SSS-Class Suicide Hunter

ashed down four bottles of beer, so a scowl had been permanently engraved on his face all morning.

‘2:00 PM.’ Yoo Sooha left his monthly rented studio apartment and headed toward the hunting ground.
The type of studio apartment that the F-Class Hunters often stayed in.
Knowing that the weak Hunters frequently died while hunting, the landlord of the studio apartment would impose a hefty security deposit in return for putting up a cheap monthly rent.
He had a good mind for business.

‘3:00 PM.’ Yoo Sooha killed a weak slime from the Tower’s 2nd floor hunting ground.
However, killing a slime wasn’t good enough for a day’s earnings.

At 3:11 PM, Yoo Sooha grumbled to himself.
“Ah.
Fucking plague.
I wonder when I’ll become like the Sword Saint and live a king’s life.”

At 3:15 PM, 4 minutes later.
“Wow, slime hunting is really boring,” he griped.

An average F-Class Hunter.
A life of waiting to strike it rich someday.
That was the 21-year-old Yoo Sooha.
Not the 32-year-old Flame Emperor.

“If only I had won the lottery,” he muttered.

Before long, the 21-year-old would have been able to realize his wish.
Because, as soon as Yoo Sooha obtained the Return Skill, he used it to win the lottery.

MA, short for Merchant Association (商聯), issued weekly lottery tickets.
The Merchant Association was the only guild inside the Tower that could print lottery tickets.
And all the Hunters who won the lottery were all on record.
In the winning records, there remained a young man who would later be called the Flame Emperor.
A “lucky” bastard who won first place, not once, but twice in a row.

‘That’s three weeks and four weeks from today, respectively.’ However.
Such a future will not come to the 21-year-old Yoo Sooha who I was looking at right now. ‘You die here today.’

May 6th.
5:31 PM.

Yoo Sooha moved on from the 2nd floor hunting ground.
No doubt thinking that it was pointless to spend the rest of his life killing only slimes.
He headed for a more challenging area, the kind of place novice Hunters would rarely visit.

A little more secluded and dangerous.
A place that nobody besides Yoo Sooha would enter for the next 36 minutes.

‘…He’s here.’ I had been waiting. ‘It’s him.’

A man yawning while traipsing about—Yoo Sooha.
Even though he was 11 years younger, I could recognize that bastard at once.
It wasn’t because my perception was particularly great.
Just that the present Yoo Sooha looked similar to that damn guy from 11 years later.

‘In the future, you’d probably find that fucking bastard pigging out on a some elixir for eternal youth.’ Thank you.
For being such a goddamned greedy little pig!

‘Come.’ My heart was pounding out of my chest.
I fought back the tension and opened my mouth.
“O-over here, Hunter-nim! Please, save me…!”

“Huh?” Yoo Sooha turned his head in my direction.

“I was ambushed by wolves,” I cried and sniffled.
“I beg of you, please help me.
Some potion…”

I’d coated my entire body with blood.
I was covered in it.
Drenched.
Of course, it wasn’t my blood but the blood of some monsters I had hunted in advance.
But to other people, I must look like a novice Hunter on the verge of death.

“Ah, shit.
What the fuck?” Yoo Sooha exclaimed.

Naturally, I would look like that in Yoo Sooha’s eyes too.
Was counting on it.

“Mister, did you provoke the monsters here already? Damn.
Then today’s hunt is fucked.”

Fucking asshole.

“P-potion…” I begged.

“Potion, my ass.
I can’t even feed myself properly.” Yoo Sooha sighed and came closer.
“How much you got?”

“Eh?” I asked.

“How much you got for the potion? Mister, you think I’m running a charity here? Don’t tell me that you thought I’d hand this expensive potion over for free now, right? To a man that I’ve never met before? You gotta be fucking with me.” Yoo Sooha took out a plastic bottle.

Then he shook it right in front of my eyes.
Splash.
A blood-red liquid sloshed inside a bottle engraved with the Ministry of Alchemy’s emblem.
Twenty gold from the Ministry of Alchemy.
It was a recovery potion that was sold for nineteen gold each when bought in a 5-pack.

“I-I’ll give you…twenty gold.
So, please, hurry…”

“Wow.
Just look at this guy.
Your greed is no joke.” Yoo Sooha kneeled so he could look at me on even ground.
“Mister, can’t you tell what’s going on? You’re about to die. Die. This potion is something that could save your life.
And you want to buy your life with just twenty gold? Is your life worth only twenty gold?”

“Right…” I lay there in a pool of “my own” blood.

“What if I just leave you here? You would simply die.
If you don’t want to die, you gotta pay the right price for your life.”

Yeah.
I knew.
“F-forty gold,” I said.

“Enough.
Hand over everything you have right now.”

I knew that he was this kind of guy.

“Ah, that’s right.
You couldn’t give me anything even if you wanted to.
You can’t even move your hands, right? Don’t worry.
I’ll get it for you.
I could do at least that much service.” Yoo Sooha reached out, rummaged and groped through everything I had: my jacket pocket; the inside of my hoodie; even my pant pockets.

The jerk finally found my leather wallet and smirked.
“Let’s see.
One gold, two gold, three gold…Hmm.
About sixty gold? You’re so poor, mister.
Carry some more around, man.”

“That’s all I have…” All I fucking had to my name.

“It’s alright.
I’ll spend it well on your behalf.” Yoo Sooha took my wallet and patted my head.

4050 days ago, no.
He was just like when he burned me alive 4050 days later.

“That’s just life, don’t you agree?” He took out something from his chest with a heave, after putting away the potion he’d promised to give me.
Instead, he pulled out a blade.
A sword (劍).

It wasn’t an item meant to save lives.
On the contrary, it was a tool used to take lives.

‘Ha.’ I looked up at Yoo Sooha.
Rather than looking angry, I just looked at him as if he was ridiculous.

However, Yoo Sooha interpreted my gaze differently and shrugged.
“Hey, don’t look at me like that.
I was thinking about giving you the potion, mister…but if I let you live here, you might want to get back at me later, right? I can’t let that happen.
A man should live without worry, and since you’ve seen my face…” Yoo Sooha smiled.
“You have to die for me.”

The Hunter who I could only ever admire on television.
The hero I’d worshipped for 10 years.
The man I’d always envied, always wanted to become.
That hero’s face was hideous.

More hideous than I could ever have imagined.

‘Alright.’ I quietly looked at Yoo Sooha as he held the knife. ‘I’ll live without worry in your stead.’

He slowly raised the knife.

Then.

I kicked my right foot up into his crotch.

“Ggk!?” Yoo Sooha staggered while he swung the knife.
But that was more than enough time for me.
After barely dodging Yoo Sooha’s swing, I stabbed my knife through his neck.

I was different from him.
I wouldn’t leave my prey that I had to kill in front of my eyes and—fucking run my mouth pointlessly.
I stabbed his throat then twisted the knife and dragged it up to his chin.

Blood sprayed out.
It soaked my hands.
Yoo Sooha gagged.
He gurgled and choked on the blood and fell to the ground.
He let loose a scream, spattering the blood that had been clogging his throat.

Hard and shrill, railing out against the pain.

But only for a moment.
Blood curdled out of his neck, painting his throat.

I watched it all.

Yoo Sooha inched closer to death with each passing second.
Instinctively, he must have realized that he was dying.
Yoo Sooha writhed on the ground, then curled up.
He pressed down on the wound on his neck with both hands.
But the blood didn’t stop.
It only trickled out between his fingers, even thicker than before.

“Right.” Must not doddle.
I pressed my foot down on Yoo Sooha’s neck.

His eyes grew wide.
Why? For what reason? His eyes were loaded with such questions and resentment.
It wouldn’t be long before those eyes would be extinguished.
There was no need for me to give any sort of explanation.

“I’ll think of this as valuable experience.” I grabbed the knife.
The knife that killed me 4090 times.

Then, I swung.

To kill a monster.