Chapter 01 …

“It’s a mess.”

My condition was, frankly, the worst.

I didn’t even know when it happened, but my left arm was gone.

Blood poured out in torrents from the hole in my abdomen.

Most of my equipment had been destroyed, and the only thing still usable was a sword that had been broken to about one-third its original length.

A laugh naturally escaped me.

“Keuk, keuk, keukukuk!”

Lee Hyun cursed at me at the top of his lungs.

“Cha Eunseong, you bastard! What the hell did you doooooo!”

Lee Hyun’s condition was even worse than mine.

Not only was his lower body completely gone, but his intestines were spilling out of his torn abdomen.

“Looks good.”

A smile spread across my lips.

“You bastard! Answer me! What the hell is this!”

Wow, even in that state he still has the energy to scream like that. He must be really pissed.

“You don’t get it just by looking?”

I snorted.

“I just made things a little difficult so you all could die. Keuk. Keukukuk. Ugh.”

The effects of the various doping potions I had taken earlier were wearing off, and the pain was starting to set in.

“So what the hell is this! You crazy bastard! Why did you do this! Why!”

“You still don’t understand? You really can’t read the situation?”

“What are you even talking about! Cough!”

“Because I can’t kill you all myself. How could a mere tool like me kill high-and-mighty rankers? Keuk… I had no choice but to bring you all down like this. Keukukuk!”

36 hours earlier.

We had set out to raid the <Dragon Lord’s Nest>.

The boss, the Dragon Lord, was an 11-star monster—a catastrophe capable of annihilating an entire nation alone.

France had already fallen because of it, and Japan had been devastated except for Hokkaido.

Our raid party, composed of Korea’s top rankers, finally reached the <Dragon King’s Chamber> after immense struggle and entered the boss fight.

In the midst of the battle, I carried out the plan I had long dreamed of.

The first thing I did was stab the throat of the mage Rasiheon, who was maintaining the Dragon Lord’s binding, with the [Dagger of Instant Death].

Stab!

“Keugh!”

Rasiheon let out a short scream and collapsed, dying instantly.

“How dare you, lowly vermin!”

Freed from restraint, the Dragon Lord went berserk.

“KRAAAAAAH!”

Tank Kim Kangmin was hit by the dragon breath and turned into a lump of black charcoal.

“Cha Eunseong, you crazy bastard!”

The ranged dealer Chae Gwangjin drew his bow at me—but did he really think I wouldn’t anticipate that?

How meticulously had I prepared?

That arrow… who do you think made it?

Boom!

The arrowhead exploded violently.

“Aaaagh!”

As expected of a ranged dealer with naturally low defense, Chae Gwangjin’s entire face was blown apart by the explosion.

“Ugh, aaaaaagh!”

Crunch!

Now blinded, Chae Gwangjin was swallowed whole by the Dragon Lord, who had closed the distance in an instant.

“Wait just a bit longer!”

The healer of the raid party, Baek Ahyeong, tried to restore Chae Gwangjin’s life force, but that too was within my expectations.

Ssshh…

Her healing magic activated, but his wounds didn’t regenerate at all.

Go on. Try it all you want.

Not even a speck of healing would happen.

Before entering the <Dragon King’s Chamber>, I had mixed the healing-blocking juice of the <Leaf of Death> into the doping potions.

Did she really think it would work?

Ah, and one more thing.

Bzzzzzt!

A swarm of bees flew in from somewhere and attacked Baek Ahyeong.

They were [Eternal Hell Bees].

They lived in the 4-star dungeon [Primordial Jungle]. I once went through hell breeding those things… let’s not even talk about it.

“Kyaaaaaa!”

Good. Scream more. Die.

“Lalala.”

Watching Baek Ahyeong get stung and devoured by the Eternal Hell Bees made me hum unconsciously.

I had suffered so much because of her.

“Cha Eunseong, you son of a bitch!”

“Son of a bitch!”

The twin sub-dealers, Moon Daehan and Moon Daeseong, rushed at me screaming—but sorry, your opponent isn’t me.

“Die, you worthless insects.”

The Dragon Lord chased after them instead.

“Damn it!”

Main dealer Lee Hyun tried desperately to control the situation, running back and forth—but nothing would change anything.

A raid party losing its mage, tank, ranged dealer, and healer—how long could they possibly hold out?

It took less than five minutes for the entire raid party to be wiped out.

In the process, I was also reduced to a wreck, but that didn’t matter.

If it meant screwing over these beasts who didn’t even deserve to be called human, if it meant killing them, then my life was nothing.

I was a non-combat hunter, a support-type.

Alone, I couldn’t even scratch them, let alone kill them.

SSS-rank or not, a support is still just a tool.

This was the only way to destroy the raid party.

Because of my decision, not just Korea but the entire world would head toward destruction—but I didn’t care.

Humanity?

Screw them.

The world was already beyond saving. Whether it collapsed now or later made no difference.

“So it was all because of revenge? Because of your pathetic grudge, you did all this insane shit?”

“What do you mean, pathetic?”

Anger surged in me.

“Ten years you treated me like a slave—was that pathetic?”

At first, I thought it was teamwork. Friendship.

But it wasn’t.

As time passed, they only used me. Never treated me properly.

They looked down on me, discriminated against me, because I was a support.

Yet they became top rankers in Korea and even the world because of me.

Of course, I wasn’t so petty as to do all this just for that reason alone.

The real reason I chose revenge was…

“So what about letting my mother die? Was that pathetic too?”

“……”

Lee Hyun was speechless.

Three years ago.

The region where my mother lived was taken over by monsters.

I begged them.

Just once, please help. Save my mother.

But they chose not to save my family, and instead prioritized another high-profile dungeon raid.

“Sacrifice the few for the many.”

That was their justification.

My mother died.

Does it even make sense? The mother of an SSS-rank hunter—one of the top rankers—killed by monsters?

They came to the funeral and gave hollow condolences.

“Sorry. That’s how it turned out.”

“Take care of the funeral.”

“It’s the burden of a hero. You just have to endure it.”

The media glorified it as “a noble sacrifice” and “a decision to save the nation.”

Obviously, that was all propaganda they orchestrated.

After that, everything changed.

They feared my resentment and used my younger sister to pressure me.

They also monitored me, preventing me from interacting with other hunters.

I was useful—an SSS-rank support tool.

So I decided.

I would take revenge.

Today is my mother’s death anniversary.

If anything, this was the most extravagant offering I could give her.

“Sorry… I couldn’t protect you till the end.”

I was worried about my sister, but she would be fine.

I had prepared things.

It would be hard, but she was strong enough. She could survive without her foolish brother.

“Keukuk!”

Lee Hyun laughed.

“Cha Eunseong, you idiot. Do you think your dead mother will come back? Even if you succeed in revenge, do you think your precious little sister will be safe—”

He didn’t finish.

Crunch!

The Dragon Lord bit off his head.

Chomp chomp.

He was enjoying it.

The Dragon Lord looked at me.

A chill ran through me—no, my very soul shrank.

Don’t panic.

I still had my trump card.

“You… are an existence I cannot kill.”

The Dragon Lord seemed to realize what I had.

“That’s right. I am one you cannot kill.”

I took out three stone spheres from my inventory.

They glowed red, yellow, and blue.

The Dragon King’s Dragon Balls.

The final piece of my plan.

According to ancient texts, gathering the three Dragon Balls would grant a wish to the Dragon Lord.

Now, it was time to test that legend.

“I will make a wish.”

“According to the ancient covenant, I shall grant your wish.”

“My wish is…”

Stab!

The Dragon Lord’s hand pierced through my chest—straight into my heart.

“Haaah!”

I couldn’t even speak.

Since when…?

A wish…?

You said you’d grant it…

“Your true desire shall be fulfilled through death.”

What… nonsense… you damn lizard…

…So this is how I die. Without even making my wish.

My consciousness faded.

And when I opened my eyes again…

“Son, son.”

“…?”

“You should eat before sleeping.”

My mother was looking down at me.