From Today, I'm a Player

Chapter 152: The Ruler of Incheon Pt. 2

The Hunters walked silently with quiet steps.

In the city of ruins, the Hunters moved forward, stepping over the ashes and rubble of the collapsed buildings. Their steps were quiet, but filled with the weight of the devastation around them.

“It’s this way,” Jeong In-Chang said.

He had continued to wander around Incheon in order to rescue survivors, so he was now pinpointing the path for his party to take. However, it wasn’t that he was taking them on a path with no monsters at all.

“Chwiiik!!”

Rather, it was full of monsters.

Every corner of the way, monsters screamed as they attacked the party.

Squelch! Crack! Pow!

With intense sounds, they died one by one.

Jeong In-Chang was deliberately guiding the party to places full of monsters.

They were groups of monsters that had to have been avoided when they were rescuing survivors, but things were different now.

Half of Incheon’s power was gathered here.

Monsters weren’t targets to be avoided anymore, but targets to be hunted.

“Rear guard!” Yeo Seong-Gu shouted.

At his cry, the Hunters formed a line and walked forward.

They would slaughter the monsters and advance.

‘We have to leave here.’

That was what Lee Jun-Kyeong had meant.

If they were able to hunt the ruler of Incheon, Lee Jun-Kyeong and his party would have to leave Incheon.

With the ruler gone, Incheon would be a little safer, but if they could also slaughter the monsters that were here as well, the survivors who were hiding would be even safer.

This was a consideration that Lee Jun-Kyeong and his party could do for everyone before they left the city.

Step. Step.

The Hunters continued to walk out in silence.

They would conquer Incheon and take it back.

This would be the beginning of humanity’s struggle to survive in the cataclysm.

“HA-A-EUP!”

Jeong In-Chang ran out with much faster and stronger movements than before, his greatsword in hand, slicing through a huge tree-type monster.

Like an axe, the greatsword cleaved through the base of the monster and cut it into two.

“UUUUGH!”

With a grotesque scream, the monster that was in the form of the huge old tree fell down.

‘He’s grown,’?Lee Jun-Kyeong thought as he looked at Jeong In-Chang.

Jeong In-Chang always was enthusiastic in what he did, both when he was with him and when he wasn’t. Because of that, he grew with every battle.

He may have earned the title Siegfried, but hadn’t yet fully developed his abilities.

However.

‘He’s about to bloom.’

The completed Siegfried.

He would be a person who could be of great help to Lee Jun-Kyeong.

“Uuuuugh.”

“UUGH!”

“Ugh…”

At that time, completely different monsters surrounded their surroundings. They were so different to the point that even the degree of mana they emitted was different.

The monster approached with a thump, seemingly a mixture of rocks and trees.

Shing!

The Hunters stood nervously as they drew their weapons and held them aloft.

However.

Step.

Lee Jun-Kyeong took a step forward and held out his hand.

Suddenly, it felt like a burst of intense heat had sprung up all around them.

Flicker.

Suddenly, flames burst out, igniting the monsters in front of them.

They were in a world where only ashes remained.

The structures around them were just the remnant rubble of broken buildings anyway.

‘This is a place where I can use fire to my heart’s content without any repercussions.’

Shimmering flames engulfed them, and their bodies, which seemed to be made of rocks and wood, began to distort and melt.

‘Looks like, I, too….’

He had grown.

***

'Status window.'

A blue window that hadn’t been opened in a long time popped open.

It was a skill and special ability that only Lee Jun-Kyeong had that others didn’t, and it was one of the reasons that he had been able to grow stronger at an incomparable speed.

Lee Jun-Kyeong looked at the blue window in front of him and thought to himself.

‘The man in black.’

The man who was behind Set, the man who had turned China, Utgard, into a land of ice.

The man who had to have been behind Utgard-Loki, the king of the city of giants.

Also.

‘The man who had even reaped Odin.’

As time passed, Lee Jun-Kyeong was able to infer his identity for some reason.

No, he had had his doubts about the man in black’s identity from the start.

Thus, as time passed, the man had given Lee Jun-Kyeong a strange certainty. However, as he had no confirmation, he had neither affirmed nor told anyone.

Moreover.

‘Why would he…’

Lee Jun-Kyeong also had a bit of doubt.

The man in black’s actions so far seemed to have only caused him confusion.

Carnage and Madness.

The act of manipulating someone to create a disturbance.

He had done so many things that it was incompatible with whom Lee Jun-Kyeong had thought he was. It was to the point where even at this moment, he still had an incomprehensible feeling.

The true identity of the man in black was…

“The Demon King…”

The owner of the book that Lee Jun-Kyeong had read, and the true Hero that he had admired. A true Hero who had to be erased from history, though his achievements had still survived.

For some, strange reason, Lee Jun-Kyeong felt as though the man in black was the Demon King.

But, if the man in black was the Demon King.

‘Is he looking at a status window, just like I am?’

Lee Jun-Kyeong looked up at the sky.

‘<The Sky of the Apocalypse>, what the hell are you…’

Lee Jun-Kyeong looked up at the sky, full of questions, but no answers came back in response.

In the end, Lee Jun-Kyeong had no choice but to focus on the blue window that spread in front of him.

[Lee Jun-Kyeong]

[Special Ability: Player]

[Sponsor: <Sky of the Apocalypse>]

[Level: 89, Strength: 241, Agility: 281, Stamina: 210, Mana: 294]

[Authorities: Monarch of Fire Lv MAX]

[Familiars: Hyeon-Mu (Matured), A Skull that Contains Souls (Activating), Fenrir (Growth)]

Although there were fewer additions this time than before, the numbers themselves were different.

His level was approaching 100 before he had realized it.

‘Level 100…’

Lee Jun-Kyeong thought back to a part of the book of the Demon King.

[Just as there is a huge difference before and after every time the number of a stat value changes the number of digits…]

His memories, just as intense as the day he read them.

[The level is also the same. Still, the shift in level gave me a strength that was incomparable to the shift in ability. It was almost like…]

Lee Jun-Kyeong quietly recited what he had remembered, “It was like an evolution, not an increase in strength.”

It was an intense memory, thinking back to the phrase that it was like evolution, not growth.

However, the higher the level, the slower the growth.

The growth rate wasn’t fast in the first place, and had now slowed down to a point where he had thought that it would have been better to be given sponsorship.

However, Lee Jun-Kyeong recognized that it had also been his own fault.

‘Because I didn’t have any time to hunt.’

The time he had spent in England, the time against Set.

Lee Jun-Kyeong hadn’t been able to devote much time to hunting.

Unlike the beginning, when he had been raiding gates like crazy, his time spent hunting had been noticeably reduced.

‘Well, leveling up is also slow,’ Lee Jun-Kyeong thought again as he looked ahead.

It was infested with monsters.

From a certain point, monsters had spread all over around them, oppressing the Hunters with the pressure of their mana.

As the monsters grew stronger as they advanced, it meant that Lee Jun-Kyeong and his party were moving forward in the right direction.

“It's time, time for what I haven’t been able to do until…”

It was time for his hunt to resume.

“Whew…”

Muspel’s Spear appeared in Lee Jun-Kyeong’s hand.

Although Jeong In-Chang, Yeo Seong-Gu, and numerous Hunters from Incheon were standing together, at this moment, the eyes of the monsters were focused only on one Hunter.

In their eyes.

“Ughh.”

There was only one person, a single Hunter, who was exuding an aura as powerful as their master.

Flicker.

A flame erupted.

[A Skull that Contains Souls will be activating soon.]

Lee Jun-Kyeong smirked and kicked off the ground.

***

"Heol,” someone groaned out.[1]

“That’s impossible,” someone else said, shocked.

“...”

Some even kept silent.

The sight in front of them was the same, but the way that they all responded was different.

.

Lee Jun-Kyeong and his party had finally been able to reach their destination after passing through a land marred with blood and flames.

The place that they had expected to house the ruler.

"That's Incheon City Hall...?”

They had finally been able to reach the vicinity of the Incheon City Hall.

Although there was still quite a distance left before they arrived, there wasn’t a single one among them who couldn’t see the building, standing tall amidst the surrounding broken rubble.

Where the Incheon City Hall used to be was an unbelievable sight.

The City Hall building still retained its rubble and structure, but when they looked at it as a whole, it was impossible for anyone to see it as the old Incheon City Hall.

It wasn’t just that building, either.

Shing!

The Hunters swung their swords urgently.

It wasn’t monsters that they were swinging at.

Plants had appeared here and there, moving and growing on their own.

Those that had grown slithered to the Hunters like snakes, and the Hunters, who were disgusted by it, cut through the plants with their own weapons.

“...”

Yeo Seong-Gu and Lee Jun-Kyeong, who were in the lead, also were silent.

They had arrived late because they had been deliberately sweeping through the monsters.

It seemed that the tired Hunters couldn't erase the shock of when they saw the sight in front of them..

Hopelessness.

The despair that the world that they had belonged to had changed into something completely different.

“How maddening.”

It seemed to be a shock to Yeo Seong-Gu as well.

Step.

Jeong In-Chang, returning from his scouting, stood next to Lee Jun-Kyeong.

“It seems that the ruler is currently inside the Incheon City Hall,” he informed them.

He had gone out on reconnaissance again in order to confirm the existence of the ruler.

However.

“It seems so,” Lee Jun-Kyoeng responded.

It seemed that he hadn’t needed to go out on reconnaissance, as they could feel it even in this distant place.

A huge density of mana, warped around City Hall.

Yeo Seong-Gu could feel it too.

“Is that what we have to deal with?”

“…”

“Heol.”

The energy that Yeo Seong-Gu had felt made his entire body tremble for a moment as he continued his words.

“Are you still confident?” he asked.

Lee Jun-Kyeong had told him that only he was able to defeat the ruler.

Seeing this person, Yeo Seong-Gu was convinced.

It was obvious, as Lee Jun-Kyeong had said, this was an enemy of a level that no one would be able to defeat. That was why he was worried that even Lee Jun-Kyeong couldn’t do it either.

“I can do this.”

“...”

“This ruler…we’re a good match.”

Lee Jun-Kyeong turned around slowly.

He looked at the Hunters and spoke.

“We will be taking a break for about an hour. After the break…”

Lee Jun-Kyeong’s eyes scanned everyone as everyone looked back at him.

“We will be rushing to Incheon City Hall right away. Those who wish to go back may do so now. From that point on…”

Lee Jun-Kyeong swallowed before he continued, “It will be hell.”

***

“The children seem to be dying.”

There was a textured throne made out of wood, but it seemed too grotesque to be called a throne.

Wriggle.

It seemed… Alive.

It moved and changed, pulsating and wriggling as if it were alive.

However, the person sitting on it had an extremely calm expression.

“Also…they seem to be coming to me,” the being said with a tired expression.

The being had pointy ears and wispy blonde hair. However, their skin seemed as rough as that of a wooden doll, and their eyes were dull like those of a dead man.

However, the being was beautiful nonetheless.

Although they were a being that was impossible to tell if it was a woman or a man, they were still beautiful.

The one seated on the throne stretched out their hand.

Strrrk.

The hand turned into a branch and touched the head of a screaming human.

“P…please let me live…!”

The branch warped and wrapped around the human’s head. Then, having warped into a round shape, it pulsated, as if sucking in the human.

Gulp, gulp.

“Haa.”

The being sitting on the throne could feel the life force being sucked in and made a face full of joy. There were a great many things coming in through the stem.

Vitality.

Strength.

Knowledge.

Human Language.

Human History.

“Hmm. So they’re called Hunters…”

Many things were being sucked into the one who was sitting on the throne.

“How quaint, this place they call Earth.”

The being slowly withdrew their hand, and then, the stems surrounding the human disappeared.

Thump.

In its place, there was only a dry corpse lying there, as if all the moisture had been drained out.

“We will sweep these bugs out of this place and rebuild our kingdom.”

At the words of the being sitting on the throne, thousands of voices echoed all around.

"Uuugh! Uuuuuugh!”

“Uuuuuuuuuugh!”

“Uuuuuuuuuugh!”

The being sitting on the throne, The King of Alfheimr, had made their declaration.

1. Heol (?) is a sound of surprise in Korea. ????