The Northern Region was home to the highest number of monsters on the continent.
It was because the Sixth Demon King, after losing the war, had fled north with the vast horde under his command.
There were so many different kinds that Massive Guardian even distributed guidebooks cataloging them.
On top of that, their breeding rate was utterly monstrous.
Even a moment's carelessness could lead to them forming legions and invading, so once a year, without fail, they had to launch a large-scale subjugation.
Thanks to that, Massive Guardian's soldiers were among the strongest on the continent.
Of course, that strength came at the cost of countless sacrifices.
"In the end, I'm going too, huh."
Returning to his quarters, Seo Woojin sat on the edge of his bed and clutched his head.
He had known a day like this would come eventually.
After all, they hadn't summoned him just to sightsee this fantasy world.
Naturally, he needed to level up and gain experience fighting monsters.
The hero had to grow strong enough to face the Demon King before the Great War began.
Seo Woojin thought he was mentally prepared for it.
But now that the moment was right in front of him, fear hit him like a truck.
'Should I just bail?'
Come to think of it, wasn't he different from the other heroes?
His job aptitude was 'Demon King', the polar opposite of theirs from the start.
In that light, he might actually be closer to the monsters' side.
Even setting that aside, he had plenty of reasons to run.
Who would risk their life fighting for people who treated them like dirt?
"Should I really bail?"
Seo Woojin began seriously weighing the idea.
If he escaped Massive Guardian, where would he go? What would he do to survive?
He had received a basic education about this world, so it wasn't completely hopeless.
"Yeah, let's bail. If worst comes to worst, being someone's dog is still better than dying here."
Anything beat dying like a dog in this place.
"Hmm, quite the intriguing conversation."
"Ugh!"
Seo Woojin jolted upright in shock at the sudden voice behind him.
"Wh-who are you!"
Short silver hair and a handsome face.
The voice belonged to a young man he'd never seen before.
He had no idea when the guy had slipped in or how he'd gone unnoticed until now.
"Oh dear, I startled you."
His manner of speech was a bit odd.
He looked about Seo Woojin's age at most, yet he talked like some ancient geezer.
But Seo Woojin was too flustered to care.
"Sorry about that. I stepped out briefly and heard a hero had arrived, so I came to have a look...."
Seo Woojin chuckled inwardly at that.
'A look? What am I, a monkey at the zoo?'
He debated snapping at the guy or letting it slide, then chose the latter.
The word choice rubbed him the wrong way a bit, but unlike the others, this guy didn't seem malicious at all.
"So, who are you?"
That didn't mean he dropped his guard, though.
The young man slapped his forehead with an "ah" expression under Seo Woojin's suspicious glare.
"I'm making one blunder after another today."
He quickly straightened his clothes and introduced himself properly.
"I am Ban Slaine, Supreme Commander of Massive Guardian and lord of these lands. A pleasure to meet you."
"Pfft! Hahaha!"
Seo Woojin burst out laughing.
Ban Slaine tilted his head in confusion.
He wondered what mistake he'd made this time.
But that wasn't why Seo Woojin was laughing.
"Hey, if you're gonna lie, at least make it convincing. You're Ban Slaine?"
The Iron Count, shield of Kingdom Zion.
One of the world's strongest, said to rival the summoned heroes in personal might.
Seo Woojin hadn't met him in person yet, but since arriving, he'd heard so many rumors his ears were numb.
He knew for a fact that Ban Slaine was over sixty, a grizzled old knight with a full head of white hair.
"No matter how I look at it, you don't seem older than me."
He half-suspected the guy was just some soldier messing with him.
But the young man who called himself Ban Slaine didn't look flustered.
If anything, he smiled warmly, as if receiving a compliment.
"I hadn't considered that."
He nodded, acknowledging his oversight.
"It's been so recent since I transformed like this that I forgot."
What did that mean?
Seo Woojin couldn't make sense of it.
"You clearly won't believe anything I say right now, so I'll give you a proper greeting another time."
He flashed Seo Woojin an expectant smile, then vanished.
"Huh?"
He was gone, just like that.
As if he'd never been there.
Seo Woojin stood frozen, blinking, then shuddered.
"Whoa, what the hell? A ghost?"
* * *
The weather had been iffy lately, and now a blizzard had finally hit.
He'd seen stuff like this on TV back on Earth a few times, but this wind was on another level.
"Keep your center low, or the wind'll carry you off."
At Eileen's advice, Seo Woojin crouched lower.
It wasn't hyperbole; he genuinely felt like he might get swept away.
"Why today of all days...."
Seo Woojin grumbled.
In the end, he hadn't managed to escape, and the day of the subjugation had arrived.
There were various reasons he couldn't run, but the biggest was the woman right in front of him: Eileen.
She'd ignored him completely before, but out of nowhere, she started checking on him constantly.
Like she was babysitting him or something.
The timing was too perfect right after he'd decided to bolt, leaving him utterly deflated.
'It has to be that guy.'
The con artist who'd snuck into his room must've snitched.
No other explanation for her sudden attitude shift.
Still, Seo Woojin hadn't given up and tried everything to slip away.
He had zero interest in joining a deadly subjugation where one wrong move meant death.
But Eileen's watch was too tight for his skills to evade.
Time slipped by pointlessly, and this day had come.
Seo Woojin followed behind Eileen with the resigned air of livestock headed to the slaughterhouse.
"Wow."
The training grounds were packed with soldiers.
A thousand? Two thousand?
He hadn't realized Massive Guardian had this many troops.
Veteran warriors that they were, not one budged in the fierce blizzard.
They looked like they were steeling body and mind for the monster battle ahead.
He could hardly believe these were the same jerks who mocked him daily.
"We go this way."
Eileen led him toward the platform up front.
About fifty knights stood arrayed there.
The kingdom's proud elite: the 'Blue Shield' Knights.
'Tch.'
Seo Woojin clicked his tongue inwardly.
He spotted Knight Testaron right up front.
The guy looked like someone had mashed together two hundred kilos of testosterone and sculpted it into human form.
"Oh, if it isn't our hero."
Somehow, he spouted the exact same lines as the grunts, word for word.
Despite his macho build, his tone was annoyingly flippant.
"Uh, yeah."
Seo Woojin gave Testaron a half-hearted nod.
He'd never gotten anything good from dealing with the guy, so best to keep interactions minimal.
Testaron, however, had no intention of letting such tasty bait off the hook.
"Do your best in this subjugation, yeah? We could use some hero luck. Oh, wait, you're D-grade—might be tough."
He let out a booming laugh laced with mockery anyone could spot.
Seo Woojin's eyebrow twitched.
Normally, he'd ignore it.
Just like always.
But unfortunately, his mood was already foul.
He couldn't run, and now he was being dragged to a dangerous subjugation....
Holding back would be the weird thing.
"Your mouth's running a bit wild there."
In the end, Seo Woojin couldn't hold back and spat it out.
"...What?"
"What the hell did I ever do to you? Why are you so desperate to eat me alive?"
He ground out the words at Testaron.
He could take it once or twice, but no more.
'Probably gonna get beat.'
Seo Woojin thought as he reached for his sword.
Unlike those grunts before, Testaron was a knight.
His raw physicals and combat experience clearly dwarfed Seo Woojin's.
Maybe after some growth, but right now? No chance of winning.
Still....
He intended to embody that Korean proverb: even an earthworm writhes when stepped on.
"You planning to draw that sword?"
Testaron's voice dropped low.
Just that changed the air around them.
Seo Woojin swallowed dryly at the man's eyes, sharp enough to feel like killing intent.
'Fuck it, not like I'll die.'
Treatment sucked, but these people still saw him as a hero.
They wouldn't kill him outright.
No death to fear, so he figured he'd at least land one good hit before eating dirt.
"That's enough from both of you, with the Count here."
But before the fight could start, Eileen's word shut it down.
Testaron dropped his aggression like it was nothing and turned away.
Even a loose cannon like him wouldn't act out in front of his liege.
Seo Woojin released his grip on the sword hilt.
His hand trembled from the tension.
Glancing at Eileen amid the suddenly quiet surroundings, he shifted his gaze to the platform.
'Ban Slaine, huh....'
Testaron wouldn't dare act up around him, so the guy must be the real deal.
At the same time, the face of that con artist from his room flashed in his mind.
He let out a snicker.
'If you're gonna lie, at least do your homework.'
Shaking his head, Seo Woojin focused to get a look at the real Ban Slaine.
The white-haired old knight.
Massive Guardian's Supreme Commander.
One of the continent's top powerhouses, Zion included.
With all the rumors he'd heard, Seo Woojin looked on expectantly.
"Huh?"
His eyes widened.
"Shh-"
Eileen shot him a hush gesture, but he couldn't help it.
"That's... really him?"
He rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
Eileen sighed helplessly and whispered back.
"He's a bit different from the rumors you've heard."
No kidding!
The Ban Slaine in Seo Woojin's eyes wasn't the old knight he'd imagined—it was that con artist.
"He recently surpassed his limits and remade his body."
"So then...."
The young man in his room days ago really was Ban Slaine.
Color drained from Seo Woojin's face.
It wasn't like he'd done anything wrong, but did the world ever work that smoothly?
Worry crept in that he'd rubbed the guy the wrong way.
That was when it happened.
Flinch-
Seo Woojin's body stiffened.
Ban Slaine's eyes had locked right on him.
It was just an instant, so he couldn't be sure, but those eyes seemed to be smiling.
"The subjugation begins."
Ban Slaine's order to march rang out.