3.

"D-Day is tomorrow."

Everything went very fast. They couldn't afford to not put their heart and soul into it when the monsters were already moving.

"Don't forget secrecy." Of course, they didn't forget the warning, though they couldn't afford it.

"The fact that there is a green-grade monster in particular, and that it might come to Bucheon, should not be discussed with the other survivors."

Not long ago, all the survivors of Bucheon City lived in fear of the Black Snake.

If it was known that there was a green-grade monster in such a situation, it was clear that not a few of the survivors would panic. Panic-stricken humans would be involved in accidents.

When the meeting ended with Jang Sung-hoon's words emphasizing secrecy, Kim Tae-hoon called over Bang Hyun-wook.

"Bang Hyun-wook, come to the conference room."

4.

"Why did you call me, big brother?" Bang Hyun-wook asked, as soon as he returned to the meeting room of the budget committee of the Bucheon City Council.

"Why didn't you say a word at the meeting?" A question was given instead of answers. Bang Hyun-wook smiled awkwardly at the question.

"Is there anything I could say? I just have to do what I'm told."

"Do you think you're going to be left behind?"

At the words, the awkward smile around Bang's mouth disappeared.

"Bang Hyun-wook was supposed to be the right-hand man of Kim Tae-hoon, but now do you feel like you are not even a finger. Does it bother you?"

At this moment, Bang Hyun-wook thought of himself saying, 'Nah, what is that? You speak nonsense…'

However, Bang did not show what he thought, but his face got harder. He looked like he had been stabbed deep inside.

"Is it that obvious?" he finally admitted.

"A man, who used to compete with others throughout his school years to become a professional baseball player, does not change easily, even when monsters have appeared."

Rather early, Kim Tae-hoon noticed a change in the way Bang Hyun-wook looked at him. His behavior was different.

At first, Bang Hyun-wook looked like a puppy waiting for an order. He was afraid of monsters, but on the one hand, he was pleased about the fact that he had the power to kill them.

At the same time, he was proud of being a partner who could help Kim Tae-hoon fight, as well as the incidental things that arose from it… like the satisfaction of the snobbery, such as the surrounding gaze and treatment.

However, recently, Bang Hyun-wook was not happy. He watched Kim Tae-hoon fight without saying anything, and the gaze he had was dead.

Furthermore, such his mind was showed as a result. The brave spirit he had shown to the monsters had disappeared.

"But I don't want to pat you on the shoulders. I don't have that personality, and I've never done it."

"I know that."

"I don't even think I can allow you to be like a dog with an inferiority complex." It was why he called Bang Hyun-wook over separately.

"That's…"

What Kim Tae-hoon needed was the combat power that Bang Hyun-wook had shown.

He needed the Bang Hyun-wook who ran against monsters with at brave spirit and could sometimes even joke on the battlefield. He did not need the Bang Hyun-wook who only looked like a dog with an inferiority complex.

"Be a dog with an inferiority complex or a hunting dog. The choice is yours."

At the words of Kim Tae-hoon, Bang Hyun-wook said, gritting his teeth tightly, "I'll be a hunting dog."

His eyes began to glow again.

5.

"You seem to really care about Hyun-wook."

It was Jang Sung-hoon who came to Kim Tae-hoon after he left the conference room and was alone again.

"At least, he is not one who worries whether it is good to betray me or not, or whether he could replace me."

"Yes, Hyun-wook is not the type to plot. If he had been a plotter, he wouldn't have fidgeted in front of the boss to save his first love. However, his romance progress is very slow. As I see it, he could get married tomorrow morning if he just confessed his love to her."

Jang Sung-hoon sighed briefly while talking.

"… are you not going to tell others about your second dream?"

Kim Tae-hoon had not told anyone about his second dream, except for Jang Sung-hoon.

It was not because he more believed Jang Sung-hoon and he less believed the rest.

It was a difference of will if he bothered to explain.

Kim Tae-hoon was the hope and savior of everyone here. Therefore, his death would be hard for himself, but also hard for those who trusted and followed him.

"I won't have a better solution, even if I talk about it."

In a world where it was hard to even live, he didn't want to put a bigger burden on them.

Most of all, the clear interpretation of the dream was not done yet.

"Jang Sung Hoon."

"If you have any questions, just ask me without having to sugarcoat them, or a humble attitude, calling my name."

"Guess why I died."

On that question, Jang Sung-hoon immediately gave his opinion instead of hesitating.

"I'm guessing the boss was killed by an Awakener."

Kim Tae-hoon nodded. He was of the same opinion. He didn't know what injuries he had suffered or why he died in his second dream.

But there was a clue.

"When sister Sun-mi tried to cure the boss, she was not involved in the fight, and it's unlikely that monsters have a virtue of ignoring other humans and targeting the Boss. Virtue is something that goes between people, isn't it?"

When Kim died, he saw Ahn Sun-mi once. Her hair was longer than it was now, and she was not involved in combat and did not have major injuries.

That meant she was excluded from the battle.

But there was no reason for a monster to leave her alone. If she had been excluded, something would have been limited in the battle.

"If I look at it very simply, you're weak, and you're dead."

Otherwise, the cause of death itself is simple and clear: the law of the jungle, the weak are the prey of the strong.

Kim Tae-hoon's death was due to his weakness. If he were strong, there would be no reason to die.

Anyway, being killed by an Awakener was definitely different from being killed by a dragon.

It meant there was a stronger Awakener than Kim Tae-hoon!

"You said the world looked like a game?"

"Yes."

"When I kill a monster, I gain experience and level up through it. That's the game."

"Yes, it's a classic RPG game."

"So if the number of monsters is limited, what happens in the game?"

Kim Tae-hoon didn't pass on what it meant.

"It's…" At this moment, Jang Sung-hoon thought of a game he sometimes played and imagined what would happen if the monster didn't come out of it.

"The one who kills them first and gets the level-up would be the winner." Only then did Jang Sung-hoon understand what the most important thing to survive in this world was. "It's a zero-sum game."

'It is important to secure relics, to make items, and to secure weapons. But all of them end up being used as a means of killing more powerful monsters.'

That was the result through Kim Tae-hoon's second death.

"After my first dream, our goal was to be a military warlord, and defend our castle." Now, they needed to change their goal.

"I suggested it, and the boss approved it."

The first purpose of Kim Tae-hoon was to settle down in Bucheon and defend the area.

But it wasn't anymore. Just defending the area was not enough.

"This time, we have to attack, not just focus on defense."

Along with the words, Kim Tae-hoon looked at the map on the whiteboard that he had used for the meeting.

"If we kill a green monster in Gwangmyeong City, all the monsters in Gwangmyeong City belong to us."

"We'll have to attack them first before others do."

"The problem is others."

"I guess so. It's not possible that there will be no competition in the country, including Colonel Lim Hyun-joon, who appeared in your first dream. You'll be in trouble from now on. Why don't you just become the Commander-in-Chief? First of all, the boss is a Major, right? Why don't you try to be a General this time? Give me a seat."

To Jang Sung-hoon, who joked to ease the heavy mood, Kim Tae-hoon did not bring up the words "Sword of Goujian" or "Gwanggaeto Stele."

There was not anything that could be done right now, by telling him the reality that China, which had strong military power, would be a competitor.

It was only for Kim Tae-hoon to worry about it.

"The top priority right now is to defend our territory."

"I'll organize a search party to identify the monsters."

"I'll investigate it myself."

Before Jang Sung-hoon could say 'It would be dangerous,' Kim Tae-hoon dyed his eyes black.

Jang Sung-hoon immediately swallowed what he was about to say. Instead, he asked,

"Do you need anything?"

"Put the order into the workshop to preserve the skull of the Black Snake in its original form."

"Skull? Do you want to make a museum?"

"When it is completed, we will set it up on the coming road of the yellow-grade monsters."

"Set it up?"

"Because they are not that kind of things who will understand it if I just say this is my territory."

Jang Sung-hoon nodded. "Do you need anything else?"

"Boil the water."

"Not coffee?"

On the question, Kim Tae-hoon said, with sudden uncontrollable laughter, "The coffee you serve is rubbish."

Jang Sung-hoon answered with a smile, "I can make Mixed coffee."

6.

Shiyan City in China.

Located northwest of Hubei province, China, it was a huge city with a population of 3.5 million. It had a car factory and Danjiangkou Dam which was once the biggest in Asia.

But now the city of Shiyan was not suitable for the big city. There was some of noise a big city had, but the noise was caused by a man doing his best not to be eaten by a monster.

There were people who watched the noise from a safe distance. They were soldiers but were not soldiers in military uniforms. Some soldiers were in uniform, but the most noticeable ones were those wearing armor that might have been worn in medieval or ancient China.

It was like if the history of China was lined up.

The two standing in the very front were women.

The 170-centimeter, model-like appearance of the two was very good. They were twins.

One of the two said, "I don't understand why we have to fight. All we have to do is drop a nuclear bomb and retrieve the monster stone. It would be better to get caught up in a nuclear explosion than to die by a monster."

It was a bloody remark, however, there was no other word from the other twin.

"Not likely." The answer came from a man wearing a military uniform near the two. "We are here to defend the land of China, not to destroy it."

The woman, who had spat out her cruel words, shrugged her shoulders at the short words of the man.

"I just said that, Major Chinshan."

Chinshan with a rank of Major looked at the woman smiling at him with cold eyes, then looked at the other twin who did not have any facial expression, and said, "Prepare for the performance."

At the words of Major Chinshan, the woman, who had no facial expression, held the lute in her hand. When her fingers touched the strings of the lute made from old trees, a haze began to gather around the lute.

Ting! As soon as the woman's fingers flicked one of the strings of the lute, the haze spread to the surrounding area, and the golden energy began to circulate in the eyes of those who wore armor.

The same was true of the eyes of the woman who had spoken harsh words.

"Okay." The woman drew a Bronze Sword from her waistband. Then she shouted, pointing at the city of Shiyan with it. "Attack! Along with the shout, letters carved with gold began to shine on the surface of the Bronze Sword.

Yue Wang Goujian Self-use Sword (越王勾踐 自作用劍).

It was the Sword of Goujian, made by King Goujian of Yue for his own use!