Demon Hunter (1):
I was half in doubt.
"Do demons really appear like this in reality?"
…It's been 10 years, and nothing has changed?
The current situation was just like a demon hunter quest.
But the moment the message appeared, I was convinced.
A demon had possessed Nam Cheol-min's body.
In that instant, all the information I'd seen on the community forums flashed through my mind.
The real problem is the demon race.
Not only are their base levels high, but the status effects are f***ing annoying.
At least mages and priest classes can endure with high mental stats, but for warriors like us, without buffs or potions, we're basically sandbags.
Indeed, demons in the real world were troublesome monsters.
Sure, there's no guarantee that they'd be the same as the demons I encountered in quests 10 years ago.
But I knew one thing for certain:
I couldn't afford to be distracted by such petty speculation in front of a demon.
『Ironically, Granfell Cloudy Arpheus Romeo's pride shines brightest in the presence of demons.』
Yeah.
I didn't know what kind of demon had possessed Nam Cheol-min.
I didn't know what level it was or what kind of status effects it could inflict.
Tap—
But my vision was clearer than ever.
There was not a hint of hesitation in my steps.
And at the moment I faced the demon, I spoke in a cold tone:
"Just as I thought. You are a demon."
Gasps of shock rippled through the group.
Choi Jung-hoon stammered.
He looked back and forth between me and Nam Cheol-min, stepping backward.
"W-What are you saying? A demon?!"
"A demon race…!! I knew I had a bad feeling."
"Wait—if it's a demon, then we can't possibly handle it…?!"
Amid the shock, Nam Cheol-min—or rather, the demon—burst out laughing.
"HAHAHA! Took you long enough to figure it out, you morons!!"
The demon clearly enjoyed this situation.
Of course he did.
Negative human emotions are nourishment for demons.
"You humans, man… Sooo~ fake."
But I had no intention of listening to his blabbering.
"Lacking in class."
At some point, a silver dagger had appeared in my hand.
"Not that an inferior being like a demon could even understand the concept of class."
Of course, there was a hierarchy among demons as well.
I'd heard all about it back when I was doing a class-change quest in Akshan.
Low-class, mid-class, high-class…
Above them were the True Name Demons, and even higher were those who claimed to be Demon Kings…
But as I said:
『No temptation, deception, or trial of any demon can leave even a scratch on Granfell's noble pride.』
To Granfell—
To me, they were all just demons.
That's why there was no hesitation in my actions.
[Skill, 'Natural Enemy' has been activated.]
───────
Natural Enemy: When fighting demons, your combat power increases dramatically.
───────
With the skill activated,
my physical capabilities were drastically enhanced.
Swish—!
Swift and precise.
I thrust the dagger toward Nam Cheol-min's neck.
Ting—!
Of course. Plate armor.
Didn't expect it to protect even the neck joint.
His startled voice came through, clearly shaken.
"…Haha! You're insane, aren't you? Even crazier than me? We were just talking nicely, and now you're swinging a knife at me? What the hell is wrong with you?!"
But I didn't allow it.
"Don't try to speak with me."
"W-What?!"
"I don't converse with prey."
Swish—!
It was impossible to pierce plate armor with a silver dagger.
"Then I'll aim for the joints."
In front of the demon, I moved by instinct.
Even my thought process and reaction time were clearly on a different level compared to when I was dealing with gnolls.
Stab—!
I drove the silver dagger into the inner elbow.
[Skill, 'Exorcism Ritual' has been activated.]
"I don't know how effective it'll be, but that doesn't matter."
That message meant only one thing:
I had landed a valid hit on the demon.
The demon recoiled, stumbling back several steps in shock.
"F***!! That's silver!!! What the hell are you doing?!"
In response, I swung the dagger again.
The side joint.
The knee joint.
And even the small gap at the back of the neck.
Splurt—
Black blood burst from the wounds.
The demon shouted.
"You psycho bastard…! Don't you see the blood?! If you keep going, this guy will really die! If you kill me, he dies too!! I swear, I'll take him down with me—what, you think I'll just die alone?!"
I smiled inwardly with delight.
"Wow. Even the lines are exactly the same as ten years ago."
Nice try, not buying it.
While the skill [Exorcism Ritual] is active, the Demon Hunter's attacks only affect the demon.
No matter how long it's been, I haven't forgotten that basic fact.
I have not.
Still, my face showed nothing.
"Prey is meant to be hunted, nothing more."
Stab—!
"Hyung, don't push yourself too hard. Try to avoid dangerous rifts when you can.""Got it, you little punk.""I'm not joking. Things have been tense lately. That's why I'm saying this… Why don't you just join our guild? There's plenty you can do as a player even without diving into rifts. You know, like becoming an analyst or something."
I just didn't want to live a pathetic life.
"Even though you're brothers, you two are really different.""Guess I'll have to work harder if I don't want to embarrass my little brother.""I heard Taemin succeeded in another boss raid. Tell him I said congratulations."
I just didn't want to burden my younger brother, who was more successful than me.
Nam Cheol-min thought as he watched his body move on its own.
'…Where did it all go wrong?'
His memories became hazy the moment he entered the rift.
But he remembered one thing clearly—the messages that had popped up:
[A low-rank demon, Imp, is watching you.][Your mental strength is too low.][Status effect: Possession has occurred.]
'…An Imp?'
A level 200 demon-type monster—Imp.
Nam Cheol-min knew just how dangerous demons were.
Because of what he had heard from his younger brother, Nam Taemin.
He clenched his teeth.
'I shouldn't have come in! It's going to be a wipe!'
But he couldn't speak.
'…Wait, another party. If we get help from another party—!'
But words he didn't mean came out of his mouth.
"Well, there's no need to worry. This is a transfer station, so it's pretty spacious, right? As long as we pick a good route, we should be able to avoid overlapping with other parties."
He was literally leading his party members into a death trap.
"Cheol-min hyung! No, hyung!!"
With his increasingly erratic behavior,
the party, including Choi Jung-hoon, ended up surrounded by gnolls.
'It's my fault. It's all because of me…!!'
Move.Please, move.I have to help them.
But Nam Cheol-min couldn't move a single step.
He could only stand there, blankly watching.
"What the hell is wrong with you?! Hey, Nam Cheol-min!!"
It was all his fault.
It was because of his lack of ability.
Crushed by a sense of helplessness, Nam Cheol-min's mind began to break down.
'…Taemin, maybe you were right after all.'
And that was exactly what the Imp wanted.
Nam Cheol-min finally let go of the thin thread of consciousness he had been holding on to.
All he could hear was a faint voice.
"Hey, Nam Cheol-min! You really thought you were something just 'cause I followed you around calling you hyung? You're just a piece of shit nobody if not for your little brother…"
Yeah, Choi Jung-hoon was right about everything.
That's all he ever was.
"Hahaha. Kahahahaha."
After that, there was only laughter.
The Imp's mocking laughter, as if it were ridiculing his weakness.
But then, the mocking laughter—thought to be endless—suddenly stopped.
"Just as I thought. You are a demon."
…He noticed the demon? How?
Hearing those words, Nam Cheol-min grasped the thread of consciousness once again.
And in his vision, he saw an unbelievable scene.
'…He's overpowering the Imp?'
It was a completely absurd situation.
Demons weren't troublesome just because of their high level.
They constantly inflicted debilitating status effects.
[Fear], [Despair], [Exhaustion]…
To resist those brutal debuffs, you needed a high mental stat—
Or a level so overwhelming it ignored those effects altogether.
'…So who is this man?'
Even as he watched, he couldn't believe it.
This wasn't a fight.
Yes, the man was right.
It was a one-sided hunt.
The Imp's desperate wails echoed in Nam Cheol-min's ears.
He thought:
'If the Imp dies, I'll die too?'
Then so be it.
Nam Cheol-min made up his mind.
Because of him, his party members were in danger.
Even if he'd been possessed by an Imp, it wasn't an excuse.
Demons preyed on the weak.
That, too, was his own fault.
'At the very least, I should pay for my share—with my life.'
Isn't that right, Jung-hoon? Taemin?
Thankfully, the man didn't seem to hesitate in the slightest.
'Unfortunately, I have no way to repay you.'
That thought crossed Nam Cheol-min's mind—
Stab—!
At the exact moment the man's dagger pierced his neck.
He felt something leave his body.
Blink—
…For some reason, his eyes opened.
"...?"
He soon saw the ceiling of the subway car.
The flickering lightbulb was glowing.
So bright it made him squint.
In the midst of it, a voice spoke.
"Didn't I tell you?"
It was calm—
A voice filled with dignity.
"As long as I am here, you have nothing to worry about."
[You have defeated a low-rank demon, 'Imp'.]
[Level Up.]
[Level Up.]
[Level Up.]...
I leveled up.
Counting the number of those messages, there were a total of 12.
I only took down a single Imp, yet I gained a whopping 12 levels.
What the hell? Is this for real?
I recalled the battle with the Imp.
I was trying to gauge the Imp's level, considering how much EXP it had poured out.
But no matter how I thought about it, I couldn't make sense of it.
'Honestly, the gnoll was a tougher opponent than the Imp.'
The gnoll was only in the level 30s.
Which meant one thing, plain and simple.
'...They say the greater the expectation, the bigger the disappointment.'
But this far exceeded any expectation I had.
Apparently, the "natural enemy" relationship between a demon hunter and demon-kind was far more absolute than I imagined.
'Maybe it's because it was a low-rank demon.'
The gap was something sheer strength alone couldn't overcome.
The messages didn't stop there.
[The skill 'Silver Mastery' has increased in proficiency.]
───────Silver Mastery (24%): Grants bonus attack power and special effects when using silver weapons.───────
Thanks to defeating the Imp with a silver dagger, the skill proficiency had increased significantly.
It jumped from 19% all the way to 24% in one go.
Unfortunately, the Imp didn't drop any items.
But I didn't feel disappointed.
Maybe it was because I gained a massive amount of EXP.
Or maybe it was because of Granfell's lore about not being obsessed with wealth and glory.
I couldn't tell.
'More importantly—'
What mattered was that I had kept my word.
"Didn't I tell you? With me here, you have nothing to worry about."
...If I had failed, I'd have died from sheer embarrassment.
Through this experience, I learned something for certain.
That Granfell—my persona with a history of cringe—could not be corrected.
Even in a life-or-death crisis.
That unwavering pride spoke for itself.
Which means I have no choice but to adapt to it.
Fortunately, it seemed I was pretty good at adapting.
"Sniffle Thank you. Truly. I'll never forget this favor...!"
"Hyung, are you okay? Geez, what the hell even happened...."
"Phew. Thank goodness. Really."
"Wow. That was insane...!!"
The heavy gazes being poured onto me.
Those eyes, looking at me with admiration.
I accepted them without hesitation.
As if their reaction was only natural.
All I thought was—
'What a brat.'
That saying, "Kids these days have no manners,"
—it's not just some old-fashioned gripe, you know?
──────────
Title: 4th Line Rift Clear Recap from Today!! > ──────────
Post: Today's run was seriously a disaster waiting to happenㅠㅠ The party leader got possessed by an Impㅠㅠㅠ We all thought we were gonna get wipedㅠㅠ But one of the party members was insanely strong and totally wrecked the Imp and saved us!! The party leader was crying and thanking him nonstopㅠㅠㅠ
──────────
Comments:
─ LOL it's Jung Yeo-nui, the draft-dodging high school girl roleplayer again. Now she's not just roleplaying, she's making stuff up?
─ At least try harder with your fake stories. Seriously, fighting an Imp in a gnoll-level party? Where's the logic?
─ Could've at least given the guy a name instead of just calling him a party member, lmao.
─ Um, excuse me?? This is NOT made up, okayㅡㅡ? And I wanted to ask his name… but you had to be there to get it. It was like, you couldn't just casually talk to him… how do I explain it? He had this aura?? He felt like he was on a whole different level from us???
??? What are you even talking about
Level 368.
Player Ranking: 11th.
Nam Tae-min let out a dry laugh as he read the post.
"So, hyung. You expect me to actually believe this? For real?"
Standing in front of him was his older brother, Nam Cheol-min.
"Yeah. It's true."
Nam Cheol-min's face was dead serious.
"I was the party leader who got possessed by the Imp."
"…What?"
PLEASE SUPPORT ME HERE-https://ko-fi.com/p_verma