Piecing It Together
Neither the dimensional gate nor the magic circle was working properly.
At least it hadn't dumped us in some completely wrong place. Should I count my blessings for that?
"Thank you for saving us, Kwon Mu-hyuk."
"No big deal. It's all part of a hero's job."
On the military flight back to Seoul after wrapping up business at Killopoti, Shin Yu-ra struck up a conversation.
"We've already begun investigating the site where the children were summoned. You'll hear back with details soon."
"Got it."
"You were out there alone, searching for the remnants of the Black Sheep cult in a place with no contact... We had no idea."
"Guess everyone was pretty worried after just one day without word."
That's when some guy I'd never seen before barged into the conversation.
"If you're a hero, shouldn't you at least take responsibility and stay in touch?"
"And you are...?"
"Hashimoto Genzo, search team leader for the Japanese Hunter Association."
He was openly hostile, so I quickly checked his index, half-expecting another Black Sheep cultist. Fortunately, he was just your run-of-the-mill villain. The garden-variety rapist type.
A hunter-turned-villain I hadn't encountered in previous loops? Looked like he'd be checking out early in this timeline. Guess I'd accidentally altered his future.
'Not that I give a damn about saving trash like him.'
I leaned in close, as if to provoke him, and slyly slipped a piece of the Echo of Enchantment I'd scavenged from the aghuma's gut into his champagne glass.
"Search team leader, huh? And you're talking back to me?"
"Hmph!"
Genzo had frozen stiff with tension when I approached, unable to utter a word. But as soon as I sat back down, his voice rose in pitch.
"A-Are you ignoring me right now...?"
"Enough! Genzo-sang. Return to your seat."
Shin Yu-ra stepped in front of me protectively and snapped at him. Genzo's face twisted even further.
"I'm talking about a hero's responsibility! He has a duty to report his every move to the Association...!"
"A hero's duty is to slay the Demon King. That's why we exist. Reporting to the Association? That's your job."
"But still, this guy!"
"Genzo-sang! If you keep this up, I'll have to report it to the Japanese branch chief! Stop it."
At the mention of his boss, Genzo's momentum deflated noticeably.
His boss scared him more than any hero.
If his fire died out here, I'd be left with the nagging feeling that I'd saved a future villain.
Luckily, parched from the tension, he downed the champagne laced with the Echo of Enchantment in one gulp.
"...Fine. We'll leave it at this. But next time...!"
Now that I'd planted the spark, it was time to fan the flames.
"Like I'd ever have business with trash like you."
"Kuh! You... to the end...!"
Unable to suppress his killing intent any longer, Genzo drew his tanto.
"Hero or whatever, looks like you just got lucky. Let this ten-year veteran hunter teach you a lesson!"
"Eek! What the hell are you doing?!"
"Protect the hero!"
As Genzo brandished his blade, the paladins realized the gravity and rushed to crowd in front of me.
"Kuhaha! Hiding behind knights like a coward? Some hero you are!"
"Genzo-sang! What the hell is this outrage?!"
"Kraaa! You bitch! You're the problem! I'll spank that ass of yours! Spank any bitch's ass hard enough, and she'll obey...! Kuh!"
Krunch!
I couldn't listen to any more of that. I twisted the wrist gripping the tanto.
I channeled a torrent of holy yellow-flame tornado into my fist and unleashed it. Genzo's arm erupted in the grinding sound of pulverized bone.
"Kraaaagh!"
His true nature exposed, eyes bloodshot, Genzo howled and tried to retreat. But I gripped harder and yanked him toward me.
Thwack! Thud!
I brought my palm down on his back as it flailed like a ragdoll.
His shoulder caved in with a crack of shattering bone, and the shockwave pulverized the other one too.
"Grrrk..."
I released him, and Genzo collapsed, eyes rolled back.
"What a lunatic! How did scum like this even become search team leader...?"
"Hero-nim, Team Leader Shin! Please accept my apologies on his behalf. We're truly sorry!"
As he crumpled, the Japanese personnel scrambled to drag away the comatose Genzo, bowing repeatedly.
"The hero's safety concerns the security of the entire world. We cannot let this slide! I'll formally protest to the Japanese branch."
"Ahh... We're so sorry! Truly sorry!"
Even as the furious Shin Yu-ra laid into the Japanese side, I sat back down, inwardly delighted, gazing out the window and reveling in the new item's utility.
'Thought it was junk, but it's a jackpot. Gotta pet that three-layer pork beast extra next time I summon it. Heh heh.'
The sunset was deepening outside the window of the military plane bound for Seoul.
Crash! Bang!
"Argh! How the hell did the hero stumble onto that place?!"
Objects rained down mercilessly on the white-haired elder from the desk.
The thrower was Karl Rutley, chairman of the UHN—World Hunter Union. Catching the UHN chairman's projectiles was Eric Elbert, head of the Educational Development Association, one of UHN's five subsidiaries.
The dungeon the hero had found was Killopoti's hidden one, built specifically to sow black seeds.
Even if Killopoti itself was exposed and the Black Sheep cultists cleaned up, it was a thoroughly isolated space designed never to be discovered—a special area completely cut off from the outside.
The entire dungeon was a labyrinth with no entrance or exit.
Its sole purpose: implant seeds into children and return them home.
Of course, many kids died rejecting the black seeds in the process, but that was no concern for the UHN chairman.
[Among the children seeded with black sprouts, a black sheep will emerge.]
It was another secret fortress within the natural fortress of Killopoti, crafted with utmost care after Choi Joo-bong first heard the dark message.
Over 60,000 children worldwide had already been abducted, seeded, and released.
Just when it seemed the long efforts would bear fruit with the black sheep's emergence—yet no trace could be found anywhere.
And two days ago, all contact from the demon realm had ceased. With Choi Joo-bong dead, there was little the UHN chairman could do.
If abandoned by the darkness now, all his efforts to survive Earth's doom would go to waste.
Worse, since the hero's rise, masses of black sheep salvation cultists had defected, eroding his influence and fueling his anxiety.
Then came word that even this secret dungeon had been blown up by the hero. His reason snapped.
"At the Korean branch meeting in two days, eliminate everyone from the Gaon of Light faction."
"Eliminate...? You mean...?"
"What are you asking? Kill them all! Every last one—hero, pope, all of them!"
"Y-Yes? Yes, sir! Understood, Chairman!"
Stunned by the UHN chairman's raging outburst, the Educational Development head bolted from the office.
Glare burning into the slamming door, the UHN chairman muttered.
"If the black sheep won't emerge like this, there's only one way."
A sinister smile curled across his lips.
"I'll become the black sheep myself."
By the time we dropped off Genzo and the Japanese branch hunters, it was late at night in Seoul.
After a brief debrief and briefing at the Gaon of Light Main Temple, everyone headed to their quarters.
I'd arranged to share a room with my brother, so I got to meet him—he'd been waiting up without sleep.
After reassuring him that I'd been out of touch but fine, I finally asked the question that had been nagging me the whole way back.
"Bro, when I was a kid... before Hunter Academy, did I ever get sick or go missing or something?"
"Huh? You... remember that time?"
"So it happened?"
"Yeah. Remember the hunter uncle who saved us? We stayed with him for a bit."
"I don't remember much, but I know someone saved us."
"Right, that uncle. He saved a lot of other kids too... He was a really good guy."
My brother's face darkened with a mix of fondness and sorrow.
"So? Where is he now?"
"..."
He stared at me silently, then gripped my shoulder and stroked it gently.
"You were about eleven. Some guys in black clothes suddenly snatched you while you were playing with friends. The uncle went to rescue you and the other kids... but he never came back."
"...I see. You think those guys who took me were Black Sheep cultists, right?"
"Probably. That's when they started expanding aggressively, abducting people—adults, kids, no discrimination."
Recalling it, anger stained my brother's face.
"Now I get why you hate Black Sheep cultists so much. It was because of that uncle."
"Yeah. You came back safe, thankfully, but you remembered nothing—not what happened, not even the uncle."
"Honestly... I still don't remember who he was."
"That makes sense. You were sick for a long time after. Damn it! What the hell did those bastards do...!"
He pounded his chest in frustration.
I must have gotten sick from swallowing the black seed. Ingesting something packed with dark energy would naturally corrupt the body and cause pain.
I'd thought the curse caused the corruption, but maybe the corruption led to the curse.
All 998 loops of my misfortune clearly stemmed from that implanted seed.
The black seed probably had the effect of awakening dark energy traits after a set time.
'Even my cursed traits awakening was all their doing.'
Fresh rage toward the Black Sheep cult surged.
Implanting black seeds in kids to corrupt them with dark energy... Truly vile. Vile enough to threaten the identity of my loyal subordinate, Baldr.
'But... why plant seeds in children's bodies?'
A sudden question arose. Such a massive, covert operation would require vast manpower, equipment, and funds. No way they'd do it for nothing.
Another puzzle: why return the kids home afterward?
Why release the seeds they'd so carefully planted without monitoring growth? Sloppy management?
Or...
'Because they could manage them just fine from afar?!'
I felt like I'd grasped a clue about the ones who'd seeded me.
"Bro, then... why did I end up at the academy?"
"Hm? Oh, that was just to give you a shot at success."
"I might not have made it. Could've failed to awaken even after graduation."
In fact, in 998 loops, I only awakened after graduating.
I had no particular talent for combat, magic, or academics—nothing hunter-worthy.
Yet my brother had saddled himself with massive debt to get me in.
"Ah, people from Hunter Academy came looking for you, saying you had talent..."
"What?!"
What did I just hear?
"Hunter Academy... came looking for me?!"