Chapter 42
Chapter 42
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: Hamburg Showdown
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I'd threatened over the radio like I was about to open fire any second, but just as I'd expected, nothing happened. The helicopter I was riding continued steadily toward Hamburg, its engine rumbling away.
And it seemed they knew further threats were pointless, because no more radio messages came our way.
"By now, Hamburg's probably in an uproar."
"Hey, Hunter sir. We'll be arriving in Hamburg soon. What about my safety, though?"
The pilot asked me in an anxious voice.
"You're fine. No need to be so scared."
"Got it."
To be honest, I did wonder if I really had to protect him. This pilot was part of Mazurka's crew, after all, sucking the lifeblood out of others just like the thugs.
What was I thinking.
But that didn't mean I could just abandon him. He'd risked his life flying the chopper all the way here, after all.
And I wasn't some all-knowing god. I had no right to judge who deserved to live or die.
Just as the pilot said, we soon reached Hamburg's skies. I grabbed the radio, tuned the channel, and spoke up.
"Can't you at least guide me in for a landing? I'm already here."
"...Fine. Follow the flare."
A red flare shot up into the sky. The chopper headed straight for it. Below was a helicopter landing pad blinking with lights... and...
"Well, well."
A massive crowd surrounded the pad.
"Are you sure... really sure this is okay?"
"Just land. If you're thinking of turning back now, I'll jump out right here."
Whatever happened to this chopper after that wouldn't be my problem. That's what I meant, and the pilot seemed to get it.
Resigned, he set the helicopter down on the pad.
"Hey there."
Gripping my spear, I stepped out and gave a casual wave. Immediately, one of the guys standing there fired a crossbow at me.
I caught the incoming bolt mid-air with my hand and hurled it right back at the shooter. It whistled through the air and embedded in his shoulder.
"What the hell? Shooting at someone out of the blue."
I deliberately dragged the spear tip along the ground as I strolled forward leisurely. The scraping sound echoed across the asphalt.
Out of the crowd, about twenty were hunters. The rest were armed civilians.
"Yoo Chan-seok, the hunter?"
"That's me. And you?"
The armed civilians' faces hardened at my words, but the hunters showed no change. He must be the leader of this warlord group called Kaiser.
He was dressed sharply in military fatigues, with some kind of medal pinned to his chest—though God knows what for.
"Daniel Lois of Kaiser."
The man's expression wasn't great as he introduced himself.
"State your business for trespassing on our turf."
"I sent an official request to let the train crossing Siberia through, but got no reply."
In response, he rested his hand on his holster and said,
"We have our own circumstances. No one wants bloodshed, so turn back."
I grinned back.
"Says who? You think I flew here in a chopper empty-handed for fun?"
"Heard you made quite the splash in Korea. Looks like early success bred too much arrogance."
Daniel gave a slight nod, and the waiting hunters slowly closed in on me.
"You're not the only hunter in the world. Get lost while we're asking nicely."
One of them threatened me.
"Of course I'm not the only hunter. But there aren't that many better than me."
And the ones gathered here sure weren't among them.
"Your mouth runs faster than your skills."
"Keep talking shit until you see what I can do."
I channeled the mana I'd absorbed into my body and kicked off the ground. In an instant, I was right in front of the guy who'd just been mouthing off.
"Guh... ack?!"
In a flash, three punches slammed into his gut. As he doubled over, vomiting blood and his legs giving out, I kneed him in the jaw.
One down. The other hunters immediately backed off, yelling,
"We'll file a formal complaint with the Korea Hunter Association over this!"
"Go ahead."
Until now, I'd tried playing the good guy. But after seeing Warsaw's mess, I'd readjusted my goals and mindset a bit.
From here on, I didn't care if people saw me as a thug or a gentleman. I did what I thought necessary.
"Question is, how many of you will be left to yap after this is over."
Lopco and Veramin, was it? These hunters weren't their absolute elites, and they hadn't brought every available one either.
One of the Great Eight, Ristorante, held the south where Kaiser was based. They couldn't pull every hunter here just to stop me.
"Come at me."
They'd thought catching me once today was enough when I boarded the chopper.
Yoo Chan-seok's brazen attitude left the hunters baffled, even bewildered. The Korean rookie or whatever had twenty hunters to face.
His confidence meant he had some ace up his sleeve—or he was just brainless.
The hunters exchanged quiet glances.
His skills were definitely superior to those gathered here. Word had spread like wildfire among hunters that he'd soloed a Rank-2 Erosion Core. But they still had a shot.
No, better than even odds.
We leverage our numbers and minimize damage.
A rotation would solve this easily.
No one could wield mana indefinitely.
No matter how skilled one guy was, if eighty took turns dragging it out, his mana would run dry. A hunter without mana was no better than a car out of gas.
Plus, who knew if he really was the hotshot who'd wrecked a Rank-2 Erosion Core solo back in Korea.
His mana pool looks about our level?
The amount of mana in Yoo Chan-seok's body wasn't anything special.
"I don't like ganging up on a fellow hunter making a living the same way."
"Don't cry when you get beat."
Yoo Chan-seok didn't wait for the others to move. With a boom of exploding air, he charged, gripping his spear upside down like a baseball bat and smashing one's shin.
A sickening crack, and the bone shattered through the flesh.
"A... aaaargh!"
The first strike took one out completely. He'd poured every ounce of his mana into that blow.
With nineteen left, no one expected an all-out attack. You couldn't do that unless you wanted to get pummeled to death after thinning the herd.
"This... this might actually be good...!"
One hunter started to say it worked in their favor, but fell silent.
Yoo Chan-seok had obliterated another leg with the same speed and power. Impossible.
"His mana should've bottomed out from that last hit?"
"His mana didn't drop at all!"
One of the watching hunters finally realized it and yelled in shock. The total mana Yoo Chan-seok started with hadn't decreased one bit.
"Wheelchairs for everyone today, seniors."
The spear spun in Yoo Chan-seok's hand with a whirr. His signature move was well-known: black flames blazing from the tip. But right now, not even a spark flickered there.
"Rush him! Overwhelm with numbers!"
With that shout, the hunters charged. Minutes later, they experienced something bizarre.
What kind of attacks are these.
It didn't feel like Yoo Chan-seok was targeting them with his spear. It was more like they were running into it themselves.
"Damn it, it's not like we haven't fought this level before!"
Meanwhile, dodging their attacks felt off too. You thought you'd hit him, but you hadn't.
Never encountered this before. It wasn't that they couldn't track his movements. They saw it, thought it connected—only to realize later it missed. This weirdness was new.
The hunters couldn't comprehend what was happening in the fight.
They moved, and I swung my spear to match. Before they could process their own actions, my spear claimed the spot they'd head to.
Realizing too late, they felt like they'd thrown themselves onto my spear, getting smashed and crippled.
Thanks to my mana-rewired nervous system.
"No way, predictive reaction?"
"Bullshit. How long has he been using mana? He can't be at that level already."
"But he's not just overwhelming us with specs!"
Spouting their insider nonsense again. In game terms, it's input lag difference. Ping, whatever.
They're playing FPS at 120ms, while I'm soloing at 20ms.
You know that FPS frustration where you swear you hit them but they don't die? Similar shit happening here.
"You guys can't cut it. I've got chops in civilian massacres too."
Even if our mana pools looked equal, I didn't have depletion. To match my constant attacks and moves, they'd have to burn theirs dry.
"Hahaha! Whirr, pow!"
Weapons clashed. Ground flipped up, bodies flew from impacts they couldn't withstand.
I leaped, grabbed a airborne guy's head, and smashed it into a building wall. Cracks spiderwebbed out; he foamed at the mouth and passed out.
"What, asleep? Come on, you bastards!"
Thought I'd die once today?
"Damn it, kill him! Kill that fucker!"
Lightning crashed from the sky; a red-glowing hunter charged. Black-qi arrows targeted me; telekinesis crushed down on my body.
Frosty mist rolled in, blinding vision; an invisible foe stabbed from behind with a dagger.
"There you go, you can do it if you try."
I rolled, dodging the lightning on my crown, snatched the arrow, and flung it at the telekinesis hunter. It sank into his shoulder.
"Guh... ah."
Telekinesis released. I swept my spear wide at the mist; the wind pressure reversed it, slamming into the charging red hunter.
Chilled and blinded, he faltered. I closed in and uppercut his gut with my fist.
As he floated briefly, I hammered kicks into his stomach.
And from there, I kept dismantling them one by one.