1. I Killed Them All to Climb This Far.
1. I Killed Them All to Climb This Far.
"Y-you monstrous bastard...."
Curses echoed from a building as majestic as a shrine.
But before long, the head of the man who had mouthed off rolled across the ground, and silence fell.
The man who had severed the head with a blood-soaked Japanese katana glanced around.
Countless corpses lay scattered across the floor.
All of them had been hacked apart somewhere, but the most common part to be severed was, of course, the head.
'...Is it finally over?'
Heaving a deep sigh, he roughly cleared away the corpses and sat down on the bare ground.
His black hair, tied in a topknot, was soaked with blood, and his black pupils seemed to hold an abyss.
His name was Iwamoto Shingen.
He was the Chairman of Japan's largest criminal organization, the Gurenkai (Red Lotus Society), and the strongest man known as the Extreme of the Thousand-Kill.
However, this was not his real name.
'Choi... something-or-other, wasn't it? I can't even remember now.'
So much time had passed that he could no longer remember his original name.
He had been walking along when a truck hit him, and he fell into this world—another Earth where damned criminals fought for global supremacy.
Powerful criminals sliced through the heavens with their swords and cleaved through great mountains.
The mere wind pressure from a single exchange could send people flying and split the earth.
From his perspective, this place was like a hellscape teeming with monstrous criminals.
At first, he thought he might die, but he lacked even the courage to die, so he chose to survive.
He remembered the moment he killed a stranger by slashing their artery with a box cutter.
He remembered every moment, from drifting through the streets of Japan, being picked up by the yakuza, and rising from the bottom to this position.
Now, his memories from this world felt more vivid than his memories from Earth.
'Still... it would be nice if I could go back....'
Even so, he dreamed of returning to his original world.
Because this was no place for him to be.
But he had no idea how to get back.
No matter how much he searched for information, all he found were empty dreams or delusions.
He faced frustration and despair many times, but Shingen did not give up.
Instead, he used that despair as a driving force, advancing to unify the Japanese archipelago and bring all yakuza under his command.
Now, no one in Japan could defeat him.
Meaning he had become a flawless existence.
'...Perhaps the answer lies outside Japan.'
Having done all he could within Japan, he began to think it was time to venture outside.
If the answer wasn't here, he would just have to find it elsewhere.
"Shizuku."
"Yes. Chairman."
As he stood up, sheathed his sword, and called her name, a woman appeared where no one had been before.
She was the one who assisted the Chairman and acted on his behalf in his absence—the Acting Chairman.
"The time has come to go outside. Prepare for the expedition."
"Understood."
There was no question or objection.
Only obedient compliance with the absolute command.
Thereafter, Shingen and the members of the Gurenkai organization spread out into the world.
Driving out forces from beyond the archipelago was by no means an easy task, but they did not give up.
From Korean corporate gangs, the Chinese Triads, the European and American Mafia, to the gangs and cartels of Africa and Mexico.
Countless organizations stood in his path, striving to protect their own interests.
Yet, before a single Japanese katana, all resistance proved futile.
The earth-shaking power cleaved them apart in a single strike; the heaven-rending sword cut through everything.
The damage suffered by Shingen and the Gurenkai also grew accordingly, but they did not stop.
For one singular goal. For the goal of their Chairman, Shingen.
Thus, they traveled the world, devouring all criminal organizations and unifying the world under a single rule.
It took hundreds of years, but in the end, he finally achieved his purpose.
Having finished everything, Shingen and his subordinate organizations returned to the archipelago and held a grand banquet.
They ate, drank, and enjoyed the party in a dazzling palace.
Even Shingen, in this moment, forgot everything and, intoxicated by the joy of victory, raised his glass.
[The time has come.]
An unfathomable voice reverberated, churning through his mind.
Whoosh!
A gate opened before his eyes and sucked Shingen inside.
Immediately, his direct subordinate captains drew their swords and rushed forward, but the gate closed in an instant and vanished from sight.
"...Where is this."
He didn't lose consciousness immediately after being sucked into the gate.
It was just so sudden that he felt a bit dizzy.
Looking around, the landscape that stretched before him was like hell—a desolate, ruined land and a sky dyed crimson, spreading endlessly.
'Have I fallen into yet another new world?'
Since I had experienced being reborn once in Noir Earth, I wondered if this was the same case again, tilting my head in thought.
"Kiriririririk!!!"
A monstrous cry came from beyond the horizon, and soon something began to rush forward.
'...What is that now?'
It was a giant insect walking on four legs.
The creatures that resembled spiders were running towards Shingen, pressing their sturdy legs against the ground.
And that too, dozens of giant spiders.
'I don't know what's going on... but I should deal with them first and think later.'
Shingen immediately drew the Japanese sword from his waist and lightly charged towards them.
But that speed was one that neither human nor monster eyes could capture.
Seokeok!
Shingen passed by the creatures that were rushing in an instant.
The number of times he swung the sword was just once.
But it was more than enough to deal with dozens of spiders.
The spiders, their bodies cut into pieces, died on the spot, and their corpses rolled on the ground.
Shaking off the green bloodstains from the Japanese sword, he looked around.
Since he didn't possess any abilities to detect something or the like, he was only at a loss for where to go.
'I should move first.'
If I stay still, I'll only starve to death.
Leaving the spiders' corpses behind, Shingen continued forward.
"Kuaaaaaak!!!"
Meanwhile, from the edge of the gate, a painful scream was heard.
All around, people in armor had fallen, and in front of them, a giant spider-human walking on two legs was positioned.
"Hueok, heuk... Damn!"
The only woman among them who was conscious. Shin Yeo-ryeong could only watch the demon beast before her eyes.
Her pure white hair was soaked in blood and turned red, and she didn't even have the strength to move a finger.
The gate they were clearing this time was an A-rank gate, but due to aging phenomenon, it had escalated to S-rank.
And it was only natural that the gate's difficulty increased simultaneously.
They resisted with their comrades to survive somehow, but it was useless.
They could handle the spider-type demon beasts, but the one remaining humanoid spider individual was so strong that they couldn't even touch it with a finger.
'I want to live...'
Even though all her comrades had died, she wanted to live.
She wanted to somehow survive, escape, and see her family's face at least one more time.
Praying to survive, she could only watch the spectacle of her dead comrades' corpses being eaten one by one.
As her comrades were eaten one by one, and even when her turn finally came, salvation did not arrive.
"Kiririk."
The moment the creature smacked its lips and reached out its hand towards Yeo-ryeong.
Seokeok!
With the sound of something being cut, its arm was cleanly severed.
"Ki, kieeeek...!"
Since it also had a sense of pain, it felt agony and began looking around for the being that cut off its arm.
"Confucius-gessoneun said that 'too much is as bad as too little'. Emperor Guangwu-neun said that 'the sigh of looking at Shu'."
The giant man who walked slowly while spouting unknown Chinese characters made eye contact with the spider-human and asked.
"You are dying today because of that petty greed. Do you understand?"
"Kieeeeeek!!!"
The spider, engulfed in great fear, swung its sharp, blade-like arms with all its might, but it was an attack far too insufficient to reach the man before it.
Seokeok!
Once again, the sound of something being cut echoed, and the man leisurely passed by the spider and headed towards the fallen Yeo-ryeong.
Pukok!
Not long after, the spider's neck and head were separated, and it met its death.
"There was a person in a place where it seemed no one would survive. You don't seem to be from here... if you know anything about this place, speak up."
"Well, that..."
Thinking she might be Korean, he spoke in Korean, and it seemed he hit the mark.
However, her thoughts were completely different.
Feeling an unknown fear from him who killed the spider that had driven her and her comrades to the brink of extinction with just two sword strikes, she stammered.
"...It seems you don't know either. Can you move? If we move together and find a passage to exit—"
The moment he helped her up and rose from the spot.
[Gate Clear]
[Exit is opening.]
A semi-transparent message window appeared before the man and Yeo-ryeong's eyes, and immediately, a blue gate appeared in front of them.
"Ah, the exit..."
Yeo-ryeong, relieved to see the gate and knowing she survived, lost consciousness and fainted on the spot.
"...The exit. There's no choice but to go in for now."
Since moving was a better choice than staying here,
Shingen, supporting her, entered into the gate.