The dimensional tears were destroyed, but the monsters were already out of them. Junhyuk had to take his team around to kill them.

The monsters focused on the military and the powered people. More experts died, but another expert activated a power, becoming a champion.

The number of experts also increased. Novices were getting killed in bunches, so many activated powers to become experts. They finally killed the remaining A-ranked monsters, but humanity had suffered ma.s.sive casualties.

Yet, it wasn’t over.

They hadn’t succeeded in destroying all tears. Eltor had taken cores back with him. They had been successful in stopping all monsters, however.

After Junhyuk killed the last A-ranked monster, he exhaled heavily. Things had been difficult, but all of the monsters were gone. Looking around, he saw people with dark circles around their eyes. With the use of his force field and teleportation, he had been able to save them all.

Every survivor had been helped by Junhyuk, so everyone looked at him with respect. He looked at them and smiled.

“We’ve cleared the monster areas.”

Junhyuk didn’t say that things were only temporary, and everyone cheered loudly. He turned to Sarang and said, “Call Guardians. Tell them to manage your contact with the outside world.”

“I will.”

Sarang had done her best to save humanity. Once she returned to school, she would be treated differently. And what about the media attention she would get? Guardians would protect her and her family, but it wouldn’t be enough.

Looking at the others, he said, “Let’s go rest.”

The champions got on their flying drones and moved out. Junhyuk and Sarang did the same, but they headed toward the command center. When he entered, the others got up from their seats.

Junhyuk turned to the monitors and said, “I’ve just killed the last monster.”

“You did well,” Eunseo said honestly. She also had dark circles under her eyes.

Junhyuk smiled at her and added, “Everyone worked hard. Please, take care of the aftermath.”

“Don’t worry. We will.”

Delegates from every country were present for the conference call, and they would do the rest. Junhyuk looked at them and said slowly, “The monster waves that follow will be different from before. Champions should team up and train. If possible, Guardians should train them as they wait for deployment.”

It wasn’t easy gathering the champions in one place. The leaders of every country knew of their worth, but Junhyuk wasn’t finished.

“Also, I’ll install teleportation devices in every continent. When the monster waves start, I should be able to move right away. Have the SR-71 ready for pickup after the teleportation points are set up.”

“We will.” Eunseo fixed her gla.s.ses and added, “Don’t worry. Rest. We’ll do everything and let you know.”

“Please.”

Junhyuk wanted to return to South Korea, but he wanted to rest first. When he walked outside, he saw a vehicle had been readied for him. Inside the car, Sarang was already asleep. He caressed her head as the car started moving. Then, Junhyuk also closed his eyes.

—

Things had been hectic for two weeks. On Friday morning, he had breakfast with Sarang, but he couldn’t keep his eyes open.

Sarang was yawning while spreading jam on her bread.

“We stopped everything.”

“Right. You worked hard.”

“I joined up late.”

Junhyuk smiled and said, “Without your helped, we couldn’t have done it.”

“The A-ranked monsters were really strong. Like dragons!”

“No. Dragons are S-ranked. If a dragon had appeared, it would’ve been a disaster.”

“What do you think they’ll do?”

Junhyuk took a moment to think and replied, “Eltor took the cores for a reason.”

Even managers couldn’t easily manufacture cores, which was why Eltor had taken them. The destruction of the borders might have strained them, so the managers might have retrieved the cores for later use.

Everything had ended, but when considering Eltor’s att.i.tude, Junhyuk couldn’t rest.

He shrugged and said, “We haven’t eaten, drunk, or slept. Let’s focus on the food. I’ll sleep after the Dimensional Battlefield.”

“Right, they’ll summon us soon.”

They had started eating at 7:30 a.m., and thirty minutes after that, they would be summoned. Junhyuk ate quickly and checked on the time. He had another twenty minutes left, but it didn’t really matter. Time would stop for them once they were summoned.

As he watched her eat, Junhyuk said, “Let’s do well on this battlefield.”

“By the way, can we really become legends?”

“We will.”

Becoming a legend wasn’t easy. He had some items, but that still didn’t make it simple. The effectiveness of the items would reach a limit as they strove for their goal.

Junhyuk didn’t just want to become a legend. He wanted to develop dimensional powers. That was his greater goal.

Touching her chin, Sarang stared at him and said, “Thanks.”

“For what?!”

“When I was summoned for the first time, if I hadn’t met you, I wouldn’t have been a hero today. Instead, I’d be existing inside of a pod.”

Junhyuk laughed and replied, “Vera’s taught you well. Are you still talking to her?”

Sarang nodded.

“That’s right. I’m learning a lot about magic.”

“Yeah!? That’s nice.”

Junhyuk hadn’t talked to Artlan in a while, but Sarang kept constant contact with Vera. Artlan was different from Vera. He was rough, while Vera was calm. Nevertheless, Junhyuk was extremely grateful to Artlan. He would talk to Artlan soon.

Junhyuk drank his soda and got up, saying, “Then, let’s prepare.”

“Sure. See you later.”

Sarang went to her room, and Junhyuk went to his, lay down on his bed and closed his eyes. He quickly fell under a deep sleep.

Suddenly, a bright light pounded against his eyes. He covered his eyes with his hands and opened them when the light subsided.

[Welcome!]

Junhyuk looked at Ariel and smiled, saying, “Right. It’s been a while.”

He turned to look at the display of his gold. It said: 2,312,523G.

Junhyuk wanted a new sword, and now he had a significant amount of gold. He would be able to buy his sword soon.

As he geared up, he saw he still had four items left from the previous round to sell. If he sold those, he might be able to buy his sword immediately.

Junhyuk really wanted a new sword. After he was finished with his equipment, he walked toward the door, and Ariel, with both hands around her mouth in a cone, shouted, [Hero Junhyuk Lee deployed!]

Junhyuk waved at her as he walked out. A thousand minions were crowded in front of him, and among them, he saw familiar faces.

The new member wasn’t there yet, so Junhyuk simply walked over to his teammates. They greeted him happily, and after staring at him, Gongon said, “I heard everything from Sarang. You cleared the monster areas without any rest?!”

“That’s right. I’m tired.”

Gongon extended a claw toward him and asked, “So, you got something called the core. Can you give me one?”

Junhyuk pulled out a core from his Spatial Bag. He had many of them now, and Gongon wanted to research one.

Gongon placed the core in his Spatial Bag and said, “I’ll tell you what I figure out.”

“Please do.”

Research on the core was necessary.

As Junhyuk looked over the group, he asked, “Where is the last member of our team?”

“They aren’t here yet.”

Junhyuk waited, and Elise walked up to him. She greeted the group and, looking at him, she said, “I’m glad to see you are safe.”

“You’ve worked hard, Elise.”

She had developed the Core Bombs through her research on the core. Even in the battlefield, the dark circles around her eyes remained.

Elise looked at Gongon and asked, “Can I move with Gongon today?”

Junhyuk pondered the idea and said, “I might move with Gongon. Let’s wait and see. We’ll get a new hero today.”

“Ah! A new hero will join us?”

“The previous round was the last round of team selections. We didn’t pick a last member, so we’ll get a new hero today.”

“You don’t know who it is?!”

Junhyuk nodded and turned around. From far away, he could see a hero walking in their direction. He was much taller than the minions.

The dark-skinned hero had a bald, shiny head, and there were dozens of knives around his body. He walked up to them and said, “Nice to meet you! I’m Rodrey.”

Junhyuk introduced himself, “I’m Junhyuk Lee. Did you just become a hero?”

Rodrey smiled and answered, “Correct. I just signed my contract.”

Junhyuk grimaced. If Rodrey had just signed his contract, he couldn’t have a lot of decent items.

“You just signed?!”

“That’s right.”

“Is this your first time here?”

“Also right.”

Junhyuk sighed.