Chapter 63
Chapter 63
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 63
Chapter Title: How the Rank 1 Hero Saves the World
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He never imagined a human would figure out his class.
Baek Sa-hyeon gritted his teeth as he stared at the woman standing in front of him.
When dungeons and the System appeared in Korea, humans began awakening abilities they could never have expressed in normal society.
Talents that had no chance to shine because there was no opportunity to pick up a weapon and kill another living being.
Baek Sa-hyeon was one of those who unleashed his talents in this new world.
Most people caught in the initial dungeon breaks died before they ever got the chance to stain their own hands with blood—or even if the chance arose, they couldn't bring themselves to do it and perished.
But Baek Sa-hyeon was different.
He picked up a knife and slashed at the monster's body over and over to survive.
Even after the System acknowledged the kill, he didn't stop.
He only halted when his arms went limp, utterly drained of strength.
System message.
The monster right in front of him, its head smashed open...
It was a scene straight out of a movie.
Staring at that surreal sight, Baek Sa-hyeon suddenly snapped back to reality.
Because he heard a baby's cry nearby.
Right—he had fled into a massive shopping mall in a daze after the dungeon break hit.
No one knew what a dungeon break was back then, so there weren't even armed soldiers, let alone hunters. Everyone was screaming, fleeing via elevators or escalators to escape the monsters.
In the chaos, it was inevitable that a young couple pushing a stroller would lag behind, and it was pure chance that Baek Sa-hyeon spotted them.
Seeing the monster charge at them, he grabbed his knife.
A kitchen knife was the only weapon he had at the time, and the fact that the monster was a goblin with subpar physical abilities was his one stroke of luck.
- You have defeated D-Grade Monster, 'Goblin.'
- Your actions will influence the 'Class' that awakens later.
He didn't understand the System message yet, so he swatted it away like an annoying fly blocking his view.
With his vision cleared, Baek Sa-hyeon glanced back at the parents clutching their precious baby.
Their faces were etched with shock, confusion, and fear.
Looking at them, he blurted out without thinking.
"It's okay now."
Those weren't words from his heart. They were lines from a detective drama he'd watched the day before.
The detective had rescued a kidnapping victim and said them to reassure her.
Baek Sa-hyeon had mocked the crappy acting over a beer.
I could do better than that.
The story was childish, too. Who watches cheesy cop dramas chasing justice in this day and age?
So he never dreamed he'd end up in a situation where he'd say those exact lines himself.
"Sob, sniff..."
"Thank you, thank you...!"
...And he certainly never expected the other person's reaction to feel this good.
Baek Sa-hyeon looked down at the knife in his hand. His blood-soaked, mangled fingers no longer bothered him.
For the first time in his life, receiving gratitude from someone else felt like a drug.
That was how he botched the first button.
As dungeon breaks tapered off somewhat, the media began spotlighting heartwarming stories from the disasters.
It was material people loved.
Baek Sa-hyeon was one of those chosen stories.
A hero who couldn't ignore a baby's cry even when his own life was on the line.
The young couple's tearful interview skyrocketed his name value overnight.
Baek Sa-hyeon sold well.
His backstory was packed with sensational hooks.
Tough family situation, a rebellious teen chasing failed dreams, then a diligent young man scraping by with part-time jobs.
In this flipped world, even a clichéd tale like his became marketable.
His life had changed completely. Baek Sa-hyeon, once a troublemaker nobody wanted around, now stood at the gateway to success by any measure.
He himself felt motivated, thinking he'd become more useful in this changed world.
But that was all before his class was set.
The System listed his class as Actor.
Having wielded a sword up to that point, Baek Sa-hyeon naturally assumed it'd be Swordsman.
But it wasn't.
It was around then that Lee Woo-yeon's class—Magic Swordsman—was revealed; he was just starting to get media play too.
And mine's Actor, huh.
Baek Sa-hyeon let out a hollow laugh.
What could he say? It felt empty.
After the System appeared, all efforts converted to numbers—absolute results.
He should have realized it when the message popped up.
You're just an actor playing the hero, nothing more—a person not even cut out for that.
Truth be told, when the monster appeared, Baek Sa-hyeon had no intention of helping the baby.
The situation terrified him; he just wanted to slip away while it attacked someone else.
But the noise from the display rack he knocked over while backing up drew the monster's attention to him—that sparked everything.
He'd only picked up the knife to save himself.
In the end, the System judged that Baek Sa-hyeon the human hadn't changed a bit.
But he lacked the courage to admit that honestly.
So Baek Sa-hyeon claimed his class was Swordsman and aggressively started raiding dungeons.
Fortunately, no one doubted him.
Of course, as he got more media exposure, his value as a story began to drop, but that was expected.
His core self hadn't changed anyway.
But ambition grew too.
Class be damned—he'd prove to everyone he could be a true hero of the nation.
Lee Woo-yeon irked him most, but that guy didn't suit the hero image either. His Eternal Guild was covering it up, but the truth would out eventually.
I can act the part way better than a guy like that.
He'd truly believed that until now.
"Baek Sa-hyeon, get ready."
He couldn't see the longsword-wielding woman's face clearly.
Was it the intense sunlight reflecting off the lake?
Baek Sa-hyeon felt a flicker of unease, but something more pressing stole his attention.
Her back, facing him, was completely exposed.
At his current Comprehension Level 7 Assassin, he could probably go for the kill. He still had a few hundred decent daggers in his inventory.
Should I stab her?
The moment that thought crossed his mind, she turned to look at him.
"No funny ideas."
Caught off guard, Baek Sa-hyeon flinched.
"How'd you know?"
"You're radiating killing intent. How could I not?"
Does that even make sense?
If glaring with murderous intent lets you detect an attack, Assassins lose all purpose.
He couldn't gauge her strength at all.
No way I'd overlook a hunter this skilled.
"If you really want to attack, I'll humor you after this—so focus."
Her tone was curt, but for someone who'd just been about to get a dagger to the throat, it was surprisingly kind.
It also hinted at confidence. Like she could handle him even if he came at her with a blade.
That's what intrigued him.
Did she have the grounds for that confidence?
Baek Sa-hyeon shifted his gaze to the island, where the barrier still held.
He'd underestimated it at first, thinking it was just a low-grade dungeon break. Those usually got contained early by hunters without escalating.
But sure enough, as the mystery hunter said, the momentum was off.
Through the hazy barrier, he saw vicious-faced monsters clustered against it, pounding away—like flies plastered to a bug zapper. It gave him chills.
Anyone who could predict this wasn't a newbie.
Still, that didn't prove her skill yet.
He acknowledged the nameless hunter's ability to some degree but inwardly kept dodging commitment.
His role, as she described, was simple bait.
The moment the barrier broke, use a skill to draw the goblins' attention and lure as many as possible this way.
Simple, but life-risking.
Of course, it wasn't impossible with his skills.
Method Acting, an Actor class skill, was perfect for pulling aggro even from monsters. He'd used it openly as "wide-area taunt" before.
But whenever he used it, reliable hunters were always nearby. Not some unknown woman.
Maybe she overheard his inner cursing—she'd been coordinating with someone over the phone and glanced at Baek Sa-hyeon.
Seeing his face, she snorted.
Baek Sa-hyeon bristled. It looked exactly like mockery.
"You look like you'd rather die than do this."
"Isn't that obvious?"
Of course he hated it. If she hadn't seen through his class, he'd have bolted already.
"Sorry about that. But no choice."
She dropped that bomb on his tangled emotions like it was nothing.
"I've got something I have to do."
As she spoke, the barrier began to dissolve.
And the tip of her sword pointed at Baek Sa-hyeon.
More efficient than words.
He didn't like it, but it was time to step up.
Baek Sa-hyeon swallowed his irritation and activated the skill.
- You use Skill, 'Method Acting.'
- Specify a role to immerse in.
- Swordsman (LV.5)/Assassin (LV.7)/Director (LV.3)/Chef (LV.4)...
From the endless list, Baek Sa-hyeon quickly selected the one for this job.
It was the most familiar, after all.
- Role specified as 'Prey (LV.10).'
- For the duration, all monsters perceive you as prime prey.
- 00:20:00
He'd been dumbfounded the first time he saw that in the list, but it was the most useful now. His Comprehension leveled naturally from using it on monsters.
As the barrier thinned, revealing the goblins more clearly, he felt their attention lock onto him.
Higher than B-Grade monsters sometimes resisted, but goblins were D-Grade anyway.
It worked perfectly.
"Ugh, uwaak! What the hell are these bastards!"
"Hang in there a bit longer! It's not even been 5 minutes!"
He heard the hunters on the island yelling as they maintained the barrier.
The goblins, with prey in sight, pressed harder toward Baek Sa-hyeon, hammering the barrier ferociously.
Under the bloodthirsty gazes of hundreds of monsters, Baek Sa-hyeon gritted his teeth.
As 'Prey,' he was hyper-sensitive to presences—natural for an innate victim.
But one back filtered those gazes midway.
The woman in front of him took them nonchalantly and smirked.
"Aggro's solid."
Hundreds of monsters fixated here, and she summed it up positively. Impressive.
Baek Sa-hyeon caught the voice from her Bluetooth earpiece.
- 30 seconds remaining.
"Got it."
Muttering to herself more than anyone, she inhaled deeply.
Her longsword looked utterly ordinary. Sharp blade, but no standout features.
Yet her back showed no hint of hesitation.
No tension either.
Will this work?
Baek Sa-hyeon wasn't sure. No, it couldn't.
- 10 seconds remaining.
The approaching sense of death was the 'Prey' effect. Legs tensed to keep from fleeing, he glared ahead.
- Barrier released!
With the tense voice, the fragile barrier shattered like glass.
Hundreds of monsters surging out at once was spectacular.
Green-bodied goblins poured toward Baek Sa-hyeon in unison.
His vision darkened instantly—countless small bodies blotted out the sky.
Only the flapping of monstrous wings echoed deafeningly.
The pressure was immense.
For a moment, blotting even the sky, all monsters plummeted toward one ground point: the 'Prey.'
I'm really gonna die like this.
I have to run now.
That was when Baek Sa-hyeon thought it.
"Hah!"
With a short kiai, he saw light erupt from the ground.
No, not light.
A single sword stroke.
In the face of absolute numbers, it should have vanished into darkness uselessly—but the blade's trajectory cleaved the sky.
"No way."
The line that burst from Baek Sa-hyeon's lips would have earned eye-rolls in a drama as clichéd.
But nothing else fit.
Blue sparks flew where the impossibly extended sword reached.
- Apex Holy Sword exerts absolute effect against magic-attribute monsters!
Baek Sa-hyeon couldn't see Kang Ye-na's message, but he witnessed monsters touching the extended blade turn to ash instantly.
Countless monsters lay in the sword's path, yet it advanced unhindered, as if slicing empty air.
The clean, flawless stroke left only blue sky behind.
Silence fell in an instant.
"What... what the hell...?"
- Over 80% of appearing monsters instantly killed.
- Fixed-Type Dungeon Break ended.
- Top Contributor: Wandering Pilgrim
"Good thing it wasn't a random break."
She muttered as she sheathed her sword.
Dazed by the abrupt end, Baek Sa-hyeon blinked, speechless.
Method Acting had over 10 minutes left. Her casual phone call afterward felt more terrifying—was it the skill?
"Yes, situation cleared. The hunters might have injuries, so send ambulances. Me? Grabbing dinner then heading back... Report?"
She grimaced and turned. Baek Sa-hyeon flinched instinctively.
She smirked at that.
"Not me—looks like there's someone here who can write reports. Can I pass it off? Those things annoy me... No? Come on."
The everyday chit-chat after that feat was creepier. No boasting at all.
Ending the call, she approached Baek Sa-hyeon. Even after dropping the skill, his spine chilled.
'Wandering Pilgrim.'
The absurd name's owner stood right there. The totally unknown Rank 1 was this woman!
Baek Sa-hyeon swallowed hard, eyes darting desperately for the most useful class here.
One wrong move, and he might die...
"I see your eyes rolling."
"...Gasp."
"Why so tense? Break's over. Thanks for the skill—really helped."
"Uh? Oh, y-yeah...?"
"See ya."
She turned to leave briskly but paused and looked back.
Killing to silence him, huh.
As Baek Sa-hyeon summoned a dagger, she grinned and raised a fist.
"By the way."
Pow!
The sudden punch smashed his face before he could dodge; he hit the ground.
Staring up blankly, she was still smiling.
Harsh afternoon sunlight on the lakeside reflected oddly off her face. Something briefly shadowed her eyes, then vanished.
All he registered was her widely upturned lips.
"I'm not some old fogey. Take it back."
With that alone, she exited stage left.
No thought of pursuit. He had no strength left.
"Ugh, uwaaa..."
Flat on his back, Baek Sa-hyeon gazed at the System message floating in his hazy vision.
- Hero class Comprehension increased; new role generated.
- Cannot act this role until sufficient Comprehension reached.
Ah, so she was the Hero.
...Her?!
With that unvoiced thought, Baek Sa-hyeon blacked out completely.