Chapter 2
I Became the Third Prince, the Holy Family’s Delinquent (1)
Mores Klein, the Third Prince of the Holy Empire of Delcross.
The worthless son of a great father.
The greatest disgrace of the Holy Imperial Family.
Unlike his father, who was praised as the strongest Holy Emperor in history, this fat, useless prince had inherited neither talent with the sword nor even a trace of divine power.
More importantly, his fiery temper and crude behavior were nothing like the calm and dignified Holy Emperor. It was far too extreme to dismiss as the foolishness of a young prince.
Some cardinals and high priests even whispered that Prince Mores might not actually be the Holy Emperor’s biological son.
Yet even Mores, who seemed destined to remain a hopeless delinquent forever, eventually experienced a turning point.
One day he suddenly collapsed with a terrible fever and spent four days hovering between life and death.
When he finally woke up…
He had become a completely different person.
“Nearly dying really changed him.”
That was what everyone thought, and no one questioned it.
But the real reason Prince Mores had changed so dramatically was something he could never reveal.
The person who had awakened inside Mores’ dying body…
…was actually a man from Earth named Lee Seongjin.
* * *
From a young age, Lee Seongjin had been an unusually stubborn child.
Once he started something, he absolutely refused to stop until he finished it.
Because of that, his parents had an incredibly difficult time raising him, even though he was their only child.
“Who on earth did he inherit that stubbornness from?”
Watching her four-year-old son still refusing to give up his pacifier, his mother nearly cried.
She worried his teeth would grow crooked.
Fortunately, his baby teeth came in perfectly straight.
But just when they thought he had finally lost interest in the pacifier after entering kindergarten…
He began refusing to go home after school.
His parents tried everything.
“We’ll buy you snacks.”
“Let’s go watch Totoro.”
Nothing worked.
He stubbornly stayed at the playground instead.
The kindergarten teachers even began wondering if his parents were abusing him because he hated going home so much.
His embarrassed mother could only force an awkward smile.
Eventually, his parents took turns carrying the sleepy child around the playground until late at night before finally bringing him home.
When Seongjin entered elementary school and became a little more mature, his parents finally sighed with relief.
At least he’s old enough to listen now.
That peace lasted…
Until he came home carrying another student’s crayons.
The next day, his homeroom teacher called his parents.
“What happened was… he broke all my crayons.”
“So I took his instead.”
“Seongjin,” his mother said gently, “your classmate apologized. It’s wrong to forcefully take someone else’s things.”
The boy narrowed his eyes.
“So saying ‘sorry’ fixes everything?”
“What about my crayons?”
“I’ll just buy you a new box.”
“But Hyungcheol was the one who did something wrong.”
“Why should you buy them instead of him?”
“The person who caused the problem should be responsible.”
His mother was speechless.
From the child’s point of view…
He wasn’t exactly wrong.
After thinking for a moment, she finally replied,
“Seongjin… friendship is worth far more than a box of crayons.”
“If your friend apologizes, you should accept it first. If you still think it’s unfair afterward, we’ll talk about what to do together.”
The boy looked dissatisfied but reluctantly nodded.
Then his mother noticed something.
“Your crayons had twenty-four colors.”
“So why did you take Hyungcheol’s fifty-six-color set?”
“That was compensation for my emotional suffering.”
“Obviously I should receive something better.”
His mother couldn’t tell whether her son was ruthless…
Or simply too smart.
After such an unusual childhood, Seongjin suddenly became incredibly quiet once he entered middle school.
His parents secretly worried.
Was their slightly unusual son adjusting well?
But his school uniform was always neat.
His textbooks were clean.
There wasn’t the slightest sign that he was being bullied.
He’s finally grown up.
His parents couldn’t have been happier.
In reality…
Seongjin’s school life was anything but peaceful.
He hadn’t learned normal social skills.
Instead, he had become remarkably good at hiding incidents from both his parents and his teachers.
For example…
After being targeted by a school bully, he beat up that same bully every single day for three straight months.
Eventually, the bully’s entire group became so terrified of him that they begged for a truce.
Another time…
A member of the school’s disciplinary committee kept picking fights with him.
So Seongjin quietly stalked him for an entire week.
The poor student ended up developing paranoia and social anxiety, causing him to stop coming to school for quite some time.
His school years constantly hovered somewhere between justice…
And criminal behavior.
He wasn’t an exceptional student.
But after working hard enough, Seongjin entered an ordinary four-year university in Seoul.
He dated casually.
Completed his military service during college.
Graduated.
Then found a job at a small company.
“Assistant Manager Lee…”
“There’s just something unsettling about him.”
“Really? Isn’t he hardworking and reliable?”
Occasionally, older managers looked at him suspiciously.
Still, Seongjin played the role of an ordinary office worker without any problems.
Marriage proposals slowly started coming his way.
He even began flirting with a female coworker.
If nothing unusual had happened…
He probably would have married and lived an ordinary life.
August, 2035.
The Gehenna Gate Incident.
Without warning…
Star Gates connected to the Demon Realm of Gehenna appeared simultaneously across the entire world.
Thousands.
Tens of thousands.
Countless monsters poured out.
Cities collapsed almost instantly.
Infrastructure was destroyed.
For several days, the entire world descended into chaos.
After barely establishing defensive lines, humanity launched a counterattack.
But by then…
The number of casualties had already reached unimaginable levels.
Most major cities had been destroyed.
Human civilization itself had regressed dramatically.
Seongjin happened to be away on a business trip at the time.
By pure luck, he managed to reach an underground shelter inside the defensive line.
He survived.
But overnight…
He lost everything.
His family.
His home.
The life he had built.
Faced with humanity’s greatest tragedy…
Lee Seongjin did not cry.
He simply stared at the endless stream of monsters pouring from the Gates.
Then calmly asked himself…
Who should I collect this debt from?
No matter how many monsters there were…
This persistent man never gave up once he chose a target.
Lee Seongjin became a Hunter.
A professional monster slayer.
Whenever someone killed a monster and touched its corpse immediately afterward, a mysterious energy would flow into their body.
Hunters called it monster essence.
Those who absorbed it gained abilities beyond human limits.
Almost as though they had stolen part of the monster’s own power.
Some gained incredible physical strength.
Some developed hardened bodies.
Others awakened supernatural powers such as telekinesis.
The more monster essence Hunters absorbed…
The stronger they became.
Before long…
Superhumans capable of killing thousands of monsters alone appeared.
Humanity slowly pushed the front lines forward.
The war continued for decades.
Ironically…
The Demon Realm’s invasion ended with both Gehenna and Earth heading toward destruction together.
As Hunters became stronger…
The monsters that killed humans also became stronger.
The balance of power never truly changed.
Instead, both sides endlessly exhausted each other’s lives.
Finally…
Humanity’s last squad of superhumans reached the Demon King’s hiding place deep within the Demon Realm.
The Demon King greeted them with a gloomy expression and sighed.
“So…”
“It ends like this.”
“What have we accomplished after all these decades?”
“I almost feel ashamed.”
Of course…
No one cared how the Demon King felt.
There was nothing left for either side.
No room to stop fighting.
No chance for peace.
Only one outcome remained.
The complete destruction of one side.
Despite sounding ready to give up…
The Demon King fought desperately until the very end.
The battle lasted three days and three nights.
By the third night…
The Demon King’s body had been reduced to little more than his head.
Among humanity’s elite…
Only one person remained alive.
The man who never gave up.
Lee Seongjin.
He slowly raised his barely functioning fist.
The Demon King looked at him with disbelief.
“You persistent bastard.”
“I thought you were the least remarkable among them.”
“Who would’ve thought I’d die by your hand?”
So what?
Seongjin snorted.
Then punched.
BOOM!
A crack spread across one of the Demon King’s dark crimson horns.
“…Huh?”
BOOM!
The next punch crushed the Demon King’s nose.
Still…
It wasn’t enough to destroy his head.
Breathing heavily, Seongjin raised his trembling fist again.
“Hey! Wait! Just wait!”
The Demon King panicked, blood pouring from both nostrils.
Seongjin ignored him.
BOOM!
“Gah! Hey, this is getting—”
BOOM!!
“Will you wait a second, you idiot?!”
The punches finally stopped.
Not because Seongjin listened.
His arm simply had no strength left.
To the Demon King’s surprise…
His crushed nose slowly began regenerating.
It was much slower than before.
But even with only a head remaining…
The ruler of another world could still regenerate.
Both men suddenly realized the same thing.
This final blow…
Might take much longer than expected.
“Stop punching already.”
“You don’t even have any strength left.”
“Human.”
“You can’t kill me like this.”
“Why don’t we call a temporary truce?”
“Recover your strength.”
“Then we can continue.”
What complete nonsense.
If both of them recovered…
Who would benefit more was obvious.
As Seongjin slowly raised his trembling fist again, the Demon King hurriedly continued.
“No, forget that!”
“Let’s just stop fighting!”
“I’ll leave Earth and Gehenna forever!”
“I’ll never return!”
“I’ll survive.”
“You’ll have both Earth and Gehenna.”
“Do you realize the potential of two merged worlds?”
“You might even become as powerful as a Demon King!”
“…”
“If you kill me now, Gehenna will disappear.”
“And without it supporting Earth…”
“Earth will slowly collapse into the Gates.”
“Both worlds will be destroyed.”
“What does that gain you?”
At last…
Seongjin answered.
“This world isn’t what’s important to me.”
“The only thing that matters…”
“…is whether you end.”
Since the outcome wouldn’t change…
He had no interest in cheap negotiations.
Watching Seongjin clench his fist once more, the Demon King’s face turned pale.
Just how many punches would it take before he finally died?
“H-Hey!”
“If nothing else…”
“Can you at least wait until I kill myself?”
“My regeneration keeps draining my strength.”
“If you just give me a little time…”
“I can burn my own soul with the Flames of Gehenna.”
“I’ll disappear on my own.”
“You won’t have to do anything.”
“…”
“I’ll close the Gates too.”
“Even if Gehenna disappears…”
“Earth won’t be dragged down with it.”
That offer…
Actually sounded tempting.
Seongjin nodded.
“Fine.”
“I’ll think about it…”
“…after I beat you to death.”
“How are we supposed to negotiate after I’m dead?!”
“I already told you—you can’t kill me like that!”
“What is wrong with you?!”
The Demon King screamed.
The pointless exchange of punches continued.
While Seongjin paused to catch his breath…
He suddenly heard sniffling.
“Y-You damn bastard…”
“I really didn’t want to do this…”
Whoosh!
Crimson flames suddenly appeared in the air.
The Demon King’s head burst into fire.
Even his constantly regenerating flesh began burning away.
“That’s…”
The Flames of Gehenna.
The deepest hellfire of the Demon Realm.
A flame capable of erasing existence itself.
It truly could destroy even the endlessly regenerating Demon King’s soul.
Which meant…
“So all that talk about not having enough strength to kill yourself…”
“…was just another trick.”
Seongjin smiled.
The Demon King flinched.
Then shouted angrily.
“So what if it was?!”
“I was still going to disappear peacefully into another dimension!”
Despite having tears in his eyes…
He somehow looked strangely proud.
Even Seongjin was momentarily speechless.
“But now it’s too late.”
“Fine.”
“I’ll die like you wanted.”
“But I’m not going alone.”
The flames surrounding the Demon King grew larger.
Then spread onto Seongjin.
His entire body was instantly engulfed in dark crimson fire.
“This inferno is fueled by the soul of the great Demon King!”
“I’ll destroy you!”
“I’ll burn your soul itself!”
Even while his own flesh burned away…
The Demon King grinned happily.
Apparently, decades of getting beaten by Seongjin had left him with quite a grudge.
“What the…”
“Hahahahaha!”
“How does it feel?!”
“To have even your soul burned?!”
He laughed hysterically.
Even though…
His own soul was burning too.
Ignoring the Demon King’s half-laughing, half-sobbing voice…
Seongjin looked down at his burning body.
Indeed…
The body that had become tougher than steel after decades of absorbing monster essence…
Was melting away.
Even with his dulled sense of pain…
The sensation of his skin burning away and muscles being exposed was unbearable.
After surviving countless battles…
Lee Seongjin knew.
This time…
He was truly dying.
But no matter.
At long last…
The true mastermind behind the Demon Realm’s invasion…
Would finally perish.
“Hahaha…!”
The Demon King’s laughter suddenly stopped.
He shivered.
Because…
Even while burning alive…
Lee Seongjin was smiling.
“Well…”
“I guess this is the end for me too.”
With only scraps of muscle left attached to his bones…
He slowly raised his flaming fist one final time.
“So let’s finish this with one last punch.”
“What?!”
“You crazy bastard!”
“You’re still—”
“Consider it compensation…”
“…for my emotional suffering.”
BOOOOOOM!!
“AAAAAAAGH!”
The Demon King’s scream was cut short.
Watching the Demon King’s face finally crumble into ashes…
Lee Seongjin quietly closed his eyes.
As his consciousness faded into darkness…
He thought he heard the sound of something shattering inside his mind.
That…
…was the last memory of the Hunter, Lee Seongjin.
