Pulling the Trigger
“Crazy bastard! Who the hell told you to pull the trigger without permission?”
Choi Yoo-ra unleashed a torrent of curses at me.
“We were going to kill them all anyway!” I shouted back.
It was the truth. The fight was inevitable. The Recka crew wearing Pepe masks were the worst of the worst—reckless, vicious thugs even among Reckas. Choi Yoo-ra was famous for her fiery temper, so once the insults started flying, mutual slaughter was the only logical outcome. She knew that too. She was just shocked I’d started shooting without any warning.
Given her personality, she was probably also pissed that a non-hunter like me had decided to start the fight on my own.
“You! I’ll deal with you later!”
“You planning to kill me too?”
“Yeah!”
“Everyone! The hunter’s trying to kill a civilian!” I yelled back, refusing to back down.
Spilled water couldn’t be put back in the cup. Once things settled, I’d probably just take a punch or two. No big deal.
“You fucking piece of shit!”
“Kill that bastard first!”
The Reckas, despite being hunters themselves, opened fire with guns.
Crack! Crack-crack-crack!
Bullets from the Recka thugs came flying. Several of them advanced toward the rock where Do-hyun and I were taking cover, using their allies’ suppressive fire.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Clatter-clatter-clatter!
At that moment, a chain whipped through the air and slammed into the ones providing cover fire.
“Aaaagh!”
“Shit!”
The suppressing Reckas dove for cover. Choi Yoo-ra’s chain was infamous for its brutality. Even a graze tore through skin and muscle, and getting wrapped up meant being ripped to shreds—limbs severed like nothing. A hit to the neck would cleanly decapitate you, and without sufficient defense, your torso could be sliced clean in half.
So the Reckas had no choice but to grit their teeth and dodge the chain at all costs.
Thanks to Choi Yoo-ra, I could poke my head out from behind the rock and unload on the approaching Reckas.
Rat-tat-tat-tat!
“Aaaagh!”
“Guh!”
The Bren 2’s muzzle spat fire, and the advancing Reckas dropped like Swiss cheese.
“That fucking bitch!”
“Ugh!”
Maybe because of the Pepe masks, the Reckas dodging Choi Yoo-ra’s chain really did look like frogs hopping around. It should’ve been comical, but my face stayed stone-cold.
I blasted one with the shotgun and sprayed full-auto into the clustered group, yet we weren’t in a good position. If this had been a fight between non-awakened civilians, more than half of them would already be dead. But these were hunters. A couple of bullets weren’t enough to put them down.
“Grrgh!”
The guy I’d dropped with the shotgun was slowly getting back up. He was covered in blood, but he didn’t look life-threateningly injured. Most of the ones hit by the bullet storm were still moving around fine. Only one non-awakened Recka with a lucky headshot had gone down for good.
Choi Yoo-ra had taken a few hits too, but she didn’t seem bothered. Of course not. Even the lowest 1-star hunters were protected by an invisible barrier about a meter around them that absorbed most of a bullet’s power. Unless you landed a clean headshot, even a 1-star could tank a shot or two. 3-star hunters were hard to seriously wound even with 7.62mm rifle rounds, and anything above 5 stars had barriers strong enough to deflect most large-caliber bullets.
That was why the surprise volley hadn’t done much damage, and why the Reckas hadn’t been particularly wary of guns in the first place. Some people even said that if a non-awakened wanted to kill a hunter, they should ditch guns for cold weapons like knives or axes and close to within one meter for melee. That was the gap between hunters and non-awakened. To the non-awakened, hunters were no different from monsters.
* * *
As I’d expected—actually, as I remembered—Choi Yoo-ra was struggling. Even though she was considered exceptional among 4-star hunters, she couldn’t handle three 3-star hunters plus a swarm of lower-rank ones at once.
Grind!
Choi Yoo-ra gritted her teeth and swung her chain, but the Reckas moved with the coordination of long-time comrades and steadily wore her down.
Still, I didn’t have time to worry about a 4-star hunter while I was just a non-awakened.
Click. Click.
I’d thought I brought plenty, but the rifle ammo was already gone.
Crack! Crack!
I switched to the pistol, but the Reckas returned fire, making it dangerous to even peek out.
“Th-the ammo!”
Do-hyun, hiding behind a tree with the couple, shouted in panic.
“Use this!”
I tossed him the Glock 23 and the shotgun.
“What about you, hyung?”
“I’ll figure something out!”
I shouted back and pulled out the axe I used for splitting goblin skulls. Maybe this was better. Nothing finished a hunter more reliably than an axe.
I listened. Footsteps approached.
Three, two, one.
Timing it perfectly, I burst out and swung the axe.
“Oh?”
The Recka dodged and laughed mockingly. He wore a Pepe mask that looked like it was hanging from a noose.
“Cute.”
Yeah, I bet I looked cute to him. He was probably around 2-star. To someone like that, a non-awakened was just a toy. You needed at least pro-level martial arts skills or special forces training in killing techniques to even stand a chance.
“How should I kill you? Slit your throat? Or cut off your limbs?”
The Recka set down his gun and drew the military knife from his belt.
Shhk, shhk!
“……”
He made threatening noises with his mouth while playfully swinging the knife.
Shhk-shhk! Shhk-shhk-shhk!
“……”
“This little shit isn’t scared?”
“……”
“Wonder if you’ll keep that disgusting expression when I gut you and pull out your intestines.”
The Recka charged, swinging his knife. I met him with the axe.
Clang! Clang!
“Guh!”
When axe met knife, my palms felt like they were tearing and my forearms went numb.
“Oh, not bad. Shhk-shhk!”
“……”
“You little shit, I’m playing nice here!”
Seeing that I showed no fear at all, the guy got worked up and started thrashing around on his own.
“Ugh!”
I focused purely on defense, waiting for an opening. I pretended to be flustered and panicked, deliberately showing gaps to lure him in.
One chance. Two if I’m lucky.
Thud. Thud.
I took stabs to the thigh and shoulder but kept acting. The Recka grinned.
“Oh? I said I’d pull out your guts, didn’t I?”
“……”
“Guess I’ll start by splitting your stomach.”
He swung the knife in a wide arc.
Now.
I dropped low in an instant and swept his legs.
Thud!
He crashed to the ground in an ugly heap.
Crunch!
I brought the axe down on his head with all my strength, but because he was a 2-star hunter, the blade didn’t sink in far. Only about three centimeters into the skull.
Still, it was fine. My attack wasn’t over yet.
I wrapped both legs around his neck and squeezed.
“You fucking bastard… Gurk!”
He thrashed, and the strength in my legs slowly faded. I knew choking alone wouldn’t finish him. So I’d prepared a gift.
Crack!
While squeezing his neck with everything I had, I ripped off his mask, pulled the pin on a grenade, forced his mouth open, and shoved it deep down his throat.
“See you.”
“……!”
One, two… now.
Boom!
I threw myself clear just as the grenade exploded, blowing his head apart like a watermelon.
“Hah, hah!”
Without even checking the body, I scanned the surroundings.
Clatter-clatter-clatter!
Choi Yoo-ra was still swinging her chain against the Reckas.
Crack-crack-crack! Boom!
Do-hyun and the man were holding their own, shooting in pairs.
“Grrgh!”
I pulled out a tourniquet, cinched it tight around the knife wound on my thigh, then ran to help them.
But our enemies weren’t just the Reckas.
“Kyaaak!”
“Kihihit!”
Yeah. I knew it. Monsters were pouring in.
* * *
As always, gunfire called the monsters. The noise of battle—clashing weapons, shouts, screams, explosions—always lured them.
“Grrrraaaagh!”
“Keeeek!”
Dozens of various monsters crashed into the fight, turning it into complete chaos. Our battle with the Reckas became a three-way brawl, and casualties skyrocketed.
“Aagh!”
“D-damn it! Gah!”
Several Reckas fell to the monsters.
“Kyaaak!”
In the midst of it, even Choi Yoo-ra took a direct hit from a 3-star Recka and was sent flying. Our strongest fighter was now out of commission.
The worst possible situation.
But there was no need to despair. I could feel ether slowly filling me.
Shhh.
A faint golden light wrapped around me.
‘Huh?’
My awakening in the previous life hadn’t been like this. Back then, it had been the usual blue light.
‘No way.’
A sliver of hope bloomed in my chest.
‘Please be a dealer. Please.’
I didn’t want to awaken as a non-combat class like last time—as a supporter. I refused to spend my life supporting dealer scum only to be treated like a tool, used, blackmailed, and threatened.
‘Please, anything but supporter. Not supporter…’
I prayed desperately. I hoped that desperation would reach whatever power decided these things. And that it would be granted.
Shhh.
Feeling my heart grow hot, I shrugged off the plate carrier, unbuttoned my shirt, and looked down at my chest. Every awakened had an emblem carved right in the center of their chest that indicated their role. The symbol that appeared would tell me exactly what class I’d become.