Blood Demon of the Past Life – Chapter 158

Chapter 158: S-rank Outbreak （2）

The sun had risen high in the sky.

Reporter Kim Min-yeong’s face was flushed red as she held her phone, bombarding the person on the other end with a barrage of words.

“No, I’m just asking you to write a few articles. Is that all our relationship amounts to? This isn’t just anyone, it’s Kang San. In Wangsimni, in Kitakyushu… someone who risked his life to save people shouldn’t be tormented by these ridiculous rumors. I wouldn’t even ask if it was unreasonable. I’m telling you, I’ll give you all the evidence.”

『……I’m sorry, but what can I do if the chief editor won’t budge? I’m sorry, I’m really sorry!』

“Hey, hey!”

Click.

The call was unilaterally cut off.

Kim Min-yeong stared at her phone with an annoyed expression.

“What’s wrong with these people?”

Two weeks ago.

When Jeong Mun-cheol spread new rumors, Kim Min-yeong tried to clear up the situation by publishing articles, even without being asked to. But this time, it wasn’t easily resolved. As if they had hired a large-scale comment manipulation team, public opinion wouldn’t settle down, and she made calls to her connections to try to contain the situation as much as possible.

At first, they were definitely positive.

There was her relationship with them, and Kim Min-yeong wasn’t someone who would ask for just any article to be published without credibility.

But strangely, all the articles were cut.

All the visible articles were those that couldn’t deny the rumors about Kang San, or rather, had an ambiguous stance that seemed to subtly agree with them. This fueled public opinion. In a situation where no one properly clarified, and even Kang San himself remained silent, people were convinced that something was going on.

She checked her phone messages.

The person involved in the incident, who should be the most proactive, didn’t reply to Kim Min-yeong’s sincere response.

“……What the hell is going on?”

The circumstances were suspicious enough.

But Kim Min-yeong didn’t doubt Kang San.

When she first investigated the Wangsimni Tanker’s actions, she learned very well how Kang San had reached his current position. And his good deeds were clearly out of good intentions. Saving Kim Chun-sik when he was an F-rank human shield, donating all his wealth for his grandmother… She couldn’t accept the fact that such a person was a hero created with Japan’s support. Based on Kim Min-yeong’s experience as a reporter and her instincts, Kang San was not someone who deserved this kind of treatment.

She felt frustrated.

She couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.

“I have to do something, anything.”

She looked through her phone contacts.

As a star reporter, she could see a few colleagues who wouldn’t be able to refuse her requests.

That’s when it happened.

Buzz━

『A 6.0 magnitude earthquake has occurred off the east coast near Pohang.』

At the bottom of the monitor.

An information window that alerted reporters to breaking news reported the earthquake.

Just then, another reporter turned on the TV.

『Breaking news. A 6.0 magnitude earthquake has occurred off the east coast. The government has determined that it is a naturally occurring earthquake, not an abnormal phenomenon caused by monsters, and emergency evacuation orders have been issued for several areas where there is a risk of a tsunami.』

“An earthquake?”

Magnitude 6.

It wasn’t a disaster to be ignored.

But she didn’t show much interest.

Natural disasters weren’t Kim Min-yeong’s area of expertise, and the disasters that people reacted sensitively to in this chaotic world weren’t the wrath of nature. It’s a world where space suddenly opens up, monsters appear, and cities are turned into ruins overnight. A world where the ground shaking a little and seawater rushing in is nothing.

Click.

“Hello.”

Reporter Kim Min-yeong took her eyes off the computer screen and got up from her seat, continuing what she was originally going to do.

✦✦✦✦✦✦

At that moment.

“……Has it begun?”

Kang San also checked the breaking news on his phone.

A 6.0 magnitude earthquake off the east coast.

It was the starting point of the Outbreak.

The disaster that was predicted to bring a tsunami was the starting point for opening the entrance to the Abyss hidden in Gokumsan. Strangely, his heart didn’t pound much. He had been imagining and preparing for this situation for over a year, so he felt his blood run cold.

‘Are the preparations done?’

He looked around.

The entrance to Gokumsan.

It was a location where he would inevitably encounter monsters if they poured out.

Due to changes in the terrain, Gokumsan wasn’t easy for monsters to travel on foot, except for the passage where Kang San was currently located, because of the steep terrain. Of course, he didn’t rely on that alone. The part he had put the most effort into over the past two weeks was planting ‘bait’ in the passages where he predicted the monsters would move. Human blood. After a certain amount of time, they would explode, luring the monsters precisely to Kang San’s location.

And here.

Kang San intended to hold out here.

As he recalled the magic traps he had set up around the area and the various preparations he had made, his heart gradually began to pound.

“Phew━.”

He took a deep breath.

Honestly, he was scared.

The S-rank Dark Lord.

That monster had already been revealed to the world once, demonstrating its power by wiping out the humans who came to attack it with its monstrous destructive power. It was different from Kitakyushu. Back then, Kang San had defeated an S-rank monster, but in the case of the Evil Spirit, he had clearly received help from the attribute advantage.

Barely A-rank stats.

Even Kang San wasn’t sure if he could stop the Dark Lord, who had slaughtered even S-rank humans.

He took several deep breaths.

Still, he had to deal with it.

It wasn’t a matter of choice in the first place.

As he was calming his trembling heart, Kang San suddenly smelled a sweet fragrance.

“Why? Are you scared?”

Right next to him.

Luca Bellino appeared.

Sitting on a rock with her alluring legs crossed, she looked at Kang San with a strange look in her eyes, different from usual.

Kang San said,

“……Being scared won’t solve the situation, will it?”

“That’s right. But it could be a bit unfair for you. You’re risking your life to save people right now, but those ignorant fools are blaming and criticizing you. They’re such ungrateful bastards. For those who don’t know the value of life, your sacrifice is too precious.”

It was strange.

The flow of the conversation was going in a strange direction.

He met Luca Bellino’s gaze.

She smiled.

“I’ll make you an offer. If you run away from here right now without looking back. If you don’t reveal the existence of the S-rank Outbreak and close your ears and eyes tightly, no matter how many people die because of it.”

With every word she uttered.

As the words combined to form sentences.

Goosebumps rose all over Kang San’s body.

“I’ll withdraw the twenty-eighth Trial.”

✦✦✦✦✦✦

Thump.

His heart sank.

His shaking eyes couldn’t rationally accept Luca Bellino’s words.

“……What do you mean?”

It didn’t make sense.

Im Chan-yeong’s case, and now this.

It was a kind of statement that should never be uttered by the mouth that had been denouncing evil deeds and demanding the repayment of karmic debt.

Luca Bellino’s smile deepened.

“Don’t think there’s any special reason I’m testing you. If you accept, the Trial will be withdrawn, and there will be no penalty. I’ll give you exactly one minute to think about it.”

He was confused.

When she said he was the Blood Demon in his past life.

It was hard to accept.

When he was forced to do good deeds as repayment for his past life’s karmic debt, it was hard to accept, but he had no choice but to.

More than a year since then.

Now he was used to it.

The recurring memories proved the killings of his past life, and although it was still hard to accept, he understood the structure of the Trials he faced. That’s why Luca Bellino shouldn’t have reacted this way. It was completely contrary to her previous actions. She shouldn’t have made such a ridiculous offer, withdrawing the Trial in exchange for something that could clearly be classified as an ‘evil deed’.

If he ran away?

People would die.

If he turned a blind eye?

The terrible disaster he had briefly experienced would repeat itself.

But she was telling him to run away.

It was a completely contradictory offer to the image of a god who denounced his past life as the Blood Demon and demanded the repayment of karmic debt.

“30 seconds left.”

His heart pounded.

Ridiculously, Kang San was conflicted.

She was saying he could live.

That he could run away.

As Luca Bellino said, the fickle public opinion was doubting him, and there was no reason for him to face the S-rank Dark Lord monster alone to protect those people. The weight in his heart shifted dramatically. He wanted to ignore everything he had done so far and run away, as if the year of preparation had been meaningless.

But.

“……Fuck.”

Suddenly.

He remembered the Yakgwa the grandmother had given him.

That grandmother, who smiled brightly at him, wouldn’t survive a disaster like this because she had difficulty moving.

The connections that flashed through his mind.

He had gotten to know too many people while living in Pohang.

If it had been a year ago.

Back when he had decided to abandon Kim Chun-sik, Kang San would have hesitated but eventually ignored the danger in front of him.

Now it was different.

The people who thanked him.

The good deeds that had accumulated, even if they were forced.

He had changed.

In a situation where he was being forced, Kang San had become that kind of person.

‘If I run away, everyone will die.’

He was the best hope against the great disaster.

The feeling of being wronged by the current public opinion was a problem to be solved later.

He swallowed his hesitation.

He ignored his fear.

Hadn’t he prepared as best he could?

As long as the probability of death wasn’t 100%, Kang San had gained countless experiences and confidence that wouldn’t let him give up.

Kang San said,

“……I will accept the Trial.”

“Interesting.”

Luca Bellino’s expression changed.

He had accepted the Trial.

Not by force, but by his own will.

Beyond her cold expression, complex emotions were revealed in her eyes.

“It’s your chosen path from now on. So don’t regret it. I truly…”

Fizzle.

She began to disappear from her feet up.

The last words.

Kang San didn’t hear her voice scattering like a hallucination.

“I hope you survive.”

At that moment.

Kwaang━

Kwaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrr!

A tremendous roar swept through the space where Kang San was.

✦✦✦✦✦✦

Rumble.

Vibrations ran through his whole body.

Even Kang San, who had repeatedly simulated this situation countless times, facing the entire mountain shaking was a different matter. His heart raced. He held his shield close to his body. As he swallowed dryly and focused on the front, he saw something rushing towards him through the rustling bushes.

Kyaak━!

It was in the form of a beast.

A monster, black from head to toe.

Kang San quickly raised his shield to block it, then took advantage of the momentarily exposed gap to blow its head off.

Flash.

Thwack━!

Its head flew off.

As if proving that the opponent was a dark attribute, the severed section burned, emitting an acrid smell.

‘Undead?’

His Blood Demon Art stat didn’t increase.

That meant it wasn’t a living being.

That’s when it happened.

Thud thud thud thud thud thud.

The ground vibrated.

The bushes shook, and he saw something like a black wave through the wind-blown trees.

『Guardian’s Will has been activated.』

『As the number of enemies you are facing is 50, your defense and health regeneration are increased by 150% each.』

Increase in Divine Power.

As Guardian’s Will grew, the increase per monster rose to 3%.

Thanks to this, a tremendous buff effect of 150% was applied, but Kang San couldn’t take the following voice positively.

『Guardian’s Will has been activated.』

『As the number of enemies you are facing is 108, your defense and health regeneration are increased by 324% each.』

『Guardian’s Will has been activated.』

『As the number of enemies you are facing is 155, your defense and health regeneration are increased by 465% each.』

『Guardian’s Will has been activated.』

『As the number of enemies you are facing is 303, your defense and health regeneration are increased by 909% each. As this exceeds the maximum effect of 500% for Guardian’s Will, the 909% buff is adjusted to 500%.』

『Guardian’s Will has been activated.』

『As the number of enemies you are facing is 652, your defense and health regeneration are increased by 1,956% each. As this exceeds the maximum effect of 500% for Guardian’s Will, the 1,956% buff is adjusted to 500%.』

A flood of messages.

Kang San’s eyes wavered.

The meaning of Outbreak came to mind once again.

A great disaster where monsters, overflowing because the entrance to the dungeon wasn’t revealed to the world, break through to the surface.

How strong the monsters inside the dungeon would be.

How many monsters there would be inside the dungeon.

He couldn’t be sure of anything.

Therefore.

『Guardian’s Will has been activated.』

『As the number of enemies you are facing is 1088, your defense and health regeneration are increased by 3,264% each. As this exceeds the maximum effect of 500% for Guardian’s Will, the 3,264% buff is adjusted to 500%.』

Before even facing the Dark Lord.

Kang San’s face hardened at the overwhelming black wave rushing towards him.