One Step 1

The night in the slum was quiet.

However, the meaning of quiet was far from a poetic night where insect songs softly echo, like in the countryside.

A deathly silence, a chilling darkness descends.

Even the gracious moonlight turns its back.

It’s an ominous night.

For children to open their eyes.

The children, exhausted from playing with their lacking big sister after a long time, fell asleep.

They departed briefly for an adventure in dreamland.

“Big sister…”

Not everyone fell asleep immediately.

One child was awake.

“What’s wrong, in the middle of the night like this? Go to sleep quickly.”

“Just, I can’t sleep well.”

“You won’t grow tall if you don’t sleep early?”

“I know. Why are you still up, big sister?”

“Well, I’m already model-tall, so.”

The child’s expression seemed somewhat anxious.

“Big sister.”

“What’s wrong? Do you have something to say?”

“You’re going to do something again. For us, too.”

“…What are you talking about?”

“Don’t play dumb.”

The child said.

“When you do something, it’s always only for us. Everyone knows. There’s no fool who doesn’t know that. We may be children, but we’re not stupid.”

The children knew.

They just didn’t put it into words, always.

The fact that Han Seoyeon was acting for them, only for them.

It’s a slum without electronic devices.

To send money to a place like this, brokers are essential.

Han Seoyeon was using all the magic stones she got from hunting to help with the children’s living expenses in the slum.

That was the reason why she could only eat bean sprouts forever.

“Aren’t you all being too excited just because big sister came after a long time?”

“Then, why are you dressed up at this late hour?”

“I thought I might go for a walk.”

“Wasn’t it you who said not to go out at night? Because dangerous people are around at this time, we shouldn’t go outside.”

“…”

Yes, she certainly did say that.

There was an implicit curfew in the slum.

“Why…”

She wasn’t used to lying after all.

She didn’t want to do it to the children.

“Why did you come back?”

The child reproached her.

“You’re different from us. It’s so far and hard. You were working hard at school.”

You can go to school even from the slum.

This country had mandatory universal education.

But because the distance to the city was so far, they always woke up at the tail end of dawn and went to bed when dawn was just beginning.

Various discriminations came with the reason of being born in the slum.

So Han Seoyeon didn’t make unreasonable suggestions for the children to go to school.

“It’s the Academy, no less. It’s a place where you can succeed! You can earn a lot of money and be happy. You even made new friends. But…”

Tears fall drop by drop.

“…Why did you come back when you don’t need to take care of us anymore!”

She scolded, asking why she wasn’t trying to be happy.

“You know, we can now live with at least minimal discretion. So we can live without your support now.”

It was a tragic thing.

Han Seoyeon saw herself overlapping with the children.

“You can find your own happiness now, big sister.”

This must have been the emotion her lovely senior felt towards her.

“I, we don’t want to be a burden to you…!”

“You’re not a burden.”

Han Seoyeon hugged the child tightly.

“You are all my lovely siblings. No matter what anyone says. If it weren’t for you all, what would I have done living in this boring place?”

It’s not just empty words.

It’s not because these children were supporting characters who couldn’t be saved in the original story.

She likes these children.

She wants them to be happy.

Because these children were her half-siblings who endured her hard times together.

“Don’t cry, stop. Okay?”

“…Okay.”

Was it just her imagination?

The sound of sobbing in the middle of the night wasn’t coming from just one or two places.

The dawn deepens.

The children, exhausted from crying, give in to sleep.

“…Let’s go, senior.”

Leaving the children sleeping soundly, Han Seoyeon and Michaela left the house.

The slum is a dirty place.

It’s worth no more than the city’s garbage dump, and its residents are nothing but failures weeded out from competitive society.

However, even so, it’s still a place where people live.

If a disaster visible to the naked eye were to occur, there would be a response.

The hero had only pushed the slum down in priority, not excluded it entirely.

But it was slow.

At the same time, too complacent.

First, there was a problem with distance.

Not only was it far from the city, but the incident occurred at the edge beyond the slum.

The scale was also a problem.

Because it was on a scale incomparable to a simple Gate.

Wave.

As the name suggests, a wave.

A phenomenon where multiple single-use Gates occur simultaneously.

The first Gate incident was like that, and events called nightmares in the history of Korean Hunters, like the 3.6 Disaster, were all caused by waves of monsters.

There’s still no way to know why Waves occur.

We don’t even know if Gates are distinguished between permanent and single-use types, let alone Waves.

With current human technology.

It’s just a natural disaster, we can only hope to avoid it.

“…Senior.”

Fortunately, this Wave is very small in scale.

A lot of garbage needs to pile up before it can be sent out.

It’s still a time when those beyond the starry sky produce less garbage.

With two Ex-class awakened ones, they might be able to stop it sufficiently.

Nevertheless, we shouldn’t let our guard down.

“If, if you know.”

“If it seems like we absolutely can’t handle it, at least take the kids and…”

The slum is the children’s living ground.

If they lose this place, the children will have nowhere to go immediately.

But in the worst case, it’s okay to give up.

It’s a selfish mindset, but even if we can’t protect the other residents, at least the children and senior.

“That won’t happen.”

…I tried to mention a real what-if scenario, like a death flag.

“We’ll return alive. No one will die. That’s all.”

There was no wavering in Michaela’s expression.

“Don’t make me repeat the same words over and over.”

“Okay. I understand. I won’t say anything more.”

She decided to stop being anxious.

She decided to dream only of a good tomorrow.

She placed her hand on the sword hilt.

And then.

Space splits.

Wide ovals appear.

Gates to another world.

Gates.

■■■■■■■■■─────.

Monsters coming out from there.

Monsters.

Either way, their numbers can’t be counted.

The monster army approaches.

“Come─.”

Michaela grasped in her hand not a decorative item at her waist, but a true sword.

“─Sword of Winter.”

A silver-white blade.

The Sword of Winter.

An Ex-class ability comparable to the Falling Star Sword appears.

She lightly swung it not towards the direction of the monsters, but behind.

A huge wall of ice appears.

Even by chance, not even a single monster could pass through here.

There was no signal.

The two simply stepped forward together in front of the horde of monsters.

“Freeze.”

A cold wave rushes in.

Colder and fiercer than winter.

Without any resistance, the vanguard monsters freeze.

“Shatter.”

A flash.

The frozen statues of monsters crumbled.

A thick fog settles.

■■■■■■■■■─────!

Yet still the numbers are many.

Through the swirling fog, the monsters’ claws and fangs are aimed at Michaela.

─Lightning Flash.

She doesn’t let them touch.

Because Hunters are never alone, always in pairs.

Because she will protect her senior.

Han Seoyeon’s sword strikes.

The sword drawn from its scabbard bisects the monster in the shape of lightning.

That was just the beginning.

Even if one monster is cut down, more monsters swarm in packs behind it.

─Continuous Lightning Flash.

So, she increases her speed.

It’s the agility she just raised.

There’s no time to use it other than now.

Isn’t this why she raised her stats?

In units of seconds.

She cuts down all the monsters in close range.

“Pierce through.”

And then, switch.

They divide roles.

Sharp ice swords cover the sky.

Each filled with dense mana, they hunt monsters according to their master’s command.

The ice swords plunge down.

They pierce only the vital points of the monsters, their magic stones, without a single error.

Direct destruction of magic stones would be unthinkable in a hunting ground.

Because you wouldn’t gain anything even if you caught the monster.

She doesn’t care.

There was no reason to at all.

This is not a hunting ground but a battlefield.

Han Seoyeon is not a businesswoman but a hunter.

And after all, hunters are those who hunt fear.

So that the world no longer fears anything.

“Shatter into pieces…”

So that the children won’t get hurt.

“Be annihilated.”

Monsters keep coming through the Gates endlessly.

Michaela gave her all, dozens of times over.

She’s out of breath.

No matter how powerful an awakened one is, there’s a limit in the end.

It’s rather a miracle that a battle between an army and individuals is even possible.

The threat of monsters doesn’t dry up for the tiring Michaela.

Among them are several S-class individuals that can’t be killed in one hit with area-of-effect techniques.

─No flower blooms for ten days.

She slaughtered them all.

Before they could go berserk.

She loses count at some point.

Forgetting, she just focuses on the slaughter.

She’s covered in blood.

Her eyes naturally become hazy.

The sensation in her fingertips goes numb.

Her legs, weaken.

■■■■■■■■■!

The limit approaches.

Even as the limit approaches, the monsters don’t stop.

─Even the Milky Way can be grasped.

Michaela supported Han Seoyeon’s tiring body.

“…Senior, it seems we really can’t do it.”

“No.”

The killing intent keeps diminishing.

That which filled the entire space, damp and stuffy.

“It’s over.”

The night has passed.

The sun is rising.

“Ah…”

The Gates, close.

They dissolve into blue particles and disappear.

“Ah, ah…!”

We won.

“…Ah!”

We’ve won.

“Th-Thank…”

With this, the children are saved.

“Thank, you…”

A happy ending where no one dies has been achieved.

“Thank you so much, senior…!”

Embraced in Michaela’s arms.

Han Seoyeon cried with joy.

“What should I do. I think I’ve fallen for you, senior, to the point where there’s no helping it…”

“All of a sudden, you say.”

For a moment, a spring breeze brushed Michaela’s cheek.

Though it was just an instant, Michaela felt that sensation.

“What─”

“Let’s count this as no count.”

The girl smiled mischievously.

So much that it couldn’t be disliked.

The sun had fully risen.

Signs of people can be felt.

“…Looks like they’re coming.”

No matter how late their response might be, the Management Bureau is still the Management Bureau.

Soon, numerous Hunters were expected to rush here.

“What do you want to do?”

Just the two of them stopped a Wave.

It’s clearly an unbelievable achievement.

If it becomes known, it will be headline news.

Han Seoyeon is not a humble person.

She likes attention.

“…Well.”

But.

“Shall we run away?”

Right now, she wants to be alone with her senior a bit longer.

“Not a bad idea.”

Carrying Han Seoyeon like a princess, Michaela flew.

Han Yuseol, the team leader of the Hunter Management Bureau’s Guild Support Team, had been experiencing too many diverse incidents recently.

From resolving the misunderstanding of Academy professors who had gathered at the Management Bureau headquarters after being deceived by terrorists.

To organizing Hunter teams by requesting cooperation from each guild after two consecutive terrorist attacks.

And now it was a Wave.

The worst disaster in human history had struck.

Even that might not have been noticed if it weren’t for Han Yuseol’s keen eye.

She won’t let the office workers who neglected surveillance just because it was far from the city center off easily after this is over.

The slum residents were in danger.

It was a matter of human lives.

Even if late, she organized the maximum force possible and arrived at the scene.

“This is…”

What Han Yuseol saw there was a scene incomparable to mere terrorism.

“This is impossible, how…”

Though it should be a cause for joy, shock settled in first.

Monsters numbering in the tens of thousands by rough estimate were all lying as corpses.

Only remnants of an untimely winter wind blew coldly.

Who but a hero could have created such a scene?