Shelter Candidates and Enemy Pursuit

"Always keep the threads of fate with you. Whenever you need cooperation like today, just burn one."

Seol, who had sent me a few more strands as sponsorship, returned to her base.

She was completely unfazed even after being splattered with the villains' blood all over her body. I just couldn't get used to it.

"Scary, but thanks."

To think such a threatening person had decided to side with me.

"Y-yes, exactly! C-Captain...!"

Jenny had essentially never seen combat this brutal before. (Neither had I.)

She clenched her fists tight, cheering me on, but it felt like the one who needed to buck up was me, not her.

"Good work, Jenny."

I'd have to boil some chapagetti for her as encouragement.

"What a shame, yo. Four Power Fragments would've been a real jackpot. With four, whoa—two concentrated power shots at once each. That's the real deal."

Ollie twirled his ill-fitting mustache in annoyance. I'd noticed before, but he didn't react much to gruesome scenes.

"You're brave. Thanks to Ollie pulling his weight, we cleared the hidden dungeon smoothly. Good job!"

But why can't he watch horror movies?

Next time, for the two agents, we'd watch comedies ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠or animations. Something like Pokémon...

Normally, we'd have finished a movie by now and all headed to bed, but the battle had thrown everything off schedule.

Still. Let's nail down one last thing before we wrap up.

Level 100 qualification met.

New shelter establishment possible.

Me, Jenny, and Ollie sat in the corner of the room, diving into some serious deliberation for the finale.

"World Tower penthouse—isn't that where we were before, yo?"

"Huh? The place with the dragon egg???"

That's right.

There were various items on the shelter candidate list, including places we'd already experienced a bit. The others seemed auto-selected by the shelter system.

"But is it empty now?"

From the classified docs on the Great Cartibes War,

The spot where the hatchling had emerged was severely contaminated, and they'd poured everything into purification for a while.

Toxic fumes had even seeped down to lower floors, paralyzing the entire World Tower at one point.

"Probably tough, huh?"

Looked like everyone had cleared out for good now.

The advantages were clear, too.

The most crucial thing for a Sniper is elevation and sightlines. Securing a base there would definitely have major perks. But,

"World Tower's too obvious, yo?"

That was the issue.

The shelter system had recommended it, but it was already world-famous.

Setting up a blatant barrier there and running it as a shelter would undermine the sniper's core value of 'stealth.' It'd blow our cover. Might even turn into a global tourist ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠spot as an 'unregistered house.'

"Pass."

Next: Tunnel No. 3.

A tunnel North Korea had dug near the DMZ in Paju, Gyeonggi—reaching just 44 km from Seoul.

"Hmm."

The tunnel's inherent stealth was pretty noteworthy.

On the flip side, being a national defense site, there might be officials passing through. Foot traffic had died down post-cataclysm, though.

"We could still claim a section and use it, yo!"

Yeah... if we dug deep enough, we could maintain secrecy. Problem was, getting caught once would make defense tricky and draw national attention.

"Last resort. Next."

"Yes!" "ROGER."

Unification Observatory in Goseong, Gangwon.

"Same deal."

Less conspicuous, with easy high-altitude sightlines—perfect for ground and anti-air sniping.

On clear days, the visibility would be top-tier.

It split the pros and cons of World Tower and the tunnel right down the middle.

Not sure it was worth a Level 100 investment, though.

"Incheon abandoned factory site. Not bad?"

No foot traffic, hide it well for stealth. Best part: no real estate hassles or trails to follow.

We could handle interiors and cleanliness with shelter upgrade systems anyway.

"Let's check this one closely. Ollie."

"ROGER!"

He tapped at the ops room console.

Jenny, who'd come along, let out a big "Yaaawn!" with tiny tears welling in her eyes.

Time to rest.

Just preliminary review today.

Details tomorrow. Then,

"Hmm. Not bad, yo. New shelter setup seems to claim the whole site—but that kills stealth. How about this instead?"

An abandoned container.

Way bigger than my one-room.

"Sacrifice sightlines, build an ops room—might be better this way?"

Made sense.

Containers could go mobile someday.

"Top pick for now."

Last up: Abandoned Subway Station.

This one, though...

Russia and the US had successfully recovered their holy relics.

China was nearly done. Japan was the problem.

An International Hunter Federation meeting convened to decide on aid to Japan.

"The key issue is that gate energy concentration there is incomparably denser than anywhere else."

Not due to Japan's weakness.

Inevitable top-tier gates—two of them—and prior high-difficulty ones had racked up casualties.

Theory: the authentic Holy RelicReverse Cross had absorbed tons of souls, thickening the gates. High chance it was true.

The US director chimed in.

"Japan currently has a high-ranker aid pact with South Korea."

Not 'handle it yourselves.'

Everyone knew unregistered aid could wrap it up under the Korean deal, but he wouldn't budge easily.

Baek Moon-seong had nipped it early.

"You can request additional aid from other nations."

Right.

The high-ranker pact was just a federation clause—not exclusive to Korea.

Slot in any country, and it was done.

Grind.

Japan's Defense Minister Tanaka ground his teeth, knowing what the big powers wanted.

Only Korea had a pact with Japan now.

They were all scrambling for a bigger cut.

Totally flipped.

Opposite of Baek Moon-seong's stance during Cartibes.

On Korea's video feed, he smiled kindly, like 'do whatever you want.'

"Haa..."

Tanaka sighed faintly.

Japan's high-rankers are battered or exhausted.

Even Rank 9 Yuki was dead.

Rank 1 Sato Kenji, who'd overtaxed Yamata no Orochi's power, was in critical condition.

No relic recovery meant fake aura amplification kept ramping up.

Top-tier gates spiked, making Kyushu—including Fukuoka—nearly uninhabitable.

Even holding defense lines, hunters were coughing blood. The fallout threatened the rest of Japan.

Can't drag this out.

Unregistered help.

If that was all... who'd have thought we'd need Korea's power this bad.

"......"

But Baek's inscrutable expression felt like an impenetrable wall.

A day later,

Agents recovered, fueled with nutrient-packed meals, we outlined the shelter plan from yesterday.

Incheon abandoned factory site and Abandoned subway station.

We decided to inspect the subway station on-site.

Luckily, we'd preset a CCTV—confirmed it was safe inside.

Once Hongmaehwa and crew pulled out, the villains' corpses pixelated like monsters and vanished clean.

Jenny's spatial warp penetrated smoothly, too.

Dododo...

Jenny strolled the cleared station, forming a warp point to the shelter.

"We'll head out!"

"GO."

Ollie dove in with a 'Yup!'

One thing we gotta check, yo. If it pans out, this'll make a killer shelter!

Ollie's idea. He waddled on short legs to the rail control center.

"As expected—huge scale, yo. We gotta salvage this!"

Ollie tinkered with the console. When it wouldn't boot, he shuttled weird power gear from the shelter lab.

Beep. Beep-beep.

"Got it, yo!"

Console lit up.

If the Hell Train ran, this worked. Minor fixes needed, but...

He'd actually restored the control center.

"Hooh."

I watched from the ops room.

Seeing them hustle sparked memories of my first awakening.

Jenny, Ollie.

How reassuring they were. Before, I trembled alone. HP was bad, but loneliness cut deepest.

Precious. Lifelong partners in my hunter life.

As long as they need me.

Lost in sentiment, Ollie yelled.

"MISSION CLEAR!"

"Ehh? For real???"

"It worked?"

"Yessir! Safe now!"

Ollie showed the control screen.

A single rail line displayed.

A tiny green train icon blinked on it.

"Do this!"

Flash!

"...Impressive."

Station fully isolated.

The abandoned subway's biggest flaw: Necrophilia knows entry methods. Fail to fix that, and it's absolutely no-go for shelter. But,

Block villain access at the source, and it's hidden as a 'hidden dungeon' pre-shelter. Nothing better.

And it was real.

"Install CCTV in key spots and head back. Jenny. Ollie. Good work!"

"Yes, Captain!" Jenny raised both arms to the screen,

"Heh. Super efficient install, yo." Ollie puffed up proudly.

They scampered around, rigging ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠CCTV everywhere.

Vrrr...

Click! Click!

"Reporting back! Captain!"

Ops room buzzed again.

We reviewed the station via CCTV.

No dangers left inside.

"Umm... Necrophilia used the Hell Train for entry and exit, right...?"

Jenny nibbled her fingertip, deep in thought.

"Right, yo. Key is 'exit.' If other paths, they'd exit elsewhere—not enter the same way."

Conclusion.

'Abandoned subway station'—nobody but us can access it.

"Sightlines are zero, true. But ops room covers most, and for sniping, Jenny's magic is perfect—closed environment suits us!"

Jenny flinched at the sudden praise, clenching her fists.

"I'll make more warp points diligently!"

Basically a pass.

A subway as sniper shelter?

Normally, worst option—not even worth considering. Probably just 'current location' on level-up.

But,

For me, different.

With Ollie and Jenny, it was a natural fortress.

Just my call left?

Then,

"But!!!"

Ollie raised his voice like it wouldn't do.

"Hey! No yelling at Captain!"

But Jenny had words on this too.

"We'll scout a few more spots, Captain."

Point: New shelters only at Level 100 increments—be thorough.

Exactly.

"System picks only—worth our own scouting!"

As Ollie said, candidates were just that.

"Hmm. I think nothing matches the station's stealth, but."

They agreed.

But Ollie's extra points made sense—on-site checks couldn't hurt.

Be cautious.

These guys thought deeper than me. Grateful...

"We'll scout together, super safe, per Captain's orders!"

First [agent field trip proposal].

They could bail instantly if risky.

...What's best?

"Unregistered......"

Unregistered. Unregistered. Unregistered.

Unregistered. Unregistered. Unregistered. Unregistered. Unregistered. Unregistered!

Kwaaaang!

The cathedral table split in half.

"Huff. Huff......"

The bishop, barely surviving mental collapse, gasped raggedly.

Limbs severed, skin shredded, fried in boiling oil—the pain he'd dreamed as hell felt tame now.

And it was hallucination.

If not bishop-rank, the hallucination alone would've twisted him to death.

"UNREEEEGISTERED!"

While unconscious, Necrophilia's core hidden dungeon—key base—got breached and fully cleared.

Resending villains: Hell Train wouldn't run. Suspected unregistered trashed internals.

"Damn, damn! Unregistered!"

Holy relics exposed, nations recovering authentics—not fatal yet.

But,

Losing that...!

Massive plan snag.

Core outpost snatched.

Bishop's porcelain skin long blackened. From unregistered's mental attack.

"Not over yet."

Steeling himself, he chose extremes.

He waved—

Shoosh! Shoosh!

Necrophilia execs appeared, prostrating. Ones uninvolved in unregistered vs. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Hongmaehwa fight.

High execs embedded everywhere.

One rose, approaching.

Suit crisp, gentlemanly vibe—no villain look.

Brown hair neatly combed.

ID around neck: Hunter Management Bureau of Korea.

He handed system data.

"Hoo..."

Video. Title:

"Took considerable time to extract."

Tiny girl in bureau ops room.

Dark inside, but crimson-black mage robe, elementary-school build.

Plus,

"My senses confirm: she has 'virgin mana.'"

"Virgin mana."

"Yes. No one else can detect it. Near-nonexistent here. Rare even in Arcana line."

'Not if I, with faint matching mana, hadn't.' He added.

"Can you catch her?"

"If we cross paths, yes. Mana residue: easy within 3-4 km."

Bishop ground teeth.

"Unregistered. Think you can defy His will and live?"

He roared near-order to execs.

"The rest—all of you,"

"......"

"Push Hell Gate opening to extremes. No holds barred."

"As commanded."

Shoosh, shoosh!

Execs vanished from cathedral.

"I still have ways, Lord of Death."

Bet everything to make the plan happen.

《Location Unknown》

"Hm?"

Hongmaehwa's Seol propped her chin, tapping her cheek curiously.

Bureau infiltrator Necrophilia spy on the move.

Odorless tracker talisman fed her real-time intel.

"Finally squirming?"

Watched quietly, wondering how long it'd fidget cutely.

"Curious."

Seol dissolved into red smoke.

End