The First Hunter

53 – Gwangmyeong City, Part III

 

Translator: | Editor:

Chapter 19. Gwangmyeong City, Part III

Translator: Khan

Editor: RED

6.

Snap!

The pitch-black darkness with not even a single ray of light brightened after a long time.

Kim Tae-hoon, who held the light in his hand, shined it ahead of him.

It was as it was. When he released it from his hand, it started to move by itself.

With his light in the air, he brought out another flashlight again. He began to walk along the dark subway tracks with two lights shining as co-workers.

The first thing that greeted him was a corpse. There were several bodies that had been squashed, not just one.

He could see five corpses right now. They were pretty ugly.

‘I think they were struck by a blunt weapon.’

Their wound looked as if they had been hit by a blunt weapon, but it was as terrible as a bomb. The struck area was blown apart. The heads were smashed, to the extent that it was difficult to find pieces, and those who were attacked in the belly were torn apart.

‘This power is beyond the bounds of common sense.’

It was like being hit by a lump of metal moving hundreds of kilometers per hour. Such bodies had something in common besides wounds.

‘Rather, the suit is-‘

All of them were dressed in black.

‘A counterterrorism suit.’

It was quite a familiar suit for Kim.

It was not a uniform worn by certain troops. but a counterterrorism suit, which was used in the counterterrorism operations, and Kim had worn it several times. Of course, he knew the purpose of making that suit.

‘Their aim was to hunt the monster secretly, too.’

Black was the color for secret activities in the dark. The purpose of such clothes was to avoid the attention of the public. In addition, costumes such as counterterrorism suits are not based on the assumption of monsters. It’s a product of putting humans as enemies.

Of course, there were a few differences from the counterterrorism suit Kim knew.

Tap! Tap!

Kim tapped the chest of the dead body. He could feel the hard material hidden between the cloth.

‘They didn’t wear it outside but put it between the clothes. They sewed it in.’

Sewing.

They remade the clothes. It was a step further than simply using armor.

The next thing he looked for was the back of their right hands. As soon as he took off their gloves, the marks of Awakeners were revealed, as expected.

Kim’s eyes turned black.

[Basic Abilities]

• Strength: 71
• Health: 49

[Special Abilities]

• Energy: D- Rank
• Mana: E Rank
• Defense: D- Rank
• Mana Resistance: E Rank

[Achieved Abilities]

• Hobgoblin’s Sense (Grade 6)
• The Vitality of Troll (Grade 6)

Kim frowned with his black-dyed Eyes.

‘Their abilities are higher than I thought.’

Immediately, he also checked the back of the right hand of the other bodies.

He was also an Awakener, and his abilities were not much different from the body he had just identified. Both of them had acquired the [Hobgoblin’s Sense] and [Vitality of Troll].

When the third body was found to have similar abilities as the previous two, Kim had no choice but to admit it.

‘They are soldiers made in a systemic manner.’

They were not soldiers who hunted monsters and ate monster stones to live, but the ones who were fed monster stones on purpose.

Kim frowned. “Huh.” ‘I even expected this much.’

He had expected it, but he didn’t know that there was a group that could create such an Awakener so quickly. At the same time, he was suspicious.

‘But that’s not enough.’

Certainly, they were well-bred Awakeners. There weren’t many in the Mac Guild at this level.

‘It’s ridiculous to try to hunt a green-grade monster at their level.’

It wasn’t enough to hunt a green-grade monster.

‘They wouldn’t have endured the fear.’

In other words, at this level of Energy, it was not easy to withstand the fear of a yellow-grade monster, let alone a green-grade monster.

Nevertheless, it was hard to understand that they entered the subway station without hesitation, even if they knew a green-grade monster was within. With common sense, if there had been a monster in the dark-filled subway station, which had only a limited number of places to run away, it would have been an extremely dangerous place.

They should never come in unless they had something to believe in.

‘… they must have had a good relic.’

Relic.

It is now the most reliable thing in the world.

Kim immediately began searching inside the jacket of the body. First, he found a Smartphone. Crushed flat, it definitely did not work.

‘Hanji?’ The next discovery was none other than the finely folded Hanji, which was the traditional Korean paper handmade from mulberry trees. He opened the Hanji.

‘It’s a rubbing from a tombstone.’

It was a rubbing made of Korean paper after smearing a huge tombstone. It wasn’t old. The Hanji was stiff, and the smell of ink still remained.

Above all, Kim’s Eyes, which were still black, were soon able to identify the rubbing.

==[The Rubbing of Sunsubi]

• Relic Grade: Grade 5
• Relic Value: Normal
• Relic Effect: It contains some dignity of King Jinheung. It can make weak monsters tremble with fear.]==

The Rubbing of Sunsubi of King Jinheung of Silla!

‘They’re from Seoul.’

The Rubbing of Sunsubi of King Jinheung was located in the National Museum of Korea. Having the Rubbing of Sunsubi of King Jinheung meant they were from Seoul.

As expected, there were already forces that had taken the relics of the National Museum of Korea. It was not very pleasant news. Kim briefly clicked his tongue.

‘If a rubbing alone has the effect of scaring monsters, then the tombstone itself…’

On the other hand, he could indirectly learn the effect of the Rubbing of Sunsubi of King Jinheung.

King Jinheung was one of the greatest war kings in Silla. He was the monarch who fought wars of conquest many times!

Naturally, the tombstone that his achievements were engraved on would surely have the power to match the dignity and nature of King Jinheung.

It was understandable enough to scare the monsters. In fact, the rubbing was this strong, so the Sunsubi of King Jinheung would play a role as an invisible barrier to block monsters’ access.

Kim, of course, took the rubbing, and thought, ‘I wonder what the effect of Gwanggaeto Stele would have.’

The doubts flew from his mind as soon as he found a weapon of one of the bodies.

‘Panzerfaust.’

They also had a weapon, a Panzerfaust 3, which Kim had used. But it was different from what Kim had used. At the end of the shell that the man had not yet used, there was a bronze spear instead of a pointed snout.

Kim looked at the bronze spear.

==[The Bronze Spear of a Warrior]

• Relic Grade: Grade 4
• Relic Value: Rare
• Relic Effect: It is a bronze spear used by an ancient warrior. It contains the fighting spirit of a warrior.]==

It was also a relic. It was not a mere relic, but a relic of the Bronze Age written in the textbook. The relic was put in front of the shell.

If it were normal times, it would be crazy. A Panzerfaust had the gunpowder of the shaped charge warhead. A relic which was put this way in front of a warhead would be destroyed with the monster.

When he saw it now, he got chills down his back.

‘If the power of the shell and the relic are combined…’

Combining a relic with modern weapons in this way was not simply a matter of thinking. Anyone can think.

But a relic is a treasure that could not be replaced by anything at this point, and it was not something you could practice, using it as consumable.

If you do, you will have to complete the minimum verification, because you could not afford to consume the relic in situations where the effects are not verified.

No, before now, this weapon had already proved its worth.

‘The monster was killed by this.’

As a result, this weapon would have dealt a fatal blow to a green-grade monster. The fatal wound would have caused it to suffer, and it eventually died three days ago.

‘The penetration power of a Panzerfaust also worked on a yellow-grade monster. If the destructive power is added to the relic…’

Of course, luck followed.

‘The combined weapon would have hurt it. However, they were lucky to give it a fatal injury.’

Luck, however, follows those who try, and luck does not follow those who do not try. In other words, the green-grade monster killed by this weapon was unlucky.

Kim rose from his seat. ‘I’ll have to check it more thoroughly.’

It was time to find the unlucky monster.

7.

It was around dawn when Kim returned from his search in Gwangmyeong City, which was not short.

At the calmest time, when most people were asleep, Kim returned to the mayor’s office in Bucheon City Hall, where Jang Sung-hoon greeted him with sleepy eyes.

“Do you have any profit?”

Before answering the question, Kim took out a smartphone and handed a photo file to Jang, who blinked his eyes to get rid of sleep.

[Basic Abilities]

• Strength: 215
• Health: 198

[Special Abilities]

• Energy: C- Rank
• Mana: C- Rank
• Telekinesis: A Rank
• Defense: C- Rank
• Mana Resistance: C- Rank

[Achieved Abilities]

• Flame-Spewing (Grade 5): The fire is generated by Energy. The power varies depending on the amount of Energy consumed. The nature of the flame follows the nature of the Energy.
• The Hearing of the Bell-tailed Rat (Grade 4): The Hearing of the Bell-tailed Rat can hear even the sound of drops of water.

“Wow, you’ve done a lot of level-ups! Boss, congratulations. What did you get this time?”

In response to the high-pitched voice of Jang, Kim closed his Eyes instead of answering. Jang looked puzzled at the sight he didn’t show.

“Ah.” Jang Sung-hoon, who suddenly understood the situation, lowered his voice. “I’m sorry.”

The fourth grade was the same as the Eyes of Black Snake in Kim’s abilities. It didn’t just stop on a level of hearing. He could hear the sound of drops of water, and the sounds which Jang made in front of Kim’s nose would have sounded like thunder.

“This ability is adjustable, but not right now.”

“I’m glad to hear that it can be controlled.” Jang lowered his voice as much as possible. “You got a fourth-level ability, and you found a green-grade monster…”

But he never shut up. He could not just keep silent. But if Kim had wanted him to be quiet, he would not have woken Jang up.

---

The explanation began. Kim told Jang all about his experiences in Gwangmyeong City: from the story of the Messiah to the story of a green-grade monster, a Bell-tailed Rat, found with a hole in its heart.

In the story, Kim earned a huge treasure. He got the body and monster stone of the fourth-grade monster.

However, Jang did not care about the goods.

“We have a great competitor who is stronger than we thought, and the army which owns the National Museum of Korea… but I don’t think its the Infantry Division, but the Capital Defense Command.”

“I don’t know, and we should not make a wild guess.”

Competitor.

It was the clearest word to express the group that had appeared this time.

The reason for being a competitor is simple. The world had become a zero-sum game where you had to secure as many monster stones as possible, with limited monsters.

“Anyway, if we see them hunting monsters at any cost, they know that securing monster stones is more important than anything else.”

The competitor that appeared this time also knew it. So they ran a special unit for monster hunting.

“But I don’t understand, no matter how much they prepared, they did not have enough power to kill a green-grade monster. Moreover, there is surely a Daedongyeojido in the National Museum of Korea and it is not a copy, but the original edition…”

There were, of course, some things that he didn’t understand.

“The stats of the Awakeners there were not simply enough to search for a foe like that.”

The National Museum of Korea had a copy, as well as the original edition of Daedongyeojido, and could print some of them, if not all.

If they had a Daedongyeojido, they must have known that Gwangmyeong City had a green-grade monster.

So why did they send a well-trained unit of Awakeners to that deadly place?

“Maybe they did not secure Daedongyeojido?”

Kim did not answer Jang’s question. The answer could not be answered by anyone here. Speculation could only make a conjecture.

So Kim discussed something else. He took out a pocket notebook, and immediately opened its fourth page and showed it to Jang.

[Gather at Gimpo Airport on March 3rd]

Jang’s expression hardened at the short passage. It was not difficult to understand what it meant.

“There was not one unit, and several units moved out of Seoul to collect monster stones and would gather together on a given date… If it’s Gimpo International Airport, are they going to take an airplane?”

“It’s an open place without people, and it can be safer than we think to the threat of monsters.”

They got information that meant they could contact the unknown forces. What was left was a choice.

“So are you going to negotiate with them here on that day?”

There are two options: as it is, we just go without knowing about one another, or we can talk after contact.

“What do you think?”

“Doing nothing is a blindfolded thing, and Gimpo Airport is just above Bucheon. No, they are already in Gwangmyeong City, and we can’t avoid contacting them.”

But in fact, there was one option to choose.

“Boss, they’re much bigger than us, so it’s not too bad to negotiate and get under them. There’s no reason for them to be hostile to a group of survivors, like the boss and Mac Guild… is my opinion.

“We have to face them someday, anyway. It is better for us to go ahead and talk and negotiate before we meet them, pretending not to know. No, it may be much better.”

‘We must seek to survive through negotiations.’

Even if you compete, it is a completely different story to compete in a situation where you have agreed, and to compete in a situation where you live or die.

Above all, there was not one competitor now.

There will be many survivors in Korea, and on a larger scale, there will be strong competitors in Japan, North Korea, and China. If you looked at it globally, Europe, Russia, and the United States could also be competitors.

Compared to them, the survivors of the Republic of Korea lacked sufficient power even if they held hands with one another.

‘Because they are soldiers, they are fully aware of other countries as potential enemies, and the chances of success in negotiations are high.’

The group that had now settled in Seoul was centered on soldiers. Soldiers are a group that exists because of their enemies. Of course, if they are soldiers, they will know how many enemies are around the Republic of Korea.

The only problem is one.

“They’ll have to negotiate, but the problem is… If the negotiations break down, the boss will be in trouble.”

There was no guarantee that good results would come out through negotiations. And the possibility that Kim would be in trouble was not small.

“Sister Sun-mi’s hair is still short, so you won’t die right away. Don’t worry.” Jang said the words to reassure Kim, and Kim laughed at the remark. The smile on his lips disappeared immediately.

He couldn’t forget the dream.

“I sent a signal to make Gyeongju the destination, not Seoul.”

In his second dream, Kim made a wish list for himself. He hid information in the wish list: make Gyeongju or Buyeo your destination, not Seoul.

Of course, that didn’t mean Seoul was completely in danger; it might mean that you should not waste your time on the occupied land, and should find the unoccupied land and be the owner.

‘It is possible that those in Seoul will be dangerous for me in the future.’

But there was no guarantee that it was not a warning.

‘It might be dangerous to meet them at Gimpo Airport that day.’

This decision may result in narrowing the distance from death.

Kim closed his eyes for a while.

‘It’s hard to adapt to this kind of situation.’

The fact that every moment’s choice could cause his own death, and nevertheless, he should make a choice, made Kim’s lips dry.

“If I have a problem with myself, I’ll be prepared for it.”

However, Kim did not give up his choice. He would just prepare for the outcome of his choice.

If you have a problem with your own personality, you must take precautions against it, for even if the dead become dead and rotten, living must continue.

“Get the technicians together.”

“We’ve already got a list, and all you have to do is give them a job.”

“Recover the data of the smartphone in that bag first, there may be other information in it.”

“I understand.”

“And give the Clans a mission. Transport the available solar power generators in Gwangmyeong City to Bucheon.”

“It won’t be easy because the conditions of the road are not good.”

“Use the subway tracks.”

“Is the track okay?”

“Except for the dead ones, the sound of monster hearts was so loud that I couldn’t bear it.”

Jang admired Kim’s words. He’d finished cleaning up the subway tracks on his way.

“That’s great. Starting with Bucheon City Hall Station to Cheolsan Station… however, it’s going to be hard right now, since the distance is considerable.”

“It’s something we have to do someday.”

“Yes.”

“Gather the reliable ones and secure the dead body of the Bell-tailed Rat. Send them first. That’s the top priority.”

“Yes.”

Jang laughed at the appearance of Kim, who did not stop speaking of his future plans.

The conversation between the two went on until dawn, and the morning sun streamed in. That’s how the day began.

8.

‘Ah.’ Kim couldn’t feel anything on his right arm.

‘Did I have my arm cut off? Shoulder first?’

He felt as if his right arm had been cut off. But it was not possible to confirm that. His eyes were fixed in front of him. There were two women in sight.

‘Twins.’ They had the same look, one holding a lute in her hand, and the other holding a sword.

“You are absolutely the dragon slayer. You’re holding out against us so far. Isn’t that great?”

‘Chinese.’ Chinese came out of the mouth of the woman holding a sword.

“I just want to bite you to death.”

Of course, Kim didn’t understand Chinese very well.

‘Let’s just memorize them.’ I just reminded myself of what she said a little while ago to put it to my mind somehow.

Then he heard a voice behind him. “If you have something to say before you die, say it. Still, you’ve achieved this feat, so we will let you say a word of your will.”

Only then did Kim realize that a man was stabbing his heart with a sword behind his back.

“Kuck!” And Kim also knew that not many words were left at this moment.

‘I was stabbed in the heart. My blood is not up to my neck. I can say a few words.’

Therefore, he listened to the last words of his dying future

“Here are six snakes- the name of the traitor is Oh Se-bum. Remember his voice. And use him…”

At that moment, the reaction of those around him changed.

“Shit, kill him fast!”

“Cut off his head!”

His dream was that far in the future.