Chapter 33
Chapter 33
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: Evil Zone Sweep (9)
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Kwon Oh clutched his forearm as if in agony and slumped to the ground. The deep gash was so severe that bone was visible. It was only natural, getting raked by a claw the size of his entire forearm.
Cha Su-ho quickly pulled out a self-healing patch. As he pressed it against Kwon Oh's torn flesh like he was stitching it back together, blood seeped out.
"Just hang in there a bit longer!"
He roughly wiped away the blood and slapped the patch on top. It had a painkilling effect, so the agony would stop soon enough.
"K-Kwon... Kwon Oh hyung...!"
Won Tae-il's voice trembled with shock as he called out for Kwon Oh.
"I'm fine. Thanks, Su-ho."
Kwon Oh remained calm, as if he'd been through situations like this many times before.
"Take it easy for a bit."
Su-ho gave Kwon Oh a curt instruction, then turned his head. The grotesque batdeads that had been hanging thick from the ceiling over the exhausted hunters had been mostly cleared out.
An Ji-young landed on the ground from midair. The moment Su-ho caught sight of her flickering red eyes, his heart sank. Her gauge was filling up.
The rampage gauge.
Su-ho rushed over to Ji-young and declared it without even asking.
"I'll do a Clean."
Sure enough. The moment he touched her, a nauseating rush of emotions flooded into his body through his palm.
Everyone except Kai Qing, who'd already received multiple Cleans, had gotten at least one by now—but Ji-young hadn't.
"...Do you want to rampage again?"
"What?"
"Show some awareness. If you'd waited just a little longer like this, you would've been right on the edge. And then you would've lost control."
"That's why I came down."
"You need to get it done ahead of time."
Ji-young faltered at Su-ho's icy, resolute tone—a far cry from his usual awkward demeanor.
They said meek kids were scarier when they got mad. That was exactly it.
The moment she awkwardly cleared her throat and shut her mouth, the suffocating pressure around her chest vanished. Her churning stomach settled, and the numbness in her arms faded away.
A short gasp escaped Ji-young's lips. Could a Clean be this perfect? Even when she'd received one from A Sang—the renowned specialist from Center 1 whose reputation reached the Association—it hadn't felt like this.
A Sang's Clean had left her refreshed, like after a deep sleep. It was the illusion of all fatigue melting away.
The ideal Clean every hunter dreamed of.
But Su-ho's was entirely different. It didn't just relieve fatigue—it set her blood boiling. Her depleted energy reserves refilled like a fresh battery had been slotted in.
She felt like she could take on every monster in sight single-handedly. Perfect condition, all from one Clean.
"Ha."
A hollow laugh burst from Ji-young's mouth.
"Maybe you're even more incredible than I thought? Cha Su..."
She trailed off before finishing his name. A horrific sound echoed from the distance. Thinking it couldn't be real, Ji-young and Su-ho—along with every hunter and helper—turned toward the source.
A black swarm was approaching from deeper in the cave.
Screeech. Scraaaape. Zzzt-!
Behind the batdeads advancing on the hunters and helpers loomed something else. A massive, humanoid silhouette.
[ "Batdeads... Didn't you say there was no boss?" ]
Liu Xian responded calmly to Ji-young's startled question.
[ "That's what I heard... no boss." ]
[ "Then why the hell is that thing...!" ]
Batdeads lived in packs but had no leader. Yet the enormous figure now visible to the hunters and helpers was undoubtedly their boss.
A batdead twice the size of the others circled the swarm like a bodyguard, flapping its massive wings before landing on the ground. Bat-like in form but walking upright on two legs like a human.
The batdead boss halted as it approached the tense hunters and helpers. Then it slowly raised its head and... smiled.
Smiled? A monster?
As they stared in disbelief at the batdead boss...
"Didn't know there was a boss. Did the Evil Zone get a final boss or something?"
At Ji-young's words, the batdead boss's mouth split open to its temples. The grotesque teeth peeking between its lips sent chills down their spines.
"Maybe it's the result of your incompetence."
Su-ho froze at the voice. It hadn't come from any hunter or helper.
It came from the monster standing before them—the one that looked like the batdead boss.
"D-Did that monster just... talk?!"
The batdead boss's gaze turned toward Su-ho, who'd blurted it out involuntarily. Then its head tilted side to side with a twist.
"I smell it."
A smell?
"The scent that makes you tremble in fear."
As it grinned darkly and turned toward Su-ho, the hunters snapped into combat stances.
A talking monster meant intelligence. Intelligent monsters didn't exist in the Evil Zone. Even in the Dead Zone—accessible only to SS-grades—only boss-grade monsters had that capability.
"Shut up. No idea when Evil Zone monsters started popping up from Dead or Last Zones."
An intelligent monster in the Evil Zone. Reporting it would be a hassle. Ji-young furrowed her brow and continued.
"Just die."
The moment her words ended, the hunters unleashed a barrage of attacks. Batdeads swarmed in simultaneously. Faster and more agile than the ones they'd fought before. That was when a long claw pierced May's abdomen mid-swing against the batdeads.
Thud-!
Blood coated the claw protruding from May's gut.
"Urk..."
Kai Qing lifted the clutching, collapsing May with telekinesis and sent her toward the helpers.
[ "A Sang!" ]
A Sang hurriedly pulled out a self-healing patch at Kai Qing's shout. May's condition visible through her torn clothes was dire. The horizontal gash was too wide for a single patch.
[ "A Sang, stop the bleeding first!" ]
Xiao Li yelled at A Sang from the side and began stretching patches to cover it.
A Sang's face grew anxious as he pressed down hard on May's wound with both hands, waiting for the bleeding to stop.
[ "Clean now. I'll handle the wound." ]
The instant A Sang released his hands, Xiao Li slapped patches over the gash. Because of the massive area, it ended up covering her entire abdomen.
May's labored breathing made her condition look severe. A forearm-sized claw had gone in and out—internal injuries had to be serious too.
[ "Liu Xian!" ]
At Xiao Li's cry, Liu Xian—who'd been blasting flames at the batdeads—shifted her gaze.
After checking May's state with Xiao Li, Liu Xian called out to Ji-young.
[ "Ji-young. May's in bad shape." ]
Ji-young glanced at where May lay and replied to Liu Xian, who looked about to ask what she meant by five minutes.
[ "Five minutes." ]
[ "Five minutes to finish it." ]
Ji-young raised her hand. The batdeads hurtling toward them froze midair, then flipped and smashed headfirst into the ground.
One by one, they crashed mercilessly until blood sprayed and they crumpled. Only after the last one fell did Ji-young raise her hand again.
Another swarm plummeted under her control. In the gap, Eun-woo swung his sword. Severed batdead corpses began piling up in his wake with wet slicing sounds.
Then another swarm latched onto Eun-woo.
[ "Whoa, gotta be careful." ]
Kai Qing caught the incoming batdeads with telekinesis and tore them apart like paper.
Rip-!
As the batdeads' brief groans faded amid the shredding bodies, more swooped in. Takahiro and Liu Xian weren't about to miss the dizzying assault. Electricity and flames engulfed them until only ashes scattered in the air.
The batdead boss watched the hunters' all-out assault with a smile. Then it slowly melted back into the shadows.
[ "Get it!" ]
Liu Xian blocked Kai Qing, who tried to pursue the vanishing batdead boss.
[ "May's critical." ]
[ "Let me go alone, then!" ]
Ji-young spoke to the insistent Kai Qing.
[ "We'll come back tomorrow. Head out for today." ]
[ "Ji-young!" ]
[ "Isn't this enough for today?" ]
The cave floor was piled high with batdead corpses. Blood pooling from them turned the ground slick and muddy. The stench of monsters mixed with the coppery reek of blood, enough to split headaches.
Kai Qing licked his lips in disappointment but nodded. There wouldn't be this many batdeads tomorrow. They could just hunt down and kill the boss then.
The hunters and helpers began making their way out of the cave. May was immediately teleported to the teleport zone via Kai Qing and Ji-young's telekinesis. Only after sending her to the Center could they finally catch their breath and head to camp.
"Will... May be okay?"
Ji-young nodded to the worried Su-ho.
"Her internals are messed up, but she'll pull through. Physical hunters have tougher bodies than mental ones."
That was a relief. Kwon Oh, with his arm injury, also looked fine thanks to the patch.
The problem was,
"That boss... batdead. Can we catch it?"
The escaped batdead boss nagged at him. Especially that creepy smile aimed his way.
"Oh. Yeah, we will. Tomorrow. Gonna kill it."
Ji-young's face hardened murderously as she muttered while tugging at her hair.
"Evil Zone never had intelligent monsters before. Why now? Did they overflow from Last Zone and Dead Zone down here?"
There were plenty of possibilities. Boss-grade mutated monsters proliferated in the Last Zone to begin with—the origin and end of all zones. Even SS-grades shied away from clearing it. Only Jin Seong-hyeok could.
Right now, each branch's SS-grades were overwhelmed just with Dead Zones, unable even to touch the Last Zone.
"Reporting this to the branch is gonna cause chaos."
If monsters were overflowing from the Last Zone into Dead Zone, then Evil Zone...
Su-ho and Ji-young sighed in unison.
The bleak, horrifying scenario was too terrifying to even imagine. As Su-ho let out another sigh,
Ji-young tilted her head oddly.
"But, Cha Su-ho."
"Yes?"
"That boss batdead."
Su-ho swallowed dryly amid the strange tension.
"Yes."
Ji-young slowly opened her eyes wide.
"Why was it smiling when it ran away?"