The Heavenly Demon Can’t Live A Normal Life [EN]: Chapter 482

This is from Park Ki-tae’s report.

The news made the Incheon government panic. Everyone was talking at once, voices loud and worried.

When Kim Jun-hyuk heard they thought something bad was going to happen, he quickly ordered everyone to get ready to fight. He knew there was no time to lose.

“…I was too relaxed,” he whispered.

Kim Jun-hyuk was alone in his office. Papers were scattered on his desk, untouched. He ran a hand roughly through his hair, his face tight with pain and regret. He stared out the window at the city, feeling the weight of his mistake.

Really, the strange problem in the ant cave could have been fixed before it got really bad.

If the Incheon government had been brave and sent soldiers when they first found the two queen ants, they could have stopped the bad thing before it started.

Actually, many times, these bad things were stopped by acting early.

He did think it was strange, but he couldn’t just send soldiers without thinking when he was getting ready for a big disaster.

He had been too relaxed.

Not good enough.

He saw that the problem he knew about was getting worse very fast. This made him really doubt himself.

‘If it really is a bad thing about to happen, like the Pathfinder said… From now on, the Incheon government has to focus all its energy on defeating the ant cave. Remember Jeju Island? It used to be thought of as the safest place in South Korea after Seoul. But it was destroyed because they ignored a warning sign. Just like sea monsters came and destroyed Jeju Island while everyone just watched, a warning sign can become a disaster at any moment.’

The destruction of Jeju Island.

It was a cautionary tale.

These warning signs can appear in many different ways. But if you ignore them just because they don’t look like a big problem, it can end very badly.

That happened six years ago.

After hearing about Jeju Island, Kim Jun-hyuk had definitely become more careful about these warning signs. But he made a mistake by not paying enough attention to what was happening in the ant cave.

There was no excuse.

Even if it was hard to send soldiers, he should have made a decision as soon as he found out about the strange problem.

‘Roman Dmitry. Is he still alive?’

He remembered what Park Ki-tae had said.

Roman Dmitry had gone into the ant cave as a Pathfinder, and he and Kang Min-ho had not escaped; they were still inside.

Kim Jun-hyuk didn’t mean to, but he had put them in a dangerous situation where they could die.

If he had known that a bad thing was about to happen in the ant cave, he would never have sent them there.

Most importantly.

Roman Dmitry didn’t use his own army.

The fact that Roman Dmitry kept his promise made Kim Jun-hyuk feel terrible.

‘When I was worried about the ant cave, I thought testing Roman Dmitry would be good for everyone. I am not fit to be mayor if I am responsible for keeping people safe. If I had known the ant cave was a serious problem, I shouldn’t have given the job to someone else. If he dies, it’s all my fault.’

He really hoped.

That Roman Dmitry was still alive.

Even though he knew it was almost impossible, he hoped Roman Dmitry could survive until he and the rescue team arrived.

“Mayor, we are ready,” someone said. It was Lee Tae-sung.

“I understand,” Kim Jun-hyuk replied. He stood up and walked out of his office.

Even then, Kim Jun-hyuk didn’t think Roman Dmitry could win.

The rescue team immediately left the safe zone.

It was a rescue team made up of Incheon’s national army and some Hunter Guilds, including the Cheongsan mercenary guild.

They had received a request.

The main trading partner of the Hunter Guild was the government.

For Cheongsan, it was a great chance to make money, and they also thought it was important to help keep Incheon safe.

In fact, Kim Jun-hyuk had worked with Red Moon for that reason.

He knew that they were secretly trying to move into Seoul, but Red Moon’s existence was a necessary evil for Incheon.

Of course.

That was in the past.

Just because Red Moon was necessary, he didn’t want to take responsibility for their mistakes.

On the way to the ant cave.

Park Ki-tae, who had joined the rescue team, let out his anger as soon as he saw Gu Cheol-ho, the guild master of Cheongsan.

“Hey, you son of a bitch. You should have told me in advance that this was such a dangerous mission! What? You told me to use the teleport scroll to escape if it seemed dangerous? I almost died in the ant cave because of you!”

“Oh, Ki-tae. I’m sorry, I’m really sorry!”

“Is that all you have to say?”

Gu Cheol-ho lowered his head.

He was close to Park Ki-tae, but it was a matter of trust for a mercenary guild not to lie about how hard a mission was.

If rumors spread that they had tricked mercenaries into a deadly hunting ground, Cheongsan Guild’s mercenaries would leave right away.

That’s how mercenaries are.

Depending on the money and how safe they are, they would change who they worked for overnight, even if they had been with Cheongsan for years.

Gu Cheol-ho said.

“Ki-tae. I really didn’t know. If I had known it was such a dangerous hunting ground, I wouldn’t have sent you, of course. And this is really a secret, but from the beginning, the ‘Incheon government’ asked for this mission directly, not an individual.”

“What does that mean?”

“It’s exactly what it sounds like. The client was the Incheon government. When you think about it, it doesn’t make sense for an individual to pay hundreds of millions to a D-rank Pathfinder while hunting. I just trusted the Incheon government. I thought they would have formed a rescue team with a good chance of winning, but I never knew they would only send two people. The reason I told you to use the scroll even if it was dangerous was because I cared about your safety most, even if the other party was the Incheon government.”

Did the excuse work?

Park Ki-tae seemed calmer.

If the Incheon government had secretly made the request, then this problem couldn’t be blamed on Gu Cheol-ho.

But.

What was the relationship between Roman Dmitry and the Incheon government?

If they were friends, it didn’t make sense that they only sent two people to the ant cave.

Gu Cheol-ho watched carefully.

Seeing that Park Ki-tae had calmed down, he changed the subject smoothly.

“By the way, those people who went into the ant cave. Are they still alive?”

Suddenly.

Park Ki-tae thought of Roman Dmitry.

Kang Min-ho’s skills were impossible, but Roman Dmitry certainly seemed to have something to believe in.

‘If he is an A-rank skilled person…….’

He couldn’t think of S-rank.

A being that doesn’t even reach 20 people based on the world standard.

There was no way that Roman Dmitry, the only S-rank hunter in Korea, would be Roman Dmitry.

A-rank was a possibility.

It didn’t make sense either, but it was possible if he let himself hope.

But.

Park Ki-tae shook his head and said.

“……They’re probably dead. No matter how strong he is, it’s impossible for him to have survived in that hell until now.”

Immediately after Park Ki-tae left.

Kang Min-ho held his sword and looked nervous.

From the holes drilled in all directions around the queen ant’s nest, ants were pouring in endlessly.

“Kyaaak!”

Grrrr.

‘……Am I going to die like this.’

Dozens of queen ants.

If they continued to produce ants for a month, there was no guarantee when the wave of ants would end.

A thousand? Two thousand? Or tens of thousands? Because he couldn’t know the end, Kang Min-ho felt cold sweat running down his back.

He had to live. Death was not an option, not here, not now.

He couldn’t die like this, so he gripped the sword tightly with his increasingly wet hand.

Unlike the fear gripping him, Roman Dmitry remained calm.

“Kang Minho.”

“Yes.”

“In your opinion, based on the standards of this world, how skilled would someone need to be to deal with all these ants?”

“That’s…” He paused, lost in thought.

A B-rank Hunter wouldn’t be able to do it. Then it would have to be at least an A-rank or higher, but no matter how strong they were, they would inevitably run out of strength against so many ants on their own. Of course, there might be A-rank Hunters who exceeded Kang Minho’s common sense. But there was only one premise on which he could confidently answer Roman Dmitry’s question.

“S-rank. Only the White Wizard of Korea can resolve this situation.”

“Is that so.”

Sreung. Roman Dmitry drew his sword. As if blocking Kang Minho, he slowly walked towards the ants.

“That level is suitable experience for judging the standards of this world.”

A new world. A new standard was needed.

Roman Dmitry trusted himself, but he wasn’t so sure of himself in an unknown world.

‘For a month, he had learned about this world from books. But books were just words. He needed to *feel* this world, to know if what he read was real. This fight, this danger – it was his test. He had to know the truth.’

Kwarung! Rumble!

He drew up mana. He walked towards the ants rushing in from all directions, and the moment he met them, Roman Dmitry also kicked off the ground.

Flash! Tap tap tap!

The first ants in line were ripped apart, their hard shells splitting like paper. Before their twitching legs even stopped moving, Roman Dmitry was already deep inside the swarm, a whirlwind of steel and motion.

The ants reacted fiercely. They clearly thought Roman Dmitry was far away, but it felt as if he had suddenly appeared before their eyes.

Squish. Blood splattered everywhere. Before they could even react, Roman Dmitry’s sword tore apart the ants’ bodies.

Kyaak! Kyaaah!

The ants rushed in madly. Without any fear, they pushed in, undeterred by the sight of their comrades dying. The number was truly countless.

From afar, the ants looked like a living black tide, surging forward. But where they met Roman Dmitry, the black wave broke and turned red, stained with their own blood.

Flash!

If they thrust their heads forward, their heads flew off. If they swung their forelegs, their forelegs flew off. Even if a dozen ants attacked simultaneously, the outcome of their bodies being torn apart was no different.

Wham! Rumble!

Everything around him evaporated. Every time Roman Dmitry took a step, the lives of the ants in that place withered away. It was a one-sided massacre.

Against Roman Dmitry, the distinction between worker ants and soldier ants was meaningless; whether they were worker ants or soldier ants, they all met the same fate of dying without being able to block a single attack. They were just easy prey anyway. Only a few minutes had passed, but already countless corpses were piling up behind Roman Dmitry.

Danger? It didn’t exist.

Visually, it looked quite dangerous, but all the attacks coming from all directions were within Roman Dmitry’s domain. There was no need to avoid them. He simply cut them down as they attacked.

The hard forelegs split, and the body was cut in two; the teeth shattered, and the head flew off.

A thirst arose. More. More, more. He wanted them to be stronger.

When he first set foot in this unknown world, Roman Dmitry felt a sense of anticipation, separate from his feelings about his previous life, that he might encounter a new powerhouse.

He recalled the fiercely contested moments. An opponent against whom he couldn’t guarantee victory even after pouring out all his strength. Even if it was a difficult life where his blood ran dry and he walked a thorny path, he had never felt so alive as he did then.

In the end, Roman Dmitry was such an existence. He was not someone who liked a quiet life. He found meaning only when life was exciting and dangerous.

It was contradictory. While hoping to regain the peaceful life of his previous life, Roman Dmitry wished that the process would be difficult.

Flash! Crack!

He slaughtered them. He exuded his presence.

By the time he had slaughtered over a thousand ants, the queen ants, who had been watching the situation, couldn’t stand it any longer and rushed in.

The queen ant is a B-rank monster. Apart from her ability to lay over a hundred eggs a day, her hard exoskeleton and sharp teeth alone were enough to classify her as a B-rank monster. But that was all.

The queen ant’s fate was no different. Like the worker ants, like the soldier ants. When Roman Dmitry’s sword ground their bodies, the exoskeleton, which had been praised as hard, sprayed crimson blood.

Squish. Kieeeek.

The ants screamed. It was overwhelming. With a fear that was imprinted on their cells and spread like a contagion, they belatedly realized that Roman Dmitry was an existence they couldn’t handle.

‘If this is the level of disaster that people talk about…….’

Squish. He stomped on the head of the queen ant writhing on the floor.

‘There’s no reason to hesitate any longer.’

After slaughtering all the ants before his eyes, Roman Dmitry would proceed with his plan without hesitation.