Chapter 1
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Last Chance (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Siberia.
The news that three A-rank hunters and their entire expedition team had been wiped out here was highly unusual.
In response, headquarters made the decision to dispatch an S-rank hunter.
"Whew. Fucking cold."
White breath billowed from Lee Jung-tae's mouth.
The expedition team led by S-rank hunter Lee Jung-tae was on its third day trudging through the Siberian snowfields.
Just the escort force numbered over two hundred.
Escort in name only—they were little more than pack mules.
Who could possibly escort an S-rank?
No one, unless it was another S-rank.
Lee Jung-tae scowled.
Normal expeditions would've used transport planes or teleportation.
But there were no markers for teleport, and the weather was too foul for planes to take off.
The howling blizzard lashed at Jung-tae's cheeks.
"Hey! Tae-hyun~ Fetch me some hot coffee."
At Jung-tae's words, a lowly F-rank hunter with deep wrinkles creasing his forehead came scurrying over.
He respectfully uncapped the tumbler tucked against his chest and handed the coffee to Jung-tae.
"Grr... Shit. Fucking freezing. Feels the same for you, huh, Tae-hyun?"
"Ah... Yes! It's cold."
"Hey, I told you to loosen up when it's just us."
Jung-tae was forty.
Tae-hyun, the one waiting on him hand and foot, was also forty.
They were classmates from the Hunter Officer Academy.
But Jung-tae was an S-rank hunter.
And Kang Tae-hyun was an F-rank hunter.
A total grunt.
Jung-tae took a sip of coffee and launched into his complaints.
"...Life is such fucking bullshit. Tae-hyun. Shit. Why the hell do I have to move just 'cause three A-ranks bit it?"
"Haha... Yeah..."
Tae-hyun said nothing more, just kept serving him.
...Haa.
Tae-hyun let out a short sigh and gazed up at the cloudless Siberian sky.
'Yeah. Life really is shit.'
In a routine operation, they would've just been written off as KIA, and it wouldn't have warranted mobilizing an S-rank hunter.
But for some reason, headquarters deemed this incident critical and urgently recalled Jung-tae from vacation.
S-rank hunters were humanity's assets.
In other words, they were everything to humanity.
Their strength was beyond description.
They became the captain-level heroes of Hunter Headquarters, contributing to world peace.
Even if they bullied people or beat them senseless, the world couldn't rein them in.
Ever since monsters started pouring out of the 'First Gate' fifty years ago, power had become the absolute measure in this world.
"Captain! Sir!"
A young E-rank scout approached and saluted Jung-tae.
Jung-tae eyed him.
"What."
"...Bodies. We've found them. Three hundred meters west of the expedition team's position."
It had been three days since they set out.
A blue signal flare shot up from the west.
They'd finally located the bodies of their fallen comrades.
"Good. Assign perimeter guards and move west."
"Yes, sir!"
He stared out at the snow-covered mountains.
The battlefield where three A-rank hunters had died was eerily quiet.
At twenty, I became the first hunter ever to commission as an F-rank with zero mana.
Zero-mana commissioning remained an unprecedented record even after my twenty years of service as an F-rank.
I barely scraped an F-rank at the ranking exam.
I got good marks on physicals and the written test, minus mana.
But there was no further growth possible for this body.
To keep my hunter status, I had to take on every menial task imaginable.
Grunt work, hauling gear, errands—and now coffee boy.
I'd tagged along on this expedition to handle his odd jobs.
Combat was never my thing.
Always in the rearmost lines on the battlefield.
Or not even on the battlefield at all.
Despite the hunter's duty to protect humanity, I'd never once formally fought a monster.
"...Have we found the rest of the bodies?"
"Not yet, sir... Unfortunately, these are just heads."
The corpses were gruesome.
Only the heads of A-rank hunters lay lined up in the snow.
Jung-tae frowned.
"Cut clean like with a blade. Precise. No monster could slice like this."
"What're you saying."
The young scout swallowed hard.
"...Looks like humans did it. All three with the same blade. The cuts match perfectly."
I eavesdropped from a distance.
"You saying a hunter did this?"
"...That's how it seems right now. At least, human work."
"Fuck. The only hunter who could take out three A-ranks at once is an S-rank. You know that?"
"......"
These were A-ranks known for their strength even among elites.
If they fell, it had to be something stronger.
'Who the hell...'
If not monsters, then hunters for sure.
If a hunter really murdered comrades, it was a big deal.
"Whoever it is... I'll rip 'em apart myself...!"
Jung-tae gnashed his teeth.
Rumble...!
The ground shook just from his surging emotions.
Incredible aura.
The man called a martial arts god.
The only S-rank who fought unarmed, the strongest fighter I knew.
Look at that outfit.
Complaining about the cold yet showing up to Siberia in a sleeveless shirt and shorts.
'...Classmate or not, what a monster.'
He could be rough or beat underlings on a whim, but no one denied his strength.
Compared to him, I was...
Nothing, in a word.
Twenty years of basic fitness and swordsmanship training.
I could confidently say I was stronger than most D-ranks, but I lacked that crucial 'mana.'
Mana was the key to promotion.
The god gave me just '1' mana.
No matter how strong I got, without more mana, promotion was impossible.
The E-rank wall was impossibly high.
"Hey! Tae-hyun!"
"Y-Yes... sir!"
I bolted across the snow at his call.
He glared at me, face twisted.
"...The fuck? You talking back to a superior?"
"N-No, sir!"
Best not to poke the bear when he's pissed.
I stood ramrod straight and met his gaze.
"Dig through the surrounding snow for any remaining bodies. Tear the whole area apart if you have to. Don't come back to camp till I say stop."
"Yes, sir!"
I immediately started clawing at the snow with my bare hands.
The cold didn't faze my toughened body.
I had to bust my ass to stay in his good graces.
That way, he'd bring me on the next expedition too...
Ssssh...
While searching, I felt vibrations in the snow.
The team members glanced at each other warily.
Pffft!
Then the source burst into view.
A massive brown hunk of flesh erupted from the snow.
Great Orc King.
Dead hunters' limbs clung grotesquely to its body.
Slash! Slash!
Weapons gripped in its myriad arms cleaved the air.
"H-Huh?!"
"Get the captain... call the captain!"
Whoosh—.
A black signal flare announced the enemy.
The grunts started backing away from the Great Orc King's overwhelming presence.
A few brave souls charged, only to become instant fodder.
Even average low-rank hunters couldn't scratch a Great Orc King.
"Grraaawr!"
Thud, thud!
The Great Orc King began massacring hunters wildly.
But something was off.
It just grabbed and devoured them whole.
Contradicting the cleanly decapitated corpses.
'This isn't the thing that killed the A-ranks...!'
An A-rank couldn't fail to take down a mere Great Orc King.
I could beat one myself with half a day of pummeling, relying only on my body.
Shing!
I drew my sword.
The blizzard raged.
The massive Great Orc King slaughtered my fellow hunters indiscriminately.
Grip—.
I tightened my hold on the hilt.
This might be my last shot.
Great Orc Kings pack devastating power, but they're beatable.
Dull, stupid, predictable.
And I'm a veteran hunter who's survived this long on swordsmanship alone.
F-rank or not.
Slash!
I charged and severed one arm.
Blood sprayed across the pristine snow.
Still, the Great Orc King ignored me.
'Tch... Like swatting a mosquito.'
Slash! Slash! Slash!
I rapidly hacked off the clinging arms.
From the severed hunter limbs, most were from this operation's casualties.
Slash!
"Guuuh...?"
After some slashing, it finally noticed me.
I wiped drool from my mouth.
"Interested now, you pig?"
I'd slash it a hundred, a thousand times.
Skills would make it easy, but I just slashed.
I'm a stubborn hard worker.
Slash till it drops, nothing else matters.
"Raaagh!!"
I roared and charged.
Dozens of arms lunged at me.
That instant.
Boom!
The Great Orc King's body exploded into chunks.
'Urk...!'
The shockwave hurled me forward.
Body parts flew everywhere.
A chunk of guts splattered on my head.
A putrid stench filled the air.
I looked toward the skill's origin.
There stood Lee Jung-tae.
"The fuck. These three A-ranks got done in by this piece-of-shit trash?"
He picked his nose with one hand, the other having unleashed the shockwave.
To him, a Great Orc King was nose-picking, one-handed fodder.
Me? A thousand swings might barely do it.
Overwhelming power gap.
I could only despair.
A nameless frustration welled up.
"Tae-hyun. Call me first next time shit like this happens."
"...Yes. Thank you... Captain."
"Whew. Anyway, that settle it?"
Jung-tae yawned widely as he said it.
He lit a cigarette.
S-rank hunter.
If they fell, humanity's end followed.
The scant twenty S-ranks each equaled a full division in combat power.
Their value was immeasurable.
'......'
I'd shed blood, sweat, and tears in training, no less than them.
But an uncrossable wall.
Mana.
"Alright. Head back?"
"Yes, sir!"
Jung-tae turned and walked away.
This mission might've been my last chance.
At my age, command would pressure retirement.
I needed to prove myself.
But my final expedition ended like this.
...Then a oddity from the fight hit me.
Why the A-rank hunters died.
Not the Great Orc King.
No reason for it to decapitate prey it instinctively devours.
The case remained unsolved.
"Ah, um... Captain...!"
I ran and grabbed Jung-tae.
"Hm?"
He turned to me.
...
Swish...
His head hit the snow.
"Huh?"
It happened in a blink.
Jung-tae's head rolled across the snow.
I couldn't process it, staring blankly at his headless body.
'...What the hell.'
Looking around, every hunter but me was decapitated.
Terror made my hands shake.
'...G-Ghost...?'
Killing intent.
I turned to the snow-draped hill.
Black mask.
Black cloak.
Tall stature.
Long hair trailing to the snow.
"..."
"..."
The black-masked figure stared silently.
He approached step by step.
I couldn't move an inch as he neared.
"Strange."
A deep male voice.
Not a monster. Human.
So a human killed an S-rank hunter?
Impossible.
No S-rank could decapitate another instantly.
Then what was this guy...?
The black-clad man stopped before me.
His pale finger pointed at my neck.
"Why's your head still attached?"
"...Pfft...!"
Blood erupted from my mouth.
I clutched my neck.
Gush.
Blood poured like a waterfall.
I'd been slashed in that split second too.
For some reason, my head hadn't fallen.
"Tough neck. A waste to kill."
"Guh... ugh...!"
"You must be the S-rank. I had hopes when I heard one was coming... First creature to survive my slash. Be proud, S-rank."
Thud!
I collapsed.
My blood soaked the white snow.
Consciousness faded.
I couldn't hold on much longer.
This was my fate.
No sounds reached me as my eyes slowly closed.
My final tear trickled down my cheek.
...
[New Skill Awakening!]
Hero's Return
Effect: Activates upon the caster's death. Regresses to the target's most memorable moment, retaining all abilities. All stats are then doubled.
[New Skill Awakening!]
The One Who Will Become ???
Effect: ???
"Attention!"
Flash.
My eyes snapped open at the instructor's shout.
When I opened them again.
I wasn't vomiting blood.
My head wasn't severed.
I looked around.
This was the Hunter Officer Academy auditorium.
'What.'
I'd regressed.
(To be continued)