Chapter 51
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: Come Out, Culprit!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
[Alert! Alert! A monster is wandering the city streets! Citizens, please evacuate to the nearest shelter immediately!]
The moment the Angel's corpse—only its lower half remaining—burst through the asphalt road and emerged onto the surface.
The peaceful streets of Yeongdeungpo turned into a scene of utter chaos in an instant.
Traffic ground to a halt, and pedestrians abandoned their cars, sprinting madly toward nearby subway stations or shelters.
And from the Hunter Association's branch in Yeongdeungpo, a massive force of hunters could be seen deploying immediately to contain the situation.
"Did we overdo it?"
"No. Leader said the 'Jamsil Monster' wouldn't show up unless we stirred up this much trouble."
The intersection began filling up with hunters and heavily armed police forces.
Two figures watched over the scene from the top of a tall skyscraper.
One was an elderly man in a black suit, his years evident at a glance.
He wore half-broken glasses that looked like they needed replacing soon, and at his waist hung a jet-black sword with its entire blade painted black.
And the other one...
She was a woman with twin tails tied with blue ribbons.
Her dull white hair framed expressionless crimson eyes, and she wore the same black suit as the old man beside her.
"Riverin, so what's the next step in the plan?"
"Yes. As you can see, we keep causing disturbances like this until the Jamsil Monster appears."
"Just with that half-dead corpse?"
The old man nodded toward the lower half standing silently behind them.
More precisely, he eyed the dead Angel's lower body, connected by mana threads to the fingertips of the blue-ribboned woman called Riverin.
"And what am I supposed to do?"
The old man cracked his knuckles, still seeming very much in his prime.
"Paul. Leader always warned us."
"Urgh..."
"The 'Grotesque Squad' must always operate from the shadows."
Riverin cautioned him as always.
"If even you go rampaging here, it'll basically announce the Grotesque Squad's presence in Korea."
"True. This is a 'hunter advanced nation,' after all. Better to play it safe."
Hearing that, the old man Paul relaxed his body, chagrined at his own impulsiveness.
"So, time to make that corpse rampage again, Riverin?"
"No. Security's too tight now. We should pull back for the moment."
"Got it. Then I'll stick to my original role and escort you."
With that, they leaped from the rooftop railing to another high-rise roof, gradually distancing themselves from Yeongdeungpo.
However, at the same time...
"......"
Riverin felt a sudden unease from the frayed mana thread on her severed finger—the one that had been controlling the national disaster-class monster's lower half, even if only that remained.
The thread had slipped into a gap invisible to the human eye, reaching all the way to the underground lab's cooling chamber.
'Felt like someone touched my thread... but it must be my imagination.'
Her threads were made of mana so fine that even Korea's seven national powerhouses couldn't detect them properly.
She figured there was no way anyone in this small country could spot them, so she dismissed the worry and calmly flitted between buildings once more.
"Can you see it?"
"Is that... a thread?"
"Can you see it too, Seok-gyu?"
"Me? Well... I kinda see something, but also not really..."
Contrary to Riverin's thoughts, Lee Jin-ah was preserving that severed mana thread as evidence.
And naturally, the first ones to show it to her were Sophia and her husband, who were on the same national powerhouse level as Jin-ah in Korea.
"Whoa, it's really well-made! You can't see it unless it's right in front of your eyes."
"Tell me about it. I'm touching it right now, and honestly, I feel my own finger more than the thread itself."
Rolling and Lee Seok-gyu couldn't hide their amazement.
Back in their repaired detached house, they sat facing each other at the kitchen table, expressions grave.
"But the presence of a mana thread means..."
"Yeah. The culprit's a Marionette Hunter. Or 'Puppet Master' for short."
"...! But Puppet Masters are an extremely rare hunter class. I thought there weren't any in Korea at all."
"Exactly. That's why we're investigating all foreigners who entered Korea in the last month, in cooperation with every airport."
But with no solid leads yet, Lee Jin-ah clicked her tongue in frustration.
Marionette Hunter.
Known by the moniker 'Puppet Master,' they were hunters who could manipulate anything using mana threads emitted from their bodies.
"But why would a Puppet Master suddenly pull something like this? Has their motive been uncovered?"
"No, if anything, I'm the one who wants to know."
Second only to Beast Hunters in rarity.
Because of that scarcity, Marionette Hunters received special treatment no matter which country or branch they were in.
So why would one of them choose the hard mode of life just to terrorize the Hunter Association... specifically the Korean branch?
Was there a Puppet Master with a deep grudge against Korea?
"Should I check the Republic of Korea's criminal database too..."
For once, no sharp ideas came to mind, and a hint of worry creased Lee Jin-ah's face.
That's when.
"About that culprit... mind if I track them down?"
"Dear?"
"Seok-gyu?"
Lee Seok-gyu shot up from his seat with full confidence.
But he wasn't a 'Detective Hunter,' and as a Beast Hunter with no relation to investigation, his words didn't inspire much trust...
"Ah, poor choice of words."
"...?"
"We'll take this mission."
"You."
"Huh?"
It didn't seem promising.
But moments later, he returned from upstairs in his military uniform adorned with four stars.
And on one armband was the word 'Military Police.'
"Even if they're on the other side of the world, if it's a deserter or someone harming the nation, those guys specialize in catching them."
"Dear, you don't mean..."
"Yeah, that one."
It sure looked like a national emergency was right around the corner!
"I'll deploy the MP unit!"
Lee Seok-gyu flashed a thumbs-up with supreme confidence, chuckling at the two women around the table as if to say, just wait.
An unfamiliar ceiling.
I woke with a slight headache, feeling a creepy sensation like ants crawling over my entire body.
"Where...?"
When I tried to sit up, pain shot through me starting from my right arm, making it impossible to steady myself.
"A hospital room...?"
It was equipped with all sorts of cutting-edge medical devices.
Is this what they call a VIP hospital room?
Well, with my parents' wealth, that much was nothing.
'What happened to Princess Kurumi? And right before I passed out, I think I saw Cheol-ran...'
I wanted answers, but I couldn't even twitch a finger.
No one was in the room, so I had no idea how many days I'd been out, or anyone to ask.
Anyone would do at this point.
Right then.
Knock. Knock.
"...?"
Sophia, maybe.
She was the type who'd stick by my side constantly, so it wouldn't be weird.
VIP rooms only allowed approved visitors anyway.
So I figured it must be someone I knew, and as the door slid open...
Whoosh.
"Sophia..."
I started to say her name, but.
"Hm. You're awake."
My smiling lips clamped shut in an instant.
"Friend, mind if I ask you a few things? Not gonna eat you or anything—just have some questions, that's all."
The woman brazenly smoking in the hospital room.
Under her black coat, she wore only a revealing bra, and between her flowing black hair, crimson eyes gleamed as they fixed solely on me.
And I knew her.
Her name was Katarina Bullet.
Leader of the Grotesque Squad, the official villain organization in the original Hunters Blood, and a prime example of the 'villain who's actually a good person deep down' cliché.
'Why the hell is she here?!'
She wasn't supposed to appear until the mid-to-late game.
If you took the Grotesque Squad route, she naturally became the protagonist's mentor.
Memories of laughing, fighting, and watching each other's backs through the screen still flooded back vividly.
And despite her stunning looks, she was a tragic supporting character who never quite made it to heroine status—which made her unforgettable to me.
'It's still early in the story, so the 'Monster Virus' hasn't fully taken hold yet, right?'
Katarina Bullet.
As the story progressed to its latter half, she lost control of herself, ultimately becoming one of the original's boss monsters—worse than death.
I glanced at her discreetly, avoiding the embarrassing parts.
Her long Grotesque Squad coat hid her arms pretty well, but from the vibe, she seemed fine for now.
Meanwhile.
"...Um."
"Ah, yeah?"
"If you're gonna stare that blatantly, you owe me some answers now."
Did she notice my gaze like that...
Well, I had been pretty obvious.
Blushing, I nodded anyway.
"Ah, sure... Ask away..."
"Good. Here goes."
The Grotesque Squad leader, who wouldn't appear until much later in the original.
Why had she illegally entered Korea, shattering the original plot, and what did she want to ask?
Heart pounding inwardly, I waited.
"See, I'm looking for this 'Jamsil Monster' right now."
"The Jamsil... Monster?"
"Yeah. So I've been tracking down every eyewitness, and that led me to you—the guy injured in the aftermath of that monster showing up at the amusement park."
"Ah, I see..."
The Grotesque Squad interested in the Jamsil Monster?
Intrigued by this plot deviation from the original, I listened closely.
"So, wanna come with big sis for a bit?"
"......Pardon?"
"You're kidnapped starting now."
She cut herself off mid-sentence, strode over, and grabbed the rail of my hospital bed.