Everyone was speechless. However, I organized my thoughts and asked her a question, “How did you choose them?”

[I didn’t choose them. They were already chosen. I simply picked the right dreams to send to the chosen ones. Though, I did have to use my precognitive power to read their futures.]

“So you are the one who decides whether someone awakens a D rank ability or an SS rank ability?”

[No. Like I said before, it’s important to know how well an ability suits its master. Plus, people have their own talents and limits. If they are given abilities that aren't suitable for them, it might end in tragedy. That’s why it’s important to choose which abilities go to who. If I give abilities to those who meet all the conditions, I’m not left with many choices.]

In other words, she wasn’t as omnipotent as I thought. The sense of distance I felt from her had been reduced somewhat. However…

“Why didn’t this ‘being’ do this task himself?” I asked.

[I’m not sure. It could have something to do with the world’s power.]

That was the most important part, but apparently Ciara did not have an answer. While I was mulling over the things I heard, Ludia asked, “So you’re saying, you’re the one who gave me the power of the earth?”

[Yes. I was surprised because someone who had yet to receive an ability suddenly appeared. But since I was certain, I gave you a suitable ability. It should be S+ rank.]

“…”

Ludia became dumbstruck. I understood where she was coming from. I asked Ciara once again, “Why were you chosen? I mean, why was such a great authority and mission given to a young child like you?”

[Hero-nim, that is the same as asking, ‘Why am I the Hero?’]

“You mean…”

[I don’t know either.]

The moment I heard that, I felt strength leaving my body. Did I expect too much? My motivation plummeted and I wanted to go back home. When I staggered, Ludia silently held me.

[Sorry. I don’t know why Hero-nim and I were chosen.]

“I told you to call me Shin,” I retorted.

“Also, don’t tie yourself together with Shin. It’s unpleasant.”

Hwaya added a completely irrelevant comment. Listening to her, I suddenly remembered that we had not talked about the most important thing.

“What was the reason you called me here? Was it to tell me your ability? To tell me how people awakened their abilities?”

[That’s part of the reason. I wanted to let Hero…Shin-nim to find out about my existence. You are the World’s Core, entrusted with the world’s power. You are someone who will lead all the Awakened and someone I should support from the side.]

“And what does this ‘support’ include?” I asked.

She was most likely waiting for this question as her face brightened. As she answered, I felt a hint of eagerness from her voice.

[I have both the funds and manpower prepared. I’m ready to do anything for Hero-nim. Since Hero-nim has the qualification to lead all the Awakened, a new group will be created for that purpose! A group that is not tied to the government like Guardian, nor tied to money like Freedom Wing. A group solely to save the world!]

Mm, I see. I nodded and said callously, “Go find someone else.”

[Hero-nim?]

“I was wondering what you were going to say.”

I lost all interest because it was more boring than I thought. With a snort, I turned around.

“Let’s go, guys.”

“Shin, I’m hungry.”

“I’m tired…I want to sleep.”

“Where’s the person in charge? I hope he can get each of us our own room. Shin, want to drink before sleep?”

[Wait, Hero-nim! You’re going to go back?]

Ciara stopped me. Without turning around, I replied, “No, I’m going to party here. I’m curious to see what the wyverns look like.”

[In that case, can we meet tomorrow to talk? We have to discuss things in more detail! I have a lot of data organized.]

“Sorry, but I heard everything I needed to. Like I said, you should go find someone else.”

[Hero-nim!]

“My name is Shin. Plus…I don’t need something like that. I hate bothersome things. Leading all the Awakened? Like you said, there are two organizations that are motivated by either money or power from the government, so you should ask them instead.”

[But this is something Hero-nim needs! Soon, dungeons will be mass created, and the threat of monsters will become greater! Hero-nim will be the first one they will aim for! To protect Hero-nim…]

“The dungeons will soon be mass created?”

Now that she mentioned it, she did say something about the second wave in her letter. Apparently, she was talking about Event Dungeons. I made a mental note and replied, “In any case, I’ll protect myself. You want me to gather ability users to protect me and play Hero? I’m not interested. Don’t make me take this time out of my schedule for something like this again. I’ll let it slide this time since I wanted to visit the Wyvern’s Nest anyways.”

[Hero-nim!]

“I have a lot to say, but since you have a lot to learn, I won’t say anything. See you. Ah, one more thing…”

[Yes, Hero-nim?]

I turned around. Even though she couldn’t see with her eyes, she must have realized I had turned around with her ability as she fixed her posture on the chair and raised her head.

“What do you think about the dungeon?”[1]

[If they aren’t taken care of quickly, they will cause harm to this world. If Hero-nim leads the dungeon subjugation, you will be able to quickly gather support and…]

“That’s fine.”

With that, I left the room. Hwaya, Ludia, and Ye-Eun read the atmosphere and also left without saying anything. I could hear Ciara trying to contact me with her telepathy, but I cut it off by using my mana. After all, her telepathy was an ability that interfered with its target mentally. If I wanted, I could easily defend myself from it.

While walking down to the 12th floor, I quietly said, “As I thought, she doesn’t know about it.”

“Yeah, I thought she would.”

“But if you think about it, she never appeared in our dreams either.”

“Maybe she can’t see the dungeon with her ability.”

Even though she could see other worlds? I asked inwardly. We were about halfway down the stairs, when Hwaya, who had been walking by my right, said worriedly, “Shin, the Kenex family is one of the most powerful families in America. It’s probably true that she has the funds and manpower. I don’t know how much her family will support her, but this could be an important opportunity. After all, what she said wasn’t wrong…Plus, she has information about you. This might be more dangerous than you being the Hero.”

I shrugged. “She’s not that type of person. She won’t tell others the secrets she knows.”

I was certain. It was a special privilege to know that I’m the Hero, and she said that she had been ‘chosen’, while equating herself with me. It could have been to instill the idea that we were natural allies, but she was incredibly proud about it. It sounded like she was putting herself and me in a special position compared to others, which was exactly something kids her age would think of.

As such, she would never tell someone about me. She wouldn’t give others a chance to intervene. Of course, even if she did…

“I hate doing things according to other people’s plans. Just thinking about it gives me goosebumps,” I complained.

Create an organization because the manpower was there? That was something elementary school kids would say. Though, I couldn’t say anything since she really was a school-aged kid. Although I had forgotten about it because of her mature way of talking, Ciara was still a kid. It was obvious from how she reacted when I didn’t respond the way she thought that I would.

I was never thankful that I had become a Hero. I didn’t know who made me a Hero or why, but I didn’t like that he left this heavy burden on me without saying a thing. Furthermore, it was extremely irritating that he did so without my consent. If we ever met, I would punch him in the face. I had no intention of feeling responsible as a Hero since I never asked for it.

Additionally, I didn’t like Ciara’s idea that I had to lead everyone and protect myself because I was now an existence that was not allowed to die. In the end, it meant I should sacrifice others to protect myself. It was exactly the kind of thing I hated.

I wanted to get strong for myself, so that no matter who came after me to obtain this power inside me, I could send them flying with my own strength. Since the world ended when the Hero died, should everyone naturally cooperate with me? Was that why Heroes had high charm? Fuck that.

Damn, because I met an irritating person and talked about irritating things, I ended up feelling irritated.

There was only one way to relieve my stress: go wild.

“You guys should go look for our housing. I need to stop by somewhere.”

“Where?” Ye-Eun tilted her head and asked. On the other hand, Hwaya looked like she knew what I meant.

“You…At this time of day?”

“Stupid, don’t you know night fishing is the best?”

With that, I left them. Seeing Ye-Eun block Ludia, who was trying to chase after me, I gave her a thumbs up. Then, I headed straight to the canyon.

Obviously, wyverns were flying monsters. They had scales stronger than steel and a wingspan that easily reached sixty feet. Their claws were strong enough to break diamonds. They could be thought of as miniature versions of dragons that appeared in western fantasies.

After all, they were strong and tough enough to be called dragons. They even breathed fire. Furthermore, they quickly soared through the sky and snatched up their prey, so even experienced martial artists had difficulty responding to their crafty movements. It was hard to shoot them down with magic, and it took forever to take them down with melee weapons. It was understandable that the Field Dungeon stayed uncleared even though several months had passed since the Graveyard Over the Lake was cleared.

Even in the dead of night, the wyverns continued to hunt. Ability users were also running around frantically, trying to protect their own lodging and the ordinary citizens living in a city not far from here. Since they were likely all S ranked or higher, I couldn’t fathom just what percentage of the world’s rankers were here.

I completely concealed my appearance after equipping my armor, putting on my cape, and pulling my helmet’s visor down. Then, I joined the ability users.

“Hey, this is a S rank Field Dungeon! Entering alone is strictly prohibited!”

“Wait, I remember seeing that red armor somewhere.”

“He…He’s Thunder Knight!”

“Thunder Knight? Why is he alone? I heard that the Flame Witch came with him.”

People who noticed me opened a path as they tilted their heads. With a grin, I stepped into the canyon. The canyon used to only be wide enough for a few people to walk side by side, but was now so roomy that the entire business department from my university could walk side by side. There were already several surveillance devices and large headlights installed to light up the darkness. I could also see numerous ability users ready to fight wyverns whenever they appeared.

I had Talaria. With it, I could freely fly for thirty minutes per day. However, since I wasn’t planning on restricting my time to a paltry half an hour, I couldn’t rely solely on it. Looking at the wyverns flying in the sky far away, I summoned my elementals.

“Ruyue, you should leave the egg there.”

[Okay…]

Ruyue went to return the egg in Fairy Garden with a sad expression. Meanwhile, I infused Peika into my gauntlet. My affinity with Peika grew day by day ever since I obtained Zeus’ true name. Now, my gauntlet radiated golden brilliance and flickered with threatening sparks as soon as I infused her. People watching me flinched and took several steps back.

[I left it! Now, hug me!]

“Ruyue, come inside my boots.”

[I’m not materializing?]

“You can’t fly.”

[Kukuku, serves you right!]

Ruyue infused herself into my boots with a sad expression, while Peika sneered at her. Thinking of how friendly they were, I looked up at the sky again. At that moment, a red-scaled wyvern that was flying through the sky suddenly began to descend swiftly. By the flash in its eyes, it must have discovered me. People nearby began to scatter, and some of them contacted others with their radio.

“Alpha Area 3-7, a wyvern descended! Again, Alpha Area 3-7, a wyvern descended! It’s alone and is aiming for Thunder Knight! Requesting immediate reinforcement!”

You guys are so nice! I was pleasantly surprised. Technically, I was only a fool that walked into a restricted area and drew a wyvern’s aggro. Useless thoughts ran through my head as I bent my knees. The wyvern was extremely fast. I judged that it would reach me in about two seconds.

However, it was no match for me.

“Divine Speed!”

The moment I activated Divine Speed, I jumped with full force. With how long I spent my time grinding through the dungeon, I could easily leap dozens of meters into the air. With the addition of Divine Speed, I was in front of the wyvern in less than half a second. I pulled my fist back and glared at the wyvern that was blinking its eyes extremely slowly.

“I don’t even need a second to kill you! Tempest!”

A small yet powerful whirlpool raged around my fist which also contained formidable lightning energy. As Peruta Circuit’s level increased, the power of the whirlpool increased. I shot out my fist without a shred of hesitation. Under the effect of Divine Speed, my fist struck the wyvern’s head faster than a typhoon.

[Critical Hit!]

With a lucky critical hit, the wyvern’s head exploded. I burned the splashing brains with lightning energy and smiled. Feeling the pent up irritation disappearing, I shouted so that my voice could reach the entire canyon.

“Come at me, you damned flying lizards!!”

The night hunt had only just begun!

1. In Korean, singular and plural nouns aren’t distinguished frequently (which is also why it’s tricky to translate sometimes). In this case, Shin is asking about “the dungeon” (as in First, Second, etc. Dungeons). Ciara is understanding it to be the “dungeons” that will be created on Earth ☜