Doom Breaker – The Egoist

Big Bo was being dragged along by Jagun while sitting on the shield.

Scrape, scrape.

Jagun was pulling Big Bo and the shield with a rope connected to it. It resembled dragging a sled. Big Bo couldn’t walk due to his severed right leg.

“Damn it, if you don’t lose weight, I’ll kill you later.”

Jagun said, blood and sweat pouring down his face. Big Bo nodded without a word. In truth, big Bo’s weight wasn’t an issue at all.

With the strength of an awakener, dragging Big Bo was no different than walking alone. If it had been difficult to drag Big Bo, Jagun would have abandoned him already.

The real problem facing Jagun now was the persistent bleeding from his side.

‘At this rate, I’m gonna die.’

The bleeding wouldn’t stop. Jagun’s face was deathly pale. He was hanging on purely through willpower.

Anyway, it was a hopeless wound that wouldn’t improve even if he rested. The abdomen was a difficult area to stop bleeding from, unlike the limbs. Professional treatment or tools were needed.

‘I have to move forward.’

In this state, even Jagun would struggle if they encountered a monster.

— Fool, not even praying in a situation like this.

Suddenly, the voice of Isaac, the God of Chaos, echoed in the air. Jagun’s eyes narrowed.

— Here, take this.

Above Jagun, space opened up. Something fell from it.

“Bandages and ointment? What is this…”

Big Bo’s eyes widened. Jagun looked at the fallen bandages and ointment. They were thick pressure bandages, capable of stopping abdominal bleeding.

“This is Madeccasol, right? The kind that helps new skin grow quickly.”

“Shut up before I smear it on your mouth. Stop making a fuss.”

Big Bo, still excited, didn’t stop talking.

“That was a gift from a god, right? For a god to bestow something directly, you’d need at least a high level of faith… Boss, are you a priest?”

Jagun didn’t answer. His hands trembled as he opened the ointment cap. He liberally applied the ointment to the wound. Then he tightly wrapped the bandages around the area to apply strong pressure.

“Phew.”

Jagun’s expression relaxed a bit. Just stopping the bleeding made him feel like he might survive.

‘He’s an omnipotent god capable of fully reconstructing my body. But all he gives me in my time of crisis are ointment and bandages.’

Gods are always like this. They have the power to sweep away dungeons or whatever they want, yet they remain as mere spectators. Jagun twisted his lips into a smirk.

‘How high up do they sit, looking down on us…’

Jagun briefly closed his eyes to rest. He didn’t fall into a deep sleep. He stayed in a light sleep until his body recovered somewhat.

*

“It’s the entrance! Boss! It’s the entrance!”

Big Bo shouted. Jagun also saw the exit with sunlight streaming through. His leather armor was filthy, caked with blood. Most of it was monster blood. The higher they went in the dungeon, the weaker the monsters got, making the final stretch of escape easier.

‘It took about two days.’

Jagun had reached level 9.

He was much stronger than when he was level 1 but still not satisfied.

‘It’s not enough. At this rate, even making a comeback, let alone revenge, will be difficult.’

Jagun didn’t smile even as they reached the exit. Jagun and Big Bo crawled out of the dungeon with great effort.

They collapsed outside the entrance to rest. Breathing in the fresh air instead of the damp dungeon air made them feel alive. They moved so little that even the thought of returning immediately seemed impossible.

Clink, clink.

Jagun, who had been lying down, sprang up. He heard unfamiliar footsteps. They were heavy, armored footsteps.

“Boss, they’re probably other raiders. We should ask them for help since we can’t move.”

Big Bo said. Jagun grabbed Big Bo by the collar.

“You idiot! Stop talking nonsense.”

“Huh?”

Jagun hurried to hide the mimic’s shield. But it was already too late. The strangers were right in front of him.

“Looks like they just got out? There’re only two of them?”

“One has a leg injury, and the other looks exhausted. Seems like they failed the raid and only these two escaped, huh?”

There were 10 combat members and 3 porters. They scrutinized Jagun and Big Bo sharply.

“Hey, I recognize that guy. It’s Big Bo, isn’t it? Wow, still alive, huh?”

“Big Bo?”

“Yeah, remember that fat guy who was a porter in our raid party last time? Still looks like a pig. Haha.”

“Oh yeah, I remember. The slow guy who almost got killed in a trap. Look, his leg’s injured now too.”

The raid party recognized Big Bo and laughed. Big Bo’s face turned red with embarrassment. Jagun glared at the raid members.

There were 10 of them, well-armed.

“Is that all you’re good for, being porter in a raid team struggling with an E-rank dungeon? Aren’t you around level 20 now? How long are you going to keep living as a low-level dungeon porter, big Bo?”

Hearing this, Jagun frowned.

‘E-rank? A dungeon with ogres in the corridors is considered E-rank and not C-rank? Since when did E-rank exist?’

From Jagun’s memory, the lowest dungeons were D-rank, and the highest were Triple S-rank. There was no such thing as E-rank. If the dungeon ranking system had changed…

A chill ran down his spine. A hypothesis emerged in his mind.

‘A lot more time has passed since I died. Maybe not just a few months, but years.’

Jagun looked at Big Bo. Cold sweat dripped from his forehead.

“Big Bo, what year is it now?”

“Huh? Of course, it’s 2015.”

Jagun’s pupils shook violently. The year he died was 2013. Two years had already passed. While the stunned Jagun stood in shock, the raid members eyed the shield Big Bo had.

“What’s that you’re holding? Big Bo, isn’t that a shield? It looks pretty good.”

Big Bo clutched the shield nervously.

“I-It’s not that great.”

“Now I’m even more curious, you idiot!”

The raid members snatched the mimic’s tooth shield. They examined it.

“Wow, it’s the Mimic’s Tooth Shield!”

“What? Wait a second. It should be in the compendium. Among the items from E-rank dungeons, this is almost top-tier, right? It’s practically a low-D-rank item. For shield-type warriors, it’s effective even in C-rank dungeons.”

Big Bo looked at the raid members with teary eyes.

‘This item is what the boss and I risked our lives to get…’

Big Bo reached out to retrieve the shield.

“G-Give it back!”

One of the raid members laughed and kicked Big Bo.

“What’s a porter like you gonna do with something like this? We’ll buy it from you. Take this and scram. It’s a regeneration potion. Consider it a favor from us.”

It was an absurd deal. The Mimic’s Tooth Shield could buy over ten regeneration potions. If sold well at an auction, it could fetch even more.

“No! I don’t need it! Give me back the shield!”

Big Bo shouted. The raid members’ eyes turned fierce. They looked ready to beat up Big Bo. At that moment, Jagun stood up.

“Big Bo, stay still. Accept the deal.”

Jagun, having regained his composure, spoke. He smiled at the raid members.

“At least you’re someone we can reason with.”

Jagun and the raid members exchanged the Mimic’s Tooth Shield for the regeneration potion. The raid members held onto the shield with greedy smiles.

Then, they disappeared into the dungeon.

“Boss… That shield, we worked so hard to get it…”

Without hesitation, Jagun poured the regeneration potion onto Big Bo’s severed leg. The leg regrew. The potion was made from troll’s blood.

It was expensive, but well-stocked by raid teams. Even severe injuries could be healed, allowing for a return to combat.

“If we had continued to resist, we’d have lost the shield and gained nothing, not even the potion.”

Jagun said coldly. He stared silently at the dungeon where the raid team had entered. Suddenly, he began to laugh, his shoulders shaking.

He covered his face with his palm, dragging it down his face. His eyes, filled with a eerie gleam, trembled fiercely.

“Heh, heh, heh. This Shin Jagun reduced to dealing with such small fry…”

“Boss?”

Big Bo worried that Jagun might have lost his sanity. Jagun bared his teeth in a wide grin. He looked at Big Bo with a sparkling gaze.

“Big Bo, so far, only seven people have touched my belongings and lived. I don’t plan on adding to that number.”

Jagun was certain that the traitors had divided the seven weapons of the Violent Dragon. He intended to punish the traitors and retrieve all his weapons.

But he had no intention of tolerating the humiliation and anger he felt right now. Isaac, the God of Chaos, had given Jagun a new body.

Once the most formidable Violent Dragon, he was now an ordinary awakener. But Shin Jagun’s hatred and anger hadn’t faded.

‘I am Shin Jagun because I am Shin Jagun.’

The body didn’t matter. Shin Jagun was Shin Jagun. He possessed a firm self-identity, inherently egocentric and raw.

People called him the Violent Dragon, and those who liked to be grandiose called him the greatest egoist of all time.