Chapter 154
Chapter 154
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 154
Chapter Title: There's Something Special About Mages (12)
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“That’s not just any monster—it’s a Calcutta Gorilla!”
“That’s exactly why it’s good.”
Choi Jae-ho gave up trying to convince Suhyun any further. No matter that Suhyun was a mage, he had no intention of staking his life solely on him.
“Everyone, get ready!”
To take down a Calcutta Gorilla, they needed a way to bind its wildly thrashing legs and a way to pierce its defenses and deal damage. The latter could be handled somehow by the superpowered users, but the former was no easy task.
The Calcutta Gorilla wasn’t just massive and strong—it had mobility too. Mess up against one of those, and your formation would collapse in seconds, with casualties piling up.
Choi Jae-ho, who had already fought them a few times before, harbored a deep-seated fear of Calcutta Gorillas.
‘Damn it, I should’ve brought the power armor.’
Power armor wasn’t suited for stealthy movement. That’s why he hadn’t brought it, but he hadn’t expected to get stuck like this. He should’ve at least borrowed one from the base.
Choi Jae-ho quietly regretted his decision. Thinking Kim Suhyun’s team would handle it had been a mistake.
‘But why are these guys so calm?’
Fundamentally, Choi Jae-ho’s perception of Suhyun was stuck in the past. Sure, he’d awakened as a mage, but that didn’t mean he thought Suhyun had become overwhelmingly strong.
However, the Uncle Jo Company members had a precise grasp of the situation. If their team leader couldn’t handle a single Calcutta Gorilla, they would’ve been wiped out long ago.
“If we can’t catch it, how about we give it a shot?”
“You think you can?”
“Jung-cheol holds its legs upfront for a bit, In-gyu curses it in the meantime, and then Seo Gang-seok poisons it—should work out somehow.”
“Sounds good.”
“…?!”
Choi Jae-ho was horrified by the conversation he overheard behind him. Had they all gone mad as a group? Kim Suhyun was a mage, but why were they acting the same way?
“If the rookies fail, give it a try. You need to get used to handling things without me.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Uh… should… I go upfront?”
Goo Jung-cheol asked hesitantly. His honest, slow-witted personality had evolved to where he could now speak up, albeit slowly. But his core nature remained unchanged.
“What, no confidence?”
“It’s just… that thing’s so… huge…”
‘Yeah, that’s right! At least one sane person here!’
Choi Jae-ho unconsciously nodded in agreement with Goo Jung-cheol’s words.
But plenty of others present thought differently.
“Fine, let’s give it a go.”
“Oh? Pretty brave, huh.”
Gu San shook off his queasy expression and glared at the distant forest being smashed apart with his earlier aggressive demeanor. This was a golden opportunity. A chance to show these other mercenaries he was different.
“Let’s go!”
It didn’t take long for the beast to reveal itself. Its signature oppressive presence was as strong as ever. An intense aura that always felt like boiling rage. Gu San glared at it and slammed the ground once more.
‘Block it!’
If he could just block it once, his teammates’ attacks would follow. If he could pull that off…
Crunch!
The Calcutta Gorilla shattered the rock wall with a single punch. Gu San’s eyes widened.
“Uh…”
Suddenly exposed and defenseless, Gu San and his teammates gaped. Some had already squeezed their eyes shut. The Calcutta Gorilla looked ready to crush them any second.
“Tch.”
Suhyun, who had been watching, unleashed his telekinesis. A powerful strike punched straight through the Calcutta Gorilla’s shoulder. The beast’s eyes blazed with fury at the unexpected attack.
Boom! Boom!
It uprooted and hurled trees, but Suhyun deflected them effortlessly with telekinesis. The gorilla growled low, circling slowly as if sizing Suhyun up.
“Looks pissed.”
“Anyone would be with a hole in their shoulder.”
“I’ll give it a shot this time.”
“Huh?”
Suhyun glanced at Lee Dan-seong, who had spoken up.
“Even after seeing that?”
While Suhyun bought them time, Gu San and his team scrambled to put distance between them. Pathetic for someone who’d stepped up so confidently.
“I’ll still try.”
“Alright, go for it.”
Choi Jae-ho’s insides were burning up, while Lee Dan-seong took a deep breath and stepped forward. He wasn’t an idiot. He had his own calculations.
‘Team Leader Kim Suhyun acts laissez-faire, but he’s controlling the situation. Like with Gu San—if casualties seem imminent, he’ll step in. So if I believe that and show what I can do…!’
If things went south, support would come from behind. That’s what he was banking on as he made his appeal.
‘One guy has no clue how to use his head.’
Gu San had come out of Omega knowing nothing about strategy—it was impossible to tell. Charging in recklessly like that on Cameron would get him killed fast.
‘And this one’s wasting brainpower on useless schemes.’
Suhyun could read exactly what Lee Dan-seong was thinking. He’d encountered and dealt with all sorts of mercenaries—it was obvious. He was definitely counting on the backup behind him.
Boom!
Lee Dan-seong created craters in the ground amid explosive sounds. After a few, his face paled. His teammates supported him as he retreated.
It was meant to trap the gorilla if it charged blindly, but Suhyun shook his head. A common misconception people had. Monsters were dumb, so simple traps would work.
No two monsters shared the same traits. Each had unique characteristics, and traps had to match those. Hunters didn’t specialize in just a few types for nothing.
Traps like that…
“Arghhh!”
“You’ve both tried. Want to give it a go?”
“I… I think I’m good.”
Even if the Calcutta Gorilla lost its head in excitement, it wouldn’t fall for something like that. Suhyun asked Kim Ju-young, but she waved him off firmly.
“Then let’s wrap this up and head back.”
“…….”
Choi Jae-ho watched suspiciously from behind. Suhyun’s confidence was starting to shake him. And that shoulder-piercing attack had been incredibly potent.
Did awakening as a mage make you this laid-back and powerful? Just how strong had he gotten?
But he didn’t get a chance to find out. Suhyun’s team members stepped up.
“!”
As they’d discussed, they moved swiftly. None of the clumsiness from before remained. Goo Jung-cheol charged in and tackled the Calcutta Gorilla’s leg, halting its movement.
In that window, Kang In-gyu applied his curse.
“In-gyu, do it right this time!”
“…!”
The team scolded him, but Choi Jae-ho couldn’t hide his shock. The Calcutta Gorilla, which had been moving vigorously until moments ago, now staggered as if about to collapse. Status-effect superpowers like that weren’t common.
Plus, large monsters like Calcutta Gorillas usually had strong resistances, yet he’d bypassed it instantly…
‘And I let that guy go!’
He’d smirked back then, thinking it was a huge win, but now it made his stomach churn even more.
Whether Choi Jae-ho agonized or not, the other Uncle Jo Company members followed procedure diligently. Textbook moves that drew admiration. Bind the legs, weaken resistance, then unleash attacks. They didn’t even seem that powerful, yet the gorilla couldn’t resist.
‘Poison?’
At that level, most poisons wouldn’t work, but they’d apparently found one that did.
And just like that, the Calcutta Gorilla fell. Smoothly, to the point it was hard to believe the ordeal they’d gone through before.
“…….”
Choi Jae-ho vowed to contact Kang In-gyu later and find out what had gone down inside Uncle Jo Company.
* * *
“What’d you think of this hunt?”
“There were a few slip-ups, but I thought it went pretty well.”
‘No conscience, huh?’
Suhyun gave the team leaders an incredulous look. After wrapping up the tiresome hunt, they’d returned to base. With a bit of downtime, the team leaders approached him with questions.
“You struggled against that Calcutta Gorilla, didn’t you?”
“No, that was…”
“It was oversized, and…”
“Oversized? That’s standard on Cameron. Hell crocs or raptors are on the weaker side. Shouldn’t you be able to handle those to be considered average?”
As Suhyun answered from his seat, he spotted Choi Jae-ho cornering Kang In-gyu in the distance, talking animatedly. He smiled faintly. He could guess what Choi Jae-ho was up to.
Like before, Choi Jae-ho was incurably curious. Anything that piqued his interest, he’d poke his nose in to investigate and turn a profit. That habit had cost him before, yet he never learned.
‘Thinking of the old Kang In-gyu, he’s gonna get burned.’
He probably approached because Kang In-gyu seemed easy, but it wouldn’t be like before. Kang In-gyu might still be soft-spoken, but his actions weren’t.
“N-Next time, we’ll catch it.”
“Next time? How? Is the Calcutta Gorilla coming out weaker next time? Or will your superpowers level up?”
“N-No, not like that…”
“Cut the nonsense and go rest.”
They slunk away dejectedly as Suhyun shooed them off with a wave. Alone now, he reviewed the situation once more.
‘Dealt with the rampaging monsters around, no casualties… Successful. Time to head back?’
They’d fulfilled almost everything the government requested. The rookies asking for evaluations nagged at him a bit, but that wasn’t his job.
‘They didn’t even ask me directly, so what?’
Honestly, all three teams were iffy. He wouldn’t entrust anything important to them. One was fearless, one schemed pointlessly, and one was cowardly.
More concerning was the monster outbreak. These weren’t supposed to appear in such numbers. Even if it was from the fake gate explosion…
‘Yeah, something’s definitely up.’
He still didn’t know why they’d set it up and fled, but Suhyun drew his conclusion. No matter how illogical, if all other possibilities were eliminated and one remained, that was the truth.
Someone had manipulated the monsters to deliberately destroy the base.
‘China’s the most likely suspect… Trying to show their hand again? This area is easy for them to reach.’
They already had prior history too. Suhyun propped his feet on the table, lost in thought. Waiting passively wasn’t his style. Attack was always the best defense.
‘Any way to strike first? With the cards I have now…’
Jin Luo-gong, poisoned by conman Kim Jong-tae’s drugs.
‘No clue where he is, so useless right now.’
Wu Shangkai’s database from Louis Lil.
‘Need to dig deeper into this. Might find something useful… Check it again when I get back.’
This monster fiasco would bring changes. He needed to predict them and steer toward his advantage. Suhyun’s mind was already filled with plans for what came next. The rest the handler mentioned before departure was long forgotten.
“What makes you think you can act all buddy-buddy after what you did to me!”
“Wha—what?”
“You think I’m deaf? I know you sold off the artifact instead!”
“Hey, that’s not—”
“Hey? You think I’m under you? Use proper titles. I can file a complaint right now.”
“No, wait, Kang In-gyu, that’s not—”
“Save it—don’t act friendly!”
A argument was breaking out in the distance. Kang In-gyu was handling Choi Jae-ho far more aggressively than Suhyun expected.
‘Well, he’s human too—bound to have some grudges.’
Once Kang In-gyu stormed off, Choi Jae-ho looked genuinely flustered and didn’t chase after. He reached out an arm but stopped, then locked eyes with Suhyun.
“Ha, haha…”
Suhyun waved, and he gave an awkward smile. He hadn’t figured out what he was up to, had he?
“What’re you doing over there? Come sit here.”
“Ah, yes…”