Chapter 71
Chapter 71
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 73
Chapter Title: Dead Zone (6)
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Cha Su-ho walked toward the leader with a relaxed expression.
"If that's over with..."
Su-ho came to a stop, his eyes sharpening in an instant.
"It's my turn now, right?"
The flickering flames of the fiery chains erupted with a roar. The intense heat from the massive chains reached even the distant hunters and helpers from Branch 1 and Branch 5, yet Su-ho himself felt no warmth at all.
Su-ho crooked a finger. The fiery chains shot forward at tremendous speed, seizing the leader.
Kyek-!
The flesh where the chains touched began to burn away bit by bit. Watching the chains burrow deeper, Su-ho drew out his blue whip.
Pajijijik-.
The whip leaped forward with a fierce crackle of sparks, aimed straight at the leader's head.
The blue whip struck the leader's crown precisely, splitting its head cleanly in two—just as Jin Seong-hyeok had described, in a perfect straight line.
The fiery chains wrapped around the leader then grew taut.
Pung-!
Chwak—blood burst everywhere, red clumps scattering like shrapnel. In the spot where the leader had stood, the chains that had finished their work now floated idly, with debris visible below.
'Should I burn it all up?'
Jin Seong-hyeok responded to Su-ho's question.
'Yeah.'
Since it had exploded, regeneration was impossible. All that was left was to clean up neatly. Su-ho flicked his fingers through the air, waving his hand.
The chains, floating calmly, swept over the debris. The red clumps charred to a crisp. What had been entirely red was now all black.
Su-ho nudged one of the black lumps with his foot, and it crumbled with a pasak sound. As if to say it was truly over now, Su-ho slowly turned around.
He gave an awkward smile to the hunters and helpers staring at him, every one of them dumbfounded.
"Looks like we're done here."
No one so much as twitched at Su-ho's words.
"Shall we move out?"
Then Clark, who had been frozen like ice, strode toward Su-ho. He closed in right up to Su-ho's face and grabbed his collar in one swift motion.
"Who the hell are you?"
Even with his collar grabbed, Su-ho remained calm as he spoke.
"Dangerous."
Clark froze. Red chains flickered menacingly behind Su-ho, as if ready to devour Clark at any moment—he hadn't noticed them approaching.
"I haven't put them away yet."
Clark flinched and released the collar without thinking. Su-ho crooked his finger.
Clark stared at the fiery chains as they whirled away, then fixed his gaze on Su-ho again.
"Tell me... who the hell are you?"
"I told you. Cha Su-ho from Branch 1."
"Who doesn't know that?! Do you think we're idiots?!"
Clark bellowed.
"How the hell can you use Jin Seong-hyeok's techniques...!"
"I forgot to mention one thing."
Su-ho continued calmly, meeting Clark's glaring eyes without flinching.
"I'm a helper from Branch 1... and a hunter."
"...What?"
A helper and a hunter?
"That doesn't make any sense."
"And one more thing."
Su-ho lifted the corner of his mouth, wearing a leisurely smile.
"I'm the only one who can use the techniques of the late hunter Jin Seong-hyeok."
"...The techniques of the dead Jin Seong-hyeok. How can you use them?"
Anger seeped into Clark's voice.
"I tried like a madman and couldn't do it—how can a punk like you...!"
The inferiority he felt toward Jin Seong-hyeok stemmed from longing. The overwhelming pressure and dominating power—the fundamental gap couldn't be bridged by effort alone.
No matter what he did.
Su-ho spoke calmly to Clark, who was grinding his teeth.
"Who knows."
He couldn't say that Jin Seong-hyeok had entered his body.
"Maybe you pitied my life as an F-grade, no, scrap-grade helper."
Clark scowled.
"...What?"
"So maybe you helped me learn to use the techniques."
"Are you saying Jin Seong-hyeok trained you?! Taught you the techniques?"
"Something like that."
Clark leaned in close, pressing Su-ho.
"Tell me! Right now. What did Jin Seong-hyeok teach you!"
"Clark."
Su-ho continued, his eyes growing cold as Clark spoke with the momentum of a punch.
"This ends here. Unlike Mr. Jin Seong-hyeok, I have a bad temper."
He had no intention of letting it slide. Clark had tormented Jin Seong-hyeok out of inferiority from the start. Su-ho wasn't about to suffer the same. To prevent that, he needed to nip it in the bud.
"You little...!"
"And you know it better than anyone, Clark. No matter how hard you try, you can never match Jin Seong-hyeok's techniques."
Su-ho passed by the stiffened Clark, who couldn't find words to continue, adding as he went.
"So you'd better drop that pointless inferiority complex."
Su-ho's light footsteps carried him past Clark toward Ji-young. It was the first time not just Branch 5, but even Branch 1's hunters and helpers had properly seen Su-ho fight. They flinched as he approached.
Even knowing Su-ho wouldn't harm them, their bodies reacted instinctively to the fear of his power.
Ji-young looked at Su-ho and spoke.
"You okay?"
"Yeah. Perfectly fine. Oh."
As if remembering something, Su-ho rubbed his exposed stomach.
"My stomach does feel a bit too breezy, though."
His abdomen, punched clean through by the leader's attack, had regenerated, but his clothes hadn't. Su-ho kept rubbing his bare belly, looking embarrassed.
"You really..."
Ji-young let out a hollow laugh.
"Have a talent for scaring people."
"I'd appreciate it if you called it charm."
"Your charm's so overwhelming it's a problem."
Su-ho laughed, watching Ji-young shake her head.
"Looks like we're cleaned up here. Time to head b—"
Su-ho cut off mid-sentence, freezing. A chill ran down his spine. Goosebumps prickled across his skin—a sensation he'd never felt before. Reflexively, his head snapped back.
A steep cliff loomed, and something stood atop it.
The figure, backlit by darkness, gazed down at the hunters, helpers, and Su-ho. Just looking at it exuded an immense pressure.
"What the..."
And then.
"Deadlock..."
'Deadlock.'
Ji-young and Jin Seong-hyeok spoke at the same time.
"Deadlock?"
At the name Deadlock, the hunters' and helpers' faces paled. They froze in place like they'd seen a ghost, staring up at the figure on the cliff.
Ronnie's axe trembled faintly in his grip. The physical hunters, with instincts sharper than mental ones, sensed it on an animal level. How powerful the being watching them was.
'Deadlock... who the hell is that?'
'The ruler of the entire Dead Zone,'
Jin Seong-hyeok drew a short breath before continuing.
'and its final boss.'
Final boss?
Su-ho's gaze shifted back to Deadlock.
Enormous horns like those of a water buffalo protruded from its head, and its face resembled a grotesquely deformed goat. Standing on two legs, overlooking them, it looked almost human.
'W-wait. Is that a sword it's holding?'
Deadlock held a sword in its hand. A real sword.
'Yeah. It is.'
'A sword? Monsters can use swords?!'
'Deadlock is the most humanized monster. That's what makes it so tricky.'
With that, Su-ho immediately summoned his fiery chains. They whirled into the air above his head. Jin Seong-hyeok warned him.
'It's too much for your current level.'
'Too much?'
'Yes.'
He had killed the Pubkill leader. Su-ho didn't think it'd be easy, but he believed he could do it.
'Impossible.'
Jin Seong-hyeok cut off Su-ho's lingering thoughts sharply.
'Fighting now would be suicide.'
And then it happened. Deadlock, which had seemed frozen while gazing down, vanished from sight in an instant.
"Huh...?!"
"Where did it—!"
Right then. A shadow fell over Su-ho's head in a flash.
Su-ho slowly looked up. Deadlock stared down at him. Up close, what he'd thought was a deformed face was just bare bone. Red eyes gleamed from deep sockets, locked precisely on Su-ho.
"I was waiting for you."
A gloomy, chilling voice.
It was clearly directed at Su-ho.
"What, you think changing your face fools me? I almost didn't recognize you."
Changing faces?
Deadlock glanced sideways at the frozen Su-ho.
"I don't want our reunion interrupted."
Deadlock raised its sword arm and swung.
"Keurk."
"Guhk."
The hunters and helpers collapsed simultaneously. Blood poured from between their hands clutching their stomachs.
How? Just a single sword swing.
'Cha Su-ho.'
Jin Seong-hyeok's voice dropped chillingly, grave.
'Lend me your body for a bit.'
As soon as Jin Seong-hyeok urgently shoved Su-ho's mind aside and took control, he raised a hand.
Peong-.
A massive shockwave hit, sending Deadlock flying far away. They had to move fast. They couldn't be here when it returned.
Jin Seong-hyeok quickly opened a gate. Using telekinesis, he shoved the hunters and helpers inside. Finally, he dashed toward the gate himself, glancing back. Far off, Deadlock hovered in the air, staring.
Jin Seong-hyeok turned away. He threw himself into the pitch-black gate and swiftly closed the portal behind them.
'Heading back to HQ?'
'Yeah. But first, wipe some memories.'
Jin Seong-hyeok pressed his thumb and middle finger together and snapped.
'They'll remember being attacked by Deadlock and collapsing. Nothing after. Gate creation stays secret.'
'Got it. But, hyung...'
Su-ho spoke, as if puzzled.
'Why did Deadlock's face...'
'Why what?'
'Look sad?'
He had to be crazy. At the end, as they headed for the gate, Su-ho swore Deadlock's expression looked sad. Even he thought it was insane.
The final boss monster of the Dead Zone looking sad?
'Must be losing your mind.'
'Guess I overdid it with the power.'
No sooner had he spoken than his vision flashed.
'Ah. This is...'
The teleport chamber. Everyone else lay unconscious except Su-ho.
'Handle the rest yourself.'
Control returned to Su-ho in an instant. Jin Seong-hyeok, settling back into Su-ho's subconscious, continued.
'You'll have to prepare yourself when we get back.'
Su-ho knew without explanation. As if already resolved, he replied.
'Gotta brace for dealing with the higher-ups while training to kill Deadlock, huh.'