Chapter 80
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 080
Chapter Title: Australia's Disaster, Phoenix - [1]
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I looked down at the street from the rooftop of a commercial building.
It was pandemonium in every direction.
People were pouring out of every building around. Office workers, shop employees, and customers—all of them came rushing out and started sprinting in one direction.
"Young-sik! Where's Young-sik!"
"Get the car out, you bastard! Hurry up and pull the car out!"
The fleeing crowd filled the roads.
Even as they ran for their lives, it seemed they couldn't withstand the aftermath of the Gate opening.
They all trembled, running as if they might collapse at any moment. It wasn't powerful sprinting—it was more like the desperate flight of sick sheep.
This Gate was definitely a big one. Just its ripple effects were already half-killing people.
From the rooftop, I spread out my mental net and surveyed the situation within a 3km radius.
Then, I sensed a massive movement somewhere.
I immediately checked that direction and widened my eyes. What the hell was this?
Monsters had finally emerged from the Gate. And a ton of them.
Deathclaws usually gathered in groups of about ten at most, but in my first hunt, nearly a hundred had poured out from a single Gate, I think?
And now, the situation was even worse than that.
Monster parade...
Even at a glance, I detected over a few hundred monsters. Not just Deathclaws—there were other species mixed in, and they weren't fighting each other.
As they all started moving together, their sheer mass felt overwhelming. Why had so many poured out?
I could roughly guess the reason. That damn Behemoth. It had delved too deep into Seoul. And all the monsters trailing after it.
The monsters following Behemoth must have lost their patience when it seemed like it was finally going to emerge into reality but then didn't.
Like a volcano erupting, the monsters clustered inside the Gate came surging out.
Meanwhile, Seoul's response was swift.
Gates opening in Seoul due to Behemoth's influence had become frequent lately, so soldiers must have been pre-deployed throughout the city.
Soldiers arrived at the scene first. Hunters followed soon after.
Through my mental net, I could see them taking positions with flawless coordination. Unlike in the provinces, Seoul assigned hunters to specific districts, making their deployments systematic and fast—just as I'd heard.
Like overlooking everything from a top-down view in a game, I monitored the entire situation through my mental net.
The monsters pouring from the Gate split into groups and started charging in various directions.
One pack of Deathclaws ran straight into the soldiers and hunters. Even calling it a pack, there were at least thirty of them—five times the number you'd see in a typical Gate incident.
The terrified people's gunfire began. Bullets whistled sharply through my mental net...
But there were just too many Deathclaws.
One finally broke through the soldiers' and hunters' fire net and reached a soldier. Its hooked claw swung down. In about a second, that soldier would be sliced in half.
That was my cue to step in.
I swung my hammer upward from where it hung below while teleporting.
"Aaah—"
A desperate scream pierced my ears just as my hammer struck its target.
From below to above. Into the belly of the Deathclaw about to pounce on a soldier.
"—Aak!"
The solid impact with a 'bang' told me it was a Force Field Body.
Instead of being crushed, the Deathclaw shot up into the air from my hammer blow.
For it, launched upward so suddenly, it must have been disoriented, not even knowing what hit it.
As it fell, flailing its four legs wildly instead of mounting a proper defense, I smashed it completely with another hammer strike.
But even amid the chaos, more Deathclaws had broken through—not just one or two.
I tilted my head to dodge the claw of the next one lunging at me. My ear got sliced off, but ignoring it, I grabbed its front leg and hurled it at the oncoming Deathclaws.
Four of them tumbled away, halting their advance.
Not missing the opening I'd created, I charged. Gripping my hammer, I sprinted forward and shouted,
"I'm a Force Field Exoskeleton Awakener! Bullets won't hurt me, so keep firing!"
Then I swung the hammer again and again. I crushed one underfoot, kicked another to death, and bashed two more in succession.
Now, no Deathclaws remained.
Finally able to catch my breath, I turned to see the hunters and soldiers staring at me, panting.
"I-I know this guy... Kim Geuk..."
A soldier who'd barely survived muttered, but I cut him off.
"We've pinpointed the Gate's location—relay it fast."
"Pardon?"
"Radio it now! Hunter Kim Geuk has located the Gate..."
As I barked orders and a soldier hurriedly radioed, another Awakener arrived.
Not the one assigned to guard this district.
"This thing... is freaking... heavy..."
It was Han Hee. He'd brought a Hunter Rifle even bigger than himself.
I'd asked for the Hunter Rifle, but told him to leave it at that hotel earlier. Why carry it all the way here himself?
"You grabbed the Hunter Rifle and then came looking for me?"
Han Hee nodded wearily at my question.
"Yes..."
I didn't scold him for the unnecessary effort. I could tell he'd tried to be as helpful as possible.
I gave him a thumbs-up and scanned ahead, probing further with my mental net beyond what my eyes could see.
Then I warned everyone around me of what I'd discovered.
"Another pack's coming. More than the last one."
Everyone flinched, and I loaded the Hunter Rifle.
Just as I finished, they arrived.
Deathclaws. Too many to count.
This was the main road closest to the Gate. They filled the wide street so completely it looked narrow—a wave of flesh charging toward us. What would that look like?
Deathclaws weren't particularly heavy monsters, but the roar of their charge was deafening.
"Ah..."
Seeing monsters up close for the first time, even Han Hee looked terrified.
The soldiers and hunters started firing while backpedaling.
Amid it all, I alone advanced—Hunter Rifle weighing 78kg held out front, courtesy of Han Hee.
The Deathclaws didn't obligingly cluster for easy shots. They zigzagged to dodge bullets while closing in.
I slowly swept the barrel left and right, carefully ensuring each autocannon round pierced them as I pressed forward.
The 78kg Hunter Rifle's autocannon rounds had impressive penetration. Each shot didn't just burst one Deathclaw—it skewered the ones charging behind it too.
Amid the barrage absorbing everyone's bullets, one Deathclaw charged straight at me in a straight line.
A soldier who spotted it screamed,
"Another Force Field Body!"
Right. A Force Field Body. And judging by its speed, far stronger than the previous one.
As the force field-covered monster barreled toward me, I tensed my legs.
I kicked off the ground explosively.
With Force Field Exoskeleton, Deathclaws and Sowolkin could leap almost like teleporting.
Now Awakened with it myself—plus Physical Enhancement—I could do it even better than most.
With the force field's power added to my leg strength, my propulsion was beyond imagination.
I launched forward like a shot, teleporting at the same time.
Mid-teleport, I thrust the Hunter Rifle forward like a spear. Its muzzle jammed straight into the maw of the charging Deathclaw.
I wrenched the barrel upward with force.
The impaled Force Field Body lifted with it.
Blocking all its other actions, I kept pouring autocannon rounds into it.
Point-blank shots ravaging its throat—the elevated Force Field Body had no chance to struggle.
As it exploded mid-air, I lowered the barrel again, unleashing rounds on the oncoming Deathclaws. They burst one after another.
Thus, I stopped another monster wave. Amid the scattered corpses, I checked on the soldiers and hunters.
"Anyone hurt?"
"One here—gut sliced open..."
I teleported the injured man away, dropped him at a hospital, then spread my mental net again to survey the entire city turned battlefield.
I found another spot where I was needed.
One look, and I thought, This is a rare situation.
Three tanks crossing the road had been attacked by a monster.
An ogre hiding between buildings had ambushed their side.
Teleporting there, I saw the ogre flipping the tanks. It overturned one completely, then charged the next and flipped it too. Tanks weighing dozens of tons—yet it looked effortless, absurdly so.
Up close, it made sense. It had the power.
Ogre, six meters tall...
Larger specimens like that were always stronger without exception. To support their impossible bulk, their muscles thickened, granting more power and toughness.
Even this Hunter Rifle would take time to kill it. And there was a tactic prepared for such beasts.
I quickly scooped up scattered flyers from the ground.
I folded the paper swiftly into a cone.
I fitted the paper cone onto the Hunter Rifle's muzzle.
Finally, I coated both the rifle and cone with my Force Field Exoskeleton.
Now mere paper became a titanium-hard spear tip. Not as sharp as a Force Field Blade Awakener's, but sufficient here.
As the ogre flipped the last tank, I teleported high into the sky.
Gravity yanked me down instantly, bringing a rush of freedom. Ah...
From so high the ground ogre looked small, I began falling.
Rifle pointed down, ready to plunge. A height that would've shattered my old body—I trusted the Force Field Exoskeleton now.
With enough acceleration from the fall, I teleported. And—thunk!
"Incheon forever—!"
Body weight and speed fully loaded, I slammed into the target like a bunker buster.
The cone pierced deep into the ogre's neck first. I pushed harder; part of the muzzle buried inside.
"Groooaaar—"
The ogre roared in sudden agony, but that was it.
Even as the rifle pierced its neck into its chest, it didn't die.
No problem. Expected.
I retracted the Force Field from the paper cone and pulled the trigger.
Autocannon rounds fired in bursts from the muzzle lodged in its body, shredding it from within.
Amazingly, the ogre endured briefly. It even swung its long arm to grab me clinging to it. It tried to crush me, but I held firm, trusting my body and force field.
And soon, I won.
The ogre died; I was free.
Chest cavity blasted open, it collapsed, blood pouring like a waterfall.
With that, cheers of "Kim Geuk! Kim Geuk!" echoed in my head.
Ignoring the euphoric rush filling my mind, I checked the tanks.
"Everyone alive in there...? Yeah, seems so."
The drivers inside seemed fine, so I righted the three flipped tanks, and they rolled out again.
The drivers popped their hatches from the moving tanks, their dumbfounded faces amusing.
They must've watched that fight closely.
They stared at me like a monster for a moment, then belatedly saluted in unison.
Probably gratitude, but I ignored it. No reason to accept greetings from non-Awakeners, Seoul spawn trash or not.
I continued hunting powerful monsters worth my time or teleporting people from dire spots, doing my part.
Then, from the radio a soldier had given me, an urgent voice blared.
Seok Jang-sil here. I've arrived at the scene! Sorry for being late—
The A-rank Hunter for this district was Seok Jang-sil, apparently. Delayed by a guild meeting today.
You already know the Gate's location? Got it, heading there now!
His radio voice sounded flippant, but his actions weren't.
Thud, thud—the sounds came in rapid rhythm.
Turning toward the noise, I widened my eyes more than when facing monsters.
A granite giant about ten meters tall had revealed its upper body over a commercial building.
The massive granite giant charged, sending earthquake-like shocks around.
That monster among monsters was surely Seok Jang-sil.
Last time at the protest, it was eight meters? I'd thought that was max, but no. It'd been a rushed job with scarce rocks then; fully formed, it could dwarf a three-story building like now.
Autocannon turrets mounted on each shoulder fired relentlessly. Trigger pulls and mag swaps via Rock Spirit's stone manipulation—gravel arms sprouted from the shoulders, working busily.
It ran, blasting endless rounds, roaring with impacts—a giant robot straight out of fiction.
Glancing aside, I was surprised again. Han Hee had appeared beside me, muttering,
"First time seeing hunters fight... They're all real monsters..."
"You watched that fight just now?"
"Huh? Yeah. Heard the noise, came to help... but no need..."
Helicopters arrived amid it all.
Five Apaches in formation. With tactical weapons and that Seok Jang-sil, the situation felt under control.
I figured I could just provide fire support with the Hunter Rifle now.
But then.
A red glow stabbed my eyes; I blinked. Then, staring at the massive red bird flying overhead, I glared.
"What the hell is that?"
Han Hee asked the same, and I muttered instinctively,
"Phoenix..."
Yeah. A phoenix.
No other word fit the thing streaking red across the sky.
A bird of prey, entire body of flame, wingspan around ten meters, slicing through the heavens.
As the phoenix flew toward the Gate, it crossed paths with the helicopter formation. Its wing brushed them—and they exploded in mid-air.
"Uh...!"
Han Hee and I moved toward the falling choppers simultaneously.
Han Hee leaped to catch a pilot from one.
I teleported to rescue the rest, then watched the Gate from an apartment rooftop.
More precisely, the monsters emerging from it.
Monsters trailing Behemoth had learned in Australia: follow giants for easier, safer human hunts.
From the Gate poured more—Deathclaws, ogres, known species and new ones needing names.
Nothing's ever easy.
I barely held back a sigh.