Chapter 140 – SSS-Rank Hunter (15)
[Chapter 7 – Section 7] The Taste of Betrayal!
The only attacks I can completely ignore are those born from the “settings of a dream.”
Pure physical force.
Something grounded in reality, not fantasy.
Against that kind of attack, I’m relatively vulnerable.
“Let’s do this.”
Thud!
I stabbed the Super Grand Galaxy General Infinity Blade into the ground.
Blades multiplied—one for each enemy.
Summoned in numbers equal to the missiles falling from above my head.
“Cover me.”
Flash!
There’s no rule saying the blades must be used only for offense.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh…!
Blade-like tentacles burst from the ground, weaving together into a hut-like shell that completely enclosed me.
(It’s going to be hot.)
BOOOOM—!
The heat from the exploding missiles scorched my skin.
“Ghk…!”
There was no direct impact.
A common trope in hunter novels:
To emphasize the role of hunters, monsters are usually immune to conventional, non-supernatural attacks.
And the Infinity Blade was no exception.
Bang! Kaboom! Pow! KRAAASH—!
Even a missile barrage capable of flattening a megacity failed to leave so much as a scratch on the blade tentacles.
“Ggh…!”
But they couldn’t block the heat that seeped through the narrow gaps between the blades.
The soft parts—like my eyes—dried out and burned first.
I lost my sight.
My hearing.
My sense of smell.
My sense of taste.
My sense of touch—
All of them gone, except for the right hand gripping the Infinity Blade.
(Hah! You survived that?)
“……”
Once all the missiles had detonated, the enemy count dropped to zero.
Yet the blades protecting me remained, lingering like an afterimage.
How can I be so sure, even though I can’t feel anything?
Because I’m still alive.
If even part of the blade defense had vanished when half the missiles went off, my body wouldn’t have endured it.
Shrrk…
My ruined flesh regenerated rapidly.
(You’ve already abandoned being human, yet you criticize the Sword Demon?)
Compared to them, that’s unfair.
My appearance is still perfectly human, you know?
I just happen to possess amoeba-like regeneration and vitality!
(Then what about vampires?)
“…Oh! I can finally breathe again! Still hot as hell, though!”
(Don’t change the subject.)
“Ahem!”
I had no counterargument to my senior’s sharp remark.
In reality, my body is walking a fine line—but here?
I’m already an alien wearing human skin.
A being prioritized over humanity itself, more so than the monsters threatening human survival.
A human shape.
Until now, I had confined ‘my world’ within narrow limits of my own making.
(It’s easier if you just give up.)
Like you did, senior?
(Compared to a Blood God who slaughtered innocent newborns for an uncertain future, no matter how you change, you’re still human.)
“Hmmm~”
How would they react once they realize the missile strike failed?
Blame-shifting.
Scapegoats.
A second plan…
Plenty of possibilities came to mind.
(You’re free to be angry, but dying makes it meaningless. Missiles are loud—you can sense them coming—but a single landmine on your path would kill you.)
“Hm…”
Is there really no solution?
(Already knowing the answer and still agonizing over it—that’s the kind of stupidity only fools indulge in.)
“You’re right.”
To take revenge on humanity armed with science, I abandoned my humanity.
***
“Amolang-nim?”
“Yes. That’s me.”
Natalia spotted me strolling across the land, now reduced to ashes.
Wearing a gas mask, she and the members of Rudolf stared at me in shock upon seeing I was unharmed.
“…You survived.”
“You’d be better off not coming down here. The ground is saturated with things lethal to the human body—radiation, toxic gas, and the like.”
“And yet you’re completely fine.”
“So it seems.”
“……”
I’m not actually fine.
It only looks that way because my regeneration outpaces the damage.
Still—
Prickle, prickle!
I may look calm, but my skin itches terribly—it’s painful.
Blocking pain would solve it, but if I want to maximize my five senses, I have to embrace pain too.
I can’t become a blind fool who wouldn’t notice a nail driven through his foot, can I?
Besides, it’s a problem that resolves itself once we leave the contaminated zone.
“Um… aren’t you going to ask?”
“You look very uncomfortable wearing that gas mask. Let’s talk somewhere safe.”
A gas mask.
We had prepared them to deal with the Bat Snipers, whose blood carried lethal toxins, but no one actually wore one. Everyone had barrier-type abilities.
“…Alright. I’ll head to a safe area first and wait. But—where did you get those clothes?”
“I picked them up.”
“I-I see.”
Natalia being flustered by my answer was only natural.
Finding black leather clothes in the middle of Siberian wasteland made no sense to begin with—
Let alone on land that had just been completely incinerated by missiles.
(She actually bought that. If she looked closely, she’d realize they aren’t clothes.)
“Cool, right?”
“Yes. You managed to find something that fits you perfectly, Amolang-nim.”
Of course it fits perfectly.
Because it’s not leather clothing—it’s my real skin.
Inspired by a turtle’s shell, it can change slightly, like rolling up sleeves, but it can never be fully removed.
Because it’s a part of my body.
“It’s late, but would you like a gas mask now?”
“It’s fine. Attacks like that don’t work on me.”
“…I see.”
“You seem uncomfortable breathing with that on, so let’s end the conversation here. We’ll meet again over there.”
“Yes. I’ll wait.”
Vwooom—
Rudolf departed quickly.
(She seems confused because you’re too intact.)
“How so?”
She clearly hadn’t gotten a good look at my skin in her panic.
To prevent biochemical agents from penetrating, I eliminated every pore except those on my scalp and eyebrows.
As a result, my skin had become smooth—almost mannequin-like.
(Think of it positively. Plenty of people get pore-reduction procedures for skincare.)
…You even know about that?
(Did you forget? The man who’s going to become your father-in-law is a plastic surgeon.)
And?
(You’re dense, so you didn’t notice—but do you really think Song Sun-young jumped into the swimsuit modeling market just because her boyfriend casually suggested it, without any preparation?)
“Ah!”
(Since we’re on the topic, let me add one more thing. Why did you press her on that so cluelessly?)
That?
(About you not seeming like a man to her.)
That’s why I asked, and she answered.
She said it meant I should try to become a cooler man…
(You frustrating idiot!)
What now?
(Women are creatures who would rather be late for an important appointment than go out without makeup. Especially when meeting a man they like.)
“……”
…Is this a riddle?
I still don’t get it.
(Think back to Song Sun-young’s appearance when she woke up in the hospital. Was she pretty?)
Yes.
(I won’t tell her this, so be honest.)
…Really?
(At my age, I don’t lie to greenhorns.)
She looked like a pretty mummy.
(Now let’s look at this objectively. If a woman looking that frightening confessed to you, would you date her?)
…Normally no, but Sun-young is special.
We shared plenty of time together in dreams—memories too vivid to dismiss.
(Exactly. But a woman who doesn’t know a man’s true feelings feels anxious. If she confesses while looking ugly and gets rejected? Do you think Song Sun-young—who sees no man in the world but you—would gamble on that uncertainty?)
“Ah!”
(When she said you didn’t look like a man to her, she was actually talking to herself. She wasn’t ready to date.)
“……”
Senior, you really understand women astonishingly well.
(Do you think I’ve only peeked into one or two women’s memories?)
“Aha!”
Receiving a full-fledged dating lecture from my senior, I headed toward the meeting point.
***
(Ah! Almost forgot. My advice applies to Song Sun-young only. It might not work on other women.)
“Kh—!”
(Why? Planning to use it on someone else?)
“N-No, of course not.”
Senior.
That kind of speculative statement could cause serious misunderstandings.
Anyway—
(Awkward atmosphere.)
The members of Rudolf had removed their gas masks and were waiting for me, fully prepared to move.
“Ah! Amolang-nim!”
“We were waiting for you!”
“Welcome…!”
I couldn’t hear their voices.
Thump-thump!
Because their heartbeats were pounding far louder than usual.
And that wasn’t all—
“Gulp!”
“Gulp!”
I could clearly hear the sound of dry saliva being swallowed down their throats.
The only exception—
“I’ll explain as we go.”
—was Natalia, who stepped down from the sled as if she were welcoming me. She alone showed no change.
“Very well.”
Vrooom—
The moment I boarded, Rudolf took off at tremendous speed.
“……”
“……”
A heavy silence.
No one spoke.
Our relationship could be cleanly divided into before and after the moment missiles rained down over my head like hail.
“There was a rebellion. The instigator was—”
“I don’t care about names. Just give me the outcome.”
“Yes. The rebel faction that launched the missiles has been completely suppressed. They resisted until the end, so we failed to capture them alive.”
“That sounds like cutting off the tail.”
“…I know it’s hard to believe. So please, think about it rationally.”
“Rationally?”
“You’re the only hunter capable of stopping an SSS-rank monster, Amolang-nim. There’s no way anyone would seriously try to kill someone like you.”
“History proves how foolish humans are—creatures that dare call themselves the pinnacle of creation.”
“Not everyone is foolish.”
“So you’re saying the majority that allowed a foolish minority to rebel bears no responsibility?”
“…They’ll take responsibility. Of course.”
“Who will?”
“……”
“Don’t tell me—no one?”
“I don’t know everything, but all human rights organizations that partially cooperated with the rebels are scheduled to be dismantled.”
“You must think I’m an idiot. You expect me to believe that missile control authority—something as critical as an SSS-rank hunter—fell into the hands of some shabby rebel group?”
“……”
“Natalia. Whose—”
Swish—
Natalia—an S-rank hunter I had never once seen fight.
Her blade vanished mid-conversation, then reappeared, slashing toward my neck.
Fast.
But not fast enough to surpass the perception of someone who had abandoned humanity.
Thud!
An eyeball-tentacle pierced straight through Natilia’s chest. Her body went limp instantly.
“Kyah?!”
“Hii?!”
The green fairies seated in the back screamed as her blood splattered over them.
“Quiet.”
“……”
“……”
At my calm command, they clamped both hands over their mouths, swallowing their screams.
“Natalia. Are you surprised it failed?”
“T-That outfit… what even is—ugh!”
“It means you weren’t the only one lying.”
This ‘leather outfit’ isn’t clothing.
Nor something I picked up off the ground.
It’s a handmade product.
Crude, since I had no proper reference samples—but once we reach the city, I plan to refine it so it looks more like actual clothing.
“Urgh…!”
“I recommend you don’t detonate the bomb installed in the sled. If you do, I’ll wipe out every human here. With this thing inside me, it’s possible.”
Blink. Blink—
The eyeball-tentacle skewering Natalia’s chest swayed happily.
“Aaagh…!”
Each movement tore another scream from her throat.
“Don’t be disappointed. I never trusted you from the beginning. Acceleration—the only ability capable of killing me while an SSS-rank monster protects me. Too suspicious to be coincidence.”
A barrier would have been far more suitable—
Something to compensate for my weakness against physical attacks.
“Who ordered you?”
“……”
Natalia clamped her mouth shut.
There were plenty of mouths around that could speak—but none were as deeply involved as hers.
Barriers. Amplification. Flight.
They posed no threat to me, and the sincerity behind their deer and fairy costumes went beyond mere shame.
(I’m not helping you this time.)
I know.
“Natalia. From now on, every time you refuse to answer, a nearby city will disappear. One by one.”
“Wh—what…?”
“If you don’t believe me, feel free to test it.”
“……”
“Let’s start with a simple warm-up to ease the tension. What’s your weight?”
“Why would that—”
“Your weight.”
“…51 kilograms.”
Today, I am very smart.