Chapter 130 – SSS-Rank Hunter (5)
(Things have gotten complicated.)
“……”
I couldn’t deny it. I had only acted in self-defense to survive, yet a city of millions was now in crisis!
The fact that this was a “dream” at least lessened the guilt, but if this had been reality, I would have suffocated.
‘Is this my fault?’
It felt unfair. But since it had already happened, cleaning up the mess took priority.
(Junior. What exactly do you think you can do without even a sword?)
“I still have to try.”
Wiiiiing—
The streets of the city grew quiet as people who heard the warning about the breached defense line evacuated to shelters.
Was monster invasion common in this world? The citizens, accustomed to this life, moved in an orderly fashion without panic.
(All registered ability users rank C and above, please assemble at Peace Square. Legal responsibilities and penalties for non-attendance…)
“Senior.”
Where is Peace Square?
(You frustrating fellow. Calm your excitement and think coldly. Joining the ability users’ gathering won’t change the tide.)
“……”
(Do you think all the SSS-rank ability users you killed belonged to this country? They had temporarily gathered to take down an SSS-rank monster.)
“……”
(Yet you killed them all simply because they were hostile. The entire world is now in crisis. Within days, billions will end up in monsters’ stomachs or toyed with like playthings.)
“…Stop.”
The more the senior spoke, the dizzier I felt.
(You must decide carefully when taking another’s life.)
What about you, Senior, who dyed the Central Plains in blood?
(Me? I chose carefully. From peerless beauties who offered their bodies if spared, to innocent newborns who knew nothing… I failed in the end, but even now, I don’t regret that decision.)
“……”
I had nothing to say.
(But since part of the fault lies with me for encouraging your mistake, I’ll cooperate. Run east. At your speed, you’ll get there in ten minutes.)
…Thank you.
(But remember this. You cannot replace ten SSS-rank ability users. This is—)
A futile effort.
(Yes.)
I was confused. The actions I thought were right were being flatly denied, and I lost all certainty.
‘Witch Ranuvela…’
Is it wrong to grant happy deaths to those who deny reality?
Now I couldn’t be sure of anyth—
(You frustrating fellow.)
“……”
(Stop wallowing in self-pity and look ahead. You’re only twenty. A novice getting cocky because he gained a little power. Just don’t make the same mistake in reality.)
“Reality… Yes.”
The words “a novice getting cocky because he gained a little power” stabbed deep into my chest.
At the same time, I was grateful that this place wasn’t reality but a dream.
(Feeling a bit better?)
Yes.
People wearing mismatched combat outfits like mercenaries were gathering in the square.
This was Peace Square.
“Move out!”
“No time!”
“Get in quickly!”
Vrooom~
Thud-thud-thud-thud—
I thought they would assemble and move together, but the ability users were immediately sent to the front lines in military vehicles or helicopters after identity verification and attendance check.
The situation was that urgent!
The breach of the second defense line seemed far more serious than I had imagined.
(A breach of the second defense line is extremely rare. If even the final bastion—the third defense line—is breached, it means virtually all the city’s ability users have been wiped out.)
“Ah…”
It was convenient not having to ask each native of this world for details, but this wasn’t pleasant information to hear.
The absence of SSS-rank ability users.
I never imagined the role of those who had been helplessly powerless against me would be this crucial.
(You’ll do better next time.)
“…Yes.”
I felt a little resentful.
(Because I didn’t stop you right after reading Kim Ji-young’s memories? Yes. If I had told you not to kill them, you wouldn’t have. But that wouldn’t have been your judgment. Stop relying on others and shed your novice ways, novice.)
“Huh? Amolang-ssi!”
“Hello. We meet again so soon.”
The D-rank ability user who could detect lies was there.
“Why is a non-ability user like Amolang-ssi here…?”
“I have no family or property to protect. I ran here blindly to help, however weakly.”
“Ah…”
“I’m curious too. The call-up is from rank C and above—why are you here?”
“My role is to find people falsifying names or attending by proxy. I’ve already caught five.”
“Aha!”
Sly ones who enjoy the privileges of ability users while shirking their duties.
The state wasn’t a complete pushover that blindly favored ability users.
“I don’t really recommend it, but it happens sometimes. Civilians who want to personally avenge family or lovers and join the fight.”
“……”
“Amolang-ssi. Go over there and apply. They’ll issue you weapons and shields capable of effectively damaging monsters below rank C.”
“Yes.”
“Good luck.”
“Thank you.”
(Those are meticulously crafted equipment with tracking devices for later recovery. Yet the mortality rate is still over 90%.)
Thanks for the commentary.
***
After listening to a ten-minute sermon from the supply officer about not giving up on life, I signed a waiver and was loaned the equipment.
Rattle, rattle.
I rode in a military truck that moved just a bit faster than my running speed.
“……”
“……”
The expressions of the civilians riding with me were dark and filled with grim resolve.
If anyone heading to a battlefield where nine out of ten die had a bright face, that would be the strange thing.
‘What the hell am I doing?’
I was supposed to rescue Park Hyo-man-ssi, who lives inside the elephant monster’s stomach, and persuade him, yet here I was, gripped by guilt and wasting time on something completely unrelated.
(Like pigs heading to the slaughterhouse.)
“Hmm…”
The longer I stayed here, the smaller I felt.
Olympic triple gold medalist?
Right now, I was a sinner who had committed an irreversible mistake against the humanity of this world.
(Think about how not to die.)
Yes.
(According to Yoon So-ra’s investigation, this is an original world setting. But it seems to have referenced some novels.)
Oh!
A faint ray of hope appeared.
(The genre is hunter. The supernatural ability system and character settings follow <I Became an SSS-Rank Hunter>, while the powerful monster settings utilize <I’m the Only SSS-Rank Hunter>.)
This patient really loves “SSS-rank hunter” stuff, huh?
(A strange obsession.)
“Hmm~”
The genres are the same, but why complicate it by referencing two different works?
(For your information, you killed the protagonist of the hunter novel <I Became an SSS-Rank Hunter>. You slit the throat of an absolute being who could solo SS-rank monsters.)
“……”
(Still, there’s hope. In the world of <I’m the Only SSS-Rank Hunter>, there exists a monster that creates other monsters. If you kill that one, the monsters will gradually decrease and eventually go extinct.)
Tell me more about that—
“We’ve arrived! If you don’t want to die meaninglessly, follow my orders from now on!”
The commander—who introduced himself as an A-rank ability user capable of applying barriers to others—shouted.
“Yes!”
“Yeees!”
The civilians awkwardly imitating soldiers while clutching swords and shields shouted loudly, as if suppressing their fear.
“Our mission is to hold the line and prevent any monsters that slip past the front line from entering the city… Ready! Here they come!”
“Keeaaak!”
Thud!
A red rabbit that landed in front of us bared its sharp fangs and roared ferociously.
(What’s that monster’s name?)
…Blood Rabbit?
(Oh! Close, but wrong. It’s Big Blood Rabbit.)
“D-rank monster, Big Blood Rabbit! If you don’t want to be crushed to death, don’t clump together—disperse!”
The commander ordered.
“Waaah!”
“Haaah!”
But the people, already gripped by fear or vengeance, weren’t listening.
They charged recklessly!
I joined the rush.
“Keeaaaa!”
“Aaagh?!”
A person struck by the massive rabbit’s front paw—with its claws extended—was sent flying.
Crackle—
Thanks to the A-rank barrier the commander had applied, it wasn’t fatal, but they were incapacitated in one hit.
“Die!”
Another person exploited the opening created by their comrade’s sacrifice and swung a sword.
Leap!
“Huh?!”
But the rabbit monster lightly jumped straight up using its powerful hind legs.
“Don’t just stand there—”
Squish!
Neither the commander’s barrier nor the monster’s sheer weight could be withstood.
The first casualty.
It happened so fast that even I couldn’t save him.
‘But if it’s revenge…!’
Slash—
I inflicted a deep wound on the rabbit monster’s left thigh.
“Keeaaaa~?!”
“It works?”
Is there some special effect imbued in this sword, like a supernatural ability?
(It’s a plasma chainsaw developed by S-rank engineering ability users. It’s incomparable to ordinary blades. In pure setting performance, it could slice even the Heavenly Demon from <Is This Heavenly Demon for Real?> in one strike.)
“Hap!”
“Keeaaaa…!”
Compared to the elephant monster’s tail—which I couldn’t even react to—this movement was slow enough to make me yawn.
Slice!
To me, it was just a rabbit grown to the size of an ox.
“Keeaaaa…”
“Oh! Impressive skill.”
The commander, who had been watching the whole process, praised me.
“Thank you.”
“With that skill, you’re at the level of a C-rank ability user.”
“Huh?”
C-rank?
“Haha! It’s no wonder you’re surprised! But you can take pride in it. I, an A-rank ability user, guarantee it!”
“Thank you…”
It was quite a shock.
“But don’t get arrogant and think about fighting a B-rank monster. That weapon only works up to C-rank. Starting from B-rank, they’re real monsters that even missile strikes can’t touch.”
“Yes.”
“Take a look at this.”
To convince the unconvinced me, the commander showed me the real-time monitor installed in the military truck.
(Keeaaaa~?!)
(Keeaaaa~?!)
The rabbit monsters I had struggled to dodge and take down were being one-sidedly massacred.
“……”
“This is the power of an S-rank ability user. And above that, there are SS-rank and SSS-rank. So there’s no need for you to overexert yourself, Amolang-ssi. This country is by no means weak.”
“…Yes.”
The commander said it wasn’t weak, but the attritional war that had raged without pause for two days had inflicted massive damage on the city.
The disappearance of SSS-rank ability users.
Its effects were beginning to spread across the entire world.
***
“Hmm…”
I was in the worst possible mood, gripped by an inescapable sense of guilt.
(Strange. I thought you were more shameless than this.)
Why do you say that?
(In the world of the romance novel I Became the Youngest Daughter of a Count’s Family, who was the count that encouraged Duke Somaek’s ambitions and sparked a war?)
“That was…”
I had nothing to say.
(You, who produced countless widows in the process of shattering patients’ romances, are now suffering from guilt? Strange.)
“…You’re right. It really is strange.”
They say the more you know, the more you see. Back then, no one pointed out that it was a problem.
On the contrary, Duke Somaek had praised me for starting the war.
(Frustrated?)
Yes.
When facing humans, I easily killed even SSS-ranks, but against monsters, risking my life only let me handle a single B-rank at best.
Humans who rely 99% on supernatural abilities.
Monsters with purely strong bodies.
The difference was stark.
(If you give up from guilt and commit suicide, that development would be amusing in its own way, but since I share responsibility for leading you to the mistake, I’ll teach you a method.)
“A method…?”
In this museum?
In this utterly hopeless situation with no visible breakthrough.
I couldn’t see any hope for someone like me—who struggled even against common B-rank monsters, let alone the SSS-rank that swallowed the patient.
(Stop grumbling and keep going.)
Yes.
The museum displayed everything from weapons used to hunt monsters to taxidermied specimens.
“Keeak!”
“Kraang!”
Even trivial F-rank monsters were kept alive as attractions.
The largest crowds gathered in front of their cages.
“……”
There was even an experience zone where you could touch a D-rank monster tightly restrained all over its body?
There were plenty of fascinating elements to overshadow the usual museum boredom.
(Oh! There it is.)
“That’s… a sword?”
It was a jet-black sword exhibited in a sealed cylindrical glass case.
Blink, blink.
It would have been ordinary if not for the large living eyeball embedded right in the center of the cross-guard…
(Super Grand Galaxy General Infinity Blade.)
“…Huh? Super—what?”
(Super Grand Galaxy General Infinity Blade. It’s the name of an SSS-rank monster that gradually steals the wielder’s body and mind each time the sword is swung.)
“Ah!”
(Do you understand my intention?)
“Yes. Perfectly.”
Super Grand Galaxy General Infinity Blade.
I choose you!
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