I Became a Mythical Hunter After Killing the Golden Goblin - Chapter 73

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 73. Return to Earth
The situation was swiftly contained. Given the magnitude of the incident, it could not be buried in silence, yet since no residents had died or suffered serious injuries, the Security Force intervened and concluded the matter as a conflict between Players.
Shin Ju-ha was released without significant sanctions. Since he was not a resident with clear identification, other Players had anticipated a tedious and complex investigation—a prediction that proved remarkably wrong.
Regardless, the investigation was far too lenient given that he stood at the center of this entire incident.
Naturally, the fact that everything he had killed were villains corroding the Primordial City greatly aided in proving his innocence.
Proving they were villains presented no difficulty. Irrefutable evidence existed: they had infiltrated the Hospital and brutally, horrifically murdered all the patients within.
Moreover, Shin Ju-ha’s backing was none other than Security Force Commander Braymun himself, eliminating any further complications. He held considerable goodwill toward Shin Ju-ha and harbored guilt—the incident had occurred in the Hospital Room he had recommended, and his letter of recommendation had been the catalyst.
Thanks to this, he was able to leave the Security Force Investigation Room before lunch.
Naturally, there remained facts that neither the Security Force nor the Hospital could suppress.
Ma-in! The very appearance of Ma-in could not be prevented from spreading as rumor.
Ma-in represented a grave matter to both Players and residents alike. It was no coincidence that they faced universal rejection.
Even in simple terms, examined objectively and in detail, they were far more cruel and vicious than any villain.
Unpredictable in their actions, they were madness incarnate—willing to slaughter their own kin without hesitation as offerings to demons and demonic races.
And for Ma-in to brazenly infiltrate and operate in such a low Stage?
An unimaginable event had transpired. Enough to justify every being rising up in arms.
In simple terms, it was as though Ma-in had declared war against Stage-0 and Stage-1—safe zones that Players across all dimensions had painstakingly conquered and secured for habitation.
“Damn it, now villains are appearing even in the safe Stages 0 and 1?”
“How are we supposed to live in fear? What if they summon the demons or demonic races they serve and scatter curses across the entire city, performing human sacrifices?”
“Shit, and it wasn’t even a Player or resident from another dimension—it was a Ma-in originating from a South Korean Hunter.”
“Insane. Didn’t Dangun Cheonje sweep out the Ma-in before? They’re still around. Cockroaches, every last one of them.”
“I heard the Association terror attack from not long ago was also the Ma-in’s doing. If the Association Chairman hadn’t possessed that new item—the Restraint Stone—the Dungeon would have gone berserk and exploded. The Chairman himself issued a direct warning: capture them, and they die.”
Players, naturally, did not welcome the current situation. Especially those who had lost comrades to Ma-in and the villains under their command.
They displayed fury intense enough to tear apart corpses on the spot.
Yet it was awkward for the Hospital or Terrarium to provide compensation independently. In conclusion, this was a matter between Players and Players. The Hospital and Security Force had taken precautions and maintained vigilance, after all.
The problem was that all defenses had been breached without resistance. Moreover, residents had suffered minor damage from this incident, and the Hospital was damaged so severely it would need to remain closed for weeks—so they, in fact, wished to assign blame.
It was the villains who had violated the unspoken rule of not harming residents, yet from their perspective, it was only natural that all seemed like the same nationals of the same state.
Well, the Security Force did send modest condolences. But that was all.
No one took responsibility for their deaths. Besides, even if someone did, it was unclear to whom compensation should be given.
Comrades were merely comrades, after all—compensation could not be given to them. They weren’t family, so what if someone coveted the reward and intercepted it midway?
The more serious problem lay elsewhere.
“Hmph, what if those things attack us too?”
“Right, right. They’ve always looked down on us, coercing us to take lucrative requests—how can we trust them?”
“Shouldn’t the Security Commander expel all of them?”
“We should have a Village chief in times like this. Is it because we haven’t elected one?”
“Whatever it is, I’m too scared to sleep. Who knows when they’ll turn on us and attack!”
Conflict between Players and residents. Players had always dismissed and scorned the ordinary Quests residents offered, finding them tedious—so the emotional chasm between them only widened.
Save for a single Player.
***
“I apologize. I got a bit too rough during the fight. Please use this to help with building repairs.”
“Oh my! That’s not necessary. And with this much coin, we could build an entirely new hospital. It’s far too much.”
“It’s nothing to me. Just accept it. I feel terrible that trouble arose because of me and unsettled the city.”
I hurled one hundred thousand navy-blue coins at the Hospital Director, who kept refusing. Converting navy-blue coins to Korean won, each was worth roughly eight to nine thousand won. A hundred thousand meant nearly nine hundred million—a staggering sum—yet to me it held no more value than scooping a handful of water from the ocean and offering it. I gave it freely.
Money solves everything, or so they say. After compensating the hospital staff who had been attacked, their eyes shone with such reverence that I felt burdened and had to escape.
“Oh my! Are you alright, Ju-ha? You were at the hospital during the attack. And you defeated Ma-in yourself!”
“Damn it! Ma-in, hiccup! Those vermin! Hiccup! They crawled all the way here!”
“You’re not hurt anywhere, right? I was so worried.”
.
.
.
I held Nicky as she rushed toward me and embraced me without a word, while I reassured the residents who gazed at me with concern.
Had the Security Force captain given them advance notice? They knew everything—that I had defeated Ma-in and the villains myself.
They welcomed me warmly and offered lunch. After finishing my meal surrounded by the warmth of people for the first time in a while, I strolled through the city with Nicky. We took our time wandering.
The overall atmosphere wasn’t good. The Players had their grievances, and the residents had theirs.
Setting aside the tension between the two groups, the mere fact that Ma-in appeared here was enough to unsettle both factions.
Under the scrutiny of both sides, I leisurely toured the sprawling city once more, savoring the moment of respite.
“I’ll return to Earth for a while. I have things to attend to. There are also matters I need to handle for my brother. It will likely take over a month.”
“Yes, much has happened. You should rest before returning. Have a safe journey. I’ll be waiting. There will likely be much work to do, so I won’t be able to see you off. Haha.”
I exchanged farewells with the easygoing Braymun, placated Nicky with candy to keep her from clinging to me, and returned to Earth.
***
Seoul, the capital of South Korea on Earth. In a mansion on the outskirts of the city, a man awoke from sleep.
“Gasp! Gasp! Gasp!”
Nam Woo-i, drenched in cold sweat, rushed straight to the bathroom from his ominous and unsettling dream. He splashed his face with cold water, his expression twisted in displeasure.
His dream was no mere dream. Unique Ability: Imperfect Lucid Dreaming [Unique-SS].
His dreams revealed situations and truths unknown to him. Of course, being imperfect, most information he saw in dreams held little value or was distorted in certain ways. Moreover, since it showed the present or past rather than prophesying the future, its utility was even more limited.
Still, that didn’t mean it was useless. How else would he, without his brother’s help—an Awakened and a Ma-in—have become a nouveau riche with several buildings in Seoul?
But he always felt it wasn’t enough. He needed to live like his brother.
As someone who loved pleasure and indulgence, he envied his brother—a Ma-in and free from the law—immensely.
Power! Overwhelming strength gained through a contract with the Demon Race! The potential to grow even further!
For him, who had awakened a non-combat unique ability, that was what he envied most. The vast wealth he had accumulated alone could never grant him complete freedom from the law.
Not unless he became a conglomerate controlling one pillar of South Korea. Of course, he understood the limits of his unique ability precisely.
A conglomerate? That was impossible. In fact, accumulating this much wealth was the result of pushing his ability to its absolute limit.
So he turned his eyes elsewhere. Power! He needed strength to elevate himself to greater heights.
But acquiring expensive-grade skills and runes to grow stronger required more than his vast wealth. Even selling his entire fortune wouldn’t suffice to buy even a few items worth hundreds of billions each.
Well, he might manage to obtain one or two somehow. But that alone wasn’t enough.
He was in a state of semi-estrangement from his brother Nam Woo-won, and since his brother was a Ma-in, he couldn’t even use him as backing.
“Damn it. Why did I dream of my brother dying?”
He had seen it. A brilliantly shining spear blasting his brother away. And while his brother barely clung to life through the effects of his unique ability, Death’s Boundary Line [Unique-SSS], a man approached and severed his brother’s neck.
“Is he really dead?”
Since becoming Ma-in, contact between us had naturally grown sparse. The half-estrangement stemmed from that very fact. Yet blood ties are bonds that cannot be severed—especially not between two who had lost their parents and weathered trials together in the streets.
That was when Nam Woo-i caught sight of something black materializing within the mirror’s reflection and recoiled in shock.
His eyes trembled at the appearance of that thing—whether a black shimmer or some living entity—as dread seized him.
Fear. Horror. Revulsion. Dread.
The moment he beheld that black something, negative thoughts flooded his mind, threatening to consume him. Yet the instant the black shimmer spoke, such thoughts evaporated without trace.
-Nam Woo-won, my contractor. Your blood relative is dead.
The black shimmer—no, the demon who had contracted with his brother—delivered the truth of what he’d seen in his dream with chilling composure.
-According to his final condition, I shall contract with you. No—I shall make you my avatar! In exchange, you shall slay that cursed bastard who destroyed my plaything!
〚Hidden Quest: Slay the Kinslayer!
Grade: Unique
Rank: SSS-
Description: Deriachs, the mid-tier demon who contracted with your brother Nam Woo-won, has decided to contract with you according to the conditions of his pact. Furthermore, Deriachs will not forgive the player Shin Ju-ha who dared to destroy his plaything. Deriachs intends to grant you maximum power so that you may slay him in his stead! Receive his strength and eliminate the player Shin Ju-ha, who murdered your brother!
Upon Acceptance: Avatar of the mid-tier demon: The Damp Worm That Digs Holes—Deriachs’s direct position
Objective: Eliminate Player Shin Ju-ha (0/1)
Success: Recommendation as 6th-rank Apostle of the Demon Palace, Greater power from Deriachs
Failure: Physical death, soul annihilation〛
“I accept.”
Nam Woo-i assessed the situation in an instant and realized this was the moment he’d yearned for his entire life—the chance to obtain that power.
A path to surpass and exceed his envied brother.
-Well reasoned, my avatar.
‘I’ll have my revenge.’
With that thought, Nam Woo-i felt the black demonic energy being drawn into him, and a bitter smile crossed his face.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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