Chapter 40
Chapter 40
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: Immobilization Procedure
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I'm gonna do some work to make you unable to move.
I slammed Arachnon's Monstrato Gem onto the floor and shattered it.
Whoooong—
Some kind of wave emitted from the shattered yellowish gem.
-“Huh...?”
-“What's wrong?”
-“S-something... I-it's a weird feeling!”
Kirrrruk
Kiaaaak!
Monsters swarmed in an instant.
Taking down scattered trash mobs was no big deal. But when they formed hordes of dozens or hundreds, that was a different story.
-“What the fuck is this shit?!”
I could see the guys panicking in terror, milling about in confusion. Jin Kyung-pil, apparently acting as the team's leader, snapped out of it the fastest. He rallied his team members and led a retreat back the way they'd come.
Just as planned. From Yangjae Intersection, the only escape route was north. South led deeper into contaminated territory—suicide. East and west were monster nests.
The only way out was north, back toward central Seoul.
I slipped away from the confused group's line of sight and ducked into the lobby of a small, half-collapsed building on the verge of crumbling.
“Hup!”
Bam!
Bam!
I smashed every one of the few remaining half-broken pillars.
The hunting team was surrounded by monsters right now, too frantic to hear this noise easily.
“Hah!”
Kaboom!
Pure destructive power, no different from a human excavator.
The last pillar gave way, and the building couldn't hold any longer. It came crashing down toward the road.
“Wha! What the—?!”
“What the fuck?!”
“Dodge!”
Rumblerumblerumble
A concrete landslide erupted in the city center, engulfing them in seconds.
Hundreds of tons of rebar-reinforced concrete dropping from dozens of meters up. An irresistible impact—the violence of physics!
To survive something like that, you'd need at least a Rank 2 physical enhancement Awakener.
The hunting team scattered like bugs fleeing a pesticide-sprayed hive, each scrambling for their own survival.
Whoosh—
Dust billowed up so thick you couldn't see an inch ahead, let alone a meter—enough to make your eyes sting.
Perfect timing.
I didn't wait any longer.
I charged out.
My eyes locked precisely on where Jin Kyung-pil had been standing. Visibility was shit from the dust—just a hazy shadow—but I knew. I could feel it.
“Jin Kyung-pil!”
“Huh...?”
The bastard turned toward me. That loathsome voice of his was still the same.
“Don't fucking die from something like this.”
I swung my right arm as I muttered it, channeling two years' worth of rage.
Splat!
A metal chunk the size of two adult fists slammed into the side of his head.
Crunch!
A sickening crack from his left temple, and his eyeball burst out, popping free.
A full-force strike from a peer-level Awakener would have obliterated a normal person's skull, but in that split second, he'd instinctively activated his physical enhancement.
Still breathing, huh...
Good thing his animal instincts from his thug days were still sharp, just as I'd hoped.
I'd worried he might drop dead from one hit, but I couldn't go easy either. This guy was a Rank 3 Awakener who'd clawed his way to team leader in just two years.
If I didn't silence him in one shot, the swarming hunting team would turn the tables on me.
Team leader in two years, though... Impressive speed, even for someone who'd awakened a promising trait.
Guess he'd been channeling that freakish violence of his into monster hunts.
If he'd gained more experience here and grown savvier, he'd have been harder to catch. Panicking and losing command in this unexpected mess? Probably a side effect of his rapid rise.
“Nipping the bud early was the right call.”
I hoisted the unconscious Jin Kyung-pil—who hadn't even managed a scream—over my shoulder and slipped back into the underground parking without anyone noticing.
“K-Kyung-pil! What happened? Where is he?!”
“Team Leader Jin! Where are you?!”
Figure it out and survive on your own. I've got no business with you lot.
.
.
.
Glancing at my watch, it was past 11 p.m. I'd hidden out here starting yesterday, killed Arachnon and kidnapped Jin Kyung-pil today—so almost three full days.
My body felt filthy and sluggish. The contaminated area's air weighed me down.
The dark circles from two years of clowning around still hadn't faded.
Can't wait to get home, shower. Balls felt heavy too—about time for a release.
Rustle
“Groooan...”
Jin Kyung-pil suddenly started coming to.
“Damn, fitting for an Awakener—head caved in, eyeball popped, and you're still forcing yourself awake?”
“Wh-who... who are you...”
I grabbed his head and shoved my face into his one remaining eye.
“!- Y-you're... Sh-Shin... Yu-hyeon? Why the hell are you doing this to me?!”
Huh? He remembers me crystal clear, unexpectedly.
“Sleep more.”
Thwack!
“Guhk!”
Chopped the back of his neck to knock him out again and hoisted him up. Time to head home.
Escaping the contaminated area was easy. I knew the local geography like the back of my hand. I hopped into the van I'd parked at a back alley exit and floored it.
No traffic cops patrolling roads near contaminated zones, so getting back was even simpler than kidnapping Shin Nari.
“Ah, Master! You're back?”
The moment I parked, Shin Nari bounded out like a puppy waiting for its owner, wiggling her hips.
“Yeah. Whew... exhausting.”
“You worked hard~”
“Yeah, draw me a bath.”
“Yessir~”
I sent Nari off and dragged the corpse-like Jin Kyung-pil out, heading to the storage room next to the underground lab.
The hospital tools and delivery table I'd stashed earlier were already moved to the lab, leaving the roughly 2-pyeong storage room empty.
About 70 square feet, but bare and spacious-feeling.
Splat!
I hurled Jin Kyung-pil into the corner against the wall.
“Lemme see... oh yeah, that thing.”
I took down the item leaning against one wall.
A stainless steel mobile bed. The kind commonly called a stretcher cart—used for rushing patients or hauling bodies.
I'd grabbed it in case I ever needed to dispose of a body from some mishap, but it'd come in handy now.
I loaded Jin Kyung-pil onto the stretcher.
And then
Tap tap
“Hey, you.”
“Ugh? Groooan...”
“Sorry, but I've got nothing to tie you up with right now. So I'm gonna do some work to make sure you can't move.”
“Uh...?”
Still out of it. Fitting for a close-combat Awakener—his freakish healing had somewhat stemmed the brain bleed and skull fracture, but without proper treatment, plus the nape chop I'd given him...
I silently pulled a folding knife from my pocket.
“Lemme see... legs first.”
Stab
“Gaaaaahhh!!”
Like he'd never been out—instantly yanked back to reality by sheer agony.
Cutting through the long peroneal ligament on the outer thigh gave an unpleasant resistance. Tough fibrous tissue snapping as it severed.
Shlick!
Blade pulled free.
“Aaaargh! F-fuck, what are you doing?!”
Left hand clamped his thrashing neck, pinning it down. Right hand mechanically continued the work.
Crunch! Screeeeech
The metal stretcher supporting him was denting.
Strength stats alone, this was a Rank 3 Awakener tussling with another. Even minimizing his movement, a normal object like this couldn't hold.
“Stay still.”
Bam! Bam!
“Kreurgh!”
I hammered his face like pounding with a mallet.
“Groooan...”
Shook his brain a bit, and he quieted down.
“Was gonna be precise, but gotta speed this up.”
Stab! Stab!
Sliced the inner thigh adductors and ligaments, blade plunging even deeper. Finally, the merciless edge tore through the hip socket's joint capsule.
“Grraaaaa...!”
I methodically wrecked both legs and shifted my gaze to his shoulders.
“Two left.”
Concussion recovering—thrashing intensified again.
Bam!
“Keep freaking out like that, and you get hit.”
Shunk! Stab!
Blade pierced the infraspinatus. One slash turned both shoulder joint capsules between humerus, acromion, and clavicle into rags.
Still, couldn't let my guard down. Awakener bodies defied modern medicine. Might heal in a few weeks.
“Ughaaaagh, groooan, kaaaagh, fuck!!”
Jin Kyung-pil writhing like a maggot, only his torso moving.
“Whew, tiring... hang on a sec.”
On my way back from grabbing something from the lab, I ran into Nari.
“Hic, M-Master, what's going on?”
“Oh, caught Kyung-pil. No big deal.”
“J-Jin Kyung-pil?”
Her eyes widened huge.
“You caught that dog bastard? A-anything I can help with?”
“If something comes up later, I'll call. Stand by.”
Genuine fury at the name of her chief tormentor.
Almost teased her with 'You did the same, what's the fuss?', but that'd just lead to her kneeling, sobbing apologies. So I held back.
I just patted her shoulders a few times and headed back to the lab cabinet.