4.

Kim put a red gem in his mouth and swallowed it. His breath, after he swallowed it and breathed out, smelled of blood.

Through the bloody smell, Kim Tae-hoon put in another red gem.

"Whew…" Behind him, Bang Hyun-wook's long sigh came out. "I can't eat anymore… I can't eat."

Following the sigh came a short speech. He was not really talking to himself.

They were words spoken to let Kim Tae-hoon know.

Kim Tae-hoon swallowed another red jewel, instead of answering. He was like a machine.

Bang Hyun-wook, watching him, stuck his tongue out.

'You're a great brother. I've hardly eaten thirty, and you've almost finished with more than eighty.'

Bang Hyun-wook recollected what had just happened.

After finishing the Mud Troll hunting, Kim Tae-hoon declared the creation of the clan on the spot and received applicants.

Of course, the applicants were forced.

There was not a single person who wanted to be thrown into a world full of monsters.

After that, Kim Tae-hoon took the nearby church as a base camp and started collecting monster stones.

The monster corpses were everywhere. It was hard to collect all the monster corpses in a short time.

Also, the number of monsters still surviving on the base was not small in number, so only the monster corpses were collected.

Nevertheless, the number of monster stones collected exceeded a hundred.

Kim Tae-hoon ate most of the monster stones collected.

It was a monopoly.

No matter who looked at it, Kim Tae-hoon's greed was beyond excessive, and they could not help but think that it was too much.

Kim Tae-hoon knew that well.

Gulp!

A strong smell of blood rose from his gut. There was always some left on the stone after digging it out of the corpse of a Goblin. They hadn't really bothered to clean them properly after collecting them.

Kim Tae-hoon closed his mouth to endure his rising disgust. He looked around with his mouth clamped shut.

Soldiers resting in the church … He felt the gaze of those who had become his subordinates now.

When Kim Tae-hoon tried to meet their eyes, they hurriedly avoided his gaze.

It was only a moment later when they exchanged glances. But it was not hard to read their gazes.

'They see me as a greedy monster.'

He was sure that his men did not see him as a great leader who they could trust, follow, and respect.

That was why he could be confident.

Their new leader, in their eyes, was skilled, but a greedy dictator. It was normal to see it that way.

So far, Kim Tae-hoon's actions had been self-righteous, and right now Kim Tae-hoon was right to be greedy.

'This will be a risk someday, but…'

The reason why Kim Tae-hoon was greedy, even though he knows it was disturbing, was because he was assessing the situation more realistically than anyone else.

Gulp!

'I can't help it, for now.'

Kim Tae-hoon took the last jewel into his hand, and snapshot his hand with a smartphone camera.

------

[Basic Abilities]

- Strength: 60

- Health: 42

[Special Abilities]

- Energy: E Rank

- Mana: E Rank

- Telekinesis: A Rank

- Defense: E Rank

- Mana Resistance: E Rank

[Achieved abilities]

- Black Skin (Grade 6)

- The vitality of Troll (Grade 6): The power of the Mud Troll consumes Energy to increase recovery speed.

------

He saw his Strength had exceeded 60 points and the ability, [Vitality of Troll] he had newly acquired.

Kim Tae-hoon clenched his fist after confirming the data.

'This is great.'

He knew, even without breaking anything, that his power was already beyond human.

At least now, Kim Tae-hoon would be able to show enough power that he will not lose even if he fought the beasts with his body.

This was the result of a monopoly!

If Kim Tae-hoon had shared the monster stones according to a fair or very reasonable calculation like someone else, there would not have been such a result.

Of course, it was not bad to distribute monster stones fairly and rationally. No one hates rationality. Most things must be treated reasonably, because what is not rational is eventually distorted, and one day it will collapse.

The problem is that the situation in which he was in now was a state of insane reason.

'But it's still a long way short.'

Humanity now faced a new enemy called monsters, and Awakeners had appeared to deal with such monsters.

Simply put, it meant that when the Awakeners hunted monsters, mankind could survive.

Of course, the Awakeners must get rid of them.

'The Dragon… This much power to deal with…'

The dragon. A monster that scared all living creatures just by being present.

If Kim Tae-hoon had not experienced the appearance of the dragon, he would have planned to build a balanced power rather than a monopoly.

By collecting Awakeners and then improving the overall power, he would have created an efficient monster hunter group.

The monster stones that were secured immediately would have been distributed under the concept of the right man in the right place.

But now, if he ran such an efficient group, it might take more than ten years to build the power and capacity to kill the dragon.

In the meanwhile, there is no guarantee that the dragon would remain silent.

'... at this level, it is not just not enough, but far from enough.'

And there was no guarantee that there would be only one dragon, and there was no guarantee that there would not be a monster more terrible than the dragon.

Therefore, what was needed in this situation was not an efficient solution.

Something extreme was needed!

Not hundreds or thousands of well-made arrows, but an extremely sharp spear was needed. It was necessary!

The clan, founded by Kim Tae-hoon, was a tool for making such an extreme sharp spear.

'This amount is not enough.'

Of course, Kim Tae-hoon would take most of the monster stones the clan acquired!

Naturally, if the army functioned properly, Kim Tae-hoon did not have to worry about this, nor would he have to do this.

'We can't expect the help of the nation right now.'

Kim Tae-hoon had completely abandoned any expectations from the military.

'If the Capital Defense Command has collapsed, most of the rear units will have collapsed, and only the front line will have survived the battle with the monsters, but it will be isolated. It will be hard to hold on for a month if they don't get supplies.'

We must abandon expectations and assume the worst. If the front line collapses in that situation… It is the worst of all.

'... if the monsters that destroyed North Korea come down, and the moment the front line collapses, it will be actually on the edge of a cliff.'

Kim Tae-hoon, who had assumed the worst of all, once again looked at the mark on his right hand, the Mark of an Awakener.

'The only way to survive on that cliff... is to climb the cliff.'

There was something Kim Tae-hoon had realized as he came and went on a myriad of battlefields.

There was nothing as meaningless as praying for something to reach out and save you.

If someone wanted a hero of legend to appear and save the world, it was just like expecting a lottery win when not buying a ticket.

'If I want to live, I have to make a way to live!'

So Kim Tae-hoon got up.

"Attention."

At the words of Kim Tae-hoon, the attention of those who had avoided his eyes focused on him.

"We'll clean up the monsters in the base in two hours. Our first destination is an arsenal. After securing the arsenal, we'll finish supplying. The second is to sweep the rest of the monsters in the base. After eliminating the monsters, we will secure the monster stones from the monster corpses we have killed. Then we will take a rest."

After completing the one-sided notice, Kim Tae-hoon looked at Ahn Sun-mi.

"Ahn Sun-mi, how are the conditions of the injured?"

Ahn Sun-mi, who was checking the wounds of the injured, replied with some disbelief, "There's no problem moving them."

Even while speaking, Ahn Sun-mi could not believe what she had seen.

The fact was that men who had their flesh torn off, been hurt with injuries they'd have for the rest of their lives, and those who would be out of action for months... had been treated neatly by the monster's flesh, making the medical arts she had learned by dedicating most of her life a minor skill.

Of course, her thoughts were not considered by Kim Tae-hoon.

"Lieutenant Kim Soo-ji, what about the key to the arsenal?"

"I have it."

"Are there any questions?" Kim Tae-hoon gave them the right to ask questions for the first time.

No one raised their hand. They were soldiers.

There are no questions for soldiers. There are only two things: orders, and action!

If someone raised his hand and asked questions in this situation, he was not a soldier.

"I have a question: what about our plans after we secure the arsenal, clean up the rest of the unit, and rest?"

"There is nothing decided yet."

"Why don't we go to Bucheon Stadium?"

"Why?"

"There's a museum there, and if there's anything like the boss has said… I can call you boss, right? Anyway, isn't it very likely that the relics that the boss mentioned are there? For your information, there is also a bow museum!"

Kim Tae-hoon studied the person who had asked the question.

A small figure, a mouse-like appearance, the face of a man in his early or mid-twenties with a look to be wary of, rather than a favorable impression.

"What's your name?"

"I'm Jang Sung-hoon, and I'm twenty-two now that the New Year has passed."

His name was Jang Sung-hoon.

"What did you do in society?"

"Ah, I did a little this and that... but I did not have only one exact job…"

"Tell me three things you did in society."

"I have forged art, stolen goods, and smuggled them."

His job was being a criminal!