Even After the Demonstration, What’s So Hard About This?
I even gave them a full demonstration. What exactly is so hard about this?
The creature charged forward, dragging its massive body. It used its wings to lift itself slightly off the ground and closed the distance in an instant. Thud! The moment I lightly dodged, it slammed straight into the tree behind me. When I turned around, there it was—clinging to the trunk with its claws, glaring at me. My reflection shimmered in its blood-red eyes.
“Grrrrrrrr…”
Drool dripped from its jaws.
“Looks like you’re a lot hungrier than I thought.”
While we stared each other down, a donation flew in.
FoodWasteAddict has donated 1,000 won.
Looks like it’s gone into a frenzy?
Frenzy? It was the first time I’d heard the term. From the chat, it seemed like they could tell just by the red eyes. So its eyes weren’t normally that color? Curious, I asked the viewers.
“Frenzy?”
KingOfClubs has donated 1,000 won.
Frenzy literally means it’s not in a normal state but extremely agitated. The reason it’s attacking you is probably just because it spotted you while flying by. I’ll stop here since the rest would be spoilers.
“Ah, so it’s different from what Teacher Yan went through last time?”
“Big trouble?” What was that supposed to mean?
What were these people even saying? None of it made sense to me.
“I think you all have the wrong idea?”
I calmly explained to the viewers who were clearly operating on bad information.
“Isn’t it common sense that the more excited a monster is, the easier it is to capture?”
This time the viewers were the ones who couldn’t understand. I let out a small sigh.
“Haa… This won’t do. I’ll just show you why it’s easier.”
The creature was still staring at me without moving. I looked at it, then pulled out the wire Reina had given me.
“That’s right.”
“This?”
The viewer’s question reminded me of what had happened right before I entered the forest.
“Senior, how strong is this?”
At my question, Reina, who had been handing me the capture equipment, turned her head.
“Hm? That?”
She spotted the wire in my hand and gave me a suspicious look.
“The material is the same as the nets we use to capture monsters, so it’s pretty tough. It can easily handle a few hundred kilos… Why?”
“I just thought I might need it later.”
Reina had looked uneasy when she heard that, but whatever. I had a plan.
I attached the wire to the slinger and tied it securely to the end of the greatsword’s hilt so it wouldn’t come loose. The viewers expressed their confusion at what I was doing.
“Yes, that’s correct.”
I gave the wire a firm tug. Tight! It pulled taut. This should be enough. I set the greatsword on the ground and began slowly spinning the wire.
Creak—
The metal wire, under tension, started emitting a sharp sound. At first it just felt like swinging a heavy lump of iron, but soon a fierce wind began to whip up above my head.
“You asked how I was going to use it earlier, right?”
Whoosh—! Whoosh—!!
The greatsword spun rapidly above my head. As it spun faster and faster, it started to look like a perfect circle. I kept the speed steady with wrist snaps. The impact from spinning such a heavy object was absorbed purely by my body’s durability.
Once I felt the rotation had stabilized, I answered the viewers’ lingering questions.
“Like this.”
WHOOSH—!!!
“Kryaaaaaaa—!!”
The creature, which had been quietly watching me spin the greatsword from the tree, let out a roar. Then—
Guuung.
Its neck suddenly swelled up as if it were gathering something. Its mouth began to expand slowly, and then—
KWANG!
The moment it opened its jaws, something shot toward me like a bullet. It seemed it had stayed on the tree just to prepare for this.
In slowed time, I saw something glittering like crystal flying at me. I twisted my body slightly and dodged it with ease. Immediately after, I hurled the spinning greatsword toward the tree where Azureus was clinging.
Thunk!
The instant the greatsword embedded itself in the tree, I activated the slinger. The wire rapidly rewound, yanking me forward. My body flew straight toward the greatsword.
All of this happened in less than five seconds. I was the only one who could follow the entire sequence.
I landed naturally on top of the greatsword and looked down at Azureus.
I like this view.
I’d been annoyed by the way it kept staring down at me from above. The creature seemed to have lost track of my position in an instant; it was frantically looking around in confusion. I didn’t miss the opening. I leaped lightly from the greatsword.
The friction of the air during the rapid descent. Gravity added even more speed, and I slammed straight down onto the creature. It noticed my presence and turned late, but—
Too late.
I threw the smoke grenade I’d already been holding right at its face.
Thump.
With a short impact sound, gray smoke billowed out and covered its face.
“Kryaaack—!!”
Having lost its vision, the creature thrashed wildly. The force of its struggle caused Azureus’s body to slip slightly from the tree. I didn’t miss the chance. I dashed past it in a flash and triggered the slinger. Because I’d left a little slack earlier, the greatsword reacted quickly and flew toward me this time.
Whoosh—!
The greatsword flew past Azureus’s neck, and the wire pulled taut behind it. The three points—the wire, the greatsword, and my position—formed a perfect triangle for a brief moment. The wire wrapped precisely around Azureus’s neck.
It had already lost its balance. I had simply added the tiniest bit of force to the situation. The result?
The creature’s massive body fell from the tree and—
THUD!
It crashed into the ground head-first, exactly as I had planned. It fell straight into a stunned state. I quickly approached and slammed the flat of my greatsword into its head.
KWAAANG—!
With a tremendous sound, the creature lost consciousness. I immediately began tying it up with the capture equipment Reina had given me.
“When a monster is excited, its field of vision usually narrows.”
Using the binding techniques I had learned in the past, I meticulously tied its wings first. This way, even if it woke up, it wouldn’t be able to fly. It was a technique I’d picked up from someone who used to be obsessed with binding.
“If you move while aware of that, it’s easy to slip out of the opponent’s sight.”
I secured its legs and tail together.
“Then the excited monster panics and mentally collapses.”
I took out the monster sleeping pills Reina had given me and poured them all into its mouth. To make sure they didn’t just stay in its mouth, I kicked its throat to force it to swallow.
“If you strike precisely at that mental opening, like I just did, it’s this easy.”
Pshoo—!
A flare shot into the sky, signaling that the capture was complete. The recovery team would be here soon to take the captured monster away. After confirming the flare had fired properly, I slowly turned my head toward the chat window and spoke.
“You can catch it. Easy, right?”
Bulramyeon has donated 1,000 won.
No way
“Hmm…”
I even gave them a full demonstration. What exactly is so hard about this? I just couldn’t understand.
Some time later, a group of people appeared in the distance, pulling a cart. While I waited, clearing out any monsters that approached, I stored my greatsword and walked over to greet them. When they saw me, they began moving faster—
At the front of the group was a cold-looking man wearing glasses. Since recovery teams usually moved as a single unit, he was probably the team leader.
At that moment, several Felynes jumped down from the cart. They approached with bouncy steps. The one wearing the most distinctive outfit stepped in front of me.
“Recovery Team 8 Leader, Patricia nyang! Are you Haerang nyang?”
“Huh?”
She wasn’t the team leader? The sudden cognitive dissonance left me speechless for a second. But—
“Nya? No nyang?”
When I saw Patricia tilting her head at me, I quickly snapped out of it.
“No, that’s correct.”
I bowed slightly and offered my hand in greeting.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Haerang.”
Patricia flashed a wide grin, showing her teeth.
“What a polite friend nyang!”
Her paw felt soft and squishy like jelly in my handshake. After we finished, Patricia quickly scanned the surroundings.
“So where’s the captured monster nyang?”
I stepped aside slightly and pointed behind me. Patricia’s gaze followed my finger and—
“Nyaah!!”
Her already round eyes grew even rounder. Then, despite her small size, a hearty laugh burst out of her.
“Nyahahahahahahat!! I heard some idiot bet with Manguls on who could capture it first. I thought the outcome was already decided nyang.”
Patricia’s eyes sparkled.
“Looks like Manguls is going to be the one who ends up in serious trouble nyang!!”