They Called Me Trash? Now I'll Hack Their World

Chapter 229: Join Us!

I gently pushed Tessa’s spoon away, offering her a reassuring nod.

"You two go ahead and eat. I’ll be back in a bit."

Then I stood up, adjusting my clothes and walked back inside.

I didn’t ask any questions as I followed Edric.

He led me down the narrow wooden stairs of the inn, past the bustling, loud chatter of the main tavern, and out into the crisp morning air of the Thornhaven town.

We walked in silence for a long time, weaving through the alleys until the noise of the town began to fade, replaced by the quiet rustle of wind through the trees at the edge of the settlement.

Edric finally slowed his pace, walking with his hand resting on the pommel of his sheathed sword.

"You know what I am, right?" he asked, not looking back at me.

I blinked.

My mind instantly dragged me back to the freezing, frost-covered floor of the eighth floor. The towering, faceless obsidian mask. The violet flames. The suffocating, vibrating voice echoing directly in my skull.

"A Demon Hunter? In this age?"

A slight shiver ran down my spine.

"A demon hunter," I confirmed quietly.

Edric gave a single, slow nod.

He led me away from the main road, stepping off the cobblestone and onto a dirt path that wound up a small, grassy overlook facing the distant mountain range.

"Three hundred and fifty years ago," Edric began, his voice taking on a heavy, historical cadence, "there was a unified order. They were the absolute apex of humanity’s defense. A specialized covenant of Demon Hunters. They possessed arts and auras specifically designed to eradicate abyssal entities."

"And what happened?" I asked, falling into step beside him.

"They disbanded," Edric said flatly. "They scattered to the four winds, dissolving the entire order."

"Why?" I frowned, my mind instantly hitting a roadblock.

"If they were the only ones who could fight those things on an even playing field, why would they just disband? That makes zero sense."

Edric shook his head, staring out at the distant peaks.

"I don’t know. Nobody does. There isn’t a single surviving record of the schism. In fact, shortly after they scattered, almost every historical text, monument, and scripture detailing the existence of demons and the Hunters was systematically eradicated."

I fell silent, my thoughts racing.

That explains it, I realized. That’s why the general public treat demons like fairy tales or campfire ghost stories. The truth wasn’t just forgotten; it was intentionally wiped out.

I looked over at him, noting the tattered edges of his cloak.

"If the order was disbanded and all the records were destroyed centuries ago... how are you still a Demon Hunter?"

"Because the order ending didn’t mean the threat ended," Edric replied, his tone hardening.

"The descendants of those original hunters, and the apprentices they took on, they didn’t just stop fighting. We couldn’t. The abyss was still there. So, we adapted."

He gestured to himself with his hand.

"We changed our occupations. We became swordsmen, wandering mercenaries, obscure scholars. We hid our true auras, passed the techniques down from master to student in absolute secrecy, and continued dealing with the demonic incursions from the shadows."

Edric stopped walking. We were standing at the edge of the overlook, the sprawling valley stretching out far below us.

He turned to face me fully. The cold, distant, and secretive swordsman I had recently traveled with was entirely gone. He looked at me with deep, unfiltered respect.

"You’re strong, Jin," Edric said, his voice ringing with absolute certainty.

"I don’t know what kind of arts you use, or how your dark lightning managed to completely erase a 4th Grade demon... but you went toe-to-toe with it and lived to tell the tale."

He slowly extended his hand toward me.

"Join us," Edric offered.

"The real war is fought in the dark. We need individuals like you, Jin. People who can look into the abyss and not blink."

I stared at Edric’s extended hand.

Standing there, as the crisp mountain wind rustled the grass around our boots, feeling entirely conflicted.

Just some months ago, I had been a completely normal human living an average life back on Earth.

Then, I woke up in this world, shoved into the body of Jin Raith. Ever since that day, I had just been improvising, going with the flow, trying to survive the curveballs this world threw at me.

My mind flashed back to the freezing, frost-choked floor of the eighth floor. The terrifying, faceless obsidian mask of the 4th Grade demon.

The absolute, crushing despair that had paralyzed everyone in that room. If the system hadn’t granted me that emergency Root Access, every single one of us would be rotting in the dark right now.

I looked down at my own hand.

I could do it, my inner self whispered.

I could join him. With my Debugger class, I could actually help them hunt down those abyssal bastards and wipe them off the map.

It wasn’t like anything was strictly tying me down. My father and my siblings back at the estate certainly didn’t care about me.

All of them openly despised me. Even if I went missing tomorrow to join a secret order of Demon Hunters, I’m sure they wouldn’t even bother to send a search party.

And the Academy?

I was just going through the motions there. It wasn’t a passion; it was just a place to exist.

But as I looked at Edric, the phantom pain in my freshly healed ribs violently throbbed.

I had crossed the literal threshold of death to beat that demon.

Then, completely unbidden, another memory surfaced.

It wasn’t a memory of combat or system screens.

It was the dim light of the inn room just an hour ago. It was Tessa, dropping the water basin and throwing her arms around my neck. I saw her eyes, burning with unshed tears, and heard her soft, trembling voice echoing in my ears.

"You scared me there... you were so cold, Jin."

I closed my eyes, letting out a long, slow breath. The cold, analytical logic of the system faded, replaced by the warm, grounding reality of the people waiting for me back at the inn.

A small, faint smile curled my lips.

I opened my eyes, stepped back, and gave Edric a deep, polite bow.

"I am sorry, Edric," I said, my voice quiet but entirely resolute. "But I can’t."

Edric blinked, his stoic expression breaking into genuine shock. His extended hand hovered awkwardly in the air.

"What?"

I straightened up, looking him directly in the eyes.

"I can’t. There are things I have to do. People I need to take care of. If I join you... if I spend my life traveling around in the shadows hunting monsters, I won’t be able to protect the life I’m trying to build."

And honestly, going with you is a straight-up suicide mission. My Root Access has a five-day cooldown, and one slip-up means permanent death.

If I’m bound to die in this crazy world eventually, then I’m at least going to live my life the way I want to. Not as a ghost.

Edric stared at me for a long time. The wind howled softly around us.

Finally, he slowly lowered his hand, a complex mixture of disappointment and understanding settling into his dark eyes.

He didn’t push. He didn’t argue. He just gave a slow, respectful nod.

"I understand," Edric said quietly.

"Thank you, though," I added, offering a genuine smile. "For covering my back down there. And for trusting me enough to offer."

I turned around, stepping back onto the dirt path leading toward the town.

"See you soon, Edric," I called out over my shoulder, raising a hand in a lazy wave as I walked away, leaving the Demon Hunter alone on the overlook.