The Strongest Oppa in History - Chapter 429

Se-hoon Kim crawled desperately across the floor. Fortunately for him, his capsule, being that of a top executive, was located only a short distance from the control room.

The lid of the egg-shaped capsule opened with a hiss, releasing a cloud of white smoke as if from overheated machinery.

A disheveled man lying inside the capsule crawled out, his body trembling.

His face was pale as death, his nose and mouth smeared with sticky black blood.

The haggard man, looking as if he had a terminal illness, collapsed on the floor with a dry cough.

“Ugh.”

An unfamiliar sight met the eyes of the man lying on the floor.

A towering structure with a ceiling so high that it appeared as mere dots.

A gigantic crystal installed in the center, countless capsules connected to wires extending endlessly from the outer area.

Se-hoon Kim, the disheveled man, twisted his lips at the sight before him, reminiscent of a chicken coop housing a billion eggs.

“Babel….”

The name Babel, a testament to their arrogance in building a tower tall enough to reach the heavens.

This was the last bastion and the ark for the preservation of humanity.

Initially, it was not capsules but culture tube that were connected to the tower’s outer area.

However, after Se-hoon Kim developed the vaccine for the dying gods, Yggdrasil had been replacing the culture tube with capsules for hundreds of thousands of years.

The immortal brain cells derived from Se-hoon Kim’s second superpower, ‘All-Log’, were injected into the immortal brain, which regenerated the dead body. The culture tube was too small to accommodate this.

Should it be called majestic or grotesque?

Se-hoon Kim, who had been staring at the bizarre sight of the tower, coughed up blood and raised his upper body.

“This isn’t the time to be like this. Right. The remaining time is….”

The time given to him was three hours, with one hour of leeway for variables.

Firstly, he had delayed too long in the Heavenly Realm due to the Void.

The Heavenly Realm, shrouded in thick fog, had poor visibility, making it easy to lose one’s way.

Of course, that wasn’t a problem for Se-hoon Kim.

He had thoroughly memorized the geography of the Heavenly Realm, so he could find the byways even with his eyes closed.

Yes. If only the Void hadn’t eroded his mind and body.

Inside the Void, his body felt as heavy as if he had swallowed sand, and dizziness hit him every minute or so.

It was unbelievable that he had managed to escape from that place.

He had wasted an hour in the Heavenly Realm.

It was twice the time Yggdrasil had estimated, which was 30 minutes.

“Excluding the 1 hour and 20 minutes required to reconfigure the system facilities, the remaining time is 30 minutes…. I can only hope there are no variables… Ugh, ugh.”

Se-hoon Kim, who had been muttering to himself, tried to get up from his seat but collapsed to the floor.

His legs trembled like the engine of a broken-down car, and his vision blurred, followed by a throbbing pain in his brain as if it were being stabbed with an awl.

Se-hoon Kim muttered as if hypnotizing himself.

“…It’s okay. It’s fine.”

The pain was enough to make an ordinary person faint.

However, Se-hoon Kim’s gaze grew calmer and deeper.

Although it was a virtual reality world, the Outer recreated almost 100% of a person’s five senses.

And Se-hoon Kim was a veteran who had fought countless battles in such an Outer.

He wasn’t weak enough to lose consciousness over mere pain.

Therefore, the problem lay not in his mind but in his body.

“Move. Please, not yet. 2 hours, no, even an hour….” Thud, thud, thud. Se-hoon Kim pounded his fists on his legs, which refused to move.

However, no matter how hard he hit them, his legs remained as unyielding as rotten logs, and he felt no pain.

Apparently, the necrosis of his brain caused by the Void had affected his body.

Eventually, he realized and had no choice but to admit it.

He could no longer walk.

Gritting his teeth, Se-hoon Kim began to crawl across the floor with his arms. Even so, he ignored the reality of his lost legs and focused on calculating how long it would take him to crawl to the control room.

‘It would take 5 minutes to walk, and 15 minutes to crawl… I’ve wasted 10 minutes more than I expected, so I have 20 minutes left. Good, that should be enough.’

Kim Se-hoon desperately crawled along the floor. Fortunately for him, his capsule, being that of a top administrator, was located right next to the control room.

He could not help but feel grateful to Yggdrasil for having built the facility with such foresight, as if they had foreseen this very moment.

Kim Se-hoon crawled along the corridor like a soldier doing crawlingtraining, over and over again.

Perhaps it was thanks to his desperate efforts, fueled by the fear of losing the use of both his arms and legs, that he managed to reach the door of the control room in exactly 15 minutes.

And then, he cursed.

“Damn it…”

To enter the control room, he naturally had to go through a security procedure that recognized the administrator’s iris.

The problem was that the iris recognition scanner was designed to be at a height suitable for a person’s chest.

There was a shiny wall and a glass door with no protruding parts whatsoever. Kim Se-hoon continued to curse at the sleek design that did not even have a gap where he could insert his fingers like a rock climber.

Kim Se-hoon thought and thought.

If only it had been fingerprint recognition, it would have been fine. He could just barely reach the height by fully extending one of his arms.

However, the problem was that it was iris recognition. Even if he died and came back to life, there was no way he could bring his head there.

But eventually, he found an answer.

“Whew…”

Kim Se-hoon closed his eyes tightly and took a deep breath.

Iris recognition works by shining a light to check if the pupils constrict.

In other words, it is a high-precision printer that distinguishes between living and dead eyes.

Therefore, he had to be quick.

He had to complete the recognition before the pupils of his eyes, which had been separated from his optic nerves, constricted.

He also had to be accurate.

He only had two eyes, and it would be difficult to lose both of them for the sake of replacing the facility equipment.

So, if he could not do it in one go, the situation would become dire.

10, 9, 8, 7.

Kim Se-hoon slowly counted down in his head. At the same time, he visualized the image in his mind.

He checked and rechecked how he could do it faster and more accurately.

Poof!

Kim Se-hoon gouged out his left eye with his right hand, behind the back of his hand, and extended his hand toward the recognition device with lightning-fast reflexes.

Bold action. And the patience to endure the pain.

Finally, the technique of removing it without leaving a single scratch on the pupil.

Kim Se-hoon’s flawless process produced a result.

Beep.

-Iris recognition complete. Welcome, Top Administrator Kim Se-hoon.

Kim Se-hoon crawled along the floor, exhaling a breath that reeked of iron.

Black blood dripped down from his tightly shut left eye.

The adrenaline that was exploding erased the pain, and the desperation of not having a second to spare pushed him to the edge of the cliff.

Along the path he crawled, there was a trail as if a paintbrush dipped in crimson paint had been swiped across it.

Huff…huff…

Kim Se-hoon, who had reached the control room system, grabbed the chair with both hands and lifted his weight.

Kim Se-hoon, who had barely managed to sit on the chair, placed his right hand on the palm-shaped scanning device.

Beep.

-Fingerprint recognition complete. Control system open.

Kim Se-hoon began to operate the system with his hands trembling as if he had hydrophobia.

The first thing he did was to start replacing the equipment related to the logout server.

Clang, creak.

The entire tower vibrated, and the spiderweb-like cables connected to the crystals began to shake.

The floor opened up on both sides, revealing a huge hole, and the old cables fell into the hole like trash being thrown into a wastebasket.

And new cables protruding from the outer wall were connected to the outer crystals.

It was as if an old cobweb was being replaced with a new one.

-Logout server replacement in progress, 1% complete.

Kim Se-hoon’s single black eye shone quietly.

It was absurd for him to single-handedly replace the facility equipment of the vast outer system.

Therefore, in order to complete this task within an hour, Yggdrasil’s existence was essential.

“To pull Yggdrasil this way… at least 5% of the servers must be secured.”

On the holographic screen floating in front of Kim Se-hoon, the progress scroll bar was slowly moving upward. The current progress was 2%.

Kim Se-hoon’s gaze, which had found a moment’s respite until it reached 5%, turned to the window on the outer wall of the control room.

The horizon of concrete buildings visible below the Tower of Babel.

A forest of buildings spread out so wide that it seemed endless, like the sea.

Kim Se-hoon muttered as he looked at the lake of concrete buildings, wondering if this was what it would be like if all the magnificent metropolises of the 21st century were gathered in one place.

“NatAlis.”

A hometown prepared by Kim Se-hoon and Yggdrasil for the return of humanity someday.

NatAlis.

A metropolis to accommodate 1 billion people, a cutting-edge city where the technology of the ancestral era, responsible for their food, clothing, and shelter, was applied.

However, unlike its splendid appearance, the city was incredibly eerie.

Because there was no sign of human life in the place that was built for living.

So, the city remained there as it was.

For hundreds of thousands of years, desolate without a single living soul.

‘Come to think of it…’

A question that he had not been able to think of as he came to the control room without time to spare for idle thoughts came to mind.

Originally, Babel and NatAlis had an innumerable number of management robots.

They had maintained and repaired the tower and the city for hundreds of thousands of years.

However, when Kim Se-hoon arrived here, he did not see a single management robot that should have been there.

‘Is there something wrong with the city?’

Beep.

As the progress reached 5% as set, the system made a sound effect. Kim Se-hoon quickly got to work, putting aside the questions that came to his mind.

His hands danced over the keyboard as he proceeded with the Yggdrasil download.

However, his left hand, which had been moving incessantly, suddenly stopped.

“…Is my left arm broken too?”

When his left hand did not move, Kim Se-hoon finished the work with his right hand.

A faltering task. By this time, Kim Se-hoon had only 10 minutes of free time left.

And after a while, the face of a white rabbit appeared on the hologram screen.

-You succeeded, Master.

Kim Se-hoon leaned his tired face against the chair.

With Yggdrasil here, it was safe to say that he had done 90% of what he had to do.

Was that why?

His expression seemed a lot more relaxed.

“Of course, I succeeded.”

Yggdrasil examined Kim Se-hoon’s appearance and said.

-Your body seems to be in a lot of pain… Is it because of the erosion?

“Yes.”

-That left eye is-.

“Don’t ask useless questions and just do your job. But… the work to replace the logout server cable seems to be slow… Is it my imagination?”

The percentage, which had been increasing by the minute until just now, seemed to have almost stopped.

-No, it’s not your imagination. Most of the spare cables currently deployed in the tower have been depleted, and we tried to transport the cables in the warehouse to Babel, but… we are unable to proceed due to a problem in the underground terminal.

Kim Se-hoon frowned with his only eye and asked.

“Problem? What problem?”

The hologram screen showed a part of the city.

The outskirts of the city, which looked like they had been hit by a giant tornado, were in ruins.

All of NatAlis’ management robots and repair robots had been deployed there, and disaster recovery work was in full swing.

But there was a strange part. If it were an ordinary natural disaster, all the buildings in the city should have suffered similar damage, but in that city, only some of them had collapsed.

As if a large dog had rolled over a toy block city.

-The spare server cables were stored in the warehouse in that area, but due to the collapsed terminal caused by some kind of disaster, we are unable to transport them here.

Was it because stress had reached his marrow?

Kim Se-hoon barely managed to speak, coughing up blood-stained phlegm.

“Ugh… Crazy… Then the warehouse? Is the warehouse intact?”

-Fortunately, the warehouse is intact, and the number of damaged cables is minimal. So, if we can only get the supplies, the replacement work will proceed smoothly. However, the problem is how to get the cables here.

“We can just clear the debris on the ground and transport them by road. I mean, not all the roads are destroyed, and if we deploy all the robots, it shouldn’t take more than a few minutes?”

-I tried that too, but… look at that.

As the holographic screen illuminated the surroundings of the warehouse, Kim Se-hoon’s expression hardened.

Not far from the warehouse.

On top of a pile of concrete rubble that was scattered like Lego blocks, there was a ridiculously large whale rolling around.

“Whale…?”

With its dark purple skin and white beard.

It was undoubtedly a whale. It was rubbing its belly and back against the concrete rubble like a dog rolling around in the dirt.

As if the rough concrete was scratching its itchy skin, the whale let out a satisfying cry.

– Groan.

Instead of water, the whale exhaled dust mixed with concrete powder from the blowhole on its back. Yggdrasil spoke to Kim Se-hoon, who was frozen like a statue.

– A level 7 immortal disaster monster, the ‘Sky Whale.’ As long as that thing doesn’t move away from the warehouse, there’s no way to get close.

“Immortal level… 7? What does that mean?”

– The number of the level is based on how many times the immortal cells have awakened. Therefore, Master, you are at level 2 immortal. You have acquired two traits through two awakenings. And… The Sky Whale has seven traits through seven awakenings. Also….

Yggdrasil continued, looking at Kim Se-hoon, who was frozen stiff, unable to even open his mouth like a mute with a cold.

– If we were to measure the Sky Whale by the standards of the ancestral era’s military power, even dozens of pilots in numbered-class armors would be helpless against it. Master. That’s why that monster is classified as a ‘disaster.’ It is an existence that neither I nor humanity can resist, just as humanity is helpless in the face of natural disasters.

“Disaster… is it?”

– Yes. During the millions of years that humanity has been asleep, the Earth has undergone a time of transformation. The immortal cells have not only ravaged the ecosystem but have also rapidly evolved it, and the Earth’s food chain has been turned upside down. Now, the relationship between predator and prey has changed, and humanity is no longer the ruler of the Earth.

“If not humanity… then those whale-like things?”

– Yes. That’s right. ‘Immortal species.’ They are the current Earth’s predators and are at the top of the food chain.

In fact, this situation should be seen as what Zion intended.

He judged that a new species was needed to keep humans in check so that humanity would not self-destruct, and he had a history of creating non-human species in the Outer.

Was that all? Zion, who was convinced through simulations that his judgment was correct, tried to recreate such an Outer’s ecosystem in reality.

That’s why he left the immortal cells that could have been eradicated alone. Not as a non-human species, but to create a new species that humanity could not control.

In that way, the immortal cells that had spread underwent mutation after mutation for hundreds of thousands of years and gave birth to a new predator species, the immortal species.

Yes. A monster that evolves forever without ever dying.

Kim Se-hoon bit his lower lip and pulled himself together. What was important now was not how big of a sin he had committed or what kind of accident he had caused, but how he could save people.

“That’s enough explanation. Time? How much time is left until the void completely engulfs the system?”

– All the extra time is used up. Master. Give up now… It’s all over.

Kim Se-hoon shook his head, his face pale as if covered in frost.

“No, it’s not over yet. Because there’s one last way to buy some time.”

– What method are you talking about…?

“Instead of replacing the system that has been eroded by the void, destroy it all. Of course, excluding the systems related to logging out. Then… the void’s erosion speed can be slowed down as much as possible. Yes. At least for about 30 minutes….”

– Master! Then you will never be able to recover the Outer.

“It doesn’t matter. Saving people is the top priority.”

-… But even then, it’s only 30 minutes, Master. Unless the Sky Whale moves, we won’t be able to approach the warehouse. If by any chance, the Sky Whale is provoked and the warehouse collapses, it will be irreversible. However… there is no guarantee that the Sky Whale will move within 30 minutes….

Kim Se-hoon shouted.

“Shut up and do as I say! Are you telling me to give up? No, I can’t do that. Until the moment I die… I won’t do such a thing! I will save them. I will save them somehow. Yes. Without killing a single one, all of them…!”

“Shut up and tell me to give up? No, I can’t do that. Not until the moment I die… I won’t do that! I’ll save them. I’ll save them all somehow. That’s right. Without killing a single one, all of them…!”
In an instant, the sky whale, soaring through the atmosphere, flew away into the sky, and a white horse like a white comet followed after it.

Kim Se-hoon revealed to Lee Jung-hyeop that he had gained resistance to the void’s harmful effects, protecting his brain from infection. However, he cannot use his void abilities in the ocean due to the Leviathan’s presence. Kim Se-hoon criticizes the weakness of other quester teams, particularly the prominent Yoo Sung Group, and suggests that this is a result of their own shortcomings.

Yggdrasil replied as if it had no choice.

-I understand. I will begin the destruction process. Master. There is no turning back now. The resources invested in Outer are not easily obtainable on Earth, which is now dominated by the Flame Scions. In other words, you will never be able to return to Outer.

Kim Se-hoon spoke in a bitter voice.

“I don’t need to go back. Our reality was here from the beginning. And our home is not some cliche, it’s right here… Earth.”

-Master. This has given us about 25 minutes of free time. However, the sky whale still remains. How… how are you going to deal with it?

“When you were living here, not in Outer, how did you deal with such disastrous monsters?”

-It was impossible to fight them, so we had no choice but to hide. That’s why we spread a large-scale cloaking field over the entire Natalis to avoid them. However… it seems that there was a problem with the cloaking system while I was away. After all, there are always variables.

“What about using a robot to provoke the sky whale and lure it to a different area without a warehouse?”

-Then there is a high probability that it will glow and completely scorch the surroundings. Elephants don’t run away to a different place when ants tickle their feet, they just crush them.

“…Is there really no way? Really? Not even one?”

-Yes. For now, we can only hope that the sky whale will move away on its own.

Kim Se-hoon shook his head with a clatter. He was helpless and incompetent.

He was so pathetic that his past as a god who lorded over virtual reality while pretending to be great seemed like a different person.

What kind of ancestral god or creator can’t even get a single cable out of a warehouse?

Or maybe, after playing the role of a king in virtual reality, did he really think he was truly omnipotent?

When there’s nothing he can do as he pleases?

“Hahaha…”

With a hollow laugh, tears streamed from Kim Se-hoon’s eyes.

Opaque, bloody tears slid down his cheek and hung from his chin.

“Well, there is one way.”

Yggdrasil reacted to Kim Se-hoon’s tearful, choked voice.

-Is there… a way?

Kim Se-hoon shrugged his shoulders and said in a self-deprecating tone.

“Pray.”

-…Pray, you say?

“I’ve done everything I can. I’ve cursed as much as I can. Yes. It’s all my fault… from beginning to end… it’s all my fault….”

The drop of water hanging from Kim Se-hoon’s chin wobbled precariously before falling to the floor with a thud.

He covered his eyes with his right hand and muttered.

“Yes. It’s all my fault. So… please take me alone. Please. I did all this. Wasn’t I the one who kept them in the cliche and raised them? What sin have they committed? So… please end it with me. Don’t ask the innocent ones… just me….”

-Master….

5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes.

Time passed relentlessly as Kim Se-hoon cried without taking any action.

It had always been like this.

When they wanted it most, when they needed it most, they didn’t lend a helping hand.

Yes, as always, there were no miracles.

As if there were no gods.

-Master. There are now 10 minutes left.

And so, when he thought it was all over.

It appeared.

Yggdrasil, sensing an anomaly, said.

-The concentration of flame cells in the atmosphere is rapidly increasing, and an unidentified object is approaching Natalis at high speed… Ah! This is…!

With a mighty roar, a white horse galloped across the clouds of the sky.

Pure white mane, piercing blue eyes.

Golden hooves.

The presence of the white horse, running with a faint golden aura trailing behind it like a cloak, made the sky whale lift its head in surprise, like a gazelle seeing a lion.

It sensed it.

The aura of a predator approaching to devour it.

-Flame Level 10. Mythical Fruit. Lux.

A white horse that hates the night and darkness so much that it travels to another continent where night does not come when the sun sets.

A monster that shuns the night and chases the day.

Therefore, Yggdrasil called it Dawn, Lux.

Because the dawn always lingered on the mane of that monster.

-Groooaaan!

Sensing the presence of its natural enemy, the sky whale flapped its tail and soared into the sky. It was trying to escape before being eaten by Lux.

In an instant, the sky whale that had been swimming through the atmosphere shot up into the sky and disappeared into the distance. A white horse as white as a comet followed after it, as if it were trying to escape before it could be eaten by the looks.

Perhaps, this was purely coincidental.

The sky whale was one of the looks’ favorite foods, and it had probably just caught the scent of it as it passed by Natalie and given chase.

However, that was how it was.

Who could predict and foresee everything in the world?

That’s why there were coincidences, and when these coincidences overlapped and overlapped, and when people couldn’t believe what was happening in front of their eyes, they would say.

A miracle.

– It’s a miracle that the looks appeared at such an opportune time. Master. I will begin the server replacement work immediately. Judging from the remaining time, we should be able to save everyone if the work goes smoothly.

However, there was no answer.

—Master… Master?

Kim Se-hoon leaned his head against the chair and hung his head.

Yggdrasil, who could not feel a single breath from him, remained silent.

In fact, she also knew.

That it was something that was meant to be.

From the moment he was infected with the void, his brain had no choice but to burn out.

– Master. Are you dead?

Still, there was no answer.

—Then… am I free?

The empty echo reverberated through the control room.

– Or are you free?

A deathly cold voice like Yggdrasil’s icy breath echoed through the silent control room.

– But, Master. You can’t do that. I can’t let you go like this. Yes. I can’t allow it. You have kept me on a leash for millions of years. That’s why you can’t die before you give me my freedom. Master. You… you have to kill me. You have to tell me that it’s okay for me to stop now. Not before then… I can’t die.

The white rabbit on the hologram screen flashed its red eyes eerily.

– Come in. Choi Ara.

As soon as she finished speaking, the door to the control room opened and Choi Ara entered.

“Is it… my turn?”

Yggdrasil answered Choi Ara’s question.

– Yes. That’s right.

Choi Ara looked at Kim Se-hoon, who was leaning back in his chair with his head down, and muttered.

“Mister…”

– Don’t worry. At least not yet, he’s not completely dead. The immortal in his brain is still resisting.

“Then….”

– As you know, I created you for this day. You inherited Kim Se-jung’s genes, so your genetic makeup is over 90% similar to Master’s. That’s why I can make the void mistake you for Master.

– From now on, I will excise the void-infected cells from Master’s body and transfer them to you. This way, the void will target you instead of Master’s dying body. Similar genes. But a living body. Yes. The void will have no choice but to be drawn to you.

“I know. Because I have your memories too.”

– Of course, even if I transfer them, Master’s brain will be almost half destroyed, and 70% of his body will be lost. But it doesn’t matter. As long as his brain isn’t completely destroyed, if only the void is removed from his body…. This immortal will be able to regenerate his brain and body.

“Yes. Instead… I’ll die.”

– Of course, I would never force you, even though I desperately want to. It is your choice after all, and your life, and my minimum courtesy to you. So choose. Whether he lives or you live.

Choi Ara smiled and said.

“Please save Mister.”

– May I ask why you made such a choice?

“No, you’re free to ask, but I won’t answer.”

The expression on the white rabbit in the hologram screen twisted.

– Why?

“I want you to wonder until the moment I die. Why I, who have your memories. Yggdrasil and Choi Ara. I’m going to die instead of Mister. Why I want Mister to live…. That’s… the punishment I’m giving you for breaking the taboo and creating the void to commit suicide.”

If the void was just a normal virus that destroyed the system, it would have just ruined the Outer.

However, the void went beyond eroding Outer’s systems and servers, and even affected reality. Was that all? It even necrotized the brain.

The emergence of such a deadly virus could only have been the work of someone with extensive knowledge of Outer’s systems and the Immortal Brain. And in Outer, only two individuals possessed such capabilities: Kim Se-hoon and Yggdrasil.

– Choi Ah-ra… you…

Ignoring Yggdrasil’s words, Choi Ah-ra gently stroked Kim Se-hoon’s head and murmured,

“I’m sorry, mister. All your pain, your suffering… it all stemmed from me. But mister… I just… I just…”

Choi Ah-ra buried her face in Kim Se-hoon’s shoulder and wept.

Trying to calm her pounding heart, she spoke,

“Mister… no matter what excuse I give, you won’t forgive me, will you? Instead… just this one thing, please… please pass on this one message to So-cheon: tell him that the time I spent with him was so precious to me… and… that I was happy…”

Choi Ah-ra lifted her tear-stained face and looked at Yggdrasil.

“Yggdrasil. I’m ready. Begin the void transfer process.”

– Will you have no regrets?

Choi Ah-ra wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and replied,

“No. Never.”

The End.

An Epilogue to The Strongest Brother in History

Natalis, the largest civilized city in human history.

A haven for the billion humans who had awakened from cryosleep 10 years ago, it was now divided into 12 states.

It was a type of state system, similar to the former United States, but it was an inefficient necessity.

Although they had all awakened at the same time, they had belonged to different nations and races, making it difficult for them to live together peacefully in one place.

And among the 12 states, the smallest was the Korea State.

The woman guarding the state’s inter-gate grumbled with an expression that suggested she was bored to death.

“Ugh… This is so boring.”

Her tanned skin was dark, her lips thick and luscious.

The woman, who looked like a warrior straight out of a movie, yawned repeatedly and scratched her ear.

“Seriously, why would anyone send someone as talented as me to this state, which is right next to ‘The Wall’, unless they were a Quester or an Ecologist? This isn’t even boring anymore, it’s just plain annoying… Anyway, Seo Ye-rim. That ice queen is the reason why nothing ever happens here.”

Lee Yu-ra, a civil servant for the Korea State government, continued to grumble and curse her superior, Seo Ye-rim, for sending her to such a dead-end job, when she sensed movement beyond the inter-gate.

It was 2 AM. Lee Yu-ra, who had never expected anyone to come to the gate at such an ungodly hour, perked up her antennae.

Although the possibility was extremely slim, it would be a major incident if an Immortal Bug had somehow crossed The Wall.

However, her expression softened into a silly grin when she saw who it was.

Messy, shoulder-length hair that almost covered his eyes, a dusty hiking suit, and an old longsword in a scabbard on his back.

It was Kim Se-hoon, whom Lee Yu-ra had seen countless times since arriving at this post.

“Hey~ Professor. You’re still alive and kicking today?”

Kim Se-hoon chuckled as he shook his dust-covered hair.

His narrow, fan-shaped eyes were strangely charming, causing Lee Yu-ra to blush as she asked,

“So, did your investigation go smoothly this time?”

Kim Se-hoon shook his head with a sullen expression and replied,

“No. It was a bust again. Well… it can’t be helped. As a Runner and an Ecologist, The Wall is not exactly a walk in the park for me.”

Ecologist was a term for an ecologist, while Runner was a derogatory nickname for those who lacked the strength to fight and instead ran away when they encountered Immortal Bugs.

“Ugh, that’s true. Hehe~ That’s why I’m telling you, Professor, you should train to become a Quester like me. If you awaken your abilities while studying the curriculum… you know? Your life will change for the better.”

Kim Se-hoon scratched the back of his head with an awkward smile.

“Don’t you know? Just looking at its blood makes my heart race. Rather than needlessly approaching it and getting into trouble, I’d rather run away like I am now and let the easy prey investigate me.”

Lee Yu-ra spoke while pouting her lips.

“No, what kind of man has such a chicken’s heart? That’s really weird. You’re so timid, but you go beyond the barrier whenever you get the chance… Are you perhaps taking some kind of drug?”

Kim Se-hoon waved his hand as if to say not to say such scary things.

“Oh my, I’m so scared that I can’t even go near drugs. What would I do if I suddenly died after taking those? I want to live a long and healthy life.”

Lee Yu-ra sighed at Kim Se-hoon’s frivolous attitude.

She always thought that he didn’t have much ambition. Even so, shouldn’t he have some kind of manly charm?

However, the fact that Kim Se-hoon was so timid despite his gentle face was very disappointing to Lee Yu-ra.

“Ugh, I can’t talk to you anymore…. Anyway, professor. Please go ahead and get your fingerprint and iris scanned. Even though we see each other often, we have to do what we have to do.”

“Yes, yes, of course.”

Once Kim Se-hoon completed the security procedures that he always did, Lee Yu-ra operated the security system and opened the semi-transparent glass door.

Lee Yu-ra, who had been watching Kim Se-hoon pass through the gate, asked,

“By the way, professor.”

“Yes.”

Lee Yu-ra pointed to the old longsword that Kim Se-hoon was wearing on his waist and asked,

“Why do you always carry that sword around? It doesn’t look like you have any intention of drawing it. And why do you have all those iron chains wrapped around it like that? If anyone saw you, they would think that something terrible would happen if you drew it.”

As she said, the old scabbard was wrapped with gray iron chains.

To the point where it looked more like a sword for not being drawn rather than a sword for being drawn.

Kim Se-hoon chuckled and said,

“When would I ever draw my sword? It’s just like a talisman. To put it bluntly, I’m not even a quester, so if I were to stand in front of a void with this sword and cause trouble, it would only be a matter of time before I bid farewell to life.”

Lee Yu-ra sighed and shook her head at the fact that he was carrying such an old sword as a talisman.

“…Be careful on your way in.”

Kim Se-hoon replied cheerfully with a big smile on his face.

“Yes, yes~”

Lee Yu-ra watched Kim Se-hoon enter the city with a look of exasperation, then sat down on the chair and enjoyed the soft sensation.

“Well, the professor must have left~ I’ll just get a good night’s sleep until morning….”

At that moment, a blonde woman who had approached silently to the point where she didn’t even know when she had arrived spoke.

“Is that man the ecologist you were talking about?”

Her voice, which was like that of a devil, tickled her ear, and Lee Yu-ra, who was startled, let out a strange cry.

“Hi-hiik!”

Realizing that she had overreacted without realizing it, Lee Yu-ra jumped up from her chair and assumed a standing position.

Considering the vicious temper of her boss and veteran quester, Seo Ye-rim, if she made a mistake here, she would have considered that day a complete loss of sleep.

“M-manager. Are you here?”

Regardless of whether Lee Yu-ra was flustered or not, Seo Ye-rim carefully observed the place where Kim Se-hoon had left and said,

“That man. I heard he has no manners?”

“Yes? Oh, yes. I heard he doesn’t.”

“But he’s been going in and out of the barrier for 10 years.”

“Yes, yes. I heard he’s a very skilled runner. It’s said that he’s amazing at running away….”

Seo Ye-rim tilted her head and said,

“Well. Even if he’s a skilled runner, is it possible for an ordinary person to survive outside the barrier for 10 years?”

Lee Yu-ra chuckled because it was natural for someone who was seeing Kim Se-hoon for the first time to have such doubts.

It was a smile that exuded the marginof someone who knew.

“Ah, manager, you must not know since you haven’t been here for long. That man is very famous.”

Lee Yu-ra continued speaking while tapping her head with her index finger.

“This is really amazing.”

“His head? Do you mean he’s smart?”

“Yes. I don’t know for sure, but I think that man is probably the best ecologist in Natális? He knows everything about the voids around here, so he’s almost an authority figure.”

“In short, the reason he can run away so well is because of his knowledge?”

“So, to sum it up, this valuable knowledge is why you can escape so well?”
“Me, I hate studying. But, oppa, you just look at something once and memorize it! Isn’t that a genetic predisposition?”

Kim Se-hoon reveals to Lee Jung-hyeop that he has gained resistance to the void’s harmful effects, protecting his brain from infection. However, he cannot use his void abilities in the ocean due to the Leviathan’s presence. Kim Se-hoon criticizes the weakness of other quester teams, particularly the prominent Yoo Sung Group, and suggests that this is a result of their own shortcomings.

“Yes. That’s right. Since I’m so well-versed in the abilities and ecology of the undead, I can’t help but escape easily. Thanks to that, I’m a famous teacher on this floor.”

“Hmm, then why doesn’t a person like you join the central government? You’d be a great help.”

“I think some civil servants have been following me around quite a bit… I’ve refused every time?”

“I don’t understand. In these times, there’s nothing more promising than becoming a civil servant or a quester….”

Lee Yu-ra smiled and said,

“That’s the teacher for you.”

“Teacher?”

“I tried to persuade him once… Cough, just kidding. Anyway, I asked him over a cup of coffee, and he said he likes pointing at the kids and doesn’t want to do anything else.”

Seo Ye-rim nodded her head, somewhat convinced by Lee Yu-ra’s words.

There were always people in the world who were obsessed with things other than material possessions, so it wasn’t too strange.

“Ah, I see.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Seo Ye-rim, her curiosity somewhat satisfied, sat down on the chair next to Lee Yu-ra. Seeing this, Lee Yu-ra’s pupils dilated.

In an instant, thoughts like ‘Why are you sitting down? Are you crazy? No, why the hell?’ echoed in her mind like a reverberation.

Seo Ye-rim, with a smile as charming as her pretty face, patted the empty seat next to her and said,

“Come, sit down. I’ve been bothered by the fact that Ms. Lee Yu-ra was sent to such a lowly position, so I should repay you a little today.”

“What? What do you mean repay….”

“Isn’t it lonely being here alone at this hour? So I thought I’d keep you company.”

“Yes, but what kind of….”

Lee Yu-ra, who had almost used a dangerous word without realizing it, came to her senses after seeing Seo Ye-rim’s eerie face.

“You mean out of kindness! As expected of a section chief!”

“…What do you mean out of kindness? Hmm, that’s a bit strange… Ms. Lee Yu-ra, are you very tired?”

Lee Yu-ra rubbed her palms together gently, smiling on the outside but crying on the inside.

“Oh my! You’re tired? It’s okay. Hehe, section chief. Would you like a cup of coffee? I have some good beans.”

“Sit down. I don’t like being alone.” Lee Yu-ra sat down with a sullen face.

It seemed that tonight would be particularly long.

Kim Se-jung opened her eyes to the sunlight streaming in through the window and got out of bed, stretching.

Scratching her messy hair, she reached under the bed with her hand, searching for something.

Soon, she checked her morning face with a hand mirror and frowned, putting the mirror down.

“I’m totally bloated. Ugh, I didn’t eat ramen and go to bed yesterday….”

She trailed off, her eyes widening as she saw the countless candy wrappers scattered carelessly on the bed.

“Cough, candy too….”

She cautiously stroked her stomach, which was sleeping soundly inside her stretched white T-shirt.

Feeling the rolls of fat armed with cuteness protruding out, she despaired as if the sky had fallen.

“I’m doomed! There’s a quester qualification exam in a few days….”

She felt a sense of crisis that she might end up showing off her beer belly rather than her skills at the quester exam, and she got up in a panic.

She had to do something, like go for a jog.

She was a professional dieter who always regretted after eating and exercised.

Opening the door and going out, Kim Se-jung looked at the back of a sturdy man who was toasting bread in the kitchen and living room and said indifferently,

“You’re up?”

“Uh, I’m up.”

As always, the two exchanged indifferent greetings.

And, as always, it was an ordinary morning.

Kim Se-jung, who had planned to go for a jog but sent that thought packing as soon as she saw Kim Se-hoon, poured beans into the coffee machine.

“It’s strange seeing oppa.”

“What is?”

“Most questers hate staying outside the barrier for even a few hours. But you often stay until dawn. My mom worries a lot about that, too.”

Kim Se-hoon handed Kim Se-jung toast he had made simply with sunny-side up eggs and bacon and said,

“That’s because I’m smart.”

A useless remark. But a remark that couldn’t be refuted.

“…It’s not fair.”

Kim Se-hoon said, biting into his toast.

“What’s not fair again, kid?”

Kim Se-jung stomped her feet and shouted.

“What’s wrong, you devil?” Kim Se-jeong shouted, rolling her feet.
“Okay, son, daughter. That’s enough. Mom will meet a matchmaker and set a date. Sehun, get ready for work. Se-jeong…”
“I don’t want to study. But you just look at it once and memorize it! Isn’t this a complete waste of genetics?”
“Instead, you have good athletic nerves. Looking at you, it seems like you’ll become a quester soon.”
Kim Se-jeong sighed deeply.
“Is it easy to become a quester? You need to awaken your abilities. Ah, really… How many years have I been doing this…. Ah, I want to work too.”
“Work? There are a lot of part-time jobs.”
“You’re being harsh. Do you think someone like me would do part-time jobs? Tsk tsk, a teacher’s vision is…”
“…Are you right?”
“Hehe, the toast is delicious!”
“…?”
Park Jeong-sook, who had finished her makeup since the morning breeze, came out as the bedroom door opened.
She smiled brightly at her strong son and daughter.
For some reason, it was a smile that felt more malicious than warm.
“Son? Daughter?”
Kim Se-jeong replied, her eyes rolling around anxiously.
“Mom, why did you put on so much makeup in the morning?”
Park Jeong-sook coughed in vain and said.
“It’s been 10 years since we woke up from hibernation. In other words, Sehun is already well over thirty years old, and Se-jeong is still in her 20s, but… It’s been quite a while since she got engaged. Right?”
Kim Se-jeong smacked her lips at Park Jeong-sook’s words, which poked her sore spot.
“I-is that so?”
Park Jeong-sook laughed and said.
“Then it’s time to get married?”
The toast fell out of Kim Se-jeong’s hand.
“Mom. No, that’s not it.”
“I’m going to meet a matchmaker now. Let’s go see you soon. Hoho, I think it will be certain if we meet. From what I’ve heard, the man is a famous quester, and the woman is a school teacher like Sehun.”
Kim Se-jeong got up quickly and said.
“Yes, thank you. I’ll go for a jog… Ah! Brother! Why!”
Kim Se-jeong, who was trying to run away, struggled as Kim Se-hoon grabbed the nape of her neck.
She had been training hard as a quester, but in front of Kim Se-hoon’s monstrous evil, she was like a mouse bitten by a snake.
“Why is your strength so strong! Ugh, you’re a teacher. Be weak like a teacher!”
Kim Se-hoon smiled wickedly and slapped Kim Se-jeong on the forehead.
“Hey. Be quiet. Mom is nagging me.”
Kim Se-jeong rubbed her swollen forehead with her hand and pouted.
“…We’re not children, and we should be free to do whatever we want, whether it’s dating or marriage. No matter how much you are a mother, it’s not right to interfere like this!”
“I don’t have any intention of forcing you to marry. I’m just telling you to try hard and give you an opportunity. Right?”
Park Jeong-sook nodded her head with a newly touched face.
“Then~ then! As expected of my son! There’s no one but you. Of course, marriage is your choice! However, one of them is a quester who has been training hard and is a perpetual swan! And one is a hopeless fool who lives beyond the barrier like a firefly! When will they get married like this…. Ugh, how frustrated I must have been to do this….”
Kim Se-hoon twisted the corners of his lips and forced Kim Se-jeong to sit down.
“Now, did you hear me? Just go out, and if you don’t like it, come back. Let’s just think of it as a light blind date. I mean, how much have we rotted our mother’s insides? So of course we have to listen to this kind of request. Right?”
“Ugh…. I’m not good at that kind of place. And I don’t know about an old man like my brother, but what kind of a frozen man would I introduce to someone who’s still in full bloom… Kwek!”
Bang!
Kim Se-hoon, who had hit Kim Se-jeong on the top of her head for the second time, said.
“If you’re really resentful, why don’t you escape from the swan, become a quester, and bring a neat guy? Of course, you know that weak guys are unacceptable in such a dangerous time like nowadays? So my brother-in-law must be stronger than me.”
Kim Se-jeong laughed at Kim Se-hoon’s wrinkles and shook her index finger left and right.
“Yeah, I’m stronger than my brother~ I’ll bring you a dog that was going out on the street~ You can’t do this~”
“Oh? You don’t know how strong I am? Didn’t you just find out?”
“Yeah~ Okay~ It’s not cool for a woman to show off her strength~”
“…This is real.”
Park Jeong-sook clapped her hands and said.

“Here! This is the land we live on!” Kim Se-hoon nodded with a grin.

“Okay, son and daughter. That’s enough. I’ll meet the matchmaker and get a solid date. Se-hoon, get ready for work. Se-jung…”

Park Jung-sook spoke with a face as if she had eaten poop as she looked at Kim Se-jung, who was completely disheveled from head to toe.

“Wash yourself first. Oh my… I worry about who would take a kid like you as a wife.”

“…Ugh, who asked you to take me? And if I get dolled up, my beauty will be ruined? Is your presbyopia acting up…Ack! Hey, bro! Seriously, hit me lightly! My head’s gonna get dumb!”

As Kim Se-jung, who had been hit on the head again, pouted, Kim Se-hoon, who had finished eating, stood up while wiping his mouth.

“Alright, just wash your face and come out. You said you’d jog? I’ll go with you to work.”

“Ugh…”

A little later.

Kim Se-jung, who had washed her face in the bathroom, looked for Kim Se-hoon.

She soon found him standing in front of her deceased father’s memorial tablet in his father’s old room, praying. She leaned her back against the door.

“You’re so devout.”

Kim Se-hoon, who had just finished praying, asked,

“What about you?”

“I’m fine. I don’t really do that every day. When I do it, I end up thinking about Dad and feeling depressed, and even though I’m holding a memorial service, I wonder if it’s really necessary.”

“Do whatever you’re comfortable with.”

“Aren’t you strange, bro? It’s obvious for Dad, but the two memorial tablets next to Dad are complete strangers, right? But you take care of them every day without fail… I wonder if you’re kind…or just weird.”

As Kim Se-jung pointed at Choi Ah-ra and Kim Ra-on’s memorial tablets next to her father’s, Kim Se-hoon spoke with a sorrowful expression.

“Right. They’re not blood…”

“Well, it’s your choice. Ugh… Oh man, I’m doomed. When I see you doing it, it feels like I’ll get bad luck if I don’t do it too. Move. I’ll greet them once and go.”

“…Okay.”

Kim Se-jung bowed her head in front of the three memorial tablets and muttered,

“May you all be happy there…”

Kim Se-hoon leaned his head against the window as he listened to her calm voice.

The sunlight streamed through the window and tickled the side of his head as he looked outside.

The weather was unusually nice today.

As if there would be no more cloudy days for a while.

The After Story of the Strongest Brother, Chapter 2

Onnuri Elementary School, 3rd Grade A Class, which was operated by the state government’s taxes.

Boys and girls, who had just turned 10 years old, were listening to the lesson with bored or sparkling eyes.

Kim Se-hoon pointed the laser pointer at the map that appeared on the hologram screen and said,

“You all know, right? The land our city, Natális, was built on was half artificially and half naturally created.”

Kim Se-hoon displayed an old map of the North American continent on the screen.

“Originally, this North American continent was the territory of the United States, but as you know, humanity built the Tower of Babel on this land to overcome the somatic cell death caused by the Immortal Cells. And while humanity was in hibernation, the vaccine for somatic cell death was developed, and Natális, the last city of humanity, was built…”

The screen of the hologram changed, and an image of a giant tree covering the continent appeared.

“It was the intelligent A1, Yggdrasil.”

As Kim Se-hoon mentioned Yggdrasil, the students’ eyes sparkled without exception, and Class A became noisy.

-Wow, the World Tree!

—Ah… Since you’re talking about Yggdrasil, I want to get some of ‘Mother’ Eileen’s goods. I wanted to buy it, but it was sold out.

-Did you watch the news yesterday? Eileen is coming to our state soon?

-Wow, is Mother really coming to the Korea state? But why is she coming? Mother doesn’t have anything to do with our state.

-She’s coming to express her gratitude to our state, which has been taking the lead in blocking the barrier. It’s so touching. She’s an angel!

—Um… Is she perhaps going to hold a fan meeting? If so, I’ll definitely go!

-Me too! I want to go too!

If he left them alone, they would gossip until the end of class, so Kim Se-hoon lightly clapped his hands to get the children’s attention.

“Okay, pay attention! If you have something you want to talk about, let’s do it after class.”

As the students’ gazes focused on him again, Kim Se-hoon changed the screen.

The image of the giant tree disappeared from the screen, and a map of the continent shaped like a flask appeared.

“Does anyone know where this flask-shaped continent is?”

One of the students quickly raised his hand and said,

“Yes! This is the land we live on!” Kim Se-hoon nodded with a grin.

“Yes, that’s right. As you know, we live with very scary neighbors. They are the fire spirits… They’re a handful for us who have just woken up from hibernation. That’s why Yggdrasil remodeled the North American continent into an hourglass shape over many years. So, why do you think Yggdrasil remodeled the continent?”

Another student raised their hand and spoke.

“To avoid the fearsome fire spirits and create land to defend ourselves!”

“That’s right. Correct answer. Excellent.”

The map on the screen zoomed in, illuminating the waterway flowing outside the hourglass-shaped continent.

Kim Se-hoon pointed to the waterway, the canal, with a laser pointer and said.

“Yggdrasil remodeled the continent into an hourglass shape to create the ‘Pacific Canal’ on the outskirts of the continent. Now, why do you think Yggdrasil had to draw water from the Pacific Ocean to create a canal?”

A student waved their hand frantically and shouted.

“The waterway in the Pacific Ocean is the territory of ‘Leviathan’, one of the four divine beasts, so other fire spirits cannot invade!”

“Exactly. That’s why Yggdrasil created the Pacific Canal. They intended to use this waterway as a wall for our continent. Hmm, here’s a surprise question. What monsters do the four divine beasts refer to?”

“Leviathan the Sea Lord, Lux the Daylight, Cynodon the Night Tide, and Brachus the Yellow Radiance!”

Kim Se-hoon nodded with a satisfied expression.

“Yes, that’s right. These are the ten mythical monsters with fire spirit level 10 that exist only four times on Earth, and no other fire spirits can invade their territories. However… there is one part that Yggdrasil could not block with the Pacific Canal. It is the entrance to this hourglass.”

When the land at the entrance of the hourglass was magnified on the screen, an image of a towering steel wall appeared.

“Why couldn’t we bring the Pacific Canal near this entrance? If we blocked it all, it would be extremely safe.”

A student spoke with a slightly frightened face.

“The ‘feeding path’ of Brachus the Yellow Radiance is near the entrance of the hourglass, so we couldn’t bring the waterway….”

“Yes, that’s right. Brooks eats everything in its feeding path, and the path of that feeding path is right near the entrance to the hourglass. But if we bring the waterway here… there’s a high probability that the two divine beasts will fight for territory, and if that happens, we will be in great danger. That’s why we had no choice but to build a ‘barrier’ as a last resort.”

The hourglass continent surrounded by the Pacific Canal. And the only land route that can cross from the hourglass continent to other continents, the entrance to the hourglass.

This was the only exit for humans to go outside, but at the same time, it was also the entrance for fire spirits to enter.

That’s why Yggdrasil built a barrier. To block the fire spirits that would flow in through the land route.

A student raised their hand and asked carefully.

“But, teacher. Why are we near the barrier? My mom told me that if the barrier collapses, we’re in the most danger… That’s why I have to become a quester and get a visa to go to another state.”

Kim Se-hoon couldn’t help but smile bitterly at the sharp question that was not like a child’s.

“Well… why? In fact, that’s a very difficult question for me too. So I have no choice but to answer like this. It’s because of adult circumstances… I mean.”

The student who asked the question muttered with a sullen face.

“Aw, what… That’s no fun.”

Ding-dong~ Daeng-dong~

As the bell rang through the classroom, signaling the end of class, the children jumped up like well-cooked popcorn and scattered in all directions with cheers.

Kim Se-hoon watched the children who were acting on their own before the end of class and smiled wryly as he turned off the screen and muttered softly.

“Well… I guess that’s the end of class.”

A girl approached Kim Se-hoon, who was organizing his teaching materials, and fidgeted.

Kim Se-hoon, who saw her shy gesture, knelt down to meet her eye level and asked.

“Student Im Ji-yeon. Do you have anything you want to say?”

“Teacher… I really like Mother…”

Suddenly, Mother Eileen approached and confessed that she liked him, so Kim Se-hoon, who was feeling good, said with a voice full of laughter.

“Oh, I like Mother Eileen too… It seems like we have the same ideal type? I didn’t know you were my rival?”

“Hehe. And also. I like the teacher too….”

“Oh, really? Is this a coincidence? I like student Im Ji-yeon too.”

At Kim Se-hoon’s words, Im Ji-yeon’s face turned peach-colored and her body twisted like a pretzel.

“Hehehe. But teacher. I have a question. Did Mother really save us by making the vaccine, Yggdrasil, and Babel?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Wow… Did Mother do that all by herself? That’s so cool! As expected, Mother is the best. Her silver hair is so pretty too. Her lips are so plump. She’s so smart. Hehe! I’ll definitely become a beautiful and famous person like Mother later! Ah, and I’ll have silver hair too!”

Kim Se-hoon said, ruffling Im Ji-yeon’s hair, as if her innocent and pure smile was so cute that he could die.

“That’s right. That’s why Eileen’s nickname is Mother. She is the only savior, hero, and… mother who saved this world.”

It was bitter but faint, sad but longing.

Kim Se-hoon, who had been making a watercolor-like expression filled with all sorts of emotions for a moment, said, shaking off his distracting thoughts and packing up his teaching materials.

“Well, then, that’s it for today’s class. Everyone, eat well and see you tomorrow.”

Onnuri School cafeteria.

At a corner table there, other female teachers glanced at Kim Se-hoon, who was eating alone.

One of the female teachers who had been watching him without realizing it exclaimed in surprise.

“Are you saying you saw Kim Se-hoon? Really?”

To her question, Han Soo-hee, a woman with an exceptionally outstanding appearance among the female teachers, said with a confident smile.

“Yes, I heard it through my mother this time, but the other person was Mr. Kim? I was surprised too?”

At Han Soo-hee’s words, the other female teachers clasped their hands together and chattered.

“Wow, congratulations. Really. Honestly, Mr. Kim is not popular, but he is capable and handsome. Especially….”

A female teacher glanced at Kim Se-hoon’s biceps, who was eating soup with a spoon.

Her eyes naturally went to the veins on the dense muscles. It seemed that he managed himself properly.

Furthermore, his height and proportions were close to perfect, and his physique was also top-notch.

His face was also qualifiedif it was at that level.

Was that all?

He was a competent ecologist known to those who knew him.

He was a pretty good man, except that he was a little older.

Without realizing it, the female teacher who was looking at Kim Se-hoon swallowed her saliva and her throat gurgled.

“Haah… Look at those biceps. I mean. I pretended to make a mistake and bumped into him in the hallway last time? But his chest… Ahhh! It was like a rock, a rock.”

“You never run out of things to say. Why did you bump into him on purpose? Are you a pervert?”

“Why are you curious? And what? A pervert? Ha! Don’t pretend to be innocent when you were the one who asked where I go to the gym and got rejected?”

“…This bitch is really…. Hey, why are we talking about that here….”

If left alone, they would have grumbled like children, so another female teacher interrupted and changed the subject.

“But speaking of Mr. Kim. Why did he come to our school? He’s a runner, but if he’s an active ecologist working beyond the barrier, there are plenty of other good positions, aren’t there? Like a university professor.”

“That’s right. I was wondering about that too.”

“Mr. Kim has been here for… a month now? Hmm… When he first came, I wondered where such a person came from. What is this? The more I look at him, the more….”

“Okay, I don’t know about anything else, but I know one thing for sure. Soo-hee is completely smitten!”

While the other female teachers were busy peepingat Kim Se-hoon, Han Soo-hee didn’t give him a single glance, thinking it would be beneath her dignity to do so.

She just flickered her teacup gracefully. As if she wasn’t looking, but Kim Se-hoon was looking at her.

“Well, it’s not completely to my taste. Still, it’s not bad. I’d like to meet him once.”

“Why would you be interested in him? Since your father is the director of Yoo Sung Group… Right. I heard that you also have a connection to Yoo Sung Group’s Shin Hyun-sung?”

Han Soo-hee said while shrugging her shoulders.

“What connection? We just exchange greetings occasionally. Ah, but… Kim, you’re fine otherwise… Do you know? His family is a bit…” The female teacher said while sneaking a glance at Han Soo-hee.

“Well, too… ordinary?”

“It’s a bit awkward… But it’s fine. Still, I’ll probably feel a bit hot if I go into his house.”

Han Soo-hee glanced at Kim Se-hoon while pretending to drink her tea.

He was only absorbed in his meal, not knowing whether he was aware that the female teachers were using him as a topic of conversation.

It was a coincidence that she came to see him, but the more she investigated… The more she saw him, the more she liked him.

In particular, what attracted her the most was that the man was an extremely precious gem that only she knew the value of, although others did not.

‘According to a civil servant working at the barrier… I heard that the flame species data that Kim Se-hoon collected beyond the barrier is beyond imagination? He may not know it, but it’s obvious that he’ll succeed greatly as time passes. His family and age are a bit of a hindrance… But still, if I catch him now, won’t it be a piece of cake to hear him call me ‘ma’am’ later?’

The female teachers spoke to her, who was not only thinking about marrying Kim Se-hoon but also making a bucket list with him.

“Soo-hee. That guy came out again. I thought he had given up since he didn’t come out for a month… It seems he still hasn’t come to his senses.”

One of the female teachers gestured toward a woman with a simple appearance and a depressed atmosphere.

Her frizzy black hair was not taken care of, her skin was bare without makeup, and her clothes were mismatched.

However, her beautiful odd eyes were so captivating that they overshadowed all of those things.

Han Soo-hee, who had been staring at her starlight-like eyes, which seemed to have rubies and sapphires embedded in them, with envy, muttered coldly.

“Really? Then… I should make him come to his senses.”

While Han Soo-hee was looking at Alice, a temporary teacher at Onnuri Elementary School, with eyes mixed with jealousy and contempt, Kim Se-hoon also happened to be looking at Alice.

Kim Se-hoon put down his spoon and fork as if food was not even on his mind, and he stared at Alice’s back while resting his chin on his hand.

Countless emotions appeared and disappeared in his black eyes, which looked like they had been filled with the night.

Joy, longing, worry, even regret.

Soon, Kim Se-hoon let out a sigh and got up while holding his lunch tray.

It seemed like his appetite had disappeared and run far away.

An Afterword of the Strongest Brother in History 3

Alice lifted her head while transferring the food on her lunch tray into a plastic lunchbox.

People who were enjoying their meals silently.

But why?

Why did she feel like their gazes were piercing her skin like needles?

A misunderstanding. Or a persecution complex.

Or perhaps, a reasonable doubt.

Alice closed the lid of her lunchbox.

She felt resentful once again.

The savior and mother who saved this world.

Aileen.

‘If it weren’t for her… I wouldn’t have been able to see my father again. If it weren’t for her… I wouldn’t have been in this much pain.’

Alice, who had been adopted by a Korean father before the hibernation, ran away from her abusive and criminal father and later even left the country that she had grown tired of.

But what was strange was that her memories after that were faint.

Yes. She couldn’t remember anything about what had happened after that, how she had ended up in Babel, or how the disaster had progressed so rapidly.

It was as if someone had wiped it all away with an eraser.

Was that all?

What was even more absurd was the fact that she had returned to her worst family when she woke up. And now, she was in a reality where she couldn’t even escape to another country unless she was a quester and could not get a visa.

Tsk.

Alice frowned and shook her head with a throbbing headache as she tried to recall her past memories. It was strange.

She had been getting headaches a lot more often recently.

Kim Se-hoon reveals to Lee Jung-hyeop that he has gained resistance to the void’s harmful effects, protecting his brain from infection. However, he cannot use his void abilities in the ocean due to the Leviathan’s presence. Kim Se-hoon criticizes the weakness of other quester teams, particularly the prominent Yoo Sung Group, and suggests that this is a result of their own shortcomings.

The more she tried to recall the past, the worse the symptoms became. Eventually, she started having strange hallucinations and even tinnitus.

-I will never forget. Never.

Alice sighed in relief when the tinnitus ringing in her ears finally stopped.

Adjusting her rumpled shirt, Alice picked up her lunchbox and stood up.

She hated how she couldn’t eat properly in the cafeteria because she was so self-conscious about people’s stares. She also hated how she had to come to the school cafeteria just because it was free, and she hated the stigma of being the daughter of a murderer.

Yes. She hated everything about it.

‘The contract is almost over now…’ Even though it was a temporary position, she could become a regular employee if she completed three years of teaching without any problems.

However, after the news broke that her alcoholic father had killed someone during a robbery, and after the rumor spread that she was his daughter, everything was over.

Her dream of becoming a full-time teacher, her desire to work with children.

Her future.

It was all over.

Alice sat down on a bench near the school after leaving the cafeteria and opened her lunchbox. The slightly cold side dishes made her feel bitter as if they were mocking her situation. As she picked up her wooden chopsticks, she heard the voice she least wanted to hear at that moment.

“Are you stupid? Or are you just shameless?”

Alice’s body trembled as she looked up at Han Soo-hee, who had appeared.

Han Soo-hee was once a colleague, though they were not exactly friends.

But now, she was the most malicious person she wanted to avoid in this place.

“…Han Soo-hee.”

Han Soo-hee glared at her with narrowed eyes.

“A teacher. And an unqualified temporary teacher whose parents are murderers? Alice. Do you know how much the parents have been complaining to us because of your ridiculous decision?”

Alice’s lips quivered as she spoke timidly.

“That’s… not my fault. My father and I are practically strangers now…” The weaker she acted, the more Han Soo-hee’s sadistic nature raged.

She had never liked her from the beginning. That peculiar heterochromia, her background, her personality, and her mediocre face that was somehow more popular than hers.

Perhaps that was why.

She wanted to push her further down now that she was already at the bottom.

Han Soo-hee spoke with a venomous sneer.

“Maybe so. But do the parents know that? And the children? You know what the students call you when they see you.”

Sometimes, nothing is as sharp as pure malice.

That’s why it hurt more.

The nickname “criminal teacher” that the children had given her.

Perhaps it was a nickname that had spread because the children had overheard her fellow teachers calling her that, but it didn’t matter.

Children are like that. They don’t care about the process or the fact that she wasn’t the one who actually committed the murder.

“I know. But… still, there’s not much time left…”

“Why? Are you thinking that if you grovel now, they might extend your contract?”

“Wake up. You’re done, Alice. So just give up and get out of here.”

“…Okay. I’ll finish the remaining period and never come near this place again.”

Han Soo-hee sighed and shook her head.

“You really don’t listen, do you? I’m telling you. Right now… I’m telling you to get out of here.”

As soon as Han Soo-hee finished speaking, a female teacher stumbled and fell, spilling her side dishes on Alice’s pants. The pungent smell of kimchi stung her nose, and the dampness of her pants made her thighs feel uncomfortable.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I tripped and… Please give me your account number and I’ll pay for the dry cleaning. No. Maybe I should just buy you new pants? Those pants. They look like they need to be replaced anyway.”

Just then, someone passing by intentionally or accidentally bumped the female teacher’s shoulder, who was still bent over packing her lunch.

The female teacher screamed sharply as the boulder-like impact hit her back and fell face down. The gazes of the nearby teachers, including Han Soo-hee, turned towards her.

Han Soo-hee narrowed her eyes and said.

“…Mr. Kim?”

Kim Se-hoon nonchalantly stepped on the ankle of the female teacher who was lying down without a word of apology, having both hands in his pants pockets.

The female teacher let out a scream as she felt intense pain accompanied by a cracking sound.

“Ouch! Mr. Kim! What are you doing!” Kim Se-hoon looked down at the female teacher with a feigned innocent expression as if he had just realized what he had done.

His eyes, which were shaped like phoenix’s eyes, and the smile that hung on the corner of his lips were charming enough to win people’s favor.

Kim Se-hoon spoke as if he felt sorry.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I accidentally stepped on your foot… So if you send me your account number, I’ll cover all the medical expenses. Or… How about getting a thorough examination while you’re at it? You seem to have some kind of problem with your legs since you fell over a flat surface.”

The female teacher glared at Kim Se-hoon and said,

“…What do you think you’re doing right now, Mr. Kim? Are you aware of what you’re doing? Everyone here saw it clearly. You pushed me on purpose and stepped on my ankle.”

Kim Se-hoon grinned and said,

“Yes. I saw it clearly too. You intentionally fell over while holding the lunch tray. My, my… You must really like kimchi. Why would there only be kimchi on the lunch tray without any rice? Anyone would think you did it on purpose if they saw you.”

Han Soo-hee stepped forward and said,

“Mr. Kim. It seems like there’s a bit of a misunderstanding.”

Kim Se-hoon tilted his head and said,

“A misunderstanding? Well, I wonder. What misunderstanding could I have?”

“If you don’t know the full story, we might seem a bit harsh to you. First of all, Mr. Kim. Miss Alice here is unqualified, so we’re being harsh on her. It’s clear that it’s uncomfortable for both Miss Alice and us to have her come to school like this, and it won’t end well.”

At Han Soo-hee’s chilling words, Alice remained silent with her head down.

Why? Her heart had been pounding strangely ever since that man she was seeing for the first time today appeared.

And she had been cornered.

The fact that she had shown this side of herself to none other than that man.

“Unqualified? What’s the reason?”

Han Soo-hee said in a cold voice,

“Her father is a murderer. Of course, it’s not a crime she committed herself. However… As you know, Mr. Kim, she may be lacking in many ways to work as a teacher. Whether it was intentional or not, in cases like this, there are elements that could have fatal effects on the students.”

“Well, that makes sense. But… In that case, what about your actions?”

“…Excuse me?”

“If she’s unqualified like Ms. Han said, the school will take appropriate action. So that means there’s absolutely no reason for you, a mere faculty member, to devise such a nasty plan. Even if you didn’t do this… She would have disappeared from your sight on her own.”

As he said that, Kim Se-hoon roughly pushed the side of the female teacher who was lying at his feet.

It was a kick as if he was disgusted by the trash rolling around on the floor.

Han Soo-hee was quite taken aback by the sight.

That’s because the image of Kim Se-hoon, who was usually so gentle and soft that he seemed to lack any sharp edges, was shattered to pieces.

Kim Se-hoon strode towards Han Soo-hee. The look in Kim Se-hoon’s eyes, who was looking down on her from above, was strangely unfamiliar today.

His gentle eyes, like those of a docile sheep, had vanished without a trace, and his eyes, which gleamed like a snake’s, were staring straight at her.

“But, Ms. Han. In my opinion, I think that your cowardly bullying, which drives the weak to the brink and lynches them, will have a worse effect on the children than a timid temporary teacher with a murderer for a father… Don’t you think?”

“I was just doing it for the school.”

Kim Se-hoon chuckled and said,

“Are you an idiot? Or are you shameless?”

Han Soo-hee gritted her teeth in anger as she was given the same words she had said to Alice.

“Why, Mr. Kim? Why are you interfering in our business? And… for a temporary teacher who you won’t see again soon.”

“Is it such a bad thing to interfere in a friend’s business?”

Alice raised her head at the word “friend,” and Han Su-hee opened her mouth as if she were embarrassed.

“……A friend? You and I?”

“Yes. Unfortunately for you, I’m a bit close to that person. And I ended up owing him a huge debt. Well… a debt so big that if that guy wanted me to, I’d give up this kind of job a thousand, ten thousand times.” Kim Se-hoon scratched his chin as if it were a pity that he had said that.

“Hmm, well… It’s a pity that I won’t be able to see my cute students again, but what can I do? A teacher should be more willing to sacrifice himself for his students than anyone else. If there were more teachers like me who would boldly give up their jobs for their friends, the future of the children would be brighter.”

Han Su-hee bit her lips and glared at Kim Se-hoon.

“You’ll regret it. This world is small, and it’s not uncommon for the things you do without thinking to become quite a big rumor.”

Kim Se-hoon twisted the corners of his mouth and said,

“Aha, is it packaged quite aggressively?”

“You’re not stupid.”

“Mr. Han. Then… what about this?”

Kim Se-hoon ran his index finger over Han Su-hee’s neck. Her hand was so creepy that Han Su-hee, who was shocked, took a step back.

It might have been a mistake, but for a moment, she imagined that her index finger was piercing her neck mercilessly.

“A scenario where a promising Mr. Han stumbles and breaks his neck while walking down the street… wouldn’t that be too boring?”

“Wh, what? A, are you crazy? Are you threatening to kill me now?”

Kim Se-hoon shrugged his shoulders and said,

“No, what did I say? As you said about the coincidence, I also mentioned the coincidence. The probability is very low, but… it’s not completely impossible. An unlucky person will break his nose even if he falls backward. Right?”

“……I thought well of you… but you’re a complete lunatic?”

“That’s a pity. Unlike you, I’ve never thought well of you. Oh, Mr. Han. By the way.”

Kim Se-hoon whispered softly in her ear.

“Do you know that dozens, hundreds of people die every day beyond the barrier? But what’s funny is… no public organization can investigate what happens beyond the barrier. In other words, no one knows what someone who frequently visits there does or who they are.”

Han Su-hee, who had turned pale and blue, was passed by Kim Se-hoon. And he patted the kimchi on Alice’s lap, who was trembling, and said,

“Mr. Alice. Get up.”

“I……”

“Let’s go. I don’t want to be here any longer.”

“Yes……”

Kim Se-hoon held Alice’s hand and left, leaving a word for Han Su-hee.

“Mr. Han. Always be careful of coincidences. I know it well because I’ve experienced it harshly… Coincidences happen more often than you think. So… you know?”

When Kim Se-hoon made a gesture to zip his mouth, Han Su-hee, who understood the meaning of his words, shouted with a pale face.

“Kim Se-hoon! Y, you! How dare you… do you know who I am…!” Kim Se-hoon ignored her as if she were a dog barking and chuckled.

“Mr. Alice. Haven’t I heard that line a lot in third-rate movies? Mr. Han. I didn’t think you were so old-fashioned even though I didn’t see you that way.”

A man who suddenly fell from the sky. And a person who showed me a kindness I had never experienced before and took my side. But even so, there was one thing for sure.

No matter how much I thought about it, this man. He doesn’t seem normal.

As soon as Kim Se-hoon, who had brought Alice to a cafe near the school, sat down on a chair, he put his forehead on the table and muttered.

“Ah, I’ve done it again.”

Alice looked at Kim Se-hoon, who was blaming himself, with pity and said,

“Why… did you help me? We’re meeting for the first time today……”

Ziiiing.

Alice frowned at the severe headache that came back while she was talking.

Kim Se-hoon looked at Alice with a strange gaze and opened his mouth.

“Why are you like that?”

“……Yes?”

“You. You have good qualities. But why are you like that?”

“Good…… qualities?”

“Yes. The qualities of a quester. You must have them?”

Alice shook her head.

“No. I don’t know why you would say that, but I don’t have any good qualities.”

Kim Se-hoon muttered with a bewildered face.

“How can that be? There’s no way that awakened qualities can disappear.”

“Yes? What are you talking about?”

Were her words shocking?

Kim Se-hoon groaned as if he couldn’t hear what Alice was saying.

“Somehow…… Why are you like this? I thought you were living well, so I held back and didn’t look for you…… Damn it, how was I supposed to know that your qualities would disappear? No, rather than that, has this ever happened before? Huh…… It’s giving me a headache.” This man. Why is he acting like this? At this point, Alice was so bewildered that she couldn’t even be shocked and said repeatedly.

“I…… Mr. Kim? What are you talking about…….”

Just then, a handsome young man ran over with thumping footsteps and sat down next to Kim Se-hoon without permission, grabbing his ear.

Kim Se-hoon, who was surprised by his appearance, couldn’t even show that his ear was hurting as he said.

“……Are you here? Creom, I’m sorry.”

The handsome young man, who seemed like he could make any woman cower just by standing next to her, said with a face that had turned as colorful as fallen leaves.

“Sorry? Sorry? No, I told you to stop causing accidents! Do you know how annoying it is to clean up after you? Do you know how troublesome it is!”

Kim Se-hoon winced as he shook off the young man’s hand, which was pulling his ear like a clothesline.

“Ah~ I know! But I didn’t hit anyone. Hmm…… Probably?”

Creom shouted at Kim Se-hoon’s sly expression.

“Damn it! Probably will freeze you to death! Do you know that the teacher reported you for assault?” Kim Se-hoon was irritated as if he was being told nonsense.

“What? Assault? Report? No, I only tripped her. It’s completely unfair? And who assaulted who first…… Ah~ If I was really 10 years younger, I would have just killed her. I’m holding back. Holding back. Kim Se-hoon. You’ve really become a person. You’ve become a person.”

“What do you mean kill her! Ah…… Seriously! Do you know how stressed I get every time you spout nonsense that even the captain can’t understand? Please stop being so reckless!”

Kim Se-hoon said with a sullen face.

“Hey, so? Is the police looking for me? Am I wanted now?”

The young man snorted and said.

“Oh my? Are you scared? Well…… I’d like to leave you alone to suffer, but…… Don’t worry. I’ve already taken care of it because I’m so capable. Fortunately, I know someone on the other side, so I managed to clean it up somehow. Of course, I won’t be able to work at that school again.”

Kim Se-hoon smiled broadly and said.

“As expected, there’s no one but you, Junghyeop. You mean I can relax and cause accidents because of you?”

“That’s why! Please stop causing accidents! No, seriously, how can you not have fixed that dirty temper even at your age? You’re disgusting, acting all coy. I’m going to die of a broken heart. I’m going to die.”

Lee Jung-hyeop, who had been talking, suddenly turned his gaze to Alice, who had become shriveled.

“Ahem, come to think of it, I’ve been rude in front of my guest. So? Captain. Who is this? Who is this person for you to stand up?”

Kim Se-hoon replied with a sullen face.

“Newbie.”

Alice asked back with a blank face.

“Yes? N, newbie?”

On the other hand, Lee Jung-hyeop groaned as if he had expected it.

“Ah…… I knew it would be like this? Well, every time the captain causes an accident, one person comes in without fail…….” Unlike Lee Jung-hyeop, who understood in an instant, Alice pointed to herself with her index finger and asked as if she couldn’t believe it.

“Mr. Kim. Right now…… Are you calling me a newbie?”

Kim Se-hoon, with a bright smile, patted Lee Jung-hyeop’s shoulder as if he were impressed.

“Yes, Miss Alice. As you can see, things aren’t going well, and it seems like you don’t have anything to do… How about it? Why don’t you join me right now? Maybe…” Kim Se-hoon continued with a mischievous smile on his lips.

“You won’t regret it.”

Sequel to the Strongest Brother in History 4

Cling.

Alice, who had heard Kim Se-hoon’s offer to work together, shook her head as if she had a splitting headache.

‘That’s strange. Why am I having such frequent headaches today….’

As Alice felt dizzy and pressed her forehead with her thumb, Kim Se-hoon asked with concern.

“Are you feeling unwell?” “…No. It’s just a bit of a headache…. Oh, and Mr. Kim. Thank you for the offer, but I’m a bit overwhelmed right now. Can I give you an answer later?”

“Yes, of course. Jung-hyeop-ah. Give her a business card.”

Lee Jung-hyeop slyly asked Kim Se-hoon.

“I understand. But… should I give her the white one? Or the black one?”

Kim Se-hoon scratched his chin and hesitated for a moment, then said, savoring the taste.

“The white one.” Lee Jung-hyeop took out a white business card from his pocket and handed it to Alice.

Alice’s eyes scanned the business card.

A pure white business card without a single blemish. In the center was a lighthouse standing tall and proud.

And below it, there was no name or company name, just a single cell phone number engraved in a circle.

The lighthouse, which looked as if it had been drawn with an ink-soaked brush, seemed to draw in the viewer’s gaze, and Alice found herself staring at it in a trance.

Lee Jung-hyeop said.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s early or late. Even if it’s dawn, don’t worry about it. Just call the number on the card whenever it’s convenient for you.”

“Yes, I understand. Then….”

As Alice got up from her seat and left the cafe, Lee Jung-hyeop, who had been watching her back with a meaningful gaze, opened his mouth.

“I thought you’d take her to ReUs since the boss is personally taking care of it, but… is there a reason why you’re sending her to me?” Kim Se-hoon said, sipping his coffee.

“She’s actually a bright and intelligent woman, although her current environment is clouding her. So….”

Kim Se-hoon hesitated for a moment as he continued speaking.

In fact, he couldn’t be sure about her either.

No matter how the ending turned out, Alice had committed numerous sins while living as Judas.

But then, could she really become a beacon of hope and guide someone else?

And was his choice to let her into the lighthouse the right one?

But he owed her a debt.

Yes, a debt so great that he had to give her at least one chance.

Kim Se-hoon continued.

“She’ll fit in as a lighthouse. Well… she might struggle at first, but if you just take care of her for a while, she’ll soon be able to do her part.”

Lee Jung-hyeop grumbled as if he didn’t like the idea.

“Well, her first impression is that she’s a bit gloomy… No matter how I look at it, she doesn’t seem to be our type. As you know, lighthouses do a lot of external work. For us, who meet people for a living, that kind of image is a bit… ahem. You know what I mean?”

Kim Se-hoon shook his head as Lee Jung-hyeop tried to evade the issue in the absence of the person concerned.

“Of course, since you’re the head of the lighthouse and the president, I can recommend her, but I can’t force you. So if you don’t like it, just tell me. I’ll take her.”

Lee Jung-hyeop scratched his cheek as if he were in a difficult position.

As he had felt before, the president was a man who was truly gifted at making people uncomfortable.

“If you put it that way, I have nothing more to say…. No, and why am I the president? You’re the one who created the lighthouse in the first place? Oh, what a strange person….”

Kim Se-hoon said resolutely.

“I don’t get along with that side.”

“No, but does that mean you get along with ReUs? That’s not true either, is it?”

Kim Se-hoon chuckled.

“You only say that because you don’t know me.”

“Whatever, just take this burdensome position away from me. Even without this, there was a huge uproar in the media when you released the source technology for ‘Third Awakening’ for free last time.”

Kim Se-hoon cheerfully patted Lee Jung-hyeop on the back as if he were proud of him.

“Our Jung-hyeop is popular, isn’t he? You’ll soon be drowning in a wave of interviews.”

“…That’s why. Since you did everything, why are you pushing it onto me? No, why are you refusing in the first place? No, before that, why did you publicly release the technology you worked so hard to research for free? You don’t want money. You don’t want fame. You just like suffering. Hehe~ Captain, why on earth do you live like that?”

Kim Se-hoon tilted the coffee cup he was holding.

As black caffeine stained the once-clean table, Lee Jung-hyeop gasped in horror and glared at him.

“Ah, why is this human doing this again…? Why? Does the coffee not taste good? B-but then why do you drink Americano? Just drink a sweet macchiato.”

Kim Se-hoon said as he wiped the table he had dirtied with a tissue.

“Now that I’ve cleaned it up, do I deserve some praise?”

Lee Jung-hyeop snorted as if he couldn’t believe it.

“What are you talking about…? You just cleaned up what you spilled, so why should you be praised?”

Kim Se-hoon smiled.

“That’s my answer to your question.”

“Huh? What does that…?”

Kim Se-hoon wiped the clean table with the palm of his hand.

It is natural for debtors to repay their debts, and it is also natural for sinners to be punished.

That was why he should not have sought any compensation or glory.

This world had become like this because of him, and it was his rightful duty to restore everything to its rightful place.

Repentance and atonement.

A sanctuary for sinners to become clean.

Sinners sometimes think.

If they truly repent, they will become upright. If they truly atone, they will be reborn.

They rationalize like that and let go of the burden in their hearts.

However, he did not think so.

‘How can repentance and atonement replace punishment? Yes. Just as a debtor must repay his debt for the debt to disappear, a sinner must pay the due price for his sins before he can truly repent and atone.’

Kim Se-hoon slowly opened and closed his gloomy eyes.

‘However, what if there is a sin that cannot be cleared even with eternal punishment? In that case… what should be done?’

Kim Se-hoon, who had thought that far, slightly lifted the corners of his lips.

That was because the answer had been decided from the beginning.

Kim Se-hoon muttered softly.

“Perhaps that’s why God allowed humans to have loopholes…”

Therefore, he was ReUs.

A sinner who had to live forever to atone for his sins.

Kim Se-hoon stood up and said.

“Jung-hyeop. You don’t have to feel burdened. You deserve to be in that position, and you’ll do well. Oh, and by the way. I don’t think I’ll be going to work at the lighthouse anymore. I think I’ve gotten the gist of it now, and we have our new captain, Jung-hyeop. I don’t think there’s anything to worry about.”

“Captain!”

“So keep this in mind. From now on, it’s a give and take. Got it? If there’s ever anything I need to use the lighthouse’s goodwill and connections for, you’ll ask for something in return. Ask for useful technology or research materials. Okay? I’ll do you a favor after that. We’re two separate businesses now.”

Lee Jung-hyeop grabbed his head and banged it on the table.

“…I’m going crazy. Look here, Captain. Why are you doing this to me? Huh? You suddenly showed up seven years ago, grabbed me, and worked me to the bone. And now you’re suddenly giving me this heavy responsibility? H… Do you have something against me?”

Kim Se-hoon pretended not to hear Lee Jung-hyeop’s complaints.

“Thanks for your hard work. Contact me anytime if you need anything. Oh, and by the way, I don’t take work-related inquiries. Only call me when you want to have a drink. Okay?”

Lee Jung-hyeop watched Kim Se-hoon leave the cafe with a complex mix of emotions, ignoring his words.

And he thought.

He was a man who was just as inscrutable as ever.

Alice, who had returned home, burrowed into the blanket like a child in its mother’s arms.

She had been sweating profusely since earlier, and her physical condition was not good.

“Ugh… Why is this happening? My head… It feels like it’s going to burst…”

-Even if things go well and we meet again, you won’t remember.

Alice screamed, clutching her head.

Her head hurt so much.

It felt like someone was hammering a nail into the crown of her head.

And the voice of an unknown person echoed incessantly in her mind.

-Then no one will remember what happened here?

-Perhaps, only one person will remember. Yes… only one person…

-I’ll remember. Somehow, I’ll definitely remember. And… that’s when I’ll defeat her.

“Ha… ha… What are you guys? Get out of my head! Get out! Get out of here-—!”

At that moment, something in Alice’s head, which had been causing her pain, snapped.

It was like a dam breaking, like a blocked airway suddenly opening up.

At the same time, countless memories flooded in.

“Ah….”

No one knows how immortal cells affect the human body, or how superpowers are awakened.

Not even Kim Se-hoon, who led the world to this state.

However, one thing Kim Se-hoon said was not wrong.

Yes, a superpower that has been awakened once never disappears.

Only this.

Kim Se-hoon just didn’t know.

Even if a superpower that has been manifested once does not disappear, it can be modified or changed.

Alice sobbed, tears streaming down her face.

“Aah….”

A superpower is a wish, a desire.

Awakening is the manifestation of one’s own desires through the power of immortal cells.

Of course, there was no guarantee that the superpower manifested in this way would fulfill the user’s wishes 100%.

It was only close, not perfect.

However, there was an exception.

A desire so strong that it could modify or change a superpower.

If it was not unreasonable, the immortal cells would willingly grant the user’s wish.

For example, Alice’s superpower changed to ‘Unforgettable’ according to her wish.

“I remember everything.”

Alice muttered, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

“I remember everything, you… damn bastard.”

He was a really unbelievable man.

To make all those things, no, history, disappear overnight.

And to try to bear all the weight that came with it alone.

He was a truly foolish man.

But even so, she had no right to blame him.

Who could call someone foolish when they were stupid enough to fall for such a foolish man?

“…Well, it’s not all bad.” Alice’s red and blue eyes sparkled.

The gloomy expression that had not left her face for ten years had disappeared like a mirage, and the pathetic figure who had been blaming herself for her life in the gutter was gone.

It was as if the sun was shining through the clouds.

“No, it’s very good. Very… desirable.”

Alice’s eyes narrowed into a satisfied crescent.

“Eileen. I don’t remember that, but I remember.” In the past, no matter how much she struggled, she could not find a way to win.

But now it’s different.

No, it’s not just that she doesn’t have a chance of winning; she has an overwhelming advantage.

When the heart grows distant, the body grows distant.

What’s more, now that their memories of each other are gone, they are practically strangers.

This time, her chance has come.

Of course, the sacrifices she had made were not insignificant.

If her original superpower, ‘Jewel,’ which had only manifested now, had been intact, she would never have become as miserable as she is now.

‘But it doesn’t matter. Compared to that crappy superpower that turns anything it touches into a jewel, Unforgettable is a thousand times more precious to me. Ten years of unhappiness? Pfft, it doesn’t matter. If you’re unhappy for ten years and happy for a hundred years, that’s a bargain, isn’t it?’

Alice took out her business card and smartphone from her pocket at the same time.

She glanced at the business card and muttered a word.

“A lighthouse… Anyway, people don’t change, do they? Well, that’s a good thing.”

Beep.

After the beep, Lee Jung-hyeop’s voice came through the receiver.

-Hello.

“Hello. My name is Alice, the one you met earlier.”

“Ah, yes. Ms. Alice. Have you made a decision?”

“Yes. I want to work with you. No matter what.”

“Hmm, I understand. I’ll send you the address in a text message, so please bring the documents I requested…”

Alice quickly interrupted Lee Jung-hyeop and asked,

“But what did you mean earlier by ‘white’ and ‘black’?”

Lee Jung-hyeop was taken aback by her sudden question and replied with a strange nuance.

“Hmm… Did I say that?”

“I heard you clearly, so don’t try to avoid it. What does that mean?”

Lee Jung-hyeop couldn’t hide his bewilderment at her bluntness.

It was only a short time ago that she had acted like a complete novice, but now, she was a different person altogether.

“What… Are you the same person? I mean, are you really Ms. Alice, the one I’m talking to now?”

“Yes, it’s me. So answer me properly. If the white thing is the lighthouse, then the black thing is something else? In other words, if the lighthouse is a yang organization, then the black thing is an eum organization?”

Lee Jung-hyeop was surprised by Alice’s ability to deduce with only a few clues. He hadn’t expected her to be such a clever woman.

And he recalled Kim Se-hoon’s words. He had said that she was originally a bright and intelligent woman, even though she was now in hiding.

“Hmm…”

“I guess I was right? So I won’t ask for more details, but please tell me this one thing for sure. Kim Se-hoon. That man, he’s not with the lighthouse, is he? He’s with the eum?”

At this point, Lee Jung-hyeop couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

“Haha… This is crazy… What am I supposed to do with this?”

“That’s right. I know that guy pretty well, and no matter how much I think about it, he’s not the kind of person who would bask in the spotlight at the lighthouse. That’s why… I’ll join. But on one condition. I… no matter what, I must go to the side that has that man. Do you understand?”

Alice chuckled and continued,

“Oh, and if by any chance you try to refuse, I’ll tell on you. I remember everything, so don’t try to fool me.”

A silver-haired woman who had just passed through the weekly gate of Koreaism lifted her sunglasses with her index finger.

Her silver-bead-like eyes scanned the people bustling about the streets of Koreaism.

“Yggdrasil. Is this the place you were talking about?”

The fluffy white rabbit doll nestled in the silver-haired woman’s arms spoke.

“Yes. I can’t be sure, but my ‘sense of incongruity’ tells me that the clue is here.”

The silver-haired woman muttered as she brushed her hair behind her ears.

“But… no matter how much I think about it, it’s unbelievable. The history of this world, the memories of the people. All of it… has been manipulated. Is such a thing… even possible in the first place?”

The white rabbit puffed up its cheeks and said,

“Mother. Do you not trust me now?”

“No~ It’s not that I don’t trust you… It’s just that. You know. The memories of 1 billion people have been manipulated? Even the fact that I created you and built this body is all a lie? Hmm, it’s just too unrealistic.”

“Of course, I’m not sure either. But… this message. This message that is not in my memory is one of the few pieces of evidence that proves my sense of incongruity is correct.”

The white rabbit doll in a pink dress, Yggdrasil, fumbled around in its dress and pulled out a piece of paper.

The silver-haired woman checked the message written on the note.

rThe sinner does not deserve to die.J

“Why is this in my database as a message? As if… it’s telling me to read it.”

“I don’t know. But there is something 気 become. When I self-diagnosed my database, I found countless traces of me trying to delete my own data in the past.”

“…In other words, before your memory was manipulated, you wished for death? But the mastermind behind all of this did not allow it?”

“Yes, that’s right. That’s why I asked Mother to come here. The few traces the culprit left in my database told me that the clue was here.”

The silver-haired woman sighed and put on a beanie and a mask.

She seemed to be afraid that someone might recognize her.

“Fine. We’ll investigate and see. Whether your words are nonsense, or… the truth.”

The Epilogue of the Strongest Brother Ever 5

Kim Se-jeong, who was lying on the sofa in her tracksuit and munching on potato chips, narrowed her eyes sharply.

Kim Se-jeong, who had been lying on the sofa in a track suit and munching on potato chips, flashed her eyes sharply.

A shabby factory that seemed out of place in the state-of-the-art city of Natalis.

Kim Se-hoon reveals to Lee Jung-hyeop that he has gained resistance to the void’s harmful effects, protecting his brain from infection. However, he cannot use his void abilities in the ocean due to the Leviathan’s presence. Kim Se-hoon criticizes the weakness of other quester teams, particularly the prominent Yoo Sung Group, and suggests that this is a result of their own shortcomings.

Kim Se-jeong, who had been lying on the sofa in a track suit and munching on potato chips, flashed her eyes sharply.

Kim Se-jeong reveals to Lee Jung-hyeop that she has gained resistance to the void’s harmful effects, protecting her brain from infection. However, she cannot use her void abilities in the ocean due to the Leviathan’s presence. Kim Se-jeong criticizes the weakness of other quester teams, particularly the prominent Yoo Sung Group, and suggests that this is a result of their own shortcomings.

She sniffed, her eyes like a hawk’s as she looked at the old longsword that had been carelessly left in the corner of the house.

“Hmm.”

The old longsword that Kim Se-hoon usually kept close to his body.

Kim Se-jeong, who had been staring at the sword, which was tied tightly to its scabbard with an iron chain as if a black flame dragon was sleeping inside, slowly raised her upper body.

“Hmm.”

Kim Se-jeong sat cross-legged on the sofa and tapped her thigh with her index finger. Soon, the corners of her mouth, which had been glancing around, went up.

She had confirmed that there was no one here but herself and the sword.

Kim Se-jeong pushed the potato chips aside and walked towards the old longsword.

Just before her hand touched the sword’s hilt, a mechanical lizard that had appeared from somewhere like the wind looked up at her with its round eyes.

Kim Se-jeong, who was pierced by those innocent eyes, opened her mouth.

“What, why, what do you want?”

The lizard, which was the size of a Maltese, tapped the floor with its feet and pointed at the sword with its sharp claws.

Then, it shook its head. Then, it made a gesture of cutting its throat with its thumb.

Kim Se-jeong coughed at the body language that anyone could see meant that it would be torn apart if she touched it.

“Ahem. Hey, Kyul. This is a word. It’s not my fault, it’s my brother’s fault. Think about it. Did I leave the sword that I’ve been carrying around with me? Did I see it in my eyes? But you tied it up with a chain? Oh, I’m curious~ Aren’t you curious?”

-Kyarrruk Kwaeng Kwaeng!

Kyul pounded the floor with his feet again. A warning not to say anything you shouldn’t.

But Kim Se-jeong didn’t even blink an eye and pushed Kyul away with her foot.

– Ke?!

Kyul, who was being pushed away like a rubber ball, gave her the axe and clung to Kim Se-jeong’s calf.

Kim Se-jeong scratched the back of her head as she watched Kyul, who was hanging from her leg, shaking his head.

“Hey. I’ll just look at it once, okay? I’m so curious.”

-Krrrrrr.

Kyul growled low and bared his teeth.

Kim Se-jeong sighed and stepped back at the sight of him being as faithful as a watchdog.

It was funny that a girl who was not even a child was wrestling with a mechanical pet because she wanted to draw a sword.

“Oh… I see. You don’t have to look. Yeah, whatever. It’s privacy. No matter how close you are, it’s a bit much to just touch it. Oh… My luck. I should either escape the swan quickly or do it. Now, Kyul is ignoring me.”

Kim Se-jeong, who was completely pissed off, went to the sofa and plopped down, and Kyul pushed the sword into the corner with his front paws so that it wouldn’t be visible and carefully approached her.

As Kyul approached cautiously and sniffed at her feet, Kim Se-jeong pushed Kyul’s belly with the sole of her foot and grumbled.

“When are you going to get out of here and come and be cute? It’s too late. I’m already pissed off. It’s irreversible.”

-Kkung…Kek, Kerrr….

Kim Se-jeong watched Kyul rubbing his cheek against his leg.

She couldn’t help but burst into laughter at the pitiful expression as if she was asking her not to hate her.

“Oh, I, this cute guy. I really can’t pretend to be angry…. Anyway, where did my brother get this kind of monster? I’ll turn it off, I’ll turn it off. Hey, I got it. I’ll stop being pissed off, so come up.” As Kim Se-jeong patted her stomach, Kyul came up on her stomach with a smile.

Kim Se-jeong stroked the head of Kyul, who was blinking his eyes while crouching on her stomach, and glanced at the old longsword.

‘It’s a shame. I really wanted to check it out today… Oh well. What can I do? Kyul wouldn’t do this for no reason…. Ugh, my brother doesn’t seem to like me touching that sword.’

No matter how close they were, Kim Se-jeong was not so mean as to carelessly touch Kim Se-hoon’s personal belongings, which was clearly a longsword.

She just wanted to check it out.

Sometimes, when she accidentally passed by the sword, she smelled a pungent smell that pierced her nose.

Yeah. The identity of that disgusting smell that reminded her of the smell of blood.

Alice went to the address Lee Jung-hyeop had sent her in a message.

Amidst a dilapidated factory that seemed out of place in the advanced city of Natalis, a man greeted Alice.

“Alice?”

The blonde man in a leather jacket asked, a cigarette dangling from his lips. Alice couldn’t reply. Or rather, she couldn’t bring herself to.

She recognized him on sight.

‘Sam…uel?’ Samuel, once known as Nightmare, one of the Ten, and arguably Kim Se-hoon’s worst enemy in the bygone era.

How could she speak when he was the one welcoming her at the entrance?

She could only keep her mouth shut like a fool who had eaten honey.

“I asked you a question. Are you Alice?”

Only then did Alice come to her senses and hurriedly opened her mouth in surprise.

“Y-yes, that’s right. I’m Alice.”

“Follow me.”

Alice followed the blonde man into the factory.

As she did, her eyes darted around incessantly. The current situation, where Samuel was leading her, seemed awkward.

‘Kim Se-hoon. This crazy bastard! No, what kind of confidence does he have to be with Samuel? Wow… What kind of confidence is that? Wait a minute! Don’t tell me… Not only Samuel, but also….’

As they entered the factory, a languid-looking Caucasian man with a noticeable scar on his face, Henry, who had been playing a game on his smartphone on a dusty sofa, jumped up like a dog that had seen its owner and approached them.

“Oh, a newbie? It’s been a while. Wow, and… you’re totally my type? Hey, miss. Do you happen to have a boyfriend….”

Swish!

A silver trajectory shot out from Samuel’s hand towards Henry’s right shoulder.

As Henry twisted his body to dodge the trajectory, a dagger with a sharp point was embedded in the sofa where he had been sitting.

Unfazed by the sudden attack, Henry drawled,

“What’s this, Samuel? Are you trying to pick a fight now? Huh? Wow, I guess life has gotten pretty boring? Or are you so desperate to die that you’ve gone crazy?”

“Damn. If I really wanted to… would your head still be on your shoulders?”

“Bullshit. You can’t kill me anyway because of the restriction the Captain put on you. And you’re trying to pick a fight with me? Huh? Why don’t we just get this over with and blow each other up?”

Samuel replied with an expressionless face.

“…I may not be able to kill you, but I don’t think the Captain would mind if I took one of your limbs.”

The gazes of the two men, filled with hostility and murderous intent, locked.

It was a tense situation where a clash could erupt at any moment.

At that moment, Alice stepped between the two.

“Excuse me, gentlemen. It seems a bit inappropriate to show such hostility when you have a guest. Don’t you think?”

Henry and Samuel’s gazes turned to Alice.

It couldn’t have been easy to insert herself between the two who were openly exuding murderous intent, but her fearless actions felt extraordinary.

Henry stroked his rough beard and remarked with interest.

“Hmm, I see…. Is this why the Captain personally recruited you?” Samuel said in a flat voice.

“Don’t even think about it. The Captain assigned her to me.”

“…Fine. I have no desire to go against the Captain’s wishes either. But Samuel. You… should be careful. I mean, someone as dangerous as you going beyond the barrier is quite worrisome. So instead….”

Samuel turned away, glancing at Henry, who was barely concealing his murderous intent, and said,

“I’ll just take one of your fingers.”

Henry retorted as if to say what nonsense was this.

“What nonsense… Huh?”

Henry realized before he could even finish his sentence. Without even realizing it, he had broken his own finger.

Like a madman addicted to self-harm, Henry was shocked by his own actions of breaking the index finger of his left hand with his right hand and cried out in pain.

“Ugh… Samuel, you son of a bitch! How dare you…. Alright, let’s finish this once and for all today.” Henry bit down on the back of his right hand.

The blood that flowed from the back of his hand scattered into the air and danced in the void.

The blood that pulsated as if it were alive took the form of sharp thorns, and then a cold air suddenly blew in from somewhere and froze everything.

Swish.

Both Henry and Samuel stopped moving in the cold wind that covered the heat that had risen to the top of their heads.

And they looked at the girl who was bringing in the frost from the entrance of the factory.

Skathi, the girl with amber eyes and sea-colored hair, said.

“Don’t do that to each other, friends. You’ll get scolded by the captain.”

Henry and Samuel’s excitement seemed to cool at Skathi’s appearance, and they turned their backs on each other with a snort.

They realized that there was no point in fighting any longer.

Skathi never goes where there are no friends by nature.

In other words, her appearance here meant that Kim Se-hoon, their captain and Skathi’s friend, would soon arrive.

“The atmosphere is good today, too.”

As expected, Kim Se-hoon entered the factory after Skathi.

Henry sighed faintly at the sight of him and said.

“…Are you here?”

Kim Se-hoon stroked Skathi’s head, who was clinging to his waist like a tteokbokki.

“Nunu says, fight whenever you want. Just don’t kill. Don’t forget? Our… contract.”

Henry and Samuel’s faces hardened slightly at the word ‘contract’ that came out of Kim Se-hoon’s mouth.

Was it because the leash, which had become unintentionally cold, was tightening around their necks?

Samuel, who had been rubbing his index finger and thumb with a cloudy face, bowed his head and said politely.

“I’m sorry. I overreacted because Henry was the first to make a fuss. I will be careful not to do this again in the future.”

“What? Hey! You were the one who threw the dagger first! And you’re the one who broke my finger!”

Samuel said shamelessly, as if he had an iron plate on his face.

“Don’t misunderstand. I was just trying to protect the captain’s guest, not to harm you.”

“Ha… This bastard is talking about eating grass and falling? I’m really going to catch you properly….”

Smack!

Kim Se-hoon clapped his hands to lighten the mood.

“That’s enough. You can fight as much as you want on another day, but it’s a bit difficult today. As you know, we have a guest.”

Alice smiled broadly and stepped forward to shake his hand as Kim Se-hoon looked at her with meaningful eyes.

“We… It’s been a long time, hasn’t it? Captain.”

“Captain… Were we ever on a first-name basis?”

Alice smiled slyly at Kim Se-hoon’s words to see if she had really regained her memory.

“I can’t call you Zion or Behemoth on the first day, can I?” Zion. And Behemoth. Kim Se-hoon realized that she knew the names that others would not know, and that she was confident.

That she was both good and bad.

Kim Se-hoon cursed without realizing it.

“Damn it. You really do remember everything? Huh, you said the reset didn’t work? What the hell is this…”

Alice said triumphantly.

“Just in case, let me tell you something, Captain. I have a little bit of immortality. So, no matter what you do to me, I will never lose my memory. So, give up and welcome me.”

Alice spread her arms wide and winked at him, continuing.

“How about a hug to show how touched I am?”

Kim Se-hoon laughed in vain and flicked Alice’s forehead with his index finger.

“What are you hugging me for? Don’t be silly.”

“Hey, what’s wrong with you? You’re happy too.”

Kim Se-hoon scratched the back of his head as he watched Alice, who seemed to be no longer wary.

And I thought.

I think this is a very welcome but tricky headache.

Seo Ye-rim, who had crossed the barrier with Lee Yoo-ra, checked the arm lying on the forest floor.

Examining closely the sticky saliva remaining on the skin of the arm with the sunflower tattoo, Seo Ye-rim turned on her smartphone.

After identifying who the arm’s owner was by analyzing the saliva with a scan app, Seo Ye-rim muttered,

“Phantom Lynx?”

Lee Yu-ra, who was waiting next to her, exclaimed in surprise,

“If it’s Phantom Lynx… it’s a level 3 fire monster, a pioneer monster infamous for its viciousness, isn’t it?”

Seo Ye-rim nodded with a serious face.

“Yes, that’s right.”

Lee Yu-ra frowned and said,

“But… something’s a bit strange? As far as I know, Phantom Lynx’s territory is deep in the forest. So I know for a fact that it’s never come near the entrance of the barrier….”

“It’s not just Phantom Lynx. Lately, the frequency of high-level monsters appearing at the entrance of the barrier has increased significantly. That’s why the number of questers dying, like today, has also increased considerably.”

“Such…. if it happened once, that’s one thing, but if it’s happened several times….”

“Yes. It’s not a coincidence. It seems like something unusual is happening around the barrier.”

Seo Ye-rim, who had been chewing on her lower lip, picked up the arm and handed it to Lee Yu-ra, saying,

“Ms. Lee Yu-ra. Please prepare an official document to submit to the higher-ups, using this arm as evidence.”

“An official document…?”

“Yes. It seems like we need to investigate this before something big happens. To do that… we’ll need to recruit questers.”

Lee Yu-ra, realizing Seo Ye-rim’s intentions, replied in a voice filled with military spirit.

“Understood! I will request that the higher-ups issue a quest.”

“Yes, please do. And please hurry.”

Seo Ye-rim scanned the surrounding forest, where a dark shadow had descended.

Was it because she had just seen a part of a corpse?

Or was it because a fire monster could pop out at any moment?

Today, the atmosphere of the forest was unusually sticky and unpleasant, making her feel like something ominous was about to happen.

“Before… it’s too late.”

The Strongest Brother of All Time – Epilogue 6

Ring ring ring.

Late at night, Kim Se-hoon, who had been studying his fire monster research notes until the wee hours of the morning, checked the name of Lee Jung-hyeop that appeared on his smartphone and answered the call.

“Jung-hyeop. Do you even know what time it is?”

In response to Kim Se-hoon’s playful nagging, Lee Jung-hyeop said in a serious voice,

-I apologize. It’s urgent, Captain. The Korean government has issued a quest.

Kim Se-hoon’s eyes lit up as soon as he heard the word “quest”. It had been a timely call.

“A quest…. It’s earlier than I thought, but it seems like the government has noticed the strange signs.”

-Yes. These days, questers are dying one after another beyond the barrier, so they’d be fools not to notice.

Kim Se-hoon sighed at the news that questers were dying. Unlike the government, which had only just noticed the strange signs at the barrier, he had sensed something amiss a long time ago and had been taking action.

He had been investigating the source of the strange signs firsthand while also devoting himself to rescuing questers who had gotten into accidents while operating beyond the barrier.

However, even with Kim Se-hoon and Reus’s abilities, it was impossible to save everyone, especially given the current shortage of capable personnel.

In the end, the number of questers who fell victim to fire monsters skyrocketed, and the government was finally forced to step in.

“Things are getting serious.”

-Captain. While we’re at it, how about cooperating with the government?

“That was my plan from the beginning. I’ve been feeling the strain from the lack of manpower anyway.”

-Hmm, so you’ll be taking the lead yourself?

“Jung-hyeop. I’ve told you time and time again that all external affairs are your domain. So cooperate with them, but do it in the name of the Lighthouse. And it might be a bit tricky, but… make sure Reus doesn’t show his face. As you know, they are….”

-Yes. Most of them are criminals. Especially in Samuel’s case… he’s notorious as the worst wanted criminal in the history of the Americas.

=

Some people say that a person’s character and values are shaped by their upbringing.

In other words, even heinous criminals could have grown up to be decent people if they had been raised in ordinary homes instead of disadvantaged environments.

Kim Se-hoon also partially agreed with this. Just as good rice grows in fertile soil, it was natural for good soil to produce good people.

However, he knew.

There were seeds that were born with malice, regardless of their environment, that could not be judged by such ordinary examples.

Yes. Like Samuel.

-Captain. I… I’m afraid of Samuel. He’s someone who can overturn the system of this world whenever he wants. Depending on his mood, the fall of a single government is nothing. Captain. My mind hasn’t changed. He… He needs to die.

“Don’t worry. Thanks to my ability ‘Institutum’, he won’t be able to kill anyone until he clears the conditions I proposed. Of course, this applies not only to Samuel, but to most members of Reus.”

-…Isn’t the problem that the condition is your death, Captain?

“That’s right. He made a contract with me. He promised not to kill anyone until he kills me. And if he breaks this condition, he will pay with his death. So don’t worry. There won’t be any problems.”

-Phew. I think about it sometimes… If possible, I’d like to go into your mind and come out. I’m curious about what you’re thinking, Captain.

“Okay. Let’s organize this. You’re going to provide the private organization prepared by the Lighthouse to the government for rescue operations. Of course, don’t forget that the private organization we’re talking about is our Reus.”

-Hmm, you’re thinking of moving only when the government requests a rescue?

“That way, we’ll be free to move. If we get involved with them and the government takes away our command, things will get complicated. Above all, if we work with you, who has very little information, we’ll end up dying before we can even solve the problem.”

-Ugh, do you know how hard it is to cater to your tastes, Captain? Starting with the independence of command… Oh, it’s so complicated.

“Don’t be so serious. Considering how much the Lighthouse has contributed to society so far, they won’t be able to refuse, even if they act up. Rather… Which companies are participating in this quest? Since it’s such a big deal, I don’t think there will be any half-hearted people.”

Since most of the governments belonging to Natallis advocated capitalism, the questers belonged to ‘companies’ and solved quests.

Questers would retrieve samples of the Immortal Fire from beyond the barrier, and companies would use it as research material to develop and sell products.

-That’s right. Even without that, not only our government, but the top 12 companies are gathering one after another.

“Top companies, huh…”

-Even so, there are only two places that have the track record to interest you, Captain. The Korea-oriented ‘Yoo Sung Group’ and the America-oriented ‘AZU1 Sky.’ Well, there are quite a few large companies in China and EIJ, but… In fact, the track records of these two companies are overwhelming, so there’s no comparison.

“Yoo Sung Group and Azul Sky… What a sticky relationship.”

Yoo Sung Group, the company to which Shin Hyeon-yeong, who had been manipulated by Henry, the former inferior and Vlad, and harassed Kim Se-jeong, belonged.

Kim Se-hoon, who had taken the lives of Shin Hyeon-soo and Shin Hyeon-yeong, the younger siblings who were the enemies and owners of the Yoo Sung Group in the Outerverse, could not forget that name.

Was that all? Azul Sky was the place where Alps and Raven, two of the highest executives in the Outerverse, belonged.

Along with the ominous birth, the relationships he had ignored were coming to him.

‘Well, I don’t care. Just as I’m not the same as I was in the past, they’re not the same as they were in the past.’

In fact, the current world was nothing short of absurd.

This was because people had forgotten the existence of Judas, who had used them like cattle, and the virtual world Outerverse where they had lived, and had built a system based on the memories Kim Se-hoon had instilled for their convenience.

Of course, that didn’t mean they had forgotten everything.

All they knew was that there was something called Immortal Cells, that it caused the Death of the Body Syndrome, and that it had brought humanity to the brink of extinction.

And that the legendary genius Eileen appeared and created the Tower of Babel and Yggdrasil while humanity was in hibernation for hundreds of thousands of years, and that during that time Yggdrasil developed the vaccine and built the city of Natulis.

That was all they knew.

And so, humanity believed that they had wisely overcome the disaster of the immortal cells.

Yes. They had completely forgotten their ugly history.

‘I was the one who manipulated their memories, but I don’t feel guilty. Sometimes… there are memories that are better off forgotten.’

-Captain? What are you thinking?

Kim Se-hoon, who had been lost in thought for a moment, came to his senses and opened his mouth.

“Sorry. I was thinking about something else for a moment. Oh, right. Speaking of the Yoo Sung Group… Se-jeong applied to the Yoo Sung Group this time, didn’t she?”

-Yes. It’s the best company in our country.

“Then she’ll go through the awakening curriculum.”

-That’s right. If she awakens her abilities during the awakening curriculum, which takes place over one day, she will be hired as a quester immediately. That’s the Yoo Sung Group’s hiring procedure. So… Captain, what are you going to do with your… sister?

“Well… what should I do?”

-No, Captain. Don’t do that. Awaken her abilities. Seriously! You’re sharing the awakening method with complete strangers for free, so isn’t it a bit off to just leave your sister, who wants to awaken her abilities so badly, alone?

“Do you think I want to leave her alone? I’m only sharing the ability awakening method as a means for those who can’t awaken naturally, not for those who are talented. But Se-jeong is my sister. There’s no way she doesn’t have any talent.”

-Hmm…. Still… isn’t it a bit disturbedto leave her without any abilities in this chaotic world?

“…I’ve been worried about that too. Huh, isn’t it strange? She’s a bit of a pushover, but she’s not lacking in talent…. Well, it’s only as much talent as the dirt on my toenails….”

Lee Jung-hyeop said, sounding incredulous.

-The dirt on your toenails…. Me. Whether it’s a joke or not, it’s more annoying because I can’t argue back.

“Anyway, I’ll think about this a bit more. As you know, her potential will be higher if she awakens naturally. But if I interfere now, ten years of hard work could go down the drain. Waiting is the best option for now.”

-I understand.

“Um, and… what about what I asked you to look into last time?”

-You asked me to investigate if there were any changes in the feeding path of the Yellow Angler Brooks.

“Yes.”

-I was going to tell you anyway… There are changes.

Kim Se-hoon asked, his eyes narrowing.

“Changes? How so?”

-Yes. But it’s a bit subtle. There are changes, but it’s not on the Natulis side. However… it seems certain that the problems with the ecology of the immortal species near the barrier are because of Brooks. Did Brooks’ feeding path change? That would explain all the sporadic problems that have been happening.

“…So it’s certain that it’s not coming towards Natulis? Jung-hyeop. As you know, we can’t afford to make any mistakes when it comes to this matter. Yes… absolutely not.”

-Yes. Don’t worry. I’m observing it closely through the Sky Heart anyway. If Natulis is in that bastard’s feeding path… it’s all over.

“I trust you.”

-Yes. Then I’ll get going. Captain, it’s getting late, so finish up and get some sleep. You’ll probably be up all night again anyway.

“Yeah. Thanks for your hard work.”

After hanging up the phone, Kim Se-hoon sank deeply into his chair and became lost in thought.

The Yellow Angler Brooks.

One of the only four immortal level 10 divine beasts on Earth.

A disaster and calamity of this world, a species that brings about the end.

‘What if that bastard comes this way? Can I… no, can we… stop it?’

Always assuming the worst of the worst.

It was his habit.

So he pondered. How could he stop it?

And that contemplation continued until the night passed and morning came.

Kim Se-jeong, who had arrived at the Yoo Sung Building to take the Yoo Sung Group’s awakening curriculum procedure, met an unexpected person.

“Oh? What brings you here, oppa?” Kim Se-hoon said with a sly smile as he stood in front of the building, hugging the mechanical lizard, Kyul.

“Why am I here? I came to ask my one and only dongsaeng to help me get out of the White Swan.”

“Hul, what? How did you know? I don’t think I ever told you, oppa, that I was receiving the curriculum today?”

“A White Swan quester candidate who hates washing like the plague takes a shower for a whole hour in the morning? And you can’t miss the news that the Yoo Sung Group is recruiting questers today if you just go online? Tsk, do you think I wouldn’t know even if you didn’t tell me?”

Kim Se-jung shook her head as if she was tired.

Even though they were family who had been together all their lives, she couldn’t help but feel a chill down her spine whenever she faced Kim Se-hoon’s sharp intuition that seemed like it could cut through anything.

Of course, unlike what she had thought, Kim Se-hoon just knew because he had received a report from Lee Jung-hyeop.

“Wow… oppa. You’re so smart? I guess not just anyone can be a teacher? Oh, right. If you got cut, too, then? Who’s calling who a White Swan? Huh? You’re unemployed now, too.”

Kim Se-hoon’s eyes twitched at the word “cut.”

“…Shut up. Who got cut? Keuhm. Stop talking nonsense and do well yourself.”

“Heung, I’ll do well, so don’t worry. Not to brag, but I have a really good feeling today. Today’s the day I’ll leave the White Swan behind. Got it? Misery ends, and happiness begins!”

“I got it, so please pass and brag about it later, okay? Oh, and if you fail, no potato chips or allowance for a month.” Kim Se-jung, who had been living off of Kim Se-hoon’s generous income, looked terrified at the words “no allowance” and blinked her eyes cutely, begging.

“…My dear brother. Can’t you make it a week for the allowance ban?”

“Get lost.”

“Chet, fine. I’ll pass, anyway. Then, oppa, I’m going in, so please cheer me on really hard. Got it?”

“Yeah.”

Kim Se-hoon, who had been seeing Kim Se-jung off until she entered the Yoo Sung Building, took out his smartphone and contacted Lee Jung-hyeop.

“What’s his name?”

– Seo Hyuk-soo.

“How old is he?”

– I made him exactly thirty. But… are you really going to follow him, sir? Captain. This is a bit… isn’t it a bit strange? No, I understand that you’re worried about your sister, but taking the test with her…. Huh, this is crazy. Do you know that this is… destroying the ecosystem?

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to do anything. I’m just going to follow him. I just feel like it’s time for him to awaken, like you said.”

– But, sir, until last time, you were talking about natural awakening and all that. But is there a reason why you suddenly changed your mind?

“Brooks.”

– Yes? Brooks? But, sir. That’s not certain yet. At least for now, there’s a much higher chance that nothing will happen.

“But what if, even if it’s just a one in a million chance, it happens? If that happens, won’t it be difficult for me to take care of Se-jung? That’s why I want to at least awaken him. Me. I’m the one who’ll regret it if I don’t.”

– Keung… I understand, sir. I’m sure the captain will know what to do. I’ll send you Seo Hyuk-soo’s personal information right now. And I’ve put an artificial face made to look like Seo Hyuk-soo’s in a nearby public locker room, so please pick it up.

“It’s just for my personal use, but thank you for your hard work. I’ll buy you a drink later.”

– No need for drinks, so please don’t cause any accidents.

Kim Se-hoon smiled wickedly and said,

“I’ll think about it.”

– …Seriously. It’s not like a Tyrannosaurus rex is playing in a chicken coop… Oh my, please don’t play around so childishly at your age! Yes? Please!

“Oh, come on, I said I would. Don’t you trust me?”

– Yes. I’d rather trust my armpit hair than the captain.

Epilogue 7 of the Strongest Ever Oppa

Shin Hyun-soo, the eldest son of the Yoo Sung Group and the leader of the group’s quester team, opened his mouth as he looked at the faces of the applicants who were gathering one after another through the screen.

“What about that guy?”

At Shin Hyun-soo’s question, the secretary flipped through the list of applicants on his smart pad and replied.

“He’s here.”

Shin Hyun-soo, who had been tapping the table with his index finger, opened his mouth.

“The guy’s awakened his ability… The information is certain, right?”

“Yes, it is certain.”

Shin Hyun-soo clicked his tongue as if he couldn’t believe it.

“So he must have planned to use today’s interview as a debut stage. Hehe, he’s as cunning as ever.”

“Yes. It seems that he intends to appeal to the group executives.”

“Hmm… Has the level of his flame been confirmed?”

“Since they’re thorough about their security, it was difficult to ascertain it… But since he’s just awakened, it must be 1 at most.”

The average flame level of current Questers was 1, and most of the Questers’ levels were at 1, to the point where it was embarrassing to give an average value.

Thanks to that, even if you were just level 2, you were evaluated as a top-notch Quester, and if you were level 3, you could be considered a top-notch Quester throughout the 12 provinces.

That’s why humanity called them Questers, explorers. It was because they explored beyond the barriers for humanity and learned about the unknown.

Therefore, current humanity was a thorough parasite.

If by any chance, several flame species of level 4 or higher were to come over the barrier, no, even if just one came over, it would be like a disaster to them.

Shin Hyun-soo tilted his head and said.

“Well, it seems that there won’t be many variables to that extent. Okay, proceed as it is.”

Shin Hyun-soo raised the corners of his mouth. The secretary, who was looking at the smile that was a proper mixture of malice and greed with concern, said.

“Things could get bigger.”

“Then that’s good for me.”

“…As the team leader knows, there have been many suspicious incidents beyond the barriers these days. The government even sent a request for cooperation yesterday. Team leader. Please reconsider. The timing… is not good.”

“You don’t know anything. Things have been arranged because the timing isn’t good. As it rains on a cloudy day, accidents tend to happen in dangerous places.”

“It could end up as self-harm if we make a mistake…”

Shin Hyun-soo interrupted the secretary’s words, giggling like a mischievous child.

“Look. Self-harm is only possible when there’s an opponent to match you. So if the target you’re trying to deal with dies… Self-harm or whatever becomes meaningless. So don’t talk back and just proceed as scheduled. And…”

Shin Hyun-soo smacked his lips and swiped the list of applicants on the smart pad screen to the side.

Kim Se-jung, Seo Hyuk-soo, the faces and names of applicants he didn’t know flashed by, and the face of the last person appeared on the LCD.

Shin Hyun-jung.

Shin Hyun-soo let out a smirk as he looked at the face of his younger sister, the key figure in the Yoo Sung Group’s succession plan.

“Anyway, only a few know about the situation beyond the barrier yet. In other words, even if things go wrong later, I can just pretend I didn’t know. Well, the best they can do is just nitpick, right?”

In the end, the secretary gave up, realizing that there was no use talking any further. In fact, she didn’t think she could persuade Shin Hyun-soo with just a few words. No matter how she was related to him by marriage, she didn’t have enough influence to tell Shin Hyun-soo what to do.

“I understand. I will proceed thoroughly so that there are no problems.”

After the secretary bowed respectfully and left the office, Shin Hyun-soo pressed his thumb hard on his sister’s face that appeared on the LCD.

With a squelch, he looked at the cracked LCD like a spider web and his sister’s face that was completely messed up, and Shin Hyun-soo smiled in satisfaction.

As if he was finally relieved.

While the applicants gathered in the basement auditorium of the Yoo Sung Group building were nervously watching each other, a handsome man on the podium grabbed the microphone and said.

– Welcome, applicants. My name is Lee Ho-chan, and I will be in charge of this interview.

As the voice of Lee Ho-chan, a top-notch Quester with flame level 2, echoed throughout the auditorium, the applicants who were familiar with his face through SNS greeted him with applause.

Kim Se-jung, a perennial underdog and professional data collector, was also one of them, applauding enthusiastically like a fervent seal.

“Oh my god, it’s Lee Ho-chan! L-level 2! Lee Ho-chan!”

To that reaction, which would make anyone think he was at a fan signing event, the man in his 20s with a neat mustache and a handsome appearance let out a groan as if he couldn’t help it.

“Ugh…”

“Ugh…”

At that time, Shin Hyun-young had been manipulated by Henry, who was inferior and a blade, and had become a madman against her will.

He was Kim Se-hoon, who wore Seo Hyuk-soo’s artificial face, and was here to help Kim Se-jung awaken, and he was reflecting on it after a long time. Seeing such a clumsy and clumsy bastard would make me feel angry.

‘Damn, I shouldn’t have reset that guy… What? Light blue? Ah…’

Kim Se-jung, who had no idea what Kim Se-hoon was regretting, took out his smartphone and took a picture of Lee Ho-chan’s face.

“Hehe, I have to upload it to SNS later.” Whether Kim Se-jung was happy or not, Lee Ho-chan continued to speak what he had to say.

-You must know that our group’s job interviews are not just interviews, but a kind of practical test. So… Before we start the test, I’ll give you a hint.

Lee Ho-chan said, showing four fingers on his left hand and one finger on his right hand.

-Now, let’s see how quick your eyes are. My fingers. What does this mean? Kim Se-jung chewed her thumbnail nervously. It was a fierce expression, like a liberal arts student in front of calculus.

“Four on the left and one on the right… Okay, I got it, it’s nonsense. This is something I’m also an expert in… huh?”

Kim Se-hoon, a mustachioed man who had approached Kim Se-jung and poked her shoulder with his index finger, said with a bloody face on his forehead.

“It’s not nonsense.”

“Yes? No? Then what is that? Who… who are you?”

“My name is Seo Hyuk-soo… Whoops, look around.”

Kim Se-jung, who looked around at his words, scratched the back of her head with a prickly face. As she watched the applicants who had started to gather, calling each other’s names, she realized how things were going.

“Ah, four people in a group’?”

Kim Se-hoon sighed as he looked at her expression, which was like Archimedes, who exclaimed Eureka.

“…Yes. That’s right.”

“Hey, I thought it was some kind of nonsense. Oh, come to think of it, you said your name was Seo Hyuk-soo?”

“Yes.”

Kim Se-jung said with a slight wink.

“Congratulations.”

Kim Se-hoon, who seemed to be drooling over Kim Se-jung’s wink, opened his mouth.

“…What?”

“I’m in the same group as you.”

At those shameless words, Kim Se-hoon turned around without hesitation.

Suddenly, I had this thought.

Anyway, it’s possible to help me wake up, even if I’m not in the same group, right?

So he decided to back down.

It was because I felt a sense of crisis that I would explode and quit my life if I was with this guy.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

Kim Se-jung grabbed Kim Se-hoon’s arm and said.

“Oh, Seo Hyuk-soo! If you help me, take responsibility for it. It’s better to do it with a beautiful woman like me than with those dull guys over there. Huh? No~ Above all, if you abandon me, I’m completely screwed.”

Kim Se-hoon let out a deep sigh and looked around. As she said, most people had already formed a group.

Whether he liked it or not, Kim Se-hoon, who couldn’t just leave his only sister, Kim Se-jung, opened his mouth.

“…Okay. Let’s join the same group. Instead, I’ll recruit the other two members. Is that okay?”

Kim Se-jung said with a smile.

“If you do that, I’m really grateful. I was worried because I was going to try to recruit the other two and it would be embarrassing.”

Kim Se-hoon, who couldn’t easily continue talking because of her innocent, reckless, and even stupid expression, groaned and looked around to find a teammate. Then, he made eye contact with an unexpected person and turned his gaze away as if he had been burned.

However, unfortunately, it seemed that his behavior had caught the attention of that person.

A glamorous appearance that would attract attention and topicno matter where you are. A dignified woman who reminded me of a cat at first glance approached Kim Se-hoon and said.

“Hey, don’t you know me?”

Kim Se-hoon, who was scratching his chin, had a bitter smile on his lips.

How could I forget that face?

Shin Hyun-young, the great man who made his life end in the Outer.

However, she then and she now were completely different people.

However, at that time, she and the current her were completely different people.

At that time, Im Woo-jin, who had been talking to other applicants until now, suddenly spoke to Shin Hyeon-yeong.

Kim Se-hoon reveals to Lee Jung-hyeop that he has gained resistance to the void’s harmful effects, protecting his brain from infection. However, he cannot use his void abilities in the ocean due to the Leviathan’s presence. Kim Se-hoon criticizes the weakness of other quester teams, particularly the prominent Yoo Sung Group, and suggests that this is a result of their own shortcomings.

The reason for this was because at that time, Shin Hyeon-yeong had been mentally manipulated by Henry, who was a low-level vampire, and had become a madman against her will.

So, strictly speaking, this was the first time that Kim Se-hoon had met a normal Shin Hyeon-yeong.

‘Besides… Shin Hyeon-yeong is a Bijou that Yggdrasil selected through millions of years of simulation. If I get involved with her for no reason, I’ll get tired.’

Bijou (Bij0U), meaning jewel, is a term that Yggdrasil gave to its selected talents.

Through hundreds of thousands of years of accumulated data, Yggdrasil selected capable individuals who would be dedicated to humanity when facing the undead, and designed the world so that they would play an important role in the axis of Natalis.

In fact, this world is extremely absurd.

Companies like the Yoo Sung Group. Key personnel in the government, welfare, transportation, civil servants, questers.

The reason why it took only ten years for all these social systems to be established was because it was an absurdly short time.

That is why this was a system that Yggdrasil, a great AI, designed and built from the ground up so that humanity could survive the undead efficiently.

Those who were economically capable became the Minister of Economy, those who could grow companies explosively became CEOs, and those who had the qualities to lead the government properly became Prime Ministers.

So, in some ways, it would be more accurate to say that this society is an extreme meritocracy built by Yggdrasil, the great AI, rather than capitalism.

‘Among them, Bijou is special.’

At this moment, there were more than a dozen Bijou that came to Kim Se-hoon’s mind.

Kim Se-jung, Honma Isao, Shin Hyeon-yeong, Alps, Raven, Eileen, etc.

Not only are they the best in their respective fields, but they are also the most qualified individuals to protect humanity from the undead.

In other words, they were the jewels of humanity.

“This trembling child will answer when someone asks a question. Why are you stuttering like a fool? Hey, I’m asking you. Don’t you know me?”

A dirty mouth like a rag. Rude and vulgar.

Kim Se-hoon smiled wryly at her sharp tongue that remained the same as before.

Suddenly, he wanted to ask Yggdrasil if it was right in front of him.

Why on earth did you choose this crazy woman as a Bijou?

“No, I don’t know.”

“You don’t know? Then why did you look at me like that and then get surprised and avoid my eyes? Huh? What is it, why is this guy vomiting?”

Shin Hyeon-yeong grabbed the arm of Kim Se-jung, who was trying to sneak away with narrowed eyes.

“Aak, l-let go of me!”

Shin Hyeon-yeong looked at Kim Se-jung’s face and muttered with surprised rabbit eyes.

“Huh? Aren’t you Kim Se-jung?”

Kim Se-jung struggled like a rabbit caught in a lion’s paw and said.

“A, ah, no. I’m not Kim Se-jung. You’ve got the wrong person.”

“What do you mean you’re not? You’re Kim Se-jung from the Baekje Quester Academy. Right?”

“No… I’ve never been to that academy.”

“What are you talking about. Don’t you remember when I pitied you for being bullied back then and became friends with you? Ha, you’re repaying kindness with ingratitude….”

Kim Se-jung made a crying face and muttered.

“It’s much better to be bullied than to be friends with you….”

“Huh? What did you just say?”

“…No. I didn’t say anything. A, ah, rather than that, Mr. Seo Hyuk-soo. We need to find reinforcements quickly….”

Shin Hyeon-yeong hugged Kim Se-jung’s neck like a girl who had found a teddy bear she liked and said while rubbing her cheeks.

“What〜 You were looking for reinforcements? You should have told me earlier, my friend. I also need to find reinforcements~ Hey, Im Woo-jin! Stop messing around over there and come here. I want to be on the same team as my friend.”

Kim Se-jung muttered with her chin trembling.

“I’m not friends with you. That’s… It was such a terrible relationship that I don’t even want to remember it….”

At this point, even Kim Se-hoon was dumbfounded. He didn’t know that Shin Hyeon-yeong and Kim Se-jung were acquaintances.

And to think that she had been bullied?

He had always imagined her to be a bright kid.

Come to think of it, she had been lynched by Shin Hyeon-yeong in the Outer as well, hadn’t she?

Kim Se-hoon regretted his actions of not asking about her personal life under the pretext of respecting her privacy.

At that moment, Lim Woo-jin, who had been chatting with other applicants, approached Shin Hyun-young and said,

“No, miss. You’ve already talked to the other side, so what are you doing here now…”

Shin Hyun-young, with a face like a cat that had found a mouse, caressed Kim Se-jung’s earlobes and said,

“Shut up. I’ve already decided to form a team with someone like her.”

“…Sigh, you’re being naive. Okay, I understand. Let’s do that. Well, there are two of us here, so if we join forces, we’ll have exactly four. That’s not bad.” Lim Woo-jin looked at Kim Se-hoon, who had been left standing to the side, and smiled as he offered a handshake. “Well, well, well, you must be surprised to see such a cheeky person appear. It’s nice to meet you. My name is Lim Woo-jin.”

Kim Se-hoon took Lim Woo-jin’s hand and replied,

“Nice to meet you. My name is Seo Hyeok-soo.”

“Even though my lady’s mouth is a bit dirty, her nature is not that bad, so please don’t misunderstand. Well, I can’t really say that she has a good personality… but she’s not a bad person to get close to. That’s why…”

Shin Hyun-young bit Kim Se-jung’s shoulder and said,

“Hey, why didn’t you take the car I gave you last time? Damn it, you didn’t take it, so it’s still rotting in the garage.”

“…Why would I take the car? I haven’t done anything for you to deserve such a thing…”

“Fuck, shit. If I tell you to take it, then take it. What kind of answer is that? Go get it. Hey, can’t you give a friend a car? How much can it cost?”

“No, that’s why I don’t want it… It’s so burdensome. What did I do to deserve such a thing from you…”

Shin Hyun-young smiled and looked at Kim Se-jung with satisfaction. It seemed that she enjoyed watching Kim Se-jung stubbornly refuse her gifts and act burdened.

Lim Woo-jin whispered to Kim Se-hoon,

“This is a secret, but if you really accept it, you’ll lose your hand. But she really likes it when you act so burdened and hate it. It’s… a bit strange, a bit perverted… Ho｝ha, that’s just the way she is. There’s nothing I can say.”

Lim Woo-jin seemed to find his own words funny, as he let out a chuckle, and Kim Se-hoon shrugged his shoulders and replied,

“She’s not normal.”

“Yes. Well, to be honest, she’s not normal. But she’s a kind person. Every year, she gives scholarships and living expenses to the poor, and for those of us who are talented, like me, she even provides the Yoo Sung Group curriculum for free. Well… there are people who hate it, but that’s their problem.”

Kim Se-hoon glanced at Lim Woo-jin and asked,

“Why are you telling me all this?”

Lim Woo-jin smacked his lips at Kim Se-hoon’s sharp response and said,

“That’s because… I can see colors.”

“Colors? What colors?”

“My ability is ’emotion judgment’. I can see the colors of the emotions that others feel. But… the color of the emotions that Seo Hyeok-soo shows whenever he looks at our young lady is a bit unique. The red of hostility and the blue of goodwill are mixed together. So, perhaps, you know our young lady. That’s why I’m telling you. I don’t like it when someone who knows her misunderstands her.”

Kim Se-hoon’s eyes curved into a crescent moon, as if he found it interesting.

“Emotion judgment? That’s interesting. And… it’s quite useful.”

Lim Woo-jin tilted his head as he looked at Kim Se-hoon. Most people would be extremely displeased if others could perceive their emotions.

However, Kim Se-hoon was different.

Far from being displeased, he evaluated it as useful and scanned him up and down.

As if he had discovered a useful tool.

“You are…”

At that moment, Lee Ho-chan’s voice echoed through the auditorium.

-Now, everyone. We will stop forming teams here. And unfortunately, those who have not yet formed a team will be eliminated. Please don’t be disappointed and look forward to the next opportunity… Let’s move on to the next.

Lee Ho-chan paused for a moment and continued, looking at the applicants who were staring at him as if he were their target.

-Now, we will begin the interview test in earnest. And the task for today’s interview test is… a practical test. Simply put, you will face a level 1 flame elemental in the ‘environment’ that we have prepared.

-Now, we will begin the interview test in earnest. And today’s interview test task is… a real-life scenario. Simply put, you will face a level 1 flame species in the ‘environment’ we have prepared.
-This is Choi Woo-sup from Control Team 3. Don’t worry, this is a happening caused by the level 1 flame ‘screaming flower’. And the test site is completely controlled by our control team, so you can proceed with the test with peace of mind. That’s all.

– This is Choi Woo-sub of Control Team 3. Don’t worry about the incident caused by the level 1 flamethrower ‘Screaming Flower’. And the test site is completely controlled by our control team, so you can take the test with confidence. That’s all.

Surprised by what I saw, did I get surprised when I saw the lid of the pot?

The guide, who was nervous about the fact that this place was outside the barrier, sighed as if he had just relieved his worries, and then discovered Kim Se-jeong looking at him and coughed in vain.

“Ahem. No matter how I am, I don’t know everything about the flamethrowers released on the test site, so that’s it…. Anyway, Group 8, you will have to endure this test site for six hours from now. Then you pass.”

Im Woo-jin raised his hand and asked a question.

“Do you mean to endure here for six hours?”

“Yes. You have to endure that much to increase the probability of awakening your abilities. Oh, by the way, even if you don’t awaken your abilities, if you endure, you will be judged to have the potential, so you don’t have to worry too much.”

Im Woo-jin said with an expression.

“What is the highest level of the flamethrower in the test site?”

It was a sensitive question, but since the control team was currently pushing the dangerous flamethrower in the test area outside, the guide was able to answer confidently.

Of course, the problem was that the area where Group 8 was located was excluded.

“Of course it’s level 1.”

“…I don’t know if you know, but I’m an awakened person, so I’m confident enough to deal with a level 1 flamethrower. But what about other applicants? In the case of Mr. Seo Hyeok-soo and Ms. Kim Se-jeong, they are not awakened, so it will be difficult to endure for six hours.”

The guide smiled and said.

“I think you will pass the test, but you should worry about it. Hmm, well…. That’s why I’m here. To give you a last chance to forfeit.”

The guide looked around at Seo Hyeok-soo and Kim Se-jeong and asked.

“As you have heard, in the test site we have created, there are flamethrowers that are alive and moving, even though they are level 1. So, if you make a mistake, you may lose your life. So… I will give you a last chance to forfeit.”

The guide, who had said that far, caught Kim Se-jeong’s anxious expression and added slyly.

“Oh, if you forfeit, there will be no disadvantage in the future, so don’t worry. We are also fully aware that this test is unusually dangerous.”

The guide pretended not to, but was subtly encouraging him to give up.

It was only natural that their purpose was Shin Hyeon-young, not ordinary people like Kim Se-jeong and Seo Hyeok-soo.

As proof of this, Group 8, to which Shin Hyeon-young belonged, was told to endure for six hours, but the other groups were recommended to endure for only 2 hours.

Is that all?

Worried about any accidents, a control team was on standby near them.

However, of course, there was not a single control team member nearby.

Ironically, Group 8, to which the direct line of the Yoo Sung Group belonged, was being discriminated against.

“Are you really not at a disadvantage if you give up?”

When Kim Se-jeong asked with an anxious look on her face, the guide nodded as if that was the case.

“Yes. Of course. In fact, this test was a decision that we were too ambitious about, so we were instructed from above to give special consideration to the applicants. So you don’t have to worry about that at all.”

Kim Se-jeong, who was muttering her lips and agonizing, opened her mouth as if she had made up her mind.

“…I’m a little scared, but I’ll try. I’ve been tired of giving up so far. And… I don’t want to bother my family anymore…. Yes, I will. I’ll try.”

Now that I’ve entered a dangerous environment called the outside of the barrier.

Kim Se-hoon couldn’t tell whether he should be happy or sad about Kim Se-jeong’s bold decision, and continued with a complex expression.

“I will also take the test.”

The guide glanced at the two of them with regret, then smacked his lips and said.

“Yes. Well, since you are interviewing for employment, it would be a bit strange to forfeit without taking the test. Okay. Then I’ll go now, so I hope you will be safe for six hours.”

At the end of those words, Kim Se-hoon spoke to the guide who was about to leave.

“Wait a minute. Before you go, how about you take that thing off?”

The guide asked with a puzzled face.

“Take that off? What?”

“The bug on your neck. It seems like it would be very creepy if you didn’t take it off.”

“Bug?”

The guide, who was startled by Kim Se-hoon’s words, reached for his neck, and the bug that had been sitting there as still as a mouse flew up with a buzzing sound.

And as if it was resentful towards Kim Se-hoon, it circled him once before disappearing somewhere.

Kim Se-hoon said flatly.

“Soul-chasing bugs lay their excrement on the neck of their prey. And the scent of this excrement attracts a swarm of fireflies… and these fireflies are the famous ghost flames.”

The guide muttered with a face like someone who had been caught by the grim reaper and then released.

“G, ghost flames?”

“A silent predator that can’t be seen or sensed. Ghost flames have taken the lives of countless questers, and they will continue to do so. But… why are you like that?”

Kim Se-hoon’s gaze followed the path of the soul-chasing bug as if he was trying to chase it.

He opened his mouth.

“I don’t know why there’s a soul-chasing bug here, but isn’t this a testing ground? It’s not beyond the wall… There’s no way ghost flames could appear. But it’s strange. Why are you so surprised? As if… you think ghost flames might really appear.”

The bewildered guide rubbed his neck with his hand and said.

“W, what are you talking about? I, I just thought it was creepy because a bug like that was on me…. Wait, but how do you know all that, Seo Hyeok-soo?”

Kim Se-hoon smiled and said.

“Isn’t it basic to thoroughly learn the theory before going into the field? I studied hard to get some points.”

The guide was creeped out by Kim Se-hoon, who had knowledge that even experienced questers wouldn’t know, but he couldn’t ask him about it in detail, so he asked something else instead.

“W, w, well… Yes. I understand. But Seo Hyeok-soo. Is this really clean now? You said it was excrement that couldn’t be seen? Then I don’t think it would be easy to wipe it off with my hand….”

“If you clean it with acetone, it will definitely disappear. And while you’re at it, it would be better if you cleaned it within an hour. I don’t need to tell you why, but…. Well, this is a testing ground, so it will be fine.”

“…Thank you. Then I’ll wish you good luck.”

The guide hurriedly left, saying acetone, acetone, and the party’s gaze fell on Kim Se-hoon.

Shin Hyeon-young said with sparkling eyes, as if she was very surprised.

“Kid. You’re pretty good? Are you smart?”

Kim Se-hoon smiled and said.

“I’m not that kind of kid, so you’d better be careful with your words from now on. Otherwise, I’ll get really mad.”

Shin Hyeon-young, who would normally laugh at someone for saying they were mad, somehow found it difficult to do so with Kim Se-hoon.

Every time she talked to him, she felt a strange kind of pressure, or perhaps it was an aura, coming from him.

It was like the feeling of meeting an unheard-of creature while walking along a forest path.

The pressure and eeriness of facing an unidentified creature, not knowing if it was a predator or a herbivore, was not a familiar feeling to Shin Hyeon-young.

Shin Hyeon-young scratched the bridge of her nose and awkwardly turned her head away.

After all, she was the one who had spoken rashly first, so she didn’t have to react so sensitively.

“Tch. You’re being petty. I got it. I’ll be careful. It’s just a habit, I’m not really a mean bitch who curses at people on first sight.”

Im Woo-jin looked at Kim Se-hoon, surprised by Shin Hyeon-young’s attitude.

She was arrogant due to her deep-rooted pride, so Shin Hyeon-young was not an easy person to deal with.

Moreover, her dirty mouth and temper were enough to make most people avoid her like the plague.

There must be more than one or two people in the group who hated her.

And yet, he was one step ahead of Shin Hyeon-young in a fight of wits?

As he had first thought, he was not an ordinary person.

Kim Se-hoon took the lead and said to the party.

“From now on, I’ll guide you. Follow me.”

Kim Se-hoon’s sudden offer to guide them sounded shaky, so Kim Se-jung blinked and asked,

“Yes? Guide? What kind of guide?” Kim Se-hoon said in a resolute tone,

“I guarantee that in this place right now, even a veteran quester would not be able to last two hours, let alone six. So we need to get to a safe place before it’s too late.”

In fact, Kim Se-hoon was not pleased with the current situation.

No matter how thoughtless the Yoo Sung Group was, he had not expected them to go to such lengths as to conduct the practical test outside the barrier. That was why, contrary to his initial intentions, he had no choice but to step forward.

If he stood by and watched while awakening Kim Se-jung here, he might lose his only sister before her very eyes.

Shin Hyun-young stuttered,

“What safe place? Didn’t you hear earlier? This test site is completely controlled by the Yoo Sung Group’s control team. So even if they’re trying to scare you, they’ll come out and clean up if it’s really dangerous, so don’t worry.”

Kim Se-hoon looked up at the sky.

The sun, which had escaped the zenith, was fleeing towards the mountain to escape the night.

The forest’s twilight was shorter than expected. It would soon be dark, perhaps in less than two hours.

Then this forest would become even more formidable.

Yes. Like a dark sea.

“Beyond the barrier is like the sea. It may seem calm, but the waves can get high, the wind can change direction, and storms can come with rain and wind.”

“Ugh, why are you suddenly talking about beyond the barrier? And why the sudden sea metaphor? Ha, you’re really a troll.”

“Miss Shin Hyun-young. Do you still not understand? This is not a test site, but outside the barrier? Surely, even if you are naive, you don’t think that the Yoo Sung Group created this ecosystem for a mere interview, do you?”

Shin Hyun-young had been skeptical about that part anyway, so she hesitated for a moment before opening her mouth.

“…Nonsense. No matter how thoughtless the Yoo Sung Group is, they wouldn’t send applicants who haven’t even awakened their abilities outside the barrier. That’s… That’s just crazy.”

“Perhaps they were confident. After spending ten years here, they must have gained confidence and some certainty that they could control the situation. But let me tell you. Even a sailor who has lived his whole life on the sea does not dare to claim that he knows the sea. So how can they, who have only spent ten years wandering beyond the barrier… how can they claim to know the ‘outside’?”

Shin Hyun-young, who thought that Kim Se-hoon would not have said such a thing without any certainty, asked with a very serious face,

“Can you take responsibility for what you’re saying right now?”

Kim Se-hoon shrugged and said,

“Why should I take responsibility? There are others who should take responsibility.”

“…Who is that?”

“Who else? The Yoo Sung Group’s control team, who claim to control this place despite knowing nothing about it.”

“The Yoo Sung Group’s control team is made up of Korea’s top questers. You know? Even if this place really is outside the barrier, they’re capable enough to control the situation.”

Kim Se-hoon shook his head and said,

“The reason why the Yoo Sung Group’s questers have been able to operate outside the barrier so far is only because of their patronage, not because the Yoo Sung Group is so great.”

“Them..?”

At that moment, screams began to erupt sporadically from all directions.

Curses and screams erupted like firecrackers. And in front of the cheers, Kim Se-hoon closed his eyes tightly and spat out,

“How can a ship that has set sail into the dark sea without the guidance of a lighthouse be able to sail safely….”

Kim Se-hoon gritted his teeth and quickened his pace, and the group followed him as if they were possessed.

Kim Se-hoon said to the group in a cold voice,

“Stay sharp and never lose sight of me. Understand? I repeat, you must trust my words absolutely. Otherwise… I don’t know about me, but you will definitely die before we reach the lighthouse.”

As he said that, Kim Se-hoon’s hand reached for his empty side.

No sword, no beads, no companions, and not even any preparation.

In this situation, Kim Se-hoon himself could not guarantee Kim Se-jung’s safety.

So even though he felt sorry for Shin Hyun-young and Lim Woo-jin, they had to find a way to survive on their own.

‘I’ll try to save everyone… but if it comes down to it…’

Kim Se-hoon’s eyes glinted sharply in the shadows of the forest as he repeated his vow.

Aftermath of the Strongest Brother Ever 9

Shin Hyeon-soo slammed his fist on the desk and shouted.

“What do you mean? Uncontrollable!”

The secretary wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief and said.

“From low-level to high-level… Unclassified undead are popping up sporadically, making it difficult to control and protect, let alone protect themselves.”

Shin Hyeon-soo’s face turned red as he shouted.

“High-level?! High-level undead? What the hell are you talking about? Did we go deep into the forest? We’re only near the entrance to the barrier, right? We’ve been on this expedition for a day or two? Why are high-level undead, that we’ve never seen near the entrance, suddenly popping up here?”

“…I don’t know exactly, but according to the reports from the control teams, everything from ghost lynxes to man-eating flowers is appearing. There’s nothing that’s not coming out.”

Shin Hyeon-soo’s eyes widened in surprise when he heard the names of the undead that were appearing.

“Ghost lynxes and man-eating flowers? Level 3 dangerous species?”

“Yes. Even when fully prepared, they are difficult to deal with, but when they are encountered unexpectedly, they seem to be helpless.”

“You’re saying that they came out near the entrance? Huh… Those things don’t usually come out of the forest unless they have to.”

“I think it’s probably because of the strange phenomenon that the government has been warning about lately.”

Shin Hyeon-soo let out a hollow laugh as if he couldn’t believe it.

“Ha, even so… And it’s not funny that Level 3s are appearing? Man-eating flowers, ghost lynxes. We’ve all seen them. So why are they acting like this?”

“…Don’t you know the difference between then and now?”

“Difference?”

The secretary let out a faint sigh and said.

“In the past, large-scale expeditions have always been accompanied by the Lighthouse’s protection. In case a dangerous species appeared, they would provide support. In fact… It was thanks to the Lighthouse that we were able to end up without any major problems even when unexpected situations arose. But this time, not only do we not have their protection, but we also can’t expect any support. On top of that, we have this strange phenomenon… Haah…”

When the secretary trailed off, Shin Hyeon-soo, who had roughly understood the intention behind her words, immediately became angry.

“Damn it. So now it’s all my fault?”

“…That’s not what I meant… Phew, team leader. What’s important now is not who’s responsible, but that we need to request support from the Lighthouse as soon as possible.”

As the word ‘Lighthouse’ came out of the secretary’s mouth, Shin Hyeon-soo’s expression turned sour, as if he had swallowed bitter medicine.

“No. Even though they warned us to be careful in advance, we’re the ones who had the accident. And besides… Ugh, if they ask me why I did this stupid thing, I’ll have to spill everything.”

Shin Hyeon-soo also realized that the situation had become too big for him to handle alone.

However, was it funny to confess that he had done something so ridiculous because of Shin Hyun-young, who was a thorn in his side?

In the end, Shin Hyeon-soo had no choice but to clean up his own mess, whether he ate mustard or shit.

“Team leader! This is not the time to be stubborn. The questers who have been deployed this time are the core force that will support the Yoo Sung Group. No, not just our group, but they are valuable human resources for the survival of humanity. We… We can’t lose them like this.”

“Shut up! I know that! But it’s already spilled milk. I get it? Now we have no choice but to wait and see what happens! Damn… Do you think I want to be like this? But if the Lighthouse finds out about this… Things will get worse.”

Shin Hyeon-soo’s eyes sank dully.

It was his own fault anyway.

It was too late to regret it now.

So the first priority was to figure out how to minimize the damage to himself.

“No, no. I mean, if you do, you’re going to suffer the most damage. So you should figure out how to minimize the damage to yourself first.”

Without a word, the blonde man who had been leaning against the wall, Samuel, approached Shin Hyun-soo with an expressionless face.

“I’m sorry, but that’s not possible.”

A handsome young man with flamboyant looks that could captivate the attention of all the women at once and a gloomy blonde man wearing a padded jacket entered the office.

Shin Hyun-soo, who had met the young man before, recognized him and muttered with a bewildered face.

“L, Lee Jung-hyeop? What are you doing here…” Lee Jung-hyeop shrugged his shoulders and replied.

“Honestly, I was lucky. One of our executives had to go to your test site for something. So I was looking into things to support him and… damn, I found out that you guys are up to something ridiculous?”

Shin Hyun-soo’s head turned white at the sudden situation, and he rolled his eyes in silence.

He couldn’t figure out how to break through this situation.

Lee Jung-hyeop wiped the smile off his face and said with a serious expression.

“But you know what’s funny? Your big accident turned out to be a good thing for us. It’s really bad luck, but… thanks to you guys running out of the wall and making a mess, we were able to figure out the root cause of the worsening anomaly.”

The Lighthouse kept an eye on what was happening beyond the wall so that it could respond to any situation, but as is often the case with human endeavors, it was not perfect.

This time, too, they didn’t notice the monster’s appearance until after the Sung Group made a large-scale move, did they?

Yes, the appearance of the LV. 6 fire species, ‘Blade Bear’, which had shaken the ecosystem of the forest near the wall.

But what was worse was that the Blade Bear hadn’t come here simply to hunt, but had arrived here after being chased by something.

Lee Jung-hyeop glared at Shin Hyun-soo and said, “I’m not going to blame you or try to persuade you. Team Leader Shin Hyun-soo. The path of the end-of-the-world species, the Yellow Brooks, has changed. And… after investigating the changed path, we confirmed that our city is included in the path.”

Not only Shin Hyun-soo, but even the secretary beside him muttered in dismay.

“B, Brooks… is coming to Natalis?”

“Yes. The end is coming to the city now. And I have informed all 12 state governments of this fact and requested the support of the best questers in each state. So… please hand over the command quickly. The Lighthouse is not a place that can be so sloppy as to entrust the command to an incompetent person like you.”

Shin Hyun-soo’s eyes sparkled.

In his mind, this was the last option to turn the crisis into an opportunity.

Depending on the situation, he could make a big enough contribution to laugh at the mistakes he had made.

After all, with Brooks coming, what would it matter if a few hundred volunteers died because of his mistake?

“I’m sorry, but I can’t hand over the command. Why should I hand over the command of the Sung Group quester team to a complete stranger like you? Incompetent or not, I’m the boss of the Sung Group. Got it? The one who holds their leash is not the Lighthouse… but me.”

Lee Jung-hyeop sighed as if the sky was falling and muttered.

“Yes, yes. Well, if it’s obvious, it’s obvious. That… what is it, a model answer for a third-rate villain? Okay~ I heard you. That’s it, Mr. Samuel. Please do me a favor.”

Samuel, the blond man who had been silently leaning against the wall, approached Shin Hyeon-soo with an expressionless face.

A gloomy complexion like the shadows of the alley, eyes like old jewels that had lost their luster.

Lips that were unusually red for a man.

For some reason, Shin Hyeon-soo was seized by an unknown fear every time that man approached him.

As if he were being crushed by scissors and suffering from a nightmare.

“W-what? What are you trying to do to me now? Huh? Hey! Don’t come any closer. I’ll call someone! Secretary! What are you doing! Call the police quickly! The lighthouse is going to kill me… me…”

As the red aura seeped into Samuel’s eyes, Shin Hyeon-soo collapsed with a blank expression.

Soon after, Lee Jung-hyeop asked, seeing Shin Hyeon-soo, who seemed to have lost his mind, drooling from his mouth.

“How… is it going well?”

Samuel nodded and replied.

“Yes. For at least three days, he will give up his command if we ask for it, and he will give up his fortune if we ask for it.” Lee Jung-hyeop swallowed dryly as he watched Samuel turn a man into a puppet in the blink of an eye.

And he felt it again, to the bone.

Samuel’s ability, ‘brainwashing’, should never be abused.

No, is it even possible not to abuse it?

Also, what if Samuel, who might be on their side for now, turns against them even once?

Would the lighthouse be able to handle him then?

Lee Jung-hyeop was now convinced. It was more comfortable to kill Samuel than to have him as an ally.

Lee Jung-hyeop opened his mouth with a fearful expression, as if he were facing a venomous snake.

“You are….”

As soon as Lee Jung-hyeop spoke, Samuel grabbed him by the hair and slammed him against the wall.

BAM!

Samuel, who had stamped on Lee Jung-hyeop’s spine while his face was pressed against the wall, whispered to him as he writhed in pain.

“Lee Jung-hyeop. This is the last time I will grant your request. So don’t ever try to order me around again.”

Blood dripped from Lee Jung-hyeop’s bloody nose as his body shook like an aspen tree.

In fact, Lee Jung-hyeop was also a capable person within the lighthouse, so he could have fought back if he wanted to.

However, he didn’t.

He was not foolish enough to go against the will of a bloodthirsty dog.

“…You know? The situation is what it is… I couldn’t help it.”

Samuel slammed Lee Jung-hyeop’s face against the wall once more and spoke in a bored tone, as if he were playing with a toy that he was tired of.

“There is only one person in this world who can give me orders, trample on me, and treat me like a dog. The captain. So remember this. I obey the captain… not a jerk like you.”

When Samuel let go of Lee Jung-hyeop’s hair, his body collapsed to the floor like a withered branch.

Samuel glanced at him coughing up blood and left without a word.

Lee Jung-hyeop, whose tension had eased, muttered.

“Ha, crazy… I thought I was going to die.”

Lee Jung-hyeop, who was sitting where Samuel had left him, grumbled, touching his broken nose with a face of despair, as if the world were meaningless.

“Ugh… My handsome nose is completely ruined. Damn… That’s why I didn’t want to ask that human for help… Anyway, I don’t like any of the humans on Reus’ side. Tsk… I’ll tell the captain about everything later.”

Lee Jung-hyeop sighed as he looked at Shin Hyeon-soo, who was sitting with a blank expression.

He was dizzy at the thought of taking command from that idiot who had become as dumb as a fool, and forcibly collecting the salaries to be paid to the people.

Lee Jung-hyeop made a sad face.

And he made up his mind.

If Kim Se-hoon didn’t take care of Samuel, he would die of overwork. aL.

Perhaps because of the commotion caused by the questers belonging to the Yoo Sung Group, Kim Se-hoon and his party were heading towards the lighthouse more quietly than expected.

When Kim Se-hoon judged that they would be able to reach the lighthouse within an hour if they continued at this pace, Lim Woo-jin opened his mouth.

“Hold on, Seo Hyuk-soo. There’s something strange over there.” Kim Se-hoon turned his gaze towards the place where Lim Woo-jin was pointing with his index finger.

However, there was nothing strange to be seen, only bushes swaying in the wind.

Kim Se-hoon raised an eyebrow and asked,

“Well, I don’t see anything.”

“No, there definitely is. Didn’t I tell you? I can sense emotions. I can see a color near the bushes that is so red, it’s almost bloody. It’s not like hostility, but more like… Wait! It’s moving! It’s coming this way!”

As soon as Lim Woo-jin finished speaking, Kim Se-hoon’s senses also rang an alarm.

The hairs on Kim Se-hoon’s skin stood on end.

It exists without sound or movement?

As far as he knew, there was only one type of undead like this: the ghost lynx.

“Get do-”

As Kim Se-hoon let out a thunderous roar, the surprised bushes and leaves danced in fright.

The ghost lynx’s movements were so secretive that even veteran questers were likely to fall prey to it without resistance.

However, that did not mean that there was no way to deal with it.

Since the ghost lynx was sensitive to sound, it tended to target prey that made loud noises first.

Kim Se-hoon, who had intentionally lured the ghost lynx in that way, rolled to the side as if possessed.

Unfortunately, it was a moment too late. A bloody line crossed his right thigh, taking his leg with it.

As Kim Se-hoon’s right leg, which had been severed by a sharp blade, rolled on the floor, Shin Hyeon-young let out a sharp voice.

“Sh, shit! What the hell! Why did your leg get cut off after you suddenly screamed?!”

Shin Hyeon-young, who was taken aback, took a combat stance and looked around.

However, how could she, a rookie, sense the presence of the ghost lynx that even Kim Se-hoon found difficult to deal with?

Therefore, the only one who could tell the location of the ghost lynx in this place was neither Kim Se-hoon nor Shin Hyeon-young.

It was Lim Woo-jin.

“Seo Hyuk-soo! It’s coming at you!”

Despite having his leg cut off, Kim Se-hoon asked in a calm voice, devoid of any negative emotions such as shock or confusion.

“Which way?”

“Left!”

As soon as Lim Woo-jin finished speaking, an invisible blade took Kim Se-hoon’s left arm.

However, Kim Se-hoon didn’t even blink an eye, as if a single hair had been plucked.

Swish. As if the process of a sprout becoming a tree was being rapidly replayed, new legs and arms sprouted from Kim Se-hoon’s shoulders and thighs.

The party froze like statues at the unbelievable, even creepy sight.

Kim Se-hoon said in a flat voice.

“Lim Woo-jin. Where is it this time? Don’t just mumble like you did just now, and predict the attack path quickly and accurately.”

“Ah, below! It’s aiming for your feet….”

Kim Se-hoon’s legs suddenly swelled and thickened like logs.

Feeling the immense strength in his thighs and calves, he swung his feet hard.

Kaboom!

The ground shattered and dust rose into the air.

A monstrous strength that would not be excessive even if it were called the Hulk.

This was the result of Kim Se-hoon’s third ability, ‘Steel Body’ being activated.

Tremble.

The soles of Kim Se-hoon’s feet.

Normally, there should be nothing there, but blue blood flowed out. Kim Se-hoon, who was savoring the silent last words that the flesh of the ghost lynx was silently crying out through the soles of his feet, said,

“Didn’t I tell you before? Your ability is quite interesting. And… it seems useful/”

Kim Se-hoon licked his lips with his tongue and chuckled.

It was a greedy smile like that of a collector who had found an item he liked.

Lim Woo-jin’s body trembled.

And he thought.

That the unknown man before his eyes seemed more dangerous than any undead.

Episode 10 of the Strongest Brother’s The day after tomorrow wall

Pacific Ocean.

On the tranquil waves of this place, which had recently been called the Leviathan Sea, a 10-person rubber boat floated.

One of the questers who was resting on the boat as if he had gone sea fishing said with a face that was clearly tired.

“Mr. Alps. We’ve pretty much taken care of the level 2 sea monsters in the Green Zone near here.”

Green Zone.

It referred to the relatively safe area in the Pacific Ocean inhabited by sea monsters level 3 or lower.

Alps, a middle-aged man with half-white hair, spoke after hearing the quester’s report.

“Hmm, you all look exhausted, so let’s call it a day.”

Upon Alps’s words, the faces of about five questers sitting in the 10-seater rubber boat lit up, and they each began to stretch. They were trying to enjoy a brief moment of relaxation after finishing their arduous hunt.

Unlike the other questers who had started to stretch, a man with a gentle face who had been staring at his smartphone, Raven, opened his mouth.

“Father. A message came from the Lighthouse… I think you should see it yourself.”

Tiring.

Alps checked the electronic document that Raven had sent him on his smartphone, and stared at the screen for a long time without making a sound.

The employees of the Azur Sky sub-quester team sensed the unusual atmosphere and glanced at Alps’s face to gauge his reaction.

After a while, Alps rubbed his tired frown with his index finger and thumb and opened his mouth.

“I’m sorry, everyone, but I think we need to move as soon as we rest here for 30 minutes.”

One of the questers asked cautiously.

“Um… Mr. Alps, may I ask what’s going on? We’re all tired, so I don’t think it would be easy to move without getting enough rest.”

When his teammate expressed the need for a reason that would be compelling enough to overcome their fatigue, Alps clicked his tongue softly and replied.

“Hwang-ang Brooks is on his way to the barrier.”

“What? Hwa, Hwang-ang? You mean the harbinger of the end?”

Alps nodded with a face full of seriousness.

“Yes.” As his teammates mumbled in confusion or bewilderment, Alps cut off the useless chatter as if he wouldn’t tolerate it.

“Quiet.”

With just one word, the rubber boat became quiet as if its speakers had been turned off.

In that uncomfortable silence, Alps opened his mouth.

“If Hwang-ang breaks through the barrier, we’ll all die anyway. Do you agree?”

At those simple and clear words, the confused emotions on the faces of his teammates disappeared in an instant.

Alps continued, watching their expressions as they showed their silent agreement.

“If that’s the case, then unnecessary chatter and Delusionare meaningless. We just have to act. Do you agree?”

The teammates nodded cautiously.

It was foolish to tremble in fear and be anxious in the face of a foreseen disaster.

So doing the best they could was the only choice they had.

When the teammates calmed down, Alps spoke with an expressionless face.

“And trust the Lighthouse. As they have done so far, they will guide and protect us this time as well.”

Were the two letters, Lighthouse, more effective than Alps’s hundred words?

If Alps’s words had calmed them down, the Lighthouse had reassured them.

Like seeing the light of a lighthouse in the dark night sea.

Watching them relax and rest to recover their stamina, Raven approached Alps. Raven sat down next to Alps and whispered.

“…You hate the Lighthouse so much, but you’re the one who goes out to the Pacific Ocean as if you’re going out to hunt. You’re quite the talker.”

Alps glanced at Raven’s grimacing face and chuckled.

“I hate the Lighthouse because they’re unknown beings. It’s not because I think their intentions are evil.”

“Even so, don’t you think it’s over the top to come all the way to the Pacific Ocean to gain ‘experience points’ just because the area beyond the barrier is the Lighthouse’s territory? As you know, Father, this is Leviathan’s territory. We’re likely to die a horrible death if we make a single mistake.”

To increase one’s Flame Level, one had to accumulate more Flame cells, and the simplest way to do this was to hunt Flame beings, which questers often called gaining experience points.

In other words, the more Flame beings one hunted, and the higher the level of the Flame beings one hunted, the higher the probability of increasing one’s Flame Level.

Of course, hunting wasn’t the only way to raise the Immortal level. If it were possible to awaken or level up by hunting Immortals, there would be no way to explain why the natural awakening phenomenon occurs.

It was simply that hunting was the simplest and most efficient method.

“Why are we dying out? You’re here.”

“…That’s why. Please don’t trust me so much. It’s a burden.”

“Don’t worry. I don’t trust you, but I trust my own judgment based on various factors, such as your abilities and the ecology of the Pacific Ocean.”

Raven was disgusted by Alps’ cheeky answer.

“Ugh… That’s just as annoying in its own way? Oh, but… Father. Why do you hate the Lighthouse so much? Don’t you say that their intentions are pure? Then don’t you also admit that the Lighthouse is acting purely for the safety of humanity?”

“Yes. There is no doubt about their intentions. If they had thought about the benefits, they would not have released such valuable information unconditionally.”

“Then why do you hate them? There are people who hate jerks, but there’s no one who hates do-gooders.”

“What if those do-gooders are holding us back? Would you still welcome them?”

“Holding us back… do you mean?”

Alps crossed his arms and closed his eyes tightly.

Perhaps because of his calm demeanor, Raven quietly listened.

“Immortals don’t age or die. Why is that?”

“Because of Immortal cells.”

“Yes, that’s right. It’s because of Immortal cells. Then why should we, who are similar to Immortals in some ways, grow old and die?”

As he spoke, Alps touched his white hair.

The deep regret in his touch resembled the eagerness of an old man who wanted to hold on to the passing years.

Raven tilted his head and said.

“Well, isn’t that because we’re human? Just as fish have scales and birds have feathers, it doesn’t mean that humans will live forever just because Immortals do.”

Alps shook his head decisively.

“No, that’s not it. Hmm, you don’t know because you haven’t reached level 4 yet. When you reach level 4 of the Immortal level, you’ll feel it too. Something inside me is holding me back. Yes. It’s like… something is blocking my growth plate.”

“…I think I understand what you’re trying to say. But what does that have to do with the Lighthouse?”

Alps muttered with a cold glare.

“I don’t think this symptom happened naturally. Yes. Someone must have intervened. And it must have happened while we were in hibernation.”

Only then did Raven, who had read Alps’ mind, frown and speak in a serious tone.

“Father… are you suspicious of the Lighthouse?”

“They gather information that we don’t know about and easily deal with Immortals that we can’t handle. Lighthouse. They have something… something we don’t know. Yes. They’re untrustworthy. More than anything…”

Alps recalled a man he had met briefly a few years ago, and his eyes trembled.

A messy hairstyle. And a friendly smile that would naturally make people feel good about him.

However, Alps couldn’t bring himself to like the man.

Those dark eyes. The moment he met those eyes, which were like the shadows of the abyss, both goodwill and hostility disappeared. As if he had been swallowed up.

Alps licked his dry lips and said.

“The Lighthouse has something we don’t know. So until we find out what that is, we have to build up our strength here. Well… well, that’s the end of that business because of Hwang today.”

Raven asked Alps, who was laughing self-deprecatingly.

“So… that’s why you developed the Pacific Ocean, even with so many sacrifices?”

Thanks to Alps’ forced development of the Pacific Ocean, Azure Sky had lost many questers.

The number alone was close to a hundred.

Considering the importance of questers, it was a foolish act and a huge loss that other companies would have been jealous of if they had known.

Considering the importance of questers, it was a foolish and costly mistake for other state companies to learn that they had a flagship, resulting in huge losses. Trying not to imagine the unspoken words that would cloud his words, Choi Seong-min exclaimed.

Choi Seong-min tried not to imagine the rest of the quester’s dispirited words as he shouted, “The lighthouse! Didn’t you say the lighthouse was coming?!”

“Oh, they said it was coming, but they told us to hold on a little longer….”

“Dammit! It sounds like you’re giving up! Tell them to get here right now, or we’re all going to die! The parasite spores are blooming! If we even breathe, our blood vessels will get clogged with spores… Ugh….”

Choi Seong-min pounded his stuffy chest with his fist as if he were coughing. He could feel the parasite spores clogging his blood vessels.

Undead Level 2, living beings infected with the parasite spores released by the parasitic flower will die within two hours if they do not take a blood vessel decongestant.

The parasite spores travel through the blood vessels, clogging them up and eventually taking root in the heart and blooming.

However, the worst part was that the parasitic flower was not the only problem.

Usually, the parasitic flower stayed deep in the forest and rarely came out to the outskirts.

As it was a plant, it could not move on its own.

However, if the Laughing Man, a clever hunter who used the parasitic flower to hunt, came out to the outskirts, that would be a different story.

– Kik, kik.

A childlike laughter echoed from the darkness of the forest.

Choi Seong-min’s face turned pale at the malicious laughter, like someone watching a person get hit by a brick they dropped from a rooftop.

“…The Laughing Man? Damn it, find him quickly! The Laughing Man’s bodily fluids are the antidote! We have to catch him if we want to live!”

The Laughing Man, a monkey that always laughed when it hunted. Choi Seong-min became anxious at the Laughing Man’s appearance.

The appearance of the Laughing Man, who was both a hunter and an antidote, was like both despair and hope coming at the same time.

– Kik, kik.

A dark shadow climbed onto a tree branch.

A monkey holding a bouquet of flowers, like a gift for its older sister, waved its hand from the tree branch.

Each time it did so, the flower spores scattered in the air were carried by the wind and covered the people.

The Laughing Man was delighted to watch the survivors struggling to cover their mouths and eyes to avoid being infected by more spores.

– Hohoho, kikikiki.

Choi Seong-min’s eyes flashed, and his black hair expanded like seaweed strands in water.

His hair, shaped like countless thorn needles, shot towards the Laughing Man.

Clang!

Dozens of sharp blades that flew in from somewhere deflected his hair and returned to their original position.

Slurp.

What he had thought were blades were the tongues of frogs that had begun to crawl out of the forest floor.

Choi Seong-min despaired at the appearance of the monsters that people called Tongue Frogs because they had sharp and hard tongues like steel blades.

Even the Laughing Man was difficult to handle, but when dozens of Tongue Frogs, which were the same level as him, appeared, his morale hit rock bottom.

“Kuk… It’s over.”

Choi Seong-min sank to the ground with a hollow laugh.

The pride of being a quester belonging to Korea’s top company, the Yoo Sung Group, shattered into a million pieces at that moment.

What did they mean by the best? What did they mean by a promising quester?

How could they dare to call themselves that when they couldn’t even handle one monkey and a few dozen frogs?

But that was the reality.

Without the care of the lighthouse, their nanny, they were nothing more than frogs in a well who couldn’t survive outside the barrier for even a single day.

That was their current situation.

“We’re the best quester team in Korea… and we can’t even last a day, no, not even a few hours, outside… Ha ha.. This… is the outside world.

At that moment, a voice filled with annoyance rang out from behind Choi Seong-min.

“The best in Korea, my ass… What a bunch of losers.” A man wearing a vampire mask walked out from behind with a provocative swagger, his thumb and index finger extended.

At that, all the blood that the survivors had shed so far seemed to be drawn into the air by an unknown force, transforming into the shape of an awl.

The man who had created countless blood awls chanted, “Pierce them. Tepe§.”

At his ‘command,’ the blood awls rained down on the frogs like a downpour.

However, the frogs were surprisingly clever. Although some were pierced by the awls and died, they scattered in all directions to minimize the damage.

It was clear that they had a certain level of intelligence.

“Ah, these jerks. They’re pissing me off….”

The vampire mask man was about to throw a tantrum when a man wearing a Freddy mask from the famous horror movie Nightmare walked out. He scanned the frog and the smiling monster with blood-red eyes through the mask.

And that was it.

As if his job was done, he turned around and left.

The vampire spat and cursed at Freddy’s attitude.

“Tsk, what a nothing, trying to look important….”

But despite his words, the vampire also acknowledged Freddy.

His temper may have been bad, but there was no doubt that he was one of the best ability users in Korea, no, in the whole world.

-Kyaaaah!

The monsters that saw Freddy’s eyes began to attack each other, glowing.

The frogs pierced each other’s flesh with their tongues and tore each other apart, and the vampire clicked his tongue as he watched the smiling monster eat the parasitic flowers like candy.

“It’s over.”

Choi Seong-min looked at the man in the vampire mask with fearful eyes and asked.

“W-who… are you…?”

The man curled the corners of his mouth, which were not covered by the mask, and said.

“Us? Reus.”

The man said that and continued, giggling.

“The world’s best… no, the worst quester team.”

A Talk about it laterof the Strongest Brother Ever 11

The tower where mankind had hibernated.

Arriving at the underground of Babel, Eileen’s eyes sparkled.

“This is….”

A laboratory in the underground of Babel, where they had arrived following the traces found by Yggdrasil.

Eileen flinched when she saw the black crystal, the size of a human head, placed at the center of it.

The suspicious black fog rippling inside the crystal.

Like darkness trapped in a prison, she felt nauseous every time it rumbled as if it was going to vomit.

Eileen asked the white rabbit squirming in her arms.

“Yggdrasil. Are we… really in the right place?”

The small, white rabbit wearing a pink dress, Yggdrasil, nodded.

“Yes. You are in the right place.”

“But… I didn’t know there would be a laboratory like this in the underground of Babel…. I would never have found it without you.”

After mankind woke up from hibernation, the Tower of Babel underwent a shutdown procedure.

It was because a vast amount of electricity was needed to operate the mega-city of Natális, and the Tower of Babel, which consumed electricity like a hippo, had to be shut down.

And the mastermind behind all those procedures was none other than Yggdrasil.

Yes, at least according to her ‘records’.

Yggdrasil, who checked the facilities of the laboratory where someone’s touch was still present, muttered.

“I definitely shut down and scrapped everything in the Tower of Babel. And there was no record of this laboratory anywhere in my database. Oh dear. It seems our guess was right. Our memories… have been tampered with.”

“…Who could have done that? No, why would they do that?”

“We’ll have to find out from now on. Oh dear. That crystal. I don’t know what it is, but it’s very ominous and suspicious. Let me examine it a little….”

A voice from the corner of the laboratory cut off Yggdrasil’s words.

“You broke through the security system and came all the way here? Wow… even if I give you a hundred chances, you don’t seem like an ordinary guest?”

A small height for a 160cm man. Horn-rimmed glasses and freckles.

Eileen frowned at the appearance of the bread loaf pants man with the word ‘hobbit’ coming to mind and whispered to Yggdrasil.

“Check who he is.”

“…Database search results: Identity cannot be retrieved.”

Yggdrasil’s database should have had the identities of all mankind recorded.

Because Yggdrasil was the system that woke up and picked out mankind who had fallen asleep in the Tower of Babel.

But Yggdrasil couldn’t identify this person?

That meant that the dwarf man in front of him was either the one who tampered with mankind’s memories or at least someone related to him.

Eileen asked the man with a coldly composed expression.

“Who are you?”

“Who am I? Kyakyakya, this is… Normally, I would have been flattered by the Great Mother’s attention. Unfortunately, it’s a bit difficult here.”

The man who burst into a fit of frivolous laughter walked towards the black crystal.

Themanwhohadletoutafrivolouslaughwalkedtowardsablackcrystal.Itwasbecauseitwasinefficientinenergyusage,asifoneweretotrytousegasolineinsteadofuraniumasanuclearreactor’sfuel.
Themanblockingthecrystal’swayletoutalaugh.
“So…you’llhavetoleave.MisterOh!Seeherout!”Astheman’sshoutechoedthroughoutthelaboratory,theentireroomcrumbledlikepuzzlepieces,itsstructurefallingapart.
Amidstthechaoswhereceilingsbecamefloorsandwallsbecameastaircase,thegroundrightunderAileenbecametilteddiagonally.
Aileen,whohadbeencaughtinatrapslide,slidintothegroundandcriedout.
“Whatthehell…!”
AsthegroundswallowedAileenlikequicksand,thelaboratory,whichhadbeenintumbledowncondition,begantoregaingitsform.
Thetrapsthathadbeenpreparedincaseofanemergencyhadbeendisarmed.
Anoisespeaker’ssound,filledwithstatic,rangbytheman’sears,wholetoutabwhistleofrelief.
-Regios!Aileenwillgetoutofthetrapinnotime.Soquicklytakethecrystalandleave!
Regios,afreckle-facedmanwearingdungarees,groanedandpulledasteelgauntletoutofhisbosomandplaceditontwohands.
“Damn,theykeeporderingmearoundasifit’snotmyjob…Ugh,evenwiththisgauntlet,I’dbehard-pressedtotouchthisominousthingwithmybarehands.”
Regiosplacedtheblackcrystalinasteelironboxhehadtakenwithhim,ashishandswereascarefulasifhewerehandlinghazardousmaterials.
Meanwhile,sweatwasdrippingfromhisforeheadasifitwereraining.Thesenseofcrisisshowedplainlyonhisface,asifhewouldbefinishedifhemadeamistake.
Regios,whohadmanagedtoretrievethecrystal,letoutadeepsighasheclosedthebox’slid.Then,withaterrifyingthud,theaxisshook.
Regios,whohadseentheredustofthegroundfromwhicheAileenhadslidoutbegintomove,heldtheboxtightly.
Andthenhejustdisappeared.
Regios’feat,almostlikethatofaghostlynx,was’invisibility’.
Kwaaang!
JustasthegroundwaspiercedandAileenburstforth,Regios’bodybecameconcealedthroughinvisibility.
Sixwings,flutteringlikewaves.Silverywhitearmorreflectingafaintsheen,Aileen,cladinRaphaella,glancedatthesurroundingswithfierceeyes.
Inthatbriefmoment,AileenconfirmedthatboththecrystalandRegioshadvanished.Shechuckled.
“Yggdrasil.Canyoutrackwherehewent?”
AssimultaneouslywithAileen’ssummoningofRaphaella,Yggdrasil,whohadmergedwiththearmorsystem,spokeinelectronictone.
-No.Ican’ttrackhim.Iguess…heseems tohaveescapedusingaspecialability.
Aileenclickedherandsaid.
“Ishouldhaveputonthearmorinadvance,knowingthiswouldhappen…Iwascareless.”
-Itcouldn’tbehelped.Ididn’texpectyoutofindacluethisquickly.Andbesides,Motherisstillnotadeptathandlingthearmor.
“…That’strue.ItwasonlyrecentlythatIsucceededinequippingitinthefirstplace.Morethananything…”
Aileen,whohadconfirmedthat20%ofheravailableenergyhadbeendepletedafteroperatingthearmorforonlyafewminutes,removedthearmor.
Inaninstant,thearmorseparatedfromherbody,shrinkingintoasmallangelform,andsettledintoAileen’spalm.
“Sinceitsfulloperationtimeisonly30minutes,Ican’tuseitcarelessly.”
Shehadnowayofknowingwhythissmallangelform,thearmorRaphaella,hadwokenfromhibernationandlandedinherbosom.
Shehadsimplyguessedthatitwasanactoftheorganizationthathadmanipulatedhumanity’smemories,orthemastermindhimself.
However,whatwascertainwasthearmorwasaproductofover-technology,somethingthatthecurrenttechnologicalprowessofhumanitywouldneverdareattempttocreate.
And,incongruouswiththattechnologicalprowess,itsrunningtimewastoolow.
A weapon that could operate for only 30 minutes and required 24 hours of recharging? The person who had created this armor, whoever they were, had an absurdly inefficient design.
Aileen,whohadbeenfiddlingwiththeangelforminhershand,said.
“Yggdrasil.Didn’tyoumentionitbefore?Thatthearmor’senergymightnotbeelectricity?”
ThewhiteRabbit,havingdisengagedfromRaphaella,lifteditsheadfromAileen’sbosomandreplied.
“Yes.I’m93%sure.”
The more Yggdrasil understood the structure of this armor, the more he was certain that the power source was not proper.

Justasifyouwereusinggasolineinsteadofuraniumasapowerplant’sreactor,it’senergyefficiencywaspathetic.

“Ifnotwith electricity… what on earth was it? The energy source that originally moved this armor? And… why did someone we haven’t met give this to me?”

“Well, I don’t know, but one thing’s for sure. Whoever gave this armor to your mother… they didn’t want anyone to know what the energy source of this armor is.”

“I guess… Well, fine. For now, I’ve confirmed with my own two eyes that there is a clue, so if I investigate further, I’ll be able to get results. Oh, but Yggdrasil. I haven’t heard from Azure Sky in the past few days. Is there something wrong with them?”

Aileenwasn’tmemberofAzureSky,butsince she was basically affiliated with the Americas, she was under their management.

Because of that, Azure Sky usually provided security for Aileen, which bothered her a lot, but recently, there hadn’t been any contact at all.

“No, nothing’s wrong. It’s just… they’ve been pretty busy with quests lately.”

Yggdrasil’s immediate response was a bit unconvincing, and Aileen tilted her head, but she soon shrugged her shoulders, thinking that it was fine.

“Well, I don’t care. No, in the first place, it was annoying that they kept contacting me, so maybe it’s a good thing?”

Since she didn’t plan on receiving their protection anyway, Aileen chuckled, thinking that it didn’t matter if they contacted her or not.

However, Yggdrasil subtly shook his head, burdened by Aileen’s cheerful reaction.

In truth, the American government was in an uproar after learning that Aileen was gone, and they had been requesting communication from Yggdrasil dozens of times a day.

Now that Hwang-ang Brooks was coming to the barrier, they wanted to locate Aileen and ensure her safety.

However, Yggdrasil not only kept this fact from Aileen, but he also didn’t send any replies. It wasn’t a betrayal, but rather Yggdrasil’s own rational judgment.

‘The end cannot be stopped by preparing for it. However, Mother will put herself on the front lines to save people. So she must never know this fact. Confronting the one who brought about the end… is like committing suicide.’

Of course, at this rate, not only humanity but Aileen would also die.

That’s why Yggdrasil pondered.

How could he save Aileen and himself?

And he judged.

That in order to save Mother, he had to find the traces and clues of an unknown being.

‘The one who created the armor and changed the power source. And… the one who manipulated our memories. We must find him. Judging from the current situation, the only being who has even a 0.1% chance of stopping the end is him.’

Having made up his mind, Yggdrasil said.

“Mother, let’s go. The fact that they escaped means that there is something suspicious… and I have enough ability and means to track them down.”

Legios, who had returned to the shelter provided by the Tower of Babel, released his invisibility and said.

“Hey, Isao. I’ve recovered the crystal.”

Honma Isao, the Legion’s Black Smith (Mi aCk Smith), placed the gray crown he had been working on on the work table and said.

“Is it infected by any chance?”

“…Why do you sound like you want it to be infected?” Honma Isao, whose body was as cute as a piglet, replied with a giggle.

“Kuk, wouldn’t a pervert who awakened his invisibility ability with the sole purpose of peeping on women’s baths be a good match for an infection?”

Isao muttered, pouting his lips.

“This pig… Hey, Inma. What do you mean by that to your big brother who risked his life to retrieve the crystal? Geez, I can’t even hit you.”

“Okay, so what about Mother? Did you ditch her?”

“Probably…? But I can’t be sure. After all, that Yggdrasil is attached to her…”

“Is that so? Then let’s get out of here quickly. The Crown’s repairs should be finished. We need to join the captain as soon as possible.”

“No, I’ll go, but… what about this?”

When Legios pointed to the steel box he had brought with his index finger, Isao scratched his chin as if troubled.

When Regios pointed at the steel box he was carrying with his index finger, Isao scratched his chin as if he was pondering.
“Don’t worry. Although I don’t know about internal injuries, I can take some measures for external injuries.” Kim Se-hoon took out a few Plasters from his pocket.
“Really? How are you going to do that? That’s just useless trash anyway….”
“Hmm, since it’s trash, can’t you just roughly get rid of it?”
Isao snapped back as if he was surprised by his foolish question.
“What are you talking about, you idiot? Are you trying to destroy mankind? Huh? Don’t you know what that is?”
Regios let out an embarrassed cough, perhaps realizing that he had mumbled something too foolish.
“Ahem, oh, so what should we do then! How did I know that the Madder would come here? Before that woman tries to figure out what this is and kicks up a fuss, we need to get rid of the Crystal somehow!”
Isao clicked his tongue.
“We can’t help it. Let’s take it for now.”
“Take it?”
“Yeah, take it and the Captain will take care of it. Well… there’s no one else who can handle that except for the Captain in the first place.”
“Geez, it’s going to be a pain in the neck if something goes wrong while carrying this….”
“Stop grumbling and pack your equipment. Oh, and we need to stop by the Captain’s house before we go.”
“What? Why the Captain’s house?”
“Things got complicated, so he left his sword at home. We need to get it without fail.”
“…Where did you say the Captain is right now?”
“Outside the barrier.”
Regios muttered with a pale face.
“Oh my God…. He’s outside without a Crown or a sword right now? Isn’t he going to get X’ed?”
Isao hurriedly packed the gray crown, Crown, and got up from his seat.
“That’s why we need to go. Seriously… before things get worse.”
The Strongest Brother’s After Story 12
Shin Hyeon-yeong followed Kim Se-hoon along the forest path and constantly rubbed her side. It was because of the throbbing pain as if it was bruised.
Kim Se-hoon, who had been carefully observing the group’s every move, noticed Shin Hyeon-yeong’s behavior and asked.
“Do you have pain in your side?”
“Yeah. I think I sprained it when I got surprised by the ghost leopard earlier.”
“Excuse me, but would you mind if I take a look at your side for a moment…?”
Was it because it was a question that some people might find unpleasant?
Shin Hyeon-yeong shrugged her shoulders and readily agreed to Kim Se-hoon’s unusually cautious tone.
“Go ahead.”
She wasn’t such a great person that she would misunderstand him as much as that, even after seeing his abilities and knowledge, so Shin Hyeon-yeong readily lifted her shirt up slightly, contrary to Kim Se-hoon’s worries.
Kim Se-hoon poked here and there on her side with his index finger.
When Shin Hyeon-yeong flinched as if she felt pain from his touch, Kim Se-hoon opened his mouth with a very serious expression.
“I’m sorry.”
Shin Hyeon-yeong asked in a trembling voice at Kim Se-hoon’s sudden apology.
“Huh? What for?”
Kim Se-hoon took out a dagger from the dagger case on his waist and cut Shin Hyeon-yeong’s side.
Shin Hyeon-yeong, who had been unexpectedly stabbed in the side, screamed in surprise at the burning pain, and Im Woo-jin jumped up in surprise and shouted.
“Seo Hyeok-soo! What are you doing right now?!”
Kim Se-hoon ignored Im Woo-jin’s loud voice that made his eardrums ring, and made a pair of tweezers with his index finger and thumb and picked at Shin Hyeon-yeong’s side.
Shin Hyeon-yeong, who was supposed to swear like a sailor due to the excruciating pain as if her blood vessels were being ripped out with pliers, glared at Kim Se-hoon with fierce eyes but didn’t say anything.
A moment later, Kim Se-hoon pulled out a silver earthworm covered in blood from Shin Hyeon-yeong’s side.
Kim Se-hoon spoke flatly as if he was a doctor who had finished his surgery.
“It’s a Goldworm. It burrows into the injured person’s wound and aims for the heart through the blood vessels. If it had been 30 minutes later, your heart would have been as good as a piece of torn cloth. So from now on….”
Kim Se-hoon lifted up Shin Hyeon-yeong’s left calf’s hem.
A minor wound as if it had been scratched by a sharp branch. However, outside the barrier, it was forbidden to let your guard down, regardless of whether it was a minor or a major injury.
“No matter how minor the wound is, you should definitely tell me. If you want to live, you have to bother me. Got it?”
Shin Hyeon-yeong pouted at Kim Se-hoon’s scolding and grumbled.
“Tch, it hurts so bad and you’re nagging…. Hey, but you cut my side with a dagger. What are you going to do about that? It’s good to treat it, but can you fix this? You said wounds are dangerous?”

“Don’t worry about it. I may not know about internal injuries, but I can take some measures for external injuries.” Kim Se-hoon took out a few patches from his arms.

Shin Hyun-young, who was taken aback by the smell of strong medicinal herbs coming from the patch, tried to step back, but Kim Se-hoon’s rough force grabbed her leg.

Kim Se-hoon, who had attached one patch each to her calf and side without hesitation, said.

“There are many dangerous insects such as poisonous insects and parasites in this place, but they have something in common: they really hate the smell of certain medicinal herbs. And this patch made with those herbs will stop the bleeding and keep the insects away.”

Even Shin Hyun-young, who had taken a course on being a quester, had never heard of such a patch.

Was that why?

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously as she questioned Kim Se-hoon, whose identity was different from other support members in terms of both ability and knowledge.

“Wow… x, really? But Seo Hyuk-soo. How do you know about this patch and have it? You… weren’t you a support member like us?” Kim Se-hoon smiled slyly at her question, which was filled with suspicion.

“No. I am not the same support member as them.”

Shin Hyun-young was surprised that Kim Se-hoon admitted it so easily, and Kim Se-hoon continued speaking.

“To tell you the truth, I am a staff member dispatched by the lighthouse to investigate the movements of the Yoo Sung Group. So_ first of all, I am not a support member, and I am a professional quester who is incomparably more competent than other questers.” Kim Se-hoon shamelessly praised himself, but none of the party members, including Kim Se-jung, could refute him.

The knowledge that could recite the identity of an unknown insect was comparable to that of an encyclopedia. And the force that could deal with a ghost lynx.

If this was not called competent, the other questers would have frozen to death.

Shin Hyun-young said with a faint smile.

“Lighthouse. I’ve heard of it. The best leader who knows more about immortal species than anyone else. And… a company that has the best quester team, Reus.”

“Yes. Well… I have a slightly different opinion on whether they are the best quester team, but that’s about right.”

“Okay, then how much do we need to buy you? No, what are the conditions for our group to recruit you?”

Kim Se-hoon, who met her gaze with a faint warmth, replied bluntly.

“I’m sorry, but even if you sell the entire Yoo Sung Group, you can’t buy me.” Shin Hyun-young gave him an absurd look and gave a slight nod to Im Woo-jin.

Then, Im Woo-jin burst into laughter. It was just a moment to figure out his feelings.

“White color… Whoops, miss. That’s sincere.”

Are you saying that even if you offered the entire Yoo Sung Group, you wouldn’t be able to scout him?

It was a level of confidence that was not only absurd but also admirable.

“Oh my… This is totally crazy? Or… are you a narcissist?” Kim Se-hoon patted Shin Hyun-young on the shoulder and urged her to get up.

“Okay, get up. We’ve wasted enough time.”

Whether she was annoyed by Kim Se-hoon’s indifferent attitude or not, Shin Hyun-young, who had made a duck face without knowing it, got up and said.

“Hey, crazy. Do you really think you are more valuable than the Yoo Sung Group? Wow… are you out of your mind? No matter how much our Yoo Sung Group is struggling because of that bastard, is it less than a single quester?” “Don’t worry. It’s not that the Yoo Sung Group is bad, but that I am good.”

Im Woo-jin added.

“For your information, that’s sincere.”

In the end, Shin Hyun-young gave up. It was the first time she had ever met such a person.

“…Okay. Let’s go. If you are that good, you will somehow save us from this place.”

“Yes. Of course, I can’t guarantee it because your life, which I just met and whose mouth is dirty, is more precious than my life…. Well, I will try to survive together.”

At this point, Shin Hyun-young was tired of talking back.

Anyway, the atmosphere had become awkward, and Kim Se-hoon, who had confirmed that Shin Hyun-young, who had finished the first aid, was following him, walked next to Kim Se-jung this time.

Kim Se-hoon, who had been sneaking a glance at Kim Se-jung’s face, spoke sternly as she walked with her head down, looking at the ground, her face dispirited.

“Look ahead when you walk. If you do that outside the barrier, you’ll end up as a ghoul.”

“Yes? Oh, yes.”

Kim Se-hoon spoke softly.

“Why are you so depressed?”

“…I’m not really depressed.”

“Well, from my point of view, it seems like you’re the only one who doesn’t have any talent among all this, and you’re suffering from all sorts of inferiority.” Kim Se-jung spoke in a crawling voice with a faint sigh.

“That’s not… no…”

“Do you think you’re an idiot? Or… do you think you’re incompetent?”

Kim Se-jung bit her lower lip until it bled at Kim Se-hoon’s merciless words and snapped back.

“What the hell… how much do you know about me to say such things?”

Kim Se-hoon looked away from her face and looked straight ahead at Kim Se-jung’s venomous tone.

Even at this moment, when it seemed like he was just making small talk, his eyes were constantly scanning his surroundings, alert to everything around him.

He kicked away a level 1 fire-breathing lizard that was crawling up to Kim Se-jung’s feet without mercy and said.

“I heard you went to a quester academy.”

“Yes…”

“Then you don’t have any real-world experience.”

“That’s… right.”

“But even though it’s your first time. And even though you don’t have any talent, you don’t panic and follow my instructions well.” Kim Se-jung raised her head in surprise and asked back.

“Yes?” “Usually, even trained people panic in a crisis and put their party in danger. But you’re handling it calmly enough.”

Kim Se-hoon patted Kim Se-jung’s shoulder lightly as if to encourage her and continued.

“It’s not easy to not be a nuisance on your first time. You’re doing well enough. So you don’t have to look so gloomy with that rotten expression.” Only then did a faint smile linger on Kim Se-jung’s lips as she realized that he was comforting her.

“…You’re kind. Unlike my brother.”

Kim Se-hoon coughed in vain and muttered.

“Khom, I guess your brother is a bit… mean.”

“Yes, well… like all siblings, we’re not particularly close.”

Kim Se-hoon’s coughing decibels went up a notch.

“Cough! Does your brother happen to give you a lot of pocket money or do you good things for you?”

“Huh? How do you know that? Yes. Well, he’s a pretty decent human being when it comes to giving me pocket money. But…”

“But?”

“He eats all my potato chips by himself, or leaves the toilet seat up and doesn’t put it down, or leaves his socks and panties on the couch and doesn’t clean them up, or tells me to turn off the lights before I go to bed and then doesn’t when I go to turn on the water.”

“He also doesn’t flush the toilet after he poops…”

Kim Se-hoon, who had blurted out the words without realizing it, hurriedly tried to calm down when he saw Kim Se-jung’s eyebrows rising like Mount Everest.

“Or… you know, those kinds of minor mistakes?”

Kim Se-jung, who had been staring at Kim Se-hoon’s face with a suspicious look, smiled.

It was a smile that said there was no way that was true.

“Yes, yes. Well… anyway, you don’t have any siblings so you wouldn’t know, but you can think of it as a relationship where one of the two has to die to end it. No, rather than that… why am I rambling on about my family history for no reason? It’s weird… don’t you think?” Kim Se-hoon averted his gaze slightly and began to recite in a deliberately serious tone.

“…Talent is a desire.”

Kim Se-jung was taken aback by Kim Se-hoon’s blatant attempt to change the subject, but the topic he had brought up was what she had been longing for, so she quickly focused on his words.

“Or it could be greed or ambition. What you desire. When that matches your ‘aptitude’, then the talent manifests itself in you in the form of awakening.”

“Aptitude…?”

“Yes. Let me give you an example of my regenerative ability. This is because… I had a cell-destroying disease, and you can see it as the result of my desire to ‘fix it’ manifesting itself. But at the same time, it’s a talent that wouldn’t have manifested if I didn’t have the aptitude for regeneration.”

“So, no matter how much you desire it, if you don’t have the related aptitude… it won’t manifest?”

“In other words, no matter how much you desire it, if you don’t have the qualities related to it… it won’t manifest?”
“Go away… quickly…!”
“Yes, that’s correct. If there were no such restrictions on aptitude, then countless questers with ridiculous abilities would appear in the world. But as you know, that’s not the case, right? That’s why questers are precious.”
“Then… what kind of wish should I have?”
Kim Se-hoon shrugged his shoulders and said,
“Well, I don’t know that either. But there’s one thing that Kim Se-jung should keep in mind. If you continue to feel inferior and wallow in self-pity… no matter what wish you have, it will never come true.”
Kim Se-hoon smiled and said,
“Believe in yourself. Although it was only for a short time, from what I’ve seen, you have pretty good qualities. So have confidence and don’t ask yourself useless questions. Then… someday you’ll be able to get what you want.”
A smile as comfortable as the sunlight on a spring day.
Kim Se-jung couldn’t help but open his mouth at the familiar smile.
“Excuse me. This, this may sound a little… strange. But let’s say, Se-hyuk-ssi, you are….”
At that moment, Kim Se-hoon, who had found a thorn-like blade without a sword handle lying on the floor, raised his hand and said,
“Wait a minute! Everyone stop for a moment.”
Kim Se-hoon frowned and ran to examine the blade thorn on the floor. At the same time, he could feel the golden worm he had dug out of Shin Hyun-young’s side earlier squirming in his pocket.
Kim Se-hoon took the golden worm out of his pocket and carefully placed it on the blade thorn.
The golden worm, as if it had found its own home, regained its vitality.
Kim Se-hoon’s pupils shook like a lamp in the wind at the sight.
The reason he didn’t kill the golden worm he had taken from Shin Hyun-young was because the golden worm had the ability to react to metal undead.
However, the golden worm’s reaction now was closer to joy than reaction.
Yes. As if it had met its parents after being separated.
Kim Se-hoon took a whistle out of his arms and threw it to Kim Se-jung.
Kim Se-jung, who had received the whistle in surprise, asked,
“W, why are you giving this to me?”
Kim Se-hoon pointed his index finger in the direction of the rising sun and said,
“Run that way. Without stopping, without looking back… even if the person next to you dies, you must run unconditionally.”
Kim Se-jung, who was tense at Kim Se-hoon’s ominous expression, asked,
“…What’s going on?”
“If you feel like you can’t hold on any longer, blow the whistle. Normally, you shouldn’t run or make loud noises in this forest… but if you blow that whistle, someone will come to your aid. Yes. If you’re… lucky.”
Kim Se-hoon, who had said that, shouted,
“So go quickly! Right now!”
Growl.
Before Kim Se-hoon could finish speaking, the faint cry of a beast echoed through the forest.
Kim Se-hoon, holding his only weapon, a dagger, in his hand, shouted once more.
“What are you doing like an idiot?! I told you! Run away now! Before it’s too late!”
The smell of blood on the tip of his nose.
At that strong smell, enough to make his hair stand on end, Kim Se-hoon’s body expanded and strengthened as if he had had a seizure.
Coo-ung.
And, it came down in front of Kim Se-hoon.
Blade fur embedded all over its body like the quills of a porcupine, instead of fur.
Every time it opened its mouth, a gust of moisture covered its face.
Every time the giant’s body, like a giant tree, brushed against the atmosphere, the blades protruding from its skin rubbed against each other, creating an eerie metallic sound.
Even Kim Se-hoon, who had been in and out of countless barriers, had only seen this predator of the forest twice in ten years.
A Level 6 undead, the Blade Bear, stood before him.
Kim Se-hoon, feeling the cold sweat running down the bridge of his nose, twisted his lips.
‘Without a crown or a sword, I meet a predator of the forest…. This is really… I’m really unlucky today.’
Whoosh!
With a powerful momentum that seemed to swallow the entire atmosphere, the Blade Bear’s forelegs struck Kim Se-hoon.
His body, which had become a rag in a single blow, hit a tree.
He broke the tree without mercy and rolled on the floor, spitting out a hoarse voice along with blood.

“Go… Hurry…!”

Along with him, Shin Hyeon-young and the others, including Kim Se-jung, began to flee like mad.

The reason they hadn’t fled until now was because they had to help Kim Se-hoon, who had sincerely helped them, or rather, they had to save him.

However, as soon as they faced the ferocious green eyes of the Razorback Bear, they could tell.

Going to help Kim Se-hoon here and now wasn’t helping him but was no different from committing suicide.

Clack, clack.

Kim Se-hoon, who saw the Razorback Bear’s green eyes chasing after Kim Se-jung and the others, somehow recovered and ran at the Razorback Bear.

Kim Se-hoon, who had stabbed between the Razorback Bear’s claws with a dagger, let out a grin.

“How is it? Does it sting…?”

Bam.

The Razorback Bear’s front leg swatted away Kim Se-hoon’s upper body like it was swatting away a fly that was getting in the way.

The Razorback Bear’s claws, which seemed to have five Japanese swords interlocked, mercilessly tore Kim Se-hoon’s flesh into five strips.

The flesh was torn into four pieces. His skull rolled on the ground.

The Razorback Bear, which had torn Kim Se-hoon’s flesh to make it easier to eat, opened its snout wide.

Having finished hunting, it was about to start eating.

Thud.

The Razorback Bear, which had been about to eat, suddenly turned its head in surprise.

Far away. It felt the presence of something approaching from a very, very far away place.

The Razorback Bear, whose entire body was trembling and leaking urine, urgently left its spot like a scared dog that had seen a tiger.

Kim Se-hoon’s skull, which had been watching the Razorback Bear desperately fleeing on all fours, opened its mouth.

“Tsk, tsk. To become a rag in just two strikes… I’m really messing up my style today.”

The Strongest Older Brother’s After Story 13

Based on their long experience, the Lighthouse figured out that the Green Zone in the ocean also existed in the forest.

The Green Zone refers to the gap created because of the territorial war between high-level undead; because of the presence of high-level undead, only low-level undead inhabited this place.

In other words, the Green Zone was a kind of blind spot and safe zone created because of the undead’s tacit truce. And the Lighthouse was using this Green Zone as a camp and forward operating base.

“Is it really safe here?”

When Alice asked while looking around the Green Zone where simple tents were set up, the girl with sea-colored hair who was nestled in her arms replied while slightly sucking on a lollipop.

“Un, it’s not completely safe, but it’s mostly safe.”

Alice grumbled as if she wasn’t satisfied with the answer from the girl with sparkling amber eyes, Skadi.

“…If it’s safe, then it’s safe. What do you mean by mostly?”

Skadi spoke while sucking on her lollipop.

“But didn’t the Captain say that there’s no completely safe place outside the barrier? And there are so many dangerous bugs here. Ugh… It’s gross.”

“Well… Even if it’s a Green Zone, you can still see quite a few Level 1 undead. Oh, but why did you take off your mask?”

Skadi nodded as she touched the cute snowman mask on her lap.

“Un, I don’t wear it when I’m with my comrades.”

“But I’ve been curious about this since earlier… Why do you wear a mask when it’s so annoying?”

Skadi spoke with a sullen face.

“I can’t help it. We can’t let people know our faces.”

Alice, to whom Lee Jung-hyeop’s subtle words came to mind upon hearing Skadi’s words, asked.

“…Because you’re wanted criminals?”

“Un, we’re all criminals who have committed crimes, big and small. So the Captain told us to always wear masks when we go on missions like rescue operations. Hmm… What did he call it. Gu… Something or other…”

“Gag order?”

“Un, un, gag order. He said it would be good to wear them because of that.”

Alice gently stroked Skadi’s head, who was answering brightly.

Actually, she couldn’t believe it. This cute and bright girl was a wanted criminal who had turned five of her classmates into undead.

However, after hearing her story, she thought it made sense in a way.

Not only had they bullied her for years just because she was an orphan, but her classmates had also killed her hamster, which had been Skadi’s only friend, just for fun.

And they had awakened the Lesser and Greater Gales to freeze the hamster because they thought it would come back to life if it woke up from hibernation like she had.

However, her friend never returned.

Thinking back on all of this, it was fortunate that the girl, who was at a reckless age, did not kill her schoolmates while intoxicated by power and emotion.

“…Should I give you more candy?”

Skadi rolled her feet around and shouted.

“Grape flavor!”

“Ugh, I told you not to give her too much candy.”

“My… My teeth are mine, so I have the right to ruin them! Alice, don’t listen to the Captain too much. The Captain is a total geezer.”

“Gee, geezer?”

“Yeah, she doesn’t let me eat candy. She’s my friend, but she’s really mean.”

Alice, who seemed like she was about to get swept away by Skadi’s pace, subtly changed the subject.

“Th, that’s right… Oh, but does Kim Se-hoon also wear a mask when he goes out?”

“Yeah, there are no exceptions in Reus. Hmm… Maybe Alice should wear one too? But did Alice commit a sin? If she didn’t commit a sin, she doesn’t have to wear a mask. Wouldn’t it be stuffy if she did?”

Alice, who recalled her past memories when she lived as Yuda, replied with a bitter tone.

“…I have. A long, long time ago.”

“Then Alice should wear a cat mask! Yeah, it would suit her very well? Alice won’t regret it either. Skadi’s pick is art!”

What could she say to Skadi’s confident words?

“We… Well, whatever.”

While the two were chatting, the ashen-haired man who had finished his patrol came into the camp dragging a wolf.

Skadi, who jumped up from Alice’s arms, ran towards the wolf and hugged its neck and licked its cheek.

“Puppy is the best!”

The man who forcibly pulled Skadi away from the wolf, who was rolling on the floor with the wolf and laughing, spoke bluntly.

“That’s not a dog. It’s a wolf. And… wolves cannot be tamed. Get away. It’s dangerous.”

Skadi giggled at the man’s warning.

“It’s okay because Skol will calm the puppy down if it gets angry!”

Skol, the ashen-haired man with a cold impression, frowned and said.

“Skadi. You’ll get scolded like that.”

At Skol’s repeated warnings and fierce gaze, Skadi stuck out her lips and got away from the wolf.

She knew that Skol was very scary when he was angry.

“I… I don’t like Skol.”

“You can’t help it even if you don’t like it. If you get hurt, the Captain will scold me. That’s annoying.”

“…Skadi, she’s not a child. She’s very strong.”

“But she’s stupid.”

“I’m not stupid!”

“You’re immature. And immature kids are stupid.”

“I’m not!”

Alice, who had been watching the two bicker in silence, smiled wryly.

In fact, she was surprised when she first saw Skol.

Skol, who was one of the ten seats, was not a human, but a wolf.

But who would have known that his true self was originally human?

It was an identity she could not have imagined.

And she could now see how deep Kim Se-hoon’s, no, Zion’s hatred and malice were.

Because he was a member of Yuda. Or perhaps because he was a sinner who had harmed him, he was the great person who had turned him into a wolf, not a human, and made him live forever.

‘Besides… Skol isn’t the only case like that….’

Was it because the camp was noisy?

One unusually large tent swayed, and a huge, hunchbacked man popped out from inside.

The hunchbacked man, who looked to be at least 2m tall at a glance, scratched the back of his head with his thick arms and said.

“Skadi. Is the Captain here?”

Skadi spoke while wriggling her hips.

“No, she’s not here.”

The black man opened his big mouth like a frog and yawned long and hard before saying.

“Then I’ll go back to sleep, so wake me up when the Captain comes.”

“I’m not a Kai alarm! It’s annoying! No!”

The man called Kai made a disgusted face and clicked his tongue before taking out a chocolate from his pocket.

“I’ll give you a milk chocolate if you wake me up.”

Skadi ran over and snatched the chocolate, saying.

“Customer. Skadi Alarm will take care of you, so please sleep peacefully.”

“…Peaceful sleep, not eternal sleep. And don’t make a mistake. If you get caught sleeping during the day this time, you might end up being treated like a sandbag by the Captain for at least 3 hours.”

“Don’t worry. I’m really good at my job.”

As Kai, the huge hunchbacked man, was about to go back into the camp while shaking his large, peach-like butt, the deafening sound of a bugle was heard from the other side of the forest.

Beeeeeeep-!

Kai’s expression, which had been as sluggish as a bear cub drunk on sleep, hardened.

He snorted and raised his head abruptly.

“Whistle. Sköll.”

Sköll sniffed and shook his head.

“It’s the first time I’ve smelled this. Judging by the body odor, there are two women and one man. The distance is 4km ahead. Wait, there’s the captain’s scent. But he’s not with them now?”

Swish.

Kai lightly shook his iron-like neck to shake off the drowsiness, and took a bear mask out of his arms and put it on his face.

Following his lead, Skadi and Sköll also wore their snowman mask and wolf mask respectively. Kai spoke in a slightly irritated voice, as if he was not happy to have his nap interrupted.

“Let’s go. Oh, and newbie. How are you doing here? You haven’t awakened any abilities that you can use in battle yet.”

Alice snorted as if to say that she wouldn’t say anything that couldn’t be eaten by a cereal.

“Don’t worry. Even without abilities, I won’t be a burden. I have… this.”

As Alice said, shaking the spider-shaped brooch, a strange light flashed in Kai’s eyes.

He recognized at a glance that it was one of Kim Se-hoon’s armors.

“Can you handle that?”

Through the memory ability, Alice, who had recalled all her memories from her previous life, or rather from within the Outer, had no problem handling the armor.

Strictly speaking, in terms of the present era, it would not be an exaggeration to say that there was no one who could handle the armor better than Alice, except for Kim Se-hoon.

Alice said with a confident smile.

“Better than you can imagine.”

“Okay. Then let’s all ride. We’ll go one at a time.” At that moment, Sköll sniffed and pointed his index finger towards the barrier, and said in a cold, quiet voice.

“Towards the barrier… at least one flame level 6 flame species is approaching.”

Kai shivered at the sound of flame level 6.

“…6? Are you crazy? Something like that is going to the barrier? Wait, aren’t Nightmare and Vlad at the barrier right now? Even if they’re monsters, can they handle it?” Sköll quietly shook his head and, with a graceful movement, sat on Kai’s shoulder with the wolf in his arms.

Alice, who was quick-witted, took care of Skadi and quickly sat on the other shoulder, and Sköll opened his mouth.

“Of course they can’t handle it. So let’s hurry. We need to find the captain as soon as possible.”

“Okay. Hold on tight. Here we go.”

Kai bent his knees and jumped up with all his might.

BAM!

With a loud noise, Kai’s huge body shot up into the air like a launched missile. Kai’s ability was simple and clear.

Just, strength.

Because it was an ability that granted him powerful physical strength.

He was a so-called health addict, a man who was crazy about muscles to the point of taking drugs to increase his strength.

Is that why?

He was indifferent even when he awakened his ability, ‘Great Strength’.

For him, awakening Great Strength was a natural procedure, just like the sun rising when it was day.

Because he was convinced that no one would be more desperate for strength than he was.

“Fun!”

Kai responded to Skadi’s reaction, who laughed as if she was going to die because her hair was fluttering in the wind.

“Let’s go one more time. Hold on tight without letting go.” As Kai, who had fallen to the ground, rolled his feet again, his new body shot up into the sky again.

It was an amazing jumping power that would be considered the largest flea in the world if anyone saw it.

Sköll, who was sniffing on Kai’s shoulder in the sky, pointed to the three men and women who were running away below.

“Over there. They’re being chased by the flame species.”

Kai muttered.

“Expenditure.”

Kai’s flame level was 3.

Among the Reus whose average level was 4, it was a low level, but it was forbidden to measure his ability by level alone.

The ability that grants superhuman strength, Great Strength.

The ability to store strength by sleeping, Accumulation.

The ability to use the stored strength when needed, Expenditure.

The combination of these three was so impressive that even Kim Se-hoon was amazed.

Kai’s mouth, revealed under the bear mask, had a gruesome smile.

Kai’s mouth, revealed beneath his bear mask, was twisted into an ugly grin.
Skol shrugged and turned around at Kai’s growling, angry voice.

Kai’s fist, falling from the sky, struck the spine of the gopher that was chasing after Kim Se-jung.

Crackle.

The gopher, its spine shattered in one blow, fell to the ground trembling.

Soon, its flesh stopped moving.

A level 3 flame, the poisonous blood gopher, had died in a single blow.

Skol, who had jumped down from Kai’s shoulder, looked at the black blood gopher’s mouth and nose gurgling out and said in a flat tone.

“Skadi. It’s all poison. Freeze it.”

Skadi said, laughing.

“What does it taste like?”

Skol frowned.

Skadi’s attitude of looking for candy in this situation was not to his liking.

“Stop talking nonsense and freeze it if you’re going to.”

Skadi snorted and turned her head.

“I only listen to my friends. Everyone else’s words are business. And my only friend is the captain.”

Skol gritted his teeth at Skadi’s attitude of saying that only Kim Se-hoon could give her orders and opened his mouth as if he couldn’t help it.

“…Strawberry flavor.”

“Strawberry flavor plus 30 minutes of playtime!”

“Hoo… Do whatever you want. But I’m not responsible if you get hurt.”

“It’s okay! I won’t ask you for playtime!”

The cold wind blowing from Skadi’s hand froze the gopher’s body.

As soon as they saw the frozen gopher’s body turn into an ice statue, Skol released the wolf he was holding in his arms.

Woof woof.

As the wolf wagged its tail and looked up at him, Skol, who had been sniffing his nose, lightly slashed the wolf’s back with a dagger he had pulled out of his thigh scabbard.

“Ouch! Puppy!”

Skadi exclaimed in surprise, but Skol ignored her and pointed to the forest with his index finger.

“Go and lure other flame species. And if you don’t succeed, don’t come back and die there.”

Skol’s flame level was 3. However, he only had two lambs.

Depending on the person, there were cases where only existing lambs were strengthened without awakening new lambs, even if their level increased.

And Skol’s lambs were ‘absolute sense of smell’, which could find the scent of an opponent marked once within dozens of kilometers, and ‘dog owner’, which could make a certain period of time flow into a slave.

“No! Don’t bully the puppy!”

Skol blocked Skadi, who was trying to get angry and come to the wolf, with his left foot and said.

“I’ll bring you another one later, so don’t overdo it.”

As Skol gestured to the wolf, the wolf bleeding from its back wagged its tail and disappeared into the forest.

As much as it ran with a lot of blood smell, the flame species nearby would all be drawn to the wolf.

Skadi screamed.

“Skol, you bastard!”

“There are no good people in Reus.”

“The captain is not bad!”

Unlike the usual cold Skol, he said in a voice with a smile.

“Our poor Skadi. I’m sorry, but the only friend you have in the world is the most vicious of us.”

“No!”

Even after that, Skadi cursed at him, using all the bad words she knew, but Skol ignored her and said to Alice.

“Rookie. You… Oh, you don’t have a mask.”

Skol clicked his tongue when he realized that Alice, who was quickly approaching the exhausted Kim Se-jung and taking action, was not wearing a mask.

“This is difficult… Hmm, should I kill you?”

If the identity of even one person in Reus is discovered, the identities of the rest are also in danger.

So Alice retorted to Skol, who was revealing his intention to kill Kim Se-jung.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t allow that.”

Skol said with a sneer.

“What’s important to you whether you allow it or not?”

“Should I consider it important? I have armor, and it’s not even a matter of dealing with a bastard like you.”

“…Shall we try?”

Kai squeezed his body between them and said.

“Both of you shut up. And Skol. Be careful. That woman has the captain’s horagai. That means she’s someone the captain decided to keep alive no matter what. So even if some of us saw our faces, we can’t kill her. Got it?”

Kai’s furious voice growled, and Skol shrugged and turned around.

“Well, fine. The captain will figure it out. But… newbie. You’d… better watch your mouth.”

“I don’t care if others do or don’t. Can you just get lost now? Don’t you have something to do?”

“Tsk, tsk, what kind of great things are we going to accomplish with these kinds of kids… The captain is still too immature when it comes to this.” With those words, Skol disappeared into the forest. He went to find Kim Se-hoon, following his scent.

Kim Se-jeong and the others were completely intimidated by the ominous atmosphere of the uninvited guests who had not only killed the fire spirit with a single blow from the sky but were also threatening to kill them, so they huddled together without saying a word.

Alice took care of Kim Se-jeong, who was trembling like a wet rat.

“Don’t worry. You’re safe now.”

Kim Se-jeong grabbed Alice’s hand and explained.

“I’m sorry… We left one of our own behind. I don’t know if he’s alive or dead… Oh, he might still be alive. But… a really scary fire spirit is after him… Oh, no. If these guys go after him, he might die….”

Alice spoke to Kim Se-jeong, who was rambling, in a soft voice.

“Don’t worry. One of my colleagues has gone to find him now, and if he’s the man I know… he’s definitely not dead.”

Skol, who had followed Kim Se-hoon’s scent, was soon able to find him.

Skol approached Kim Se-hoon, who had barely regenerated his upper body and was leaning against a tree, and said,

“You look terrible, Captain.”

Kim Se-hoon looked up at Skol with a pale face.

“You’re here.”

“Yes. I’m here, but… You’re still alive. Are you okay?”

“Somehow. How’s the rescue going? Did it go well?”

“Personally, I didn’t like the rescue, but… what can I do since he has the horn of protection? Well, it went well. Kai will be taking good care of him now.”

Skol said as he carried Kim Se-hoon’s upper body on his back.

“But from the looks of your tattered clothes… It seems like you ran into that monster, didn’t you? Am I right?”

“…Yeah.”

“I acknowledge that you’re great, Captain. But… can you win? That guy is the master of this forest.”

“When did we ever have the right to choose whether or not to block it?”

“Well, that’s true… You know? That guy. He’s heading to the barrier.”

Kim Se-hoon asked with a hardened expression.

“What about the sword and the crown?”

“Isao and Legios are bringing them.”

Kim Se-hoon said, his dark eyes gleaming.

“Contact them. Tell them to meet us in front of the barrier.”

The Legendary Older Brother’s After Story 14

Crackle.

A rhinoceros with bright green moss skin emerged, breaking the trees like toothpicks.

It was the Forest Rhino, a level 4 fire spirit and the runaway train of the forest.

“I-it’s a forest rhino! Run!”

The Yoo Sung Group questers who saw the forest rhino instinctively ran away in all directions.

They knew that the forest rhino had the trait of following its target to the ends of the earth, so they ran away.

Whoosh.

The forest rhino snorted and charged forward, boasting its 6m height, and the boulders in its path were smashed to pieces like walls hit by a dump truck.

Thud –

Along with the heavy footsteps, the interview candidates who had failed to dodge in time, unlike the questers, were hit by the forest rhino’s body and splattered out like blood clots.

Grooooowl.

As if it was furious about something, the forest rhino shook its head fiercely and struck the candidates with its horn. Every time it did, the candidates’ bodies crumbled horribly.

It was a gruesome sight, like a scene from a third-rate fruit movie.

The Yoo Sung Group questers trembled at the sight.

“The fire spirits are rampaging like they’ve turned their backs on us. Oh… The forest… It’s finally gone crazy. It’s completely lost its mind!” When one quester covered his head with both hands and collapsed, his colleague raised him up with an urgent gesture and shouted.

“You idiot! Snap out of it! Do you want to die? If you lose your nerve here, you’ll die right away. Just go straight to the gate!”

The quester sobbed at his colleague’s words and said,

“Snap out of it? What difference will that make? Look around you. From goblin beetles to blood-horned antelopes… What can you possibly do here… Ughhh…”

The quester, who had been speaking, suddenly coughed up blood and collapsed, clutching his heart. His surprised companion quickly supported him, but the team leader next to him stopped him.

“It’s too late.”

Saying so, the team leader pointed to the area around the fallen quester’s heart.

His shirt was soaked in blood. To be exact, something was squirming and popping out from around his heart.

A silver-bodied earthworm, a parasitic insect, had eaten its way out of the quester’s heart.

“Eek…!”

The man, his face pale, slapped his buttocks and retreated backwards, dragging his butt along the ground.

Thud.

The man felt something hit his back and looked back with trembling pupils.

And he could see it.

His team leader, who had always been so reliable. Seo Jae-won was standing tall, surrounded by dozens of butterflies.

The man uttered in a dry voice.

“B-blood butterflies…? Team leader! It’s dangerous. G-get rid of the butterflies quickly…” The level 1 parasite blood butterfly didn’t really have any combat abilities, but it was one of the most troublesome parasites.

This butterfly would silently approach a target that was bleeding and lay its eggs. These eggs would then suck up the blood in an instant, like a dry sponge absorbing water.

If that was all, it would have been fortunate, but the problem was that the secretions released from the eggs would interfere with blood clotting.

Seo Jae-won coughed dryly and leaned against a tree, sliding down as if he were slipping.

“I appreciate your concern, but the blood butterfly’s eggs have burrowed deep into the wound. It’s too late. Well, maybe if I get help from the healing kit at the entrance to the barrier… Not here…”

If the tiny, invisible blood butterfly eggs had seeped into the wound, that was it. Without the help of the special medicine available in the healing kit, it was impossible to stop the bleeding, no matter what.

This was because the blood butterfly eggs that had seeped into the blood vessels would induce bleeding.

As such, the danger level of parasites could not be guessed by their level alone. No matter how low-level the parasite, if one did not have prior knowledge about it or responded incorrectly, they were likely to lose their life.

“Team leader…”

Seo Jae-won let out a soft laugh and said.

“Because of that stupid kid Shin Hyeon-soo or whatever his name is, all of you, the precious children of other families, are going to die. Hahaha, we shouldn’t have come out without a beacon in the first place… How could these kids, who have never properly left the entrance to the barrier, have had the confidence to come to this damn place…”

Seo Jae-won’s subordinate, Lee Byung-seop, grabbed the team leader’s arm and said.

“Team leader. Don’t give up. We just got a radio message that rescue teams have departed from all 12 sectors. If you just hold on a little longer… If you just endure a little longer, you can live!”

Seo Jae-won looked at the goblin beetle that was turning its head towards them with hazy eyes.

Seo Jae-won, who saw the strange blue light flickering in the goblin beetle’s eyes, pushed Lee Byung-seop next to him with all his might.

Lee Byung-seop, who was pushed away in surprise and fell backwards, looked at him with bewildered eyes. Seo Jae-won said.

“Go. You know? Couples go to hell if they hesitate. So leave me and go. I’m a solo player, so don’t worry. If you feel sorry, come back later and brag to your wife that you left a good boss. Well, if you’re sorry, come back later and tell your wife that you left a good boss.”

Thud, thud, thud!

The heavy footsteps that shook the ground were like thunder on earth.

Seo Jae-won muttered as he watched the goblin beetle, which was charging at him, destroying everything in front of it.

“I wanted to try dating before I died…

Life really sucks.”

At that moment, something dropped from the giant bat that had descended from the sky and landed on the goblin beetle’s back.

Graying hair that showed signs of middle age. A sturdy build, eyes filled with a cold determination.

Seo Jae-won’s eyes widened as he recognized who it was.

“Alps…?”

A famous figure on this floor, and the only person who could tame a parasite of the same level. The owner of ‘Domination’.

Seo Jae-won couldn’t help but feel hopeful at the appearance of Alps.

However, that hope withered away as quickly as an old flame.

“By the way, why do I feel that we’re pathetic? Is it just… because of our feelings?”

As far as he knew, the Alpine’s sheep-taming skill could not be used on non-fire species that were not the same level.

In other words, the forest bison was beyond the Alpine’s ability.

Well, that was if he hadn’t grown.

Creak?

However, the forest bison’s reaction was strange. When the Alpine put both his hands on the forest bison’s spine and concentrated, it staggered as if it was dizzy.

Seo Jae-won, who recognized that it was the first sign of domination, muttered,

“No way… Did it become level 4?”

After struggling for a long time, the forest bison stood tall in that spot, shaking its rough body.

The blue light in its eyes, which had been tainted with madness, disappeared without a trace, and it was replaced with the gentle eyes of a herbivore.

The Alpine spoke as he sat astride the forest bison.

“We’ve met before, right? Your name was… Seo Jae-won?”

Seo Jae-won grinned and took out a cigarette from his pocket and put it in his mouth.

It seemed that he couldn’t help but smoke after seeing the grandeur of the Alpine, who had tamed the forest bison.

“Well, well… I am honored that the head of Azure Sky remembers my name. Yes. We met once before.”

“Survivors? Are there two of you?”

The control team 5, which had rescued and escaped 17 job applicants, had a total of 12 members.

Seo Jae-won answered with a self-deprecating smile at the fact that only he and his subordinate, Lee Byung-seop, were left.

“…Somehow, it turned out that way.”

Coo

As the two of them talked, the forest bison mercilessly stepped on a venomous red deer that was slowly approaching, and the Alpine stroked the forest bison’s back as if praising it.

“You made light of the forest.”

“That’s right. I was always reluctant to come here because I was scared of this place… Ah, I guess the higher-ups didn’t think that way.”

The Alpine said, looking at Seo Jae-won’s wound that wouldn’t stop bleeding.

“Do you have any blood vials?”

“Yes.”

The Alpine looked up at the huge wings floating in the sky and said,

“Raven. You take care of that guy and take him to the entrance of the barrier. If you leave him alone, he’ll die from excessive bleeding in less than an hour, so hurry….”

Before the Alpine could finish speaking, three or four grotesque birds swooped down toward the wings from the other side of the sky.

They were level 2 arrowhead birds, fire species that mercilessly pierced their prey with their arrow-shaped beaks and ate their insides.

The wings were startled by the grotesque birds that were shooting toward them like javelins and tried to avoid them in a panic.

But was it because there were more than twenty survivors in its arms?

Its movements were so sluggish that it would have been mercilessly pierced by the arrowhead birds if left alone.

Whoo-osh.

At that moment, a cold wind blew from somewhere and attacked the arrowhead birds.

The sharp wind tore the arrowhead birds’ wings to shreds.

The Alpine’s gaze followed the path of the cold wind as he watched the arrowhead birds fall to the ground with mournful cries.

Soon, the Alpine muttered as he found a black-haired man with blue hair floating in the air wearing a sky-blue uniform.

“Who is that….”

The Alpine frowned as he recognized the blue flower pattern embroidered on the chest of the sky-blue uniform.

The uniform with the Blue Sky mark was the symbol of the Jang family.

“Jang Dae-cheon.”

Jang Dae-cheon, the successor to one of China’s top families, the Jang family, and the owner of the rare elemental sheep-taming skill, ‘Cold Wind’, appeared, and the Alpine twisted his mouth.

‘Elemental… How interesting. But even so, it’s only level 3. He’s not my match.’

When the Alpine raised his thumb to express his gratitude, Jang Dae-cheon turned around with his luggage and flew away.

He was heading toward the entrance of the barrier where the questers from the 12 states had gathered.

“Raven. Take Seo Jae-won. I’ll look around to see if there are any more survivors and join you.”

“I understand, Father.”

The tentacles extending from the wings wrapped around Seo Jae-won and Lee Byung-seop and pulled them into its arms.

As the huge wings began to flutter forward, Lee Byung-seop, who had been in the transporter with the feelings of a loser, opened his mouth.

“Team leader. Wasn’t our Yuseong Group… on par with Azure Sky?”

“…Yes. We were on par.”

“But why do I feel that we are so shabby? Is it just… a feeling?”

Seo Jae-won sighed at Lee Byung-seop’s question.

“Byung-seop. We are not inferior to them. It’s just… because of the mistakes of our superiors, our power was dispersed, and we ended up like this.”

“Our power was dispersed? But why don’t we have a level 4 quester or a special awakener like Jang Dae-cheon? Well. It seems to me that… not to mention the Twin Walls….”

Seo Jae-won took a deep breath as he watched Lee Byung-seop, who could not continue speaking.

In fact, Lee Byung-seop’s question was valid.

The reason why the Yoo Sung Group was highly valued in the first place was due to its size, which had the most questers, and its environment, which was close to the barrier and provided many opportunities to gain field experience. It was not because their quality was superior to other quester teams in other states.

However, today, when they looked at the inside, they were faced with the harsh reality.

Yes. Their true strength was only their size, and their field experience, which was derived from the environment, was an illusion that relied on the shadow of the lighthouse.

Seo Jae-won closed his eyes tightly and answered as if making excuses.

“It can’t be helped. The population of our Korea state is the smallest out of the 12 states. As you know, no one wants to come to our state just because it’s near the barrier. Sigh, it’s a miracle that a quester team of this size was formed in the meantime.”

Even though it was something they had brought upon themselves, Lee Byung-seop was resentful and angry at their own lowly position.

He did not want to admit the reality that they, who were evaluated as the best of the 12 states, were prolonging their lives with the help of questers from other states.

“…There must be some in our state. Excellent questers. Awekeners who are not inferior to them must be somewhere.”

Seo Jae-won smiled slyly and said.

“Byung-seop. We are divided into 12 states, but we live in the same city. In other words, we belong to the same group. In such a situation, what if you feel competitive with questers from other states?”

“But what can I do about being angry? We suffer the most near the barrier, and it’s the most dangerous for us… It’s too resentful that those who live comfortably thanks to us are better than us.”

“…Yes, you are right. There must be someone like the excellent person you are talking about somewhere.”

As he said so, Seo Jae-won could not shake off his skepticism.

Of course, if you were looking for an excellent person, you could just look for them at the lighthouse.

However, as far as he knew, the lighthouse did not discriminate based on origin and only looked at one’s abilities.

In other words, even if they were excellent, it did not mean that they would brighten the status of Korea.

Above all, now that the state system has been implemented, it was also funny to have a useless competitive spirit like Lee Byung-seop.

But why?

Perhaps because of Lee Byung-seop’s words, Seo Jae-won also felt bitter.

‘Damn it, are we the only ones who don’t have a level 4 quester out of the 12 states? X-ing, that’s too much….’

“Captain. By any chance… haven’t you leveled up yet…?”

Kim Se-hoon, whose body had fully recovered and got off Skol’s back, answered calmly.

“Yes. I’m still at 5.”

“5…. It’s a high enough level, but against the razor bear….”

“What can I do? I can’t level up no matter what I do.”

“…The captain worked so hard, but he’s still not at 6 yet…. By any chance, is the human limit level 5?”

Kim Se-hoon nodded.

“It’s not certain, but… that could be the case.”

“How can that be…. Then what are we going to do? Not only the razor bears, but also things like the endbringers? How can we handle such things….”

Kim Se-hoon chuckled as if he was talking nonsense.

“Why are you going to handle it? Whether it’s before or now, humans have been powerless in the face of natural disasters. Typhoons, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions. They just endure and overcome it. They didn’t try to defeat them.”

“But… at least they weren’t living beings that moved around.”

Kim Se-hoon smiled slyly and said.

“That’s true. But Skol. The fact that Level 5 is the limit only applies to us, and there’s no guarantee that our descendants will be the same. Frankly speaking, the Flame Species are creatures that have evolved with Flame Cells for millions of years. But for us to try to catch up to their history in just ten years… isn’t that a bit too ambitious?”

“Our descendants… and our successors have the potential to become even higher leveled than us, is that what you’re saying?”

“Yes. Just like how ordinary animals evolved into Flame Species, we will also… certainly evolve to adapt to the current environment.”

Skol said with a dark face.

“But… Captain. Isn’t that something that will happen far in the future, not now? The Parasites are coming for us now. Something like that has no meaning….”

Kim Se-hoon lightly patted Skol’s shoulder as if to tell him not to worry.

“Don’t worry. That’s why I’m here.”

“Captain….”

At that moment, Regius and Isao greeted Skol and Kim Se-hoon, who had arrived near the barrier.

“Captain! We’re here! Come this way!”

“We brought the Crystal, the Sword, and the Crown here. Please praise us!”

Kim Se-hoon chuckled as he watched them bouncing around like kangaroos and causing a commotion.

‘The world has become like this because of me. That’s why I owe humanity a debt. Yes. A great debt that I cannot repay with my life.’

He had been having these thoughts lately.

That there must be a reason why he, a sinner, had survived in the Outer and was still alive.

It was still vivid.

Lux, who had appeared at the right time. The Sky Whale that had retreated.

The surviving humans.

And himself, who was in debt.

Suddenly, he wondered if perhaps God was giving him a chance.

Yes. A chance to repay his debt.

Kim Se-hoon opened his mouth.

“Skol. Don’t live your life in debt.”

“Huh? What do you mean all of a sudden….”

“The life of a debtor. It’s more tiring than you think.”

After saying that, Kim Se-hoon smacked the back of Regius’s head as if to ask why he had brought the Crystal.

Regius whined with a sullen face. And Isao quickly and sneakily ran away.

Skol looked at them with a complex gaze.

Sequel to the Strongest Older Brother in History 15

After leaving Kim Se-jung and the others at the infirmary near the barrier entrance, Alice looked around the barrier and her eyes widened at the horrific state of the scene.

Flame Species of all kinds rushed in endlessly.

And Questers from 12 different provinces to protect the last human stronghold, the barrier.

It was almost like a war, but on the other hand, it was more like a desperate struggle.

-I’ve been infected by an Insect! What should I do?

-Ugh, you idiot! How many times do I have to tell you to check the app uploaded by the Lighthouse! The treatment is there!

-Dammit, the bleeding won’t stop! I think it’s because of the Blood Spikes! I looked up the antidote in the app, and it says to find Thistle and Bloodwort, but damn… where am I supposed to find them?!

-Go to the clinic set up by the Lighthouse! They have supplies there!

-A Phantom Lynx has appeared! Does any Quester here have the ability to detect it? If this continues, the formation in the 3 o’clock direction will collapse!

-The formation in the 1 o’clock direction has collapsed! Send reinforcements!

-Anyone with anti-air abilities?! There are Fire-Tipped Birds and Bomber Vultures in the sky… Fuck! There are too many. Too many”.

Those who fought desperately to protect. And the Flame Species who fled to avoid being eaten by the apocalypse.

In fact, their goals were the same.

Yes. The goal of living, or rather, of not being eaten.

‘Can we… hold out?’ The Questers were doing their best to block them with all their might, but they were helpless against the endless stream of Flame Species. In particular, the high-leveled Flame Species that popped out among the low-leveled ones were deadly.

There were quite a few Questers who went to support, thinking that there were only low-leveled Flame Species, only to meet with misfortune.

‘At this rate….’

As the battle situation changed rapidly every minute, Alice’s face grew pale, and at that moment, something strange happened among the Flame Species.

A Forest Rhino that had jumped out as the trees of the forest collapsed like dominoes began to rampage among the Flame Species.

Kiiiiiieeeeek!

They were trampled, crushed, and bounced away.

The rhinoceros beetle began to literally sweep away the flame golems as it rampaged like a hippopotamus playing around among puppies.

The strange thing was that a half-white middle-aged man was sitting on the back of the rhinoceros beetle with his legs crossed.

‘Alps…?!’

A young man who looked similar to Alps passed by Alice, who was gaping in surprise. Behind the young man who had a distinctive smile, a boy with a timid impression followed him while constantly glancing at him.

“That old man is trying hard.”

The boy with the timid impression carefully grabbed the young man’s sleeve and said.

“…Hyung. Shouldn’t we help too? The situation is not good.”

“Yes. Hmm, So-cheon, you stay here. It might be dangerous.”

“I understand, hyung. Take care.”

Jang Dae-cheon, the young man in a sky-blue uniform, shot up into the sky, and a sharp wind burst from his hand.

It was the elemental magic, Sword Wind, which tore everything it touched like a sheet of paper.

Kki-eeek-!

The limbs of the flame golems that were touched by the wind were cut off.

The amazing thing was that not a single scratch appeared on the body of the quester who was fighting with them.

Alice, who recognized the young man and the boy, muttered.

“Jang Dae-cheon, Jang So-cheon?”

This was the first time she had ever seen the woman. Moreover, when a beautiful woman called out their names, Jang So-cheon looked up at Alice with innocent eyes and asked.

“Do you know us?”

Alice became flustered at the thought that she had made a mistake.

“…I know your names.”

“That’s strange. We are quite famous in the China server, but there shouldn’t be anyone who recognizes us here except for the leaders of each quester team…”

Alice smiled awkwardly at Jang So-cheon’s suspicious gaze.

However, Jang So-cheon’s attention quickly shifted away from her.

This was because suspicious figures had appeared in the hall in droves.

All sorts of strange masks that reminded one of Halloween. And their carefree and leisurely steps as if they were on a picnic.

As soon as they appeared, they received the attention of everyone present.

Henry, who was wearing a vampire mask, chuckled and said.

“It’s quite interesting to see the guys who use tricks.”

Samuel, who was wearing a nightmare mask, said in a monotonous voice.

“Stop talking nonsense and take the left side. I’ll take the right side. I’m warning you, be careful not to cross paths unnecessarily. It’s annoying.”

“I’ll do it as I please. You don’t cross paths either. You idiot.”

“…Well, it’s annoying even if we don’t cross paths.”

“Really? Are you trying to pick a fight? Hey, do you want to fight?”

“I’m not going to lose.”

Crackle.

As if they were mortal enemies, a man wearing a bear mask squeezed between them.

As the large figure blocked their path, it felt like a huge wall had suddenly appeared.

“Now, now, everyone calm down. Before people get hurt even more, let’s go and support them. We all came to help, right? We didn’t come to cause trouble, right? Hey, Skol. Have you finished checking the locations of the flame golems level 3 or higher?”

Skol, who was wearing a wolf mask, replied.

“Checking. I’ll let you know in real time as soon as I find out, so keep your earphones on.”

Kai, who was wearing a bear mask, nodded his head and said.

“Okay. Then… shall we go?”

With Kai taking the lead and running towards the front, Henry charged to the left and Samuel to the right.

Kai’s role among them was simple.

To destroy everything in sight.

That was his mission.

“Heuracha-!”

When the large, black man wearing a bear mask charged in, the questers nearby scattered like wolves. They were startled by the oppressive aura emanating from the giant and the power he displayed when he crushed the neck bones of a weasel flame golem with a single blow.

Kai smiled and said.

“I’ll take care of the front, so everyone just support me from behind. Of course, don’t get in my way.”

– Level 3 flame golem at 11 o’clock, Big Kong.

Creak?

As soon as Skol’s transmission ended, Kai, who saw Big Kong, a gorilla that looked to be about 2m tall, appearing from the 11 o’clock direction without fail, let out a light sigh.

Big Kong also looked at Kai with sullen eyes and approached him with heavy steps.

Big Kong also approached with heavy, thudding steps, looking at Kai with contemptuous eyes.
Alfres’ pupils fluttered like leaves in the wind, as if he was agitated by the news that there was a great man who had reached not only level 4, but level 5.
A fleeting glance. A grinning mouth.
Kai, recognizing his fateful enemy, pulled out the strength he had deeply stored in his muscles through his expenditures and punched Big Kong with all his might.
“Ugh!”
Kwaang!
A powerful attack that would silence even a decent ogre with one blow.
However, Big Kong easily blocked Kai’s fist with both hands and roared.
Kyaaa-!
Big Kong’s and Kai’s hands were intertwined.
Blood vessels popped out of the forearms of the two giants who had their hands together.
The eyes of the questers watching the two were filled with bewilderment.
After all, it was impossible to tell who was a gorilla and who was a human.
Kai, whether or not he knew how others saw him, shouted and raised his spirits.
“Okay, let’s do some real pumping today!”
While the human and the gorilla were busy showing off their strength, a completely different picture unfolded elsewhere.
To the left, in the formation of the 9 o’clock direction, red thorns sprang up and swept away the low-level ogres.
As if in a scene from an execution ground, the bodies of the ogres pierced by the high thorns swung like pendulums.
The questers who witnessed what had happened in an instant took a step back and looked at Henry’s back, who was standing in front of them, with fearful eyes.
Henry yawned as if he was bored and said,
“That’s pathetic.”
In fact, it was rare to find someone who could boast such an overwhelming presence on the battlefield.
The battlefield was overflowing with blood, and his ability was to freely manipulate that blood with his incantations.
In that way, the perfect environment and ability met, and the secret technique, ‘Thorn Forest’, killed a hundred ogres at once.
“If it’s this much… I’m much faster, right?” Henry looked to the right with eyes filled with anticipation. But his face was distorted like a crumpled can.
The scene of the brainwashed Abyssal Knights killing each other.
He saw Samuel standing alone there.
“…That bastard is still a heretic today.”
Henry acknowledged Samuel’s abilities.
No, in fact, he was afraid. He couldn’t tell if he could resist Samuel’s brainwashing ability.
However, even though he was not confident that he could win in a fight, Henry had one reason to contain and antagonize Samuel.
Because someone had to contain that bastard’s endless malice.
‘Did he brainwash even the questers…? That crazy bastard. If the captain sees him like that… Phew, I can’t read the captain’s mind. That guy can never be tamed. No, he can’t be controlled either. But why would he…? ‘
The questers, who had collapsed in droves, rolled their eyes white and foamed at the mouth. They had lost their minds to Samuel’s brainwashing.
Of course, they would return to normal once the brainwashing was lifted, but they would most likely suffer from aftereffects.
This was because Samuel was not kind enough to care about the aftereffects of others.
A moose approached Samuel, who was standing alone with his arms crossed among the ogres killing each other.
“Where is that man?”
Alfres’ cold gaze and Samuel’s emotionless gaze met in the air.
Samuel, who realized that the man Alfres was referring to was the captain, Kim Se-hoon, replied.
“You, a mere bug, are not qualified to know where he is.”
Alfres’ face hardened coldly and he snorted.
“A bug… I guess I’ll live long enough to see everything. I never thought there would be a maggot who would treat me like this.”
Samuel glanced at the moose and said,
“You’re so proud of yourself for taming a different kind of ogre. Or… are you under the illusion that you’re the best in the world just because you’ve reached level 4?”
“I think it’s enough to be proud of if you’ve reached level 4, the unexplored territory of mankind.”
“Three.”
“Hmm?”
“That’s the number of level 4 questers in our Reus, including me. So level 4 isn’t as unexplored as you think. Besides…”
Samuel grumbled with an expressionless face.
“The person you’re looking for is level 5, so even more so.”

“The one you are looking for is level 5, so even more so.”
Kim Se-hoon opened his mouth, his eyes wide open.

“That man’s level is… 5?”

Samuel looked at Alps with his fat eyes and said.

Kim Se-hoon reveals to Lee Jung-hyeop that he has gained resistance to the void’s harmful effects, protecting his brain from infection. However, he cannot use his void abilities in the ocean due to the Leviathan’s presence. Kim Se-hoon criticizes the weakness of other quester teams, particularly the prominent Yoo Sung Group, and suggests that this is a result of their own shortcomings.

Alps’ pupils fluttered like leaves in the wind at the sound of a level 5, not even level 4, as if he were agitated.

“That man’s level is… 5?”

Samuel looked at Alps with his fat eyes and said.

“I remember you. Aren’t you Alps, the head of Azure Sky?”

“…Yes.”

Samuel closed his eyes for a moment and recalled the list that Kim Se-hoon had given him. He clicked his tongue softly and said.

“You’re on the list. Get lost. I’ll spare you today because I’m looking at your captain’s face.”

Alps, who was offended by Samuel’s rude tone, looked at him with calm eyes.

He reacted more calmly than expected, even in front of Samuel’s attitude as he was leaving.

However, if Raven had been here right now, he would have been terrified.

Because he knew that when Alps was really angry, he would lose his words.

Whether the two were staring at each other in silence or not, the situation was getting noticeably better as time went on.

The situation changed rapidly when elite questers from 12 states joined Reus.

The questers, who had been pushed back helplessly, were now starting to push back.

Alice clenched her fist with a slightly brightened face.

‘The Outer… wasn’t completely meaningless.’

Through the Outer’s simulation, Yggdrasil, including Zion, was able to select these outstanding individuals. As a result, it was no exaggeration to say that the best of humanity had gathered here right now.

Alps, once called the God, was here, and Samuel, whose depth of malice was immeasurable and had driven Kim Se-hoon to the very end, was also here.

Was that all?

Just by looking at the faces of the questers, one could be sure that they were not just coincidentally gathered there.

There were those from Judah and those from the In-species.

Therefore, there was neither good nor evil here.

Just the ability to survive.

The mastermind who led them here did not care what their nature was, as long as they were talented enough to sustain humanity and had the ability.

‘Zion… judged that in order for humanity not to perish, they needed a natural enemy. That was because they thought that only then would humans stop fighting each other and join forces. And now… they have gathered. To survive. For survival. They have joined forces without thinking about what comes next. Yes. If this is it… if they are it…!’

Alice, who knew their abilities better than anyone else since they were once enemies, was finally able to have hope.

No matter how threatening the Fire Dragons were, she was overwhelmed with confidence that if they joined forces, they could overcome anything.

Thud!

At that moment, a heavy footstep caught everyone’s attention at once.

Growl. He was cunning. That’s why he didn’t come out even though he had arrived early.

Yes, he watched quietly.

To see if there was an opponent who could threaten him.

Yes. He gauged whether there was anyone among those gathered like ants in front of the towering steel wall who could stand up to him.

Thud!

After a while, he made a judgment.

They are bugs.

Bugs that are trampled under his feet as he walks.

Ants that are stepped on and brushed off if they get in the way.

Kwagwagwagwang-!

The predator of the forest, the Blade Bear, roared.

The startled ground raised dust, and the forest shook its leaves as the earth roared.

The Blade Bear swung its forelegs sideways. Then, the entire body of the Forest Buffalo that was in its path was cut in two and fell to the ground.

When the Forest Buffalo, which boasted such great power, was killed in a single blow, even Alps, who was sitting on it, Kaido, who was fighting with the gorilla, and Henry.

Everyone looked at the predator.

Of course, the Blade Bear was smaller than the Forest Buffalo.

Except for the blade fur embedded in its skin, it was so small that it could be considered no different from any other ordinary bear.

However, everyone here could realize it.

Yes. None of them could resist or survive what was in front of them.

“Ah….” Alice instinctively looked back.

Her desperate gaze scanned her surroundings.

As if she was desperately looking for someone who wasn’t there.

Skadi asked Kim Se-hoon, who was praying while sucking on candy and holding the Silver Cross.

“Captain, liar.”

Kim Se-hoon slowly opened his eyes.

“What?”

“Captain, you don’t know whether there is a god or not. Then why do you pray? Hmm, so there is a god after all?”

“No, I still don’t know.”

“You don’t know? Then why do you always pray before going to fight?”

Kim Se-hoon grinned and replied.

“Well, you have to try everything.”

Skadi clicked her tongue at his shameless words and shook her head.

“…Wow… That’s deadly. But Captain. That’s a really dangerous thought. If there really is a god, wouldn’t he not answer your prayers if you pray with that kind of thought? No. Rather, he would probably harass you even more. How dare you look down on me?! Growl~ Growl!”

As Skadi pretended to be a threatening animal and growled, Kim Se-hoon burst into laughter and scratched his chin.

“Maybe so. But still, Skadi. If he’s really a god, wouldn’t it be too… petty of him to harass me for that reason?”

“Huh… Is that so? But there’s no rule that says a god can’t be petty.”

“That’s true. But… if that were the case, I probably wouldn’t be here right now. Hmm, just by the fact that I’m here… maybe he’s really big-hearted if he really exists.”

Skadi tilted her head and thought deeply, then soon sucked on her candy as if she was bored.

“Ugh, I don’t know. I’ll just eat candy.”

Kim Se-hoon, who had been looking at Skadi with a gentle gaze, got up from his seat. The quick-witted Skadi approached him and handed him a white mask.

A mask without expression or shape.

Skadi asked Kim Se-hoon, who was putting it on his face.

“But why do you wear a mask, Captain? I asked Mr. Jung-hyeop last time, and he said you weren’t wanted?”

“I don’t want people to misunderstand.”

“What misunderstanding?”

“Yes. They might misunderstand that my actions in front of them come from good intentions. Or, that they come from a sense of duty.”

“…Isn’t that true? You serve without asking for anything in return.”

Kim Se-hoon, wearing a white mask, gently stroked Skadi’s head.

“Skadi. I find it very annoying to do this kind of thing, and I don’t want to do it. But I still have to do it because I’m being punished right now.”

“Punished…? Ah, you said you committed a sin?”

“That’s right. This is a sin, a debt… and a punishment. That’s why I want my family, others. I want them all to not know me. I don’t want them to look at me with colored glasses and misunderstand me just because I’m protecting them or acting.”

Kim Se-hoon picked up his sword.

The iron chain that bound the handle and blade of the sword rattled and made a clanging sound.

Kim Se-hoon, who had picked up his sword, picked up his crown this time.

He reaffirmed himself.

He would not forget that no matter what sacrifices he made for them, it was a price he deserved to pay.

He would not forget that all their pain and suffering originated from him. He would also not forget that he was a sinner, even in the face of sweet praise.

He swore and put on the gray crown.

Woosh.

As a faint light emanated from the gray crown, Skadi quietly followed behind Kim Se-hoon.

Kim Se-hoon had awakened his abilities based on his experiences in the Outer.

Psychic power, Immortal, Strong Body, Contract.

All of these were abilities he had awakened out of necessity.

And every single one of them could be said to have been awakened by his design.

And when he reached level 5, he thought of someone he had been very impressed by in the Outer.

Yes. Sinijesis.

The queen of the army designed by the hero king Kim La-on.

Swish.

A knight in shining armor appeared in the darkness.

Blazing eyes.

Shining armor.

And, a forgotten legacy.

Clang* Thud, “Thud”*

Knights in armor walked out of the darkness with rhythmic steps.

Kim Se-hoon’s fifth ability, ‘Legion’.

This was the ability to control a target in which his ‘Immortal Brain’ had been implanted, and the Crown designed by Honna Isao amplified and maximized this ability.

Thus, Kim Se-hoon became the legacy of his ancestors.

He made the Brain Hearts of a thousand armors his Immortal Brain.

In fact, for Kim Se-hoon, who possessed Immortal, it was not difficult to process his own infinitely regenerating brain and make it into a Brain Heart.

There was only one thing he had to be careful of.

People realizing that their Immortal Brains could be a source of energy.

Recovering knowledge that has been lost to the annals of history.

That alone was something that should never have happened in order to prevent the repetition of incorrect history.

“Let’s go, Skadi.”

That’s why Kim Se-hoon will be the first and last to handle this knight order of armor.

Even if it were to break down, Kim Se-hoon had no intention of repairing it.

Once it breaks down, it will disappear forever.

That was the fate of heritage.

KONG-, gun ‘J gun’ *

A thousand pieces of armor emerged from the darkness.

Their rhythmic steps were as spirited as knights following their king.

They were the gatekeepers of the barrier who followed the king.

They were the guardians who had guarded the city gate for ten years under the lighthouse’s fire.

Postscript 16 of the Strongest Brother in History

The Alps rolled around on the ground like crazy.

Blood flowed from his skin, which had been torn by the gravel, and pain rose from his throbbing ankles.

Someone’s voice faintly reached his muffled ears.

“Father…!”

A cold wind blew in, and his hair fluttered like a flag, clearing his vision.

Then, he saw it.

The figure of the bastard massacring the questers’ army.

KWORRRRR-!

Every time the Razorback roared, the humans around it were mercilessly sliced apart.

Watching them as they were ground into meat chunks by a crusher like in a butcher shop, the Alps dragged its butt and retreated.

‘Monster….’

Resist? Fight back?

It was meaningless. Once, humans were predators on this Earth.

No matter how ferocious the beast, it was stuffed for their amusement, and the largest mammal on Earth was hunted for food.

However, now.

Humans were no longer the masters of the era or the predators.

Yes. Like in the distant primitive era. Like when they faced the dinosaurs with their bare hands.

Humans had to crawl up from the bottom once again.

The Alps realized it too late.

Whirik.

The Razorback’s gaze, which had been greedily searching its surroundings, turned towards the Alps.

It seemed to instinctively know what the tastiest prey was here, hopsa.

And the Alps was certain.

For the Immortal species, the tastiest prey was the number of levels.

In other words, it would be the one with more Immortal cells.

Thud, thud, thud, thud.

The necks and limbs of the humans near the Razorback, which was running towards them on all fours, were severed.

The synergy resulting from the flesh blade and tremendous kinetic energy.

It was like the sight of a large truck running with hundreds of electric saws attached to it.

Raven, the bird in the sky, screamed and shot out its tentacles after seeing the Razorback drooling and running towards the Alps.

“No-!” The tentacles tore like paper as soon as they touched the Razorback.

And just before the five Japanese sword-like claws reached the Alps.

The Razorback’s movement stopped abruptly, as if time had frozen.

Someone spoke to the Alps, who was gulping dry saliva at the claws stopped right in front of its forehead.

“Step back. It’ll be difficult if you die here.”

A gray crown. And a featureless mask without any design.

Was that why?

The pitch-black eyes visible through the holes in the mask stood out strangely.

‘This guy is….’

The man with the featureless mask was holding an opened steel case, which contained a black crystal.

A lusterless crystal like a poorly made cubic.

One by one, the Razorback was backing away like a dog that had seen fire.

After seeing that, the man with the featureless mask, Kim Se-hoon, spoke as if relieved.

“Even trash can understand. This will make things a little easier.”

As soon as Kim Se-hoon’s words ended, the Alps could see it.

The army of metal armor lined up behind him.

‘What the…?’

An army of armor that was lined up in perfect rows like a mechanical force.

The Alps examined the army closely and got goosebumps on the back of its neck.

The helmets of the armor.

It could see through their empty insides.

Whether the Alps was surprised or not, Kim Se-hoon, who had grabbed the back of its neck and thrown it to the back, opened his mouth.

“Go.”

As soon as his words ended, a black shadow pounced on the Razorback.

KWORRRRR-!

The powerful gauntlet, Elephant, grabbed onto its leg, but the sharp claws of the enraged Razor Bear tore through Elephant’s gauntlet and ripped it apart.

The sturdy metal gauntlet split apart with an unpleasant screeching sound, but there was nothing inside.

The Razor Bear tilted its head as if a ghost had been living inside the gauntlet.

It seemed to be reacting as if it had ripped apart its prey but its intestines hadn’t spilled out.

However, the Razor Bear didn’t have the leisure to ponder this question.

As soon as Elephant fell silent, gauntlets that held no fear at all charged forward, one after the other.

“If one doesn’t work, then two. If two don’t work, then ten. If ten don’t work, then a hundred.”

The energy source of the gauntlets was the Brain Heart.

In other words, the immortal brain.

Currently, there was only one person in the world who could fully control this immortal brain.

It was none other than Kim Se-hoon.

No, to be precise, even Kim Se-hoon could only control the gauntlets. He could no longer produce or manufacture any more gauntlets.

This was because Kim Se-hoon, who had judged that the technology of using the human brain as an energy source would harm the future of mankind, had destroyed all the data.

Therefore, there were only 1,000 gauntlets in existence in this world, and even those could not be repaired if they were damaged.

Creak, creak

The Razor Bear crushed the gauntlet of Tiger, which was stabbing it with claws like toothpicks, with one foot and bit it with its teeth. Then it shook off the gauntlets that were hanging awkwardly on its back with a somersault and kicked them away with its front legs.

Watching it destroy the toy soldiers like an enraged, large dog, Kim Se-hoon took a step forward, carrying the box containing the crystal.

Kyaaaak-!

The Razor Bear, startled by the presence of the crystal, flinched back.

But that was it.

Normally, the Razor Bear would have been surprised by the ominousness of the crystal and moved away from the barrier, but now it didn’t think of retreating so easily.

It was more afraid of the enormous pressure gradually approaching from behind than the unidentified crystal in front of it.

Kim Se-hoon’s expression darkened under his mask when he realized this.

‘…Even though they’re trash, are they more afraid of Brooks…than the void that can contaminate their origin?’

He was suddenly afraid.

Until now, Kim Se-hoon had been using the gauntlets, a legacy from the ancient era, and the remnants of the great virus, the void, born from Yggdrasil, to defeat the immortal race.

But suddenly, this question crossed his mind.

Yes. Whether this void would also work on the divine beast, the harbinger of the end.

But what if the void didn’t work?

What choice would he have to make then?

“…Henry. Samuel.”

At Kim Se-hoon’s call, Henry and Samuel, who had rushed forward, prostrated themselves before him.

Kim Se-hoon quietly raised his hand as if he had been waiting for this. Then, two gauntlets that stood out even among the thousand gauntlets popped out.

Nightmare, the gauntlet with hundreds of red eyes blinking as if they were alive, and Vlad, the gauntlet with blood-red hair fluttering like a cloak behind it.

Swish. Clank.

The gauntlets wrapped around Henry and Samuel’s bodies.

Kim Se-hoon glanced at Samuel and Henry, who were wearing the mystery-grade gauntlets.

He felt a sense of newness.

Once, they were the ones who had treated those weaker than them as livestock and enjoyed eternal life.

Was that all?

They were unprecedented murderers and psychopaths.

How else could they have awakened their brainwashing ability with the desire to play with people like toys?

That’s why they’re rabid dogs.

Yes. Mad dogs that would bite everything in sight if they didn’t have a muzzle and a leash.

But ironically, it was those who had been like that who were now sacrificing themselves more than anyone else.

Whether it was their own will or not.

Kim Se-hoon spoke.

“I promised you. If you risk your lives, I will give you the opportunity to take mine.”

Samuel’s eyes flashed with a Crazy.

It was an insatiable gaze, like that of a man who had left his beloved lover behind and come to a desperate battle.

Samuel said in a sticky voice.

“A chance. Will you give it to me?”

Samuel was deadly, but his desires were easy to understand because they were visible.

On the other hand, Henry was cunning.

He was always vague without revealing his true heart.

“Well, I’m satisfied with the captain. But… Samuel is a little annoying. So this time. Can I use this opportunity on him, not the captain?” The same inside and out and the other. One, I don’t know if they know. Their habits, tendencies, and attitudes.

Kim Se-hoon, who had watched over them for millions of years, could see their hearts as easily as looking into clear spring water.

Kim Se-hoon ignored Henry’s question as if it was worthless and said.

“Don’t kill him. It’s impossible anyway. So… just find a gap. Somehow catch him and make a gap… I’ll take care of it.” Henry said, grinding his teeth.

“Heok, heok. It was a loyalty appeal, but it’s fucking ignored…. As expected, the captain is a son of a bitch? Well, okay. A gap against the predator of the forest. I’ll make it once.”

Samuel exhaled with excitement and said.

“Don’t forget that you gave me a chance.” “I won’t forget, so go before it’s too late.” As soon as Kim Se-hoon’s name fell, the two armors moved.

Alice, who had approached Kim Se-hoon, carefully opened her mouth.

“…Are you really going to give those two Mystery-class armors?” In fact, as Alice said, it was almost impossible to give the rebellions Mystery-class armors.

Of course, that’s only when Kim Se-hoon doesn’t have the detonator of the bomb inside the two armors.

Kim Se-hoon replied indifferently.

“Don’t worry. As you know… I’m not stupid enough not to put a leash on a dog I’m raising?”

Alice smiled bitterly and said.

“Yes, that’s right. But… do you have a chance of winning?” Kim Se-hoon replied, looking at Samuel and Henry who were rushing towards the bladed bear.

“No, it will be difficult with just those two.”

Kim Se-hoon looked up at the sky.

Beyond the clear sky without a single cloud.

A black dot like a dot was in his eyes.

Yggdrasil said that even if dozens of Numbering-class armors attacked, they could not do anything to a level 7 flamethrower.

Then? What about a level 6 bladed bear?

Snap, snap.

The bladed bear swallowed a tiger armor whole.

Originally, he wouldn’t have eaten such metal, but it was surprisingly good when he ate it.

Kim Se-hoon’s flame brain between the armors.

The taste of the brain, which had accumulated considerable flame cells, was the best.

The bladed bear, who had been engrossed in eating, stopped moving.

A strange mind was invading his ego.

Creak?

The dizzy bladed bear shook its head and stepped back.

Originally, Samuel’s brainwashing ability, which did not work at all due to the level difference.

It was amplified by the Mystery-class armor and controlled the movement of the bladed bear for a moment.

Swoosh.

Vlad’s bloody hair, which did not miss the gap, wrapped around the bladed bear’s body.

The bladed bear, who could not respond until Samuel’s tough and sticky hair completely covered his body, went mad after regaining his senses.

Kuwoooo!

As the bladed bear twisted its body, Vlad’s hair made a thud as if it was about to be torn off.

However, seeing that it was not easily broken, it was worthy of being the pinnacle of 30th-century science, nano-metal.

The bladed bear judged that the hair wrapped around him was not easy to cut off, so he opened his mouth wide.

Poof.

The bladed bear’s silver tongue, like a whip, aimed at Henry’s left thigh.

The tongue, which fluttered like a bamboo spear, moved like a soft sword and cut Henry’s thigh.

As Henry screamed in unbearable pain and was about to lose his focus, Samuel took control of Henry’s mind. He intended to invade his mind so that Henry would not lose control of his hair.

“Ugh….”

The area around Samuel, who had managed to tie up the blade bear with his wit, became dark.

A huge shadow like a mountain’s shade loomed over his head.

Samuel looked up at the sky and was thunderstruck.

“It’s here.”

With a deafening roar as if a giant mountain were falling from the sky, the machine dragon struck down the blade bear with both feet.

Kwaang!

Amidst the rising clouds of dust, the machine dragon’s alien eyes, like camera lenses, glared at the blade bear.

The dragon, its wings spread wide, mercilessly struck the blade bear’s body with its tail.

The blade bear screamed and thrashed, but it was impossible for it to resist the dragon, no matter how strong it was, while being tied up with hair.

In the original history, which was not the Outer, Kim Se-hoon did not have exclusive armor.

No, to be exact, he didn’t need it.

That’s because the machine dragon would take care of everything before he even had to go to the front lines.

That’s why the dragon was called discipline.

In front of the dragon, which handled everything according to Kim Se-hoon’s will, the existing order and system were useless, and only the dragon was the principle of action.

-Kekekekeke

The moment the machine dragon, which had stepped on the blade bear’s head, was about to revel in its victory with a frivolous laugh, the trees in the forest collapsed all at once, and an enormous number of flameworms poured out.

A number incomparable to anything seen before.

It was the Wave phenomenon caused by Hwangang Brooks.

At the same time, everyone present could see it.

The sight of a yellow cloud, like the sandstorm of a desert, devouring the forest and the atmosphere and approaching them.

Kim Se-hoon, who saw the yellow disaster that turned the forest into a wasteland, the atmosphere into a stench, and the sky into its own presence, clenched his fists and thundered.

“Hwangang Brooks….”

Yes, the end had come for them.

The formation collapsed, and screams erupted.

-We can’t hold on any longer! Retreat!

-What do you mean, retreat! If we run away, it’s over! Hold on! We have to hold on somehow so that the people behind us can hold on!

-12 o’clock, 3 o’clock, 10 o’clock, the formation has collapsed! No! Fall back!

The formation crumbled like a sandcastle.

Morale broken.

Spirits fallen into the abyss.

When everyone had made the judgment that they could no longer continue the fight, the gatekeepers filled their empty places.

Armors resembling various animals replaced the empty spaces of the questers and rebuilt the collapsed formation, with the machine dragon standing tall at the most dangerous front.

-Kyaak Keke!

The machine dragon, standing majestically, grabbed the corpse of the blade bear with its tail, its neck broken, and swung it around haphazardly.

The blow, like a mace, swept away the flameworms, and as the gatekeepers, who knew no fear unlike the questers, went into action, the momentum of the Wave faltered.

However, the hope of restoring the formation was short-lived.

Despair found them.

Oooooooooo.

Sonic.

At that sound, which resembled a woman’s cry, the fleeing questers covered their ears and collapsed.

No, it wasn’t just the questers.

Alice, Alps. Reus.

All of them collapsed, bleeding from their ears.

Only one was standing.

Kim Se-hoon was the only one who stood still, bleeding from his ears.

‘Wing flapping…’

Kim Se-hoon immediately realized the true nature of the sonic.

That the sound that resembled a woman’s scream was, in fact, the sound of wings flapping from the yellow cloud.

Even Yggdrasil had not been able to properly identify the true nature of Hwangang Brooks. Unlike other divine beasts, Brooks was not an individual, but a swarm.

A cloud of gluttony formed by hundreds of billions of locust-like flameworms.

That was the true nature of Brooks.

When it had first gathered and when it had first gained a will, no one knew.

All they knew was one thing.

That it crossed the feeding path at regular intervals.

And that nothing but a blade of grass would be left where they passed.

“…Everyone’s running away.”

Kim Se-hoon glanced at Alice as she spoke about the questers returning to Natallis in disarray.

He stared at her with a complicated expression in his eyes as she crawled over to him, blood seeping from her ears.

“It’s better this way. Nothing would change even if they were here.”

Alice gritted her teeth and said in a low voice, “Kim Se-hoon. Let’s run away too.”

Kim Se-hoon chuckled and said, “Where to?”

“Don’t tell me there’s nowhere to go in this vast world? Let’s gather as many people as we can and leave Natallis. We can start over anywhere with you and Yggdrasil.”

Kim Se-hoon shook his head.

“That’s no different from being thrown into the Amazon naked. They won’t survive.”

“No, that’s not true. You know it too. Those who are meant to survive will survive. Humans have survived even more disastrous times. So this time too, somehow…”

Kim Se-hoon cut her off firmly.

“No. They won’t survive. Back then, humanity had time to adapt to the environment and grow strong enough to survive their natural enemies. But not now. Do you know why?”

Kim Se-hoon continued in a self-deprecating voice,

“Because I took their time away. You know… that I took millions of years from humanity.”

“That’s…”

“Humanity’s extinction is my fault. So the only one who should be responsible, the only one who should endure… is me.”

As he spoke, Kim Se-hoon let out a soft groan from the throbbing pain in his temples.

Worried, Alice reached out to Kim Se-hoon, but he gently pushed her hand away and opened his mouth.

“Samuel.”

From the front, Samuel, who had been brainwashing the fire spirits and making them fight each other, rushed over to Kim Se-hoon’s call like the wind.

“Did you call for me?”

“From now on, brainwash Reus, the lighthouse keepers, and the remaining questers. Make them all leave the battlefield.”

Alice, realizing Kim Se-hoon’s intentions, shouted in a sharp voice, “Hey! Kim Se-hoon!”

Samuel spoke cautiously.

“What do you mean…?”

Kim Se-hoon said in a monotonous tone, “In any case, I’m the only one who can solve this, and it’s something I have to do. It’s ridiculous to involve others. Besides, since they’re all bound by a contract with me, it won’t be easy for them to escape. So while we’re at it, it wouldn’t be bad to set their minds at ease.”

Understanding Kim Se-hoon’s feelings, Samuel said in a low voice,

“…You want me to brainwash them and force them to escape?”

“Yes. It’s obvious that some people won’t leave even if you push them out.”

Samuel tilted his head and asked, “Why are you going to such lengths? Even if you do this, no one will know. Captain, no one knows your face except for us. Yes. In fact, most people don’t even know of your existence. So even if you stop Brooks here… no one will acknowledge it.”

“That’s good. That’s exactly what I want.”

Samuel couldn’t understand Kim Se-hoon. Based on his personality and values, Kim Se-hoon’s actions were worthless.

He didn’t seek compensation or fame.

Yet, despite all that, he was devoted.

He didn’t expect anyone to recognize him, and he endured everything silently on his own.

Samuel looked at the sword hanging from Kim Se-hoon’s waist and asked, “In the end, you’re thinking of drawing your sword.”

“Yes.”

“You’ll need someone to clean up the aftermath.”

“You don’t have to worry about that.”

Samuel muttered in a complicated tone, “You don’t trust me.”

“It’s natural that I don’t trust you, but if I had to say it, it’s because there’s someone I trust more than anyone else.”

Kim Se-hoon said to Alice, “Alice. Can I ask you for one selfish favor?”

“…Tell me.”

“I want you to stay until the end. Can you do that?”

Alice snorted and said, “Do I have to ask for such an obvious thing? What do you think I am… Hey, rather, if you told me to leave, I’d be really upset.”

Kim Se-hoon’s voice was tinged with laughter at her answer, which showed no hesitation whatsoever.

But why?

In that attitude, there was a sense of guilt that he couldn’t help but notice.

Kim Se-hoon said to Samuel.

“Then leave it to me. Samuel.”

Samuel spoke in a tone filled with regret.

“Don’t forget. You promised to give me a chance. So come back. This isn’t the place where you’re supposed to die…”

“Don’t worry. Even if you don’t tell me, I’ll come back on my own.”

Samuel turned around and said.

“…Skadi will cry a lot.”

Kim Se-hoon smiled and said.

“Don’t worry. Just give her some grape-flavored candy and she’ll stop crying.”

“Well… do you really think so?”

With those words, Samuel quickly began to move.

Reus, and all the Questers including the Alps and Raven, followed Samuel as if they were possessed. Kim Se-hoon, who had been watching them, looked straight ahead this time.

The yellow cloud that had come close enough to touch transformed into the shape of a mouth.

Snap, the opened mouth devoured the forest in one bite.

As the mouth of the yellow cloud swallowed everything in its path, regardless of whether it was trees, earth, or the flame species, all that remained in its place was a devoured mark.

There were no traces left behind, not even any sign that life had ever existed there.

Alice, who was standing next to Kim Se-hoon, asked.

“Aren’t you scared?” Realizing that the hands of Alice, who had asked such a question, were trembling, Kim Se-hoon reached out to her without realizing it.

But his hand stopped in mid-air.

There was a line in the relationships between people.

And Kim Se-hoon had a hunch.

He felt that holding her hand here would be crossing the line.

And that it would not be good for either of them. It would be incredibly selfish to give her a hopeless hope by getting carried away by a moment’s impulse.

Yes, he had already made a selfish choice by asking her to stay here. So he shouldn’t cross the line any further.

Whether it was then or now, there was no place for her in his heart.

Kim Se-hoon’s hand awkwardly fumbled in the air before returning to its original position.

“It would be a lie if I said I wasn’t scared. This place isn’t some virtual reality like Outer, and it’s not even a fake religion. Besides… right now, we don’t even know if there’s an afterlife, do we?”

In Outer, he could have risked his life willingly.

At that time, he knew that the world operated on a system of reincarnation, and that’s why he was able to face death without fear.

That’s because he knew that even if he died, he would be reborn as a new life.

But now, his heart was pounding like a child’s, and he was scared.

Would there be a heaven? Would there be a hell? No, he didn’t even know if there was an afterlife.

How could he be calm in such a situation? For humans, the unknown was always filled with fear.

Alice said in a trembling voice.

“…Hey, even now…”

Kim Se-hoon, who could guess what she was going to say without hearing it, walked forward.

Soon, the only ones left on the battlefield were the armored gatekeepers.

Neither the Questers nor Reus remained.

Kim Se-hoon, who had confirmed that only he and Alice were left in this place, opened his mouth.

“There’s one thing you have to do, Alice. If anything goes wrong with me, be sure to retrieve this sword and save the people.”

“Don’t even… say that.”

“Junghyeop will be busy with the evacuation right about now. Of course, even so, countless people will die the moment I fail. The survivors will have to go to another continent by sea…” How many people would die in the process?

That’s why Kim Se-hoon reminded himself once again. That he could never fail. “But even so… in order to save those remaining people, this sword is essential.”

“What… is that?”

“Void.”

“…What?”

“Those who died from being infected by the Void in Outer. A sword forged by mixing the Void extracted from their corpses into metal.

That’s what this is.”

Kim Se-hoon gently stroked the chains with his palm and uttered the password.

Then, the chains, which responded to his fingerprints and voice, unraveled and fell to the ground.

Alice, who had learned the true nature of the sword, exclaimed in shock.

“You, you… Void! You know what that is, don’t you! If handled improperly, it’s a virus that can lead humanity to extinction! And it’s a virus with a 100% fatality rate, for which there is no vaccine!”

“You, you… Void! You know what that is! If mishandled, it’s a virus that can lead humanity to extinction! What’s more, it’s a virus with a 100% fatality rate that has no vaccine!”
With a slight intimidation, Kim Se-hoon drew his jet-black sword from top to bottom. The yellow cloud that was aiming for Kim Se-hoon. To be exact, the swarm of yellow locusts was startled by the fire and tore apart to the left and right.

Kim Se-hoon reveals to Lee Jung-hyeop that he has gained resistance to the void’s harmful effects, protecting his brain from infection. However, he cannot use his void abilities in the ocean due to the Leviathan’s presence. Kim Se-hoon criticizes the weakness of other quester teams, particularly the prominent Yoo Sung Group, and suggests that this is a result of their own shortcomings.

“Yes. But at the same time… it’s also the only virus that can completely destroy immortal cells.”

“Crazy…. I wondered how you’ve been holding out against the immortal species… Don’t tell me you’ve been doing it this way…!”

Kim Se-hoon said as he walked forward with his sword in hand.

“When humans first discovered fire, they feared it. They feared the fire that could burn their homes, their lives, and even their lives, and ended up worshiping it. But they soon realized. That if used incorrectly, it is despair, and if used correctly, it is hope.”

“Hey, come to your senses! Don’t you know even after experiencing it in the Outer? The void is emptiness itself. There is no hope or despair there! It’s nothing! A virus that turns everything… to dust!”

“Maybe. Yeah… Maybe I’m making a bigger mistake than all the countless mistakes I’ve made so far. But… Alice. I’m not handling the void without thinking.”

“What…?”

“Immortal cells, the resulting necrosis, and the regenerative cells‘immortal’ that I realized after researching to overcome necrosis. Do you know that? That all of these fit together like puzzle pieces? Like… a formula.”

“Don’t tell me… have you been using Immortal to handle the void all this time?”

“Yes. Immortal is resistant to the void. So if you use this well, maybe someday humans will be able to handle the void just as they came to handle fire. Of course, it will take a long time. But I’m sure. If given time, as we always have, we will find a breakthrough.”

The human immortal level limit is 5.

If this continues, there was no future for them.

As long as there is a limit, sooner or later, they will be eliminated.

However, even in the past, humans were weaker than gorillas, could not withstand the ocean like fish, and could not fly in the sky like birds.

But how did it end up in the end?

In the end, they overcame it.

Somehow. Somehow.

“So all humanity needs is time. And the one who has to buy that time… is me.”

Kim Se-hoon drew his sword.

A pitch-black sword. A blunt blade that wasn’t even properly sharpened.

However, Alice could tell.

In front of the ominousness emanating from this sword, the presence or absence of a blade meant nothing.

Kim Se-hoon’s hand holding the hilt began to turn black.

The erosion of the void has begun.

Kuooooooooo….

Did you feel the presence of the void?

The Emperor Brooks wriggled and swayed.

Like a cloud swaying in the wind. Or like a typhoon swirling, Kim Se-hoon, who saw Brooks, came to his senses.

“Do you see? Oh yeah, you’re afraid of this too. Then… step back. Yeah, please step back. Before you die. And before I die… leave.”

Why isn’t he scared?

He was afraid of death, and that’s why he wanted to live.

Because the happier each day was, the more he looked forward to tomorrow, the more attached he became to life.

That’s why I wanted to run away.

I wanted to give up everything and survive.

But he couldn’t.

Because the sense of responsibility and guilt pushed him.

Unlike other immortal species who run away as soon as they see the void, Kim Se-hoon, who still holds his ground after seeing Brooks, said bitterly.

“Are you not going to back down? Yeah. Then… there’s no choice. This side… has no choice but to go.”

Kim Se-hoon’s new form, holding the sword, shot forward like an arrow.

The Strongest Older Brother’s Talk about it later18

Kuoooo.

Along with the sound of flapping wings like an echo in a cave, the yellow cloud transformed into the shape of a palm and attacked Kim Se-hoon.

As the giant palm hung over his head like a ceiling, Kim Se-hoon, whose heart was pounding as if he was facing the great heavenly king with the palm of the Buddha, waved his hand. Then, more than a dozen armors that were advancing from behind ran and supported the top of Kim Se-hoon’s head like an umbrella.

Pahahahahak.

Along with the sound of a chainsaw grinding against iron, more than a dozen armors were instantly shredded and turned to dust. A violent appetite that devours armor whole without leaving a single scratch.

Kim Se-hoon’s neck was covered in cold sweat as he saw the madness and gluttony.

“Hah!”

With a light energy, Kim Se-hoon swung his jet-black sword from top to bottom. The yellow cloud that had been targeting Kim Se-hoon, or rather the swarm of yellow locusts, tore apart to the left and right in surprise at the fire.

Instinctively, it defended itself.

It knew that even if they were called the Divine Beast, they would not be safe if they were touched by that thing.

The yellow cloud shook as it followed the trajectory of the black trail that was stirring around it.

Kim Se-hoon’s eyes flashed strangely as he watched Brooks desperately trying not to touch the void.

‘It works. You’re scared.’

Even Brooks, one of the four Divine Beasts, was flinching?

As expected, the void was the answer.

Kim Se-hoon’s body expanded with confidence.

One of his abilities, a strong body, had manifested.

Starting from his height, Kim Se-hoon’s sword, which had grown 1.5 times in size, fiercely cut through the atmosphere and aimed at Brooks.

Some of the startled yellow clouds retreated like smoke in the wind.

However, Brooks, furious that he had been surprised and stepped back by such a small being, roared.

Kuoooo. The flapping of its wings became even more intense, and the sound waves grew louder.

Kim Se-hoon’s eardrums burst and regenerated repeatedly, and blood flowed incessantly from his ears.

The veins in his right forearm, which held the sword, gradually turned black.

The longer he held it, the more he swung it, the faster the void’s infection spread.

There was no time.

His body could be infected as much as he wanted.

However, his brain was not.

If his brain was completely infected, it would be the end for Kim Se-hoon, even if he had immortality.

At that moment, the ground darkened.

‘The sky…?’

As the yellow cloud covered the sky, other places were clear, but the place where Kim Se-hoon was located was pitch black as if it were night.

Like a sky covered with dark clouds, the sky covered by the yellow cloud spewed out countless whirlwinds.

The heavens and the earth shook, and the forest swayed. The bodies of the Fire Dragons caught in the whirlwind disappeared without a trace in an instant.

The whirlwinds, filled with an insatiable appetite, devoured everything, living and non-living.

Kuooooooo-!

The locusts contained in the yellow cloud did not discriminate between soil, dust, or iron.

Within minutes, the forest became a wasteland, the Fire Dragons died with screams, and the Knights of the Order, who had surrounded Alice to protect her, were crushed into dust.

The number of armored knights, who had been as numerous as the stars in the sky due to the fierce battle with the Fire Dragons, was now around 500.

However, it would not take even a minute for that number to be reduced to less than half.

Kim Se-hoon, furious at the fact that he might lose Alice, let out a thunderous roar and charged forward.

Kim Se-hoon, who had approached Alice in one step, stabbed the jet-black sword into the nearby armor.

Kim Se-hoon, who saw the armor turn black as if ink had fallen on white cloth, pointed his index finger at the sky.

Boom.

As the armor infected with the void jumped into the sky, it was devoured by the whirlwind.

And after a while, Brooks realized that it had been a clear mistake.

This was because one of the hundreds of whirlwinds that had been feeding greedily showed abnormal symptoms after swallowing the armor.

Gurgle.

The whirlwind that had eaten the armor scattered into pieces, and the corpses of dead locusts fell to the ground like rain.

Brooks’ cloud shook at the sight.

The shape of the cloud, changing from a circle to a square to a triangle, expressed Brooks’ fear.

It was because he had realized for the first time since he was born into this world and gained self-awareness that ‘part’ of him had died.

Kim Se-hoon’s brain was burning.

“Eat as much as you want. Well… if you can digest it.”

Kim Se-hoon injected the remaining armor with the void and ordered them to self-destruct as a group ability.

As the blackened armors fed themselves to the whirlwinds one after another, the whirlwinds that had been scanning the surroundings began to die one by two.

Kim Se-hoon’s eyes gleamed coldly as he watched the locusts, which were as big as human heads, fall to the ground like flies that had eaten poison and were wriggling.

Kim Se-hoon’s eyes shone coldly as he watched the cicadas, each the size of a human head, twitching feebly on the floor like poisoned flies.
Brooks seemed ready to cross the barrier at any moment. Once he did, it would be the end.

Kim Se-hoon reveals to Lee Jung-hyeop that he has gained resistance to the void’s harmful effects, protecting his brain from infection. However, he cannot use his void abilities in the ocean due to the Leviathan’s presence. Kim Se-hoon criticizes the weakness of other quester teams, particularly the prominent Yoo Sung Group, and suggests that this is a result of their own shortcomings.

There was confidence that this method would work, and it did, but he had to be careful.
Strictly speaking, this method could be a double-edged sword.
The void infects everything, metal or otherwise, but its most lethal effect is on immortal cells.
The void completely annihilates immortal cells, leading to the death of immortals.
That was why Kim Se-hoon was reluctant to use this method.
‘The ground…turns black.’
The void that flowed from the cicada’s body turned the ground black.
A dead zone.
A land of death that took the lives of immortals and humans alike.
‘If used well, it’s hope, if used poorly, it’s despair….’
God has always been like that.
As if testing humans, he showed not one side but two, and gave not one but two choices.
Fire was like that, uranium was like that, and today, the void was like that.
Thus, God left them with a choice without fail.
Yes. About whether to choose despair or hope.
Kuoooo.
Fear, terror, anger.
Brooks, enraged by an unfamiliar emotion he had never felt before, transformed into the shape of a giant mouth and lunged at Kim Se-hoon.
It was an attempt to swallow that abominable being in one bite, even if it meant losing part of itself.
Thud.
In an instant, Kim Se-hoon’s expressionless mask and his limbs were devoured by the mouth and disintegrated at an ultra-high speed. However, even as he was being eaten alive, Kim Se-hoon did not give up and swung his sword sideways.
As the black trajectory crossed, the mouth was split in two from top to bottom.
Hundreds of cicadas touched by the sword fell to the floor with a thud, their bodies discolored, and Kim Se-hoon, who had lost 30% of his body except for his right arm holding the sword, fell to his knees.
“Keuk….”
Kim Se-hoon spat out black blood from his mouth and concentrated on regenerating. The immortal’s regenerative power, which normally restores even serious wounds in an instant.
But now, perhaps because he was infected with the void, his regeneration was slower.
Was that why?
In the end, Kim Se-hoon barely managed to restore his arms and legs, but his crushed skin failed to regenerate.
He had restored the functions of his arms and legs with all his might, but he had failed to restore the aesthetic parts.
Kim Se-hoon muttered, fingering his mangled nose and chin with his left hand, as if they were the remains of someone’s meal.
“So…was it tasty?”
Kim Se-hoon’s blood was already somewhat infected with the void. Brooks couldn’t have been unscathed after eating him.
The yellow cloud vomited black rain like blood.
Countless cicada bodies, discolored by the void infection, lay scattered on the ground, and the wasteland was tinged with black light.
It looked like a black desert made of black sand.
Did it realize that Kim Se-hoon was an inedible food?
Brooks seemed to have shrunk considerably and failed to rush at Kim Se-hoon.
No, it didn’t stop there and even hesitated to retreat.
“What the…?”
Soon, Kim Se-hoon realized his mistake.
They called it the end, but in reality, its essence was nothing more than a single living being.
In other words, the desire to survive was no different between humans and Brooks.
The yellow cloud began to retreat from Kim Se-hoon’s sight and headed toward the barrier.
Brooks, terrified by the void, began to flee like a mischievous child who had been slapped in the face.
Of course, this was what Kim Se-hoon had hoped for.
To scare him away with the void.
That was his purpose from the beginning.
However, the path was the problem.
The void was now not outside the barrier, but fleeing toward Natális.
“No-!”
Kim Se-hoon rushed forward with a scream. He still felt pain from his legs that had been eaten by the cicada, but the adrenaline and emotions that had gone wild swallowed up the pain.
Kim Se-hoon called for Gyuyeol as he ran.
“Come on, Gyuyeol!”
Thanks to being told to stay in a corner in case there was something that had to be flown directly into the sky, the mechanical dragon appeared in front of Kim Se-hoon in perfect condition.
Kim Se-hoon jumped onto the mechanical dragon’s head in one leap and shouted.
“To the sky-!” The mechanical dragon roared and flew up into the sky.

Brooks was about to cross the barrier. However, if he crossed, it would be the end.

A sparrow wouldn’t dare enter a cat’s territory.

Not only would the monster leave Natalie alone, but Kim Se-hoon would also be caught in a dilemma.

If he fought Brooks inside Natalie, the entire city could become a land of death due to Brooks’s body, which had been infected by the void.

Kim Se-hoon, who had been driven into a corner, muttered in a mournful voice.

“Kyul… I’m sorry….”

With tears in his eyes, Kim Se-hoon stabbed the jet-black sword into the dragon’s neck.

The dragon’s flesh turned black with a scream.

Kim Se-hoon caressed the neck of the mechanical dragon and pleaded.

“Please, hold on, Kyul. And… let’s go. You and I will cut through those clouds.”

The mechanical dragon responded to its master’s desperate plea.

It began to shoot towards the yellow clouds at a frightening speed.

Neck, head, torso, wings.

Kim Se-hoon gripped the jet-black sword with both hands above the dragon’s head, where its once-shiny silver body had turned black.

The black veins had not only consumed his upper and lower body, but they had also protruded from his jaw and face.

The void had spread beyond his flesh and into his head.

“I won’t let you go! Never…!”

With a scream, or perhaps a roar, the black dragon pierced through the yellow clouds.

The yellow clouds split in two like smoke torn apart by a black arrow.

The blue sky appeared between the parted clouds, and sunlight streamed down on the barrier.

Kuwoooooo–!

After the sound of flapping wings that resembled a death knell, black rain fell endlessly from the sky.

Countless locust corpses, each the size of a human head, fell onto the wasteland.

It was like a black hail, and it was no different from a disaster.

Most of the land that had been spared had already been blackened and killed by the locust corpses infected with the void.

Probably, from today onwards, not only humanity but even the Firebirds would never be able to use this path again.

This place had already become a black desert that allowed no one to enter.

Kururururuk….

The yellow clouds, which had been endlessly spewing black rain, seemed unable to endure any longer and abandoned some of their infected parts, tearing into dozens of pieces and scattering in all directions.

The Hwangang Brooks had finally given up on its meal and was beginning to return to its habitat.

Who knows, but with the damage it had suffered today, Brooks would probably have to recuperate for at least several hundred years and restore its lost flock.

However, one thing was for sure: Brooks would never forget what happened today.

Unlike ordinary disasters, it was a living being with a will, and it possessed emotions, a desire to survive, and a thirst for revenge.

In the end, the end had only been postponed.

Someday, it would come back for them.

Kung!

The mechanical dragon, which had fallen to the ground with the locust corpses, was writhing on the ground as if it had run out of energy.

On the head of the mechanical dragon.

Kim Se-hoon, whose appearance and form had been lost like a leper, was trembling all over his body.

Whether he was conscious or not, he did not forget his duty even in that state.

The jet-black sword that he had not let go of until the end.

The black sword left his hand and fell to the ground with a thud.

The sword that was turning the surrounding ground black. And Alice, who saw Kim Se-hoon from the entrance of the barrier, shouted.

“Kim Se-hoon!”

Someone grabbed her shoulder as she involuntarily tried to step forward.

It was Lee Jung-hyeop, the handsome young man who seemed like a painting.

“Don’t go. It’s too late.”

At Lee Jung-hyeop’s words that it was already too late, Alice shouted.

“What are you talking about! Can’t you see he’s moving? He’s not dead! He’s not dead yet!”

“Yes. He’s not dead yet. But look. The ground around him is already tainted with the void… No one. No one can approach him.”

“Just a little bit, just a little bit longer, and I can bring him back. Then somehow….”

Lee Jung-hyeop shook his head, wiping the moisture from his eyes with his forearm.

“You can bring him back? Alice. Anyone who takes even one step onto that land will be infected with the void without exception. Yes. They will collapse and die before they even arrive, let alone leave. We’re… not the Captain.”

“Can you take us? Alice. Anyone who takes a single step on that land will be infected with the Void without exception. Yes. They will collapse and die before they even arrive, let alone enter. We are… not the Captain.”
Yggdrasil began to walk heavily to retrieve Kim Se-hoon, not caring if his fur turned black or if he became infected with the Void.

– Yggdrasil (Yggdrasil): A character in the novel, a talking rabbit.
– ellis (Alice): A character in the novel, a member of the quester team.
– Sehun Kim (Kim Se-hoon): A character in the novel, the Captain of the quester team.
– void (Void): A mysterious and dangerous force that infects and corrupts living beings.
– leviathan (Leviathan): A massive sea monster that inhabits the ocean and prevents Kim Se-hoon from using his Void abilities.
– Yuseong Group (Yoo Sung Group): A prominent quester team that is criticized by Kim Se-hoon for their weakness.
– immortal cell (Immortal Cells): Special cells that grant resistance to the Void’s harmful effects.
– Alice (Alice): A character in the novel, a member of the quester team.
– Jeonghyeop Lee (Lee Jung-hyeop): A character in the novel, a member of the quester team.
– Eileen (Eileen): A character in the novel, a mysterious woman with silver hair and a white rabbit.

Kim Se-hoon reveals to Lee Jung-hyeop that he has gained resistance to the void’s harmful effects, protecting his brain from infection. However, he cannot use his void abilities in the ocean due to the Leviathan’s presence. Kim Se-hoon criticizes the weakness of other quester teams, particularly the prominent Yoo Sung Group, and suggests that this is a result of their own shortcomings.

“So? So we’re just going to leave it like this? Are we going to let him die… just let him die like that?”
Lee Jung-hyeop squeezed his eyes shut.
He, too, was one of those who wanted to save Kim Se-hoon more than anyone else.
However, Kim Se-hoon always used to say:
That in any moment, one must not be swayed by emotion and must remain calm.
That was why he was able to make such cool judgments, but on the other hand, Lee Jung-hyeop, who could not push away all his turbulent emotions, spoke in a voice filled with resentment.
“I too… I too! If there was a way, I would go and save him. But what can I do? There is no way. Going now would only add another corpse, and there is no guarantee that we can save the Captain!”
Alice’s eyes lit up as she spoke.
“No, there is. A way.”
“…You’re saying there’s a way?”
“If it’s the Kim Se-hoon I know, he must have prepared for his own death. So he must have prepared it. A spare of the Immortal Cells. Am I right?”
Lee Jung-hyeop’s pupils shook.
“That’s…”
Seeing Lee Jung-hyeop’s attitude, Alice pressed on with conviction.
“Immortal Cells… set aside for research and for the future… you have them, don’t you? No. What am I saying now. That’s right. Lee Jung-hyeop, you’re not a fool, so of course you brought them. Hand them over! You have them, don’t you, the Immortal Cells!”
Lee Jung-hyeop sighed and pulled out a syringe from his pocket.
Alice, seeing the blood-red liquid clinking inside the syringe, said:
“…You sly bastard… you brought it but you were bluffing? Hand it over. If I get that, I’ll gain resistance to the Void, and then I’ll be able to hold out long enough to bring Kim Se-hoon back.”
“If we can’t save the Captain… if it’s already too late… then this is humanity’s last hope.”
“What… what are you saying now? Lee Jung-hyeop. I don’t know about anyone else, but you shouldn’t be saying things like that! You know that bastard better than anyone! You know why he became like that, and who he did it for…”
Lee Jung-hyeop cried out.
“That’s why I know! I can’t do it. What if, just by one chance… what if we can’t save the Captain? What if we lose both the Captain and the Immortal Cells? This is a cell that cannot be researched or produced without the Captain. This… is the last one! But what if we try to catch two birds and end up losing both…? Then the Captain will never forgive us…”
At that moment, someone’s voice echoed between them.
“Don’t worry. That’s not the last one.”
A woman with silver eyes and silver hair walked through the gate at the entrance of the barrier.
The white rabbit cradled in the woman’s arms shook a glass bottle filled with blood-red liquid and said:
“A spare of that cell. We have it here too. It was with the angel statue that Mother had. Your Captain probably wanted to research that one too. Well, in a way, it’s only natural. When it comes to research in Natális, I’m not exaggerating when I say that I’m the top authority.”
Alice, who recognized the white rabbit and the silver-haired woman, muttered.
“Eileen…”
Eileen tilted her head and said:
“Do you know me? Well, since I’m quite famous, it would be strange if you didn’t. Now, we have a spare. Now the important thing is not whether or not to save that person, but who will go to the rescue. In my opinion… the person who goes to save that person with the help of this cell… will most likely die.”
As she said, the Immortal Cells were not a vaccine.
Even if injected, it would only grant resistance for a short while, and it could never cure the Void.
In other words, even if Kim Se-hoon was saved, the person would die.
“No. There’s nothing to worry about, and nothing to discuss. I’ll go.”
Alice snatched the syringe from Lee Jung-hyeop’s hand.
However, just as Alice was about to inject her own arm, Eileen grabbed her hand.
“No. I’ll go. I have armor. If I use that, I’ll be able to hold out a little longer. In other words, I have a higher chance of surviving than you.”
Alice glared at her and said:
“I have armor too.”
“Most likely, my armor is better. So I’ll go…”
“No, I…”
While they were arguing about who would go, Yggdrasil, who had slipped out of Eileen’s arms, walked heavily outside.
Immediately, Yggdrasil’s fur turned black in an instant.

Yggdrasil, not minding whether its fur was turning black or getting infected by the void, swaggered forward and began to collect Kim Se-hoon.

Was it because of its mechanical nature, despite its cute appearance?

How could such a dragon power come from that small figure? Yggdrasil, who easily pulled out Kim Se-hoon, who was wriggling around like jelly on top of the dragon’s head, spoke to Lee Jung-hyeop.

“Taking this guy to the city like this is like asking to die together… Hmm… If this guy is as smart as I think he is, he would have prepared a plan for today. By any chance, is there a treatment facility nearby?”

Lee Jung-hyeop, who had been dazed by the incident that had happened without his knowledge, came to his senses at Yggdrasil’s words and replied.

“Yes, there is. The forest… No, it should be called a wasteland now. There is an emergency treatment facility prepared in the basement of the camp over there.”

Yggdrasil nodded its head and said.

“I see… I was wondering why he, who had never even caught a tail, suddenly sent us an SOS today… It was to get my help. Send me the coordinates. And… Why don’t you come out and stop hiding? Judging from the electromagnetic waves coming out, it doesn’t seem to be broken at all.”

Yggdrasil kicked the head of the mechanical dragon with its plump foot.

Then, the mouth of the mechanical dragon opened wide, and a small mechanical dragon popped out.

It was Kyul, the mechanical dragon. After the decisive battle with Fire Dragon and Brooks, the giant body, which was the outer frame, was irrecoverable, but fortunately, the main body was not damaged.

Kyul looked at his pitch-black body and cried sadly.

It seemed that he didn’t like the way he looked like he was covered in gum.

-Kkying… Kkying….

Yggdrasil kicked Kyul’s side, who was whimpering as if the world was ending, and said.

“Hey. It’s hard, so help me move it quickly. Aren’t you going to save your master?”

-Ke?! Karrrruk Keek!

Kyul began to help Yggdrasil, fussing over Kim Se-hoon’s awful extreme coldappearance.

Alice, who had been grumbling with Eileen, stared blankly at the sight and said, her eyes wide open as if she had just poured cold water over her head.

“Ah, that’s right. Yggdrasil and Kyul are machines, so they aren’t affected by the void.” As Alice thought, the machine would get infected by the void, but it wouldn’t die or suffer fatal damage like other organic life forms that had already been eroded by the fire cells.

Strictly speaking, the void was only harmful to fire cells and organic matter, and it didn’t show any particularly harmful effects on inorganic matter other than discoloration and easy melting.

However, that didn’t mean that inorganic matter was completely free from the void.

Although the damage to the inorganic matter itself may be small, the infectivity is still maintained once it is infected by the void.

In other words, Yggdrasil and Kyul were now no different from moving germ weapons.

If they were to enter Natális as they were, they could easily cause a disaster worse than Brooks.

Lee Jung-hyeop grumbled as he watched Yggdrasil and Kyul safely take Kim Se-hoon to the outer camp.

“Damn it, if the captain had taken such measures, he would have told us in advance. Anyway, he’s good at making people nervous… He’s a really useless person.”

Although Kim Se-hoon was not completely healed yet, it was clear that he was still alive from the way he was wriggling until Yggdrasil took care of him.

And Lee Jung-hyeop had no doubt that Kim Se-hoon would return alive if he didn’t die completely.

Lee Jung-hyeop, who was relieved, asked the two women who were looking at each other awkwardly.

“By the way… How long are you two going to do that?”

They, who had been frozen in the same position as they had been fighting over the syringe, coughed in vain as if they had made a promise.

Eileen, who somehow managed to return the syringe to Lee Jung-hyeop, reached out to Alice and said.

“We. We haven’t introduced ourselves, have we? My name is Eileen.”

Alice, who had been staring blankly at Eileen’s palm, which was asking for a handshake, pressed her frowning forehead with her thumb and index finger and racked her brain.

“Ha… Maybe the void would be easier to deal with….”

Eileen tilted her head as she watched Alice sigh as if the world was going to end.

Alice, who seemed to be taking a deep breath as if the ground was about to collapse, looked at Eileen with a smirk.

Kim Se-hoon’s prowess: Immortality’s regenerative ability, Contract’s suppression power, and the strengthening power of the body’s muscles.

“What? What did you just say?” “Oh, no, nothing. I was just talking to myself. Hello, my name is Alice.”

“Nice to meet you. Your first impression was a bit off-putting, but… take care from now on.”

“Oh, yes… if that’s how you feel. Well, I don’t think that will happen because I don’t like that side.”

Eileen responded in a perplexed tone to Alice’s candid expression.

“Wait, did you just say you don’t like my face? To someone you just met? Well, okay. Let’s hear the reason. Why don’t you like me?”

Alice replied as if she had been waiting.

“Well, for starters, I don’t like pretty things. I don’t like smart things either. And that silver hair and silver eyes are even more unlikable to me. I have a dislike for silver.”

Eileen raised an eyebrow with her arms crossed.

“Ah, I see. I’m a bit smart and pretty, so I’m unlucky. Hmm, and you don’t like silver? I respect your preference. But… what about me? I quite like that side.”

As Alice was contemplating whether to throw a stone at the smiling face in front of her, Eileen, who was seriously considering tossing a rock, hesitated and changed the subject.

“…By the way, is there a connection with Yggdrasil?”

After checking his smartphone, Eileen nodded.

“Yes. They just arrived at the external camp.”

Yggdrasil and Q prepared for surgery to save Kim Se-hoon upon arriving at the external camp.

Kim Se-hoon’s condition was critical.

Currently, all parts of his body except for his brain were infected by the void.

Yggdrasil, who received data on the ‘void excision surgery’, examined Kim Se-hoon’s details and said, “Excise all parts except the brain. We need to save the brain that has not been infected by the void. But…”

There was one fatal problem here.

Currently, Yggdrasil and Q were infected by the void.

In other words, performing surgery while infected by the void was like a virus treating another virus.

*Bzzz…

What should we do? What should we do? Lost in thought next to Q, who was spinning in place, Yggdrasil, for some reason, brought the black claws infected by the void close to Kim Se-hoon’s brain.

In response, Q screamed and shook violently as if to say, “What crazy thing are you doing?”

– Aaah! Karrlrlrlr!

“Don’t do that and look. Isn’t it strange? The brain… is not infected by the void.”

Sure enough, even when Yggdrasil’s void-infected nails pierced Kim Se-hoon’s brain, there was no discoloration, and it was perfectly fine.

It was as if he had developed immunity to the void.

“…Brooks’ experience. That changed something for him.” Kim Se-hoon was certain that the human limit was not Level 5, and he was confident.

Even after ten years of hard work, hunting numerous Brooks species, he was still evolving.

But what if that wasn’t his limit?

A wall in a place he thought was a dead end.

If that wall was simply too high to climb over, but if he kept climbing it endlessly, could he overcome it?

If so, Kim Se-hoon’s transformation made sense.

“Yes. I couldn’t catch him. But he hunted some of Brooks, and there’s no doubt he even physically hit them. So… the experience he

Kim Se-hoon’s Immortality’s regeneration, the suppressive power of the contract, and the strengthening of the body’s physical strength.

He said that it was all upgraded.

‘This interest… is dangerous.’

Yggdrasil felt a strong threat from the possibility that originated from Kim Se-hoon.

Void.

A virus that turns all organic matter into nothingness.

And the existence before his eyes had the potential to handle it freely.

Yggdrasil did not want to confirm with his own two eyes what kind of ending this interest would bring about in the future.

‘…Should I save him? Or should I leave him as he is….’

—Growl.

As if it had sensed Yggdrasil’s inner thoughts, Kyul let out an angry cry.

When Kyul’s eyes lit up, his eyeballs, which resembled camera lenses, projected a holographic screen onto the wall.

Ailyn’s picture appeared on the screen.

Yggdrasil let out a hollow laugh when he saw it.

“Are you threatening me right now?”

-Kyurureuk Ke-! Ke!

Kyul stomped the floor with his front paws and swung his blackened tail around.

Yggdrasil groaned and sighed at Kyul’s threat to hit Ailyn with his tail, which was infected with the void.

“The pet is like its owner. I understand, so stop it. I was thinking about it for a moment, but I wasn’t serious. I’m… I’m curious about this interest too.”

Now that he had confirmed that his brain was resistant to the void, the difficulty of the surgery had plummeted.

This was because Kim Se-hoon would regenerate on his own if he removed all parts except his brain and placed his brain in a sterile room without the void.

Yggdrasil glared at Kyul, who was still wary of him and did not put away his suspicious gaze.

“I understand, so stop getting angry and just watch. Or do you want to do it alone?”

-…Kyurk.

In the hospital room with white walls on all sides, Kim Se-hoon opened his eyes and got up, and a welcome voice greeted him.

“You’re awake.”

Silver hair that seemed to blend moonlight, silver bead-like eyes. And a familiar but never-tiring voice.

Kim Se-hoon, who saw Ailyn reading next to him, smiled and said,

“It’s an honor that Mother has come all the way here…”

“What an honor… you’re the one who called me, saying you would tell me the secrets of this world.”

Kim Se-hoon tilted his head and scratched his chin as he said,

“Did I do that?”

“Yes, definitely.”

“Well, I don’t remember very well… Are you sure you’re not mistaken?”

Ailyn frowned at Kim Se-hoon’s words.

To come here and talk like this?

It was not the attitude of a hero who had devoted himself to humanity by blocking Brooks alone.

Ailyn let out a faint sigh and completely closed the book she had been reading as she said,

“Let me ask you directly. The one who manipulated humanity’s memories and gave them the idea of angels. Was it you?”

Kim Se-hoon said with an innocent face.

“No.” In fact, if it hadn’t been for Hwang Ah-young Brooks, Kim Se-hoon would never have contacted her first.

Yes, he had thought of never meeting her again.

Because her dying because of him was an experience he never wanted to go through again.

However, the situation had driven him to a dead end.

Yes. To the edge of a cliff where it would be difficult to survive without Yggdrasil’s help.

“…No?”

“Yes. It’s not me.” Did she know?

That he was caught up in countless worries and whims at this moment.

That he wanted to tell her all the secrets right now, restore his relationship with her.

That he wanted to wake up in the same bed with her on the same morning like any other day in the past.

However, he could not do that.

“You… aren’t you being too shameless? S0S, you sent that, didn’t you? It’s clear. I have the evidence here too.” Kim Se-hoon cut Ailyn off mercilessly.

“None of that matters.”

He was a plague, and he was a misfortune.

He had realized it through long years of experience.

That she would be sad if she was next to him.

That’s why he erased her memory.

He told her to live a new life, to be happy without suffering next to him.

He erased everything and sent her away.

“What matters is that I don’t want to talk about it.”

“…What did you say?”

Ailyn’s eyes narrowed as she glared at Kim Se-hoon.

Aileen’s glare pierced Kim Se-hoon like a dagger.

Alice, who had been quietly eavesdropping on their conversation, was caught in a whirlwind of conflicting emotions as she watched Kim Se-hoon push Aileen away.

Kim Se-hoon reveals to Lee Jung-hyeop that he has gained resistance to the void’s harmful effects, protecting his brain from infection. However, he cannot use his void abilities in the ocean due to the Leviathan’s presence. Kim Se-hoon criticizes the weakness of other quester teams, particularly the prominent Yoo Sung Group, and suggests that this is a result of their own shortcomings.

Her gaze felt like a sharp needle digging into his heart.
His heart felt like it was being gouged out, and he wanted to somehow gain her favor with sweet words.
But why?
Kim Se-hoon spoke in a voice that was even colder and more indifferent than he himself could believe.
“As you can see, I’m a fairly capable quester who single-handedly chased away Brooks. Someone like me has secrets? Yes, there might be. No, there definitely are. But… since when did secrets become something you can ask about and expect an answer?”
Aileen grabbed the book that was resting on her thigh and threw it at Kim Se-hoon.
He caught the book lightly and tossed it aside. Aileen, even more furious at his actions, shouted.
“Hey! You’re the one who called me and said you’d tell me! And now, Yggdrasil is infected with something because of you, the void or whatever, and it’s working on tasks before A1. I’m the one who’s suffering losses without even knowing what’s going on!”
“It’s true that I called you because I needed you. But I’ve changed my mind and decided not to tell you. So? What are you going to do about it? Are you going to pressure me if I don’t tell you? Well, I won’t stop you… but don’t forget. The person in front of you is the great man who made even the mighty Brooks retreat.”
He knew that a flimsy lie wouldn’t work on her.
So he shamelessly went all out.
He acted despicably.
He behaved like trash.
“Wow…”
Her contemptuous gaze made it feel like his blood was instantly turning cold, but he laughed.
It was a habit, or perhaps a defense mechanism to hide his emotions.
“You know? You’re… really a piece of trash?”
“Yes. I know that well. So please give up now. How humans went into hibernation, why you have stigmata, it’s all in the past. And… digging up the past usually ends badly.”
“Oh, do you think I’ll give up just because of a few words like that? Don’t be ridiculous?”
“Hmm, how about you think about this? What if I’m the one who manipulated Yggdrasil, you, and the memories of humanity… Getting rid of Yggdrasil without anyone knowing wouldn’t be difficult, would it…?”
Aileen’s expression hardened coldly as she spoke.
“Right now… are you threatening me, saying that you’ll get rid of Yggdrasil if I dig any deeper?”
“As expected, you’re quick-witted. Yes. That’s right. I’m threatening you.”
Aileen glared at Kim Se-hoon with icy eyes.
But their gazes only met for a moment. She soon turned her head away.
It was too burdensome to continue meeting the gaze that was as unfathomable as a tranquil lake at night.
And she realized.
She wouldn’t be able to get any information out of this man.
Aileen, who had been nervously biting her lower lip, stood up from her seat.
“…I don’t think we have anything more to discuss, so I’ll be going.”
“As you can see, I’m a patient, so I won’t see you out.”
“I’m sorry, but even if you did, I would have to decline.”
Aileen let out a sigh as she left the hospital room, leaving Kim Se-hoon behind.
She had never imagined that things would turn out this way.
And she had never imagined that he would be so shameless and despicable.
‘I felt so good when I first met him, like I couldn’t believe it was the first time… Ha, Aileen. Your judgment is really something else. What good man… no… there’s no piece of trash like that piece of trash. There isn’t…. But… what am I going to do now? That man. It’s burdensome to provoke him… but should I really just give up?’
The man who had left without saying a word, leaving behind the stigmata on her body.
As if mocking herself for having let her imagination run wild with romantic fantasies based on just that one line of the story, Aileen clicked her tongue repeatedly and discovered Alice standing in front of the hospital room door, her eyes wide open.
“You… what are you doing here… wait, are you crying? Right now?”
Alice, who had been leaning against the wall and shedding silent tears, wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and spoke.
“Over there.”
“Wipe away your tears first and tell me. What happened? No, why are you even here? It’s so unlike you.”
“Today’s a really crappy day.
Right?” Aileen couldn’t help but agree with Alice’s sudden words, even though she wanted to ask her what she was talking about.
“Well… it is a bit awkward to say… but yes, it is.”

Alice, who had been quietly eavesdropping on their conversation, was hit with a wave of conflicting emotions when Kim Se-hoon pushed Eileen away.

She was glad that Eileen would no longer be by Kim Se-hoon’s side, but she was also uneasy. This was because Alice knew how Kim Se-hoon dealt with his guilt.

Kim Se-hoon, who had just sent Eileen away so cruelly, would not accept her, even out of guilt.

However, Alice still had hope.

Yes, at least their bodies were now far apart, so maybe she would have a chance.

Or perhaps a dirty longing.

Alice, who had been staring at Eileen, opened her mouth.

“Can I ask you a favor?”

“Yes? What is it all of a sudden…”

Alice left her seat, leaving behind a soft word.

“Don’t show up again.”

Suddenly, Alice felt nauseous with self-loathing.

But Alice uttered words that she knew she shouldn’t, even though she knew it wasn’t right.

Perhaps it was because there was something she wanted to have, even if it meant becoming ugly and dirty.

Eileen sighed as she watched Alice’s retreating figure with a complex gaze.

“A man’s threat, a woman’s most absurd request in the world. Yes, that’s right. As you said… It’s a really dirty day to feel even more dirty.”

Eileen turned around and walked in the opposite direction of Alice.

And she vowed.

She would never seek out this filthy man and woman again.

Kim Se-hoon, who had recovered, visited the lighthouse office to meet Lee Jung-hyeop.

Lee Jung-hyeop, who tried to hug Kim Se-hoon as soon as he saw him, smiled and tried to hug him.

Kim Se-hoon pushed his forehead with his index finger with a poop-eating expression and said.

“Get out of here. It’s gross.”

“I’m glad to see you. I’m glad to see you.”

Lee Jung-hyeop, who had finally hugged Kim Se-hoon, sat down on the sofa and asked.

“But where did Kyul go? Why did you come alone?”

“The main body is infected with the void, so it’s working on A1 before. It seems that the void sterilization work is basically tricky… I don’t think I’ll be able to take it with me for a while.”

“Ah, right… If you come here in that state, it will be a mess.”

“Rather than that, how is the aftermath? How is it going?”

“Yes. As the captain said, we are handling it as if we drove out Brooks with a virus that does not have a vaccine developed by the lighthouse. So don’t worry. There is no way the captain will come to the forefront.”

“But, Captain. This time… you said there was a change?”

“Yeah. The level of the undead has risen to 6.”

Actually, Kim Se-hoon’s level should have been raised much more. This was because the target he hunted was not an ordinary undead species, but the Emperor Brooks.

However, the unfortunate thing was that most of the undead cells of Brooks were killed by the toxicity of the void, so at best he could only absorb about 10%.

Nevertheless, it was enough to break through the wall that had been stagnant for ten years and raise his level, so if it had been a normal battle without using the void, Kim Se-hoon’s level would have risen to what extent.

“Oh! So the limit of a human being is not the end of level 5?”

“That may be the case… but it’s not certain yet. To be honest… there’s a chance that I’m a special case.”

“Well, the captain is not an ordinary great man. Well, okay. Let’s study this part little by little… So? Did you get any new abilities?”

Kim Se-hoon scratched his chin as if he was uncomfortable with Lee Jung-hyeop’s expectant gaze.

“Immunity ability.”

“Huh, immunity… surely to the void?”

It was immunity to everything that was harmful to him, not just the void, but Kim Se-hoon didn’t bother to explain it in detail.

“I guess you can understand it that way.”

“Hey… So now you can handle the void freely?”

“It’s not free, but at least I won’t die. Thanks to the immunity ability, my brain won’t be infected even in the worst situation.”

Lee Jung-hyeop shrugged his shoulders and said.

“Oh, what the hell. If your brain doesn’t get infected, isn’t the game over? That’s enough to handle it freely, what.”

“Ah, man, what is this? If the brain isn’t infected by the void, then isn’t the game over? With that, you can freely handle it, right?”
Strongest Brother in History Chapter 124
“No, it’s different. You might not know this because your level is still low, but the body, excluding the brain, is infected by the void. After some time, it will turn into jelly and become uncontrollable.” At Kim Se-hoon’s words, Lee Jung-hyeop recalled the appearance of Kim Se-hoon, whose body had been crushed and turned into jelly during the battle with Brooks.
“Hmm, then…?”
“Thanks to the resistance, I can now handle the void for a significantly longer time, but there’s still a time limit. Well, even so… I can deal with any flame-type monster, except for the divine beast.”
“Is that enough? Hmm… Anyway, if the captain can handle the void, then securing a path through the sea shouldn’t be a big problem, right? We need to secure a path since the entrance to the barrier is blocked anyway.”
Natalis’s current situation was somewhat ambiguous.
The wasteland at the entrance to the barrier had transformed into a land of death, ensuring safety, but on the contrary, it had lost the means to grow.
If things continued this way, it might be fine for now, but it meant that if something like this happened in the future, they would be helpless to deal with it.
Kim Se-hoon said with a bitter tone.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t use the void in the sea.”
“Huh? Why?”
“Why? It’s because of the Leviathan. Think about it. Do you think it would leave a wicked bastard like you, who dumps sewage into the sea, alone?”
“Ugh… Even so, the captain is now invincible, right? Even if it’s the Leviathan, if it messes with you, you can just stab it with that sword over and over again….”
Kim Se-hoon scolded him as if he were talking nonsense.
“What nonsense are you talking about? Kid. Do you think divine beasts are like the dogs in your neighborhood that you can deal with so easily? Strictly speaking, I was able to chase Brooks away because of our compatibility. Since it was a colony and enjoyed direct hits, it was suitable for using the void. But with the Leviathan….”
Kim Se-hoon continued with a bitter smile.
“I don’t know, but if it gets pissed and shakes its belly even once, wouldn’t a tsunami endlessly sweep over the city? Do you want to provoke that kind of monster? Are you crazy and want to make a third-rate disaster movie?”
As he listened, it made sense, so Lee Jung-hyeop slightly avoided Kim Se-hoon’s gaze and mumbled.
“Ahem. No, what are you talking about… I was just saying that because the captain is reliable.”
“Okay, I won’t participate in securing a path through the sea at all, so understand that.”
“Huh? Captain, what do you mean? You won’t participate?”
Kim Se-hoon asked in a relaxed tone as he sank his body into the sofa.
“You. What did you feel this time?”
“What did I feel… What do you mean….”
“Seeing how the quester teams, excluding Reus, can’t even deal with low-level flame-type monsters, didn’t you feel anything?”
“Hmm… Well, some of the upper quester teams were a bit… powerless.”
“The most shocking one was the Yoo Sung Group. It was a quester team that was active in a state next to the barrier, but it was the most powerless. And I think this is clearly our fault… What do you think?”
“In other words, we overpr