Chapter 42
Chapter 42
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: Death Knight
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Seoul Metropolitan Investigation Team's Awakener Exclusive Interrogation Room.
A space of about three pyeong, surrounded on all sides by special mana-blocking walls.
A tense standoff hung in the air across a cold metal desk.
"Kim Cheol-hwan. Cooperating honestly with the investigation is the way to get a lighter sentence."
"Ah~ Detective. How many times do I have to say it?"
Kim Cheol-hwan raised his handcuffed hands and wagged them.
Unlike when he'd been dragged in, there was no anxiety on his face.
A smile as if he were enjoying the situation even lingered at the corners of his mouth.
What on earth had changed to give him back his composure?
"This is false accusation. Is patting my student's shoulder and encouraging her a crime because I love my disciple?"
"We have clear video evidence! And multiple student witnesses! Even the kids from Class B testified about your usual behavior!"
Bam!
The veteran detective slammed the desk and bellowed.
"And why did you go into the Class A girls' tent? Sneaking in at night with stealth—is that love for your disciple too?!"
"I didn't go in. I was just checking if the tent zipper was sturdy~."
"You call that an excuse...!"
The detective roughly loosened his tie, his face flushing red with anger.
But Kim Cheol-hwan calmly crossed his legs and glanced at the clock on the wall.
'10:05. Heh heh heh.'
Kim Cheol-hwan curled his lips into a smirk.
It was about time for the S-rank gate to open and the "special class" to be in full swing.
Being able to slip away naturally like this was actually lucky for him.
The Abyss Core he'd rigged with a timer was worlds apart in performance from the outdated junk the Viper goons had used.
The gate would manifest instantly, and the dungeon break would happen instantly too.
Sticking around the scene posed a big risk even for Kim Cheol-hwan.
[Just take care of the Imperial Officer Academy kids. Do that, and you'll earn the right to enter paradise like the other executives.]
The savior's voice flashed through Kim Cheol-hwan's mind.
Villain Alliance [Paradise]
If Naraka was a band of murder fiends gathered from martial artist clans, Paradise was a dumpster scraping together all the world's resentful losers.
Paradise's ideology was simple: equality for all.
How to achieve it? Easy.
Cover the entire world in gates.
Exposing the world's 9 billion people to high-density mana would kill off 99%, but the survivors would all awaken.
That was true equality—everyone in the world becoming an awakener.
'No more watching those S-rank and A-rank pricks strut around.'
Some A-rank bastard looks down on adults from childhood just because of their rank, while others get stuck as B-rank and spend their lives as lackeys before dying.
The world had become this unfair mess where only a select few hunters suck up all the honey because gates open and close half-assedly.
It wasn't like that before.
Gates were far more numerous and massive back then, and hunters adapted by reaching higher levels.
Paradise aimed to recreate the catastrophe from 100 years ago.
But on a much grander scale.
Then A-ranks and whatever would become as common as grunts.
Of course, Kim Cheol-hwan would still be B-rank, but it didn't matter.
He'd been promised a safe shelter and lifelong wealth for contributing to the revolution.
Lounging in a secure paradise, rolling around with beauties.
That was Kim Cheol-hwan's true vision of equality.
"You gonna invoke your right to silence?"
"I told you, I got nothing to say. Gotta have done something to confess to."
By now, they were probably all corpses anyway.
What's the big crime in feeling up some kids' thighs while they were still alive?
"Ah~ If I'd known it'd turn out like this, I should've at least groped them for real."
"Is that something an educator says!?"
The moment the detective reached for Kim Cheol-hwan's collar.
Bam!
The interrogation room door burst open, and a pale-faced rookie burst in.
"Captain! Look at this!"
"Hey, we're in the middle of an interrogation."
"B-but the training camp right now...!!"
The detective's eyes turned to the smartphone screen the rookie held out.
Kim Cheol-hwan sneaked a glance at the news too and grinned wickedly.
[Breaking News. S-Rank Gate at Imperial Hunter Officer Academy Training Grounds!]
[No Prior Signs. Strong Suspicion of Artificial Terror!]
[President's Emergency Address. Orders Hunter Association to Dispatch Elite Forces! Blue Vest Summit Requested!]
'Bye-bye, chicks. Hell will make you all equal.'
Deep in the mountains of Gangwon-do.
The sky was dyed red, and black mana rose like heat haze from the ground.
The training grounds, once bustling with students' laughter, had turned into hell in just one minute.
"2 o'clock direction! Slimes multiplying! Jin-il, block 'em!"
"Got it!"
Na Jin-il launched his massive shield forward.
Flames erupted from his body, incinerating the sticky slime horde.
"Team A mage unit! Target the front red ogre's legs! Once B Team warrior unit ties 'em up, go for the head!"
"Yes, sir!!"
Lee Ha-eun swung her staff, and sharp ice spikes erupted from the ground, piercing the ogre's ankle.
The dealer line waiting behind seized the opening and unleashed a barrage.
Splash! Boom!
The training grounds were a battlefield.
In response to the sudden S-rank gate, B-rank and C-rank gates had burst open one after another.
Red ogres on top of B-rank variant mud slimes pouring out like trash mobs.
Escape routes cut off, only uncertain reinforcements to wait for.
But the students weren't scared.
They fought back with serious expressions.
"Don't be afraid! The instructors are right behind you! Keep the heals and buffs flowing without a break—you guys just focus forward!"
Instructor Na Yeo-rin's voice boomed across the field through the megaphone.
Flash!
A support spell shot from her fingertips enveloped a student in peril with a perfect protective barrier.
Wide-area healing plus shields.
Her eyes tracked the 30 students and the monsters swarming from all sides in real time.
"Oho."
Yoo Na-yeon grinned while torching a red ogre.
"That instructor's the real deal, huh?"
"Yeah."
I nodded, sipping canned coffee beside her.
Truth be told, I could end this in one second if I stepped in.
But I didn't want to douse the flames in those kids' eyes as they fought so fiercely.
This battle experience would be priceless treasure for them—and Instructor Na Yeo-rin too.
It wasn't because Yoo Na-yeon paid me and my head hurt, so I was sitting this out.
That damn leech. I said I didn't wanna hear it, but she yapped until my ears blistered.
"Tactical command, situational judgment, mental care, healing, stealth support. First time I've seen someone so all-around excellent."
"Hm."
Yoo Na-yeon marveled while firing flames.
Na Yeo-rin's skills were better than I'd expected too.
Even typical B-rank hunters usually excelled in just one area.
But Na Yeo-rin was different.
In terms of waging war, she was as good as any average A-rank raid leader.
"Probably honed it teaching students. Instructors get no respect if they don't know their stuff."
"A monster at the academy. In a world where mastering one trait is tough enough."
Yoo Na-yeon glanced at me.
"Time to warm up. Sang-hyuk."
Yoo Na-yeon took off her jacket and tied it around her waist.
The signal she was getting serious.
"Yeah. The kids' mana is hitting limits."
No matter how promising, they're still students.
Holding off S-rank gate mobs for nearly 30 minutes? Worth praising just for that.
Thud!
"Woooah!! Got it!"
"Red ogres ain't shit!!"
Cheers erupted from the front lines.
Na Jin-il drove the final blow into the ogre's solar plexus and panted heavily.
They'd cleared all visible enemies for now.
"Hoo... Hoo... See that!! I'm the ace of Class A at the Imperial Hunter Officer Academy!!"
"Great job!! Kids!"
Na Yeo-rin yelled, her voice thick with emotion.
The commander's precise orders and the soldiers' execution.
A miraculous victory born of perfect teamwork.
The moment the kids hugged each other, reveling in triumph.
Drip. Drip drip drip.
Rain fell from the clear sky.
The ground turned black and soaked.
A sticky, nauseating rain.
"......Huh?"
Someone pointed at the sky.
A gate.
A black rift tore open in the red sky.
Crack!!
Like shattering glass, black rain poured down in sheets.
"Uh... Ugh...?"
Lee Ha-eun at the front collapsed to her knees.
Starting with her, mana-exhausted kids succumbed one by one to the high-density mana haze.
"Instructor Na Yeo-rin!"
Before I could shout, she was already carrying kids with Na Jin-il.
Yoo Na-yeon looked up, squinting.
From the rift, a knight in black armor rode forth on horseback.
Clop. Clop. Clop.
Hoofbeats echoed from the sky.
"Sang-hyuk. You take the kids and fall back. This guy's no one to hold back against."
An unfamiliar scorching heat poured from Yoo Na-yeon's body.
Mana and presence enough to flatten an ogre barehanded.
Neiiiigh!!
The skeletal horse with no flesh whinnied.
The air shuddered, and fleeing students toppled screaming.
Fear Aura.
The undead monster's innate trait, subjugating foes with vast mana gaps without a fight.
"......"
The knight on the skeletal steed halted before us.
Black frost spread wherever its hooves touched.
Seven years ago.
The legendary monster that beheaded the Saintess and Sword Saint in 30 seconds, then leisurely burned the city as it left.
S-rank Named Monster.
The Death Knight had arrived.