Chapter 19
Chapter 19
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: Troll Hunter (5)
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“How do I do it?!”
“Just stay still.”
There was once a person who called artillery the god of modern warfare. In a similar vein, there was a saying used on Cameron Planet.
Firepower is the answer to all problems.
Of course, in reality, firepower wasn’t the solution to everything due to various practical constraints. But from humanity’s perspective, facing monsters with defenses on a completely different level from Earth’s animals, firepower was inevitably one of the most crucial elements.
The same went for troll hunting. Fundamentally, you needed firepower capable of piercing a troll’s defenses and regeneration to inflict damage. Suhyun had teased Kim Chang-sik for planning to use a rocket to take down a troll, but it wasn’t entirely impossible. That’s why rumors spread about using rockets on trolls. If no one did it, the rumors wouldn’t exist.
Newbie troll hunters who started fresh each time failed to grasp troll habits properly, packed heavy weapons like rockets for firepower, and a few lucky ones succeeded, spreading the nonsense. Of course, experienced hunters who knew trolls well never pointed it out. They just laughed inwardly.
It was understandable why Kim Chang-sik was anxious about their firepower. They hadn’t brought weapons specifically tailored for trolls. And they didn’t even have anything to ignite right away.
If they got close and hammered away, they could deal some damage, but a troll’s regeneration was terrifying. They needed acid or fire to halt it.
‘What’s he thinking?’
Kim Chang-sik was anxious, but he had already promised to follow Suhyun. He swallowed his tension and stuck closely behind Suhyun.
“!”
Kim Chang-sik flinched when his eyes met the troll trying to crawl out of the pit. Hell crocs were vicious enough, but the troll’s gaze was even more terrifying—like it was vowing to rip apart whatever it saw in its rage.
The troll’s eyes glowed red. It meant it had spotted human prey.
“Sh-shoot?!”
“Didn’t you hear me say to stay still?”
Suhyun’s voice was coldly calm, like ice. Kim Chang-sik snapped to attention at the tone. Suhyun usually treated him fairly warmly, but sometimes he could look so cold it even intimidated Kim Chang-sik.
‘Right. He was like this against hell crocs and Calcutta gorillas too!’
A chill ran down his spine, but in a situation like this, it was actually reassuring. With a monster right in front of them, a guy as cool-headed as Suhyun was as good as a solid shield.
‘What’s he gonna do?! The thing’s about to crawl out!’
Kim Chang-sik glanced at Suhyun while thinking that. Suhyun was striding boldly toward the pit without a hint of fear.
“Hey?!”
The troll was thrashing its arms out of the pit right now, trying to climb. If he got unlucky, it could grab him and bite.
“Crazy…!”
At that moment, Kim Chang-sik saw something unbelievable. Suhyun’s movements suddenly accelerated. He charged in swiftly and slashed the military combat knife across the throat of the troll that had half-emerged from the pit.
Slash!
The thick neck that could block bullets was half-severed by a plain military knife with no modifications. Blood sprayed out, and pain, rage, and fear filled the troll’s red eyes.
The troll, struck in the throat on the first hit, couldn’t even scream properly. Trusting its regeneration, it swung its hand to smash this insolent human. It needed to create distance to recover from the fatal wound.
But its body wouldn’t move.
Suhyun sliced through the remaining half of the neck with the knife as casually as a butcher carving meat in a slaughterhouse. There was a reason he’d waited for the troll to poke its head out. This position, with just the head exposed, made decapitation easiest.
The troll, which hunters had to risk their lives against every single hunt to kill, felt like livestock being butchered. Kim Chang-sik gaped at Suhyun’s hunt.
“Bring the blood bag.”
“…!”
He was utterly overwhelmed. He couldn’t say a word. Kim Chang-sik just nodded and dashed off to grab the gear.
‘Not bad at all. Haven’t gotten rusty.’
Suhyun nodded in satisfaction. Back then, he had weak superpowers but strong gear. In those days, he’d leap onto fallen trolls in pits and target their throats. Even he had been tense back then. A critically wounded troll was even more dangerous. It went berserk like a madman.
But this hunt was ridiculously easy, even by his standards. At first, he’d swung a knife infused with telekinesis at the troll’s throat. Tough as the troll’s neck was, it couldn’t block an attack combined with superpowers.
As half the neck was severed, the troll realized it had been ambushed and thrashed in desperation. Suhyun bound it with telekinesis. After that, it was laughably simple. Like cutting hanging meat.
Slash the throat, bind the movement, then finish the decapitation. Suhyun spun the knife once to shake off the blood and sheathed it back at his ankle. Even with stronger superpowers, if his combat skills rusted, he wouldn’t forgive himself. More weapons were always better.
“Got it!”
“No need to run so fast. Hanging it up means the blood won’t drain that quickly.”
Suhyun thought Kim Chang-sik had hurried because he hated wasting blood, but that wasn’t it. Kim Chang-sik had just been overwhelmed by Suhyun’s display.
“Set up the stand, yeah. Put it there. For draining blood, upside down is easiest, so connect the tube…….”
“How do you hang it upside down?”
Kim Chang-sik, who had been following Suhyun’s instructions obediently, asked in confusion. The troll was as heavy as its massive size suggested. Weighing tons, not kilograms, it couldn’t be flipped without gear.
“Like this.”
“?!”
Suhyun grabbed the troll’s shoulder and dragged it out of the pit. The tube connected to the neck stump led to the blood bag. It was designed to swap bags easily once full.
Then Suhyun spun the troll around and shoved it back into the pit—upside down this time. Hanging from the stand, the troll dangled limply and began spewing blood.
“Uh…….”
“Good work. Let’s take a break. Usually there’s one troll per habitat, but sometimes they run in family groups, so stay alert.”
“How’d you do that?”
“Do what?”
“From start to finish. Everything! I don’t know jack about troll hunting, but I’ve never heard of anyone hunting trolls like that! Not to mention decapitating it—what the hell did you use to lift the corpse? Did you get physical enhancement surgery or something?!”
Kim Chang-sik unleashed a torrent of questions. He still hadn’t recovered from the shock of what he’d just seen. Suhyun’s method of hunting the troll had been that astonishing.
Physical enhancement surgery. Thanks to advances in genetic engineering, humanity’s baseline physical functions had improved significantly. Physical enhancement surgery was the pinnacle. It boosted human physical capabilities several times over. Insanely expensive, but once you underwent full-body treatment, the benefits were incomparable.
Suhyun had received it in his previous life for various merits. Not now, though.
‘Hmm. How should I explain this.’
He had no intention of hiding his abilities completely. Working together meant showing some. Reveal appropriate skills and give fitting explanations. People misunderstood without them.
He wasn’t planning to mention superpowers yet. His current focus was healing magic, which he’d use more on others after learning it. They were more likely to get hurt than him.
If he’d used telekinesis first and then showed healing, he’d be inescapably labeled a dual ability user. Humanity’s first.
‘Masked men in black would visit every night.’
To avoid that, he wanted to hide superpowers as much as possible. If he used healing magic, he’d claim to be a healer. Kim Chang-sik seemed decent, but Suhyun didn’t trust his mouth completely. Worst cases always started from simple mistakes.
Lifting the heavy troll alone was hard to excuse otherwise. The convenient alibi was family. Being a Cameron Planet soldier with family connections explained a lot.
“Don’t tell anyone.”
“R-really? How’d you get it?”
“When I was young, my dad pulled strings with someone he knew and got it done secretly. It’d be trouble if it got out, so keep it secret.”
“Of course I’ll keep the secret! But I heard you were military… your dad must be a big shot. Military hospitals are cheaper than civilian ones, but still not cheap.”
As a fellow soldier, Kim Chang-sik understood quickly. He nodded on his own at Suhyun’s story. With connections, secret surgery using military doctors and internal gear was possible.
‘Dragging him to untamed zones, secretly getting him enhancement surgery… Total weirdo among weirdos. Special forces maybe?’
Cameron Planet’s special forces were infamous for their eccentricity. Such reckless behavior wasn’t something regular soldiers could pull off, so Kim Chang-sik figured that.
“Blood’s all drained. Let’s clean up.”
“The body?”
“No point carrying it. Hide and meat sell, but transporting’s a hassle. Blood’s the most valuable, so ditch the rest.”
“Ugh. Waste.”
“Don’t worry about it. We might catch more.”
Kim Chang-sik looked at Suhyun with a drained expression. He hadn’t even properly fought the one troll and already felt a bit tired, yet this guy was gearing up for the next hunt.
“What’re you doing? You said no need for hide or meat.”
“Heart’s got a personal use.”
“Huh?! Hearts sell for big too?”
“Nah. Favor for someone I know. No pay. Curious? I’ll give you the next troll’s heart—wanna sell it?”
“Nah. Blood’s enough.”
Kim Chang-sik smacked his lips as he watched Suhyun expertly gut the troll.
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