Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Exam (9)
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"Guhk."
With a short groan, the throat of the Hunter standing right in front of Su-ho was torn clean off. At the same time, another Hunter nearby clutched at his chest and staggered.
The Helpers and examiners had already fled far away. It was probably better that way. Staying close in this situation wouldn't help anyone.
Su-ho pulled a self-healing patch from his pocket. He slapped it onto the fallen Hunter's neck and stood in front of him.
'Jin Seong-hyeok.'
Just calling his name was enough, and Jin Seong-hyeok responded in a low voice, as if he already knew everything.
'It's a boss-grade mutated monster from the Evil Zone. Name's Mawder. Just one, so five or six S-grade Hunters could handle it easily.'
There were five Hunters still on their feet right now. Su-ho was starting to think that was a relief when his expression darkened sharply.
One tooth bulging out like it was about to burst popped free from the red lump of a body. Then it started bouncing across the ground like a water balloon, its size swelling in an instant.
'Jin... Seong-hyeok... That thing.'
Something was visible amid the growing mass. Mouths. Su-ho's face paled as he watched more and more mouths form.
'It's started multiplying.'
Jin Seong-hyeok clicked his tongue.
Started multiplying. It would snowball in size in no time. The silver lining was that these were mid-boss spawns, so the offspring weren't as strong as the main body.
But they only had five S-grade Hunters who could fight. Jin Seong-hyeok could've ended it with a flick of his finger, but for regular S-grades, even one boss was overwhelming.
"Uwaaaah!!"
Another Hunter collapsed, clutching his nape with both hands. Red blood seeped over the back of his gripping fists.
Now only four Hunters remained. And the monster was already spawning more mutated offspring.
'Jin Seong-hyeok.'
The examiners might be filming him from afar, but Su-ho couldn't just let the Hunters die like this. He was about to ask Jin Seong-hyeok for some help when a mouth from inside the monster lunged straight at him.
In the blink of an eye, it charged at Su-ho's face, baring razor-sharp teeth as if ready to rip it apart.
Kwabang-!
A massive boom kicked up a cloud of dirt. Su-ho scanned the area in confusion, then spotted the monster. A huge tree was impaled right in the center of its body like a giant spike.
And stepping forward from in front of that monster was someone walking slowly. Su-ho's jaw dropped slack as he watched the elegant yet commanding silhouette approach him and the Hunters.
A woman with long black hair swaying as she walked.
"I'm not letting Trevor off the hook. I was shopping to relieve some stress after so long."
No way.
"An Ji-young... Hunter?"
Ji-young's steps halted for a split second at hearing her own name from Su-ho's lips.
"Huh?"
Her mouth curved smoothly, a mix of surprise and curiosity at being recognized. Then her gaze shifted toward Su-ho.
"A-grade Helper. Yeah, that's you."
"W-Wait! Be carefu...!"
Before Su-ho could finish, Ji-young casually reached out with one hand and snatched the incoming monster mouth mid-air, flashing a relaxed smile.
It happened in a flash. Still gripping the mouth, she raised her hand into the air before slamming it down. The monster's body lifted off the ground and crashed into the earth with a splat.
Kung-!
The ground shook from the impact, but Ji-young stepped toward Su-ho without a care.
"You're Cha Su-ho, right?"
She stood before him with a smile playing on her lips.
"I heard you stopped my rampage."
Her beauty was still impossible to get used to. Just meeting her eyes left Su-ho frozen in place, dazed.
"How old are you?"
"I-I'm 22..."
"Twenty-two? You're a baby."
She quirked her lips playfully and continued.
"Call me sis. I never had a little brother. This is perfect."
Kkieeek!
The monster's wail echoed. The mouths sprouting from the body that Ji-young had just smashed were writhing.
"Hang on, An Ji-young Hunter..."
"Sis."
"Pardon?"
"I said call me sis."
The mouths looked ready to burst out and attack any second, sending everyone into panic—except Ji-young, who remained utterly calm. Su-ho glanced past her at the monster and said,
"Isn't that a little more important right now..."
'No dice.'
Jin Seong-hyeok snorted.
'Her word is law.'
Su-ho drew a short breath. What was the big deal about calling her sis? Dealing with the monsters came first.
"...Sis. The monsters first..."
Ji-young tilted her head at Su-ho's halting words.
"Huh? Monsters?"
She finally turned to glance at the monsters behind her and burst out laughing.
"Scared?"
"Not scared exactly, but if we leave them... won't we be in danger?"
Ji-young nodded as if Su-ho made a good point, then gathered her long hair into a ponytail.
'Even tying her hair looks pretty?'
'...Jin Seong-hyeok!'
'I can hear all your thoughts.'
'Then at least pretend you didn't...'
Jin Seong-hyeok's laughter echoed in his head. Ji-young spoke to Su-ho, who had ducked his head in embarrassment.
"You haven't seen sis in action yet, have you? Watch closely."
She strode toward the monsters, then stopped abruptly. She whipped her head around to look at Su-ho.
"Do you know what my dream was?"
Dream? Su-ho had no idea and just gaped silently. Ji-young winked and said,
"Conductor."
With that, her toes lifted off the ground. Everyone stared, dumbfounded, as she slowly rose into the air.
Like playing piano, she tapped her fingers in the empty air. The writhing monsters froze.
Her hands moved gracefully again. Conducting an orchestra, she drew notes with her right hand, and the monsters began stepping right foot, left foot, in sync.
It was ridiculous yet utterly unreal. Everyone's faces screamed disbelief. Su-ho was no exception.
Word was, she could only control one entity, monster or human. But here she was manipulating all the monsters at once.
"I thought... you could only control one monster at a time?"
Ji-young's gaze flicked to Su-ho at his question.
"Nope. Who said that?"
"Jin Seong-hyeok."
Her expression shifted oddly at the name, then she let out a small laugh.
"That's just for Jin Seong-hyeok. I'm strong enough to make these monsters play a symphony."
She muttered in a petulant tone,
"That monster Jin Seong-hyeok can only control for ten minutes, you know? I tried taking him shopping to use as a pack mule."
No way—that's what Jin Seong-hyeok meant by pack mule...?
'So the pack mule was for shopping bags?'
Su-ho spoke up in place of the incredulous Jin Seong-hyeok.
"So... you controlled him to make him carry your shopping?"
"Yeah. What's the point of a sturdy body if not for hauling bags? You like that, right?"
Jin Seong-hyeok's sigh rumbled like an earthquake in Su-ho's mind.
Kkweeeek!
The monster's sudden screech drew Su-ho and Ji-young's eyes to it simultaneously.
The main boss-grade body had broken free of her control.
"Hold on, what's this?"
She checked her watch and her face turned icy.
"Only thirty minutes passed? This has never... No way! Did my rampage weaken my powers?!"
Ji-young's hand trembled faintly. The controlled monsters—excluding the main body—began shuddering too. A minute felt like a year amid the heavy silence. Then the main body wailed again.
Kkweeeek!
Ji-young's gaze lifted slowly. Calm and chilling, it locked onto the monster.
"Noisy."
Su-ho felt a vague sense of déjà vu. It reminded him of fireworks from his childhood.
If you ignored that the fireworks were monsters, and the yellow lights decorating the night sky were now red blood painting the blue daytime sky.
The monsters exploded in chain reaction. Jin Seong-hyeok spoke to Su-ho, who stared blankly.
'Cha Su-ho.'
'Yes?'
'Duck.'
'Duck?'
No sooner had Jin Seong-hyeok spoken than nearby objects began floating into the air one by one. Trees, rocks—even the dead monster corpses.
"This make any sense?!?!"
With Ji-young's shout, every floating object plummeted toward the boss-grade mutated monster.
Kwagwagwang--!
The spectacle was so immense, everyone assumed no living monster could survive. Yet the boss's head peeked out, faintly twitching.
Kwang!
But like a finishing blow, a massive tree smashed down onto its head.
Puk—the tree pierced straight through the skull and embedded in the ground. The head stopped moving.
Ji-young turned to the Hunters standing there dumbfounded amid the mountain of monsters, trees, and rocks.
"Who uses fire?"
One of the frozen Hunters hesitantly raised a hand at her smiling question.
"M-Me."
"Good."
She nodded toward the monster corpses.
"Burn them."
As if her work was done, she undid her ponytail.
"Damn Trevor didn't even tell me my powers weakened. I'm not letting him get away with this."
She wiped her bloody hands on her black leather skirt and looked at Su-ho.
"See you later."
Smiling as if nothing had happened, Ji-young left the scene. Su-ho stared blankly after her, thinking.
She was scarier than the monsters.
And one more thing.
He had to keep secret forever that he'd absorbed half her power.