The Warriors Assemble (1)
With the various guilds in Busan gathered under one roof, I finished my report on the extermination target, the Dirty Kraken.
For about fifteen minutes, I laid out everything I knew about the sea monster: its appearance, its size, the way it fought, and the rest of its defining traits.
Know the enemy and know yourself, and you need not fear the outcome. Now that we had that much, it was time to build a strategy.
“Heo.”
“Yes, sir!”
At my call, Heo Da-yeong hurried into motion. She spun the whiteboard she’d been using around, revealing a printed map of the Busan area.
“The tentacles are expected to breach somewhere along this stretch...”
I tapped one point on the map with the pointer, then drew a line straight across it.
“From Saha District to Gijang County.”
Between the East Sea and the South Sea, it covered almost every coastal area in Busan.
The room filled with murmurs.
“That’s way too wide.”
“We don’t have nearly enough people here for that.”
“Hmph. Can we really block all of it?”
In an instant, the mood in the gym went cold, as if someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over everyone’s head.
In my previous life, the reason the Dirty Kraken had turned Busan into a wasteland was its wide-area attacks. It could sever its own eight legs like a lizard shedding its tail, turn them into tentacles, and launch indiscriminate attacks at the surface. The severed limbs regenerated almost immediately.
Eight.
Sixteen.
Twenty-four.
Thirty-six.
...and so on, multiplying exponentially.
“So you can’t just point out three exact spots?”
“What are you, some kind of fortune teller?”
“If we knew that, we wouldn’t be going through this hell.”
I did know the Dirty Kraken’s information from my past life, but back then I hadn’t been on the scene. All I’d had were scraps of information blasted across the media for months, plus an article or two I’d read online.
I remembered the date of the invasion.
But I don’t know the exact location.
The Blackcap Guild’s leader stroked his bulging stomach.
“If we’re saying the octopus body itself is close to apocalypse-class, then how strong are the tentacles individually?”
“I’d estimate somewhere between Collapse and Ruins.”
The atmosphere sank even lower.
No one was smiling or joking anymore. No one even dared speak carelessly. For a long moment, silence hung over the gym.
Not long ago, the Bullet Bird that attacked Seomyeon had been a Ruins-class monster. It had nearly wiped out the entire Dio Guild Busan team.
“...So we’d need at least A-class hunters to take on just one tentacle alone.”
Among the people gathered here, A-class hunters could be counted on one hand.
In other words, to deal with a single tentacle, multiple low-ranking hunters—the bulk of the people here—would have to throw themselves at it all at once.
Someone let out a long, sinking sigh.
“Damn. My knees are going weak all of a sudden.”
“I don’t want to die before I even get married.”
“Hey, don’t say crap like that!”
War with monsters wasn’t child’s play. It could leave you maimed, burden you with lifelong aftereffects, or kill you outright. One wrong step, and your entire life could be ruined beyond repair.
In the heavy silence, I spoke.
“That’s right. This will not be easy. It may very well become the most dangerous mission of your lives.”
The reason I’d gathered the hunters here today was to strengthen the team’s cohesion. That didn’t mean I could paint nothing but a rosy future, and I certainly wasn’t going to throw out some ridiculous, empty promise.
Instead—
“Still, there’s no need to panic. The defensive area may be vast, but the tentacles aren’t infinite.”
I colored in the coastal region with a red pen.
“They’ll have to pass through this route. In other words, this is a predictable corridor.”
I kept building the briefing toward its peak.
“This operation’s code name is Trap.”
A trap for catching fish, made from bamboo or netting. Once bait was placed inside, the prey drawn in by the lure would be caught and unable to escape.
“When the tentacles come in, we let them enter however they please—but we make sure they can never get back out.”
I set down the red pen and picked up a blue one.
On the map, behind the coast, I colored the land far from the sea in blue.
Then I snapped the cap closed and met each of their eyes one by one.
“You all know better than anyone who lives here.”
Children, pregnant women, teenagers, grandfathers, grandmothers...
And—
“If you want to protect your families, the Busan guilds have to stand together.”
The eyes watching me burned hot.
The way to unite people who had been scattered in all directions was simple: create a common enemy outside themselves.
That habit had been carved into human DNA since the primitive age.
When a threat to the community was assumed to exist beyond its borders, that community would define the outside presence as an enemy and seek unity with astonishing intensity.
Human beings were that easily bowed by fear.
And they were willing to sacrifice and yield anything for the people they cherished.
I brushed my hand over the red-marked area on the map.
“This is our battlefield. You’re the final line of defense. So let me ask you again: will you get scared before the fight even begins and hand your families over to the Dirty Kraken, or will you...”
I stood straight and drove my gaze into them.
“...fight to the end with me?”
Mun Dal-su shot to his feet.
“Of course we’ll fight!”
His voice was the signal flare. One by one, as if they’d rehearsed it, everyone else started rising from their chairs.
“So what if there are a lot of them! We just make sure not a single one gets away!”
“Damn right! We’ll shred those octopus legs and then go eat gukbap together!”
“Hell yeah!!”
Without even meaning to, the Blackcap, Blood Warrior, and Gwangnang guilds all closed ranks.
The only one left was a mustached man sitting with his legs crossed, still in his chair.
Park Yu-tae, the leader of Dongbaek Guild.
His empty sleeve drew the eye more than anything else.
Mun Dal-su, who had been watching quietly, walked over to Park Yu-tae.
“We didn’t even greet each other properly earlier.”
He held out his hand.
“We were sorry about what happened back then. Since things have come to this, let’s just leave the past behind and start over, yeah?”
Park Yu-tae looked at Mun Dal-su, then shifted his gaze to me.
“I thought you were just lumping together a bunch of nobodies for some half-baked plan. But this is the direction you’re taking? Childish.”
It was a deliberately provocative remark.
If Park Yu-tae turned uncooperative now, I’d have to start over from scratch.
Not that he would.
I was a master of lies, and I could already tell just by looking at his face.
He’s in.
Park Yu-tae rose from his seat.
Dongbaek Guild was one body that could not be separated from Park Yu-tae.
“Well, sometimes being childish isn’t such a bad thing.”
He held out his uninjured hand and shook Mun Dal-su’s.
“Dongbaek’s in too.”
A round of powerful cheers shook the gym.
The guild members all went home.
Only the Dio Guild was left in the gym.
“Whew. I’m drained. I’m wiped.”
“Geumwi Daejang is still terrifying. Man, my skin’s crawling.”
“Still, at least we don’t have to avoid the Dongbaek guys anymore.”
“True. That really is a relief.”
The Dio and Dongbaek guilds had been bitter enemies for a long time. Whenever they ran into each other on the street, both sides would turn around without saying a word.
Now that they had finally joined hands with Dongbaek Guild too, the Busan team from Dio looked as if a weight had been lifted from their shoulders.
“Hunter Choi. So what are we supposed to do now?”
I’d put them through intense training all this time. There was no need to push them any harder up to the day before the operation.
“Head home early today and rest well. Eat something good, take a bath, and go to bed early. No alcohol, though.”
“Heh. No alcohol? You got us there. What a shame.”
“Anyone want to hit the sauna with me? Hey, Mun-ik, our youngest. Come on!”
“Ah, yes!”
One by one, the Busan team began scattering.
They were all heading for the door when Mun Dal-su stopped, turned around, and came back to me.
“Hunter Choi. Got a second? I need to talk to you.”
We moved to the back, where the square ring sat in the center of the gym.
There, we could speak privately.
“Is it true the tentacles are somewhere between Collapse and Ruins?”
“Mm. If anything, they’re closer to Collapse. Sometimes, thanks to mutagens, a handful of individuals can rise to Ruins, but...”
“Phew. That’s a relief.”
Mun Dal-su let out a breath of relief.
“I was worried about the kids...”
He wasn’t asking for his own protection. As team leader, Mun Dal-su put his guild members first.
“Our side’s level is cutting it close.”
The Dio Guild Busan team didn’t have any high-ranking hunters.
Most of them were C- to D-class.
And the youngest, Jang Na-ik, was even below that.
“Tsk. To think there’d come a day when I’d miss Harpy... No, wait. It’s better that bastard isn’t here.”
With Harpy, the only A-class hunter they had, gone, there was a gaping hole in their combat strength.
“Hunter Choi, you won’t be staying on land, right?”
“No. In a few days, I’ll head out onto the sea.”
While the guilds in Busan held the tentacles back, I would strike at the main body.
That was the core tactic of Trap.
“Can’t be helped. We’ve got nowhere else to ask for help.”
There was no way to ask another guild for support just to save Dio. They barely had enough manpower to defend the wide area in front of them as it was.
“Sorry for bringing it up for nothing. I was just being cautious. We’ll manage on our own.”
Mun Dal-su gave a bitter smile and turned away.
“Team Leader Mun.”
His steps stopped.
“The Busan team isn’t the same as it used to be. All the work you’ve put in is going to show. Trust your guild members.”
Mun Dal-su smiled faintly.
The look in his eyes as he turned back was bright and sharp.
“Yeah, that’s right. I’m confident. You know why I’m confident?”
I was curious.
Why were his eyes shining when the odds were so clearly stacked against them?
“Because of you, Hunter Choi. Headquarters sent us Dio Guild’s best hunter, didn’t they? And after special training under you, of course he’d get stronger! Right?”
When someone trusted me with their whole heart...
Was that a burden?
Or was it strength?
If it had been the old me, I might have spent all my time running away from the crushing weight of responsibility.
After losing my family.
After living as a coward.
After hiding in a factory for thirty years just like I had in those days...
But now—
“See you tomorrow, Hunter Choi!”
Mun Dal-su waved and disappeared.
All that remained in the gym was the sound of Heo Da-yeong sweeping the floor.
That meant I was done with what I’d come here to do.
Team Leader Mun’s words are bothering me.
If an A-class hunter joined the Busan team, it would surely help. But finding a high-ranking hunter like that wasn’t easy.
Then someone came to mind.
Yeah. That’ll do it.
I called someone.
“Oh! Boss! What’s going on? I heard you were in Busan. You doing well?”
His voice blasted through the receiver with such force it sounded like spit was flying out with every word.
“I’m doing fine. What about you? Nothing major going on?”
“Same as always. I just got back from a business trip to Gyeonggi-do. I’m on my way back after smashing monsters in Yangpyeong.”
The man on the other end was a fellow Dio Guild hunter.
Bang Su-hwan, a giant of a man who usually served as a tank.
“So you’ve reached C-class now. Congrats. Your grade’s higher than mine.”
“Aw, come on. The rank doesn’t mean anything when you’re way stronger than I am, Boss.”
While I’d been in Busan, the hunters at Dio headquarters had kept racking up achievements and steadily climbed the ranks.
“You’re still in Busan, right? When are you coming back up?”
“I was planning to go back after this is over. Su-hwan, you got time?”
“For what?”
“Right now.”
“Right now? Hmm. I just finished a big job, so I’m free enough... What’s up?”
“It’s dangerous work. Can you come down to Busan for me?”
“Heh. When has our job ever not been dangerous? I’m in. If you’re calling, I’m coming.”
It was a sudden request without any prior arrangement, but Bang Su-hwan accepted immediately.
“Need anything else?”
“If possible...”
In my mind, I pictured the faces of the old comrades I’d fought beside for so long.
“Bring the rest of our classmates.”
That night, familiar faces gathered at Busan Station.
“Whoa! The smell of the sea is insane!”
Bang Su-hwan spread his thick arms wide as he stepped off the train. Even on his day off, he’d raced straight to Busan the moment Choi Yongki called.
“What sea smell? Don’t overdo it.”
Beside Bang Su-hwan stood a female hunter with her hair tied back in a ponytail, Ha Se-na.
Ha Se-na had recently reached B+ rank, well above the estimate the machine had given her.
And last—
“Choi Yongki... Who do you think I am, your lackey? If I see you, I’m not letting it slide.”
The Dio Guild’s rookie, the only one among his classmates to hit A-class in the shortest time possible, made his entrance.
Lee Ji-jun, the white-haired hunter.