Chapter 174: The Third Legend

Twenty years ago, the world changed forever.

Massive, glowing tears in space—what people now called Gates—began popping up across every continent. Along with those Gates came terrifying monsters, dark species, and deadly mana storms. Guns and conventional weapons barely made a dent in the hide of high-rank beasts. Humanity was on the very brink of complete extinction.

During that chaotic era, Aunt Elena was only sixteen years old.

Back then, she had just awakened her healing magic. But her powers were extremely weak. She couldn’t even close a small knife cut without completely draining her own energy.

When a surprise Gate Break occurred in her hometown, low-rank monsters flooded the streets. In the bloody chaos that followed, Elena lost her older sister and her brother-in-law—my parents. They died protecting her and a handful of helpless survivors.

Driven by the unbearable grief and loss of her family, something snapped inside Elena.

She threw herself into the frontlines of the worst gate zones. She fought, bled, and pushed her body way past its absolute limits. Within a single year, her weak healing spell evolved into something legendary.

She became the strongest Healer on the planet.

She reached the absolute pinnacle of holy magic. It didn’t matter how dark the curse was, how deep the poison went, or how close a person was to death. If there was a disease with no known cure, Elena didn’t need complicated potions or long rituals.

She just needed a single touch.

Then around 10 years after that, during the peak of another Gate Break which destroyed half of the City. A local general hospital was completely flattened by giant stone golems.

Elena, already famous nationwide as the "Saint of Life," led the frontline clearing team. She slashed through waves of monsters, her holy light burning away the dark beasts until the area was finally secured.

As the dust began to settle over the ruined hospital courtyard, Elena stood among the rubble, her white clothes stained with monster blood.

Suddenly, she heard a faint, wet dragging sound coming from under a pile of broken concrete.

SCRATCH... SCRATCH...

Elena turned around, her sharp blue eyes locking onto a small shadow crawling out from beneath the debris.

It was an eighteen-year-old boy.

His clothes were torn and were covered in thick grey dust and dried blood. His legs were completely shattered, hanging limply behind him like useless rags.

Dark purple veins—the terrifying mark of severe Mana Blockade Disease—covered his neck and face.

The boy had lost his father, his mother, and his little sister when the hospital collapsed. He had been trapped under the heavy rocks for three days without food or water, listening to the screams of dying people.

He couldn’t stand up. He couldn’t even walk.

So he used his bare fingernails, dragging his bloody body across the broken concrete floor like a dying snake. His fingernails tore off one by one, leaving a dark trail of fresh blood on the grey dust.

"Please..." the boy choked out, his voice so dry and raspy it barely sounded human.

He lifted his dirty, trembling head, squinting through the thick smoke. His grey eyes were completely hollow, filled with pure despair and endless tears.

"Please... you... you are..."

He recognized the face. He recognized the gentle golden light surrounding her hands.

The boy reached out with one bloody, trembling arm.

"Please... help me..." he sobbed, his small voice cracking into a heart-wrenching whimper. "My chest... it hurts so much... I can’t... I can’t breathe... Please, don’t leave me alone in the dark..."

He had pulled every single bit of remaining energy from his dying body just to crawl out of the rubble and say those words.

The moment his fingers brushed against the hem of Elena’s clothes, the boy’s eyes rolled back. His head hit the dirt, and his pulse completely stopped.

Elena didn’t hesitate. She dropped to her knees in the dust, pressing her palm directly over the boy’s chest.

WHOOSH!

A pillar of pure, blinding white light shot straight up into the stormy sky.

The severe Mana Blockade that had ruined the boy’s body was instantly erased. His shattered bones snapped back into place. His torn muscles knitted back together within seconds.

However, because his body had suffered far too much damage, the boy didn’t wake up right away. He fell into a deep, magic-induced coma.

He slept for two whole years.

When the boy finally opened his eyes inside a safe hospital bed two years later, his body was fully healed. He was completely healthy. But the Saint of Life who had saved his soul was nowhere to be found.

The boy spent months searching for the person who had given him a second chance at life. During that time, he encountered another Gate Break but this time he awakened his own power—a rare, terrifying Lightning Affinity that started straight at S-Class level.

Eventually, he met Elena at Association when went to get his rank evaluated.

He knew she was the one who saved him and had finally got the chance to thank him. What he didn’t know she was also the sister of the people who died years ago saving him when he was a child. He only knew that the moment he saw her sitting near the window, sipping her black tea, he fell for her at first sight.

He didn’t ask for money. He didn’t ask for a high position in the Hunters Association.

He simply bowed down and offered his complete, absolute loyalty as her personal butler.

Over the next years, that same boy climbed the global hunter rankings step by step. He fought in the deadliest Legendary-Rank Gates, clearing nightmarish dungeons that killed entire guilds.

Eventually, he became known to the world as Raymond—the Third Strongest Hunter in human history, standing right behind Elena herself.

CLACK. CLACK. CLACK.

The soft sound of a kitchen knife chopping vegetables against a wooden board echoed through the spacious, sunlit dining room.

I sat at the long wooden dining table, staring at the grey-haired man standing near the stove in a crisp white apron.

My mind was completely blown. My jaw was practically hanging open, and I couldn’t stop blinking in sheer disbelief.

Are you telling me HE is HIM?! I thought, my hands gripping my tea mug so hard my knuckles turned white.

The man currently wearing a cute little pink apron over his dark blue suit, carefully flipping fluffy golden pancakes in a pan, was Raymond! The absolute legend! The guy whose picture was printed on the front cover of every single hunter textbook in the world! The character almost no reader could hate?

The third strongest hunter in history was currently making us breakfast like an ordinary neighborhood cook?

Everyone in the house was present at the table.

Aunt Elena sat at the head of the table, calmly reading the morning newspaper while taking small sips of her hot black tea.

Beside me sat Viora. Carmilla, Leo, and Mia sat across from us, keeping their heads down and sitting super straight in their chairs, still clearly intimidated by Aunt Elena’s presence.

I had tried to go into the kitchen earlier to help him carry the heavy plates, but Raymond had politely shooed me away with a smooth, gentle bow.

"Young Master Woo Jin," Raymond had said with a polite smile, "a proper butler never lets his master—or his master’s guests—burn their hands near a hot stove. Please sit down and rest your injured leg."

So, we all just sat there, waiting patiently for him to finish.

"Here we are," Raymond said smoothly, walking over to the table with two large trays balanced perfectly on his arms.

He placed plates piled high with fluffy pancakes, crispy bacon, scrambled eggs, and fresh fruit bowls right in front of each of us.

"Pancakes with maple syrup for Lady Elena," Raymond announced, setting down her plate with extreme care. "Crispy bacon and eggs for Young Master Woo Jin. Honey-glazed toast for Miss Viora. And..."

He turned toward Carmilla, Leo, and Mia, placing three tall glass bottles filled with a thick, crimson liquid beside their plates.

"Medical-grade synthetic blood, chilled to exactly four degrees Celsius," Raymond bowed politely to the three vampires. "Cleaned, purified, and free of any dark mana residue."

Carmilla stared at the bottle of high-grade synthetic blood, her crimson eyes widening in shock. "This... this is top-shelf medical blood from the Central Hospital! It costs a fortune!"

"Lady Elena’s guests deserve only the finest," Raymond replied, his tone so calm and professional it felt completely natural.

Leo took a tiny sip from his bottle and his face immediately lit up with joy! "Woah! It tastes like sweet berry juice! It doesn’t sting at all!"

Mia giggled happily, hugging her bottle close to her chest. "Thank you, mister butler!"

"You are very welcome, little lady," Raymond smiled gently, bowing his head.

I watched Raymond walk back to the kitchen counter to clean the spatulas. He moved with fluid, silent grace. There was no intense, crushing aura radiating from his body. He looked just like a polite butler who cared deeply about his work.

If I didn’t know his true identity, I would have never guessed that this man could incinerate cities with a single snap of his fingers.

"Auntie Elena," I spoke up quietly, taking a bite of my scrambled eggs. "Where was Raymond for so long? I haven’t seen him around the villa."

Elena didn’t look up from her newspaper. "He was clearing a Legendary-Rank Gate near the Northern Border."

Viora choked on her honey toast. "C-Clearing a what?!"

"A Legendary-Rank Gate," Raymond answered smoothly from the sink, washing the frying pan under warm water. "The Association requested my assistance to deal with a spatial dragon anomaly. It took a little longer than expected, but the boss beast was successfully eliminated three days ago."

"He came back not long ago," Elena added, setting her newspaper down on the table. "And despite being exhausted from a two-month raid, he still managed to clean up some trash before coming home to cook breakfast."

Raymond turned around, drying his hands with a clean white cloth. "Serving you is my primary duty, Lady Elena."

Carmilla peeked at Raymond, then looked over at me, leaning in closer to whisper. "Woo Jin... who is this guy really? He feels... dangerously strong. Just like your aunt."

"He is the third strongest hunter in the world," I whispered back plainly.

Carmilla’s jaw dropped so wide her piece of toast nearly fell out of her mouth. Leo froze midway through drinking his blood pack, his eyes bulging out of his head.

"T-Third strongest...?!" Carmilla gasped in a tiny, terrified voice.

"Don’t worry," I gave her an awkward smile. "As long as you follow Aunt Elena’s rules, he’s totally harmless."

"Indeed," Raymond walked over to the table, pouring fresh orange juice into my glass. "As long as no one brings harm to this household, I am merely a simple butler who enjoys cooking."

He looked down at my bandaged leg, his grey eyes softening slightly.

"You are just like her," Raymond said, giving me a rare, genuine smile that made his sharp features look remarkably warm. "You have her kind heart, but also her strong spirit."

Elena took another sip of her tea, her blue eyes glancing over at me from behind her mug. She knew he was referring to her older sister, however she didn’t say anything, but the soft, calm expression on her face spoke louder than words.

"Now then," Raymond clapped his hands together once, breaking the quiet atmosphere. "After breakfast, Young Master Woo Jin and Miss Viora will rest their legs. Miss Carmilla, Master Leo, and Miss Mia will help me clean the back garden."

"Yes, Mr. Raymond!" Leo and Mia shouted happily, no longer feeling scared of the legendary hunter.

I picked up my fork, taking another bite of the delicious food.

We had a crazy house full of unregistered vampires, a terrifying S-Rank Healer aunt, and the world’s third strongest hunter serving us pancakes. It was chaotic, weird, and completely ridiculous.

But as I looked around the table at everyone laughing and eating together, I smiled.

This was our family. And no matter what dangerous gates or dark enemies came at us next, I knew we were ready for it... Or so I thought... Until... Viora destroyed everything.