Chapter 51
Chapter 51
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: Demon Contracts
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'What happens if you make a contract with the demon race?'
Yong-un, who had become a member of the Unwoo Guild, had gleaned quite a bit of information from his conversation with the guild leader, Jin-cheol.
Among it was the tale of hunters who had contracted with demons.
'Hunters who contract with demons can wield the demon race's unique dark mana.'
Unlike martial artists, who anyone could become by cultivating martial arts with their own power.
Hunters weren't something you could become just by wanting to.
It required nothing else but pure luck.
That single factor was spawning hunters across the world.
But after a long time passed.
Researchers worldwide had figured out how to become a hunter on one's own.
It was contracting with the demon race—humanity's greatest enemy.
The worst method, one that instantly turned ordinary people into destructive hunters who wielded dark mana.
That was hunter awakening through a demon contract.
'Historically speaking, there was a huge wave of apparent success at first. But the problems started after that.'
At the outset, many nations put in tremendous effort to acquire that method.
With dozens of gates popping up every day, there was no greater national gain than more hunters.
But as time went on, a worldwide incident made everyone realize just how dangerous hunter awakening through demon contracts truly was.
'That was when demons began descending on their own, without gates.'
Hordes of demons suddenly appeared across the globe.
In an instant, the entire world descended into a cauldron of chaos.
People died, cities burned.
The streets overflowed with blood and corpses, and atop them, demons began gleefully smashing buildings to pieces.
And before long, shocking information spread worldwide.
The hunter awakenings born from demon contracts—the very attempts to free themselves from gates—were the cause of these gate-less demon descents.
The more power a contracted hunter used, the more it gradually summoned the contracted demon into this world. That was the crux of the intel.
The world couldn't help but fall into shock.
There were still plenty of contracted hunters remaining.
Which meant countless demons had yet to descend.
As their nations crumbled before their eyes, countless countries deeply regretted ever attempting demon contracts.
'But humanity wasn't weak.'
All the remaining hunters worldwide who hadn't contracted with demons banded together and struck down the demon hordes.
And they rounded up the contracted hunters and burned them alive.
'No one uttered a peep about human rights or anything like that. The damage had been that catastrophic.'
Millions had perished, by the numbers.
It was the worst victory in human history.
For a time, twenty percent of the world's land had been temporarily seized by demons.
The lands the demons had passed through were scorched by fire, buildings reduced to rubble, and littered with blood and bodies.
'That's the origin of the laws in the current global Hunter Code—banning demon contracts and classifying contractors as perpetrators of serious crimes.'
Yong-un organized the information he'd heard from Jin-cheol.
Finishing his summary, he shook off his reverie and turned to Cheonil.
"How did you end up contracting with that demon?"
"I don't know. I can't remember."
Cheonil squirmed as he answered.
Talk of demons clearly wasn't a pleasant topic for him.
Setting everything else aside, Yong-un posed the question he most wanted answered.
"Can you summon that demon right now?"
"R-Right now?"
"Yeah, right now."
The demon's name or whatever didn't matter.
He just wanted to lay eyes on the demon parasitizing Cheonil's body.
But a wrinkle appeared.
"Sorry... It's not like I can call it whenever I want... It just shows up out of nowhere without me realizing."
"You don't know the method?"
"Yeah... Sorry. Don't kick me out, okay? I like it here."
The most crucial part—how to summon the demon.
And Cheonil didn't know it.
Whether he truly didn't or not, his face brimmed with pure innocence.
It was filled only with anxiety over the fear of being chased away.
'What kind of life has he lived?'
Cheonil wore an expression like he might burst into tears any second.
Yong-un smiled and gently stroked his head.
"Don't worry. No one here can chase you out. This place is your home now."
"Home...?"
Cheonil, who had been on the verge of tears, looked up at Yong-un.
"Yeah. Home."
"Home..."
His mood lifting, Cheonil gave a slight smile and bowed his head.
Putting aside his regret, Yong-un—who had been stroking Cheonil's hair—turned his gaze to the house of Gwisalhonmyeol.
'For now, the kid's worn out today, so we'll call it here. Looks like I'll have to keep him with me for a while.'
With that, he walked into Gwisalhonmyeol's house, dragging along a time bomb that could go off at any moment.
Early in the morning, he gathered the jang-gwi and taught them the Enemy Subduing Demon Art. In the afternoon, he summoned the Sword Tiger and Myung-su, instructing each in One Strike and One Kill.
Amid that packed schedule, one more task was added for Yong-un.
Forcing the time bomb parasitizing Cheonil's body to detonate.
"Hyung, we're... doing gates?"
Even looking so young, he was still a hunter.
Arriving at the pre-scouted gate, Cheonil gazed at Yong-un with an anxious expression.
"Have you been running gates?"
"Yeah, three a day."
Three caught Yong-un off guard—he tilted his head.
"You ran three gates?"
"Yeah, those scary guys shoved me inside every day."
There was more than one odd thing in his words.
And the strangeness wasn't limited to his words.
"Since it's what hyung wants... I'll go on ahead."
Cheonil let go of Yong-un's hand and headed into the gate alone.
Yong-un grabbed his slender shoulder.
"Those three gates—you cleared them all solo?"
"W-Wasn't that normal? They said it's 'cause I'm cursed..."
What a brutal world.
Sending a child like that into gates alone.
And not just once or twice, but three every day.
They weren't treating Cheonil as a guild member—they were using him as a bomb.
A bomb that burst gates by leveraging the parasitizing demon.
'I shouldn't have let them off so easy.'
He felt regret over merely scaring off Kang Tae-jong and the Hanbit Guild members who'd fled in panic yesterday.
The weak preying on the strong.
It was the type Yong-un despised most.
Weak against the mighty, ruthless against the frail—the spineless archetype most people embodied.
And those whose tendencies sharpened against women, the elderly, and children? Yong-un loathed them even more.
'I figured they'd be something like that, but they're even bigger trash than expected.'
For a moment, he considered dropping by their guild. Instead, he shifted his attention and looked down at Cheonil.
'He's terrified.'
The tremors of fear rippling from Cheonil's body transmitted to Yong-un.
Yet his footsteps toward the gate were resolute. It seemed Cheonil believed that was the only way he could stay here.
Yong-un stared at him for a moment before pointing at the gate.
"Do you know what a gate is?"
"Yeah... A scary place. And every day my memory cuts out, and it reeks of blood."
Yong-un wrapped his arms around Cheonil's trembling body from both sides.
"I'll change that perception for you. Let's go in together."
Grabbing the hand of Cheonil, who had been walking ahead, Yong-un stepped toward the gate.
Cheonil's eyes went wide in surprise as he followed, shouting,
"T-Together? But I'm cursed... Is that okay?"
Yong-un flashed a bright smile.
"Who said that's a curse? They're clueless. What you have is luck. I'll make sure it is."
Just holding hands and hearing those words eased his mind—the tremors from Cheonil's body finally stopped.
And instead of a tearful face, Cheonil beamed widely and shouted vigorously,
"Yeah!"
As always, the gate warped the entire landscape.
The eerie atmosphere. The trembling in his hand had ceased.
Yong-un wrapped his arms around Cheonil's shoulders with a smile.
"Shall we try it like you normally do?"
"B-But..."
"I won't die. So trust me and go ahead—let me change everything for you."
Facing the situation head-on made him anxious, perhaps.
Cheonil clung to Yong-un's hand and hooked his pinky with feigned resolve.
"Hyung, promise me one thing. If it feels dangerous, we get out immediately."
Though they'd entered precisely to create that danger, Yong-un nodded for Cheonil's sake.
"Sure, we'll do that."
"Phew."
Only then did Cheonil sigh in relief.
"Okay, here I go."
Steeling himself with a relieved breath, Cheonil slowly walked toward the frightening monsters, just like always.
"Don't worry... Those monsters will all vanish after I sleep."
"Krrak!"
Rat-faced monsters two meters tall glared at Cheonil.
"Cheonil... Don't worry... It'll be okay..."
"Krrarak!"
The red-eyed monsters bellowed.
Then, like predators spotting prey, they charged at Cheonil from their positions.
"It's okay... Don't... worry..."
The monsters' killing intent amplified the tremors wracking Cheonil's body.
In an instant, monsters swarmed him from all sides.
Standing in their midst, self-soothing, Cheonil's eyes gradually turned pitch black.
"It'll... be... okay..."
His eyes fully blackened, his soothing voice slowed... then cut off entirely.
But oblivious to his own change, Cheonil slowly bowed his head.
'It'll be okay.'
Just like always.
Facing the monsters drawing near, Cheonil's vision darkened.
Nothing visible, nothing audible.
'When I open my eyes, everything will be fine.'
No fear.
He knew how it ended.
When he opened his eyes.
'I'm a cursed child.'
Believing his curse would make the scary monsters vanish, the last thread of Cheonil's consciousness snapped.
Whoosh!
"So that's it."
Yong-un, who had been quietly observing Cheonil, smiled.
The time bomb he'd been waiting for had detonated.
Boom! Splash!
Unrefined demonic energy erupted in a massive shockwave.
At the same time, blue monster blood sprayed skyward along with mangled limbs.
Cheonil's form, previously completely surrounded and hidden, now entered Yong-un's view.
Blackened, viscous eyes and skin, elongated red nails.
Even bat-like wings sprouting from his back.
The demon from Yong-un's memories—now wearing Cheonil's face—began massacring the monsters.
"So a contract lets the demon descend into their body and fight in their stead?"
Arms crossed as he watched the slaughter, Yong-un sensed the flow of the transforming demonic energy.
"It starts at the back, courses through the limbs, then heads to the head."
Slash! Rip!
"Grrr..."
It was then, as he observed how best to wield the power from a demon contract.
The demon-possessed Cheonil, in the midst of massacring monsters, suddenly whipped his head around and locked eyes precisely on Yong-un in the distance.
With a low growl, he vanished from the spot.
Boom!
The shock of clashing energies rang out.
Not from where he'd been slaughtering monsters—but right in front of Yong-un.
"Thanks for coming right to me."
"Grrrrr..."
His attack blocked, the demon-possessed Cheonil scowled and unleashed an even greater burst of demonic energy.
Not toward the monsters.
Toward Yong-un.