'Long time no see. Baldy,’ the girl said when she saw the man again.0
For a moment, she felt tears well up in her eyes. She had thought that all of her emotions had long dried up. But right now, she realized she was wrong.0
‘You look like you’re going to cry.’0
She had lost her parents and her brother. She couldn’t remember her friends anymore. But, to think, she would be this happy just from seeing this man that she had only known for such a short time.0
‘Follow me. We have a lot left to do,’ the man said as if it was a given she would go with him.0
‘Okay.’5
The girl responded and followed quickly as if it was natural that she would follow him.0
***0
They traveled around the world that had collapsed into complete chaos and became filled with cries and screams. They went everywhere they could. Each place they left behind was filled with the corpses of monsters piled so high they formed mountains.0
Everywhere they passed, people regained their hope.0
'Thank you…'0
Without rest, they traversed all over Korea, finding and closing gates.0
Moreover, it was then that she realized it.0
‘It’s not just us.’0
The power to deal with their enemies didn’t only exist within her or the baldy. Countless people had awakened under the title of Hunter. However, it was still rare to find someone as strong as she was.0
Somewhere along the line, the girl and the baldy stood out, and the others called out to them, calling out their titles.0
‘It’s Athena and Heimdall!’0
They had become the heroes in the fairy tale that saved people. Still, that didn’t mean that things had changed for her.0
The monsters were just the object of her vengeance. She continued to do what she had to do, only just following the baldy to wherever he went.0
Eventually, it all ended.0
The world in chaos had been restored a semblance of stability by the powerful Hunters, and an organization to manage these Hunters had appeared in order to preserve this peace.0
Korea was now normal. Finally, for the first time, from the moment she had lost her parents, she had found some space to breathe.0
‘By the way, mister…’0
‘I’m not a mister. We’re roughly the same age.’0
‘Why is your head like…’0
It had been a long time since they had been able to have a proper conversation.0
‘Wait, no, then, I’ll start speaking informally,’ the girl said.0
‘Fine.’0
The girl, smiling faintly, asked once more, ‘How are you so strong? Did you also go through Andlangr? Did you earn a Territory, too?’0
‘That’s right.’0
‘But…then how are you so okay?’0
She knew he was special. People may have called her a Hero, but she knew otherwise. She was a broken human. She was a psychopath who gave meaning to her existence by murdering monsters and spilling their blood.0
But the baldy was different. There was something, something almost spiritual, that he aimed for. Everything he did was for that thing.0
‘If you have some sort of goal or something, I want you to take me with you.’0
Surprised at what she had just said, the girl buried her face between her knees as she tried to hide her blushing cheeks. As she sat there for quite some time, embarrassed, she finally heard a response.0
‘No,’ the baldy said. ‘You and I are on different paths. You’ll never be able to understand me.’0
She still wasn’t able to raise her head yet.0
‘What do you think the Sponsors are?’0
‘I…’0
‘They’re demons. Demons that brought those monsters to this world.’0
‘...’0
She couldn’t easily give the man a response.0
‘You probably wouldn’t think that way. But that’s not the point. What do you think lies for us at the end of all this?’0
‘What do you mean, the end of all this?’0
‘When all of the monsters are slain, and there are no more threats to the world or to humanity.’0
The man’s voice was firm.0
‘A world where Hunters with power are all that remain. No…’0
It sounded like the man suddenly looked up at the sky.0
‘A world where those bastards’ entertainment has come to an end.’0
‘Are you worried about that type of world?’ the girl finally asked.0
However, his answer was different from what she expected.0
‘No, all of those bastards are useless. What I’m worried about is…’0
There was a deep longing in his voice. For some reason, it was mixed with a deep longing that almost blurred to jealousy.0
‘What I’m worried about is a child.’0
‘A child? What the hell? What did I say, you are a mis…’0
‘That child has been through countless hardships. Hardship greater than anything you or I can imagine. The hell we went through was a drop in the bucket compared to the hell he endured.’0
The man looked at the girl on the floor.0
‘That child is the most important thing to me. And…most likely is for you, too.’0
‘What?’0
The man stood up as the girl still had her head buried between her knees.0
‘I hope we never have a reason to meet again. Because, well, you and I have different paths. With your power, go find some countryside somewhere and set up a farm. That’s what I, the one who saved you, ask of you.’0
The man then left.0
‘Well, it’s up to you if you want to listen to me, at least.’0
Even at that point, as the man walked away, the girl was unable to lift her head from between her knees. She couldn’t even reach out to grab him.0
‘So I got rejected, then,’ she muttered to herself.0
***0
She tried her best to understand him. However, the more time passed, the less she felt like she could understand him.0
‘Why?’0
She heard that he had joined the secret organization behind the Association, Asgard. Because of that, she refused the invitation to the Association.0
‘Why?’0
She wondered if he needed the help of the Association for the task he had mentioned?0
‘Why?’0
She wondered just why he had chosen that path instead of the one he had been traveling with her. What could Asgard do that she couldn’t?0
The girl was left alone once again, but she wasn’t the same as she had been before. She had forgotten.0
‘He had been the person who had made me feel again.’0
She had forgotten the eternity she had spent in Andlangr. She had forgotten her emotions, long worn out and frayed beyond repair. She had forgotten her true self, which was only revealed when she was with that baldy.0
She, whom everyone had called a Hero, soon became shunned and avoided by all. The girl had become this way because of the cruel and cold world. Her comfort and her home had disappeared.0
Now, the only place she could be comfortable, as always, was the battlefield.0
Squelch.0
The girl turned down yet another invitation from the Association and traversed the world alone. During her travels, she moved about aimlessly as she closed gates and slayed monsters. She was only focused on the job at hand and the slaughter.0
Then, that was when she met him.0
‘You’re Athena, right? How strong,’ a handsome figure with flowing white hair said.0
However, her first impression of the man was horrid. She knew who he was.0
‘Zeus.’0
Although he was Korean, it was said he had moved to Europe and almost relentlessly went about closing gates. He was someone who had gone through the same hell that she had and was someone who could understand her.0
In a gate, the girl just continued forward, intending to pass the man by. However, suddenly, the man made an offer.0
‘If you don’t have anywhere to go, what about coming with me?’0
‘...’0
The girl responded with a question, intending to refuse.0
‘I don’t know what your motives are, so…’0
She, herself, had no motives, so there would have been no benefits to traveling like this. Nor was she able to satisfy the needs of someone who wanted to move about while forming a guild. Thus, she wanted to take the simple route, where both went their own ways.0
‘I don’t have any goals.’0
‘...’0
‘I just want to become stronger than anyone else.’0
It was then that she paused, thinking to herself.0
‘That’s all I want.’0
He was someone similar to her.0
***0
“Gasp… Gasp…”0
She started to feel a sharp pain in her stomach. She realized that she most likely had fainted from how hazy things were. How long had she been out?0
‘This might be the first time.’0
This was the first time she had fainted ever since she had left Andlangr. That might have been why she had been thinking about the past, when she had met Zeus before joining Olympus.0
Everything came to her mind vividly, like a dream.0
Her entire life had changed after meeting Zeus. He was the same as she was. Although he wanted to die, he continued to survive because of some nagging feeling in the back of his head that told him he had to.0
So, in the end, she joined his side.0
‘I’ll beat him the next time I see him.’0
She had told him about the baldy. Although it didn’t seem to be all that important to her, that was how Zeus had responded. She also had a great debt to the white-haired man. Thus, she had intended to survive in order to pay off that debt.0
“Gasp… gasp…”0
Her mind was hazy as the blood that dripped from her entire body had formed a puddle on the ground. It hadn’t been long since she had started this battle—roughly about three weeks since she had come to the United States to rescue the survivors and fight those lunatic Rulers that tore the continent apart.0
Looking up, she could see those bastards, the four Rulers. They were completely different from the monsters she had fought until now. In fact, they were worlds apart from even the boss monsters that she had fought within the gates.0
Their strength had reached the point of warping reality.0
“Kekeke…”0
Those bastards were laughing as they looked at her. The craters she had left in their bodies regenerated before her eyes. She had never been pushed to this point since she had left Andlangr. In fact, she had always assumed that if she were to die in battle, it would have been against another Hunter, not a monster.0
However, the cataclysm was a different beast. Everything was different about the Rulers.0
“It’s just a child. For it to push us to this extent was more than enough for such a young child.”0
“Damn it. To think, because of that psycho bitch, I had to join forces with these bastards.”0
“Shit.”0
“It looks like she’s going to die…”0
Although their figures were different, they were somewhat similar to humans. The powers they used were similar to that of Hunters as well. Still, the level of strength was incomparable.0
Squelch.0
The girl drove her spear into the ground and forced her body up. Although her body may have been a complete mess, her weapon was still fine.0
“It’s not over yet.”0
“That! That psycho bitch!”0
Those bastards that had accompanied her all this way began to argue.0
“I’m going to excuse myself here.”0
“What bullshit are you spouting?”0
Even though they weren’t speaking in Korean, she was able to tell that there seemed to be some sort of dispute between them.0
“After we kill her, we have to fight among ourselves. Stop speaking nonsense and play your part.”0
Most likely, they realized that they would have to fight among themselves after killing her.0
Even so…0
Clench.0
She didn’t relax. For three days, she had barely held on as those bastards mocked and ridiculed her. Then, they would squabble amongst themselves whenever she fell, focusing once again on her if she ever showed an opening.0
Although those bastards were strong, she was strong as well. If it wasn’t for their monstrous regeneration, they most likely would have died at her hands by this point.0
“Gasp.”0
She caught her breath as her wounds clotted. For a second, she thought there was an opening.0
“Looks like that bitch recovered again.”0
“That’s why I’m saying we should just kill her already.”0
“That’s easier said than done.”0
Those bastards were standing around her like neighborhood bullies as they joked around, and they began to stir their aura as the proper form of the Rulers were revealed.0
Rumble.0
As their terrifying aura began to boil, their bodies began to grow. They were similar to humans, but they were still, in fact, something completely different. One of them slowly began to transform.0
‘A dragon…’0
Eventually, it transformed into the appearance of a western yong[1]. It looked as if a red flame might suddenly explode forth from between its jaws at any moment.0
Another one grew to incredible height as it turned into a stone giant, while another shrunk into a tiny dwarf. The final one stayed the same, its original appearance the same as its human-life figure.0
They were all shapes she was used to as she had clashed with countless times in this short period.0
–Go and die now, you crazy bitch.0
The Ruler, which looked like a dragon, opened its jaws as it spoke. From between its teeth, a swirling flame stirred. Incredible mana began to flow like lava.0
‘Aegis.'0
The girl hefted her shield. Her divine item had clashed against that bastard's flames countless times now. However, she realized none of them were playing around this time.0
‘They’re serious.’0
They wanted to end things this time.0
Crackle, crackle.0
It was the same type of power as her guild leader, who had given her a new purpose. An electric current of blue light was crackling around the human-like Ruler. As storm clouds rolled in above her, the girl grew angry. She hated that bastard the most. Whenever it attacked her, it always made her think that the guild leader was there.0
‘Then, it’ll be those other bastards next.’0
In the end, even if she blocked the flames and the current of electricity, she knew that the stone giant and the dwarf would run toward her. She was going to die this time.0
‘Heimdall.’0
She wondered why she was thinking of that baldy again. She still didn’t understand what he had meant, and she chalked this random thought to the dream that she had about him when she was passed out earlier.0
“Hoo…”0
She stood, spear and shield in hand, as she looked over at the four rulers.[2]0
She would die. However, she wouldn’t go down easily.0
“One of you is going to die with me.”0
The words of the guild leader came to mind.0
“I told you, your mouth is too crass, Athena.”0
“G…guild leader??!”0
The impossible had happened.0
Although she had been sure of it, the current of electricity she saw earlier had been created by that human-like Ruler, before her very eyes was the back of a white-haired man.0
In his hand was a bolt of lightning that was more blue and more beautiful than anything that the human-like Ruler had created.0
“Let’s end this quickly.”0
1. A Yong is an eastern dragon. While it may be translated into dragon, the actual creature is worlds apart from the Western dragon. ☜
2. If you remember all the way back to the beginning, Lee Jun-Kyeong’s use of a spear and shield was said to be really rare. That was a reference to Athena. ☜
'Long time no see. Baldy,’ the girl said when she saw the man again.0
For a moment, she felt tears well up in her eyes. She had thought that all of her emotions had long dried up. But right now, she realized she was wrong.0
‘You look like you’re going to cry.’0
She had lost her parents and her brother. She couldn’t remember her friends anymore. But, to think, she would be this happy just from seeing this man that she had only known for such a short time.0
‘Follow me. We have a lot left to do,’ the man said as if it was a given she would go with him.0
‘Okay.’5
The girl responded and followed quickly as if it was natural that she would follow him.0
***0
They traveled around the world that had collapsed into complete chaos and became filled with cries and screams. They went everywhere they could. Each place they left behind was filled with the corpses of monsters piled so high they formed mountains.0
Everywhere they passed, people regained their hope.0
'Thank you…'0
Without rest, they traversed all over Korea, finding and closing gates.0
Moreover, it was then that she realized it.0
‘It’s not just us.’0
The power to deal with their enemies didn’t only exist within her or the baldy. Countless people had awakened under the title of Hunter. However, it was still rare to find someone as strong as she was.0
Somewhere along the line, the girl and the baldy stood out, and the others called out to them, calling out their titles.0
‘It’s Athena and Heimdall!’0
They had become the heroes in the fairy tale that saved people. Still, that didn’t mean that things had changed for her.0
The monsters were just the object of her vengeance. She continued to do what she had to do, only just following the baldy to wherever he went.0
Eventually, it all ended.0
The world in chaos had been restored a semblance of stability by the powerful Hunters, and an organization to manage these Hunters had appeared in order to preserve this peace.0
Korea was now normal. Finally, for the first time, from the moment she had lost her parents, she had found some space to breathe.0
‘By the way, mister…’0
‘I’m not a mister. We’re roughly the same age.’0
‘Why is your head like…’0
It had been a long time since they had been able to have a proper conversation.0
‘Wait, no, then, I’ll start speaking informally,’ the girl said.0
‘Fine.’0
The girl, smiling faintly, asked once more, ‘How are you so strong? Did you also go through Andlangr? Did you earn a Territory, too?’0
‘That’s right.’0
‘But…then how are you so okay?’0
She knew he was special. People may have called her a Hero, but she knew otherwise. She was a broken human. She was a psychopath who gave meaning to her existence by murdering monsters and spilling their blood.0
But the baldy was different. There was something, something almost spiritual, that he aimed for. Everything he did was for that thing.0
‘If you have some sort of goal or something, I want you to take me with you.’0
Surprised at what she had just said, the girl buried her face between her knees as she tried to hide her blushing cheeks. As she sat there for quite some time, embarrassed, she finally heard a response.0
‘No,’ the baldy said. ‘You and I are on different paths. You’ll never be able to understand me.’0
She still wasn’t able to raise her head yet.0
‘What do you think the Sponsors are?’0
‘I…’0
‘They’re demons. Demons that brought those monsters to this world.’0
‘...’0
She couldn’t easily give the man a response.0
‘You probably wouldn’t think that way. But that’s not the point. What do you think lies for us at the end of all this?’0
‘What do you mean, the end of all this?’0
‘When all of the monsters are slain, and there are no more threats to the world or to humanity.’0
The man’s voice was firm.0
‘A world where Hunters with power are all that remain. No…’0
It sounded like the man suddenly looked up at the sky.0
‘A world where those bastards’ entertainment has come to an end.’0
‘Are you worried about that type of world?’ the girl finally asked.0
However, his answer was different from what she expected.0
‘No, all of those bastards are useless. What I’m worried about is…’0
There was a deep longing in his voice. For some reason, it was mixed with a deep longing that almost blurred to jealousy.0
‘What I’m worried about is a child.’0
‘A child? What the hell? What did I say, you are a mis…’0
‘That child has been through countless hardships. Hardship greater than anything you or I can imagine. The hell we went through was a drop in the bucket compared to the hell he endured.’0
The man looked at the girl on the floor.0
‘That child is the most important thing to me. And…most likely is for you, too.’0
‘What?’0
The man stood up as the girl still had her head buried between her knees.0
‘I hope we never have a reason to meet again. Because, well, you and I have different paths. With your power, go find some countryside somewhere and set up a farm. That’s what I, the one who saved you, ask of you.’0
The man then left.0
‘Well, it’s up to you if you want to listen to me, at least.’0
Even at that point, as the man walked away, the girl was unable to lift her head from between her knees. She couldn’t even reach out to grab him.0
‘So I got rejected, then,’ she muttered to herself.0
***0
She tried her best to understand him. However, the more time passed, the less she felt like she could understand him.0
‘Why?’0
She heard that he had joined the secret organization behind the Association, Asgard. Because of that, she refused the invitation to the Association.0
‘Why?’0
She wondered if he needed the help of the Association for the task he had mentioned?0
‘Why?’0
She wondered just why he had chosen that path instead of the one he had been traveling with her. What could Asgard do that she couldn’t?0
The girl was left alone once again, but she wasn’t the same as she had been before. She had forgotten.0
‘He had been the person who had made me feel again.’0
She had forgotten the eternity she had spent in Andlangr. She had forgotten her emotions, long worn out and frayed beyond repair. She had forgotten her true self, which was only revealed when she was with that baldy.0
She, whom everyone had called a Hero, soon became shunned and avoided by all. The girl had become this way because of the cruel and cold world. Her comfort and her home had disappeared.0
Now, the only place she could be comfortable, as always, was the battlefield.0
Squelch.0
The girl turned down yet another invitation from the Association and traversed the world alone. During her travels, she moved about aimlessly as she closed gates and slayed monsters. She was only focused on the job at hand and the slaughter.0
Then, that was when she met him.0
‘You’re Athena, right? How strong,’ a handsome figure with flowing white hair said.0
However, her first impression of the man was horrid. She knew who he was.0
‘Zeus.’0
Although he was Korean, it was said he had moved to Europe and almost relentlessly went about closing gates. He was someone who had gone through the same hell that she had and was someone who could understand her.0
In a gate, the girl just continued forward, intending to pass the man by. However, suddenly, the man made an offer.0
‘If you don’t have anywhere to go, what about coming with me?’0
‘...’0
The girl responded with a question, intending to refuse.0
‘I don’t know what your motives are, so…’0
She, herself, had no motives, so there would have been no benefits to traveling like this. Nor was she able to satisfy the needs of someone who wanted to move about while forming a guild. Thus, she wanted to take the simple route, where both went their own ways.0
‘I don’t have any goals.’0
‘...’0
‘I just want to become stronger than anyone else.’0
It was then that she paused, thinking to herself.0
‘That’s all I want.’0
He was someone similar to her.0
***0
“Gasp… Gasp…”0
She started to feel a sharp pain in her stomach. She realized that she most likely had fainted from how hazy things were. How long had she been out?0
‘This might be the first time.’0
This was the first time she had fainted ever since she had left Andlangr. That might have been why she had been thinking about the past, when she had met Zeus before joining Olympus.0
Everything came to her mind vividly, like a dream.0
Her entire life had changed after meeting Zeus. He was the same as she was. Although he wanted to die, he continued to survive because of some nagging feeling in the back of his head that told him he had to.0
So, in the end, she joined his side.0
‘I’ll beat him the next time I see him.’0
She had told him about the baldy. Although it didn’t seem to be all that important to her, that was how Zeus had responded. She also had a great debt to the white-haired man. Thus, she had intended to survive in order to pay off that debt.0
“Gasp… gasp…”0
Her mind was hazy as the blood that dripped from her entire body had formed a puddle on the ground. It hadn’t been long since she had started this battle—roughly about three weeks since she had come to the United States to rescue the survivors and fight those lunatic Rulers that tore the continent apart.0
Looking up, she could see those bastards, the four Rulers. They were completely different from the monsters she had fought until now. In fact, they were worlds apart from even the boss monsters that she had fought within the gates.0
Their strength had reached the point of warping reality.0
“Kekeke…”0
Those bastards were laughing as they looked at her. The craters she had left in their bodies regenerated before her eyes. She had never been pushed to this point since she had left Andlangr. In fact, she had always assumed that if she were to die in battle, it would have been against another Hunter, not a monster.0
However, the cataclysm was a different beast. Everything was different about the Rulers.0
“It’s just a child. For it to push us to this extent was more than enough for such a young child.”0
“Damn it. To think, because of that psycho bitch, I had to join forces with these bastards.”0
“Shit.”0
“It looks like she’s going to die…”0
Although their figures were different, they were somewhat similar to humans. The powers they used were similar to that of Hunters as well. Still, the level of strength was incomparable.0
Squelch.0
The girl drove her spear into the ground and forced her body up. Although her body may have been a complete mess, her weapon was still fine.0
“It’s not over yet.”0
“That! That psycho bitch!”0
Those bastards that had accompanied her all this way began to argue.0
“I’m going to excuse myself here.”0
“What bullshit are you spouting?”0
Even though they weren’t speaking in Korean, she was able to tell that there seemed to be some sort of dispute between them.0
“After we kill her, we have to fight among ourselves. Stop speaking nonsense and play your part.”0
Most likely, they realized that they would have to fight among themselves after killing her.0
Even so…0
Clench.0
She didn’t relax. For three days, she had barely held on as those bastards mocked and ridiculed her. Then, they would squabble amongst themselves whenever she fell, focusing once again on her if she ever showed an opening.0
Although those bastards were strong, she was strong as well. If it wasn’t for their monstrous regeneration, they most likely would have died at her hands by this point.0
“Gasp.”0
She caught her breath as her wounds clotted. For a second, she thought there was an opening.0
“Looks like that bitch recovered again.”0
“That’s why I’m saying we should just kill her already.”0
“That’s easier said than done.”0
Those bastards were standing around her like neighborhood bullies as they joked around, and they began to stir their aura as the proper form of the Rulers were revealed.0
Rumble.0
As their terrifying aura began to boil, their bodies began to grow. They were similar to humans, but they were still, in fact, something completely different. One of them slowly began to transform.0
‘A dragon…’0
Eventually, it transformed into the appearance of a western yong[1]. It looked as if a red flame might suddenly explode forth from between its jaws at any moment.0
Another one grew to incredible height as it turned into a stone giant, while another shrunk into a tiny dwarf. The final one stayed the same, its original appearance the same as its human-life figure.0
They were all shapes she was used to as she had clashed with countless times in this short period.0
–Go and die now, you crazy bitch.0
The Ruler, which looked like a dragon, opened its jaws as it spoke. From between its teeth, a swirling flame stirred. Incredible mana began to flow like lava.0
‘Aegis.'0
The girl hefted her shield. Her divine item had clashed against that bastard's flames countless times now. However, she realized none of them were playing around this time.0
‘They’re serious.’0
They wanted to end things this time.0
Crackle, crackle.0
It was the same type of power as her guild leader, who had given her a new purpose. An electric current of blue light was crackling around the human-like Ruler. As storm clouds rolled in above her, the girl grew angry. She hated that bastard the most. Whenever it attacked her, it always made her think that the guild leader was there.0
‘Then, it’ll be those other bastards next.’0
In the end, even if she blocked the flames and the current of electricity, she knew that the stone giant and the dwarf would run toward her. She was going to die this time.0
‘Heimdall.’0
She wondered why she was thinking of that baldy again. She still didn’t understand what he had meant, and she chalked this random thought to the dream that she had about him when she was passed out earlier.0
“Hoo…”0
She stood, spear and shield in hand, as she looked over at the four rulers.[2]0
She would die. However, she wouldn’t go down easily.0
“One of you is going to die with me.”0
The words of the guild leader came to mind.0
“I told you, your mouth is too crass, Athena.”0
“G…guild leader??!”0
The impossible had happened.0
Although she had been sure of it, the current of electricity she saw earlier had been created by that human-like Ruler, before her very eyes was the back of a white-haired man.0
In his hand was a bolt of lightning that was more blue and more beautiful than anything that the human-like Ruler had created.0
“Let’s end this quickly.”0
1. A Yong is an eastern dragon. While it may be translated into dragon, the actual creature is worlds apart from the Western dragon. ☜
2. If you remember all the way back to the beginning, Lee Jun-Kyeong’s use of a spear and shield was said to be really rare. That was a reference to Athena. ☜
