Chapter 7
Chapter 7
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: National Power Level Hunter
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"Th-this is...!"
"Eek?!"
"Sophia!"
The hologram displaying the monster known as Angel had just appeared.
Sophia, already terrified, ducked behind her mother.
Even Uncle Lee Seok-gyu, a fellow Beast Hunter, was sweating bullets from his forehead.
"Ever since it hijacked the U.S. Forces Korea aircraft carrier, it's just been standing on the deck. We haven't been able to calculate its exact stats yet. But judging from your reaction, Senior, we can classify it as A-rank danger level."
"Hey, Yoo Jun-young, what kind of nonsense is that?"
"...Pardon?"
"Does that thing look like mere A-rank to your eyes?"
Beast Hunters were the only ones in the world who could tame monsters.
In other words, they had an unmatched ability to gauge a monster's 'level'.
Taming inevitably involved combat, so Beast Hunters developed an eye for measuring monster strength.
And this was the declaration from the Army Chief of Staff, one of the top five Beast Hunters in the country.
"That thing is beyond A-rank."
"...!"
The entire command center froze at his words.
"B-beyond A-rank...!"
"Yes."
"Does that mean... it's a 'National Disaster Monster'?"
"...Unfortunately, yes."
Uncle Lee Seok-gyu frowned as he confirmed it.
"I've taken down countless A-rank threats as Army Chief of Staff. But that one in Busan Port? I can't see myself beating it."
"Senior, you're saying...!"
"Exactly. Just as you need a D-rank hunter for an E-rank monster, and a C-rank for a D-rank, to bring down that Angel, we'd need National Power-level hunters... At least three or four of them, right now."
"...!!"
Uncle Lee Seok-gyu finished speaking, plunging the command center into chaos.
"At least three National Power-level hunters?!"
"But the only ones in Korea at that level are you, the Army Chief of Staff, and the Korean Hunter Association Branch Chief, right?"
"Th-then we can't stop it...?"
Should they request aid from allies like the U.S. or Japan?
But even allies wouldn't lend National Power-level hunters that easily.
Besides, by the time negotiations and contracts were done, the monster might not stay put on the deck.
"W-well, if at least the Republic of Korea Navy could provide support...!"
"If it were a massive monster, naval firepower might've made a difference. But it's human-sized."
Like how a lion's teeth catch herbivores but miss flying mosquitoes.
Naval guns built for ship-to-ship combat wouldn't hit a humanoid monster precisely, no matter how accurate.
And even direct hits wouldn't faze a National Disaster Monster.
"It'd just be pointless deaths."
"...Then what can we do, Senior?"
"......"
Unprecedented.
The first National Disaster Monster since the founding of the Republic of Korea.
Were they truly this powerless before it?
Even battle-hardened Lee Seok-gyu couldn't think of a solution this time. He squeezed his eyes shut.
That's when it happened.
"So this moment before it does anything is the perfect chance for a sneak attack, right?"
"Dear?"
"And when it comes to striking first against a complacent monster, no one's better than me in Korea."
"Dear!"
Aunt Rolling stretched casually, her voice bright amid the frozen tension.
But she was just a Commander Hunter specialized in support.
Uncle Lee Seok-gyu's face crumbled at his wife's fighting talk.
"No... No no no no! Absolutely not! I won't allow it."
He grabbed her shoulders firmly, staring her down to stop her.
"D-Dad! Are you fighting with Mom? Don't fight!"
Sophia tried to intervene, but Uncle's expression was deadly serious—sweat-inducing even for me.
Yet looking at her husband...
She smiled gently.
"?!"
Her hands rested on his. Like magic, his grip loosened and fell away.
"I'll go."
"No..."
"I came prepared—Armament White Tiger is already on under my dress."
"You...!"
"I know. Using this power too long will kill me. But we have to save the land our children will live on."
"B-but... I...!"
Uncle Lee Seok-gyu collapsed to the floor, sobbing.
"Ugh...!"
"D-Dad, why are you crying? Sniff... D-don't cry!"
Sophia didn't know why, but seeing her dad sad, she spread her tiny arms wide and hugged his head tight.
Meanwhile, Aunt Rolling met my eyes.
"Shin-woo."
"Yes?"
"No matter what, please take care of Sophia for me."
She smiled and tossed her dress high into the air.
Beneath it gleamed a sleek white bodysuit hugging her figure perfectly.
"Armament White Tiger—system activation!"
Bzzzzt.
As Aunt Rolling shouted, overwhelming high-voltage current surged through the bodysuit, visible to the eye.
A pair of plasma wings formed on her back.
In her right hand materialized a long heavy lance that could pierce anything.
"I'll be back, dear."
"Ro-Rolling...!"
"Whoa, Mom looks so pretty..."
"Hehe, really? Thanks, sweetie."
Aunt Rolling ruffled Sophia's hair with a warm smile.
But just before blasting through the naval base ceiling...
Her back-turned expression was ice-cold, like a white knight resigned to death.
Inside the U.S. Forces Korea aircraft carrier.
This cafeteria could hold nearly all the crew, with deck views on ceiling-mounted TV monitors.
"Are we just going to die like this...?"
"Private Michael, don't lose hope."
"Admiral. B-but...!"
"We're U.S. Forces Korea soldiers. Our nation is the world's strongest, America. And right now, we're in allied Korea's Busan Port, surrounded only by friendlies."
This dawn.
A humanoid monster had appeared on deck, 'fixing' the carrier in place at sea.
It evoked a biblical angel, and miraculously, no lives were lost—but all soldiers had hunkered below deck.
Among them was the carrier's commander, Brigadier General Talisman.
He was keeping the trapped crew's morale up per protocol until rescue arrived.
"Admiral! Why not just go out and fight?!"
A soldier shot to his feet, addressing the admiral.
"I was a B-rank hunter in the U.S. Hunter Association once! And there are plenty of comrades aboard at that level!"
"So you're saying we should just charge out and give it a shot?"
"Yes! As soldiers protecting civilians, dying fighting a monster is no regret."
"Hmm. Fighting, eh..."
Talisman eyed the spirited soldier indifferently.
The soldier tried protesting again.
"What's your name, son?"
"Y-yes! Private Doberman, sir!"
"Doberman. I respect your guts. In this frozen mood, a man pushing his case hot-blooded like you—that's a true son of the sea."
"Thank you, sir!"
"But your argument has a glaring contradiction."
"Contradiction?"
"Yes. We don't call an elephant stepping on an ant a 'fight'."
The private tilted his head.
Talisman enlightened the gung-ho youth: no whining about death.
"How heavy do you think this carrier is?"
"Uh... 1,000 tons? 2,000?"
"Try about 300,000 tons."
"...!"
The confident private shut up.
"No human could handle that alone. Yet that monster outside halted our 300,000-ton ship."
"Th-that's impossible..."
"We don't know how, but any monster pulling that off against a carrier is at least National Disaster-class."
"N-National Disaster...!"
"Th-then will rescue come?!"
Even the captain, tasked with morale, faltered at the soldiers' questions facing reality.
"Th-that's..."
He couldn't spout empty hope.
"......"
"......"
Despairing silence gripped the carrier.
They just stared blankly at the humanoid monster hovering on deck—like religious zealots at their idol.
Then.
Beep. Beep.
We told them not to use it since the monster might hear.
"A-Admiral! An object approaching our carrier at tremendous speed!"
"An object?!"
The broadcast room relayed fresh radar data over speakers audible even on deck—to the entire crew.
"Speed estimated over Mach 5! Ultra-fine camera capture shows the object's identity is...!"
The humanoid monster on deck.
Angel.
She'd been motionless since appearing. At the air-ripping sound, she turned.
Shunk—!
"?!"
"Get off my turf, you bastard!"
Before it could react, a massive lance pierced Angel's side.
The crew, watching via monitors, lit up with hope.
"The new woman on deck is presumed a hunter! Search results: former National Power-level A-rank hunter, Rolling!"
Vitality sparked in their eyes.