What the Hell Is Going On?
'What the hell is happening right now?'
Even as I was soaring through the air, grabbed by the collar by Lee Shin-yul, I couldn't make sense of it.
Why the sudden attack on me? Just moments ago, the mood had been great. He'd even kindly explained his hypothesis about what he knew. And then out of nowhere, this.
Was he planning to kill me just like that?
"……."
But there was something else in Lee Shin-yul's eyes. Sure, there was killing intent, but mixed in with it was immense hesitation.
Fwosh!
Lee Shin-yul's body, which had leaped into the air gripping my collar, glowed brightly. My body followed suit, glowing just like when we'd entered the dungeon, and I felt that familiar sensation of floating weightlessly.
Boom!
The scenery around us shifted in an instant. No longer the bustling heart of Gangnam, but a quiet, empty rural lot.
It had to be the Unique Ability embedded in that artifact he'd activated earlier.
Lee Shin-yul flung me unceremoniously to the ground and put some distance between us.
Crack.
He crushed a marble from his pocket, and his outfit transformed into the battle gear I'd seen him wear during the Masinjeon Dungeon raid. Armor covered in pitch-black metal plating. No matter how you sliced it, he looked dead serious about fighting me for real.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?"
Part of me wondered why I was even asking at this point, but if he'd truly had bad intentions, he could've done it right there in the middle of everything. And considering everything I'd seen of Lee Shin-yul so far, he wasn't some utter scumbag. At least, I wanted to believe that.
"And you—why didn't you just tell the truth?"
"That's……."
Explaining the reason would get complicated.
"Sorry about that part. But so what if I'm a 1st Gen Awakener? Why go this far over it?"
"……."
Lee Shin-yul didn't answer. Instead, he drew the sword from his waist, gripping the long hilt with both hands as he assumed a stance facing me.
What the hell was so special about being a 1st Gen Awakener anyway?
Everything he'd just told me was still just a hypothesis at best. Like he'd said himself, no dungeon had "evolved" past its final stage yet. And on top of that, he himself was supposedly a 1st Gen Awakener.
"…No way. You're not a 1st Gen Awakener, are you, Lee Shin-yul?"
"…Yeah. I'm actually 2nd Gen. Got lucky and learned how to form a mana core a bit early, that's all."
"……."
Clearly, rational conversation wasn't happening right now.
"…Sorry in advance for what's about to happen."
Groooan!
With those curt words, he tensed his legs, gathering power.
I figured I'd just knock him out gently enough and stomped toward him.
Lee Shin-yul was stronger than anyone I'd faced so far. No room to hold back or take it easy. I'd have to go all out, as fast as possible.
I hurled my fist at him at my maximum speed.
Swoosh!
"…Huh?"
But my punch whiffed spectacularly.
Lee Shin-yul had simply tilted his head aside to dodge. Then, as if it were nothing, a flurry of sword strikes grazed past me.
Slash! Slash!
Seven strikes in the blink of an eye. Fitting for the man called the top ranker.
Deep gashes marked where the Gu-guk Sword had passed.
"Ngh."
I clenched the wounded areas hard, staunching the blood. The sliced flesh knit back together at rapid speed.
"Just now……."
Even for Lee Shin-yul, I hadn't expected my attack to miss so cleanly. I'd figured he'd at least graze it.
Something's off.
It wasn't just dodging my punch—there was more to it.
"You……."
"My turn!"
Bam!
Lee Shin-yul shot forward like a bullet. His slash was so fast and powerful it cracked the air itself, raking across my entire body.
"Tch!"
I swung my arms mid-motion to counter, but every attack missed by a hair's breadth, leaving me open to more slashes.
Crack!
A bursting sound erupted from the Gu-guk Sword as it piled on the cuts. Lee Shin-yul pressed on undeterred, unleashing more strikes.
Snap!
The sword finally reached its limit and shattered into pieces.
Bang!
But he didn't stop there. A dozen more Gu-guk Swords burst from the air behind him—exactly twelve of them. Artifacts replicated by Yoon Deok-su's "Copy" Unique Ability.
Damn.
Deok-su had outdone himself. Not just one or two, but twelve perfect replicas, identical to the original.
Groooan!
As Lee Shin-yul reached for one of the airborne swords, I shifted my stance with a twist, stomping again. Feinting left before hooking right with a punch. At this close range, no dodging it.
Not even for Lee Shin-yul.
Swoosh!
But it missed again. Meanwhile, he swapped swords and kept pouring on the strikes.
Snap!
The second Gu-guk Sword broke. This wasn't working—I leaped back hard, putting distance between us.
"…Lee Shin-yul."
"Yes."
That last attack had made it crystal clear. His Unique Ability. And how he'd claimed the number one spot all these years.
"You have the Foresight Unique Ability, don't you?"
"……."
Lee Shin-yul just scowled at me in silence.
His physical abilities were top-tier, sure, but dodging that attack should've been impossible. Yet he did it effortlessly. Like he knew exactly what attack I'd throw and where.
Which meant everything he'd told me wasn't just a hypothesis.
'Dungeons are seeds planted from another world. 1st Gen Awakeners are nothing more than guardians meant to protect them.'
That was real.
"…Don't tell me you're the one who's been hunting down 1st Gen Awakeners? Using that power to see the future? And now you want to kill me too?"
"……."
"If that's the case, why drag it out like this? You could've just killed me the day we first met."
"…No. It's different with you."
After my barrage of questions, Lee Shin-yul finally spoke.
"My ability doesn't work on you."
"What?"
Then how'd he dodge my attacks?
…Oh.
Come to think of it, he really hadn't known I was a 1st Gen Awakener. He had no clue I'd accidentally soloed Masinjeon or taken down Abaddon alone.
"When I try using it on you… it's like looking through fog. I can barely see a minute ahead. That's why I pulled you into the raid—to keep tabs on you."
"No way……."
"So I was thrilled when you cleared the dungeon yourself. Figured you weren't 1st Gen after all. They instinctively avoid clearing dungeons."
His face looked utterly exhausted as he spoke.
"Even without my ability working……."
He regripped his sword and braced himself.
"It's enough to beat you."
"Ha. Fucking hell."
His resolve pissed me off, but damn if it wasn't impressive too. Foresight was a notoriously tricky power to handle.
This wasn't my first run-in with it. Saintess Eliza and the pontiff's priests back home had it too. But theirs was weak—vague stuff like, 'One day, in some place, the hero's heir will be born,' or 'Soon, the Demon King descends.'
Lee Shin-yul was different. Pinpoint foresight down to split seconds for individuals. Impressive as hell. Most would've melted their brains trying to push it that far.
"Now that I know you're 1st Gen, I can't leave any more uncertainties."
"What the……."
I could piece together the gist. He'd racked up countless opportunities through foresight, climbing to number one, building Gu-guk Guild and its members. Dodged crises left and right with it.
And that hypothesis he'd mentioned? Not a guess—he'd seen it in the future.
Then I showed up. An uncertain variable his power couldn't read. So he'd gotten close to figure out if I needed killing or not.
"Sorry, Soo-hyeok. You have to die here. For the future of this world."
And he'd settled on death.
Lee Shin-yul charged again, regripping the Gu-guk Sword.
Clang!
"Urgh……."
I tried countering, but foresight made it futile. Before my hand could even move, he'd slip away by a fraction of a second and drive his blade home.
As more Gu-guk Swords shattered, fatigue started piling up on my end.
"Hoo."
Honestly? Pissed me right off. Like wrestling a hyperactive eel.
"Lee Shin-yul. One question."
"…What?"
"Can you see your own future?"
"…At least, I don't see one where I lose."
"…Got it."
If he said it himself, it had to be true. Six Gu-guk Swords left. Meaning I'd tire out before they all broke—or that I'd never kill him no matter what.
"Hoo."
I took a light breath and relaxed my body.
"…What are you doing?"
"What else? Check with that fancy foresight of yours."
"…Nothing's changed."
"Heh. Figured."
Yeah. I still didn't want to kill him. Too many questions left, and having seen foresight users up close, I knew the curse it carried better than most.
Foresight wasn't some cheat power to celebrate. The deeper you delved, the more it became a curse.
If the endgame was a happy future, great. But if it was hell? Pure nightmare?
You'd spend every moment waiting for total annihilation, watching everyone die, over and over. Futile struggles changing nothing.
Saintess Eliza had endured that. Bearing her destined fate, fighting demons—but humanity was always on the back foot. If I hadn't nullified the Demon King's Absolute Human Barrier, we'd have lost.
That brutal future had worn her down. Hero Reinhardt was the one who'd held her together.
"…Lee Shin-yul."
"…Yes."
Until now, I'd seen him as Korea's top hunter, Gu-guk's master. Impressive. But knowing he had foresight? He just seemed like a scared little puppy to me.
"…Hoo."
One final deep breath.
I clenched my fist tight.
Sizzle!
I smeared the Demon God's Blood I'd brought onto my fingertips. Extreme poison that burned like my fingers were melting.
Now that his Unique Ability was confirmed active, subduing him without killing meant this was the only way.
"What……?"
Lucky for me, his foresight didn't work on me. Proving it, he just tilted his head, clueless about what was coming.
"Foresight isn't absolute. And it can be beaten."
Foresight showed the highest-probability future. Not infallible. Outcomes could shift with circumstances.
And to beat it in combat…….
"What the hell does that……."
"Simple."
Stab!
The poison-laced finger plunged deep into my left chest.
"…Cough!"
Pain I hadn't felt in ages. Hurt like a bitch. But I had to endure. This was the trigger for my Unique Ability.
Of course I'd hate using this.
Back when I first got dragged to Jellun, I'd used it often. Kisaeng Revival—a ridiculously overpowered ability to resurrect from near-death wounds.
Not omnipotent, though. Needed an ironclad will to live.
When I killed the Demon King, I'd had no regrets, so I'd "died." And once I got stronger, dying was too damn hard anyway, so I never bothered.
That's why I used the precious Demon God's Blood now. My body was Jellun-level again—no way a hole in the heart would kill me.
So I gritted through the agony and pumped the poison straight into my heart. No better option came to mind.
Will to live? Overflowing. Still so much left undone back home. Money was finally rolling in decently. Hell, I hadn't even gotten married yet. Plenty to live for.
Fwwoooosh!
It took. Fierce energy surged around my punctured heart.
This feeling……?
Familiar. That sticky, nauseating mana that used to slosh around inside me daily as a demon.
Groooan!
The mana roiled through my body, racing to my left temple.
A massive single horn sprouted there.
Is this permanent? Shit, can't have that.
Eyeing the immediate problem first.
"Wh-what the hell are you……?"
Lee Shin-yul's eyes bulged—even his foresight hadn't caught this—as he stared in shock.
"Lee Shin-yul."
"……."
"If you don't surrender in the next three seconds, I'll kill you. But if we can talk it out, I'll spare you."
"Ha!"
He gripped the Gu-guk Sword tighter, resetting his stance. Blue light swirled in his eyes.
"Th-this……."
But terror filled them, like he'd glimpsed pure horror.
Sorry, but this wasn't bluffing. The surest way to subdue a foresight user: show him an overwhelming future of death.
No time to dodge or foresee.
"Three."
"Urgh……!"
"Two."
"……."
"One."
Clang! Clang!
The Gu-guk Swords floating behind him plummeted limply. The one in his hand followed suit.