SFRW-Chapter 18

Ch. 18 Sword God From The Ruined World

Though mocked with the ridiculous nickname Big Chicken, the Cockastrian is a monster that only S-rank Heroes can afford to face with composure.  

There are three reasons for this.  

First, it can fly.  

Second, it possesses extremely acute senses.  

Third, it boasts formidable defensive power—in other words, an absurdly high level of endurance.  

Once, a survey was conducted asking Heroes worldwide to name the three most troublesome abilities a monster could have.  

At the time, nine out of ten respondents mentioned flight, five cited the ability to preemptively detect attacks due to heightened senses, and three shook their heads while describing the frustration of facing a monster that just wouldn’t go down no matter how much they hit it.  

In other words, despite being ridiculed with the silly nickname Big Chicken, the Cockastrian is actually one of the most avoided monsters among Heroes.  

“…What the hell? Did it die in one hit?”  

Park Seung-ho, a member of the Silk Flower Guild and the main damage dealer of this party, couldn’t believe his eyes.  

He had never seen anyone knock out a Cockastrian with a single punch.  

“It’s not dead yet.”  

Hearing Park Seung-ho’s words, Seo Do-jun lifted his foot and crushed the Cockastrian’s head in one stomp.  

“Now it’s dead.”  

Not only Park Seung-ho but also Hwang Jin-joo and Choi Do-yeon, fellow members of the Silk Flower Guild, stared blankly at Seo Do-jun with half-dazed expressions.  

“Who… What is he?”  

Even Jung In-joo, who prided herself on having experienced all sorts of battles, was left speechless by the sight, staring at Hyun Joo-yeon in disbelief.  

The problem was that even Hyun Joo-yeon couldn’t hide her shocked expression.  

“…Just a strong human?”  

Hyun Joo-yeon muttered those words unintentionally before furrowing her brow.  

As an S-rank Hero, she felt it was an irresponsible thing to say.  

‘What the hell is his deal?’  

To Hyun Joo-yeon, Seo Do-jun was nothing but a complete mystery.  

‘Are you really not afraid of Kang Young-pyo?’  

After witnessing Seo Do-jun brutally reduce Kang Cheol-woo to a wreck right before her eyes, Hyun Joo-yeon concluded that he was either someone who had genuinely lost all fear or someone so strong that he had no reason to fear anything.  

And now, she realized that the latter was closer to the truth.  

There were plenty of Heroes who could take down a Cockastrian in one hit if you looked for them.  

But!  

How many Heroes could detect a Cockastrian mid-flight, intercept it in the air, and smack it down with a single punch?  

Not many came to Hyun Joo-yeon’s mind immediately.  

More importantly, the ones she could think of were all Heroes active overseas—meaning there wasn’t a single Hero in the country who could do what Seo Do-jun just did.  

If you see one, you know ten. Seo Do-jun was undeniably an S-rank Hero.  

Seo Do-jun was right.  

Why would he fear Kang Young-pyo? There was no reason.  

But that was only in a one-on-one scenario.  

If you factored in the influence of Kang Young-pyo’s Black Tiger Guild?  

Seo Do-jun’s actions still bordered on recklessness.  

Unless, of course, Seo Do-jun had a backing force powerful enough to counter the Black Tiger Guild.  

‘But he was completely alone… Then again, his strength was completely unknown until now.’  

Hyun Joo-yeon considered the possibility that Seo Do-jun might have some hidden faction or powerful backer supporting him.  

Either way, time would tell.  

I was just planning to scout the outskirts and leave…  

Even in the lowest-intensity Level 1 rift zone, the central area was dangerous enough.  

Hyun Joo-yeon had agreed to Seo Do-jun’s request but saw no need to exert herself by venturing all the way to the center. She had intended to just hunt around the edges to give him a taste of what the rift zone was like.  

But now, curiosity about Seo Do-jun’s true strength gnawed at her.  

“Sis, I’m going to head to the center for a bit.”  

“The center?”  

Jung In-joo frowned at Hyun Joo-yeon’s sudden deviation from the plan but quickly caught on and casually added,

“Should we come with you?”  

Honestly, Jung In-joo was also curious about Seo Do-jun’s abilities.  

A man who had one-shot a Cockastrian with a single punch.  

Though she tried to stay composed, her heart was racing faster than ever.  

‘Who the hell is he? Was there really someone like this in the country?’  

Her Hero’s instincts and sheer curiosity were at their peak.  

“No, just the two of us will go.”  

Unfortunately, Hyun Joo-yeon shook her head.  

“Tch, so we’re just in the way, huh?”  

Hyun Joo-yeon reassured Jung In-joo, saying she didn’t mean it like that.  

“It’s fine. I was just wondering.”  

Despite her words, Jung In-joo couldn’t hide her disappointment.  

“Seo—”  

Hyun Joo-yeon quickly swallowed Seo Do-jun’s name, thinking he might not want his identity revealed.  

“Hey, you.”  

At Hyun Joo-yeon’s call, Seo Do-jun—who had been extracting a magic stone from the Cockastrian’s corpse—looked up at her.  

“I’m not sharing with people who didn’t contribute.”  

With that, Seo Do-jun swiftly stuffed the magic stone into his old, worn-out backpack.  

Considering that the magic stone from a Cockastrian was of high grade, it wasn’t exactly cheap, but neither Hyun Joo-yeon nor the Silk Flower Guild members—including Jung In-joo—were the type to fuss over something worth a mere 100 million won.  

Yet, at Seo Do-jun’s words, their expressions twisted as if they’d bitten into something foul, their earlier awe and curiosity now mixed with irritation.  

“I wasn’t going to ask for a share.”  

Hyun Joo-yeon retorted before clicking her tongue—an involuntary reaction born of sheer disbelief.  

“Your skills don’t seem to match this place. Were you planning to head further in?”  

She pointed toward the center of the rift zone.  

The area, dense as a jungle and towering enough to blot out the sky, was not a place anyone would dare enter without considerable courage.  

“Sounds fun.”  

At Seo Do-jun’s response, Hyun Joo-yeon nodded as if she’d expected as much.  

“I know the terrain here well, so I’ll lead. Keep up if you don’t want to get lost.”  

Without even waiting for his reply, she kicked off the ground.  

BANG!  

Like a bullet fired from a gun, Hyun Joo-yeon shot forward in an instant.  

Watching her, Seo Do-jun smirked with amusement.  

By the time he took his first step—  

CRACK!  

The ground beneath him cratered deeply, and in the next moment, he vanished without a trace.  

If Hyun Joo-yeon was like a bullet, Seo Do-jun was—  

“Light. He’s like light.”  

Jung In-joo muttered in disbelief, staring at the footprints Seo Do-jun had left behind.  

“Guild Leader, aren’t we going too?”  

At Park Seung-ho’s question, Jung In-joo frowned.  

“Can you keep up?”  

“…No.”  

“Exactly. We’re uninvited guests. Let’s just stick to hunting around here like we planned.”  

A sudden sense of exclusion and inadequacy washed over Jung In-joo as she let out a heavy sigh.  

Others might praise her as an A-rank Hero, but in front of an S-rank, she felt infinitely small.  

She couldn’t imagine feeling any more insignificant than this.  

Among Hyun Joo-yeon’s abilities, her speed was undoubtedly her most outstanding.  

Ranked among the top two fastest in South Korea, she had assumed Seo Do-jun wouldn’t be able to keep up easily.  

Should I slow down a little?’  

Just as the thought crossed her mind—  

“Can’t you go any faster?”  

“KYAAH!”  

Seo Do-jun’s voice, whispered right beside her, made Hyun Joo-yeon shriek in genuine surprise, skidding to a halt.  

She stared at Seo Do-jun, who had stopped alongside her, and opened her mouth.  

“H-How did you…?”  

How are you this fast?  

The question lingered on her tongue.  

But what shocked and horrified her even more was the fact that he had gotten close enough to touch her with just a slight reach.  

What if he had ill intentions?  

A chill ran down her spine, cold sweat dripping down her back.  

She hadn’t felt this tense since being recognized as an S-rank.  

Regardless of her thoughts or tension, Seo Do-jun spoke as if it were none of his concern.  

“You ran like you were trying to lose me, but you’re slower than I expected.”  

Hyun Joo-yeon’s ears turned red at his words.  

“W-Who was trying to lose you?!”  

Seo Do-jun barely acknowledged her flustered excuse, his gaze fixed elsewhere.  

“Hey, Seo Do-jun. When someone talks to you, shouldn’t you at least pretend to listen?”  

“Whatever. What’s over there?”  

He pointed toward the center of the rift zone.  

“Are you talking about where the boss monster is?”  

“Boss monster?”  

“You’ve heard of the Casserian, right? A giant avian monster. It won’t leave its territory unless provoked, so don’t worry. And just in case you’re thinking about it—don’t even try hunting it. You’d need at least three S-rank Heroes to take it down reliably.”  

As Hyun Joo-yeon said, the boss monster of this rift zone was the Casserian.  

And it was extremely strong.  

When it was first discovered, an S-rank Hero had ambitiously led a hunt with 30 A-rank Heroes—only to barely escape with his life after all the A-ranks were sacrificed.  

Later, that same S-rank Hero, vowing revenge, spent a fortune to gather another S-rank and 200 A-rank Heroes for a second attempt.  

It was a revenge mission fueled by confidence that they could kill the Casserian.  

But the result was disastrous.  

Though they succeeded, all 200 A-rank Heroes were slaughtered, and even the hired S-rank Hero suffered critical injuries.  

The losses far outweighed the gains, and the S-rank Hero’s reputation—along with his influence—plummeted.  

Despite its strength, the Casserian never left its territory (a fixed range at the rift zone’s center) unless attacked first, which was why this was classified as a Level 1 rift zone.  

“The Casserian… Doesn’t it have a mythic-grade magic stone?”  

Just one tier below the highest grade, mythic-grade magic stones were notoriously expensive.  

Their base trading price started at 10 billion won, reflecting their immense value and rarity.  

But even so, they weren’t worth the risk of hunting a Casserian.  

“You’re not actually thinking of hunting it, are you? I won’t allow such recklessness—!”  

Before she could finish, Seo Do-jun disappeared from her sight.  

Hyun Joo-yeon, who prided herself on being unmatched in speed, now realized just how arrogant she had been after witnessing Seo Do-jun’s speed.  

“…How is he that fast?”  

For a moment, she felt utterly defeated—but then snapped back to her senses.  

“No!”  

The direction Seo Do-jun had gone was straight toward the Casserian’s territory.  

“I told you not to go there!”  

Like a person with fire at her heels, she desperately chased after him.  

Even at full speed, she couldn’t catch up.  

And then, right before her eyes—  

KWAOOOOOOOOH!  

A monstrous avian creature—20 meters in body length, with wings spanning nearly 100 meters—locked its crimson eyes onto Seo Do-jun, radiating murderous intent so thick it made flesh crawl.  

The Casserian had noticed the intruder in its domain.