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HELIO SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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Chapter 37
“Where did you say?”
“Rift BA019, sir.”
“BA019?”
Chairman Daniel Lopez dragged both hands down his face and let out a heavy sigh.
“They said it was near Santarém, so I guess it was unavoidable.”
Among the Brazilian Hero Association’s records, the Rifts near Santarém were some of the most notoriously avoided.
Knowing that Hyun Jooyeon’s party had headed straight into such a place, Chairman Daniel Lopez could only accept that what had happened was inevitable.
What weighed on him, though, was the fact that they hadn’t been provided with classified intel—and that they had entered the Rift on their own initiative.
“That’s where Lynx was, right?”
“Yes, sir.”
“It’s a creature rarely spotted… we can only hope they don’t run into it.”
“But if, by any chance, the Korean heroes do encounter Lynx… what would happen then?”
The assistant’s question earned him a sharp look from Lopez—one that said ’You really need to ask?’
“Even among guilds officially recognized by our Association, that thing left a ninety percent casualty rate. What makes you think the Korean heroes would be any different? For all we know, they could…”
Daniel Lopez bit his tongue, stopping himself before saying they could all die.
“But there are two S-Rank heroes among the Korean team.”
The assistant stressed this point with some hope in his voice, as if it should mean something.
But Lopez responded coolly.
“What happened when Neratio first faced Lynx?”
At the mention of Neratio Musgo—one of Brazil’s S-Rank heroes—the assistant fell silent.
If it hadn’t been for the immense sacrifice made by the Sapiens Guild, one of Brazil’s top three, they would’ve lost Neratio that day.
The official report stated that an unexpected monster ambush had led to heavy casualties among the heroes. But the truth… was far worse.
It had all started with a single monster—Lynx. Under its mind control, the S-Rank hero went berserk. That incident was a tragedy born of madness. And it remained a top-secret classified file, even within the Association itself.
Neratio Musgo, the man at the center of it, was still unable to properly function as a hero to this day.
“So these two Korean S-Ranks? One’s a glorified poster child—the so-called Flower of Asia. The other just got slapped with the S-Rank label and barely qualifies as a rookie.”
Lopez leaned back, voice heavy with realism.
“If you’re thinking those two are enough to make it out unscathed, don’t. Instead of banking on a miracle, let’s just hope they never run into Lynx at all.”
With fingers interlaced in a silent prayer, Daniel Lopez hoped the Korean heroes would never cross paths with the monster that defied every expectation—the one that looked nothing like a beast, but killed like one.
＊ ＊ ＊
"Seeing it up close… it’s seriously..."
The members of the Silken Lily Guild all shared the same thought: It’s cute.
Among monsters known to the public, there were a fair number that were pretty or adorable—but Lynx easily ranked near the top.
Its soft, bluish fur gave off a unique and captivating charm, covering its small frame completely.
It looked like a perfect blend between a fox and a wolf—just the right size to imagine going on a walk with.
If not for its blood-red eyes, no one would even believe it was a monster.
As the guild members were busy admiring Lynx’s appearance, Dojun silently channeled mana into his sword.
With every pulse of crimson energy that flowed into the blade, the sword—gifted by Choi Cheol-gwan—glowed hotter, as if fresh out of a forge.
’This will be the first time using my family’s swordsmanship in this world.’
Dojun’s eyes were locked solely on Lynx.
Woom—Woom—Woom—Woom—Woom!
A low vibration ran through his fingertips. The sword was singing—and it was trembling.
’That’s the limit.’
He stopped infusing mana, knowing any more would shatter it.
Now glowing red-hot like molten steel, the sword began to carve through the air slowly.
Vandeiyan House Swordsmanship
Form One – Kilida Milagro Rucl!
– A Miracle Woven from Dots –
Wherever the sword passed, dots were left behind—bright red ones.
They burned with such intensity, it felt like just looking at them might sear your eyes.
Each dot was different in size.
Some were no bigger than grains of millet, while others—rare, but massive—were as large as watermelons.
“Wh-What is that?”
“What did he just do?”
“How can something like that appear just by swinging a sword?”
The members of Silken Lily Guild stared in disbelief at the dots forming midair.
What was even more shocking—every single dot had frozen in place.
Time itself seemed to hold its breath, and the air felt suspended.
Even the monsters watched the crimson points of light in a trance-like daze.
Only after thousands of dots had been conjured did Dojun’s sword finally come to a halt.
And with one clean motion—
Chak—!
The blood-red sword returned to its normal hue as he slid it back into its sheath.
At that exact moment, every single dot suspended in the air began to move.
Toward the horde of monsters.
One beast, seeing a dot streaking toward it, opened its mouth wide—casually, as if to eat it.
It didn’t sense any threat, any killing intent—so it didn’t even hesitate.
Splat!
The monster casually swallowed the red dot.
Just as the thought ’What the hell was that?’ flickered through their minds—
Thud!
The monster’s skull burst apart like a melon smashing under pressure.
Before anyone could even scream in shock, an even more horrifying sight unfolded.
Thwack! Thud! Thud-Thud-Thwack! Thud-Thud-Thud-Thud-Thwack!
As the crimson dots began to rain down on the horde of monsters, their bodies exploded mercilessly.
The power of each explosion varied based on the size of the dot.
A dot the size of a grain of millet had the explosive force of a basketball, while a watermelon-sized dot vaporized the hind legs and tail of a thirty-meter-long Blue Croco in one blast—leaving everyone stunned.
In the wake of that blizzard of destruction, all that remained were mangled monster corpses.
It didn’t even take a full minute for hundreds of monsters to be reduced to shredded meat right before their eyes.
The members of the Silken Lily Guild stood frozen, their expressions half-blank, utterly overwhelmed by the sheer scale of what they'd just witnessed.
A few opened their mouths, trying to say something—but it was as if they’d forgotten how to speak.
In this scene of terror and devastation, the only one completely calm—was Dojun.
Step. Step. Step.
He walked casually between the horrifying remains of the monsters—a landscape so gruesome it was hard to even look at.
Shiver... Tremble...
One monster remained.
Amid the bloodstorm, untouched, not a single hair harmed—Lynx stood trembling, his eyes wide with fear as he watched Dojun approach.
Even gripped by terror, Lynx made one final attempt.
His blood-red eyes locked onto Dojun with laser focus.
’If I can just control that human’s mind…’
If he could dominate the mind of the human who just wiped out hundreds of his protectors in seconds, he’d rule this place like a king.
Lynx’s crimson eyes shimmered with fierce determination and greedy desire.
But—
Stab!
“You really thought that’d work?”
Dojun shoved a dagger straight into Lynx’s skull, shutting down the attempt at psychic domination instantly.
Lynx was one of those monsters that absolutely had to be killed.
Even in the ruined world Dojun came from, countless allies had been brainwashed by Lynx—betraying the very people they once fought to protect.
That’s why Lynx was far more dangerous than any brute-force boss monster.
And why the aftermath of fighting him always left a crushing fatigue.
Without hesitation, Dojun yanked out Lynx’s glowing red eyes.
⋯⋯⋯
“You know what’s wild? The mind control doesn’t come from brainwaves—it’s from a unique light emitted by Lynx’s eyes. Meaning… if you’ve got the eyes, you’ve got the power. Obviously, you can’t keep a living Lynx around, so you’ve gotta extract them post-mortem. But it’s not about time. If I’m right, it’s based on turns, not hours.”
⋯⋯⋯
Dojun recalled the beaming face of Ryuntena, the great scholar, who once held up Lynx’s decapitated head with the glee of a kid unboxing a rare toy.
He looked down at the blood-red eyeballs in his hand.
Ordinarily, when life fades from a body, the light in the eyes should go too.
But Lynx’s eyes were still glowing—brilliant and ominous, radiating an unnatural red light.
Ryuntena had figured out how to use them:
Inject mana into the eye, then make eye contact with your target—and boom: psychic domination.
It was simple, elegant but the catch was brutal.
You had to meet two conditions:
1. You must have never been mentally dominated by Lynx before.
2. You need exceptional mana control to activate the eye without losing your mind.
“Why’d you rip those out?”
Hyun Jooyeon looked disgusted, her eyes locked on the eyeballs in Dojun’s hand.
“Because I’ll need them.”
The simple truth was—Dojun was the only hero on Earth capable of using Lynx’s eyes.
＊ ＊ ＊
After the battle with Lynx, the entire mood among the Silken Lily Guild members had shifted.
It was like all the tension from fighting a boss monster had evaporated—even though Lynx wasn’t officially a boss, he had been controlling hundreds of monsters.
If you measured total influence within this Rift, taking out Lynx was more impactful than killing a typical boss monster.
At least until the monsters started to reproduce again, this Rift would remain relatively quiet. Not completely empty of monsters, though.
GRRAAAHHH!
A Swamp Ghoul, reeking of rot from head to toe, appeared and blocked Dojun’s path.
“Wow. This guy really can’t read the room.”
“If you’ve got a death wish, I guess anything’s possible.”
“Undead types really are the dumbest of the bunch. Any other monster would think twice before charging in solo, but these guys? Thinking isn’t even in their skill set.”
“Which just makes them more annoying. They don't care how many of their own die next to them—they still keep coming.”
While the guild members chatted, Dojun ended the Swamp Ghoul’s brief existence with a single punch that made its skull explode.
Since the Lynx incident, the distance between Dojun and the Silken Lily Guild had only grown.
They couldn't treat him like just another hero anymore.
They’d never seen—or even heard of—that kind of power.
He was something else entirely:
A being beyond measure.
A monster. Or maybe even a god.
That’s what they saw every time they looked at him.
Because of that, they figured this operation to close the Brazil Rift would be the easiest thing they’d done since becoming heroes.
As long as they didn’t piss Dojun off and get on his bad side.
“…Where did you learn that sword technique? Actually, was that even swordsmanship?”
After silently pondering something for a while, Hyun Jooyeon finally asked.
Dojun reflexively answered, like a habit from his past—
“Why? Want to learn it?”
“Can I?”
Seeing her eyes light up with hope, Dojun immediately regretted opening his mouth.
“Even if you started now, when would you even use it? And besides…”
He bit back the rest of the sentence: ’You don’t need that kind of thing in a peaceful world like this.’
Even in the world that had fallen to ruin, Dojun had shared his knowledge freely—especially with those who had talent and ability.
Even if it was his family’s sword technique, the family was already destroyed, and the world was on the brink of collapse. There was no reason to hold anything back.
Back then, his only drive was to create strong allies—no matter what—if it meant saving the world.
But even the most basic sword technique couldn’t be mastered in a day.
And they didn’t even know if they’d survive to see the next one.
In the end, it was often pointless.
Some he trained even ended up betraying him.
’In a world like this, the things I know might be more of a curse than a gift.’
Because Earth was still peaceful, Dojun believed his swordsmanship—and all the things he’d learned—would only poison the people here.
He was also keenly aware that revealing his true strength would only make life more painful for him.
“I’ll use it at least once before I die.”
Jooyeon said, then quickly turned her head away.
She’d taken his words to mean, ‘You’re not talented enough. Know your place.’
Dojun clicked his tongue at her sulking expression.
Explaining himself now would sound pathetic, so he decided to let time smooth things over.
After about four hours exploring the Rift, they finally found the Rift Core—and nearby, the exit.
“If the other rifts are like this, we’ll be wasting a lot of time just finding the way. Their maps suck.”
Jeong Injoo folded up the map they’d gotten from the Brazilian Association and shook her head.
Still, next time they entered for the actual closure operation, they’d know the correct route—thanks to Injoo’s careful corrections to the inaccurate map.
But she was more concerned about the other Rifts.
If their maps were just as bad, they’d lose valuable time again.
Still, she wasn’t too worried.
Because they had Dojun.
“Why stress? We’ve got the world’s most overqualified bus driver.”
Jooyeon said that with a smirk and strode out the exit first.
“Hey, Dojun, what’s up with Jooyeon? Did something happen between you two?”
Injoo asked, confused.
Dojun just shrugged like, ‘How should I know?’ and followed her out.
“What’s this? Are they already fighting like an old married couple?”
Injoo chuckled, rounded up the rest of the guild members, and was the last to leave the rift.
But once she got outside, her eyes went wide at the scene in front of her.
“You cocky bastard! You got a death wish or something?!”
A man stood yelling at Dojun, who had his arms casually crossed.
But what shocked her wasn’t the loudmouth—it was the man standing behind him, expression ice-cold.
“Ryouma Takashi?!”
An S-Rank hero.
From Japan.
That was who he was.
‘What the hell? What the hell is going on here?!’
The situation screamed trouble, and Injoo could only frown, dreading what was about to unfold.
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HELIO SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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