SSS-Class Sui**de Hunter - Chapter 40

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

Episode 40. His Time (1)
1
She did not age.
She remained young, always and forever.
Esdel.
With each passing day she grew more beautiful, her fingertips exhaling the scent of freshly picked apples, her insteps heavy with the fragrance of grapes. When she walked, people swayed as though drunk on wine. Her hair cascaded like a golden wheat field in full harvest, and whenever the wind stirred it, the village fell under autumn’s spell.
Esdel, the Saint of the Borderlands.
At some point, people began to speak of her this way.
Holy Saint.
A woman worn down by poverty arrived carrying a sickly newborn. She had chased rumors from afar, following them ever farther to come here.
Please, I beg you. The child is ill. Grant this poor thing your blessing, I implore you.
Do you know the rules?
Yes, yes. I understand it……!
Esdel nodded.
Leave this child here. Return when dawn breaks tomorrow.
The mother bowed and departed.
In the place where the mother had stood, a small child remained. Worn but soft swaddling clothes—the mother had gathered the softest rags she possessed, sewn them together, and wrapped the child in them. Old cloth stained with the milk-sweet scent of infancy… Esdel buried the bridge of her nose in them for a moment.
How fragrant.
Humans are so desperately devoted to love.
Coo?
The child reached out and stroked Esdel’s hair.
Esdel smiled. Even surrounded by rags, life shone brilliantly. She counted such small miracles a happiness in this world.
It’s all right now.
Esdel’s shadow writhed.
You won’t hurt anymore.
Coo…….
The shadow’s jaws yawned wide.
Poor little thing.
Esdel quietly swallowed the newborn whole.
The child’s death was gentle. It did not struggle. It simply sank helplessly into the shadow.
As the child’s flesh and bone dissolved, memories flowed into Esdel—memories clinging to that flesh and bone. The agony of birth, the sensation of a swollen throat, the mother’s smile…….
Yes.
A memory as brief as the life itself. After sifting through that fleeting existence, Esdel gestured toward her shadow. The shadow bubbled and churned.
Let it live a little longer.
In that moment, the shadow contracted into the form of a baby. Black shade gained flesh-tone. The flesh-color wriggled softly, innocently, like a young creature laughing.
Kyaa!
Esdel smiled.
Poor little thing.
The mother returned as soon as dawn broke. Had she not slept? Her face was haggard. Esdel, who had stood at the doorway waiting for daylight, handed the baby swaddled in cloth back to its mother.
The child should be healthy now.
Ah…….
It won’t catch minor illnesses anymore. Love it as you have until now, and cherish it always in the days to come.
The mother’s face crumbled.
Thank you…….
The rumor began to spread from the edges of the Continent.
Holy Saint…….
The whispers from the periphery consumed the Minor Kingdoms.
Thank you, Holy Saint…….
The Minor Kingdoms bordering the Borderlands stirred first.
Esdel.
The Major Kingdom that encompassed the Minor Kingdoms stirred next.
Esdel, the Holy Saint.
Beyond the Major Kingdom, other Minor Kingdoms convulsed with turmoil, using the kingdom as their great wall. The Continent was vast. And wherever it was vast, misfortune and suffering abounded.
Those seized by terrible disease, their flesh rotting away.
Those limping on crippled legs, lamenting their fate.
Those born crippled from birth.
Those who had lost their sight.
Saint of our salvation!
Blind eyes lost from the world, crippled arms, limping legs, rotting flesh—all of it drew ever closer to Esdel. And with each supplicant, Esdel’s shadow grew, incrementally larger.
Save us, holy one!
As Esdel’s shadow widened, the territories of humankind shrank. In villages abandoned by their people, no administrator could govern; in cities where the people had fled, no king could reign.
—Savior of all the afflicted!
Esdel.
The kings realized that this was a plague by a new name.
And the kings knew well.
What the single thing necessary to eradicate the disease was.
—Burn it!
Fire.
—Burn the witch’s nest to ash!
Esdel heard the screams.
Fire Demons were burning people alive.
No.
That wasn’t it.
—Show no mercy. They are all cursed monsters! Let none escape!
People were burning people.
2
—You who see no humanity in humans.
It was something like a moan.
If you listened closely, it bordered on a shriek.
Moans coalesced into shadow, and shrieks hardened into blade.
—Perish in your own malice!
The Demon King swung his sword.
The blade trembled as though exhaling grief.
“Kim Gongja!”
The Black Dragon Witch cried out.
“I’m fine!”
I faced the Demon King head-on. A piercing whistle tore through the air as it surged like a torrent. From his blade, scarlet light looked ready to burst forth at any moment.
‘Right?’
I concentrated aura into the soles of my feet.
‘Or left?’
A fifty-fifty chance.
The Demon King’s blade shrieked.
The sword came down on me—redder than blood, hotter than fire.
[You have died.]
[Reverting to 24 hours ago.]
‘It was left, then.’
I die.
When I die, I return to 24 hours prior.
[6 days, 23 hours, 53 minutes, 27 seconds remain until Hundred Ghosts Summon can be used again.]
The skill description for the Regressor’s Pocket Watch specifies that the user retains both memory and stat values.
The stats that persisted included skills as well.
[You have died.]
[5 days, 23 hours, 51 minutes, 42 seconds remain until Hundred Ghosts Summon can be used again.]
And as evidenced by the fact that the Sword Saint’s Baehu Spirit shares memories of my regressions, skills inherit their exact state at the moment of death and continue on.
Power, potency, causality, memory.
Of course, cooldowns as well.
[You have died.]
A day passes.
[4 days, 23 hours, 49 minutes, 33 seconds remain until Hundred Ghosts Summon can be used again.]
I clear the 11th Floor.
No one dies.
I ascend to the 12th Floor and cross blades with the Demon King.
The Black Dragon Witch aids me.
The enraged Demon King summons his ghosts.
I hurl myself at him and fall.
[You have died.]
[3 days, 23 hours, 47 minutes, 15 seconds remain until Hundred Ghosts Summon can be used again.]
I die.
[You have died.]
[2 days, 23 hours, 45 minutes, 28 seconds remain until Hundred Ghosts Summon can be used again…….]
I die.
[You have died.]
[Time until Hundred Ghosts Summon can be used again: 1 day, 23 hours, 43 minutes, 13 seconds……]
A day passes.
[You have died.]
[Time until Hundred Ghosts Summon can be used again: 23 hours, 41 minutes, 53 seconds……]
And then.
That day comes again.
[Hundred Ghosts Summon is now available.]
Each time I repeat seven blade dances,
I can launch one final confrontation.
“…Kim Gongja!”
The witch cried out.
I nodded.
“I’m fine.”
In this life, I threw myself to the right without even seeing the beam.
Whoooosh!
The scarlet beam pierced through empty space with contemptuous ease. Dozens of skeletons caught in its path shrieked and crumbled. But ten times as many goblins and orcs rose up in their place.
-You worm!
The Demon King’s voice twisted with fury.
-A mere mortal—do you possess the Eyes of Prophecy?
“Something like that.”
Except the price is a week of my life.
-Ruthless.
The Baehu Spirit clicked his tongue.
-Kid’s got real backbone, I’ll give him that.
The Baehu Spirit kept demonstrating in front of me where to swing my blade and how to move my feet, without pause.
-But man, this is a total jackpot. Hey, Zombie—test something later, will you? See if double summons work. Get yourself cornered somewhere, wait a week, then summon again.
I furrowed my brow.
‘Let’s not experiment now! Focus!’
-I’m guessing the first summon cancels and only the second counts, but who knows? Maybe 4,000 becomes 8,000, and 8,000 becomes 80,000. A miracle windfall! Then you’d graduate from Zombie Kim Gongja to Zombie King Kim Gongja! How magnificent!
‘Stop babbling, I can’t concentrate….’
[You have died.]
[Reverting 24 hours.]
‘Damn it!’
-Let your body die a thousand deaths and be remade a thousand times. Zombie or skeleton, ghost or not—my contempt for you, Zombie Kim, will never fade.
‘This is your fault! I have to repeat another week because of you!’
-That’s because you’re weak. Not my problem. Anyway, not my problem.
The Baehu Spirit laughed wickedly.
‘I swear—whenever it happens, I will absolutely punish you!’
-Oh really? I’m already dead. How do you plan to punish a dead ghost? Nyeh nyeh nyeh. Getting angry now, are we, little Zombie?
‘This bastard….’
-Get angry all you want—just go kill the Demon King already. I conquered the 20th Floor alone without some cheat skill like yours. Pathetic, really. Zombie Kim.
‘Damn it all!’
My cursing aside, we steadily pressed the Demon King back.
Skeletons held the Demon King’s forces at bay. The Sword Saint slaughtered any monsters that came near us. I died week after week, prophesying the Demon King’s attacks, and based on those visions, the witch unleashed devastating strikes.
“Black Dragon! Next is the right side!”
“Got it!”
The witch scattered dark aura. The Mirrors reflected it back. Once, twice, three times, four times—with each reflection off a Mirror, the aura doubled. Crack! In an instant, a dark slash amplified dozens of times over tore through the Demon King’s waist.
-Screeeeeech!
In the heart of the frozen world, the Demon King’s scream split the heavens.
“Hahahaha! Nice shot, my lady!”
I laughed. I laughed and swung my blade.
“Who are you calling ‘my lady’? I’m not married!”
“What have you even been doing at that age without marrying!”
“I’m still young, absolutely still young!”
“Right, sure—young thanks to the Elixir of Immortality! We all know!”
“You… defeat the Demon King first, then we’ll talk.”
I crossed countless danger zones.
Sometimes the witch was caught in the scarlet beam. The Sword Saint was swept away too. One second. Another second. We fought with everything on the line. The Demon King’s strike was fatal—even a single moment of carelessness would be lethal.
[You are dead.]
But it doesn’t matter.
[Regressing 24 hours.]
My resolve to die surpasses the Demon King’s killing intent.
-You dare…
Twelve times.
-How dare you strike at my resentment, my rage…!
The witch’s aura pierced through the Demon King’s body twelve times. Only then did his movements grow sluggish. Where the attacks had landed, black bile bubbled and sizzled.
‘Wait?’
Was it just my imagination?
For an instant, before the bile began to boil—I could have sworn I saw flesh-colored skin, not black, flash through. It lasted no more than a blink. When I tried to look again, the Demon King’s body was already engulfed in that murky filth.
-Ughk!
The Demon King lowered his sword.
Though his face bore no expression, I could feel him glaring down at us.
[The Demon King of Autumn Rain has decided to retreat.]
What?
[The Demon King of Autumn Rain is withdrawing to the 13th Floor!]
That’s absolutely broken!
Heat surged through me from my chest to the crown of my head.
“Wait! We’ve got him cornered—since when do bosses just run away?”
-Do not mistake this! I shall return!
“Look at this bastard.”
I swung my blade. But before I could, the Demon King’s body began to collapse. As if some invisible drainage pipe had opened beneath the earth, the dark bile flowed away in a torrent.
“Hey! You inky shake of a thing!”
The Demon King wasn’t alone. The monsters born from his shadow crumbled too, spewing foam and bubbles. It sounded like a toilet flushing—a gurgling, wet roar. They became a dark current and vanished into the gaping hole beneath the ground.
“Wow.”
And just like that, only the witch, the Sword Saint, I, and thousands of skulls remained on the plain.
“What in the…”
As I stood there bewildered, wondering if my countless deaths were about to become worthless in a single instant—
[The Tower acknowledges your choice.]
A voice echoed in my mind.
[Hidden Quest created.]
[The 12th Floor Quest is being revised!]
“…Huh?”
And then they kept coming.
[The 13th Floor Quest is being revised!]
[The 14th Floor Quest is being revised!]
[The 15th Floor Quest is being revised!]
[The 16th Floor Quest is being revised!]
[The 17th Floor Quest is being revised!]
[The 18th Floor Quest is being revised!]
[The 19th Floor Quest is being revised!]
I had no words for a phenomenon I’d never witnessed before.
Quests could be revised?
“…….”
As I stood with my mouth agape, text materialized before my eyes.
Words meant only for me.
+
[Hero of the Frozen World]
Difficulty: Unknown
Objective: You have made a choice. Not a single victim will be spared.
To ask nothing in return from those you save—that is justice. To expect no gratitude from those you save—that is devotion. And to devote yourself to justice—that is heroism.
Hero!
The people of the Continent will never know of your justice. They will never recognize your devotion. And yet justice remains justice, and devotion remains devotion. Even in a frozen world, will you continue to choose to be a hero?
The Demon King has fled, wounded. He has not yet gone far. If you so desire, you may pursue him without end.
Now only your choice remains.
+
A Quest written for me alone.
“…….”
My voice caught in my throat.
[Will you accept this quest?]
My heart raced.
There was no room for hesitation.
“Yes.”
The voice answered me.
[Hidden Quest activated!]
[Quest title: Hero of the Frozen World.]
[May fortune favor you.]
White light enveloped me.
SSS-Rank Hunter: Live by Dying (Serialized)
Author | Shin Noah
Publisher | Kim Joo-hyung
Publishing House | J Plus Media Co., Ltd.
Marketing | Han Jae-hyuk
Address | 204, 288 Digital-ro, Guro-gu, Seoul (Guro-dong, Daelung Post Tower 1st)
Email | [email protected]
Website | www.jayplemedia.com
© Shin Noah 2019
※This work is published by J Plus Media Co., Ltd. in accordance with a contract with the copyright holder. The contents may not be used in any form or by any means without the permission of the publisher and author.
Violation of this provision may result in criminal and civil legal liability.

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