The Chain and the Gunfire
Choi Yoo-ra spoke briefly and swung her chain. Chrrrrrr!Chaaah! The chain’s power was brutal. “Kack!” “Kyaaak!” The monsters melted like ketchup. With a single swing she wrapped up three at once and ground them apart—it was almost satisfying to watch. That’s what a real dealer looks like.
My eyes grew distant as I watched her. That kind of overwhelming firepower was exactly what I had longed for in my previous life. Because I had awakened as a non-combat class, I had never once been able to sweep enemies away like that. The attack skills of non-combat hunters barely worked on anything above three stars, so that kind of slaughter had been nothing but a dream. I could only watch dealers like Choi Yoo-ra do the killing while I quietly did my own job.
“Cough! Cough-cough!” The guard’s coughing cut into my thoughts. I snapped back to reality and hurried over to him.
“Don’t pass out. Keep your eyes open. Got it?”
He nodded with difficulty.
“I’m going to stop the bleeding and pour potions on you now. You won’t die, so don’t worry. I’ll get you out of here somehow, so just grit your teeth and hold on. Understand?”
While I kept talking to keep him conscious, I pulled medical supplies from the emergency kit. I put on latex gloves, disinfected the wound with hydrogen peroxide, then poured a life-recovery potion made from purified monster blood and gate-grown plants to speed up healing. After stitching the wound, I helped him to his feet.
“Huh?” His eyes slowly closed.
I tapped his cheeks. “Don’t lose consciousness. Stay with me. We’re almost there.”
“Kgh…”
“You little bastard! You want to die here? What’s your name?”
“Kgh…”
“I asked for your name.”
“Kim… Du… hyeon…”
“Du what?”
“Du-hyeon…”
“All right, Du-hyeon. Open your mouth. Say ah.”
“But, sir…”
“…?”
“How old are you…? You’ve been speaking informally this whole time…”
This guy was something else. Worrying about age at a time like this?
“I’m thirty-four.”
Wait, wasn’t I twenty-four at this point in time? Whatever. It didn’t matter.
“Please… speak informally.”
“……”
I glared at him for a moment, then grabbed his jaw and forced it open. “Ah. Say ah.”
“Ah.”
“Swallow. It’s antibiotics.”
I pushed the pill deep into his throat and followed it with a life potion. The antibiotics were in case of infection. Monsters didn’t carry new viruses, but they were walking bags of bacteria. Even if external wounds could be treated, many people died from bacterial infections or sepsis, so antibiotics weren’t optional—they were mandatory.
“Kgh!” Even while struggling, he forced the medicine and potion down. He clearly wanted to live.
“Kuk.” A small laugh escaped me. Kim Du-hyeon, was it? The guy had survival instincts to match his stubbornness.
“Feeling better?”
“Yes, a bit.”
His face had visibly improved after drinking the life potion. Just moments ago he had been fading in and out.
“If you’re awake, get up. Here.”
“Thank you.”
He took my offered hand and stood. He looked dizzy from blood loss, but a transfusion was impossible right now, so there was nothing to do but endure.
“You fight well and your first aid is professional. Are you active duty?”
Choi Yoo-ra, who had finished wiping out the monsters, approached and asked.
“No, civilian.”
I smiled. It had been a long time since I’d seen my lifesaver. And I’d saved her twice now, so I was genuinely grateful.
“Isn’t it a bit rude to speak so casually to the person who saved you? You look younger than me, too.”
Choi Yoo-ra’s voice was cold. You started using informal speech first.
“I’m thirty-four. How about you?”
“……”
Choi Yoo-ra fell silent.
* * *
It had been a little tight, but everything had gone according to plan so far. I had saved the couple who lived in the same apartment but had never once met face-to-face, and I had kept Du-hyeon alive—though that part wasn’t particularly important. What mattered was meeting Choi Yoo-ra.
Why had I come home even though I knew the transfer would happen? Choi Yoo-ra was the most important piece in recreating the exact conditions under which I had awakened as a hunter in my previous life. I could have tried to force an awakening somewhere else with a different method, but it was too risky. Being able to predict variables—or not—and control the situation—or not—made all the difference. I had come back to the past; dying without even awakening would be unacceptable. If I awakened only to die immediately, I wouldn’t even be able to close my eyes in peace.
“The bombing will start soon. Move quickly.”
“Understood.”
Supporting Du-hyeon, I followed behind Choi Yoo-ra.
“Honey, that young lady… she’s that young lady, right?”
“I think so.”
“Aigoo. How can such a young and pretty girl be so strong?”
“She must be a hunter.”
I could hear the couple whispering about Choi Yoo-ra. She was classified as a fourth-generation hunter—not a ranker, but she had a decent reputation. She was strong, and her distinctive decadent beauty, the unique tattoos covering her body, and the cool callsign Bloody Mary had all contributed to her fame.
“We’re almost there, so hang in there a little longer.”
Chrrrrrr! Choi Yoo-ra swung the chains wrapped around both hands and carved a path forward without hesitation. We were about fifty meters from escaping the transfer zone when I spoke.
“Wait a second.”
I called out to Choi Yoo-ra.
“Let’s rest for a bit before we go.”
“Why? Tired?”
“A little?”
I had deliberately slowed us down, but her pace was still too fast.
“Endure it.”
Choi Yoo-ra’s voice was stern.
“I already told you. The bombing will start soon.”
“That’s true, but…”
Chrrrrrr! Her chain shot out and tore the ground right in front of me.
“If you don’t want to die, move.”
“……”
“Now.”
Damn, that temper of hers. Moving too fast will actually put us in more danger. Haah. The problem was that I had no way to stop her right now. It would have been the same even before I regressed. She was a dealer; I was a supporter with zero offensive skills.
Should I just point a gun at her?
I quietly raised the muzzle toward her, but a chain came flying at me out of nowhere. What the—
“……!”
Chrrrrrr! Before I could react, the chain grazed past my temple. I was so shocked I couldn’t even ask how she had known. Was Choi Yoo-ra this sharp? I had only meant to threaten her by pointing the gun, yet she had sensed killing intent?
“Come out while I’m still asking nicely. Before I tear you apart.”
“……?”
“Not you.”
Choi Yoo-ra jerked her chin, signaling me to move aside. I stepped back in confusion. The bushes where the chain pointed began to rustle, and one by one, figures wearing frog masks crawled out. The masks were Pepe—the famous character Pepe the Frog. Joker Pepe, Crying Pepe, Angry Pepe, Laughing Pepe… all kinds of frog faces surrounded us.
“What, robbing empty houses isn’t enough for you anymore? You disgusting Lecka bastards.”
Choi Yoo-ra wore a cold smile. Lecka. A new breed of criminals that had started appearing eight or nine years ago. They mainly operated in urban areas. When they had nothing to do, they would park their motorcycles, tap into police and military radio, hack CCTV, or fly drones to observe transfer phenomena. The moment a transfer occurred, they would ride straight to the site and commit every crime imaginable—burglary, murder, rape, arson. Their usual method was to beat and threaten victims, then steal valuables or transfer money into mule accounts. Modern-day bandits born of the times. Hyenas living in the concrete jungle—that was the perfect description for Lecka.
“Kukuk!” The Joker Pepe grinned eerily.
“Look at this bitch acting all high and mighty just because she’s a four-star.”
“Bitch?”
“Yeah, you bitch.”
Joker Pepe sneered.
“Do we look like some random nobodies to you? You think we’re scared of a little girl like you? Kukukuk!”
“Kakakakaka!”
The frogs were overflowing with confidence—and they had every right to be. These Lecka weren’t ordinary non-awakened people. Out of nearly ten frog-masked figures, eight or nine were awakened. They were a formidable force. Even if Choi Yoo-ra was a four-star hunter, her life wasn’t guaranteed against them. That wasn’t speculation; it was experience. In my previous life, Choi Yoo-ra had been critically wounded and nearly died. If I hadn’t carried her away after awakening, she would have been caught in the bombing along with the corpses of the Lecka she had killed and turned to ash.
Choi Yoo-ra’s lips curved into a chilling smile.
“Interesting.”
She stepped toward the frogs.
“Fine. If that’s what you want, I’ll give it to you.”
“Oh? You’ll give it to us? What exactly?”
“I’ll cut off your dicks and shove them down your throats—”
Bang!
“Aagh!”
With the gunshot, one frog went down.
“Who the hell was that?!”
Me. Why?
“Aagh!”
“You crazy bastard!”
Drdrdrdrdrdrdrdr!
I answered with a full-auto burst from the carbine.
“Get low and run!”
I shouted and dragged Du-hyeon behind a nearby rock for cover.