Chapter 20
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Gangwon-do Incident (2)
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A massive centipede burst into view from the right side of the road. The car trembled violently as the beast barreled through the dense thicket of trees.
"M-M-Monster!"
Lee Hyun-sik, who was driving, glanced to the right and freaked out, slamming his foot on the accelerator. The car sped up in an instant, but the giant centipede was even faster.
"W-What do we do?!"
Chae Seol-ah turned to Kim Hyun with a panicked expression.
Kim Hyun was casually eyeing the giant centipede, as if she were on a safari tour.
"How strong is that thing, anyway?"
"Huh?"
"I mean, on a scale, how tough is that centipede?"
"I-I don't know!"
Chae Seol-ah shook her head frantically and shouted.
Kim Hyun smacked her lips and raised her hand.
The next moment.
Snap!
With a flick of her fingers, the charging centipede was sliced into segments. The severed chunks flew through the air, scattering wildly across the road as momentum carried them forward.
The road suddenly turned into an obstacle course, and Lee Hyun-sik screamed.
"Aaaah!"
Vrooom!
But Lee Hyun-sik pulled it off. He wrenched the wheel like a madman, dodging every flying centipede chunk.
"W-We lived. We survived."
"Not yet."
Kim Hyun shrugged while checking the rearview mirror.
"Huh?"
"They're still chasing us from behind."
"What do you mean— Aaaack!"
Kim Hyun was right.
A horde of monsters was pursuing their car in a relentless pack, like hunters after prey.
A few of the trailing monsters hurled weapons at the vehicle. The projectiles stabbed into the road haphazardly, and Lee Hyun-sik's face crumpled.
"Oh man, I'm done for!"
"Quit whining and drive straight."
"Oh man!"
While Lee Hyun-sik drove with every ounce of his strength.
Kim Hyun turned to Chae Seol-ah with a question.
"Does this happen a lot?"
Chae Seol-ah shook her head vigorously and yelled.
"Never, absolutely never! Gangwon-do is infamous for monster attacks, but I've never seen this many swarming together at once!"
"Hmm."
"B-But what do we do?"
Chae Seol-ah glanced back and said.
"At this rate, they're gonna catch us...!"
"Then let 'em catch us."
Kim Hyun muttered nonchalantly.
At that moment.
Boom! The car jolted hard with a deafening crash.
A spear had embedded itself right next to them.
"Arghhh!"
Lee Hyun-sik soon spat out a curse.
"We're screwed!"
"Why?"
"The tire! T-The tire! The tire's busted!"
Kim Hyun stuck her head out the shattered window and checked the wheel. Sure enough, the tire was shredded, and the car was shaking wildly.
"We can't outrun them like this."
"D-Do something, Kim Hyun!"
"Hold on. I'm thinking."
Kim Hyun sized up the monsters closing in from behind.
By her standards, they were all too weak to gauge properly.
It was like trying to compare the strength of a fire ant to a white ant.
But Kim Hyun managed it.
She distinguished their levels.
"Hm. These might make decent practice dummies."
Muttering to herself, Kim Hyun raised her right hand and pressed it against the car's roof.
Crunch!
The entire top of the car crumpled instantly.
The dented roof balled up into a massive metal sphere.
"Wh-What?!"
Lee Hyun-sik looked up in shock as the roof ripped away.
And at the same moment, the metal ball rocketed toward the monsters.
Splat!
Holes punched straight through the bodies of the monsters it hit.
Even so, plenty more monsters kept chasing after Kim Hyun's group.
Kim Hyun stood on the back seat, sorting her thoughts.
'Something's up back there.'
In Kim Hyun's judgment, monsters were generally beast-like.
And beasts got scared. They felt fear.
So.
If they kept charging even as their comrades exploded beside them, they weren't ordinary beasts.
'Brainwashing? Control? Domination?'
Whatever the method, these monsters were being manipulated. She didn't know the exact command, but they were clearly ordered to pursue to the end.
'Brings back memories.'
A smile crept onto Kim Hyun's lips.
It felt familiar, somehow.
Familiar enough to remind her of someone in hell.
But nostalgia was brief.
Slash!
Kim Hyun swung her hand, butchering the monsters.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
In seconds, limbs flew as the monsters were dismantled. Kim Hyun left exactly the number she needed alive and turned to Lee Hyun-sik.
"Stop."
"Huh?"
"I said stop."
Lee Hyun-sik turned to look behind them.
The road was littered with mangled corpses.
"...Got it!"
He slammed on the brakes.
Screeech!
The car skidded to a halt, leaving a long trail of marks.
Kim Hyun leaped out of the car. The shattered glass and roof made it easy to exit.
"My car..."
Lee Hyun-sik sighed deeply at the totaled wreck, hanging his head.
Kim Hyun ignored him and called to Chae Seol-ah, who was awkwardly climbing out.
"Agent Chae."
"Oof! Yes?"
"See those?"
Kim Hyun nodded toward them, and Chae Seol-ah turned.
Three surviving monsters were rising from the pile of severed bodies.
"You take those three. Just those."
"...Huh?!"
Chae Seol-ah recoiled in horror.
"W-Why me! Can't you just handle the rest too, Kim Hyun...?"
"Tch."
Kim Hyun frowned.
"Didn't you say you'd do whatever I told you back then?"
"Ugh..."
Chae Seol-ah bit her lip, her face crumpling.
She quickly got into position and gathered her mana.
"I'll... I'll give it a shot."
"Good."
Kim Hyun had left only monsters weaker than Chae Seol-ah's mana, so she could handle them alone.
With that in mind, Kim Hyun kicked off the ground and leaped into the air.
Hovering midair, she pulled one of the rolling monster corpses up toward her. Staring at the floating body, she narrowed her eyes.
"Huh?"
This really felt familiar.
'The control method is exactly like hers.'
No, not just like...
"It's actually her?"
Kim Hyun squinted.
"Hmmm."
She needed to figure this out.
Blue House, President's Office.
President Han Sung-ho took a deep breath and stared fixedly at the document on his desk.
The title: "Kim Hyun Treaty."
As the name implied, it outlined the relationship between South Korea and Kim Hyun.
"Ahem."
Clearing his throat lightly, President Han Sung-ho looked up at his Chief of Staff standing before the desk.
The middle-aged chief nodded quietly, and Han swallowed hard.
He checked the first page of the treaty.
[The Republic of Korea hereby establishes a friendly relationship with Hunter Kim Hyun, respects Kim Hyun, and pledges not to interfere in any way with Kim Hyun's personal life...]
The chief glanced at the first page and asked in a hesitant voice.
"...Who wrote this?"
President Han Sung-ho nodded.
"I did."
"...Isn't this too subservient? We're the Republic of Korea, after all. Bowing to a single hunter like this..."
At that moment.
"That mouth of yours!"
President Han Sung-ho slammed both hands on the desk.
The chief flinched and stepped back.
"Could you say that in front of the dead ministers?!"
"Th-That's..."
"Even with your life hanging by a thread, you think you could say it? Chief of Staff, do you not die even if your head's cut off? Think you could spout that crap with your own neck on the line?!"
Despite the president's outburst, the chief said nothing. Han Sung-ho clicked his tongue at the pathetic sight and offered advice.
"Just stay quiet, Chief of Staff. Play it safe in the middle. Don't go showing off and get assassinated."
The chief's face hardened instantly.
He bowed his head deeply.
"Understood."
Only then did President Han Sung-ho calm down. He pulled a cigarette from his pocket and lit it. The chief promptly offered a lighter. Taking a deep drag, Han groaned softly.
"But..."
"Yes?"
"But, you know."
The chief tilted his head, and President Han Sung-ho gripped his trembling cigarette, muttering.
"Does this treaty really have to be made public?"
"...Well."
"I mean, what's the point? Reporters invading privacy and all that. It doesn't benefit Hunter Kim Hyun one bit if it's out there. Right?"
"..."
"Can't we make this a secret treaty?"
The chief gave a wry smile at the president's pathetic display. He took a deep breath and offered sincere counsel to his boss.
"That depends on what Hunter Kim Hyun wants."
"Argh, this is driving me nuts."