Chapter 105 – Ghost (7)

Yoo Yeonha glimpsed an endless sea of monsters in her daze. One, two, three… one, two, three… She couldn’t keep count. Everything felt like a distant dream within her groggy consciousness. She felt sure she wouldn’t survive this army of monsters. The beast-like creatures growled and bared their teeth. She hallucinated that one of them bit off her neck as her consciousness faded.

There, she saw him standing in front of her when she opened her eyes again.

He stood in front of the army of monsters and looked like a small praying mantis in front of a skyscraper. He wouldn’t be able to withstand that dark sea alone, but he could escape.

She used up all her energy to grab his sleeve and speak.

— Leave me… and run…

However, he didn’t listen and only smiled.

— Don’t worry and go to sleep.

He softly spoke.

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

He reached out and closed her eyes. Her vision went dark and she began to dream a familiar dream where she had succeeded and several people bowed to her. People who ignored and disdained her, people who mocked her clan for being a hunting dog... they all knelt in front of her. She would accomplish this dream by herself.

Slowly, she opened her eyes again. The darkness faded away and light appeared. She saw his back, but couldn’t remember his name anymore. He held an assault rifle, a mass-produced weapon that couldn’t shoot magic power like spear and sword artifacts. An unstoppable army stood in front of his shabby gun. Time seemed to slow with her groggy consciousness. The sea of monsters rushed towards him. Beasts on four legs, orcs, spiders, snakes, birds, and one-eyed that shot out magic. All these demonic beasts rushed forward like a tidal wave.

He raised his gun against this raging wave. His bullets turned the world white as it pushed against the black wave. It pierced through the foreheads of beasts, the hearts of orcs, the abdomens of spiders, the mouths of snakes, and the eyes of cyclops. He struck all their vital points without missing and pushed them back. An endless rain tore the monsters apart and never stopped. Corpses quickly stacked up and formed a mountain. He didn’t allow a single monster through and decimated the entire army alone.

Yoo Yeonha felt an incomprehensible warmth. She realized how relaxing it felt to be protected. She finally calmed and closed her eyes. Kim Hajin. His name entered her mind before she noticed. When she opened her eyes again... she hoped everything would be alright.

***

Kim Suho slashed out a crescent-shaped arc with his magic power. Yoo Dongsuk managed to block with his steel pipe, but it sent his subordinates flying past him. Kim Suho charged with no one left to interfere. Yoo Dongsuk swung his steel pipe as he asked, “Is it true?”

“What is?”

Kim Suho parried his pipe.

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

Kim Suho smiled and found the question funny. “I don’t like lying.”

Of course, Kim Suho couldn’t be sure since he only sparred once with Kim Hajin. However, he believed that Hajin would succeed.

“That’s not good for—”

“Kuaaaa!”

A horrible shriek rang out. Kim Suho and Yoo Dongsuk both glanced sideways at Shin Jonghak creating a mess. He looked ridiculous, but had achieved outstanding results. He viciously stabbed and slashed his enemies like an ancient warlord. Yoo Dongsuk saw his subordinates flying around and asked, “Is he as strong as you?”

Kim Suho simply smiled. His silence was enough of an answer. Yoo Dongsuk laughed as he swung his steel pipe again. KWANG! Their battle continued back and forth.

“Well, it looks like our strategy failed.”

“It’s not too late to turn back. We have no reason to fight.”

The two looked each other in the eyes and spoke amidst their fierce battle.

“The boss you call Asura isn’t human, but a djinn… uh, he’s an evil person who’s using the power of a ghost.”

The concept of djinns didn’t exist yet. According to textbooks, the rise of djinns occurred in the late 1990s.

“Huup!”

Yoo Dongsuk pushed Kim Suho back without replying. Kim Suho sighed as he enveloped his sword with magic power. The sword’s blue glow transformed into a brilliant gold.

“You hid a rather interesting power, eh?”

The same applied to Yoo Dongsuk. His body suddenly glowed red and he grew several times bigger. Kim Suho put on a serious expression as he fixed his stance.

***

Asura laughed at first and pitied the young man with overgrown hair and a beard. However, he began to feel fear as time passed and his army dwindled. He could feel a chilling killing intent from the young man’s eyes, and the outpouring of bullets overwhelmed his army.

Even now, Asura’s army continued to rush nonstop. Asura also snuck in ranged attacks now and then. However, the young man’s mysterious bracelet defended against the demonic beasts’ venom and the attacks. The young man killed the monsters that specialized in ranged attacks first.

Asura couldn’t understand. He thought he would only have to wait until the magazine emptied. However, the young man reloaded in less than a second and continued firing. A single opening didn’t exist.

Asura couldn’t understand the bullets’ destructive power either. His demonic beasts instantly died in one hit. A single bullet often killed two beasts, and sometimes three. Not a single claw could reach the gunman.

“Impossible…”

Asura watched this incomprehensible battle in a daze. The countless beasts gradually became countable. Asura stopped his remaining forces and took a step back. He wanted to assess the situation.

Kim Hajin also stopped firing. Then he murmured tiredly, “You must’ve merged with the ghost since you could summon so many. What did he want? Revenge? Wealth? Honor?”

Kim Hajin stared at Asura, who remained silent. He aimed at Asura.

“You don’t have to answer.”

Click. Kim Hajin pulled the trigger. Asura unleashed his magic power and formed a barrier. Dozens of demonic beasts also moved to block Kim Hajin’s line of fire. However, no bullets came out. Click. Click. Click. Kim Hajin pulled the trigger a few more times. The result remained the same.

“…”

“…”

Whish. A brief wind blew. Asura and Kim Hajin stared at each other. Kim Hajin rummaged through his pockets, but ran out of ammo. Then he graciously spoke with a calm expression.

“Asura, I don’t hate you. I understand where you’re coming from.”

A character with no background that only served as a stepping stone for the main characters and the supporting cast. An extra, rather than a villain. Asura, or rather Cheonhwa, became a djinn for a simple reason.

“That’s how I created you.”

Kim Hajin felt sorry. At least, he needed to act like it.

“You had no choice but to become strong. You probably thought you could become a djinn who enjoyed wealth and honor by merging with the ghost.”

Kim Hajin sounded sentimental all of a sudden. Asura responded with a single sentence.

“You’re out of bullets.”

“I’m not.”

Kim Hajin took out a single magazine from his pocket. He slowly reloaded his gun and asked, “I want to know. What kind of a life have you lived?”

A smile emerged on Asura’s face.

“It’s empty.”

“What? Can’t you see this?”

Kim Hajin tapped the magazine in his gun, but Asura leisurely replied.

“Then shoot.”

“Tsk.”

The assault rifle transformed into a handgun. Tang, tang, tang, tang, tang—! Kim Hajin quickly pulled the trigger and used up the entire magazine in less than a second. The monsters around Asura all turned to dust as he flinched in shock.

“See? I didn’t lie. This battle already ended.”

He pointed behind Asura. Kim Suho and the others had returned. Asura’s subordinates also stood there with complicated looks.

“…”

Asura looked around with a blank expression. He wasted too much time with a single person and lost his chance. He only had about a hundred demonic beasts left along with the partner in his heart.

“Uk!”

Suddenly, his heart began to violently beat. The ghost of the past was telling him something. Asura shook his head. However, his body twisted strangely and the ghost shot out of his heart. Then Asura’s body turned to dust.

— …

A black ghost floated in the air and howled. However, a formless being couldn’t pose any harm. Kim Suho attacked the ghost with Misteltein and instantly sucked it into the divine grade weapon. Misteltein grew stronger by absorbing spirits. The ghost of the past would now reside in Misteltein forever.

A short silence descended. Kim Suho, Shin Jonghak, Chae Nayun, and Yi Yeonghan stared at the scenery in front of them. Kim Hajin stood alone amidst a desolate battlefield with a mountain of corpses. Soon, his voice rang out.

“Welcome back.”

Kim Hajin smiled at the four of them who returned just in time. Kim Suho had trusted him, but the others looked shocked.

“W-What?”

Kim Hajin couldn’t understand their looks until he saw the mountain of corpses.

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

The corpses would disappear in about two minutes without magic power. However, everyone’s shocked expressions wouldn’t disappear for a while.

***

I didn’t ask Kim Suho how he convinced the people of the past. The story took a different turn from the original story, but the results remained the same. I felt satisfied as I sat on the ground in exhaustion. I wasn’t physically tired, but mentally drained. I turned on my smartwatch to read the messages that would alleviate my fatigue.

[You have massacred a large number of enemies! You have received a huge experience boost in Master Sharpshooter!] [You have pierced the vital points of countless enemies! Master Sharpshooter has evolved to grade 5!] [Your luck has been applied! An understanding of the darkness attribute has been added to aether from decimating thousands of darkness attribute demonic beasts!] [You have obtained 330 SP!]

“Wow.”

Several alerts popped up. Master Sharpshooter also leveled up to grade 5, but the best gain was aether’s understanding of the darkness attribute. It would also apply to the Desert Eagle when they fused. No wonder my bullets flashed white. Of course, special bullets created with SP would still deal more damage than bullets with aether’s understanding.

“What?”

I couldn’t properly think because Chae Nayun, Shin Jonghak, and Yi Yeonghan kept looking at me suspiciously.

“I mean, it doesn’t make sense.”

“What doesn’t make sense?” I shrugged at Chae Nayun’s question.

“Stop kidding around.”

Chae Nayun looked serious and somewhat wronged. I grinned and transformed the Desert Eagle into an assault rifle. Everyone’s eyes widened and wondered how such a weapon appeared.

“I told you. I have a gun-related gift. It was just a good matchup against Asura.”

“A good matchup?”

“Yeah. Pulling the trigger 2000 times is easier than swinging a spear or a sword 2000 times.”

I briefly explained and turned to Kim Suho, who rested nearby.

“Did you bring the crystals?”

“Ah, yeah.”

Kim Suho handed me three crystals.

“Are we going back now?”

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

“Huh?”

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

This place resembled an inferior hyperbolic time chamber. We should be able to grow stronger.

“We have plenty of people to spar.”

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