Chapter 41: Mine (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 41: Mine (5)
It was just another attack.
By then, there was no such thing as a special kind of raid.
It was war, after all.
This time, however, the location was far from ideal. And the Hero Association President had been taken hostage.
The situation was bad on multiple fronts.
That alone was the worst-case scenario, but all these factors combined to drive Jung Hae-in to the battlefield.
Cheon Yeo-wool asked him.
“You’re going yourself, aren’t you?”
“I have to.”
He was always like that.
I have to go. Humanity was suffering from a severe shortage of manpower.
The situation had grown so desperate that every single renowned hero was needed.
In such a time, his presence was an indispensable force.
But the Mines knew him just as well, and they tried every means to draw him out and kill him.
Kang A-rin lowered her hand beneath the table.
She was clenching her fist so tightly that her nails dug into her palm.
By then, they had all become weapons to annihilate the Demonic Force.
Forged by Jung Hae-in's own hands over several painstaking years. Each one his creation. His possessions.
It’s not enough.
Therefore, as long as they, who had absorbed the Fragments, existed, there was no need for Jung Hae-in to stand on the front lines.
That's how it should have been.
But a void had been left.
The man Jung Hae-in had invested the most in raising.
Seong Si-woo.
He had disappeared.
One day, suddenly. Without warning, without reason.
Jung Hae-in was heartbroken. He didn't show it much.
But they knew.
The study at dawn.
In the darkness-shrouded room, the only light came from a single lamp on the desk.
Beneath that light, Jung Hae-in sat with his head bowed.
His back, always so straight and strong, was bent under an unnatural weight.
As he turned the documents before him, page by page, his gaze lingered long on each one. He pressed his fingertips to his brow, lost in deep thought.
They had seen it.
They had seen him waver.
Watching him from beyond the crack in the door, Cheon Yeo-wool shed tears.
Yu Hana walked to the study, then turned back without a word.
Kang A-rin silently headed for the training ground.
Ha Sion gritted her teeth, grabbed her bow, and stormed out.
In the end, to fill the void left by Seong Si-woo, Jung Hae-in pushed himself even harder.
He’ll be back soon.
Jung Hae-in believed Seong Si-woo would return, but…
No matter how much time passed, he did not come back.
His place remained empty.
Fortunately, however, the attack was dealt with more easily than expected.
Mines were subjugated everywhere, and the Hero Association President was safely secured.
The tense atmosphere gradually began to loosen.
In that moment.
Thud.
It was a dull sound.
And an object rolling on the floor.
A face drained of all color, eyes vacant and lost.
The head of the Association President.
Instantly, all sound ceased. No one screamed.
Before they could even swallow their shock, the next attack came.
CR-CRACK!
Something flew toward Jung Hae-in.
An attack carrying terrifying power.
He immediately twisted his body into a defensive stance. A powerful impact shot through his spear.
The ground where he stood shattered.
Thick cracks spiderwebbed out as the earth caved in.
And everyone turned their heads in the direction the attack had come from.
A silhouette shrouded in black energy.
A red glint in its eyes. They could feel the demonic energy boiling off its body.
“…Seong Si-woo.”
He hadn't run away in fear. Nor had he returned.
A body stained purple, and an amount of demonic energy unthinkable for a human.
He had.
Turned.
But the first thing the women did was turn their gazes to Jung Hae-in.
To hell with Seong Si-woo.
They were worried that he would be hurt. That he would be in pain.
His feelings came before their own.
But he said nothing.
He simply brushed off the dust and slowly got to his feet. Then, he calmly raised his head and looked at Seong Si-woo.
What he was thinking, what he was feeling—no one knew.
*
On the first day of weapon training, Seong Si-woo tasted an indelible humiliation for the first time.
He was furious.
Getting angry was easy.
But he wasn't the type to simply rage. He was someone who knew how to sharpen that anger.
To defeat Jung Hae-in. That was his one and only goal.
Jung Hae-in's plan, which had been to provoke him, had more or less succeeded, albeit in a different direction than intended.
“Seong Si-woo…”
“Fuck off.”
“Ah, right.”
Seong Si-woo didn't even look at him.
He ignored him as if he weren't even worth a response.
Then one day.
He witnessed Jung Hae-in’s Mock Dungeon practice firsthand.
In that instant, his mind went blank.
Jung Hae-in had overwhelmingly suppressed two students who were ranked higher than him.
A fire raged within him.
I have to surpass him.
He made his decision. He had trained enough.
So, during the midterm exam, he would defeat him.
On this stage, he would crush him and prove he was superior.
He designated him as his opponent.
But he was rejected.
“This bastard…”
But the next moment, he was stunned to see who was in the arena.
Yohan…?
Jung Hae-in's opponent wasn't him, but Yohan, the Rank 2.
Seong Si-woo clenched his fists and watched the match.
Jung Hae-in subdued Yohan in a single breath.
In that moment, the Crusader charged at Jung Hae-in, his eyes filled with madness.
Seong Si-woo instinctively clenched his fists as well.
But someone stood in his way.
“Why…?”
Seong Si-woo’s eyes wavered. Park Gwang-cheol was blocking his path.
After exchanging a few words, he casually tapped Jung Hae-in and slung an arm around his shoulders. A pose that suggested they were quite close.
The place he had believed without a doubt that he, the best, would enter.
Vanquisher, the strongest group in the world.
Seong Si-woo had always yearned to join Vanquisher.
But even that belonged to Jung Hae-in.
In that instant, a vast sense of emptiness washed over him.
That night.
Seong Si-woo couldn't sleep. The image of Jung Hae-in wouldn't leave his mind.
The next day came, and he found himself wandering aimlessly.
He didn't even know where he was going.
He just walked and walked.
Not wanting to meet anyone, he walked deeper into the forest.
There, he met a being that had been waiting for him.
The masked figure introduced himself as Moras.
“Are you lost?” he whispered to Seong Si-woo.
“I will give you… power.”
Instantly.
His heart pounded.
Ecstasy welled up inside him. Finally, my chance has come.
From behind Moras, a black hand reached out.
He was about to extend his own hand toward it.
Fzzt!
“Hey, you bastard!!”
That voice.
The voice he hated hearing most.
It had been just a moment.
Just one more step, and he would have had that power.
His head throbbed as if it would split open.
It’s you again.
He stole my power again.
He stole my chance.
His vision distorted.
Above his head, a sacred light appeared.
The System intervened.
[Danger detected. Protecting the user.]
A sacred aura enveloped Seong Si-woo.
His body twitched and convulsed.
"Fuck…!"
His pupils trembled.
Pain washed over him.
“Are you okay?”
He rushed over to check on Seong Si-woo's condition. Then, he let out a sigh of relief.
—Still okay…
—The System did a good…
His voice grew faint.
And in the distance, from beyond where the hand had emerged, he heard someone whisper.
—Accept it.
Accept? What?
—My child, accept this power.
Then, his mind… began to feel at ease.
It was such a simple problem.
All he had to do was accept.
[Warning. Abnormal mana detected.]
[Danger. System error detected.]
[Forced purification…]
[…Failure.]
The light… shattered.
Jung Hae-in's eyes flew open.
His mind screamed.
The System.
It had been shattered to pieces.
His expression was painted with despair.
“……”
Jung Hae-in stared at him wordlessly.
Seong Si-woo smiled. Slowly, very slowly.
A murky, dark energy began to rise from his body.
He reached out his hand.
Thwack!
He grabbed Jung Hae-in by the throat.
“!”
The sudden impact made Jung Hae-in’s body tremble.
The color of Seong Si-woo's arm was gradually turning purple. A sign that he was being consumed by demonic energy.
Seong Si-woo’s grip tightened.
Jung Hae-in found it difficult to even draw a breath.
Even so, he looked Seong Si-woo straight in the eye.
“Snap out of it… you idiot…”
He knew, too. He knew what it meant for the System to be broken.
But he couldn't accept it.
Because the end of this world's protagonist… couldn't be like this.
He was denying his own common sense.
“Heh.”
Seong Si-woo sneered. The red glint in his eyes blazed.
“Just die.”
His hand squeezed harder. Jung Hae-in’s own hands tensed.
It was then.
KRA-KOOM!!!
CLANG!
Light poured down from the sky, and an intense pressure crushed the space.
A giant hammer wreathed in holy light and a black spear fell from the sky.
CRUNCH!
One of Seong Si-woo's arms was torn clean off.
“Ugh… Aaaaargh!!!!”
He screamed in agony.
Dark red blood dripped to the ground.
Then, a voice cut through the space.
“It's Infestation.”
It was a calm voice.
It was the Paladin Jung Hae-in had met before.
Behind her, Saints led by Cheon Yeo-wool appeared.
“…That was a close call.”
On the opposite side stood Kang Yun-hyeok, the Guild Leader of Maengju, his hand outstretched. Kang A-rin was with him.
Kang A-rin looked down on Seong Si-woo impassively.
Her gaze was filled with cold contempt.
Seong Si-woo writhed on the ground, convulsing from the pain of his severed arm.
At the Paladin's gesture,
White shackles materialized one by one, binding his body.
Kang Yun-hyeok asked.
“What should we do?”
The disposition of Mines, and those brainwashed or infested by them, was primarily to be handled according to the Cult's directives.
They could be killed easily, but the remnants of demonic energy could remain and cause problems.
The Paladin considered.
If it were an early-stage Infestation, the prognosis might be good.
But seeing his purple-stained arm, the progression of his demonization was too advanced.
In cases like this, both execution and detainment had their pros and cons.
She finally opened her mouth.
“I suppose detainment…”
CRUNCH!
But she never finished her sentence.
Jung Hae-in's spear had pierced straight through Seong Si-woo's heart.
“He is a Mine,” he said curtly.
Then he collapsed to his knees.
Jung Hae-in had finally accepted reality.
“There is no way to turn him back.”
If the System is broken, it's over.
The Cult's advice meant nothing to him.
Because the one who knew more about Infestation than anyone…
was Jung Hae-in himself.
Everyone fell silent.
But in that space, two people—and two alone—
Cheon Yeo-wool and Kang A-rin—had a distorted look in their eyes.
Their faces were colored with a quiet ecstasy.