[The Hellhound has been eliminated!]
[Quest conditions have been fulfilled.]
[The reward will be distributed.]
Ding—!
[Skill, Barrage (LV.1), has been distributed.]
[+15 Stat Points have been distributed.]
Ding! Ding—!
[Your majesty becomes known to part of the Demon Realm!]
[You have acquired the title, ‘Hunting Dog Slayer’!]
[Hunting Dog Slayer]
[Damage dealt to Demon Realm-affiliated ‘Beast-Type Monsters’ increases by 30%.]
“Hmm.”
The notification sounds repeated again and again in his ears like celebratory fireworks.
At first, the sound had made him uncomfortable, but now, for some reason, it planted a sense of anticipation in Daehyun.
“Not bad.”
Daehyun lowered his fist and focused his gaze on the notification window before him.
Three Hellhounds.
When he thought back to how badly his back and arm had been shattered at first, he could tell that he had grown much stronger.
‘A new skill, is it?’
The rewards he received were stats, a skill, and a title. He could check the skill later, and he did not know about the title, but now was not the time to think about it. Daehyun turned around.
“D-do not tell me you are…… cough!”
A man who was barely still breathing.
His face and body were in tatters, so Daehyun could not be certain, but judging by his voice, it was definitely Baek Sangmin.
‘Is he on the verge of death?’
He had charged into the Gate as though he were something special, and this was how he had ended up.
Daehyun let out a sigh and silently walked toward Baek Sangmin.
“P-please…… save me.”
It was miserable. No, it was wretched.
His injuries were at a level where he would have died a hundred, even a thousand times over if he had not been a Superhuman. Even to Daehyun, it was strange that he was still alive.
‘Of course, that will not last long either.’
Judging by his condition, he had a few minutes at most. If Daehyun stepped on him now as if crushing an ant, he would die.
‘Leaving him like this is also a method, if I choose to call it one.’
However, he did not particularly feel like leaving him in this state.
‘Let us see…….’
It was not a matter of whether to save him or kill him.
Would Baek Sangmin’s death bring him any benefit?
Would saving Baek Sangmin bring him anything in return?
What Daehyun was considering was the profit and loss that would come from either choice.
“Ah.”
Daehyun seemed to think for a moment, then looked down at Baek Sangmin and opened his mouth.
“Do you want to live?”
“……Pardon?”
His voice was solemn, his tone firm. Not the voice of “Student Kang Daehyun,” but one as close as possible to “Fist King Bariel.” For the current Baek Sangmin, this much would be enough.
“I asked whether you want to live.”
“I-I want to live! Please save me! If you do, I will do anyth……!”
“I see.”
CRUNCH—!
“Aaaargh!”
Baek Sangmin screamed in a cracked voice.
It was because Daehyun’s foot had crushed his hand.
“Words alone are meaningless.”
“K-Kh…… What are you……”
“Hmm.”
CRACK—!
“Aaaaargh!”
Daehyun crushed Baek Sangmin’s foot this time as he tried to ask him a question.
The sound of bones breaking rang out, and flesh twisted, but it was pain just short of making him lose consciousness or die.
Daehyun knew that midpoint well.
“You talk too much.”
If one were to ask why he was going this far against an opponent who could do nothing, the answer was simple.
‘Imprinting.’
Humans were creatures of forgetfulness and betrayal.
If Baek Sangmin made it out alive and pretended that his promise with Daehyun had never existed, then all of this would be useless.
“I will ask the questions.”
That was why he had to show him.
That keeping him alive, and completely cutting off his breath, both depended entirely on Daehyun himself.
“Do you understand?”
Daehyun conveyed that intent and deliberately met Baek Sangmin’s cloudy gaze.
“……!”
A cold and clear killing intent.
Daehyun’s eyes shining through the mask sent a chill down Baek Sangmin’s spine.
“I-I understand.”
Baek Sangmin nodded.
“Good.”
Now it was time to bring up the real topic. Daehyun looked down at Baek Sangmin with a sharp gaze.
The explanation ended here.
Now it was time to begin the real “negotiation.”
“……Now then.”
Daehyun raised his hand and gently removed the mask from his face.
“First, you should take a beating.”
***
Inside the D-rank Gate.
With the boss defeated and no particular monsters left, only three kinds of sounds were now echoing through this place.
THWACK! THWACK—!
The dull and clear impact of flesh meeting fist,
“Forget the situation right now.”
Daehyun’s deep and majestic voice.
“Guh!”
And Baek Sangmin’s cracked screams, repeating after him with passion.
“Hmm.”
Daehyun grabbed Baek Sangmin by the collar, the man now reduced to something like a rag, and clenched his fist once more.
[Skill, Divine Fist (LV.2), activates.]
[You have succeeded in controlling Divine Power!]
[The power of Skill, Divine Fist (LV.2), has been set to an appropriate level!]
THWACK—!
Daehyun’s fist lightly struck Baek Sangmin’s abdomen.
“Keh!”
Baek Sangmin’s pupils trembled as he vomited blood, but Daehyun saw all of the small wounds disappearing from Baek Sangmin’s face.
‘There are some points where it is better than Demonic Energy.’
Divine Power. Since its foundation seemed to be healing, it had the disadvantage of healing humans when he struck them with it, but that, too, depended on how one thought about it.
“I do not want to meet you again in the future.”
“I-I understand!”
“Then I will ask. Who am I?”
“Kang Daehyun……”
THWACK—!
“Guh!”
This time, the fist struck his face.
Small wounds began disappearing from Baek Sangmin’s face once again.
Slide—.
The voice of the man who had been dying had also returned, and it seemed the crisis of death had already passed.
‘Is this why people say healers are precious?’
Several dozen minutes had already passed, and Daehyun and Baek Sangmin had repeated this nonsense several dozen times by now.
THWACK! THWACK—!
At a glance, it looked as though he was simply beating him at random, but in truth, it was a little different.
This act required delicate control, adjusting Divine Power in his own way while giving healing.
‘I know well where the line is for not killing someone, but Divine Power Control is a little bothersome.’
Controlling Divine Power was somewhat troublesome, but striking a person still had a better impact than striking a monster. The reactions came immediately, and above all, was it not rare to find an opportunity to directly learn how to regulate Divine Power like this?
Rumble—.
Just then, the Gate began to tremble.
It was the sign that the Gate, having lost its boss and with even the Demon Realm Rift closed, was closing.
‘Is it about time to leave?’
The beating was roughly enough at this point, and what mattered was how well this “negotiation” had worked on Baek Sangmin.
“Baek Sangmin.”
“Y-yes, sir!”
Baek Sangmin answered Daehyun’s single word sharply. In the eyes Daehyun saw, fear and terror had already filled him.
‘Enough.’
He seemed to have fully learned “a few precautions” as well, and just in case, Daehyun had made him repeat them several times, so it was certain.
At this point, one could say he had done a little brainwashing.
“I ask again. Who am I?”
At his repeated question, Baek Sangmin seemed to think for a moment.
“……I do not know. I do not know at all. I do not want to know either.”
Perfect.
Daehyun laughed quietly to himself and clenched his fist with all his might.
“Let us make sure we do not see each other again.”
CRACK—!
One loud impact echoed throughout the entire Gate.
***
Some time passed.
When Baek Sangmin opened his eyes, he was at the entrance of the D-rank Gate he had entered.
“……human!”
“…….”
“……Superhuman!”
“…….”
“Superhuman Baek!”
A voice was noisily calling him.
Baek Sangmin opened his eyes, clutched his head, and barely raised his upper body.
“Ugh……”
His head hurt as if it would split apart.
How should he put it? It felt as though he had been beaten dozens, no, hundreds of times, and then had his life forcibly extended.
“……What is this?”
When he immediately checked his body, his clothes were in tatters, and his glasses were gone. On top of that, his mind was extremely exhausted.
“What in the world happened inside?”
Suddenly, the guild member who had arrived beside him at some point asked Baek Sangmin.
It was support, but since it was a D-rank Gate, only two people had come.
“Inside…… what happened, ah.”
As if realizing something, Baek Sangmin turned his head.
It was gone. No, it was closed.
The rift that had been behind him. The rift he had entered.
“There was definitely backflow……”
“Backflow? Did Gate Backflow happen inside?”
“Then could it be that Superhuman Baek handled that alone……?”
At Baek Sangmin’s muttering, the guild members who had come to support him reacted one by one.
It was only natural.
They did not know that there had been one other person in the Gate Baek Sangmin had been in. The only one who knew that was Baek Sangmin himself.
However.
‘But who was that again……?’
Even that was blurry to Baek Sangmin.
He was sure the person had been incredibly strong and cruel. But he could not remember his face.
“Superhuman Baek, are you not going to be promoted to A-rank at this rate?”
“No. I mean, this was not something I……”
At that moment.
Something gradually began to surface in Baek Sangmin’s mind.
“Do not disclose what happened here to anyone.”
‘……Huh?’
It was not a face or a figure.
What surfaced was only a cold voice.
In an instant, a chill ran down Baek Sangmin’s spine.
“If it was not something Superhuman Baek did, are you saying someone else was there?”
“Perhaps something like……”
Every time he opened his mouth, his head rang, and his insides felt dizzy.
For some reason, he felt as though he should not say anything more here.
Baek Sangmin did not know that this was the result of brainwashing he had received while being beaten and healed by Daehyun.
“……No, it is nothing.”
Amid the continuing discomfort, Baek Sangmin ultimately decided to change the subject quickly.
“More importantly, how is the investigation going?”
He could not remember clearly what had happened after he entered the Gate, but his memories before that were certain. Before support arrived,
there had been two tasks he had briefly entrusted to the guild member.
One was requesting surveillance personnel to watch “Kang Daehyun,” and the other was obtaining a warrant for a forced investigation of the artifact crafter.
“It must have gone well, right?”
“Ah. If you mean that artifact crafter, it was handled according to regulations. The warrant will probably come out by around next week at the latest.”
A warrant!
It was good information that would advance the investigation. The workshop had been written clearly on the note.
That “old man” surely knew something.
“He is someone who keeps his mouth shut quite well……”
“It does not matter. Once the warrant comes out, we can search the workshop immediately.”
“Yes. Understood.”
He had a feeling that he would finally be able to obtain an important clue about the case.
“Haa…….”
Baek Sangmin sighed and rose to his feet. His body was tired, and his clothes were rags, but for some reason, there was not a single injured spot.
“Prepare immediately……”
“Stop every investigation related to that old man.”
And once again, Baek Sangmin, who had been raising himself up, trembled all over.
“……!”
At the chill he felt, he looked around, but aside from the guild members, no one was there.
‘……What is this? What has been happening since earlier?’
Would it be better to go to the hospital?
Or was it simply an illusion?
Baek Sangmin broke into a cold sweat and shook his head wildly from side to side.
“What is wrong?”
“Are you hurt somewhere?”
When the guild members saw him and made uneasy expressions, Baek Sangmin seriously grabbed their hands and said,
“Let us not go anywhere near this area.”
There is definitely a ghost here!
That was Superhuman Baek Sangmin’s established theory.