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Chapter 274
A few minutes ago
Song Junghye clenched her teeth.
“Pull yourself together!”
Song Junghye watched as the right arm of her right hand man, Kang Woongmin, was ripped off and flung away.
“GAHHH!”
It wasn’t official, but in the Blood and Iron Lion, people called him ‘Kang Woongmin the Adamant’. That was how unshakable his body was, yet that same body was torn apart like it was paper. Blood fountained from Kang Woongmin’s shoulder.
One of the priests grabbed the arm, quickly stowing it in a cryobag. Kang Woongmin stumbled a few steps back.
‘I’m losing too much blood,’ he thought, dizzy. ‘It’s too strong.’
Red Devil. Because it looked like a goblin, he had underestimated it a little. But the gap between its appearance and actual strength was too great. Those claws were stronger than any monster he had encountered thus far.
Song Junghye hastily used a skill.
[Using the skill Protective Barrier.]
A red barrier covered Kang Woongmin’s body just before the Red Devil swiped at his left arm.
Crack–!
Protective Barrier instantly shattered, utterly failing to protect its target. But it did earn a fleeting moment, a fraction of a second. Kang Woongmin flung himself backwards, rolling several times on the ground and avoiding additional injury. Heals from the priests stopped the bleeding.
‘My arm getting cut off isn’t important right now.’
An arm or two could be reattached without issue. That was the world in which they now lived.
‘The problem is whether we can get out of here alive.’
Kang Woongmin turned to his guildmaster.
“Please run.”
“Run?” echoed Song Junghye, anger on her face. She slapped Kang Woongmin on the cheek. “Did you just tell me to run?”
For Woongmin, a tank, her palm didn’t hurt that much.
“It’s too dangerous. Even if we put in everything we have, we won’t be able to defeat a single one of these things.”
Jung Sangchul took his side. “No poisons are effective on them.”
“How can you say such pathetic crap? Do you even realize how much I pay you?”
“I’ll earn my wage.” Kang Woongmin gritted his teeth. “I will buy you time, so please run away, Guildmaster.”
Song Junghye shook with rage. In the sky far above her flew a helicopter. Inside, there was sure to be a reporter eager to film the Blood and Iron’s heroic exploits.
“There are reporters watching! If I run away, what’ll that make me?!”
“Embarrassment is momentary. Your life is more important.”
Just then, a scream split the air. One of the Blood and Iron Lion’s main tanks, Kim Sucheol, was decapitated. The Red Devil licked greedily at his gushing neck like the devil it was.
Goosebumps rose on Kang Woongmin’s back. From the feeding Red Devil came an air of leisure. It didn’t even seem to consider them its enemies.
“Please r—” he began to say, but then, a miracle occurred.
From the sky, descended a ‘sword’. That sword penetrated the Red Devil’s head and body.
Like heavenly retribution.
‘The heavens
 helped us?’
Kang Woongmin bellowed a split second later, “HEAL HIM! Right now!”
Less than five seconds had elapsed since Sucheol was decapitated. Normally, around five outstanding priests could revive him if treated within ten seconds. The world was different now. You could still survive after getting your head cut off.
Song Junghye barked, “Heal your arm first.”
“No.”
“I said, heal your arm first!”
Kang Woongmin was Song Junghye’s right arm. And to her, Kang Woongmin’s right arm was more important than the main tank Kim Sucheol’s life.
Kang Woongmin clenched his teeth.
‘There’s no time.’
He had no choice but to disobey her command. A severed arm could be healed even after some time had passed—it was safely stowed in a cryobag and would be fine for a few hours.
Kang Woongmin screamed at the dithering priests. Right now, Kim Sucheol came first.
“This is an ORDER! HURRY! I’ll take responsibility!”
The priests scrambled to press Kim Sucheol’s severed head onto his neck. Five of them closed their eyes in unison and pulsed holy power for five seconds.
Chance of survival: 50%.
‘Please. Live.’
He felt Song Junghye’s gaze as she trembled in rage hot on his back.
‘I apologize.’
But those who could be saved should be saved. And in a stroke of true fortune, Kim Sucheol regained consciousness.
“Move him to the hospital,” said Woongmin.
He had kept his life, but recovering from the grievous injury was another issue. Kim Sucheol was transferred to Sungshin Hospital.
* * *
Reaper Scans
Translator - Lei
Proofreader - Ash
* * *
The Guildmaster of Taeguk Shield, Song Kiyeol, went into the fight with the Red Devils fully prepared to lose his life. It was possible that a portion of Taeguk Shield would be killed. Even he, a tank, might die. The opponent was strong enough to make Kim Hyukjin nervous. Of course Kiyeol needed to be resolved to die.
‘What in the
’
So even now, with the reporters’ cameras flashing non-stop into his eyes, he was still reeling in shock.
“How in the world did you defeat the Red Devils?”
“I consider this an achievement brought about not just by the perilous efforts of Taeguk Shield, but countless other Players.”
Of course, he didn’t think that at all.
‘What happened, exactly?’
He had the faint impression that swords had fallen from the sky, but it felt like a distant dream. Song Kiyeol guessed this was most likely the effect of Kim Hyukjin’s Cognitive Dissonance.
‘So that means
 that Kim Hyukjin hunted all the Red Devils single-handedly? Hundreds of them?’
That seemed to be the case. It was like the entirety of South Korea was having a dream. Everyone saw the swords descending from the sky, but not many remembered it.
“How truly amazing. An increasing number of people are calling Taeguk Shield the heroes of Korea. What are your thoughts on that?”
“That is undeserved. Countless Players stood against the Red Devils. I think of them all as heroes.”
Song Kiyeol meant it. It was honest by necessity, because the truth was, he hadn’t done a single thing. And because he was so sincere, his sincerity traveled along the electrical wires of broadcast and Internet across the whole of Korea, triggering a wave of grandiose article after article.
–Humblest Man Ever
–The Heroic Guildmaster of Taeguk Shield!
–Making Miracles in Korea
* * *
Song Kiyeol went to Sungshin Hospital’s VVIP ward.
“Well
 I went ahead and gave the interview for now, but I’m still numb.”
Laying on the hospital bed was Kim Hyukjin. Right after Isabel used Infinite Sword Rain, Hyukjin lost consciousness and now needed to recover his strength.
“Oh, right. How are you doing?”
Song Kiyeol held out a glass of orange juice to Hyukjin, who shook his head.
“I still can’t muster any strength in my limbs, so I can’t move.”
“How did you end up in such a state?”
“I overexerted myself.”
More exactly, Isabel was too strong.
“As I thought
”
What Kiyeol wanted to say was, ‘You mean you can hack down hundreds of Red Devils at once by overexerting yourself? And when they were scattered over a large area, at that?’ But he held his tongue.
‘Common sense never applied to him to begin with.’
On the bed, Kim Hyukjin heard a voice.
(C’mon, Husband. I’m sorry. I might have forgotten how weak you were and accidentally used too much strength.)
Isabel exerted more strength than what was within the Endless Sky Crystal, putting an incredible burden on Hyukjin’s body.
‘My second heart nearly shattered.’
(B-But it didn’t. It didn’t break, so you can recover with some rest. H-Heheh.) Isabel laughed awkwardly. (But really, this is because you’re too weak! How should I have known your body would break like this because I used a tiny speck of strength? This is your fau—)
She stopped in the middle of consoling herself, ultimately acknowledging her fault.
(I messed up. I should have been more considerate of your weakness.)
Hyukjin asked inwardly, ‘But how did you do it? I heard a notice about Wide-Area Cognitive Distortion.’
(I didn’t think Cognitive Dissonance would cut it, so I went straight to Distortion.)
‘What’s that?’
(The higher version of Cognitive Dissonance. If I’m right, people probably think the Red Devils were defeated by the hard work of many Players.)
Hyukjin was stunned. This wasn’t just making people unable to recognize something, but full-on distorting their memories. He squashed the urge to ask, ‘I thought you were a sword?’ That was Isabel’s most sensitive subject, and trodding on it would invite her wrath. Isabel thought of herself as an outstanding sword, and for some reason, she considered magic superficial trickery.
‘But this is way too much to be called superficial trickery.’
No. No. Isabel is an outstanding sword, Hyukjin chanted in his mind, branding in the words. He was mentally connected to Isabel, and she could read most of his thoughts.
He heard a voice.
“...jin?”
“Ah. I apologize, I’m really not in good condition.”
Song Kiyeol shook his head. “No, I’m afraid I’ve burdened you needlessly with my worries. In any case, it seems that we’ve somehow ended up reaping most of the credit for hunting the Red Devils.”
“That was what we signed a contract for.”
“But truthfully, we didn’t do anything.”
“Things are simply going as per our contract.”
Still, Song Kiyeol felt that Kim Hyukjin had earned too little from this incident.
“...”
He silently stared at the man on the bed in a daze.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“N-Nothing. It’s just
 I suddenly thought that it was a relief someone like you was endowed with such strength.”
Of course, Song Kiyeol’s thoughts were completely off-mark. After Song Kiyeol left, Hyukjin opened his Status Window.
[Status Window]
Name: Kim Hyukjin (Player)
Level: 44
Contracted Guardian: [Nameless Observer]
Title: [Pioneer of Obliteration] [Excellent Player] [First Adversary] [Pure Person of Fire] [Phantom Thief Squirrel's Master] [Starting Sovereign] [Starting Fighter] [Thousand Dog Master]
Dungeon title: [True Ruler of the Gran Seoul Dungeon] [True Ruler of the Predator Tree Colony]
Innate ability: [Eye of Perception] [Sword of Insight] [Assimilation]
Special ability: [Absorption] [Mettle] [Eye for an Eye, Tooth for a Tooth] [Immortal Fleet]
Trait: Divine Bow Physique, Divine Sword Physique, Endless Sky Physique
Strength: 24
Intelligence: 24
Agility: 30
Perception: 24
Constitution: 24
Willpower: 62(+30)
Bonus stats: 10
Random stats: 5
Undistributed stats: 15
Not only had he passed the level 30-40 Hell Phase, but his level shot up to 44 at once. At this point, he was probably the highest level Player worldwide.
‘Isabel hunted over seven hundred Red Devils.’
And instantly, all at once.
‘That’s insane.’
She had created such a result, and yet his body was only messed up enough to require rest to recover. Should he be calling it a relief?
Right before he passed out, he heard the following notice:
[The ‘EXP limit’ has been activated.]
[EXP cannot be acquired.]
He hadn’t even known such a notice existed, but apparently, there was such a thing as an EXP limit. From the looks of it, the System would limit EXP gain if too much EXP was acquired in a single moment.
‘5 level ups. My god.’
Isabel, who had been silent for a bit—seemingly out of embarrassment—spoke again.
(Not just that. Check Pioneer of Obliteration.)
‘Pioneer of Obliteration?’
(Yeah. I obliterated them all in one go. A feat like that should have influenced the title, too.)
‘Even though it was done by you and not me?’
(You’re my pactee, Husband!)
Seemingly implying that even though she was sorry to have damaged her husband’s body, she still did something great and worthy of praise, Isabel kept coming up with new justifications of her actions.
Hyukjin opened up Pioneer of Obliteration.
[Obliteration]
Player
When ‘Obliteration’ is used on a lower level Player, the Player is either stripped of their Player rights, or their Player abilities will be reduced.
Non-Player
When ‘Obliteration’ is used on a non-Player, their potential to awaken as a Player will either be lost or reduced.
The use conditions had changed. Originally, he could only use Obliteration on a Player or non-Player in critical condition, but now, it was ‘lower level Player’. That meant he could use the authority even without reducing them to critical condition first.
As Hyukjin was thinking about the changes to Obliteration, he felt someone secretly enter his hospital room.
‘Stealth?’
His Eye of Perception had grown along with his level. He could feel their presence clearly.
‘So this is how you wanna do it after all, huh.’
Hyukjin grinned.
“I clearly remember telling you it’s not that I can’t kill you, but that I’m choosing not to.”
He could tell who the other person was—the Poisoned Dagger, Jung Sangchul. He must be here to attempt an assassination while Kim Hyukjin was weakened.
But that wasn’t the situation. To Hyukjin’s surprise, Jung Sangchul got to his knees in front of him.
____