Chapter 139
Chapter 139
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 139
Chapter Title: Contact Request, Nowon-gu Hunters (1)
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1.
“Kim Baek-jun……?”
As I lifted my heavy eyelids, Jeong Ha-kyeong’s face came into view right away.
“You okay? Your body was completely fucked…… torn to shreds.”
Her expression looked like she was about to burst into tears any second, so I forced a smile.
“Yeah. Thanks to you. It’s always…… so reassuring to have you by my side, Ha-kyeong…….”
“W-what are you saying all of a sudden?”
Jeong Ha-kyeong flushed red and shot to her feet.
“Ugh.”
It was only natural that I, who had been lying with my head in her lap, smacked the back of my skull against the floor and groaned.
“You two are always so lovey-dovey.”
The gentle voice that rang out then belonged to Lee Seong-mi. I rubbed the back of my head and sat up.
“How long…… was I out?”
“Not long. About five minutes?”
Faster recovery than I thought. It didn’t take long to figure out why.
“We’re inside the Paradise Zone, after all.”
Even without injecting Star Cloud Liquid, the ‘Healing of the Stars’ effect was at work.
But still……
I furrowed my brow and stood. I nearly stumbled, and Jeong Ha-kyeong steadied me.
“The situation…… doesn’t look good.”
I could see the Association’s hunters moving in perfect unison.
Some supporting the severely wounded.
Some standing guard on the rooftop, scanning the surroundings.
Some collecting the hunters’ corpses and blood crystals.
“I can’t believe it. Fellow hunters…… doing something like this.”
Jeong Ha-kyeong let out a sigh at Lee Seong-mi’s words.
“Humans are like that mostly…… no…… those bastards can’t even be called human. What were they again?”
What was that supposed to mean?
Can’t be called human?
“Did they drop blood crystals? From those guys?”
“Yeah. They’d gathered them all…… I brought one over. Wanna see?”
Lee Seong-mi rummaged in her coat pocket and handed me a milky-white blood crystal.
“Sure.”
For a brief moment.
I just stared blankly down at the blood crystal.
Damn it……
No dream, no hallucination.
Nightmare hunters hunting other nightmare hunters……
“But…… they couldn’t even use exclusive skills or anything. It’s weird.”
Weird?
No sooner had I accepted it than the [info window] popped up.
[Blood Crystal of Hunter Park Ha-su]
My gaze immediately dropped to the tooltip displaying personal info.
Park Ha-su.
Star of Existence: Autolura.
That ■?Ω■?…… ■Ω■Ψ■■■&■$%■■?■*&, *%#^…… ■■*$■@■…… ■#■■Ψ?■■<■//■, ■……?
What the hell is this?
The text was garbled, like corrupted data.
How the hell did this……?
A chill raced up my spine like icy wind.
“But there’s info down below. Accurate info…… even if I can’t make sense of what it says.”
Combat priest serving the Snow White Star, Ikilas.
Ikilas’s sub-paradise branch, Nowon-gu.
As the combat priests departed for the battlefield, Pope Song Chan-un bestowed upon them a transcendent holy relic.
The mask of divinity.
But human flesh is frail, and Park Ha-su failed to withstand the divinity, mutating in the process.
Mask of divinity?
Im Ga-hee and Song Chan-un weren’t wearing masks, though?
Wait…… what’s this?
In that instant, I dropped the blood crystal. Inside it…… something like a slug worm was…… wriggling.
“What the hell…… is this?”
“All the blood crystals had them…… Creepy, right? Like they’re alive.”
What the hell does this worm mean? It’s baffling…… I swallowed dryly.
“What…… were those hunters’ levels?”
“Around 100 to 110? Not that high.”
100 to 110?
Pathetically low compared to Im Ga-hee or Song Chan-un.
“Lower than expected?”
At my response, Jeong Ha-kyeong spat out a sigh.
“No. They hit way harder than their levels suggest. Fucking bastards…… so this is what they were. What the hell did they do?”
Jeong Ha-kyeong never exaggerates.
That realization suddenly made me uneasy.
I closed the blood crystal’s [info window] and asked quietly.
“How bad are the casualties?”
“Four severely wounded for now……”
Lee Seong-mi paused for a moment, then pulled something from her embrace and showed it.
“……and four dead.”
Ah…… I squeezed my eyes shut and let out a deep sigh.
「Daddy. Daddy. Daddy. Daddy.」
It was…… Rin.
Choi Uk’s daughter, whose soul was bound to the grenade launcher.
“Again…… it’s my fault.”
Saying that felt like carving out my heart with a blade. Jeong Ha-kyeong shook her head.
“No, why’s it your fault?”
“I…… I let my guard down. Choi Uk…… tried to protect me and……”
That was when it happened.
Something slammed the brakes on my spiraling grief.
「No. Uncle. No. Daddy. Daddy. Not dead. Daddy. Alive.」
……Rin?
“No…… Rin…… this is my mistake……”
A reality born of my mistake—?
“──Hold on.”
Something was off.
I blankly opened my eyes. Jeong Ha-kyeong asked.
“Why? What’s wrong all of a sudden?”
“Choi Uk…… he said before. That his soul and Rin’s were bound……”
To explain simply.
If Choi Uk died, Rin’s soul should have died too.
A strange silence fell.
Lee Seong-mi was the first to widen her eyes and speak.
“That means──”
──Fwooooosh.
Those words.
Cut off at the sight of tracer rounds shooting up from the northeast.
“Tracer rounds……?”
“I assigned Ji-won some guards and had her handle the search.”
“………!”
“Let’s go. They must’ve found something.”
It didn’t take long for Lee Seong-mi’s words to prove true.
Rooftop of a high-rise apartment.
Overlooking the battlefield and Samil Church perfectly, Park Ji-won was there with three other hunters.
“Over here!”
Park Ji-won was kneeling on one knee by herself.
And in front of her…… stood a pair of blood figures, male and female.
《Bloodline Tracking》.
The highest-tier tracking skill, recreating everything within the last twelve hours.
“They were right here until just now. Seems like they watched us and then left.”
Park Ji-won spoke without taking her eyes off the 《Bloodline Tracking》. Jeong Ha-kyeong tilted her head.
“These guys…… they’re human, right?”
I clamped my mouth shut for a moment.
Big shots like Song Chan-un and Im Ga-hee…… no way this guy’s…… the Lead Hunter?
“But something’s fishy.”
“Tell me.”
“They left traces everywhere…… like they wanted us to find this place.”
I exchanged bewildered looks with Jeong Ha-kyeong.
Some kind of warning?
This building was close to Samil Church. If they’d ambushed us in our confusion, the damage would’ve been catastrophic.
“And…… hold on. What are they doing now?”
The male blood figure dropped to one knee on the ground and began scribbling with his finger.
“Exclusive skill chant? Magic circle?”
Jeong Ha-kyeong muttered, and Lee Seong-mi sucked in a breath, equally baffled.
The moment the bizarre motions ended.
The blood figures leaped north, out of 《Bloodline Tracking》’s range, and vanished.
A brief silence.
Murmurs soon rose among the group. Jeong Ha-kyeong said.
“What the fuck is this supposed to mean?”
“No attacks or anything…… Oh, maybe these guys caused the blizzard?”
“Makes sense. Yeah, that’s probably it.”
While Jeong Ha-kyeong and Lee Seong-mi talked, I narrowed my eyes.
No…… that can’t be.
The blizzard had gradually cleared when Song Chan-un vanished. The timelines don’t match.
What the hell did he write with his finger?
Some secret hidden in that blizzard…… wait, hold on.
“The snow’s all melted.”
I muttered in that instant.
“The snow’s completely melted now.”
“So what?”
“When this blood figure was scribbling, there was still snow left.”
“………?!”
“So…… he wrote letters in the snow!”
Jeong Ha-kyeong’s brow twitched, then her mouth fell open. Lee Seong-mi stammered.
“He left a message for 《Bloodline Tracking》 to find, you mean?”
“That’s my guess.”
“Then let’s…… check it out right now, Uncle.”
I whipped around in surprise.
“Shin Tae-yeop……?”
“You little shit. Heard you were badly hurt—why’re you here?”
“Tae-yeop, rest up.”
Brushing off our questions and concerns with a wave, Shin Tae-yeop approached Park Ji-won.
His condition was no joke.
Sweat poured down his face like rain.
“Shyrak…… will make snow.”
“Shishishi.”
“So, Ji-won, wanna recreate it once more?”
Park Ji-won, who’d been bandaging her palm to stop the bleeding, nodded right away.
“If it’s for you, bro Tae-yeop, I can’t say no.”
“Thanks.”
Shin Tae-yeop forced a smile, then turned to Shyrak.
“Alright, Shyrak…… your turn.”
Shyrak gaped its maw and vomited snow.
The amount…… wasn’t much.
Frankly, nowhere near worthy of a dragon’s dignity.
But enough to reveal the letters written by the 《Bloodline Tracking》 blood figure.
“The letters…… are appearing! Just like you said, bro Baek-jun!”
The commotion hushed instantly.
All eyes focused on the bloody script forming in the snow.
Pope, Witch, Sword God.
Witch?
Whose nicknames are Witch and Sword God?
If you wish to eliminate those three.
I swallowed dryly.
A silence so profound even breaths felt loud.
Come to Korea University main gate, Anam-dong, Seongbuk-gu, by 11 a.m. tomorrow.
A heavy silence enveloped us.
If we do not appear by then, we will leave that location immediately.
No one could open their mouth.
I clutched my forehead, my mind growing hazy.
This…… isn’t this a contact request?
Park Ji-won voiced a pessimistic take right away.
“This is obviously a trap, right?”
“No.”
Shin Tae-yeop shook his head firmly.
“If they wanted to attack, they would’ve done it already.”
“But it doesn’t add up. Why now? Why attack their own side?”
“Maybe it’s not sudden.”
At Lee Seong-mi’s gesture, a hunter unfurled a scroll from his pocket.
Leather map of Seoul Special City.
All recorded by Choi Uk’s genius memory.
“Anam-dong…… here it is.”
Lee Seong-mi traced here and there with her finger before speaking.
“Coincidence or intentional? It’s right in the middle between Seodaemun-gu and Nowon-gu.”
“Those fucking bastards, looks like they’re dead set on screwing us over?”
Jeong Ha-kyeong backed Park Ji-won’s opinion.
“No matter how you slice it, it’s suspicious, right? If contact was the goal, why not just wait for us here?”
Allies……?
We might get info on the enemy we know nothing about……
I rubbed my temples with a sigh.
But the risks are too high…… Lots of shady aspects, just like Ha-kyeong said.
“No, sis…… flip that around, and it’s even weirder……?”
Shin Tae-yeop said in a voice on the verge of collapse.
“If they planned to attack…… they could’ve…… ganged up on us right here…… and been done with it……?”
I flinched in that moment.
True…… when I got hit by Song Chan-un earlier, if someone had attacked then……?
Making Im Ga-hee combat-ineffective had been a godsend.
“That’s……”
The moment Jeong Ha-kyeong faltered. The surroundings grew rowdy.
“……You think they really wanna help?”
“……Idiot, if we go where they say, we’re all dead. Didn’t you see those monster fucks earlier?”
“……But if you think like Tae-yeop says, it’s weird.”
This made sense, and that made sense too.
No…… nothing made sense.
I looked up at the starry sky.
If sowing chaos was their goal.
Then their ploy had worked perfectly.
“Association Chairman.”
Lee Seong-mi addressed me politely.
“I think you should decide this one directly. We’re getting nowhere like this.”