SSS-Class Sui**de Hunter - Chapter 59

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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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Episode 59. An Expedition Without Dreams or Hope (1)
1
A bathroom in the Grand Library.
“Okay.”
After washing my face at the sink, I spoke.
“Before we head to the Murim… let’s die once first.”
Silence filled the space around me. There were no other humans in the bathroom. But there was one ghost and one sword, and they reacted to my words.
-What do you mean by okay?
[Sparkling fails to comprehend your intention.]
Backhoe Spirit blinked, and the Holy Sword flickered with light.
“Repantar Aikeem. The first emperor of The Empire, the one who turned the Guardian Goddess into Sparkling.”
[Sparkling points out that you are the one who named her Sparkling…….]
“Regardless of what kind of man he is, the point is he can travel across multiple worlds.”
I put on my coat—a tailored suit the Black Dragon Lord had gifted me before the press conference. Looking at my reflection in the mirror, I resembled a fresh recruit who’d just finished preparing for their first day at work.
There was something oddly reassuring about that image.
“Think about it. Sparkling was in Repantar Aikeem’s world, right? But the other sword was in the Murim world. That means Repantar Aikeem has the World-Crossing Ability.”
-Hmm.
“He’s probably overpowered.”
I touched the hilt of the Holy Sword at my waist.
“Capable enough to establish an empire, strong enough to shatter and seal a Constellation. And he has the ability to cross into other worlds. Charging blindly into the Murim just to find fragments of the Holy Sword isn’t wise.”
I needed to be more cautious.
“I’m not invincible.”
That was true.
In fact, lately… I’d been on edge.
Tension about myself, you might say.
I worried that even a moment of letting my guard down might transform confidence into arrogance.
“I’ve climbed to third rank in the Hunter rankings, taken down the Demon King almost single-handedly, and the city talks of nothing but me. Now I’m even giving orders to hunters with epithets.”
-So what?
“If I’m careless, I’ll get overconfident. That’s what I’m worried about.”
The Tower exists up to the 100th Floor.
I’ve only reached the 21st Floor so far.
It’s far too early to let my guard down just because I’m succeeding now.
‘Even Yeon Je Yu Su got careless and ended up hunted by me.’
That’s because I have the Returnee’s Clockwork—a skill that makes me unkillable. An utterly broken ability with no apparent counter. Yet what ultimately happened to Yeon Je Yu Su, who possessed such a broken power?
‘He died.’
Even after death, he performed a full Cossack dance in front of the world’s armies.
It was a very good lesson: no matter how strong a hunter is, you can’t afford to be careless.
-No, but you’re acting like a real demon there, zombie…….
“Either way, I won’t dive into the Heaven Demon Records without a plan. I need to know what kind of man Repantar Aikeem is. Right now I have absolutely no information.”
Being prepared prevents disaster.
Why the fragment of the Holy Sword lies in this strange Murim instead of the world of Aikeem’s continent. What Repantar Aikeem, this overpowered character, was thinking, what his intent was in shattering and scattering the Guardian Goddess.
I want to gather at least minimal information before entering the Stage.
-Well, the mindset of testing the bridge before crossing it isn’t bad.
Backhoe Spirit tilted his head.
-But exactly what are you planning to prepare? Like you said, you don’t know anything about this Repantar or whoever. There’s no way to find out anything either.
“It’s true I don’t know. But…….”
I tapped the Holy Sword lightly with my finger.
“It’s not true that there’s no way to find out.”
-What?
“This sword is still the Guardian Goddess. Though she’s been split into five fragments, she’s still a Constellation.”
I smiled thinly.
“Here’s a question. If I stab myself with this sword, is that suicide? Or is it murder by a Constellation?”
Backhoe Spirit’s eyes went wide.
The look of someone caught off guard.
-Huh? Wha—what?
“It could be suicide. It could be murder. The odds are fifty-fifty, and I don’t know which yet… but it’s worth testing.”
Shink.
I drew the Holy Sword from its sheath. Then an urgent voice reached me.
[Sparkling earnestly requests that you reconsider once more, Brave One.]
“Why?”
[She protests strongly that she finds it shameful for her past to be reflected before others, demanding that her privacy be protected.]
I raised the corners of my mouth.
“Come on, what privacy is there between us? I’m broadcasting my whole life twenty-four hours a day, raw and unfiltered. Only fair we’re on equal footing.”
[Sparkling pleads that this absolutely won’t do…….]
Thwack!
The Holy Sword pierced through my body.
In the next instant, I was certain I’d succeeded in a fifty-fifty gamble.
[You have died.]
[Death fulfills the condition for the skill.]
[The Guardian Goddess’s skill is currently sealed and cannot be acquired.]
Not being able to copy the skill was a minor disappointment.
But that wasn’t what I was after right now.
[Your current Hunter rank is D-rank.]
[A penalty from the skill is being applied.]
[The trauma of the enemy who killed you is being reproduced.]
[Penalty severity: moderate. Realm of Hungry Ghosts.]
Screeeech!
The scene I’d been waiting for unfolded before my eyes.
* * *
-At last you’ve completed your long journey.
A beautiful voice sounded.
-I knew you could do it, Hero.
She was a woman I’d never seen before. Yet somehow, I instantly understood who she was.
The Guardian Goddess—unbound to any blade.
A Constellation in full command of her own power.
-Yes.
The man called a hero answered.
Silver-haired nobleman. Repantar Aikeem, the first emperor of The Empire, sat upon a simple throne. Weariness showed faintly in his face as he rested his chin on his hand.
‘So this is Repantar Aikeem.’
The man spoke.
-It feels like just yesterday I was bewildered by a sudden summoning, and now I’ve become an emperor who’s unified the continent. How little we know of fate.
-Haha. I find it strange myself. I was truly just an ordinary person who knew nothing at first. Now you are stronger than me. In fact, most deities wouldn’t even be a match for you…….
That was when it happened.
-Huh? What’s that.
The Backhoe Spirit, who’d been observing the trauma landscape alongside me, made a sound.
-I know that bastard from somewhere.
‘What?’
-The silver-haired one. No matter how I look at him, he’s the Star of Heaven-Slaying.
The Backhoe Spirit spoke as if bewildered.
I was startled to learn that the Backhoe Spirit and Repantar Aikeem were acquainted.
‘What is the Star of Heaven-Slaying?’
-That’s his epithet. He got that name because he’s a madman who hunts down Constellations and beats them senseless.
He beats down Constellations?
-You saw it yourself. The Tower connects to other worlds. From the 50th Floor onward, you have to compete with Hunters from other dimensions.
‘Oh, really?’
-Yeah. And this Star of Heaven-Slaying is like a hermit stuck on the 50th Floor.
The Backhoe Spirit continued.
-He never climbs higher no matter how many times they tell him to. He just holes up on the 50th Floor all day, and whenever a Constellation shows up, he takes them down right then and there. I’d wager at least hundreds of Constellations have died by his hand.
‘…So Repantar Aikeem is also a Hunter?’
-Yeah. I kept wondering what kind of mad world would birth a monster like that, and here he goes—the bastard’s from Aikeem.
The Backhoe Spirit muttered.
-Never thought I’d run into an old acquaintance in a place like this.
‘What kind of connection do the two of you have?’
-What kind? We fought it out properly. He was strong, sure, but nothing that would put him in my league.
Even as we chattered, the trauma landscape continued to flow.
The Guardian Goddess opened her mouth.
-What is your plan from here, Hero? There are no more deities or malevolent spirits to bar your path. Your long journey has now…….
-Constellation.
-Yes?
-Not deity or malevolent spirit. Constellation.
Repantar Aikeem rose from the throne.
“The world belongs not to the Constellations, but to mankind.”
Repantar Aikeem turned to face the goddess.
A blood-red aura blazed forth from the Emperor’s body.
“…Your Highness? Why suddenly the aura…?”
The Empire’s eternal emperor seemed troubled, his face worn with exhaustion.
But it did not last long.
“I will not kill you. After all, you have aided me thus far.”
The red aura crashed over the goddess.
“I will fragment your existence and seal it away. After that, you will never reclaim your power. And if the Constellations disappear…”
His remaining words were drowned out by the goddess’s piercing screams.
Her existence was literally tearing apart.
“Forgive me.”
Repantar Aikeem spoke.
“But this is the righteous path.”
With the goddess’s screams, the trauma swiftly receded from us.
[Trauma Replay Complete.]
[Target’s self has been confirmed to remain intact.]
[Penalty is now terminated.]
* * *
“…What the hell is this guy?”
After returning one day back.
I locked myself in the bathroom again, muttering to myself.
“I thought if I peeked at the past through trauma, I’d get some idea of who he is… but even after seeing it, I’m still lost. Hey, Sparkling. Why did your old master seal you away?”
[Sparkling responds dejectedly, saying she doesn’t know either.]
The Holy Sword emitted a faint glow.
Was it just my imagination?
The light of the Holy Sword seemed unusually dim.
[The Repantar Aikeem she remembers was a taciturn but righteous hero. She has no idea why he sealed her away or why he abandoned the empire he built and departed. Sparkling expresses her bewilderment.]
The mystery only deepened.
“Didn’t I tell you? Hunters—the higher their level, the crazier they get?”
Backhoe Spirit shrugged.
“Don’t bother trying to understand lunatics. Gaze into the abyss and you become the abyss yourself. Just grow strong like me and beat the hell out of whatever Constellation or whoever pisses you off—simple as that!”
I sighed.
“You’re right. Well, at least we know what he looks like now.”
And one fact became certain.
Repantar Aikeem—also known as the Slayer Constellation—would view me with immediate hostility.
Because I was carrying a fragment of the Guardian Goddess, the very one he had sealed.
“Hmm.”
I narrowed my eyes, staring into the mirror.
“If we’re going to meet on the 50th Floor anyway, I’d like to prepare countermeasures beforehand…”
“Stop right there. With your current strength, it’s nowhere near enough! You’re just weaker than me—that bastard is still among the greatest masters. And if you’ve got time to worry about the 50th Floor already, why don’t you clear the 22nd Floor first, you weakling!”
“Right, right.”
Since she wasn’t wrong, I quietly spent another identical day.
The next day, after the hunters finished reading the Grimoire, they chose the “22nd Floor.” The Sword Saint had recommended it, which sealed the decision—the Heaven Demon Records was selected without fuss.
“Ho? So you’ve chosen martial arts for your first genre.”
The Librarian watched our selection and smiled meaningfully.
“A fine choice indeed! Though the Murim you know and this one may not be identical, they share martial arts and the martial realm itself. Depending on how you unfold the narrative, you may encounter fortuitous encounters—precious martial techniques that, in your parlance, you might call ‘skills.'”
The hunters grew excited.
The Librarian quickly doused their fervor with cold water.
“However, all things follow the law of high risk, high reward! The adversaries who appear as ‘enemies’ are equally formidable. Naturally, should you perish within the Grimoire, you will truly die. Moreover, you cannot escape the Grimoire until you have properly reached an ‘ending.'”
The hunters fell silent.
Understandably. Unless one possessed an exceptional skill like mine, death was always powerful enough to inspire dread.
“The Heaven Demon Records permits between two and four participants. Well then! Who shall become a character within this Grimoire?”
The hunters’ eyes naturally turned toward the top-ranked hunters.
Among them, attention focused especially on me. The reason was simple: over the past few days, I had commanded and directed the hunters as though I were their representative.
With power came obligation, inevitably.
“I’ll do it.”
And I had no intention of fleeing from that obligation.
At my swift answer, the guild masters smiled knowingly, as if they’d expected as much, while most of the other hunters regarded me with expressions of surprise.
“I should step forward as well.”
The Sword Saint spoke up behind them.
“As the one who recommended the Grimoire, I can hardly sit this one out.”
His expression was grave, yet a faint smile played at the corners of his mouth. His entire frame practically vibrated with restless energy. Perhaps—as a reader who cherished martial arts fiction—the mere fact of stepping into a real martial realm filled him with joy?
“Fortunate indeed. The minimum number of participants is now satisfied!”
The Librarian chuckled softly.
“We could bring two more characters along from here, but… what say you?”
“In fact, there’s another reason I recommended this particular Grimoire.”
The Sword Saint spoke up at once, his confidence unshaken.
“Everyone, look at the reason the series went on hiatus.”
+
[Heaven Demon Records]
Genre: Martial Arts, Fusion
Difficulty: B-rank
Party Size: 2–4 members
※Currently on indefinite hiatus.
Synopsis: The Martial Realm. A world where warriors revere martial strength, wield it, and ascend to its heights! Into this realm came the Heaven Demon, scheming to unify all the martial sects. The Demonic Cult, coalesced around the Heaven Demon. Forces arrayed against them. These factions would have clashed to determine the fate of the realm… had something not intervened.
An unforeseen pandemic swept across the land.
Reason for Hiatus: A mysterious plague ravaged the world, killing the Heaven Demon. The Demonic Cult was annihilated. All other factions perished as well. The end.
+
Looking at it again, the hiatus reason was absurd.
The exact nature of the plague was never specified.
The Grimoire’s text itself only stated: [A sudden pestilence swept through, and the Heaven Demon fell. All others soon followed in death.]
No specifics on what actually transpired.
‘I’ll have to enter that world myself to learn the truth.’
In any case, it was clear that an unknown plague had brought about the martial realm’s annihilation.
The Sword Saint nodded slowly.
“As you can see, what destroyed this world was a plague. Naturally, we need not only hunters of great power, but also those versed in disease and medicine. And the most knowledgeable person on such matters—I know exactly who that is.”
The Sword Saint smiled and summoned someone from his own martial arts circle.
“Herb King, would you step forward?”
A stern-looking old man emerged, hands clasped behind his back.
This time too, the Examiner acted as though he recognized the figure.
-Ah! That one!
‘Who is he?’
-Why, you remember that shop, don’t you? The apothecary I was first going to bring you—the one Marcus always favored.
Ah, I see.
-He does make excellent medicines. Though… he makes them well, but…
The Examiner’s words trailed off.
No one understood the reason better than I did.
“Don’t worry. I’ll handle most of the combat, and if that proves insufficient, the Pharmacist can assist. Once this Herb King resolves the plague, we three alone should be… Pharmacist, is there something you wish to say?”
The Sword Saint, who had been speaking with such certainty, paused and looked at me quizzically as I raised my hand.
“Ah, yes. There’s someone I’d like to bring along with us.”
I lowered my raised hand and pointed toward one of the hunters.
The hunter who had been singled out unexpectedly gaped.
“Wh-what? You mean me…?”
It was the Pharmacist.
I nodded.
“Yes, that’s right.”
The Pharmacist trembled as though struck by lightning.
“B-but… I only received my epithet a week ago. I’m, I’m still very weak! What use would someone like me be? Why…?”
“Among everyone I know, you’re the most skilled apothecary and healer.”
“Pardon? Y-yes…?”
“And didn’t you just say something?”
‘If you ever need anything, Pharmacist, just say the word!’
‘I’ll help however I can!’
I smiled gently.
“If that wasn’t mere flattery, you’ll help me now, won’t you, Pharmacist?”
“…….”
The Pharmacist looked at me with the expression of someone gazing upon a demon.
Why? Had I not been the one to grant them their epithet?
If you’ve been paid a debt, you have to pay what’s owed.
SSS-Rank: The Hunter Who Lives Only by Dying (Serial)
Author │ Shin Noah
Publisher │ Kim Ju-hyeong
Published by │ J-Plus Media Co., Ltd.
Marketing │ Han Jae-hyeok
Address │ 204 Daelung Post Tower 1st, 288 Digital-ro, Guro-gu, Seoul, South Korea (Guro-dong)
Email │ [email protected]
Website │ www.jayplemedia.com
© Shin Noah 2019
This work is published by J-Plus Media Co., Ltd. under contract with the copyright holder, and the contents may not be used in any form or by any means without permission from the publisher and author.
Violation of this prohibition may result in criminal and civil legal liability.

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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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