11 Chapter -10- [The grind never stops-1]

It was the morning after the day he defeated the low-level insect-type monsters. After his meditation that night, his stats had increased by 15 mana and 8 health. He wondered when the second level of the pagoda would open and what awaited him inside.

After his morning rituals, he got ready to go out and went to talk to his mother before going out.

"Are you going to school, son? Be careful, if you see a monster, run away. It would be better for you to rest at home."

"Mom, I want to be honest with you. You saw the university monster rampage videos yesterday, didn't you?" Il Han seriously asked.

"Yes, son. I've seen all of them." His mother said. Smiling, realizing where the conversation was going. It was impossible for her not to recognize the child she had raised for years in those videos, even with a mask on his face. When she saw that he had not told her about the previous night, she said nothing. She wanted him to tell her on his own will, instead of pressuring him. 

"Mom, even though I can't use mana right now, as you can see from the videos, I've improved a lot in martial arts. In this world we're in now, instead of going to university, I want to hunt monsters at this early stage and raise my level so that I can protect you in the future. I wasn't going to tell you about this for now because I didn't want you to worry about it. But after thinking about it, I realized you'd know it was me from the videos, and I wanted to talk to you now. I wanted you to know from me."

With tears in her eyes again, she hugged her son. 

"Son, you don't have to worry about me. Just take care of yourself. Whether you choose to go to university or hunt monsters. Whichever you choose, we are always always with you. All I ask is that when you feel tired you come back to this house, even if you are not tired, you always come back to this house.. I just want you to be safe." Il Han also hugged his mother.

"Don't worry, mom. I will always be with y'all." and patted her on the back.

After talking to his mother, he left the house with his spear in his hand, blades on his back and the wolf mask he had stolen yesterday around his waist. After talking to his mother about this, he was even more relieved. He didn't want to lie to his mother and fool himself by saying 'I'm going to university, mom' like in the original. He didn't want to lie to a person who cared so much about his well-being. 

Angel Erta could not help smiling at the sight of such emotions, as she had long ago removed her emotions and become a higher existence. This mother and child were bringing back nostalgic memories for her.

"My little fox. Is my workshop place is ready?" 

{Yes, Papa. I bought for you a unused warehouse near your current home.}

"Good job.. Now it's just a matter of getting all the blacksmithing equipment there. So, are there any monsters nearby? Amagi-chan."

{I'm sending the location to your phone right now. Papa!}

"Thank you! Amagi-chan."

Right now, Korea was on high alert for monsters like the ones that appeared on campus. Yu Il Han had escaped the eyes of God, he could easily hide from the eyes of the soldiers, even if they were from the Korean army. He quickly passed through this tight security line in the streets and made his way to the location provided to him.

"Erta, can you let me know if there are monsters lurking nearby? I want to help people when I can."

[All right, leave it to me. I'll let you know if there are any monsters around the settlements you pass by..]

Yu Il Han nodded as Erta announced herself as a sensitive monster radar. At that moment, he saw a familiar scene on the TV inside the shop he passed by. He immediately stopped and looked at the screen. As soon as he saw it, he knew what it was about.

It was the campus of his university. Not only that, there was a man in a wolf mask and a woman in a Hulk mask fighting against monsters..

[The government is tracking these people who rescued the people by appearing suddenly on the disaster scene and defeating the monster horde.]

[The two ability users, who are thought to be related to Sungkyunkwan University, immediately appeared after the monster horde appeared inside the campus and defeated all the monsters before a casualty occurred and suddenly disappeared. The researchers named these people 'overbalanced' ability users, and they are estimating that their mana adaptability was way too high and that they had recovered and raised several skills immediately after the return.]

'I wonder what they would think if they knew that I do these things without using mana...'

[Disasters are occurring in many parts of the world due to the Great Cataclysm. Many people are expressing their worry at the rapid proliferation of monsters, and are demanding fast countermeasures from the government. The government is aiming to create an elite ability users' unit with these two 'overbalanced' as the center..]

'Heh.. Search all you want. I don't think you can find me...' There was no point in listening to this anymore. Of course he wasn't 'patriotic' enough to cooperate with the government. Yu Il Han's only priority right now was to raise his level. In the end, only one person in the news stayed in his mind.

"That Hulk mask, she was called 'The Empress', wasn't she?"

[Are you interested? Although I didn't see her face due to the mask, her figure was quite exceptional. Well, if the level is high, then she will become pretty due to the racial correction, so it might be worth it to look forward to. Anyway, men are all…]

"What are you talking about? No, I'm not interested that way."

[Really?]

"Yes. I don't even know the woman's name. I don't know what kind of person she is. I need to know that person first to be interested in that way. Even if I did, I don't think she would be interested in me right now."

It was a very Il Han-like rejection, who can't lie very well.

"And it is possible that living with Lita for so long has changed my concept of what beauty is.."

[Oh, yeah that would make sense.]

Erta agreed with a sad voice.

[It's probably because of that. You've spent a lot of time with a higher existence like Lita, so it's normal that you're not attracted to normal human woman..]

"Yes, that's right. The thing I'm talking is about her power. The ability to use mana."

[Ah, as expected. It's nothing special for someone like you who crafts the monsters' armor without mana. Although the name 'Empress' is lofty, God's purpose in sending people to another world was to create people like that woman.]

"Except for me.."

[Yes!! Except you, who can pancosmically hide his presence.]

Yu Il Han thought that Erta became more eloquent with her words faster than Lita. Even while doing that, he moved was continuously moving his body.

[Yes, there's a horde of monsters where you're going.]

At one moment, Erta suddenly told him. Her solid tone of voice indicated that it wasn't anything common. Yu Il Han asked carefully with a voice comparable to picking potato chips with his hands.

"Exactly how many are there?"

[70]

"Woww.. Looks like I'm gonna level up pretty good today." Il Han gripped his spear tightly and accelerated a little more.

[It's the presence of a monster horde with a level 35 Direwolf as the head. Not in a dungeon, but on a field.]

"I've always wanted a husky. Let's see if I can beat one up and tame it. Let's save that for later. Do you remember what you told me yesterday? That high-level monsters wouldn't appear in the early stages of the Great Cataclysm? That if they did, they would be locked in a dungeon, right?"

[They didn't fall into the trap because their intelligence was overdeveloped.]

Yu Il Han sighed at this nonsense, and Erta sighed too, loudly, before continuing to speak.

[Truthfully, I thought it was strange even yesterday. No matter how I think about it, there's a problem with a large number of level 10+ monsters appearing.]

Il Han continued on without saying anything. He knew she would continue to tell him about the situation.

[However, now, I have to request cooperation from you so I will tell you honestly. The current state of Earth is not normal. You must already know that during the mass migration of humanity, in other words, during your dropout period, all life forms except humans were left on Earth.]

"Well, yeah, since I disassembled some of them. Lita was noisy about killing a small number of them."

[There was no choice but to do that to match the balance of the world. We can't be too biased towards humans so.. Anyway, you must also know that they weren't allowed changes unlike you.]

"Yes. I know these things."

[Almighty God thought it would be okay to leave the creatures alone for ten years. But somehow, due to some unknown error, the timeline on earth has been greatly distorted and a thousand years have passed on earth while ten years have passed on other worlds.]

"A thousand years have passed?"

[Yes..]

"I didn't even realize it had been that long.."

[Although it is said that they were reset at the point that humanity came back, but it didn't manage to revert their mentality. It's a thousand years. If animals, who are supposed to live 10 years, lived for 1000 years without dying, then it would instead be strange that they don't change. And it happened at the exact moment the restriction on time disappeared, dramatically.]

"If you could summarize?"

[It's highly possible that the monsters that will appear on Earth will be absurdly strong and intelligent compared to other worlds.]

"People will be screwed. How will they defend themselves?"

[We exist for that to not happen.]

Erta said with confidence. Although Yu Il Han was a little annoyed by her earlier arrogance and emotionless words, he started to smile after her words now.

[I've already reported to heaven, and to tune the balance, everybody is moving. However, it will take time for that to implement. Yu Il Han, do you have any thoughts on moving quite busily just until then? A suitable reward will be waiting for you if you do.]

Erta was basically telling him to become the human shield until the weapons are prepared.

"I hope these rewards you're saying will satisfy me."

[You will be absolutely satisfied..]

"Okay, I'll do it! But, if I think I'm about to die, I'll run away!"

[There's no way you will die. You are under evaluating your own ability.]

Erta snorted. She already saw a fragment of Yu IlHan's ability. Yesterday, she saw his overwhelming fighting ability against multiple monsters, she saw a scene where he created an artifact worthy of evaluation using monsters' byproducts, and she saw the steel spear that he took out while leaving his house today.

Erta was meticulously misevaluating him. Level 30 monster? Don't joke. He wasn't someone who would struggle with monsters at that level. The power and technique, trained to breach the limits, inside his body were proving that fact!

[The Monsters will show up soon. And they will bear their fangs to devour humans to reach higher heights. So before that..]

Yu Il Han's steps became faster.

Wearing the wolf mask on his face, he gripped the steel spear, shining under the sunlight.

Now, he also felt it. A murderous intent on a different level he felt in the campus!

'Ohoo!! Is this the intent they keep saying in the cultivation novels? I didn't notice it yesterday because the creatures were weak. Interesting..'

Erta shouted. [Pull out all their fangs. Oh, Executor!] (Apparently, a FATE reference)

Erta was also a cultured lady. 'I'm surrounded by cultured ladies. First The Empress and now Erta..'

He entered the area with these thoughts in his mind.

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-End of the chapter 10-