“Mr. Baek Cheon-myeong!”
There was no time to talk any further.
Baek Cheon-myeong immediately understood Kang Ha-min’s words and grabbed him.
“Hold on tight.”
The window opened, and Baek Cheon-myeong leaped from the high-rise building.
The night sky rushed past in an instant.
Normally, Kang Ha-min would have screamed, but his face was stiffer than ever.
His parents might have been caught up in the Dimensional Break.
There was no way he could properly keep his composure.
As Baek Cheon-myeong kicked off through the sky, Donghwa Hospital soon came into view.
The entire hospital appeared to be covered in some transparent film.
It was the Dimensional Break phenomenon visible only through a Hunter’s vision.
Baek Cheon-myeong pierced through the film and landed on the hospital rooftop.
Then a landscape unlike the last one came into view.
A pitch-black sky.
Black roots of unknown origin wrapped around the entire hospital.
The sound of something twisting grotesquely echoed from somewhere as well.
It would have been nice to have a measuring device.
There was no way to know what grade of Dimensional Break this was.
SKREEEE!
At that moment, a shriek that tore at his ears rang out.
When he raised his head, he saw a massive monstrous bird filling the sky.
A person was caught in the monstrous bird’s talons.
The creature was flying upward to drop the person to the ground.
“Mr. Baek Cheon-myeong!”
Baek Cheon-myeong had already turned his wooden sword in his grip and swung it toward the sky.
The sword strike that shot out from the tip of his sword split the monstrous bird in two.
As the creature fell, he leaped up, caught the person, and returned.
The person who had been caught by the monstrous bird already had their chest split open.
They were dead.
Meanwhile, Kang Ha-min looked beyond the rooftop.
Monsters were chasing humans in every direction.
Screams and pandemonium erupted from the people.
A few Hunters were visible, but the Dimensional Break was larger than he had expected.
There was no guarantee that they could save everyone before reinforcements arrived.
Kang Ha-min’s eyes grew hot.
Back when he had worked in the Dimensional Break Management Division.
He had only seen other people’s deaths as numbers entered into a computer.
They had always been numbers that stirred no particular emotion in him.
But someone had truly died, and they were someone precious to another person.
Kang Ha-min had no grand cause to save the world.
Long ago, he had once resolved to find his childhood friend, who had gone missing after being caught up in a Dimensional Break.
But such a resolve had long since been ground down by society and disappeared.
A grand cause was merely the sort of conviction held by people praised as heroes.
It was a resolve too distant for a frail man like Kang Ha-min to embrace.
He had only told Baek Cheon-myeong to climb the Tower because he himself wanted to live.
His inborn disposition was too ordinary to embrace such a purpose.
But even an ordinary person had family.
They had people precious to them.
And they had the desire not to lose those people.
The tragedy unfolding before his eyes.
Within that tragedy, someone’s precious people were disappearing.
Kang Ha-min was not a bad enough person to witness all of it and turn away.
“Master.”
At that moment, Baek Cheon-myeong’s voice reached him.
“This body’s sword is wielded only for the Master.”
It was the bargain Baek Cheon-myeong and Kang Ha-min had made on the day Kang Ha-min revived him as a Gravekeeper.
“The Master need only do as the Master wishes. This body, of course, and the Master both possess that much power.”
Strength entered Kang Ha-min’s clenched fists.
“With the Gravekeeper’s skills and the Heaven-Extinguishing Sword Style, those two alone are enough for the Master to make his way through.”
The Tower was frightening.
Dimensional Breaks were frightening as well.
The harsh world was frightening.
But Kang Ha-min stood on the rooftop.
“Mr. Baek Cheon-myeong, please save my parents.”
If it was Baek Cheon-myeong, he would surely find them.
“I will return soon. Before then.”
Baek Cheon-myeong struck a small tree planted in a flower bed.
THUD—
The tree split into thin slices, forming a mask.
It was a mask that could cover half of his face.
“The Master did not wish for his identity to be discovered, so wear this at least.”
In the end, Baek Cheon-myeong was always the one who thought of Kang Ha-min the most.
With that, Baek Cheon-myeong disappeared.
Kang Ha-min raised a hand and pulled on the mask.
It fit his face perfectly.
He had been left completely alone inside the Dimensional Break.
It was more dangerous than ever, yet his mind was calm.
What could he do to stop this Dimensional Break right now?
His gaze fell upon the monstrous bird that had been split in two.
That would do.
‘I am a Gravekeeper.’
A Gravekeeper did not need to fight personally.
There was only one thing he needed.
A corpse.
Activating the skill was almost instinctive.
Kang Ha-min followed that instinct exactly.
An intense mana reaction gathered at his fingertips.
He could clearly feel the power accumulated within his body draining away.
Then, at the moment he flicked up his fingers.
‘Legion of Ashes’ is activated.
The mana extending from his hand flowed into the monstrous bird’s body.
CRACK— CRRRACK!
The divided body of the monstrous bird rejoined itself.
Soon, the creature’s form began to change.
The wind blew.
Amid drifting ashes.
The enormous monstrous bird began to raise itself.
Massive talons.
A mane encircling its neck.
From the fissure in its chest, furnace-like heat spewed ashes.
Instead of wind, ominous ashes fluttered through the air.
Ashen Monstrous Bird
It was the first ashen monster Kang Ha-min had created.
When it spread its wings, ashes scattered from the massive monstrous bird.
As though answering its master’s call, the monstrous bird cried out toward the sky.
“I’ll get on.”
At Kang Ha-min’s command, the monstrous bird lowered its head.
The moment he climbed onto its back, an unobstructed view opened before him.
Had his physical abilities increased with his level?
Or had he gained some courage over the past few days?
Even atop the monstrous bird, he was not afraid.
“Go!”
The monstrous bird immediately flew down toward the ground.
“Kyahhh!”
“Save us! Somebody, please save us!”
People’s screams echoed out.
They were the screams of people who had been driven into a dead end while being chased by monsters.
Just as a monster resembling a massive wild boar was about to ram into them.
SWISH!
The monstrous bird swooped down and seized the monster.
At the same time, its talons clenched with all their strength.
CRUNCH!
The monster’s body shattered into pieces.
At the same time, Kang Ha-min flicked his fingers once more.
The shattered boar monster rose again amid swirling ashes.
“Protect the people!”
GRRRR!
The boar monster immediately responded and charged toward the other monsters.
Monsters appeared from every direction.
Each time Kang Ha-min saw one, he defeated it and transformed it into part of the Legion of Ashes.
Accordingly, the number of soldiers in the Legion of Ashes steadily grew.
“What in the world is that?”
“The monsters are helping people!”
Meanwhile, several Hunters noticed Kang Ha-min’s presence.
With Kang Ha-min’s intervention, the Hunters who had been outnumbered finally had room to breathe.
“A Hunter came as support! Who is it?”
“Wow, what grade is that? We had a Hunter like this?”
“Is that the issue right now? Since we have some breathing room, attend to the injured first!”
The Hunters began moving busily through the scene.
They had only barely gained breathing room, but this was not the time to rest.
Still, thanks to their efforts, the scene began to be brought under control quickly.
Only one person.
That one person’s presence was changing the crisis.
Meanwhile, Kang Ha-min entered the building.
Even inside, monsters were devastating everything like mad.
Was it because he shared a soul with Baek Cheon-myeong?
He could sense every presence within the hospital.
“Everyone, move.”
The moment the command was given, the Legion of Ashes moved in every direction.
The number of monsters obeying his command had already reached thirty.
The monsters appeared even stronger than before.
Even amid all this, Kang Ha-min’s mana showed no sign of running dry.
He had been born with an enormous reserve of mana.
The hospital was dark.
Everywhere had been wrecked and destroyed, and there were countless scenes of devastation.
But why was he not afraid at all?
With a subdued expression, Kang Ha-min moved while issuing only commands.
Perhaps it was because none of this felt real.
Only minutes earlier, he had been lounging on a comfortable bed at home.
Yet within mere minutes, he had suddenly entered a Dimensional Break and was saving lives.
It was far too unreal.
But he was certainly saving people.
Perhaps this was resentment.
The day he finally accepted his childhood friend’s disappearance, helplessly accepted it, and gave up searching.
Or the times when he had worked as a public official, before a Dimensional Break incident occurred, when he had known something would go wrong yet turned away, thinking someone else would handle it.
Kang Ha-min, too, had been irresponsible toward someone and had turned his back on them.
What he was doing now was close to venting his anger against that harsh reality.
“Th-Thank you.”
At that moment, a voice reached Kang Ha-min’s ears.
The moment he hurriedly came to his senses.
Behind him stood countless patients, doctors, and nurses.
Even without being commanded, the Legion of Ashes had naturally gathered people around Kang Ha-min and protected them.
Protect the people.
Following that command, they had gathered everyone in the safest place.
Because the safest place in a Dimensional Break was right beside Kang Ha-min.
Before he knew it, he could no longer sense any monsters.
Every monster created by the Dimensional Break.
The Legion of Ashes raised by Kang Ha-min had defeated them all.
“Master.”
At that moment, Baek Cheon-myeong appeared.
“Your parents are safe. It seems they evacuated early. This body confirmed it outside.”
Only then did Kang Ha-min feel as though his senses had returned.
At the same time, his legs gave out.
His parents being in danger.
People dying in the Dimensional Break.
The injustice and resentment from his days as a public official.
All of it had mixed together, and he had moved heedlessly while following his momentarily heightened emotions.
The hospital had gone quiet.
Every person was looking only at Kang Ha-min.
That was only natural, since their lifelines were now solely in his hands.
The moment he realized what he had done.
Kang Ha-min was horrified.
His emotions had come before reason, and he had lost his composure.
Even with a mask on, he had revealed himself to the whole world.
At this rate, every request he had made about keeping his identity secret had become meaningless.
No.
His safety-first life was falling apart!
As everyone waited to hear what Kang Ha-min would say.
“Uh, um, everyone. Could you keep it a secret that you saw me today?”
An endlessly meek voice flowed from the frail Kang Ha-min’s mouth.
Only moments earlier, he had been the strongest Hunter, saving people expressionlessly.
It was a remark so timid that it made that image seem incongruous.