Chapter 102

Kuwaaaaaaang—!

It was as if a bomb of light had exploded.

All participants turned their eyes toward the source of the deafening roar.

“What is that?”

“The Goddess of Light?”

“It’s the goddess!”

In the crimson sky—

In that place where there had been nothing but gloom, the holy goddess now stood.

A radiant brilliance so beautiful it inspired reverence.

Everyone was entranced.

Those who managed to regain their senses began moving, almost as if hypnotized, toward where the goddess stood.

And then they saw him.

“Isn’t that Lee Hyuk-soo?”

“You mean the Dragon Hunter?”

“It is. It’s really Lee Hyuk-soo!”

Standing tall and dignified, as if embraced by the goddess herself—

It was indeed Lee Hyuk-soo.

And Lee Hyuk-soo was already a figure known worldwide.

“The one who hunted the Dragon God General during the First Night?”

“They say when everyone else gave up, he went in alone and took it down.”

“And did it in front of hundreds of thousands of witnesses, no less.”

“Didn’t he also clear the most dungeons during the Dungeon Abyss incident…?”

During the First Night—

A trial where Twelve Divine Generals appeared around the world, each to be slain.

The last of them, the strongest and most fearsome of all—the Dragon God General—had been hunted alone by Lee Hyuk-soo.

Those who witnessed it all had spoken with one voice.

Lee Hyuk-soo was the strongest.

A true hero in these turbulent times!

People hailed him as the Dragon Hunter.

Since then, more and more eyes had followed his exploits.

And now, here he was—

Standing alone at the epicenter of the explosion of light and sound.

Everyone in the Second Night’s domain had heard the roar.

They had seen the goddess, and the message announcing the Mythical Achievement.

There was no way all of this was a coincidence.

At the center of all the uproar—

Surely, it had been the Dragon Hunter, Lee Hyuk-soo, who had accomplished it all on his own.

“Could it be that he’s the one who achieved the Mythical Achievement this time…?”

“Wasn’t it also Lee Hyuk-soo who cleared the Legendary Quest?”

“Ah, if it’s the Dragon Hunter, that’s entirely possible.”

“He’s the one who saved us all!”

“The savior! The messiah!”

People clasped their hands together.

Again and again, they bowed their heads, offering heartfelt gratitude.

They firmly believed that both the Legendary Quest and the Mythical Achievement had been accomplished by Lee Hyuk-soo.

The goddess standing with him was proof enough in their minds.

If it hadn’t been for him, those lacking contribution points would have perished in droves.

But 1,000 contribution points was not only enough to survive—it was far more than needed.

According to the rules, when the Second Night ended, anyone who hadn’t gathered 100 contribution points would die.

And more than half the participants had failed to reach even that.

The gap between the rich and poor had been extreme.

Hunting the fugitives had been the domain of the strong alone.

Yet with just a single bow of the head, every last person without enough points had been saved.

That was salvation.

Not merely a Dragon Hunter—he was a messiah destined to save the world.

Of course, hearing the people’s words, Lee Hyuk-soo shook his head.

It had not been him who did all of this—it was the Prophet.

Any thanks should be directed to him, not to Lee Hyuk-soo.

“…It wasn’t me.”

“And so humble on top of it all!”

“Thank you, thank you!”

But those whose eyes were already blinded by admiration refused to believe his words.

They did not listen.

Lee Hyuk-soo considered whether he should leave this misunderstanding be.

‘The Prophet doesn’t like to reveal himself.’

He thought about the Prophet’s nature.

He wanted Lee Hyuk-soo, not himself, to be the savior.

He avoided attention, never showed himself, and worked quietly.

It was as if he hated the spotlight.

Lee Hyuk-soo wanted to help him.

He wanted to repay the debt he owed.

‘…Savior, huh.’

Just as the Prophet had said—just as he had wanted—should he become the savior?

Claim to have done what he hadn’t, and draw the eyes of the world in the Prophet’s stead?

If he didn’t take on that role, people would start to wonder.

They would try to uncover who had brought about these miracles.

Countless frauds and false saviors could emerge, throwing the world into chaos.

In the end, someone would have to hold the center.

‘I don’t yet have the power to be a savior.’

But Lee Hyuk-soo was only human.

He had many weaknesses and lacked the capacity to lead others.

He preferred solitude, chewing on his loneliness—him, leading people?

Being a savior, a hero, taking the spotlight?

No way.

It was an image completely absent from both his common sense and his envisioned future.

In normal times, he would never be able to do it.

But—

‘…A pathmaker.’

Just because he had never tried, or thought he couldn’t, was that really the right answer?

There was no single answer in this world.

The Prophet had taught him that—shown him that.

Meaning—

He could first become a savior, and then build the strength to deserve it.

If Lee Hyuk-soo put his mind to it, it was entirely possible.

‘I want to make a path.’

A new path.

His own path.

It didn’t matter if it started as a lie.

It didn’t matter if it wasn’t yet real.

Circumstance shapes a man, and qualification proves him.

All he had to do was try to become that man.

Faster.

Higher.

More!

As long as he didn’t give up, he could keep moving forward.

“Lee Hyuk-soo!”

“You saved us!”

“You are our hero!”

“We will never forget this grace!”

The shouts of the people echoed throughout the Second Night.

It seemed the Prophet had predicted this, slipping away without looking back.

It felt like a festival.

“……”

Lee Hyuk-soo looked up at the sky.

The goddess of battle—

Perhaps sensing his resolve—seemed to smile at him.

……And then.

It wasn’t only the participants who were watching the place where the Palace of Khan had stood.

—

The Master of the Moon, Ahheta.

His eyes were filled with questions.

From start to finish, nothing had gone according to his plans.

A Legendary Quest had suddenly been triggered, and an intruder had appeared.

He had thought the mage who cornered Han Shin was the same mage who had persistently interfered with him, but the more time passed, the more certain he became that this was wrong.

On top of that—

The attempt to replicate Han Shin had failed, and the revived Han Shin now bore him enmity.

Even the Legendary Quest he thought impossible to clear had been completed.

―How?

Questions arose.

An intruder couldn’t undertake a Legendary Quest.

Only humans participating in the Second Night could.

And even if it began, clearing it was another matter entirely.

At the current level of humanity, defeating that thing, Khan, was impossible.

And yet, it had been done.

And not only that, but one step further had been taken.

―They killed Khan…

The Conqueror Khan was someone even Ahheta couldn’t kill.

No matter how many times he was slain, he never stayed dead.

An immortal body.

An ability akin to infinite regeneration.

The only choice had been to seal him away.

And yet, he was dead.

Killed by a human undertaking the Legendary Quest.

―The palace was the weakness?

The palace itself had been Khan’s “life vessel.”

Who could have guessed that “Conqueror Khan” would do something so like a lich?

He had only pretended to be confident, to not fear death.

In truth, Khan feared death more than anything.

That was why Ahheta had never considered that he might have set up a separate life vessel.

It had nothing to do with a warrior’s abilities.

And yet… it meant a human had found a weakness even Ahheta hadn’t considered.

The only thought in his mind was “How?”

―…And they broke the Mythical Achievement as well.

This was the first time.

Since the long-ago day he became the Master of the Moon and first began hosting Nights, the Mythical Achievement he had set had now been broken.

Even the Twelve Species had never reached it.

But a human had.

Just like with the Tower of Arrogance—

An impossible goal had been achieved.

To surpass ten billion points—

Even finding every hidden piece and completing every quest wouldn’t be enough.

With the quests Ahheta had set alone, it could never be done.

Who could have imagined they would use the sealed Legendary Quest to do it?

No one could have imagined a mere human killing Khan, whom even the Master of the Moon couldn’t kill.

If they were truly human, it was beyond comprehension.

―A world barely touched by The Abyss. Humanity’s awakening is recent.

Humans are weak.

No matter how strong an individual, they couldn’t match even a low-ranked demon.

Without The Abyss touching the world and awakening its creatures, humans could never surpass their limits.

No matter how gifted, growth takes time.

And these were humans facing only their Second Night.

Yet they had killed Khan.

It was infuriating.

More than that—

―A being I cannot find. A human aided by someone else.

He couldn’t locate them.

Couldn’t see them.

Meaning—

They were protected by something akin to absolute magic, or greater.

Moving under the protection of an absolute being.

But who?

What kind of existence dared to interfere with him?

It wasn’t the mage who had beaten Han Shin to a pulp.

Impressive, but not strong enough to kill Khan.

Nor worthy of the protection of an absolute being.

To move this covertly and meticulously—

It might mean an entity even higher than Ahheta was involved.

―Demon King. Demon God. Or the Great Nine Lords. Was it you?

Or perhaps one of the Lords of the Twelve Progenitors.

Only they could make sense of this.

The suspects had narrowed.

One of them was intervening on Earth.

And on a level far beyond Ahheta’s use of Han Shin as an Incarnation—

They were raising a human as if they were a true Reincarnation.

……Perhaps, like him, they had recognized human potential early.

But Ahheta’s thoughts didn’t last long.

Because—

―…Two and a half billion points?

The final contribution tally was beyond belief.

By the rules of The Abyss, the Hidden Treasure Vault was forcibly opened.

There was no greater humiliation.

But more than humiliation, another feeling overwhelmed Ahheta.

―My supreme treasure… how dare they!

The Hidden Treasure Vault.

A place where Ahheta had secretly hidden just three treasures—

The greatest and most supreme of all he had gained through countless Nights and wars against countless species.

―…They won’t find them anyway.

Ahheta forced himself to calm down.

Just because the Hidden Treasure Vault was open didn’t mean the treasures had been taken.

Especially those three—no matter what happened, they could never be found.

He had prepared every possible device to hide them.

Even with the help of an absolute being, even if such a being came personally, it would be the same.

They could never be found.

If they could, the one doing it would not be human, but a god.