Chapter 55
There could only be one protagonist in one world. The system had already told Yoo Seodam that earth already had a protagonist back when he was hunting the protagonist Lee Yeon-Jun.
Lee Yeon-jun wasn’t the protagonist of ‘Modern’ Earth. He was the protagonist of a fallen world inside the S-rank Dungeon called ‘Weathered Snow Peak of Paulownia’s three thousand years of bitterness’. As a protagonist, Lee Yeon-Jun constantly became stronger by receiving the world’s blessing whenever he overcame a crisis. On top of that he had such a fraudulent skill called [Attention (A)].
The system also told him that if Lee Yeon-Jun cleared the dungeon and escaped to earth, the timing of the prologue would come sooner because the two protagonists would clash against each other.
In the other words, the reason why the system gave Yoo-Seodam kill order for Lee Yeon-jun was because of the man in front of him, Lee Dong-joon.
<With your current abilities, your chances of winning a duel against the protagonist Lee Dong-Joon is 0.0000….>
‘I know…. So please stop.’
<…00001%>
‘Son of a..”
These were extremely low odds. Yoo Seodam had a higher chance of sinking an aircraft carrier with a stone than winning against Lee Dong-Joon.
Seodam frowned. His body was still tense. But then, a new message came from the system.
<But if you based your hunting method with strategy rather than a duel. Your chance of success would increase to 16, no–at this exact moment, 19%.>
‘What?’
<I’m sure you have some sort of great strategy in your head right now, right?>
Seodam had a puzzled look on his face as he listened to the system’s words which were filled with excitement, unlike her usual self.
‘But I don’t have anything right now, though.’
<That can’t be true. My calculations are based on ‘fate’. There must be something…… something.>
‘……?’
After hearing the system’s words, Seodam looked at Lee Dong-joon. Then, in front of him the ‘plot’ window appeared.
━
<The plot>
“Do you have any thoughts of shaving your head?”
The return of the strongest ruler. A ruler contracted with the Spirit of Dharma!
….. But I’ve promised myself to live a normal life for the rest of my life.
“Please be my father, until I graduate.”
Because I have a daughter.
━
‘Um…….’
The plot was so ambiguous, it was difficult to draw any information from the plot alone.
‘Does that mean he is Dharma? And on top of that, he also had a daughter?’
Yoo Seodam looked at the level window that floats on top of Lee Dong-joon’s head.
‘Gasp!’
[Level 500.]
Yes… It was 500.
‘…..What level is SS-Rank equivalent to?’
<It was level 200.>
‘Then…. What about SSS-Rank?’
The legendary SSS-Rank, which had never appeared in the history of earth.
<Level 350.>
‘Crazy! Just how strong is he?’
Yoo Seodam almost took a step back in fright. Fortunately, he stopped himself from doing so in the nick of time.
On the other hand, Lee Dong-Joon felt a strange sensation from Yoo Seodam.
‘I can’t feel anything from this guy.’
Every living thing had a natural energy circulating inside their body. Superhumans from earth were injecting an external source of energy called ‘ether’ to their body, while the returnee from Moorim like Lee Dong-Joon have an energy similar to what Yoo Seodam called ‘Magic’.
But for some reason Lee Dong-Joon couldn’t feel a slightest bit of such energy from Yoo Seodam.
‘has he reached the state where he is ‘one with nature?’
By using ‘One with nature’ technique, it was possible for an extremely high-leveled practitioner of martial arts to mask their body to make it look like a completely normal person. However, no one will be able to do it in front of Lee Dong-joon.
Lee Dong-Joon was Moorim’s strongest martial artist who had achieved the status of “Legendary Lord.” by learning the martial arts of Dharma, which had been passed since the beginning of Moorim. So it was a fairly big deal when someone like him failed to recognize the nature of energy inside the man in front of him.
‘I can barely feel his energy..’
Whether in Moorim or Earth. he was always thought that he was the strongest. But now, in front of him, there was an existence that could be a threat for him.
‘I need to kill him if I want to keep living a normal life.’
Lee Dong-joon sent an intangible energy to his fingertips. Killing Yoo Seodam was an easy thing for him who had mastered the arts of sword which was a rare school in shaolin.
But,
‘……!’
The very moment he decided to kill the man in front of him…
‘I can’t cut him down.’
Lee Dong-joon’s skills [Previewing (SSS)] and [Six Sense] showed him that even if he swung his energy towards Yoo Seodam, he would avoid death by disappearing like a mirage.
‘Just why?’
The distance between him and that man was 3 meters at most. Although he could not detect him, he had already come in advance to specifically meet him. He had seen him in the videos. At best he would be a second or first class warrior. But why couldn’t he cut down this man in front of him?
‘Hmph! Did he have some kind of stealth skill?’
While Lee Dong-Joon was busy thinking like that,
Yoo Seodam opened his mouth.
“Earlier, did you say Moorim?”
Only five seconds had passed since Lee Dong-joon asked the question to Yoo Seodam. In that span of seconds countless thoughts were running through their head. Now that both of them had already finished assessing each other’s strength. It was time to go to the main topic.
Seodam decided to put his trust on the system’s ’emergency escape protocol’ and try to talk to him.
“I’m sure you come to see me because I’ve shown a martial art in public which resembles the martial arts from Moorim. But I think it was a misunderstanding. Yes, I am a dimensional returnee, but I’m not a Moorim martial arts user.”
“So, in other words, you are a dimensional returnee but not from Moorim?”
“As you know, most Dimensional Returnees have gone to the same world as you, which is Moorim. But I have been to another world.”
His words were both true and false. Yoo Seodam wasn’t a dimensional returnee but a dimensional traveler. Even though he wanted to hide the fact that he went to another dimension, he knew that he couldn’t do that in front of Lee Dong-joon.
In that case, there was no other choice but to tell Lee Dong-joon that he used a power that didn’t exist on Earth. A power that resembled the martial arts from Moorim.
“So, you are saying that you aren’t bound by any rules? Is that correct?”
Seodam guessed the ‘rules’ that Lee Dong-joon talk about was something like,
‘Do not use or teach martial arts’ and
‘Do not make a connection.’
The two prohibitions that must be followed by the returnee from Moorim. This ban was probably created by the protagonist in front of him.
If Lee Dong-Joon decided to attack Yoo Seodam right here right now to stop him from using his power on earth, there was nothing he can do.
‘…Then, I guess I have no choice but to escape to another world.’
But Seodam predicted Lee Dong-Joon wouldn’t harm him. Because, if using any other power from another dimension on earth was the problem. He would only put a ban on ‘Don’t use and teach other people about Moorim Martial arts.’ while still permitting his people to make a relationship.
He guessed there must be something different about Moorim. Which means, the uses of power from another world except from Moorim wouldn’t be a problem.
“For sure, you are not someone from Moorim. Which means our rules means nothing to you. I’m sorry for suddenly barging in like this.”
As expected, Lee Dong-Joon didn’t do anything towards Yoo Seodam. Which meant, his conjecture was proven to be correct.
“However, from now on….”
“Daddy!”
A highschool girl wearing a Korean Academy of Superpowers uniform ran toward Lee Dong-Joon. She came up towards Dong-jun and grasped his hand as she frowned.
“What are you doing here? Let’s go quickly!”
“There’s something I need to tell this man, don’t you see we are talking right now?”
“Ah, I’m sorry, please excuse me.”
She turned towards Yoo Seodam and apologized.
Yoo seodam hurriedly said to her.
“No, it’s okay, I’m very close to your father. So it’s okay. Haha, your daughter is very cute.”
“…….”
“Is that so? Nice to meet you, My name is Shin Hye-ji.”
“Yes, I’m Yoo Seodam. By the way… Your last name is Shin?”
Shin Hye-ji awkwardly smiles at Yoo seodam’s words. And then, Lee Dong-joon butt in.
“There are some reasons.”
“Oh, okay.”
After that, a moment of silence descended between the two. And then, Shin Hye-ji opened her mouth once again.
“Ah! I’ve see Yoo Seodam Hunter-nim on TV before! Daebak!”
Unlike Lee Dong-Joon, Shin Hye-Ji’s personality was quite easygoing. She could talk with Yoo Seodam without any problem
Then she came to her senses, and she turned towards her “father.”
“Let’s go now! Yoo Soo-Young Hunter-nim is waiting for us.”
‘Yoo Soo-Young?’
It was the name of a S-rank hunter in Korea as well as one of the most beautiful women in the world. But even after hearing the name, Dong-joon only made a dry face.
“What a drag.”
Suddenly, a message appeared in front of Seodam’s eyes.
[Skill ‘Protagonist Hunter Lv. 3’ is activated.]
[Showing a portion of the protagonist’s skills and ability.]
[The protagonist Lee Dong-Joon has passive ability [Attractive (S)] and passive skills [Charm (SS)]]
Seodam knows that Dharma was a Buddhist monk. But for a Buddhist monk to have a ‘#Harem’ as one of his tags, he was completely sure it was because of those skills.
Thanks to his amazing ability as well as his passive skills, beautiful girls seem to flock around him.
‘Then, what about his daughter?’
Yoo seodam guessed that Lee Dong-joon was either in his late 20s or early 30s. For such a young man to have a daughter as grown up as Shin Hye-ji was so strange.
Seodam slowly glanced at the girl that called herself his “daughter.”
And then, Another message from the system comes to his mind.
<We have found the skill ‘Thirteen sword of Buddha Dharma’ inside the supporting character ‘Shin Hye-ji’>
‘……What?’
Seodam slowly raised his head and looked at Lee Dong-joon. He nodded at Seodam with a dull look on his face.
“We’ll get going now. I have an appointment with my daughter.”
Perhaps, Lee Dong-joon thought no one would know about what he was doing. In fact, Seodam wouldn’t have known if ‘Protagonist Hunter System’ didn’t tell him about it.
“…. Ah yes, please go carefully.”
The strongest dharma king in the world. The one who made two rules that every returnee from Moorim has to follow.
‘He has a harem party, And even taught his own daughter martial arts from Moorim.’
The protagonist Lee Dong-joon himself was breaking both the prohibitions.
“You met the Supreme One?”
“Yes.”
Few days later, I met up with a returnee that I met in Jamsil Gymnasium a while back.
He took a deep breath and let out a heavy sigh when he heard the words ‘Supreme Dharma’ from my mouth.
“As you’ve guessed. The prohibitions imposed on us were created by him.”
“I see. By the way, didn’t you say there’s another Supreme one beside Lee Dong-Joon?”
“That’s right. They are called the Supreme Cheonma…. It may sound unfamiliar for modern people, but there was another one who was once called the Great Mountains in Moorim. I’m sure they came with us when we crossed over to Earth, but I’ve yet to hear any news from them.”
It’s not a martial arts show or anything, but to hear something like Cheonma… They really have all sorts of things.
“Excluding the hiding Cheonma, was Dharma the strongest in Moorim?”
“That is correct. But beneath them, there’s people called ‘3 Kings and 6 emperors’.”
“Please explain about them in the simplest terms so i can understand it.”
“Hmm… These 9 people were similar to the A-rank hunter when Dharma and Cheonma are S-rank hunters.”
In other words, there’s 9 strong people here on earth who are still weaker than Dharma.
“In any case, if the nine of them worked together or if all warriors from Moorim work together, can they win against Dharma?”
“I wouldn’t dare… Dharma is our benefactor who allowed us to return to earth.”
“It’s just what-if, a hypothesis.”
Kim Doo-hak agonized over it, then he sighed heavily and nodded his head.
“I can’t say for sure because my skill isn’t good enough. But maybe it’s possible to kill him. The problem is the ‘3 kings and 6 emperors’ are hiding somewhere on Earth, and it is impossible to bring them all together.”
Somehow, I feel like the world called earth was suddenly bigger than I used to think.
I felt like a frog who fled out of the well. I thought I had wandered around the well enough to see everything it had to offer.
Yet, the world inside the well was full of things I had never seen. It was not yet the time to go out of the well.
“Alright, let me ask one more question.”
“But, you’re really giving me a seat in your guild, right?”
“Of course, I’m not someone who goes against my own words.”
“But I think you’re doing it right now, though.”
“Of course not. Anyway, what will happen if a dimensional returnee broke the rules?”
Kim Doo-hak answered with an expression that was as if he were saying ‘isn’t that obvious?’
“Kill order.”
“……!”
“Every returnee from Moorim would be their enemy.”
I managed to keep the corners of my mouth from rising up after hearing his words. I can’t be sure of anything yet.
Even Kim Doo-hak who was an ultimate master in Moorim could only use words like ‘probably’ and ‘or’ in his words. He couldn’t be completely sure regarding this matter. Kim Doo-hak was someone who was comparable to an A-rank superhuman. But in level terms, he was only level 115 at most. While Lee Dong-joon’s level was 500. simply put, his strength was so overwhelmingly strong.
In other words, whatever plan they made right now, the success rate was close to nil.
‘Lee Dong-Joon…..’
He was 32 years old. He had a 17-year-old daughter, Shin Hye-ji. He is living a normal life as a low-ranking police officer. Of course, both his age and status are likely to be fake.
He had many hunters flocking around him, especially female hunters. Park Sung-ho also informed him that Lee dong-joon often had dinner with swordsmen from China.
Unfortunately, most of the information was vague. It was mainly a story based on the eyewitness’s statement. There was no photograph or whatsoever to support the claims.
And just because the evidence was there didn’t mean that the ‘3 Kings and 6 emperors’ together with all warriors from Moorim would rise up to fight against Lee Dong-Joon. The chances of them winning wouldn’t shoot up to 100% either.
Now I understand why the system told me that I had a 15% chance of success in killing Lee Dong-joon. Back then I didn’t have any kind of information about him. But as the relationship between Lee Dong-Joon and the people from Moorim begins to be sorted out, I can think of a few ways to kill him
But it’s not the time yet. What I want is a 100% chance of victory, not 15%.
‘In order to do that, I need to become stronger by hunting protagonists from all over the dimension. And then I need to create a training hall, expand my power, and meet the ‘3 kings and 6 emperors’.’
There’s no need to be in a hurry. The Time Attack will only begin when the Earth enters the epilogue due to Lee Dong-joon.
The hunt for Lee Dong-joon is likely to be a long-term battle.