Chapter 468: A New Beginning (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 468: A New Beginning (1)
Waking up in a new world was an experience one could never quite get used to.
Just as it had been when he first opened his eyes as Roman Dmitry, a flood of visual information rushed into his senses the moment he woke. A dreary sky hung overhead, accompanied by a pungent, burning scent. Surveying his surroundings, he saw unfamiliar high-rise buildings, half-collapsed and forming a devastated landscape.
It was a ruin.
A desolate wasteland devoid of life.
Even with zero information about this new world, deducing that much wasn't difficult.
'So this is the world where I will live my new life.'
He steadied his breathing.
This was different from his previous transmigration. When he transitioned from Baek Joong-hyuk to Roman Dmitry, he possessed the body's engraved memories and had someone like Hans to explain the situation. Not this time. Now, he had to figure out everything on his own.
Before taking a single step, Roman Dmitry calmly assessed the state of his body.
'In the Boundary of Dimensions, I lost all concept of time. To face the unknown, I must first gain perfect control over myself rather than trying to understand external information. Everything else comes after.'
Ssss.
He drew upon his mana.
Breathing deeply and evenly, he circulated the energy throughout his body. It didn't take long. Though it was a delicate process that a novice wouldn't dare attempt, Roman Dmitry scanned his entire body in an instant.
There were no issues. Baek Joong-hyuk's soul still inhabited Roman Dmitry's body in this new world, and the exact same power he possessed before crossing the dimension made its massive presence felt within his Dantian.
Everything was perfectly intact.
The only unfortunate detail was the absence of the sword he had used while crossing the Boundary of Dimensions. He lacked a weapon. But that hardly meant he was in danger.
In truth, it only took a split second for Roman Dmitry to fully prepare himself for any external threat.
'A living creature is approaching.'
Thud, thud.
It was the presence of a bipedal creature. There was no hostility in its approach.
Had it intended to attack, it would have concealed its footsteps. Since it was walking so openly, Roman Dmitry calmly waited for it to show itself. It took more than a minute for the figure to appear after he first sensed it. It wasn't that the newcomer was intentionally walking slowly; rather, Roman's senses were so vast that he had detected the presence from over a minute's walk away.
Soon, the figure revealed itself.
It was a middle-aged man.
A man sporting a rough, unkempt beard and carrying a greatsword spotted Roman Dmitry and began babbling something.
"# $ &#$&*#&$#$."
It was completely incomprehensible.
This was a key difference from his previous transmigration. While the memories engraved in Roman Dmitry's body had instantly resolved any language barriers before, in this world, language would be his first obstacle.
The man babbled on for a while. Frustrated, he thumped his chest, but upon seeing Roman's calm, unblinking gaze, he sighed and began rummaging through his coat.
Roman did not rule out the possibility of an attack. But no matter how the man chose to strike from this distance, Roman Dmitry would take his head off before he could even complete the motion.
Just then, the man pulled out a strange-looking piece of paper. He held it up for Roman to see, then tore it in half.
Flash!
A bright light flared. When the man spoke next, the previously unintelligible babble suddenly formed coherent sentences.
"Why on earth is a civilian in an Unprotected Area? It's dangerous here."
* * *
The man, Kang Min-ho, was deeply frustrated.
Finding Roman Dmitry had been a complete accident. He had come out to hunt with an official permit, only to find someone who looked like an ordinary civilian blankly staring around a monster-infested zone.
At first, he thought it might be a humanoid monster. He had taken a defensive stance, but when he checked his mana measuring device, there was zero reaction.
[Unmeasurable]
The limit of his measuring device was C-Rank. Since there was no reading, this person was definitely a civilian.
Lowering his guard, he approached with the intention of helping, which finally gave him a closer look at the stranger's appearance.
'A foreigner?'
He had black hair, but his features were strikingly exotic. He didn't look Korean at all.
This only raised more questions. Ever since the world plunged into chaos, South Korea was not a country favored by foreigners. Of course, those fully capable of protecting themselves were a different story, but ordinary civilians avoided South Korea due to severe safety concerns. That was the harsh reality of South Korea, which had been assigned an abysmal safety rating among the surviving nations.
Honestly, he didn't want to help.
If not for his promise to be a father his only daughter could be proud of, Kang Min-ho would have ignored Roman Dmitry and gone on his way. Regardless, he had eventually spoken to him. Seeing that the stranger couldn't understand even basic English, he reluctantly used a magic scroll, practically holding back tears of financial pain.
'Do you have any idea how much this costs?'
It was a contingency plan in case he ever ran into a foreign Hunter. A scroll of Translation Magic. Once the scroll was activated, a bright light flared, establishing a direct linguistic connection.
"Why on earth is a civilian in an Unprotected Area? It's dangerous here."
At Kang Min-ho's words, Roman Dmitry stared at him in silence.
Civilian. Unprotected Area. Danger.
From these keywords, Roman deduced two things: this was not a place where humans normally lived, and Kang Min-ho's body—which utilized a faint trace of mana—operated on a principle similar to his previous world. Naturally, the cultural development would be entirely different. However, when it came to manifesting power based on mana, this world seemed to have its own established system.
Receiving no response, Kang Min-ho spoke again, his tone growing impatient.
"I don't know how you ended up lost out here, but if you keep lingering like this, you're going to get attacked by monsters. Civilians who aren't Hunters have absolutely no guarantee of safety. So—"
"If by monsters, you mean the creature approaching us right now..."
"What? A creature?!"
Kang Min-ho gasped in surprise. A creature? Having felt absolutely nothing, Kang Min-ho hastily raised his greatsword and scanned his surroundings.
It was strange. No living thing was visible anywhere in his line of sight. He circulated his mana just in case, but still detected zero movement. A sudden wave of deflation washed over him. What a ridiculous fuss. He felt pathetic for getting so worked up over the ramblings of a mere civilian—one who might very well be mentally unstable.
He turned his head. But just as he was about to speak again, goosebumps erupted all over the back of his neck.
'Killing intent?'
It was unmistakable. Sensing the murderous aura, he swung his greatsword with all his might toward the unknown creature lunging at him from the shadows.
Boom!
Rumble!
It was a violent clash. Gritting his teeth to endure the impact, Kang Min-ho stared through the settling dust cloud to identify his attacker.
Grrrr.
'A soldier ant?'
An ant's body. A rock-hard mandible and razor-sharp teeth. There was no mistake. A D-Rank monster—far too formidable for an ordinary Hunter like himself to handle—was glaring right at him.
* * *
The ranking system was simple.
A Hunter's rank was determined by the highest-grade monster they had successfully defeated. An "ordinary" Hunter referred to someone who had cleared an E-Rank monster. In short, a D-Rank monster was entirely too much for a Hunter of Kang Min-ho's caliber.
It was a creature he had intended to avoid at all costs when selecting this hunting ground. His plan had always been to run away immediately if he ever encountered a soldier ant.
But now...
'Damn it.'
Behind him stood a civilian. Knowing that the civilian would be ripped to shreds if he retreated, Kang Min-ho couldn't bring himself to run.
'What a shitty situation.'
Grrrr.
Right in front of him, the soldier ant that had burst from the ground bared its ferocious teeth. He had no idea how a civilian had sensed the monster's presence, but he didn't have the luxury to ponder that now. He had to make a choice: run away, or fight the soldier ant head-on.
'I was planning to take the D-Rank promotion exam anyway. Let's treat this as live-combat practice.'
He squeezed his sword handle tightly. He couldn't just abandon an innocent person.
The moment he made up his mind—
Screeech!
Scuttle, scuttle!
The soldier ant lunged. Despite its massive size, it moved with incredible speed, its razor-sharp mandibles poised to tear human flesh to shreds. Kang Min-ho charged forward to meet it. The moment he got close enough to feel its foul breath, he instantly channeled his mana.
'Dash.'
Whoosh!
He slipped inside the creature's guard. As their bodies clashed, he swung his greatsword upward in a vicious arc.
Clang!
'Damn.'
Its shell was too hard. The recoil jarred his hands, and he hastily twisted his body to dodge a swipe from its massive foreleg. A sharp sting flared in his forearm. Blood splattered from a shallow cut, but a wound of that caliber was the least of his worries.
'If I lose my momentum, it's over.'
If he fell back, the civilian would be caught in the crossfire. Thus, Kang Min-ho stood his ground, fiercely trading blows with the soldier ant.
Clang!
Clash! Clang! Clang!
His entire body shook violently. Meeting the soldier ant's monstrous strength head-on was a grueling task. Though he tried his absolute best to hold his ground, he couldn't stop himself from being pushed back step by step.
Yet, even in the midst of this brutal exchange, Kang Min-ho's eyes remained calm. Unlike others, he had entered the world of Hunters late in life. Having relentlessly hunted monsters to build his strength from scratch, he was well-accustomed to do-or-die situations like this. He had survived them countless times.
He had a purpose. To hone his skills as a Hunter and enter a shelter—a privilege granted only to a select few—alongside his only daughter, Min-ah.
He couldn't afford to die.
Though wounds rapidly accumulated on his body, Kang Min-ho kept his eyes peeled, searching for an opening to the very end.
Screeech!
Rumble!
The soldier ant tore up the ground as it charged again. In that split second, Kang Min-ho's eyes flashed.
'Strong Strike.'
A fierce red energy flared out from his blade. Just as the soldier ant's foreleg slashed toward his chest, Kang Min-ho's greatsword slammed directly down onto its head.
Whoosh!
Crack!
Its exoskeleton shattered. Yet, as if that wasn't enough to kill it, the soldier ant thrust its mangled face forward, trying to tear Kang Min-ho apart in its death throes.
He desperately clung to his consciousness and swung his sword repeatedly. Watching the soldier ant's head cave in with every strike, he hacked like a madman until the creature finally stopped moving.
Thwack!
Thwack! Thwack!
Teetering on the boundary of life and death, he put everything on the line. Just as the soldier ant's snapping jaws reached mere inches from his face, its massive body lost all strength and collapsed.
Thud.
Rumble.
"Pant, pant..."
He had won.
Too exhausted to even savor his victory, Kang Min-ho panted heavily, his face contorting in pain. It had been an incredibly close fight. If he hadn't been actively preparing for the D-Rank promotion exam, or if he hadn't boldly exploited his opponent's opening, he would have been the one lying dead on the ground instead of the monster.
But one thing was certain: he had survived.
Kang Min-ho hurriedly rummaged through his pockets, pulled out an emergency healing potion, and poured it over his wounds.
Sizzle.
"It is not over yet."
From behind him, the civilian's calm voice rang out. For a moment, he didn't comprehend the words. What did he mean, it wasn't over?
But then, a despair-inducing reality unfolded—one that Kang Min-ho could not possibly handle.
Screeech!
Grrrr.
The ground shook violently as new entities emerged from the earth. It was an entire swarm of soldier ants.
* * *
A swarm of soldier ants.
His mind went completely blank. Although this was an area where soldier ants occasionally appeared, their actual habitat was located far from here. It was known as a hunting ground where one might encounter one or two stragglers at most. He had chosen this location willing to take that level of risk, but he had never heard of them appearing in an entire swarm.
'...Min-ah.'
His only daughter. Her face flashed in his mind. If his daughter, who wasn't even an adult yet, were left all alone, how could she possibly survive in this harsh, ruined world?
He absolutely could not die. He refused to die here. Since escaping while injured was practically impossible, Kang Min-ho gritted his teeth and forced himself to stand, resolving to fight every last one of them.
He knew it was an impossible situation. But... he couldn't just give up.
In this desperate, touch-and-go situation, as he stared down the approaching swarm, the civilian's voice rang out once more.
"I shall make you a proposal."
Scuttle, scuttle!
Rumble!
The soldier ants rushed forward. Swarming from all directions, the monsters radiated an intense bloodlust, eager to tear Kang Min-ho to pieces.
The civilian, Roman Dmitry, continued unbothered.
"Those monsters aren't the only ones here. I will eliminate them all and take you to a safe place. However, there is a condition. One month. For one month, you will help me adapt to this place."
"What on earth are you talking about..."
It was an incomprehensible statement. How could a mere civilian, who didn't possess even a trace of mana, deal with a swarm of soldier ants? And what did he mean by adapting?
"Choose."
With the demand posed once more, Kang Min-ho had no time to think deeply. He was standing at the edge of a cliff. To survive, he had to grasp at any straw.
The soldier ants were right in front of him. Kang Min-ho screamed in desperation.
"Fine! If I can survive this, I'll help you with anything!"
The moment those words left his mouth, Roman Dmitry walked past the battered Kang Min-ho, stepping forward alone to face the swarm.
"The deal is struck."
A new life. From this moment on, it was time to live anew.