Chapter 148 – SSS-Rank Hunter (23)
I don’t know the principle or the reason, but when the dream’s owner dies, they turn into a Sword Demon like Nam Hae-soo.
Death equals Sword Demon.
Then what about someone who’s dying?
That was why I suspected parts of Park Hyo-man’s body had transformed into a Sword Demon.
‘Sword Demons don’t exist in reality.’
Even if he grew sick of the dream and wanted to return to reality, he couldn’t wake up—because doing so would mean leaving behind his already-dead hands.
“Don’t do anything stupid.”
The torture technicians had combined abilities and medical technology to seal Park Hyo-man’s hands so they couldn’t regenerate.
First, that seal had to be undone before anything else.
Tap.
Just by me touching both of his arms, the supernatural ability seal was undone.
Next—
Slash—
I swung the Infinity Blade and severed both arms that had been surgically fused back on.
“Ghk…!”
Not as much as me, but Park Hyo-man had grown numb to most pain by now.
It made memories of being toyed with by the magic boy Kang Min come crawling back—unpleasant memories—but since I’d done the same thing to Park Hyo-man, I couldn’t complain.
(He’s not like you, so don’t worry. What he’s enduring is just a temporary physiological response.)
Really?
(Pain perception exists to signal something is wrong with the body—it’s not there just to cause suffering. That’s why prolonged pain dulls the sense. Anyone who’s done a lot of torture knows this.)
Sounds like you’ve done a lot of it.
(Everyone has someone they want to inflict unbearable pain on.)
Shhk—
While I was talking with my senior, Park Hyo-man’s hands regenerated.
“Can’t you turn them back into human hands?”
“…I can’t anymore.”
When we first met, he could freely switch between human hands and Sword Demon arms—but not anymore.
“Stay still. If you move, we start a second round of torture.”
“……”
Could this be an opportunity?
I’d fought plenty of Sword Demons in Palace Maid Deok-chun, but I’d never had the chance to closely observe a living Sword Demon’s arms like this.
Tap, tap.
The wrist area was thicker than an ordinary blade, but the closer it got to the tip, the thinner it became—like a dragonfly’s wing.
No wonder it breaks so easily!
But if it’s a “blade that cuts anything like air,” durability probably doesn’t matter—unless it meets someone the property doesn’t work on.
(You idiot. Are you stupid?)
What now?
(It’s the opposite. That blade was designed specifically to kill someone like you. It’s like a professional assassin carrying multiple sharp daggers.)
“Ah…”
Sword Demons have two pairs of arms—four blades total, six if you include the legs.
If that form was a contingency in case one thin blade broke—
It all made perfect sense.
(Your brain’s finally turning. Don’t ever say you learned swordsmanship anywhere. If you have even a shred of guilt toward Valentine, your former guard knight.)
“Ugh…”
You really know how to hit where it hurts.
“Did you figure something out?”
“…Wait.”
The solution was simple: turn these hands back into human ones.
But how?
This was where a shaman had to step in—and where my senior’s help was needed.
(Why am I being dragged into this?)
Please help!
I thought somehow it would work out—but nothing worked.
(I praised you for being good in real combat a few times, and now you think you’re invincible.)
Sorry for overstepping…
(Let’s organize this step by step. You said it was a lie—but the witch always mixes truth with clever wordplay. In our line of work, that’s a skilled sorcerer.)
So it wasn’t a lie?
(She definitely gave him a “gift.” She just didn’t explain exactly what the gift was. She led the patient to believe the hand itself was the gift—but deceiving someone isn’t necessarily lying. Not reading the contract carefully is the victim’s fault.)
Ah!
The moment he mentioned reading the contract carefully, I understood.
The victim screams “This is a scam!”—but if the contract itself wasn’t altered, it’s technically legal.
The witch had tricked me a few times too. If my senior hadn’t explained it, I might still not know.
(No need for thanks. Use your head.)
I am…
(The witch’s method is simple hypnosis. She made that idiot believe he’d received a gift.)
But he doesn’t believe it anymore.
(Don’t compare him to you, a shaman. He doesn’t have the ability to correct things the moment he realizes he was deceived.)
“My head hurts.”
“I know… I’m broken…”
“Hm…”
Was there really no way left?
(There is.)
Huh? Really?
(You just have to hypnotize that idiot—like the witch did.)
Hypnosis… Ah!
(Why do you think the witch insists on wearing such an anachronistic witch outfit? Do you think it’s because she wants attention from passersby? No—it’s to plant even the slightest belief that she might be a real witch.)
“…Foolish mortal.”
I immediately layered my voice with a solemn, archaic authority.
“Pardon?”
“You still do not understand why you are being punished.”
“W-What do you mean—?”
Park Hyo-man froze, flustered by my sudden change in demeanor.
Ignoring his confusion—
“Reflect upon your life. Did you not betray your comrades in reality? As recompense, you were punished by being betrayed by your comrades within this dream.”
“Ah!”
In truth, his downfall was purely the result of his arrogance—but if deceiving him a little would fix things, that was good enough.
(You’re doing exactly what the witch did.)
“…Foolish mortal. Look upon your two arms. Do you find them splendid? Hands with which you cannot hold a spoon or chopsticks, nor wipe your own backside in the latrine?”
“Absolutely not…”
Stupid as he was, Park Hyo-man clearly understood what it meant to have no hands.
His face filled with despair.
Unable to eat or relieve himself without relying on others—he would inevitably be branded a monster and hunted by Hunters.
“There is no place for you in this world.”
“Ah…”
“Did you enjoy becoming an SSS-rank Hunter? Did you fancy yourself the protagonist of this world? Wake from that delusion. This place exists to deliver divine punishment upon foolish mortals like you and grant a chance at repentance—”
(The Eight Great Hells.)
“…the Eight Great Hells!”
(Study more.)
“Th-Then what will happen to me?”
“If this continues, even your legs will turn into blades, and you shall be tortured in this hell until every sin is repaid.”
“Aaah…”
“…However, it is not too late.”
“R-Really?!”
“Repent. Swear with your own two hands that you will work diligently and repay the money you owe your comrades. If your sincerity reaches the heavens, the Jade Emperor—”
(Mount Taishan King.)
“…the King of Mount Taishan below shall grant you a chance.”
Senior, who is King Taishan?
(The administrator of the Bloody Sea Hell, where those guilty of wealth-related sins are judged among the Eight Great Hells. Limbs are bound, then severed with saws and blades.)
What a wonderful place!
Is there a hell for parents who abandon or abuse their children?
(No. There’s one for the opposite.)
“……”
Trash.
A completely unfair hell.
(Since you don’t have parents, you won’t be going to the Frozen Hell.)
Sounds cold.
(It is.)
“Do you truly intend to return to reality, apologize to your comrades, and repay your debts?”
“Yes!”
“I sense no sincerity.”
“I swear it’s true!”
Park Hyo-man looked genuinely wronged.
“It is meaningless to tell me. When you repent with true sincerity, your hands shall return to their original form.”
“Ah…”
Faced with irrefutable proof, Park Hyo-man fell silent.
“Be grateful. I petitioned King Taishan of the Bloody Sea Hell to grant you time for repentance.”
“Who… who are you really?”
“A shaman.”
“A shaman…”
“From today, you have two days. If you fail to repent by then, your body shall continue to be sliced apart in the Bloody Sea Hell.”
I had no intention of waiting forever.
(A-Amolang-nim!)
“…What is it?”
The aide’s voice over the communicator was urgent.
(New types of monsters are converging on the city!)
“New types?”
A bad feeling crept up my spine.
(Yes! They look human, but have four arms, and their hands and feet—ah! They look just like Park Hyo-man’s hands!)
“……”
Sword Demons.
(What’s worse—Hunters’ abilities don’t work on them at all.)
“Of course not.”
(Pardon?)
“That’s why you contacted me.”
(Y-Yes. This is an extremely dangerous situation!)
“How many?”
(A total of 283 confirmed so far. Unlike normal monsters that resist firearms, these ones are fragile and not overwhelming us—)
“The problem is the ones that infiltrated the city.”
(Exactly.)
You can’t just rain missiles down on a city packed with people and infrastructure, nor can you spray machine-gun fire everywhere. There are very few people capable of even handling such weapons.
In other words, in a hunter-world where Hunters make up the majority of humanity’s combat power, Sword Demons—against whom abilities are completely useless—can only be classified as a disaster.
An F-rank Hunter, an SS-rank Hunter…
In front of a Sword Demon, they’re nothing more than ordinary humans waiting to be sliced apart.
“Other cities?”
(Only this one is under attack.)
Just like how the Sword Demons in the historical drama Palace Maid Deok-chun targeted patient Yoon So-ra, this time they were converging on Park Hyo-man.
“I’m heading out now.”
(Yes!)
The moment I exited the perfectly sealed solitary cell—leaving only the ventilation shaft behind—the Sword Demons entered my perception range.
“Amolang-nim!”
“No need to worry.”
“But abilities don’t work on them…!”
“You knew that and still contacted me in a panic. That means you were hoping for something, right?”
“…Yes. We thought that if it were you, Amolang-nim—the only GGG-rank Hunter humanity has—you might somehow manage…”
The aide lowered their head in embarrassment and admitted it honestly.
“That’s right. I’ll handle it.”
“R-Really?!”
“Really.”
To maximize my perception, I stepped out into the open space outside the building.
Blink?
The eyeball tentacle asked silently.
“Yes. Abilities don’t work on these things at all.”
Blink?
“Right. Just like with me. But there is a way to make them work.”
Shrring—
The Super Grand Galaxy General Infinity Blade.
The strongest SSS-rank monster, capable of summoning as many blades as there are enemies.
But in front of Sword Demons, even this thing is nothing more than a bundle of straw—
Unless I’m involved.
“I’ll finish it in one move.”
Thud!
I stabbed my own instep with the Infinity Blade and drove it straight into the ground.
Sluuurk…
My world seeped into the blade.
And those blades pierced every Sword Demon scattered throughout the city.
“Kkiik—?!”
“Kkigik…?”
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud…!
Hundreds of Sword Demons that had plunged the city into chaos were wiped out cleanly.
“…What a shame.”
If only I could use this thing in other dreams too—it’d be unbeatable.
Blink? Blink~
Unaware of my thoughts, the eyeball tentacle simply swayed happily.
***
“…I’m back?”
As I was stroking the eyeball tentacle, my field of vision shifted naturally.
Was it because I wiped out all the Sword Demons targeting the patient?
I don’t know the reason—but what matters is that I returned to reality alive.
“You’re awake?”
“Director.”
“It’s Vice Director.”
Vice Director Seo Hye-joo came into view. Thanks to my senior, I no longer had to lie there like a vegetable, though for some reason I was staring at the hospital ceiling.
“Was my body in bad shape?”
“Every time you used the Super Grand Galaxy General Infinity Blade, you staggered like you were motion-sick. So we canceled all schedules and had you resting here since yesterday.”
“Ah.”
When my senses sharpen in the dream, it affects my body in reality too.
That’s why even my senior—who never complains—avoids moving whenever I’m fighting.
“Did you get anything out of it?”
“Yes. What about the patient?”
“He woke up ages ago and immediately asked about the hospital bill. He wanted to thank you, but he was surrounded by some scary-looking coworkers, so things were hectic.”
“I see. Hup!”
I sat up on the hospital bed, which was noticeably more luxurious than before.
“What’s the rush?”
“It’s urgent. I need to take care of my girlfriend who’s been waiting for me so long.”
I desperately needed her—the one person capable of dragging me back down to reality after tasting absolute power.
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TL Note:
The novel is fully completed (231 chapters)
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