#308. Just Following the Captain's Orders.
Johanna was satisfied with her trip to Korea.
I was pissed when the Captain dragged me here on a whim. But hey, the food's great, and there's plenty to see.
What she especially liked was Myeongdong, which she'd discovered today.
Myeongdong, the shopping street that had been completely transformed into a new world, making a mockery of the plaques describing how it had been reduced to rubble during the Great War and the Small War.
This hotspot, popular among foreign tourists seeking safe destinations in Korea, was a 24-hour blaze of lights.
There weren't many tourists at this hour, transitioning from dawn to morning, but a steady trickle of customers kept the merchants at their posts.
I've never seen anything like this in Italy or even America. Shops open all night for business and fun? Who knew a country like this existed? Travel really does broaden the mind.
Korea's low ranking in hunter competitiveness was offset by its high marks in monster security, evident just from the vibrant energy of Myeongdong's streets.
Few countries besides the established advanced nations could maintain pre-war lifestyles. Even among those advanced nations, some had sidelined freedom and equality in favor of monster defense.
Monsters dictated a nation's rise or fall.
Take Johanna's home country, Italy—the government professed democracy on the surface but had morphed into something close to one-party rule.
Critics decried it as a revival of fascism from World War II, fueling endless political squabbles. But that rigidity had secured victory in the war against monsters, preserving a semblance of daily life. The people had no choice but to accept the regime.
Of course, none of this meant much to Johanna, who knew zilch about politics.
Boom!
A sudden explosion sent Johanna's hair whipping in the blast, accompanied by a dust wind from behind, screams from the crowd, and a foul, rancid breath.
The stench of the hunting grounds.
"Groooaaarrr!"
Thud.
Her heart sank into the earth.
Johanna stiffly craned her creaking neck backward. The first rays of dawn stretched ominous shadows long.
She followed the shadow at her feet upward.
D-Demi Balrog?
A bull's head crowned with a fiery red mane and a pair of horns. A massive body with undersized bat wings and breath spewing flames.
It was a demi balrog, a demon-type monster.
True to its name, the demi balrog resembled the mythic balrog, but its power was far inferior.
Still, "inferior" only meant weaker than the balrog, the pinnacle of demon-types. It surpassed ogres in strength, outdid trolls in regeneration, and though slow, its flight made it a tough solo hunt without a party.
Moreover, its nostrils belched superheated flames—any hunter with low resistance could melt in an instant of carelessness.
"Why... why is this here...?"
Johanna froze, unable to move.
It was the embodiment of her trauma, right before her eyes.
The monster that stole her parents as a child had uprooted a street tree and hurled it at her.
Johanna couldn't dodge in time and was flung into a storefront display, smashing through a changing room and crumpling into a corner.
A food cart crushed someone's waist; a manhole cover kicked by the demi balrog decapitated another; tails whipped limbs clean off, sending bodies tumbling—dead people, people, people...
Shopping paradise turned hell in a heartbeat.
"Kyaaah!"
"Uwaaah! R-Run... Gahk!"
"Where are the hunters?!"
The hunter they desperately sought twitched at the cries.
Pushing aside the debris pinning her, Johanna staggered to her feet, exhaling raggedly.
"Huuuuhhh..."
Her eyes turned to the demi balrog rampaging outside.
Terror surged. Memories of that day, when it took everything from her.
It had been her birthday—friends, relatives, parents all there.
Now, no one.
Johanna had come to hate the day she was born.
If it weren't her birthday, no one would have gathered. No one would have died.
Surviving as the sole witness amid the slaughter had driven her to become a hunter, but the trauma of emerging alive from that gate now made her doubt her qualifications.
And now, facing a demi balrog again?!
Is this fate?
It was her sabbatical, born of demi balrog trauma. A world trip to steel her mind, landing in LA. There she met Kang Moo-hyuk and Joo Se-ah. Somehow, she'd ended up in Korea... and now faced a demi balrog in this peaceful nation's capital.
Johanna realized she stood at fate's crossroads.
"I have to beat you to end my pain."
She gritted her teeth.
Fear still gnawed at her chest's edge. But the trembling stopped. Unlike before, when her legs froze without warning before a monster—this time was different. Even scared, she found the courage to advance.
Something had changed after the beehive raid in LA.
"Groooaaarrr!"
"Shut your trap!"
Rat-a-tat-tat! Rat-a-tat-tat!
"What're you doing? Answer the damn phone."
"Huh?"
"I told you to silence it during the procedure. Breaks my concentration."
At Kang Chang-su's grumbling, Thomas finally realized the archaic ringtone was coming from his smartphone.
It was the one Kang Moo-hyuk had given him for contact, but it had never rung or been used until now.
Thomas hurriedly tapped the call button to silence the urgent-sounding ring.
"Hello."
"This is Kang Moo-hyuk. You've seen the alert, right?"
"Alert?"
"Gate alert... Oh, right. You haven't officially registered as an Iron Will hunter yet. ID verification takes a few days, so no app. But you should've gotten the emergency safety text..."
"If it's the noisy one from earlier, I silenced it right away."
"Sigh. Check those texts from now on. They include gate evacuation notices too."
"Understood. More importantly, what's this about an alert?"
"A gate alert in Seoul. Outbreaking—monsters have broken out. Boss monster likely still untamed. If you're pre-procedure, could you head to Seoul and stand by with the Guild Master for contingencies?"
"Hold on. I should check with Dr. Kang first."
Thomas glanced at Kang Chang-su.
"Who is it? Moo-hyuk?"
"The Captain's asking if it's okay for me to step in. Is it?"
"Yeah. If you wanna drop dead, go hunt."
Thomas spoke into the phone.
"You heard that? He says yes."
"Put it on speaker for a moment."
Thomas set the smartphone down.
"How's Hunter Thomas's condition? How much power can he wield?"
"How should I know? No baseline."
"I know you're monitoring his vitals. In rank terms?"
"When did you check that?"
"It's urgent. Quick."
"A-rank. Barely, post-injection. Note: Not even full procedure yet—prelim prep. Push too hard, and it all goes to waste. Back to square one. Or worse, longer."
Kang Moo-hyuk ignored Kang Chang-su and addressed Thomas.
"Hunter Thomas. Can you do it?"
"Trained with the Guild Master, so modulating to A-rank power's no issue. Assuming the situation allows."
"Within your limits, please."
"Easier said than done."
"But you can do it easily, can't you? The Guild Master was impressed after your training."
Thomas paused, then spoke.
"As expected of an S-rank. I held back, but you noticed."
"No need to hide from guildmates."
"Isn't the Guild Master the 'Magic Killer'? Even if not now, this world's unpredictable. Don't wanna show my hand."
"Good mindset. But focus on Seoul now."
"Head out now?"
"As fast as possible. Appreciate the support."
"Got it."
Ending the call, Thomas rolled up his sleeves and said to Kang Chang-su,
"Pull the needle."
"You're really going?"
"People are dying."
"As long as it's not my people, I don't care."
"That's the opposite of the Captain. He was desperate to save more."
"You're throwing away your fatal illness treatment to save people too."
"I'm just following the Captain's orders."
Rushing to save Kim Nari, Go Eul-ji soon hit a snag.
Where was Nari's exam venue again?
She'd paid little attention to the college entrance exam and had tested at a different center from Kim Nari, so she didn't know her friend's location.
Luckily, she had a rough idea.
She took the bus... Mentioned crossing a bridge earlier? From Nari's place, Yeongdong Bridge? Jamsil Bridge? Around there.
With a destination set, Go Eul-ji flew at full speed.
A shockwave trailed her path, followed by a deafening roar like a fighter jet.
Reaching the Han River in a blink, Go Eul-ji spotted unidentified flying objects in the sky.
Monsters that had no business being in Seoul.
Wyverns!
Sub-dragon kin resembling pterodactyls.
Too dumb to proudly call dragons, with no special abilities beyond flight—but their tough scales and overwhelming strength classed them as top-tier, barring bosses.
Don't engage. Find Nari first.
Go Eul-ji hugged the riverbank. Low flight to evade wyvern eyes, but luck failed. Another wyvern building a nest under the bridge.
A female here?!
Then the flying one was male.
A patrol flight to secure the nest.
Go Eul-ji realized these wyverns were deadlier. Breeding season amplified their ferocity several times over.
Ripping streetlights and rebar for the bridge nest looked grotesque. People dangled amid it—prey. Stocking up before mating.
No survivors.
"Kieeeek!"
The female wyvern screeched. Go Eul-ji flipped skyward.
The male was diving.
"Tch!"
Normally, she'd strike first, but no time for a wyvern brawl.
She accelerated toward Jamsil Bridge, wyverns on her tail, expanding her senses.
The training from finding landmines in Bukpocheon.
Who knew it'd help here? Thanks, Guild Master.
For the first time grateful to Joo Se-ah, Go Eul-ji scanned the bridge.
And quickly pinpointed Kim Nari.
Hanging precariously from the railing—in a bus.
Pixies swarmed nearby, glowing the roof to drop the bus into the river.
"You little shits wanna die?! Stay right there—ack!"
The instant she moved to save Nari, a massive talon descended from above.
The wyvern clutched her tight.