Chapter 51
Chapter 51
“Did you hear? They assigned only six slayers to Seoul… not a whole unit.”
“Because the Platinum Slayer is in the lineup.”
“Still, isn’t it overconfident? There are dozens, maybe hundreds of Twin‑Headed Orcs.”
“He soloed a Cyclops once, didn’t he?”
“Yeah, but killing many weaker ones can be harder than killing one strong one. What about his combat field? There’s a time limit on that, right? Stamina will drop too.”
Naturally, there were worried people. The citizens of Seoul, who were directly affected, barely slept that night. Meanwhile, Hyunseok met with Lieutenant General Moon Changseok of the Army. His hair had gone gray at the temples, and deep wrinkles lined his face, proof of long years of service. He had a big nose and sharp, hawk‑like eyes; the commanding presence of a general who oversees hundreds of thousands of troops.
He held out his hand first. “Good to meet you. I’m Lieutenant General Moon Changseok.”
“Ah, yes. Nice to meet you.”
Hyunseok felt slightly intimidated. No matter how powerful a Platinum Slayer he was, he wasn’t used to the aura that comes with rank and decades of leadership. He was over twenty years younger than the general, after all.
“I’ve heard the rumors. I trust this operation to you. The Korean Union believes, six‑man special teams are better than a 600‑person unit for this.”
The operation plan was simple: as the spatial ripple appears, saturate the area with helicopters and tanks to smash shields and chip HP, then the monsters that break through the barrage are handled by the Inha guild. It wasn’t a complicated plan.
Morning 6:00 approached.
❋ ❋ ❋
At 6:00 a.m., while the world held its breath, the operation began.
Kuu‑gwa‑kwa‑gwang —!
The instant the space shimmered, firepower concentrated. Residents in the affected zones had already been evacuated. The sky filled with thunderous booms and the ground trembled. Against monsters, precision guided munitions aren’t ideal, they don’t give enough damage for the cost. Instead, overwhelming conventional firepower was poured in.
Twin‑Headed Orcs could still be cut down with machine guns; even Trolls can be brought to heel with enough automatic weapons to break their shields. Black smoke rose and acrid gunpowder stung the air. Public property damage was accepted in order to inflict maximal damage on the invaders.
The attacks were simultaneous in five cities nationwide. By noon, hopeful news arrived.
<Korean Union and Army: perfect combination!>
<Monster Wave collapses under massive military firepower.>
<Under the overwhelming firepower of the Korean Army, the Monster Wave is rendered helpless!>
This was the first truly large‑scale counter to a Monster Wave. “It’s only a small victory,” Hyunseok thought. In truth, he had little to do, the army’s firepower was unexpectedly strong and most Twin‑Headed Orcs were turned into corpses before slayers needed to intervene.
People everywhere talked about it:
“Even if they aren’t reliable in normal times, when it matters they step up.”
“Have you seen the firepower footage? Unreal.”
“Yes, Korea pulls through when it counts.”
Public praise for the army spread across the nation. The military promoted the success loudly. Their morale rose and, as a side effect, public support for the current government increased. Hyunseok couldn’t help but say, “Impressive. Modern weapons…” General Moon smiled, satisfied. Indeed, given the army’s performance, the slayers had little left to do; the operation had swept monsters clean with no civilian or military casualties.
Moon’s smile faded after a moment. “We were lucky. But how long can this kind of exhausting war cost be sustained?”
They caught their breath. There were roughly eighteen hours until the next expected wave. Radio interviews played as units moved to the next likely appearance spot; most news outlets gave glowing coverage to the army’s response. One excited interviewee even said:
— “If this keeps up, we might not need the slayers at all.”
Moon’s face showed a faint smile at that. He was human; praise satisfies a man in uniform. Hyunseok smiled quietly to himself. Now the lieutenant general’s chest is puffing out a little. Still, the comfort was uneasy.
If a Cyclops or Giant Turtle shows up next, modern weapons might fail. he thought. Those monsters have enormous resistance.
The next morning another Twin‑Headed Orc wave came, about the same numbers. Having been through it once, the army annihilated them again and public support for the military grew further. Then the Korean Union sent unexpected news, not public, only to the leaders of the five task forces (the top slayer commanders):
— The American Union analysis team reports that monsters killed by modern weapons appear to be unable to affect the total count appearing in the Monster Wave. This isn’t fully certain; please keep confidential. However, team leaders, please try controlling the number of Twin‑Headed Orcs slain by slayers to test this hypothesis.
The Korean Union didn’t hide it. They pursued qualitative premium, their strength lay in people, not in matching the financial or institutional scale of the American Union. Each team coordinated with the military to allocate how many Orcs slayers would take down per city. The result was astonishing.
<Shocking: monsters killed by modern weapons reappear as if they were regenerated.>
<The number of Twin‑Headed Orcs decreases only by the count slain by slayers.>
After three days of experiments, the American team’s hypothesis proved correct: monsters killed by modern weapons were back the next day, they did not reduce the next wave’s total. Only the number of monsters slain by slayers reduced the next day’s appearance counts.
This explained why the initial Orc hordes had dwindled, the military and slayers had cooperated to chip away numbers, and when slayers had reduced the count under some threshold the next wave escalated to Twin‑Headed Orcs.
The conclusion was clear: army strikes alone won’t stop the Monster Wave.
<Slayers must perform killing operations based on military suppression.>
<Military fire alone is useless against the Monster Wave.>
<Now is the time for slayers to act.>
Voices calling for slayers to step up grew louder.
❋ ❋ ❋
Yesterday’s wave hit the north; today’s would hit the east. Hyunseok inhaled.
Tomorrow will probably be Twin‑Headed Orcs again.
How to stop the wave? He didn’t overthink it. The best thing was to end it as fast as possible. When the shimmer appears, he could clear many in those few seconds, at least ten, perhaps dozens.
But opinions split. General Moon said, “That’s impossible. Even if you’re strong, we can’t send you in alone.”
“I’m fine. Even if it’s Twin‑Headed Trolls, their attacks don’t pierce my defense. Even criticals wouldn’t.”
“We should first concentrate fire to weaken shields as much as possible,” Moon countered.
No, that’s not it! Hyunseok almost raised his voice. Shields or not, his strike would be decisive. Either way it’s a one‑hit approach. For him, the faster the sweep the better.
Moon and Hyunseok argued from different standpoints. Hyunseok wanted the fastest, most efficient wave clear. Moon wanted to minimize collateral damage and civilian risk. If Hyunseok rushed in and missed a few monsters, they could scatter and cause damage to public infrastructure; that would hinder concentrated fire later.
“You only have one body,” Moon said. “Even if you clear quickly, you will miss some. Those stragglers will scatter, and we’ll have trouble concentrating fire. Enraged Twin‑Headed Orcs will damage buildings and roads, public assets, and civilians could get hurt if they move into urban areas.”
That point gave Hyunseok pause. He’d focused on pure efficiency, but Moon’s concern was cumulative small damage versus a single large strike. “If we split the attacks over time, won’t that just produce many small damages?” Hyunseok argued. “Modern‑weapon kills regenerate, so small repeated damage could pile up.”
Moon hesitated. “But… multiple small damages might be better than one catastrophic one.”
“I can rush in fast and sweep dozens at the start,” Hyunseok insisted.
The debate didn’t quickly resolve. They paused for a break. With time before the next wave, Hyunseok contacted the Korean Union. When problems got sticky, the Union was the place to turn. Park Sunghyung offered a different perspective:
— The military’s prestige matters. If you go in first and then the army cleans what you miss, that undermines their standing. If they go first and you mop up the leftovers, it feels like their show. They care about that image, they need the praise. Don’t make this a pride war with a general. Let the Union handle the nitty‑gritty; you should preserve your public image. You’re the Union’s marquee star, your image is also the Union’s image.
Hyunseok understood. He didn’t particularly care about being inconvenienced, he just didn’t want to be dragged into unnecessary political friction.
Sunghyung finished, “But don’t actively antagonize them. We’ll handle the rest. Keep your image clean.”
The call ended. Hyunseok exhaled and prepared.
(End of Chapter 51)
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— Translated by Prime Works —