Chapter 77
Chapter 77
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 77
Chapter Title: 43. Worries (4)
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We rode in the truck.
In the cargo bed, besides me and Baek Seung-hyeon, there were three more hunters.
Bang Jae-hyeok from the 15th batch, who had a knee injury; Ha Tae-hoon from the 11th batch, who refused to be called "senior"; and Cheon Young-jae from the 18th batch, who had joined us midway.
They were all silent, with no intention of speaking.
I didn't have much to say either, so I just watched the cityscape slowly drifting by.
The streets were a mix of pre-war glamour and post-war decay, where corpse-like people gathered in small groups, staring at the passing truck with soulless eyes.
Their nutritional state was poor.
Skeletal figures, emaciated to the point of starvation, were a common sight.
"There are a lot of people around."
I finally spoke up.
Baek Seung-hyeon, who had been checking his rifle beside me, glanced at the passing crowd before turning his eyes back to his weapon.
"They're just clinging to life by a thread."
Baek Seung-hyeon replied, and Bang Jae-hyeok, who hadn't said a word until then, snorted and chimed in.
"Ever since the big shots all fled to Jeju Island, the Seoul area has basically been a livestock pen."
He was inspecting a large-caliber rifle like Baek Seung-hyeon's.
On the stock were kill marks presumed to be from mutations he'd taken down—easily over a hundred at a glance.
Impressive.
Especially considering he had an injured knee and wore a steel leg brace, yet had racked up that many kills.
He was probably a highly skilled marksman.
But his mindset seemed as twisted as his wounded leg.
"I hear some fish farms grind up dead fish and feed it back to the others as fodder. That's probably what's happening here too."
The way he spat out such a gruesome assumption without filtering it through his brain first said it all.
"No matter how low morals have sunk, would the government really grind up people and feed them to others?"
Ha Tae-hoon, who had been listening quietly, spoke up.
He carried an unusual weapon.
A blader, a close-range launcher that fired multiple blades.
It used separation charges for safety against monster detonation abilities and could scatter sharp, dagger-sized blades like shotgun pellets, making it effective against mid-sized monsters—or so it was rated.
But in real combat, its weak penetration left it as unwanted surplus stock.
Users said it was pretty good against zombies, though.
Click.
He fiddled with the blader's claws, which protruded like a beast's talons, checking their condition as he added,
"They've got factories, don't they?"
Bang Jae-hyeok muttered without even looking at him.
"That was on Failnet or whatever. 90% of the info there is rumors and bullshit—not worth listening to."
Ha Tae-hoon set down the blader and pulled out a dagger, spinning it deftly with practiced hand movements.
"Even the guy we're after right now—how much crap was spread about him?"
Listening to their conversation, I turned to Baek Seung-hyeon.
"What kind of guy is he? Any special precautions?"
A deep shadow fell over Baek Seung-hyeon's face.
"The bastard who chewed through three hunter teams."
Its name was drawn from a color, just like the mutations I knew.
Red.
That was the name of the monster I had to kill.
Hard to believe, but it possessed a detection ability that some Awakened had, allowing it to track opponents' positions and movements without even seeing them.
"No reports of it emitting waves, at least. So it's below level 5."
"Got it. Is this the right place?"
Baek Seung-hyeon hadn't mentioned Red's real weapon.
Its territory.
And Red's turf was zombie territory.
As we entered the street, a chorus of zombie groans welcomed us.
"This area's turned into zombie territory too?"
As far as I knew, it used to be a human zone.
Apparently not anymore.
"Civil war, winter. So many people died then. Those people turned into zombies."
A moment later, the truck driver hit the brakes.
"I'll wait here. Go do what you need to."
Heading into combat were me, Baek Seung-hyeon, and Cheon Young-jae, who hadn't spoken a word to us.
Bang Jae-hyeok and Ha Tae-hoon weren't coming with us.
Their job was to guard the truck and support our combat team's retreat.
As if sensing our arrival, the pitch of the zombies' wails changed.
Probably waking up their dormant buddies.
"This is messier than I imagined."
I shot Baek Seung-hyeon a half-serious glare.
He averted his eyes quicker than I did.
"Sorry. Should've warned you ahead of time."
If he'd made some lame excuse, I would've chewed him out, but since he owned up to it honestly, I let it slide.
We'd come this far; turning back empty-handed wouldn't look good.
"That building there?"
I pointed at Red's base from the phone photo.
A half-collapsed dome-shaped baseball stadium.
I wasn't a baseball fan, but I was sure it was a pro team's home field.
Otherwise, there wouldn't be a beheaded mascot statue at the entrance, its paint peeling off.
From the ruined dome protruded steel beams like a human skull, dyed in an eerie blood-red hue.
Rusted to a reddish tint, but at a glance, it looked like the building's actual bones jutting out—a chilling sight.
"We have two things to do at once. Kill it, secure the body, then escape safely."
Baek Seung-hyeon glanced back.
The support team was barricading around the truck.
"But no one's even made it past the first step."
The dome stadium dominated the view, but the battlefield wasn't favorable to us.
Piles of collapsed ruins offered plenty of cover, and the area around the dome was packed with tall vertical buildings that apes loved.
If it decided to run, chasing it would be nearly impossible.
Surveying the surroundings, I suddenly asked Baek Seung-hyeon,
"Isn't it three things?"
He'd lumped it into two, but this mission was actually a combo of three tasks.
One: Kill the mutation.
Two: Kill the mutation and escape.
Three: Secure the corpse of the killed mutation.
Mission difficulty skyrockets with added conditions.
This one was no different.
Mutation body recovery.
That was probably what made this mission impossible.
Baek Seung-hyeon nodded grimly.
"...Yeah."
He hesitated for a moment.
He'd probably felt the urge to lie, but reason reminded him lies wouldn't work on me.
"I see."
That mutation's greatest weapon was none other than its own value.
That value, combined with the unexpected variable of zombie territory, turned its home into an impregnable fortress that even veteran hunter teams struggled against.
In other words, killing Red but failing to recover the body meant mission failure.
To kill it and retrieve the corpse, we'd be forced into mid-range close combat.
Against a monster with detection abilities—cunning as a human, fast, agile, and strong.
"Its favorite pattern is grabbing a leg, leaping up high, and slamming them into the ground."
"Really?"
"A guy I knew got taken out that way. Dragged by the ankle, then dropped upside down from the 10th floor."
"Ouch."
That's when the silent Cheon Young-jae spoke for the first time.
"That chimp. Rumor has it it grabs women and rapes them."
18th batch.
The cursed generation, called the Riders of Misfortune alongside the 17th.
Probably similar to Defender's batch.
The unlucky generation whose lives were ruined and twisted before they even got their hunter badges.
A scar carved by a knife marred his cheek.
"Do we really need to recover that thing's corpse?"
His eyes were as fierce as his life's path.
Even Baek Seung-hyeon, a senior figure, seemed unable to fully control him.
"Cool it, Young-jae. You know the captain's temper."
The fact that tough-guy Baek Seung-hyeon was trying to appease him said it all.
Cheon Young-jae's razor-sharp gaze fixed on me.
"You're Kim Daram's direct superior, right?"
I just nodded.
"...Doesn't match what Kim Daram said. She described her senior as a heartless bastard who abandons dying comrades."
"Why didn't you pick a fight earlier?"
I snapped back, not wanting to waste time in zombie town.
Cheon Young-jae grinned.
"Nah, not picking a fight. I like your style."
He glared at the support team barricading in the distance with contempt.
"It's because of weaklings like them that we're getting pushed back by those Awakened monsters."
"You're surprisingly chatty."
"Just some mental warm-up to ease the tension. Hope that's okay?"
Cheon Young-jae chuckled nonchalantly.
His inscrutable values and erratic demeanor oddly reminded me of Defender.
Cheon Young-jae glanced at Baek Seung-hyeon.
"It has detection abilities, right?"
Baek Seung-hyeon nodded.
"Then I'll be the bait."
Cheon Young-jae dropped his weapons.
Rifle and two pistols.
In his hand was only a machete called a jungle knife.
"You sure?"
I asked out of worry.
Zombie territory—even a pistol seemed necessary.
Cheon Young-jae held up three fingers.
"Don't know the three-shot rule?"
"Three-shot rule?"
"Three gunshots and zombies swarm. That's the rule."
"No way."
"It's real. First shot wakes them up. Second makes them alert. Third, and they know humans are around—they head for the noise."
"Since when?"
I asked incredulously.
"Recently."
Cheon Young-jae locked eyes with Baek Seung-hyeon.
Baek's serious expression suggested this was common knowledge here.
Not bothering to argue, I stayed quiet as Cheon Young-jae stepped forward.
"Hit it with an attack when I signal you, Senior Baek."
As he passed me, he glanced my way.
His piercing stare, laced with a sly smile, could have been a challenge or just confidence—I couldn't tell.
What mattered was the cursed 18th-batcher taking the riskiest role.
Click-
Our weapons were the Type 21 large-caliber hunter rifles Baek Seung-hyeon carried.
Impressive name, but they were bolt-action rifles chambered in 12.7mm .50 BMG machine gun rounds.
Basically a crude modification of existing guns for the purpose.
Developed for monsters but outclassed by more efficient weapons, they ended up as mutation hunters—excellent ones, though.
Each shot could deliver a lethal hit where 5.56mm rounds failed against mutations.
Having such powerful weapons and skilled marksmen yet failing against one chimp? Had to be the body recovery condition.
The situation was awkward.
With new guy Cheon Young-jae stepping up, I, Park Gyu, was suddenly benched.
I was supposed to be the bait originally.
Me drawing it out, Baek sniping it—that was the plan.
Great that I wasn't risking it, but why did it unsettle me?
"...Can I sit this one out?"
Maybe it was inevitable.
From my team leader days, I'd always taken the dangerous jobs.
So when someone else stepped up instead, I felt this inexplicable anxiety.
I'd seen team members who volunteered in my place die.
Years out of the game, and the same occupational hazard flared up.
The disease of thinking it had to be me.
"It's fine. That punk can die for all I care. Total asshole."
Only after Cheon Young-jae had gone far ahead did Baek Seung-hyeon reveal his true feelings.
"Skills are top-tier, honestly. But that temper... If Kim Daram didn't recruit him despite that talent, his personality must be seriously flawed."
"S-grade?"
"No doubt."
Korea doesn't issue S-grades.
You earn it by proving yourself in combat, building a reputation, then passing the World Hunter Standards Organization exam in the US.
I'd heard China had something similar called Special Grade.
Saw one once—truly exceptional.
I wondered how my junior measured up to old-world S-grade standards.
I watched him through the scope as he moved farther away.
Detection ranges vary, but there's an average.
Typically, focus at 50m, detect up to 150m.
I lacked detection abilities or even mutation aptitude, so it was hard to grasp, but holders described living beings in range as stains on their consciousness.
Meaning you couldn't hide from them in their detection zone.
Baek had planned assuming 150m for this one.
Riskiest for bait, but optimal for luring and killing the mutation.
Then interference arrived.
Zombies.
A dozen or so shoved aside wrecked cars, surging toward Cheon Young-jae.
I watched his response.
Not a hint of panic. He jogged backward slowly, matching their speed, then stomped the first one's head with clumsy-but-effective footwork—like a dance escape.
Accelerating, he crushed the next skull, dispersing the pack effortlessly.
"Ever seen someone kill zombies so casually, like it's busywork?"
Baek Seung-hyeon said in admiration.
"No."
First time.
Killing zombies out of duty, like a job.
Highly efficient, too.
"Jang Young-gi would've been pissed."
Baek was right.
My mentor would've flipped.
I'd never know exactly what he thought a hunter should be now that he was gone, but he definitely pursued style.
Cheon Young-jae felled the last zombie and waved his arms wide.
Prey had appeared.
But we saw nothing.
Not from the dome stadium or around it.
Suddenly, Cheon Young-jae sprinted full-tilt toward us.
The next instant, a crimson shape leaped from the stadium's collapsed roof.
A massive ape.
A 2-meter-tall giant chimpanzee glared down at us.
But this one...
"...Fuck."
Baek Seung-hyeon's curse wasn't unwarranted.
This Red guy...
It was clad in armor.
Armor plates covering its entire 2-meter bulk.