Chapter 3
What just happened?
I sat in a chair, blankly staring out the window.
After being told I was terminally ill, my life had already fallen into a pit of debt.
Out of desperation, I lashed out and hurled insults at Trenva, who always picked fights with me.
Then I saw a white flame around him—and when I grabbed it, he collapsed.
I can feel it.
If I had gripped it a little tighter back then…
“He would’ve died.”
I was certain of it.
That white flame…
It was Trenva’s life force—his soul.
Just moments ago, I had tried to extinguish his soul.
Instant death.
He wouldn’t even have realized why he died.
Why do I have this power?
The answer didn’t take long.
The monster’s magic stone.
Inside it was something shaped like a human, with red eyes.
It looked exactly like that thing’s eyes.
‘Could it be some kind of parasitic monster?’
At least it didn’t seem like others could see it.
First a terminal illness, and now a parasitic monster inside me?
I raised my hand and slowly wiped my face.
My mind was a mess.
Trenva had been carried away.
By tomorrow, the whole area would be buzzing with rumors.
“Troublemaker Trenva was beaten by the weakling Haren.”
Rumors spread fast.
But what did it matter?
I would be dead in a few months anyway.
No matter what people said, it didn’t concern me.
Just as I leaned back on the inn bed with that thought—
‘Wait.’
Something crossed my mind.
If that flame I saw earlier is life force… a soul…
Then maybe I can see my own too?
The moment that thought struck me, I quickly rolled up my sleeve.
The eye wrapped around my wrist was still there.
Recalling the earlier sensation, I focused strength into my wrist.
Screee—
The eyelid opened, revealing a thin red pupil.
My vision spun.
A new field of sight was flooding into my brain.
But I endured it and looked through my wrist.
Soon, my vision began to expand.
‘I see it.’
Inside my body—
A crimson flame was burning.
But it was incredibly small.
Compared to Trenva’s, it looked like it could go out at any moment.
“Damn it.”
So the eccentric mage was right.
I really was living on borrowed time.
Magic stone sclerosis.
I was destined to turn into a magic stone.
There was only one way to survive.
I had to become a mage.
But for an ordinary person, becoming a mage was nearly impossible.
A bitter sigh filled my mouth—
“AAAAAAAH!”
A piercing scream rang out.
I rushed to the window and looked outside.
In the distance, space itself was twisting.
A dimensional rift.
The phenomenon where monsters appear.
And they had already emerged.
Small monsters were running through the streets, snatching people.
But those small ones were only the beginning.
The real threat was the large monster leading them.
Dimensional rifts don’t usually happen twice in one day.
Just my luck.
I raised my hand to grab my gear—
Then stopped.
I was going to die from magic stone sclerosis anyway.
So why should I bother hunting monsters?
There was no reason to earn money.
Even if I did, it would just go toward paying off my debt.
Those thoughts shook my mind.
But before I knew it, my hand had already grabbed my sword.
The one thing that came to mind—
Was a boy in a situation like mine, begging a mage for his life, even as he faced death.
That memory had become a deep regret.
I had wanted to live justly.
Yet I had betrayed that very justice.
That regret had always weighed on me.
So what if I was weak?
Even if my body was frail, at least my heart should have been strong.
At the moment of death, what surfaces is the essence of one’s life.
What I lacked—
Was justice.
A small sense of justice that stands against wrongdoing.
Just like the justice my father once shouted toward a mage.
I had always wanted that.
I gripped my sword.
Ran down the stairs.
People were rushing into the inn to escape the monsters.
I went the opposite way.
Outside, chaos unfolded.
People ran in all directions.
Small monsters chased them relentlessly.
They looked like hunched, emaciated wolves—about half a human’s size.
Small—but many.
Monster hunters were appearing, but they couldn’t handle the numbers.
Then I saw one lunging at two children.
Both were crying, desperately running on their tiny legs.
But they couldn’t outrun it.
My legs tensed.
I lunged forward and swung my sword.
I aimed for the heart—where the magic stone would be.
Kill in one strike.
CLANG!
The blade struck the monster’s hard hide.
Even small monsters were still monsters.
Damn it.
A proper hunter would’ve pierced through.
It reminded me how weak my body was.
No matter how much I trained, I never gained muscle.
A frail body. A sickly frame.
I had always resented being born like this.
Still—the ambush worked.
The wolf monster stepped back, baring its teeth.
“Run!”
I shouted at the terrified children.
They snapped out of it and started running again.
The monster’s eyes followed them.
The moment I saw that, I rushed forward—
Trying to create an opening.
But I realized my mistake too late.
On the wolf’s cheek—
An eyelid opened.
It had only pretended to look away.
Monsters are natural hunters.
Now I truly understood.
The wolf pushed off the ground.
Its fangs lunged at me.
Rusty, grotesque teeth.
One bite—and I’d be dead.
I yanked my body back and swung my sword.
CLANG!
Barely, the sword collided with its fangs.
But I was losing in strength.
It was a monster.
Not something I could overpower.
It pushed me back.
Its killing intent grew fiercer.
It planned to crush me with brute force.
Humans or monsters—
The weak are always prey.
Submit—or die.
In that moment of choice—
It opened.
The eye on my arm.
And within it, I saw the monster’s life force.
A dark purple flame.
The same kind I had seen before.
Trenva came to mind.
When I grasped his flame, he collapsed.
Is this… a gamble?
No.
It’s certainty.
The best move I have.
I let go of my sword.
The monster lunged forward.
It saw the opening.
Its instincts took over.
Its fangs rushed in—
But my hand reached its flame first.
Extinguish it.
I must extinguish it!
The flame burned violently in my grip.
For the first time, the monster froze.
It twisted in agony, letting out a scream.
I tightened my grip.
Driven by pure killing intent—
Whoooosh!
The flame burned out—
Thud!
The wolf collapsed.
Dead.
Its life ended in my hand.
“Ha… ha…”
I stared, breathing heavily.
I killed it.
Instantly.
With my own power.
Just one small monster—
But my hands trembled.
And—
‘Power…’
My body felt different.
Stronger.
My hunched back straightened.
For the first time—
I felt strength in my grasp.
A strange thrill surged through me.
Not just victory—
My very being had grown.
Like its life force had flowed into me.
I looked again.
My flame burned brighter now.
Stronger.
It had grown using the monster’s life force as fuel.
That fragile flame—
Now burned with new vitality.
‘Then…’
If I keep hunting monsters—
Can I escape death?
A path opened before me.
Then—
“AAAAAH!”
Another scream.
BOOM!
A massive monster emerged from another rift.
A giant.
Something no human could handle.
But then—
Fire rained from the sky.
“A mage!”
“We’re saved!”
A mage had arrived.
The battle began.
Hunters focused on small monsters.
So did I.
I saw it—
The giant’s massive flame.
Could I extinguish it?
Not impossible.
But it would take time.
Still—
One day, I might.
Just like that magic—
Shiver.
But when I saw the mage—
I froze.
A golden flame.
Overwhelming.
Far greater than even the giant.
What kind of life force was that?
I clenched my fist.
That power—
I wanted it.
If I could see their life force—
Then mages weren’t different.
One day—
I could extinguish theirs too.
Those who choose evil—
I could stand against them.
“Instant Death Magic.”
That’s what I named this power.
A small resolve—
Born from someone who returned from the brink of death.
For now—
I’ll hunt more monsters.
Even one more.
That is the small justice I can achieve.
