66. Regeneration (1)
66. Regeneration (1)
Hunter.
An Infected the size of four people stitched together.
It has the limbs of four people attached to its body.
Its vision, I assume, comes from the eyes on the four heads attached all over its body.
However, the head that looks like the main one in the center isn't its weak point. Neither are the other heads.
And the body isn't a weak point either.
So what is?
'It must be a crazy monster bastard with no weak points.'
If it can rip off heads and run away, it can definitely rip off other parts too.
It has a mouth that splits into four, but that's for feeding, not for attacking.
What the Hunter mainly uses for attacks are its large, scythe-like claws.
Those claws have the power to slice through not just military trucks, but armored vehicles and tanks as well.
On top of that, it's fast, possesses intelligence, has a habit of running away when it senses danger, and regenerates even if its entire body is shredded.
'...Now that I think about it, it's a total psycho bastard.'
Because it has intelligence, it doesn't just mindlessly charge at the military. I don't know if it's a difference between individuals, but
sometimes it lets them go, like in the case of the 32nd Division.
Conversely, if an opportunity arises, it uses other Infected to create chaos and then wipes out a group of humans all by itself.
'But even so, it's better than an Abomination.'
There's no way to deal with an Abomination, which possesses pure physical violence, but this one can be killed directly.
The military can also kill it if they pour enough firepower into it.
The 32nd Division also said that Hunters can be dealt with if you're prepared. It's just that the casualties are high.
Right now, our base... wouldn't be able to stop it. Or would we? I don't think we could. I just have to pray it doesn't come. The location is in a place without Infected anyway.
Anyway, the problem is that a Hunter has appeared again at the Sejong City Hall, where I killed one before.
Towards Sejong City Hall.
I looked around.
'For now, it doesn't seem to be here.'
There was no one attacking like yesterday.
However, the traces of the Hunter were everywhere.
There were many signs of the Hunter in this vicinity, so I had to search slowly and confirm where the Hunter was crawling out from.
Since there were traces of the Hunter here and there from here to the direction of Sejong Jiphyeon University, if I look, I should be able to find a few.
I got in the vehicle and headed down.
#
The apartment complex below City Hall.
'......'
Corridor-style apartment.
The name is Sunshine Apartment.
It had a layout where apartment complexes were lined up to the side, but traces of the Hunter were visible all over the entire apartment complex.
Blood splattered here and there.
Walkers and Runners wandering here and there.
Because of that, the situation was more serious than anywhere I had seen.
The scenery in Cheongju still showed traces of survivors here and there.
Places with Crawlers, places with Sirens, other places too. But not Hunters.
'......'
Everyone is dead.
If you were to express that visually, wouldn't this be exactly what it looks like?
It felt like a hunter, true to its name, had picked the humans clean.
The scenery of an apartment where not a single life is visible.
'There are an unusually large number of bloodstains.'
This implied that something had happened here.
There are only Walkers and Runners outside right now, but if I go inside, something will probably come out.
ㅡTap
ㅡTap
Looking at the actually split vehicles and shattered concrete debris, it was certain that there had been a Hunter attack here.
'...I need to be careful.'
It says 5 per one, so if I kill 18 right now, I'll reach lv.5, but given the nature of Hunters, they are in tight spaces, and the Hunter has the advantage of surprise.
'Should I bring Seol-hwa?'
I agonized over it several times, but I shook my head.
The sound she makes itself could actually be more dangerous.
Also, her presence or absence could affect our base defense.
I headed inside the apartment complex.
ㅡTap
ㅡTap
A corridor-style apartment is a type where you can see the inside when looking from the outside.
A corridor-style apartment is one where you can see all the front doors lined up from the outside.
That's why it's easy to check.
If you take a quick look at the floors visible all at once from the outside, you can see where everything is.
Hanging corpses.
Front doors smashed here and there.
Even Walkers and Runners staggering around.
And.
Towards Building 104.
I could confirm a familiar shape quietly moving along the wall.
'Found it.'
I found the Hunter quite easily.
The Hunter walks quietly along the wall.
The Hunter glances past a smashed front door.
'It's not like it's a horror movie.'
It doesn't seem to have noticed me yet. If it had, it wouldn't be moving so leisurely. The distance is about 50m.
Then I definitely have the advantage of a surprise attack.
'Maybe I can catch it easily.'
Then why bother wasting time?
I crumple up nearby car debris.
ㅡ!!!!!!
ㅡ!!!!!!!
I float rebar and send it flying from the outside to the inside.
ㅡCrunch
ㅡCrunch
The Hunter gets pinned.
The bastard tried to tear its own body to escape after grasping the situation.
But attacks keep embedding into its body.
ㅡBang!
ㅡBang!
The bastard is throwing a tantrum.
ㅡKieeeeek!
ㅡKieee!
Walkers and Runners gather after hearing the sound.
But the attacks are focused solely on the Hunter.
ㅡGrrrrk
The Hunter tries to tear its body off and regenerate, but the attacks are faster than the regeneration.
A few minutes like that.
The Hunter goes limp.
When I brought up the Nexus Core, I saw that it had gone up by 5.
A quiet kill.
'It's seriously gross.'
Hunter bastard.
The fact that it doesn't even scream is creepy.
Well, I guess that's why its name is Hunter.
===================================
Nexus Core : Metallokinesis lv4[15/100]
===================================
17 more to go.
I moved quietly.
#
Sunshine Apartment complex.
I looked around from Building 101 to 112 to find Hunters.
In all the corridor-style apartments, places with lights on seemed to have been attacked by Hunters.
Broken windows.
Hanging humans. Or humans who have become corpses and are already rotting.
A quiet destruction.
Outside, there were cases where vehicles trying to escape were split open, and there were also traces of the military, as if they had come.
'Well, they must have rescued survivors and gathered at Sejong City Hall.'
Of course, they all got wrecked.
'Looking at the shape, it does look like four humans were inserted.'
ㅡGrrrrk
The Hunter, with all its limbs cut off, collapses.
===================================
Nexus Core : Metallokinesis lv4[20/100]
===================================
I saw two of them while walking around the Sunshine Apartment complex.
The rest are a few Crawlers, and I see places encroached upon by Flowers.
There doesn't seem to be a Nest.
There doesn't seem to be an Abomination either.
Intelligent Sentients or others were not confirmed.
Not a single survivor was confirmed either.
'......'
There were survivors, but,
It seems they all moved outside or held out and were killed by the Hunter.
'I suppose so.'
That thing is hard even with lv.4 ability. The military can only stop it if they mobilize an actual army.
It would be hard for civilians who gained abilities to hold out.
'......'
For now, it seems the 32nd Division remnants didn't come here. Seeing as there are no trucks or armored vehicles at all.
I caught two quite easily.
Then now for the next apartment complex.
I came out of Building 112 to the point leading outside. I plan to check the entire southern part of Sejong City while moving this way.
Because looking at the satellite map, this whole area looks like apartment complexes.
However.
'...That is...'
On the way from Sunshine Apartment to the next apartment complex
I saw something up ahead.
Military trucks, armored vehicles, and tanks. Traces of the military.
#
The first thought I had was
whether they were humans who escaped.
However, the things there were quite old.
The bloodstains and corpses around them were also quite decomposed.
'What is this?'
According to the 32nd Division lieutenant, they had never come here at all.
Well, in the first place, the 32nd Division was in charge of the Cheongju side, so the upper right side, so I don't know about this side.
'Then are they people who were in the direction of Sejong City Hall?'
There was a possibility.
I mean, I confirmed that it was ruined, but I didn't confirm who was there.
Then did they get wrecked by the Hunter while trying to come here to avoid the Hunter's threat?
I approached it closely.
ㅡTap
ㅡTap
Seeing the tank actually torn apart here and there, it seemed they were attacked by a Hunter.
The armored vehicle is also smashed, and I can see a corpse inside with its upper body gone. Outside, I can see corpses with limbs cut off here and there.
'Things like firearms are still there.'
There were no corpses in the military truck, and it seems the Hunter plucked the people inside out.
And...
I saw a Hunter corpse. When I saw it from afar, I thought it was a pile of human corpses, but it was actually the corpse of a Hunter that had exploded.
Human limbs tangled here and there, unknown flesh, and even the mouth splitting into four.
'What did they kill it with?'
Anyway, it's certain that they killed the Hunter and left.
Although a few vehicles here are smashed, seeing as they killed the Hunter presumed to have attacked, it seemed some remnant forces remained.
'Or it could be the opposite.'
There's a chance they gathered at City Hall from here.
I kept it in mind for now.
There is a possibility of another military group.
Then now for the apartment complex below...
'I... have time.'
#
ㅡ......
ㅡGrrrrk
ㅡGurgle
ㅡGurgle
Blood leaks from the Hunter's body.
I frowned while looking at the Hunter's corpse with dozens of rebar embedded in it.
===================================
Nexus Core : Metallokinesis lv4[25/100]
===================================
I killed one additional Hunter.
Pureureum Apartment complex below Sunshine Apartment. Unlike Sunshine Apartment, the apartment with a stair-style form
had the danger of having to go inside to check one apartment.
There are 4 lines per apartment, so it means I have to go back and forth 4 times more compared to the corridor-style.
'I actually almost got into big trouble, too.'
I thought there weren't any, but
Inside Building 106
On the way up to the 4th floor, I ran into a Hunter openly and was startled.
Of course, since stair railings, front doors, and elevators all use metal, the response was quick.
Fortunately, the Hunter was also taking something like a nap, so a fight like the one at Sejong City Hall before occurred.
Attacking unilaterally, and chasing down the fleeing Hunter to kill it.
'......'
It's a bit like that.
I did wonder if this was right while searching all the apartments here.
Well, anyway, I killed three Hunters in an instant and gained 15.
20 gauge.
I gained 15 in a day, so by pure calculation, it means I'll get it if I invest 7 days.
'Of course, it doesn't seem like the Hunter population is that high.'
It did seem like there were particularly many apartment complexes here.
Right now, there was only one Hunter in the Sejong City Hall direction, but even after going down below Sunshine Apartment and Pureureum Apartment, traces of Hunters were seen in large quantities.
'Is it Sejong Peach Palace Apartment?'
There were a disgusting amount of apartment complexes here.
Right now, there were more than 10 on the satellite map.
#
April 18th.
Even after four days of exploring the apartment complexes, nothing came out.
'Nothing.'
There were traces of Hunters, but it seemed like they were ones I hunted while coming and going from Sunshine and Pureureum Apartments before.
The ones I killed on the first day would have been almost all the Hunters here.
ㅡCrunch
"Kieeeeek!"
Something did come out, but it was Crawlers. Crawlers wandering in groups. And one building visible ahead was covered in grass, maybe because there's a Flower.
'There doesn't seem to be a Nest.'
However, while looking for Hunters, a thought suddenly occurred to me.
That maybe the Infected are somehow being reborn on their own.
'...Come to think of it, the Mirror before was like that too.'
Underground shopping mall.
Mirrors kept popping out no matter how many times I killed them. That means, if I wait, wouldn't Hunters also regenerate?
'......'
There is a possibility.
I headed to Sejong City Hall.
Gloomy, rotting-smelling Sejong City Hall.
When I opened the 1st floor, I saw a mountain of blood and corpses. For now, there's no problem. The problem is the 2nd floor.
'......'
I saw a new trace I hadn't seen before.
'Fuck.'
It's real.