After the Great War, Iran became a truly barren country. The streets that were once filled with the melodies of songs filled with love and the laughter of innocent little children that were filled with joy now stood desolate. Only the throes of death and screams of pain dominated the country. Words had long been forgotten and what remained were only bullets which were used to talk to each other.
And that dangerous place is where I’m currently at. The entrance procedure, which would normally be extremely complicated and difficult, had become easy since Rahvar—the Supreme Leader of Iran—himself had allowed us to enter. Along with me, there were four other hunters who were dispatched by the Hunter Association. There were a total of two women and two men beside me, all of whom were S rank hunters. They were all veterans who had been fighting on the battlefields for more than 10 years.
If it was me from years ago, I wouldn’t know how to treat them since they were my ‘juniors’ but had a higher rank than me. Fortunately, currently I was an unofficial S rank, and although I carried an F rank badge with me, they showed me proper respect because of my reputation.
“Nice to meet you. Hunter Yoo Seodam, I have always wanted to meet you… To think I would have a chance to go on a mission with you… It’s a great honor.”
“We had heard many good things about you.”
I nodded my head at them wordlessly. I am quite sure that all of my achievements that were circulating out in the world must be the ones I gained as a Guild Master of Another League rather than those related to me as a hunter. The only notable achievement I had as a hunter was my participation in the Hell Gate expedition and my record of clearing an SSS rank. Of course, all of that sounded great, but it was not to the point that S rank veteran hunters would automatically respect me. So, in other words, the achievements that made them respect me must be my involvement in the globalization of magic, development of magic engineering, and reconstructing the mugong to create the Great Monster Swordsmanship. And… Well, things like that.
In reality, these are all the things handled by the guild members instead of me. But the general populace thought of these as my personal achievements since they felt like these things would not have been possible without my interference. In other words, they respected Yoo Seodam, the Guildmaster of Another League, not Yoo Seodam, the hunter. That’s… Not too bad honestly. Because being respected by someone was never a bad thing.
We were all currently sitting in a truck, crossing the desolate road of Iran. The guide signs along the road had long gone, and the road itself was filled with potholes so it was inevitable that the jeep kept on shaking uncontrollably.
Come to think of it, it has been quite a while since ether-fueled vehicles have become the norm. Why are they still using vehicles that run on fossil fuel?
Hui-ying…!
Before long, the truck entered the city. Unlike normal cities, each building here was tattered and on the verge of collapsing. Broken and scraped sign boards hung outside a destroyed temple. It looked like it was destroyed over 30 years ago, so I couldn’t read the text properly. I could only read the sentence […To remember our loved ones.].
“There it is.”
After crossing the crumbling city, a much cleaner city appeared. Most of the people walking on the street carried a gun over their shoulder.
“It’s bloody…”
“Well, having so many people carrying a gun is definitely not a good sign.” I said.
“Right? It should mean that you will never know when something will happen.”
“No, it’s not that.”
“Excuse me?”
After refuting Rick, one of the two male hunters that came with me, I continued “The fact that there are many people with guns means that there are few superhumans here.”
“Ah….”
In modern times, there are not many superhumans who use firearms. No, it was more apt to say that there were hardly any. The only exceptions would be those like me who used special modified bullets. But, 70% of the people walking around here were armed with firearms, which meant that most of the fighting forces here were normal people.
However, this did not mean that Iran was weak. All the superhumans here were around A rank or higher. And all the S rank superhumans here are protecting this country under the direct command of Rahvar.
What about Rahvar himself?
Having experienced that overwhelming power, I had no choice but to swallow my saliva in front of the ‘temple’.
“(Come in.)”
The Persian language which was spoken turned into Korean through a translator. But, to be honest, even without a translator I would have been able to understand the words perfectly since I had lived here for several years. That, and my ‘Protagonist Hunter’ skill would have also translated it for me.
I looked around the mosque silently as I followed behind the troops guarding the mosque with a strange looking cane. Muslim mosques in the Middle East usually had a closed structure akin to walls of a fortress, but this mosque had a pretty open structure unlike the other mosques. I heard that they broke down the walls to symbolise it as ‘breaking down the borders between heaven and the earth’. It was quite different from the gothic-style of Christian cathedrals, which stretches up to the sky.
In the distance, I could see worshipers performing prayers in a set of moves like standing, bowing, and kneeling while following the leader of the service who stood in front of them.
‘I never dreamed of going in here before…’
Very few people could think of entering this place where he lived. This was because this mosque, which was destroyed after the Great War, and was recently rebuilt, was the most important place in Iran.
Soon, we arrived in front of an enormous double door which reached to the ceiling of the mosque. With a loud rumble, the double doors opened and parted way to a large empty room which looked like an Olympic stadium.
“Come in.”
And in the middle of it all, A little boy, no, Rahvar, was sitting on top of a chair. Contrary to his youthful looks adorned with straight black hair, dark skin and a relaxed smile, Rahvar was actually a man in his 50s. He didn’t look menacing at all. But he was an SS rank superhuman who protected the entire country just by himself.
Rumble~~!!!
“Ugh?”
“What is this!?”
The floor folded, and in an instant, we were standing in front of Rahvar. It was as if the whole ground had become an escalator. It was one of Rahvar’s skills, some hunters called it ‘Ground Folding’.
When the other four hunters couldn’t come to their senses even after several seconds passed, I coughed. And thankfully, after hearing my cough, they calmed down a bit.
“Hmm… First time seeing the four of you.”
With his right arm on his chin, Rahvar leisurely glanced at every single one of them. Then after he was finished with the last one, he turned to me.
“You. You used to live here.”
I nodded at his words. Then Rahvar laughed heartily.
The four hunters looked at me in shock with their eyes wide open wide. I could easily guess that they didn’t know how to react to this new information that they found out of the blue. Then, unconsciously, I looked down at the ground.
“…!!!”
I was startled. I mean, how couldn’t I? From the calf down, Rahvar’s body was completely assimilated with the earth! In other words, he couldn’t move even a single step from this position. That was the price of Rahvar’s dominance over the whole of Iran. This was what he had to give in exchange for his incredibly broad range of detection which watches over and looks over anything in his country in order to protect his people.
It was not an exaggeration to call him the strongest superhuman with earth powers.
“It brings me great shame to invite outside help for this matter. But, considering the situation, it can’t be helped.”
“….”
Rahvar was obviously the Ruler of the Earth, so he had one weakness. He was vulnerable to air combat and he could not enter dungeons. Of course, both these shortcomings could be compensated for if he could only move. But if he did that, he would not be able to look over Iran. In other words, Rahvar was defending this country at the expense of his own freedom.
‘So, you are unable to find otherworlders who hid themselves in the sub dimension.’
The moniker of the wielder of the best detection ability was given to him because he had the most extensive detection ability in the whole world. The moment anyone set their feet on this ground, they wouldn’t be able to escape Rahvar’s gaze. But, in terms of utility and flexibility, Hellony, who used sound waves for detection, was better. That was why Iran would frequently ask for help from outside forces, especially from the Hunter Association. It was an unavoidable situation since their Supreme Leader could not move to protect the land he was watching over. Ironic indeed.
“But…” Rahvar looked at me and smiled pleasantly. “It’s good that we have a valuable guest here.”
“It is an honour.” I slightly bowed towards him.
“By the way…” The ground rumbled once again, and when I came to my senses, I saw Rahvar’s face right in front of me. “Can you grant me one request?”
“I am only here to carry out the mission of finding these ‘sub-humans’. I cannot fulfill any other request.”
Am I crazy to work for free?
“Ah, don’t be like that. Would you like to hear the story first?”
Rahvar grinned and snapped his fingers. Then, a small machine rose from the floor, and immediately constructed a hologram in the air. The hologram contained the deeds of numerous otherworlders. It was similar to what the Association had shown me.
“Another League’s Yoo Seodam. You are famous. I was also very interested in you. However, there was one odd thing.”
“What might that be?”
“Why did the giant of Another League come to Iran directly?”
Wow… Rahvar, a true giant, called me a giant. Happiness bubbled inside my heart, but I didn’t let it show it on my face. I tried to look even more stern. Rahvar continued,
“Isn’t it because Yoo Seodam is also interested in the abilities of these sub-humans?”
“…”
Wrong. In the first place, the ability these otherworlders possessed was simply a ‘racial trait’, so it was impossible to get anything from them unless you dissect and analyze their body structure.
“I’m right, am I not?”
No.
“To be honest, I’m also very interested in their powers… If it is possible, I want them all to come under my wings. Didn’t you also come here with a similar purpose? Isn’t that why you came to Iran? To prevent them from becoming my people.”
Well, that last one was correct to some extent. Rahvar knew that once I found them I wouldn’t give them to him. From a third person’s point of view, it seemed plausible. After all, who else would be interested in them and try to gain something from them if it’s not Yoo Seodam of Another League?.
But, I don’t think it will be easy to get their allegiance.
Persuading otherworlders? Ridiculous. Not only can they not speak Earth’s languages, there should also be a reason why they are hiding.
Well, considering the overall situation, it wouldn’t be too bad to take them in. But even if I can’t do that, it is not an issue. In the first place, my main purpose was to simply talk with them.
Then, suddenly, a thought occurred to me.
‘It seems like Rahvar is anxious and desperate enough to even consider accepting those otherworlders.’
On the outside, he seemed relaxed and was still showing the composure of a saint and a ruler, but I could easily sense the rampant anxiety hidden within him.
* * *
Late night, in the sky above Iran.
“…Bersok went to Korea, didn’t he?”
“Yeah. He couldn’t even travel through dimension by himself, so he’s been walking around here and there after crash landing on Earth.”
“You seem to think that he’s just like us. Leave him alone.”
“He’s already dead.”
Two dark figures, obscured by clouds, were chatting while looking down at the ground. One had wings attached to its back while the other was floating in the air. They didn’t look like they had anything in common but actually, there was one prominent thing that connected the two of them. They were both ‘sapient’ creatures who had escaped from the Hell Gate. In other words, their hometown was the Hell Gate.
Hell Gate, the place where many living things which had survived countless destruction ended up in. It was a world of ‘disorder’, in which everything was mixed up and there was not a single thing that flowed according to common sense. But, even though they were born in a place full of chaos, they seem so calm and composed. It was indeed, an odd thing.
The gazes of the two creatures were fixed on a single man. That man was Yoo Seodam, the man who had been scouring Iran with four people in tow and one colleague who could assimilate with the shadows.
“Of all people, Bersok went to Yoo Seodam. What a cruel fate.”
As the winged woman frowned, the man laughed.
“Maybe, it could also mean ‘world’.” After the man said that, he disappeared. The winged woman looked at where he had been for a moment, and then she once again turned towards Yoo Seodam.
Somehow, every time she saw that man, she felt uneasy. The will of the world told her not to touch him, but… Somehow, she couldn’t obey those orders.
‘I’d rather kill him first.’
The woman also folded her wings and disappeared into the moonlight obscured by the clouds.
Now, there was nothing there.