Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: A Call to War
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Around the time Do-jae's party was heading for the structure.
"Chwik!"
A Red Orc Shaman sat in a hut woven from wood and grass.
He was crafting something—a long wooden staff, to which he was affixing a stark white skull.
The skull, clearly not from an orc but some other monster, was scraped clean of flesh and had two sharp horns jutting from its crown.
"Chwiiik!"
He decorated it by tying cloth around the horns, letting out a satisfied snort.
This was his new staff, to be used in future rituals.
Thump, thump—.
Having finished the staff, he turned to the wall.
Hanging on the wall was the old staff he had used until now.
He intended to break the old, now useless staff.
It wasn't a memento, and to any orc other than the shaman, it was just a club to be used a few times and then discarded.
"Chwik."
He carefully laid the new staff aside and picked up the old one.
And just as he was about to break it—!
"Chwik!"
He suddenly threw himself to the side, his head snapping up toward the ceiling.
Even for a shaman specializing in magic, an orc was still an orc.
He had acted on pure instinct, sensing killing intent.
Pshuk—.
Unfortunately, the Red Orc Shaman's reaction was far too slow compared to his opponent's.
"Chwi... Chwik."
With his throat pierced, he twitched.
He managed a faint snort, but it was a meaningless gesture.
Srrk—.
A blue-glowing sword sliced down from his neck.
The blade split the shaman's body as smoothly as tearing through taffy.
"The shaman is dead. Let's begin."
"Yes, Squad Leader."
Fwoosh—!
At Do-jae's command, Song Ji-yoon, who had been waiting quietly on the roof, fired a flare into the sky.
Seeing this signal, Kang Eun-taek would charge from the left, and Kim Jun-seo from the right.
And at the center, Do-jae and Song Ji-yoon would hunt the panicking Red Orcs!
"Leader, let's go!"
In this perilous situation, Song Ji-yoon said with a grin.
***
And so, several days passed.
Deep in Sector 7 stood a Red Orc Shaman.
His name was Kuiga.
Kuiga possessed an intellect far superior to that of other Red Orcs.
Perhaps that was why.
Strange words constantly echoed in Kuiga's mind.
[War....]
[Kill....]
[Humans....]
A special language that other orcs could not hear.
It was a change that occurred when they crossed over to this world.
Kuiga believed it to be the language of a god.
The words of a god who sought to accomplish something through him.
Kuiga immediately went to see the chieftain.
- Chwik chwik, the god desires war!
- Chwik, what are you talking about?
- Chwik chwik, we must expand our village and kill the humans!
- Chwik, how? The village is large enough!
The chieftain was a simple-minded brute, strong but foolish.
He could not comprehend Kuiga's intentions.
Blinded by the god's words, Kuiga unleashed strength far beyond his usual limits and killed the chieftain.
Having killed the chieftain, it was only natural that Kuiga would become the next one.
And so, Kuiga declared himself a messenger of the god and created a theocratic society, serving as both chieftain and shaman.
- Chwik chwik, offer the other tribes to me!
Kuiga waged war against the surrounding tribes, conquering them one by one.
After forcibly subjugating four of the thirteen other tribes in the region, the remaining nine bowed their heads and submitted to Kuiga.
Resistance was futile against Kuiga's now massive tribe. Besides, submitting saved the lives of their tribesmen, and the presence of a "messenger of the god" provided a convenient excuse that allowed them to save face.
Kuiga shared power with those four chieftains, forging a single, unified tribe.
Thus, a great tribe of several hundred Red Orcs was born.
But today.
News arrived that three tribes had vanished.
"Chwik! The Kaika, Kureku, and Kowak tribes are gone!"
"Chwik chwik? Kaika, Kureku, and Kowak?"
The Kaika, Kureku, and Kowak were minor tribes located on the outskirts of the great tribe's territory.
Because of their location, they often fought with other races, but now, they had suddenly disappeared.
"Chwik chwik! Who was it! Who killed them!"
"Chwik! Humans!"
The humans. He had left them alone until now, busy as he was with uniting the Red Orc tribes.
But those foolish humans had dared to touch his tribe.
Having finally united all the tribes that had appeared in this land, Kuiga felt the time had come.
"Chwik chwik! We will kill the humans! Prepare for war!"
***
At that moment, cries of pain echoed through the barracks of Chilgok Unit's Squad 3.
"Awooo. Please be a little gentler with the wrapping."
Tightly—!
Do-jae pulled the bandage tight to secure it.
"All done."
"Agh! Why doesn't our unit have a healer?"
Kim Jun-seo pulled his shirt on over the bandages wrapped from his shoulder to his back.
The wound wasn't very deep; it would heal cleanly in a few days without leaving a scar.
Smack—.
"What healer in their right mind would come here?"
"Ouch! Hey...!"
Song Ji-yoon had slapped Kim Jun-seo on the back.
Judging by the grotesque contortion of Kim Jun-seo's face, it must have hurt quite a bit.
"She's right. No healer would willingly sign up for this kind of hardship."
Park Jin-ho said, tossing his tattered clothes into a laundry basket.
As he said, the Suppression Corps had a severe shortage of healers compared to the guilds.
After all, what healer would choose to move from one remote outpost to another for little pay?
Thus, unless their injuries were severe, the Suppression Corps members treated themselves.
"By the way, Squad Leader, what exactly was that?"
Song Ji-yoon asked Do-jae, who was sitting quietly.
"What?"
"That thing. The chunks of rock that covered your whole body. I thought you were some kind of stone golem."
"More like a Stone Human than a Stone Golem."
As Song Ji-yoon spoke with exaggerated gestures, Kim Jun-seo took it a step further and started doing the robot dance.
"Pfft. Stone Human, he says. A rock man?"
"Right? Even your Stone Golem is all blunt and crude, but you weren't like that. So, Squad Leader, what is it?"
"Ah, Golem Armor."
Do-jae readily revealed the skill's name.
He had already shown the Golem Armor to his squad, and since it was a core skill he would be using continuously, there was no reason to hide it.
"Golem Armor? What's that? It sounds a bit... tacky."
Song Ji-yoon said, shaking her head.
Then, she put on a thoughtful expression.
"Yeah, it doesn't have a good ring to it."
"Hmm... I think it sounds fine."
"I agree. I think it's a fitting description."
"But 'Lee Do-jae of the Golem Armor' sounds weird, doesn't it? Our captain is 'Kim Hwan-soo of the Chilgok Sword.' That sounds cool."
While Song Ji-yoon was thinking, the other squad members chimed in.
Some liked it, some didn't.
This started to confuse Do-jae as well.
He thought it was just a simple skill name, but with his squad's divided opinions, he started to overthink it.
'Is Golem Armor really that strange? I never thought anyone would be calling out my skill's name....'
Just then, Song Ji-yoon, having finished her deliberation, spoke with a bright expression.
"How about Rock Suit?"
"Rock Suit? What are you, a rock star? What's a Rock Suit?"
"Yeah, sounds like a brand of bleach or something. Hehehe."
"Hey! I put some thought into it. Whatever. It just reminded me of Metallic Hero."
"Ooh. Now that you mention it, they are similar! Golem Hero Lee Do-jae!"
"Let's make a nickname for the squad leader. How about Golem-Man!"
Excited, the squad members each threw out their own nickname ideas.
The atmosphere suggested it wouldn't end anytime soon.
Do-jae quietly calmed his squad members down.
"That's enough. I don't need a nickname. Just Lee Do-jae is fine."
As they were laughing and chatting, someone opened the barracks flap and entered.
It was a soldier who handled administrative duties in the captain's office.
"Squad 3 Leader, the captain is asking for you."
***
Knock, knock—.
"Come in."
Do-jae opened the door and stepped inside.
"You called for me?"
Kim Hwan-soo, the captain of the Chilgok Unit, was polishing his sword.
"Have a seat for a moment."
Do-jae did as he was told and sat in a chair.
He then began to watch Kim Hwan-soo.
[Character Information]
Name: Kim Hwan-soo (Alias: Chilgok Sword)
Classification: Human
Details: 40 years old, Male, 185cm, 88kg, A-Rank Hunter (Awakened), Captain of the 3rd Suppression Corps' Chilgok Unit.
Status: Prudent / Meticulous / Focused
Kim Hwan-soo slowly felt the blade.
His sword was a flexible sword.
A flat, long, highly elastic sword that moved like an unpredictable snake.
It seemed the sword didn't have a specific name, but he was said to cherish it greatly.
[Chilgok Sword (七曲劍)]
The Chilgok Sword was not a skill, but a technique.
It was named for the way the straight blade could bend seven times.
According to Son Jeong-gyu, he had only seen it bend all seven times once.
It was when he saved the previous squad leader from a boss monster.
'I'm curious. What kind of destructive technique can come from such a delicate sword?'
Watching the sword bend to Kim Hwan-soo's touch, Do-jae felt a desire to see the technique for himself.
He had seen many hunters fight with various weapons and magic, but this was the first time he had seen someone use a flexible sword.
How would the sword bend?
How would the bent sword attack?
How fast would it be?
And could he block it?
His imagination ran wild.
"What are you staring at?"
"Huh?"
Kim Hwan-soo's words snapped Do-jae back to reality.
He looked up to see Kim Hwan-soo staring intently at him.
He must have been spacing out.
"I hear you've taken down three orc settlements in the past few days."
"Yes, that's correct."
"Good work."
Sheathing his sword, Kim Hwan-soo stood up and walked over to Do-jae.
In his hand was a bottle of a nutritional drink.
"Drink up."
"Thank you."
"Sorry about the test. I wanted to keep Squad Leader Shim by my side."
"Yes, sir. I understand."
"You look like you already knew."
"The Squad 2 Leader told me."
"Hah, so that guy isn't completely useless. Anyway, about Squad 2's suppression zone...."
Kim Hwan-soo didn't speak any more about the test.
Do-jae didn't want to make an issue of it either, figuring he should just let it go since it was already over.
"I'd like to swap it with your Squad 3."
"Yes, sir. But may I ask why?"
Changing suppression zones didn't really matter to him.
Anywhere was fine as long as he could hunt the overflowing monsters.
He only asked for the reason out of simple curiosity.
"The zone assigned to Squad 2 is currently our most critical suppression route. Squad 1 was originally in charge of it, but Squad Leader Kang is away with his men right now. And Squad 2's condition is... not great."
"Is that so? Understood. We'll take over."
"Good, Squad Leader Lee. Let's work well together."
"Yes, sir. I'll be taking my leave then."
Do-jae stood up from his seat.
Kim Hwan-soo waved at Do-jae with a satisfied smile as he left the barracks.