Chapter 66
Chapter 66
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Encircled
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Everyone quietly prepared to depart.
It was still dark.
They decided to start moving as soon as visibility improved.
As the sky lightened to a bluish hue and visibility cleared somewhat, they began moving under the tactical team leader's guidance.
This time, with me at the front, they broke through F-Rank rifts in rapid succession.
They only collected the rift cores as byproducts.
Naturally, there was no time to butcher each F-Rank monster for mana stones.
After smashing through about three F-Rank rifts and advancing...
They had no choice but to gather again for a meeting.
"I'm sorry."
Tactical Team Leader Jeon Gyu-hyuk bowed his head with a somber expression.
What... It wasn't something he needed to apologize for.
The southern route had seemed the least fortified.
But as their detection range expanded during the move, they were still surrounded by high-grade rifts.
It wasn't something they could have predicted.
"Fuck!"
Curses erupted among the hunters.
At this point, even the hunters couldn't help but get rattled.
It was only natural—they were starting to truly feel that they might be screwed.
(Uncle... are we gonna be okay?)
Jae-eun, standing beside me, asked quietly with a slightly anxious look.
I gave her butt a light pat to reassure her, and she clung to my arm with a somewhat relieved expression.
Whatever the case...
There were only two paths forward.
Hold out until the rescue team arrived, or break through.
"Who wants to hold out?"
I asked.
".........."
Silence fell.
Their food supplies wouldn't last a week.
They knew that.
Holding out wouldn't mean only F-Rank monsters would come.
As time passed, D-Rank and C-Rank monsters would pour out from the dimensional rifts too.
Of course, if I used my power, things would change a bit.
Resupplying from the zombie world would do the trick.
But while I didn't mind Awakener abilities like body strengthening or mana control that everyone in this world had...
I had no intention of revealing my Inventory or Login skills if possible.
Even if I used my power to hold out, sacrifices couldn't be avoided entirely.
I only had one body.
Unless I had multiple, I couldn't cover attacks coming from all directions if monsters swarmed from everywhere.
There were many reasons like that, but...
From the start, I had no desire to waste time endlessly waiting for a rescue team that might never come.
The conclusion was to punch through the high-grade rifts.
"We break through the shortest route."
Tension rippled through the hunters at my words.
They hadn't said it, but they could guess.
That a lot of people would die.
Most non-Awoken supporters had a high chance of dying.
But...
That was only if it were other Awakened handling it.
"Tactical team leader. Shortest route?"
It had come down a bit.
They hadn't traveled that far.
There was still time until nightfall.
"How about threading between the rifts?"
The tactical team leader cautiously suggested.
Not a bad idea.
It could work out well if luck was on their side.
But if they got caught while passing between rifts...
Monsters from two or three rifts could sandwich them.
It could get even worse.
If things turned into total chaos, even I couldn't save them all.
The tactical team leader knew that too.
No matter how you looked at it, their current force could barely handle one D-Rank rift.
And high-grade dimensional rifts were scattered everywhere.
So he wanted to take that gamble.
As team leader, it was probably his best option in this situation.
"No."
"Pardon? Then..."
"We smash straight through the dimensional rifts."
"S-Straight through, sir?"
The tactical team leader looked stunned.
"Th-That won't work. We'll be wiped out."
Lee Do-hoon jumped in.
"He's right. A frontal breakthrough is reckless."
A familiar-looking hunter chimed in agreement with Lee Do-hoon.
Why did he look familiar?
'Im Cheol-woo?'
The name didn't ring a bell.
I studied his face and racked my brain.
'Ah... the guy who was annoying me at the restaurant.'
I could understand their opposition.
"You're not thinking we can move without a single fight, right?"
Avoiding rifts didn't mean avoiding monsters.
"E-Even so."
They wanted to cling to even a slim hope.
"I'll take the lead. I can block frontal attacks, but if we get sandwiched, even I can't handle it."
No matter how I thought about it, going between rifts didn't paint a good picture.
"That's my decision. If you disagree, go off on your own or stay behind. Anyone want to split off?"
It was a bit forceful.
Unless some brilliant plan came up...
I had no intention of changing the frontal breakthrough.
".........."
The hunters looked unsatisfied.
But with no great alternatives, they had faces that said they'd have to follow.
I thought the leader title would be useless, but it came in handy now.
After the strategy meeting ended, Jae-eun glanced at me and asked,
"Uncle, we're not really screwed, right?"
She'd overheard, and the mood was in the toilet, so I understood.
"Hmm... You and I aren't."
"Really?"
"Even in the worst case, I can protect at least you."
"Uncle... you're too romantic."
Jae-eun hugged my arm with a bright smile.
Jin-ah would probably be fine too.
In the absolute worst case, I could grit my teeth and use the Login skill to hit the zombie world for supplies.
Well...
As long as no A-Rank dimensional rift burst open, it wouldn't come to that.
From now on, they'd move fast.
I had everyone replenish their stamina moderately.
The mood was dead silent, like a funeral.
After a short rest, the hunting team gathered.
Their faces were still stiff.
Looking at them, I saw the supporters laden with heavy loads.
In contrast, the Awakened looked light on their feet.
Probably byproducts from the C-Rank monster caught yesterday.
I asked the team leader—he said they couldn't abandon the Blue Drake byproducts, even if F-Rank stuff was disposable.
Professional, I guess, even in this situation.
Ditching it was best, but...
It was their livelihoods.
I didn't want to meddle.
Even so...
Awakened had superior physical abilities.
Even mana-manifesting Awakened, weaker than body enhancers...
Were still better than normals.
Body enhancers went without saying.
They could carry at least twice what the supporters had without issue.
"Hey. Share the load as much as possible."
I told the Awakened.
"You want us to play porter?"
Lee Do-hoon again.
But the other Awakened were subtly showing displeasure too.
"Porter? To me, you're all just baggage—Awakened or supporters."
If they ditched everything, there was no reason to coddle the Awakened.
"Th-That's too harsh."
The Awakened weakly agreed with Lee Do-hoon.
Time to remind them of reality.
"Then what about me? I don't wanna stick with you guys either. If I just took my girls and moved, we could escape no problem. Is that what you want?"
If a C-Rank body enhancer like me and two D-Ranks moved quietly, escape would be easy.
Reminding them I could ditch the hunting team and bail made the Awakened go pale.
"Un-ho... I'm not your woman."
"Ahem."
Jin-ah corrected me.
She'd slyly included herself in "my women," but of course, she wouldn't let it slide.
"But I agree we need to share the load."
"Th-That..."
With Jin-ah backing me, the Awakened got rattled.
Naturally, as a mercenary replacing a missing member, I had no bonds or trust with them.
Either way, I'd reminded them I was staying out of humanitarianism.
Even if Jin-ah didn't stick with us...
If Jae-eun and I left, a huge chunk of their force would vanish.
Under my veiled threat, the Awakened had no choice but to obey.
For the supporters, it was their usual job.
In normal situations, no issue.
But this was far from normal.
Still, they were just civilians.
No telling how far they'd have to run now.
They'd hit their stamina limits.
I didn't want melodramatic breakdowns mid-move.
To go as fast as possible, ditching byproducts or sharing loads was best.
I didn't get why they clung to that Drake stuff so badly.
It might be more valuable than I thought.
If push came to shove, they'd ditch it themselves.
"Thank you."
The tactical team leader bowed to me.
"For what."
"For looking out for the supporters..."
He seemed to think it was kindness on my part.
"Tactical team leader. Lead the way."
"Understood..."
We started moving quickly.
And soon, the tactical team leader's warning came.
"D-Rank dimensional rift ahead."
Around the dimensional rift...
About the size of a mid-sized car.
Glossy dark red skin.
Around ten quadrupedal beast-like monsters prowled lazily nearby.
Each one...
Was a monster that took a single D-Rank Awakener to handle.
-Gulp.
The sound of dry swallowing echoed.
Everyone's faces were rigid with tension.
(M-Maybe we should turn back now...)
A faint whisper reached my ears.
"Hmm..."