Chapter 83
Chapter 83
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 83
Chapter Title: The Void Hunter, Cheongun Hyoja-dong (5)
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8.
The temporary operations briefing room.
Most of the assembled Association members were murmuring with puzzled expressions.
An abruptly called emergency meeting.
And to top it off, all the high-ranking officials of the <Association>, led by me and Choi Uk, were in attendance.
“We’ll skip all the standard procedures and jump straight into the emergency agenda.”
At my gesture, Mun Ji-hyo stepped forward to the podium. The capable female Hunter with the unique skill, 《Heavenly Eye》.
Her round face was ashen.
“According to Ji-hyo’s report, the 6th Hunting Squad was ambushed and completely wiped out at dawn today.”
The room erupted in an instant.
Single-digit squads were typically made up of veterans, after all.
“Another one from the Subordinates?”
Someone’s question.
After silencing the questions popping up here and there, I nodded to Mun Ji-hyo.
“It was Hunters from another world…….”
A momentary silence.
Choi Uk was the one who broke the stunned hush.
“Kim Baek-jun. You’ve faced Hunters from another world before.”
“That’s right.”
“Were they strong? Strong enough for a Nightmare Hunter to wipe out a squad single-handedly?”
I briefly recalled the trap Hunter, Bartperot.
“He was a genius at hunting humans…… but I don’t think he could take on four Nightmare Hunters alone.”
The reason I’d struggled against the trap Hunter was because I had to fight on his home turf.
“What combat style did they use?”
“A crossbow.”
I paused for a moment.
“A crossbow? Not a gun?”
“It wasn’t just any crossbow……. Anyone hit by the arrows…… I don’t know how, but…… lightning would strike from the sky.”
What…… guided projectiles?
“You’re saying even one hit is instant death?”
Mun Ji-hyo nodded at Eom Jae-beom’s question. Choi Uk spoke up.
“Then it’s a long-range sniper type. Crossbows take a decent amount of time to reload. How the hell did it slaughter four Nightmare Hunters?”
A brief silence.
Mun Ji-hyo started clattering her teeth. Fear…… trembling in terror?
“That’s not all……. I…… I don’t know if I’m going crazy, but…… that bastard…… summons demons.”
Demons?
One of the attending Association members let out a hollow laugh.
“They had no faces…… flapping wings…… dozens of them, it seemed…… and they…… tore into the people…….”
Lightning and demon summons?
If we were to classify it in Association terms, it’d be a sorcerer-type Hunter?
“What’s the plan?”
I asked Choi Uk.
If Hunters from another world had appeared in the Nightmare Zone, this was no ordinary matter.
Leaving it alone would clearly cause problems for future Subordinate hunts.
More than enough reason to make it our top priority.
Choi Uk would surely reach the same conclusion. My question was about how to carry it out.
“We’ll combine squads 2 and 3 to track down the otherworld Hunter.”
“I disagree. As of now, we should halt all small-scale search operations.”
Acting separately is dangerous.
We’d just get picked off one by one.
“You’re saying move the main force now?”
Choi Uk asked, and Seo Hwa-yoon shook her head.
“There’s a problem with that. The bastard might go into hiding.”
“Then that works out perfectly. We’ll find the Subordinate’s location and flush out the bastard at the same time.”
I added,
“The trap Hunter was a psycho who got off on hunting humans. If this one’s similar, it’ll definitely head where the humans are.”
Choi Uk crossed his arms and seemed lost in thought for a moment before asking the Association members.
“Any objections?”
The members exchanged glances and murmured.
“Sticking together…… would be safer, right?”
“I agree.”
“Me too.”
Decision made, then.
In the tense silence, I beckoned my aide, Jeong Ha-kyeong.
“What’s the status of the squads operating separately in Cheongun Hyoja-dong right now?”
Jeong Ha-kyeong quickly pulled out her notepad.
“In order of departure. 6th Hunting Squad. 3rd Recon Squad. 10th Hunting Squad. 7th Recon Squad. And…….”
Her eyes suddenly wavered, and she looked up at me.
“……1st Hunting Squad.”
……What?
I shot up from my seat in an instant.
“Why the hell is the 1st Hunting Squad out in the Nightmare Zone?”
I looked around, but no one answered. If anything, they looked confused.
“Then…… that explains it…….”
Mun Ji-hyo muttered as if it all made sense. I asked,
“Explains what?”
“It was raining at night, and there was a burnt smell. The central area was completely turned to ashes…… Knowing Shin Tae-yeop was there makes it all click.”
Shin Tae-yeop…….
My knees nearly buckled. I steadied myself and barely managed to speak.
“Who the hell approved this?”
“………….”
“I thought Do Ye-jin was supposed to stay at headquarters until Subordinate transformation training was complete. Who was it?”
That’s when the answer came.
“I approved it.”
It was…… Choi Uk.
I forced my trembling lips to move.
“Choi Uk…… what…… what the hell were you thinking?”
Choi Uk rubbed his temple with a blank expression.
“Simple explanation. Combat stress causes permanent brain damage. No different from the sensation of despair.”
“You sent her out to trigger that stress?”
“I won’t deny it.”
“……!”
“But that’s not all. As I said before, Do Ye-jin needs to be completed as a Hunter too. I sent her out for training, that’s all.”
In that instant, I slammed my fist down on the table.
An uncomfortable silence.
It took a long while before I could pry my lips open again.
“Please…… just stop.”
“……?”
“Ye-jin isn’t a weapon. I proposed calling her a Subordinate weapon…… but that’s just a name. She’s a person!”
Can a weapon cry?
Can a weapon force a smile?
“Who said otherwise? I just want Do Ye-jin to become a valuable existence as soon as possible.”
“Cut the bullshit! Her comrades were slaughtered! Just ten days ago! And you…… you created the stage for something like that to happen to her again?”
Choi Uk turned his head with a sigh.
“Do Ye-jin only has two Subordinate soulstones now. If a Hunter used them, they could gain overwhelming weapons or levels.”
“……?”
“That’s the weight of reality. The weight of reality that Do Ye-jin has to bear.”
I couldn’t win with words.
Language-wise, I wasn’t even a match for Choi Uk. I swallowed dryly.
“Choi Uk, put together a large-scale expedition force.”
“What about you?”
“I’m going to rescue Ye-jin.”
“No. Wait.”
“No. I’m going.”
I turned my head to glare at Choi Uk and added,
“So that Choi Uk’s scripted scenario doesn’t become Ye-jin’s fate.”
9.
“This isn’t the time for this! Otherworld Hunters are coming!”
Do Ye-jin kept shouting that as she was dragged along, hands bound.
“Yeah? Got it.”
But each time, the man named Hong Gu just replied half-heartedly.
“Are you an idiot? Don’t you know what otherworld Hunters are?”
The Hunters escorting the 1st Hunting Squad at gunpoint snickered. Hong Gu sighed.
“This is why kids are…… shut your trap before I rip it open?”
It was frustrating and absurd.
Otherworld Hunters are coming, I said? How many times do I have to repeat it?
Just as she was about to snap,
Ryu Hyeon-ji approached Do Ye-jin and whispered low.
“Hey…… just drop it. They’ll think it’s nonsense anyway.”
“But if we don’t…….”
“This isn’t the time to worry about otherworld Hunters.”
Ryu Hyeon-ji said that, then scanned the Hunters with frightened eyes.
“They’re…… Hunters like us, aren’t they? Enemy’s coming, why fight?”
“You can’t assume…… all Hunters are rational.”
“But the <Association>──”
“──The <Association> was the exception.”
“……?!”
“Northern Hunters have had no contact with the <Association> until now. They’ve been exclusive…… high chance they’re not friendly to us.”
Do Ye-jin bit her lip.
It was infamous how the northern Hunters had rejected the Association’s invitation with choice words.
Damn it…….
If she could, she’d knock these idiots out and run…….
“And Tae-yeop oppa was dragged off somewhere else…….”
It was true.
Shin Tae-yeop’s strength must be famous even in the north. He’d been knocked out, but they’d bound his hands and feet and taken him elsewhere.
“So for now, just play nice.”
Seeing Ryu Hyeon-ji’s expression, Do Ye-jin started to grasp the gravity of the situation.
- Hey, Subordinate weapon. Please become a Subordinate already.
Come to think of it, Go Hoon too…….
She’d forgotten. She’d been mistaken. Surrounded by good people lately.
- Touch my kid one more time. I’ll smash that arm to pieces next time.
But they weren’t around Do Ye-jin anymore.
Not one.
Not a single one.
Overwhelmed by the grief soaking her chest, Do Ye-jin helplessly bowed her head.
“……Got it.”
Do Ye-jin walked alongside Ryu Hyeon-ji, while Heo Cheon-gyeom supported Park Ji-won as they went.
“Here.”
The place they were meekly led to was an apartment complex.
“An apartment……?”
Of course, she only realized it from the charred, blackened sign.
The intact parts were barely the 1st or 2nd floors. Above that, only bare rebar skeletons remained.
“Hey, kid. Keep moving.”
“Weird smell. Heteromorph smell.”
The closer they got to the apartment,
A foul stench hit them, and…… eerie wails grew louder.
“Look at that.”
Hong Gu grinned.
“Good instincts? Now I see why the boss has his eye on you.”
“You’re insane. Seriously? There are Heteromorphs, I said?!”
“Don’t you get it? This is our recruit training ground. And those are gonna be your roommates, by the way.”
Recruit training ground?
Roommates……?
The moment they passed the entrance into the hallway, the 1st Hunting Squad froze and gasped.
This is insane.
Totally crazy?
Apartment units turned into prisons.
Dozens of Heteromorphs crammed into each.
“Hee, heehee, heeheehehe.”
“Eeeeeehaaaaa…….”
Were there invisible walls? They clawed at empty air or bashed their heads madly.
“Please…… please let me out. Please…….”
Then a scream rang out.
Turning her head…… chills shot up her spine.
“Hong Gu, Hong Gu! Please!”
There was a boy in that cell.
“Uncle Kim Wan, please let me out!”
He swung his knife weakly…….
But the relentlessly swarming Heteromorphs eventually tore him into a bloody pulp.
“……My god.”
Ryu Hyeon-ji covered her mouth and turned away, while Do Ye-jin yelled at Hong Gu.
“What the hell are you doing! Someone just…… a person just died. A person…….”
“Yeah. What a shame. Had high hopes for that one.”
“A prospect? Then let him out! Why…… why…… not let him out?”
“What a clown. Why should I?”
Hong Gu looked down at Do Ye-jin with a cold smile. Utterly dismissive.
“The bastard’s talent was trash. This is basic training? If they can’t pass this, they’re worthless no matter what.”
“Then let him out and send him back!”
Hong Gu’s face hardened.
“Hey, you fucking bitch. You think we’re forcing them to come to the Nightmare Zone?”
“……?”
“Those punks all came on their own. Knowing it’s a place where one slip means death.”
“Even so, you let people die? Just let them out and send them back!”
“Let trash like that go? Then every no-talent loser thinks it’s easy and signs up, total chaos.”
“Even so──”
“──Jesus, you bitch! Why bother? You think we’re kindergarten teachers?”
We don’t listen to orders from the weak.
Cheongun H Apartment