Chapter 21
Chapter 21
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Taken Hostage?
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Even if I pretended not to notice and just left it alone, this place would eventually be discovered.
And if the hunters caught us, this little one would be dragged off to the underground research wing in an instant and turned into an experimental guinea pig.
In other words, just walking away like this didn't sit right with me either.
So, what should I do?
It felt like staring at an abandoned kitten destined for a mercy kill.
And if this were the old me, I definitely would have...
'The moment I get caught, I'd have no excuse even if I got kicked out of the house...'
Has the monsterization reached my brain?
Just as a sigh escaped me for siding with a monster,
"Found you."
"Kruk?"
Deep in thought, I hadn't even noticed someone approaching.
I turned toward the voice, and in that gap, the baby monster hid itself against my back.
Before I knew it, we were on the 'same side.'
"Grrr..."
'Hey, why are you doing this... Don't get attached...'
"Hu, human... he, help... me..."
If I screw this up, won't I end up with the title 'Traitor to Humanity' too?
But pushing it away felt wrong when those ruby-red eyes full of pity met mine.
Sigh, I really shouldn't be doing this...
"Seeing monsters sticking together like this, it's just like one of those 1+1 deals at the convenience store."
A product like this would probably scare everyone off anyway.
For now, I turned back to face the front.
There, at the head of dozens of hunters approaching us, was a fiery redhead striding forward.
A thug-like smirk, sharp gangster eyes, and gaudy fashion with gold rings glinting between his fingers like some mob boss.
Anyone who couldn't recognize that level of over-the-top flair would be the weird one.
'Joo Sang-ho... Looks like we're meeting after all.'
A-Rank Hunter Joo Sang-ho.
He wasn't the lead in [Hunters Blood], but a supporting character who popped up now and then.
"You're the Jamsil Monster, huh! Nice to meet you. I'm Joo Sang-ho, one of the only ten A-Rank Hunters in the Korean Hunter Association branch!"
This guy didn't know weak against strong or strong against weak.
"Remember the name of the man who's gonna take you down!"
A man who had transcended anger management issues into full-blown no-anger-management.
Whether it was a Danger Level E monster or a national disaster-class one, he'd fight first and think later.
That's why he vanished midway through with a single line about dying quietly off-screen—a tragic side character.
'This guy's still the same, huh...'
"Here I come!"
"Re, red?!"
Joo Sang-ho honorably declared 'Here I come!' before charging straight at me.
"""Ooooh!"""
Just as cheers erupted from the junior hunters following him on their own accord.
The baby monster apparently couldn't track his movements at all. Proof was in how it squeezed its eyes shut and just trembled behind my back.
I swallowed hard.
This guy...
How much do I have to hold back to knock him out without killing him?
Thwack!
"...!"
"S, Sang-ho!"
First, I matched his solar plexus with a light punch at the level I'd used to knock out the hunters on my way here.
Sang-ho went flying back—one, two, three—before crashing to the ground.
"Kruk?"
'Did I overdo it?'
I wondered, watching the tense expressions of the surrounding hunters.
"Kuhak?! As expected of a national disaster...! You're, puhak?! Pretty good!"
What the— that's scary.
Sang-ho staggered to his feet with one leg joint twisted backward, vomiting blood.
But he pointed straight at me with unwavering confidence.
"As expected... This much... kuh... hah, haha, now it's fun...!"
"Senior, stop!"
"We're joining in now too!"
"Kuhak! You idiots! Aren't you the promising seeds who'll lead Korea's hunters into the future? What good are you if you die this early?!"
Flashy on the outside, but warmer-hearted than anyone.
There was a reason he was popular with the juniors.
Just as I started worrying he'd charge again in that state,
"...?!"
"......"
I glanced at the right sewer pipe between me and the hunters, wondering if I should just bolt.
Hiding there, secretly watching, was Yoo Cheol-ran.
'Cheol-ran. You're out of the hospital.'
Work as a cleaner had kept me from visiting much lately, but she'd apparently been discharged and thrown straight into the operation.
So, with Cheol-ran blocking that path, breakthrough from the front was the only option?
I was agonizing over whether to take down this patriotic thug wannabe who cared about Korea's hunter future,
when.
Tap tap.
"...?"
She suddenly locked eyes with me and beckoned me over.
Did I see that right?
No way a hunter would gesture at a monster, so I rubbed my eyes and looked again—yep, definitely beckoning me.
'What's her deal all of a sudden?'
No idea.
Trap maybe?
...No, she'd know better than anyone that a C-Rank like her couldn't trap me.
So what was that 'come here' gesture about?
"Hu, human..."
Behind my back, the baby monster huddled tight.
Alone, I could handle it, but protecting this one while knocking out a full team of C-Ranks and above without killing anyone? Mess up and take one down for real, and it'd be impossible to explain.
In the end, my choice was.
"Kruk kruk."
'Hop on my back.'
First, I let the baby monster cling to my back.
"...! The Jamsil Monster's charging!"
"Kugh! You guys run! I'll hold it off!"
"No, Senior!"
I veered right, away from the bizarre skit between Sang-ho and the others.
"Kruk!"
Finally arrived.
Cheol-ran stepped forward.
Why on earth had she beckoned me?
This was the fastest escape route anyway—if she didn't move, I'd have to knock her out.
I was sweating bullets at the thought of touching Cheol-ran,
when.
"Sa, save me! I've been taken hostage by the monster!"
"What..."
"What?!"
Cheol-ran, pressing her back against me, started acting like a hostage?
I had no clue why, but the hunters who'd been about to rush in froze on the spot.
"That coward...!"
"Jamsil Monster! Let her go! She's too young to die! In this country where even one kid is a struggle to have, every young person is a gem for the future!"
Acting like an old geezer in his thirties.
But it was a golden opportunity, so I went along—hugging Cheol-ran from behind like a sinister monster, playing my part.
"Grrrrr...! Krarak! Kagagak!"
"Hiiik?!"
"Do not provoke it!"
"It has the intelligence to take a hostage? The Jamsil Monster...!"
I bear-hugged Cheol-ran tighter, and Sang-ho and the hunters retreated even further.
Perfect.
They say victory through non-violence is the noblest. I had no idea why Cheol-ran was doing this, but it meant I owed her one.
That was when.
"Don't think you owe me or anything..."
"Kruk?"
"This... is me paying you back."
Cheol-ran whispered so only I could hear.
Paying back?
Did that mean she'd met monster-me somewhere before?
'...When?'
She'd already passed out during the Twin Head fight, so she hadn't seen me up close.
No clue.
As I tilted my head,
"And take this."
Cheol-ran handed me a tiny slip of paper.
"It's a map of the Yeongdeungpo sewers. With this, you can escape fast."
Not just tripping them up, but giving me an escape route too?
What was she thinking?
I had a ton of questions, but right now wasn't the time.
"Grrk."
'Thanks, Cheol-ran.'
"?!"
Even knowing words wouldn't work, once the distance from the hunters opened up, I whispered my thanks right in her ear.
Then I gently tossed her back toward the hunters and spun around to run.
"Th, the Jamsil Monster's fleeing!"
"Quick, chase—nah, can't... Too fast."
"Yeah. And we need to check on Senior and her condition after being the hostage."
"Damn...!"
The sewers were incredibly complex.
Chase recklessly, and you'd end up dead instead—pursuit was practically impossible.
"Hey, you okay?"
"Your face is beet red—did it do something to you?"
"I'm... fine..."
Unfortunately, their role ended here.
Sang-ho turned to his panting juniors, frustrated but forbidding further pursuit.
It was in the Hunter Association Korean branch's research wing, already smashed to pieces.
"Hmm. And a newborn baby monster did all this?"
"Y, yes! That's right, Research Director."
The Korean branch's research director.
Lee Jin-ah, who was also the branch chief, walked through the blood-soaked research wing with the sole unscathed researcher, Lee Hee-jung.
She eyed the corpses of the recently captured Danger Level E monsters, the traces of them being devoured, and the dented spot where B-Rank hunters had been repelled, a satisfied smile on her face.
"Intriguing. Tell me about the damage to the research wing."
"Yes? Oh, yes!"
At the director's words, Hee-jung immediately tapped her tablet.
"Well... First, four captured Danger Level E monsters and one D-Rank were killed. The initial D-Rank hunter sent to subdue it died, and the three B-Ranks sent later are out with 12 weeks and 3 weeks recovery—heavy injuries."
"How many researchers died?"
"Researchers? Uh, one moment..."
While her subordinate fetched more info, Jin-ah stretched contentedly.
But then.
"Um... All of them."
"...What?"
"Our researchers were all too busy fleeing to fight—they just passed out along the way, but everyone's safe!"
Her subordinate beamed at the survival news from her colleagues... who should've died.
Jin's face lost its smile for the first time upon hearing the researchers lived because 'they ran without fighting.'