Chapter 47: Monster Wave (2)
“This is my first time seeing monsters cross the barrier.”
Choi Hee-yeon spoke with a slightly tense expression.
Even though she had experienced various contaminated zones across the country since becoming a secret agent for the Intelligence Department, this was her first time in the contaminated zone north of the Imjin River.
The same went for Jin-young.
Before crossing the Imjin River, he looked up at the top of the barrier and said,
“Senior Na, I left Lee Ju-hong up there, right? Please explain it properly to the Commander.”
Jin-young had already injected Lee Ju-hong with black mana that attracted monsters.
At the same time, the tentacles had implanted a parasite in his body, so if anything happened at the guard battalion, he would notice immediately.
“Lee Ju-hong? All of a sudden?”
Na Ji-hwan, looking down at them from atop the barrier, tilted his head in confusion.
Kwon Hyeok-gyu, standing beside him, asked,
“Lee Ju-hong? Who is that?”
“Ah… He was the former head of the Awakener Division at Seoul City Hall—a 5th-grade hunter. Currently, he’s been sentenced and is serving a one-year duty on the North Korean contaminated zone border mission.”
While explaining, Na Ji-hwan turned around.
Then he spotted a lone man placed awkwardly in the middle of the guard battalion compound.
“…Where the hell did that guy come from?”
The moment Na Ji-hwan confirmed it really was Lee Ju-hong, goosebumps rose on his skin.
Unaware of his reaction, Kwon Hyeok-gyu nodded and said,
“We’ve actually been short on hunter personnel at the Border Command. This is good timing—I should recall the Awakener forces sent to Gangwon Province back to Paju.”
***
“What exactly are you planning to do with me?”
Still bound by psychokinesis and dragged along by Jin-young, Kim Dae-woong spoke.
“These days even totems talk.”
“…Damn it. I shouldn’t have listened to those Chinese bastards…”
Kim Dae-woong muttered in belated regret, but it didn’t faze Jin-young at all.
“Cut the fake remorse. You’re the type who wouldn’t change even if given every chance in the world.”
“…….”
Kim Dae-woong didn’t fully understand what Jin-young meant, but he didn’t bother asking.
Even though they hadn’t known each other long, he instinctively felt it.
Nothing good would come from getting too deeply involved with this man.
“I was supposed to train Senior Advisor sometimes, but there isn’t a single monster in sight.”
Because he had already used Kim Dae-woong to lure in one wave of monsters, not a single one was showing its face now.
The previous expedition into North Korean territory had also cleared out the outer monsters.
It seemed they would have to go deeper—closer to the core—before any appeared.
“The Paju contaminated zone didn’t actually originate in Paju, right?”
At Jin-young’s question, Choi Hee-yeon nodded.
“Yes. The origin point is Kaesong.”
“To reach the core, we’ll have to cross the old Military Demarcation Line. That’s going to take quite a while.”
The contaminated zone that originated in Kaesong City had expanded across the old Military Demarcation Line, reaching all the way to Paju before stopping at the Imjin River basin.
Because of this, South Korean territory had effectively shrunk.
At least it had stopped north of the Imjin River, making the natural moat useful for defense against monsters.
“There’s a Mine up ahead.”
Choi Hee-yeon, who had activated Measurement Eye Eyes skill, spoke up.
Jin-young had already noticed it earlier thanks to the psionic energy he had spread out.
As they drew closer, the Mine also sensed their presence and began probing.
Judging by the way it seemed to think strategically, it was at least 5th-grade.
After examining it with her Analysis skill, she reported,
“It’s a 4th-grade Mine. Its physical abilities are superior to its mana.”
For a 3rd-grade hunter like Choi Hee-yeon, this was an opponent she could handle alone without any difficulty.
In fact, it was almost too easy.
Before meeting Jin-young, she might have struggled—but now she was steadily becoming a human weapon.
“Hm. Senior, why don’t you test out what you’ve been practicing lately?”
“Gladly.”
Choi Hee-yeon nodded and created distance from the Mine, facing off against it.
Originally, her ‘Lightning’ ability had been used in close range by swinging bolts like whips.
But as her proficiency increased, the range of her lightning had gradually expanded.
Sssss—
Blue current crackled from both arms as she extended her hand toward the Mine.
Crackle crackle crackle!
The lightning left her hand and shot toward the Mine like a bolt.
Swoosh—
But the Mine dodged it with a quick sidestep, having clearly seen it coming.
“Ah.”
She had already sensed failure the moment the lightning left her hand. When she confirmed it with her eyes, she bit her lip.
Even if the Mine hadn’t dodged, it wouldn’t have dealt significant damage.
The power dropped sharply the instant it left her hand.
Long-range lightning was still in the practice stage, so both its speed and power were inevitably far inferior to close-range use.
“Grrr… Kill… you…”
The moment the Mine dodged the lightning and charged toward Choi Hee-yeon—
Crackle—
Choi Hee-yeon cloaked her own body in blue lightning and rushed forward to meet it.
Crackle crackle crackle!
The Mine’s body was instantly enveloped in blue current and paralyzed.
Choi Hee-yeon drew a slender rapier from her waist.
Crackle—
The sharp blade, wrapped in blue lightning, pierced straight through the Mine’s head and scrambled its brain.
Until now she had fought bare-handed or with mana guns, but on Jin-young’s recommendation she had begun using a light sword.
Touching a Mine’s body with bare hands was too dangerous.
Thud.
The Mine, its brain turned to mush, collapsed face-first onto the ground.
Choi Hee-yeon had dealt with the Mine easily, but the failure of her long-range lightning left her with a dissatisfied expression.
“It’s fine, Senior. You’re still young—you’ve got plenty of time to practice.”
At Jin-young’s half-hearted consolation, Choi Hee-yeon didn’t know whether to feel comforted or offended.
Thirty-five wasn’t exactly old, but for a hunter it was hardly “young” either.
Considering that most hunters started declining in their forties, she didn’t have an abundance of time left.
Of course, a few monsters were exceptions to the age rule.
“You’re not seriously thinking you’re too old to grow any further, are you?”
At Jin-young’s words, Choi Hee-yeon flinched.
“…Actually, yes. That’s exactly what I think.”
Lying didn’t suit her personality, so the truth slipped out.
“Age isn’t really an issue. What matters is willpower.”
“Is that so…”
Choi Hee-yeon thought she should feel annoyed hearing this from someone younger than her, but strangely she didn’t.
Of course, Jin-young’s actual age—counting three years before regression and thirty years rolling around in Renard—made him effectively sixty.
To most hunters, including Jeong Bo-hoon, he would still look young.
“And as long as you stay alive, I’ll personally make sure you reach 1st-grade.”
“…Thank you.”
While continuing their conversation, Jin-young had her deal with a few more Mines until they finally reached the core area near Kaesong City.
They had put mesh overshoes over their regular shoes and masks over their faces.
Protective gear developed by the secret research lab for contaminated zones.
The overshoes were infused with special mana that prevented Creep infiltration.
The masks could filter toxins even without an oxygen tank.
Of course, they required continuous mana emission to activate the filtration—but only a very small amount was needed.
Kim Dae-woong was also wearing a mask.
“Release some black mana. Like you did earlier.”
At Jin-young’s sudden request, Kim Dae-woong narrowed his eyes.
“What trick are you pulling now?”
Crack—
“AAAARGH!”
Instead of bothering with words, Jin-young lightly twisted his wrist.
That seemed to ignite his anger—Kim Dae-woong began releasing black mana on his own.
Thanks to the recovery time on the way here, he still had plenty left.
Swoooosh—
A small black vortex enveloped Kim Dae-woong and began spreading outward.
Soon after, a low rumble echoed from the ground.
Rumble rumble—
Massive monsters burst through the toxic fog from deep within the core.
These were on an entirely different level from the ones that had charged toward the Paju barrier.
“At least 4th-grade and above.”
Choi Hee-yeon quickly scanned them with her Analysis skill.
The weakest was 4th-grade; most were 3rd-grade. There was even one 2nd-grade.
“Let’s begin.”
At Jin-young’s words, Choi Hee-yeon’s expression turned resolute as she unleashed lightning.
Jin-young supported her from behind.
First, he lifted the massive gorilla-like 2nd-grade monster with psychokinesis.
“Uwooooh…”
As it roared, Jin-young ripped its jaw clean off and instantly disassembled its limbs.
SPLAT SPLAT SPLAT—
Black blood sprayed like rain in all directions.
Swoosh—
Next, he split its head and torso, extracted the brain and heart, and stored them in subspace.
The bizarre sight of a 2nd-grade monster being dismantled faster than a flatfish at a fish market.
Kim Dae-woong was rendered speechless.
To think he had dared challenge such a monster—he was lucky just to be alive.
“Hm… Looks like boss monsters aren’t affected by the black mana.”
Jin-young noted with curiosity that even after dealing with most of the monsters, no boss had appeared.
So what had happened to the two 1st-grade boss monsters that reached Seoul in the previous timeline?
‘Maybe they were directly controlled.’
Leaving Kim Dae-woong to Choi Hee-yeon, Jin-young ventured deeper into the core in search of the boss.
The deeper he went, the thicker the toxicity became.
Having already experienced purifying the Byeonsan Contaminated Zone, he wasn’t particularly surprised.
Of course, the toxicity here was worse—but the protective gear reduced the amount of psionic energy he needed, which was nice.
While dealing with a few more 2nd-grade monsters that charged at him the moment they spotted him—
Rumble rumble rumble…
A vibration rose from beneath the ground.
This wasn’t the same tremor caused by swarms of monsters.
It sounded like something enormous was crawling underground.
Just as he spread psionic energy deep into the earth—
Whoosh—
Jin-young accelerated away in an instant.
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!
A gigantic monster erupted from the ground, breaking through the earth.
A centipede as thick as a tunnel gazed down at him.
“So you’re the boss.”
It wasn’t one of the 1st-grade boss monsters that had reached Seoul before the regression.
If this thing had gone south and been subjugated, the Kaesong contaminated zone would have been purified—but that never happened.
Its appearance was completely different from those two anyway.
“Sssss…”
The giant centipede let out an incomprehensible sound and suddenly tried to burrow back underground.
But—
Crackle crackle crackle—
It was seized by Jin-young’s psychokinesis and couldn’t move.
“Pretty tough one.”
The moment Jin-young released additional psionic energy—
SPLAT!
Its head was ripped clean off, and the body plunged back into the ground.
“It’s the kind that lives even without a head. Annoying.”
Psionic energy still sensed biological activity.
Rumble rumble—
The giant centipede moved underground once more.
Jin-young didn’t have time to play around with a boss monster.
Sssss…
Blue and red energy poured from his body.
Psionic energy wrapped around him, slowly lifting him into the air.
BOOM— CRASH CRASH CRASH!
The surrounding earth split open, Creep and soil upheaving and overturning.
Caught off guard by the sudden earthquake, the giant centipede revealed itself again.
Its severed head had already regenerated.
Spotting Jin-young floating in the air, the centipede began gathering black mana in its maw.
Crackle crackle—
It looked as though it were preparing a massive breath attack.
The black mana condensed into a huge orb, spitting vicious sparks.
The black orb looked powerful enough to inflict fatal wounds even on a 1st-grade hunter.
Just before the giant centipede could fire it at Jin-young—
Crackle—
Jin-young seized the orb with psychokinesis and redirected it.
Swoooosh— BOOM!
The orb crushed the centipede’s head first, then began disintegrating its segmented body one by one.
“――――!”
An incomprehensible screech erupted from the head that hadn’t yet regenerated.
But the black orb showed no mercy, devouring both the regenerating head and the rest of the body.
With only the tail remaining, Jin-young hurled the orb far away.
Then he extracted the giant centipede’s heart and brain hidden within the tail.
SPLAT—
Once its core—heart and brain—was removed—
Rumble rumble…
The Creep hardened and began to dissipate.
***
It was well past midnight.
Reinforcements from the Intelligence Department and key figures from the Korea Awakened Association had already arrived at the Paju Guard Battalion.
The guilds summoned by the Association began trickling in after midnight, and by about thirty minutes past, most had gathered.
Of course, it was fortunate they responded at all—but the guilds’ complaints were sky-high.
“What the hell are we doing getting dragged out at dawn like this?”
“The real problem is not even knowing how long we’ll have to stay here.”
“For pocket change, we’re supposed to guard a contaminated zone? How many monsters are even coming out… I’d rather be raiding at this hour.”
Some spoke cautiously so as not to let their words reach Association President Yoon Soo-ho’s ears, but most didn’t bother hiding it.
Of course, since they knew Yoon Soo-ho could hear everything, many were doing it on purpose.
The Association had the authority to represent Awakened guilds and issue summons like this, but the guilds weren’t unconditionally friendly toward it.
Yoon Soo-ho’s long period of focusing on politics and neglecting his duties had played a big role, and most guilds had strong independent tendencies, making clashes with the Association inevitable.
Of course, lately Yoon Soo-ho had started getting serious about his work again, but once trust was broken, it wasn’t easily restored.
‘Should I just beat them all into submission?’
Yoon Soo-ho briefly entertained a very secret-agent-like thought.
“President, do we really have to go this far?”
Vice President Cha Se-hyeon of the Association shared similar sentiments with the guild members.
Today he spoke not as Vice President, but as the Master of the White Tiger Guild.
“We all know monsters occasionally leak out of the contaminated zone, but is it really necessary to mobilize dozens of guilds?”
Yoon Soo-ho answered Cha Se-hyeon’s question.
“If those one or two turn into thousands or tens of thousands and overrun Korea, what do you think will happen?”
“That would be catastrophic, obviously. But there’s the Paju barrier. While the Border Command holds the line, we can prepare—won’t that be enough?”
Yoon Soo-ho had initially thought the same, but the secret agent’s words had changed his mind.
“What if 1st-grade boss monsters come down with them?”
“That’s too much of an assumption—”
That was when—
A soldier standing guard atop the barrier shouted,
“The Creep—it’s disappearing!”
“What?”
Commander Kwon Hyeok-gyu, who had remained at the guard battalion, immediately leaped up to the barrier.
Not only him—Yoon Soo-ho and several guild masters also climbed up.
Sssss…
They watched as the hardened Creep crumbled into dust and vanished.
“The Kaesong contaminated zone… has been purified?”
“Who did this?”
The guild masters spoke with bewildered or grave expressions.
But Yoon Soo-ho knew exactly who was responsible.
‘You really are…’
While he was quietly marveling at the secret agent—
Sssht—
A portal opened atop the barrier, and a man and woman in black suits stepped out, accompanied by a soldier.
The sudden appearance made the guild masters tense and wary.
“Who are you people?”
At that, the man in the black suit looked over the guild masters and spoke quietly.
“Looks like everyone’s got a lot of complaints. Let’s talk this out calmly. Who wants to go first?”
“What the hell is this—”
As the guild masters frowned at the man’s absurd attitude—
Only Yoon Soo-ho felt a sudden chill run down his spine.
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