I Entered an Academy in a Ruined Game

Chapter 286 : Transcendence (5)

For several days, Su-hyeon passed through several ruined cities.

Roads, buildings, and all kinds of facilities were equally destroyed and abandoned.

'Have I become the only traveler in this world.'

Su-hyeon, who had put on demon's clothes, thought.

'Terrible magical energy.'

Su-hyeon thought that even a decent Awakened might become a Ma-in just by wearing this.

'But now there's no chance of being eroded by magical energy.'

For one who had transcended, the rules from before transcendence no longer applied.

'By the way.'

Su-hyeon thought.

'I've already seen many destroyed shelters.'

Either they were too visible.

Or too small in scale.

Or unsuitable for defense.

Or lacking in accumulated supplies.

Or internal strife broke out.

Or the members' strength and will were weak.

Or the enemy was simply too strong.

If not that.

'They probably chose to become Ma-in themselves.'

If they became Ma-in, they could at least preserve their lives as fellow demons.

'Though I don't know how much better being a demon's slave is than dying.'

Su-hyeon thought.

'Ma-in with power from the previous era, useful Ma-in, might be different. But humans who couldn't originally contain mana find it difficult to become Ma-in, and even if they're lucky enough to become one, they're just the lowest class.'

Moreover, even those who luckily survived in shelters.

The lives they led would be quite miserable.

'I bought time. And warned about the end many times.'

But in the end, it came to this.

'It can't be helped. That's what the end is like.'

The post-apocalyptic landscape in Su-hyeon's memory wasn't much different from the scenery before his eyes.

But.

Even in such a world, humans would still be surviving.

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"Dad. Going out again?"

The man, Kim Sang-jin, who hugged his daughter with her unwashed, grimy face and greasy hair that hadn't been washed for days and wiped the sleep from her eyes, nodded.

"I have to go out to feed our So-eun something delicious."

"So you won't be back for days again."

For the 7-year-old daughter, being separated from her father was the bigger problem.

"I'm sorry. I'll be back soon."

There was no other choice.

"The ladies will take good care of you, so wait patiently."

"Waaah."

The man hugged his tearful daughter tightly and gathered at the assembly point.

"You all know, right? The last hunt wasn't very successful. This time we must catch something."

"Yes."

"Do it properly. If you can't even do the driving correctly, what are you going to do?"

"We're sorry."

A man who spoke down to others even those old enough to be his father.

He was the leader of these men.

He was an E-rank Awakened with a small amount of mana in his body.

'But even with just that, he's much stronger than ordinary people.'

Their position was to be beaters so that he could catch animals with his crude spear.

Hunting without bows, horses, or hunting dogs.

It was a hunting method used in primitive times from long ago.

'It's not easy.'

Even animals were now infected with magical energy, making them stronger, rougher, and more aggressive.

The same was true for humans, and even he himself sometimes had difficulty controlling his anger or impulses.

It was just that he had no mana in his body at all, so he could survive eating animals infused with magical energy.

Those humans with mana had to butcher their meat carefully to prevent blood from seeping in, but they were inevitably being eroded by magical energy little by little.

'That guy's shitty personality has its reasons too.'

Kim Sang-jin thought.

"It went that way!"

"Drive them! Walk quickly!"

Chasing two wild dogs that had separated from the pack, Kim Sang-jin felt the taste of blood rising in his throat.

"Huk, huk."

Lack of nutrition meant lack of stamina.

Clean water was scarce, leaving his mouth parched.

However.

To survive in this shelter with his young daughter, he could not stop.

'If I can't do even this properly, I'll be thrown out.'

A man with no mana and a young daughter, surviving without being part of a group?

It was an impossible thing.

"Huk, heok."

To survive, he had to obey the rules of this shelter.

"Huuuk."

Even with his breath rising to his chin, Kim Sang-jin kept moving his feet to drive the wild dogs without slowing down.

'But what about 10 years later, 20 years later?'

For him, who struggled just to survive day by day, it was truly a distant and overwhelming thought.

'...Just being alive is something to be grateful for. But.'

In the shelter, there were occasionally nasty Awakened who messed with women.

Now it was fine since she was a child, but what about when time passed and his daughter came of age?

Could he protect his daughter with his body, older than now?

"Hey mister! Look behind you!"

"Ah!"

Grrrr!

Kim Sang-jin, who flattened himself to the ground to avoid a wild dog rushing to bite his nape from behind, rolled on the ground.

"Kuk!"

"What is this!"

"Are we surrounded?"

Grrrrr.

Dozens of wild dogs were surrounding about ten men, dripping saliva.

"These bastards..."

"Did they use a lure?"

"Are they trying to hunt us?"

The men hesitated.

White dogs, yellow dogs, black dogs.

And even Maltese or Bichons that would have been precious in the past were baring their teeth.

Among them, second and third generation mixed breed dogs of various breeds were also visible.

Gulp.

Someone swallowed.

The wild dogs, as if they were wolves, bared their teeth and surrounded them.

"You damn dogs, not knowing your place!"

The Awakened who was threatening the dogs by swinging his spear had his ankle bitten by a wild dog that was cautiously observing.

"Aaargh, let go!"

The man who had acted like a tyrant, relying on his meager power, was instantly having his nape and legs bitten.

"Hiiik!"

"R-Run away!"

The fearful and cowardly humans who first deserted the group became the next sacrifices for the dogs.

"Ha, haha. Not even funny."

"To die as dog food."

"Stop talking nonsense!"

From somewhere, courage welled up, and Kim Sang-jin scolded the men.

"I can't die here! If I die, how will So-eun live?"

"Damn, it's the same for me!"

"Let's try something!"

"But what do we do?"

"Let's throw stones! Let's retreat slowly without turning our backs, throwing stones!"

"But then those bastards will find our shelter!"

In response to someone's objection, Kim Sang-jin urged.

"Damn, we have no choice! Those who bragged about being hunters back in the day will handle it somehow!"

"Th-That's true!"

"Damn! Let's try it!"

Whish! Whoosh!

Just as Kim Sang-jin thought, when stones flew from a distance, the wild dogs hesitated.

"See? I told you it's nothing!"

"These guys might back off if they know we're not pushovers!"

The men tried to boost their courage by shouting hopeful prospects.

But it didn't take long to realize it was an illusion.

"KYAOOOOOOO!"

The massive roar of a demonic beast from a distance.

"Kyaeng!"

The wild dogs, as if they had never bared their teeth, tucked their tails and began to flee.

Crack! Crunch!

The demonic beast's tail struck the wild dogs, breaking their spines and bursting their heads.

"Ah..."

The men sensed death.

"Wh-What is that...?"

"That's an A-rank demonic beast."

An old man who had reportedly worked as a porter at a hunter guild for many years said with a pale face.

"Grandpa, A-rank?"

"Yes. A demonic beast stronger than our fancy Hunter lord."

The old man shook his head.

"We're finished. Even if our leader were here, he would have abandoned us all and fled."

"...Damn."

The men, with hope gone, shed tears and wet themselves, not even daring to flee.

"N-No."

Kim Sang-jin tried to back away, still trying to survive somehow.

But that wouldn't help him avoid death.

'Damn it, So-eun!'

Just as Kim Sang-jin, recalling his young daughter, was in tears.

"Are you alright?"

Through the corpses of wild dogs, they saw a young man walking calmly.

"Wh-Who are you?"

"A person?"

"Isn't he a demon?"

"Could be a Ma-in!"

Wearing demon clothes.

With a somewhat transcendent impression, a large and well-developed physique, and an uncommonly handsome face.

The men hesitated at the sight that somehow didn't feel real.

"KYAAAAA!"

The massive demonic beast bared its teeth, seemingly wary of Su-hyeon.

"...A demonic beast."

The man muttered.

The next moment.

CRASH!

With one punch from the man who leaped into the sky, the demonic beast's head exploded with a tremendous boom.

"...!?"

The men's eyes widened at the unbelievable sight.

"Are you injured?"

He asked, looking down at the men from the air.

"Ah..."

Now they could properly see the man's face.

Wearing shabby clothes, but possessing indescribable pressure and radiance.

A man with an angelic beautiful face and body.

"...God?"

Someone muttered.

"No."

He answered.

"I'm human."

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Su-hyeon was invited into the shelter along with the men who had salvaged dog carcasses that could be used for meat.

'Looks like an old building. But it's better maintained than it appears.'

Su-hyeon thought.

"Thank you. For saving my husband."

"Thanks to you, my son is alive."

Su-hyeon, who had changed into the clothes of a deceased person, received thanks from the families of the survivors.

"It's nothing. I was just passing by."

At those words, people exchanged uneasy glances.

"Where were you heading..."

"Well..."

When Su-hyeon avoided answering, people didn't ask further.

It was then.

"Thank you!"

Kim Sang-jin's daughter, Kim So-eun, ran over and bowed her head to Su-hyeon.

About 7 years old.

Even considering her lack of nutrition, about 8 or 9 years old.

The eyes of the child, who had barely experienced life before the end, sparkled like beads despite her disheveled appearance.

"Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Mister, you're handsome!"

The child grinned.

"Hmm."

'Maybe in mental age, but my body is twenty years old.'

Su-hyeon rubbed his chin, pondered for a moment, then gave up objecting.

'Well, I guess at that age, everyone is a mister.'

Su-hyeon stroked the child's head with a slightly bitter feeling.

"I'm sorry, our child is still young."

"It's fine."

Kim Sang-jin approached Su-hyeon.

"You must have had a hard time."

"Yeah..."

Kim Sang-jin smiled bitterly.

"I was originally an office worker. It's not easy trying to survive with a body that never exercised."

"You've been through a lot."

"Just a man who survived instead of his wife."

Kim Sang-jin shook his head bitterly.

"It's my fault."

"In this situation, you're not the one at fault."

Su-hyeon said.

The great wheel of fate that cannot be changed by the power of one or two humans.

That's exactly what the end of the world was.

"By the way, how have you survived alone? I mean, you're incredibly strong, but..."

"There's a bit of a story."

Su-hyeon avoided answering.

"Anyway, the atmosphere is heavier than I expected."

"Yeah. The leader of this place is, well... strict."

Kim Sang-jin lowered his voice.

'I see.'

Su-hyeon roughly guessed the whole story without hearing more.

'In such irregular shelters, Awakened who were Hunters or Execution Force members typically become leaders.'

Not just the massive fortress created by Hwang Won-jae.

Throughout the country, there were many fortresses or shelters built during the wars against demonic beasts and Ma-in.

They were forgotten when the era of peace came, but now in the era of demons, they would be the last bastions of humanity.

'This insignificant shelter either doesn't interest the demons, or has luckily survived until now.'

Or perhaps the ability of the Awakened leading the shelter was good.

Awakened who survived and led shelters usually either became heroes guiding people using their power, or became rulers, lording over that small world.

'Not all humans are noble.'

Su-hyeon thought.

'Rather, humans who can be noble in such times are very rare.'

Power and desire. And an environment where it's okay to wield them.

Given these, humans could all too easily fall into corruption.

"Are you the outsider?"

A man approached Su-hyeon, who was in thought.

"Follow me. Our leader wants to see you."

Su-hyeon, who quietly observed his rough attitude, stood up.

"Let's go."