230. I'll Definitely Get You Out Alive.
The door opened shortly after the emergency power kicked in.
It was Agent 1st Class Martin.
"What happened?"
"The nearby substation was attacked."
"Attacked? By monsters?"
"Yes. Reports are coming in from all over. It looks like a large-scale assault."
"Large-scale... Does that mean an undiscovered gate opened somewhere?"
"We haven't confirmed that yet. For now, please head to the bunker and stand by."
Martin unlocked the handcuffs on No Song-rin's wrists and led the way.
Kang Moo-hyuk, eager for more details, followed him and subtly probed.
"Even intelligent monsters wouldn't target key infrastructure right from the start—they haven't studied the human world that deeply. If a substation in the city center was destroyed, the attacking force must be massive. But considering LA's surveillance systems, it's odd we didn't detect a gate that size."
"We're assessing the situation. Please hurry."
Martin shut down the conversation. Gone was the courtesy he'd shown when the White House had summoned Kang Moo-hyuk.
It wasn't annoyance so much as drawing a clear line around his jurisdiction.
'Well, I'm just a foreigner here. Meddling would look out of place.'
As they moved to the bunker, Kang Moo-hyuk tried contacting Jang Deok-gu. But his smartphone was dead. The antenna showed no signal. The cell towers must have been hit too.
'Hunter Jang Deok-gu should be fine. The worry is Hunter Go Eul-ji. Her abilities are top-notch, no issue there... but...'
She was still a high schooler, mentally immature, and the guild's baby. It gnawed at him.
Kang Moo-hyuk wasn't the only one stuck at the Hunter Crime Bureau's LA branch.
Hamilton was also sheltering in the bunker, having missed his flight back to Washington due to extended negotiations.
"I've held you up from returning to Washington. Sorry to tie up such a busy man."
"No, it's fortunate I stayed. If I'd gone to the airport on schedule, I might've been caught in the chaos en route. Might as well kill time here and call it a break. Haha."
Kang Moo-hyuk relaxed seeing Hamilton's composure.
'Looks like it's manageable.'
But that assumption proved wrong soon enough.
"LA Saint General Hospital was hit."
Hamilton's aide whispered intel gleaned from the bureau's situation room.
The voice was too low for Kang Moo-hyuk to hear, but No Song-rin was at his side. Freed from cuffs, he'd reclaimed the translation artifact from Kang Moo-hyuk.
"Boss, Saint General Hospital got wrecked. Over half the staff are dead. ...Some kind of hornet monster? Sounds like carnivorous wasps. Sophia Stadium, some baseball field, observatory, Beverly Hills? Anyway, attacks all over the streets. City hall declared an emergency instead of just raising alerts."
Kang Moo-hyuk absorbed the brief intel, mentally mapping LA.
'Carnivorous wasps... Even a single specimen can mount a massive assault.'
He marked attack sites red. A vast, origin-unknown spread emerged. The entire city was under siege.
Kang Moo-hyuk pierced the implications instantly.
'This is the worst.'
If no undetected gate had opened to cause this pattern, it pointed to the direst scenario he could envision.
He approached Hamilton cautiously.
"Mr. Hamilton."
"Yes?"
"I couldn't help overhearing the report. Is this assault solely by carnivorous wasps?"
Hamilton hesitated, then spoke.
"Yes. Carnivorous wasps, they say."
"No other monsters?"
"No. Just the wasps. Why do you ask?"
"Then this is a grave issue."
"No monster attack is trivial. Our experts will handle it."
"Of course, North America's monster defense is impeccable. Still, out of concern, I'd like to offer some advice."
"Advice? Sorry, but I doubt we need it. Not dismissing you—it's confidence in our capabilities."
Despite the disclaimer, Hamilton condescended to the "backward" Northeast Asian hunter nation.
'They've got rider wolves and an S-rank, sure—but that's just luck for a small guild. We've faced more crises than anyone and always prevailed. Why heed a civilian leader?'
Reading his thoughts, Kang Moo-hyuk lowered his stance further.
"America would respond swiftly, no doubt. But many will die in the meantime. The city could burn before it's contained—that's my worry."
"Well, it's free advice. Let's hear it. You're not billing me as a consultant, right?"
Hamilton joked to gloss over his slip, masking disdain.
Kang Moo-hyuk forced an awkward smile to spare his embarrassment.
"Thank you for listening. My concern stems from the foe: carnivorous wasps. As far as I know, America has never faced them."
America's vast land and hunters didn't mean they'd battled every monster.
Monster spawns lacked rules but showed regional tendencies.
Hornets were unknown in North/Central America. Rare South American sightings never escalated.
No combat history against wasp monsters on the continent.
Most records came from Africa, occasional Asia—secondhand data.
Book knowledge versus hands-on differed vastly. Intel couldn't replace human reflexes.
If knowing guaranteed victory, "man-made disasters" wouldn't exist.
Kang Moo-hyuk aimed to highlight this.
Hamilton checked with his aide.
"First time for carnivorous wasps in America?"
"I'm not sure..."
"It's true."
Kang Moo-hyuk's prodigious memory—honed absorbing global monster data as strategy chief—gave him certainty.
Hamilton finally showed interest.
"You've handled unknowns. Why fear wasps with prior intel?"
"Standard protocols would handle the immediate threat."
"Implying more threats follow?"
"Check the map. Attacks span the city."
Hamilton's aide nodded unwittingly.
"Typical for wasps, but they rarely expand territory without a full nest—hence mid-campaign wipes. Carnivorous wasps differ. They're persistent, stealthily expanding underground until nests are found."
"Underground? So these citywide appearances mean..."
Hamilton grasped it.
Kang Moo-hyuk nailed it home.
"Yes. The city's underbelly is already one giant wasp nest."
"!!"
"Two tasks: defend the city, eradicate the nest. Only simultaneous action saves LA."
* * *
Jang Deok-gu, swigging from the hotel room's minibar, sensed killing intent.
Years battling villains honed his instincts.
'Not a hunter.'
Unlike human malice, this was monstrous.
As he grabbed his sword, glass shattered. A wasp larger than him lunged, stinger out.
'Carnivorous wasp?!'
Sword light filled the room. The wasp shredded into dozens. Viscous fluid soaked the carpet. More followed, meeting the same fate.
Jang Deok-gu smashed into Thomas's bedroom door.
A wasp loomed over Thomas. No need to intervene.
"You're up."
A hole pierced the wasp's chest; it crumpled.
"Woke to monsters swarming—thought it was a dream."
Thomas slurred, eyes glazed from lingering potion haze.
Jang Deok-gu scanned outside. Screams echoed; wingbeats buzzed.
"Monsters everywhere. High ground draws them. We leave the hotel. Can you walk?"
"Potion's fading—magic's tough. Body's weak; one shot's my limit."
"Quit dragging it out."
"Please."
Jang Deok-gu hoisted Thomas over his left shoulder.
In the hall, a man screamed from the next room, wasp stinger poised.
Jang Deok-gu swung, yelling,
"Down!"
The panicked man didn't react.
Jang Deok-gu pivoted slash to thrust. Wind grazed below the man's right earlobe.
Scorching heat singed his neck. Warm liquid trickled his shoulder.
"B-blood...!"
The man collapsed, pale, then noticed his partial ear loss. Adrenaline numbed pain.
"Be grateful you're alive. A split-second later, you'd be wasp shit."
The man glanced at Jang Deok-gu's nod: headless wasp. He scrambled back, horrified.
"Stick close if you wanna live."
Spotting the Asian as a hunter, the man nodded frantically, hugging tight.
"Not that close. Don't wanna catch blade instead of monster."
He nodded again, backing off two steps.
"Listens well."
Jang Deok-gu was relieved the tagalong had sense.
Civilians sometimes panicked, ignoring orders—forcing knockouts and carries.
"Don't ditch me."
America's expanse exposed civilians often; disaster drills were routine from childhood.
The man knew compliance was survival.
"Hunters don't abandon people. That's not a hunter. Follow—no worries. I'll definitely get you out alive."