Chapter 22
Chapter 22
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: Get Out of Our Village!
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"Get out of our village!"
The irrational survivors clutching their guns, and the undead that had pursued them all the way into Eodundong.
They had no idea there was a mage in this rural village.
Elf Hunter had told me once.
The most important thing in battle is 'ambush.'
I was in the perfect position to ambush them right now.
And if I could thin their numbers without being detected, it would be straight-up assassination.
I cast spells for noise suppression and concealment.
Then I maximized my senses and activated presence detection at the same time.
I'd already burned through more than half my mana just on that.
Someone might ask if it was a waste, but with the blizzard raging at night, I wouldn't spot the enemies first without heightening my senses this much.
My head was heating up from the information overload.
But the Ice Age chill overpowered it.
I even activated my insulating necklace to maintain body heat.
It increased my mana consumption even more, but breathing got a lot easier.
Now all I had to do was slip into the darkness.
I had night-vision goggles, after all.
"Haaah... haa... uwaaaah... uwa..."
I perked up my ears, and the ghoul's nauseating breathing filled them.
I could also hear the screamers scraping the ground as they inspected the survivors' footprints.
The three survivors who hadn't been caught yet had realized there was no hope and gone completely into hiding.
The ten undead were sniffing around, searching for them.
Thanks to that, I had a solid grasp on their positions.
And I could now predict their patrol routes to some extent.
'First, take out the noisy bastards.'
Let's deal with the screamers first—they kept yelling and disrupting my focus.
Their shouts triggered panic and primal fear in humans.
It wasn't just a feeling.
Screamers' cries actually had that effect up close.
"H-Hey! Help meee! Jun-sik! Sung-hee!"
Tadang-!
One survivor who had crawled into the rubble of a collapsed house to hide in silence.
A ghoul grabbed him and dragged him out.
He blindly fired his rifle at the ghouls.
A stray bullet whizzed right over my head.
'...Fuck.'
My legs went weak, and a chill ran down my spine.
I nearly got my head blown off by a blind shot.
I hunched down lower and decided to put even more distance between me and the enemies.
-Ah. Aaaagh! Shit! You fucking dogs!
The captured survivor didn't die right away.
The undead toyed with him.
And slowly tore him apart.
The gruesome scene unfolded.
Excited ghouls laughed.
'First time seeing ghouls laugh. Those bastards... they have the intelligence to understand and enjoy pleasure.'
They had far surpassed the ghouls I knew.
They weren't just killing and eating people—they were playing with them and taking delight in it.
They'd evolved beyond mindless beasts driven by feral instincts.
It was clear proof of heightened intelligence.
I immediately relayed the situation to the gallery.
To shake off the incomprehensible horror of the unknown, I needed the sages' wisdom.
Running away was honestly the safest, most realistic option.
But fleeing here meant abandoning everything we'd cultivated.
And if those undead settled in Eodundong, others from nearby would flock in.
Then Eodundong would become another Uijeongbu City—a land of the undead.
The gallery's only active necromancer, Cursed Princess, voiced her doubt.
As far as she knew, ghouls didn't laugh like that.
I showed Cursed Princess a blurry photo of the mysterious undead.
Hunters could command lesser undead like hunting dogs.
So that one was boosting the ghouls' intelligence?
No wonder Uijeongbu City's undead grouped up with those around.
If I had bad luck, I wouldn't have been invited to the Sage Time Gallery.
This was just a trial to make me stronger.
And thanks to it, I gained new info.
The fear of the unknown was gone.
The incomprehensible something now had a name: hunter.
Once identified, it was my prey.
'One down.'
Freezing Bullet
Smashes screamer's head
I fired a freezing bullet at a screamer's head.
Less power than a fire bullet.
But enough to shatter its skull.
Puheok-!
The screamer wandering near the village hall exploded in one shot.
Less noise than a gun, stealthier than fire, and strong enough to crush a screamer's skull.
Rotten stench spread from the fallen corpse, ghouls pounded the ground communicating, swarming it in seconds.
'Higher intelligence means faster reactions.'
The undead responded much quicker than expected.
The undead I knew were selfish with no pack mentality.
They ignored dead allies.
But these recognized the death instantly, raged, communicated, and hunted the killer.
Intelligence and sociality for pack hunting.
Led by the superior hunter.
It was bigger than ghouls, bluish skin.
Superb senses.
'It pinpointed my shot direction. Crazy bastard.'
I'd already moved, so no issue.
But it tracking the projectile's origin was chilling.
Stay mobile or get spotted.
The long winter brings out these monsters.
"Guaaaak! Aaaak!"
The hunter barked at the panicked ghouls.
Like ordering idiots to move.
Ghouls raged harder.
The last screamer tried to scream.
Puhwak--!
Freezing Bullet
Pierces throat, decapitates
I shot a freezing bullet into the screamer's open mouth.
It pierced its throat, head flying off.
They wandered, clueless who sniped from where.
Just the reaction I wanted.
Ghouls' higher intelligence meant they could feel 'fear' now.
And fear meant vulnerabilities.
Higher intelligence wasn't just a blessing for them.
The moment they understood fear.
They became my prey.
The hunter's control couldn't fully suppress their fear.
'Not even flinching amid the chaos. Monster...'
Even as ghouls panicked, the hunter stayed calm, glaring into the dark to pinpoint me.
It knew fear but restrained emotion.
I get why it's called hunter.
I slyly widened the gap, observing reactions.
In fights like this, sly wins.
'Save fire bullets for stealth kills. Want to close in for the throat.'
Freezing bullets couldn't one-shot ghouls.
Miss and alert them.
Want the boss hunter first.
"Kyaaaah!"
A hidden survivor got caught by ghouls!
They rushed the voice's direction, thinking it was the sniper.
No ghouls left by the hunter.
Chance for 1v1.
No hesitation.
Strike while aggro's pulled.
Boosted physicals, closed on hunter fast.
I always eat bungeoppang from the head.
Assassination 101: headshot the leader!
"Uhmm...!?"
At five meters.
It finally sensed me.
Distracted by others, I sneaked up.
"Guaaaak!"
"Urgh..!"
Eye contact—hunter recoiled, swung arm, but I was faster.
Ducked, stepped in, machete to throat.
All strength, deep.
Deeper—its blood ran down the blade onto my hand.
"Keurk!"
Machete pierced throat out the nape.
But not dead, no pain even.
It reached for my eyes.
I yanked the machete out wildly before grabbed.
"Kahaak..."
Ripped out, slicing—head half-off.
How much vitality?
It tried rising multiple times, but collapsed bleeding, eyes wide.
Monster down.
Shook blood off machete, dove into dark.
Raised snow pile with ice magic to cover.
Dug earth with earth magic, crawled in.
Snow and dirt camouflage.
Guerrilla warfare in the Ice Age.
"Haa. Gonna die..."
Hunter hunt drained too much mana.
Mana exhaustion—short breath, dizzy head.
Can't keep fighting.
Need rest.
'Left...'
Seven now.
Only three down by count, but huge win.
-Uwaaaah!
Outside, living screams.
All four hidden survivors caught and killed.
'How to handle the seven.'
Recovered mana first.
Full takes time.
Partial, hit-and-run repeat.
Planning moves, catching breath—commotion died down.
Ghouls stopped after losing leader and prey.
'Lost command, dumb again.'
Hunter removal effect immediate.
No boss whip, intelligence dropped.
Actions simpler.
No coordination, spread out.
Back to dumb ghouls I know.
Situation improving.
"Wooer...!"
Slipped out, approached farthest ghoul stealthily.
It didn't notice—machete to neck before it did.
Great learning combat magic.
Body and weapon enhancement are gods.
"Kuaa...!"
Dropped church-front ghoul in pit.
Bury in earth, ice wall on top—live burial.
Five left.
Getting easier.
Snuck and silently removed one by one before notice.
At three, could finally use fire bullets.
"Thought I'd freeze to death."
Phlogiston School magic warmed me instantly.
Best for Ice Age.
Phlogiston is god.
I'm a human heater.
"Bang."
Peong-!!!
Ghouls obliterated
Fire Bullet shreds bodies
Ghouls charged late.
Too late—fire bullet already blasted them.
Nicely blown.
Done.
All witnesses gone—assassination success!
Mana fully spent.
Deadly fatigue crashed over me.
"Haa.."
Sky still dark.
When does sun rise?
Blizzard worsened toward dawn.
Cold.
Body cleanup tomorrow.
"Earth Lord.. Earth Lord? You hear me?"
-Stop calling...
"All dead, right? Confirm..."
-Yeah. Smells rotten. Don't feed me this shit!
"Thanks for confirming, Earth Lord. Appreciate it..."
Buried ghoul dead for sure.
Perfect kill confirmation...
Exhausted to death.
"Kwaak..?"
"You okay? No. Not at all. Sorry, stand watch tonight... gonna pass out."
Back to warehouse hiding Bingbing, crawled into tent.
Exhaustion imminent.
Over-boosted body—muscles tore everywhere.
Mana drain headache nonstop.
Still, duties.
Bonus..!
Awesome.
Other sages commented too, but too tired to check all.
Eyes closed—felt Bingbing cradle me like an egg.
Buried face in Bingbing's soft feathers.
"Kwak."
Yeah, Bingbing. You too.
Lots of corpses gained.
Cosmic Dust bonus too.
Gonna have good dreams tonight.