Chapter 129
Chapter 129
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 129
Chapter Title: Peter's Monsterization
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Just before Peter could push away Jinwoo’s bear summon pressing down on him, Rose kicked Peter in the head with a soccer-style strike. Hoping that would knock him out.
“Huh?!”
But the flames pouring from Rose’s kicking foot were sucked into Peter. She felt not just the flames, but even the power of her kick being absorbed.
KABOOM!
The wrist of the bear summon Peter was holding exploded. It was the attack Rose had landed on Peter’s head, absorbed and released from his hand.
With that blow, the bear summon vanished, and Peter rose to his feet.
“GRRRRROOOOAR!!”
Peter, whose entire body had already turned green and whose face now resembled an orc more than a human, let out a roar.
“What the hell is this! He’s a total monster now! What do we do, mister?!”
Rose shouted, spotting the live broadcast drone filming from the sky.
“They’re here, so quit yelling.”
Jiseok was already behind her.
“Rose, take the other team members and head back to the academy.”
The team members had rushed over, abandoning the main base to rescue Rose. The game wasn’t important anymore.
The monsterized Peter eyed me warily as I suddenly appeared.
“How the hell does a person turn into this….”
I picked up the fallen potion bottle from the ground.
I could sense mana stone energy from the faint blue liquid still clinging to it.
“Did he drink the raw essence made from mana stones?”
Was this the secret behind his insane growth?
But then I recalled Jaein’s words about how dangerous it was. The test subjects had died or turned into monsters. And now Peter had actually monsterized.
“Sleep for a bit. I’ll find a way to reverse it later.”
I approached and swung my fist into Peter’s stomach.
Surprisingly, Peter reacted somewhat to my speed. Not enough to dodge, though.
Thud!
“Hm?”
There was a dull sound, and no impact traveled back through my fist. It felt like my hand had been caught by an invisible force mid-swing.
“He absorbed my power?”
Peter swung both arms at me like he meant to smash my face in.
“Oh?”
I quickly moved one hand to slap away his incoming arms.
I blocked Peter’s movements, but once again, it felt like hitting a wall—no damage inflicted.
“He can only release from his hands, but absorb through his whole body now? There’s a classic counter for abilities like this.”
I dodged Peter’s countering arms and drove aura-infused punches into both his sides.
“GRRAAAAH!!”
No damage seemed to land, but he couldn’t keep up with my speed and just took hit after hit. His human appearance was completely gone now; he only screamed and thrashed in frustration.
I could’ve ended it with one overwhelming blow that exceeded his absorption limit, but to take him alive, I deliberately built up the damage slowly.
“What’s wrong? Is that all?”
His body cracked open with fissures as the absorbed power reached its limit. It was a difference in capacity. No matter how quickly he turned monster and grew stronger, his vessel couldn’t be wider than mine.
“Now, sleep.”
I met Peter’s incoming fist with my own.
KABOOM!
The impact was stronger than expected, pushing me back a step. Peter crashed several meters into the ground, his right arm’s flesh completely shredded, leaving only bone.
As I approached the fallen, unconscious Peter, I saw his arm slowly regenerating.
“Huh… That’s troll-level regeneration right there?”
“Peter! Tyler!”
Allen arrived late, with the rest of the American team players behind him.
“You. What the hell is this?”
I held up the potion bottle I’d picked up from the ground.
“It’s a U.S. military secret. Best not to get involved.”
“This happened on our soil. You unleashed an uncontrollable monster—how could we not get involved?”
“We’re taking Peter.”
Allen approached Peter without answering.
“You need to be investigated first.”
“By whose authority? You think you can pull this crap just because Korea has the World Tree?”
“Crap? The World Tree Academy only permitted use for training purposes by fellow hunters from other countries fighting monsters. Human experimentation on top of that? And you call that crap? Who’s gonna stop these guys if they go berserk again?”
“Who do you think we are? You think you can mess with America and get away with it?”
“What if we don’t?”
Allen and I faced off.
Just then, the game broadcast drone got hit by a stone bullet and plummeted. Black-suited hunters closed in from all sides.
The American players backed away slowly upon seeing them.
“...So these are special forces juiced up on that drug?”
Some hunters had scales peeking from their suits, others green or brown skin. But unlike Peter, they hadn’t lost their reason.
If each of them was as strong as Peter, it was revolutionary. They could mass-produce A-Rank Hunters in weeks, maybe even S-Ranks with luck.
“No need to know. For now, hand over that potion bottle, Peter, and Tyler.”
“Can’t do that.”
“You won’t listen, huh. Don’t blame us for what happens next.”
Allen drew the two daggers from his waist.
“Haste! Strength! Decrease Ability!”
True to a buffer, Allen buffed himself and his allies while debuffing me.
He dropped into a low stance and charged at blinding speed, flaunting his S-Rank status, skimming the ground. He swung his daggers at my side.
At least he wasn’t going straight for the kill.
But.
KABOOM!
Allen was an S-Rank Hunter, so I didn’t hold back like with Peter. I swung full force at the head of the low-charging Allen.
Allen slammed into the ground, kicking up a massive shockwave and dust cloud.
The flattened Allen tried to rise.
“...How… I debuffed you…”
But he collapsed unconscious without getting up. No way the buffs would land. I’d trained resistance against debuffs with Na-young’s help, and after acquiring Existence Ascension, my resistance to all attacks had risen.
“Not coming at me?”
The U.S. special forces hesitated, not expecting Allen to go down so fast.
I was torn too. Things had been smooth with America so far—should I just flip the table now that it’d come to this?
Reading my mind, the special forces steeled themselves and closed in.
Even a squad of Peter-level powerhouses would be tough to handle alone.
The special forces operatives dropped into stances to charge me.
ZZZCRACKLE!
Just before their feet left the ground, lightning bolts rained from the sky, slicing between them and me.
“What a mess.”
Amy descended from the sky, scanning the scene. Her hair was frizzed out from the static, and she was in casual clothes, unarmed—probably just woken up somewhere.
“What’s going on here~?”
“Didn’t you know? Looks like they made those guys with this.”
I held up the remaining potion bottle and pointed at the special forces.
“No clue~.”
Amy’s gaze slowly shifted to the special forces, then back to me.
“You didn’t know?”
“First time seeing it~? Melted mana stones~?”
“We’ll investigate the incident and report the results. We’re taking Allen and Peter.”
“Why~?”
“Why?”
“Yeah. Human experimentation—invasion of human rights~?”
“That too, but more importantly, it’s a control and management issue. Learned nothing from the Japan incident? Unauthorized experiments at the World Tree alone made it uncontainable, and when Peter overdosed and turned monster, what did America do?”
“Yeah~ Got nothing to say to that~.”
Did I have to fight Amy too? She wouldn’t be as easy as Allen. But I didn’t think I’d lose either.
“Amy Hunter! You can’t hand them over!”
One of the special forces approached Amy.
“Shut it.”
Unlike her usual self, Amy silenced him with a firm tone and cold glare.
Amy’s power was definitely above Allen’s. Even if Jeong Min-ki hadn’t gone all out, she’d caught a sword tip with her fingers—and I hadn’t sensed her approach until she was close just now. I hoped she’d make the right call.
“Sorry~ I can’t do it~.”
After agonizing, Amy shook her head with a troubled look.
“Why? You don’t seem fond of this stuff. Patriotism after all?”
“That too~ But really, it’s because of him~.”
Amy pointed at Allen.
“Allen?”
“Yeah~ My little brother~.”
“Blood related? Different last names.”
“I changed mine after marriage~.”
“...No need to say more. Come at me.”
“Sorry.”
Amy stopped talking and stared straight at me, eyes wide.
She became a human Tesla coil, lightning bursting everywhere.
The special forces had no choice but to retreat from the bolts.
I wrapped my whole body in armor and charged.
Lightning grazed me, but it wasn’t enough to harm my body.
ZZZCRACKLE!
But she was too fast. Her body moved like the lightning she fired—practically one with it.
I boosted my life force to max, pushing my speed to the limit.
“Argh!”
A special forces member sneaking close to recover Allen and Peter had his arm blasted off by lightning.
“Back off if you don’t wanna die.”
If Amy hadn’t blocked, he’d be dead by my hand—he owed her thanks.
And so began my game of tag with Amy. My speed wasn’t slow by any means, but I couldn’t catch her. I desperately missed Eres’s movement skill. With Existence Ascension, I had a hunch I could do it now.
But without it, I had to face her with what I had.
Her lightning attacks couldn’t be infinite. In a battle of time and stamina, I had the absolute edge.
Noticing that, Amy stopped the random discharges and fired thin, needle-like lightning bolts, precisely targeting the gaps in my high-speed moving armor.
Lightning struck near my knee, muscles contracting and throwing off my balance—I tumbled to the ground. I quickly planted a hand, rolled forward, and landed. Minimal damage, but a major hindrance to movement.
“Aiming for the gaps in my moving armor at high speed—impressive. Truly the world’s strongest hunter.”
“Not the strongest, I said. But if you think I am, why not give up now?”
“No can do.”
I charged again. I tried to swat away the lightning aimed at my armor’s gaps with my sword, but couldn’t block the ones fired without warning.
Lightning pierced another gap in my armor, halting my foot.
Amy pondered how to take down a tank like me charging in; I pondered how to catch a hummingbird like her.
An idea hit, and I closed in on Amy again.
FWOOSH!!!
Before she could fire her lightning needles, I exhaled a storm of cold air from my mouth.
Frost and chill blanketed a dozen meters around.
The lightning escaped Amy’s control in the cold, and she could no longer target my armor’s gaps. Exposed to the cold herself, her movements stiffened.