The Break Region Incident
The sounds of battle grew louder and more tangled the closer I got. Dull explosions from bombs, the tearing of air by mana, monster roars, and human screams all blended together without distinction. It was impossible to tell where any of it was coming from. Sounds poured in from every direction at once, and even with my ears covered, the vibrations sank deep into my body.
I pressed forward, then ducked behind a large rock to survey the battlefield.
“Damn it, why the hell are all these monsters swarming here?”
“They never even came near our hideout before.”
“Didn’t the Black Dragon Guild say they put up a barrier?”
“Same dark guild or not… we were idiots to trust criminals.”
“Shit… I had a bad feeling about this mission from the start. We poked the Hunter Association and now we’re hiding like rats.”
“They said we’d only need to lay low for a few days. Why haven’t we heard from the Union Leader yet?”
The hunters’ outfits were all mismatched, and their guild marks weren’t unified. They cursed as they fended off monster attacks, but their movements looked more like they were searching for an escape route than fighting to win. Roughly sixty hunters were still battling. A similar number already lay motionless on the ground. From the looks of it, these were the Korean dark guild alliance members who had raided the Association’s black market auction and fled.
“At this rate we’re all dead…”
“What’s going on with the support request? Didn’t the Chaos Guild’s vice-guild leader ask for backup?”
“We asked. Multiple times.”
“They keep making excuses about how long it’ll take. They say the situation’s bad right now.”
“If we go down, we lose everything we stole. Then all this was for nothing. Does that make any sense?”
“I don’t know. That’s how criminals are. We should’ve seen this coming the moment things went wrong.”
“Holding off the Blood Moon vice-guild leader is getting impossible. Wyvern and I will hold the front. Chaos, break through the rear!”
“Got it, Guild Leader! We’ll open a path in the back. Just hold on a little longer!”
The battlefield was pure chaos. A disorganized mob that cursed, blamed, and resented one another while moving without any real control. Hunters kept falling one by one, and their numbers dwindled visibly in proportion to the shrinking monster count. The ones called Wyvern Guild Leader and Black Dragon Guild Leader rallied their members to hold the front line, while the vice-guild leaders of Chaos and Blood Moon led hunters in the rear, trying to break through the surrounding monsters.
“All the orcs are down! Only trolls left!”
“Take the trolls first! Slice their heads clean off and get out!”
“Damn it, more monsters keep coming! The encirclement won’t break!”
“Push from the back! Keep pushing! If we stop here, it’s over!”
“Chaos! Blood Moon! What are you doing? Scream if you have to, just break the encirclement!”
“We’re trying! These bastards are tougher than they look!”
Amid the cursing, fighting continued across the wide clearing. Trolls stood atop the fallen orcs’ bodies while the vice-guild leaders of Chaos and Blood Moon drove their hunters forward, forcing open one side of the encirclement.
“Hurry up and break through! We’re finished if we stall here!”
“If the front opens, we can escape!”
“Don’t worry about the rear!”
“Wyvern and Black Dragon Guild Leaders are holding it.”
“They’re S-class hunters. They can handle ogres.”
That exchange brought a brief moment of order to their formation. The belief that the rear was holding and the hope that they could escape if they just got through this showed on their faces.
Then it happened.
“Agh! Black Dragon Guild Leader!”
“No! Jaewon!”
The moment the shouts rang out, an ogre’s club swung straight at Black Dragon Guild Leader’s face. A dull, wet impact followed. His face caved in and his body flew backward limply. The instant he hit the ground, he stopped moving.
The Black Dragon Guild members froze in shock. Meanwhile, Wyvern Guild Leader had been steadily retreating, defending passively. He was blocking five ogres and ten trolls in the rear, but his movements lacked full commitment. His eyes kept darting around, clearly looking for a chance to slip away alone.
Sensing their leader’s intent, the Wyvern Guild members also began inching backward, each searching for their own escape route.
I quietly used telekinesis to bind Wyvern Guild Leader’s feet. As he flinched and turned, an ogre’s foot slammed into him. His body flew backward, rolling across the ground. I subtly adjusted his landing so his head struck a sharp, protruding rock. A heavy impact, then blood sprayed from his cracked skull.
The guild members who witnessed it froze for a moment, but they quickly raised their weapons again to fight off the monsters exploiting the weakened line.
“Agh! Wyvern Guild Leader!”
The cry sent ripples of panic through the hunters. The rear line began to waver, and the movements of Blood Moon and Chaos’s vice-guild leaders grew visibly more desperate. A fierce back-and-forth exchange continued until the battlefield was rapidly cleared. In the end, only one ogre, two trolls, the Chaos vice-guild leader, and three of his guild members remained. They fought on, gasping for breath.
“Huff… huff… I’m really dying here.”
“Everyone’s dead… damn it.”
“Still no sign of support.”
“If I survive this, I’ll make sure the Union Leader pays. That bastard.”
Amid the endless cursing, the blood-soaked ogre and trolls charged with their last strength. The Chaos vice-guild leader and his men gritted their teeth and held on, but their movements grew heavier by the second. Moments later, the two trolls fell. Finally, only the single ogre remained in the center of the clearing. Covered in blood, it pounded its chest and let out a thunderous roar.
That was when it happened.
As if pulled by an invisible force, a sword lying on the ground rose into the air. A faint energy wrapped around the blade, and in the next instant it shot straight at the ogre’s neck. A brief flash. The ogre’s head tumbled to the ground.
With that sound, the battlefield fell silent.
I scanned the area once more. The fight was over. Only monster corpses and broken equipment remained scattered across the clearing. I spoke to Arin and Elly, and we began cleaning up the site together.
“Arin, Elly. Let’s collect the mana stones first. There are a lot of bodies, so we’ve got our work cut out for us.”
I pulled out the mana stone scanner and turned it on, locating the stones within the monster corpses. I extracted the ogre’s mana stone first and stored it in my subspace. Then I did the same with every troll corpse. Among them, two relatively intact trolls and some B-class and C-class mana stones went into a separate subspace pouch.
Arin and Elly picked up the equipment scattered on the ground, checking their condition. The difference was obvious—some looked decent at a glance but were immediately discarded, while others weren’t even touched.
“This one… not in great shape. Mass-produced model.”
Arin examined it briefly before setting it down.
“Not worth taking. Pass.”
Elly inspected another piece and confirmed with me.
“Leave that one. It has tracking magic on it.”
“This one has a guild mark. Pass on that too.”
“Yeah. Better not touch it.”
“This one’s in good condition. No tracking magic either.”
We naturally gathered only the unmarked, undamaged equipment to one side. We took only what was usable and left anything even slightly suspicious behind. There was no reason to get greedy.
Checking the bodies of Wyvern and Black Dragon Guild Leaders confirmed both were already dead. I crouched down and searched their pockets one by one.
“As expected.”
Both had subspace pouches. I opened them and found a considerable amount of cash and mana stones inside, which I immediately transferred to my own subspace. The emptied pouches were folded and tucked into my backpack.
“Good haul today!”
“Yeah… feels a bit dirty, but we might as well take what we can.”
“Subspace pouches are hard to come by. Makes sense that dark guild leaders would each have one.”
“Right… no tracking magic or marks either. Criminals really do have money… hohoho.”
“Yeah! Way more than I expected!”
“Jihoon, come look over here! There’s a cave!”
At the edge of the clearing, a cave-like hollow came into view. Inside, clear signs of human passage remained.
“This must’ve been their hideout.”
“What the… this flimsy barrier.”
Arin looked around and snorted.
“They were hiding here relying on this?”
“Heh. Typical criminal work.”
Elly shook her head as if it were nothing remarkable.
Stepping inside, we found a single luxurious, sturdy-looking box placed against the wall. It stood out far too much in this space. I carefully opened the lid and looked inside.
“…This looks like the Dungeon Core Detector.”
“Yeah.”
Arin nodded.
“The one that was stolen from the black market auction. So this is where it ended up.”
“That explains why they were hiding here.”
I closed the box and stored it directly in my subspace. Just securing this made the trip worthwhile.
“Alright, I think we’ve got everything worth taking.”
I looked between the two of them.
“One last sweep of the inside, just in case. I’ll finish up out here.”
“Okay. Wait a sec.”
Arin waved lightly.
“We’ll be right back.”
After they disappeared deeper in, I stepped out of the cave and circled the area, checking for any mana stones or equipment I might have missed. I was still sorting through things when Arin returned first.
“Jihoon, it looks like most of the monsters around here have already been cleared out.”
“The ones that were swarming last time are gone too, and the gate seems to have disappeared. Even the A-class monster zones are mostly empty. Only two strong-looking S-class monsters are holed up in the center. I didn’t get close, but overall there are almost no monsters left.”
Elly returned shortly after, having checked the B-class zone.
“Jihoon, it’s the same in the B-class area. Hardly any monsters. The orc population seems to have dropped a lot too.”
“Hmm. The dark guild must’ve cleaned up quite a few Cheongpyeong monsters before they left.”
“Yeah. Even if they’re criminals, they ended up helping in the end.”
“They cause nothing but trouble, but at least they did this one thing before going.”
“…Honestly, I’m a little grateful. I’ve been worried about the abnormal monster activity in the break region.”
“Cheongpyeong should be fine for a while. We can breathe easy now.”
“Good. Let’s wrap it up here. The remaining monsters will take care of the bodies.”
“Yeah, Jihoon. We earned quite a few mana stones today, and the monster anomaly we were worried about is resolved. That’s more than enough.”
“Now if just one more gate opens, it’d be perfect.”
“Arin, that’s a bit shameless.”
“Haha, you’re right. Today’s a good stopping point.”
By the time we left the Cheongpyeong break region, the sky had already darkened past evening. Before getting in the car, I asked Elly to purify and do a quick maintenance on our equipment. Clear water flowed through the air, washing away dirt, dust, and any lingering traces from both gear and bodies. Once everything was clean, we got in the car and headed home.
It was completely dark by the time we arrived. The moment I collapsed onto the bed, my consciousness sank straight into sleep.
The next morning.
The sound of the TV hit my ears first. The news anchor’s voice came from the channel I habitually left on.
“Breaking news. Early this morning, multiple unidentified bodies and traces of a large-scale battle were discovered in the break region near Cheongpyeong, Gyeonggi Province.”
The screen changed to aerial footage of a devastated forest, cratered ground, and collapsed rocks. It looked as though the area had been bombed.
“The Investigation Bureau stated they are currently examining the exact circumstances from multiple angles, including the possibility of guild conflict and illegal hunting group involvement.”
Barricades blocked access to the scene while investigators moved busily. The camera didn’t show the bodies directly, but the stretchers being carried were enough.
“A bureau official explained that the break region will remain completely closed to entry for the time being as a measure to prevent further casualties.”
I stared at the screen with the remote in my hand. The news never mentioned any names or made any definitive statements. Unidentified. Estimated. Possible. The anchor’s words settled in my mind just like that.
“…Bigger than I thought.”
Muttering to myself, I set the remote down and turned off the TV. The room fell quiet again. That was enough. The events in the Cheongpyeong break region were now the Investigation Bureau’s problem. How they would conclude it, how much they had figured out—that mattered more.
I picked up my phone and found Yoo Mira’s name in my contacts. I pressed the call button. It was something best confirmed in person.