Chapter 68
Hunter Lee Shin (4)
[What the hell is happening?!]
The demon Marbas had been enjoying a peaceful rest when he felt as though a bolt of lightning had struck from a clear sky.
[Why is the rift I worked so hard to create suddenly—]
While leisurely passing another day like any other, he had abruptly suffered a tremendous blow that shook his very soul.
The cause was the rift Marbas had opened in the Hong Kong region of Earth No. 1.
Humans merely hunting some monsters shouldn’t cause anything like this.
Among the various methods of harvesting despair, rifts were the one most commonly employed by demons. Aside from the resources invested when initially opening one, they required virtually no maintenance and would remain open almost permanently unless one of the gods from the World of Stars deliberately destroyed them.
Low risk, high return.
That was the decisive reason rifts were so beloved by demons.
Has some kind of error occurred?
Sweating nervously, Marbas inspected the rift’s condition. However, he found no obvious errors or problems requiring correction. On the contrary, everything was operating exactly as designed.
Then why was this happening?
There’s only one possible cause for something like this.
Once opened, a rift was considered a dimensional fissure. It could never be destroyed by the power of mortals.
Forget destroying one—even inflicting the slightest damage was impossible.
To damage a rift, one needed Interference: the influence that only gods belonging to the World of Stars could exert upon other worlds.
...I’ve never heard of a transcendent existing on Earth No. 1.
It was a dimension with vast territory and billions of intelligent inhabitants—a golden land that would make any demon salivate. Yet the god responsible for managing it had long since vacated his position.
That was why an incredibly fierce investment craze had erupted around twenty years ago. If a demon could stake a claim to just one of those prime territories, they could harvest a stable supply of despair for the rest of their life.
Speculators emerged who claimed good locations in advance and sold them at exorbitant prices. Shameless opportunists opened rifts in mediocre locations merely to stake territorial claims, while wealthy investors poured in every last bit of their accumulated despair to monopolize entire regions.
Unsurprisingly, all sorts of problems frequently erupted during that period.
Some higher demons even criticized the lower demons, saying Earth No. 1 had ceased to be an area attracting ordinary investment and had instead become a dangerously overheated speculative market. They complained that young demons these days no longer diligently harvested despair through honest effort and only dreamed of striking it rich overnight....
In any case, twenty-four years ago, Marbas had been one of the demons who fought through that fierce competition and secured a reasonably valuable location.
He had achieved considerable growth using the profits generated by the Hong Kong rift. Even within the community, demons acknowledged him when he said that he owned a stake in Earth No. 1.
Marbas possessed a special attachment to the Hong Kong rift.
To borrow a human expression, it was the first home he had ever owned.
After thoroughly inspecting its condition, he soon discovered the cause.
...Damn it.
The despair scattered throughout the rift....
Ordinarily, those resources should have been recovered and used either to produce new monsters or restructure the rift’s interior. Instead, someone was purifying and erasing them before they could be reclaimed.
Since that despair was essentially a part of Marbas himself, its purification inevitably affected his true body.
And as far as Marbas knew, only one kind of being was capable of doing this—someone who could interfere with a rift, which was itself a dimensional fissure, and purify and dismantle the negative-energy resource known as despair....
[Damn it. So that idiot Legion was telling the truth when he ranted about it in the community.]
A god had appeared on Earth No. 1.
A world’s rightful owner.
It sounded so absurd that I didn’t believe it.
Under an ancient agreement, the gods had promised not to interfere with rifts opened in ownerless worlds. Until now, everyone had remained within their respective territories according to their mutual interests.
It was difficult to believe that someone had suddenly broken that unspoken rule.
Besides, Legion had always been a notorious troll in the community. Half of everything demons said was bullshit and the other half was nonsense, so Marbas had simply let the story go in one ear and out the other.
If everything he whined about in the community was true, then the god destroying my rift must be the same one—a lower god who was supposedly born as a human on Earth No. 1.
Phew.
That was fortunate, at least.
If he had originally been human, he would not have any divine friends. Considering all the despair Marbas had harvested thus far, he could easily handle a mere lower god.
This might even be an opportunity to teach one of the World of Stars’ gods a painful lesson.
If he succeeded, his standing within the community would rise considerably.
A crisis was always an opportunity.
Marbas decided to handle the situation calmly.
However—
[...No, that isn’t a lower god.]
There was one problem.
What the hell? According to the community, the succubus Lilith placed herself under his command? She isn’t particularly famous, but that woman still held a fairly solid position among the dream demons....
The Lee Shin from the time Demon Legion had encountered him and the Lee Shin of the present—
...He’s the Lord of Eternity’s closest friend? And all the demons who went out to punish him have now disappeared without a trace...?
—were quite different.
[Fuck. I’m screwed.]
Marbas felt a headache beginning to throb.
***
Ever since the fourth cycle began, the Hong Kong rift had always been notorious.
Due to the nature of rifts, modern firearms could not properly demonstrate their effectiveness. Naturally, fighting in the air rather than on the ground placed hunters at a disadvantage. Skills and traits could not be applied to guns, missiles, or antiaircraft cannons.
Consequently, even when the rift was not undergoing an outbreak, simply reducing the monster population to stabilize it was a nightmarishly difficult task.
That remained evident even now, when they had developed a proper manual yet continued to suffer casualties.
Even skilled, veteran hunters could not conceal their bewilderment inside Hong Kong’s rift. Visiting hunters always complained that they had never encountered such a tremendous difference in difficulty between rifts from the same cycle.
“...H-Haha.”
That was why Yang Qianhua found it so difficult to believe what was happening before her eyes.
It feels as though everything I’ve ever considered common sense is being denied.
The gargoyles, known as the Demons of Hong Kong....
Those terrifying monsters were being slaughtered helplessly before they could even bare their claws.
Even the world-class hunters summoned not long ago—the people celebrated as humanity’s heroes—had never displayed such overwhelming power.
No.
No one else could possibly do something like this.
“Keep firing! Let’s blow them all away!”
“Make way for the dwarves!”
“How dare creatures made of stone challenge the descendants of steel? If you wanted to face us, you should’ve brought bodies made of alloy at the very least! Mm-hmm!”
Rat-tat-tat-tat—!
A deluge of bullets followed the deafening gunfire and thunderous explosions.
Those tiny projectiles ended the monsters’ lives with perfect accuracy, one bullet per target. Yang Qianhua could not understand how bullets far smaller than those employed by modern armies could possess such devastating power.
And the surprises did not end there.
“Rise—!”
At the cheerful skeleton’s call, the shattered gargoyles defied death and became undead.
The zombie gargoyles rose with vacant expressions and began slaughtering their own kind at the command of their new master.
This was not power that any mere individual could possess.
How could something like this possibly be defined?
With the power of a single man, beings from other worlds appeared and toyed with his enemies. An army too vast to even count materialized, bombarding them and pouring down storms of bullets....
Could someone capable of such things truly be described by a term as simple as hunter?
Yang Qianhua felt as though all her previous knowledge—every definition she had ever associated with hunters—was being overturned.
Yet she felt neither resistance nor aversion.
Instead....
If someone like him exists....
Hope began welling within her.
Perhaps our world can return to the way it once was.
A time when they had not needed to worry about the absurd possibility of monsters pouring from enormous holes in the sky.
Back then, she had only needed to concern herself with that month’s living expenses, her son’s tuition, the growing distance between herself and her husband, and the emotional fluctuations brought about by menopause.
Only after losing that life had she realized how precious and ordinary it had been.
Perhaps they could reclaim the everyday lives everyone had lost.
Salvation.
That word suddenly appeared in Yang Qianhua’s mind.
Humanity’s... salvation.
It was the very promise constantly proclaimed by the religion that had steadily expanded its influence, continuing its activities even as people condemned it as a cult.
“Do you feel a little more reassured now?”
Seong Chanyang grinned.
Yang Qianhua answered her.
“Yes. Telling all of you to remain vigilant seems ridiculous now.”
“Come on. You had every right to say it.”
“...When the hunters were summoned here recently, they often praised Lee Shin’s equipment. Hunter William of Britain even used that equipment to achieve unprecedented results entirely on his own.”
“Ah, I heard about that too.”
“The hunters said that the world would revolve around Hunter Lee Shin from now on. Whether a hunter possessed Lee Shin’s equipment would completely change what they were capable of....”
At the same time, every hunter had also voiced the same concern.
Could a small country like South Korea truly protect Lee Shin, a treasure belonging to all humanity?
Wouldn’t it be a catastrophe if someone were to harm him?
Recalling that conversation, Yang Qianhua involuntarily burst into laughter.
“Who exactly is supposed to be protecting whom?”
“Those people didn’t understand anything.”
Yang Qianhua spoke while gazing at Lee Shin’s back.
“The moment Lee Shin’s true worth is revealed, the world will change.”
Humanity still had no idea of that man’s true value.
Not even in the slightest.
“Hmm.”
They had hunted every visible gargoyle. No matter how thoroughly they searched their surroundings, they could no longer find a single monster—or even traces of one.
Notifications saying we’ve defeated the demon’s minions keep appearing.
Although Lee Shin had earned a considerable amount of divine power, the status window continued to indicate that the demon’s influence remained.
He had performed his duties as a hunter remarkably well, but he had yet to accomplish his true objective.
Do I need to destroy the demon’s avatar, like I did in the Cheorwon rift?
Back then, Demon Legion had personally appeared before Lee Shin.
However, the demon lurking within the Hong Kong rift showed no intention of revealing itself.
「TIP: Don’t worry too much.」
「TIP: It will appear soon.」
It’ll appear soon?
Why?
「TIP: Because you purified the despair the demon invested in this rift. If it does nothing, even the despair contained within its true body could be completely purified and taken away. It will probably show itself soon. It won’t simply sit there and continue suffering.」
Apparently, there was a difference between other hunters attacking a rift and Lee Shin doing so.
Then again, other hunters did not obtain divine power by hunting monsters.
「TIP: Judging by how long it has endured, the demon that owns this rift seems to have accumulated quite a lot of despair.... Even so, it won’t be able to remain hidden for long!」
「TIP: If it continues refusing to appear, simply reenter the rift several times and convert all of its despair into divine power. This is a battle in which we have nothing to lose!」
「TIP: (^o^)」
The status window’s advice was correct.
There was no reason to rush.
The amount of divine power he was earning was quite substantial too.
“Should we return for now? I think we’ve killed every gargoyle we can find.”
Lee Shin turned toward the others.
Yang Qianhua answered him.
“D-Does that mean you’ll close Hong Kong’s rift once we’re outside?”
“I would like to, but... it seems I’ll need more time. Closing it in a single attempt will be difficult. I think I’ll be able to do it after several expeditions.”
“Ah...!”
Yang Qianhua’s eyes sparkled at his answer.
Lee Shin had expected her to be disappointed that he could not close it immediately, but she was not. If anything, she appeared deeply moved.
Seong Chanyang explained her reaction for her.
“Hunter Yang Qianhua probably never expected you to close it today.”
“Is that so?”
“She’s happy simply because you told her it can be closed someday. Until now, they never possessed even that small hope.”
The mere suggestion that it was possible had filled her with joy.
Once again, Lee Shin considered how much despair the people of Hong Kong must have endured until now and how helpless they must have felt before an unstoppable tragedy.
What did it feel like to spend one’s entire life living in the shadow of a problem that could never be solved?
“Thank you.”
“....”
“Thank you... truly, truly....”
Yang Qianhua began shedding tears despite herself.
Yet no one there could laugh at her for looking undignified or tell her to stop. The grief she had endured until now was painfully evident in her sobs.
Then—
“Hey, Korean bumpkin!”
Something long flew through the air and embedded itself in the barren ground before Lee Shin.
It was a spear.
Made of pure gold, it was engraved with an antique dragon pattern—
“Do you people from backward little countries possess no manners? You should have come running to bow your head before me immediately, yet you dared go about your business without even greeting me. Just how poorly were you raised?”
“...?”
“Being the magnanimous man I am, I took your ignorance into consideration and overlooked the merchant-like behavior of selling your goods to those Westerners. But how dare you refuse to even show your face before me, the very sun of East Asia?”
The weapon was steeped in a distinctly Chinese aesthetic.
The man’s voice thundered across the area.
As Lee Shin scratched his head at the unexpected situation, Seong Chanyang frowned and muttered beside him.
“...That’s Zhang Jiang, China’s S-rank hunter.”
“Ah, there was a hunter like him?”
“Yes. He’s also the person who targeted you not long ago, my lord. He’s the worst kind of scum and has spent years tormenting hunters from South Korea and numerous other countries.”
“But what did he just say?”
How could Lee Shin understand when the man was not speaking Korean?
Only after Seong Chanyang translated for him did Lee Shin finally nod in understanding.
“Ah.”
“Is it considered proper etiquette to greet Hunter Zhang Jiang whenever someone visits an East Asian country? I’ve never traveled abroad before, so I don’t know much about foreign cultures.”
“Of course there’s no such custom.”
“Then why is Hunter Zhang Jiang the sun of East Asia? Is he the president of China or something? Did he win a recent election?”
“You’re not deliberately pretending to misunderstand him just to be sarcastic, are you?”
If Zhang Jiang had understood Korean, those words would have been more than enough to send him into a fit.
Somehow, Lee Shin’s completely innocent questions felt even more vicious to Seong Chanyang than Zhang Jiang’s furious shouting.
Was this the difference between false madness and genuine madness?
“...Hunter Zhang Jiang! Just what do you think you’re doing?”
While Seong Chanyang remained dumbfounded, Yang Qianhua shouted.
“This is not an emergency, our side never issued a mobilization request, and you did not contact us in advance to obtain permission! You cannot simply enter a rift currently undergoing an authorized expedition without permission! No matter how renowned you may be, Hunter Zhang Jiang, this is a blatant abuse of authority. An outside hunter unaffiliated with Hong Kong entering this rift is—”
“Silence! How dare a lowly woman interrupt a conversation between distinguished men?”
Zhang Jiang abruptly cut her off and glared at her murderously.
“....”
“Say one more word, and I’ll tear off your head and display it here.”
His bloodlust resembled the growl of a savage beast.
Yang Qianhua’s face instantly turned deathly pale.
Although Lee Shin could not understand Zhang Jiang’s words, he could roughly tell that what the man was doing was not right.
Even someone as oblivious as Lee Shin could read the situation that much.
“Every last one of you displeases me!”
Zhang Jiang snorted and produced another spear.
It looked less like a weapon and more like an extravagant luxury item or work of art.
“I’ll begin by teaching all of you some basic manners.”
His voice seethed with anger.
While Zhang Jiang confidently assumed a combat stance, countless voices clamored noisily in Lee Shin’s ears.
[My lord, my lord! Please grant this humble Eve the opportunity to cast that unbeliever into hell!]
[Hold me!]
[This old man would like to teach that youngster a little about life.]
[Why in the world did he coat his spear in gold? And what is with that crude craftsmanship? It looks worse than the toys young dwarves use when playing at war.]
Hmm.
It seemed the anger on this side was no less intense.
Then—
[Unknown God.]
One voice rang out with exceptional clarity.
[That mass of flesh and blood appears to consider itself a great warrior.]
It was Mars, the Iron Man.
The newest convert to Lee Shin’s religion.
[If you permit it, your warrior would like to teach him what “combat” truly means.]
The others have already had plenty of opportunities to step forward.
It might be good to let the newcomer have a turn this time.
Besides, at that moment, Mars was also—
“Prepare yourself! I will show you the indomitable spirit of the continent!”
—the most powerful weapon Lee Shin possessed.