Chapter 280
Chapter 280
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 280
Chapter Title: 114. Ronin (1)
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The reporter who'd been in hiding for so long finally made a comeback.
As if making up for lost time, the reporter was posting with the frenzy of his glory days.
I scrolled through the photos.
No distortions or fakes.
No crude AI-generated images either.
These were shot in Wonju—the hellhole we'd escaped.
That's when a strong doubt hit me.
How the hell did she get her hands on Wonju pics? She's stuck in northern Seoul, an area on the brink of total collapse.
With the government fleeing to Jeju, it wasn't an exaggeration to say her intel assets on the mainland were wiped out.
The Woo Min-hee group I'd seen firsthand was just a strong small outfit.
They had the muscle to protect their own turf, but not enough to scatter vast recon networks over long distances.
As my suspicions grew, I spotted a shadow in one of the photos by chance.
Anyone else might mistake it for a man's.
If they only saw the sturdy yet sleek build and the tall stature.
But I knew exactly who it belonged to.
"Kim Daram...?"
No way, right?
No matter how thick-skinned my junior is, she wouldn't crawl under Woo Min-hee—the woman she despises.
Though Woo Min-hee herself didn't seem to take Kim Daram too seriously.
Anyway, we've got bigger fish to fry.
Fortifying the area.
"Good. This way. A bit more."
Just two new additions, and my territory buzzed with new life.
Even Defender and Da-jeong were shaking off their usual gloomy vibes—Valentine's "chill~" description—and trying to fit in.
Ha Tae-hoon was new to Da-jeong, but Cheon Young-jae already knew her.
"...No one else hit the detonator, so you did?"
"Yeah. Clicked it right in. Good call, if you ask me. Considering what those guys usually pull."
"Still, three hundred at once. Impressive."
"The guy who dropped the bomb on Hiroshima lived to a ripe old age."
They chatted smoothly, no awkwardness.
Construction was in full swing in my territory right now.
Two more mouths meant upgrading living facilities.
Especially the sewage and water systems I'd long planned to reinforce—they were under Defender's command, progressing nicely.
But defense was the real priority.
This was more mechanics than building: Ha Tae-hoon, Da-jeong, and sometimes Valentine pitching in to set up perimeter alerts and surveillance.
I was throwing my weight behind it too.
No choice.
With the Legion faction splintering into warlords, sparks were bound to fly my way. Obvious as fire burning.
In that sense, the Defender siblings were goldmines for intel.
"Academy Hunters? Oh yeah. Weird bunch."
Defender had spent a good while under Kim Daram.
He knew their inner workings inside out.
"...More hierarchy-obsessed and honor-chasing than us school grads? Like, anachronistic. Heads full of flowers, the lot of 'em."
Explains why they're gunning for me.
No one with a flowerless brain would pick a fight with a sleeping Park Gyu at home.
If they want to bash heads that bad, shouldn't they swim to Jeju and take on the Awakeners there? That'd fit their honor code.
"Any among 'em vowing to kill me?"
"Yeah. A few."
"How many heading here?"
Gauging enemy numbers is key.
But Defender's reaction threw me.
"Here? Why?"
He shot back.
I stared, confused, and he chuckled before continuing.
"Target's changed."
"To who?"
"Kim Daram, team leader."
For a split second, my junior's face flashed in my mind.
The beloved underling whose image soured more each time I saw her.
But that shift? It rang true, convincingly so.
"...During Wonju's fall, she grabbed her faction and bolted. Mostly school hunters. Loyal ones only. Ditched the rest. Academy and school alike."
To elaborate: On Wonju's collapse day, a pack of Awakeners hit the Hunter HQ.
Defender only caught radio chatter, no details, but word was they were enforcers from a fanatic cult—muscle wing.
Those enforcers tore into the hunters.
Predictable enough.
Legion wasn't dumb; they knew about the enforcers, had drills and manuals for fanatic ambushes.
But the real enforcers? Way too strong.
"Especially this young-looking woman in white. They say she was insanely powerful. Way past level 5, closing in on alpha tier."
"...Young-looking woman?"
"Yeah, that's the rumor. Why?"
"Nah, nothing. Go on."
"Moment they spotted those Awakeners, Kim Daram vanished. Ditched her post commanding Legion hunters to save her family—not even peons like me."
After that, comms interference blacked everything out.
"One thing's sure: the dumped hunters are out for her blood."
Defender shoveled cement into a wheelbarrow, stretched, and added,
"Still, some cling to the Professor's name. Y'know, thinking killing him guarantees a shot at a worthless life turned meaningful."
What I knew about Academy Hunters was just public scraps.
They were born of necessity, hating their "fathers"—the school hunters.
After data from China-deployed school hunters hit the government, they grasped the monster threat's scale and mass-produced hunters.
Enter mass-produced hunters: Academy types.
Elitists like Jang Gi-young raged, but his voice meant zilch.
Hunter academies sprouted nationwide; enthusiasts flooded in.
Academy grads? Lousy track record.
Even school kids brainwashed with death indifference crapped out against real monsters—spectators galore.
Academy "dynamic" types? Normal lives till then. Froze like bystanders.
Some shone, sure. But ratio mattered.
Less than 10% could actually fight monsters warrior-style.
Our John_nenon being an Academy C-grade noob? Common knowledge among his fans.
Doesn't dim his later greatness one bit.
Anyway, Academy Hunters fizzled without hitting goals, vanishing with school hunters as Awakeners rose.
No big bucks.
No respect.
Late China deployment, even school hunters got second-tier aid; Academies worse.
Probably bunked and rolled with Chinese troops.
Cruelest: certified hunters, yet treated like fakes IRL.
School hunters endured "Awakener handmaid" shame for gigs in agencies.
Academies? Hunter time counted as zero experience.
Could strut online like John_nenon, flashing hunter cred slyly.
But bow to real hunters? Brutal inequality.
Their worldly rage? At least matches ours, if not more.
Makes their hate for me... somewhat understandable.
Plenty like Kim Pil-seong, lost in vain pasts.
The man showed up in my territory a week after the Defender siblings settled.
*
A message from Rebecca.
I recalled the gunfire she'd described and replied.
Rebecca's base was near Daegu, far from Yangsan.
Monsters trekking from Yangsan to Daegu meant major erosion along the route.
Monsters don't despawn in eroded zones.
"..."
Rebecca and Suu's plight seemed worse than I'd imagined.
Suu wasn't crying wolf with her SOS.
Rebecca stayed her unwavering self, though.
Her optimism bordered on excess.
No plane coming.
But Rebecca would cling to that faith.
Not smarts vs. stupidity.
People believe what they want over cold truth.
She still longed for America's vast mountains and wild forests.
Best I could offer.
My range was wide, but Daegu? Too far.
Realistically: capital region, stretching to Chungcheong.
Beyond? No dice.
Unless Jeju-style flight.
If she wants here, she'd need her own prep.
Meet halfway, at least.
Suu messaged separately.
Suu's the reliable one, in the end.
A wave of nostalgia hit.
That lone kid who'd snuck into my turf that night? Grown so dependable.
Three years gone, nearing four.
Plenty for a kid to mature.
Especially in this apocalypse where daily survival's no guarantee. Overflowing time, even.
As I listed Suu's needs, Cheon Young-jae radioed in.
"Someone's coming."
It was pouring.
Poncho-clad at the outer wall, I spotted the figure Cheon Young-jae mentioned.
Poncho, armed.
Solo.
Steps heavy but steady, no stagger.
Not a passerby. Knew my turf.
Of countless paths around, he took the gentle ridge up the hill.
Been here before, at least once.
Ha Tae-hoon tried K-walkie public freq. No response.
Just rifle-slung, plodding up the slope, one step at a time.
Positioned Defender and Cheon Young-jae separately. Hid behind cover at the wall, waiting for him in sights.
Soon he crested to our level.
"Whoa. What the hell?"
He bellowed.
"When'd you build this!"
Loud laugh followed.
"Told ya! He's alive! The Professor's alive!"
He tossed his rifle.
"You're in there, right?"
The man yanked off his poncho hood, revealing his face.
Matted hair, blood-soaked, beggar rags.
Endless descriptors, all pointing one way.
"Professor!"
He called my callsign.
"What now?"
Cheon Young-jae urged.
I pondered, asked Ha Tae-hoon,
"No buddies nearby?"
"Nope. Solo."
Then kill him.
Defender's voice crackled over comms.
"Wait. That guy?"
"Know him?"
"It's Lawyer."
"Lawyer?"
"Callsign Lawyer. Hunter."
Defender sighed shallowly, eyeing the man's face as rain washed blood and grime real-time.
"Academy Hunter."