Chapter 77 : To the Demonic Realm (5)

A good person.

In the world, there are those who are naturally born with goodness.

Some interpret goodness as a kind of defense mechanism possessed by the weak, but occasionally, there are those who seem to be truly united in goodwill in the truest sense.

Yohan was one of them.

「Cain! Hello!」

Yohan was a member of a guild I had briefly belonged to in the past.

He was a guy who was so bright with his greetings that even I, who hardly ever used the guild chat, knew of him, and his actual personality was as good as his bright greetings.

「Everyone's here! Hello!」

「Ah, are you a new person? I'll help you with that. Where should we meet?」

「I'll help you with that.」

Yohan, as one might guess from his name, was a devout Christian, and I don't know if it was because of his Christian worldview, but he was a person who never hesitated to show kindness.

That goodwill naturally reached even me, who was a fellow guild member.

「Cain, you're logged in today too! Hello!」

「hi」

At first, I reacted indifferently.

Whether Yohan's personality was good or not didn't really matter to me, and at that time, relationships with people were nothing more than a bother to me.

Even after that, nothing much changed.

I was fundamentally a person who didn't pay attention to guild chat, and in the first place, the reason I joined the guild was because I was focused on the benefits the guild system brought, not for socializing.

Then one day.

I was heading to my usual hunting ground to hunt as usual, but a group I had never seen before was blocking the entrance to the hunting ground.

The character Cheon was engraved on their chests.

「This place is currently under control. Please go to another hunting ground.」

「Control?」

There was no need to explain how I, at that time, took that word.

I didn't even socialize because getting involved with people was a bother, and now those bothersome people were trying to give me a disadvantage?

The deliberation was not long.

「Who are you? What are you doing...…!」

As if to prove they weren't controlling a high-level area hunting ground for nothing, their level was quite high, but that was all.

「What, who is that crazy bastard!」

「Support! Call for support!」

Murder in the World of Justice was an act with quite a penalty, but that also differed depending on the situation and place.

Markas Burrow, which was the hunting ground at the time, was one of the forbidden zones untouched by human hands, and naturally, what happened there received no punishment whatsoever.

「Wow…… Thank you. You're really strong. I was already annoyed by them blocking the hunting ground.」

「Agreed.」

After sweeping them all away so simply, I continued hunting as always.

It was after that that I received an urgent message from my guild leader.

「Cain-nim, did you happen to have any trouble with the Cheonrang Guild?」

「First time hearing that name.」

「Uh…… then did you happen to have a dispute with some people near Markas Burrow?」

「Ah, yes. A fight broke out because they were blocking the entrance to the hunting ground.」

「Oh no…….」

That's when I found out.

The ones blocking the entrance to Markas Burrow at that time were a large guild named Cheonrang.

Cheonrang.

It was a large guild that ranked within the top ten in the World of Justice at the time, a guild notorious for controlling hunting grounds and indiscriminate PK.

Friction with a large guild.

The flames of that friction soon spread to the guild I belonged to.

The guild I was in at the time was just a small and medium-sized social guild, and it couldn't possibly withstand the retaliation of a large guild.

「Ah, it's those Cheonrang bastards again.」

「I really can't live like this.」

「I'm sorry. I'll be leaving the guild now...」

Guild members who couldn't withstand Cheonrang's retaliation left one after another.

Naturally, public opinion grew within the guild that I should take responsibility and apologize to Cheonrang.

「Shouldn't Cain-nim be stepping up for this?」

「Honestly, it's too hard for us to endure. How about Cain-nim apologizes to Cheonrang separately…….」

「Cain, that prick, caused trouble and isn't doing anything kk, f*cking bastard. I'm leaving the guild bbye」

It was around then that the guild leader contacted me separately.

「Cain-nim, I'm sorry, but I'd like you to step up regarding this situation.」

「How?」

「I'm truly sorry, but I'd like you to leave our guild. I don't know about you, Cain-nim, but the dispute with Cheonrang doesn't seem to be something our guild and guild members can handle.」

The situation seemed to be concluding with me being forcibly kicked from the guild.

「You can't do that!」

The one who raised their voice within the guild at that time was Yohan.

「What did Cain do wrong? Isn't Cheonrang controlling the hunting ground the wrong thing?」

Naturally, the backlash was not small.

「But we're the ones suffering! Needlessly stirring up a hornet's nest.」

「I'm not saying we should fight back together. But at least we shouldn't shift the blame to the victim. Cheonrang is the one in the wrong.」

「Then what do you want to do? Just keep taking it like this?」

「We have to think of a way to overcome this situation together. Cheonrang is the one in the wrong. We mustn't forget that fact.」

There is power in a sound argument.

Especially since Yohan had always maintained an upright stance within the guild, not many could refute his words head-on.

Of course, as is often the case with those who speak the right words, one makes enemies.

Due to Cheonrang's persistent harassment and PK, someone sold Yohan's name to Cheonrang, and from some point on, Yohan became Cheonrang's main target.

Despite such retaliation, Yohan never once resented me.

「It's alright.」

Even though he had lost so much, Yohan merely said that.

It was around then that I decided to take care of Cheonrang.

To be honest, going against a guild of Cheonrang's scale alone was not an easy task, but I did it nonetheless.

It wasn't easy.

Basically, like in other online games, Players, unlike NPCs, only lose a lot when they die, but in the end, they resurrect.

Therefore, the war with Cheonrang had to go through a very bothersome and tedious process, but I willingly endured that process.

Because the bothersome process now would surely reduce an even more bothersome process later.

In other words, I intended to show an example to the entire World of Justice through this process.

What happens when you mess with me?

Who Cain was.

「Crazy…….」

And so, Cheonrang was annihilated.

To be precise, I crushed them so thoroughly that they couldn't help but disband the guild.

「For real, (heard) Cain-Cain, but didn't know he was this much, damn kk」

「I'm sorry, please just spare me this once, I'll never do it again」

「Quitting this f*cking game sg」

「You'll see, just you wait.」

Cheonrang disbanded, and the guild also regained its peace, but sadly, much had already changed.

The already small-scale guild had almost no people left, and it practically became like a ghost guild.

「Are you new? Welcome!」

Nevertheless, Yohan didn't change.

Even though he was endlessly harassed by Cheonrang, lost all the items he had, and even died enough for his level to drop.

By then, I couldn't help but be curious too.

「Just why do you go that far?」

For what, exactly, did Yohan not give up his goodwill?

To that, Yohan replied.

「It's just, nice, isn't it, seeing people smile and be happy.」

Honestly, I couldn't accept that answer, but I could certainly understand the person Yohan was.

He was just that kind of person.

So nice to the point of being absurd.

Not long after, I left the guild on my own, but even after that, Yohan and I maintained a pretty good relationship, like brothers.

Although Yohan's objective level or standard wasn't high, that wasn't a very important issue.

And now, that very Yohan was right in front of me.

Although he looked a little different from the way I remembered, it was clearly Yohan.

In this desolate landscape, like being dropped on a deserted island alone, someone I knew had finally appeared.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

The incredibly good-natured smile Yohan wore had a powerful effect of easing others' wariness.

Of course, I knew it too.

Even if the Yohan in front of me right now was the Yohan I knew, there was no way the Yohan from back then and the Yohan now were the same.

The environment changes people.

Moreover, in this damn situation of being suddenly dropped into an unfamiliar world, even someone like Yohan would have had no choice but to change.

Besides, isn't Yohan currently in a state where he doesn't even know who I am?

Therefore, I suppressed the gladness that rose up to my throat and said calmly.

“I'm alright.”

“That's a relief. For now, let's take care of those things together.”

Sssss…….

Yohan said that and began to emit demonic energy, just as when he had subdued the demonic beasts earlier.

‘Using demonic energy in front of me so casually……. Does he think I'm not a player? Or because he thinks I was already discovered a moment ago?’

Apart from my mind becoming complicated, my body moved quickly.

‘For now, I'll exclude the use of firearms.’

Considering the number of demonic beasts swarming now, using firearms was unavoidable, but I nonetheless decided to hide the existence of firearms from Yohan.

[Kyaooo!]

“Be careful!”

Yohan, who shouted urgently, cut in front of the demonic beast that was rushing towards me.

It was a surprise attack that I could have handled sufficiently, but Yohan, not knowing that, seemed to have judged that I was in danger.

‘My, my…… should I say he's still the same.’

At least, the Yohan I had seen so far was still as good-natured as I remembered.

To the point that my worry that Yohan might have changed felt foolish.

Sssss……!

Contrary to that personality, the snakes of demonic energy that Yohan emitted began to tear at the surrounding demonic beasts again with an incredibly ferocious force.

Perhaps because he had exhausted quite a bit of strength from the previous battle, although its size and force were slightly reduced compared to before, it was still a threatening energy.

I didn't stay still either.

Grasping the Fang of Blazing Fire tightly, I stabbed the vital points of the demonic beasts that were temporarily neutralized by the snakes of demonic energy.

[Kkieeeeek!!!]

With the energy of blazing fire digging into their vital points, the demonic beasts died shortly after.

Although the external wounds or burns weren't large, their insides had been completely charred black.

The battle was one-sided.

No matter how many there were, they were demonic beasts between level 4 and level 5 at best.

As Yohan, who handled demonic energy at will and whose own martial prowess was considerable, and I formed a united front, it didn't take long for the more than a dozen demonic beasts to all turn into cold corpses.

“Hoo…… I think it's over now.”

“It seems so.”

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“I'm alright.”

“That's a relief.”

Worrying about others again, even at a time like this…… I already knew, but he was too nice, even for a good person.

Yohan, wiping the beads of sweat forming on his forehead with his hand, panted and spoke.

“Then, we don't know when the demonic beasts might come again, so let's get out of here for now. I know a safe zone near here.”

I never thought he would be this unguarded, but I tried hard to act like I wasn't a player.

“Safe zone? Are you saying there's a safe place in the Demonic Realm?”

“Huh?”

At that, Yohan spoke as if greatly surprised.

“Uh…… were you perhaps not a Player?”