BRH 3

“What’s the problem?”

He was quite curious, asking without giving up. Ha Do-heon leaned his head forward slightly and tapped the round table a few times as if knocking. With that small gesture, the round table shook wildly. The yellow slime on the round table bounced up and down.

A young man in armor, towering at 2 meters. A boy flying in the sky. A yellow slime.

Each of them had an appearance that was far from human. Diverse looks and physiques. And Western and modern attire.

They were in a castle after sunset. The interior, with its ceiling paintings, was so high that one had to crane their neck to look up. The tall windows were flamboyantly decorated with stained glass, and the interior was dazzling, solemn, and even antique.

The stone castle reminded Ha Do-heon of the Chambord Castle he had seen in old books. The interior was as splendid as the Vatican, but the paths were so complex that he got lost every time at first.

Anyway, the armored man, who had been listening to Ha Do-heon, frowned and urged him on.

“So, Master. You have to finish what you started. Don’t be frustrating like a servant.”

“Hey, what’s with the… servant, servant. Why do you have to say things like that?”

“What’s wrong with calling a servant a servant?”

“……”

…Strictly speaking, there wasn’t much of a problem. But there was a problem of conscience. It made Ha Do-heon feel like a ruthless owner!

The man who called him a servant twisted his lips. His impression was different from that of a typical Korean. Deep-set eyes, a prominent nose, and a sharp jawline made his features particularly distinct. Ash-gray hair and ash-gray eyes. A handsome face with a typical wild beauty.

Bahamut.

That was the name the man was called. Even before Ha Do-heon became the master of this Yakum Dungeon.

Contrary to what was known to the world, the Yakum Dungeon consisted of a total of 10 floors, and 5 gates awaited challengers on the 10th floor.

The 5th Gate. Unlike the insignificant dungeons on the nine floors they had climbed so far, their dungeon was so vast and enormous that it resembled a continent. They were gatekeepers, or gatekeepers, because they had to pass through the 5th Gate to reach the boss room.

1st Gatekeeper ‘Vampire’ Ren.

2nd Gatekeeper ‘Merfolk’ Radum.

3rd Gatekeeper ‘Fallen Hero’ Bahamut.

4th Gatekeeper ‘Fairy’ Shapilla.

5th Gatekeeper ‘Doppelganger’ Slime.

The Merfolk and Fairy were vacant now because Ha Do-heon had smashed their heads and sent them to the afterlife during the attack. Ren said that merfolk and fairies were social creatures, so they would fight among themselves within a few days to select and seat a leader.

Of course, it was uncertain whether they would follow Ha Do-heon as well as the three guys (?) in front of him.

The grumpy-looking man in armor was the Fallen Hero Bahamut. His real name was different, but when he fell, he abandoned his human name and took on the name of the demon beast that humans feared most. That was Bahamut. Ha Do-heon called him ‘Mut’ though.

The boy floating in the air was dangling his feet while lying face down. The child was wearing a drab black robe, and the eyes under the robe shone shyly, twinkling.

“So…? Master, Ren wants to hear more too. I’m curious.”

Black hair and red eyes. Skin so pale it was almost white. Vampire Ren. Even though he looked so shy and innocent like a child, the moment he sensed an enemy, his eyes burned hotter than lava. A black magician of unparalleled genius.

Haa…. I bled a lot dealing with this guy.

If I didn’t tell them, they would pester me all night, so Ha Do-heon decided to tell them since he was here anyway.

“Ah, uh. First, sit down. I’ll tell you. So… where was I?”

“You said there was a problem. You said the Hunters in the world Master lived in before regressing were acting strange!”

“Oh, right. Was that around the time I broke through the 5th floor? It must have been around this time. That’s when the Hunters started showing strange symptoms.”

“Strange symptoms? I’m hearing this for the first time?”

“Well… because I’m telling you for the first time?”

Ha Do-heon leaned back casually and answered nonchalantly. Mut tilted his head.

“What strange symptoms? Did they all go crazy or something?”

“Not really, um… infection?”

“What?”

“They were infected with bizarre cells. The Hunters.”

All the gatekeepers stared at Ha Do-heon with wide eyes. Ha Do-heon tapped his shoulder with his fist. Ugh… my shoulder is a bit tight because I worked so hard today. What’s the point of becoming a boss, being a Hunter is still hard. Ah, it’s meaningless!

“Back then, Hunters were going around dealing with dungeons and gates a lot. So they were easily exposed to the blood, fluids, and saliva of monsters. That’s probably how they got infected.”

“If they get infected… what happens?”

Ren, who was sitting cross-legged in the air, blinked and asked. Ha Do-heon looked up at the ceiling for a moment, only moving his eyes. What happens?

“Nothing much, they just get a bit stronger.”

Ha Do-heon didn’t know at first that he had regressed to a few years ago. Before regressing, he had entered the Yakum Dungeon at the age of 28 to save the world. He couldn’t get out after that, and he was trapped there for many days.

After regressing, he was able to get out of the Yakum Dungeon, but it took him quite a while to accept reality. After coming to his senses, he found out that he had returned to the ‘Ha Do-heon’ of 23 years old. So, he must have regressed to five years ago.

“They don’t particularly turn into monsters or lose their minds when they’re infected with bizarre cells. They just get stronger than ordinary Hunters. That’s what happened to me.”

“What, Master. You were infected?”

“…Do you think I wanted to be?”

Ha Do-heon glared at him, and Mut chuckled. So there was a reason why he was so strong. Our Master talks about everything like it’s nothing.

“But back then, there wasn’t enough information about the infection, so it was just chaos. They thought the infection was caused by the Yakum Dungeon, so it was closed for a while. But strangely, the symptoms started appearing in overseas Hunters who had never been to Korea. So what does that mean?”

“What are the symptoms?”

“At first, they get a fever. After that, the shape of the monster they’re infected with manifests in some way on their body. Suddenly their fingers change, or their skin becomes animal hide. But that can actually be controlled, so they can hide it if they want to.”

Ha Do-heon awakened as a B-grade Hunter at the age of 19. And most infections occurred in low-grade Hunters. When they get infected, they undergo a re-awakening, which raises their grade. The government worked hard to come up with an excuse to exploit them as pawns.

And that’s how it was created-.

“The Bizarre Hunter Unit.”

The first name was the Federal Mutant Unit, but the Hunter Management Agency absorbed the Mutant Unit and created the Hunter Bizarre Unit.

Ha Do-heon was the captain of the 1st squad of the Bizarre Unit before regressing. He couldn’t avoid infection after all.

A victim who led the entire Bizarre Unit into the Yakum Dungeon on the day the 4th Great Disaster was predicted. And the only survivor of the Yakum Dungeon.

When he reached the final boss room, Ha Do-heon was the only survivor. He firmly believed at the time that everything would be over if he just killed the boss.

He thought that was his last mission. He finally succeeded in killing the boss, but he was out of breath and felt his end approaching.

Did he laugh? He probably felt faintly relieved. Because he thought he had eliminated the world’s disaster.

But when he opened his eyes again, Ha Do-heon was greeted by Ren and Mut, and the strange beating of his heart.

“So?”

“So what…. I became the boss. Completely covered in bizarre cells.”

The Bizarre Unit spent countless hours in the dungeon to conquer the Yakum Dungeon. Even Ha Do-heon might have become a monster when he killed the boss. That was probably why the dungeon recognized him as the boss.

“Oh, so when are you going to take revenge on the humans? What should we do to these servants?”

“Revenge? Who?”

“Well… Master, of course?”

Ha Do-heon frowned and twisted his body to one side. His eyes were full of annoyance. Mut also frowned as if he didn’t understand.

“What, you’re not going to take revenge? You crawled into a death trap because you couldn’t stand the humans, so you have to take revenge!”

“What have you been listening to? I told you I’m not doing that. It’s so annoying, damn….”

He turned his body away and sat down, looking annoyed, and Mut asked in disbelief if it was true.

“No… wow, I thought you were half-joking, but you were serious? These servants will kill them for you! Just say the word!”

“No? I have so much to do, why would I take revenge?”

“What do you have to do, damn it! What else does a B-grade Hunter do besides pick up trash?”

“…Not trash, but I do pick up magic stones.”

It had already been four months since Ha Do-heon regressed. He didn’t realize he had regressed from the beginning either. He had become the boss by chance, but he had sneaked out of the dungeon to check the situation outside.

But when Ha Do-heon was checking the situation, he thought he was dreaming. Because the commercial district of the dungeon, which had disappeared due to the Great Disaster, was still thriving.

He grabbed a passerby and asked them questions, but the other person treated Ha Do-heon like a madman. To make matters worse, the Hunters who came out of the dungeon talked about the 4th floor they had broken through in the past and complained about how hard it was today.

After that, he locked himself in the castle for a month, denying reality with his head in his hands. After going through the five stages of anger, Ha Do-heon finally accepted and accommodated the reality he was in.

The timing of his regression was unfortunately the spring of his 23rd year, when he had established himself as a Hunter. He had returned to a young and fresh time, when he was struggling to survive. Regardless of his will or intention.