N-Rank Hunter Lim Chae-beom (3)

Lim Chae-beom could not believe what was unfolding in front of him.

Wind? Or telekinesis?

One moment Jeong Jae-ha seemed to be zipping through the air, and before a full minute had passed, all three demons were down. It was a presence no Rehabilitation Hunter had ever shown — no, not even a body-enhancer. The body-enhancers of the Iron Blood Guild hauled heavy machine guns of dozens of kilos in one hand as if they were BB guns, and even they had nothing like that mobility.

No. Ability or not—!

But Lim Chae-beom ground his teeth and shook his head. He was certain Jeong Jae-ha had just dug his own grave. A D-rank body-enhancer, when all was said and done. Fresh off killing three demons, there was no surviving a surround of that many orcs and goblins.

"Hyung-nim! Even if a round or two hits you, you're just gonna have to shrug it off, sir!"

Brrrrt!

He held to that thought right up until Lee Hae-il charged in among the orcs, a cavalry sabre in one hand and a submachine gun in the other.

Off they go.

Shk— shhhk— shaaak—

The moment she started turning that sabre, his mind changed. Shoulder, elbow, and wrist flowed in one loose chain, cracking the cavalry sabre the way you'd crack a whip. Under the red light of the Demon Realm, the special-steel edge shone as it spun, bright as the vanes of a windmill.

"Kieeeek!"

"Gob! Gob!"

Goblins went down like weeds before a brush cutter.

"Kaak!"

"Chweek!"

The orcs fared no better. Run through a handspan and deeper, then ripped back off the blade, they screamed and locked stiff. A one-meter edge tracing a circle became a round shield two meters across.

"Waaaaaah!"

Even so, the tough ones came on as if they'd gladly trade an arm to break through, and Lee Hae-il raked the charge with her submachine gun.

Tat-tat-tat-tat!

A submachine gun might fall short of an assault rifle, but it was more than enough to freeze a body for an instant. The orcs that locked up fell to deep cuts from her blade. She didn't even stop to finish them. She simply kept moving, as if killing their momentum were all she needed to do.

What—

Lim Chae-beom couldn't bear to keep watching. Jeong Jae-ha, at least, had been an athlete; the physique and the nerve made a kind of sense. Lee Hae-il, from what he'd heard, had never had a job like that. Ordinary people, the same as the rest of them — so why were those two so different from him and his, and from the other Rehabilitation Hunters? What made them that special?

Fortunately, he didn't have to wonder long.

Click. Click.

Lee Hae-il's magazine ran dry.

She'll panic, and that'll be the end of her!

She didn't panic in the slightest.

Huh?

Tuk. Tak. Chak.

Practiced hands dumped the spent magazine, drew a fresh one, and seated it. The same motion that brought the new magazine out yanked the pin from a fragmentation grenade — a magician's hands. She hurled it into the rear of the orcs swarming on Jeong Jae-ha.

Boom!

A storm of steel tore through them, and another dozen orcs and a dozen-odd goblins went tumbling across the ground.

Thuk!

Jeong Jae-ha moved among the fallen and punched through skull after skull.

So all they needed was time.

Lim Chae-beom watched the souls leave his colleagues' faces.

"Weren't both of them special forces?"

"I heard Jeong Jae-ha was some kind of athlete. Lee Hae-il was just a streamer, I think."

"A special-forces streamer?"

"No. A camgirl."

He was surely wearing the same expression. Maybe those two had never needed support like theirs to begin with.

A few minutes passed.

"Feels like this heat's gonna kill me, sir."

Lee Hae-il came back wiping sweat with a towel, her black wavy hair soaked through.

"Ah — something wrong with the guns, sir?"

She pressed the towel to her cheek and the nape of her neck as she passed him. The pale light in her eyes looked cold as anything.

"Ah. N-no, sir."

The honorific slipped out of Lim Chae-beom before he knew it.

"You didn't fire a single shot, so I figured something broke. I'm good with maintenance. Hand it over. I'll fix it."

Lee Hae-il sneered as if he weren't worth the dirt under her boot.

Between them, Jeong Jae-ha and Lee Hae-il had cut down nearly all of the hundreds of orcs and goblins. Monsters that nullified firearms did show up — jack-o'-lanterns, demons — but with a gun you could kill most magic beasts, and those two fought just as well without one. As if they'd already done this a few times.

Lim Chae-beom and the non-awakened hunters traded glances, each of them looking as if he'd been shot.

This is a total wash, isn't it?

The hazing was a complete failure.

The N-ranks on the other teams are never going ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to believe this.

Being pinned under those two from now on was a given, and the other non-awakened hunters in the guild would laugh them out of the room besides.

Thud!

"Huh?"

"What?"

"Urk—?"

The footsteps that followed told them that living long enough to be laughed at would be a stroke of luck.

From the far end of the passage, a Flame Demon showed itself. It wasn't a full C-rank — it was a C-, so it stood only about three-point-six meters — but to a non-awakened hunter, a hippo and an elephant are the same thing. Fight either of them barehanded, and you are finished.

"Drop the guns!"

"It's a demon!"

Lim Chae-beom and the non-awakened hunters set their rifles down as one and tore off their magazine vests. Cherished grenade launchers, anti-tank guns — they shoved them away like ill-omened things that called death down on you. That monster could shatter a tank with a look.

"Team Leader— ah!"

He spun on reflex, then remembered Team Leader Choi wasn't here today. Now he had to put his faith in Jeong Jae-ha and Lee Hae-il, who at their strongest had only just reached D-rank. And the two of them made the lesson plain: betray someone first, and you have no right to anyone's trust.

Tadak!

Faster than anyone, and unlike everyone else, they slipped back toward the rear of the passage.

?!

Lim Chae-beom felt as if a rifle stock had just cracked him across the skull.

They're running?

He didn't know whether the two of them could outrun a C-rank demon. They could certainly outrun non-awakened men like him.

"You bastards!"

One thuggish non-awakened hunter — the sort who liked playing soldier — snatched up his rifle and turned. He was one of the men who, on the first day, had put the junior non-awakened hunters through punishment drills.

"Go on. Shoot."

Jeong Jae-ha didn't so much as mime a block. He only looked at the thug, a pale ring of light burning in his eyes.

Bang!

The instant Lim Chae-beom's colleague pulled the trigger, the Flame Demon detonated. The thug lost a hand and half his face and went down twitching. Only then did Lim Chae-beom understand.

There's no way left to keep those hunters in check.

Until now, a bargain had been possible. Awakened hunters killed demons with blades, and they killed orcs and goblins with guns. But now that the awakened hunters had slaughtered the orcs and goblins too, there was nothing they could do in front of a Flame Demon.

What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?

His heart felt as if it had dropped into his gut. His breath caught, and his whole body shook. Team Leader Choi's talk of punishing them meant nothing. Whether or not those two were punished, by then Lim Chae-beom would already be ash. Before a demon that powerful, they were nothing but helpless ordinary people. To fight magic beasts, you had to be at least an F-rank hunter — ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the rank sneered at as the F in fodder. Cannon fodder.

Lim Chae-beom's vision blurred.

"Should've taken the awakening drug, then, sir?"

Lee Hae-il mocked them in the most infuriating voice in the world.

Thud!

From back there, the Flame Demon came on, one step at a time. Even its wavering features seemed to be laughing at them.

"P-please, spare us."

Lim Chae-beom ran to stand before Jeong Jae-ha. Tears and snot streamed down his face. It was an ugly sight. From the look of things, the two of them had known about this hazing all along. There was only one way to get back alive.

"P-please!"

He dropped to his knees on the basalt. His colleagues might brand him a traitor, but traitor or not, he had to live first.

"Please spare us!"

"We're sorry!"

"Forgive us!"

Fortunately, it didn't look as if anyone would be calling him a traitor. They'd all had the same thought.

"Shall I forgive you?"

Jeong Jae-ha spoke, and relief surged through Lim Chae-beom so hard he shook.

"Hyung-nim. You saw these bastards standing in front of the orcs without firing a single shot, didn't you, sir?"

Lee Hae-il caught Jeong Jae-ha by the forearm. Classic good cop, bad cop.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

Lim Chae-beom was in no position to parse any of that.

"We'll never do this again. We'll do whatever you tell us!"

The non-awakened hunters dropped to their knees in front of me as one.

For a breath, no one said a word.

Put overwhelming skill in front of people, and a situation this desperate, and they have no choice but to judge correctly. They seemed to know perfectly well what they'd been about to do. I even felt a little hollow. They'd staked their own lives on a scheme like this, and they couldn't handle a variable this small?

Either way, it was good for us. We'd have the cooperation of the non-awakened hunters who made up most of the guild. Truth was, I couldn't have left them to die. My conscience hadn't worn thin enough to cackle while that many people burned — and I had no idea what Team Leader Choi would do. This was already more than I'd expected.

"You understand it was a cowardly, underhanded thing. Right?"

"Yes..."

The non-awakened hunter named Lim Chae-beom nodded in a voice that shrank as it left him. The others nodded, one after another.

"Then we're done. Fine. I forgive you. Don't pull crap like this again."

I spun the estoc and answered with a flourish.

"So you forgive me, too. For being too damn good."

"Sir?"

Lim Chae-beom blinked as if the words hadn't landed.

"I know. I'm insufferable."

I gave them the widest smile I had and walked past them, toward the Flame Demon.

"H-Hunter Jeong!"

"You're taking it head-on?"

"God damn it! We're all about to die!"

I might not know the fine print of the hunter trade, but I knew this world ran a lot like sports. The bottom of that world is wretched in the most ordinary way, and shabby in the most ordinary way.

"No. Shi—shit!"

"If I'd known it'd be like this, I wouldn't have begged!"

"Why are you trying to get yourself killed?! Let's run, together!"

The non-awakened hunters recoiled in horror. Of course their nerve broke like that. They get trampled without end — by the gifted, and by the ones who work.

"What do you want me to do? I'm having too much fun."

Jealousy, I knew. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠A star only shines once night falls. I'm the one who's exceptional. I just enjoy this alone. It isn't that they're worthless.

"So from now on, you get good. Good enough to stand tall in front of me."

At that, the clamor at my back died down. I reset my grip on the estoc and stared the Flame Demon down.

The thing unleashed a psychic wave fit to split the Lava Cavity. Stalactites dropped from the ceiling, and the world spun in front of me. The non-awakened hunters plastered themselves to the cavity walls and the floor, shaking. A few simply ran. Unlike yesterday, I didn't even have the margin to blow one of its legs off.

But I wasn't yesterday's me, either.

"Ha!"

I drove everything I had into both legs and leapt. Every fiber in my thighs writhed as if it might burst, then kicked me forward with the recoil of a gunshot.

Vmmm—

What met me was a detonation in a different league from any D-rank demon. Heat haze, the herald of the blast, seemed to seal the whole of the path I had to take. But this was still only a tunnel some thirty meters wide. I drove on faster, before the explosion could bloom. Thirty meters was a gap a single leap could clear. I felt a few fibers in my thigh tear. They'd regenerate. I knew that.

BOOOOM!

A moment later the heat slammed into my back, and it was nothing but a tailwind to push me faster. The pain of my combat suit melting, sizzling off my back, never even arrived. The adrenaline of challenging a demon that strong stopped it cold.

The demon raised a hand, its frame nearing three and a half meters.

A hand that could crush my whole upper body came down, five blades with it.

I kicked off the floor and sprinted for the wall. Kicked off the wall and launched for a stalactite overhead. I planted a foot on the side of that stalactite and drove the estoc into the crown of the demon's head. The speed of the Flash Charge hadn't dropped at all.

Thuk!

The hilt sank in to the crown. Flame and lava fountained up. It was an attack that carried my full weight at speed, plus the leg drive of kicking off the stalactite. The impact stabbed into the demon's body, and lava and flame spilled from every gap in the rocky carapace. A person would have rolled their eyes white. Even I had to admit it was one hell of a strike. But what you deal a demon isn't damage. It's expenditure. You don't get to hope for a stagger.

I flung off the right-hand glove, already charring where it had touched a burning horn, drew the spare supply sword I'd brought, and dropped behind the demon. I ran it through the hollow of the knee. A demon might not take damage, but its body was built more or less like a human's. I knew that very well. Compromise one leg, and you can't put real power into an attack.

The Flame Demon burst a psychic wave thick with pain and rage.

"Jeong Jae-ha! Jeong Jae-ha! Jeong Jae-ha!"

"Athlete Jeong! H-hang in there, sir!"

"Please win! Save us!"

Even as my vision swam away, Lim Chae-beom and the non-awakened hunters came through perfectly clear. Most of them had stayed to watch me. I'll give them that. Their fickle attitude made me want to laugh, and yet a part of me was pleased. An enemy on the outside pulls the inside together. That's how it goes. Even the fencing-club seniors who'd been so jealous of me screamed themselves hoarse cheering for me at the international meets.

Krrrrk—!

The thing spun its Molten Claws like a pinwheel and laid the ground to waste. Basalt floor and wall melted and sheared wherever the claws raked them. Stand too close, and there wouldn't be bones left to gather.

"I want to buy a gate camera!"

But Lee Hae-il was a hunter who could raise a mill that actually threshed grain — not a pinwheel that only spun in place.

Shk— shhhk— shaaak—

"If I'd gotten this on film, ten million views!"

She'd come running before I knew it, tracing a moulinet with her cavalry sabre, and she held up surprisingly well against the Flame Demon's rampage. In that span I drew my second spare sword. Because she'd held the line, the opening was easy to find.

I leapt again and swung the sword in midair.

Pap-pap-pak!

A chain of three thrusts, aimed at the eyes. The first took the right eye. The second, the brow bone. The third, the left.

A demon has no flesh, so its power isn't bound to its gaze. Startling it for an instant, though — that was enough.

"Now!"

I turned and shouted with everything I had. My eyes met Lim Chae-beom's. I smiled, and I put the question in it. How do you want to live? I saw his eyes waver. That was all I needed to see. I took a backstep retreat and cleared out. Lee Hae-il pulled away with me and ducked into a hollow in the wall.

"Aaaaaah!"

And Lim Chae-beom burst out with a roar. He snatched the anti-tank gun rolling on the floor, loaded it fast, and took aim. Those men were cowards. Pathetic ones. But if they'd been nothing but cowards and nothing but pathetic, the job of non-awakened hunter wouldn't exist at all.

BANG!

The anti-tank gun spat fire. In the blast, the stony carapace that formed the C- demon's body caved in, and lava poured free. I ran the pure-white flame through as it wavered, trying to flee.

"Jeong Jae-ha! Jeong Jae-ha! Jeong Jae-ha!"

"Lee Hae-il! Lee Hae-il! Lee Hae-il!"

"Hunting Team One! Team One! Team One!"

Behind me, Lim Chae-beom and the non-awakened hunters chanted my name. Even through a dizziness nothing like the one before — this one rapturous — those voices rang clear.