America's New Hero

It was the first attack on the American mainland since 9/11.

And not just anywhere — Pearl Harbor, the base whose very name evoked the carnage of the Second World War.

Breaking news spread across the globe at breakneck speed.

The world was plunged into shock by the sudden bulletins.

This was not the America of the past.

Before the Cataclysm, there had been a time when China's rise saw America dismissed as a tiger with its teeth pulled. But the America of today wielded a national power that no era in its history could hope to match.

Not much time had passed since the attack began.

And yet, every second was heart-stopping.

This was no fire on the far side of the river. This was an event that could become a catastrophe of apocalyptic proportions for the entire world.

And so the whole world descended into pandemonium.

Then, out of nowhere, a bulletin was broadcast that stunned everyone.

For the record, the reason bulletins were popping up in real time was that the US military was sharing intelligence with the Hawaiian state government — and the information was leaking at every step of the chain.

Both the military and the state government were in such a state of panic that they had no bandwidth to control the flow of information.

As a result, everything Dohyun accomplished spread across the world in real time.

As the entire planet gasped in awe, exactly one nation tilted its head in confusion.

Korea.

Korea had six S-ranks.

There had originally been thirteen, but four had naturalized to the US and three to China, leaving only six behind.

Genocider's popularity in Korea was beyond imagination.

Credit went to the fact that in barely half a month, he had scrubbed the vermin gnawing away at the country completely clean.

His methods had been downright brutal — and yet, far from recoiling, the people went wild for it.

Every single one Genocider had executed deserved the gruesome end they got. These were demonic creatures who had ground countless ordinary people down into blood and tears.

A short while later.

The world erupted in cheers — and Koreans erupted in an entirely different kind of frenzy.

And then, moments later.

The world was thrown into chaos all over again.

But then—

As if riding a rollercoaster, the entire world cried out once more in shock and elation.

And again.

The whole world was lost in a sea of question marks.

From the moment the demon's descent hit the wire to the meltdown's progression and the final resolution — less than five minutes had passed.

In that sliver of time, Dohyun had conjured one impossible miracle after another!

And so, in the wake of relief and cheering, the questions came flooding in.

And the Koreans were—

— quietly seething at the American media, which was slyly recasting Dohyun as an American hero.

Everything went exactly according to plan.

Dohyun sat in the US military mess hall, eating stir-fried pork over rice while watching a TV report about himself.

How, exactly, was he eating Korean home cooking in a military mess hall? Simple.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Mm. I'm craving Korean food. Jeyuk, especially — that stir-fried pork dish."

"We'll have it prepared right away, sir!!"

He'd mentioned it in passing, and the military had hunted down a Korean chef and had the food delivered straight to him.

He was the hero of the US military now.

Not some figurehead hero in name only — a true Honor.

······Tastes like garbage, though.

He'd taken one look at the man presented as a "Korean chef" and found a Chinese guy. What was on the tray could have been jeyuk, or it could have been Chinese-style pork stir-fry. Impossible to tell.

Still, I gained a lot.

First, in terms of abilities.

He'd picked up genuinely useful skills. The utility of Psychic Hacking went without saying, and Blood Magic was an extraordinarily versatile power in its own right.

Among the shared Blood Magic skills, Blood Chasing let him track anyone from a single droplet of blood — which had been tremendously handy for hunting villains down and killing them.

Blood Magic is also easy to grow. If I bag enough of the vampires that show up in Phase 1, I can raise it to the level of the True Ancestor.

Beyond that, he'd raised his base stats to the level of a Lv. 7 Upper.

Well, I could hit Lv. 8 whenever I wanted, but it's better to lay the foundation as solidly as possible.

The bar for Lv. 8 was will-force — or in Western terms, the ability to wield Soul Force.

For a man who had once commanded even the divine realm — God's Field — how hard could that be?

I can't dawdle, but I can't rush either. I'll strip America of everything it has to offer and climb to heights I never reached in my past lives — the undiscovered country beyond.

Dohyun had been the world's number one hunter.

He had grown that strong, time and time again, in the barren soil of the Republic of Korea.

Just how far could he climb in America, that paradise for awakeners?

Even Dohyun couldn't imagine it.

For now, staying in the underdog position suits the plan anyway.

Just then, someone appeared in front of him.

"Enjoying your meal, our hero Kim?"

"Have you eaten, Brigadier General? Please, have a seat."

"Haha, much obliged."

Brigadier General Frankie sat down with a hearty laugh.

"All these interviews and whatnot lately — you've had your hands full. You're free to brush them all off, you know."

"Not at all. Delivering a message of hope to the American people is the duty of anyone who's become a US citizen, wouldn't you say?"

In the wake of the Pearl Harbor incident, everyone under the sun had come ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠looking for Dohyun.

And Dohyun, without a flicker of displeasure, had received them all.

After all, I deliberately made the finish flashy precisely because I wanted the fame.

If Dohyun had truly wanted, he could have suppressed the terror attack far more quietly and swiftly.

"Your Honor Visa card has received final approval."

Dohyun put on a mildly surprised expression.

"Isn't that the visa only three people have ever received?"

"You make four. The previous three got it on talent alone — but as for who genuinely deserves America's respect, I'd say you're the only one."

Setting aside the finer perks, it came with head-of-state treatment and full immunity.

"Are you sure about that? What if I really am Genocider? What would you do then? I might just become another Fallen Angel, no?"

The Fallen Angel.

She had received an Honor Card and naturalized — and was now, at this very moment, one of America's strongest and worst villains.

When Dohyun asked, disguising the question as a joke, Brigadier General Frankie answered in dead earnest.

"Genocider or not, you are America's Honor Hero."

It didn't sound like empty words. Frankie's voice had carried considerable weight in the decision to issue the Honor Visa.

That wasn't all, either.

Ten million dollars. A reward of more than ten billion won — and not a cent of it taxed. Every last dollar, in full.

America really doesn't do things by halves.

Measured against the economic value of what Dohyun had just done, ten million dollars was pocket change. Even so, no other country on earth would have written a check this fat. Financially, most simply couldn't.

America was the only nation that could hand out a reward like this in cold, hard cash.

"Could you spare a little time after your meal? The Secretary of Defense has arrived from Washington and is waiting."

"He's waiting now? You might have mentioned that sooner."

"Let that chicken of a man wait. Our hero's meal matters more."

Dohyun chuckled, set down his spoon, and rose from his seat.

Frankly, he had no desire to force down another bite of that not-quite-jeyuk anyway.

"Let's go now."

The Secretary of Defense had come to deliver the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The medal that Nelson Mandela and Mother Teresa had received — the highest civilian honor the United States could bestow.

Now, who was the Secretary of Defense again?

He didn't know.

The sitting US president was teetering on the edge of impeachment over a scandal, and the administration would change hands soon enough.

And so it was — the moment Dohyun arrived near Brigadier General Frankie's office, where the Secretary of Defense supposedly waited.

"??"

Dohyun tilted his head.

Why do I feel appetite?

Not the appetite of the body.

Myeolak — the Will of Evil Annihilation — had begun salivating like a starving beast.

Which means there's a bad man beyond that door.

And not just any bad man — one at least as vile as the S-rank villains he'd captured only recently.

That wasn't all. Blood Chasing, the shared Blood Magic skill he'd so recently acquired, had begun to react.

Dohyun guessed at the man's identity — and smiled.

"Just out of curiosity — is there anyone in there besides the Secretary of Defense?"

"Only the Secretary."

"Hmm."

Dohyun's mind raced.

An unforeseen situation — but not an unwelcome one.

An unexpected gift had come calling.

"The Honor Visa card's immunity — when does it take effect?"

"It's already been approved. It's effective right now."

"And the part about me being America's hero — does that hold even if I'm Genocider?"

Frankie sensed something was wrong. His face hardened.

"Yes. No matter what unspeakable thing you do — so long as it's done for America — you are America's great hero."

Dohyun nodded.

And then—

He opened the door.

Crack—!

And snapped the Secretary of Defense's neck.