Episode 168
“Ultimoon Fes. In ancient language, it means last hope.”
Park Hyun-ah and her group were walking on a dirt road.
“I found out about this place about 7 years ago. I was in a tight spot fighting the Holy Empire. Then these guys showed up and helped me out.” “Oh, so this is a group that opposes the Holy Empire?” “That’s right. Their slogan is grandiose, ‘Protecting Humanity,’ but in the end, they’re the Demons.
“The biggest goal is to subdue the hordes and destroy the Holy Empire.”
Choi Hyun-seok looked around the quiet village while listening to her explanation.
‘As expected, everyone’s level is high.’
Along the way, I met five people who were heroes or had magical powers similar to heroes.
It was a great thing.
Heroes aren’t something you see very often.
‘But it seems difficult to fight against the Holy Empire with just this much…’
Gatren is not an enemy that can be defeated by a few heroes.
It occurred to me that perhaps this place was part of a group, and that the real body was somewhere else.
“How big is this place? It doesn’t look particularly big. Is there a separate headquarters?” “No. This is the end.”
“yes?”
“The entire village population is roughly three hundred. Of those, about fifty are combatants? The rest are their families. Or informants.” “I know it’s embarrassing to say this, but it’s a shabby size for the last hope to protect humanity.”
Choi Hyun-seok said while observing Park Hyun-ah’s expression.
Because if she had any special affection for the group, she might have felt bad about it.
“i think so too.”
Fortunately, Park Hyun-ah didn’t seem to have any particular sense of belonging or affection for the group.
Or maybe it’s brutally realistic.
“It’s a relatively young organization with less than thirty years of history. How many crazy people would fight the Empire in the first place? It’s completely suicidal.” “That’s true.”
“Still, there are quite a few warriors like us. Six of us, including me, I think.” “Huh? Six isn’t too few, is it?”
Choi Hyun-seok looked puzzled at the mention of only six warriors.
“I heard that it’s been hundreds of years since a hero fell into this world.” “That’s right. It’s been about three hundred years.” “And it took twenty years for my sister to grow to her current level.” “Sixteen years, to be exact.” “Then, even if they’re not at my sister’s level, there should be some strong people. If we’re going to fight the Demons or the Empire, I think we should more actively recruit such heroes…”
Choi Hyun-seok spoke carefully.
As the story continued, Park Hyun-ah’s face darkened.
“Sister. Did I do something wrong…?” “No. You’re right. If there’s such a warrior, we should actively recruit him. If there is one.”
Park Hyun-ah continued speaking with a bitter smile.
“You may think that you’ve had a hard time since you started out in the Demon King’s Army, but the truth is that the human side’s start isn’t that pretty either.”
“…”
“There are currently no countries that are friendly to the warriors. They are either harsh or hostile. One of the two.”
I didn’t expect that at all.
Humanity is hostile to the warrior.
Choi Hyun-seok was even more shocked because he had never been treated badly while traveling.
“The reason you were treated well was simply because you were strong. After all, the world is always kind to the strong.”
“ah…”
“But at the very beginning. When a warrior, no different from an ordinary person, is dropped into a strange land where he knows nothing. How do you think he will be treated?”
Choi Hyun-seok shook his head, indicating that he didn’t know.
Then Park Hyun-ah holds out two fingers.
And then he smiled cruelly.
“It’s one of two things. Either you get kicked right away or you get left behind.”
“…”
“Even if you’re lucky and get a start of being left behind, it’s still bleak. Think about it. In that world, you’re just kids who play with computers and smartphones. You can’t even kill a cockroach, so you’re just thrown into this senseless world with your bare body. If you were suddenly given a sword and told to fight a giant beast, what would you do?”
It was a problem I had never thought about.
All this time, I just thought that I was unhappy being in the Demon King’s Army.
I don’t know how the warriors who started out on the human side are treated.
‘This world certainly wasn’t that easy.’
Perfect law of the jungle.
It makes me think that public security was better than this even during the Joseon Dynasty.
It wasn’t a problem for Choi Hyun-seok, who had become somewhat stronger, but it would have been extremely difficult if he had had to fight here from the beginning.
“Beginner’s consideration? Tutorial? Where’s that? You’re just thrown into the wild! You’re just thrown into the ground.” “It must be really daunting.” “That’s why most people give up on being heroes and do odd jobs in villages to blend in with the rest of the world.”
Park Hyun-ah sighed.
“Eventually, eighty to ninety percent of all warriors die or give up in the first year. Two years, three years. As each year passes, the remaining number of people continues to be cut in half. In this situation, how many people can grow as much as you or me?” “Hmm, I think it’s few.” “It’s not few. It’s just none.”
Choi Hyun-seok stared at Park Hyun-ah.
Park Hyun-ah’s eyebrows twitch.
“What are you trying to figure out?”
“It’s nothing…” “I really don’t think there is any. Every year, thousands of idiots who don’t know what’s going on come in, but there aren’t even a thousand of them who are treated as real warriors right now. There aren’t even a hundred people at your level. Maybe there are two or three at my level?”
Park Hyun-ah, who was talking, suddenly smiled faintly.
“Of course, the Holy Empire’s warrior project is an exception.” “The warrior project. You mean those puppets?” “Yes. You can’t even imagine how many puppet warriors those Empire bastards have trained. They’re guys who can do anything on a grand scale.” “That’s definitely true…”
“I think there are more than a thousand semi-heroes.”
“Jun Young-woong is a thousand!?”
Choi Hyun-seok was startled.
If you are a semi-hero, you are talking about a combat power of around 100,000.
There are a thousand people like that.
“Don’t be scared. I haven’t actually seen it, but that’s what I thought.”
“Oh, yeah…”
“Anyway, that’s enough small talk. Now be quiet. We’ve arrived at our destination.”
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Park Hyun-ah stopped in front of a house.
All the houses in the village were made of logs, and the place where Park Hyun-ah stopped was one of those houses.
dripping-
She knocked lightly on the door.
“Come in.”
A beautiful voice heard from inside.
When I opened the door, a woman of elegant appearance was sitting on a chair.
Blonde hair that reaches down to her shoulders.
Soft eyes.
Overall, the lines were straight and neat.
Usually, when we think of the word ‘elegant’, we think of something oriental, but for this woman, the word ‘elegant’ really suits her, even though she has a Western appearance.
“Sullivan. These are the guys I was talking about.” “Oh, nice to meet you. My name is Sullivan Campbell Waller. Feel free to call me Sullivan.”
“This is Choi Hyun-seok.”
“This is Abelson Marriott.”
Sullivan and his party stood up and shook hands to greet each other.
“Mr. Choi, you’re the one who handles both magic and magic, right? The person behind you is the princess of the Mariott Kingdom.” “Yes. Today, I’m going to level up with these guys, so guide them to the hunting grounds I mentioned.” “Haa… Hyun-ah. This isn’t hunting. It’s a very dangerous and noble operation.” “Okay, okay. I understand, so guide them.”
Sullivan sighed and waved his hands.
Then, a butterfly flew in from somewhere and landed on Choi Hyun-seok’s shoulder.
“My friend will show you around.” “Okay. Let’s go right away.” “Be careful. As you know, they’re not easy enemies.” “If you’re so worried, why don’t you help me?” “You wouldn’t like it if I offered to help you, right?”
Park Hyun-ah smiled and waved her hand.
“I’m going. See you later.”
“yes…”
Sullivan, who had been waving his hand, sighed and sat down on his chair only after Park Hyun-ah had completely disappeared.
“It’ll be okay…”
In fact, Sullivan didn’t have many conversations with Park Hyun-ah.
Because not long after we met, she went to the Demon King’s army.
Still, Sullivan trusted Park Hyun-ah.
Park Hyun-ah speaks aggressively and always looks twisted.
At first glance, he may seem like a fool who only has a lot of strength.
But if you look closely, you can see that he is a more careful and thoughtful person than anyone else.
It was for this reason that outsiders Choi Hyeon-seok and Abelson were accepted for this work.
The organization’s location is kept top secret to avoid the eyes of the Holy Empire Gatren.
If Gatren finds out, everything will be turned upside down that day.
Because of that, outsiders were strictly prohibited from accessing the place, but Park Hyun-ah gave permission after telling her that they were people she could trust and rely on.
Sullivan’s trust in Park Hyun-ah was that deep.
‘I’m sure this will work out well too…’
The place Park Hyun-ah headed to was considered the most dangerous place among the places where witchcraft had occurred, as it was rapidly gaining influence.
There are already stories that the legend that was guarding the area could not hold out and retreated.
If we couldn’t stop this horde of undead, it was impossible to even guess how strong they would become in the future.
‘God, please protect Hyun-ah and her colleagues.’
Sullivan closed his eyes for a while and prayed with his hands folded.
Hoping that God, who is surely watching everything from somewhere, will listen.
***
A butterfly flies, fluttering its wings.
It was about the size of the palm of my hand, and I thought it was beautiful rather than disgusting.
As I continued to follow the butterfly, I arrived in front of a space movement gate located in a remote location.
“Is this it…”
The butterfly continued to circle around above the gate.
Choi Hyun-seok approached and asked a question.
“Where does this gate lead?” “The Oddria City-States Federation.” “I’ve never heard of that name before.” “Just follow me. I’ll explain as we go.”
“yes.”
Led by Park Hyun-ah, the group moved into the space movement gate.
After a bit of a stir.
Choi Hyun-seok realized that he was standing in a dark space.
“The Odria City-State Confederation. It is literally a nation formed by the union of several cities. In terms of size, it is larger than an average kingdom.”
“Oh, yep!”
Choi Hyun-seok quickly followed Park Hyun-ah, who was walking in front of him.
Park Hyun-ah continued her explanation as she strode through the dark space.
“This is a country far from the border of the demons. They are the ones who always turn a blind eye to the war with the demons, and now they are getting stabbed in the back of the head like this.”
Park Hyun-ah smiled faintly.
She soon reached her destination and pushed open the thick iron door.
Squeak-
The old hinges screamed.
A noise began to be heard along with a bright light.
“Repent! Repent!” “You must flee now! Citizens of Delos! Before the undead army swarms…!”
“Take that kid away!”
“Gyaaak-! A thief!” “Madam, over there! With just one bottle of this elixir made with the blood of the demon, your husband will wake up from his sleep!”
Choi Hyun-seok had no idea what was going on.
Countless people fill the streets, everyone busy moving somewhere.
There were people who appeared to be security guards scattered everywhere, but they didn’t seem to be doing anything in particular.
The most striking thing were the seating areas scattered throughout.
Those who appeared to be merchants were selling all sorts of things, and Choi Hyun-seok often heard of things that would make him feel uncomfortable.
“Sister. What is this?” “What is it? It’s the Oddria City-State Confederation. To be exact, it’s a city called Delos within the confederation.” “It’s a mess right now because of the undead attacks…” “No. City-states are already a mess. Well, Delos is particularly bad.”
Even Myeongdong in Seoul during its peak season wasn’t this crowded.
To that extent, a great number of people had gathered in this city called Delos.
“This is the furthest place from the border of the devil. Because of the perception of safety, war refugees and immigrants flock here. Oh, shit! Stop the road!”
Park Hyun-ah pushed her way through the crowd, roughly pushing past those blocking her path.
“The stupid Union leadership kept eating without even realizing that their stomachs were going to burst in order to increase their size. This is the result.” “Can this be controlled?” “Absolutely not. It’s practically in a state of neglect right now.”
The group finally made their way through the crowds and arrived at a quiet, empty space, sighing.
“The Oddria Union was originally called the Nation of Merchants. Now, it is additionally called the Nation of Merchants and Thieves. Anyway… What I want to say is that the most important thing in Oddria is money.”
Park Hyun-ah raised her hand and pointed somewhere.
There was a huge tower there, shining golden.
“So, from now on, we are going to that yellow tower.”
“What are you going to do?”
“What are you doing? You have to extort money.”
“yes…?”
