“Ultimoon Fes. In ancient language, it means the last hope.”

Park Hyun-a and her group were walking on a dirt road.

“I learned about this place about 7 years ago. I was cornered pretty badly while fighting the Holy Empire. That’s when these guys appeared and helped me.”

“Ah, is this an organization that opposes the Holy Empire?”

“You could say that. Their slogan is grand – ‘Protecting Humanity’ – but ultimately their biggest goals are demon subjugation and bringing down the Holy Empire.”

Choi Hyun-seok looked around the quiet village while listening to her explanation.

‘As expected, they’re all high level.’

While walking along the road, they met five people who possessed hero-level or comparable magical power.

It was remarkable.

After all, heroes weren’t something you could commonly see.

‘But this seems insufficient to oppose the Holy Empire…’

Gatren isn’t an enemy that can be dealt with just by gathering a few heroes.

He thought that perhaps this was just a part of the organization, and the real headquarters might be somewhere else.

“What’s the scale of this place? It doesn’t look particularly large. Is there a separate headquarters?”

“No. This is it.”

“What?”

“The total village population is roughly 300 people. Among them, about 50 are combatants? The rest are their families. Or informants.”

“I hate to say this, but for humanity’s last hope, it’s quite a modest scale.”

Choi Hyun-seok said while watching Park Hyun-a’s reaction.

If she had special affection for the organization, she might take offense.

“I think so too.”

Fortunately, Park Hyun-a didn’t seem to have any particular sense of belonging or affection for the organization.

Or perhaps she was just extremely realistic.

“It’s also a young organization, not even 30 years old. How many crazy people would fight against the Empire in the first place? It’s completely suicidal.”

“That’s true.”

“Still, we have quite a few heroes like us. As far as I know, including me, there are about six? Something like that.”

“What? Isn’t six too few?”

Choi Hyun-seok made a puzzled expression at hearing there were only six heroes.

“I heard it’s been hundreds of years since heroes started appearing in this world.”

“That’s right. It’s been about 300 years.”

“And you said it took you twenty years to grow to your current level, older sister.”

“Sixteen years, to be exact.”

“Then even if they’re not at your level, shouldn’t there be other strong ones? If we’re going to fight demons and the Empire, shouldn’t we more actively recruit such heroes…”

Choi Hyun-seok carefully continued speaking.

As the conversation went on, Park Hyun-a’s face grew darker.

“Older sister. Did I say something wrong…?”

“No. You’re right. If there were such heroes, we should actively recruit them. If there were any.”

Park Hyun-a smiled bitterly and continued.

“You probably think you had it uniquely tough starting from the Demon King’s Army, but the truth is, the human side’s start isn’t that beautiful either.”

“…”

“Currently, there are no countries friendly to heroes. They’re either uncomfortable with us or hostile. One of the two.”

This was completely unexpected.

To think humanity would be hostile to heroes.

It was even more shocking for Choi Hyun-seok, who hadn’t received any particularly bad treatment while traveling.

“The reason you were treated well was simply because you were strong. This world is always kind to the powerful, after all.”

“Ah…”

“But at first. When a hero who’s practically a normal person falls into an unfamiliar land knowing nothing. What kind of treatment do you think they receive?”

Choi Hyun-seok shook his head, indicating he wasn’t sure.

Then Park Hyun-a held up two fingers.

And smiled cruelly.

“One of two things. Either die immediately. Or be abandoned.”

“…”

“Even if you’re lucky enough to start with the latter – being abandoned – it’s still hopeless. Think about it. They’re just people who were tapping away at computers and smartphones in their world. How do you think people who can’t even kill a cockroach would fare when dropped bare-handed into this unreasonable world? What do you think would happen if you suddenly gave them a sword and told them to fight giant beasts?”

It was an issue he hadn’t considered.

Until now, he only thought he was unfortunate because he started in the Demon King’s Army.

He didn’t know how heroes who started on the human side were treated.

‘This world certainly isn’t easy.’

Perfect survival of the fittest.

The public safety was so bad that he thought even the Joseon Dynasty might have been better.

While it wasn’t an issue for Choi Hyun-seok who had grown somewhat strong, it would have been incredibly difficult if he had to fight here from the beginning.

“Beginner consideration? Tutorial? Where would you find such things? It’s just diving headfirst into the ground! Being thrown into the wild.”

“That really would be overwhelming.”

“That’s why most give up being heroes and blend into this world doing odd jobs in villages.”

Park Hyun-a sighed.

“In the end, 80 to 90 percent of all heroes die or give up in their first year. Second year, third year. The remaining numbers keep getting cut in half each year. In this situation, how many do you think grow as much as you and me?”

“Hmm, probably not many.”

“Not many doesn’t even begin to cover it. There just aren’t any.”

Choi Hyun-seok stared at Park Hyun-a.

Park Hyun-a’s eyebrow twitched.

“What are you staring at?”

“It’s nothing…”

“There really aren’t any, kid. Every year, thousands of clueless idiots come, but there aren’t even a thousand who are properly treated as heroes now. Those at your level wouldn’t even reach a hundred. At my level? Maybe two or three?”

Park Hyun-a suddenly grinned while talking.

“Of course, excluding the Holy Empire’s hero project.”

“Hero project. You mean those puppet-like guys?”

“Yeah. I can’t even guess how many puppet heroes the Empire has raised. They’re always excessive in scale.”

“That’s certainly true…”

“In my opinion, they probably have over a thousand at quasi-hero level.”

“A thousand quasi-heroes!?”

Choi Hyun-seok was startled.

A quasi-hero refers to someone with roughly 100,000 combat power.

To think there were a thousand such individuals.

“Don’t freak out. It’s just what I think, not something I’ve actually seen.”

“Ah, yes…”

“Anyway, that’s enough chat. Be quiet now. We’ve arrived at our destination.”

Park Hyun-a stopped in front of a house.

All the village houses were made of logs, and the place where Park Hyun-a stopped was one of them.

Knock knock-

She lightly knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

A soft voice was heard from inside.

When they opened the door, an elegant-looking woman was sitting in a chair.

Golden hair reaching her shoulders.

Gentle eyes.

Overall, she had a straight and neat appearance.

Usually, ‘elegant’ brought to mind an Asian aesthetic, but despite her Western appearance, the word elegant suited her perfectly.

“Sullivan. These are the ones I told you about.”

“Ah, nice to meet you. I’m Sullivan Campbell Wallace. Please just call me Sullivan.”

“I’m Choi Hyun-seok.”

“I’m Abelson Mariette.”

Sullivan stood up and exchanged handshakes and greetings with the group.

“You must be Mr. Choi Hyun-seok who handles both magical power and demonic energy? And behind you is the princess of the Mariette Kingdom.”

“That’s right. I’m taking these guys leveling today, so guide us to that hunting ground we talked about.”

“Haah… Hyun-a. This isn’t hunting. It’s a very dangerous and noble operation.”

“Yeah, yeah. I get it, just guide us.”

Sullivan sighed and waved her hand.

Then a butterfly appeared from somewhere and landed on Choi Hyun-seok’s shoulder.

“My friend will guide you.”

“Okay. Let’s go right away.”

“Be careful. As you know, they’re not easy opponents.”

“If you’re that worried, why don’t you help?”

“You’d hate it if I offered to help, wouldn’t you?”

Park Hyun-a grinned and waved her hand.

“We’re going. See you next time.”

“Yes…”

Sullivan, who had been waving back, only sat down in her chair with a sigh after Park Hyun-a had completely disappeared.

“It’ll be fine…”

Actually, Sullivan hadn’t had many conversations with Park Hyun-a.

Soon after they became acquainted, she had gone to the Demon King’s Army.

Nevertheless, Sullivan trusted Park Hyun-a.

Park Hyun-a, with her aggressive tone and always seeming defiant.

At first glance, she might appear to be just a strong fool.

But upon closer inspection, one could see she was more careful and thoughtful than anyone.

That’s why she accepted outsiders like Choi Hyun-seok and Abelson for this matter.

Originally, the organization’s location was top secret to avoid the eyes of Holy Empire of Gatren.

If Gatren were to discover them, they’d be destroyed that very day.

For that reason, they strictly blocked outsiders’ access, but they allowed it with just one word from Park Hyun-a saying she is trustworthy.

That’s how deep Sullivan’s trust in Park Hyun-a was.

‘Surely this matter will be resolved well too…’

The place Park Hyun-a was heading to was considered the most dangerous among areas where necromancy had occurred, rapidly growing in power.

It was said that even the legend guarding that area couldn’t hold on and had to retreat.

If they couldn’t stop them here, it was impossible to guess how much stronger this undead horde would grow.

‘God. Please protect Hyun-a and her companions.’

Sullivan prayed for a while with her eyes closed and hands clasped.

Hoping that God, surely watching everything from somewhere, would listen.

***

The butterfly fluttered its wings as it flew.

It was roughly the size of a palm, and seemed beautiful rather than creepy.

As they followed the butterfly endlessly, they arrived at a space transfer gate located in an isolated place.

“Is this it…”

The butterfly kept circling above the gate.

Choi Hyun-seok approached and asked.

“Where does this gate lead to?”

“The Odria City-State Alliance.”

“That’s a name I haven’t heard before.”

“Just follow me in. I’ll explain as we go.”

“Yes.”

Park Hyun-a led the group into the space transfer gate.

After a slight feeling of nausea.

Choi Hyun-seok found himself standing in a dark space.

“The Odria City-State Alliance. As the name suggests, it’s a nation formed by multiple cities uniting. In terms of size, it’s bigger than most kingdoms.”

“Ah, yes!”

Choi Hyun-seok hurriedly followed Park Hyun-a who was already walking ahead.

As they strode through the dark space, Park Hyun-a continued her explanation.

“This place is far from the Demon Boundary. They were bastards who always stayed out of the war with demons, but now they’re getting backstabbed like this.”

Park Hyun-a snickered.

Upon reaching their destination, she pushed open a thick iron door.

Creeeeak-

The old hinges screamed, and

Along with bright light, noise started pouring in.

“Repent! Repent!”

“We must flee now! Citizens of Delos! Before the undead army arrives…!”

“Arrest that bastard!”

“Kyaaak-! Thief!”

“Ma’am! With one bottle of this elixir made from demon blood, your husband will jump right up even from sleep!”

Choi Hyun-seok couldn’t understand what situation was unfolding.

Countless people filled the streets, everyone hurriedly moving somewhere.

Guards seemed to be everywhere, though they didn’t appear to be doing much.

Most noticeable were the street stalls scattered everywhere.

Merchants were selling all sorts of items, and occasionally Choi Hyun-seok heard things that even he found tempting.

“Older sister. What is this?”

“What else? It’s the Odria City-State Alliance. Specifically, the city of Delos in the alliance.”

“Is it this chaotic because of the undead attack…?”

“No. City-states are always chaotic. Well, Delos is particularly bad.”

Even Seoul’s Myeong-dong at its peak wasn’t this crowded.

That’s how many people were gathered in this city called Delos.

“This place is furthest from the Demon Boundary. The perception of safety attracted war refugees and immigrants. Ah, fuck! Stop blocking the road, seriously!”

Park Hyun-a roughly pushed through those blocking the way, breaking through the crowd.

“The stupid alliance leadership kept gorging themselves to grow bigger, not knowing their stomach would burst. This is the result.”

“Is this being controlled at all?”

“Absolutely not. It’s practically abandoned now.”

Finally breaking through the crowd, the group reached a relatively quiet open space and sighed.

“The Odria City-State Alliance was originally called the merchant’s nation. Now it’s additionally called the nation of merchants and thieves. Anyway… What I want to say is that in this Odria, money is the most important thing.”

Park Hyun-a raised her hand and pointed somewhere.

There stood a massive tower gleaming with golden light.

“That’s why we’re now heading to that golden tower.”

“What are we going to do there?”

“What else? We’re going to extort money.”

“What…?”

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