Chapter 4
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: To Some, a Savior
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After successfully harvesting the Mandragora, Cheon Doun was heading down the mountain when a peculiar sound stopped him in his tracks.
From somewhere in the distance, he could hear the clash of weapons.
‘Must be Hunters nearby.’
In the Demon World, the sound of weaponry could only mean one thing. And if there were Hunters, there would be Return Stones.
A grin spread across Cheon Doun’s face. If he could just get his hands on a Return Stone, which could open a Gate, he could visit the human world as easily as stepping out for a stroll.
“Why am I so lucky today?”
First the Mandragora, and now a chance to farm Return Stones. There was no reason to refuse such an easy opportunity. With an excited expression, Cheon Doun ran toward the sound.
* * *
Kim Taehun, a D-rank Hunter.
He’d come to the Demon World to make a big score, but now, he was filled with regret. His injured and collapsed colleague was also gritting his teeth.
“To think they’d use us as bait and run…! We never should have trusted them!”
He focused his last remaining strength on the barrier. Outside, hundreds of snow rabbits had them surrounded.
Creatures with pure white fur and long ears. In the human world, they were cute animals, but not in the Demon World.
Kim Taehun shivered every time the rabbits opened their mouths, revealing the suckers within.
Getting bitten by one of those meant death. Knowing this sent shivers down both their spines.
‘It’s hopeless. I don’t have the strength to hold on… The barrier’s going to break!’
Just as he braced for death, a loud crash echoed as something fell into the middle of the rabbit pack.
“Wh-what is that? A person…?”
A man wearing a gray fur hide like a sack had landed in the center of the rabbit swarm.
His attire was primitive, but they felt no urge to laugh.
His clothes were likely in that state due to a fierce battle with monsters. That thought was prompted by the bizarre phenomenon before their eyes.
“What is this… The rabbits are making way.”
The two men froze, their faces filled with bewilderment.
Cheon Doun, who had jumped from the cliff above, strode toward them.
With every step he took, the rabbits parted to either side. More than just opening a path, they scattered in all directions and vanished.
‘Am I seeing things?’
Kim Taehun’s jaw dropped at the unbelievable sight.
The snow rabbits of the snowy mountains were high-tier monsters, belonging to B-rank. They moved in packs, and encountering them meant an 80% chance of death—a true legion of death.
Yet, those very snow rabbits were fleeing from a single man.
“What in the world… W-who are you?”
“Cheon Doun.”
That wasn’t the question he’d meant to ask. But that name alone sent Kim Taehun’s mind racing.
‘I’ve never heard that name before. For monsters to avoid him on sight, he has to be a named Hunter of at least A-rank… Why haven’t I heard of him?’
‘Is it an alias? Or maybe a reclusive type of Hunter who rarely makes public appearances?’
Either way, this man had saved their lives. The two of them dispelled the barrier and bowed their heads.
“Thank you. You saved us.”
“Ah, I’m Kim Taehun. This is O Seongju.”
“Skip the thanks. Why don’t you have any gear?”
“Sorry?”
“You wouldn’t have come on a hunt empty-handed. Why don’t you have anything?”
At his words, the two men’s faces fell into despair.
“We were betrayed by our teammates. There were seven of us originally, including us…”
“When the snow rabbits appeared, they took our gear and ran.”
“They must have planned this from the start. They meant to steal our things and leave us to die!”
Kim Taehun ground his teeth in frustration.
“Dammit, I should have been suspicious when B-rank Hunters offered to let us join their team…!”
It was a common story for low-rank Hunters to get stabbed in the back like this.
It had been nearly ninety years since the Gates opened. Hunters who fought for the sake of the world no longer existed.
They had degenerated into mere profiteers, acting only for their own gain.
‘A wasted trip.’
If they didn’t have a Return Stone, he had no more business here. As he turned to leave, Kim Taehun and O Seongju followed him.
“If it’s not too much trouble, could we accompany you? We promise not to be a burden.”
“We’ll even be your porters. Please, just take us with you.”
They were desperate. Having lost their Return Stones, their only hope was to join another Hunter team and go back with them.
They were unaware that Cheon Doun was living comfortably in the Demon World.
“We’re D-rank Hunters. We can’t last long in the Demon World. Please help us. We’ll be sure to repay your kindness.”
The amount of time an awakened person could endure in the Demon World varied greatly. For the two D-rankers, they had less than an hour left.
If they surpassed that limit, they would die, unable to purify the demonic energy seeping into their bodies. Such was the fate of those who lost their Return Stones.
‘Back when I was a Chimera Hunter, plenty of people died that way.’
If they were lucky enough to meet another group of Hunters, they might be able to join them and return, but such luck was rare.
‘They probably won’t make it back alive either.’
Since he didn’t have a Return Stone himself, their deaths were all but certain.
There was no need to tell them and cause a panic. Cheon Doun simply started walking without another word.
Mistaking his silence for permission, the two followed him with bright smiles.
“Thank you!”
“Thank you so much! We will definitely repay this debt!”
“Enough. How did low-rank Hunters like you end up in a place like this? You must have known the demonic energy gets denser the higher you go up the mountain.”
“Well… it’s embarrassing, but we were blinded by money.”
“A request to capture a Chimera alive was posted at the guild. The reward for success is substantial.”
“Capture a Chimera?”
“Yes. Apparently, one of the test subjects escaped from a research institute. They said it jumped into a Gate while fleeing, and our job is to find it.”
He had expected as much, but the request wasn’t for him. With a disappointed look, Cheon Doun started walking again.
‘There are plenty of places that research Chimeras. This must be an incident from one of them.’
The world had once been brought to the brink of destruction by the Gates. Countless Chimera research institutes had been established under the pretext of monster subjugation.
“What kind of Chimera escaped?”
“They call it a Machine Lifeform.”
“A machine? Like an android from a movie?”
“We don’t know the details either. Since they call it a ‘lifeform,’ I doubt it’s just a regular machine…”
Kim Taehun recalled what he had heard at the guild.
“Something about liquid metal. It seems it doesn’t have a fixed form and can change its appearance freely.”
“A shapeshifting Chimera, I see. Then how are you supposed to find it?”
“A GPS function. The client gave us this.”
Kim Taehun took a phone-sized pad from his pocket. A red dot blinked on the screen, with small text next to it.
「Within 5km」
“…Don’t tell me that’s it.”
“Yes. It seems the GPS doesn’t work properly in the Demon World. The pay was probably so good because the search is this difficult.”
Kim Taehun said, scratching his head.
Trying to find a target with an unknown appearance using only this information was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
“Ah. There is one other clue. They said it’s small.”
“Apparently, the liquid metal used as its material is extremely rare. They didn’t have enough, so they had to make it small.”
The size of a large dog, if it were an animal. The size of a small child, if it were a person. Whatever it transformed into, its size wouldn’t be threatening.
Cheon Doun, who had been listening with interest, stopped walking.
‘There it is again. The sound of weapons.’
The sounds of a fight were coming from nearby.
‘Judging by the footsteps, there are five of them. Considering the distance and number… it must be the ones who used these two as bait.’
If so, they would have the Return Stones. The moment he sized up the situation, Cheon Doun bolted toward the sound.
“Huh?”
“M-Mr. Cheon Doun?”
Left behind, the two men stood back-to-back in confusion, warily scanning their surroundings.
“Let’s just wait here.”
If he had rushed off without an explanation, there must have been a good reason. As D-rank Hunters, they would only slow him down if they followed.
‘Mr. Cheon Doun must be an A-rank Hunter or higher. He’ll come back for us when he’s done.’
All they could do was cling to that thread of hope and endure.
* * *
At the edge of the cliff where the sound of weapons had come from.
By the time Cheon Doun arrived, the situation was already over.
“They must have escaped.”
Scattered bloodstains and bags lay strewn across the snow.
It was the trail left by the B-rank Hunters who had used Kim Taehun and O Seongju as bait and fled.
At a glance, it looked like a murder scene, but the residual ripples of a Return Stone being used were still present. They had been injured in battle and had run away.
‘Seems like the work of that Machine Lifeform they mentioned.’
Cheon Doun looked around. The footprints of a small child and a beast were stamped chaotically in the snow. It was a sign that it had fought while freely changing its form.
The tracks alone told him that the Machine Lifeform had overwhelmed five B-rank Hunters with its power.
‘The Hunters seem to have opened a Gate over there and escaped. As for the Machine Lifeform…’
The Machine Lifeform’s tracks led to the edge of the cliff and then stopped.
‘Did it jump? Considering the time it took me to get here, it must be long gone by now.’
He was curious, but not enough to track it. Cheon Doun lost interest in the Machine Lifeform and started opening the abandoned bags.
‘Found them.’
The Hunters had left three bags behind in their haste to escape. Inside, he found nine Return Stones.
They were likely spares they carried, along with the ones they had stolen from the D-rank Hunters.
He found various other items as well. A sleeping bag, clothes, food supplies. Even cookware and camping gear.
He didn’t check everything individually, but the weight of the bags alone told him they were full.
“Not a bad haul.”
Cheon Doun gathered the bags with a cheerful expression. Though he now had Return Stones, he felt no immediate desire to visit the human world.
Here, he had a meticulously built house and a natural fish farm waterfall. He was also planning to plant Mandragora in his garden.
He was starting to enjoy cultivating his own little territory.
‘I’ll go to the human world when I need something.’
With nine Return Stones, he could go back anytime he wanted. Having finished his farming, he turned to leave with light steps.
* * *
Thirty minutes after Cheon Doun had left, Kim Taehun and O Seongju were leaning against each other, gasping for breath.
“I… I can’t hold on any longer.”
O Seongju, who was already injured, collapsed first. Blood trickled from his nose.
It was a sign that his body was being contaminated by demonic energy. His body was signaling that his limit for enduring the Demon World was fast approaching.
“Hey, O Seongju! Get a grip!”
“I-I’m done for. When you get back, tell my wife… tell her I’m sorry.”
“Don’t talk nonsense! Your baby is due next month! You have to hold on, no matter what!”
At the mention of his child, O Seongju gritted his teeth. A look of defiance replaced his despair.
He wrung out his empty mana hole like a dry rag, desperately trying to purify the demonic energy building up inside him.
He was running on sheer willpower.
“Just hold on a little longer! Mr. Cheon Doun will be… Look! It’s Mr. Cheon Doun!”
Kim Taehun’s face lit up as he spotted Cheon Doun walking toward them in the distance.
Relief, joy, the elation of knowing they would survive. To them, the sight of Cheon Doun walking leisurely toward them by himself was like that of a savior.