The One Who Saved a World Before Will be Best at Saving Another

Chapter 33

A monster was roasting over a blazing campfire. The one-eyed man wearing a fur coat grinned as he carved off a chunk of the roasting monster’s flesh with a butterfly knife, tossed it into his mouth, and chewed.

His shaved head was decorated with intricate scratch patterns and scars. He stood over two meters tall and weighed at least 120 kilograms, most of it being muscle. His bare torso was covered with tattoos and scars as striking as the scratches on his scalp.

"Hey, are you done yet? Time’s ticking."

"Nikolai, please…"

The man whose arms and legs were bound had a face covered in bruises, and when he spoke, his missing teeth were visible.

Nikolai Baranov. The Ghost of the Amur River, Devil of Khabarovsk. He was the ruler of this region with over five hundred subordinates, known by countless names.

He toyed with a pair of dice in his hand, eyes glittering with amusement.

"I’m not the one throwing them. And I haven’t rigged the dice either."

He said this and tapped the back of the young girl standing next to him.

"The kid will throw the dice."

The girl, who looked about eight years old, trembled in fear, glancing back and forth between Nikolai and the bound man.

After waiting for a while, Nikolai waved his hand impatiently.

"Hey, pull another one out."

Immediately, a man standing behind Nikolai stepped forward with a large pair of pliers, approaching the bound man.

Just before the pliers entered his mouth, the man shouted desperately.

"O… Odd! I-I’ll choose odd!"

At that, Nikolai grinned.

"Good, you chose odd. But you were a little too slow."

Muttering this, Nikolai gestured.

A pitiful scream rang out, followed by a faint crunching sound as the man’s tooth was yanked out by the pliers.

Watching the scene, Nikolai handed the dice to the young girl.

"Now throw them. Let’s see if luck is still smiling on this guy."

With trembling hands, the girl took the dice.

"Listen carefully, little lady. This man’s fate will change because of your hands. If you roll an odd number, he goes free. But if you roll something else? Oh…"

He trailed off with a smile and patted the girl’s head.

"Then whatever happens next will be your fault."

The girl shivered violently at his words.

"And you will watch every single thing that happens to him because of the dice you threw."

Nikolai stomped his feet a few times in excitement before shouting cheerfully.

"Now throw! If you dawdle, another tooth is coming out of his mouth!"

Just before she threw, the girl’s eyes met the bound man’s. In them she saw desperation, intense hope, and fear.

Swallowing hard, trembling like a leaf, the girl rolled the dice. They tumbled across the ground and landed on 3 and 3.

Three plus three made six.

Six was even.

"Take them both."

The girl collapsed to the ground with a pale face, yellow liquid running between her legs.

Nikolai spoke in a mockingly sympathetic tone.

"Poor daddy. If you’d just thrown the right dice, you both could have gone home alive."

"Please, please! Let my daughter go, Nikolai, it’s my fault!"

Nikolai grabbed the man by the collar and lifted him up.

"Don’t give me orders. I might just kill you."

He threw the man back to the ground and scratched his head.

"Ah, come to think of it, you were going to die anyway."

As if just realizing it, Nikolai muttered, then wandered over to a sofa and sat down.

"Quite a sight to walk in on."

The newcomer was smaller compared to Nikolai’s massive frame. He held a folding fan in one hand and wore a gray modified hanbok.

"Lee Hayoon."

It seemed Nikolai knew the man.

"What is it this time?"

"I have a request for you."

Nikolai yawned and leaned back on the sofa.

"Money means nothing to me."

"I know."

Nikolai was the kind of lunatic who used 50,000 won bills as kindling when he felt cold.

He was a hedonistic killer who had become a boss. The only jobs this Russian maniac took were the ones that interested him.

"A train will soon depart from Vladivostok."

"When was it that the Trans-Siberian Railway’s middle section got wrecked to pieces?"

"They say it will run while being repaired."

Among those awakened to magic patterns, some could repair damaged objects quickly if they had the materials.

Nikolai chuckled at Lee Hayoon’s words.

"That’s a crazy idea."

A freight train repaired on the move by Hunters was something only a country like Korea, with plenty of skilled Hunters, could dream of.

It would not even last long either. Current civilization lacked the capability to maintain and repair the Trans-Siberian from the monsters of the Erosion Zones.

"Like… three months, maybe?"

Even at most, after that much time, the restored section would become unusable again.

"What are they transporting?"

They were restoring the Trans-Siberian with Hunters and resources, knowing it would break again. Nikolai couldn’t help but be curious.

But Lee Hayoon quickly shifted the focus.

"What they’re transporting isn’t important. Who is transporting it is what matters."

"Really?"

Smiling, Lee Hayoon snapped open his fan.

"The Candy Lady of Jannabi is glaring daggers."

A Hunter ranked tenth on the List of Hope, famous for handing out candy to people she liked, Lee Se-eun.

She was the type who could crush three of Nikolai’s organizations in a single sitting. She was one of the bombs you just did not mess with.

But Nikolai showed no fear or surprise. Instead, his eyes gleamed with oily excitement.

"If you know she’s coming, you’ve thought of how to deal with her, right?"

"I can keep Hunter Lee Se-eun occupied for a while."

"Tell me."

Nikolai’s eyes narrowed.

From Lee Hayoon’s long sleeves fluttered dozens of talismans that floated into the air.

Soon, they connected with glowing purple lines. It was not a shield, but a prison. Nothing could enter from outside or leave from inside.

It was very solid and strong.

"If I execute it well… I can hold her for about an hour."

"Don’t make me laugh. Looks like forty minutes at best to me."

And that was only if Lee Hayoon was ready to die. Nikolai smirked at his judgment.

"Robbing a train guarded by Jannabi’s Candy Lady, huh."

It was dangerous. Without the man before him tying her down, he would not even attempt it.

But if it succeeded…?

"Strictly speaking, it’s not robbery. Jannabi’s job is to guard a specific car on that train…"

"And you want it gone."

If it was just one train car to destroy, the job became easier.

"No, it;s not to destroy it."

Lee Hayoon pulled out a small device.

"Break into the car and connect this to the equipment inside."

The Descendants of Dangun wanted data from that shield generator.

"That car’s bound to be solid though."

As if prepared, Lee Hayoon opened a case he had brought.

"Oho."

Inside was a round device about the size of a gym weight plate.

"Once activated, in about fifteen minutes, it’ll make a hole big enough for a person to pass through."

"Alright, then it’s a thirty-minute job, not forty. Sounds fun already."

He grinned, imagining the famous Candy Lady helplessly watching as the thing she was guarding was taken.

"Alright I’ll accept this job. After I finish your request, can I smash the cargo?"

"Yes, we’d be even more grateful if you did."

Nikolai rubbed his huge hands together with a grin.

"Oh, one more thing."

Lee Hayoon honestly wasn’t sure it was worth bringing up, but his boss had ordered it, so he had to follow it.  

"What now?"

"There’s a Hunter named Yoo Chan-seok on that train. In Korea, he’s considered a promising rookie. Be cautious."

Nikolai looked unimpressed.

"What’s he done?"

"He just started hunting but supposedly took down a grade 2 Erosion Core solo."

Nikolai snorted.

"Impressive, but that just means he’s about as good as a decent company Partner Hunter."

That level did not warrant fear.

In fact…

"So he’s a promising rookie. I’d like to see his face if we crippled him."

"If Yoo Chan-seok doesn’t interfere, leave him. Even if you fight him, you cannot kill him."

Lee Hayoon still didn’t understand his boss’s stance on Yoo Chan-seok.

Cautious, but with no intent to kill.

He knew it had something to do with the man’s abilities, but whether it was worth all this was questionable.

"Oh, uh… I’ll try, I guess."

Nikolai brushed off the warning.

"You must keep the promise."

"If he dies in a fight, what do you expect me to do? If you’re that worried, your boss should come here and deal with him himself."

Lee Hayoon’s eyes sharpened for an instant. The boss was very busy at the moment, and this job was beneath him.

If this inferior creature in front of him had no use for achieving their goal, he would slit his throat right now.

"I’ve said what I needed to say."

But now was not the time. This crazy Russian could still be useful. He could be discarded later.

And when that time came, Lee Hayoon would handle it personally. He drew a dagger from his belt.

Its 20cm blade had a ring on the hilt, from which hung long paper tassels.

"Sabaha."

He swung it, the tassels slicing the air, leaving trails as space rippled and a black hole opened.

"Goodbye now."

He stepped into the hole. When he and it vanished, Nikolai rested his chin on his hand and stared at the empty space.

"Seriously, those damned eyes are getting on my nerves."

He knew the man who had just left would one day try to put a blade to his throat.

But for now, he had been given a job that sounded fun. Nikolai planned to focus on what was coming.