Chapter 132 – SSS-Rank Hunter (7)
(Hmm? I thought you’d have gotten your hands on the Infinity Blade by now, but it’s turned into absolute chaos.)
That’s how it went. Did the broadcast go well?
(Yes. They kept persistently asking if I plan to challenge for an Olympic silver medal.)
Silver medal… Gasp!
While I was briefly lost in thought, a massive chunk of rebar concrete dropped right above my head.
Ruuuumble!
(If you don’t want to die, focus.)
“Ugh!”
(Some clueless fool got to it first. No—in this case, it’s more like the SSS-rank monster chose her. It picked a perfect host it can’t control at all.)
“Hmm…”
The power that sliced the museum in one strike was impressive, but compared to that monstrous elephant, it seemed weak?
I couldn’t believe they were both SSS-rank.
(If the referenced novel settings were applied directly, the rank criterion is probably based on how effectively it kills humans.)
“Hmm…?”
Compared to the elephant monster, the Infinity Blade—smaller than a toothpick—has similar killing power?
That made even less sense.
(You’ll understand when you see it.)
“Oh! God! The seal is broken!”
“Contact headquarters quickly! Tell them the Super Grand Galaxy General Infinity Blade has awakened…!”
“Retreat! Everyone retreat!”
“If you don’t want to die, run now…!”
The faces of the hunters—who had been overwhelmingly dominating and trying to capture the rampaging monsters—turned pale.
They fled without looking back!
Only I, who hadn’t grasped the danger at all, remained.
At that moment,
“Heeheehee…!”
Stab!
The deranged hunter plunged the Infinity Blade into the ground.
‘What’s this…?’
You might think it’s nonsense, but having grown quite familiar with fantasy miracles, I naturally stared at the floor.
Shaa—!
Cracks formed underfoot, and blade-like tentacles shot up.
“Whoa! That was close!”
Fsssh…
They crumbled into sand and vanished right before touching my body.
A surprise attack so fast I couldn’t even react!
“Argh~?!”
“My leg~?!”
“Kyaaak~?!”
But the hunters—who had lost their will to fight and chosen to flee—weren’t so lucky.
Blades suddenly erupting from the ground beneath their steps pierced and severed their bodies, or even if they dodged luckily, they lost an arm or leg.
‘Damn it!’
What the hell are these tentacles?!
(Recall its name. Super Grand Galaxy General Infinity Blade.)
“…Super Grand Galaxy General Infinity Blade… Ah!”
Infinity Blade?
(Yes. This SSS-rank monster can summon as many blades as the number of enemies the user perceives.)
“As many as the number of enemies…?”
(One enemy means one blade, a hundred means a hundred, ten thousand means ten thousand, a hundred million means a hundred million. Infinite, just like its name. In theory, it could instantly massacre every human in the city.)
“……”
Goosebumps rose all over me.
This is the middle of a city.
Perhaps the moment she stabbed the sword into the ground earlier, not just the hunters but every human in the city could have died.
‘Are we screwed?’
I decided to think about that later.
“Heehee?”
(She noticed you’re still alive.)
The hunter possessed by the SSS-rank monster tilted her head upon seeing me unharmed.
Shoo—!
Then another tentacle shot up from the ground toward me.
Fsssh…
But the result didn’t change.
“Hey! Eyeball! Stop messing around and fight properly!”
Tap.
I kicked off the ground and charged.
“Messing around? How dare a mere F-rank talk to me—an SSS-rank hunter— Heeheehee!”
I thought she was completely dominated by the Infinity Blade, but the fact that she wasn’t was even more shocking.
Of course, judging by her vulgar laughter, she didn’t seem entirely sane either.
Shoo—!
Fsssh…
She persistently targeted me with tentacles, but not once did she succeed.
“Then…!”
The hunter extended her left arm—the one not holding the Infinity Blade—toward me.
Flash…!
Lightning burst from her fingertips and shot at me.
Crackle.
But this too didn’t work. Even the overflowing sparks of massive current couldn’t touch me and scattered into the air as if fleeing!
‘Whoa!’
Honestly, as someone who’d been electrocuted a few times while working part-time at a convenience store, this scared me.
Lightning exists in reality, after all.
This was due to the ambiguous criteria of “world settings.” Monsters that don’t exist in reality could strike my body. Unlike this lightning, they don’t vanish.
Because they’re living creatures?
I’d need to clearly define it later when I had time.
“Nullification? A mere F-rank having that is ridiculous…!”
Flash!
Shoooo—
Tentacles and lightning targeted me simultaneously, but nothing worked on me.
The attack that sliced the museum like a cream cake might have worked, but the panicked hunter just repeated the same attacks in place.
Was that frustrating to watch?
Blink, blink!
The eyeball on the Infinity Blade stared at me seriously.
Right after,
“W-what is this— Heeheehee!”
The hunter’s right hand and the sword’s hilt began fusing together.
Her surprise at the shocking change to her own body lasted only a moment; she laughed like a true maniac and swung her right arm.
Whirr~
An invisible wind brushed past my body.
(Sword wind. Ignore it.)
Yes!
If I couldn’t ignore the monster’s ability, my body would have been beautifully sliced.
‘It really is SSS-rank.’
If I weren’t a “shaman,” wouldn’t I have died thirty times over in this short span? The killing power was that overwhelming.
However,
“Heeheehee?!”
The matchup was bad.
If the Ancient Black Elephant was a pure warrior, the Super Grand Galaxy General Infinity Blade was a supernatural ability user.
And I am a hunter specialized in supernatural ability users.
“Hand it over right now!”
“Heehee— Guh?!”
The sword swung by a delicate woman who knew nothing of swordsmanship was just comical.
Obvious, slow, simplistic…
(It’s amusing, isn’t it? That’s exactly how I feel every time I look at you.)
…So I’ve heard!
Smack!
I easily dodged the sloppy sword swing and drove a kick into the hunter’s abdomen.
Her waist bent vertically.
She didn’t let go of the Infinity Blade, now fully fused with her right arm, but her resistance ended there.
“Hand it over.”
“Kyaaaaa~?!”
I gripped her wrist hard enough to sever the hand fused with the sword.
One punch to the face to stop the thrashing hunter in pain!
Crack!
Her nose collapsed, her face covered in blood, and she went limp, unconscious.
(Kill the woman.)
“Huh? Do I have to…?”
(According to the setting of the hunter novel <I’m the Only SSS-Rank Hunter>, the Super Grand Galaxy General Infinity Blade cannot change hosts until the current one dies. It’s a safeguard to prevent the protagonist from being stolen and weakening again.)
“Hah!”
A sigh escaped me naturally. I knew all too well how kind and considerate worlds created based on novels are to their protagonists.
However,
“A setting is just a setting.”
“……”
Grab.
I placed my palm on the head of the woman unconscious from a concussion.
‘Separate from the host!’
I overwrote the setting that favored the novel’s protagonist with “my world.”
Blink, blink?
The eyeball embedded in the Infinity Blade filled with confusion.
Sliiide…
The hunter’s right hand, fused with the sword’s hilt, slowly began to separate.
“Come here.”
Grab.
Without missing the opening, I seized the hilt of the Infinity Blade.
(I’m a little worried. If it takes you as host, it might become an ordinary sword.)
“…No.”
It worked.
(Really? What a strange standard.)
It wasn’t that I selectively accepted only settings beneficial to me. If that were the case, I wouldn’t have lost my inner energy in the world of the martial arts novel <Is This Heavenly Demon for Real?>.
Personality.
The protagonist of <I’m the Only SSS-Rank Hunter> would have had an ability that perfectly protects the mind. The same goes for me.
In other words,
(Not changing a chosen host isn’t a forced rule—it’s this monster’s pure instinct.)
This too is a “world setting,” but like how a dog doesn’t change its chosen owner, it’s a real-world “attachment.”
It’s not fantasy like magic or supernatural abilities!
“Hello?”
Blink, blink!
Even realizing it couldn’t dominate my mind, the SSS-rank monster obediently only moved its eye.
(Junior. How is it?)
How is what?
(Your feelings on becoming the protagonist of <I’m the Only SSS-Rank Hunter>.)
“Ah…”
That’s right.
Because I massacred all the SSS-rank hunters, there are no SSS-rank hunters left in this world.
It perfectly matches the novel’s setting!
I hadn’t intended it, but as the senior said, I had become the protagonist.
(Your thoughts?)
“Hmm… Since this isn’t reality, I don’t feel much. But if I had to pick something, relief?”
(I see. At least it means you’re no longer thinking about suicide?)
Yes.
(Then do your best. Prince Leon suddenly showed up and started picking a fight, so I need to focus on reality.)
“Leon!”
(If you have anything you want to say to that male trying to hit on your girlfriend, go ahead. I’ll specially deliver it for you.)
…Please politely tell him to look for another woman.
(Politely? Got it.)
“Then I should…”
Help clean up the mess at the scene?
As long as every human in the city hadn’t been massacred by this thing.
***
A silver lining in the misfortune, perhaps?
The Super Grand Galaxy General Infinity Blade could only attack within the range its host could perceive.
“Amolang-ssi. We meet again so soon.”
“Indeed.”
“Please sit over here.”
“Yes.”
Thanks to this setting, the casualties were limited to the hunters who had responded to the museum.
It was unfortunate for them, but I didn’t need to blame myself.
‘They should’ve gotten along better with their colleagues!’
Becoming the host of the Super Grand Galaxy General Infinity Blade doesn’t instantly drive you insane.
The fact that she attacked her fellow responding hunters with tentacles was entirely the female hunter’s own will.
The same applies now.
“Behave.”
Sway, sway~
The SSS-rank monster wrapped around my right arm like a snake shook its blade tip in response.
‘Convenient to carry! No worry about theft either!’
I’d wondered why it vanished from the scene, but the Infinity Blade could change its form into creepy eyeball tentacles and freely move between above and below ground.
“This is an investigation, but please don’t misunderstand—we absolutely don’t intend to harm Amolang-ssi.”
“Understood.”
The investigator’s tone was extremely cautious.
Right now, I am an SSS-rank monster.
If I wanted, I could stab every human in the city to death with tentacles. Both the investigator in front of me and the government behind him knew that well.
“Did you know you were an ability user?”
“No.”
“Can you tell us exactly what kind of ability it is?”
“They said it’s nullification.”
“Hmm… Amolang-ssi’s nullification ability seems extremely powerful. Until now, no nullification user has ever shaken off the control of the Super Grand Galaxy General Infinity Blade.”
“I see.”
I decided not to ask what happened to the ability users who failed to control SSS-rank monsters.
“We haven’t announced it yet due to expected chaos, but all SSS-rank hunters have gone missing.”
“……”
The culprit is right here!
“That’s why we desperately need strong hunters. Against S-rank and above monsters, throwing in large numbers of weak hunters only turns them into a feast.”
“…I believe this power being given to me is fate. I’ll work hard for humanity.”
“Oh… I was worried about how to ask, but thank you so much!”
Bow!
The investigator stood from his chair and bowed 90 degrees to express gratitude.
“It’s only natural. Earth is… where I live too, after all.”
“There are many selfish hunters who know that yet push the burden onto others. Now it should be fine to let her in.”
“Who…”
“An S-rank hunter who will assist you so that your life as the new SSS-rank hunter, Amolang-ssi, is without inconvenience.”
Creak—
Had she been eavesdropping? The door to the small, windowless sealed room opened, and a beautiful woman entered.
“Hello.”
“Uh… Hello.”
If the goddess of abundance existed, wouldn’t she look like this?
Blink, blink.
The eyeball of the Infinity Blade stared openly at her voluptuous body, as if speaking for my feelings.
“How cute.”
“Is it?”
Calling this eyeball tentacle cute? Quite a unique taste.
“Please take good care of me from now on.”
“Likewise.”
I could already picture myself on my knees, begging forgiveness in front of a furious Song Sun-young.
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TL Note:
The novel is fully completed (231 chapters)
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