“W-what……?!”
The dark clouds that had been gathering for some time covered the sky amid flashes of lightning.
CRACKLE—!
KABOOOM—!
A thunderous sound shook the heavens.
The sky in the direction of Port Mine looked as though the end of the world was at hand.
“Don't tell me…… that's a skill……? Just who are you……?!”
“None of your business.”
How much time had passed?
A small meteor with a long tail appeared between the black clouds and plummeted toward Port Mine.
RUMBLE-RUMBLE-BOOM—!
The city faintly visible in the distance was engulfed in clouds of dust with a deafening explosion.
“Th-the city……!”
Kang Hyeon-woo silently watched the sight before urging the child onward.
“Let's go.”
“Ughhh……! W-wait……!”
Lena's voice came from among the Resistance members groaning on the ground. She was bleeding from a deep wound in her side.
“Y-you……. What in the world have you done……?”
“Did you say you were a Mercenary?”
“……What?”
“If you make me ask twice, I'll kill you.”
At Kang Hyeon-woo's cold words, Lena bit her lip.
“That's right. I'm a registered Mercenary.”
Kang Hyeon-woo bent down toward Lena, who lay collapsed on the ground.
‘Restoration.’
As Kang Hyeon-woo cast the spell, white spheres of light about the size of baseballs began gathering around him one by one.
Then they seeped into Lena as she lay on the ground.
“Gasp……. Ugh……. How…… can this…….”
The spheres of light that seeped into Lena's body healed all her wounds as though turning back time.
After lying there blankly for a moment, Lena pushed herself upright.
“What in the world is this……? I've heard there are healing skills, but this…….”
“None of your business. There's only one reason I healed you.”
“Go ahead.”
“Open your Awakening Window.”
[Mercenary Contract]
[Contractor Information]
[Codename : SIN]
[Class : Mage]
[Grade : ???]
[Affiliation : Shinhwa Company]
[Contract Details : Private Request Processing (Emergency)]
[Contract Sent]
Lena's eyes widened when Kang Hyeon-woo sent the contract.
“What is this……?”
Though bewildered, Lena moved her hand and pressed the button to accept the contract.
“Fulfillment complete.”
[Contract established.]
[Contractor “SIN” has requested contract fulfillment completion.]
[Contract fulfillment completion confirmed.]
[Private Request Processing (Emergency) contract completed by mutual agreement.]
“Now leave a star rating and a review.”
“What…… Fine.”
Lena had been about to question him, but remembering what Kang Hyeon-woo had said moments earlier, she immediately shut her mouth.
[(Anonymous) : S-Grade? Is this Shinhwa? Did they deliberately let it blow up instead of catching the Resistance beforehand?]
[(Anonymous) : The person above…… y-you should probably delete that comment quickly?]
[(Anonymous) : Codename SIN…… Well, he's a legend among magic skill users.]
[(Seed) : I am Seed, City Lord of Port Mine. Thank you for protecting the safety of our citizens. I strongly recommend him to the other City Lords in distant cities as well.]
Lena stared at the reviews with her mouth hanging open.
‘What is wrong with these people……?’
There was even a review under the name of City Lord Seed, the very man who had supposedly ordered the attack on them moments earlier.
“I'm done.”
“Then I'll be going.”
“Wait. Are you seriously going to completely blow away Port Mine and run? This is a major crime. Shinhwa won't just stand by and…….”
“That's quite a thing for the Resistance to say.”
Lena flinched.
She resisted Shinhwa as well, but not like this. Kang Hyeon-woo had suddenly appeared and wiped out the very thing she had been resisting in an instant. What the Resistance wanted was the end of Shinhwa's dictatorial rule, not the destruction of civilization itself.
“Have you never thought about the people who lived there?”
“If you're curious, go see for yourself.”
“……Are you taking the child with you?”
“Yes.”
Lena approached the child.
“Are you really okay with this?”
“Yes! I want to find Mr. Bear too. I want to thank him!”
Lena watched the child smile brightly, then turned toward Kang Hyeon-woo.
“This…… child is the last Biodroid left in the world.”
Kang Hyeon-woo stared at Lena.
Lena shook her head and sighed.
“Phew……. She's part of Shinhwa's new humanity project. I don't know what they did to her or what abilities she has.”
Kang Hyeon-woo thought for a moment before abruptly speaking.
“What should I feed her?”
“……What? Feed her?!”
“We'll figure it out as we go.”
Kang Hyeon-woo turned around, and the child followed behind him.
Lena watched them leave, then turned and shouted loudly.
“Bring every bastard we tied up over here! I'm going to tell everyone about City Lord Seed's atrocities!”
They had passed through the factory district and reached a point where no one else was in sight.
Stagger.
THUD.
Kang Hyeon-woo sank to the ground.
[Current Mana 10]
[Critical Warning : Mana is extremely low.]
[S-Grade Magic Skill (Mana:Life Force Exchange) active.]
[You will die if all Mana is depleted.]
[Critical Error : Connection is inaccurate.]
[Critical Error : Information cannot be found.]
[Critical Error : Status accuracy cannot be guaranteed.]
Kang Hyeon-woo pulled out an energy Core and tossed it into his mouth.
[Mana restored by 200.]
[Direct Core consumption has low recovery efficiency.]
[Use a refined Core or a Recovery Station.]
[Critical Error…….]
“Mister, why are you sitting down?”
“None of your business.”
The child sat down beside Kang Hyeon-woo.
“That rock that fell from the sky earlier. Did you do that?”
When Kang Hyeon-woo did not answer, the child continued.
“That was amazing. Energy like that…… Then did all the humans there die?”
“No. You're underestimating Shinhwa's power. It's a place that even managed to create something like you.”
Over ninety years of wandering the world, Kang Hyeon-woo had experienced many things. Shinhwa was prepared for almost every type of calamity and disaster.
Even though it effectively ruled humanity and had nearly complete knowledge and control of every Dungeon.
Cities with a City Lord had their own defense systems. They detected the Core Stream and automatically used Core energy to protect the city.
Meteor Strike took a great deal of time to cast.
That meant the city defense system and the Defense Force had enough time to detect the abnormality in the Core energy stream and evacuate the citizens.
Moreover, Kang Hyeon-woo had deliberately summoned a small meteor and aimed it at the City Lord's office.
The meteor that penetrated the defense system would likely have caused only property damage to the city.
Kang Hyeon-woo did not explain any of that. Instead, he opened his bag and pulled out a chocolate bar.
“I don't know what you eat. Eat this for now.”
The child put the chocolate bar into her mouth and broke into a broad grin.
“Wow……. This is really delicious.”
‘Does she even have a sense of taste?’
He had once heard about this project while investigating the European region.
The new humanity creation project.
Creations made by combining the human body with biological androids.
Something between a brain and a computer was placed inside the body, allowing something resembling biological activity.
They even bled, but the energy that powered their activity was based on the Core Stream.
‘Just what are they doing?’
The six remaining heroes.
Normally, if someone carried out an attack of this magnitude against a city like Port Mine, Mercenaries from Shinhwa headquarters or the Defense Force should have swarmed in like clouds.
Yet no matter what Kang Hyeon-woo had done over the past ninety years, Shinhwa had never pursued him.
Nor had they ever made any particular effort to summon him.
Park Seong-jun was fleeing while telling Kang Hyeon-woo to follow him.
And Shinhwa was simply leaving the two of them alone.
Kang Hyeon-woo still did not know why.
‘None of my business.’
He simply wanted to find Park Seong-jun quickly, remove the buff, and ask what he wanted to know.
Once the dizziness had subsided somewhat, Kang Hyeon-woo rose to his feet.
“Let's go. Guide me in the direction you can sense Beast.”
***
Deep into the night.
They settled down to sleep outdoors.
The building had probably been a farmhouse in the distant past.
Most of the concrete had decayed, leaving half the structure collapsed.
But the walls on either side still remained. It was enough shelter to spend the night.
Kang Hyeon-woo gathered branches that had already rotted dead and started a fire.
“Wow……. Amazing. So this is how the Core Stream can be used.”
“What do you mean?”
“This…… fire you just lit. It's fire made with the Core Stream, isn't it?”
“You can sense this?”
Kang Hyeon-woo stared at the child.
Just as she had said, he had created the fire with magic. He had separated the phase within a very small area and cast Volcano, a fairly high-level spell.
‘She can sense Mana?’
Overwhelming strength.
Something special that set them apart from everyone else.
There was another reason why the Final Seven had been special in the distant past.
Unlike the Awakened, who had to depend on the system, the Final Seven existed beyond those limitations.
Mana Sensitivity.
That was what the seven heroes called it among themselves.
The heroes had never gone out of their way to reveal that fact to outsiders. No one had particularly agreed to keep it secret at the time either, yet somehow it had become one.
The child grinned in fascination as she warmed herself by the firelight.
“Yes. But why did you gather all those branches when you didn't need them in the first place?”
“Just a habit. Don't worry about it.”
Kang Hyeon-woo took a new-model Core from his bag, chewed it, and swallowed.
[Mana restored by 20.]
[Direct Core consumption has low recovery efficiency.]
[Use a refined Core or a Recovery Station.]
[Critical Error…….]
“Mister, why do you have so many Cores in your bag?”
“Because I need them.”
Kang Hyeon-woo felt no particular need to explain anything further.
He was merely somewhat pleased that he had acquired another convenient Tracking Device.
Just then.
“Help us……! Please! Save us!”
A scream rang across the silent wasteland.
The child turned her head toward the sound.
“Approximately 400 meters away. One woman. One man. Four monsters. Estimated D-Grade.”
‘Convenient.’
“Mister. Shouldn't we go save them?”
“Not our business.”
“But isn't helping others a basic tenet of humanity's universally accepted human nature?”
“Humanity in a world like this? What a luxury.”
The cities had gone mad over something.
The wasteland was clinging to the very edge of a world that had already ended.
In the cities, the best way to survive was to live by parasitizing others or committing crimes.
In the wasteland, the best way was not to get tangled up in anyone else's affairs.
“They're getting closer.”
The lightless wasteland.
The man and woman who were fleeing were apparently heading toward them.
Kang Hyeon-woo quietly rose to his feet.
“What a troublesome night.”
.
.
.
“H-help…….”
SHRAAASH—!
A crisp sound like the tearing of air spread across the wasteland.
THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD—!
“SKREEEEEE—!”
The woman running toward the campfire turned around and stared blankly.
The insect-shaped monsters, each standing more than two meters tall, had been torn apart in an instant and reduced to bloody pulp.
Only then did the woman seem to come to her senses, and she bowed to Kang Hyeon-woo.
“Th-thank…… you.”
“Now get lost.”
The man beside her grabbed the woman and pulled her away.
“L-let's go. Hurry.”
“Wait. Are you perhaps a Mercenary? Are you affiliated with a mercenary corps too?”
Kang Hyeon-woo looked at the two of them as though asking why that mattered.
“C-could you sign a contract with us?”
“Payment?”
“We'll give you everything. Whatever you want…….”
“So-jeong, what are you saying?!”
“Be quiet. If this keeps up, we'll all die!”
Tears welled in the woman's eyes.
Kang Hyeon-woo asked in an indifferent voice.
“I'll decide after I hear the request.”
“Our group lives not far from this area. But yesterday, the two of us discovered a ‘Special Anomaly.’”
“I'll take the contract.”
“R-really?”
Kang Hyeon-woo immediately understood everything.
A High-Level Dungeon.
Or a Special Dungeon.
That was what people used to call them.
They were not cave-type Dungeons that endlessly spawned nothing but insect-like monsters, but places where monsters such as orcs and ogres appeared.
Traces of civilization could also be found there, and they were filled with all manner of Skill Pages and high-grade items.
After the Outbreak, Special Dungeons appeared with extreme rarity.
That was why Mercenaries and mercenary corps would often ‘buy’ such Special Dungeons for exorbitant prices.
For a group living in the wasteland, it was naturally enough to drive everyone into a frenzy.
As had always happened before, infighting or outright violence must have broken out.
The man and woman were probably trying to escape from the others.
“We don't need any money. Sob……. The people in our group, my mother…….”
“Phew…… Mercenary, sir. We'll guide you to the Anomaly. In return, if there's anything you won't use, could you share just a little with us? We have to survive too…….”
“If this continues…… the people in the group will kill each other. It'd be better to get rid of the source of all this as quickly as possible…….”
The man intended to flee with the woman.
Now that the woman's parents were dead, he probably wanted to take whatever money they could get and start over somewhere else.
“Lead the way.”
.
.
.
A low mountain stood quite a distance away from the group's settlement.
Between enormous boulders, a portal of light was visible.
“Are you coming with me?”
Ordinary people could enter a portal as well.
But there was usually no reason for them to do so, since there was nothing to gain from it.
“O-of course!”
The man pressed his lips together and nodded.
He was probably curious about what kind of loot would appear.
And a Special Dungeon itself was quite a sight to see.
“Wow, the Stream…… it's completely different.”
The child's eyes widened as she stared at the glowing portal.
“How is it different?”
“This is…… I don't know. It just feels completely alien.”
“That's why we called it a Special Dungeon. We're going in.”
Kang Hyeon-woo headed into the portal first.
.
.
.
“My God.”
“Woooow…….”
The world inside the portal was completely different.
Unlike the devastated Earth, an endless grassland stretched before them.
Unknown flowers dotted the landscape, and the spring weather carried a refreshing breeze.
‘Identify.’
[S-Grade Magic Skill (Identify) used.]
[Dungeon Grade : B]
[Dungeon Progress : 0%]
[Clear Count : None]
[Objective : Destroy the Altar]
Countless lines of text surfaced in Kang Hyeon-woo's mind.
Special or not, it was fundamentally still a Dungeon.
There was an objective, and completing it would generate a portal back out. Most Special Dungeons, however, had no time limit.
‘B-Grade. It's been a while.’
Destroying an altar was an objective he had completed countless times.
“Let's move.”
“W-where are we going?”
“Usually, straight ahead in the direction you're facing when you first come out.”
Kang Hyeon-woo took the lead.
Before long, piles of stone began appearing across the grassland.
“There's something over there.”
The man shouted while pointing ahead.
Even from a distance, it was clearly an enormous temple.
Stone pillars rose straight toward the sky.
The structure resembled ancient Greek ruins.
Kang Hyeon-woo slowly walked forward.
Once they crossed a low hill, monsters wandering among small piles of stone came into view.
‘Twenty. Ogres.’
“W-what are those?”
“Ogres.”
“Th-they look more than three meters tall.”
The Ogres stood in groups of three or four.
They were equipped with crude iron swords and axes.
“Shouldn't we bring the Defense Force or a mercenary corps……?”
The man cautiously watched Kang Hyeon-woo's expression.
Instead of answering, Kang Hyeon-woo raised an arm.
‘Hell Fire.’
A crimson fireball the size of a soccer ball formed above Kang Hyeon-woo's palm.
[Critical Warning : Mana consumption rate is high.]
[S-Grade Magic Skill (Mana:Life Force Exchange) active.]
[You will die if all Mana is depleted.]
Kang Hyeon-woo lowered his arm toward the group of Ogres.