Why Did You Come to My House?
"Y-you fucking bastard!"
Bam!
Kaboom!
A deafening explosion echoed out. Right in front of the S-rank rift, a sudden battle had broken out.
The two men cloaked in robes were hunters equivalent to A-rank in pure combat ability. Together, they could take on not just any A-rank but even most S-rank hunters. But the problem was that their opponent wasn't just any S-rank.
It was Hong Ji-hwa. The HCU commander and an S-rank hunter who had honed her skills specifically for PvP combat. Plus, her abilities weren't publicly disclosed, so the two hunters were caught completely off guard and toyed with.
Her fists erupted with hellfire. Even without any hunter gear, the explosive power of her bare knuckles halted their weapons and drove both men back relentlessly.
The result of her immense talent and instincts combined. Or you could say it was the outcome of always chasing after Cheon Ji-hoo until now.
"You think I'm some pushover just 'cause I've been tailing Cheon Ji-hoo every damn day?! You little shits!!"
Krunch!
Hong Ji-hwa's fist slammed into one man's gut, producing a gruesome sound. The hellfire explosion that followed blasted him far away, smashing him into the ground.
With the crashed man unconscious and unmoving, the lone survivor ground his teeth and activated his skill. He'd held back until now to avoid leaving traces, but he couldn't ignore the scene before him.
His weapon became encased in ice infused with extreme cold. Extreme frost versus hellfire. A perfect matchup of counters.
"Come at me, you punk."
As Hong Ji-hwa crooked her finger, the berserk man swung his ice-sheathed sword and charged.
"Die—!!"
"That's my line—!!"
* * *
While the three were rolling around outside locked in combat, Cheon Ji-hoo was facing four men and women inside the rift.
Strangers who charged at him screaming about killing him—not the first or second time he'd seen this—so he let out a deep sigh and waved his hand dismissively.
"I'm in a bad mood right now, so if you kneel, apologize, and leave, I'll let you live."
"The ones begging for their lives won't be us—it'll be you."
Cheon Ji-hoo snorted at the words of the man at the front. They were clearly under some serious delusion.
They had some skill, but they clearly didn't know who he was. No sane person would declare they'd kill him outright like this, let alone from the front without even ambushing.
"Nok, first task."
-Huh? What do I do?
"Mana cannon."
-What's that?
"Gather mana in your mouth and release it."
-Oh! That one!
Realizing what he meant, Nok's mouth gaped wide open. Golden mana began gathering in its maw.
"Kill them."
-Fire—!!
With his command, Nok shouted energetically and unleashed the mana. A straight line of golden energy streaked through the air at blinding speed, shattering two heads into pieces.
Brains and flesh sprayed across the ground from the ruined skulls. The already trashed terrain didn't look any weirder with a couple more corpses added.
"Impressive performance."
-Impressive! Super impressive! Did I do good?
"Yeah. Perfect."
He stroked Nok's head as it buzzed with excitement from killing. The speed was too fast for any reaction.
The remaining two paled as they realized two had died in an instant. It didn't take long to grasp that the thing before them was a monster.
Still, they had no choice. The pair, each equivalent to S-rank in power, unleashed their auras to the max and kicked off the ground toward Cheon Ji-hoo.
The man from the right had red energy gathered in his hand, while the woman on the left drew her sword and wrapped it in green energy.
To other hunters, it would look terrifying, but to Cheon Ji-hoo, it was just yawn-worthy.
He twirled his finger once. Gravity Amplification activated instantly, crushing them headfirst into the ground.
"Ha... why do these flies keep buzzing around?"
What a cursed life. All he wanted was to live peacefully.
After returning to Earth, he'd genuinely tried for peace, but somehow Demon Kings and assassins kept swarming him.
Still, he needed to check who sent them, so he reached out. The man pinned to the ground floated up into the air, his throat gripped in Cheon Ji-hoo's hand.
"Answer. Who sent you?"
"K-kill me!"
No intention of spilling easily this time either. Despite trembling under the overwhelming pressure, he wouldn't betray his comrades.
Cheon Ji-hoo eyed him briefly, sighed deeply, incinerated him to ash in his grasp, and muttered as if for the dead man to hear.
"Fine. I don't need two mouths to get answers anyway..."
-Mouths come in ones anyway?
Ignoring Nok, he reached out again. The woman pinned to the ground rose up.
With her life in his hands, he said,
"Speak. Who are you? DF? Or the Demon King's puppets?"
"J-just kill me!"
"Honestly, I don't enjoy killing."
He just removed eyesores. He didn't go out of his way to hunt lives—except for demons and the Demon King.
"So here's a deal. Tell me, and I'll spare your life."
"My life...?"
"Yeah. I'll let you walk free from here."
Her eyes didn't scream DF or demon influence. He'd suspected DF at first, but her pupils hadn't flinched at the name, and no demonic energy registered.
That left a third faction. Cheon Ji-hoo felt a headache coming on. What was with all these criminals crawling out of the woodwork? The world must be that harsh—survival demanding crime.
"Hey, you promising that?"
"Yeah. I'll let you go free from here."
"..."
He knew humans crumbled before death. With three comrades dead in seconds, she knew he could kill her effortlessly. But humans craved life, clawing at any gap—betraying allies if needed. A righteous person would've offed themselves already.
Even I think it's airtight logic.
-Smart? Is Ji-hoo smart?
Ignoring Nok again, he pressed.
"So, what's it gonna be?"
The short-haired black-haired woman peered into his eyes. Deep, blue irises. Indifferent after slaughtering three. A face brimming with confidence that he could kill her anytime.
"W-we..."
"You?"
"...are the Liberation Front."
"Liberation Front? Who commissioned your hit, and liberation from what?"
"The one who hired us to assassinate you... I don't know. And our goal is liberation from the Status Window."
Cheon Ji-hoo twitched an eyebrow at her words. What the hell were these guys?
The Status Window. The interface that quantified hunters' abilities for objective viewing. Cheon Ji-hoo hadn't liked it since returning to Earth.
But to think there was already an organization aware of it, formed to break free.
The fact that someone truly understood what the 'Status Window' was surprised him a bit.
"What's a Status Window?"
"Y-you know, the Status Window is..."
"No clue. I'm not a hunter."
"Th-then this power..."
"Magic."
Her eyelids fluttered at his words. Magic. He said magic.
"Then you have the same power as the Captain..."
"Another mage out there?"
"Yes. The Captain calls himself a mage too... a Returner."
Returner. A returnee from another world.
Cheon Ji-hoo blinked slowly in genuine intrigue. Someone like him, gone to another world and learned magic. And they'd already grasped the 'Status Window,' formed this bizarre Liberation Front, and plotted its overthrow.
Someone he wanted to meet. He released her from his grip.
"I'll collect the price for trying to kill me from your so-called Captain. Tell them the Archmage of Dawn and Descent, Cheon Ji-hoo, will visit soon."
"G-gah..."
The moment he let go, she bolted for the exit. Watching her back, Cheon Ji-hoo thought,
I said I'd let her live from this spot. Never said anything about later.
Promise kept. And he'd tagged her with a tracking spell.
Leisurely, he patted Nok's side.
-Let's go~!!
Nok strode out of the rift with vigorous steps.
* * *
"Why no contact?"
The Hunter Association vice president—who had commissioned Cheon Ji-hoo's assassination from the Liberation Front—paced anxiously in the empty conference room, waiting for their call.
Earth's major threats: DF topped the list, followed by the recently surging demon forces. Last, the obscure Liberation Front.
Known only to insiders, they were a den of shadows dealing in dark secrets. Lunatics preaching liberation from the 'Status Window.'
Low on funds, they took lucrative hits, drawing criminals who made killing their trade.
He'd have preferred DF, but they were unreachable—vanished like smoke, no ants left at their branch.
So he'd shelled out big for the Liberation Front.
"I even tipped them off to the perfect chance."
Top-secret intel: Cheon Ji-hoo entering an S-rank rift. No one knew what happened inside—no witnesses, no CCTV.
He'd passed the info immediately to greenlight the hit.
Should've heard success by now. Nothing.
Something went wrong. As anxiety gnawed, his phone buzzed. Caller ID restricted—definitely them.
"Why so late?!"
-...Cheon Ji-hoo assassination failed.
An unfamiliar S-rank hunter was at the S-rank rift entrance. Tried inside, but three of our four hunters died. Three S-ranks and one A-rank. Only one A-rank escaped. The other two got caught.
"Fuck, is Cheon Ji-hoo that strong? Failed? Refund my money!"
-Shameless. You lowballed the target's power, and now this?
"You failed—why so chatty?"
-...Who knew the Hunter Association's vice president was this dim. Ruin's upon you too. Deal's off.
Click.
The line went dead. The vice president hurled his phone to the floor in rage.
"Fucking assholes... treating me like dogshit?!"
"You're furious."
Suddenly, a man appeared before him. Short-haired, slender build.
The vice president scanned the darkened room, spotted him, and dropped to his knees—instinctual submission of weak to strong.
"I greet the servant of the Silence Demon King!"
"Your rage and budding demonic energy called me. I am Ermo of Silence. Do you crave power?"
The self-proclaimed Ermo of Silence made his offer. The vice president gnashed his teeth.
Just a baptised one now, becoming a full demon would boot him from his post. But fury over Cheon Ji-hoo had madness creeping in, clouding reason.
"...Yes."
"Then take it. Rage is a potent source. Become the Silence Demon King's servant. As a demon with a name, none shall surpass you."
Now, swear.
Ermo commanded. The vice president muttered his oath.
And.
"The contract is sealed."
A new demon was born.