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HELIO SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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Chapter 28
“Hero Yang Chang-seop! I have a question!”
“Go ahead.”
“I heard you participated in the boss raid at the Paju Rift two years ago. Could you tell us more about what happened back then?”
Hero Academy—an institution for training newly awakened rookie heroes.
Yang Chang-seop had been invited as a guest lecturer at the academy, where they’d requested he share insights based on his personal experiences. But of all things, one fresh-faced hero had to bring up a memory he’d rather forget.
The Paju Rift Boss Raid.
A large-scale operation organized by the Hero Association, deploying 5 S-rank heroes and 300 A-rank heroes to take down the boss monster.
The S-ranks and A-ranks were the main combat force, but if you added the support personnel—non-combatants like B-rank and C-rank heroes—the total number involved in the raid was close to 600.
Yang Chang-seop, the fifth person to ever reach S-rank status in South Korea, had naturally played a central role in that operation.
“I think most of what happened that day has already been made public by the media.”
He didn’t want to talk about it. It wasn’t exactly a moment of pride.
But the young man, who couldn’t have been more than twenty, pushed on without missing a beat.
“The Paju Rift boss raid is known as one of the top five most massive raids in Korean history. Hearing the firsthand account of such an extraordinary event from someone like you, Hero Yang Chang-seop—it would be an honor for all of us. Don’t you all agree?”
His classmates clapped in enthusiastic agreement, urging him to speak.
Dozens of bright-eyed hero fledglings looked up at him with eager faces.
With all that attention, Yang Chang-seop knew he couldn’t dodge the question any longer.
“…Alright. I’ll try to answer your questions as best I can.”
A roar of applause filled the lecture hall.
“But before we begin—how much do you know about the boss monster of the Paju Rift?”
“Isn’t it the Cyclops? One of the most powerful land monsters in the world? Who doesn’t know that?”
Someone shouted from the crowd, and the others nodded in agreement.
Cyclops.
The one-eyed giant, infamous as one of the most brutal monsters in existence and widely recognized as the strongest land-based boss monster.
Its notoriety wasn’t limited to Korea—it had been spotted and hunted in the U.S., France, and Russia as well.
It was such a well-documented monster that a quick online search could pull up tons of info.
“I see. But as someone who’s faced the Cyclops in person, let me tell you one thing—just one thing I can say with absolute certainty.”
Yang Chang-seop paused, and everyone in the room held their breath.
Seeing their undivided attention, he smiled faintly and continued.
“No matter how strong the hero, the moment you face the Cyclops, your entire body will freeze up.”
“Even the strongest hero in the world?”
“Absolutely. Of course, it depends on the individual to some extent. But even if you're talking about the so-called strongest hero alive, the moment they lock eyes with a Cyclops—no, more precisely, the moment they’re caught in the fear it radiates—they’ll be paralyzed. Maybe just for a few seconds, but that’s all it takes. And in that moment, either you—or one of your teammates—will die before you can do a damn thing. I swear on my name—that’s the truth.”
The new heroes started imagining what that kind of fear might feel like. The paralyzing terror of a Cyclops.
Of course, none of them yet knew that there existed someone for whom even that overwhelming fear… meant nothing.
＊ ＊ ＊
A towering humanoid monster, nearly 15 meters tall.
A massive single eye, bulging as if it could fire a laser at any moment.
Two legs, two arms—the strongest terrestrial monster, the Cyclops.
Monster Fear.
The term Fear, in English, means terror or dread.
But when paired with Monster, it had evolved into a proper noun—widely used and well understood.
Simply put, it's the aura—killing intent, aggression, bloodlust—that radiates from certain monsters.
Some in academia theorize it’s the result of ultra-low frequency waves emitted by monsters.
But the reason doesn’t matter.
What matters is this: when a human stands before one, their body locks up on instinct.
KRRRRAAAAAAAAH!
The Cyclops let out a monstrous roar aimed at Dojun.
It was unleashing its signature Monster Fear.
And for any human—there is no resisting it, no escaping it.
“Screaming won’t help you. Your pathetic ‘Fear’—I can shut it out as much as I want.”
Dojun lifted one corner of his mouth into a smirk as he addressed the 15-meter giant bellowing savagely before him.
No question—the Cyclops deserved its title as the strongest monster on Earth.
Even in the ruined world, the name Cyclops had always been synonymous with terror.
Countless knights, mages, warriors, and soldiers had been crushed underfoot.
When enraged, the Cyclops didn’t distinguish between humans or monsters—it turned everything in front of it into pulp.
And now, that very Cyclops—so infamous for its destruction—was flailing around, a crimson mana spear buried deep in its right collarbone.
Frankly, it looked ridiculous.
In Korea, only one Cyclops has ever been hunted, and that was two years ago, during a mandatory Hero Association raid.
The operation had been successful—on paper—with 5 S-Rank Heroes and 300 A-Rank Heroes at the center of it.
But three of those S-Rank Heroes ended up severely wounded, and the majority of A-Rank Heroes were either seriously or critically injured.
Over 70 people died.
It was a win, technically—but a hollow one.
Cyclops also exist in three other Rifts outside Korea.
And those nations had also launched large-scale raids.
The casualties were just as brutal.
This is why the Cyclops earned its title: The Strongest Monster on Earth.
And why it's known as a boss monster you don’t hunt lightly...
⋯⋯⋯
“The blood spheres, right?”
“Yeah. If you want to graft monster parts perfectly, nothing beats the blood spheres inside a Mutant Troll King’s blood. But as a substitute? A Cyclops’ blood spheres aren’t bad either. You can make most parts work as if they were one.”
That voice echoed in Dojun’s mind—it belonged to Ryuntena, an old comrade and a renowned scholar known across the continent.
He had once asked Ryuntena to forge a weapon using two Giant Blackfang Serpent Teeth—but honestly, given Earth’s current tech, Dojun had doubts about whether it would turn out well.
Especially because the craftsman, Choi Cheol-gwan, had never even tried forging two Giant Black Fangs into a single weapon before.
So while heading home, Ryuntena’s words had resurfaced in Dojun’s mind.
Sure, the best option would be the blood spheres from a Mutant Troll King.
But unfortunately, that creature has never been found on Earth.
The next best thing? The Cyclops, with its superior regenerative properties compared to most trolls.
And luckily, one happened to be the boss monster of Korea’s Rift.
Dojun had checked the Rift status, and when it was clear, he entered without hesitation.
Blood spheres.
To put it simply, they are one of the key components of a Cyclops’ blood.
And that’s why Dojun needed its blood.
“Since I’m already here... might as well pick up a mana stone too.”
Naturally, a Cyclops’ mana stone is in the Legendary tier.
On par with the rare Mana Stone he got from after killing the Kaserian.
Having now officially secured his S-Rank Hero certification, Dojun was planning to sell both the Cyclops' and Kaserian’s mana stones for a hefty profit.
KRRRRAAAAAHH!
As Dojun stared at the monster like it was a walking loot box, the Cyclops couldn’t take it anymore.
It raised its left hand high into the sky—
BOOM!
Its palm slammed into the ground, unleashing a thunderous blast as the earth itself split and surged toward Dojun.
Despite the crimson mana spear still embedded in its right collarbone, the Cyclops was clearly determined to prove why it was called the world’s most powerful monster—its left hand alone packed devastating force.
In response, Dojun conjured a mana blade in his right hand and stabbed it into the ground in front of him.
The earth surged toward him like a tidal wave, but when it reached him, it split cleanly to either side, as if it had hit an invisible barrier, and passed harmlessly by.
And even though its attack had failed—the Cyclops… didn’t stop.
Before Dojun even realized it, the Cyclops had uprooted an enormous tree and hurled it straight at him.
Dodging it wouldn’t be easy—neither would blocking it—but instead of retreating, Dojun stood his ground.
He grabbed the mana blade he'd stuck into the ground and slashed at the air in a wide cross formation.
CRACK!
The massive tree was cleaved perfectly into four pieces. It passed by Dojun, missing him entirely, and crashed into the ground elsewhere with an explosive boom, like a bomb going off.
Seeing his attack effortlessly neutralized for the second time, the Cyclops let out an even louder, more furious roar.
Under normal circumstances, the Cyclops would've charged in without hesitation, letting his overwhelming physical might reduce Dojun to a bloody pulp. That’s just how he fought.
But the crimson mana spear embedded deep in his right clavicle was a problem.
Sensing that the monster was unable to use his most effective means of attack, Dojun raised his sword and spoke, as if he’d predicted this exact outcome.
“Looks like it went through your collarbone and lodged somewhere near your heart. Must be frustrating—one wrong move, and it’ll shred your heart to pieces.”
The spear remained intact because Dojun was still actively channeling mana into it.
Maintaining it cost him a significant amount of energy, but for Dojun, the ability to restrain the Cyclops’s movements was worth the price.
Still, he knew it was about time to end this.
’It’s getting hard to maintain.’
If he still had the power he once wielded during his days as the "Sword God," it’d be a different story. But in his current state—not even at half of his former strength—this kind of drawn-out battle was pushing it.
With the Cyclops glaring at him with its massive, bloodshot eye, Dojun raised his sword high—and brought it down in one decisive slash.
A crescent arc of crimson mana shot from the blade.
SHWAK!
The Cyclops’s legs were severed cleanly.
Then its arms.
Then its massive torso was split wide open, the creature’s enormous form rapidly shrinking as its body was sliced apart.
Even its famed regenerative power was meaningless before Dojun’s crimson mana.
“…Hah.”
Dojun finally let out a deep breath, his first since the fight began. Then, with a thought, he dispelled the mana spear embedded in the Cyclops’s clavicle.
The spear—which had acted like shackles—vanished. The Cyclops made a last-ditch effort to retaliate.
THWACK!
Too slow.
The mana sword in Dojun’s hand shifted instantly into a spear and pierced straight through the Cyclops’s skull.
The monster collapsed, lifeless.
Dojun approached the fallen beast.
From his inventory, he pulled out a large glass container and began filling it with the Cyclops’s blood. He also collected its mana core.
“The tendons, the heart, and the eyeball… Yeah, the eye’s useless now.”
Unlike the Kaserian, the Cyclops left behind several valuable materials.
Among them, its tendons, heart, and eye were top-tier crafting materials, worth more than most mid-to-high grade mana stones.
Its cartilage, claws, skin, and bones also fetched a decent price, but Dojun only collected the most expensive pieces.
After packing up, he made his way toward the nearby dimensional rift gate—not far from the peak where the Cyclops had dwelled.
Depending on the terrain, Rifts and gates could have one, two, or even three entrance points. The Paju Rift had two.
Outside the Rift, it was night. Dojun glanced up at the night sky, then pulled his phone out of his pocket.
His screen lit up as a flood of missed calls and messages poured in—all delayed by the area’s lack of signal.
“Min Hong-gi?”
Even Deputy Director Min Hong-gi of the Hero Association had called and texted him. Dojun stared at the screen for a moment, then made a call of his own.
Ring...
- Hello?
“Still at work, huh? I’m coming. Wait for me.”
- Who is this? We’re closed right now. If you’ve got business, come back tomor—
“I’ve got something urgent to drop off. Not for you—for the boss. Tell him to wait an hour.”
- …Who the hell… Wait. Don’t tell me. It’s YOU, isn’t it? That rude little—
Dojun hung up, ignoring Choi Gang-su’s irritated voice.
Then it hit him—getting a ride near the Rift wasn’t going to be easy.
“Should I buy a car or something?”
It was an oddly practical thought for someone who’d just slain the strongest monster on the continent—but Dojun was dead serious.
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HELIO SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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