Chapter 52
Chapter 52
Moon Changseok spoke up.
“The higher-ups have made a decision. They’ve decided to deploy the Platinum Slayer first.”
“Oh, really?”
Hyunseok nodded slightly, inwardly impressed by how quickly Sunghyung had managed things.
Moon Changseok’s tone was calm, but his expression wasn’t exactly cheerful.
He tried not to show it outwardly, but inside, he was cursing the upper command.
What, do they want the military to be criticized for sitting around doing nothing? What the hell are they thinking?
That was one part of it. And then,
No matter how strong that Slayer is, there’s no way he can actually kill dozens, hundreds of monsters in an instant like they say. He’s still human. That’s impossible. These aren’t just Orcs, they’re Twin-Head Orcs. He’ll definitely miss a lot of them. It’s inevitable. And once those Twin-Heads get riled up, they’ll wreak havoc on public property. Damn it, I should never have taken this operation.
When the army does well, people say, of course they did. But if they slip up even slightly, they get chewed out endlessly.
So, rather than doing exceptionally well, what matters most is not screwing up.
In this situation, not screwing up meant minimizing civilian damage.
Dozens of small damages were better than one huge disaster, because smaller incidents didn’t make headlines.
Damn it… that Slayer must’ve whispered something to the Union side.
Moon Changseok felt frustration rising.
He was used to being the one giving orders, and even more used to people following them without question.
Having his command overridden was humiliating.
It felt as though his authority had been dismissed outright.
Fine then. Let’s see just how amazing he really is.
He was almost tempted to let the monsters rampage just to prove a point, though of course, he couldn’t actually do that.
Still, that was how bitter he felt.
Outwardly, however, Moon Changseok smiled calmly.
He even offered a few words of encouragement to Hyunseok.
“Do your best. I’d like to see the full might of the Platinum Slayer in person at least once.”
But inside, bile was rising.
No matter how powerful he is, he’s still just one man. Let’s see how far he gets.
The word spread quickly:
Hyunseok would be engaging the incoming monsters alone.
The military would stand by, completely excluded from the operation.
The reason was simple.
Slaying monsters through a Slayer’s power was the only way to stop the respawn phenomenon of the Monster Wave.
And that’s why the Platinum Slayer himself had stepped forward.
<Platinum Slayer: Solo Slaying Operation Against the Monster Wave!>
<6:00 A.M. — The Hour of Solo Slaying Approaches!>
<After Soloing the Cyclops, Can the Platinum Slayer Write a New Legend?>
❋ ❋ ❋
Regardless of public excitement, the atmosphere within the military was uneasy.
Even if things went extremely well, if Hyunseok truly managed to wipe out every Twin-Head Orc, that would cause a different problem in itself.
But if things went wrong, and many monsters escaped?
That would be disastrous.
Either way, it was a no-win scenario for them.
The soldiers had seen Monster Waves up close.
They knew how terrifying it was.
So their concern was natural.
“General, are we really going to be okay with this?”
“The order came from above. We follow it.”
“Still… wouldn’t it be better to provide some supporting fire first? I mean, yes, we know the Platinum Slayer is powerful, but… he’s still one person. You can’t cover the sky with a single hand.”
Hyunseok stepped forward.
It was nearly six o’clock.
Since entering Normal Mode, he had never once gone all-out.
Or, to put it more precisely—
He had never fought using his full power in pure offense.
When he fought the Cyclops, he had to focus on defense.
When he fought the Giant Turtle, he had to account for its rebound effect.
But this time, he didn’t need to hold back.
This time, he could focus solely on attack.
The soldiers were worried about him getting swarmed and struck by a critical hit—
But Hyunseok wasn’t worried at all.
To him, a Twin-Head Orc was no more threatening than a mayfly.
Whether it was one or a hundred, the difference didn’t matter.
1+1 or 2+2 — either way, it’s easy.
At exactly six o’clock—
The air began to ripple.
Once again, the Monster Wave began.
Hyunseok dashed straight into the shifting space.
This was his best chance.
Forget looking cool.
He was still training in boxing.
But he wasn’t a master, he hadn’t been training long, nor since childhood.
He was athletic, sure, but far from being a pro.
So, unlike real boxers, he couldn’t pull off those quick, sharp, perfectly efficient strikes.
Trying to throw perfect punches one by one would actually slow him down.
“What… what on earth is he doing?”
“Is he… running?!”
The soldiers watching couldn’t believe their eyes.
One of them even rubbed his eyes, thinking he was hallucinating.
They’d expected something epic from the Platinum Slayer.
Moon Changseok’s jaw tightened.
That, That’s supposed to be an attack?
To him, attacks were punches, kicks, or at least some sort of deliberate strike.
But Hyunseok wasn’t doing any of that.
Instead, he spread his arms wide, straightened his back, and ran wildly through the shimmering field.
Moon Changseok immediately grabbed the radio.
“Pl—Platinum Slayer! Is something wrong? Do you copy?”
Hyunseok didn’t respond.
He was too focused on his attack, and wasting even a single second on comms was pointless.
One or two seconds wasted could mean missing a kill.
Moon Changseok froze.
Damn it… but it doesn’t look like anything’s actually wrong…
Come to think of it, they’d never really discussed how Hyunseok intended to attack.
Even Hyunseok himself had only just come up with this method.
Everyone assumed that an “attack” meant a punch, a kick, some kind of strike.
Hyunseok had thought the same.
But then he realized something.
It didn’t have to be that kind of attack.
Twin-Head Orcs died from any action that carried killing intent.
In his case, even breathing could be lethal.
That wasn’t an exaggeration.
If his body came into contact with a monster while carrying intent to attack, it counted as a strike—
And the monster would die instantly.
The difference in power was simply too vast.
That’s why people who’d witnessed his battles said, “They die if he breathes.”
It sounded like hyperbole, but it wasn’t.
Hyunseok ran with his arms outstretched, making his movements as large as possible.
When he ran at full speed like that, he was faster than any normal human could even perceive.
“He’s—he’s so fast…!”
It looked ridiculous, but the sheer speed was staggering.
How can a human move that fast?
That posture shouldn’t even allow that kind of speed!
Even from a distance, his movement seemed unreal.
Up close, it would have been terrifying.
Within seconds, the “All Stat Slayer” swept through the entire field, every corner, every direction.
The results were staggering.
Non-commissioned officers gasped.
“This—this is impossible!”
The officers were dumbstruck.
“Th-this can’t be real…”
And General Moon Changseok’s eyes widened even further.
‘They die if he breathes’ that wasn’t an exaggeration after all!
Usually, a Monster Wave spawned between 80 and 120 monsters.
Today was no exception.
A captain, voice trembling, gave the report.
“S-surviving Twin-Head Orcs… eight…”
He corrected himself immediately.
“Not eighty, eight!”
A few seconds later, he added, even more shaken:
“No surviving Twin-Head Orcs…! All have been annihilated!”
One man,
In less than 20 seconds,
Had utterly obliterated the entire Twin-Head Orc wave.
Hyunseok’s lungs burned as he panted, exhausted.
He hadn’t run this hard even once before in a battle field.
From behind, Ha Jongwon muttered, half-complaining,
“Damn it… I should’ve raised my Agility stat too.”
Then he grinned.
“Hey! I took down two of them myself! I’m still pretty strong, right?”
❋ ❋ ❋
The Solo Cyclops Slayer, the Platinum Slayer, all those titles pointed to one man: Hyunseok.
And now, he had gained yet another name.
The Solo Monster Wave Defender.
In an instant, Hyunseok’s feat of wiping out dozens of Twin-Head Orcs spread across Korea, and the entire world erupted in astonishment.
<The Platinum Slayer’s Might!>
<Single-Handedly Defeats a Monster Wave!>
<The Monster Wave Defender — His New Title!>
Breaking news dominated every channel.
Hyunseok’s fame and popularity soared higher than ever.
Of course, he hadn’t done it completely alone.
Members of the Inha Guild were also there.
Minseo had arrived the night before, after receiving Hyunseok’s message.
Currently, the Inha Guild was bound through a Party System.
In dungeons, party members shared rewards regardless of distance.
However, that rule didn’t apply to the open field.
In open fields, achievements were shared only if all members were within the same battle field radius.
Hyunseok’s field radius was enormous, easily encompassing all the guild members present.
As a result, the entire Inha Guild received shared rewards.
Still, the spotlight was entirely on Hyunseok.
Ha Jongwon pouted.
“Man… all this fame used to be mine.”
Hyunseok chuckled.
Jongwon’s tone was playful, but his eyes were genuinely happy for him.
He was practically grinning already, barely holding it in.
Even so, he kept teasing.
“Hey, give me my popularity back!”
“You can’t say that. It was mine first, you just stole it for a while.”
“Hmph!”
They both laughed.
Then Jongwon suddenly said,
“You know, I finally get it. Defeating a Monster Wave within thirty seconds, it’s no joke.”
Hyunseok smirked.
“The system really loves round numbers, doesn’t it? Ten, twenty, thirty, a hundred, two hundred, three hundred…”
(End of Chapter 52)
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— Translated by Prime Works —