Although a Villain, My Wish is World Peace

We rode on the giant rhinoceros. Whenever monsters attacked along the way, we either dismounted to face them or I handled them with ranged attacks.

Ramirez offered to help, but since we’d have to collect his daggers after he threw them, I declined.

Seriously. I couldn’t even fathom what he was thinking, bringing only daggers as weapons.

“That person is really strange, don’t you think? If he uses daggers like disposable items, he’d go bankrupt no matter what he hunts.”

Even Han Seo-hyeon, with barely any real combat experience, has become suspicious of you, man!

From my perspective, having always adorned myself with lies and bluffs just to survive, his disguise was so shoddy it made me sigh.

Still, I had no intention of driving Ramirez away.

For now, it was obvious to anyone that he was strong. You could tell just by observing Ramirez’s behavior. While his oddly clumsy disguise might turn people’s stomachs, he himself always maintained a relaxed demeanor.

Ramirez’s actions completely lacked any sense of crisis.

I’m not sure what his real talent is… but without being considerably strong, such an attitude wouldn’t make sense.

—What if he attacks you guys?

‘He doesn’t seem like that kind of person. Though I’m not sure what his goal is.’

I don’t know why he’s hiding his strength and infiltrating, but that’s precisely why I want to keep him close.

[By the way, it’s eerily quiet. I thought we might encounter other survivors along the way, but…]

I nodded at Ramirez’s words.

There was a strange lack of human presence in the area. Even if we had diverged from the people who escaped the shuttle earlier, it was odd not to sense any human presence in the vicinity.

[Do you think they all returned to the center?]

[If so, that would be fortunate, but…]

It’s more likely they’re dead.

Certainly, if monster attacks kept coming like this in the sandstorm, not many people could withstand it.

While we lack proper field experience, our combat strength is quite significant. Even without me fully engaging in the hunt despite being able to output 6-Circle hunter level firepower in emergencies, we have Kim Jae-ho who has surpassed human physical abilities through body modifications, and Han Seo-hyeon who can handle tireless undead and even raise monster corpses for mass battles if needed.

And then there’s Ramirez, who despite being suspicious, is clearly pulling his weight.

We have the skills to fend off even waves of monsters attacking en masse.

But others likely couldn’t do the same.

If isolated individually in this situation…

Well, it would depend on individual capabilities, but good results aren’t expected.

Anyway, all we can do is endure.

We can’t use electronic devices until the sandstorm dissipates, so it’s difficult to contact others or even properly navigate our way out of here.

Our primary goal was to get outside the range of this sandstorm, but right now we can’t even tell if we’re moving away from the sandstorm or getting closer to it.

It seemed to be getting dark, perhaps as the sun was setting.

We need to make a plan first.

“We’ll have to rest here for now.”

I told Han Seo-hyeon to stop the monster.

[What’s the matter?]

[I think we’ll spend the night here.]

[Here?]

Ramirez’s reaction was understandable, as this was just open ground with nothing around. Certainly, considering we’re inside a sandstorm, it’s not the best choice. The ideal would be to find a place that could completely shield us from the sandstorm. Like a cave or something.

But it’s unlikely we’ll suddenly find a perfect spot that suits our needs. We have to make do with what we have. Still, our situation is relatively good.

[If we set up that monster as a wall and lay out a tent, we can make a decent shelter to comfortably spend a day or so.]

[Oh! That method!]

Ignoring Ramirez’s exaggerated reaction, I calmly started taking out artifacts from the backpack I was carrying to set up.

While I was taking out lanterns to provide light and food for dinner, Kim Jae-ho and Han Seo-hyeon made rough sleeping arrangements with poles and waterproof sheets they had brought.

Meanwhile, Ramirez just sat there with a blank expression.

“What’s wrong with him?”

When I asked Han Seo-hyeon, he replied with a disgusted look:

“He kept asking if there was anything he could help with, but he wasn’t helpful at all, so I just told him to sit down, and now he’s like that.”

“What exactly did you say?”

“‘Sit.’ Doesn’t that mean ‘sit down’?”

“Well, you’re not wrong, but saying it like that sounds like something you’d say to a dog.”

“How should I know?”

Han Seo-hyeon glared at Ramirez.

It seems he still doesn’t like Ramirez at all. Since I had no intention of commenting on Han Seo-hyeon’s attitude, I just shrugged and ignored his gaze.

If even Ramirez himself doesn’t seem to mind that look, there’s no need for me to get involved.

We finished dinner with the rations we had brought. Ramirez didn’t take off his goggles even while eating. I addressed Ramirez:

[Do you know anything about this sandstorm?]

I was wondering if he might know something, even if he was a first-timer like me.

[Ah, yes. Actually, these sandstorms started appearing in Australia a few months ago.]

[A few months already?]

[About 4-5 months ago, a monster presumed to be top-tier appeared from a Gate Breakthrough. Leading this sandstorm.]

The monster’s name was Yebrica. This giant bird-like monster moved around surrounded by a sandstorm with a radius of about 20km. However, it wasn’t particularly active, remaining in a semi-dormant state, which is why it had been left alone until now. Dealing with a top-tier monster, that is, S-rank or above, requires enormous resources, so the Australian government, lacking the capacity, couldn’t carelessly engage it.

Until now, it hadn’t approached this close.

So originally, the sandstorm was blowing far from our intended destination.

[I’m not sure why Yebrica has come so close, but if that thing crosses the barrier, it’ll be a disaster.]

As Ramirez said, if Yebrica approaches the barrier, hell will break loose immediately. The barrier will collapse, and monsters from this area will pour in through the broken barrier.

I haven’t heard of Australia falling in such a way, so it’s unlikely to happen, but it’s certainly a crisis.

[Even if it’s been left alone until now, shouldn’t they hunt Yebrica soon?]

[Well, there aren’t any hunters in Australia capable of dealing with a monster of that level. They’ve requested aid from other countries, but no one who said they’d come has actually arrived.]

Indeed, no one seems interested in this land that’s been half-abandoned.

I don’t have a way to deal with a top-tier monster either, so from tomorrow we should focus on finding a way out of this sandstorm first.

[For now, it’s best to rest well and conserve our energy.]

[Yes.]

Even so, we can’t go without setting a watch in this situation. The order for the watch was set as Han Seo-hyeon first, being the youngest, then me second, Kim Jae-ho third, and finally Ramirez last.

[Thank you.]

Realizing he had been considered, Ramirez expressed his gratitude. Well, I won’t mention that we put him last because he’s the least trustworthy.

Ramirez fell asleep instantly, probably from fatigue.

‘Should I just keep pretending not to notice?’

I asked Ray with my eyes closed.

—It’s not like you have any good options even if you acknowledge it, right?

Well, that’s true. No matter how much I rack my brain, Ramirez’s identity remains a complete mystery.

—Even with your future knowledge?

‘It’s obviously an alias, but the name doesn’t ring any bells, and his abilities are the same. In fact, he hasn’t even properly used his abilities in front of me.’

I noticed Ramirez’s lie from the start. He claimed to have targeting correction, but his mana didn’t move at all, not when aiming or even when hitting the target.

His dagger skills, which seemed almost supernatural, were just pure skill.

Still, if it weren’t for me, he might have fooled us. He just didn’t use his mana while using his skills. If he had taken off his sunglasses, we might have seen his pupils glowing.

If it weren’t for me, who’s been analyzing the mana circuits in my body down to individual counts while training with Ray recently, it would have been a deception easy enough to fall for.

‘What I’m curious about is why he’s going to such lengths to deceive us with lies like that.’

My case is simple.

I’m a criminal, being pursued by the government.

But Ramirez?

—He could be a criminal like you.

‘He’s too sloppy for that.’

—True. I’ve never seen such an idiot who claims daggers as his main weapon but didn’t even think of a way to retrieve them.

‘For now, I’ll let it slide. The more I think about it, the more it seems like it’ll only disadvantage me.’

I needed to conserve my energy now.

It will inevitably come to light as time passes.

* * *

Fortunately, nothing happened while we took turns keeping watch. Perhaps because we were so exhausted, even Han Seo-hyeon, who usually suffers from nightmares, slept like a log.

In the morning, as I woke up and started packing the artifacts I had laid out overnight, I spoke:

[Our best goal would be to return, I suppose.]

[Yes. But in this situation, it’s hard to know how to get back…]

The situation was certainly not good. Even the sky I saw in the morning was still hazy with the sandstorm.

[If Yebrica doesn’t move, it won’t be easy to go back.]

Indeed, with visibility limited to just 10 meters around us, we can’t move carelessly.

Especially if our goal is to return.

There’s a reason the first rule when lost is to ‘stay put’.

Moving recklessly in a situation where you might end up further from your destination – no, in a situation where that possibility is much higher – would be foolish.

Yesterday, we at least had the justification of needing to move away from where the battle took place, but in the current situation, such a decision would be exactly the kind of foolishness people warn against.

Still, our case was a bit better.

[If we can catch just one flying monster, we can send a bird above the sandstorm to check our bearings.]

[Ah! That method!]

Ramirez smiled brightly at my words. But soon his expression turned into one of deep contemplation. He looked like he was struggling with some great dilemma.

Then he carefully asked me:

[May I make one request?]

[What is it?]

[If you send a bird up, could you tell me where the center of this sandstorm is?]

At those words, I narrowed my eyes. I couldn’t understand why he specifically wanted to know the location of the sandstorm’s center, which would be Yebrica’s position. Seeing my gaze, Ramirez made an expression like someone who had been caught red-handed and said:

[Oh, I just wanted to know where that amazing top-tier monster is?]

Just curious about where the sandstorm is originating from? That could be possible. Definitely possible.

But somehow, it felt strange.

Anyway, we haven’t even dealt with a flying monster yet…

“Boss! Jae-ho hyung caught this! Should I make it into an undead and send it up?”

Damn timing. Han Seo-hyeon was grinning, holding a pigeon-like monster that Kim Jae-ho had caught.

[Oh! You’ve got a flying monster! Now we can find our direction!]

Yeah, go ahead and try.

While Han Seo-hyeon was reviving the dead monster, I asked the man in front of me:

[What do you plan to do if you find Yebrica?]

[Oh, just be aware that there are monsters in that direction and be cautious.]

I’m an expert in lying. Maybe it’s because I’ve lived my whole life bluffing. I can see right through people who are lying.

[You’re lying.]

I thought he might feel a bit sorry if I hit the nail on the head, but instead, Ramirez responded with a mischievous smile:

[Well, you lied to me too.]

Seeing the atmosphere between us, Han Seo-hyeon asked in an anxious voice:

“What’s going on over there?”

“Nothing.”

[It won’t harm you. If anything, it might be helpful.]

I frowned at those words. How could it be helpful?

[How do you mean it would be helpful?]

[Hmm.]

At my words, Ramirez adjusted his posture. Unlike before, his face was now serious. He even pushed up the goggles that had been covering his eyes. Sparkling blue eyes greeted me. Despite using a Latin name as an alias, his appearance was perfectly Irish. Rosy cheeks with twinkling blue eyes. He was certainly handsome, but that wasn’t the important thing.

I squinted, scrutinizing Ramirez.

His face was strangely familiar.

Who was it… Just as I was about to piece together the information floating in my mind, Ramirez opened his mouth.

[The reason I came here is to subjugate Yebrica.]

Yebrica is at least a high-rank monster. There aren’t many people in the world who could handle such a being ‘alone’.

That’s when the puzzle pieces in my head started falling into place.

[I’m sorry for lying until now. My name is Taika Cooper, a 7-Circle hunter from the United States.]

Taika Cooper. The awakener with SS-rank potential gravity talent who would come to be regarded as America’s top hunter.

Why are you here?

I barely managed to swallow the scream that was about to escape.