Chapter 13
Chapter 13
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: 4. Blood Demon Art (1)
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Kang San returned home and checked his skills with a somewhat stiff expression.
Two skills.
Their power was tremendous.
Especially the growth skill—a rarity that even most B-Rank hunters didn't possess. And Kang San already had his second one, following Guardian's Will. Looking purely at the effects, he had every reason to be thrilled.
This battle.
He had keenly felt his lack of offensive power.
Azmun's rewards were mostly defensive, which let him endure a D-Rank dullahan's attacks, but his counters fell flat. Without the desperate gamble linking Berserker and Guardian's Will with his life on the line, he'd have spent the whole day on defense before getting killed by the dullahan.
Blood Demon Art's +10% attack power.
Blood Demon Sword Art, First Form's +30% attack power.
Even setting aside the extra effects, his strikes now carried unstoppable force against peers.
However.
Kang San wasn't happy at all.
Despite gaining real power, his face remained rigidly set as he stared at Blood Demon Art.
"A murderer after all."
His past life's memories were truly Pandora's box.
The rewards of Blood Demon Art and Blood Demon Sword Art barely registered; the brief glimpse into the Blood Demon's life was that shocking.
Innocent people.
The Blood Demon killed them for no reason. Those who came to protect their families fought with their lives, but his overwhelming might slaughtered them in moments. People collapsing amid sprays of blood. Even with the Observer's Gaze, Kang San felt like vomiting as he watched the Blood Demon's robes—those of the righteous sects—stained crimson.
It was revolting.
He couldn't accept that such a monster was his past life.
'I hoped it wasn't true.'
Before checking the memories, he'd clung to a sliver of hope.
Maybe the Blood Demon wasn't the villain everyone thought.
But that hope shattered.
The Blood Demon was undeniably evil.
His beastly existence made Azmun and Luca Bellino's trials feel justified. If that monster was his past life, all his misfortunes were inevitable.
Karma.
A person's sins bind to their soul.
Kang San had never committed any grave wrong in this life, yet his past life's karma dragged him to ruin.
"...What the hell am I supposed to do?"
His strength drained away.
Doubt, disgust, and a swirl of emotions crashed over him.
He wouldn't sleep well tonight.
Kang San didn't leave the house for over a week.
Powerlessness.
Existential despair.
Even after losing his parents young, he'd lived righteously, steadily striving with the belief he must.
Why don't famous people say this?
"Effort doesn't guarantee success, but most who succeed earned it through effort. When opportunity knocks, seize it—get up and work now."
Profound words.
That drive pushed Kang San to achieve without rest, preparing for the unknown chance.
But now, it all felt futile.
A demon in human skin.
Knowing the Blood Demon was his past life sapped his will. Staring blankly at the TV, it happened to cover a recent hot issue.
[Serial killer Song Chang-yeon, the culprit behind the Backside World murders, is being transferred to prison. The C-Rank hunter, who ran a Hunter Academy for beginners, was sentenced to death for killing 12 hunters over five years. Initially denying the crimes, Song Chang-yeon...]
Song Chang-yeon.
A textbook killer who popped up whenever forgotten.
Kang San remembered the case vividly.
The brutality had him harshly condemning it at first.
"Ugh, trash bastard. Born human yet killing his own kind. Death's too easy; he deserves death by a thousand cuts. Where's God? Why hasn't he taken this murderer yet?"
Words he'd spat back then.
He despised criminals.
A normal reaction for normal people—and he was just that.
No longer.
His past life was that trash?
It killed his drive to live. Despite the huge reward, he couldn't do anything.
Song Chang-yeon? Compared to his past life, nothing. Even that brief glimpse showed countless kills, and the title Blood Demon implied far more. Blood Demon—blood and demon. A 25-year-old Kang San knew what that meant for a human.
Thump thump.
His heart pounded.
He felt like he was going insane.
The reason he couldn't pull himself together was the Blood Demon reflected in dying Do Jang-hyeon's eyes.
'It looked just like me.'
Past life's self.
The Blood Demon had Kang San's exact face.
Yet blood-smeared, it grinned like a stranger. That shocked him. He wanted to separate past and present selves, but that smile kept haunting him, forcing him to squeeze his eyes shut.
"Fuck, this sucks."
Luca Bellino was right.
He deserved punishment.
Like how people wish sinners suffer even in death, his vile past life made his misfortunes justified. A convincing reality—hence the deeper despair. Technically, Kang San and the Blood Demon were unrelated, but accepting this revolting truth was the problem.
His thoughts wavered.
Accepting past sins, then rejecting reality in fits.
"No, it wasn't my sin. Why should I bear that trash's karma?"
Anger surged.
Injustice drove him mad.
'Need some fresh air.'
Or he'd really lose it.
The mirror showed a bum: unkempt beard, haggard face unlike his usual self.
This wasn't him.
To escape reality, he grabbed some clothes and stepped out for the first time in a week.
The past month.
A tumultuous time in Kang San's life.
Becoming Azmun's apostle, rewards and trials alternating—he'd burned through emotions.
'What should I do now?'
He didn't know.
Past life was past.
Shaking it off would bring peace, but the shock lingered, his mentality frayed. Humanity's moral lines. He'd lived within them, but the Blood Demon's life shattered them utterly.
Kang San wandered aimlessly.
He wanted to.
Clear his head, follow instinct.
As the midday sun dipped low.
Roaming thoughtlessly, his phone blared an alarm, startling him.
Weee-oong weee-oong!
The message.
An emergency disaster alert.
With links happening often, they'd built a warning system.
'E-Rank link? It'll clear quick.'
Fortunate amid misfortune.
Link grades indicate monster threat; E-Rank max meant little worry. On occurrence, nearby military or Rangers arrived in under five minutes. The issue was civilian exposure meantime, but this system slashed link fatalities.
Time to move.
Then.
"Kyaaak!"
A woman's scream.
Looking over, amid fleeing crowds, a woman had fallen.
Right behind her.
A monster approached.
A bipedal creature flicking a snake-like tongue: E-Rank lizardman.
'Link broke right nearby.'
Screams erupted.
The lizardman lunging at her was just the start; hordes scattered everywhere.
Links strike without warning.
Even with strong hunters, unpredictable timing and place stymied instant response.
Five minutes late at worst.
Advanced system, but also shirking civilian risk. No one tried saving her. In a world where death was routine, meddling shortened life.
Kyaak!
"Kyaaaak!"
Lizardman pouncing on the woman.
Kang San's face twisted.
For a split second, she overlapped with the wife slain by the Blood Demon.
'Damn it.'
Regular hunters had no duty to save.
Yet he kicked off the ground.
No one ordered it; not required. Still, instinct drove him at the lizardman.
Clang!
By a hair.
He blocked the lizardman's attack.
As the enraged beast raised its head, a blood-red blade cleaved its skull.
Slash!
Splurt!
Blood sprayed.
The lizardman screeched.
Not dying instantly, it thrashed and charged, but Kang San's swift follow-ups shredded it. Droplets pattered down. With cold eyes, he looked at the woman. Trembling in terror, she stared up, too dazed for thanks.
"Run. Now."
His voice was icy.
Until now.
Far from crime, he hadn't meddled like this.
Ignore appropriately, compromise suitably.
That was his life.
Not anymore.
After past life memories, a deep urge screamed to prove he was different.
"You don't push my back now, huh."
Azmun didn't reply.
No orders to save people.
No quests to stop the link.
No suggestions.
What a devilish god.
Kang San choosing freely, without cost—Azmun just watched with a smile.
'I'm not my past life.'
Not for others.
His own will.
A choice to prove his present self.
Kang San moved.
Toward the link's origin.
He stepped into it.