The Villain Appears (3)
Ram’s face twisted in fury. “Yu, Yu Jihun’s favorability is plummeting! It’s because Kang Hae-il keeps roasting everything with fire!”
“······It’s fine. Just wait.”
Ram was seething, but she was told to wait.
Wait for what?
Boom!
“Here it comes.”
Something was coming, all right.
Kerak — Lv.28
Notoura — Lv.23
Dabuk — Lv.23
These were what people commonly called named monsters.
Monsters that possessed proper names.
Above their heads, instead of generic labels like “Goblin Warrior,” their given names floated clearly.
“There you are. The Kerak-No-Dab trio.”
Ram grinned at their entrance.
These were the monsters she had painstakingly prepared.
Their appearance as the first named monsters had been entirely intentional.
Sam nodded beside her, reviewing the detailed data.
“These guys will threaten the party, and Kang Hae-il will take them down. That should raise the favorability again.”
“For now, Ker, No, and Dab all have solid stats and skills. It looks like they crossed over exactly as we intended. However······.”
Sam had one concern.
“What if Julian ends up taking them?”
“Kiriri!? He’s just a porter right now, isn’t he? It’ll be hard for him to fight while hiding his identity. He’s actually pretty strong, you know?”
“Ah, right!”
Against a Champion Goblin, he could assassinate it while disguised as a porter.
But named monsters?
They weren’t the kind of beings that could be taken down so easily.
“A porter should just stay in the back and stay quiet.”
“Oh. He’s actually heading off to stay quiet.”
“Huh?”
“He says he’s going to the bathroom?”
“······?”
On the monitor, Julian was sprinting somewhere with an excited expression, claiming he needed to use the restroom.
‘What the… Something feels….’
Ram felt a growing sense of unease.
“Grrrrraaaaaaaaah!”
Kwa-gwa-gwang—!
The orc Kerak charged straight at Kang Hae-il.
From a human perspective, it was like a protein-packed tank rushing forward.
Yet Kang Hae-il didn’t show the slightest hint of fear.
“Come.”
Fwoooooosh—!
His entire upper body blazed with intense flames.
Bare hands, black sleeveless top, jeans, and long hair flowing past a sharp jawline.
With wild, blazing eyes, his fist collided with the orc’s axe.
——Kwaaaaaaaaang!
A deafening roar erupted as a wave of mana tore through the surroundings.
- Whoa
- Holy crap
- Damn
- (┬┬﹏┬┬) Hae-il please win!!
- Kyaa
- This is insane
- We’re screwed
- Look at that scale lol
The people watching the news channel were in awe of the perfect hero.
Even Kerak felt the same.
“Heh.”
Kerak—an elite among orc warriors, bearer of an honorable name.
He recognized talent at a glance.
“This one’s mine.”
He bared his massive tusks in a grin and dismounted from his wolf.
Facing a strong warrior was an honor for an orc.
“I am the honorable orc Kerak. What is your name, warrior?”
“Kang Hae-il.”
Crack.
Kang Hae-il rolled his shoulders and stood before Kerak.
“Will you duel me?”
“Gladly.”
He accepted the one-on-one duel far too easily.
- What a crazy alpha male lol
- He’s really doing this?
- You’re supposed to think before answering, bro?
- ?
- Isn’t one-on-one a bit much?
The Constellations were worried too.
“His level is the highest. Are you really okay by yourself?”
Even the other Awakened in Yu Jihun’s party looked concerned.
While the other orcs were level 23, Kerak was a staggering level 28.
That was easily two and a half times stronger. And he was going to fight it alone?
Kang Hae-il simply nodded as if it were obvious.
“That’s exactly why I’m doing it.”
“!”
The stronger the opponent, the more I have to take them on.
That was Kang Hae-il’s creed.
- Kyaa
- (┬┬﹏┬┬)
- Everything would be perfect if it weren’t for that damn Sagosul······
- As expected
- Dae Hae-il
- So cool holy crap
The Awakened in Yu Jihun’s party could feel it.
‘He really is different······.’
An S-rank was on another level!
“Then we’ll take care of the rest!”
“You dare call us ‘the rest’?”
At those words, Notoura and Dabuk dismounted from their wolves.
Even on foot, their towering height was intimidating.
Notoura was a massive brute wielding twin spinning axes.
Dabuk was a lean, agile orc carrying an enormous crescent blade.
“We’ll wipe you out immediately, humans.”
“That’s our line! You ugly bastards!”
Yu Jihun shot back without missing a beat.
- LMAOOOO
- Jihun is such a tsundere
- “You ugly bastards” lolol
- Jihun’s face is busted
- Why are you insulting me (┬┬﹏┬┬)
- Looksmaxxer
Yu Jihun created several ice swords and declared,
“Let’s show them what we’ve got, everyone.”
“Yes!”
“Our strategy is to wear them down slowly. Got it?”
“Yes!”
Kwaaaang!
The party’s tanks charged first.
Clang!
Their swords clashed against the orcs’ axes, sending sparks flying.
One tank even shoved an orc back with his shield.
Thud!
“Krrk!?”
“Over here!”
Shiiiing!
In that opening, Yu Jihun’s ice swords stabbed into the orc’s weak points.
- Ooooh
- Teamwork’s solid
- Beat those orcs, damn it
- Die, you popular bastards
While the front line fought desperately, the damage dealers joined in and the mages began casting spells.
Kwa-gwang!
At first glance, the party seemed to have the upper hand.
With superior numbers, they had seized the momentum early.
But the orcs were gradually adapting to the fight.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
More and more of the party’s attacks were being neutralized by the orcs’ own strikes.
‘This is······ something’s off.’
Yu Jihun sensed danger.
Slash!
“Ugh!”
The first casualty appeared.
It was a damage-tank hybrid.
They hadn’t ignored the possibility of injuries.
“Injured fall back!”
At Yu Jihun’s shout, the party members smoothly filled the gap while the wounded retreated.
“Healer!”
“On it!”
The healer mended them from behind, allowing the injured to rejoin the fight.
The number of combatants remained steady.
It was an impressively systematic party.
Among the watching citizens were other Awakened, and they all expressed admiration.
“Incredible.”
“No wonder people want to join Yu Jihun’s party.”
“At that rate, they could fight all day.”
But the ordinary, non-Awakened citizens were different.
“Kang Hae-il! Kang Hae-il! Kang Hae-il!”
They only had eyes for Kang Hae-il.
The helicopters in the sky were gradually shifting toward him as well.
Countless camera lenses zoomed in.
It was only natural.
“It appears Kang Hae-il has chosen to face the highest-leveled orc, Kerak!”
The rest were ten against two, while Kang Hae-il was in a one-on-one. And since that orc had the highest level, the attention was inevitable.
As the reporters discussed the situation among themselves, one raised a question.
“But why is it one-on-one? Where did the companion who was with him earlier go?”
Why was Kang Hae-il alone?
He definitely had a companion earlier.
“Companion?”
“The F-rank guy.”
“F-rank? What kind of terrible joke is that? There’s no such thing.”
“Huh?”
“There was no companion. Kang Hae-il works alone.”
“Ah, r-right? Must have been a rumor?”
They had zero interest in the missing porter.
It had been the same when they emerged from the Champion Goblin dungeon.
An F-rank existing at all should have been noteworthy.
Was it a cultural trait of this country? Or the Story Board’s manipulation?
The spotlight was monopolized by a single outstanding individual.
And that individual was Kang Hae-il.
“Whoa! Kang Hae-il right now—!?”
Thud—!
He landed a clean punch straight into Kerak’s abdomen.
Kerak was blasted backward by the tremendous force, flying all the way across the street and slamming into the ground.
——Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwang!
Abandoned cars on the street were sent flying, streetlights snapped, and taxes and property were destroyed.
But—
“Waaaaaaaaaaaah!”
The citizens’ cheers rang out like thunder.
The reporters inside the helicopters even high-fived each other.
“It’s working!”
“We might actually drive them back!”
“And the battlefield has shifted! Kang Hae-il is completely on the other side of the street! The rest are still fighting in the original spot! This lowers the chance of the orcs coordinating an attack!”
- Whoa he’s insanely strong
- He actually pushed that giant back
- S-rank is S-rank for real
- This is nuts lol
- No matter how strong an S-rank is, if it were me I’d be so scared looking at that orc’s face I’d run to the bathroom
- Holy crap
- Please win (┬┬﹏┬┬)
“Tsk······.”
Yu Jihun clicked his tongue while glancing toward Kang Hae-il.
He was annoyed that the spotlight had been completely stolen.
He was fighting well too, damn it.
“That damn Kang Hae-il, Kang Hae-il.”
“Please stay still.”
The healer next to him soothed him while treating his wounds.
Yu Jihun had been injured as well and had momentarily retreated for healing.
“It pisses me off. Everyone’s only looking for Kang Hae-il. I’m the one who built this party.”
“At least he’s not burning you with fire like before.”
It might not have sounded like much comfort.
But Yu Jihun still remembered the burning sensation on his rear, so he nodded surprisingly easily.
“Y-yeah… That was really hot.”
- ?
- LMAOOOOO
- He’s been tamed
- What is this lol
- Jihun-ah······
- You can’t beat Kang Hae-il anyway lol
His Constellations seemed to accept that they couldn’t surpass Kang Hae-il.
But the ambitious Yu Jihun couldn’t accept it.
“I’ll surpass him someday.”
The healer smiled and nodded at those words.
“I’m sure you can do it, Jihun—”
That was when it happened.
——Slice!
It was literally instantaneous.
In that brief moment while they were catching their breath and chatting.
Yu Jihun had let his guard down for just a second.
He had only closed his eyes for a moment.
“Hye… Hyeji?”
The healer’s neck was gone.
Instead, a fountain of red blood sprayed out in a straight line.
The bloody signpost pointed to one specific spot.
Thud!
The place where the spinning axe had embedded itself heavily into the ground.
It was the throwing axe Notoura had hurled.
“HYEJIAAAAAAAAA!”
Yu Jihun’s eyes widened in horror.
- Holy crap
- Gasp
- Huh?
- No way
- What the hell, that was so fast
- Healers really are fragile as hell
- They can throw axes too?
No one had expected the orc to aim all the way here with a long-range attack.
“Kuhahaha!?”
As if asking if they really hadn’t realized, Notoura bared his tusks and laughed mockingly.
“I thought they were strangely persistent. So that bitch was the cause?”
Notoura had identified the healer.
“The healer!”
“Hyeji?!”
“You crazy bastards!”
The party fell into panic.
The absence of a single healer was practically the same as losing four people.
Most monsters until now hadn’t specifically targeted healers.
The goblins had been cunning, but they had aimed for the mages who posed a real threat, not the healers.
‘These guys······.’
The orcs were different.
They fully understood the humans’ roles.
It was on a completely different level from the instinctive fighting the goblins had displayed.
These orcs understood humans.
“Damn it······.”
Perhaps because he had been quite close with the healer Lee Hyeji, Yu Jihun’s eyes turned bloodshot.
“You son of a bitch!”
Whiiiiiiiiiir!
A deadly chill swirled as Yu Jihun’s figure blurred.
Swish!
His sword strike lashed out the instant he appeared in front of Notoura.
“Hmph······.”
Notoura swung his axe with one hand and easily blocked the blow.
Clang!
“Pathetic.”
He swung the hand axe again, knocking Yu Jihun away.
Clang!
Yu Jihun created an ice sword to block it, then shouted,
“No healer means we have no time! Everyone, all-out attack!”
With a healer, they could have slowly drained the enemy’s stamina.
But not anymore.
“Yes!”
All party members charged at Notoura.
“Come at me!!!”
Notoura stomped the ground as if he had been waiting for this.
Earth Stomp
Kwaaaaaaaaang—!
The ground surged upward, blasting everyone around the orc away.
“!”
“Ugh!?”
All the Awakened were sent flying in every direction.
‘The orc… used a skill?’
This wasn’t simple physical technique.
It was a skill infused with mana.
The orcs could wield mana too.
Indeed, red mana was swirling around Notoura’s body.
And it wasn’t over.
“Now! Dabuk!”
Flash Slash
A slash drawn in a perfectly straight line in an instant.
“!”
Dabuk’s afterimages appeared everywhere.
Shiiiiiiing!
- Gasp
- No way
- ???
- Insane
The Awakened were sliced apart.
Someone’s arm flew high into the air, someone’s lower body dropped to the ground, and someone’s head rolled across the floor.
“Aaaaahhhhhhhhh!”
Yu Jihun let out a cry of despair.
His right arm was gone from below the shoulder.
Thick red blood poured down stickily.
Without a high-ranking healer, this injury was permanent.
“This is······.”
Yu Jihun’s eyes trembled violently.
“It’s over. We can’t win. Why the hell did that bastard Go Jin-seok say we could win······.”
The powerful black-robed mage, Go Jin-seok, who had recently joined the party.
Trusting his words had led to this disaster.
This was completely beyond their capabilities.
They couldn’t even put up a fight.
Despair wrapped around his entire body.
That was when it happened.
“Hey. Yu Jihun.”
An irritated voice came from somewhere.
“You said you met orcs, so why are you fighting so badly?”
“······?”
No matter where he looked, he couldn’t see anyone.
‘What the hell.’
The voice spoke again.
“Move aside. I’m landing.”
Landing?
Yu Jihun looked up instinctively.
‘!?’
Whooooooosh!
Someone was flying through the sky.
A man riding a hang glider.
As he drew closer, his appearance became clear.
Black coat, sturdy worker boots, cat mask.
[Villainous Theme]
Now Playing
Along with unmistakably dramatic music.
It was the perfect entrance of Sagosul.
- Kyaa
- This is insane
- Entrance scene is nuts
- Kyaa
- Kyaa
- It’s me! Sagosul!
- Damn
- Showmanship lmao
- LMAOOOOOOOO
- <(_ _)/ Hey bro it’s me~
- I want the soundtrack
- Fairy Corporation, release this song right now!
- He’s descending from the sky now? lol
- <(_ _)/ It’s me~ Sagosul!