Doom Breaker – The Egoist

‘This is a nightmare.’

Big Bo stared at Shin Jagun, who had taken over his bed. It had been three days since they returned from the dungeon. Jagun was staying at Big Bo’s house.

“Big Bo, I know Baekje City’s housing prices are high, but did you really buy this place and call it a house?”

Jagun lay on the bed, puffing on a cigarette. The smoke filled the roughly 15-pyeong apartment. Being a semi-basement room, it was also damp.

Living in such conditions could induce depression even if one didn’t have it.

“Republic of Korea, Raider Economic Special Zone, baekje City”

It was a special zone established for dungeon and raider economic activities. A planned city divided into 15 districts, with each country having a special zone for raiders.

Awakeners, or raiders, were stronger than the average person. Laws and systems were in place to prevent public order and social unrest.

‘These restrictions… are irritating.’

Jagun thought, staring at the cigarette smoke. The stronger the raiders, the more restrictions they faced.

‘That means being moderately strong. If you have enough power to ignore a country’s control and restrictions, that’s it.’

Top guilds or high-ranking raiders ignored national restrictions. The country couldn’t touch them. They exceeded the country’s military capabilities.

Ragnarf and the Eight Dragons, where Jagun belonged, were such extralegal entities. Commonly, raiders rated S-rank or higher were beyond the grasp of the country.

Only other awakeners or the gods could punish them.

“Phew, Shin Jagun. So, I’m 19 years old.”

Jagun muttered. He skimmed through the personal information obtained from the city hall. This body was named Shin Jagun, an orphan, age 19.

According to the documents, he became an awakener and registered as a raider a month ago.

‘Even for a low-tier god, manipulating such information isn’t difficult. Creating an identity for a non-existent person is a piece of cake. Impressive, damn it.’

In other words, restoring Shin Jagun’s original body and power wouldn’t be difficult either.

‘He just wants to see me writhing like a worm under his control.’

Jagun flicked the ash from his cigarette onto the blanket. The blanket started to burn, leaving a hole.

“Ugh. Please, use the ashtray!”

Big Bo brought the ashtray from the table and begged. Jagun frowned and twisted his head slightly.

“Shut your mouth before I hit you with the ashtray. I’m not in a good mood right now.”

Jagun spoke. He tossed the cigarette butt into a glass of water and pulled out the pack of cigarettes.

Tap, tap.

“Damn it. Already out. Big Bo, go buy another carton.”

He threw the empty cigarette pack at Big Bo. Big Bo sighed and shuffled outside. Jagun had spent the past three days at Big Bo’s place gathering information.

He meticulously filled in the gaps of the past two years. He read through major events, one by one.

“Damn those bastards.”

The Ragnarf guild was gone.

The traitorous Seven Dragons had scattered, forming their own guilds or working solo. The death of Violent Dragon Shin Jagun had been a hot topic for a while but quickly faded.

‘Caught off guard and killed by a boss’s instant-death attack.’

The death of Violent Dragon Shin Jagun was absurdly laughable. All of Jagun’s achievements and stories had disappeared. The traitorous Seven Dragons even claimed Jagun’s accomplishments as their own.

『Feature: Now We Can Speak. Who Was Violent Dragon Shin Jagun?』

— Magazine “Raid Again Today,” Issue 7.

Reporter: The Ragnarf guild’s legendary fame began with the conquest of Tokyo Dungeon No. 4, didn’t it? It’s said that Violent Dragon didn’t actually do anything significant there. Is that true?

Red Dragon Bernard: (Laughs) Well, speaking ill of the dead might not sit well with some… If we’d said this while the Violent Dragon was alive, it would’ve been chaos. Everyone knows about his terrible temper, right?

Reporter: Haha, and that’s why we’re doing this interview now that the Violent Dragon is gone.

Red Dragon Bernard: The Violent Dragon was the guild master of Ragnarf, wasn’t he? So we needed to dress up the guild master’s image a bit. Of course, it was Violent Dragon’s idea. His vanity was off the charts. He said he would be the guild’s frontman, so he asked us to embellish all his stories.

Reporter: So you’re saying most of the stories we know about the Violent Dragon are lies? That’s shocking.

Red Dragon Bernard: Not all lies, but how much to believe is up to the readers of this interview. Violent Dragon was still a friend and colleague of mine. Speaking ill of the dead doesn’t sit well. (Bernard lowers his head, reflecting silently for a moment.)

Reporter: I understand your feelings. But the public has the right to know the truth about the real Violent Dragon. Everyone knows you’ve taken the lead and come forward for this interview.

Red Dragon Bernard: The truth is, Violent Dragon was indeed strong, but the difference between him and the rest of the Eight Dragons was paper-thin. People often called him a dictator of the Ragnarf guild, but the reality was that he was more annoying and dirty than scary, which is why no one wanted to face him head-on. Fighting a mad dog means you have to kill it to end the fight. It was something like that.

Reporter: Ah, I see. So, in simple terms, it was more about avoiding trouble than being scared, yes?

Tremble.

Jagun’s pupils shook violently as he read the magazine. Unable to contain his rage, he hurled the ashtray. The ashtray embedded itself in the middle of the TV.

“That damn bastard… Bernard.”

Red Dragon Bernard.

A master of flame magic and the strategist of Ragnarf. He was also responsible for the guild’s overall administration.

Grit.

Jagun ground his teeth.

“Of course, you were the ringleader.”

Red Dragon Bernard had led the betrayal. It was a near-certain suspicion.

Crash!

Jagun punched the wall. His fist pierced the thin wall, shattering the tiles in the bathroom. Blood dripped from his hand.

‘But there are priorities.’

Jagun had no immediate way to deal with the Seven Dragons. If it were revealed that he was the former Violent Dragon Shin Jagun, his life would be in constant danger.

He had countless enemies. Many people would spend a fortune to see him dead.

“Boss, I brought the cigarettes…”

Big Bo stopped speaking as he entered through the front door. He saw the broken wall and the mess in the room and trembled. But seeing Jagun’s menacing look, he didn’t dare say anything.

‘I’m completely ruined.’

Big Bo pouted.

*

Guns, missiles, tanks, bombs…

Modern weapons had no use against raiders. Inside the dungeon, all electronic devices and modern weapons malfunction and rust.

This phenomenon is called “Medieval Syndrome” because most dungeon weapons resemble those from the medieval era.

Temple of Psylocke, the God of Scales.

It was the most frequented temple by raiders.

Psylocke, one of the seven principal deities, symbolizes fairness and trade. Known as the God of Scales, he is famous for his fairness and honesty in give-and-take transactions.

“One attribute enhancement scroll.”

Jagun spoke to the priest of Psylocke. The priests were like civil servants serving the gods.

‘A snot-nosed brat talking down to me…’

The priest grumbled inwardly but showed no outward sign of it. He pointed to the right door.

“Go through there for the scan, then come out the left side to receive your certificate.”

Jagun entered the dimly lit room. Under the soft lights, shylock’s apostles appeared. Each carried a scale in their left hand.

‘Junk metal machines.’

Jagun felt irritated just looking at the apostles. Apostles, also known as angels, have the appearance of winged humans but are actually androids.

These high-performance mechanical robots are the gods’ delegates and loyal servants.

“Scanning will commence. Human, remove your clothing.”

An apostle spoke in a monotonous voice. Jagun stripped completely, down to his underwear. The attribute certificates issued by Psylocke’s temple are the most reliable.

Other gods sometimes issue false certificates out of whim or ulterior motives. Psylocke’s certificates bear no such deceit. He is, after all, the God of Fair Scales.

Whirrrrr.

The apostles’ eyes glowed as their gaze scanned Jagun’s body. The scan took about a minute.

“You may leave, human.”

Without a word, Jagun exited the room. Outside, the waiting priest handed over the attribute certificate.

“That will be 100,000 won.”

“Expensive. Damn it.”

Jagun grumbled as he took out Big Bo’s check card to pay. Jagun was entirely without money at the moment. All he had was his body.

An attribute certificate is essential for a raider. Most raiders obtain it right after significant level-ups, but even without such events, they update it at least once a month.

It serves as a résumé, indispensable for joining a raid team.