Blood Demon of the Past Life – Chapter 129

Chapter 129: The Mystery of the Red Zone （1）

A little while ago.

Kang San sat leaning against a tree, his face a mess.

His panting breaths were uneven, and blood flowed freely from the cuts and gashes all over his body. He was at his limit. His head spun, but he managed to hold onto his consciousness and poured a potion over his wounds.

Sizzle━

“Ugh.”

He grimaced.

His current situation…

It was a miracle he was even alive.

When he was with his companions, they could take down A-rank monsters thanks to Yeon Woo-bin’s firepower, but things were different when he faced the monster alone. He was outmatched. He couldn’t just focus on defense, and even when he tried to counterattack, he couldn’t land a meaningful blow that would kill it completely. So he changed his strategy. He first dealt with as many lower-ranked monsters as possible, raising the attack power of the Blood Demon Art, and in the end, risked his life to fight the A-rank monster.

The result was…

His current state.

He barely managed to see the monster fall after overcoming countless crises.

‘No more, no more, it’s impossible.’

He knew it himself.

Skill cooldowns were exhausted.

His stamina was depleted.

Guardian’s Will hadn’t activated yet, but he knew that any further trials would be like stepping into a pit of death. He wished it would end now. Seeing people approaching from afar, Kang San wanted to return with them.

But at that moment.

『The seventeenth trial and tribulation has been assigned.』

『Due to the karma of the wicked, you must now find a survivor village nearby and safely return them to Kitakyushu. You can check the location of the village at once through the tracking function, but if you fail to rescue them within 2 hours, all the rewards you have received so far will be revoked, and the karma will become even stronger.』

『Reward: All Stats +10, Teleport Scroll x1』

His breath caught in his throat.

The seventeenth trial.

It wasn’t any different from the sixteenth.

The content and rewards were the same as if they had been copied and pasted. He no longer had the conviction that he could return if he just endured this one time. Even if he put all his effort into clearing the seventeenth trial… If he was given an eighteenth trial, it would be truly dangerous. Even if he survived that, he would surely die in the nineteenth trial.

His heart pounded.

The sight of the survivors no longer felt welcoming.

However.

‘I have no choice.’

From the moment he received the first trial until now, Kang San had no way to escape the cycle of trials.

He forced a warm smile at the survivors who were now close by, if only to safely return the protagonists of the sixteenth trial.

That was…

“Are you the rescue team?”

“…Yes. Is everyone alright?”

The best Kang San could do.

✦✦✦✦✦✦

Kitakyushu.

People once called it the “Land of Farewell.”

Countless people had lost their families and poured out their grief there. It was to the point that it was considered an unspoken rule not to pry into the personal circumstances of those from Kitakyushu. But the sight before their eyes now was different. Groups of people embraced each other, shedding tears of joy at this unbelievable reunion.

“Father━!”

“Son! You’re alive, you’re really alive!”

Embrace

Parents and children.

Friends and lovers.

The forms of reunion were diverse.

In a situation where people thought they were dead had returned, they poured out the emotions they had suppressed. The survivors’ appearances were truly miserable. It was fortunate if their faces were just gaunt from not eating properly; many were not physically intact, having lost limbs or suffered other injuries. Families cried when they saw this. Their sons, daughters, parents, who had been healthy, were now limping and unable to walk properly. The sight brought a devastating feeling that made their prayers for their loved ones to return alive seem meaningless.

A little distance away.

Nakamura Genji, watching the scene, noticed a survivor approaching him.

“Did the benefactor not return?”

“By benefactor, are you referring to Kang San-nim?”

“Ah, so his name is Kang San-nim. Yes. I need to properly convey my gratitude, to tell him that I survived thanks to him, but I heard he hasn’t returned yet. If you hear news of his return, please tell him. I received such a great favor, I must repay him.”

“…Alright.”

That was the beginning.

As the joy of reunion subsided, the survivors approached one by one, asking about Kang San’s whereabouts.

In a moment of despair.

The being who risked his life to save people.

But despite their earnest questions, Nakamura Genji had nothing to tell them.

Because he didn’t know either.

All he knew was that Kang San was still beyond the Red Zone, rescuing people.

The current leader of the Yain-dae.

Shuhei came up beside him.

“When are you planning to start the operation?”

“We can only start once he returns. With our current strength, if we enter the Red Zone, we’re more likely to get lost and self-destruct than to rescue Kang San-nim. We can only pray for his safe return.”

“He’s an amazing person, though. Rescuing people alone in that dangerous zone.”

An amazing person.

Could it be expressed so simply?

It wasn’t even his own problem, but that of others, of another country.

Whenever he thought of Kang San, he couldn’t understand why he would go so far.

Nakamura Genji touched the sword at his waist.

“…If the survivors’ testimonies are true, he must have reached his physical limit, so he’ll likely return with the next group of survivors.”

He believed so.

Or rather, he wanted to believe so.

An hour later.

When the light of teleportation flared up again, Nakamura Genji’s expectations were shattered.

✦✦✦✦✦✦

He couldn’t understand it at all.

The survivors’ words were all the same, as if they had coordinated their stories.

“He said he had to rescue other survivors, gave us the Teleport Scroll, and told us to return first. But… his physical condition seemed a bit dangerous.”

It was the same this time.

Kang San, instead of returning, had set off to find other survivors in the Red Zone.

He felt a surge of anger.

As far as Nakamura Genji knew, Kang San was only a B-rank, inferior to himself, and there were definitely limits to what he could handle alone. Then he should return. Not struggle in the Red Zone. No one would blame him for returning, even if there were people in danger right before his eyes.

But why?

Why didn’t he choose to return this time either?

Frustrated, he went to Kang San’s companions and asked.

“…He’s just, that kind of person.”

It was Yeon Woo-bin.

His younger companions were also frustrated with the situation.

“When I first met Kang San-hyeong, he threw himself into danger to save me, a complete stranger. Even when he was seriously injured fighting monsters, he used his healing skills for us rather than himself. At first, I didn’t understand. Could there really be a person who would dedicate himself so much, even out of goodwill? Could someone prioritize others like that?”

Their eyes met.

He told Nakamura Genji, who wanted to know about Kang San, everything he knew.

“It’s simply the desire to help people. If there’s trash on the ground, he’ll pick it up. If someone’s in danger, he’ll help. In this harsh reality where everyone thinks only of their own benefit, Kang San-hyeong is the kind of person who acts purely out of goodwill. Actually, something similar happened in Korea. It wasn’t this dangerous, of course, but even then, Kang San-hyeong saved people without asking for anything in return and disappeared. When I asked him about it later, he just said, ‘Just because’.”

The truth was different.

During the E-rank Link incident, Kang San was simply confused, and most of his good deeds were forced by the trials.

Nevertheless.

That’s how the truth appeared.

In Yeon Woo-bin’s eyes, Kang San was a person who acted out of goodwill.

Yeon Woo-bin bit his lip in frustration.

“That’s why I’m angry. Kang San-hyeong sent us back first because he didn’t want to put us in danger, but we believed him. What is the Japanese government planning to do? If Kang San-hyeong continues his rescue efforts, we should at least enter the Red Zone first and help him.”

Following him, Jo Han-byeol and Jeong Chan-woo…

They all showed desperate eyes.

Their stories…

He still didn’t understand.

Nakamura Genji was truly confused by the fact that such a person existed in the world.

‘Is pure goodwill even possible?’

He didn’t know.

At least, the world he lived in wasn’t like that.

The world only tried to use him.

Kang San was different, they said.

Whatever the truth, the people rescued by him were right there before his eyes.

‘I can’t just wait here.’

He had to save Kang San.

He didn’t want to see someone like Kang San meet a bitter end, dying while helping others.

He quickened his pace.

The name of one person who could resolve this situation came to mind.

✦✦✦✦✦✦

Click━

Ito Kentaro.

A prominent figure in Japanese politics hung up the phone with a complicated expression.

“…Genji. Is that your choice?”

Ten years ago.

Ito Kentaro, then just a freshman lawmaker, experienced a decisive event that propelled him to his current position.

Despite being a lawmaker, he stepped up during a sudden Link incident and worked to rescue people. Impressed by his actions, the Japanese people gave him their support. That was the background that created the Ito Kentaro of today, ten years later.

And at that time.

He received help from one person.

Nakamura Genji.

The leader of the Yain-dae, he had entered the dangerous flames with Ito Kentaro at his request.

Ito Kentaro made a promise then.

That he would not forget today’s help and would grant him one favor in return.

Unfortunately, that promise was not kept.

When the Kitakyushu incident occurred three years ago, Nakamura Genji immediately contacted him and asked him to find his family as that one favor. He couldn’t grant it. To be precise, he tried to, but the rescue team sent by the Japanese government was annihilated by an unknown monster, making it impossible.

And now.

Nakamura Genji had contacted him through his personal contact information after a long time and said this:

“Please sway public opinion. I won’t ask for anything more. After this call, I’ll consider the promise between us completely settled. So please, just this once, help me, Congressman.”

He was a proud man.

For him to discard his pride and make such a request after the incident three years ago showed how desperate he was. In fact, Ito Kentaro had been trying to help Nakamura Genji all this time. But he was always met with opposition from the Liberal Protection Party, failing to achieve his goal.

‘With the forces I can mobilize, I can’t control the will of the Japanese Diet.’

The Liberal Protection Party.

The real power supporting the current Prime Minister, and at its center, Congressman Shimizu Hiroshi.

They would vehemently oppose it.

In fact, their claims weren’t entirely wrong.

The ‘disaster’ that occurred in southern Japan was like a black hole.

No matter how much power was poured in, it was a black hole that sucked everything in without a trace.

Japan had more people to protect besides the south, and if the nation’s power was overextended, there would inevitably be vulnerabilities. That was the point that the Liberal Protection Party, Congressman Shimizu Hiroshi, strongly argued. That in trying to solve the black hole in the south, the whole of Japan could be shaken.

But it was different now.

It had to be done.

In response to the miracle created by a young man from another country, Japan had a duty to respond.

If it was assumed that everyone was dead, it would be a different story, but now it had been confirmed that there were survivors.

He picked up the phone.

“Gather the reporters right now.”

The best he could do.

It was time to do his best.