A Promise
A promise.
They had actually come all the way here just to catch me.
I let out a dry laugh as I looked at the Death Knight standing before me.
Was he here to add a match to an already grieving house?
It wasn’t unheard of for monsters to appear outside a gate, but this was the first time one had shown up with such a clear purpose.
If there was any consolation, it was that he was only after me. Otherwise, Seoul would already have become a field of blood.
I raised my sword toward him.
“Fine. If I’m your target, then I’ll humor you.”
He had come all this way. I couldn’t exactly send him back empty-handed.
Before he could turn his attention to the city, I had to pull his eyes onto me.
...
But what was he doing?
He hadn’t even drawn his sword, let alone taken a stance.
Was this a trap? Or was he simply testing my reaction?
If he’d been an ordinary monster, I would’ve struck first. But this was not an opponent I could afford to treat casually.
“What’s the matter? Not coming?”
...
“I’ll fight you as much as you want.”
I tried provoking him on purpose, but he still didn’t react.
He only kept staring at me, unblinking.
And come to think of it, he looked irritated somehow.
Was that just my imagination?
“Hey. You not gonna fight?”
...
“If you don’t feel like it, go back home. Honestly, I’m not exactly dying to fight you either.”
I already had enough problems. Between illegal entry and a midnight escape, my head felt like it was about to split open.
I even left openings just in case, but he still didn’t attack.
Maybe he hadn’t come to fight me after all. If there were stronger hunters than me, then he had no reason to cling to me specifically.
And if that was the case, then he’d naturally lose interest in me too. That was fine. Better, even.
“Hey. I’m leaving. Just don’t stab me in the back, all right?”
I’d already been hit enough for one day.
I was about to pretend to leave, trail behind him, and then call for backup from the S-rank hunters...
...Wait. Why the hell should I do that?
Didn’t those bastards betray me too?
They had watched the course of my life get shredded by nothing but Choi Jinchul’s words and fabricated evidence, and not once had they cared.
Why should I fight this thing to protect the people here? It had nothing to do with me anymore.
What was the point of risking my life for them, only to be met with ridicule and contempt again?
If that was all I was going to get, then I’d rather...
“...Hah. Forget it.”
I should just make one call to the Association and go home.
The other hunters could handle the rest.
I sheathed my sword and bid him farewell.
“Then I hope you find a better opponent than me.”
Just as I turned to leave,
“Where do you think you are going?”
he suddenly spoke.
I stopped and looked back at him.
“What?”
“I kept my promise. I waited until you grew stronger.”
The red light inside his visor flashed ominously.
“And you? You haven’t kept your side of the promise. What exactly do you think you’re doing now? What is that disgraceful state?”
“What, so now you’re pissed off no matter what I look like?”
“Do not twist the point of the conversation. And I am not angry.”
He absolutely was. The bastard was angry.
But if I kept pushing, I had a feeling he’d start swinging that greatsword, so I held my tongue.
“I heard everything you said earlier. The countryside, overseas, all of it was so ridiculous I could barely listen. After being betrayed, you are already thinking of running away.”
“If you put it that way, I don’t really have a comeback... but do you have a better idea?”
“Hmph. Simple.”
With arrogant certainty, he drew his greatsword and slammed it into the ground.
“Traitors are executed on the spot. They are not worth mercy.”
“If you do that in Korea, my life is over...”
This lunatic wanted to turn me into a murderer?
“Is that so? I think that is still better than your pathetic appearance at the moment.”
I could hear that he was genuinely confused.
His worldview was probably stuck somewhere in the Middle Ages.
Still, I couldn’t deny that my current state was pathetic.
“Anyway, you can’t kill people here. That’s the law in this world.”
“I see... So you mean as long as it is not here.”
What the hell was that supposed to mean? That was a pretty damn ominous thing to say.
What the hell was he thinking so seriously about?
“Then follow me. I happen to know a good place.”
“Thanks for the offer, but why would I trust a monster like you?”
“You are a fugitive with nowhere to go anyway. I will not kill you, so simply follow.”
He said that and swung his greatsword through empty air.
The space split, and a crack began to open.
I stared at the gate of red light and gave a bitter laugh.
“Hah. Someone your level can open a gate like that?”
It was a major event. No one anywhere in the world had ever known this was possible.
When I sounded amazed, the bastard grumbled.
“Hmph... You will get nothing from praising me.”
Then he went inside first.
Under normal circumstances, I should have reported him to the Association or the other hunters instead of following.
But for some reason, I...
...
I followed him without the slightest hesitation.
After Lee Seoyun left the guild leader’s office, the Orion Guild had never felt more chaotic.
At first, people had been unable to believe the accusations against him, or had only half-believed them. But after Choi Jinchul’s announcement, public opinion flipped completely.
Not only were Cha Seojin and Yoon Seah’s fans furious, but even those who had trusted Lee Seoyun began wavering one by one after Choi Jinchul’s dramatic confession as his longtime friend and guild leader.
Then came the testimony from the hunters who had gone with them, along with the fabricated evidence, and no one doubted it anymore.
Not only the internet and the media, but even other hunters were condemning Lee Seoyun.
People were even saying that everything he had shown until now had been a lie, and that his true nature had finally come out.
Choi Jinchul could not stop laughing.
“Kekeke. This is rich. I expected this, but I never thought it would go this far. Everything’s going exactly the way I wanted, it’s almost boring.”
He clapped, his shoulders shaking with amusement.
The situation had tilted perfectly to his side.
Reporters and lawmakers, celebrities, famous hunters, and influencers. Everyone had come out swinging at Lee Seoyun.
“Hah. There are so many people to thank for this. I should send them all a proper thank-you later.”
He tapped the notebook holding their phone numbers and snorted.
“That bastard Lee Seoyun. He’s always acted so full of himself. It feels damn good seeing him finally drop into the gutter.”
“...Since when did Seoyun ever act full of himself?”
At that moment, Kang Hanna, who had been listening beside him, cut in.
Even now, she could not stop thinking about the sight of Lee Seoyun leaving with his back to her.
“Oh? You taking his side because you’re both S-rank?”
Choi Jinchul sneered. “You know that bastard used to look down on me every time I said I was only A-rank, right? That son of a bitch laughed at me more than once.”
“It wasn’t Seoyun mocking you. It was your own inferiority complex.”
“Hmph. Then you should’ve said that earlier. In the end, you dumped him just like everyone else.”
“Tch...”
She fell silent and bit her lip.
Seeing that, Choi Jinchul twisted his mouth into a grin.
“Well, I get it. No matter how much you love someone, they’re still just another person in the end. Blood is what matters most, right?”
“...Shut up.”
“If I were you, I’d have made the same choice. Save the family first, then worry about everything else. What does it matter if that bastard goes to hell or not?”
“I said shut up!”
Blue mana rippled thickly around her.
Her violet eyes, now clouded with anger, glared at him sharply, and Choi Jinchul quickly lifted his shoulders in a shrug.
“All right, all right. I was just joking. Damn, you’re terrifying over a little joke.”
“Keep your mouth shut and keep your promise. If you make my little sister suffer, and especially if you send Seoyun to prison, I won’t let you off.”
“Hey, hey. Of course not. When I told you to go to prison earlier, I was just messing with you. Why would I really send away a friend of twenty years?”
Maybe. But he was exactly the kind of bastard who would do it.
She didn’t say that. Instead, she left the guild leader’s office.
She didn’t want to stay in the same room with that man for even one more second.
Once she was gone, he chuckled to himself.
“Puhahaha. Stupid woman.”
Did she really think he would keep a promise like that?
He had waited for this day for so long.
“Look forward to it, Lee Seoyun. I’ll make sure you can never set foot in this country again, let alone live as a hunter.”
The sun had already begun to sink.
He stared out the window, smiling with unprecedented satisfaction.
...
After crossing through the gate, I looked around.
The place I reached after following the Death Knight was the Boss Room from last time.
“This place...”
“Draw your sword, warrior.”
And there he was, already waiting for me.
He pointed his greatsword, larger than himself, straight at me.
“...Didn’t you say you wouldn’t kill me?”
“I did. I will not kill you.”
“You said you knew a good place.”
“Indeed. There is no better place for battle than here.”
Damn it. Of course.
Rubbing my temple, I drew my sword.
I could feel his excitement rising.
“You may look forward to it. There is nothing better for growth than real combat.”
“Well. It’s not like I get many chances to fight the Death Knight.”
“Hah.”
At my words, he gave a short laugh through his nose.
At the next instant, we both charged at each other at the same time.