Chapter 147
Chapter 147
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 147
Chapter Title: 73. Armband (5)
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Going to provide support when it won't actually help is worse than not going at all.
Therefore, when heading out to assist, you always need to bring overwhelmingly powerful forces.
Otherwise, instead of helping allies backed into a corner, you'll just end up dragging them down.
In the current situation, assembling sufficient forces is impossible.
Unless I could pluck out my hairs like Sun Wukong and use a cloning technique, it's just me right now.
I could mobilize Valentine, but untrained combatants are useless in major monster battles—worse than nothing.
As a fallback, I kept the line open and tried to gather as many details as possible about the situation.
"Five newtypes, and a bunch of zombies. The zombies aren't an issue, but bullets don't work on the newtypes. No matter how many times you drop them, they spew thick black smoke and get right back up."
"Location is the old wedding hall. Sky Temple Wedding Hall—know it?"
"The team leader got his leg badly bitten. It's not severed, but the femoral artery was hit, so the bleeding is severe. We stopped it temporarily, but with the low temperatures, his body heat is dropping fast. We called for a chopper, but it's taking time to get airborne in this cold."
"Situation here's stable for now. We heard they can't climb slopes, so we rigged up a makeshift ramp on the stairs and are holding out."
The one handling comms for the search team wasn't Awayken—it was a soldier who introduced himself as Sergeant Kim.
Even amid gunfire and screams that could shatter eardrums, his voice stayed calm. Must be a veteran from the front lines.
He added,
"Oh, and that white maggot. Anyone it kills turns into a zombie."
"For real?"
"Yeah, one's down there right now—one of my buddies—trying to kill us alongside the monsters."
As we exchanged updates, the gunfire grew closer.
Through the pale streets loomed the wedding hall building.
It was a high-end venue frequented by the rich.
I remembered the name because Kim Daram had mentioned wanting to get married there several times.
She ended up tying the knot at a slightly less fancy hotel venue, though.
"How's it looking now?"
I kept watch around the wedding hall to reconfirm the situation.
"Same as before. Still surrounded, and they're trying to kill us."
"How much ammo left?"
"I've got one mag. Everyone else's about the same."
"Got it. Hold out just a bit longer."
"Where are you right now?"
"In front of the wedding hall, but I've got a hunch."
"But the situation here..."
"This isn't something I can handle solo. Looking for another way."
"Another way?"
Just then, Song Yu-jin's voice mumbled something over the speaker.
Hearing her sent a spark of energy through me, oddly enough.
I hadn't heard she'd died, but confirming she was alive was another matter entirely.
"Won't take long."
"Understood."
I cut the line and scanned the surroundings.
Like everywhere else, the streets were blanketed in snow, frozen solid with no signs of life.
If not for the sporadic gunfire echoing from the wedding hall, it would've been an ordinary, forgettable scene. I eyed the buildings.
I needed something tall but intact, with good rooftop visibility, and no taller than ten stories.
A ten-story building plastered with faded signs for cram schools and med prep classes caught my eye.
Stepping through the wide-open door, a foul stench of rotting corpses assaulted my nose.
Human decay is vicious, no doubt.
Even in this freezing cold that numbs most senses—and these bodies long dead—the lingering reek hung thick.
I bolted up the emergency stairs to the roof.
A few sections had closed fire shutters, but
Bang!
no door can bar the path of someone with a gun as their key.
Around the eighth floor, the corpse stench peaked—and sure enough, a mummified arm jutted out from an open hallway, blocking the stairwell. Whatever happened to them, whatever killed them—it didn't matter.
Thud!
Kicking open the final door, a -25°C gale slammed into me.
The hot pack in my chest pocket had cooled.
I swapped in a fresh one, then stood at the railing to survey the area.
Plenty came into view.
Pure height-wise, the 25-story officetel behind was tallest, but too high up.
I'd picked this ten-story one because buildings under ten floors have descent control devices.
Luckily, this one had one on the roof too.
Probably because it's an academy building—the owner took extra care.
I gave it a tug.
Solid.
"Made in Korea" stamped on the back—reliable.
In this battlefield, I need to act the instant I spot my target.
I didn't want to admit it, but this time, I owed m9 a thanks.
Without the intel on monsters hating slopes, both I and the search team would've had it rougher.
"They're coming back!"
"Damn it! Zombies are messing with the planks!"
"Shoot the zombies! Ignore the monsters!"
"Aaaagh!"
The radio stayed on.
The desperation screamed urgency—enough to drop everything and charge in under normal circumstances—but not now. I had to finish my task here while sharing their sitrep.
In this silent, frozen death-city, I sought just one thing.
Thump!
The pulse of the monsters—the source of my hatred.
250 meters out, in a narrow alley: a pulse detected.
I dropped to the floor below, opened the descent box, secured the rope, aimed the device downward, gripped the line, and rappelled off.
As gravity pulled inescapably, feet tingling amid the surreal speed-blur of scenery, a familiar drowsiness hit—but I braked with the rope just before ground, landing safely.
The motorcycle was right there.
Vroooom—
I gunned it toward the shockwave origin.
Thump!
Another shockwave mid-ride.
Despairing screams filled the radio, followed by Sergeant Kim's frantic call.
"Where are you?! They're smashing the ramp and heading this way! The plywood can't hold their weight..."
"Open fire when I signal."
"What?!"
"Signal's coming soon."
Alley reached.
"We can't hold any longer!"
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Gunfire ramped up, pulses matching pace.
My hypothesis checked out.
The unknown monster lurking in this alley revived lesser beasts with its pulses.
Time to lay eyes on it.
Gun ready, I advanced into the alley.
"Keeeaak!!"
A newtype lunged like it was waiting.
I backpedaled to dodge its face-bite, tossed the gun, drew my axe.
Slash!
Crack!
Biter peeled off, vital innards smashed.
Two strikes, and it dissolved into light particles.
Caught the falling gun on my axe haft, sheathed one axe, pressed on.
"Keeeaak!!!"
The narrow alley brimmed with newtypes blocking my path.
Right place.
Eight in total.
Outnumbered, but this one-on-one terrain favored me endlessly.
Ditched the gun, dual-wielded axes from the start.
A swishing whoosh—the first charged.
Compared to mutation dogs, I'd say these were dozens of times easier.
Slow, clumsy; pattern was just rear back and snap forward with jaws.
Targeting torso, not head or face—their trait, clocked in seconds.
Aiming low exposed their tofu-soft heads inevitably.
Easily sidestepped the pointless lunge, filleted its biter like a fishmonger, smashed the seed-like vitals.
"Kieeeek!!"
One down.
Second piled on.
Instincts yes, intelligence no—plain as day.
No learning curve.
Slash!
Crack!
Two.
"Kieeeek!!!"
No need to count.
This was less hunting, more butchery.
My axes danced gleefully for once.
These weren't ordinary axes.
Others called them titanium, but they're forged from "super steel"—top-grade for slaughter.
A National Crisis Committee member, impressed by my record, offered custom gear.
I agreed; Austrian maker, they asked pre-fab: cutting edge or durability first?
My mentor Jang Gi-yeong pushed cutting, I chose durability.
Because it'd kill more.
Snap!
Spot-on choice.
One left.
Thump!
The boss, pulsing right ahead.
No need for the gun.
Thrill electrifying my spine like cells awakening—already inside reflex field min-range.
"Hunter Park Gyu!"
Sergeant Kim pleaded again.
Sounded overly desperate, but the noises confirmed it was dire.
On the verge of overrun.
"No ammo left!"
To me, they lacked hope more than bullets.
I rounded the corner calmly, spoke into the radio.
"Found their boss."
"Boss?"
"Yeah. Hold just a little longer. Won't take long."
"But!"
"Didn't my disciple tell you about me?"
"..."
No reply.
Instead, a hail of gunfire mocked the ammo claim.
Gunshots rang from both speaker and hall as I turned the final corner.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
There: the monster.
Unlike any before.
Spherical overall.
No visible organs or features.
Floating mid-air like a necromancer, for reasons unknown—that was it.
This new beast: a grotesque grayish-white fleshy orb.
And
Thump!
Each pulse sucked away chunks of its flesh into thin air as black mist.
"...So that's the mechanism."
I glared.
No hostility, no malice.
Human right beside it, yet not even basic defense.
Just pulsing, feeding its flesh as black fog to lesser kin.
First of its kind in my monster log.
Monsters mimic earthly things crudely, maliciously: necromancer-humanoids, spider-insect-beast-spies, dancer-types.
But this? No mimicry trace.
Endlessly pulses, supplies flesh to inferiors.
No combat power, barely intelligence.
That single-minded functionality chilled me—fear after so long.
Yes.
This is our enemy.
The true face of humanity's foe, bent on killing us, dooming our world.
I snapped a quick phone vid—not for the net, but as training material for juniors—then gripped my axe.
-Author's Note-
Double update today!
End of <73. Armband (5)>