Chapter 107
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 107
Chapter Title: Gapyeong S-Rank Gate Explosion
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The Gapyeong S-Rank Gate explosion was literally a scene from hell. Since it was the first gate explosion to occur domestically, there had been no way to prepare in advance, and with no known containment or dissipation conditions, they could only let the monsters pour out unchecked. Kim Kang-hee Chairman had grasped the situation ahead of time, but uncharacteristically, the request for support came late.
"Maybe he deliberately stood by and watched."
The initial response was delayed as well, and there were far too few combat hunters capable of cleaning up an S-Rank Gate. Every condition was in place for the worst catastrophe imaginable.
"Uwaaak! Get away!"
"Mom! Dad!"
It felt similar to the Yeouido S-Rank Gate explosion incident from Han Jin-woo Hunter's nightmare—one of the fragments that had haunted him. A massive chameleon draped in tiger hide swallowed people whole and smashed buildings indiscriminately. Screams and explosions blended into a chaotic din that made my head spin.
I knew it was pointless, but I still fired sound bullets at the monsters anyway. Naturally, they didn't die.
[Awakener: Choi Min]
[Fire Attribute Unlocked]
S-Rank Defensive Skill'Air Raid Shelter' Unlocked
Creates a bunker of fire. Inside the Air Raid Shelter, mental and physical attacks have no effect, and it is immune to the influence of time.
Linked Passive Skill'Flame Emperor':Grants immunity to burn damage below S-Rank.
Someone was gasping in agony beneath the rubble of a collapsed pension. An arm jutted out from under a wooden plank, followed by the bloodied, battered form of Choi Min Hunter emerging.
"M-Mom...! Dad... Hyeok...-a!"
Choi Min Hunter clutched his side where debris had pierced his ribs, red liquid oozing between his fingers. He barely managed to stand and scanned his surroundings. No matter how desperately he called, his family didn't respond.
Kwang!
A body thudded onto the building debris. Choi Min Hunter flinched in terror and collapsed on the spot, only to struggle back up and check who it was.
"Huff, haa. Ugh!"
It wasn't a face he recognized. Probably just another victim caught up in the chaos from vacationing nearby. Dragging his legs, Choi Min Hunter shoved aside the rubble piece by piece. Even moving his own body was a Herculean task, but he gritted his teeth and searched for his family.
"Ah...!"
"Mom! A-Are you okay?"
"Mi... Min?"
"Haa... Thank goodness."
Clearing shattered brick walls revealed his mother, drenched in blood. He pulled her into an embrace, sighing in relief, and repeated thanks to someone—anyone—over and over. In that horrific despair, this fleeting taste of hope must have been sweeter than anything.
Choi Min Hunter settled his mother in the crumpled car's back seat, then turned immediately toward the debris to rescue others.
—Dad, Hyeok... Please, just stay alive.
"Huh?"
That was when Choi Min Hunter's voice pierced my ears. Even covering them couldn't block his mutterings—they all came through clear as day.
Wooong, wooong—
The Gourmet's Fork began to hum, as if calming my confusion.
"Is it because of this thing that I can hear him?"
Woooong—
The fork vibrated up and down in response to my question. My head throbbed at its eerie function, but right now, priority one was waking Choi Min Hunter from this nightmare.
As I approached him circling the pension grounds, his voice rang out again.
—Why? Why are the monsters out here? Are the hunters coming?
Bam!!
Choi Min Hunter kicked a pile of debris on the gravel, revealing two entangled figures.
"Dad! Hyeok!"
"M-Me... Ugh!"
"Don't talk. Hold on tight."
It was Choi Min Hunter's father and younger brother. His face paled the instant he saw his father while cradling his brother's head and stroking his back.
"D-Dad?"
There was no reply. With trembling hands, Choi Min Hunter rolled over his father's prone body, revealing a massive wound piercing his chest. The vacant stare over his shoulder confirmed it: his father had already crossed an irreversible river.
"Heuk, ugh, sob...!"
Choi Min Hunter clamped his mouth shut as tears streamed down. His younger brother wailed upon seeing their father.
Poof!
But there was no time to grieve. A snake with mannequin arms slithered out from the gate and began swimming up the river.
Supporting his brother, Choi Min Hunter climbed the gravel path relentlessly. He tumbled repeatedly, his ankle swelling painfully just to look at.
Yet Choi Min Hunter persisted stubbornly. He shoved his brother into the passenger seat, then staggered back toward his father.
—Why, why is this happening to me...? Where did it all go wrong?
"Choi Min Hunter, snap out of it!!"
I couldn't watch any longer. If he didn't wake from this nightmare, he'd relive this tragedy endlessly until he ended up on the Gourmet's table someday.
I shouted and blocked his path, grabbing both his arms. He stared blankly at my sudden reappearance, then shoved me away with all his might.
"You've been... ugh, what the hell are you...?"
"This is inside Choi Min Hunter's nightmare right now! I'm Shin Ji-ui, your colleague!"
"A nightmare? Here?"
"Yes! Surely you remember no—"
"Don't make me laugh!"
Choi Min Hunter bellowed. He bit his lip hard against the pain, glaring daggers at me.
"I'd love for this to be a nightmare too..."
"Choi Min Hunter..."
"Colleague my ass. Why haven't those worthless bastards shown their faces when it's this bad?"
With those biting words, Choi Min Hunter pushed forward again. I couldn't hold him back anymore. Seeing him cling so fiercely to the belief that this was reality—while desperately wishing it was just a nightmare—filled me with unbearable helplessness. No amount of telling him it was a dream would shatter that conviction easily.
"Ugh!"
"Choi Min Hunter!"
"Let go!"
His legs gave out. I reached to catch him, but his palm slashed away my hand sharply. He tumbled limply onto the gravel beside his already deceased father.
—I can't collapse here. I absolutely can't fall. Just load Dad into the car, get Mom and Hyeok out of here. Don't give up. Get up.
Knowing how this ends made it all the more agonizing. Choi Min Hunter clung to the slimmest thread of hope. Or perhaps that thread was the only thing barely holding together his fracturing mind on the brink of collapse.
Choi Min Hunter dragged himself up again and hauled his father's corpse.
Drag, drag.
The body's feet scraped the gravel. Teeth gritted, he inched toward the car one step at a time. The closer he got, the louder his mutterings grew.
"We can do this. We can make it back. All of us—our whole family."
Those desperate words sounded like screams to me. And exactly three steps before he reached the car...
Kwaaang!!
A massive claw crushed the vehicle. It crumpled like a soda can, dark red liquid spilling out alongside the clear fluids.
Boom!!
The car erupted in flames, fire shooting skyward in an instant. Black smoke billowed as blood-red inferno raged, extinguishing someone's spark of life.
"Wha... what...?"
Splat.
Choi Min Hunter dropped his father's body. It hit the ground with a wet thud, and soon he too knelt, staring at the horror.
"Uwaaaah!! Aaaah!!"
It was a scream from Choi Min Hunter I'd never heard before—raw and guttural, rising from the depths of his guts, more heartrending than any other cries around.
He stared at the car's wreckage under the monster's foot, howling their names before clawing at his hair and collapsing forward. The giant chameleon, cause of it all, rolled its eyes and flicked its tongue toward him.
—Isn't it all meaningless now?
A voice that had completely given up echoed in my ears. A voice that had forsaken life, unafraid of death.
Choi Min Hunter rose slowly and faced the monster head-on. Then he closed his eyes.
A-Rank Offensive Skill'Asura's Dance'
Freely controls fire output and can transform parts of the body into fire.
What awaited him wasn't sweet death, but a wretched awakening. Choi Min Hunter stared blankly at the text before his eyes. It didn't take long for him to comprehend.
"Ha, haha... Pfft."
He bowed his head deeply. His shoulders heaved violently, then he threw his head back and opened his mouth wide.
"Ahahaha!! Haha!! A, aaah... Aaaah!!"
The laughter twisted back into a scream laced with despair. As he lost his balance and toppled backward, the white space and blue text faded, enveloping him in crimson flames instead. The world's safest fire cradled Choi Min Hunter and the three corpses.
—What meaning is there in awakening now? Any reason left to keep living?
As Choi Min Hunter closed his eyes, the Air Raid Shelter vanished in a puff of smoke. The tiger-patterned chameleon that had sought to devour him tilted its head at his emergence, then took a step closer.
—Yeah, let's just end it here.
The chameleon raised its massive foot high, casting a shadow over Choi Min Hunter. Its razor-sharp claws plummeted toward the ground.
"Choi Min Hunter!!"
Bam!!
A huge dust cloud erupted, blinding me momentarily. Covering my mouth and nose with my sleeve, I waited for it to clear—and there was Choi Min Hunter, turning his head toward me.
—Why... why did you dodge? You were ready to follow your family, weren't you? Trying to survive selfishly alone now?
Choi Min Hunter's eyes widened as he clutched his face with both hands. Through the gaps in his fingers, his gaze trembled with anxiety.
—How could I dodge and choose to live alone? Am I insane? But I'm scared. My body's already breaking apart, and if those claws hit, I'll really die.
He was in turmoil. The instinct to live clashed with the desire to die, drowning him in a quagmire of self-loathing.
Choi Min Hunter gasped raggedly and began slamming his head against the gravel. Crimson blood trickled down the stones.
"W-Wait. Choi Min Hunter, stop... Krgh!"
Bam!
The moment I reached out to stop him, my body flew backward. The world bleached white once more as his form burst into flames.
Guilt and self-loathing had shattered his mind, and in that crack, the asura opened its eyes.