Ch.121What Kind of Person Was My Father?

“Something flew over and I caught it—none other than the divine weapon Durandal.

‘Equipment that could only be obtained by 100% clearing the Baekdusan Dungeon… they cleared it?!’

I couldn’t believe it.

For good reason—the Baekdusan Dungeon, a sub-quest in the latter part of Hunter’s Blood, was infamous not for its difficulty but for the mind-numbing grind.

I lost 50 hours of playtime trying to farm Durandal there.

Plus, why would Roland’s sword from French legend appear on Mount Baekdu? There were many controversies like this.

The divine weapon Durandal—controversial and difficult to obtain.

Yet somehow I got it.

“Grrrr.”

‘You must have gone through a lot to get this sword…’

“It was nothing.”

“Gruk?!”

‘Huh?!’

A man responding to my growl-speak filled with admiration.

Then he extended his hand toward me.

“Durandal returns to my scabbard.”

As he declared this.

Woong.

“Gruk?”

I felt a strange power from the holy sword Durandal I was holding, and the sword began to move on its own.

At first, I thought about holding it tight so it couldn’t leave.

But.

Swoosh.

‘I want to talk first.’

Since it seemed impossible to have any conversation in this state.

After letting go and returning the holy sword, I finally made proper eye contact with my “son” who looked like a mix of white and black.

“Grrrr. Gruk?”

‘Can you understand what I’m saying?’

“Yes, I can, Father.”

My son, answering my growl-speak quite well.

“Grrrrruk?”

‘May I ask your name?’

“I am Han Leon.”

Han Leon…

Was it just my imagination?

It felt like he put special emphasis on the surname “Han.”

‘Come to think of it, why didn’t Shina and Yurian have the Han surname?’

Has the culture of taking the father’s surname disappeared in the future?

But that doesn’t seem right either, since Leon right in front of me just introduced himself as Han Leon.

So what could it be?

Well, maybe only those who want to include their surname in their name do so?

“In the future, only five children inherit Father’s surname.”

“Gruk?”

‘What…?’

“That’s what the Han surname means. Only children who are deemed useful among those you created earn the right to inherit the Han surname and can speak like I do.”

“Grrruk…”

‘What kind of…’

But I closed my mouth at this much darker future story than I had imagined.

Only giving your surname to children you deem worthy among those you’ve created?

What kind of culture is that?

No, before that, how could a father look at his children that way?

“Grrruk…?”

‘Is that true? Is the future me doing such things?’

“…? Yes, that’s correct, but…”

“Gruk! Gruk!”

‘What kind of bastard would do that?!’

“?!”

Crack!

My children aren’t some products with different breeds.

All children should be loved equally—how could someone create such a parental barrier for their children?

The future me.

The future Han Shinwoo.

The more I learned, the more horrifying it became.

I now understood why Jaewon attacked me when he first appeared.

If my father was that kind of person, I would have done the same.

Right now, I just wanted to punch that future me if he were standing in front of me.

But there was someone else who seemed just as surprised as I was.

“Are you… angry right now?”

“Gruk?”

‘Huh?’

“May I ask why you’re angry?”

Han Leon was looking at my reaction as if he couldn’t believe it.

“Grrruk! Gruk!”

‘Of course I’m angry!’

And I told my son.

“Grrrrruk! Gruk! Gruk!”

‘If they’re my children, I should love them all equally! I’m furious that you’re being discriminated against based on surnames!’

“Just… for something like that? You’re angry about that? Not because of Sophia?”

“Grrruk! Grrrrruk!”

‘Of course Sophia is important to me. But that doesn’t mean you all aren’t precious to me.’

Though these children appeared suddenly, just knowing they were my children made them look so precious to me.

I wanted them not to be hurt, not to struggle, and to be happier than me forever.

That’s why I was angry.

My fists clenched at the behavior of someone who was also Han Shinwoo but thought differently from me.

And after hearing my words, Leon…

“KRAAAAAAAA-!!”

“?!”

Suddenly let out a roar and emitted black lightning from his body.

“Grrruk…!”

‘That’s…!’

“Yes, that’s right. It’s the kaijufication I inherited from you.”

A slightly different kaijufication than mine or Jaewon’s.

Looking like an incomplete transformation, he immediately took a fighting stance against me.

“Honestly, I’m confused. The future father is nothing like this.”

“……”

“You always longed for Empress Sophia. Even when you were with us, even when you were with the other empresses you chose, even… when you were holding my mother.”

“!!”

“Yes, you never truly loved our mother.”

Is this something a child should have to say?

Absolutely not.

How could the future me make my son say such things?

My heart felt like it was being torn in half.

“When I was young, I was always curious and scared. I wondered why my mother, who would secretly leave our room after sleeping with me at dawn, would return covered in wounds the next day.”

Of course, my mother had powerful healing abilities.

Even when wrapped in bandages, she would be completely healed by the afternoon and act normally.

But Leon, concerned despite this, pretended to sleep one day and secretly followed his mother, only to face an uncomfortable truth in the Emperor’s room.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

“Sophia! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! Sophia!”

“Kuhek… kek! O-Orabeoni…”

The two spouses, completely naked, joined together.

However, their method was quite different from the form of love I had read about in books.

Father was on top of mother, repeatedly calling another woman’s name while punching mother’s body as if beating a sandbag.

And whenever father stopped punching and cried, mother would pull his face close and kiss him as if telling him not to make crying sounds.

Seeing my mother being strangled and severely abused, yet smiling as if she were happy, I realized from that moment that our family wasn’t normal.

Especially, I came to understand my mother’s twisted love.

However, I never asked my mother about it directly.

Because if she had to hear such things even from her child, it would be too tragic.

So I had to confirm it here.

“Father, tell me. What kind of person were you in the past?”

“Grrruk…!”

“What changed you like this? I want you to show me everything about what kind of person Han Shinwoo really was!”

“Gruk! Gruk!”

‘Yes! Come, my son!’

***

From Yujin’s perspective in his kaijufied state, professional Hunters were far too easy opponents.

“Surround him!”

“Then stab simultaneously!”

Clang.

“Huh?”

“…Clang?”

“How. Many. Times. Do. I. Have. To. Say. It. Slashing attacks don’t work on me, gentlemen.”

Even equipment specially manufactured in the Hunter Association’s workshop couldn’t wound Yujin’s body.

Rather, if they approached too closely…

Rip.

“AAAAARGH?!”

Like a beautiful rose has thorns.

Most Hunters fell after being impaled on Yujin’s body.

“This guy… attacks don’t work on him at all?”

“I don’t think monster-specific bullets would work either…”

“This is maddening.”

Yujin yawned with boredom as he watched the Hunters surround him on their own terms and then scatter their formation just as arbitrarily.

He was now standing in front of an elevator, and as he entered and tried to close the door, he anticipated the Hunters’ movements again, but.

[Let him go.]

“Huh? This voice…”

“Branch Director?!”

[I’ll handle this. You can all stand down now, everyone.]

Lee Jin-ah giving orders to the surrounding Hunters through the elevator’s speaker.

The Hunters reluctantly backed off at their superior’s command, and while Yujin felt something was off, it worked out well for him anyway.

‘Lee Jin-ah… She was in the history books, wasn’t she? The leader of the early human rebellion.’

Lee Jin-ah.

A woman who once reigned supreme in the now nearly extinct human ecosystem.

He could fight such a powerful opponent.

Excited by this thought, Yujin stepped out of the elevator when it reached the rooftop.

“Hello.”

“Are you Lee Jin-ah?”

“Yes, I am.”

“I hope you’ll entertain me.”

After a brief greeting upon facing Jin-ah, he leaped toward her.

“Silas Spark!”

A technique where he transformed the soles of his feet into sharp blades, approaching like he was skating.

While Lancelot, who was standing by Jin-ah’s side, was secretly admiring the precise and fast technique.

“Do I not need to step in?”

“No. I just acquired ‘two coffins’ and want to test them out.”

“…Understood.”

“Mom, fighting!”

Jin-ah told her knight Lancelot to stay put and expanded her shadow under Eve’s encouragement.

Then, against the arm transformed into a blade flying toward her neck.

Bang!

“…A coffin?”

She successfully defended with a coffin that emerged from her shadow.

‘Was this woman a Beast Hunter?’

But something was strange.

Beast Hunters typically summon monsters from their shadows, but this was clearly a coffin used for the dead.

And there were exactly two of them.

“…What is this?”

What kind of technique could this be?

As Yujin backed away in confusion.

“This is when humanity is in its greatest danger.”

“……”

“……”

“So I would appreciate your help once more for humanity’s sake, great figures of the past.”

As the coffin lids opened, two corpses—pale like the current Lancelot but now able to move—walked out.

They were:

An Oriental general wielding a massive spear with crescent-shaped blades on both sides, and a revived saint holding the flag of liberty and equality.