Chapter 111
Chapter 111
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 111
Chapter Title: Crisis in the Foreign Enclave
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The situation was unfolding in the most irritating way possible. Judging by Choi Yeo-reum's reaction as she lounged in the sky with her legs crossed, it didn't seem like she was the one pulling strings behind this mess.
"A foreigner enclave, of all places, and right now?"
I had a rough idea of what was going on. The aura pouring out from that foreigner enclave was something I'd encountered far too many times before.
I should've caught on when the enclave was mentioned during the meeting, but...
"How the hell was I supposed to predict they'd mess with foreigners, kill 1,500 at once, and turn them into monsters?"
If that was predictable, I'd be a damn prophet instead of a hunter. Anyway, the key point was that my showdown with Choi Yeo-reum was effectively over.
Just fight again, you say?
As if. Whoever orchestrated this had derailed our duel on purpose—and probably tossed in those 1,500 lives as a bonus to score a few extra gains.
They'd invested that much; no way they'd let us clash again. I had no clue what excuse they'd cook up, but one thing was certain: I wouldn't get another shot at facing Choi Yeo-reum.
"Looks like the duel has to be put on hold for now."
After finishing her call, Choi Yeo-reum glanced down at me, then dropped to the ground with a thud and extended her hand.
"What's this, a handshake for old times' sake?"
Choi Yeo-reum responded to my quip.
"Handshake? Don't be ridiculous. I'm gonna carry you to the scene. Stick out your collar."
Her expression looked seriously pissed off.
"You're going along with it surprisingly willingly."
As she grabbed my collar, Choi Yeo-reum shot back.
"You know how many cameras are filming us right now? I'd love to just head home."
But with image management on the line, she had no choice but to join me in quelling the disturbance in the foreigner enclave.
Whoever set this up had laid the board perfectly.
"Does this mean I won...?"
"I know, you bastard. It was only a matter of time. I'm in a foul mood, so drop it."
With that retort, she gripped my collar and shot into the sky, flames erupting from her back as she accelerated at high speed.
"Do you really have to carry me like this?"
It felt like being dragged by the collar. No, that was exactly what it was.
"Should I princess-carry you instead?"
"Oh? You'd do that for me, prince charming?"
I pitched my voice all dramatic on purpose, and right away, Choi Yeo-reum swung her arm and hurled me through the air.
"...She can't take a joke."
As I tumbled downward, I took in the state of the foreigner enclave below.
"Satan's spawn, huh."
Black goat heads, bat wings, and to top it off, tridents. The thick sulfur stench filling the air was a nice touch too.
They must've spotted me falling, because their gazes turned my way. Flames flickered in place of pupils. The ones spreading their wings all launched toward me at once.
It was like hornets bursting from a wasp nest hit by a BB gun.
"Time to get serious."
As the ground rushed up, I coated my body in Paradox Flame. It burned away the impact. Landing on both feet shattered the asphalt with a boom, and the Paradox Flame flared out to consume the shock before fading.
"Shall we see what goat tastes like?"
Black goat was supposed to be good for you, right? I tensed my legs as the horde charged.
Mana from the air surged into my body, flowing down into my legs. With a deafening roar, the asphalt exploded, and I rocketed forward. The wind whistled as the distant black goats closed in instantly.
My swung fist caved in one beast's skull, shattering its horns and collapsing its head.
I raised my hand, ignited Paradox Flame, and slammed it down into the ground.
"Instantaneous burst."
The blazing Paradox Flame incinerated the explosive power of the beasts lunging at me from all sides.
Once hit, they couldn't react even if they saw the attack coming. Naturally, dodging was out of the question. They were no different from standing scarecrows.
Dazed, they just stood there, taking hits without moving a muscle.
"..."
As I smashed their skulls, the ones still untouched by Paradox Flame began flapping their wings to flee.
Then I sensed a massive surge of mana. Flames erupted like a wall, forming a gigantic dome that enveloped the entire foreigner enclave.
"Damn it, you're the reason I burned so much mana. And this is all you've handled?"
Choi Yeo-reum's handiwork from up in the sky.
"Did I twist your arm or something?"
She's the one who got pissed and wasted mana like crazy, so why blame me? Besides, that wasn't even true.
Even after erecting that flame dome over the whole enclave, she still had several times Han Sang-ah's mana reserves left.
"Handle the rest yourself. Doesn't look too tough anyway. It'll vanish in about three hours."
With that, Choi Yeo-reum zoomed off. Now I—and these monsters—were trapped inside the flame dome.
"Three hours. Overkill."
She'd set it that long just to annoy me.
No big deal. Once I cleared these things out, I'd just burn a hole through with Paradox Flame and leave.
"No running away now, friends."
You're all dying here. You were probably people once, but not anymore.
"1,500 of them."
My head was spinning. Not everyone in the foreigner enclave had turned into monsters. And since not much time had passed, plenty of people were probably still hiding, unable to escape.
"Choi Yeo-reum. Just flying off like that."
I spat on the ground. In a situation like this, saving everyone was impossible. Physically unfeasible.
Bottom line...
"If I've got time to save one person, I'll kill one monster instead."
That's the path to saving the most lives. Saving one saves that one. But killing one monster saves far more—the potential victims it could've slaughtered.
As fast as possible, as many as possible. I kept moving without pause. Screams rang out, pleas for help.
A child crying for its parents. An armless man clutching his severed limb, muttering weird noises as he looked around.
I ignored all the sights and sounds. While protecting one person, a single monster could kill ten.
I heightened my senses with mana, spotted monsters with my limbs, and dispatched them on the spot. Rinse and repeat endlessly. Countless horrors flashed by: a child's head torn off, a woman's gut ripped open.
A man groaning with limbs shredded. An elderly person dead in their own filth. Men, women, young, old—all painted in thousands of forms of death and agony.
"No wonder I can't stay sane in this."
Silently, the monster body count I'd pulverized surpassed a hundred. Fleeing beasts and resistors alike dropped like flies sprayed with insecticide, piling up on the ground.
I expanded my senses, locating monsters farther out. I grabbed a thrusting trident barehanded, yanked it free, and rammed it back into its owner's skull.
"Usable enough."
A trident was still a spear. I snatched it and swung. These flimsy things never lasted. When one seemed about to snap, I'd hurl it at a distant foe and grab another from the next monster. Repeat.
"..."
Covered in the black slime oozing from countless corpses, I wiped my face and glared at the beasts. They were backing away, making whimpering sounds.
I charged one, wrenched its head off by hand, and chucked the severed skull at another.
Heads collided and exploded. The headless body thrashed briefly before going still.
"Well, what do you know. You bastards do feel fear after all."
Good. I slammed my hand into a crumbling wall, ripped out a huge chunk, and hurled it. Monsters unable to dodge got crushed in a heap.
1,500? I could shred ten times that number. More monsters just meant more victims piling up.
"It's over."
A few minutes later, I scanned the surroundings with mana-enhanced senses and spat on the ground. My saliva mixed with the black slime.
Perched on a mountain of monster corpses, I clicked my tongue.
"So many dead."
Not monsters—people. They never imagined dying like this here. Hell, even the monster I was sitting on used to be human.
"Sorry. But what can you do?"
I patted the corpse's shattered head under me and muttered that. Then I rummaged around and found some water.
"..."
It was rainwater, collected and murky with an earthy smell. Foreigner enclave, huh. Guess the rumors about zero infrastructure investment were true.
I scooped some up, drank, spat out the grit left in my mouth, and killed time. The crisis was over, but no survivors showed their faces.
"Hello, can you hear me?"
I called the Association via smartphone.
― Hunter Yoo Chan-seok.
"The disturbance in the foreigner enclave has been cleared. Where should the survivors gather?"
The Association President went silent at my words. After a beat, I snorted and continued.
"No evacuation plan, I take it."
― Foreigners in enclaves aren't allowed outside except in regulated scenarios by principle.
And apparently, this scenario wasn't on the list.
"The foreigners turned into monsters."
― Yeah.
Yeah, my ass.
"Seems like there are a lot of people out there who think they're the smartest in the room, Mr. President."
― What’s that supposed to mean?
What do you think? Listen up, since I'm spelling it out. Why's everyone so damn impatient?
"Foreigners turning into monsters? Perfect excuse to tighten entry procedures and conditions."
Tougher procedures mean more backdoor cash flow. Streamlining red tape with bribes happens everywhere.
"On top of that, folks will shun foreigners even more... and all those bleeding hearts preaching foreigner rights will shut their traps."
1,500 dead foreigners here unlocks a ton of gains. People get generous about oppressing 'risk factors.'
"You'll start hearing calls to limit top hunters' overseas ops and redirect them to domestic stability."
That's the real kicker. The rest might happen, but it won't touch me.
"Let me be clear: don't think you can leash me with this crap."
― Never crossed my mind.
Sure it hasn't. Everyone talks a big game like that. Believing it makes you the fool.
"One more thing: my duel with Hunter Choi Yeo-reum."
― We'll decide that in a future meeting.
Meeting, my ass.
"Just keep Choi Yeo-reum at #3 on Hope's List. Looks like that's what everyone’s dying for anyway."
The power of #3 on Hope's List isn't in the name—it's the certainty of the skill backing it.
People saw me fight her on even terms and gain the upper hand. At this point, whether my name's actually on the list or not is irrelevant.
My name, Yoo Chan-seok, now carried the same weight as a #3 Hope's List hunter. I'd achieved the equivalent without the slot.
― Anything else you want in return?
"The crown."
That much, at least, you owe me.