Two Heads?

"Uwaaaah! Get the fuck outta here, you bastards!"

Corporal Kim Ji-un screamed wildly as he emptied an entire magazine, then immediately grabbed the rifle next to him and opened fire.

Bang bang bang bang.

The monsters collapsed like sieves. Corporal Kim's face twisted mercilessly as he watched. What loomed over him wasn't the joy of victory, but the terror of death.

"Grrr."

"Gr."

"Grrrrr."

And it was no wonder. Far more monsters than those lying dead were approaching from all sides, baring their teeth.

'Damn! Damn it! That fucking Private Park!'

The two of them had gotten separated from their retreating squad mates and were holding off the monsters here at this convenience store as a temporary stronghold. It was a single-story standalone building with open sightlines all around, and the rooftop gave a good vantage point.

They were terrified, but they encouraged each other and blocked the swarming monsters, believing their squad would come with reinforcements soon.

But just moments ago, the Private Park who'd been stranded here with him had abandoned him as bait and bolted like a madman.

Corporal Kim had only just realized it. When Park didn't return after saying he was going to the bathroom, he'd gone down to the first floor to check, but there was no trace of him.

'You bastard, you filthy traitor!'

He'd figured it out because the spare ammo, grenades, and even the radio were all gone.

All that was left were two rifles, six full spare magazines, and two grenades.

They'd blocked the stairs up from below with refrigerators and such, but there was no guarantee those massive beasts couldn't climb onto the roof.

He kept firing at the hellhound packs slowly closing in from all sides, but they hid their bodies and crept closer each time.

"Gr."

Then, startled by a sound from behind, he whipped around.

"Graa!"

A hellhound launched itself at him, jaws gaping wide to reveal gleaming fangs.

"Die, you fucker!"

Corporal Kim hit the deck and fired. Bang bang bang bang!

The beast, twice the size of the others, had skin so thick it deflected every rifle round.

'Ah, am I gonna die like this?'

Life flashing before his eyes, they called it. Precious moments from childhood to now paraded by like a panorama.

He felt like time itself was slowing. He even noticed the monster's foul breath as it opened wide to crush his head.

Splat!

"Kyaaang!"

Like a drum skin bursting, the thing flew back and slammed into the distance. Time snapped back to normal.

"Hey? You okay?"

"Uwaaak! Uak! Y-yes? Yes. Y-yes, I'm f-fine, sir."

I lightly patted the shoulder of the soldier who'd just barely escaped having his head shoved into a hellhound's maw.

A little later, and his head would've been in its gut. For a normal person, that terror would've driven them mad on the spot.

"Deep breaths. You're okay. Got it?"

"Y-yes? Yes. Ahh. Hoo~ Soo~ Hoo~"

Finally coming to his senses, he followed my lead, breathing deeply to calm himself.

"Where are your squad mates? You here alone? Reinforcements coming?"

To my question, he scowled at the hellhound getting pummeled mercilessly by Su-hyeon and Jae-wook.

"I-I got separated. Was waiting for support, but..."

Corporal Kim ground his teeth, thinking of Private Park who'd ditched him.

'Hmm~'

I sighed lightly, watching him gnash his teeth. He didn't look in any shape to be left alone.

Lifting my head, I spotted the massive hellhound packs surrounding us.

"Stay put here until we clean this up. Then I'll get you to safety."

"Ah, y-yes. Th-thank you, sir."

He nodded dazedly, his helmet rattling with his shaky head.

"Letting these run loose would be a pain, huh?"

At my words, Gwak Su-hyeon—who'd just crushed a hellhound's windpipe—whistled as he scanned around.

"Whew~ That's a lot."

"Yeah. Way too many."

Hellhounds were officially D-rank. One step above the goblins I'd faced in that dungeon before.

But in those numbers, the threat level jumped to C-rank.

Luckily, no one here was weak enough to freak out at a pack of mangy mutts.

'If they're swarming like this, means there are plenty of other predators around.'

In my memory, once you knew the monster types spilling from a rampaging dungeon, you could predict what else might come.

Hellhounds grouping up meant at least ten A-rank monsters or higher.

Professor Kim Yo-han had flashy-killed a minotaur to kick things off, after all.

'At least nine more, then.'

Hellhounds weren't my priority right ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠now. I needed high-rank monsters for skills.

For some reason, skills from monsters could be relearned even after roulette consumption.

"Finish 'em quick and move."

"Roger, boss!"

"Got it, Min-ho."

They replied in their own ways and leaped down together.

"Jae-wook, grab aggro."

"Leave it to me!"

Thud thud thud thud.

With powerful stomps, Jae-wook charged the pack, gripping a massive greatsword designed for two-handed swings, then launched into the air.

"Go home, you shit-dog bastards!"

Boom!

Slamming the flat of the blade down, concrete shards exploded around him.

"Kyaaang."

"Kyaang!"

"Kerrk."

Three hellhounds caught under the sword whimpered and crawled.

'He's improved a ton.'

I'd been so focused on my own growth I hadn't noticed, but Jae-wook had come a long way since we met.

"Grrk!"

Two hellhounds circled behind Jae-wook, lunging for his neck and leg.

"Not on my watch!"

Gwak Su-hyeon flew in, piercing both throats effortlessly with his dagger.

'Assassin type?'

Each of his strikes packed serious power. And that constant air of leisure...

He gave off the vibe of someone who'd survived countless battlefields, like my old self.

"On it!"

I dashed left, shouting at them.

"Grrrrr!"

"Graaang!"

"Grrrk!"

The encircling beasts finally snapped and charged us.

"Whoa, badass. They're killing it."

Corporal Kim, flat on the convenience store roof watching us mop up the hellhounds, gaped in awe, muttering admirations nonstop.

He had to empty a full mag to maybe take down a few, but these guys were beating the crap out of those horrors like stray dogs on a hot day.

Now he got why the vets always said never underestimate hunters, no matter their rank. Plenty got out of the army in body bags after messing with them—hell, he felt lucky to be alive.

'Huh?'

Then his eyes caught something huge lumbering closer in the distance.

'What the hell is that?'

At first he thought it was a building, but it was heading this way.

'No fucking way. An ogre?'

One he'd only seen in training manuals—never in person. As a non-hunter soldier, he couldn't enter dungeons anyway.

No time to gawk; he had to warn those hunters fighting hard down ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠there about the A-rank monster.

'Wait... it has two heads?'

He tilted his head. The manual showed one-headed ones.

As a non-hunter soldier, he had no sense of how dangerous it really was. So he shouted calmly enough.

"Hey! Heads up—two-headed ogre coming from over there!"

The three paused mid-hellhound smackdown.

'Did I screw up?'

As Corporal Kim tilted his head...

"GRRROOOOAAAAARRRR!!!!"

The roar blasted across the city.

Ting ting! Crash crash! Zap!

Nearby windows shattered instantly, raining glass shards like mad.

"Kyaang! Kyakyaaang!"

"Kyaang kyaang!"

"Whimper, whiiiine."

The charging hellhounds tucked tails between legs and slammed heads to the ground. Some pissed themselves.

'Two heads?'

I leaped madly to nearby rooftops at the soldier's shout and spotted the colossal monster approaching.

"What the fuck!"

Seeing it revived the nightmare where I'd lost half my team and fled.

Twin Head Ogre. One of the S-rank monsters. If it escaped a dungeon, you'd nuke a whole city.

'Why the hell is that here?'

The dungeon that burst in the northern Uijeongbu foothills was A-rank. Government figured A-rank max.

Frozen briefly by its appearance, I urgently broadcast on the hunter channel.

Immediate reply on the emergency channel.

[Just snapped a photo and uploaded to the network. Looks like a mutant, but probably exceeds A-rank at least. You need to hurry.]

[Got it. Heading there now. Don't do anything stupid—keep distance and fall back.]

[Yes, sir.]

I cut the radio and glanced at Gwak Su-hyeon, who'd climbed up beside me to stare.

"Whoa~ Epic. What's that? Seeing all kinds of weird shit today."

He chuckled, muttering about how two heads meant it followed one guy's orders.

'Not scared?'

That roar carried an S-rank monster's Fear effect—a wide-area debuff hitting all lower-rank lifeforms.

Higher ranks could resist, but low awakeners or civilians risked death.

I shook off my lingering tingles and noted Su-hyeon's nonchalance. Like me, he was hiding a lot.

"Huff huff huff, wh-what the hell was that? Some kinda attack?"

Jae-wook ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠panted, having barely climbed to the roof. He shivered, saying it felt like someone gripped then released his heart.

'Shit!'

Frowning at Jae-wook's trembling bulk, I remembered the soldier below.

I dropped to the convenience store roof in a hurry.

"Hey, snap out of it!"

"Uuuuugh..."

Sure enough, eyes half-rolled back, he convulsed. White foam dripped from his mouth.

'Damn, he'll die like this.'

His heart raced irregularly, on the verge of stopping. Residual mana from the Twin Head Ogre's Fear was choking him.

I placed a hand on him and channeled mana to purge it.

'Slow. Careful.'

One slip, and I could burst every vessel—he was a civilian, mana was poison to him.

'Got it!'

I injected carefully, then yanked out the ogre's mana residue.

His condition stabilized visibly. Good.

'Huh?'

But the extracted ogre mana veered off on its own... and got sucked into my mana heart.

Thump.

My mana heart pulsed vigorously, like it wanted more.