An in-depth study of Gehrman (3)

<p>Anderson sighed and changed the subject.<br/><br/>"Even though this world is in shambles, it's easy to get used to it. For example, the current situation is still quite peaceful, isn't it?"<br/><br/>After the hunter successfully jinxed it, the ground started to quake.<br/><br/>Kukukung…!<br/><br/>The corners of Gehrman's mouth twitched.<br/><br/>He should prevent Anderson from talking next time, this man was really a walking disaster.<br/><br/>'Or a talking disaster in this case.'<br/><br/>The ones who had fallen asleep woke up and a lot of people began to panic. Meanwhile, Gehrman calmly got up and headed to the origin of the vibrations.<br/><br/>In a corner of the station, there was a red meteorite on the brink of hatching. Next to it, a man smiled and disappeared. Xin Jian recognized that it was a hunter.<br/><br/>The people here should be sacrifices so that the man could accumulate more karma.<br/><br/>The fourth scenario hadn't even ended and the 'disaster' of the fifth scenario was about to appear.<br/><br/>A red aura appeared around the meteorite and glowing lights shot all over the platform.<br/><br/>"What is this?" Anderson asked.<br/><br/>However, he could feel that he was about to know it soon, and his spiritual intuition told him that it wasn't a good thing.<br/><br/>The red aura spread across the platform and a faint veil surrounded the station. Now nobody would be able to leave the place.<br/><br/>[Many constellations' eyes are shining at the 'omen'.]<br/><br/>[An omen of the fifth main scenario has appeared.]<br/><br/>Then this message popped up.<br/><br/>"Eh? What is this?"<br/><br/>"Why suddenly the main scenario…"<br/><br/>The surface of the meteorite cracked and a red light poured out. The first thing the light touched was a person standing near the meteorite.<br/><br/>That person who lost his head slowly fell to the ground like a broken doll.<br/><br/>"What's going on?!"<br/><br/>The others screamed and retreated, but they were already unable to escape the crisis.<br/><br/>The surrounding platform burned and released a bad smell, then the temperature of the air rose rapidly and breathing became painful.<br/><br/>[The 5th grade fire dragon species, 'Lesser Dragon Igneel' has appeared!]<br/><br/>"Fuck! What?"<br/><br/>Then, the meteorite stretched out a long tail and caught a few escaping survivors.<br/><br/>"Kuaaack!"<br/><br/>The body of a person that was caught by the tail suddenly burned up. Some survivors used skills to attack the tail but their weapons started to melt.<br/><br/>"T-This monster…"<br/><br/>The meteorite was at most two metres in length, but the monster crawling out from the gap was over five metres long.<br/><br/>The remainder of the meteorite split apart and a dragon species entered this dimension.<br/><br/>Kuoooooh!<br/><br/>A violent dragon that was just born. Despite being a deteriorated version of a hatchling, a dragon still reigned at the apex of all monsters. That was what the hunter's bad luck had brought to them.<br/><br/>Anderson whistled.<br/><br/>"This is quite a familiar situation."<br/><br/>Indeed, they were also faced with a dragon in Groselle's Travels. Now, they had to fight with a dragon once again in this unfamiliar world.<br/><br/>"Maybe it's fate?"<br/><br/>The demigod had a playful glint in his eyes as he turned to the crazy adventurer.<br/><br/>'Fate, my ass…'<br/><br/>Gehrman didn't want to have this sort of 'fate'.<br/><br/>[Some constellations are complaining about the unusual scenario difficulty.]<br/><br/>The next moment, sparks flew in the air and a small child-like presence appeared.<br/><br/>It wasn't a low grade dokkaebi like Bihyung. He wore a tidy suit with two little horns on his head. He was an intermediate dokkaebi.<br/><br/>[Hrmm. This is difficult. How did you guys get this 'root'? It was only installed recently…]<br/><br/>Once his voice rang out, the movements of the lesser dragon stopped.<br/><br/>[A disaster woke up in the fourth scenario?]<br/><br/>The dokkaebi appeared thoughtful before his gaze lingered on Gehrman.<br/><br/>Recognizing Zhou Mingrui thanks to the system, the dokkaebi remembered the request the Star Stream had received from a very important person a few days ago. An order that the dokkaebi king specially conveyed to them, from someone he called the 'creator of the Star Stream'.<br/><br/>This dokkaebi had been lucky to overhear others mention this part, or else he would have never known such important information with his status in the bureau.<br/><br/>Although they were unable to deal with that man in a black cloak due to his sponsor, they could still collect probability from this man with unfathomable strength here. After all, this incarnation had no sponsor.<br/><br/>Then, he snapped his fingers.<br/><br/>[I have decided. I won't downgrade the difficulty. You are strong enough to deal with this on your own]<br/><br/>[The hidden scenario has arrived!]<br/><br/>The lesser dragon started moving again. The red leather-covered paws hit the floor of the platform. Gehrman avoided the scattered debris and looked at the scenario that arrived.<br/><br/>[Hidden Scenario – Defeat the dragon!]<br/><br/>Category: Hidden.<br/><br/>Difficulty: S.<br/><br/>Clear Conditions: Hunt down the 'lesser dragon Igneel'.<br/><br/>Time Limit: None.<br/><br/>Compensation: 5,000 coins.<br/><br/>Failure: Death.]<br/><br/>Flowing flames started pouring out.<br/><br/>Kwa kwa kwa kwa!<br/><br/>"Kuaaack!"<br/><br/>People caught in the flames turned to ashes. The walls burned by the flames melted and distorted terribly. He was slowly moving to this side.<br/><br/>[The 5th grade fire dragon species, 'Lesser Dragon Igneel' is preparing the 'Flames of Destruction'.]<br/><br/>[I will be watching.]<br/><br/>With a mysterious smile, the dokkaebi glanced at Gehrman and left these words.<br/><br/>[The constellation 'Believer in Mysteries' warns you that the probability became especially strict in this area.]<br/><br/>In other words, they asked him to kill a monster that others wouldn't be able to defeat while not even letting him use the strength to do so. If he ignored this restriction and forcibly ended the monster's life, the aftermath would be enough to sweep away everyone around him and more than heavily injure them.<br/><br/>For unknown reasons, the constellations intended to deal with him here.<br/><br/>Meanwhile, the others continued to die under the attacks of the dragon.<br/><br/>Gehrman's gaze hardened.<br/><br/>Anderson side eyed Gehrman before looking at the dragon, wondering what the adventurer's next actions would be.<br/><br/>This dragon was certainly stronger than the one they had encountered in Groselle's Travels.<br/><br/>However, he also knew that, in the end, Gehrman would choose to put his life in danger to slay it.<br/><br/>His thoughts unreadable, the adventurer resigned himself and advanced toward the monster.<br/><br/>"Are you going to fight it?" The hunter questioned.<br/><br/>"Since it came by itself, it's basic courtesy."<br/><br/>Anderson followed him with a smile, not pointing out the lack of logic in this excuse, and was excited at the prospect of the upcoming battle.<br/><br/>Then, Gehrman raised his hand in the air, displaying an ability familiar to Anderson since the hunter had seen the adventurer use it in Groselle's Travels.<br/><br/>But something was strange.<br/><br/>Anderson paused.<br/><br/>As the dragon gradually slowed down, violent sparks filled the air around the crazy adventurer.<br/><br/>However, it didn't impede his movements and Gehrman effortlessly turned the monster into a secret puppet.<br/><br/>[The constellations are filling a request for a probability check!]<br/><br/>Tsutsutsutsuchut!<br/><br/>Then, the monster's body fell to the ground.<br/><br/>[You will receive a probability storm.]<br/><br/>As if it was waiting for it, the Bureau immediately sent back their decision.<br/><br/>Anderson ignored the messages informing him of the completion of the scenario, his gaze fixed on the adventurer.<br/><br/>There, Gehrman was receiving the bolts of probability, even attracting all the storm in one point—him—so that the others wouldn't be hit by it.<br/><br/>It was like he already knew it would happen.<br/><br/>Tsutsutsutsuchut!<br/><br/>"Aaaaahhh!"<br/><br/>It also seemed to be incredibly painful.<br/><br/>In the end, maybe the adventurer was indeed crazy.<br/><br/>Anderson had seen with his own eyes of Gehrman would choose to prioritize others' lives before his.<br/><br/>They say you can know a person's personality with how they behave in a life-threatening situation.<br/><br/>The adventurer wasn't cold, nor indifferent, but stupidly kind.<br/><br/>Gehrman was a person who wore a mask.<br/><br/>He had suddenly appeared from nowhere and pretended to be someone he wasn't for acting needs, then advanced ridiculously fast.<br/><br/>It was someone who hunted pirates on sight and cashed them out for bounties—maybe he lacked money? Potion materials indeed cost a lot.<br/><br/>He had left behind his home and previous connections, going forward without any family nor anyone truly knowing who he was, and wandered seemingly without any hesitation, hunting pirates on the way and continuing to advance for unknown reasons.<br/><br/>Gehrman was something who would stop to help the people on his way, finding an excuse so that it fit his current personality; but such a gentle person did not fit the environment at sea.<br/><br/>Gehrman was someone who constantly pretended to be someone he wasn't.<br/><br/>He was a man who seemed to be carrying the world's weight on his shoulders.<br/><br/>And that crazy adventurer, unknown to all, may now be dying.<br/><br/>Anderson stared at Gehrman suffering in the distance, but still voluntarily accepting all the probability.<br/><br/>After all, his own life didn't matter. It wasn't a big deal, he could still resurrect later.<br/><br/>Having his heart pierced twice, being blown to pieces, slicing his own throat, killing himself… It wasn't much different from usual. That's how Zhou Mingrui rationalized it.<br/><br/>It was simply a temporary moment of pain, leaving another scar into his mind as the weight on his shoulders seemed heavier than before.<br/><br/>Tsutsutsutsuchut!<br/><br/>No pain could equal the loneliness inside Klein's heart, but he had to continue to go forward.<br/><br/>However, despite all his efforts, some probability still reached the nearby people, violently tearing apart their bodies, including the hunter's.<br/><br/>When he was unlucky after seeing Ouroboros's mural, was meeting Gehrman also caused by bad luck after all?<br/><br/>Anderson couldn't determine the answer to this question.<br/><br/>Nevertheless, the hunter still knew one thing. It was fun.<br/><br/>Anderson chuckled. The adventurous hunter lost his life in an adventure, how fitting.<br/><br/>He wasn't scared of dying since he knew it would happen one day. After antagonizing someone he couldn't afford to provoke, maybe he would suddenly die somewhere without knowing why.<br/><br/>That's why he accepted the probability coming toward him, intending to relieve the adventurer's burden at least a little.<br/><br/>Having guessed a sliver of the truth, Gehrman's tired image was the last thing the unlucky Anderson saw before time stopped.<br/><br/>At that moment, the mask seemed to have slid off a little from the crazy adventurer's face.</p>