Chapter 9

 

The morning in the north was far from refreshing.

 

There was no clear sky, only an endless snowstorm blocking the view.

 

“This is going to be difficult today, right? Isn’t that right, Hero?”

 

“…Are you talking to me?”

 

Someone approached Seo Woojin, who had hastily finished breakfast at the barracks.

 

“Huh? Were there any more Heroes in Sion?”

 

The person who spoke jokingly was a soldier who looked to be about 40 years old.

 

‘I don’t think I’ve seen him before.’

 

In the Massive Guardian, there were far more soldiers than Seo Woojin had initially thought.

 

Naturally, he couldn’t know every soldier, so it wasn’t strange not to recognize them.

 

However, what puzzled Seo Woojin was that no soldier had approached him in a friendly manner until now.

 

Because of that, he could only stare blankly at the soldier without saying anything.

 

“Don’t stare at me like that. Even a country bumpkin like me feels embarrassed. Oh, are you perhaps…?”

 

“No!”

 

Seo Woojin shouted at the soldier who gave him a sly smile.

 

The soldier approached, laughing.

 

“I heard about it, but you really have a good personality for teasing.”

 

So, he had been teased all this time.

 

“Don’t judge me so harshly. I don’t have any ill intentions toward you.”

 

Certainly, this soldier had a slightly different vibe compared to others.

 

It was a bit strange since the only person who treated him warmly at the first meeting was Van Slaine.

 

“I saw you fighting yesterday.”

 

The soldier whispered to Seo Woojin in a subtle tone.

 

Curious about what he was going to say, Seo Woojin listened carefully, and he wasn’t disappointed.

 

“You managed to stay alive, huh? It would have been tough without Irene’s help.”

 

He even patted Seo Woojin’s shoulder with a hearty laugh.

 

“What on earth?”

 

Seo Woojin couldn’t understand the situation from the morning.

 

Frowning, he asked the soldier, who didn’t wipe away his smile.

 

“If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be alive.”

 

This was another inexplicable remark.

 

If it wasn’t him, would the soldier be dead?

 

Seo Woojin tried to recall if he had ever saved someone yesterday.

 

However, all that came to mind were scenes of dodging claws and teeth.

 

“…Are you perhaps mistaken?”

 

Otherwise, there was no reason to say such a thing.

 

Unless he had injured his head in yesterday’s battle.

 

“It’s not just me; it’s everyone who survived because of you.”

 

“I appreciate your kindness. I haven’t done anything like that…”

 

“White light.”

 

Seo Woojin, who had been denying the soldier’s words, closed his mouth.

 

“I was about to die, my stomach was torn by Snow Wolf’s claws.”

 

Blood and entrails were flowing through the cracked skin, and he was dying, holding it with his hands.

 

“But then the white light came out, and the injury disappeared. It was as if it had never been there in the first place.”

 

It seemed to refer to the bright light that spread around Seo Woo Jin as he leveled up.

 

“Thank you. If it weren’t for you, I would have really died there.”

 

The soldier sincerely thanked Seo Woojin.

 

He was so shocked by this unexpected event that he couldn’t say anything.

 

He only thought of the joy of leveling up and becoming a little stronger; he didn’t know that someone had been saved from death because of him.

 

“There are quite a few people besides me whose lives were saved thanks to you. Well, it seems like I’m the only one who came to say thank you. Idiots.”

 

The soldier suddenly started cursing.

 

“If you have a conscience, you should come and apologize. But then again, if there were such people in the first place…”

 

Listening vaguely, it seemed like they had always ignored Seo Woojin as usual.

 

So, it would be difficult for them to come and say thanks.

 

“Well, sorry. I got carried away. Anyway, the key is that there are many guys indebted to you for their lives.”

 

He tried his best to convey his feelings to Seo Woojin, even though greetings weren’t coming.

 

In the end, Seo Woojin could only smile.

 

“It seems like you should stop with the greetings.”

 

It wasn’t intentional, and it was just a phenomenon that occurred while leveling up.

 

It was burdensome to have such attention on his face.

 

“Whether intentional or not, owing a life is owing a life. And the soldiers of Sion never forget their favors.”

 

Leaving a message that he would repay in some way, the soldier turned away.

 

“Oh, my name is Jo Han. Although I look like this, I am in a powerful position among the soldiers, so if you need help, please let me know at any time.”

 

Introducing himself as Jo Han, the soldier laughed and left.

 

“What is this…?”

 

As soon as he came out after eating breakfast, Seo Woojin was dumbfounded by the suddenly unfolding situation.

 

Still, he didn’t feel bad.

 

On the contrary, he felt good.

 

It was even better than he thought.

 

He realized for the first time how good it felt to hear gratitude from someone.

 

‘Maybe it’s because I’ve been getting nothing but insults every day since I came here.’

 

So, it might be even better.

 

“Why did Jo Han come here?”

 

At that time, Irene, having finished preparing for departure, approached Seo Woojin and asked. 

 

“Do you know the soldier?”

 

“Of course.”

 

Irene nodded as if it were obvious. 

 

“Because he’s a soldier in charge of one of the hundred units in Massive Guardian.”

 

It meant a centurion. 

 

It seemed the boasting wasn’t without basis.

 

“I heard that he suffered a significant injury while trying to save a subordinate soldier yesterday.”

 

Irene, who was speaking, looked at Seo Woojin and made an expression of understanding.

 

“I understand why he came to find you.”

 

Seo Woojin didn’t bother to reply; he didn’t want to unnecessarily draw attention to his face.

 

“Since yesterday, the evaluation of the Hero has been gradually changing.”

 

“I haven’t felt that at all.”

 

In fact, even on the way back with Testeron yesterday, he didn’t receive many favorable looks.

 

“You must have seen Jo Han, right?”

 

The perception of everyone didn’t change all at once, but some soldiers began to view Seo Woojin favorably.

 

Most of them were those who had risked their lives.

 

It wasn’t a large number yet, but if it continued like this, the atmosphere of ignoring Seo Woojin would soon disappear.

 

‘It won’t be easy, though’

 

It was a remarkable development compared to the time when everyone was hostile.

 

Seo Woojin, seemingly indifferent, shrugged his shoulders and checked his equipment.

 

“Did they say the monster to subjugate today is called Tranga?”

 

“Yes, that’s right.”

 

Its overall appearance resembled a white tiger. 

 

Its behavior and habits were also much like a tiger, but the size was over 5 meters.

 

According to what Irene explained, it was not of Draconis level.

 

However, it wasn’t someone to take lightly. Although not as powerful as Draconis, Tranga was still the top predator ruling a specific area.

 

A dangerous species that cannot be compared to a group of Snow Wolfs.

 

Thanks to this, Seo Woojin was very nervous this morning.

 

Thanks to Jo Han, things got a little easier.

 

“It seems today’s battle will proceed in a slightly different way than yesterday.”

 

Seo Woojin wasn’t strong enough to directly confront Tranga. 

 

No, Irene was in the same boat.

 

At least one needed to be a high-ranking knight like Testeron to face it one-on-one.

 

So, today’s battle…

 

‘It’s close to a raid.’

 

In the process, there won’t be many opportunities for Seo Woojin to step forward.

 

“As I mentioned yesterday, Mr. Seo Woojin should search for and confront Tranga’s offspring that might be around.”

 

Fortunately, Tranga does not live in groups.

 

If it had formed a group, it would have been classified as a danger species above Draconis.

 

But around this time, Tranga was likely to have given birth to and been raising its offspring.

 

Therefore, hunting Tranga and simultaneously finding its offspring were the key tasks for today’s subjugation.

 

“Even though they are offspring, they are stronger than Snow Wolf, it seems.”

 

“No matter how young, Tranga is still Tranga.”

 

In the monster world, the difference in species is practically a difference in strength.

 

Even an underdeveloped Tranga is far stronger and more ferocious than something like a Snow Wolf.

 

“Moreover, they’re clever.”

 

The greeting from Jo han, who felt that it would be a rough day, rang true.

 

“It’s good at hiding and making surprise attacks using its white fur, so you’d better be careful.”

 

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

 

Since he had no intention of being killed by a monster here, Seo Woojin deeply engraved Irene’s advice in his heart.

 

“Prepare for deployment!”

 

At that moment, a thunderous roar from Testeron echoed.

 

“Are you ready?”

 

Seo Woojin nodded.

 

“Let’s go then.”

 

The hunt began.

 

* * *

 

“Wow, that’s amazing.”

 

The knight admired the azure sword that seemed to burn in front of him.

 

“To already reach here. This is a  speed that no previous hero has been able to achieve.”

 

The man holding the sword, in the face of repeated astonishment from the knights, smiled modestly.

 

“Still, my job is a ‘Sword God,’ so I have to do this much.”

 

Even those who trained their whole lives couldn’t reach this level.

 

But the man in front of them, who had only reached level 10 and and the moment his job was decided, he manifested an aura.

 

Even if it’s an SSS-level aptitude, it was too fast.

 

“It’s thanks to the help of the Empire. Without their assistance, I couldn’t have become this strong so quickly.”

 

Several times a day.

 

The knights of the empire brought half-dead monsters.

 

The man’s actions were merely cutting the throat of a monster that couldn’t even move with a sword.

 

Nevertheless, he felt that he was becoming stronger quickly.

 

‘At first, it was tough.’

 

Although it was a monster, it honestly wasn’t easy to kill a living creature with your own hands.

 

However, it is said that humans are animals of adaptation.

 

After repeating it a few times, now he felt no emotions.

 

He only felt pleasure in seeing himself getting stronger with each monster he killed.

 

*Slash-*

 

“Ah, darn!”

 

The sword the man was holding suddenly crumbled into powder.

 

“The sword couldn’t withstand the power of the Aura.”

 

Aura is the destructive power itself contained in magic.

 

Therefore, even a decent sword couldn’t handle its energy.

 

“I didn’t think I would manifest the Aura so soon, so I haven’t prepared the sword yet…”

 

The emperor of the empire bestowed the most precious sword in the imperial family to the Hero.

 

But as the manifestation of the Aura awakened too soon and wasn’t ready yet, it seemed that today’s training had to end here.

 

“There’s no choice. We can only start again when the sword is ready.”

 

“Now that you can handle the Aura, you should be able to hunt stronger monsters.”

 

Now, ordinary monsters wouldn’t be able to withstand the man’s sword, let alone stronger ones.

 

So it seemed okay to bring in more powerful monsters.

 

The stronger you are, the faster you will level up, so it was a good thing from the empire’s perspective.

 

“Well then, please take care from now on.”

 

The man bowed his head towards the knights and showed a deep smile.

 

‘I wonder how the others are doing.’

 

He thought about his friends.

 

They were all owners of exceptional talents, so they would be growing well on their own.

 

‘I hope to see them again soon.’

 

He looked forward to the day he would meet his friends and other Heroes again.

 

And the man had no doubt that he would be the best among them.