Chapter 17
Chapter 17
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: Why Is That Here?
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No way, why is that here?
The reason Sophia hadn't tamed any monsters until she became a B-Rank Hunter.
It was shocking enough that it was because of me, but even more astonishing was that she hadn't tamed a single monster and yet...
Clang!
Bang!
Ching!
...she was fighting way better than expected.
'This kid... she really is a Beast Hunter, right?'
A typical Beast Hunter would send their tamed monsters to the front lines while staying back to rest.
But what the hell was this girl?
She wielded a scythe larger than herself with complete freedom, relentlessly trying to leave afterimages to catch me off guard.
Her future looked brighter than most close-combat Hunters.
But that wasn't the important thing right now.
"Why! Does Shin-woo! Scent! Come from! You! Tell me!"
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
How was I supposed to explain that my own scent was coming from my own body?
No, before that—even as a monster, she couldn't speak human language, so how did she expect an answer?
'More importantly, isn't she way too careless against a monster...?'
Of course, it would never happen, but if I had been Sophia's enemy, she would've been dead long ago.
Good thing I wasn't.
Just imagining Sophia pulling this reckless stunt against some other humanoid monster made my skin crawl.
"Grrr..."
A chill ran down my spine, and a sudden thought hit me.
'This won't do. I need to teach her some caution.'
Yoo Cheol-ran needed to get to the hospital fast, so I decided to give Sophia a proper "lesson" as quickly as possible.
Thud!
"Wha—what!?"
Sophia thought she had him completely overwhelmed, dancing her blade in flashy arcs.
But the pitch-black monster casually caught her never-stopping blade dance—one that had always gone on until her opponent fell—with a single hand.
It then wrenched the weapon away with force and grabbed her now-empty wrists with its other hand, hoisting them straight up.
"Th-this! What is—!"
She dangled there like she was handcuffed, kicking desperately as if begging to be let go.
But all that hurt were her own toes from kicking the monster.
'Has she calmed down now?'
I tossed the confiscated scythe aside for now.
Convenient for her to pick up later.
Then I locked eyes with Sophia's angry, fuming face.
It had been so long since I'd seen my family like this—not since that brief glimpse at the airport.
When a Beast Hunter with zero social skills suddenly announced she was going to America, my heart had pounded with worry.
She'd come back safe... truly safe. Thank goodness.
'Problem is, I have no idea when to let her go.'
Should I knock her out?
As I raised the back of my hand to check her nape—
"Eek...!?"
Sophia suddenly flinched in terror, her body trembling.
I immediately lowered my hand.
"Grrr..."
'This is driving me crazy...'
The heat in my body had fully subsided, and now she met my gaze with slightly moist eyes.
An awkward silence stretched between us for a few seconds. Then Sophia spoke first.
"Why do you smell like Shin-woo...?"
"......"
"You're actually a 'good monster,' aren't you? I saw you ten years ago at Busan Port. And I felt it then—a strange yet comforting aura that no other monster had."
"Grk?"
I tilted my head at her words.
'A strange yet comforting aura?'
Is that how I felt to Beast Hunters? Or just to Sophia?
It wasn't in the original story, so I couldn't say for sure.
The one thing that was clear...
"You're different... You could kill me right now, but you just neutralized me...! You're not like those monsters from the history books that pretended to care for humanity while bringing ruin!"
...was that Sophia trusted me completely.
Tears streaming down her face, she poured out her heart.
"But if you hurt Shin-woo in any way, I'd have to kill you. No matter how kind and good you are, that would be unforgivable!"
"Grrr..."
I'd thought she'd hate me after the airport incident.
Guess family was family—she still cherished me fiercely.
Time for me to clear up the misunderstanding as family too.
Shh.
"...Huh?"
I should undo Monsterization and go find Sophia right away.
Apologize for breaking our promise, and tell her I've become a Hunter Meister instead.
With that in mind, I gently lowered her to the ground first.
Her face was blank with shock.
That same wide-eyed, innocent expression proved she was still Sophia, no matter how much she'd matured.
And that was why...
Pat pat.
...I absentmindedly stroked her head like I used to before she left for America—still in monster form.
Her blue eyes sparkled up at me, and just as I realized my mistake and pulled my hand away—
"...Shin-woo?"
A chill shot through me!
Before that slip could turn into certainty, I leaped high into the sky and bolted from the spot.
Left alone, Sophia touched the crown of her head where the monster—Shin-woo?—had stroked her, her face brimming with life, dazed.
"...Ah! Yoo Cheol-ran!"
The girl she'd brought along from America as a disciple, back when her mom had flown in on business.
She'd been knocked out by the Twin Head—she needed to call 119 first.
Hunter Association Korea Branch.
In the research wing underground, accessible only to top executives.
"The reaction just vanished completely...?"
"Yes. Thanks to that, the military unit heading down from Gangwon to Seoul has just turned back around."
Rolling spoke with a researcher in front of a massive test tube emitting a green glow amid the dim lighting.
She'd come down to change into "Armament - White Tiger," but was undoing it now, shrugging her shoulders.
"Is this situation fortunate... or unfortunate?"
"Obviously fortunate. Even if a monster has no hostility toward humans, it'll fight back if provoked. If it just retreats, that's a win for us."
"True."
The researcher nodded at Rolling's response.
Then she suddenly asked,
"By the way, Rolling. I've got a question."
"What is it?"
"About the Jamsil Monster. You've been calling it 'no hostility toward humans' since it first appeared, but this is only its third sighting, and the total time it's been out is barely ten minutes. Why are you so sure it has 'no interest in humans'?"
A regular Hunter might not question it.
But coming from one of Korea's top Hunters, it seemed awfully rash.
...Or so she thought.
Rolling herself was somewhat aware. She felt an inexplicable 'affection' for that monster.
And understandably so.
Bang!
Ten years ago, that day.
She owed it her life—that was one thing.
But at the end, after everything settled, the admiral had saluted the speechless Jamsil Monster with a Kyokushin Karate straight punch on her behalf.
And when it replied with the exact same punch, for a split second, Rolling truly felt like she was facing a person.
That was why... she'd made that judgment.
"Sorry. Looks like I misspoke. There can't be such a thing as a monster with no hostility toward humans..."
"No, we don't know that yet."
At that moment—
The researcher cut off Rolling's self-reproach, affirming her words instead.
Twirling a strand of her red hair from the front, she continued with evident interest.
"It might just be undiscovered. Or history got it wrong."
"That's... too speculative."
"Maybe. But we can't just leave the Jamsil Monster alone forever."
With that, the researcher pressed her back against the massive test tube behind her.
Rolling frowned at "that thing"—something she'd coincidentally spotted upon entering the research wing after so long, forgotten amid the Jamsil Monster chaos.
Brought here without even consulting her, the Korea Branch's vice director.
"Don't make such a scary face, Rolling."
"...Then the Branch Chief needs to explain right now. Why is that in the basement of the Hunter Association building?"
"Sigh..."
The research director of the Hunter Association Korea Branch.
Also serving as branch chief, she was a squinting woman with green and red hair split evenly front and back.
Currently Korea's only permanent national-power-level Hunter, Lee Jin-ah, felt Rolling's sharp gaze—like she'd shatter the test tube behind her if provoked.
"Hmm..."
She stepped away from the tube, leaned against the wall, and let out another sigh before starting her explanation.
"Branch Chief!"
"Yes, yes. I'll explain everything. First off, we brought it here to bolster the Korea Branch's forces, obviously."
"...Branch Chief. Not personally?"
"Vice Director Rolling, don't be so prickly. This is all for the national interest."
Pausing there, Lee Jin-ah pulled a cigarette from her lab coat pocket and lit up.
But Rolling's face showed no sign of acceptance.
No matter how capable the branch chief was...
This was far too dangerous.
"Even so, dragging up the 'Angel' that died at Busan Port is insane!"
Inside the massive test tube glowing green between them...
Floated the corpse of the Angel—the national disaster monster that had nearly turned Busan, and all of Korea, into a sea of fire ten years ago.