[This station is Gosong. Gosong Station.]

On the way home from the black market. Perhaps because I was wearing my hat low, no one recognized me. Bi-soo planned to find a place to live after sorting out her things.

With her characteristically playful expression, she asked, ‘Can’t I live with you, sis?’, and I readily replied.

“Don't be ridiculous.”

“Tsk.”

Of course, she couldn't have been serious. Having found the freedom she longed for and with her scars gone, Bi-soo’s face had practically begun to glow. Seeing how naturally she could act, I thought she could even succeed as an actress.

What path would Bi-soo walk from now on?

Slowly.

I took a small object out of my pocket. It was an item I had gotten into the habit of looking at while riding the train home. A golden ampoule in a transparent bottle.

It was the second payment Yaksha had given me. The name of this liquid, which shone so mesmerizingly it felt like it could pull you in, was Soul Seperating Water. Surprisingly, he said that drinking this liquid allowed one to peer into the Spirit Realm.

“The Spirit Realm? You mean the world where Monsters are?”

“No. That place is usually called the Otherworld. The Spirit Realm is another, third world. It’s an unknown world, with even less known about it than the Otherworld.”

“An unknown world…”

“Unlike low-rank Monsters, they are beings of high intelligence. There are quite a few who possess intellect just like humans. Such beings are called ‘spirit beasts’.”

Spirit beast.

It was a word I had heard before. The Imperial Tiger I healed during the Hunter Qualification Test. Daebeom was also a type of ‘spirit beast’.

“The little one fidgeting on your shoulder is probably the same kind.”

“Eh? Ppori too?” -Kkuwang!

It was true that he felt a little different from a normal Monster. It was a Monster's nature to rush at people as if to kill them on sight, but Ppori, while mischievous, never harmed humans. Far from harming them, he was an incredibly grateful existence that absorbed the poison inside my body.

Come to think of it, the word ‘spirit beast’ suited him well. The fact that he understood human speech, and his unique ability to absorb poison.

“So the Spirit Realm is full of creatures like this one?”

“That’s right. If you drink the Soul Seperating Water I gave you, you can enter the Spirit Realm for a short time. Your body will remain in this world, but your senses will be there.”

“It’s a pretty unique item, but… I’m not sure why you’re giving it to me as a reward.”

“Isn’t experience what’s most important? It’s a world that not only ordinary people, but even Hunters, find difficult to experience. Besides…”

“?”

“Sometimes, one can find treasure in a new place.”

That was the last conversation I had with Yaksha.

‘Treasure…’

What's the use of treasure if I can find it but can't bring it back? But it was certainly a rare experience. Most of the Hunters I had met so far didn't even know such a place existed, let alone had experienced the Spirit Realm.

On the other hand, a question arose. Why doesn't the Hunter Association tell us that a world like this exists? I could understand not telling ordinary people, but it seemed like information Hunters should know.

Or maybe, they don't want to tell us.

‘I’ll find out when I go in.’

I was curious about this place called the ‘Spirit Realm,’ but it was difficult to do inside a moving train. Because I couldn't predict how much time it would take to return.

WEEEEEEEEOOOONG.

And just like that. Sudden incidents like this don’t care about time or place.

[Attention passengers. A Gate alert has been issued on our train’s route. We ask that all passengers remain seated and follow the instructions of the crew.]

“Ah, seriously. I need to get there quickly.”

“Can’t we just go? The Hunters will block it anyway.”

Amidst the people’s grumbling, the train’s speed gradually decreased. As they said, the Hunters from the jurisdictional Guild would be dispatched, but that didn't mean the train could just keep running through an area where a Gate had appeared.

‘Let’s see…’

I took out my phone and did a search. The area around Gosong Station was managed by a Guild called ‘Blue Sword’. Checking the articles and citizen comments, it seemed to be a Guild that operated smoothly.

The public opinion was mostly that they responded swiftly whenever a Gate appeared. It seemed there was no need for me to step in. The expressions of the seated people showed only annoyance, not a hint of fear.

An era where even sudden Gates have become a part of daily life…

CRASH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“Kyaaak!!!!!!!!!!”

“Ugh!!”

“!!!!!”

The scene before my eyes tilted 90 degrees, and my body went airborne. I instinctively balanced myself and avoided tumbling toward the window.

‘What was that…?!’

We should have been quite a distance from the Gate's location. The train car I was in had completely toppled over. The impact was immense enough to shatter all the windows and send my deeply pulled-down hat flying off in an instant.

“Help me!”

A woman's urgent cry rang out. As the train car fell, the leg of the man sitting next to her had gotten pinned by a seat.

“Ugh… Ughh!!”

“Step back.”

I put my hands where his leg was trapped and bent the crumpled seat back. It would have been impossible for an ordinary adult man, but for me, whose physical level had entered the C-rank, it was nothing.

CRUNCH.

After tearing away the bent part of the seat with my grip strength, I began to heal his injury. In a short time, the bleeding stopped and the broken bone mended. I moved on before I could even hear his thanks.

There were already people with similar injuries strewn all over the place. Where the floor should have been, there were shattered windows, and pained groans filled the air from all directions. It was fortunate the train had stopped due to the Gate alert; if it had been moving, most of the people inside would have died.

“Cheo… Cheon Hae-seon?”

While I was healing, some people started to recognize my face. Leaving their gazes behind, I leaped up onto the top of the train car.

“Shit…”

Seeing the scene outside, I couldn't help but frown. Excluding my car, a total of four other cars had completely detached and toppled over. There must be similarly injured people inside them too.

I turned my head and glared at the bastards that had attacked the train.

Puuuu.

There were a total of four toppled train cars. Which meant four Taurus had made it all the way here. There was a reason we were attacked despite being so far from the Gate.

The charging speed of a Taurus is ranked among the top three of all four-legged Monsters. Since they're faster than most sports cars, being several kilometers away doesn't mean you're in a safe zone. As V1 explained, although its physical level was ‘B’, getting hit by a ‘Charge’ would inflict damage far greater than that. -Fwwoooo.

The Taurus, having snorted once, turned to look at me. Standing on top of the toppled train car, I must have stood out.

Good.

I was planning to lure them anyway. I lightly leaped down from the train car and used Poison Step to weave between them in a zigzag. -Puuuu. Did my provocation work properly?

The beasts let out a long cry and turned their heads toward me. It feels like I’ve become a bullfighter. The only difference is that the Taurus's black horns are several times larger than the bull horns I’ve seen on screen?

Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud.

The sight of four Taurus charging from the left and right was truly a spectacle. If you exclude the fact that their horns were pointed right at me, that is.

Fwoosh.

Just as the eight horns were about to pierce my body, I leaped into the sky and vanished from their sight. Having lost their target, the beasts couldn't overcome their inertia and ended up crashing into the rice paddy ridge on the other side. This should buy me a little bit of time.

I used Poison Step again to move to the fallen train cars.

“Help… me…”

Two passengers were critically injured. The rest were not in need of immediate treatment. After quickly healing the two, I moved to the next car. -Puuuu!

The creatures' roars grew even louder. It seemed they were thoroughly enraged. By the time the Taurus, which had been wandering after losing its target, began to approach the train again, I had just finished healing the most critical patients.

‘Not yet?’

I thought a good amount of time had passed, but the Hunters from the Blue Sword Guild were nowhere to be seen. Considering it was a well-regarded Guild, there were two possible explanations. Either Gates had opened simultaneously, or there were just too many Monsters.

I climbed back onto the train and gathered as much Black Ether as I could into my feet.

Fwoosh.

“Whew.”

I feel like a rocket. It felt like I could reach out and high-five the clouds. There was one reason I leaped up this high.

I needed to check the battle situation in the surrounding area.

‘Just how many of them are there?’

As expected, the Blue Sword Guild had already been dispatched. The guidelines they had set up were far from flimsy. It was just that the number of Monsters was too great.

Even with a rough visual estimate, hundreds of Monsters were rampaging through the area. It was fortunate we were far from the Gate; if we had been any closer, all sorts of Monsters, not just the Taurus, would have attacked the train.

‘The boss Monster is facing off against the Blue Sword Guild… and I’ve taken care of the most urgent injuries…’

First, I need to take care of the four in front of me. The house-sized bulls, having been toyed with once, were preparing to charge again.

‘How should I cook these up?’

Before, I would have swung Exa without a second thought. But now, Exa was broken and gone. Should I draw their blood and force it down their gullets like I did with the Singing Harpy?

‘No… this is actually for the best.’

A Monster with a physical level of ‘S’, covered in Pranium. After absorbing the Giant Treasure's Black Core, I obtained a skill called Body Protection Aura. My physical level was still only around C-rank, but he said my durability was comparable to an S-rank.

‘Are you sure?’

Despite V1's answer, I couldn't help but swallow dryly. Knowing something in your head and facing it directly are two different things. Could my body withstand the horn of a massive, muscle-bound bull?

The answer would be revealed shortly. Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud- One of the Taurus had already reached close range. The fact that it arrived before the other three meant it was the fastest and strongest of the bunch.

Staring down the beast charging madly toward me, I licked my lips. I focused the Black Ether beneath my feet, but this was different from when I used Poison Step. I planted both legs firmly, as if screwing them into the ground.

Then, I presented my right shoulder at an angle. The meaning was, hit me if you dare. Come on, Taurus.

Today’s bullfighter no longer dodges.

BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!

A deafening roar, unbelievable for a collision between living beings, echoed out. The impact that traveled through my shoulder also felt otherworldly.

“Ugh…!!”

A small scratch appeared on my shoulder. It was the spot where the Taurus’s tree-trunk-sized horn had collided. But aside from a slight tear in my clothes, there was nothing else that could be called damage.

“Whoa…”

Humans are creatures of experience, and so they don't truly know until they've experienced it themselves. Just how tough my body had become. -Grrr…. The Taurus that had charged with such a menacing aura was now lying on its back, legs in the air.

The horn that had hit me had broken off and flown far away, and the beast's neck was twisted at an unnatural angle. The bull with the fractured neck met such a futile end. In a single exchange(?).

I had overwhelmingly crushed it in a contest of strength against strength. The Taurus’s ‘Charge,’ which was said to have the power of an A-rank or even higher.

‘Tough’ is an understatement…

I could feel the changes in my body in my very bones.

Thud-thud-thud-thud-uuuu.

The faint trembling of the ground continued. Because there were still three Taurus left. But now that I had ‘experienced’ my strengthened body, there was nothing to fear.

Since even the strongest one had died in a single clash, it was obvious whose body was tougher.

BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The dizzying impact was now even enjoyable. Clashing without pain had turned me into an incredibly belligerent person.

BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A total of four collisions. And four bulls, whose necks had snapped because they couldn't overcome their own inertia.

“Haha. Now this is something that should be in the papers.”

An unprecedented incident had occurred: a healer had subdued a Taurus by body-tanking it.