Kill the Hero

TL: Uncle Choi

Most people would like to return to the past.

However, nobody ever prepares for that.

If they were told to make a plan for returning to the past, they would try to remember the winning numbers for the lottery. Nevertheless, normally, nobody would bother remembering lottery numbers that people already won just in case they returned to the past.

Kim Woo-jin was the same.

Kim Woo-jin did not have a contingency plan ready for returning to the past.

‘I returned to the past.’

After the monster hunt, such thoughts constantly occupied Kim Woo-jin’s mind.

‘…Without achieving anything.’

He did everything possible to try to end the world, which had turned into a game. However, he returned to the past without accomplishing that single dream.

‘Shit…’

Therefore, in his heart, Kim Woo-jin did not feel the joy of being given a new chance. Instead, he felt frustration at his failure. Rather than being excited, he felt bitter and rotten inside.

‘Lee Se-joon…’

First of all, there was no way to describe the feeling of being betrayed by the first person he trusted, someone he viewed as a hero.

‘He is the worst possible enemy.’

And after facing the fact that the world’s hero became his enemy, Kim Woo-jin inevitably became silent. That was what Lee Se-joon represented. He was always the world’s strongest.

‘When I awakened in 2023, Lee Se-joon’s level was over 150, and he should be clearing dungeons with five floors by now.’

On January 1st, 2020, Lee Se-joon was one of the first seven to become a player, and one of the five players who were chosen by the sacred light. He was also a man who always held title of the highest level player.

‘Messiah Guild is probably firmly established as well.’

Lee Se-joon was not alone. The Messiah Guild was backed by numerous powerful and influential individuals. In particular, the Hansung Group, which was number one in Korea. The Messiah Guild was already one of the top five guilds in Korea.

When excluding the Messiah Guild, two of the top five guilds were supported by the U.S government. One of them was funded by the European Union and the last one was backed by the Chinese government. So, the fact that the Messiah Guild, which was only backed by a powerful conglomerate, made it into the top five world rankings, was extremely exceptional.

But all those things were inconsequential compared to the title that Lee Se-joon was known for.

The Messiah.

The fact that Lee Se-joon was not just a figurehead could be seen by turning on a smartphone and looking at a news portal. No matter which major news site you visited, articles about Lee Se-joon and the Messiah Guild were always in the spotlight. Also, there was at least one story about Lee Se-joon and his Messiah Guild running on the news everyday.

It wasn’t just simple cheering and support.

If a story or article did not come out, his fanatic followers claimed such an act was a conspiracy against the hero by the rich and powerful.

It was obvious at a glance when looking at the comments concerning the news about the Messiah Guild.

The social networks had the same problems as well, except it was even crazier.

That was why, even when the majority were unhappy with Lee Se-joon and the Messiah Guild, they could not be openly hostile.

If you bare your fangs at him, it was the same as making the world your enemy. Now, Kim Woo-jin had to fight against such an idol.

‘If I were to hunt him alone, it will take a lot of work in the future.’

He had to do it alone though. Kim Woo-jin did not even consider working with others. After such a tragic betrayal, how could he trust someone with his back when he was facing a hero known as the Messiah?

It was unrealistically comical. He wasn’t sure of anything else, but Kim Woo-jin was certain of this, in this life, he would not join hands with others.

He was planning to end this game by himself.

That was why the choices he had been given were of the utmost importance to Kim Woo-jin right now.

‘Which halo should I choose?’

Halo. To put it simply, they were the same as jobs or classes one would select in a game.

When a player awoke, one had to pledge to or follow a transcendent being with various attributes and powers to obtain a halo, which dictated the direction of the player’s growth.

The fact of the matter was, not everyone received several options to choose from. Actually, most of the players didn’t get to choose their halo at all.

Only one out of a thousand players would receive the right to choose from two halos, and those people who were granted three halos to choose from were a thousand times more rare than those with two choices.

In other words, only about one person in a million players would be able to select from three halos.

‘Before I returned to the past, I was an Undying Fighter.’

The halo that Kim Woo-jin chose before returning to the past was the ‘Undying Fighter.’

Kim Woo-jin’s halo, which literally meant ‘Immortal Warrior’, was a threat even to Lee Se-joon, who stood at the very top.

‘Without the support of the Messiah Guild, it would be nigh impossible to become that powerful again.’

It was all possible due to the support of the Messiah Guild. No, it was only possible because of the Messiah Guild. Excluding their support, the Messiah Guild was the only group that attempted unfathomably difficult challenges without any hesitation, while everybody else was busy trying to keep their lives intact.

‘This isn’t enough to kill him.’

This was why he was not going to select the ‘Undying Fighter’ as his halo this time.

It already failed in his past life and going with the same method again was not going to work on him.

Now he was left with two choices: ‘Silent Hunter’ and ‘Emissary of the Underworld.’

‘Should I pick the ‘Silent Hunter’?’

‘Silent Hunter’ was a ranged damage dealer and an assassin. Without classes with outstanding mobility, powerful ranged attacks, and mysterious secret techniques, it was hopeless to explore a difficult dungeon. Exploring a dungeon without them was the same as a person with a bad eyesight trying to walk without their glasses.

‘Although Silent Hunter can be a game maker, it can’t be a game changer…’

Unfortunately, that was the limit of this class. The proof was Kim Woo-jin’s record itself.

‘Among those who had a halo of the Silent Hunter, no one was stronger than me.’

Among the players who had a halo of the Silent Hunter, there wasn’t a single case where they were able to live after being turned into Kim Woo-jin’s prey.

‘Furthermore, stuff like assassination is not going to work on Lee Se-joon’

First of all, due to the fact that Lee Se-joon had the most enemies in the world, he had to face countless assassination attempts, and probably the most out of everyone on Earth.

Nevertheless, no assassination attempt had ever succeeded.

‘I can’t choose the Silent Hunter either. Then, the only option I have left is the Emissary of the Underworld. On the other hand, the Emissary of the Underworld is…’

The Emissary of the Underworld. It was the one of the varieties of black wizards that had abilities for many different roles, such as a damage dealer, a tanker, and a debuffer. It was one of the halos of the sacred lights. Moreover, he had more knowledge and information about halos than anyone else in the present.

‘The King of the Underworld also held the halo of Emissary of the Underworld.’

The last enemy of the Messiah guild, a player who made even Lee Se-joon uneasy. One who had signed the non-aggression treaties, the King of the Undead, King Johann Georg. He was an individual who had the Emissary of the Underworld as his halo.

That was why there wasn’t much information regarding this halo.

‘If Lee Se-joon was a hero, then that guy was a monstrosity.’

Kim Woo-jin knew how scary the player known as the King of the Undead, King Johann Georg could be, since the one who killed him was none other than Kim Woo-jin himself.

In order to kill him, Kim Woo-jin investigated and researched him more than anyone else, he was an expert on the details concerning the Emissary of the Underworld.

All things considered, there wasn’t a halo more suitable for him than the Emissary of the Underworld.

In a way, he didn’t even have to think about which halo to choose.

‘The problem, however, was the notoriety this halo held…’

If the Emissary of the Underworld did not hold such strong notoriety among its users, Kim Woo-jin would not have such a hard time deciding. In other words, the enormous notoriety given to a player, for the class with the highest potential and strength, was too much to bear. From the start, this halo gave the user the rare powers held by the Emissary of the Underworld, which differed from all the other halos.

When the other halos granted their powers to a player, they conducted a test based on systematic examination and criteria. However, the Emissary of the Underworld conducted the test based on a battle evaluation. This meant that in order to reach the apex of what this halo had to offer, one had to first devour the likes of the King of the Undead. And that meant he had to defeat the monster-like players such as the King of the Undead, Johann Georg to unlock potential of his halo.

As a result, most of the players who chose the Emissary of the Underworld as their halos grew very slowly.  That was mainly due to the presence of King Johann Georg.

This was why when Lee Se-joon and the other players with the sacred light made their names, only two names from the Underworld were known.

The King of Deadly Poison and the King of the Undead.

‘These two players were monsters.’

Recalling those two, Kim Woo-jin clicked his tongue briefly. Those two were monsters; such an expression was enough to describe them. Facing the facts, Kim Woo-jin no longer worried.

‘I just have to devour those monsters and become a monster myself.’

Kim Woo-jin chose a new path.

‘Next, I have to choose a guild…’

He now had to address a new concern.

‘At this point, the best guild for me to use and leech from is the one and only number two guild in Korea, the Phoenix Guild.’

It was a very brief consideration.