Chapter 39
Chapter 39
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: The S-Rank Hunter Arrives
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Something flew in from the direction of the control room, and a white line slashed across the troll's neck.
The troll, now cracked along its neck, didn't realize what had happened until its head finally fell off.
The headless troll's massive body sprayed blood like a fountain and toppled backward like a giant tree crashing down.
Boom!
[Lee Ji-seok Hunter, fall back now! Jeong Min-gi Hunter has arrived!]
I turned around at the voice in my earpiece.
A man stood there in sleek silver armor, wielding a longsword.
Jeong Min-gi. Korea's one and only S-Rank Hunter at the moment. He looked to be in his late twenties, but he was actually much older. A first-generation Awakener who had awakened before the first gate even opened, he'd racked up countless achievements during the gate incidents.
I'd caught the direction of the attack when the troll's head came off a moment ago, but it was so fast my body couldn't react at all. And the sheer power to cleanly slice the troll's neck from long range.
That was the ability of an S-Rank Hunter, a rare breed even on the world stage.
[You held out on your own. Fall back now.]
Jeong Min-gi Hunter's voice came through my earpiece. I nodded to him from afar and moved out of the line of fire between the troll and Jeong Min-gi.
The troll didn't even glance at my retreat, its eyes locked on Jeong Min-gi Hunter.
He lightly gripped his longsword and thrust it forward.
At that signal, the remaining four trolls charged at Jeong Min-gi Hunter.
“Raaargh!”
Roars befitting their size erupted from the four trolls' mouths. Any normal person would have a heart attack just standing in front of them, but Jeong Min-gi Hunter remained calm.
Then the sword swung.
Watching intently from the side, I could barely track his movements with my eyes.
Each time Jeong Min-gi swung his sword at blinding speed, crescent-shaped auras shot out and flew toward the trolls.
And without fail, the trolls' heads popped off one by one. He was cutting down B-Rank monsters like they were goblins.
Could I dodge it if one came at me? Probably not if it was a surprise attack. From the front? Either way, he was an opponent I absolutely couldn't beat right now.
With Jeong Min-gi's arrival, the tide of battle completely turned.
He finished off the trolls in an instant and turned his eyes to the other monsters. The crescent auras sliced through hundreds of them vertically.
[Lee Ji-seok Hunter, good work. Now step away from the defensive line and join the sweep for escaped monsters.]
Orders came through my earpiece.
Following Jeong Min-gi Hunter, an A-Rank mage rained fire from the sky, turning the area in front of the gate into a sea of flames. B-Rank and A-Rank Hunters arrived one after another, bolstering the defensive line.
“Ji-seok! Are you okay?!”
Na-young came running over.
“Yeah. I'm fine.”
Thinking back, it had been way too reckless. Fighting trolls while surrounded by hundreds of monsters. I could have died without it being weird at all.
I hadn't thought of anything beyond stopping the break.
“Now let's go help with the rear evacuation.”
Na-young grabbed my arm and pulled. She seemed worried I'd dive back into that monster pit.
“Got it.”
After that, I focused on taking down the escaped monsters. Dealing with the small fry was a breeze compared to what I'd just done.
A little later, I heard that more trolls had appeared along with the A-Rank monster, the Troll King. But as long as no S-Rank monster showed up, Jeong Min-gi Hunter and the other top Korean Hunters would handle it.
Just as I'd predicted, no more monsters emerged after the Troll King, and the gate shrank back to its original size.
The long gate break finally came to an end.
Most of the escaped monsters had been dealt with, and soldiers and firefighters were treating the wounded and recovering the dead.
It would have been nice if there were no casualties, but plenty of Hunters, soldiers, and civilians had died.
Monsters didn't discriminate by gender or age, so there were even children among the victims.
Na-young's face went pale as she saw dozens of bodies covered in white sheets.
“You okay? Let's head back.”
“What's your name?”
As I tried to lead Na-young away, a voice called from behind. I turned to see Jeong Min-gi Hunter, covered head to toe in blood.
He'd apparently had his hands full dealing with the Troll King. His face already looked perpetually tired with dark circles and a sallow complexion, but now it was even worse.
“Lee Ji-seok.”
“A B-Rank, right? Good work. Thanks to you, we kept it to this level. Without you, a lot more would have died.”
“I owe you my life.”
“These days, young folks don't throw themselves into stopping a break like that. Very impressive. Ah, my juniors told me not to say stuff like that or I'd sound like an old fogey, but here I go again.”
Jeong Min-gi scratched his head.
“Anyway, go get some rest. Let's meet again sometime.”
That seemed to be all he wanted to say as he walked off casually.
“Hyung! Noona!”
Sang-heon came running from afar.
“You two okay?”
“We're fine. You?”
“I got there late, so I just handled small fry. Fitting my level. Hyung, you took on trolls?”
“Yeah.”
“Are you insane?”
“What'd you say?”
“I mean, I know you're skilled, but how do you jump into a pack of trolls alone?”
“Shut it. Let's go home.”
I was exhausted. I just wanted to crash.
The news was abuzz with the break incident for a good while.
The whole nation mourned the victims. But no one paid much attention to the cause. Gates were just seen as incomprehensible anyway.
The media praised the Awakening Bureau and military response, calling it a gate break contained with minimal damage. My face ended up all over the news because of it.
But I couldn't accept it as some unknown cause. There had to be a reason. Maybe someone's mistake, a variant gate, or even someone who triggered it on purpose.
I resolved to find out what caused it.
* * *
“It's piling up.”
I said, staring at the monitor in the factory.
“What is?”
Sang-heon asked at my musing.
“Money.”
“You... making broke people feel bad or what?”
“When I set up Regen, I sank almost everything into investments, and my balance was wiped out. But it's selling like crazy now? Money's rolling in.”
“You're supplying the Academy too, right?”
“The price isn't much higher than the old protective suits, but performance is leagues better.”
“Oh, did you see it got listed as an Awakening Bureau recommended item?”
“Yeah. Bureau Chief Baek Young-sin must have pulled strings. He was thrilled about higher survival rates for rookies.”
Fewer rookie deaths meant more chances for them to grow into veterans. More monster-fighting power overall, so it was welcome news.
“I'm heading to the bank to open an account. Time to invest some.”
“Go ahead.”
Sang-heon sighed, looking like he'd given up trying to understand.
* * *
I went to a nearby bank, took a number, and waited.
I had a rough idea of which companies would make it big in the future. Of course, since the future could change, I planned to diversify.
“Customer 39.”
My turn. I went to the counter.
“Hello. How can I help?”
“I'd like to open a stock account.”
“Ah, sure. May I have your ID? Do you bank with us?”
“Yes.”
I handed over my ID and slotted my bank card into the terminal.
“Ah... Oh my! Pl-please wait a moment!
The teller saw my info and rushed over to the branch manager sitting behind her.
The manager's face was like, *What's the fuss?*, at first, but after the teller whispered something, she shot up from her seat.
“President, hello. I'm Ye Hee-eun, the branch manager. Let's move to the VIP room instead.”
A sharply dressed, seasoned-looking woman branch manager came over and greeted me. Calling me President meant she'd seen Regen's founder info.
“Sure.”
I didn't mind the regular counter, but I'd already drawn eyes, so I quietly followed her to the second-floor VIP room. The bank was a single-story building with high ceilings, but part of the interior was split into first and second floors. We went up stairs along the wall to the second floor, where the VIP room overlooked the first floor.
“Coffee? Tea?”
“Coffee, please.”
The branch manager held up two fingers to the following teller.
“Stock account, right?”
“I'll assist you. While we open the account, may I introduce our investment products?”
“Sure, go ahead.”
I wasn't particularly interested, but there might be info I didn't know, so I listened quietly until the coffee arrived.
The branch manager opened promo materials, showed past performance, and explained with full enthusiasm.
I sipped coffee for about ten minutes, but nothing caught my interest.
“I'll think about it. Account's open now, right?”
“Yes. You can invest online too. If you need anything—bank-related or not—please contact us. We'll help with whatever we can.”
No idea what non-bank stuff I'd ask a bank branch manager for, but I got her enthusiasm.
I said goodbye and stood.
“Everyone, down!”
Bang bang bang!
Gunshots rang out with screams.
I peeked out the window at the first floor. Three guys were threatening people.
One with a gun, one mage spewing flames from his hand. And the biggest problem: a guy strapped with what looked like a mana stone bomb.
He held a dead man's trigger. Pull the handle? No, it detonates the moment you let go. Snipe him and make him drop it? Boom. He thumbs the detonator? Boom. Straight out of a Hollywood movie, and here it was.
“If this goes off, the whole building's toast! Guard! Drop the gun!”
It was a mana stone bomb with red liquid and stones floating inside. They'd deliberately destabilized the mana stones for a sudden burst. Hard to control, so lots of duds and inconsistent power. But if it hit big? Everyone inside was done, just like he said.
They'd burst in so fast, shoving guns and flames in faces, the guard had no choice but to drop his gas gun and hit the floor.
“You! You! You! Close all the blinds! Move it!”
The mage pointed out hostages to cover the windows.
The gunman shot out the ceiling cameras one by one, making the hostages flinch in terror each time.
“Th-this is...!”
The branch manager checked outside, hit a button under her desk.
“P-president, g-get under the desk.”
She was trembling so hard she stuttered, but still tried to pull me to safety.
I could take those three clowns in a heartbeat if I went out, but with hostages, I couldn't move recklessly. For now, I hid behind the desk as she said.
That's when the gunman came up to check the second floor.