Chapter 117
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 117
Chapter Title: The Rookies - [3]
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I continued doing much the same afterward.
While handling my own duties by killing monsters as I went, I kept watch on the situation and repeatedly stepped in whenever the rookies engaged in battle or ran into trouble.
In that way, I'd helped out roughly a dozen rookies.
"Kim Geuk oppa? I'll buy you a meal later—something really expensive!"
It seemed like five of the rookies had nearly died but survived thanks to me. The rest were able to fight more boldly once they knew I could support them at any time.
Tonight on HuntWeb, there'd probably be at least ten posts praising Baby Mushroom.
Meanwhile, I didn't neglect to check on Jeong Jin-yeong's situation either, remembering how tense he'd been, just like the other rookies.
Come to think of it, over the past year, hadn't that guy been more focused on supporting me than actively taking down monsters himself?
It might even be embarrassing to call Jeong Jin-yeong a veteran hunter. He might fight scared like the other rookies, get badly hurt, or make a big mistake and embarrass himself...
But my worries turned out to be unfounded.
As I watched through my mental net, Jeong Jin-yeong splendidly took down his assigned monster.
Jeong Jin-yeong notifies: Assigned Force Field Body taken down
When I teleported over there, sure enough, Jeong Jin-yeong was standing in front of a Deathclaw's corpse.
The Deathclaw, which must have been a Force Field Body, had its entire body burst open in death. It looked like he'd properly concentrated his firepower and taken it out in one go. His marksmanship wasn't superhuman like mine, but it was still excellent.
Come to think of it, didn't this guy say he took down a Force Field Body right after awakening? Seeing this, his year of activity even as a so-called 'pack mule' wasn't meaningless after all.
"Bro! That was awesome?"
Even as he panted heavily after felling such a high-risk target, Jeong Jin-yeong's face finally broke into a bright smile when he saw me.
"A-am, awes, awesome, right?"
Jeong Jin-yeong stammered, but I didn't mind. I just grinned and gave him a thumbs up, and he grinned broadly in return.
Not just the rookies were working in the meantime.
Listening to the radio chatter, the existing A-rank Hunters were handling their own zones as well.
And just like me, without a specific assigned area and instead providing support wherever needed, there was one more veteran hunter roaming around.
Choi Yong.
Far off in the distance, a massive dragon perched atop the roof of a fifteen-story building.
Checking through my mental net, a wave of Deathclaws surged down the road beside that building.
Choi Yong craned his long neck, pointing his maw downward, and a crimson stream of fire erupted from his mouth. It was unmistakably the classic dragon flame breath.
The flames that struck the Deathclaw wave spread outward, soon engulfing the entire road in a sea of fire.
Once Choi Yong ceased his breath and the flames died down, the revealed Deathclaws were all reduced to charcoal, half-melted into the asphalt.
A horde of that size would have included a few Force Field Bodies, but the erupted flames were hotter than imagined—not a single survivor in sight.
Having finished his task, Choi Yong prepared to head elsewhere in response to another support request.
I'd heard that using flame breath like that consumed internal gas, making flight difficult afterward. To compensate for the lost buoyancy, his dragon form shifted in real time before my eyes.
In an instant, his wingspan expanded while his body size shrank. A form optimized for flight without the internal gas lift, perhaps?
With those enlarged wings flapping powerfully, Choi Yong took to the air. Watching him vanish into the distance in a flash, I couldn't help but be impressed.
Truly badass.
His transformed body's power and the fluidity of his shapeshifting were both top-tier. No wonder he'd outdone me and Seok Jang-sil to take the leader role, even if only in that illusion.
Meanwhile, Baek Dam-bi, who had recently signed a contract with Seoul City, was more than pulling her weight. Having tasted success with her ice hawk suicide bombing tactic, she sent another ice hawk clutching a high-explosive bomb plummeting to the ground, triggering a spectacular blast.
Additionally, ice constructs wielding Hunter rifles that she'd created were sweeping Deathclaws across multiple zones. One Baek Dam-bi was effectively doing the work of several Awakener Hunters.
Seok Jang-sil was surely active somewhere out of my sight, and with all these renowned Hunters deployed across Seoul to suppress the crisis, the lineup was nothing short of luxurious.
Honestly, it was luxurious to an excessive degree.
Even compared to Incheon. There, I was the only famous Hunter, and the next strongest was Nguyen, infamous for his strikes.
Incheon, part of the capital region, paled in comparison. It was clear the nation's full might was concentrated here.
Special task forces had even been deployed for this situation.
"Ah, Kim Geuk hyung?"
As always, it was that guy.
"Han Hee?"
I looked at Han Hee, who had appeared before me as if I'd teleported her there myself. My gaze involuntarily drifted to the elongated sword in his hand.
"Your sword's longer than the one you used before?"
"Yeah, you noticed right away?"
"Of course? It's almost twice as long now. How?"
It wasn't just the blade lengthened; the Force Field edge had extended, taking the overall sword length with it.
Meaning his Awakener capacity itself had effectively doubled.
Pleased that I'd noticed, Han Hee smiled faintly and explained.
"While you were away, I took down a ton of Deathclaws."
"Deathclaws?"
"Yeah, Deathclaws. A whole bunch."
With that casual recital, Han Hee bowed his head in greeting and kicked off the ground to go hunt more monsters.
Even with my superhuman dynamic vision, I could barely track his speed as he vanished.
That alone showed how much he'd grown as an Awakener while I was off in Somwol. At least double—probably several times over in practice.
I'd said I needed about eleven times more growth to reach S-rank? In reality, five times would do. After all, I had both Physical Enhancement and Force Field exoskeleton. Devouring the same soul grew both abilities simultaneously, making my growth efficiency unique.
Likewise, Han Hee with his acceleration and Force Field exoskeleton felt several times faster despite maybe only doubling spiritually.
Made me worry if I should start scouting my grave plot early.
Afterward, while teleporting around here and there, the radio crackled.
A voice tense with determination, calling for aid from afar.
......Requesting support!
"Kim Geuk heading to support."
I responded and teleported to the requested location.
Then I saw the monsters lurking there.
Ogres. Three meters tall. Not one, but two, accompanied by at least fifteen goblins of various sizes trailing behind them. And all the goblins were armed with K-2 rifles.
What the hell is this?
I was more shocked by something other than the goblins' firearms.
This was the first time I'd seen ogres operating in a group like that.
Ogres were basically giant goblins, but once enlarged, they tended to devour or abandon their former packs and roam solo. Yet these not only stuck together with fellow ogres but brought along their goblin minions?
It reminded me of tanks escorted by infantry. A tank alone was too vulnerable to anti-tank weapons, so infantry provided mutual protection...
Awakener Hunters did the same, bringing non-Awakeners along. Were these monsters imitating our tactics after observing us? Ogres were so conspicuous they often drew anti-tank fire or became Hunters' focus targets, so traveling together for protection...
My expression hardened involuntarily.
This wasn't good. It made me anxious about what lay ahead.
Not only were the monsters growing physically stronger through cannibalism, but they were showing noticeable tactical evolution too?
While we adapted to them, they were adapting to us. A fact I'd confirmed multiple times, but it really wasn't a good era for rookies to debut.
"Kim Geuk hyung! Here to help?"
Turning toward the voice, a rookie with a Hunter rifle looked my way with delight. It was the one I'd saved earlier from near-death.
This guy was a Physical Enhancer, right? Even then, he'd be in danger against those goblins' assault rifles.
Judging so, I said,
"I'll go first and draw their attention. Support me once I start rampaging."
My suggestion seemed surprising, as the rookie's eyes widened.
"You'll go in first and draw their eyes?"
I nodded, then teleported a few times. I handed my Hunter rifle to my team and stepped forward with my hammer.
Gripping my Force Field-coated hammer tightly, I teleported high into the sky above them. Raising the hammer high, I signaled over the radio.
"In this second!"
Gravity pulled me down. Once acceleration had built up sufficiently, I shouted,
"One second!"
I slammed down with the hammer and teleported. The fully swung hammer struck its target dead-on. Boom!
The hammer pulverized the ogre's thick neck bone, then transmitted the shock outward.
Screams erupted from the Hunters.
The ground shook with the thunderous roar, kicking up a massive dust cloud that obscured everything. All from a single hammer strike.
"Now!"
Amid the chaos, the rookie did his part.
Autocannon rounds poured from his Hunter rifle, sweeping through the panicking goblins.
Meanwhile, I charged at the other ogre, immobilized in the dust.
Come here, you monster bastard.
Yanking its thick arm, I smashed down with a short grip. The sensation of its skull and neck bones shattering transmitted through my hands as I crushed its head.
The euphoria surging through me confirmed its total demise.
With just two hammer strikes, no monsters remained alive around us. A perfect sweep without a scratch.
As I emerged from the dust, the rookie and other non-Awakeners fixed their gazes on me.
For a while, they just stared blankly. Then the rookie spoke up.
"I've seen videos of you in action a few times, hyung, but seeing it live is like ten times more badass? How the hell do you even...
"How what?"
"Charge right at monsters and smash them with just a hammer. Even people with Force Field blades wouldn't dare close in on monsters like that. How do you manage it? Were you a pro UFC fighter or something? Your guts are on a whole other level from mine...
He seemed deflated watching me. I couldn't let him feel pathetic on his debut. From an encouraging angle, I said,
"It's not like I'm especially brave or anything?"
"Not brave?"
"Hey, I've got Teleportation, right? I can bail anytime, so there's nothing to fear. No need to imitate me or get intimidated."
"Doesn't feel like that's it...
Apparently, I wasn't the only veteran responding to the support call.
A fierce wind blew, casting a shadow over me.
Looking up, I saw Choi Yong watching us from above.
Choi Yong landed, his body shrinking rapidly in size.
Thus, the dragon form I'd just seen transformed into the diminutive man from before.
Choi Yong looked at us and said,
"Whoa, already over? Kim Geuk, you were babysitting the rookies?"
"Something like that."
"Impressive, really. I heard you've been looking after rookies all day, and seeing it myself is satisfying! You're doing the Association's job single-handedly?"
Something occurred to me, so I asked,
"Come to think of it, doesn't the Association look after rookies separately? Even I got thrown straight into hunting a Force Field Body without proper training when a Gate opened."
This setup seems like it'd cause heavy casualties, no?
Choi Yong gave a wry smile.
"Sure, the Association does pre-deployment seminars for A-ranks and such, but it's kinda insufficient on its own."
"Yeah. Assigning dedicated mentors would be way better."
"Easier said than done. As you know, A-rank Hunters' rates are sky-high—the Association budget can't afford babysitters. Hunters are freelancers contracting with local governments; the Association can't just order them to mind rookies. Unless you're a hero like Kim Geuk, who'd bother... I heard you teleported in every time a rookie was about to die, covered them in various ways. That true?"
At the question, the rookie eagerly explained in my stead—how he'd saved him before, helped again this time, and so on.
Choi Yong let out an impressed "Ooh."
"You really took good care of them, huh? I heard one veteran died from afar, so I figured at least half the rookies might've bought it worst-case, but zero rookie deaths? You have no idea how shocked I was."
"Worth stepping up, then?"
"Totally. You did great—really great. Kinda disappointing, though."
"Huh?"
Disappointing? What?
I wondered if he was blaming me for not saving that distant veteran too (impossible, outside my mental net range), but no.
Choi Yong was chiding me for saving too many.
"Ideally, half the rookies would've died. That way, we could've warned the government and other rookies what happens when you ignore the Association and freelance-contract recklessly."
Silence fell over the group the moment Choi Yong said that.
A chilling silence. The rookie who'd heard it, the other Hunters—all stared at Choi Yong in shock.
I probably did too. Seeing my face, Choi Yong flinched and hurriedly backpedaled.
"You know that's a joke, right?"
"A real joke?"
"Of course! Total joke, joke!"