Aggro Hunter 9

The man lightly jumped to dodge and sliced the boss monster’s legs into pieces with his dagger. The chunks that fell thud thud to the ground quickly clumped together and recovered to their original state.

He’d have to cut the head first, not the legs. The man climbed up the wall and mounted the boss monster’s back.

The boss monster began shaking its body madly and rampaging. On the ground, regular monsters were being trampled or torn apart by the boss monster.

The man gripped the mane to maintain his center and endure, while stabbing his dagger thwack thwack into the thick neck.

Kiiiiii! Kiiiiiik! Kiii…!

The neck of the suffering boss monster dangled and rolled down. The cut cross-section was wriggling, trying to rejoin.

The man jumped down following the falling boss monster’s head and swung both daggers in his hands at once. The hard skull was cut smoothly like tofu.

Chopping it more quickly and thoroughly, it became shaped like squishy food waste. Even in that state, the boss monster’s head didn’t stop twitching and attempting to regenerate.

The body still rampaged as it was. The man readjusted his hold on Pyeonghwa and ran to turn the rest into mush before the head could regenerate.

Clatter.

Once he’d chopped it so finely its form was unrecognizable, a magic stone rolled down, announcing the boss monster’s death. At the same time, the remaining monsters took fright and scattered in all directions.

The man tucked both daggers into the sheaths at his waist and picked up the magic stone. Perhaps because it was a D-rank Gate, even the boss monster’s magic stone wasn’t very high quality. The man put just that one boss magic stone into his pocket.

Crackle.

A crack formed in the air, creating a Gate to exit through.

The man glanced down at Pyeonghwa dangling from him and thought—if that brazen personality was fake, he’d be Oscar-worthy.

He didn’t seem to know his identity, but even so, it was hard to completely trust him. Thinking of his extraordinary mental acuity that didn’t seem like a civilian’s, letting him live felt more unsettling.

It would be better to let him go for now, then monitor him for a while so he couldn’t pull any tricks.

The man set Pyeonghwa down on the ground. He kept staggering as if unable to balance, so he had no choice but to hold his forearm.

“Noh Pyeonghwa. Stand up straight.”

“Ah, wait… just a moment.”

“I’m letting you go today, but if you pull any tricks…….”

“Bwaaaargh!”

At that moment, Pyeonghwa spewed vomit onto the man’s clothes. As the sour smell brushed past his nose, the man’s body stiffened rigidly.

Only after Pyeonghwa spat out stomach acid a few more times did he seem to settle down, and he began cautiously watching the man’s mood.

“Well… you jumped around making me motion sick, hyung…….”

“Ha……!”

“And you chopped up the monster too much, urgh, it’s disgusting. I don’t think I can eat meat anymore.”

“Fuck, want me to make sure you can never fucking eat it again?”

“No! I’m sorry.”

“Should I just, ugh…! Kill you? You seem desperate to die, goddamn brat……!”

“NononoNO! Hyung, relax. Deep breaths!”

When the man poured out his rage as if having a seizure, Pyeonghwa quickly pulled off his tracksuit top and wiped away the vomit. The man’s huge fist was trembling as if about to fly at any moment.

Having witnessed his overwhelming force with his own two eyes, Pyeonghwa became genuinely frightened. If he got hit by that fist, he might become pulverized like the monsters.

Pyeonghwa glanced at the Gate leading outside and spat out words like a machine gun.

“I was wrong, hyung. And really, thank you for saving me. You’re my life’s savior. I’ll never forget. Thank you so much. I love you…… shiiiit!”

Pyeonghwa threw the vomit-covered tracksuit at the man’s face and hurled himself at the Gate.

Thud!

Pyeonghwa rolled several times on the dirt ground. His whole body ached, but there was no time to waste. The pitch-black Gate was wavering like a heat haze as if foretelling it would soon disappear. The man would come out soon.

As Pyeonghwa fumbled at the ground to get up, he picked up a rectangular object and shouted with delight.

“My phone!”

It was a phone he’d only recently replaced. If he’d taken it into the Gate, it would’ve broken immediately, but thanks to falling in front of the Gate, the screen turned on perfectly intact.

Pyeonghwa clutched his phone and hurriedly pushed through the forest path and ran out. Thinking the man was chasing from behind, even with trembling legs, he couldn’t stop.

“Huff, huff, huff…….”

After coming down to the main road, he looked back for the first time. He pricked up his ears in a state of high tension, but no sound was heard. Still, he was anxious. He needed a place to hide and wait until a taxi came.

Pyeonghwa crossed the road and entered the mountain path on the opposite side. He hid behind a rock, crouched down, and turned on his phone. He was about to press the taxi app when it suddenly occurred to him that the man knew all his personal information.

Pyeonghwa’s fingers twitched and trembled in conflict. Still, he was his life’s savior, so reporting him felt a bit…….

“Hello? Is this the police? As for where I am……!”

The deliberation was brief. Saving his life was one thing, but fearing future trouble was unavoidable.

He squeezed his eyes shut and pressed 112. As soon as the call connected, Pyeonghwa spilled everything he’d experienced.

“……So the Gate thief hyung saved me. Oh, right. Is it the death penalty for Gate thieves? He wasn’t a bad hyung though, the death penalty seems too harsh. Just send him to prison for like 3 years. In the meantime, I’ll change my name and move…… Anyway, come quickly and catch him. That’s all.”

“Done?”

“Yes. Done…… Huff!”

When a low, menacing voice came from above his head, Pyeonghwa was terrified as if he’d encountered the Grim Reaper. He was sure the call had connected to the police…… but without knowing when, the call had been cut off.

Pyeonghwa’s mercilessly shaking pupils reached black leather high walkers. Pyeonghwa slowly, very slowly raised his head.

The man’s black pupils reflected in the moonlight shone eerily. Pyeonghwa’s mouth went bone dry, and he gathered saliva and gulped it down. Right now was far scarier than when the boss monster had appeared.

“What kind of damn brat exists like this.”

The man muttered lowly as if to himself.

He wanted to say he was wrong, but Pyeonghwa’s lips, consumed by fear, wouldn’t open easily.

“Immature, ill-mannered, fearless, tactless.”

“…….”

“Begging for your life but talking back stubbornly, and after I saved you, you don’t know gratitude and report me to the police?”

“……Hyu, hyung. Save me, hiiik!”

Crack! The man stomped on the phone Pyeonghwa had set on the ground.

Seeing the phone crumble like a cracker in an instant, Pyeonghwa turned deathly pale.

“If I just leave you alone, you’ll cause bigger trouble.”

“I, I won’t do it again, hyung. I was wrong. Please just spare my life……!”

“Assume the position.”

“Yes sir!”

Pyeonghwa quickly assumed the position. Then he looked at him with the most pitiful face possible, eyes brimming with tears.

Without batting an eye, the man pressed Pyeonghwa’s head down firmly.

“Just take ten hits and come to your senses.”

“Ten hits? I’ll die!”

“Eleven.”

“Hyuuung, please……!”

“Twelve.”

“…….”

Each time he spoke, it increased by one. Pyeonghwa shut his mouth tight like a clam.

Right, if he was going to kill him, he would’ve done it in one go. He’ll control his strength when hitting. Even if it’s scary, he’s not a bad person…….

Pyeonghwa thought naively and nodded. It was a gesture that he was ready to be hit.

Swoosh—!

The sound of cutting through air rang out sharply enough to give him chills.

Thwack—!

“Keurgh!”

The moment the man’s leather-gloved hand struck his buttocks, a dull impact sound reverberated.

Pyeonghwa let out a scream, curled up his body, and rolled on the ground. His strength was so great that for a moment, his eyes rolled back.

“Straighten your posture.”

“Kugh, hyu, hyung, it hurts. I, I think I’m dying……!”

“Thirteen.”

“Uuugh, shiii……!”

Even while looking down at Pyeonghwa covered in tears and snot, the man’s voice was utterly indifferent.

Realizing he wasn’t someone who’d go easy on him, Pyeonghwa gritted his teeth and prostrated before him again.

Swoosh—! Thwack—!

“Kuuugh!”

Pyeonghwa’s arms and legs went weak and he staggered, hitting his face and knees on the ground. He ended up in a position lying face-down with only his buttocks raised high.

The man sat astride a low rock, lowered his body, and continued striking his buttocks with the same speed and same force as before.

Thwack—! Thwack—! Thwack—! Thwack—!

“Uwak! Kkyuek! Keheok! Keuaaak!”

Pyeonghwa not only shed tears and snot but even foamed at the mouth, screaming like a pig being slaughtered. His buttocks were completely crushed, and blood droplets dripped down his thighs.

His vision became blurry as if he’d pass out, but the moment he was hit, his mind jolted awake as if stabbed by a knife. If he was going to be beaten to death like this, he should’ve just been eaten by the monster earlier. At least the pain would’ve been shorter. Of all things, to run into a psychopathic murderer…….

‘I just…… wanted to awaken…….’

He wanted to receive awakener bonus points and go to university. No, actually more than that…… his desire to play a virtual reality game came first. He wanted to take revenge on Bae Sinhyo and his gaming school classmates and become a pro gamer.