Shattered Peace and a Hidden Regret
I opened the front door.
The outpost of the Haneul Guild, which oversees the central front line.
After completing the patrol, Haneul collapsed onto the cot like she was dying.
“Ugh… my back…”
How many hours had it been since I sat on the floor?
‘I got up at six… and now it’s two, so eight hours.’
Guild members laughed while watching the groaning Haneul.
“Haha, Guild Master. Why don’t you leave the patrol to us?”
“No. Just in case.”
In truth, Haneul didn’t need to do the patrol herself.
She only went out when one of the guild members couldn’t handle a monster that broke through.
But for some reason, she wanted to move her body.
‘When I’m ready, the Hunter-nim will let the Master carry the burden instead.’
The words made her strength return.
A stranger whose face she didn’t know.
But unlike those who hid their power and ran away, one rough word had been enough comfort and hope for the future.
‘I’ll get stronger.’
Just as she was about to stand up, the sound of someone rushing over reached her.
“Master!!! An urgent call from the command center! They need help from the eastern front!”
“Eastern front? Prepare the five-man standby team. I’ll go with you.”
But the guild member who had been on patrol with her blocked her way.
“Haneul Guild Master! You just got back from patrol!”
“I’m fine.”
“Send the five-man team first. You can rest a little before you go. It’s not too late.”
“… No. Just in case.”
Haneul finished the sentence and left the tent.
- - - - !!!
The five-man standby team’s tent was noisy. A moment later, eight guild members were seen rushing out.
“Are you coming too, Guild Master?”
“Yes, I’ll lead the charge.”
Haneul ran toward the military truck with the five-man standby team.
Sitting in the passenger seat, she nodded to the driver that they should depart.
“Departure.”
Rumble—.
‘Please let it not be a big emergency.’
The driver was on a Bluetooth headset, talking on the phone. Haneul eavesdropped. The situation was bad.
“Combat in Baekbong-ri, Goseong-gun! The enemy is humans! Estimated affiliation: Nokrim!”
“Haneul Guild Five-Man Team. Departing from Cheorwon. Estimated arrival time three hours and thirty minutes.”
“Haa… confirmed. Current situation report. Casualties reported, five missing. Estimated hostages taken by Nokrim.”
“Confirmed.”
Clench.
“… Did you hear that?”
“Yes. More Nokrim.”
“Their brutality is increasing. They’ve even pushed as far as Seoraksan…”
“Haa… We’re not helping the country at all…”
The clenched fists trembled.
Haneul hated hunters.
People who demanded special treatment just because they had power.
What she hated most, however, were unregistered hunters.
In South Korea, the only S-class hunter known to the public was Kim Haneul herself.
But she knew that rumor was a lie.
The moment she entered the community, she saw suspicious people everywhere.
“Haa…”
‘It’s my fault.’
South Korea’s first S-class.
Haneul had become a celebrity overnight. Protecting the nation was a duty passed down through generations in her family.
She had simply done what every family relative did—worked for the nation.
But the media focused on actions, not effort.
Hunters with power were expected to guard the front lines, creating a tense atmosphere.
Thanks to that, some high-rank hunters hid their true strength.
They moved only for their own gain.
The leader of the Nokrim Guild, No Okrim. He was suspected of having an S-class class.
A man who alone cleared monsters and gates in the Taebaek Mountains and created the Nokrim Guild.
“How much longer is it?”
Hurry up.
“We’ve been traveling for twenty minutes. Nothing should happen. Don’t worry too much.”
“… Just in case.”
She desperately suppressed her anxiety.
Today the truck was shaking violently.
***
“Yeongwon!!!”
“Yes!!”
- Enemy eliminated!
- Double kill!
- Triple kill!
- Got hit by the enemy!
- Ally got hit!
“I’ve done everything.”
“Me too, I’ve done it all!”
Me and Yeongwon were running the bottom duo in the valley.
Thanks to our performance, the score had flipped to 3:2—our side was ahead!
“What the hell are you doing!!”
“Troll! It’s a troll!!”
But the enemy team that was actually good had split our team in half.
Game over.
“You bastards!”
“Haa… This is tough.”
I reported my team of three. Reason: negative attitude.
“As expected, being strong alone has nothing to do with winning wars.”
Yeongwon said.
“No. If you were strong enough to kill everyone alone, you could win.”
I recalled the enemy team’s top player and added,
Our team didn’t even have a tank. With a bit of skill, we could have done 1:5.
“As expected of the Master…”
Yeongwon said in a thrilled voice.
It was only the start of the game; she wouldn’t know yet. From now on she’d have to practice hard.
“I should lie down and play phone games.”
For some reason this body couldn’t handle games long. It got tired fast.
“I’ll check some internet stuff.”
“Yeah.”
I gave Yeongwon my old phone. And since I was buying a new computer, I bought two.
Ever since, Yeongwon’s hobby had become information gathering.
She liked that she could get info without swallowing souls.
- Hey~ can sang hey can sang ~
“Hehe… how cute.”
Cute girls flailed their arms and danced to some weird song.
Next.
- There’s a reason why Kim Haneul the hunter is the world’s best in Korea~
“Oh ho.”
Nationalism surged. Next.
- On a rainy day, I saved a kitten crying on the street. Took it straight to the hospital…
“Kitten… don’t be hurt, grow big and strong.”
While I was watching random shorts,
“Master. Haneul the hunter got seriously injured.”
“Eh? Why?”
Haneul lived a busy life, but she rarely got hurt.
Monsters coming down from the border were strong, but weaker than those from the tower.
So it wasn’t from the border.
Then from the tower? No.
Haneul the hunter was currently helping clear towers for the soldiers’ hunter conversion.
In other words, she was doing her best. That was why her best record in the tower was only Normal 50 floors.
Instead of growing stronger alone, she focused on using her power to strengthen national defense.
That meant no injuries from the tower either.
“They said a guild called Nokrim attacked.”
“Nokrim?”
“Yes. Bandits, basically.”
“What? What kind of bandits are there these days? And they even attacked the army and won?”
That was ridiculous.
Maybe because she had just watched the nationalism video. Anger rose.
Yeongwon read internet articles.
“They took part of the Taebaek Mountains and slowly expanded their territory. Eventually they reached Seoraksan, the eastern front, and clashed with the army. They used the captured soldiers as shields to neutralize Haneul the hunter.”
“What kind of people are they? Mountain climbers? Hikers?”
“It seems they’re greedy because they want to monopolize the monsters coming down from the North Korean mountains.”
“If that’s the case, why not team up with Haneul Guild to guard the border?”
“Because they’d have to take responsibility. They don’t want to take responsibility for border defense, but they do want to catch monsters.”
“The trash. So what happened to Haneul the hunter?”
“Oh! Okrim just wrote a post.”
I sat up and moved to Yeongwon’s side.
The monitor showed a post written by the bandit Okrim.
The post began with a photo of the injured Haneul hunter.
“This bastard.”
The text that followed was even more outrageous.
- I am the strongest in South Korea.
- I am angry at the way the Haneul Guild and the army are monopolizing the front lines and have risen up.
- Come to Nokrim. Let’s grow together while catching monsters in the Taebaek Mountains!
Hundreds of comments followed—mostly insults.
Minyun’sStaff: Where the hell are you, you bastard?
AmnesiaJjang: The guy who kidnapped hostages and fought is the strongest in South Korea lol
KimCheolsu: That Haneul puppy just secretly followed me around, but now he’s useless when it counts
MaehwaCheongsu: Do you not know what ‘guarding the village without armor’ means?!
KimDongho: What? You touched Haneul?
LeeGyeongmin: Crazy bastard
BokMinsu: Nokrim boycott
Carrot: Maybe you can free-drop monster items and share them for free^^?
KkungiAppa: If this happens the eastern front will be broken through, right?
Too many comments. My head hurt, so I gave up reading.
Yeongwon showed me one prepared post instead.
“It’s the Hunter Association’s position.”
“Hmm… summarize in three lines.”
“The Association and the Ministry of National Defense cannot recognize the Nokrim. We cannot leave the border to bandits. We will fire on anything that does not apologize to the victims including Haneul the hunter and withdraw.”
“Haa… The country’s situation is a complete mess.”
I lay back on the bed. My head was complicated.
“You bastards. Because the soldiers are risking their lives to protect us, you’re really enjoying yourselves?”
The words made my conscience twinge a little.
Just a moment ago I had been laughing and playing.
But I had no choice. I was still weak.
Other than slowly climbing the tower once a week and getting stronger, what could I do?
At that moment, an alarm sounded on the smartphone.
A message from Haneul.
“….”
Haneul: I’m sorry.
“Haa…”
I sprang up.
“Why are you sorry…”
I dug through the piles of packages in the living room. I tore open the plastic. A black hoodie came out.
“Master?”
Yeongwon flew over with a worried face.
“I have to do something. I can’t just keep playing like this.”
“Master. Just rushing out without a plan is dangerous. You need to make a plan.”
I hesitated.
The hand that had been putting on the hoodie stopped. She was right.
I had been so angry that I wanted to charge out.
“Yeah… I was a little excited. You’re right.”
“Master… I can feel the anger too. But…”
Yeongwon trailed off.
“Yeah. What can I do out there with this power…”
I was weak. Useless.
Even my skeleton soldiers were weak. They had overcome weaknesses with numbers.
What if I just charged into Nokrim right now?
The enemy numbers would be even higher. The skeletons would be mercilessly smashed.
I needed more skeletons. More power.
I cooled my head. Anger was an emotion not needed in the current situation.
“Yeongwon. The reason this happened is because of the monsters, right? What benefit do I get from catching monsters?”
“You can get experience, items, and by-products. Unlike items that only drop from the tower, you can own anything from corpses to visible things.”
“So you can get experience.”
I clenched my fist. I immediately pulled out the smartphone.
Gangster: I’m registering as a hunter.
I sent the message.
Haneul: What? If it’s because of me, you don’t have to force yourself. There must be a reason the Gangster hides his face.
A quick reply came. She said she got hurt but her fingers were fine.
Gangster: I need faster growth.
A moment of silence.
Haneul: We’ll let you enter the gate we’re in charge of. Attached is the gate information.
I opened the attached file.
“Goblin’s Cave…”
The monsters coming from the gate were goblins. I had succeeded in finding the cave where their nest was.
Inside the cave, oxygen was short, so activity time was limited.
They bred quickly. I had to exterminate them at regular intervals to prevent a gate flood.
“Hmm… nice.”
I checked the information and looked at Yeongwon.
She nodded. If it were dangerous, she wouldn’t have nodded.
“I’ll cut all the goblin smells and come back.”
I opened the front door.