Chapter 42

In his past life, before he returned to this moment, Haberkan had shed its skin, evolved, and wiped out Bloodshed Guild to the last man. After that, it had escaped the cave. Now that it was a fully evolved abomination, there was no longer a need to hide in the shadows. The result was a massacre.

The moment Haberkan broke free, it charged eastward, leaving a trail of devastation in its wake. Six villages were razed to the ground, and over a thousand people died. Its poison gas, which spread far and wide, was the reason the casualty count skyrocketed.

If someone had killed Haberkan the moment it escaped, this disaster could have been avoided and the people of Lostania wouldn’t have suffered. But instead of hunting down the rampaging monster, players turned on each other. While Haberkan crossed mountains, plains, and rivers, the so-called “heroes” of LOST fought among themselves.

A boss this powerful was guaranteed to drop insane rewards, yet they still acted like rabid dogs. The moment someone landed a hit on Haberkan, they’d get an arrow to the back before they could even react. The archer who fired that shot wouldn’t last long either. A dagger to the throat would take him out next. Before long, Haberkan wasn’t even the focus anymore.

The greedy bastards were too busy slaughtering each other. Then came the hyenas, scumbags who didn’t give a single fuck about the boss fight. They were just there to farm players, treating the whole thing like an open buffet. The battlefield turned into a complete bloodbath.

Even though he hadn’t been there, Do-Jin had watched the final battle against Haberkan long after it happened. The footage was burned into his memory.

A child lay on the ground, caught in a twisted camera angle. His lifeless eyes stared ahead, empty and unmoving. Blackened veins spread across his pale face with a grotesque web of poison-induced death. Behind him, dozens of players were locked in an all-out war. Some fought Haberkan. Others fought the ones fighting Haberkan. And then there were those who just attacked anything that moved. While those greedy bastards tore each other apart, that kid died alone.

His lips had moved one last time. What had he tried to say? Had he begged for his life? Had he cried out for his mother?

Do-Jin clenched his fists. If something could be changed, then he would change it. He’d get his revenge. He’d rewrite the past, and maybe, he could make this shitty world a little less rotten in the process. That was how he’d repay Lostania and the princess for giving him this second chance.

He snapped back to reality as the light of the explosion finally faded. A deep, guttural growl rumbled from the darkness. Haberkan stepped forward, eyes gleaming with menace.

A weak, rasping voice cut through the air. “Who... who the hell... are you...?”

The Blood King barely managed to choke out the words. Do-Jin didn’t even acknowledge him. His eyes were locked onto his real target.

The monster had fully molted, reaching its final form, but this transformation had come at a massive cost. It had burned through an insane amount of stamina and durability, leaving its body weakened and vulnerable.

This was it. This was the perfect chance to kill this bastard for good.

A deafening roar ripped through the cavern. To most, it was just a furious battle cry. But to Do-Jin, it was something else entirely. He had seen this exact moment before. Every little twitch, movement, and shift in posture was a dead giveaway.

Do-Jin remembered the pattern from the last time he watched this fight, the way Haberkan threw its head back before roaring and the way its chest hollowed inward as if it were sucking in air. This meant Haberkan was compressing venom inside its body. It was the “Cluster Shot” pattern, an ability that fired multiple poison orbs in rapid succession, each one potent enough to melt through armor on impact.

Do-Jin recognized it immediately and began casting without hesitation. His heart surged with mana, and his Magic Circuits absorbed it instantly, fueling his next spell. Unlike the loose poison gas from before, this attack was highly compressed. A simple Ignition spell wouldn’t be enough to burn it away.

[Flame Spear]

Do-Jin needed something with more firepower. Just as Haberkan’s poison condensed into a thick glob, moments before it could fire, a spear of flame shot straight into its gaping maw. The flames that it carried ignited instantly, surging into a raging inferno inside the monster’s throat. A piercing, agonized scream tore through the cave, shaking the walls. It wasn’t just rage. It was pure, searing pain.

As its own venom burned from the inside, Haberkan snapped its jaws shut, recoiling in agony. It curled up, its body twitching as it instinctively tried to regenerate.

Do-Jin wasted no time and started casting again. With a deafening boom, the ground in front of him split apart. A massive chunk of earth ripped free and hovered in the air, its edges sharpened to a deadly point.

[Earth Spear]

The raw power of Earth Spear, combined with the added acceleration from Psychokinesis, sent a razor-sharp rock hurtling straight toward Haberkan’s most vulnerable spot, its eye. Even with its regeneration in full swing, Haberkan wasn’t tough enough to handle a stone spike to the eye socket.

The monster shrieked in agony as its head jerked upward from the unexpected pain. Its eight massive legs pounded against the cave floor, thrashing wildly. With a guttural growl, Haberkan changed tactics. It charged straight at him, throwing its full body weight into the attack.

Do-Jin smirked.

Man, time travel really is broken. This thing was so predictable, it was almost too easy.

A massive scorpion tail whipped horizontally, slicing through the air like a deadly whip. But Do-Jin wasn’t there to get hit. With a Psychokinetic burst, he blasted himself into the air, dodging effortlessly. The tail strike completely missed, slamming into a group of paralyzed Bloodshed Guild members instead, though that wasn’t his problem.

“Thanks for coming closer.”

As he landed, Do-Jin flicked his wrist, sending small stones flying. They rolled under Haberkan’s underbelly, right where he wanted them. A chain of explosions erupted beneath the beast. It was the last of his money-bought explosives, but it was worth it. he blasts landed squarely on two joints, prompting Haberkan to howl again as it staggered and two of its massive spider legs tore off completely.

Do-Jin kept moving, circling to Haberkan’s right side and hammering it with spells. Golden Magic Circuits flared as he fired relentlessly.

Haberkan was completely enraged by now. It thrashed wildly, whipping its scorpion tail and snapping its long, snake-like neck in every direction. But with two legs gone, it couldn’t turn fast enough. It was too slow to keep up.

That didn’t mean Do-Jin could take his time, though. The missing legs were already growing back. It was using its Rapid Regeneration, burning through massive amounts of stamina to repair itself. He had expected this and knew exactly what to do. The moment he saw Haberkan regain its full mobility, he cast his next spell.

[Rock Shield]

With an earth-shaking rumble, three massive boulders rose from the ground, blocking its path. By the time Haberkan had fully turned to face him, Do-Jin was gone, hidden behind the stone barriers.

For the first time since its evolution, Haberkan hesitated. It had been ready to lunge, but now three huge obstacles stood in its way. It’d finally regenerated its missing legs and turned to face Do-Jin.

Haberkan was ready to lunge with its muscles tensing for the attack. However, the moment it locked eyes with its target, it suddenly froze. Right in front of it stood three massive stone formations, spaced just far enough apart to block its line of sight.

The hesitation did not last long. Haberkan snapped its scorpion tail forward and struck the center boulder. The rock shattered instantly, breaking apart like cheap drywall. However, Do-Jin was not behind it.

Without stopping, Haberkan spat a jet of poison at another rock, but the attack missed again. It still felt no frustration. If anything, it was pleased. There was only one hiding spot left, so the human had to be there. With a thunderous crash, the monster hurled its entire body at the final rock and smashed it to rubble. Once again, nothing was there.

Then, a sharp stab of pain flared in its side, causing Haberkan to jerk violently. Its eyes burned with realization that this rat had slipped behind it again. Its bloodshot eyes filled with fury. Its legs scrambled against the stone, twisting its massive body to face its attacker.

Suddenly, it spotted something. It didn’t seem to be a human, but there was a flickering shadow shifting like black smoke. Long, clawed fingers scraped against its flesh, slow and deliberate. A chill ran through Haberkan’s body as it realized this was a phantom, a wretched thing born from Tier 4 magic. Do-Jin had dragged up the spell Summon Wraith from the depths of a hidden dungeon.

Haberkan tried to move, but there was no escaping the shadow now. Every move had already been planned, set up, and executed with precision. Do-Jin was always one step ahead. He launched himself upward, using Psychokinesis to propel his body like a bullet.

Before Haberkan could react, he landed on its back with a surge of magic crackling to life in his hands. Bright sigils formed in the air, burning so intensely that his circuits threatened to overload. The sheer power radiating from them was enough to light up the cavern. His Grimoire of Truth kicked in, stabilizing the spell before it tore his body apart.

The spear of light expanded to three times its size. This was a single, overcharged spell, one so destructive it drained not only his mana but also his very stamina. Do-Jin gritted his teeth, pouring every last bit of strength into it.

[Flash Lance]

His arm snapped forward as he hurled it downward. The motion was fluid and precise, like that of a trained javelin athlete.

Do-Jin’s target was Haberkan’s most vulnerable point. When the monster had molted, its back had been the first part to split open. Naturally, the flesh there was thinner, weaker, softer than anywhere else.

The Flash Lance struck dead center. A high-pitched hum pierced the air, followed by an explosion of golden energy. Light flooded the cave, burning away every shadow. Then, the sound of flesh ripping rang out.

The moment the spear hit, Haberkan’s body split apart. It staggered, letting out a deep, guttural noise as if struggling to comprehend what had just happened. However, there was nothing to comprehend. Having burned through every last bit of stamina during its evolution, its body was failing. It had spent every ounce of its remaining life force just to reach its perfect form. And now, that very form was crumbling.

With Haberkan’s death, a system message appeared in front of Do-Jin. It was something he hadn’t expected.

[The Cursed Abomination, Haberkan, has been slain.]

[You have completed a failed Hidden Quest that others could not.]

[Tragedy begets tragedy. You have eliminated a creature that had the potential to spark a great calamity.]

Do-Jin barely had time to process the system notifications before another message popped up.

[Error: Quest not received.]

[Calculating Hidden Quest contribution rewards.]

[Your contribution to the Hidden Quest completion is 75.4%.]

[Due to insufficient contribution, gold rewards and a portion of experience points have been removed.]

[You have leveled up.]

[Haberkan’s loot, Chimera’s Poison Gland, has been upgraded to Poison-Infused Dragon Heart.]

[Haberkan’s loot, Haberkan’s Fang Dagger, has been upgraded to Black Dragon’s Fang Dagger.]

[As a Hidden Quest reward, all stats have increased by +3.]

So that was the real objective. The Hidden Quest wasn’t just about killing Haberkan. It had to be “taken down” after it molted. Although, if the goal was just to kill it, the quest would have activated regardless of where it happened.

It was far more likely that Haberkan had to be killed inside this cave. It makes sense that I never received the quest because I wasn’t even here when it first triggered.

The ones who had taken the quest and failed were now the corpses scattered all over the floor. As Haberkan’s ruined body collapsed in a sickeningly loud thud, Do-Jin pieced together exactly what had happened.

He exhaled, shaking off the tension in his shoulders. “Well, whatever... A jackpot is still a jackpot.”

There was no need to overthink it. The rewards were already in his hands, though they weren’t the priority since he had some unfinished business to attend to. Do-Jin stepped off Haberkan’s carcass. As his boots hit the stone floor, the sound echoed throughout the cavern. He moved slowly, deliberately, toward the barely breathing Blood King.

Through his half-lidded eyes, Do-Jin’s face came into focus. Beyond him, countless people were still watching the live broadcast. The chat was completely flooded with nothing but question marks.

└ ?

└ ??

└ ...?