Divine Seat

Monday, June 7th.

A week had vanished in the blink of an eye.

In that time, I had used space-transfer scrolls to crisscross the entire globe, planting bombs at every branch of the Gwangwon Sect scattered across the world.

Bombs from the Vampire Detective world. I couldn't plant many of them since I had to do it in secret… and their power dropped when I brought them into reality, but they're still more than enough to blow a building to pieces.

As anyone who looked at the Gwangwon Sect in Korea would know, their brainwashing ability stemmed from special patterns and images.

But that can't be all of it. If brainwashing were that easy, they'd just wander around waving pictures and proselytize freely.

Instead, the Gwangwon Sect had been expanding slowly. Quietly. Stealthily.

That meant there were limits to the brainwashing ability — and since the cult leader's power was tied to the temple, I figured the other branch buildings must hold some kind of power of their own.

Even if they don't, leaving them standing means some other bastard could get brainwashed and rebuild the whole cult. Better to wipe them out for good.

Part of me wanted to sweep them all away myself.

But there were limits. I was one man, and the Gwangwon Sect was countless. More importantly, they still didn't know much about me or Park Su-ho.

They're watching me, sure — but that's about it. The one who needs to take the front line is Park Su-ho. He's Selbretina's champion, after all.

If I stepped into the spotlight and took the lead, Bramasen might start targeting me openly.

I don't care if he comes after me — but he could go after my women. Han Harin, Han Ayeong, Jin Seyeong, Baek Jieun. Against Bramasen, I don't have the strength to protect them all.

So I put Park Su-ho out in front.

But that bastard Park Su-ho… a whole week has passed and he still hasn't contacted me.

I tried calling. No answer. Proof he was inside the Tattoo World. I clicked my tongue and opened the Amusement Life app.

What I chose was the quest.

What I needed right now was points.

And that Hunter Killer's Bone Harpoon. That's an ability I need right now.

I thought back to the cult leader from before my regression.

A monster who recovered no matter how many times you killed him. A thoroughly disgusting bastard.

If I'd had this back then, the story would have been different. Keep it on hand as a last resort for when things go wrong, and it'll be my ace in the hole.

I thought about the quest Amusement World — Clown and Hunter. As far as I knew, Clown and Hunter had been a web novel. A traditional fantasy that was infamous for being unpopular. It had decent traction for a while, then got absolutely roasted in the later arcs and crashed hard. After that, rumors said the author changed pen names.

It's not a dangerous world. At least not compared to God's Atlantis or Baekhwan. Just because you're a freak doesn't mean you're overwhelmingly strong. Goal: one day. Finish the quest within twenty-four hours.

Clown and Hunter. The clown and the hunter in that title were the same person. Originally a clown, he awakened a hunter's talent and did both jobs at once — that was the premise.

High odds I'll run into the protagonist. Ideally early on, or late in the story.

I was in a forest.

I tried to move and felt a sensation that was completely alien. Something beyond the temperature on my skin or the wind — like I'd grown an entirely new set of sensory organs.

Right. In this world, I'm a freak.

I checked my body. First off, my entire frame was covered in hard skin — something like a stag beetle's shell, only clearly tougher. Three fingers per hand, but four arms, which meant twelve fingers total. More than when I was human. Net gain.

No wings. Instead… I've got Piccolo-style antennae on my forehead.

I twitched the antennae. The surrounding space resolved into fine detail. I marveled. Within a five-meter radius, I could sense even the insects crawling through the dirt.

With specs like these, the job just got easier.

Something flew into my zone. The instant I registered it, my body reacted. Two right hands snapped out and snatched the projectiles midair — three arrows. I locked onto the direction they'd come from. My vision zoomed like a telescope ramping up magnification, punching through the night sky's darkness to pin a hunter thirty meters out.

Acceleration. Charna.

I closed the distance in a blink and appeared in front of the hunter. Instead of freezing in shock, he clenched his teeth and slashed his fingers at me. Those fingers transformed into razor-sharp blades.

Might as well take one hit. Need to know how tough this armor is.

His claws raked across my chest. Sparks briefly flew. A scratch appeared on the hard skin. That was all.

"What the hell — why is a monster like this even here…! Gyaaaaaah!"

I seized the hunter by the throat and twisted. He screamed with his neck already broken — proof he wasn't an ordinary human.

The hunters of this world were modeled on real-world Hunters. They had awakened abilities. And there was a setting that if a hunter lost himself to power, or faced a life-or-death crisis, he became a freak.

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A hunter who becomes a freak gets stronger. So the right answer is to kill them as fast as possible — before they transform.

I ignored the floating window and sprinted off in another direction, hunting for more hunters.

In less than an hour I ran into a pack of them. Scrubs.

Thunderbolt!

Crackling blue current tore through their bodies.

No mana in this world, so one Thunderbolt and I'm wiped. Better save it for emergencies.

I kept moving and ran into hunters without much trouble.

I keep running into them, but it's a pain. Let's auto-progress.

Auto-progress was perfect for situations like this. But I soon found myself scowling.

Hunts completed through auto-progress didn't count toward the total.

No loopholes, huh. Fine. I'll just have to kill them myself every time I meet one.

In Amusement-world time, roughly two months had passed.

Around the three-hundred mark, things started getting harder. The riffraff hunters began avoiding me, and the ones with real strength started gathering.

I deliberately left one hunter alive.

"Where do you hunters gather?"

"…You can even talk. So your intelligence is high too."

"Answer the question."

"Keh-heh. There's only one reason we gather — to hunt a powerful monster. Wait. We will gather around you. Thunderbug. We'll kill you before you grow beyond our reach."

The hunter's mouth yawned open and he spat a volley of teeth at me. A bizarre ability.

Charna.

I dodged every tooth and drove a fist into his solar plexus. He crumpled and died.

Thunderbug? That's the name they stuck on me? What a half-assed label.

Bug-like appearance plus the occasional Thunderbolt — yeah, that was definitely where it came from.

Now that the name's out there, the hunters will come to me on their own. I'll just train.

I twitched my antennae and used Thunderbolt.

The same way I could feel insects crawling on the ground, I could now clearly feel the shape and sensation of the lightning itself.

This sensation… like I'm about to grasp something, but it keeps slipping just out of reach.

If I locked this feeling into memory, it would definitely help me back in reality.

I raided a hunter village and slaughtered everyone. Felt like I'd killed five hundred, but the count only registered ninety-four. Everyone else hadn't been hunters.

"P-please spare me…!"

A woman dropped to her knees on the floor and begged. She'd been hiding at the far end of the village. Blue hair, a slim figure — quite the beauty. I kicked her in the head and killed her anyway.

Freaks in this world had no genitals. In my current state, I felt zero sexual desire. That was unpleasant, but once I finished this quest I'd be back to normal.

Time passed.

Twenty left.

I rose from the mud where I'd been hiding my body. The hunter who'd come yesterday had been genuinely strong — strong enough to take two of my arms.

Arms already regenerated. So this is a freak's recovery power…!

Aside from having no dick and the occasional overload of hyper-acute senses that made things unpleasant, it was a body with outstanding specs.

"Thunderbug. So you were here. I'll be the one to hunt you."

A calm male voice. I turned toward it. A hunter with a clown's face stood there — bow on his back, sword at his hip. Ridiculous appearance, but that was the protagonist's ability.

Hunting with a clown face means we're at least mid-story. Not bad.

No need for words. I used Charna and launched myself at the clown. Four fists shot out at once toward that painted face.

The clown's body blurred and reappeared on my right. His blade skimmed across my waist. Green blood sprayed. I ignored it and reached for him.

If I just grab him, I win.

I had him.

The instant I thought that, the clown vanished from my grip. His ability — Cheerful Lie. An ability that deceived the senses.

Absolute Mind is working fine. So it works because it fools the senses, not the mind? Experiencing it firsthand is disgusting.

A steel arrow screamed toward my back. Too fast to dodge. BOOM! Far too loud for an arrow striking home.

"Michela! You all right?!"

A black-haired man appeared behind me. The clown Michela's partner hunter.

"Zrun! I'm fine! More importantly — dodge!"

I tried to kill Zrun with Charna, but he slipped my hand by a hair's breadth.

"Kh!"

Zrun fled between the trees like a squirrel. I moved to pursue, but six throwing knives from Michela registered in my senses.

I swept my arms and knocked them aside. Two buried themselves in my flesh. I pulled them out without expression. Flexed, and the bleeding stopped. I glanced at Zrun. There was a scar on his face.

"I see. So this is the extreme late game."

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Well, I knew nothing about the original's extreme late game.

"Extreme late game? This is only the beginning. The two of us are one, after all."

The clown grinned with absolute confidence. His body blurred. From behind, arrows flew. Zrun's ability was force maximization. Three or more of those arrows and even I wouldn't hold.

Full power, then.

Crack.

Lightning sparked across my body.

I hadn't spent the time hunting nine hundred eighty hunters doing nothing.

At first I'd used auto-progress, but I'd quickly realized this was the perfect training environment and changed course.

That sensation of making the entire space my own — that helped a lot.

Crackle-snap-hiss.

In terms of time, roughly three months.

In that span, I had trained only one technique.

Flash Thunder.

Ironically, the absence of mana made it easier to feel.

The lightning woke every single cell in my body. Sensing that expanding awareness, I charged Michela.

The startled clown opened his mouth and pulled a stunt. I kept throwing four fists; Michela kept dodging by a hair each time.

Those arrows from behind are way too annoying.

I switched targets. Kill the archer who kept timing his shots to interrupt me first.

"Zrun!! Run!!"

Too late. Before Michela's voice even faded, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I was already in front of Zrun. Unlike Michela, Zrun was slow.

Zrun clenched his teeth and loosed an arrow straight at my brow.

"I'll give you one arm."

I raised an arm to block the arrow and swung the other three at Zrun — and my body locked up solid.

Sizzle-hiss.

The smell of burning flesh rose from my body.

Damn. Overload.

A single instant of opening.

The protagonist didn't miss it. Michela took my back and carved into me like a butcher.

"We killed Thunderbug!!!"

"Ha… so we finally did it. With this, you've earned your freedom."

"Zrun. It's thanks to you. If you hadn't come with me, I…"

"Shut up. Don't start tallying every little thing over something this small."

I rose to my feet. Both of them stared at me with eyes wide open.

"You won."

They scrambled into combat stances.

"But the ones who die are you."

I gripped the Gay Slayer and swung.

Gay Kill.

Black light carved through Michela and Zrun. Their upper and lower halves separated and slid to the ground.

The reason the web novel Clown and Hunter got roasted and the author changed pen names was that the later arcs went full BL drift. What had been a solid protagonist-growth story through the midgame suddenly turned into pure ass-play.

I only skimmed the ending through the comments, but… marriage ending, right?

Marriage ending.

Not bad.

Except for the part where it was two guys marrying each other.

Three days later, I completed the quest.