203. Eye for an Eye, Tooth for a Tooth (1)
203. Eye for an Eye, Tooth for a Tooth (1)
Ling Xiao, a hunter with China's party, the Zhonghua Daguohui, trembled with rage.
Because she had been so disgracefully humiliated by a fledgling party barely a year old—and by a man at that.
To make matters worse, the chunk of hair sheared off kept gnawing at her, replaying that moment of humiliation over and over.
"...You fucking bastard."
She bore a deep grudge against those Korean hunters, Utopia.
Who wouldn't?
The things her people had scraped and clawed for years to attain.
Those bastards had simply plucked them up, just by virtue of being from Velvet Hunter Academy.
How could she possibly like them?
"A manwhore who got famous selling the pretty face he lucked into. How dare you..."
So she'd meant to put them in their place—but instead, the insult had been turned back on her.
"Those Utopia bastards. I'll kill them."
As Ling Xiao ground her teeth in fury,
her party's Tank walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Captain, you did well to hold back earlier. If we'd clashed with them there, things would've gotten messy. Think about this request's reward."
'Ah. The request.'
The thought cooled her head a little.
She slowly nodded in agreement.
"You're right. Yes. The request. The request comes first. Hah, I can deal with those insolent brats properly after the request is over."
Right.
This U.S. Monster Subjugation Request was substantial—the pay, the scale, everything.
Requests with this much impact didn't come around easily.
What could be more laughable than stirring up trouble over some no-account newborn party and getting sent home?
But that was that.
And her foul mood was still a foul mood.
"But seriously, aren't they out of their damn minds? When someone gives you advice in good faith, you're supposed to know how to take it. They actually drew their swords there? We'd have been well within our rights to cut their heads off on the spot. It's a good thing you held back, Captain."
"Exactly. They see a more senior party, they should be bowing their heads so low they kiss the ground."
"You ever get sick of how cocky those Korean bastards are? Without Rina, they're fucking nothing."
There wasn't a soul here who could like insolent newcomers so arrogant they lacked even basic respect for their senior hunters.
With national sentiment mixed in on top, the criticism grew even sharper and more vicious.
Listening to her party members take her side, Ling Xiao gnashed her teeth.
'...Yeah, you fucking bastards. Just you wait until this request is finished. Then I'll deal with you properly.'
Of course, she knew that Velvet Hunter Academy—and by extension, the world-ranked #1 Magic Emperor—stood behind them.
But that only made it better.
The higher the perch, the further the fall, as they said.
If this turned into a war of public opinion, they had a lot to lose.
'And with this, China's hunters might just grab the spotlight again.'
Was China not a great nation that had never, in all its history, lagged behind a tiny country like Korea?
It was only being overshadowed right now
by the existence of a single irregular who had blazed onto the scene like a comet—Rina.
By population, China naturally had far more hunters than Korea.
There were criticisms that their quality was somewhat inferior, but that was nothing more than malicious slander.
Ling Xiao believed this earnestly.
'So, what I have to do is show them here.'
Her gaze low and simmering, Ling Xiao turned to her party members and spoke.
"None of you want to lose to those bastards here, right?"
Her party members nodded back with hardened expressions.
"Good. Then let's go show them. That the real hunter's world is no place for snot-nosed brats like them to set foot."
Fighting spirit surging, Ling Xiao and the Chinese hunters headed toward the Sapiens village.
*
"Chain Lightning!"
KZZZZZT—!!
The bolt of lightning conjured by the Special blazed through the Sapiens horde, scorching their bodies in rapid succession.
"...Keurgh!?"
"Kaak!"
A momentary stiffness seized the Sapiens who, a second ago, had seemed on the verge of charging with weapons raised.
"Now! Wipe them out!!!"
Ling Xiao shouted, charging to the very front and swinging her spear.
Whoosh—
Whoosh—
The colossal long spear, laden with monstrous strength, whipped up a storm—tearing off Sapiens heads and smashing bodies to pulp.
But each attack was so large it left openings,
and a Sapiens, seizing that gap, stabbed its sword in.
CLANG!
"Hngh!"
But immediately, the Tank slipped in beside her, blocking the attack with her shield.
SHUNK!
"KEEEEEK!!!"
Ling Xiao's long spear pierced the creature's throat.
And the moment she was about to use a skill—a buff settled onto her with exquisite timing.
Feeling her strength surge, she cast her skill immediately.
Whirlwind Spear.
FWWOOOOOOSH—!!
CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH!
Above her head, a giant long spear spun like a propeller, sweeping away five Sapiens in a single stroke.
'...Today's coordination is at its absolute peak.'
Glance.
Ling Xiao checked the camera mounted near her chest.
Maybe it was her rage toward those Utopia bastards, but today's battle was proceeding far more smoothly and unhindered than usual.
True, the Sapiens horde was so large that plenty of the creatures still remained to be dealt with.
But at this rate, they would leave a deeper impression than any battle she'd shown before.
Of course, she couldn't check the chat window right now since they were in the middle of combat.
But just imagining the reaction—a flood of voices singing her praises—
made her feel even stronger.
"Not much left now! Let's go!"
Ling Xiao raised her spear and cried out.
"WRAAAAAAAH!!!!"
The Chinese hunters let out a roaring battle cry and began driving out the monsters with even greater ferocity.
And then.
The battle was over.
The completely devastated village was littered with Sapiens corpses.
"Captain! You were insane today!"
"No joke! We're way too strong!!"
"At this rate, we'll be top-ranked for sure!"
It seemed she wasn't the only one feeling the unity—her party members shouted in elated voices.
"Top-ranked? What are you talking about? Our target is first place."
When parties from multiple countries gathered like this, competition was unavoidable.
And today, the Ling Xiao party's synergy was at its peak.
It felt like everything was clicking into place perfectly.
Almost enough to give her goosebumps.
At this rate, perhaps even securing a higher evaluation wasn't just a pipe dream.
"Hoo, we'll reorganize and head straight to the next village. Everyone, get ready."
She was calming her racing heart and briefing her party members on the next attack when—
[ Zhonghua Daguohui party members. ]
Suddenly, a curt male voice sounded in her ear.
It was Richard, the American operations advisor.
[ Good work, everyone. The Sapiens assault will conclude for today. Please return to the Operation Headquarters immediately. ]
'...What?'
Ling Xiao's eyes went wide as saucers at the bolt-from-the-blue recall order.
And her party members, having apparently heard the same thing, looked just as flustered as she did.
There were still many villages left to clear—they'd barely finished a single one.
And now the assault was over...?
"Wh-what's going on..."
"D-did those Utopia bastards cause an accident or something?"
"...An accident?"
"Sometimes if there are heavy casualties or a party gets wiped out during a request, they halt the operation midway, you know."
At one party member's words, everyone's eyes rounded.
Wiped out.
Normally, hunters who live with death at their side don't halt an operation just because one or two people die mid-request.
But what if it was the Utopia Party?
They would probably stop the operation, wary of the Velvet Hunter Academy standing behind them.
"...Those snot-nosed little bastards!!! Causing trouble right to the bitter end."
Never even dreaming that the operation could already be finished, Ling Xiao bit her lip and spat out her rage.
And as if in agreement, her party members joined in with a torrent of vicious curses.
'Do we really have to give up here?'
Ling Xiao studied her party members.
Today, their condition was nothing short of perfect.
She doubted a day this good would come again.
'What if our party keeps pushing the assault forward from here? What if we even complete the whole thing?'
If they did that, they'd become the party that, even when Utopia was wiped out, didn't give up and completed the request.
And furthermore, they could put Velvet Hunter Academy in its place.
The story would be that the Utopia Party, out of their depth, had intervened and gotten wiped out, causing trouble—but a Chinese party had solved it.
'Yeah, after an insult like that... it'd be a shame to just let them off easily, even if they are dead.'
Her resolve hardened, Ling Xiao pressed the earpiece and spoke.
[ We, the Chinese hunters, will continue the assault. ]
[ ...What do you mean? I told you, the assault is over. ]
A flustered Richard's voice returned.
Thinking this was the moment to be more forceful, she steeled her voice and spoke again.
[ Does it make any sense to halt this entire operation just because some third-rate party like Utopia got wiped out!? Hah, since when did the United States start crawling on its knees to Korea like that? Have you lost your pride along with your own hunters? ]
[ What... 'pride'? You're crossing the line. I told you clearly, the assault is over. ]
[ We, China, will continue the assault. ]
Ling Xiao pushed on stubbornly, insisting they would continue the assault.
Unable to take it anymore, Richard's rough voice erupted.
[ The—! The request! Has already! Been! Successfully! Completed!!! There's nothing left for you to do, you stupid woman! ]
'...What?'
Ling Xiao's pupils shook as if an earthquake had struck at Richard's words.
The assault was over?
What on earth did that mean?
There should still be plenty of those Sapiens bastards left...
"C-Captain...! L-Look at this!"
One party member, sensing something amiss from Ling Xiao's reaction, had turned on the broadcast.
She called out to her in a frantic voice.
* * *
"Huhuhuhu..."
Shin Se-hee, watching the entire scene via drone from the Operation Headquarters,
let out a low laugh.
"Well, now you've thoroughly lost face..."
At the same time she was transmitting Utopia's broadcast, Shin Se-hee had been monitoring the Chinese hunters' broadcast on another screen.
"Even if we leave them alone, that party will become a public laughingstock now."
Unlike Utopia, who had taken less than thirty minutes to obliterate one village,
the Chinese hunters had struggled for hours just to clear a single one.
And the way they were talking so arrogantly afterward was comedy in itself.
Besides, the things they were saying among themselves were truly a sight to behold.
Degrading a whole country, degrading Utopia, and even dragging the world-renowned hero Rina into it.
Of course, it would be edited out of their own broadcast, but every bit of that scene was already being recorded by Shin Se-hee's drones.
Just a little more waiting, and ceaseless, kerosene-fueled mockery would pour down on her.
However.
Shin Se-hee had no intention of ending it with something so tame.
Because... those Chinese party members had touched the single most precious thing she had.
And with a vile insult she couldn't even bear to repeat.
"An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."
Shin Se-hee had not forgotten a single letter Ling Xiao had spat at Jin Yu-ha.
"I'm the type of person who returns what I'm given a hundred times over. I'll destroy what you treasure most. Until there's not a speck of dust left."
Tatatatatak—
Shin Se-hee's hands clattering across the keyboard grew faster.