Ch.7676. Hero

For the people inside the airplane, it was literally a bolt from the blue.

A peaceful day had transformed into an express train to hell in an instant.

What’s more, Devil belonged to a new species, like other monsters featured in Monster Daily.

An unknown creature had attacked them from the sky.

As the captain’s urgent announcement blared, they became certain that an emergency had occurred.

Flight attendants were moving around, instructing passengers on brace positions.

From the moment the engine was damaged, they felt nothing in their minds.

The captain had to either return to the airport or crash into the sea, as they happened to be near the city.

So while attempting to turn back to the airport, they were hit by Devil’s additional attack and forced to make an emergency landing.

“It’s fighting an eagle!”

At someone’s shout, they looked outside to see an intense battle raging.

Eagle and Devil. The two demons fought and disappeared from view.

They couldn’t understand why two monsters were fighting over their plane.

However, it was clear that Eagle was circling around the aircraft, fending something off.

“Is it protecting this plane?”

That’s impossible.

While they were puzzled, Devil and Eagle invaded the cabin.

In the chaos, all passengers froze, only able to stare at the two monsters.

Devil, in particular, was smiling at the passengers.

A reddish body, bat-like wings, and small horns—the very image of a devil.

The black eagle quickly rose and grabbed Devil’s shoulder joint with its large talons in one swift motion.

Devil and Eagle began to fight.

Everyone watched breathlessly. Soon, as Devil and Eagle fought their way out, people felt relieved, but their ordeal wasn’t over yet.

The plane shook more violently, tossing them around.

“No! Someone’s being sucked out!”

Like a natural disaster beyond human control, the worst scenario unfolded as people were being sucked out through the hole.

Someone screamed, and it felt like their final moments.

But the man who was sucked outside was soon brought back by the black eagle.

“Eek!”

The eagle wasn’t attacking. While everyone was confused, the eagle flew forward.

What happened next was an emergency landing, so people didn’t know what was going on.

But for those who escaped outside, the sight of the eagle collapsed on top of the plane was enough to understand the situation.

“It helped us.”

The passengers didn’t run away despite facing a monster.

They gathered to observe the monster, showing how much their fear had diminished.

“Oh! It’s Dokgo Jun!”

But when Dokgo Jun appeared, the situation changed dramatically. Who wouldn’t know the most famous and most hardline monster exterminator in South Korea?

When he appeared, fear emerged in everyone’s hearts.

“Is he going to kill it?”

“But it’s a monster. Monsters should be killed.”

“Didn’t it help us?”

While opinions were divided among the people, the eagle fell down from the recoil of landing.

Dokgo Jun approached the weakly staggering monster with a greatsword resting on his shoulder.

The monster’s fate seemed like a predictable movie scenario. Compassion for the monster flashed through their minds, but no one dared to help.

Except for one man.

A man with a bloody back bravely stepped forward.

The blood flowing from his shoulder carried the meaning of survival along with pain.

He was the man who had been caught and put back inside when Do Jong-hyun fell out.

He ran. To save the life of the monster that had saved his own.

Ignoring Dokgo Jun’s greatsword, he boldly managed to step between them.

“Stop it!”

“…What madness is this?”

When he heard the angry voice, the office worker’s legs trembled.

He was overwhelmed with fear, feeling like he could be sliced apart at any moment.

But he gathered his courage and opened his mouth.

“W-why, w-why k-k-kill it…?”

“Why kill it? Because it’s a monster. Is that even a question?”

In the face of Dokgo Jun’s presence, he could barely speak, but his meaning was understood.

The man gulped.

“I-it saved us. It saved our lives. It’s not a bad monster.”

“A good monster is only a dead monster. Move aside. I didn’t attack just now because you could die from just the pressure of my sword. Do you really want to die?”

“Uh…”

His legs were trembling and tears were forming. But the office worker desperately shook his head.

Dokgo Jun became angry.

“Don’t fall for this kind of trick. It’s deceiving you!”

He must have found it pathetic. Just as he was about to approach and push the man aside—

“Stop it!”

Suddenly, a middle-aged woman jumped in.

“This monster protected us. If it weren’t for this monster, we would be dead.”

“So what?”

“Then why are you trying to kill it? It didn’t kill people.”

“It’s a ploy.”

As Dokgo Jun was about to push her away too, people gathered in a group and blocked the monster’s front.

“Why are you trying to kill something that helped people?”

“Are monsters bad? If it weren’t for this monster, this plane would have been destroyed!”

“And you’re going to kill this monster?”

Something amazing was happening. They were gathering as a group to block the way of Dokgo Jun, the most respected Jaeger and powerful figure.

Even the great Dokgo Jun was taken aback in front of more than a hundred people.

“You’re insane. All of you are insane. Are you falling for this trick to win your sympathy?”

“Listen! You call this a trick? Look at this monster! It’s too exhausted to move. What kind of trick is that? In a society that kills monsters without question, it saved us to the point of immobility!”

“That’s right! If it’s willing to throw itself into danger to save us, it’s fine even if it’s a monster!”

That statement wasn’t wrong either. In Dokgo Jun’s life, who would dare to criticize him, but this time he was in a difficult situation.

Dokgo Jun’s gaze turned to the black eagle, panting and exhausted.

It was barely trying to move its arms but still couldn’t stand up.

‘Exhausting itself for humans? Don’t be ridiculous. A monster acting like that… acting like that…’

In that moment, he thought of Seo Hun-min.

[It’s for the people. If you aim to be the leader of a guild, you should work for people rather than against monsters.]

He recalled the words of his senior who had taught him.

But Seo Hun-min had died because of a monster. After the death of the person he respected, Dokgo Jun had become even more ferocious.

Yet, following his senior’s teachings, he was now unable to do anything in front of these people, just grinding his teeth.

At that moment, someone arrived to break the standoff.

“Stand down. Stand down. You’re cornered, Jun.”

Jo Seong-hui had appeared. She walked through the crowd and looked at the black eagle.

“You protected the plane from crashing? That’s admirable. Did you really try to save people?”

Jo Seong-hui carefully lifted the collapsed black eagle.

“Sister Seong-hui… What are you going to do with it?”

Dokgo Jun had completely lowered his greatsword.

“Even if we don’t kill it, we should at least capture it to find out its identity.”

“I said you’re cornered. If you’re backed into a corner, give up.”

At that moment, a brief light shone from the monster’s body, and it was infused with magical power.

“Sister!”

Just as Dokgo Jun shouted in surprise, the black eagle began to soar into the sky.

“Wow!”

Applause erupted from the many people gathered there.

“Farewell!”

“Thank you for saving us!”

It was like watching a hero depart. A monster receiving people’s welcome.

Dokgo Jun clicked his tongue bitterly.

“Letting it go… Have you suddenly developed an interest in gambling?”

“Do you think it would be possible to capture it anyway?”

Jo Seong-hui pointed to the cheering crowd.

“Those people would desperately block you. You might say you’d just capture it, but who would believe that? You’re Korea’s greatest monster slayer. They don’t trust your hardline stance. How about believing in a monster that saves people until it’s exhausted?”

“This is a crazy gamble, Sister. You’ll regret it.”

“Well, what’s the big deal? It’s a monster that saved hundreds of lives; that’s worth betting on, isn’t it?”

As Jo Seong-hui grinned, Dokgo Jun turned away.

“It will turn against us with just one word from the monsters’ leader.”

“But if we had killed it indiscriminately, could we have prevented this incident?”

“You share Park Tae-sang’s opinion. I respect your view, Sister. But if the same situation arises again, I’ll do exactly the same thing.”

“Hehe, that’s fine. Your anger is necessary too.”

As the two withdrew, the Sunday incident came to a close.

*

At a bar. The guild meeting in Chungcheong Province was in full swing, watching the news.

“Is that even possible? A monster saving people? They should have killed it like Dokgo Jun said.”

Heo Sang-tae, the leader of Ace Guild, clicked his tongue while watching the news.

The news was intensively covering the monster incident that had just occurred.

“But this is amazing. People blocking Dokgo Jun?”

Yu Jin-su, the deputy head of Ace Guild, stuck out his tongue at the tense standoff.

With hundreds of people mixed together, it wasn’t strange that it was captured on camera.

The voices were even clear enough to be heard.

“Ah, our guild should receive that kind of treatment too.”

“Isn’t our Ace Guild doing well in the Chungcheong region?”

“We did pretty well in the national guild competition too. But the top three guilds are always prioritized. That bastard Im Gil-dong only works with the top three guilds and takes care of them. Disgusting connections.”

“Don’t worry, we’re rising in the guild rankings. Let’s not complain and enjoy the end of Sunday properly.”

“Right, right. Let’s eat first.”

As with typical drinking gatherings, they proceeded from the first round to the second and third.

“Take care on your way home, guys!”

Heo Sang-tae staggered as he sent off his subordinates.

He looked at the list of items his wife had asked him to buy on his phone.

“Really, am I her servant? Unbelievable.”

Though staggering, Jaegers naturally recover faster than ordinary people.

His unsteady gait was gradually returning to normal when—

“Are you… Heo Sang-tae?”

A suspicious man in a tracksuit with his hat pulled low appeared before him.

Heo Sang-tae’s drunken face quickly returned to normal.

“What? Trying to rob me? Do you know who I am?”

“I asked if you’re Heo Sang-tae, you idiot.”

“You know and you’re still doing this? Hahaha!”

Heo Sang-tae laughed continuously, finding it absurd.

“You know I’m the leader of Ace Guild and you still came? You’ve got guts. Wait, where have I heard that voice before?”

“Die!”

Suddenly, the man threw his clothes to block Heo Sang-tae’s vision, but Keiron’s arrow blew the clothes away again.

Then he kicked an arrow infused with magical power.

“Ugh!”

As the attacker tried to dodge the magic, his hat came off.

Heo Sang-tae recognized him immediately.

“You! Aren’t you Shin Ju-hyun, who was kicked out of our guild for sexual harassment? What nerve do you have to come here?”

“You bastard, that was a false accusation! You kicked me out and disgraced me? Because of you, I can’t even get a job.”

“Pathetic guy. You tried to curry favor with women and got caught! Have some shame!”

Heo Sang-tae knocked Shin Ju-hyun to the ground with one punch.

The world of guilds is certainly not so lenient that a guild leader would be easily caught by an ordinary guild member.

Showing the dignity of a guild leader, he struck him down in one blow.

“Has your skill deteriorated too?”

“Kekeke! Look at you, showing off till the end. So disgusting!”

Instead of answering, Heo Sang-tae responded with another punch to the face.

“Damn it. I’m sobering up. Listen, try to live better from now on. With your skills, you can’t win even if you die and come back to life.”

As he was turning away—

“Showing off till the end, huh?”

Suddenly, Shin Ju-hyun stood up. His mouth was covered with what looked like red powder.

“The real thing starts now.”

“Oh, really? You can still talk like that even if your legs were crushed…”

As Heo Sang-tae was about to respond casually, Shin Ju-hyun had already disappeared.

“Argh!”

In an instant, he was punched in the face and retreated.

Heo Sang-tae was bewildered by the movement so fast he couldn’t even see it.

“You… What is this…”

“This is my real ability. You’re just the beginning.”

Several impact sounds echoed from the location. Shortly after, it became eerily quiet.

When the police and police-affiliated Jaegers arrived later, Heo Sang-tae was already found dead.

From this day forward, Jaegers began to be attacked by unidentified assassins.