approached the blue flames surrounding Gyeom-shin, fire blazed across the Dark Goblin's entire body.
"Kieeeeek...!"
BLAZE—!
It took only a single instant.
"Ah...?!"
For the boss monster he had struggled to bring down for several hours to melt away in a single blow to Ades's blue flames with anticlimactic ease.