The Lightning's Bitter Legacy
The man was utterly bewildered. Every single thing he was experiencing right now felt like nothing more than a nightmare he couldn't wake from.
He had consumed the Lightning.
A drug whose only ending was death itself. Yet how—how could he have survived it at all? How could he not have been reduced to ashes?
*Your skill has now reached its limit. Do you require more strength?*
He already knew the answer. He had known it for years, yet he had chosen to look the other way. This was where his power ended.
In the prime of middle age—approaching forty—a mere Mid-Lower rank. The same stagnant rank he'd held for ten years.
So when the man asked if he needed power, he answered with a calm, blunt voice.
"Yes. I need power."
That was how he obtained the Lightning. He kept getting it from that mysterious stranger, who sold the drug to other users at exorbitant prices. The money he earned from it was beyond anything he'd made in his previous life.
Of course, he had never actually taken the Lightning himself. He understood its power perfectly, but he understood its side effects even better.
While handing him the Lightning, the man explained those side effects to him.
"The moment you consume it, you gain explosive mana and strength that surpasses human limits, along with remarkable regeneration. But the duration is only a single day. When the effect wears off, you'll become so addicted that you'll drive yourself insane searching for nothing but more of it."
He had been told that continued use would eventually burn away the mana circuits in the body until they vanished completely, turning the victim into a charred corpse.
*So how the hell was I supposed to eat Lightning?*
The solution he chose was simple: he went after the users of the Lightning and resold it to them at whatever price they were willing to pay.
Those users, driven by addiction, would buy it no matter how expensive. Because he could supply them continuously, they protected him in return.
So he had lived his entire life carefree, eating and sleeping without a care in the world.
*But why did it end like this?*
He had drunk the Lightning to survive death. Now he was nothing but a slave forever hunting for nothing but Lightning.
"Why the hell am I losing?! "
**KANG!**
A purple-black axe and a fist wrapped in black mana collided with a vicious clash.
"I've been on the Lightning my whole damn life! I've been a slave to it my entire life! Why the fuck am I losing to you, you little shit?!"
He swung the axe with all his strength.
**WHOOOSH!**
The blade descended with the force to split the man in half.
A powerful strike from the *Poison Fang* ability, carrying venom strong enough to poison anyone it merely brushed against.
It was enough to kill a B-rank monster known for its exceptional recovery in a single hit. It should have been more than enough.
**Top.**
*What the hell is with that bored look on your face?*
A black gaze that pierced straight through his soul, binding his body like invisible chains.
The lifeless voice of a Grim Reaper sent to collect his soul.
"It's because you're weak. That's why you're losing to me."
"You, you bastard!!! I'll cut off your arms and legs, feed you the Lightning, and turn you into a mindless junkie who only knows how to hunt for it!!"
He gathered strength in his arms and legs and charged forward in a rapid dash.
He swung the axe behind his shoulder and brought it down in a perfect overhead strike.
"Die!!"
The man facing the oncoming attack simply stared at him with no defensive posture and spoke calmly.
"The victor claims the life and death of the loser. That's only natural."
**WHOOSH!** — **TOP!**
The final blow he poured everything into was caught in that man's hand as if it were nothing.
**Crack, snap!**
The axe held in the man before him—Cheon Seong—broke into countless fragments and scattered across the floor. Black mana lines carved themselves into the axe blade.
"But you're not a strong person. You're weak. And a weak person has no choice."
**KA-KRANG!**
The axe shattered into pieces and flew everywhere. To the man who had consumed the Lightning, it felt as though time itself had slowed to a crawl.
"Then sleep for a while. I'll squeeze every last thing you know out of you later."
The Grim Reaper's sentence fell. A menacing black fist floated forward and approached him very, very slowly.
*My body... can't... move.*
He couldn't move even an inch. The attack was right in front of him, yet he couldn't dodge. He couldn't make a sound. He couldn't even blink.
All he could do was feel pure terror as the black fist drew nearer and nearer.
*One second... split into hundreds of seconds... the moment my fist actually touches me... split into hundreds more...*
*'God... please, please wake me from this nightmare...'*
All he could do was pray.
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Seong stared at the man lying face-down on the ground, his body and face covered in black blood that had spilled from his pores thanks to the Lightning. He let out a genuinely honest opinion about the fight moments ago.
"Even though he's Mid-Lower, with his age he's supposed to have some stamina, right? But this is pathetic. He couldn't even manage basic stretching."
He looked like he was at least in his mid-thirties. Mid-Lower rank. Considering that people who trained their mana aged much more slowly, he could have been in his forties or fifties, but the fact that he was stuck at Mid-Lower made him wonder if he had truly reached his limit.
*Let me see... ah, there it is.*
He searched the fallen man's pockets and found a yellow pill and a hunter's license.
The yellow pill was, of course, the Lightning he had consumed. The license itself was proof that the bearer was recognized as a hero by the public.
Villains who abused their powers without a license and committed crimes... that was the basic definition. But in reality, the hunter's license wasn't enough to prove someone was a villain.
It was required to enter dungeons owned by the country, after all. Some villains forged licenses by hiding their true abilities or disguising them as others, so there were plenty of villains walking around with them.
This man was no exception.
He carried a hunter's license, so on the surface he looked like a Mid-Lower hero. But the things he did? Nothing but villainous behavior.
*That's why I can't trust the country.*
And this was one of the reasons he refused to trust it.
Originally, Imir could create a hunter's license that couldn't be traced back for three minutes. Even if Imir was incredibly skilled, in five minutes the national computer would be hacked.
It was far better to trust only himself than to rely on a country like this.
**Fwoosh.**
Seong tucked the Lightning back into his pocket, severed the arms and legs of the unconscious man, burned the wounds to stop the bleeding, and teleported him away. He then walked deeper into the back alley.
**Clack.**
He entered the alley and casually tossed the hunter's license behind him while flicking his fingers. The license immediately burst into flames and was consumed.
The melted license flowed down the man's face like tears from his eyes.
***
"Imir, I'm back."
After finishing his cleaning in the back alley, Seong headed to Imir's lab with a dissatisfied expression. The men he'd captured after consuming the Lightning had been utterly worthless—barely worth mentioning.
Two Mid-Lowers had been exceptions. The rest were two Mid-levels and one Mid-Upper. They knew nothing about the Lightning and didn't possess any themselves, so in terms of actual skill, they were far inferior to the man who'd taken it. Their only use had been as disposable meat shields.
*Of course, it's weird that there aren't more Upper-rank villains who behave this obviously. Maybe my expectations were just too high.*
Even the Mid-levels were supposed to be more capable than this, so these idiots in the back alleys were truly pathetic. His expectations had been too high, though.
"I was expecting at least one Upper-rank..."
There had been one who reached Upper-rank after consuming Lightning, but since he was a beginner, he hadn't been able to fully use his power. It was probably right between Mid-Upper and Upper.
His body felt stiff and sore from the prolonged struggle.
Feeling frustrated, Imir approached him.
"Oh, you're here. I knew you'd show up soon, but I didn't expect it to be today. Why do you look so disappointed?"
"Just... my expectations were too high, I guess."
He explained his disappointment to Imir, and the response was exactly what he expected.
"You're insane. The only person who said Mid-Upper was 'pretty weak' was a twenty-year-old. You're the first."
"Where else would you find someone like me?"
It sounded arrogant, but it was the truth. No matter how you looked at it, the only opponent worth fighting him properly was Seol Si-yun. Only that crazy bastard came to mind.
*He's really like a monster, even after thinking about it again.*
Even now, he couldn't believe it.
After his regression, the first time he met Si-yun, he had been unable to properly handle the Heavenly Demon Divine Art. But considering the compatibility between dark mana and mana, he should have been able to suppress Si-yun easily.
It was only natural that new users couldn't properly control their mana because of the backlash between the two when dark mana first entered the body.
Even Ryu Se-rin, who was at the peak of Upper-rank, couldn't fully control her body. Even when she reached the highest rank, she couldn't completely overcome the dark mana backlash.
But Si-yun was different.
He had frowned for a moment when dark mana first entered his body, but he had fought Seong almost equally despite the resistance.
No matter how diluted the dark mana density had been at the time compared to when he fought Se-rin, it still shouldn't have been possible.
His strength was greater than Seong's, and he could use teleportation too. Yet he had fought Seong on even terms.
If he wanted to call Seong a monster, he should have looked at Si-yun first.
"Yeah, you really are something, man."
Imir, who hadn't argued with Seong's words, smirked and agreed. He told Seong to follow him.
"Ah, by the way, Imir."
"What? What's the matter?"
As Seong followed him, he suddenly remembered something and called out.
"How's the operation of the *Well of Wisdom* lately?"
"How is it? What do you mean by 'how is it'? It's fine, nothing much..."
"What? Wait, how the hell did you know that?"
The *Well of Wisdom* was the place Seong had scammed after becoming a temporary staff member there, and its owner was Imir.
*Never mind how he knew. There was a guy among the ones I captured who mentioned the Well of Wisdom. I just asked casually.*
*No way... you went there?*
Seong smiled at Imir's direct question about whether he had visited the place and lightly flicked Imir's forehead.
"Why would I?"
**Bang!**
"Ow! Hey! What the hell are you doing?! Who gets their head smashed?!"
Imir grabbed the spot that hurt, tears brimming in his eyes as he asked if he was okay.
Seong laughed again and replied.
"It's because you're you. If it had been anyone else, they would have been tortured until their vocal cords tore and died."
The question about whether he had visited the Well of Wisdom was answered by Imir himself, so a light flick was enough. If it had been someone else, he would have broken their head completely.
He had never set foot in the Well of Wisdom even before his regression. He had only loved Yuna.
Now he loved Beatrice and Yuna, but his feelings were sincere, without a single lie.
They loved him sincerely too. How could he possibly go to a disgusting place like that?
And besides, he had no interest in places like the Well of Wisdom or even junk metal.
"Besides, every woman there is a humanoid you created. I don't have a hobby of sticking things in machines."
*What? You really know everything?*
Imir asked while clutching his head, still in pain from the flick, as if he really knew everything.
*How could I not know? It's about you.*
"Stop talking like some otaku. Do you really want to seduce me too?"
Imir grimaced in disgust at Seong's words.
With a look that seemed to say, *You have a girlfriend and you're trying to seduce me as well?* Seong shot back.
"I'm not that pathetic. I'm way older than you."
Seong answered with a laugh.
"Yo! Who's the little kid?! I'm older than you!! I'm the noona!"
Imir exploded in anger at being called a little kid by a guy who was clearly younger than him. Seong burst into loud laughter at the word "noona."
"Hahaha! Yeah, I am older. Sorry about that."
"Yo! Don't bring up age, you bastard!!"
Even though Imir had brought up the fact that he was older first, Seong's words made Imir clutch his stomach and laugh, while Seong kicked him hard in the leg with his small foot.
Seong laughed even louder at Imir's attacks, and Imir, face red with rage, spewed every curse word he knew and kicked him with all his strength.
"Stop laughing! Stop laughing, you fucking bastard!!"
Imir's furious shout echoed through the walls of the lab.
