Chapter 3
Chapter 3
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: Slaughter Sovereign
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‘Before the regression, did that bastard kill me?’
It might be, or it might not.
But it was clear that he was the cause.
Whether I failed to block his attack just now and lost my life,
or got injured and had my items stolen otherwise.
The result would have been the same anyway.
‘It happened so long ago that my memory’s fuzzy.’
The only thing left in Kang Hyun-soo’s memory from the second tutorial
was scattering amid infighting among players and monster attacks, surviving alone through sheer hardship.
That guy seemed to be the cause of the infighting,
but it wasn’t certain.
‘Anyway, I saved him.’
He had rescued the life of a player with a Ghost King-type skill who had been on the brink of death.
Quite dramatically, at that.
Gratitude filled the woman’s eyes.
“You bastard!”
Of course, in return, he had earned the hostility of the man in front of him.
‘This is more than worth it.’
A faint smile crept onto Kang Hyun-soo’s lips.
“Die!”
Seeing the smile on Kang Hyun-soo’s lips, the man swung his sword with a murderous glare.
‘He’s not normal.’
To swing a gleaming longsword at a fellow human—someone who wasn’t even a monster—without any hesitation?
That wasn’t something a modern person fresh out of the first tutorial could do.
‘He’s got experience.’
It was the look in his eyes that only someone who had killed before could have.
Whoosh!
Kang Hyun-soo’s sword moved lightly.
Slash!
Along with the sound of something being severed.
“Aaahhh!”
A gut-wrenching scream burst from the man’s mouth.
“My hand! My hand!”
Blood poured from the right wrist of the hand that had held the sword.
Kang Hyun-soo’s blade had cleanly sliced through the muscles, tendons, and ligaments of the man’s right wrist.
‘He won’t die from that.’
The condition for acquiring the Outstanding Leader achievement was to ensure all second tutorial companions survived.
‘Even if he’s half-crippled, as long as he survives, that’s enough.’
Even if the injury would kill him in five minutes, as long as he was still breathing, the Outstanding Leader achievement would be his.
‘Consider yourself lucky.’
If it weren’t for the second tutorial achievement?
He would have severed the man’s throat instead of his wrist.
“Th-thank you.”
The woman behind Kang Hyun-soo offered her thanks.
But her voice trembled, and a faint fear lingered in her eyes.
The other two, who had been watching, had turned their heads away and squeezed their eyes shut.
‘They’re scaredy-cats.’
He hadn’t even killed the guy who harbored killing intent toward him—just crippled him for battle.
Yet even that sight seemed utterly shocking to them.
‘Well, yeah.’
They had been living normal modern lives until just recently.
It was only natural for them to react like that.
“Are you okay?”
Kang Hyun-soo made a gentle expression and extended his hand to the woman.
“Y-yes? Yes, I’m fine.”
The woman smiled, took Kang Hyun-soo’s hand, and stood up.
“Thank you so much. You saved my life.”
The faint fear that had bloomed in the woman’s eyes vanished.
In its place was gratitude toward Kang Hyun-soo.
‘Not bad.’
The way she had boldly confronted the man holding the sword.
The mental resilience to recover quickly even after witnessing a shocking scene unfit for modern eyes.
The heart that felt gratitude rather than fear toward Kang Hyun-soo, who had wielded a sword against another person.
‘She’s worth nurturing.’
If a player with a Ghost King-type skill, certain to grow strong in the future, possessed such spirit and heart?
The odds were high she’d surpass top rankers to become a named player with a title.
“Y-you bastard! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you, I swear!”
At that moment, the man clutched his profusely bleeding right wrist and screamed in rage.
The venom in his eyes was no joke.
Kang Hyun-soo’s eyes narrowed slightly.
‘Should I just chop off both hands?’
As an awakened player, he wouldn’t die from that.
But it would certainly break his spirit.
The problem was the other players’ gazes.
They had already averted their eyes and feared him just from the wrist slash.
If he severed both wrists?
They might think he was a psychopath.
‘But leaving him be will definitely cause trouble.’
For now, he’d give a proper warning to build justification.
If he still didn’t listen?
He could use that warning as pretext to chop off both hands.
‘Once the second tutorial ends, I can cleanly sever his neck anyway.’
It was a hassle, but for the goodwill of his second tutorial companions—
more precisely, to gain the favor of the woman behind him—he could endure that much annoyance.
Just as Kang Hyun-soo opened his mouth to issue the warning.
Click!
The woman finished loading her crossbow and aimed it at the man’s head.
“Want a hole in your forehead? Try talking again.”
At the woman’s venom-laced words, the man’s bellowing mouth snapped shut.
‘She’s growing on me more and more.’
Her situational awareness was sharp.
As soon as she escaped danger with Kang Hyun-soo’s help, the woman had reloaded her crossbow.
When the man raised his voice after that, she aimed it at him without hesitation.
If he had kept mouthing off?
A crossbow bolt might have pierced his forehead.
“Thank you so much for helping. I’m Song Hana, 23 years old.”
The woman shared her name and age.
‘Song Hana?’
The moment he heard her name, Kang Hyun-soo’s body stiffened.
It was a name he remembered.
‘Slaughter Sovereign.’
The legendary assassin player who had slit the throats of countless rankers and named players.
‘Same name? Or the same person?’
True to her assassin nature, the Slaughter Sovereign had kept her information tightly hidden.
The known details were just two: that she was a woman,
and a Korean player named Song Hana.
‘I can’t just sit here.’
But right now, whether Song Hana was the Slaughter Sovereign or not wasn’t the priority.
“I’m Kang Hyun-soo, 21 years old.”
Kang Hyun-soo calmly stated his name and age.
Hearing his age, Song Hana looked slightly surprised.
She hadn’t expected him to be younger than her.
“I’m a college student. And you, Hyun-soo?”
“Same here, college student. Hobby’s kendo.”
“Kendo?”
“Yeah, I’ve been practicing steadily for over ten years, and now it’s actually useful.”
At Kang Hyun-soo’s words, not just Song Hana but the other two also nodded as if to say, “That figures.”
Even to their untrained eyes, Kang Hyun-soo’s swordsmanship hadn’t looked ordinary.
‘It’s not a lie.’
He’d never learned kendo in his modern life.
But before the regression, he had swung a sword for thirty years.
“I’m Choi Woo-seok, 27 this year, job hunter.”
“I’m Park Ji-myeong, 24 this year, college student.”
The two subtly inserted themselves and introduced themselves.
“Oh Seong-hyuk. 29. Was a thug.”
Then the injured man also gave his name and age.
At that instant, everyone’s gazes turned to him.
“Can someone help with the bleeding? It’s hard to do alone.”
Oh Seong-hyuk said calmly to Choi Woo-seok and Park Ji-myeong.
Kang Hyun-soo let out a scoff.
‘Quick on the uptake, and pretty shameless too.’
He had a major injury on his right wrist.
If he parted ways with the group in this state?
Oh Seong-hyuk’s chances of dying during the second tutorial were high.
“Hurry up and help!”
Oh Seong-hyuk pressured Choi Woo-seok and Park Ji-myeong.
The two looked at Kang Hyun-soo with anxious eyes.
Kang Hyun-soo, the youngest, had become the group’s leader.
“Should we help?”
Kang Hyun-soo asked Song Hana.
“For now, yeah, that seems best.”
Kang Hyun-soo nodded at Song Hana’s response.
Seeing that, Choi Woo-seok and Park Ji-myeong approached Oh Seong-hyuk to help staunch the bleeding.
“Will you be okay?”
Kang Hyun-soo tested Song Hana.
“Yeah, no one knows what’ll happen in the second tutorial. More companions is better, even one more.”
“Well, true.”
More companions were better, assuming they were actual companions.
‘She’s too naive.’
The scales tipped toward her being just a namesake, not the Slaughter Sovereign.
At that moment, Song Hana spoke again.
“He’s trash, but he’s got chainmail and a shield, so take his sword and put him up front—he could be useful.”
‘Not naive after all.’
In a way, it was quite cold-blooded.
Putting a man armed only with chainmail and a shield, stripped of his sword, at the front?
That was no different from using a living meat shield.
It wasn’t the mindset of a player just starting their second tutorial.
‘Same person?’
“It’d be better for his survival too, definitely.”
Song Hana’s voice trembled faintly.
Despite her harsh words, she clearly felt some compassion.
‘Not bad.’
He didn’t need a companion who was purely cold and ruthless.
Ruthless determination paired with a warm heart.
Those two hard-to-reconcile traits needed to coexist.
Only then could she grow into a player ruthless to enemies but devoted to allies.
‘Whether she’s the Slaughter Sovereign or not, right now she’s just a green modern newbie.’
Kang Hyun-soo put off judging Song Hana.
Rustle!
At that moment, a small noise came from the bushes.
Everyone’s gazes turned to the bushes.
Kyaaang!
With an enraged roar, a Blood Wolf the size of a bull charged at Oh Seong-hyuk.
“Aaack!”
Choi Woo-seok, who had been helping with Oh Seong-hyuk’s treatment, screamed and dodged.
“Eek!”
Park Ji-myeong froze in shock.
The only one among the three to respond calmly was Oh Seong-hyuk.
Thud!
Oh Seong-hyuk raised his shield with his left arm and bashed the attacking Blood Wolf’s head.
But that was it.
He couldn’t wield a sword with his injured right hand.
Whoosh!
Thud!
Then an arrow flew and embedded in the Blood Wolf’s shoulder.
Song Hana had fired her crossbow.
Kyak!
The arrow-struck Blood Wolf turned its gaze toward Song Hana.
Thud!
Then Oh Seong-hyuk swung his shield again, smashing the Blood Wolf’s snout and pulling aggro.
While Oh Seong-hyuk and Song Hana attacked the Blood Wolf, Choi Woo-seok and Park Ji-myeong just trembled, unable to act.
‘Out of four, two are usable.’
The problem was that one of the usable two had already caused trouble and was likely to cause more later.
‘That’s enough.’
If the most important person, Song Hana, had been as arrogant as Oh Seong-hyuk or as cowardly as Choi Woo-seok or Park Ji-myeong, it would’ve been a headache.
But she wasn’t.
She had even exceeded expectations.
‘The second tutorial should go smoothly.’
As Kang Hyun-soo reached that conclusion.
“You damn bastards, attack now!”
Oh Seong-hyuk, blocking the Blood Wolf’s attacks, berated Choi Woo-seok and Park Ji-myeong.
But the two only staggered to their feet, unable to swing their weapons readily.
“I won’t cause trouble anymore, please help!”
Oh Seong-hyuk looked at Kang Hyun-soo and shouted.
“Hyun-soo, we need to team up for now!”
Song Hana called Kang Hyun-soo’s name and requested help.
‘The fight’s already started.’
If the two hadn’t engaged the monster?
Kang Hyun-soo would have helped without hesitation.
But now he couldn’t.
If he intervened now?
The system would count it as party hunting.
That would cost him one of the must-haves from the tutorial.
‘Better to give up the Outstanding Leader achievement.’
Kang Hyun-soo cleanly discarded Oh Seong-hyuk’s life.
‘I’ll just take Song Hana and leave.’
As Kang Hyun-soo thought that.
Thuck!
The second crossbow bolt from Song Hana pierced the Blood Wolf’s eye.
Kyak!
Thud!
The Blood Wolf, rampaging with fury, let out a short cry and collapsed to the ground.
Instant death.
“Huff huff huff!”
Oh Seong-hyuk, who had taken the Blood Wolf’s attacks head-on, exhaled roughly.
“Phew!”
Song Hana, who had reloaded and fired the second shot to finish it off, also let out a sigh of relief.
‘It’s a monster five people would need to team up for, and they handled it with two.’
No wonder it was tough.
But conversely, the reward was huge.
As the Blood Wolf’s corpse dissipated, residual mana poured out and seeped into Song Hana and Oh Seong-hyuk’s bodies.
At that moment, the two flinched in surprise and stared into space, as if pressing something.
‘They leveled up.’
Blood Wolves averaged levels 3 to 5.
For level 0s like them, one kill was enough for a level up.
‘They earned a hard-fought reward.’
Those two had grown stronger than before.
‘Whereas those two.’
Choi Woo-seok and Park Ji-myeong.
The pair who had just trembled and watched...
had gained nothing.