A Betrayed Master Will Not Return - A Betrayed Master Will Not Return chapter 0

0 – Prologue

It all started from something so trivial.

A small misunderstanding about that person.

An incomplete trust in that person.

And…

Someone’s petty interference.

At first, it was just a small speck, like a speck of dust.

But as time went on, it grew to sow seeds of doubt in their hearts.

And because of the shadow that grew from that doubt.

They ultimately…

committed a heinous act.

Something so vile,

something so utterly pitiful.

Their mentor,

their beloved,

and at the same time, someone they had a secret admiration for.

They took a life.

“Ack!”

The repulsive scream of a despicable man.

With a sharp scratch in her ear, the person collapsed to the ground.

“Heuk… Heuk… Heuk…”

“Kkul…”

Two women wearing leather clothes, holding a sword and a scythe,

Wiping the blood and sweat covering their faces as they let out tired breaths.

These women, who carry the profession of Devil Hunters,

Slowly walked forward, their hands stained with their master’s blood.

“Finally… finished.”

“…Yeah.”

The blonde woman spoke in a cold voice.

The woman with blue hair standing beside her silently nodded,

Then she walked towards the person lying on the ground with a blood-soaked sword…

And approached the middle-aged Devil Hunter.

At that moment…

-Crkrkrkring!

“!”

A sharp sound suddenly came from under their feet.

Due to the ground cracking from the intense battle just moments ago, the two had no choice but to step back, leaving the man lying on the ground behind.

And then, a horrifying sound followed as the cliff crumbled down.

The man’s body tumbled down below, swept away by the current.

“…Should we chase after him?”

“…”

A blonde woman slowly shook her head in response to the words of a blue-haired woman.

The river, swollen from the heavy rain, was still carrying countless branches and rocks downstream.

Moreover, the man had already suffered injuries that were beyond survivable levels.

In this place where even demons trembled, there was no possibility of him coming back alive, no matter how skilled he was.

No,

To be more precise…

Both women knew deep down that they didn’t want to get involved any further.

In the midst of this gloomy atmosphere,

The two of them continued to descend the mountain, braving the strong wind.

“…Was it really the right thing to do?”

Walking down the muddy path, the blue-haired woman opened her mouth with a heavy voice.

The blonde woman, on the other hand, maintained silence without saying a word, but deep inside, her mind was filled with complex thoughts.

An uneasiness still lingered in a corner of her heart.

The despicable process that had unfolded,

And the suspicious circumstances that still remained, all made her feel a sense of unease about this situation.

But even so,

She buried these discomforts in her heart.

“It worked out well… I defeated the dirty guy who was trying to make a deal with the devil… This was just something that had to be done. And… And with this, I can finally become the battalion leader that I’ve always wanted. Me, a lowly commoner, can finally…”

The ‘justification’ that her actions were right.

Expectations for the ‘reward’ that she would receive through this.

She held onto the thought that she should only focus on this for now.

Leaving behind a friend who couldn’t hide her agony, she left that place as it was.

*

People often find themselves in unpredictable situations.

And now,

I, who was originally a mediocre job seeker in South Korea.

I, who had the name Choi Jong-min.

I was convinced that the situation I was in was exactly that kind of situation.

What I saw were a flowing creek and a dense forest.

Beside me, lying down, were a sword and a musket that had become unusable.

And what I was wearing was a blood-stained Gothic-style leather armor.

A costume that I had never seen in real life, only in games.

And,

I looked so different from my original early 20s self.

At least, I looked like a middle-aged man in his 40s.

With dark brown hair, black eyes, and a beard that was slightly unkempt, I appeared as a middle-aged man in his forties.

Through these facts,

I realized that I, who had come from another world in novels or comics…

No, to be precise, I could see that I had possessed someone’s body.

Furthermore, through this attire and this face,

I could roughly grasp what kind of world I am in right now.

Lately, whenever I turned on the internet, game advertisements would pour out excitedly.

Among them, an advertisement that I saw too frequently, to the point of being excessive, was showing a person who looked exactly like me right now, wielding a sword and shooting bullets.

An RPG game.

Blood Hunter 2 – La Marceau

Set in a worn-down medieval Gothic-style dark fantasy world,

the protagonist is a hunter who hunts ‘demons’ that appear from all directions, and the storyline revolves around saving people.

The problem is, separate from encountering countless advertisements.

The fact was, I had never played this game even once.

The prequel, the game called ‘Blood Hunter’, played quite entertainingly as a veteran player.

Despite the game difficulty that cannot be called easy, the dazzling graphics and rich story, being from ten years ago, still had considerable charm.

However, the newly released sequel this time.

The game is set 30 years after the first installment.

For Blood Hunter 2 – La Marceau, besides the rough plot shown in the advertisement, I knew nothing about the detailed story.

In the first place, separate from the advertisement, it had only been a week since this game was released,

And considering that I had to wait another month for the Korean translation, I was still in a situation where I hadn’t even played the game, let alone purchased it.

I knew that the middle-aged man I had possessed was called Gerald Muller, a devil hunter, and he was the master who taught the protagonist devil hunting skills in the game.

However, even with this knowledge, I was curious about who this man, who did not appear in the first installment but was featured in the sequel ad that I had been looking forward to, was.

I had no idea about his personality or what he experienced in the game.

Honestly, I was somewhat curious to find out more, but I didn’t want spoilers either.

But at this moment, I, who had accidentally become the problematic Gerald Muller, was deeply regretting not looking up spoilers.

“If I had, at least I would know where this is and what point in time it is…”

There were mountains all around me.

There was no trace of anyone, and I had no idea where to go to make contact with people.

“I really… why did I possess this kind of person through transmigration? If I’m going to possess someone, wouldn’t it be better to possess the protagonist who knows everything and can handle it smoothly?”

I don’t know how I ended up like this, but in many ways, it was a frustrating…

No, it was truly a sh*tty situation to be thrown into a survival scenario instead of a devil hunting adventure from the beginning.

But that doesn’t mean I can just sit here and die.

I had no choice but to struggle and try anything to survive.

Fortunately, I confirmed through various tests that my physical abilities were almost at their peak, and being the protagonist’s master wasn’t just for show.

If there is a bear passing by without making jokes, he can boil bear soup with his bare fists.

With overwhelming physical abilities and knowledge from previous work,

I lived by literally hunting various animals in the unknown deep forest, from beasts to ‘devils’ that pop out like game values when bored.

And.

One day, after three years of living a ‘hunting’ life in the forest.

I, who was eating the devil that I had fought as usual.

Now, I recognized the sense of being caught in completely familiar senses,

I put down the meat I was holding and stood up from my seat.

“…A woman.”