Chapter 105.

Yoo Yeonha glimpsed at the endless sea of monsters in her foggy vision .

One, two, three…

Again, one, two, three…

She couldn’t continue counting for long, as everything felt like a distant dream to her groggy consciousness .

However, there was one thing she was sure of . That was that she wouldn’t survive against this army of bloodthirsty monsters .

Beast-like creatures growled, baring their black teeth . She hallucinated one of them biting off her neck as her consciousness faded away… .

Soon, when she opened her eyes, she saw a man standing in front of her .

Beyond him lied an army of monsters .

He looked small, like a praying mantis standing in front of a colossal building .

He alone shouldn’t be able to withstand that dark sea . But he alone should be able to escape .

She forced her unmoving arm to move and grabbed onto his sleeve . Then, she spoke faintly .

—Leave me… and run… .

However, the man didn’t listen to her, and returned a warm look .

—Don’t worry about it and sleep .

His deep voice rang out softly along with his warm smile .

—It’ll be over by the time you wake up .

His hand reached out and closed her eyes .

Her vision went black .

Within her closed eyelids, she began to see a world of her dreams .

It was the same dream she always had .

She had achieved success, and several people were bowing to her . People who ignored and disdained her, people who mocked her clan as being a hunting dog . . . they were all kneeling in front of her .

This was her earnest wish, one that she would have to achieve alone .

This was her dream, one that she couldn’t give up on .

Slowly, she opened her eyes .

As darkness faded away and light entered her eyes, she saw his back .

She… couldn’t remember his name .

In his hands lied an assault rifle, a mass-produced weapon that couldn’t shoot out magic powered spears like spear artifacts or shoot out sword strikes like sword artifacts .

An unstoppable army stood in front of this shabby gun .

Because of her groggy consciousness, time seemed to flow slowly .

The sea of monsters rushed toward him .

Beasts running on four legs, orcs charging on two legs, spiders scuttling on eight legs, snakes crawling without legs, birds flapping their wings, one-eyed cyclops shooting out magic .

All these demonic beasts formed a single tidal wave, rushing forward, ready to devour and tear apart everything .

Against this raging wave, the man raised his gun .

Immediately, a flash of light erupted against the black hail . White brilliance began to rage fiercely, his bullets turned the world white as it pushed back against the black wave .

The foreheads of beasts .

The hearts of orcs .

The abdomens of spiders .

The mouths of snakes .

The eyes of cyclops .

His bullets pierced through their vital points meticulously, and the fearsome wave continued to be pushed back .

The barrage of bullets never stopped .

An endless rain of bullets tore the limbs of monsters apart . Slowly, corpses stacked up, forming a mountain .

His perfect marksmanship didn’t allow a single attack or a single monster to approach him .

He was decimating the army of monsters alone .

Yoo Yeonha felt an incomprehensible coziness .

She realized how relaxing it was to be protected by someone .

Just like he said, she calmed down .

Then, she slowly closed her eyes .

Kim Hajin .

Before she even noticed, his name had entered her mind once again .

She hoped that when she opened her eyes again . . . she would be even more relaxed .

**

Kim Suho swung his branch . In that instant, his magic power formed a crescent-shaped arc that stormed forward . Yoo Dongsuk managed to block it with his steel pipe, but his subordinates were sent flying far behind him .

With no one left to interfere, Kim Suho charged toward Yoo Dongsuk .

Yoo Dongsuk asked as he swung down his steel pipe .

“…Is it true?”

After lightly parrying the steel pipe, Kim Suho replied .

“What is?”

“That the person left behind is stronger than you . ”

Kim Suho smiled, finding it funny that this was his question .

“…I don’t like lying . ”

Of course, Kim Suho couldn’t be sure as he had only sparred with Kim Hajin once .

However, he believed .

He believed that Hajin would succeed .

“That’s not good for—”

“Kuaaaa!”

Suddenly, a horrible shriek rang out .

Kim Suho and Yoo Dongsuk both glanced sideways .

Shin Jonghak was brandishing his spear, causing a mess . Although he looked a bit ridiculous, the result was outstanding . He freely mixed stabs and slashes, fluidly and viciously attacking his enemies . In a way, he looked like an ancient warlord .

Seeing his subordinates getting sent flying, Yoo Dongsuk asked .

“…Is he as strong as you?”

Kim Suho simply smiled in response .

Although he didn’t speak, silence served as an answer .

Yoo Dongsuk also laughed heartily as he swung his steel pipe .

KWANG!

His steel pipe clashed with Kim Suho’s branch, both sides pushing against each other without hesitation . Their tug-of-war continued, forming somewhat of a balance between them .

“…Well, it looks like our strategy failed . ”

“It’s not too late to turn back . There’s no reason for us to fight . ”

Amidst the fierce battle, the two men stared into each other’s eyes and spoke .

“The one you’re calling Boss isn’t human, but a Djinn… uh, he’s an evil person who’s using the power of a ghost . ”

The concept of Djinns didn’t exist at this point in history . According to the textbooks, the rise of Djinns only happened in the late 1990s .

“…Huup!”

Yoo Dongsuk pushed Kim Suho back without replying .

Kim Suho sighed somewhat reluctantly as he enveloped his sword with magic power . The sword’s blue glow transformed into a brilliant gold .

“You were hiding a rather interesting power, eh?”

However, the same applied to Yoo Dongsuk . His body suddenly glowed red, and suddenly grew several times bigger .

Kim Suho put on a serious expression as he fixed his stance .

**

At first, it was only laughable . Seeing the young man’s overgrown hair and beard, Asura felt nothing but pity .

But as time went by and his army dwindled in number, Asura began to feel fear .

He could feel a chilling killing intent from the young man’s eyes, and the outpouring bullets seemed to overwhelm him .

Even now, Asura’s army was rushing toward him nonstop . He also didn’t forget to sneak in long ranged attacks .

However, the demonic beasts’ venom and teeth were blocked by the magic power reinforcement of his mysterious bracelet, and monsters that specialized in long ranged attacks only became first-priority targets for his bullets to kill .

Asura couldn’t understand what was going on .

When he saw the young man take out an assault rifle, he thought he would only have to wait until his magazine emptied once .

However, the unloading, loading, and refiring process took him less than a second to perform . There wasn’t a single exploitable opening .

But what Asura couldn’t understand the most was his bullets’ destructive power .

The instantaneous wind pressure created from the moment of firing scattered magic power, and Asura’s demonic beasts disappeared the moment they were hit . A single bullet often killed two demonic beasts, and there were several instances where a single bullet killed three .

Asura’s demonic beasts were being slaughtered by the young man’s bullets .

Not even a single claw of his army could reach the gunman .

“Impossible… . ”

As Asura watched this incomprehensible battle in a daze, the once countless number of beasts became countable .

Asura stopped his remaining forces from advancing and took a step back .

He wanted to assess the situation more carefully .

When the army stopped, Kim Hajin also stopped firing . Then, he murmured tiredly .

“Since you can summon so many of them… you must have merged with the ghost . What did he want? Revenge? Wealth? Honor?”

Kim Hajin stared at Asura, who remained silent .

He aimed his gun at Asura .

“You don’t really have to answer that . ”

Click .

Kim Hajin pulled the trigger . Asura unleashed his magic power, forming a barrier . At the same time, dozens of demonic beasts moved to block Kim Hajin’s line of fire .

However, no bullets came out .

Click . Click . Click .

Kim Hajin pulled the trigger a few more times .

However, the result was the same .

“… . ”

“… . ”

Whish .

A brief wind blew . Asura and Kim Hajin stared at each other for a moment .

Kim Hajin rummaged through his pocket, but he was out of ammo . He then spoke graciously with a calm expression .

“…But Asura, I don’t really hate you for it . In fact, I kind of understand where you’re coming from . ”

A character with no background story, a stepping stone for the main characters and the supporting cast . An extra, rather than a villain .

Asura, or rather Cheonhwa, became a Djinn for a simple reason .

“That’s how I created you . ”

That was why Kim Hajin felt sorry . Even if he truly didn’t feel sorry, he needed to feel sorry at the moment .

“You probably had no other choice to become strong . By merging with the ghost, you probably thought you could become a Djinn who would enjoy wealth and honor, leaving your name behind in the world… . ”

Kim Hajin sounded sentimental all of a sudden .

Asura responded with just one sentence .

“…You’re out of bullets . ”

“I’m not . ”

Kim Hajin took out a single magazine from his pocket . He slowly reloaded his gun and asked .

“I want to know . What kind of a life have you lived?”

A smile emerged on Asura’s face .

“…It’s empty . ”

“What? Can’t you see this?”

Kim Hajin tapped on the magazine loaded into his gun, but Asura retorted leisurely .

“Then shoot . ”

“…Tsk . ”

The moment he clicked his tongue, the assault rifle transformed into a handgun .

Tang, tang, tang, tang, tang—!

Then, Kim Hajin quickly pulled the trigger .

A whole magazine was used up in less than a second, and the monsters protecting Asura were reduced to dust .

Asura flinched in shock .

“See? I’m not lying . Plus, this story already ended on a cliché . ”

He pointed behind Asura .

Kim Suho and the others were standing there .

Asura’s subordinates were also standing there, giving Asura complicated looks .

“… . ”

Asura looked around with a blank look .

He had wasted too much time dealing with a single person .

It was clear that there was no chance of victory .

Now, he only had about a hundred demonic beasts, along with a partner that resided in his heart .

“…Uk!”

Suddenly, his heart beat violently .

The ghost of the past was telling him something .

Asura shook his head .

However, in the next moment, his body twisted strangely, and the ghost shot out of his heart .

Then, Asura’s body disappeared from the world, removed by the ghost .

—… .

A black ghost floated in the air, making intimidating gestures with eerie howls . However, a formless being couldn’t pose any threat .

Kim Suho brought Misteltein up to the ghost’s body, and the ghost was instantly sucked into the divine-grade weapon . Misteltein grew stronger by absorbing spirits . The ghost of the past would now continue to stay inside Misteltein for eternity .

A short silence descended .

Kim Suho, Shin Jonghak, Chae Nayun, and Yi Yeonghan stared at the scenery spread out in front of them .

Kim Hajin was standing alone, amidst a desolate battlefield with a mountain of corpses .

Soon, his clear voice rang out .

“Welcome back . ”

Kim Hajin smiled at the four of them, who came back before it was too late .

Everyone’s gazes became focused on him . Kim Suho’s eyes carried trust, while other eyes carried shock .

“…W-What?”

Kim Hajin couldn’t understand the meaning of the looks he received at first, but he soon realized .

The cause was the mountain of corpses in front of him .

“Oh… this? T-These will disappear soon . ”

Since the magic power connection was cut off, the corpses would disappear in about two minutes .

However, the onlookers’ shocked expressions didn’t disappear for a while .

**

I didn’t ask Kim Suho how he convinced the people of the past . Although the story took a different direction than the original story’s, the result was more or less similar .

That was enough for me .

I sat down on the ground, feeling exhausted and dizzy .

I wasn’t physically fatigued, even after using all 900 bullets . However, I was mentally taxed .

I turned on my smartwatch, looking to see messages that would alleviate my exhaustion .

[You massacred a large number of enemies! You receive a huge experience boost in Master Sharpshooter!]

[You pierced the vital points of countless enemies! Master Sharpshooter evolves to grade 5!]

[Luck applies! By decimating thousands of darkness attribute demonic beasts, understanding of the darkness attribute has been added to Aether!]

[You obtain 330 SP!]

“Wow . ”

There were several new alerts .

Master Sharpshooter leveled up to grade 5, but the best gain was Aether’s understanding of the darkness attribute .

Understanding of an attribute was a great reward, especially when it came to Aether .

When Aether fuses with the Desert Eagle, Aether’s understanding of an attribute would also apply to the Desert Eagle . That was also why my bullets let out white flashes .

Of course, attribute bullets created with SP were much more powerful than ordinary bullets used with Aether’s understanding of an attribute .

“…What?”

I couldn’t think properly because of my surroundings . Chae Nayun, Shin Jonghak, and Yi Yeonghan kept giving me suspicious looks .

“I mean, it doesn’t make sense . ”

“What doesn’t make sense?”

I shrugged in response to Chae Nayun’s question .

“…Stop kidding around . ”

However, Chae Nayun was serious . She looked somewhat wronged .

I grinned, then took out the Desert Eagle transformed into the assault rifle form . Chae Nayun’s eyes, as well as Shin Jonghak’s and Yi Yeonghan’s eyes, widened . They were clearly wondering where I got such a weapon .

“I told you . I have a gun-related Gift . I was just a good match for Asura . ”

“Good match?”

“Yeah . Against a large number of weaker opponents, pulling the trigger 2000 times is easier than swinging a spear or a sword 2000 times . ”

After giving a brief explanation, I turned to Kim Suho, who was resting nearby, and asked .

“Did you bring the crystals?”

“Ah, yeah . ”

Kim Suho handed me three crystals .

“Are we going back now?”

I shook my head in response .

“No, we’re going to return these crystals where they belong . ”

“…Huh?”

“This is the greatest training area you could ask for, so we’re going to stay here for the next two weeks . It would be a shame to leave before we milk it dry . ”

In a way, this place was an inferior version of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber .

We should be able to grow stronger here .

“We have plenty of people to spar . ”

I pointed at Asura’s past subordinates, who were standing behind us awkwardly .

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