The black-haired man jumped back with his saber in hand. His breathing was shaky, and his body was riddled with gruesome injuries. Tartarus stared at him with a calm expression. Tartarus was also covered in injuries, but his were nowhere near as bad as the black-haired man's.
"Human, all your comrades are gone, and your body is being torn apart by my power as we speak. Why do you continue to fight?" Tartarus asked.
The black-haired man's eyes unfocused for a split second, then immediately focused again.
"Honestly, I can't even give a reason as to why I'm still here. If I'm going to be completely honest, I started this and I wish to finish it too," the black-haired man replied.
"Then why don't you join my demonic army?" Tartarus asked, outstretching one of his massive hands. "With your power and mine combined, we could take over the whole universe together!"
"I'll pass. I have no interest in ruling the universe; I just want to go home," the black-haired man said sadly. "Plus," he said, looking up, "who in their right mind would side with a demon?"
Tartarus shook his head before meeting eyes with the black-haired man.
"You humans are so stupid," he sighed.
"And you demons fucking stink," the black-haired man shrugged.
Sensing that there were no more words to exchange, the two entities continued to attack each other.
Hajin's eyes opened slowly after the dream played out.
"Another dream like that? What is even happening?" Hajin muttered to himself as he got up. After giving the sky a quick glance, Hajin assessed that it was around dawn. After a couple of quick stretches, Hajin continued his walk around the forest. Now that he was deeper in the forest, he occasionally heard various noises that he assumed were wild animals. His common sense told him not to approach them since he didn't know whether they were animals from his world or some kind of magical beast.
Hajin circled away from the noises until the sun was completely down. Due to his earlier nap, he had plenty of energy, so he didn't see the point of going to sleep. But since it was dark, he could no longer navigate, so he looked around for an older tree and crawled inside the trunk through a small hole.
"I've been in this world for a whole day," Hajin muttered under his breath.
For Hajin, everything had happened extremely fast. First, he was skipping cram school with Hyuna, then he was talking to a literal god, and now he's spending his time in another world. Hajin laid back and sighed, and the night flew by with Hajin deep in his thoughts.
Hajin got up when the sun had completely risen and began to walk around like he had done the day before. After another couple of hours of trudging through the forest, Hajin's stomach growled. He sighed before paying attention to the trees to potentially find food. Hajin kept walking while trying to find fruits but to no avail. After more hours of walking, Hajin walked into what seemed to be a clearing. The clearing was around 20 meters wide with broken trees and twigs. The lack of trees caused rays of sunlight to brighten up the clearing. In the middle of the clearing, Hajin spotted a large pile of delicious-looking fruits. The fruits were a bright red color and looked a lot like persimmons. Although Hajin found it odd that all the fruits were gathered in one place, he was too hungry to care and ran over to grab the fruits. He grabbed one of the fruits and bit directly into it. The outside was soft, and the inside texture was extremely firm yet fleshy. A sweet and savory taste exploded in Hajin's mouth, making him want more. Before he knew it, he was grabbing another fruit to eat.
After plowing through eight of the fruits, Hajin cleaned his mouth with his dirty uniform and started to turn around, but an idea appeared in his mind. He turned around and unbuttoned his shirt before taking it off and stored some of the fruits in it. Then he tied his shirt around him horizontally and started to walk away. 'This should last me a couple of days, but I hope by then I've found civilization,' Hajin thought to himself.
Hajin walked for a couple more hours before he started to hear noises. The noises sounded like low growls before getting louder. Hajin did what he typically did and walked away from the noises. Despite his evasion, the beast only seemed to be getting closer and closer. Hajin, noticing this, started running. 'It's hunting me!' Hajin exclaimed mentally. His fight-or-flight response activated, and he felt adrenaline running through his veins as he ran at his top speed. Although he could not properly assess what was chasing him, by the many footsteps, he already knew that the beast ran on four legs. Branches and twigs cracked as sweat began to pour down Hajin's bare chest. Eventually, he stopped and crouched over while hyperventilating. Sweat poured down his face and dripped on the floor as he tried to catch his breath.
CRACK
Out of nowhere, a large beast that looked like a brown bear launched itself at Hajin, breaking multiple trees in its way, with its sharp claws extended. The large beast had red eyes that reeked of vicious intent. Hajin immediately jumped forward out of reflex, but the fruits on his back were destroyed. 'If I didn't have those fruits on my back, I wouldn't even be in one piece!' Hajin exclaimed internally. He had only been in this world for a single day and he was already about to die? Unacceptable. Hajin ran deeper into the forest while the beast chased him and a foul smell invaded his nose. He immediately looked forward and saw a bunch of mangled human corpses strewn across the place. Hajin resisted the urge to puke or freeze in fear and bolted towards one of the corpses. 'They were probably killed by some beast,' Hajin deduced almost instantly. He grabbed the chipped and nicked longsword that was leaning on a tree next to one of the corpses and picked it up. It was pretty heavy, but he still managed to pick it up seemingly without much effort. It was a normal longsword with a red hilt and a straight guard. There seemed to be dried blood on the sword, but Hajin didn't take note of it. He immediately took the stance with two hands that he had seen in most anime and manga.
"I just got here, I won't be taken out by some random beast!" Hajin shouted as the beast charged at him.
The beast swiped its claw at Hajin again, but Hajin swung the sword clumsily and parried the beast's claw. Due to the difference in their strength, Hajin was sent flying into a tree trunk with a loud THUD.
Hajin groaned, but before he could get up, the beast charged at him with its large mouth and sharp teeth. Hajin rolled to the side to dodge as fear took over his body. The beast had torn the tree in half, sending splinters flying everywhere. Splinters cut Hajin's body, making him start bleeding. Blood poured out of Hajin's mouth from his impact on the tree and the fact that he rolled over violently. 'I'm bleeding internally and I may have fractured my forearms,' Hajin assessed. The beast charged at Hajin again, but this time, when Hajin tried to dodge, one of its sharp claws slashed diagonally across Hajin's torso. An excruciating pain spread across his body as he rolled on the ground to the side.
"I-is this the end?" Hajin muttered weakly.
He had dropped the sword and was now bleeding in multiple areas. He was feeling pain so excruciating that he felt like he was going to go insane. Hajin felt his vision go black before remembering his dreams. He remembered how valiantly the black-haired man fought. He remembered how the black-haired man had sustained injuries far more gruesome than his and still fought. He remembered how powerful the black-haired man was and the type of being he was fighting. Immediately, Hajin's eyes snapped open and he grabbed the sword.
"I WILL NOT DIE LIKE THIS!" Hajin roared before charging at the beast.
The beast roared again before swiping its claw at Hajin, but before it could cut him, he rolled under the claw and slashed the bear, staining its fur with blood. The sword seemed to cut through the flesh like butter, and the beast released a loud, pained roar. Hajin felt blood spurt from his ears, but he wasn't done yet. A warm feeling covered his body as he attacked the bear again. Hajin swung the sword at its paw and cut the entire paw off. A loud and agonized roar rang out from the beast as it fell to the ground. Blood shot from the wound, and a loud THUD resounded as a large paw the size of half of Hajin's body landed on the ground.
"HAAAAA!" Hajin roared as he continued to swing his sword down at the beast.
The beast eventually stopped howling in pain, but Hajin kept swinging the sword until only shreds of flesh were left. After he felt like his arms were broken, Hajin fell to the ground, and his vision slowly began to go dark. The system interface appeared, but Hajin couldn't read it before blacking out.
...
A boy with ginger hair who seemed to be about Hajin's age arrived at the scene. He frowned as he took in the remains of the monster.
"I was only watching you for a little while, and the moment I look away, this happens? You might be special," the boy said with a sigh. "Never in my life would I expect an F-rank to mutilate a D-rank Dark Beast like this."
After analyzing the situation further, the boy gently picked up Hajin and began walking in the opposite direction.
"He'll die if I leave him here, and the old man will probably be interested in him, so I guess I should take him back," the boy muttered as he walked off into the distance.
This small battle marked the beginning of Hajin's journey.