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Chapter 42
Hero of Justice
“Team Leader, is this the entrance?”
“Hmm. Doesn’t look like a normal entrance.”
We arrived at the cave entrance that Frill had discovered.
After brushing away the snow piled up outside, we found a cave leading deep downward.
The problem was, it wasn’t a sloped passage but a sheer vertical drop, like a cliff.
“Mr. Kim Yoojin, did you happen to find another entrance?”
Team Leader Shin Chaeri asked me, and I glanced at Frill, pretending to think.
【Nope! Of course, it’s possible I just missed one!】
If Frill didn’t know, then naturally I didn’t either.
“I didn’t.”
I lightly shook my head.
Shin Chaeri thought for a moment, then finally made her decision.
“No choice. We’ll go down this way.”
But—
“Team Leader? This is too dangerous! We don’t even know how deep it is, and we’d have to go down one at a time. What if yetis are waiting down below?”
The deputy team leader’s heated objection.
I couldn’t understand why he was opposing this.
“Then what? End the raid here?”
“But this is far too risky—”
“You know how expensive yeti dungeons are, right? If we retreat now, do you think the staff’s salaries grow out of the ground?”
“But… we could just find the proper entrance!”
“And how long do you think that will take?”
“……”
“Besides, I’ll go down first to check. So shut it.”
The deputy lowered his head.
‘I really can’t tell what that guy is thinking.’
He wasn’t just incompetent—he was too incompetent.
At this point, I started suspecting he had some hidden agenda.
Meanwhile, Shin Chaeri finished preparing to descend.
She tied herself to a firmly secured rope, stepped onto the cave ledge, and pulled out a magi-tech lantern.
It floated in the air, tracking its user while illuminating the surroundings.
“I’ll signal when it’s safe. Follow slowly after me.”
“Understood.”
Watching the floating lantern descend with her, Frill gasped.
【It’s like a spirit of light! Amazing!】
‘Nice gear.’
【But Yoojin, why do they use gear like that?】
‘Because it’s a light source that doesn’t hinder combat.’
【I mean, your world has equipment that works without magic too, right?】
‘That stuff doesn’t work here.’
【Huh?】
Frill tilted her head, eyes wide.
I kindly explained.
Ordinary electronic devices don’t function inside dungeons.
There are many theories, but no accepted explanation.
Anyway, the only usable tools inside are cold weapons or these kinds of magi-tech devices.
‘Got it?’
【Ahh, I see…】
While I chatted with Frill, the hunters descended one by one.
Thankfully, nothing happened.
Even Jiho and I made it down safely.
The cave we landed in was surprisingly ordinary, aside from being fairly wide.
Rock walls stretched to either side.
There were no forks—just a straight tunnel, and we had dropped into it.
“Let’s proceed left.”
Shin Chaeri chose a direction and started moving.
Even without the magi-tech lantern, there were light sources scattered here and there, so visibility wasn’t a problem.
After some time, we spotted a group of seven yetis.
“Seven…”
“That’s quite a lot.”
Far more than the small numbers that usually appeared in the snowy mountains.
Still, against a dozen hunters, it was manageable.
Grrrrrrr…
We dispatched the yetis without difficulty and dismantled their bodies.
“Good thing this is going smoothly.”
“If this keeps up, we’ll make a hefty profit this raid.”
Yeti materials fetched a high price. This could turn out very lucrative.
The hunters of New Cherry Guild happily pressed on.
That’s when the trouble came.
“A yeti rider? Archers, snipe it first.”
“Leave it to me.”
The next group of yetis included a special monster—a yeti rider.
If not dealt with quickly, it became a real problem.
A confident archer stepped forward.
Thwung—thak!
The arrow flew—
Grrrrrrah!
—but struck the yeti mount, not the rider.
“Damn!”
“Shit.”
“Everyone, on guard!”
The yeti rider.
A small humanoid monster riding atop a yeti.
It had almost no combat ability, but one nasty trait: an ear-splittingly loud voice.
WAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!
Its scream echoed against the cave walls.
Immediately, the yetis noticed us and charged.
Grugh! Grugh!
Enraged by the rider’s cry, the yetis were more savage than usual.
Crash! Crack!
Shhk! Thunk!
The hunters held formation and began fighting.
Eight yetis in total remained.
“Damn it. What are you doing? Stab it already!”
“Easier said than done! Hold them better!”
Because they were enraged, every yeti was harder to handle.
【Want me to help?】
‘Is it necessary?’
Here, I was just a porter.
No reason to fight up front.
Not like I’d get extra pay for it.
The situation was tense, but not life-threatening—at least not yet.
But then—
Grrrrrgh—
“Uh? Hyung!”
“Didn’t expect that.”
A second group of yetis appeared from behind.
Apparently, the rider’s scream had drawn aggro from the opposite side of the cave too.
“Tch.”
There was nowhere to run in this narrow cave.
“Guess we’ll have to fight.”
Three more yetis.
This wouldn’t be easy.
“…I better demand extra hazard pay for this.”
Not just a porter’s wage—at least a hunter’s cut, I resolved, as I drew my Eternal Frost Blade.
At that moment—
“Hyung.”
Jiho once again stepped in front of me.
“Don’t be reckless! You don’t have the ability, so don’t—”
“I’m not such a good guy, you know.”
…What?
Even after I’d scolded him earlier, Jiho showed no change in attitude.
I was about to grab him by the neck and toss him aside again, when—
“Huh?”
It didn’t work.
“I’ll tell you something just between us. My trait is ‘Hero of Justice.’”
The hell?
“When I embrace justice, my physical and magical stats increase fivefold.”
“……”
Five times?
An utterly broken trait.
‘Though I’d never meet the conditions myself.’
“I tried to live virtuously to trigger it, but it was too hard. I just ended up being a pushover.”
…So what was he getting at?
Even now, the yetis were closing in.
“But after what you said, I realized something. Becoming strong is justice.”
“……”
Did I really say that?
‘No, I didn’t.’
I’d said that powerless goodwill was recklessness, and that with strength, recklessness could become justice.
How he twisted that into strength itself is justice, I couldn’t follow.
But still—
“So your stats are multiplied right now?”
“Yes.”
The important part was, Jiho had instantly become a real fighter.
“Good. Then let’s survive this.”
With that, I swung my aura-coated Eternal Frost Blade at an approaching yeti.
Claaang—!
The blade clashed with its claws.
Even with aura, unless I struck a vital point, the damage was minimal.
‘If only I could pull off an aura thread…’
I felt like I was close to grasping it, but always failed.
‘No need to rush.’
I’d only become a 4-star hunter three months ago.
The fact I was already aiming for 5-star was absurd growth.
No need to crave what I didn’t yet have.
‘What I have is enough.’
And it was enough to deal with this situation.
Jiho ignored the screams of his own body and lunged again.
‘To be just, I must be strong. So becoming strong is justice.’
[You are in a state of justice.]
[Unique Trait ‘Hero of Justice’ activates!]
[Physical stats increase 5x.]
[Magical stats increase 5x.]
Simply changing his mindset flooded him with vitality.
Yet still, things weren’t easy.
Clang!
Though now equal to a 4-star hunter, his blade couldn’t pierce the yeti’s thick hide.
And missed attacks invited counterattacks.
The yeti swung a brutal arm.
Wham!
“Ghhhk!”
A huge chunk of flesh was ripped from his forearm.
‘I can’t fall here.’
He had just discovered how to truly use his unique trait. He couldn’t die now.
Jiho glanced at his benefactor—the man who had taught him that not just righteous acts, but even the struggle toward them, counted as justice.
‘Hyung Yoojin…’
Kim Yoojin.
He had entered as a porter, but was actually a 4-star hunter.
‘And I’m 4-star stat-wise right now too.’
Thanks to Hero of Justice, Jiho’s specs matched a 4-star hunter.
But the difference in skill was enormous.
While Jiho struggled with one yeti, Yoojin was holding off two—and not just holding, but fighting evenly.
‘That’s not 4-star… That’s basically 5-star.’
His battle sense was unbelievable.
He didn’t seem especially fast, but he read the yetis’ moves and countered preemptively.
Never allowing a fatal blow, always striking their vital points with his aura-coated sword.
At this rate, he looked like he could actually defeat both yetis.
‘Can I… do it too?’
No—he had to.
Or he’d die.
‘Focus. Defeating this thing is how I realize justice!’
At first, it was just his trait speaking. But before he knew it, he truly believed in the word: justice.
That conviction gave him strength.
Groarh!
He began reading the yeti’s movements.
‘If this were Yoojin-hyung…!’
He ducked low.
Whooosh—!
The yeti’s swing grazed over his head.
A close shave, but it gave him an opening.
“Haaaahhh!”
He drove his blade into the yeti’s armpit.
Shhk!
Not deep.
Even at a weak point, a 5-star monster couldn’t be fatally wounded without aura.
But then—
Fssshhh—
Magic surged into his sword, aura forming around the blade.
Slash!
The aura-coated edge carved through the yeti’s flesh.
“H-how…?”
Jiho was stunned.
Thanks to his trait, he had 4-star mana, but he’d never once used aura before.
He hadn’t expected to suddenly manage it now.
But he realized—he’d been unconsciously imitating Yoojin’s movements. Even his aura technique.
Stagnant for so long, his growth exploded after meeting Yoojin.
‘It’s all thanks to Hyung!’
Yoojin wasn’t just a benefactor.
He was a role model.
By following him, Jiho felt one day he could become not just in name, but truly a Hero of Justice.
And then—
Shhk!
A blade pierced under the yeti’s jaw, ending its life.
An icy blue sword.
Yoojin’s Eternal Frost Blade.
“Jiho, you okay?”
“Yes, Hyung!”
Yoojin had already slain two yetis and come to save him.
“Was that… aura?”
“Yes!”
“……”
“All thanks to you.”
Jiho grinned brightly.
Yoojin thought to himself.
‘…Damn talented bastard.’
“Hmm.”
A man clad in pure white armor muttered as he peered down into the gaping cave.
“What a hassle. I really have to go down there?”
He stood upon the snowy mountain.
More precisely, at the entrance of the Snowy Mountain Cave dungeon.
“Would’ve been nice if that follower had done a better job.”
He shook his head, thinking of someone.
They shared the same purpose, but that someone was far from reliable.
“Well, it’s all for the sake of the prospective believers.”
With a sigh, he leapt into the cave.
He wasn’t worried about injury.
Because he was—
By worldly standards, a 7-star hunter.
And within the Gaia Cult, a member of the Holy Knight Order.
