SSS-Class Sui**de Hunter - Chapter 62

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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 62. Righteous-Demonic Great War (1)
1
I had never read a martial arts romance novel in my life.
I had no habit of reading books to begin with, and for my generation, martial arts romance was already a dying genre. Every now and then some old martial arts film would surface on the internet. But the crude CGI only turned it into a laughingstock.
An age that mocked all sincerity.
There was no room for martial prowess and chivalry to stand.
A genre in decline.
A world in decline.
And snow was falling there.
“…It’s freezing!”
We—a pathetic expedition without dreams or hope—had successfully entered the Apocalypse World. What greeted our party was a vast Snowy Plain. Snow crunched beneath our feet with an oddly cheerful sound.
But the cold that descended upon us was far from cute.
“Everyone!”
I shouted urgently.
“Raise your Aura and protect yourselves!”
Severe Winter.
Even standing still, your toes froze. The moment Viper heard my cry, she immediately unleashed her Aura. But the non-combatants—the Pharmacist and Medicine King—couldn’t manage it.
“I… I… I never learned Aura…….”
“Achoo! A-A-ACHOO! Oh no, this old man’s dying! I’m freezing to death!”
Less than twenty seconds after falling into the Apocalypse World, both of them already looked like death had come for them. I’d done everything in my power trying to master Aura, so how could I expect support-class Hunters to know how to use it?
“Tch.”
I acted fast.
“Viper, please look after Medicine King!”
“Got it.”
Viper hoisted Medicine King onto her back. Whether he was a light novel emperor or a man who lived and died by pride, Viper was undeniably a top-tier combat Hunter. The violet Aura she unleashed immediately enveloped Medicine King’s body as well.
“Ah, now I can breathe…….”
Medicine King let out a sigh of relief. His complexion softened like an old man sinking into an open-air hot spring. I nodded, then took the Pharmacist’s hand.
“Come with me.”
“Y-yes?”
“Give me your hand.”
My Aura flowed from my hand into hers. Crimson Aura. That mysterious red that had yet to reveal whether it symbolized fire or blood wrapped gently around the Pharmacist’s body.
“Oh.”
The Pharmacist lowered her head slightly.
“Th-thank you, Captain. But… this tickles a little…….”
“I know you’re embarrassed. So am I. But this isn’t the time to worry about shame.”
I looked around. The snowstorm was as thick as mist. I’d managed the temperature problem for now, but that was all I could do. I had no idea where we were or where we needed to go.
“The Librarian uses words like ‘work’ and ‘season’ easily because she’s a Constellation. But this is a genuine world. Not some ordinary book. We came here to save a world. You understand that, right?”
“…….”
The Pharmacist’s eyes widened.
“…Yes. I suppose I was taking this too lightly. I… I’ll do my best.”
“Just focus on your own role. For now I’ll protect you with my Aura, but when it comes time to cure the plague, I’ll need you and Medicine King to step forward. I’m counting on you.”
“Yes, Captain.”
Whoooosh—
The snowstorm swept past my ears. We squinted, straining to map out whatever geography we could discern. I recalled the final sentence from the Cheonma Records.
「A strange plague broke out suddenly, and Cheonma perished.」
「Soon after, everyone else died as well.」
A terse passage.
That sentence, no more than fifty characters, contained no mention of the “cold that flayed flesh from bone,” nor did it describe “snow that rose past ankles to bury calves and knees.” It simply stated that the world had ended.
Now it fell to us to discover the truth.
What had happened that caused a figure called Cheonma to meet his death.
What this “strange plague” was that had driven humanity to annihilation.
“Oh!”
Squeeze.
The Pharmacist gripped my right hand more tightly. She pointed beyond the curtain of snow.
“Look over there, Captain! I think I just saw people!”
We all turned to look where the Pharmacist was pointing.
She was right. The snow was too thick to see clearly, but… through the wind, silhouettes of people became visible. There were many of them. Not just one or two, but dozens. Perhaps even hundreds.
A forest of Human Shadows.
“Okay then.”
I took the lead and started forward.
“Let’s head that way for now!”
Snow swirled. Not snow falling from the sky—snow already on the ground, caught up in the wind. In the blizzard’s veil, people became mere shadows, so we pressed close together, afraid of losing each other in the white chaos.
“Zombie.”
Backhoe Spirit spoke. She was watching our surroundings on my behalf, my eyes being unreliable in this storm.
“Something feels off. I can’t hear any sound at all from that direction.”
‘Isn’t that just because the blizzard’s muffling the noise?’
“Could be.”
Backhoe Spirit squinted, gazing into the forest of Human Shadows ahead.
“But it’s not just the silence. Those things—they’re not moving at all. Not even a twitch. They look less like people and more like statues.”
Fortunately, the snow squall died down quickly. As the flurries ceased, our vision cleared. But that was where our good fortune ended.
We fell silent at the sight that opened before us.
“…What are these?”
Viper exhaled a white breath.
“Why are all these humans frozen?”
In the middle of the Snowy Plain.
Hundreds of humans stood completely frozen solid.
2
“…They really are human.”
Pharmacist examined the frozen corpse and spoke.
She pinched a piece of flesh from the body with tweezers, wearing latex gloves.
“According to the Life Diagnosis skill, they’ve been dead for two years and three months now. Cause of death: infection. My Moving Hospital analysis shows it’s an unregistered disease.”
“How peculiar!”
Medicine King pulled out a monocle and examined the frozen corpse meticulously. Just as combat-focused Hunters wielded martial skills, they diagnosed these bodies with support-type abilities.
“The cause of death is identical across all of them. It’s not freezing death—they died of disease, so they should at least be lying on the ground… yet they’re all standing upright. How utterly strange. Back in Silicon Valley, when something like this happened, they’d….”
“It’s likely someone deliberately moved the bodies here.”
Pharmacist cut him off sharply.
Since I’d explained my earlier thoughts, Pharmacist’s expression had turned grave.
“Even though the cause of death is the same, the dates of death are all different. This one died two years ago. That one, three years ago. Someone must have intentionally relocated these corpses.”
I narrowed my brows.
“Could it be some kind of tomb?”
“Hmm.”
Viper stroked her chin thoughtfully.
“A tomb, yes. From a distance, they almost look like a Terracotta Army.”
The frozen bodies all stood in different poses. Some had their arms spread wide, looking up at the sky. Others were locked mid-grimace, mouths gaping like beasts.
‘Character Window.’
I gazed at the nearest frozen figure and whispered the command in my mind.
Letters rose slowly across the pristine snow.
+
Name: Jang Seongpa
Affinity: —
Preferred Genre: —
Disliked Genre: —
Preferred Character: —
Disliked Character: —
Preferred Plot: —
Disliked Plot: —
Mental State: ‘Light.’
+
“…….”
So this was how the Character Window appeared for the already dead.
Perhaps that single word, ‘Light,’ was the last thought this person had held at the moment of death. A corpse’s mind was fixed like an epitaph carved into stone.
My companions murmured among themselves, confronted by the mystery.
“A tomb… but if this is a Communal Cemetery, why build it like this?”
“Who knows. But they’ve all got weapons at their waists.”
“Is there anywhere to shelter? It’s warm enough thanks to the Aura, but….”
That was when it happened.
“…Gwahahaha!”
Laughter echoed from a distance. We instinctively crouched low. The source of the laughter didn’t notice us and shouted toward someone else.
“Today marks the end of the Demonic Way’s Rule!”
“Ha, even a stray dog would laugh at that.”
There was not one voice. There were two.
“So long as I stand unbroken, the Demonic Way’s dominion remains secure. Buyeolseon—you shall take your leave from the Righteous Faction’s martial realm.”
The voices rang out clearly.
One was an old man’s voice; the other, a young woman’s.
The old man cried out.
“Nonsense! Your prized Blood Ghost Squad has already had their heads cleaved clean from their shoulders by my axe-blade. Those rotting elder demons have been sent to the underworld with their skulls separated from their bodies! I command five hundred righteous warriors of the martial realm, yet you speak as if some sorcery of yours could stand against me?”
“Heh.”
The woman laughed softly.
“How long-winded the old fool’s tongue is. The Blood Ghosts merely left the sect on my orders—they are off on other business. They are hardly so weak as to fall to the likes of you.”
I raised a finger and gestured silently to my companions.
‘Shh.’
My companions’ eyes flickered in understanding.
‘Let’s approach quietly. Yes?’
They nodded without a word.
We crept through the Communal Cemetery of frozen corpses, a forest of the dead, moving carefully. The voices of two unknown figures grew steadily closer. Soon their forms came into view.
“Worry less about my subordinates, Wolseon, and concern yourself with your own lackeys.”
The woman wore black martial robes.
“Where have all those talented disciples from the great families gone, the ones you boasted of so loudly? The old fool once revered as lord of the martial realm has withered away.”
“Ha!”
The old man wore white mourning garments.
“That is none of your concern. They have scattered across the land at my command!”
“So many commands you seem to issue.”
“And whose fault is that, if not yours? Your senseless meddling has thrown the realm into chaos! If not for this wretched Demonic Way’s Rule, the world would never have fallen into such disarray!”
“If we are wretched, then what are you who surrendered the realm to such wretchedness? You who stand above wretchedness—a wretched master of the wretched, perhaps?”
“You, you dare—!”
“Come on then, old fool.”
A remarkably juvenile quarrel was unfolding.
From their words, the old man in mourning garments appeared to be of the Righteous Faction, while the woman in black robes seemed to belong to the Demonic Faction.
The old man of the Righteous Faction and the woman of the Demonic Faction raised their weapons against each other.
“Enough. I will not abide this arrogance from a demon lord any longer! I shall split your head in two—one half I will present to the Jade Emperor, and the other I will offer to the King of Hell!”
“Hah, so you wish for a fight to the death. Today at last I shall sever the final bloodline of the Righteous Faction and demonstrate the enduring strength of the Demonic Way’s Rule.”
The tone was frivolous, yet it followed the martial custom of formal dueling.
If the two had simply drawn upon their inner power and exchanged brilliant sword techniques, everything would have been perfect.
But a serious problem emerged.
-Zombie.
The Backhoe Spirit muttered in disbelief.
-What are they doing with sticks……?
Indeed.
The old man and the woman, both martial realm masters, were holding thin wooden switches. Those were the ‘weapons’ they had drawn. The dazzling, ornate arms that inevitably appeared in martial arts films were nowhere to be found.
“…….”
“…….”
The two seemed embarrassed as well, facing each other with mere wooden sticks. They exchanged awkward glances for a long moment. At last, the woman in the black robes broke the silence slowly.
“…Buyeolseon. Where have you buried that Jade Axe-Halberd you were so proud of, that you’ve come wielding a splinter? Your only virtue was that you swung your axe with such vigor, despite being a worthless branch of the Namgung clan…….”
“S-silence!”
The old man’s face flushed crimson.
“And you! Where did you abandon that Annihilation Blood Demon Sword you pampered like a daughter? Why do you brandish such a ridiculous switch?”
“A switch, indeed.”
The woman glanced away awkwardly.
“That is harsh speech. This is a wooden sword I crafted with my own hands—the essence of a thousand years of the Demonic Way is contained within it. I myself bestowed upon this implement the name Demonic Heaven Cypress Blade.”
“You gave a grand name to a mere switch?”
“Is that not permissible……?”
“…….”
“…….”
Silence.
The old man spoke quietly.
“Hmm. Still, Demonic Heaven Cypress Blade does seem excessive. How about we simply call it a Whip?”
“But the word ‘Whip’ literally means a switch…….”
“It is literally a switch, and it looks like a switch—a switch through and through! You fool!”
The woman nodded dejectedly.
“I understand. If you say so, I shall settle for the name Demonic Whip.”
“That cursed character—the Demon sign! Demon!”
The old man’s white beard trembled violently.
“Why do all those demonic trash need to plaster the word ‘Demon’ all over their names? Just under your command alone there’s Blood Demon, Sword Demon, Gwihon Yeolma, Moon Shadow Demon Lord—four of them! And they even call themselves the Four Demon Lords! Did you people learn the character for ‘Demon’ before you learned to write?”
“Hmm. Doesn’t there seem to be a certain flair to it……?”
“Ah! That these wretched creatures seized the Martial Realm, even for a moment!”
Then.
Dark clouds crept across the sun, gnawing it away. The clouds pregnant with snow hung particularly thick, and dusk pressed down hard upon the Snowy Plain. In the span of a breath, the world darkened as if early evening had fallen.
“Hah!”
The old man flinched.
“Demon Lord. Now isn’t the time for us to fight each other!”
“……!”
The two martial artists leaned back-to-back against each other, as if they hadn’t just been quarreling moments before. Cold sweat trickled down the woman’s brow.
“Cursed be it. The Heavenly Principle’s been acting on a whim lately…….”
“You fool! Didn’t you assure me this morning that the weather would be clear!”
“A divination is right sometimes and wrong other times. I merely learned what Gwihon Yeolma taught over her shoulder. How could I possibly pierce through to the Heavenly Principle?”
“Woe is me! I’d have done better to make a fortune-teller from the marketplace my leader, yet here I am undone by this woman’s honeyed words!”
“Shut your mouth and prepare for battle, old fool. As it is, what little strength I have left is draining away.”
Our party stood bewildered.
The Pharmacist pressed close to my side and whispered.
“W-why are they suddenly like that……?”
“I’m not sure either. I…….”
I was about to admit I didn’t know.
-Grrrrrowl.
Something writhed.
At first I thought someone in our party had made the sound. But when snarls began echoing from the left, the right, ahead, and behind all at once, I realized my assumption was gravely mistaken.
-Gooooooo…….
-Kee-kee-eek, guttural.
-Grrrrr.
“Eeeek!”
The Pharmacist yelped and clung to my arm. Even beyond her glasses, her face had gone deathly pale.
Viper and Medicine King’s expressions were hardly better. My own face must have twisted into something equally grim.
-Kee-ee-eek!
-Croooo, uuuhhhhh.
Nearly a thousand frozen corpses.
Those bodies we’d dismissed as mere cadavers—they were moving their limbs slowly.
-Uuuuh.
An eye near us rolled in its socket. The pupil was fixed open, the eyebrow nearly gone. Worse, insects had hollowed out parts of the iris. Yet still the corpse stared directly at us.
“…….”
Our eyes met.
The moment I saw that corpse’s gaze, I understood.
“Damn it…….”
The Apocalypse titled Cheonma Records.
That book had been explicit.
+
[Cheonma Records]
Genre: Martial Arts Romance, Fusion
Difficulty: B-rank
Participant Limit: 2–4 people
※Currently serialization is suspended.
Description: The Martial World. A realm where warriors revere martial prowess, wield it, and transcend to its pinnacle! Here emerged the Cheonma, scheming to unify the Martial Realm. The Demonic Faction, rallied around the Cheonma. And the forces arrayed against them. These would have clashed over the fate of all lands……
If only a Super Plague hadn’t broken out.
Suspension Reason: An unknown plague ravaged the world, killing the Cheonma. The Demonic Faction was annihilated. All other powers fell to ruin. The end.
+
The bodies I’d assumed were frozen corpses began to move slowly.
The motions were sluggish and clumsy, yet the sight of corpses moving was terror itself.
Only now did I grasp what the ‘unidentified plague’ that destroyed this world had truly been.
“That Super Plague was the Zombie Virus!”
As I shouted, the corpse’s mouth fell open.
-Uuuoooooo!
The sun vanished behind the dark clouds.
A thousand zombies descended upon us.
SSS-Rank: Die to Live Hunter (Serialized)
Author │ Shin Noah
Publisher │ Kim Ju-hyung
Published by │ 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, and the contents may not be used in any form or by any means without the permission of the company and author.
Violation of this 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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