This Is as Far as I Go.
This Is as Far as I Go.
"This is as far as I go."
It was a statement that poured ice water over the mood.
Everyone stared at me with disbelief in their eyes.
'Well, I suppose that reaction is only natural.'
A man who was the strongest in the world with the mighty power of S-rank Rank 1—and a total sucker—
had suddenly declared he was quitting both the guild and his party.
The aftermath of that statement was massive.
"I won't allow it."
The woman who was both the guild master and party leader approached me.
Seo Yeram.
Korea's S-rank Rank 2 approached me while holding a flaming greatsword.
"What's the reason? The end of the tower is right around the corner."
Indeed, if we just crossed beyond that door and took down the boss...
we would finally be able to save the world from the tedious threat of this tower.
But I already knew what would happen after this.
'Betrayed and discarded like a hunting dog after the hunt.'
Aside from the protagonist whom I 'possessed', these S-rank party members couldn't even deal proper damage to the boss.
To save their own pathetic lives, every single one of them except the protagonist chose to retreat from the boss room.
But if that happened, the tower wouldn't collapse, and it would threaten the nation and its citizens forever.
So, driven solely by a sense of duty, the protagonist stepped up alone to slaughter the final boss, but suffered severe damage and wound up hovering between life and death.
He could have survived if he received treatment in time, but they drew their blades against him instead.
Because if this truth were exposed to the outside world, avoiding fierce condemnation would be impossible.
In the end, for the sake of their social standing and the glory they would enjoy as saviors...
the deserters dealt the finishing blow to the protagonist, left him to die, and escaped from the tower.
After that, as the tower collapsed, the protagonist fell into a suddenly opened rift and managed to survive.
Having suffered such a terrible betrayal, discarding his sucker-like personality and taking revenge was the prologue content of How an S-Rank Hunter Who Was a Sucker Gets Revenge.
The problem was that after an agonizing, painful process lasting a whole 10 years, the protagonist would finally be freed from the rift, gain new powers, and start his story.
'Yeah, screw that.'
You want me to personally experience a sweet-potato-frustration arc where I barely survive half-crippled in a rift gate for 10 years before being freed?
'No freaking way!'
Furthermore, even that new power had massive restrictions, and his combat power was less than half of his current, fully intact state.
Rather than experiencing years of living in hiding and holding my breath just to train that up, living in a perfectly healthy state right now is a hundred, a thousand times better choice.
Because even in my current state, I can easily crush future incidents as well as any bastards who pick a fight with me.
"My answer hasn't changed. I'm leaving the tower right now. Do whatever you want with the boss."
At my resolute words, a voice of strong backlash rang out.
"Fuck! Don't make me laugh! Why the hell are you suddenly throwing a tantrum, my dear hotshot sunbae-nim?!"
A blonde girl grabs me by the collar.
Her hair stood on end, as if responding to her escalating emotions.
A surging wave of magical power blanketed the surroundings.
It was a sufficiently threatening sight, but in front of me, it was nothing more than a cat raising its claws.
'You guys wouldn't know it until now, though.'
Knowing the original work, I knew.
This sucker of a protagonist...
Even though he possessed enough power to wreak havoc against the entire world single-handedly, he was deeply terrified of his own power.
True to a protagonist, he possessed such a good-natured personality that while he killed monsters, he maintained a strict no-killing rule when dealing with humans whenever possible.
A protagonist who lived his whole life exercising extreme control over his immense power.
Despite that, he unintentionally displayed an off-the-charts strength that made him S-rank Rank 1.
Though he looked unbothered on the outside, inside he was just a good guy dreaming of an ordinary life.
'Well, that isn't a bad thing.'
I was charmed by such a protagonist too, which was why I was able to read the original novel all the way to the end.
But on the other hand, during those frustrating sweet-potato arcs, there were plenty of times I almost went crazy out of sheer annoyance.
Because even after being betrayed and driven to that extreme, this dumb protagonist still couldn't execute a satisfying revenge.
Most of the party members in front of him were women, and when they eventually begged for forgiveness and fell to their knees, he didn't kill them, leading into a harem direction—a plot development that made me, as a reader, clutch the back of my neck in frustration.
The story's conclusion was that the protagonist ultimately saved the world in the end and lived happily ever after with the women who had betrayed him.
After that, I simply wrote a 4,444-character review full of complaints and sarcastic criticism directed at the author and posted it in the review section... only to open my eyes, possess the male lead, and find myself standing at the beginning of this prologue arc.
'Honestly, I'm just as dumbfounded right now, fuck.'
If we crossed over into that boss room, events would proceed along the exact same track as the original story.
Entering that place right after possessing this body without even knowing what's what would be practically suicidal.
Even if we did raid it like this, bringing these bastards along would definitely yield zero benefit.
Besides, even if we didn't defeat the boss immediately, it wouldn't escalate into a national disaster.
The reason they rushed the raid in the first place was because it was the top of the tower, which drew massive national attention, tightly intertwined with politics, interests, and fame.
In particular, the Guild Master Seo Yeram was painting a very grand picture in this country—the position of President—so this raid had to be completed in short order.
Setting aside the party members who were consumed by greed...
True to his sucker nature, the protagonist put up grand justifications like "for the people," "for justice," and "for everyone," so he didn't care about those ulterior motives at all.
'He donated his entire fortune to society without a second thought, and he even handed over the foundation established at the Guild Master's suggestion straight to the government. You couldn't find a bigger sucker if you tried.'
He even generously gave away or practically sold for dirt cheap the byproducts obtained from the tower, vast quantities of items, and top-grade gear.
Retaining only the absolute minimum living expenses needed for eating, sleeping, and dressing himself, all under the management of Guild Master Seo Yeram.
His setting was clearly that they were childhood friends who had known each other for a long time.
Seriously, so uselessly so.
'That bitch is so insidious and filthy.'
You could tell just by looking at the equipment the protagonist was wearing.
By the way, it was a set item that Seo Haram had custom-made for him.
She ripped off a vast amount of money from the protagonist and fitted him out in gear that looked as flashy as possible, but in reality, it was useless trash with no real substance.
He was draped in gear of merely intermediate quality, whereas Seo Haram and the rest of the party right in front of him were completely decked out in top-tier gear.
Even with such blatant discrimination, reading the lore that our protagonist genuinely liked the gear given to him by Seo Yeram made it impossible not to clutch my neck in agony.
'Aargh, what a total sucker!'
Either way, all that flexing was pointless because except for the protagonist, all of them were scheduled to get thoroughly annihilated by the final boss of this tower—the prologue boss in the original novel.
'If the protagonist had worn proper equipment, maybe the story would have been different.'
In the end, in a state no different from being bare-handed, he unleashed the power he had controlled his entire life to beat the boss to death all by himself...
...but I had no desire to personally experience the frustrating, sweet-potato arc where he gets betrayed while battered and bruised.
Especially this bitch grabbing my collar right in front of me; while she dutifully called him sunbae, deep down she looked down on the protagonist as beneath her.
Setting skill aside, saying her personality was completely rotten would be the accurate expression.
Shin Yuri.
Just looking at the sparks flying around her, she was a lightning ability user and an S-rank Rank 3 powerhouse.
Arrogant, endlessly rude, and possessing a ruthless personality toward those she didn't acknowledge.
Whether she grabbed my collar or not, I ignored her.
Because right now, in a state where I couldn't even control my strength properly, recklessly laying a hand on her might end up killing her easily.
Possessing someone at the start of the original's prologue was mind-boggling enough, but if I unintentionally committed murder on top of that, my mental state honestly wouldn't hold up.
For now, leaving this place and taking time to think was the best course of action.
I had no other options.
"Ah, wait...! Kyaak!?"
Trying as much as possible not to collide, Shin Yuri's hand, which had been pulling me along, fell away.
Then, her posture collapsing in an instant, she barely managed to regain her balance and glared at me.
"What the hell are you doing right now!!"
Following her heightened emotions, sparks began to crackle wildly around her alongside the sound of electromagnetic waves.
Even so, I didn't spare her a single glance and moved toward the direction of the portal that would lead outside.
"Now, now! Calm down! Yuri!"
"B-But, Yujin-eonni!"
I ignored the voices coming from behind me.
It seemed the only woman Shin Yuri devotedly followed had stepped forward.
S-rank Rank 5 Cha Yujin.
Gathering the surrounding complaints, grumbles, and gazes, she spoke.
"Our current battle power is more than enough! Even without Rank 1, we can easily clear this with just us! Right, everyone?!"
A bold and confident voice echoed around.
Everyone agreed with her words and nodded.
They were dead sure that even if I pulled out, clearing it would be child's play.
'I knew you'd step up.'
A second-generation chaebol who had lived a life never missing first place.
Deep down, along with jealousy toward the protagonist, she had never acknowledged him as S-rank Rank 1.
She had lived believing that his ranking was only set because she herself was a support-type healer.
Hidden inside her heart was still the desire to bury me and climb her way up step by step.
She probably considered this situation a very good excuse.
She had already calculated that if the raid succeeded, great; if it failed, she could pin the blame on me.
At any rate, thanks to Cha Yujin, I didn't have to throw a fit or cause a scene to leave.
'Sigh.'
What on earth is all this?
With a sigh, I simply turned my back on them and moved toward the exit.