Chapter 48
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: Kyokushin Karate Secret Technique (Interlude)
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"Now, civilians, please follow the hunters' instructions and evacuate swiftly, just in case."
It was right after the battle between the two monsters that had nearly ended the history of the Korean Peninsula.
The hunters who had entered Lotte World to rescue Princess Kurumi felt a bit deflated now that the situation had resolved itself, but they were still hunters nonetheless.
There was a mountain of work left even after the fighting, so they were rushing to rescue people first.
And the national powerhouse figures who had personally survived this incident.
"Ow, ow... that hurts."
"Sorry, but you'll have to wear the handcuffs."
"Ouch. I helped take that guy down a bit, you know. Whatever happened to Korean hospitality?"
He had his energy drained until he was practically skin and bones, just short of having all his life force sucked away.
Boom!
Lawrence, who had barely survived by exploding the roots embedded inside himself, had just woken up and was now being handcuffed while confirming he was alive.
Rummage, rummage.
"Um, excuse me, Senior..."
"Yeah..."
"That guy... no, that monster over there..."
"Hmm... Based on skin color alone, it does look like a humanoid monster..."
In the ruins of the amusement park swarming with hunters, Lancelot was the only one busily digging through the debris.
Since he was already a dead body, even if all his current life force was absorbed, as long as his flesh remained intact, he could revive as a zombie again.
Thanks to that, the moment he opened his eyes, he left the stunned hunters behind and started frantically searching for something.
And soon enough.
"...! Found it."
"Wha-what?!"
"That hair...!"
A woman with blood-red hair buried between the debris.
He had successfully found Lee Jin-ah's severed head.
"Branch Chief Lee Jin-ah?!"
"I knew it when her head was missing... but she's really gone..."
Lancelot carefully cradled the closed-eyed Lee Jin-ah in his arms.
Meanwhile, it was a fact he'd realized the moment he saw her headless body, but seeing the face of their deceased branch chief up close...
"Branch Chief Lee Jin-ah...!"
"She was always the first to step up..."
"And just the other day at the company dinner, she was talking about running for president!"
"To go like this..."
Lee Jin-ah had thick trust from her subordinates publicly as well.
One by one, the hunters began spilling their emotions and bursting into tears.
The atmosphere had turned into something like a funeral.
Meanwhile, oblivious to it all.
"Mind stepping aside for a moment?"
"Y-yes? Sure..."
Lancelot passed the hunters hugging and sobbing, arriving at Lee Jin-ah's cloth-covered body.
He flashed a bright smile at the female hunter who looked like a healer, then knelt on one knee, lifted the cloth, and placed the head he'd brought onto her headless corpse.
Plop.
And then.
"Hmm... How long has it been since I last woke up?"
"Gahhh?!"
"L-Lee Jin-ah..."
"Branch Chief?!"
Like a miracle, her neck reattached itself, and she opened her hollow eyes to ask.
The grieving hunters all made faces like they'd seen a ghost at the sight of their superior coming back from the dead.
Regardless of the reactions around her, as Lee Jin-ah emotionlessly stood and stretched...
"Mommy dummy!!"
Whack!
A child popped out of Lee Jin-ah's shadow on her own and delivered a backbreaker to her.
"Guhk?!"
"I was crying my eyes out inside because I thought you died! If you had that ability, you should've told me sooner!"
"Eve, even so, you can't hit your mom."
The one who headbutted the crown of Lee Jin-ah's head like a ram.
The girl had a pure white body, ruby-red eyes, long hair like white jade, and jet-black horns sprouting from her forehead.
At a glance, a humanoid monster.
But with her cute fluffy clothes and doll-like perfection, the watching hunters didn't find this 'Eve' monster threatening at all.
Especially since her angry expression was just like any human kid's.
"Mom. You trying to make me an orphan? You have to think about what happens to me if you die!"
"Eve. No matter what, talking like that to your mom Jin-ah is too rude..."
"Shut up! Uncle Lancelot, butt out! Go over there with the medics and flirt with married women or something!"
Lee Jin-ah could only sigh.
Lancelot sighed even deeper, now fact-slammed and unable to even do that.
No matter how the humans around saw her, Eve wailed at her near-death mom.
"Argh, seriously! And show me my sister quick! So I can eat her fast and get strong enough to protect you!!"
This was still before Shin-woo entered the amusement park.
"Then help me sneak into the amusement park."
"...Pardon?"
"That way, no one finds out who I am, I'm safe, and it's killing two birds with one stone. Right?"
It was when Yoo Cheol-ran was trying to stop Shin-woo from monsterizing.
Desperate to halt him before something huge happened.
Wanting him to keep living his normal human life, which she thought was good, Yoo Cheol-ran stepped up despite knowing it was overstepping.
But Shin-woo didn't blame her.
Instead, despite having far greater power than the hunter blocking him, he asked for her help.
"Please help me, Cheol-ran."
There was someone inside the amusement park he absolutely had to protect.
And such a Shin-woo.
Grrr.
Yoo Cheol-ran knew him better than anyone.
"...Then follow me secretly."
"Ah, yes! Thank you, Cheol-ran!"
Using her position as a C-rank hunter, Cheol-ran successfully brought Shin-woo, who was just a Hunter Meister, as close as possible to the amusement park that she could access.
Then, she sneaked him in through the back gate, which still had 'No Entry' tape since the inner situation was unknown.
"Shin-woo."
"Yes, Cheol-ran."
"Please come back safe."
"Yes, got it!"
Yoo Cheol-ran reluctantly waved as Shin-woo grinned widely and dashed inside.
But from the rooftop of a high-rise building some distance from the park.
Thud!
At the spot they'd agreed to meet after the battle, preparing for a later escape, she saw him return in his monsterized form.
"Sh-Shin-woo?!"
Yoo Cheol-ran deeply regretted her actions down to her bones.
Grrr...
She'd thought his pitch-black monster form just made him waddle awkwardly at worst.
But when he reverted from monsterization to human form.
"Ugh..."
"Relax your body! Your muscles are tearing right now!"
His body was covered in bruise-like afterimage wounds, and worst of all, his right arm was completely dislocated with torn muscles.
"I'll set the bone, so loosen up!"
Crack.
"Eek?!"
"I'll call the emergency chopper. Stay still."
She'd reattached his dislocated arm with first aid, but he still needed professional treatment.
As she hurriedly carried the now-unconscious Shin-woo indoors, she called 119.
And while waiting for the rescue chopper to arrive on the rooftop, she vowed.
"Shin-woo. I won't let you carry that burden alone anymore."
The benefactor who saved her that day.
The hero who ignited her dream that day.
She resolved not to let Han Shin-woo fight alone anymore.
"I'll get stronger for sure, so I can stand side by side with you!"
It was a classy bar with a cozy red lighting setup, dark but warm.
"Everyone! The footage you're seeing is absolutely not manipulated! This is all real!"
A low-res video, a few seconds long like it was shot on a broken camera, was being broadcast on the news.
Quality so poor it wouldn't even work on Instagram or YouTube Shorts.
Yet the content had not just the U.S., where it was being reported, but the entire world focused on the pitch-black monster in the video.
"It's a very short clip, but from what I see, this monster seems to be 'protecting' humans, doesn't it?"
"Yes... It's too brief to say for sure, but that's how it looks to me too."
"Additional info says the source is CCTV from Lotte World, a Korean amusement park, and the monster is the national disaster-level one called the Jamsil Monster!"
National disaster-level monster.
That title alone could make anyone tremble anywhere in the world.
But right now, it was shaking humanity for a different reason.
"Our BBC investigation shows this Jamsil Monster appeared in Korea 10 years ago. But its actions since... well..."
"It took down a humanoid national disaster-level monster, disposed of an A-rank threat like Twin Head, etc. There are records of clashes with hunters, but zero injuries from encounters with it! Not a single one!"
"In other words! Isn't he a true Dark Knight who's sided with humanity in this era?!"
To hook viewers, the news desk had a host and expert spouting unconfirmed speculation.
Then, another clip under 5 seconds from Lotte World's CCTV.
The pitch-black monster ripping away tree tendrils reaching for people, fighting as if for them.
And the bar patrons watching it on a '90s analog TV.
"Lalala~."
"Bartender, another round!"
Acted like they couldn't care less, as if from another world, just doing their own thing.
All but one.
"Interesting. That thing."
"?!"
"Boss...?"
Their boss, in the same black coat as everyone.
Everyone except the leader of the 'Monster Squad,' a woman with short black hair and candle-like eyes.
As she headed out for a smoke, the dozen or so members followed, each pausing their tasks.
The boss, walking the alley, exhaled smoke and turned.
"Should we recruit that one into our group?"
As if waiting, the members—the 'monsters'—all grinned and began preparing illegal entry into Korea.