S-Ranks: The City of Exiles
- S-Ranks - The City of Exiles. Once the capital of a nation that crumbled under the Gate catastrophe... now a place so decayed its very name has turned to gray ash. And in that city, the largest and most opulent hotel—the sole bastion of functioning infrastructure even after the country's fall—its top floor was reserved for one man alone. The king of the exiles. One of the five... no, now six S-ranks in Korea. The only unofficial S-rank. 'Ghost' Park Eun-hyuk.
Separate from his fame, few even knew his face properly. Today, too, the man was enjoying his daily life as the city's king.
Slurp—lick—pop!
A space that seemed to have scraped together every luxury remnant of a fallen civilization. In the extravagantly lavish room, sticky sounds echoed.
It was the noise from several women sucking his cock beside the naked man, who boasted a taut, muscular build.
"Hoo—"
Every time their tongues glided over his shaft, he let out satisfied groans, stroking their asses, breasts, and hair. Even as he savored the sharp pleasure, his eyes weren't on the women.
In the pitch-black room lit only by the sole light source—a massive TV—his attention was fixed there.
The latest YH Group display model he'd recently acquired satisfied him with its crisp, vivid screen as always, but now it was performing its most basic function: delivering information, the true purpose of media.
A monotonous back-and-forth of male and female voices filled the room. An interview with rapid-fire questions.
One decent-looking woman and one annoyingly ugly man.
"Yeah... so it's that bastard."
He stared at the face of the newly minted S-rank reborn in just half a year, committing it to memory. Then he abruptly turned off the TV.
The room's only light vanished, leaving just the white moonlight filtering through the glass windows.
Releasing the tension in his upright torso, he flopped back with a thud! onto the soft, plush pillow that let out an "Ahh!" moan.
A pillow making noise? How insolent.
He turned his head sideways and chomped down hard on the round hunk of flesh dangling before his eyes.
"Kyaaak!"
Pain elicited a natural human reaction. But in this space right now... there was only one human.
"Weird. These pillows keep making noises for a while now?"
"Hngh!"
The pillow stifled its breath and trembled at his casual mutter. He bit the flesh again, and it clamped its mouth shut, desperately holding back.
Nodding in satisfaction, he frowned, noticing the pleasure from his cock had stopped.
"Today's tools are kinda underperforming..."
A flat tone, like saying the sun's rising in the morning.
But the tools hearing it jolted like rodents electrocuted, scrambling frantically to fulfill their roles.
He leisurely admired the ravenous tools lunging at him, relishing the warm, wet sensation enveloping his dick again, and sank into thought.
"They were pretty useful pieces, though..."
He'd recently taken a commission. From a decent regular client, it seemed easy enough with big rewards—at least on paper.
But looks were deceiving. Operations based on bad intel always failed.
This time, the intel error was massive, and he lost two valuable pawns.
"Was kinda curious what an S-rank pussy tastes like."
He could've handed off the target, sure, but he'd planned to sample some midway. A real shame.
Water under the bridge now. No point fuming; the dead wouldn't revive.
No grand loyalty demanding revenge, either. Wasting energy fistfighting over a few broken chess pieces? Inefficient.
Especially since they hadn't stolen his stuff...
"Still, I'd like an apology for the damaged goods."
Maybe drop by for a greeting if the chance arose. He could claim the pawns' value then.
With that thought, the man... Park Eun-hyuk moved his body.
That was for later. Right now, something else was more urgent.
"Hahk! Ngh! Aaang!"
"Kyahaat! Ahng!"
The softness and heat he never tired of, no matter how daily. Covering his lower body, upper body, front and back—he reveled in the sensations, banishing all other thoughts into the night's darkness.
When asked Korea's most dangerous, ominous place—before or after the Gate incident—people always pointed to one spot.
The DMZ.
The land once bristling with humans snarling over gun barrels, now claimed by monsters.
North Korea, collapsed under the Gates long ago, had lost the ability to handle endless monster spawns. Their southward migration was inevitable.
A region consuming vast resources daily, yet impossible to yield.
The war with monsters... had shrunk human territory—once dominating most of Earth—beyond compare.
Humans hadn't just rolled over, though. Millennia of iron, blood, and gunpowder made their violence formidable.
But modern armies thrived on abundant, steady supply lines. Even human wars drained nations' flesh and blood in moments.
Infamous tales of thousands of bullets per enemy kill were too well-known to repeat.
Monsters amplified that inefficiency daily. Mana fields crippled modern weapons, and bizarre abilities from nonexistent beasts forced colossal consumption.
Early Gates hit everywhere—cities, countryside—disrupting rear production. Humanity was forced to prioritize.
Forests and mountains fell away; nations unable to sustain war collapsed, turning those lands into personal hells of survival.
No foreign aid possible—Gates were global. No one had spare capacity.
States crumbled, leaving swelling monsters and beastly humans struggling to live.
Without awakeners' dramatic heroics post-Gates, most current nations might not exist.
At their pinnacle stood S-ranks. Modern strategic weapons, humanity's sharpest unbroken blade and sturdiest shield.
Ziiing—
Golden beams streaked across the sky, slashing the earth.
Dazzling Holy Light. No flames or destructive roar—just erasure of demonic monsters on touch. Relief washed over a soldier who'd braced for death moments ago.
"We... we lived."
Barely an adult. Sweat, dust, gunpowder grimed his boyish face. A common conscript here.
Watching the beam barrage, he thought: Old saying: war god's artillery, right?
Dragged to defend the nation, trembling before death—the first thunderous barrage saving him had him screaming prayers to a god he didn't believe in.
But now his god wasn't cannons. This light obliterating monsters was something holier than invisible shells.
Glancing around, most stared blankly at the battlefield like him. Weapons dropped despite officers' warnings.
Even those instructors just roared cheers. What more to say?
He joined the frenzy, hugging and jumping with his usual bickering rival from training, screaming endlessly.
"Rougher than usual today...?"
Ha Yeon-u smirked wryly from the rear, monitoring the front amid cheers sweeping the line.
The brilliant light show engulfing the entire front was awe-inspiring, but...
Beside her, her little sister—bathed in golden halo—visually screamed This is divinity! Her mood felt off.
Ha Yeon-ah never liked monsters much, but today she was exceptionally fierce and flashy.
The 'Saintess.' S-rank ability user wielding Holy Light, battlefield goddess.
Judgment for foes, boundless mercy for allies. Usually, her light prioritized healing weary wounded over annihilation, but today it focused on monster extermination.
That pissed off, huh...?
Shaking her head at her sister grinding nonstop for a week, Ha Yeon-u sighed.
Hunter duty was monster-slaying, earning respect in modern society—but balance mattered.
Even hunters needed rest rotations unless emergencies. S-ranks especially; this wave didn't warrant them—like using a cattle butcher for chicken.
Swoooosh—
"Waaaah!"
Another grand arc of light and cheers. Fearing exhaustion until she wilted like soggy kimchi, Ha Yeon-u subtly shifted behind her sister.
Ready to cover anytime.
Ziiing—swoooosh—
"Uwaaaah!"
"Haa... there, now hurry back."
Amid endless flashes and roaring cheers, Ha Yeon-u pictured her carefree baby sister laughing right now.
Your boyfriend might be in danger at this rate.
Offering silent condolences to the faceless man, she stood guard by her sister's side.