Chapter 7
Chapter 7
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 007
Chapter Title: Paradise Zone, New Seodaemun-gu (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
10.
Independence Park beyond Independence Gate didn't seem much different. But the moment we spotted the building complex to the left... we were left dumbfounded.
"A clock tower?"
"How is this even..."
How should I even explain this bizarre phenomenon?
Should I say the area around Independence Gate had transformed into a grim scene straight out of modern Europe?
Ornate Gothic-style buildings. Steeples, clock towers.
Vintage streetlamps illuminated the empty streets, and on what used to be a roadway... a two-headed carriage was barreling toward us.
"Is it just me, or is this situation seriously weird?"
"I can't make sense of it, but I think I get it."
"...What?"
"Remember what the Guider said at first? About the civilization level... what was it?"
"Adjustment?"
"Yeah, that's right. They said they'd adjust it."
Civilization adjustment.
Ha, hahaha. I let out a hollow laugh.
"So they 'adjusted' the entire street to look like the modern era?"
Honestly, I wasn't even surprised anymore.
Maybe my senses had gone numb from one shock after another that defied reason and common sense.
──Beep! Beep! Beep!
We jumped in fright and held our breath—that was when it happened.
The horn we'd heard while fleeing the Exalted One. Then, abruptly, the two-headed carriage screeched to a halt right in front of us.
Catching my breath, I examined the carriage.
Pitch-black horses, pitch-black body, pitch-black axles. The color scheme was eerie enough, but no coachman?
"Is this a boss monster too?"
I forced a smile at Park Ji-yeon's strained joke. But what refuted her quip was the message ringing in my ear.
[Alert: The Star Messenger of 'New Seodaemun-gu' has issued a summons to all Hunters in the area.]
- Board the provided transport to 'fast travel' to the assembly point.
[Warning: Failure to respond to the summons will result in 'expulsion' from the 'Paradise Zone.']
The carriage door slid open smoothly.
At Park Ji-yeon's glance, I shrugged with a sigh.
"Let's at least go hear what this mission is about."
The carriage interior was surprisingly cozy and plush, unlike its exterior.
The moment we boarded, the two-headed carriage took off down the roadway on its own.
The scenery flashing by outside the window was utterly unbelievable.
"It's not just around Independence Gate..."
Exactly.
To my horror, everything in sight had been transformed into a modern European style.
11.
The carriage stopped in front of Seodaemun-gu Office—or at least, that's what the location suggested.
The office building had become something like a papal cathedral, complete with a clock tower ringing madly.
We disembarked in the parking lot, where plenty of other carriages were visible. They all seemed to have carried Hunters.
"Uncle, are you a cop by any chance?"
The one who asked was a woman in ragged military fatigues.
Her rank insignia read Captain.
Her face, exhaling cigarette smoke, was caked in fatigue and grime, but her sharp features gave her a sort of decadent beauty.
"Baek-jun's a Sergeant."
Park Ji-yeon answered for me, and the soldier nodded.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Jeong Ha-kyeong. Captain... or was, fuck it, it's meaningless now. Totally meaningless. Uncle, looks like we're comrades."
"Comrades?"
"You don't get black humor? Comrades who lost our paychecks."
"...?"
As I hesitated, Jeong Ha-kyeong tilted her head oddly.
"After the Capital Defense Command got wiped out, police HQ went down too. Even the president, head of state, bit the dust."
I was speechless.
Police HQ wiped out...? Does that mean kids like Seong-hyeon and Yong-gu are all dead?
"Goddamn."
Maybe because we'd been chased by an Exalted One ourselves.
No denial like 'that can't be' even crossed my mind. In this world, all those deaths just felt inevitable.
"Want a drag?"
"...Sure."
"Sorry, but just one puff. It's my last one, filter and all."
I took the cigarette from Jeong Ha-kyeong's mouth and inhaled deeply. The sigh I'd been holding finally escaped.
"What the hell were Seoul's two pillars doing to collapse that fast?"
"Fast? Twenty-four hours isn't exactly short."
Twenty-four hours?
Thinking I'd misheard, I exchanged glances with Park Ji-yeon, but her expression was just as baffled.
"What? Isn't that holding out pretty long?"
It was absurd.
Had we been unconscious that long?
But if so, we should've been starving, right? We weren't.
"...All the high-tech gear like 4.5-gen tanks vanished. We barely held on with outdated third-gen tanks."
"Wait. What about the original residents of Seodaemun-gu?"
For a split second, Jeong Ha-kyeong stopped inhaling. A flicker of agitation appeared in her eyes for the first time.
She suddenly spat on the ground.
"...Know which areas got hit first?"
"Jongno-gu?"
"Seodaemun-gu, Nowon-gu, Gwanak-gu, Songpa-gu."
Somehow familiar.
Wait... hold on.
"Aren't those all Paradise Zones?"
"Yeah. They killed or drove out all the locals, then set up this Paradise crap, right?"
"...?"
"That's my guess, piecing together radio chatter and what I'm seeing."
...What kind of insane logic is this?
Sensing my shock, Jeong Ha-kyeong placed her precious cigarette in my mouth.
The smoke burned in my lungs.
"Anyway, Uncle, that sword is fucking cool. Your unique skill?"
"Something... like that. Yeah, it is."
"Fuck, jealous. Is getting picked by a Holy Apostle just a luck-based gacha game?"
That's when a high schooler in uniform sidled up to Jeong Ha-kyeong, grinning sleazily and rubbing against her.
"Cute sis. Mind sharing a smoke? Huh?"
It was awkward.
Jeong Ha-kyeong didn't even glance at him, just kept smoking.
She even signaled me to stay put when I moved.
"You've got a long tongue, kid. Your faces looked so dumb, Uncle and that lady, so I gave you some advice."
"Why ignore me? Show me that haughty face."
"Point is this: in this world now, no more dumb... I mean, humans. Just three kinds of beasts left. And civilians barking like strays for scraps."
Something shocking happened in an instant.
Jeong Ha-kyeong stomped her combat boot into the high schooler's shin.
He clutched it, howling.
In that moment, she drew her pistol and fired three shots.
"Hunters who think they're kings now, the fucking retarded bastards like this."
Blood poured from the sprawled high schooler's head. Park Ji-yeon grabbed my arm and stifled a scream.
"Jeong Ha-kyeong, you just..."
By the time I reflexively grabbed her shoulder, it was all over.
No time to stop her.
Twice as fast as the first monster we'd faced. Was her unique skill acceleration?
Jeong Ha-kyeong shoved her cigarette butt into the bullet hole and sighed.
"That's all that's left—psychos like me. How's that? Feel awake now?"
A brief silence fell.
Then a [Warning] popped up urging us to enter. Jeong Ha-kyeong scanned my face and gave a weary smile.
"We were just getting friendly—don't look at me like that."
"You... just killed someone. What, should we laugh it off together?"
"What am I supposed to do about the world? Be the only saint here?"
"...?"
"This cafeteria fucker? If he weren't a Hunter too, I'd have fucked him up worse. He's already done a few girls."
With that, Jeong Ha-kyeong crushed the boy's skull under her boot and walked toward the office.
"Talk later if you get time. Most male bastards are crazy-eyed, but you're at least sane, Uncle."
Park Ji-yeon and I couldn't move for a while. Her arm gripping me trembled.
I was shaking too.
For a different reason than her.
...Goddamn.
I closed the high schooler's dead eyes. Not to defend this bastard's beastly words and actions.
But something was off.
Way too off.
Not just Jeong Ha-kyeong—everyone else accepted this murder as normal.
How the hell did the world change overnight...?
How do we even turn it back?
"The method is simple."
The answer came, hilariously enough, from one of the minions of the bastards who turned this world into a game.
11.
"The only way to restore your world is to complete the hunt."
The words came from a lady who seemed utterly unconnected to hunting—at least judging by her transcendent beauty.
Long hair sparkling like starlight.
Blood-red eyes and a resplendent white robe.
Even with her face half-covered by a veil, the men had buzzed when she first appeared—so that says it all about her looks.
And who might she be?
"Until then, dawn will not break over this land."
The Messenger of the Stars, the Star Messenger.
"Even after eons, this city will remain shrouded in eternal night."
A silence followed.
We Hunters sat encircling her in the chapel on the second floor of the office, listening obediently.
"What exactly does 'complete the hunt' mean?"
I broke the silence with the question.
I desperately wanted to know if restoring the world was real. The Star Messenger smiled gracefully.
"Good question. You, who have achieved the feat of Lead Hunter."
"Pardon?"
"Merely paying respects. Forgive me if I was rude."
"What are you talking about?"
Then I froze in shock.
A string reading [Lead Hunter] had appeared above my head. Like a game's title system.
Cheers erupted around me.
"Whoa, Lead Hunter? That title's badass."
"It's not a title, it's an achievement, idiot."
"Cool? Looks like fucking chuunibyou to me..."
...Are they screwing with me?
I urged her on with a short sigh, and the Star Messenger finally spoke.
"Very well. Completing the hunt is quite simple."
A map of Seoul appeared before everyone's eyes.
Unlike the last one.
'Paradise Zones' and 'Hunting Zones' were in grayscale, while only the 'Nightmare Zone' was vividly highlighted.
[Nightmare Zone]
The terror etched in my brain made my hairs stand on end.
A land of literal nightmares.
I never wanted to go back, no matter what. But...
"Enter the Nightmare. If you fail to hunt the seven 'Exalted Ones,' the mission of the hunt will never end."
Enter there.
"Forever."
A dazed silence fell.
We couldn't comprehend, sinking into confusion.
Once reality sank in, Park Ji-yeon muttered hollowly from beside me.
"How the hell are we supposed to catch those...?"
Furious shouts erupted here and there.
Honestly, we'd been patient saints up to now.
"Why make us do this shit, you fucking bitch!"
"Why us all of a sudden? What did we do wrong...?"
"That's enough already. Just end it. Please."
The Star Messenger brushed off the barrage of questions.
"As I said, this is the only way to reclaim your world."
I groaned.
The overwhelming despair I felt then... But the Star Messenger smiled as if delighted.
"But if you succeed? Heh, the whole world will become Paradise. And you... will achieve transcendence. Doesn't that excite you?"
Someone shouted.
How can we trust you? And she replied.
"You have no other choice but to believe me."
A powerless silence flowed.
An irrefutable silence.
Then a burly man voiced the crowd's rage and doubts. Built like a body trainer.
"So basically, kill all the boss monsters?"
"From humanity's perspective, perhaps."
"What if we die hunting?"
The giant pressed relentlessly, but the Star Messenger evaded again.
"The path to transcendence is narrow and treacherous, after all."
"Transcendence my ass—that's code for 'die and you're done,' right?"
She didn't answer.
The chapel fell silent as if doused with cold water. The giant burst into laughter and turned to the Hunters.
"Everyone, hear me out. I'm Oh Byeong-gwon, Lieutenant Colonel from Capital Communications Command HQ."