Its basic form was no different from a dog, yet its body was enormous. Its teeth, grown like saw blades, were brutal, and instead of eyes, it had two horns on its head.
Daehyun’s pupils dilated when he saw it.
“A Hell……hound?”
A lowest-grade hunting dog that inhabited the Demon Realm.
The monster that had appeared before him was unmistakably a Hellhound.
Why had a creature born in the Demon Realm, one that should not even be able to leave it, appeared here?
Before he could even think about that, a new notification appeared.
Ding—!
[You have encountered a Demon Realm Rift.]
[All details of the unreadable quest have been unlocked.]
[You cannot leave the Gate until the rift is eliminated.]
A Hellhound in an E-rank Gate.
Should he be happy to encounter something familiar?
Or should he be annoyed because the situation was bad?
Daehyun smiled bitterly and calmly summoned the quest window.
[Quest]
[Virtual Practical Combat]
[Details: Due to the rift, the master of the Gate has changed. Eliminate the new master and close the Gate.]
[Completion Conditions: Eliminate the Hellhound]
[Reward: +30 to all stats]
‘……I see. Did it know this would happen?’
He had thought he understood quests to some extent in his own way, but as expected, this thing was hard to understand even when he thought he knew it.
Daehyun raised his head and looked at the Hellhound before him.
“……It has been a long time. This must be the first time I have seen one outside the Demon Realm.”
A lowest-grade beast overflowing throughout the Demon Realm.
The creature he had struggled against desperately when he first fell into the Demon Realm.
‘It cannot even be compared to goblins or orcs.’
No wonder. He had thought things were going too smoothly.
Daehyun smiled bitterly.
At that moment.
Grrrr…….
The Hellhound growled lowly at Daehyun.
In its own way, it was displaying as much hostility as it could toward its prey.
“……Good.”
He had been having trouble measuring his current level with only goblins and orcs anyway.
Would a Hellhound not be a decent opponent?
Daehyun clenched his fist with all his might.
[Skill, Divine Fist (LV.2), activates.]
[You have succeeded in drawing out your inner Divine Power!]
[The power of Skill, Divine Fist (LV.2), rises sharply!]
A greater amount of Divine Power gathered in his hand than when he had struck the orc.
Divine Fist had risen one level from the beginning.
He wanted to confirm its power with his own eyes.
With that thought, Daehyun extended his fist.
“Hup!”
Grrrr!
At the same time, the Hellhound sensed his killing intent and charged swiftly toward him.
Fitting its size, the entire cave shook, and the distance between them closed in an instant.
BOOOOM—!
Daehyun’s Divine Fist and the Hellhound’s body.
When they collided, an enormous roar rang out, and the cave shook once more.
For a brief, very brief moment, a stubborn contest of strength took place between them.
And then…….
BANG!
As if someone had pushed them away from the middle.
Daehyun and the Hellhound were sent flying in opposite directions and slammed into the cave walls.
Grrk, grrrr……!
“…….”
The Hellhound shook itself off and emerged as if nothing had happened, but Daehyun remained still for a while with a solemn expression.
“Hmm.”
It hurt.
It hurt so much he could truly die.
He was used to pain, so it did not show on his face, but it seemed a few of his ribs were broken, and the taste of blood filled his mouth.
They had merely exchanged one blow each.
Yet the other side was fine, while he felt like death.
“Being beaten like this feels rather different.”
In his days as the Fist King, he could have easily dealt with even a thousand of these creatures charging at him, but it seemed he truly had grown weak.
‘In that case…….’
Daehyun pulled himself out of the wall he had been embedded in, spat out bloody saliva, and lightly knocked his fists together.
[Skill, Divine Fist (LV.2), activates.]
[You have succeeded in drawing out your inner Divine Power!]
[The power of Skill, Divine Fist (LV.2), rises sharply!]
Grrrk……!
The Hellhound, having regained its senses, charged again. But just as before, Daehyun threw his fist with all his might.
The situation and the timing were no different from a moment ago.
However…….
[Damage exceeding a certain threshold has been detected!]
[Skill, Divine Shield (LV.1), activates.]
Just as it had during the duel, a notification appeared before his eyes, and at the same time, Divine Power gathered in Daehyun’s hand and formed a small shield.
BOOM—!
The Hellhound’s body and Daehyun’s Divine Shield collided, creating a thunderous sound, and…….
BANG!
Once again, Daehyun and the Hellhound were slammed into the walls.
“……Kh.”
Damn it!
A faint curse escaped Daehyun’s mouth as he endured the pain.
He had thought he would be able to block it with the shield. But he was sent flying all the same.
Not only that, this time, it felt as though his spine had been shattered as well.
‘Is it because too little Divine Power was used for the shield?’
Perhaps because it activated automatically according to the amount of damage.
Judging by the shield’s size and defensive power, it seemed to use only the absolute minimum amount of Divine Power.
Thanks to that, the fact that his arm bones had not broken was fortunate, if anything.
‘In the end, I have no choice but to make it myself.’
Daehyun pulled himself out of the wall once more.
If he took any more damage, he might truly become unable to move.
So, with the Hellhound still not fully recovered in front of him, Daehyun closed his eyes.
[Skill, Divine Shield (LV.1), activates.]
‘Now, if I picture a shield…….’
HUMMM—.
Gathering Divine Power in his hand was not difficult.
However, picturing a concrete form based on it was rather difficult, and when that form was a tool “meant for defense,” such as a shield, it still did not work well.
Grrk! Grrrr……!
At some point, the Hellhound had regained its senses and was growling at him.
There was not much time left.
‘……As expected, this is not easy.’
Absolute defense. A sturdy shield.
For someone who had spent his entire life repeating destruction and charges, there was no way such an image would come to him easily.
So Daehyun focused all his mind.
At this point, he thought it would be better if something he could hit the creature with came out instead of a shield.
‘……Wait. Something I can hit with?’
Right, there was that!
In that instant, as though something had come to mind, Daehyun opened his eyes.
BOOM—!
Once again, the Hellhound and Daehyun collided, creating a thunderous roar.
However…….
“I see.”
When he came to his senses.
Daehyun had not been pushed back even slightly from where he stood, and…….
“It is easier if I think of beating it with a shield.”
In his brightly smiling hand, he held an enormous Divine Shield.
***
Meanwhile, outside the Gate.
Everyone was holding their breath as they stared at the rift.
Among them were not only the teacher in charge of the Gate class, but also the inspector of the virtual Gate generator, as well as the students who had witnessed the entire situation from beginning to end.
“What in the world happened?”
“Yes. Teacher Han! What do you mean, there is a problem with the virtual Gate?”
Two middle-aged men shouted at the teacher in charge of the Gate, “Han Oseong.”
The two were the inspector of the virtual Gate and the vice principal, respectively. They had come after receiving his report that a problem had occurred with the virtual Gate.
Han Oseong continued speaking calmly.
“……It is Gate Backflow. The grade of the E-rank Gate changed with the boss ahead.”
“Gate Backflow?”
The first one to be surprised was the Gate inspector.
At the same time, the moment he heard those words.
The half-bald vice principal seized the inspector by the collar with force.
“You! How have you been performing your regular inspections?”
W-wait a moment! I have always done my best! There was definitely no unusual reaction even this morning!”
Of course.
And it was true.
Gate Backflow. Was it not something that appeared with an extremely low probability even in reality?
Yet that had happened in a virtual Gate. In an E-rank one, no less!
It was something that had never happened since Gates first appeared, nor since he had obtained his license and come to this Superhuman Training School as an inspector. No, had it even been possible in the first place?
There was no way to explain this except by saying they had been truly cursed with terrible luck.
“A-is there someone inside?”
“Two of the three have come out, and one remains inside.”
“By one, you mean…….”
“There is one Healing-Type student named Kang Daehyun.”
Kang Daehyun. And the word healer.
At those words, the expressions of the two men twisted in an instant.
The vice principal, who had barely maintained his composure, continued speaking.
“The grade! What is the grade? I am asking how likely it is to be cleared!”
“The inside has already surpassed the values of an E-rank Gate. At minimum, it is D-rank, and at most, it may be C-minus.”
The moment he heard the grade, he shook his head with all his might.
D-rank to C-minus. It was already a grade that a student who had just entered a Gate could not handle alone.
On top of that, the student left inside was none other than Kang Daehyun.
A boy who had entered the Superhuman Training School as a so-called healer, yet could not heal, could not fight, and had no talent as a Superhuman.
The result was already obvious.
“Damn it! Damn it!”
It was currently the guild contact period. The principal, busy preparing to invite related parties, was away from the school, and as a result, the role of overall supervisor had fallen to him, the vice principal.
This was not merely a problem of one useless student dying.
A Superhuman, who could be called national power, had died. During school training, no less!
Perhaps he, as the vice principal, might be forced to shoulder all the responsibility.
“What are you going to do? What are you going to do about this?”
“I-I have been wronged! I truly have been wronged!”
The vice principal grabbed the person in charge by the collar and shouted with a face gone bright red.
“Both of you, please stop. Right now, calming down and hoping the student is safe comes first.”
Han Oseong spoke in a calm voice and loosened the vice principal’s hand from the inspector’s collar.
He had barely managed to calm the students, who had been murmuring until just a moment ago. How could grown adults act like this?
“What? Calm down?”
The vice principal raised his voice sharply and grabbed Han Oseong by the collar.
Though, because of the considerable difference in their heights, it looked somewhat unsightly.
“What exactly has Teacher Han been doing until this situation came about?”
“……Please let go of this hand first. As you know, Vice Principal, Gate Backflow is not something that can be known in advance or prepared for through inspections.”
“What? Are you saying Teacher Han has no fault in this?”
“I never said that.”
Han Oseong let out a short sigh and lightly gripped the wrist of the vice principal, who was holding him by the collar.
No matter if the man was his superior at work, being touched at will was rather unpleasant.
“I will say it again. Let go of this hand.”
As he said that, he gradually put strength into his hand.
Crack—.
Though he was a teacher, Han Oseong was undeniably a C-rank Superhuman.
Crushing the hand of an ordinary person, especially a potbellied middle-aged man, was nothing difficult.
“……!”
In the end, sensing danger, the vice principal quickly pulled his hand away.
After seeing the look in Han Oseong’s eyes, as if he truly intended to kill him, the vice principal took a step back and spoke in a trembling voice.
“Th-then you! You are a Superhuman! Why are you not going in to save him?”
A teacher who was a Superhuman had been afraid of the Gate and had not gone in to save a student. It was a form of shifting responsibility.
“You are scared, are you not? Your own life is more precious than a student’s, is it? Ah, yes! That could be true!”
“…….”
A fierce accusation flew toward him from the vice principal.
But instead of answering, Han Oseong picked up the ballpoint pen lying on top of the virtual Gate checklist and threw it toward the rift.
Then…….
ZZZZT—!
A tremendous spark burst out, and the ballpoint pen ricocheted away, grazing the vice principal’s face as it passed.
A small amount of blood trickled down the vice principal’s cheek.
When the vice principal and the inspector suddenly turned their heads.
“Please say what you just said one more time.”
The pen that had bounced back was utterly charred, as if it had been roasted by electricity.