Chapter 214
Chapter 214
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 214
Chapter Title: Downtime and Dark Omens
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No matter what anyone outside thought, Yoo Seongwon returned home feeling utterly liberated and tried his best to enjoy what little rest he could get.
He threw a massive party in the frontline city and started going wild.
It wasn't just about eating and drinking—he focused more on playing with his family. Right now, he was enjoying a hunter training game created in a dungeon simulator deep underground in Iron Fortress, along with Ayoung, Jaeyoung, Hayoung, and Suyeong.
『Groooaaarrr!』
“Eek! M-M-Monster!”
Boom!
At the moment, Yoo Seongwon was freaking out at the sight of a zombie that looked utterly real in the dungeon scene simulated by the machine. Without thinking, he pulled out Titan's Stake and smashed the zombie appearing right in front of him.
Of course, since it wasn't real but just a simulation, it ended with the thing scattering into light particles. The problem was that his swing had shattered the simulator room floor beneath the illusion.
“What kind of horror game makes it this realistic… Huff… Huff…”
“Hey, the floor’s broken— I can see the tiles.”
The dungeon backdrop was a dank, dark wooden mansion, but Yoo Seongwon’s swing with Titan's Stake had cracked it open, exposing the pristine white tiles underneath.
The simulator kept trying to restore the scenery, but with the broken tiles, it glitched with static, as if emphasizing that this dungeon was all an illusion.
“What if you’d pulled out a real weapon? We have simulator weapons for this, Dad.”
“Sorry… I panicked… Man, the tech these days is insane.”
“Dad, are you really the guy who came back from a core dungeon and smashed constellations?”
“It’s my first time with a horror-type dungeon like this. And this kind of monster too… yeah, first time.”
Scratching his head sheepishly, Yoo Seongwon mumbled excuses left and right.
He’d come to play this dungeon simulator game, but instead of living up to his title as a world-top hunter, he was just piling on the embarrassments.
Resigned to the fact that he’d never pull off the dignified dad image, he scratched his head and watched his kids expertly gun down the approaching zombies.
He gave it another shot himself but ended up getting bitten by a zombie and hitting game over.
“Agh~ Got me. Oh, game over automatically resets the simulator, huh? Whoa, gotta step back so I don’t break anything. Playing with you guys is no joke.”
“Good job. You should be resting after getting back, but this must be even more tiring…”
“This is rest, hon… er. Man, ‘honey’ still doesn’t roll off the tongue even though we’re married.”
“We’ll get used to it bit by bit. I still find ‘you’ easier too…”
After leaving the simulation room like that, Yoo Seongwon sat side by side with Shin Somi, watching the kids play.
Yeah, rest wasn’t just about sleeping and lounging around.
Coming back from life-or-death battles and sharing everyday moments like this was healing enough.
“No need to push yourself like that. Let’s just take it easy our way. No rush.”
“Mmm, but there is one urgent thing.”
“One?”
“Uh… a sibling for Ayoung…”
Saying that, Shin Somi blushed faintly, and Yoo Seongwon caught on instantly, his own face turning red.
Of course, family meant making blood-related kids too, and since he’d gone abroad right after the wedding, these moments felt incredibly precious—and urgent.
Their eyes met, and without a word, the two left the simulation room and headed back to their house.
Yoo Seongwon sealed off the Knight Order Sanctuary skill, warned the knights not to disturb his baby-making(?) time just in case, locked the door tight, and spent some alone time together.
***
The next day, afternoon at the frontline city command center.
Yoo Seongwon finally dragged himself out of bed around 2 p.m. and made it to the command center.
People were already bustling around, hard at work.
Spotting him—the man called Asia’s Emperor—they shot him looks filled with awe and respect. Feeling the pressure but brushing it off, Yoo Seongwon headed up to the top floor where Ayoung was working.
“I’m here.”
“Hm? Dad? Why not rest more since you’re taking time off?”
“Nah, had to get up before nightfall. Yawn~ Anyway, how’s everything going?”
“Yep. Thanks to you becoming Asia’s Emperor, things are progressing smoothly. Even the stuck issues are resolving themselves with everyone bowing their heads and cooperating.”
His status change hadn’t just made things easier—it had wiped out any hint of resistance. Things had dropped to a level where they groveled on their own just as he wanted.
Yoo Seongwon, who’d worried about smooth progress without him, was dumbfounded to hear it was even easier now. He flopped onto the sofa.
“That’s good. Oh, right—where’s Mom?”
“She went to Iron Fortress. Oh, that just now was super dad-like. Extra points for you.”
“What do I even spend those points on? Sigh~ Asia’s Emperor, huh? I didn’t go to China aiming for that.”
“I heard the constellations were trying to steal the knights?”
“Yeah, pretty much. I went to help the guy out, but it was so ridiculous. Haa~ Messed up all my plans.”
Originally, he’d planned to build up Constellation Dragon-Phoenix King’s forces to check Olympus. But now, it’d just handed Olympus Guild a win instead.
Good results came out, but considering his mission, it was a bad move.
He had to reorganize this messed-up board from the opening.
“Things got all tangled up.”
“Why not just cut off the big constellations first?”
“You didn’t see Constellation Eternal Wrath.”
A massive hole in the middle of the Pacific sucking in seawater and land, and the legions of colossal monsters crawling out from it. The sheer presence of that true body descending made his head spin just imagining it.
Even Olympus Guild was barely holding it back with barriers—that was their limit. How was he supposed to take down something like that?
“…Hmm~ So the final bosses are Eternal Wrath for evil alignments and Olympus Guild for good ones, huh? Guess we start from the lower tiers and work our way up?”
“Haaa~ Yeah… that’s probably it? After the international conference announcement, I have no clue where to start. Gotta watch the justifications too… Can’t let slip we’re expelling all constellations.”
“Right. They’d definitely gang up on us if that got out, and plenty of countries have had international relations shift because of constellations. So how about starting close to home? There’s one right above us that doesn’t need any special excuse.”
Ayoung’s words sparked something in Yoo Seongwon’s mind.
Constellation Slaughter King. A long-time threat to South Korea, an evil-aligned one demanding human sacrifices—perfect target with no need for debate.
‘Right. Those guys. Wonder what that Pastor Lee’s up to now?’
Thinking about it, he suddenly got curious since they’d parted ways after blowing up the undercity in China.
He knew they were scheming something massive called the human factory, way bigger than expected. If they hadn’t given up after all this time, they were probably still pushing it.
Deciding he needed to deal with them for sure, Yoo Seongwon resolved to target Slaughter King after the international conference.
***
Russia, Yakutsk.
Even the old Manchu region in China where Constellation Slaughter King held sway wasn’t safe anymore, so Pastor Lee and the scavengers had grudgingly fled to Russia, wandering as nomads.
They’d stolen hunters’ trailers and roamed from city to city, eating humans, dipping in and out of Constellation Frozen Ruler’s territory to evade the Russian government’s pursuit—that was their daily life.
“Ugh, ow! Freezing my ass off! How long we gotta stay here? Brrr!”
“We stick it out till Pastor Lee says to move—whaddya gonna do? At least half my body’s demon, so I can handle it. You lot must be dying.”
“We’ve got the most magistones for heating right now.”
But that life was anything but comfortable.
Food and fuel were plentiful thanks to what they’d looted from the Golden Mane Ho, but Constellation Frozen Ruler’s brutal cold snaps, the endless frozen warriors and dungeons attacking them—they were massive headaches.
The worst, though, was the relentless freezing cold: minus 10 or 20 was standard, plunging to 30 or 40 at its peak.
A godforsaken world blanketed in snow and ice. Day or night, blizzards howled, turning every moment into a fight for survival.
Thanks to ample supplies, the hundreds of scavengers who’d followed hadn’t dwindled, but it was still a hellish existence.
“What pisses me off most is that ‘Pastor Lee’ can just bail to a core dungeon. Leaving us in this frozen hellhole.”
“What can we do? He’s our only hope…”
The scavengers under Constellation Slaughter King’s blessing were in the worst mood lately.
Seoul was blocked off by the command legions, killing their livelihood, and now Hunter Yoo Seongwon had taken control of them, somehow ascending to the absurd position of Asia’s Emperor.
In this mess, Slaughter King’s remaining apostles were holed up in core dungeons, with hope pinned solely on Pastor Lee.
“He barely shows up anymore, just keeps demanding we bring humans. Even started ordering us to buy them.”
“That’s not the issue… It’s what he’s doing with them that worries me. He ascended—should just serve the constellation quietly.”
[Even if trials… test me… all this is under God’s guidance. Beneath dark storm clouds… a single ray of light guides me… I shall grasp that light… and build your holy war to the end…]
Speak of the devil—the pastor opened a portal and appeared right as they were talking.
But he wasn’t alone. Countless humans resembling Olympus Guild’s Tritonias clones followed behind him, eyes vacant as they trailed after.
Seeing it, Park Sukja and Kwak Youngho yelled in shock.
“Whoa… what the hell is all that?”
[Research success… Situation’s urgent, so I mass-produced these S-rank hunters with every resource I had.]
“Ooh… impressive! Mass-producing S-rank hunters! That’d be welcome anywhere in the world, right? Solid firepower—we could bait any guild with this tech…”
Park Sukja rambled excitedly, but Pastor Lee ignored her, suddenly opening his inventory to pull out a table and cooking utensils.
Then, like prepping fish, he grabbed one Tritonias clone, slapped it down, casually slit its throat, and replied to her.
[No. From now on, I’m going to eat these ‘things.’ In all sorts of ways. And I’ll prepare some for you too.]
“Gah? E-Eat them?”
[Yes… To settle down, you need ‘power.’ To protect the faith… to protect the constellation, you need power. So… we eat. Starting now. Reject if you want. I’m going to devour these S-rank human ingredients to my heart’s content.]
“W-Why all of a sudden?”
[A revelation came. He’s… targeting our core dungeon…! The one who banished two constellations… from this world is coming for our god now. So right now! We eat.]
Thud! Slice! Slice!
Pastor Lee said that and began viciously prepping his “ingredients.”
He’d feared Yoo Seongwon entering core dungeons before, so no such revelation had come. But now, with him starting his mission in earnest and already expelling two constellations from here, an anxious Slaughter King had sent the “revelation.”
To heed it, Pastor Lee had no choice but to eat humans and grow stronger. He’d poured every resource into making Tritonias clones—and now he’d eat them.