Although a Villain, My Wish is World Peace

For a moment, my reason was paralyzed by those absurd words. What did he just say?

[What?]

[You’re skilled.]

[Me?]

To be blunt, I’ve barely touched any of the monsters that have attacked us so far. It was Kim Jae-ho who caught the first rhinoceros, and then Taika, after revealing his identity, crushed and killed everything else.

I did handle the pack of dogs that intervened in the middle, but I only threw some wind blades from a distance.

In the end, all I did was choose the resting place and some odd jobs, right? Come to think of it, I only remember feeding everyone diligently.

[You handled those friends admirably. Even though I couldn’t understand the language, I could clearly feel your leadership. Plus, you taught me how to properly use my ability.]

I didn’t expect him to take my trivial advice so seriously.

To be honest, I was happy.

No, strangely happy.

At the Academy, whenever I gave advice, I was usually ignored and mocked. Only Jeong Ho-san ever took my advice seriously. But since Jeong Ho-san was my friend, it couldn’t be considered an objective evaluation. To be blunt, he would have said it was good no matter what I said.

Han Seo-hyeon and Kim Jae-ho followed my words well, but they were both still immature kids.

It was the first time a proper hunter had acknowledged me.

Maybe I don’t need to go through all this trouble. If I’m by the side of a hunter called the world’s strongest, maybe I could find a way to solve problems instantly?

But that fantasy was soon shattered by Taika’s next words.

[Without Mr. Lee, it would have been impossible to come this far!]

Mr. Lee. At those words, I laughed inwardly.

What was I thinking? I can’t accept that offer anyway.

Honestly, it would be a lie to say I wasn’t momentarily excited when Taika, who would be considered the world’s strongest, seemed to acknowledge my skills.

But Mr. Lee. Yes, it’s ultimately a fake relationship.

And when I cooled my head and thought about it, I could see how nonsensical my momentary thoughts were.

Although Taika was impressive, he was just a 21-year-old kid. He probably doesn’t have much experience, so everything might seem new and good to him. Compared to the top support team that will surround him in the future, I would be nothing.

Well, to avoid being rude, it’s better to just nod along.

[If this expedition ends successfully, I’ll consider it positively.]

[Wow! Really? That’s great!]

Taika jumped up like a child. Then he started pouring out stories I hadn’t even asked for.

[As it happens, my agency is Korean. I think we’ll get along really well. Of course, Mr. Lee speaks English so well that it wouldn’t matter who it is, but still, it’s nice to have someone from the same hometown, right?]

Hmm, I know. He’s the person who often appeared on those patriotic channels. I know his name and face. I feel like I have an inner closeness with him, you know?

[Let’s get some sleep now, it’s better to rest.]

I calmed Taika, who was excitedly pouring out words. Taika said, as if disappointed:

[Sorry, it feels just like when I went to camp as a kid. Since I awakened this talent, I couldn’t do that anymore. I couldn’t even make proper friends…]

Taika said that with his eyes half-closed.

[For some reason, I feel comfortable with Mr. Lee.]

You’d be completely shocked if you knew my true identity.

I shrugged and closed my eyes.

I must have been tired, as sleep came instantly.

* * *

I must have slept for about four hours. Having slept crouched in a narrow space, my body felt quite stiff. I should have made a slightly larger space yesterday, even if it meant pushing myself a bit more.

When I opened my eyes, I saw Han Seo-hyeon’s face, still unconscious and asleep. He must have had nightmares all night, as his face was wrinkled like an ugly doll, which was pitiful. As I gently smoothed out his furrowed brow, I asked Ray:

‘How is it outside?’

—The same. The sandstorm is still blowing strongly.

‘That’s better. It means we haven’t reached the eye of the storm yet.’

The sandstorm raging outside was actually a sign of safety.

The moment that sandstorm disappears is when it really becomes dangerous.

At the center point of the storm, in the middle of the eerily calm eye of the storm, there must be a monster powerful enough to create this massive sandstorm.

I woke up the sleeping people and fed them some simple food.

“Ugh, I feel like I’m dying.”

Han Seo-hyeon’s face was swollen as he said that.

“Are you feeling a bit better?”

“No, not at all.”

Han Seo-hyeon rubbed his face and closed his eyes for a moment.

“Ugh, I lost connection with the one I sent up.”

Since it wasn’t a contracted summon but just temporarily revived, its effective period was short, and as a result of continuously flapping its wings to try to escape the sandstorm, its magic power quickly ran out.

“Hmm, that’s not good.”

“But I remember the last direction I saw. Yebgeni, or whatever it was called, had stopped moving and was staying still, so let’s head in that direction for now.”

“Right. And it’s Yebrica, not Yebgeni.”

“W-well, I could be wrong about the name!”

Is this why they say teenagers are difficult to handle? I turned my head away from Han Seo-hyeon, who was getting irritated for no reason. It’s an earthen cave anyway. There wasn’t much space to avoid him.

In any case, the loss of the bird monster that was responsible for our vision was quite painful. It would be nice if we could catch another flying monster along the way, but as we got closer to the eye of the storm, monsters were nowhere to be seen in the vicinity. It would probably be the same outside.

If I had known this would happen, I should have kept the vulture before Taika crushed it to death yesterday.

What’s the use of regretting what’s already passed? Since we’ve confirmed the direction for now, we’ll just have to keep walking steadily like we’ve been doing.

“Is everyone’s physical condition okay?”

At my question, Kim Jae-ho nodded with a stoic face.

He wasn’t very talkative to begin with, but since Taika appeared, he had almost completely shut his mouth. Judging by the lack of change in his expression, he must be quite shy around strangers.

Hmm, the kids liked him though.

Although Taika was young at 21, he looked a bit prematurely aged, probably from having gone through some hardships…

[Haha! Mr. Lee, did you have a good dream?]

No, what am I saying about someone so innocent?

[Yes, I was thinking we should eat soon and head outside, how’s your condition?]

[Great! I’m in top form.]

[By the way, our scouting friend died, so from now on we’ll have to navigate by feeling.]

[Ah.]

A look of concern crossed Taika’s face.

[But they said the monster doesn’t seem to have moved overnight. I’m confident in setting the direction, so just follow behind me.]

[Alright, I’ll trust you.]

His eyes are sparkling too much.

Ugh, don’t say you trust me so much!

I’m weak against those untainted by the world.

I squeezed my eyes shut and quickly devoured the beef jerky. After the meal, we carefully wrapped our entire bodies again.

“Ugh, I hate the mask.”

I wrapped Han Seo-hyeon’s entire body tightly with cloth pieces as well as the mask.

“Stay still. When the sandstorm gets stronger, it becomes like a weapon in itself.”

[You’re good at wrapping.]

[Should I do it for you too, Mr. Cooper?]

[Ah! I’ll pass. I don’t have a taste for becoming a mummy.]

Is that a joke or sarcasm? When he says it so innocently like that, I can’t tell. Kim Jae-ho also refused my touch. Well, his skin is probably as tough as most monsters anyway.

I lifted the waterproof sheet. It was time to pierce through the sandstorm hell again.

And so we walked and walked and walked some more.

There’s no special technique for advancing through this sandstorm. We just walk and walk, believing that the direction I’m walking is correct. After walking like that for about four hours:

Suddenly, everything went quiet.

“Ah.”

We had reached the eye of the storm.

The sky was clear and everything around was silent. And in the distance, we could see the figure of the one who created this sandstorm.

Although it was very far away, we could make out the monster’s appearance from here.

A golden wave sparkled. Yebrica, the monster that created this sandstorm, was a giant bird made of sand.

Although it was called a bird, it had a dignified appearance that could hardly be called the same species as the unsightly bald eagle we had killed.

Every time it moved, the sand flowing along its body shimmered elegantly like golden waves, and its delicate sculpture-like exterior shone like a work of art.

And it was so huge that its form was clearly visible even from here, several kilometers away.

This is a top-tier monster.

No, can we even dare to call it a monster, a beast?

This is a life form more deserving of the name god.

—Yes, in other dimensions it was also called the god of the desert. To see it again here.

I nodded at Ray’s words.

The god of the desert, huh.

It certainly has an appearance befitting such a title.

The problem was that we had come to ‘hunt’ this thing.

Yes, hunt.

No matter how beautiful it looks on the outside, no matter how dignified and elegant it appears as if possessing divinity. This is a monster that has invaded our land. If left alone, it could easily bring about the destruction of Australia.

[Everyone, please step back.]

Taika stepped forward proudly. I pulled Taika back.

[No, Mr. Cooper, you step back.]

Although Taika was clearly the strongest among us, putting him in the vanguard wasn’t a good choice.

[I’ll take the vanguard.]

I don’t know what type of attack this thing will use, but I’m the only one who can escape in an emergency. And I don’t intend to charge in recklessly either.

“Seo-hyeon, please do some reconnaissance.”

At my words, Han Seo-hyeon brought out Hound. Hound started running across the golden field.

There was quite a distance between us and Yebrica. Roughly estimating, about 4km. Han Seo-hyeon’s Hound quickly closed the distance with Yebrica.

At first, that giant bird stood still like a statue. Compared to that enormous bird, the body of the Hound running in front of it was so small. Like a millet seed.

So is it ignoring it?

But that was a momentary illusion.

As soon as Hound reached a point where it touched its wings, the giant bird instantly turned its head.

And in an instant, it trampled Hound with its wing.

“Ugh!”

Han Seo-hyeon let out a groan.

“It’s okay, I dismissed the summon before it was crushed.”

All that nagging I did to make him reduce the dismissal time had paid off. This confirmed it. Just approaching close enough causes the sand to attack.

What makes up its massive body is sand. The movement of sand is instantaneous, riding on the wind.

So thinking it would be slow is a mistake.

Even just now, the movement to crush Hound happened in a flash.

Even just considering its pure physical power, it’s not an easy opponent.

We’ll need to find out more details, but.

What about our side’s combat power to face that thing right now?

Well, for starters, Han Seo-hyeon isn’t a good choice when facing such a large enemy. Sending a single skeleton would just result in it crumbling after a bit of twitching. As for the beast, it was just forcibly dismissed, so it’ll take time to summon it again.

Then what about Kim Jae-ho?

He can try a close-quarters approach.

But since the main body is sand, ‘poison’ won’t work, and the problem is that Kim Jae-ho’s physical power will be negated by the sand as well.

The only ones who can deal effective damage right away are probably me, who can deploy various attributes, or Taika, who uses gravity.

No, we lack far too much information.

I looked at Yebrica in front of me.

Can’t be helped, we’ll have to gather information by engaging it directly first.