63

63

A cigarette?

I suppose his world already had cigarettes during his time. I had also heard that the gates’ timelines were quite different from ours. Anyway, there was no need to think about it too much.

I looked back at Jeong Gi-Hoon. After he noticed my look, he quickly came over.

“Do you have a cigarette?”

“Sure, I’ll give you one.”

He brought out a pack of cigarettes and handed me one, as well as a lighter. I placed it between Arthur’s lips and lit it for him. He inhaled the smoke and laughed.

“####.####”

Jeong Gi-Hoon then promptly translated.

“He said that he likes how his last cigarette feels.”

I looked at him. To clear the gate, one must kill the boss monster. This meant that the gate would be cleared soon. Arthur was about to die.

[ Should I spare these two? ]

I asked him, gesturing to his two companions. Arthur blinked at my words, not expecting to hear that from me.

[ …What do you mean by that? ]

[ What I just said. ]

He chuckled.

[ I would thank you if you do so, but I don’t think they’ll follow you. ]

I had heard that portals were formed after clearing a gate. To be more specific, portals appeared until the last Hunter left the gate, after which the portal was closed. The longest time for a portal to stay open was about two days or more.

Anyway, this was important because monsters could also escape through that portal.

Arthur closed his eyes, then his aura and his two soldiers’ auras were exchanged. They were communicating. After a moment, Arthur opened his eyes.

[ They told me that their time here is over, that they will be following me. I’m sorry. ]

Sorry? I laughed.

[ There’s no need to be sorry. I already have wonderful teammates. ]

[ Ah, is that so? ]

Arthur laughed. His two soldiers were watching their king’s death with sorrowful looks. They closed their eyes and simultaneously stabbed their chests, falling to the ground. Like Galahad, these men were not armed or equipped with armor.

[ See? These good fellows always follow me. Are your teammates like that? ]

[ Not yet. But my previous companions were. ]

[ That’s a bit odd. Do you think your current teammates can be like the companions you mentioned? ]

I looked back at my team. The four of them were probably wondering what we were talking about.

[ No one knows. That’s how life works. ]

[ That is correct as well. ]

He chuckled.

[ Thanks for letting me die as a swordsman. ]

Those were his last words. Slowly, Arthur’s laughter stopped, and the portal was opened. The dungeon had been cleared.

“You should take a rest.”

Jeong Gi-Hoon approached me and made a suggestion.

“That was nothing. The task was simple.”

I stood there for a while, lost in my thoughts. I was taken out of my reverie by someone calling out to me. It was Ee-Na.

“Sir… I think I saw something.”

I smiled. I bet even Gi-Hoon didn’t notice it, not to mention So-Eun and Yoo-Jeong. Only Ee-Na was able to spot what I had also seen.

I whispered to her.

“You mean the man in the white robe, correct?”

She looked surprised. To be honest, so was I.

Her vision was keener than I had thought. Her visibility was excellent. I patted her shoulder.

“Nice job.”

“Oh, so what I saw was real?”

“Yes. You have great vision and a good sense.”

Yoo Ee-Na blushed and smiled awkwardly. Meanwhile, Gi-Hoon had just realized something and turned to ask me a question. He was always good at reading the situation.

“…Is there a middle boss remaining?”

I nodded and walked to the portal, touching it. In an instant, an iridescent red aura covered the portal.

Since Jeong Gi-Hoon had asked about it, I answered him.

“I blocked the portal so he won’t be able to escape.”

I could see everyone’s jaw drop. They were thinking that realistically, it was impossible to do what I just did. Well, I guess I was just an exception.

We had to find the hiding monster, but I was also curious about Arthur’s tomb.

“Shall we explore King Arthur’s tomb? We might find some treasure there.”

Jeong Gi-Hoon laughed and nodded, followed by the others.

The highlight of clearing dungeons is when it is time to collect the rewards. This gate had both Musmahhu and King Arthur. Among most other gates, the power of this one was the highest, which meant that a lot of rewards would be waiting for us. The last process of dungeon clearing is to collect them.

“You look like a kid waiting for Santa.”

“Oh, me?”

Jeong Gi-Hoon smiled awkwardly.

“Let’s go.”

“As you wish, sir.”

We headed to Arthur’s tomb. The hiding monster was bothering me a bit, but I suppose I didn’t have to care about him for now.

I could kill him when he finally decided to show up.

***

It was easy to find King Arthur’s tomb.

There was a large cave next to the forest; that was where he was put to rest. But the sight that greeted me was not what I was expecting.

The cave was several stories high. On the ground floor was King Arthur’s tomb.

“This is interesting.”

“…It is.”

Everyone agreed with me.

We found that Musmahhu’s grave was right above King Arthur’s tomb. That was quite ridiculous, but it turned out that there was a good reason behind it.

Jeong Gi-Hoon interpreted the writings on the wall.

“Arthur killed a seven-headed dragon and asked his people to make his tomb below the dragon’s grave. This is to protect him even after his death. The Knights of the Round Table will follow the king’s path…”

Arthur was the aforementioned king.

I looked around the surroundings and noticed something strange. Gi-Hoon also realized it.

“It’s all empty…”

It was. There was a table in the middle that was used to store some weapons and artifacts, but the table was now empty. I could see that the swords, belts, robes, and armors had been placed there.

It was easy to find an answer to this riddle. Someone had taken it.

Arthur was fully armored since he was buried that way, but the other knights were not. The weapons and armor from the table were supposed to be theirs.

There were five tombstones inside the cave—Arthur’s, Lancelot’s, Percival’s, Galahad’s, and Merlin’s. All five coffins were open. I had killed Galahad and Arthur. Lancelot and Percival followed their king’s path. Only Merlin was not accounted for.

“I think that one you mentioned took everything.”

That was the only possible answer.

I turned my head, and at the entrance of the cave stood an old man wearing a white robe.

“####.###.”

“He is asking why we blocked the portal.”

Jeong Gi-Hoon interpreted.

That made me laugh. This was the man in the white robe that we had seen. This was Merlin, the wizard from the legends. I spoke to him.

[ I’ll give you five seconds to give me everything you stole. ]

Merlin froze for a bit. I ignored his reaction and started counting backward from five.

Five, four, three, two—and that was when the man spoke out.

[ Why should I? ]

Then he turned on his heels and ran away.

I immediately grabbed him and smashed his face with my fist. Merlin was pushed back and collided with the wall. He was bleeding.

I stepped forward and kicked him into the wall again. Because of his pouring blood, the white robe he was wearing was now red. I ignored his pleas and pulled him up by the hair, ready to smash his mouth.

[ S… Stop-!! ]

I paused for a bit to hear what he had to say.

[ Let’s talk, shall we? ]

I stared at him. I was not the type who misread someone’s intentions. As far as I knew, he was a disgusting man.

I should at least let him know why.

[ Who woke up first? ]

[ … ]

[ It was you, wasn’t it? ]

[ …Yes. ]

[ Didn’t you think that the others would wake up as well? ]

[ … I did, Arthur especially. ]

[ Then who took the weapons and artifacts from the table? ]

[ I did… ]

[ Why? ]

That was the fundamental question. Even Merlin couldn’t answer it immediately. He tried to steal Arthur’s armor as well, but failed to do so.

[ Arthur was the only one fully armored, the other knights weren’t. Why did you take your colleagues’ weapons? ]

[ … ]

[ What were you doing while Arthur and his knights were fighting? ]

[ … ]

[ Taking the artifacts and trying to run away? That was your plan? Did you think I would let you go after you stole all those things? ]

I punched him in the head. I hated this type of man the most.

[ I’ll keep this short. Where are the artifacts? ]

[ … ]

[ Is it in your inventory? ]

Merlin shivered. That jackass had been trying to hide it.

[ This is your last chance. If you want to die without pain, bring out everything you stole. ]

I bet Merlin had pride in his magic. He smirked.

“###.”

There was no need to interpret that; I assume that he had said no. That was enough for me.

I reached for the space above his head and grabbed something covered in aura. The space blurred and distorted as I took everything out of his inventory. Meanwhile, Merlin was astonished by the fact that I had opened his private inventory.

As I continued to take things seemingly from thin air, the tomb was gradually filled with weapons, armor, and artifacts.

Everyone, like Merlin, was shocked to see the sight.

Merlin stared at him, the most incredulous of all.

[ You can interfere with other people’s private inventories? ]

If you know how it works, it’s not that difficult at all. It’s a shame that legendary wizards don’t even know such a fact.

Merlin’s eyes were shaking violently.

[ I—It’s my bad… I made a mistake…]

He blabbered. I smacked him, a kick also ready to go.

The wall behind him was starting to crack. I clenched my fist and punched his stomach again and again. His mouth and face were now bleeding profusely.

Our eyes met. His eyes looked insane.

[ …What’s the matter with those muscle-headed fools…! ]

Crash!

[ I wanted to live! I’m not like those idiots! I’m special…! ]

Crash!

He said a lot of words, but to put it simply, he had just run away. He didn’t care about his companions at all.

I never intended to kill the two other knights with Arthur. I was honestly planning to spare them. They didn’t interfere with our fight because it was what Arthur wanted. They kept their loyalty to him. Merlin, however, just ran away out of greed.

I loathed people like him. It was simply disgusting.

I didn’t plan on letting him live, but I wouldn’t kill him painlessly either. That was certain.

I continued to smash his head against the wall until the hole was large enough for us to enter. Since he was attempting to move his aura for a counterattack, I broke it. His aura was shattered, and I ripped off his arms. Then his legs started to move, so I ripped them off as well.

Eventually, I let him go. He was still alive but will last for only thirty seconds more.

I spit on his face.

He was shivering, eyes misty and unfocused. I ignored it and smacked him again.

The wall finally collapsed, and a huge block of concrete fell and crushed Merlin under the rubble.

That was the end of the great wizard from the legends.

***

Yoo-Jeong rubbed her arms as if she were cold. The sight she had just witnessed was quite scary. She knew that Hwan was strong, but what she had seen was beyond even her imagination.

He was way above the other Hunters around the world in strength, but ironically, with his power, he was the most humane person that she has ever seen.

He had given Excalibur to Arthur because he treated Arthur as a human being, not just because he was confident enough in his abilities to do so.

It didn’t matter whether the creature was a monster or a human. As long as he was intelligent enough to communicate with him, he would treat them as equals.

However, his fury was unmatched.

To be honest, Merlin and Hwan were not directly related. He was not the one that Merlin abandoned. It was clear that he was reflecting on his past. Lee Hwan had been betrayed a lot of times.

He must have lost a lot of people because of betrayal.

Yoo-Jeong felt sorry for him.

His image seemed to be more like a villain from a horror movie, but she felt compassion toward him. She wanted to go up to him and hug him.

It was the first time she had ever felt this way.

Also, she was relieved. She believed that Hwan would keep his word and take revenge for her. Her end will not be lonely, at least.

Yoo Ee-Na, Kim So-Eun, and Jeong Gi-Hoon also felt the same way.

Time passed quickly. Hwan recovered his pace and pointed at the weapons and artifacts on the floor.

“Can you evaluate them?”

Jeong Gi-Hoon held some items for a while and shook his head.

It was like the moment with Excalibur. Like Hwan had mentioned, Gi-Hoon was an all-rounder who had many abilities. He has an A-rated evaluation skill, which means he can also check the rates and effects of items.

However, he couldn’t evaluate artifacts that were ranked higher than his skill. Therefore,

“All of these artifacts are at least S-rated.”

They had hit the jackpot.

“We should head out and get it checked by a higher-skilled person.”

“Alright. We’ll do that.”

Now everything was done in this dungeon. Everyone thought that they would be leaving, but Hwan had other plans.

“By the way, aren’t you guys hungry?”

“…Huh?”

Lee Hwan turned to Jeong Gi-Hoon.

“Bring out the things we just collected.”

“…That?”

“Yes, the dead body of the dragon we just killed.”

Jeong Gi-Hoon brought out the carcass of Musmahhu, the seven-headed dragon.

“I’ll cook that for you. We can eat this here.”

Everyone’s faces paled. They heard that its blood contained a poison that could kill an S-rated Hunter immediately. Did they really have to eat food made with that?

“Don’t worry, I’m an expert chef.”

Three hours later, after finishing their meal, they entered the portal and returned to the city.

63

A cigarette?

I suppose his world already had cigarettes during his time. I had also heard that the gates’ timelines were quite different from ours. Anyway, there was no need to think about it too much.

I looked back at Jeong Gi-Hoon. After he noticed my look, he quickly came over.

“Do you have a cigarette?”

“Sure, I’ll give you one.”

He brought out a pack of cigarettes and handed me one, as well as a lighter. I placed it between Arthur’s lips and lit it for him. He inhaled the smoke and laughed.

“####.####”

Jeong Gi-Hoon then promptly translated.

“He said that he likes how his last cigarette feels.”

I looked at him. To clear the gate, one must kill the boss monster. This meant that the gate would be cleared soon. Arthur was about to die.

[ Should I spare these two? ]

I asked him, gesturing to his two companions. Arthur blinked at my words, not expecting to hear that from me.

[ …What do you mean by that? ]

[ What I just said. ]

He chuckled.

[ I would thank you if you do so, but I don’t think they’ll follow you. ]

I had heard that portals were formed after clearing a gate. To be more specific, portals appeared until the last Hunter left the gate, after which the portal was closed. The longest time for a portal to stay open was about two days or more.

Anyway, this was important because monsters could also escape through that portal.

Arthur closed his eyes, then his aura and his two soldiers’ auras were exchanged. They were communicating. After a moment, Arthur opened his eyes.

[ They told me that their time here is over, that they will be following me. I’m sorry. ]

Sorry? I laughed.

[ There’s no need to be sorry. I already have wonderful teammates. ]

[ Ah, is that so? ]

Arthur laughed. His two soldiers were watching their king’s death with sorrowful looks. They closed their eyes and simultaneously stabbed their chests, falling to the ground. Like Galahad, these men were not armed or equipped with armor.

[ See? These good fellows always follow me. Are your teammates like that? ]

[ Not yet. But my previous companions were. ]

[ That’s a bit odd. Do you think your current teammates can be like the companions you mentioned? ]

I looked back at my team. The four of them were probably wondering what we were talking about.

[ No one knows. That’s how life works. ]

[ That is correct as well. ]

He chuckled.

[ Thanks for letting me die as a swordsman. ]

Those were his last words. Slowly, Arthur’s laughter stopped, and the portal was opened. The dungeon had been cleared.

“You should take a rest.”

Jeong Gi-Hoon approached me and made a suggestion.

“That was nothing. The task was simple.”

I stood there for a while, lost in my thoughts. I was taken out of my reverie by someone calling out to me. It was Ee-Na.

“Sir… I think I saw something.”

I smiled. I bet even Gi-Hoon didn’t notice it, not to mention So-Eun and Yoo-Jeong. Only Ee-Na was able to spot what I had also seen.

I whispered to her.

“You mean the man in the white robe, correct?”

She looked surprised. To be honest, so was I.

Her vision was keener than I had thought. Her visibility was excellent. I patted her shoulder.

“Nice job.”

“Oh, so what I saw was real?”

“Yes. You have great vision and a good sense.”

Yoo Ee-Na blushed and smiled awkwardly. Meanwhile, Gi-Hoon had just realized something and turned to ask me a question. He was always good at reading the situation.

“…Is there a middle boss remaining?”

I nodded and walked to the portal, touching it. In an instant, an iridescent red aura covered the portal.

Since Jeong Gi-Hoon had asked about it, I answered him.

“I blocked the portal so he won’t be able to escape.”

I could see everyone’s jaw drop. They were thinking that realistically, it was impossible to do what I just did. Well, I guess I was just an exception.

We had to find the hiding monster, but I was also curious about Arthur’s tomb.

“Shall we explore King Arthur’s tomb? We might find some treasure there.”

Jeong Gi-Hoon laughed and nodded, followed by the others.

The highlight of clearing dungeons is when it is time to collect the rewards. This gate had both Musmahhu and King Arthur. Among most other gates, the power of this one was the highest, which meant that a lot of rewards would be waiting for us. The last process of dungeon clearing is to collect them.

“You look like a kid waiting for Santa.”

“Oh, me?”

Jeong Gi-Hoon smiled awkwardly.

“Let’s go.”

“As you wish, sir.”

We headed to Arthur’s tomb. The hiding monster was bothering me a bit, but I suppose I didn’t have to care about him for now.

I could kill him when he finally decided to show up.

***

It was easy to find King Arthur’s tomb.

There was a large cave next to the forest; that was where he was put to rest. But the sight that greeted me was not what I was expecting.

The cave was several stories high. On the ground floor was King Arthur’s tomb.

“This is interesting.”

“…It is.”

Everyone agreed with me.

We found that Musmahhu’s grave was right above King Arthur’s tomb. That was quite ridiculous, but it turned out that there was a good reason behind it.

Jeong Gi-Hoon interpreted the writings on the wall.

“Arthur killed a seven-headed dragon and asked his people to make his tomb below the dragon’s grave. This is to protect him even after his death. The Knights of the Round Table will follow the king’s path…”

Arthur was the aforementioned king.

I looked around the surroundings and noticed something strange. Gi-Hoon also realized it.

“It’s all empty…”

It was. There was a table in the middle that was used to store some weapons and artifacts, but the table was now empty. I could see that the swords, belts, robes, and armors had been placed there.

It was easy to find an answer to this riddle. Someone had taken it.

Arthur was fully armored since he was buried that way, but the other knights were not. The weapons and armor from the table were supposed to be theirs.

There were five tombstones inside the cave—Arthur’s, Lancelot’s, Percival’s, Galahad’s, and Merlin’s. All five coffins were open. I had killed Galahad and Arthur. Lancelot and Percival followed their king’s path. Only Merlin was not accounted for.

“I think that one you mentioned took everything.”

That was the only possible answer.

I turned my head, and at the entrance of the cave stood an old man wearing a white robe.

“####.###.”

“He is asking why we blocked the portal.”

Jeong Gi-Hoon interpreted.

That made me laugh. This was the man in the white robe that we had seen. This was Merlin, the wizard from the legends. I spoke to him.

[ I’ll give you five seconds to give me everything you stole. ]

Merlin froze for a bit. I ignored his reaction and started counting backward from five.

Five, four, three, two—and that was when the man spoke out.

[ Why should I? ]

Then he turned on his heels and ran away.

I immediately grabbed him and smashed his face with my fist. Merlin was pushed back and collided with the wall. He was bleeding.

I stepped forward and kicked him into the wall again. Because of his pouring blood, the white robe he was wearing was now red. I ignored his pleas and pulled him up by the hair, ready to smash his mouth.

[ S… Stop-!! ]

I paused for a bit to hear what he had to say.

[ Let’s talk, shall we? ]

I stared at him. I was not the type who misread someone’s intentions. As far as I knew, he was a disgusting man.

I should at least let him know why.

[ Who woke up first? ]

[ … ]

[ It was you, wasn’t it? ]

[ …Yes. ]

[ Didn’t you think that the others would wake up as well? ]

[ … I did, Arthur especially. ]

[ Then who took the weapons and artifacts from the table? ]

[ I did… ]

[ Why? ]

That was the fundamental question. Even Merlin couldn’t answer it immediately. He tried to steal Arthur’s armor as well, but failed to do so.

[ Arthur was the only one fully armored, the other knights weren’t. Why did you take your colleagues’ weapons? ]

[ … ]

[ What were you doing while Arthur and his knights were fighting? ]

[ … ]

[ Taking the artifacts and trying to run away? That was your plan? Did you think I would let you go after you stole all those things? ]

I punched him in the head. I hated this type of man the most.

[ I’ll keep this short. Where are the artifacts? ]

[ … ]

[ Is it in your inventory? ]

Merlin shivered. That jackass had been trying to hide it.

[ This is your last chance. If you want to die without pain, bring out everything you stole. ]

I bet Merlin had pride in his magic. He smirked.

“###.”

There was no need to interpret that; I assume that he had said no. That was enough for me.

I reached for the space above his head and grabbed something covered in aura. The space blurred and distorted as I took everything out of his inventory. Meanwhile, Merlin was astonished by the fact that I had opened his private inventory.

As I continued to take things seemingly from thin air, the tomb was gradually filled with weapons, armor, and artifacts.

Everyone, like Merlin, was shocked to see the sight.

Merlin stared at him, the most incredulous of all.

[ You can interfere with other people’s private inventories? ]

If you know how it works, it’s not that difficult at all. It’s a shame that legendary wizards don’t even know such a fact.

Merlin’s eyes were shaking violently.

[ I—It’s my bad… I made a mistake…]

He blabbered. I smacked him, a kick also ready to go.

The wall behind him was starting to crack. I clenched my fist and punched his stomach again and again. His mouth and face were now bleeding profusely.

Our eyes met. His eyes looked insane.

[ …What’s the matter with those muscle-headed fools…! ]

Crash!

[ I wanted to live! I’m not like those idiots! I’m special…! ]

Crash!

He said a lot of words, but to put it simply, he had just run away. He didn’t care about his companions at all.

I never intended to kill the two other knights with Arthur. I was honestly planning to spare them. They didn’t interfere with our fight because it was what Arthur wanted. They kept their loyalty to him. Merlin, however, just ran away out of greed.

I loathed people like him. It was simply disgusting.

I didn’t plan on letting him live, but I wouldn’t kill him painlessly either. That was certain.

I continued to smash his head against the wall until the hole was large enough for us to enter. Since he was attempting to move his aura for a counterattack, I broke it. His aura was shattered, and I ripped off his arms. Then his legs started to move, so I ripped them off as well.

Eventually, I let him go. He was still alive but will last for only thirty seconds more.

I spit on his face.

He was shivering, eyes misty and unfocused. I ignored it and smacked him again.

The wall finally collapsed, and a huge block of concrete fell and crushed Merlin under the rubble.

That was the end of the great wizard from the legends.

***

Yoo-Jeong rubbed her arms as if she were cold. The sight she had just witnessed was quite scary. She knew that Hwan was strong, but what she had seen was beyond even her imagination.

He was way above the other Hunters around the world in strength, but ironically, with his power, he was the most humane person that she has ever seen.

He had given Excalibur to Arthur because he treated Arthur as a human being, not just because he was confident enough in his abilities to do so.

It didn’t matter whether the creature was a monster or a human. As long as he was intelligent enough to communicate with him, he would treat them as equals.

However, his fury was unmatched.

To be honest, Merlin and Hwan were not directly related. He was not the one that Merlin abandoned. It was clear that he was reflecting on his past. Lee Hwan had been betrayed a lot of times.

He must have lost a lot of people because of betrayal.

Yoo-Jeong felt sorry for him.

His image seemed to be more like a villain from a horror movie, but she felt compassion toward him. She wanted to go up to him and hug him.

It was the first time she had ever felt this way.

Also, she was relieved. She believed that Hwan would keep his word and take revenge for her. Her end will not be lonely, at least.

Yoo Ee-Na, Kim So-Eun, and Jeong Gi-Hoon also felt the same way.

Time passed quickly. Hwan recovered his pace and pointed at the weapons and artifacts on the floor.

“Can you evaluate them?”

Jeong Gi-Hoon held some items for a while and shook his head.

It was like the moment with Excalibur. Like Hwan had mentioned, Gi-Hoon was an all-rounder who had many abilities. He has an A-rated evaluation skill, which means he can also check the rates and effects of items.

However, he couldn’t evaluate artifacts that were ranked higher than his skill. Therefore,

“All of these artifacts are at least S-rated.”

They had hit the jackpot.

“We should head out and get it checked by a higher-skilled person.”

“Alright. We’ll do that.”

Now everything was done in this dungeon. Everyone thought that they would be leaving, but Hwan had other plans.

“By the way, aren’t you guys hungry?”

“…Huh?”

Lee Hwan turned to Jeong Gi-Hoon.

“Bring out the things we just collected.”

“…That?”

“Yes, the dead body of the dragon we just killed.”

Jeong Gi-Hoon brought out the carcass of Musmahhu, the seven-headed dragon.

“I’ll cook that for you. We can eat this here.”

Everyone’s faces paled. They heard that its blood contained a poison that could kill an S-rated Hunter immediately. Did they really have to eat food made with that?

“Don’t worry, I’m an expert chef.”

Three hours later, after finishing their meal, they entered the portal and returned to the city.