Chapter 14
Chapter 14
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: It's Too Different from the Original
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Staring blankly at the fake heroine who was supposed to die soon, I snapped out of it after a moment.
"Everyone, follow me."
"Th-the sewer?!"
Yoo Cheol-ran opened the sewer lid and guided the group of survivors while speaking to them.
The people all made uneasy faces in response.
"...! I get it! If we go underground, we can avoid those flying bastards' eyes."
As the saying goes, "Even rolling in a field of shit is better than the afterlife."
Desperate to live, they didn't care about the filth and began climbing down the ladder into the sewer one by one.
"Hyung. Let's go."
"Yeah, okay."
I was the last one, going down with the kid who'd finally come to his senses.
Inside the sewer we arrived at.
I'd never realized it from movies or games, but seeing the sewage flowing right next to us turned my stomach.
Still, we didn't even have time to gag.
"I'll take the lead, so please follow me."
"Are we heading to the large shelter?"
"Yes. If we go above ground, we'll run into that monster from before again, but underground, we can reach right up to the entrance safely."
"I see..."
Playing [Hunters Blood], I'd always solved everything on the surface, so I'd never even imagined a route like this.
It was quite the lesson.
Who would've thought I'd get to see the original Yoo Cheol-ran in person?
It was so fascinating that, despite knowing it was rude, my eyes kept drifting her way.
'A heroine I only saw on my monitor... in real life! No, calm down, calm down!'
Maybe she noticed my overly intense gaze.
"Shin-woo, could you come up here for a moment?"
"M-me...?"
How did she even learn my name?
Yoo Cheol-ran, leading at the front, motioned for me to come beside her, and I scurried over like a scared puppy.
Did I stare too obsessively?
I was about to apologize first to avoid any misunderstanding about ogling her when...
"I've heard a lot about you from Teacher Rolling."
"...Pardon?"
"I hear you're aiming to become a Meister?"
"Y-yes..."
"Hunter Meister is a job inseparably symbiotic with hunters. So if we meet on the field next time, let's say hi."
"Uh? Oh, sure..."
What was this conversation?
It was like she knew everything about me... No, even before that, calling Rolling 'Teacher' stood out.
"Um, what exactly is your relationship with Rolling?"
"I'm her disciple."
"Ah, her disciple..."
So Rolling had been training a disciple?
And that disciple was Yoo Cheol-ran, the fake heroine who dies soon?
In the original, both died right at the start or were already dead. I never imagined they'd be connected like this.
Saving Rolling, who should've died ten years ago, must've caused this butterfly effect, bringing her to me.
'...Is that why she seemed more likable than in the original?'
The original Yoo Cheol-ran.
The protagonist's senior hunter, she'd lost her entire family in the [Smiling Monster Incident] ten years ago—a textbook tragic, broken character.
Mild compared to the later heroines, but still far from normal.
The type who'd charge at any monster without a second thought, fighting to the end even if her bones broke or flesh tore.
'Thank goodness that madness seems absent here.'
Normally, people retreat or scream when part of their body gets damaged in battle.
"This doesn't hurt or itch at all."
The scene where she used her severed arm as a weapon to smash a monster's skull.
Even now, that insane judgment sends chills down my spine.
She ended up getting torn apart by the prologue boss, leaving only her head, which the protagonist cradled as she vanished without a trace—the ill-fated heroine.
"I spotted you on CCTV while checking every camera near Myeongdong to track the monster."
"Uh... me?"
"Yes. Recklessly trying to save people from a monster as a civilian. Please never do that again. Life is precious."
"Ah, y-yeah..."
Getting such sound advice from Yoo Cheol-ran of all people.
She was Rolling's disciple, but it made me feel oddly proud anyway.
"By the way, did you know about me? You seemed to recognize me even before we entered the sewer..."
"Pardon? Oh, that. Well... I'm a huge hunter nerd, so I have a habit of memorizing all the 'promising hunters.'"
"...! P-promising hunter, you say...!"
It was then, as the group of survivors halted in the sewer with Yoo Cheol-ran at the lead.
As a fan of the original, I'd never imagined her shy expression.
Covering her mouth with one hand, her face slightly flushed—I grinned, feeling like I'd witnessed something special.
"E-everyone! Climb up this ladder now."
Yoo Cheol-ran pointed to the ladder right beside us.
"Once you're up, the large shelter will be about a five-minute walk away."
"F-five minutes on foot?! What if those flying monsters attack again before then?!"
"No need to worry about that."
The people, terrified even at a five-minute walk.
To them, Yoo Cheol-ran smiled reassuringly—a smile absent from the original—and continued.
"A hunter team is currently standing by on the surface to escort the citizens safely."
"...!"
"Hunters! Have they taken out all the monsters?"
"Yes. We just got a report that they've killed seven out of ten. The remaining three should be no problem for the D-rank hunters up top, so please go ahead without worry."
Who knew Yoo Cheol-ran could show such situational awareness, coordinating with other hunters?
At this point, she seemed like a completely different person with the same looks and name.
"So, who wants to go first?"
"M-me! Damn it, I want out of this filthy place ASAP!"
The first to climb was an auntie loaded with shopping bags.
Muttering irritably, she quickly ascended the ladder to the surface.
"Then I'll go next."
"Yes. Oh, and Shin-woo."
"Yeah?"
"I'll show Teacher the reckless stunt you pulled on CCTV later. Make sure you get scolded and reflect on it properly."
"F-for real...?"
As I prepared to climb, Yoo Cheol-ran earnestly warned me to brace for a spanking.
Sweating bullets but with nothing to say, I nodded.
Right then.
"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa—!"
The shopping bag auntie's scream echoed from above.
In an instant, the relieved faces inside the sewer crumbled.
Even Yoo Cheol-ran, who had been smirking, showed bewilderment.
She quickly looked up, climbed the ladder, and slipped out through the manhole cover.
Wondering what was happening, I followed up the ladder.
And the sight that greeted me.
The shopping bag auntie collapsed on the ground in terror, Yoo Cheol-ran peeking out from the manhole and waving at me to stay back.
Then, something rolled right past my face.
Our eyes met, and I nearly screamed like the auntie who'd gone out first.
But Yoo Cheol-ran leaned down and clapped her hand over my mouth.
"Shh. Calm down."
*Nod nod.*
"And... it's best not to look at that."
Hearing that, I averted my eyes from the thing—the dead person with only a head left—that had met my gaze moments ago.
But outside the manhole, there was nowhere safe to look.
Everywhere lay headless corpses of people in hunter suits just like Yoo Cheol-ran's, splattered in blood.
"Th-they're all... dead...?"
The shopping bag auntie trembled violently, turning toward us.
"Wh-what the hell happened...!"
Yoo Cheol-ran just hung her head, clearly flustered.
That's when I saw it.
"Ov-over there...!"
"Eek?!"
"What is that...?"
It was a monster.
But this one wasn't rampaging; it sat with its back to us, silently staring at the large shelter where the evacuees had gathered.
With its "two heads."
Even sitting, its body was enormous. Standing, I'd guess at least 10 meters... no, 15 meters—a "giant."
Its purple skin was grotesquely muscled, and if my guess was right, this thing was "dangerous."
Why had it suddenly appeared here?
I didn't know the reason, but if it was the one I thought, we needed someone at least as strong as Rolling to handle it.
Above all, I had to get Yoo Cheol-ran out first.
Because in the original, this bastard was the one who killed her in the prologue.
It devoured her alive, then spat out just her head to the protagonist.
"What the hell is that...?"
"It's the A-rank threat monster, Twin Head."
"Twin Head...? The one only sighted in places like the US or Russia?"
"Yes, that's it. So we should fall back for now..."
I was about to tell Yoo Cheol-ran to grab the dazed shopping bag auntie and hurry.
But right then.
*Whoosh.*
"...!"
"Gasp?!"
Twin Head, with its two heads.
One of its man-sized heads turned around.
Its single eye flashed as it locked onto us.