Chapter 43

Do-Jin stared down at the Blood King who was sprawled on all fours. He was crawling away like an insect, gasping for air as if death was perched on his chest, waiting for its opportunity.

“You... you son of a... b-bitch... who the hell...

cough, cough

...”

He tried to turn his head, forcing his paralyzed body to move, but all he managed to do was choke on his own blood. He hacked and wheezed, spitting red onto the dirt.

Honestly, he was lucky. The ones scattered around him were either long dead or in the middle of dying. Their bodies had given out under the weight of the poison, and now, one by one, they were crumbling into light. Their remains were dissolving into pure mana, returning to the world that had birthed them. Blood King wouldn’t last much longer either.

Do-Jin figured he should get his words in while he was still breathing. “That’s cold. You really don’t remember me?”

Blood King’s red-rimmed eyes narrowed, uncertain. That hesitation alone was enough to make Do-Jin grin. He could practically see the guy sifting through memories, hunting for something that wasn’t there. Naturally, he’d come up empty. Even in the previous timeline, they would only have met years from now.

“It’s fine. I get it,” Do-Jin said, smirking. “Guys like you never remember the mess you make, but for the people you screw over, it hangs over them for the rest of their lives.”

Not that it mattered now. If the Blood King had a problem with it, he was free to invent time travel, head back to the future, and punch his past self in the face. It still wouldn’t change a thing.

“

Kugh...

!”

Do-Jin grabbed Blood King by the hair and yanked him up. The moment their eyes met, a rush of satisfaction ran through his veins. So this was what revenge felt like.

“Yeah,” he muttered, tilting his head as he studied the man’s trembling eyes. “Yeah, that’s the look I wanted to see. All that time I spent planning this revenge was worth it.”

“Re...venge?” Blood King choked out. “What kind of—

cough, cough

!”

“You really don’t remember?” Do-Jin asked, his grip tightening. “You told me to keep running my mouth, and that next time, you’d break me even worse. So here I am.” He leaned in, his voice dropping to a whisper. “I wanted to see just how bad you could fuck me up.”

Blood King’s face twisted. His eyes screamed,

When the fuck did I ever say that?!

Do-Jin didn’t bother answering. He just slammed the guy’s skull into the ground. The impact cracked the stone beneath Blood King. Before he could recover, Do-Jin drove his boot into the back of his head, pinning him down like a piece of trash. If he had been at full strength, he might have struggled and put up a fight, but there was nothing he could do in his current state.

“Remember this moment,” Do-Jin said, pressing down harder. “Because every time you see me from now on, this is what you’ll remember.”

“

Ghhkk...

!”

Blood King twitched, his body trembling with anger. He wanted to fight back, but Do-Jin didn’t even give him the chance. He drove his magic straight through that bastard’s heart, instantly killing him.

***

The moment Do-Jin finished off Haberkan, the chat that had been on fire suddenly went dead silent. Blood King’s own livestream was now showing Do-Jin’s face, and nobody knew who the hell he was.

A mage had appeared out of nowhere and wiped the floor with a raid boss that had annihilated one of the strongest guilds in the game. And now, instead of making a big deal out of it, he was staring down Blood King like he was already dead. The viewers were desperate for answers, but none of them could look away. The only thing they could do was listen.

—Y-you... s-son of a... bitch... who the hell are...

cough, cough...

Blood King was the first to break the silence. Every single person watching nodded in agreement, the same burning question in their minds.

—That’s cold. You really don’t remember me?

Do-Jin’s words only poured gasoline on the fire, and from the way he said it, they weren’t just former rivals. This was personal. Yet, Blood King had no idea who he was.

—It’s fine. I get it. Guys like you never remember the mess you make, but for the people you screw over, it hangs over them for the rest of their lives.

The screen jerked violently, shifting the perspective. Do-Jin had yanked the camera close to his face. His expression was stone-cold and his features were so cleanly cut they looked like they had been carved out with a razor. However, his eyes were what really stood out. Those weren’t the eyes of a young player or some random rising star in the game. They seemed aged, bitter, and ruthless.

—Yeah, that’s the look I wanted to see. All that time I spent planning this revenge was worth it.

—You really don’t remember? You told me to keep running my mouth, and that next time, you’d break me even worse. So here I am... I wanted to see just how bad you could fuck me up.

Blood King muttered something, but no one in the chat gave a shit. They were on the edge of their seats, clinging on to every word that came out of Do-Jin’s mouth. His presence completely overshadowed Blood King, making him fade into the background like a nameless NPC.

The camera angle changed again, tilting down to nothing but cold, damp earth.

—Remember this moment, because every time you see me from now on, this is what you’ll remember.

With a sickening crack, the screen cut to black. And for a few seconds, nothing moved. Nothing made a sound. Then, all at once, the chat exploded.

***

[Strategy Forum]

[Title: Let’s talk about that solo raid from today]

└ I’ll start. First off, I think mages are completely broken.

└ LMAO you said “let’s talk” and then immediately started bitching.

└ Nah, I’m just messing. But seriously, I don’t think that mage was fighting that boss for the first time. The way he countered every attack felt like he already had the whole fight mapped out in his head.

└ Yeah, same. I’ve already rewatched the fight at least 15 times. The pacing made it feel like things were just happening in the moment, but when you really break it down? That shit was a masterclass in planning.

└ What part made you think that?

└ The very start. Blowing the gas away and instantly setting it on fire. The Bloodshed Guild fuckers didn’t even know what was happening. They saw that poison cloud and just started pissing themselves. But this guy? He just casually handled it like it was nothing. No way he was seeing that for the first time.

└ The poison was wild, yeah. But for me, the craziest moment was when he blew off two of its legs, immediately flanked it, then timed his rock barriers with the boss’s turning speed.

└ Right? Like, who the fuck mind-games a boss AI like that? That’s not normal. That’s some next-level shit.

└ Not just that. Did you see the part where he used a summon to fake it out? The boss fell for it so hard that I almost did too.

└ Bro, same. I legit thought that was him for a second.

└ But here’s the real kicker. That wasn’t even the first time this guy showed up.

└ Wait, what? Where else has he been?

└ There was a video from a while back. He didn’t show his face, but the robe and that gold spellbook? Exact same. No doubt it’s him.

[Mage Forum]

[Title: Fuck. Should I just quit the game?]

└ Sigh... So I got home from work today, ordered some fried chicken, and sat down to watch the raid stream. And then reality fucking hit me like a truck. You all saw him, right? That mage at the end? It’s the same guy from that old Closed Iron Mine dungeon video. I’m sure of it. I was already a fan back then, so I watched that video a million times. The robe, the spellbook, even his stance, it’s him.

└ The second I saw him on screen, I screamed. Not out of fear, but because holy shit, he looked badass. But after the fight was over, yeah. That’s when it hit me. I started playing this game because of him. I picked mage because of him. I thought. “Even if I can’t be as good, at least I can try.” But here I am. I can’t even kill fucking goblins.

└ The second they charge at me, I flinch, close my eyes, and completely fuck up my casting. This guy just walks into that hellhole and solos a goddamn monster straight out of a nightmare. Fuck, man.

└ Honestly, I don’t know what to do anymore. If I could change classes, I probably would. But at the same time... I don’t want to. Because even if it’s tiny, even if I’m dogshit, sharing anything in common with him feels important. Even if I don’t know why.

└ Maybe I should just quit and stick to watching his future videos instead. But goddamn it, why the hell did it have to be mage...?

└ RIP, man. A lot of people got baited into playing mage because of that video...

└ Dude needs to come out and apologize. Straight-up false advertising ruined lives. He needs to own up to this shit.

[General Forum]

[Title: Is that guy gonna be okay?]

└ I mean, yeah, soloing that monster was cool as hell. But... he basically just humiliated the Bloodshed Guild. You think they’re just gonna let that slide? Like, yeah, this one time was epic. But can he handle it when they come after him? ‘Cause you know they will.

└ LMAO you heard him talk, right? Pretty sure they fucked him over first, and he just came back for revenge. So, fair’s fair.

└ Yeah, but revenge just starts a cycle. Bloodshed Guild is gonna lose their shit. No way they let this go.

└ Not that it’s gonna matter. You checked the recruitment boards? Every major guild out there, regardless of country, is trying to scout this guy. They’re practically begging him to join. Bloodshed Guild’s got no chance.

└ Holy shit, you’re right. If he’s that good, some top-tier guild’s gonna grab him before Bloodshed Guild can even blink.

└ Yeah, they’re cooked.

Every forum was talking about Do-Jin. It didn’t matter if it was the general discussion board, strategy threads, video shares, or even the meme section. The entire LOST community had one person on its mind, and it wasn’t just over the internet, either.

“I-I’m sorry, Director.”

“Haa... Hey. Woo-Young. Mr. PD Hwang Woo-Young.”

“Y-yes, sir.”

“You told me this was solid. You said the raid would make for good TV, even if they failed. Then tell me what the fuck was that?”

“W-well, the viewership numbers were still—”

“The ratings? THAT’S what you’re worried about? You strong-armed us into signing that bullshit contract, and now we’re stuck running five whole minutes of ads for that Blood-Whatever-the-Fuck Guild!”

“I’m-I’m sorry! I—”

Hwang Woo-Young kept bowing his damn head and silently cursing the Blood King, Kwon Hyuk-Jin.

Why the hell did that dumbass have to go and piss off the one guy he shouldn’t have? If he was gonna pick on people, couldn’t he have found some nobody to screw with?

“The contract’s dead. We’re scrapping the whole thing. Try to spin it as ‘unfortunate circumstances’ or whatever, but if they don’t buy it, we’ll just eat the penalty fee.”

“W-wait, what? Why?”

“Why? WHY?! Do you not have a fucking internet connection? The last scene is already getting dragged into some school bullying controversy. We’re knee-deep in PR hell!”

“S-school bullying? How the hell does this connect to that?”

“How the fuck would I know?! The clickbait vultures slapped the word ‘revenge’ on it, and now they’re writing entire-ass fanfics about some victim standing up to their bully!”

“Shit... I-I’m sorry!” Woo-Young doubled over again, bowing like his spine was made of rubber.

“You are sorry?”

“Y-yes?”

“But you don’t want to get fired either, do you? Then let’s fix this.”

“H-how can I...?”

“Get me that bastard, the one who humiliated us. The Blood-whatever fucker’s interview is already dead, so get me an exclusive with him instead. We’re salvaging this mess, one way or another.”

This kind of shitstorm was happening everywhere with TV stations, MeTubers, and streamers. Everyone whose livelihood depended on public attention was scrambling to find the mysterious mage who had just rocked the entire game. Meanwhile, Do-Jin himself was staring at his reward screen in disbelief, wondering where the hell his sense of reality had just disappeared to.

“What the fuck is this? Why is this dropping at my level?”