READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 315: Deep in the Night
For some reason, it seems eerily atmospheric just by looking at it.
“Hyungnimm!”
But then, at that moment, a familiar sound echoed from somewhere on the scene.
“Hmm?”
“Wow, indeed it’s you, Hyung! I barely got in touch through the guild. Just how wide is your information network? Now, seeing your swift response, I can only feel awe…!”
Who else but a skinheaded Earthling would refer to someone as a brother without even a drop of blood relation?
It’s Ahn Yoon-seung’s appearance.
And the fact that this A-Class defensive hunter showed up nearby meant that Seo Esther’s summoned reinforcements had arrived.
*
A few minutes later.
Kim Gi-ryeo turned to observe the surrounding hunters.
Now, many domestic ability users had gathered in the city to deal with the beasts, and as with any field, high-tier individuals with transcendent powers were rare in this world.
‘All familiar faces.’
Most of the workforce collected by Esther, who half-threatened the new Association President, were people he had seen often.
For example, defensive hunters from the Neo Sisters Guild.
Or his 30-something supervisor, adept with a crossbow.
Not to mention a famous figure from Chuncheon who consistently ranked high among A-Class hunters.
‘It’s been a while since I’ve seen that one over there. Well, no news is good news, I suppose; I wonder if they’ve been doing fine all this while.’
Straining to listen, he could hear A-Class hunters huddling together, chatting.
“Choi Jin hunter! You’ve arrived? Oh? But where’s your younger sibling?”
“How could I bring my sibling to such a crowded place? Jin-hee’s with a guild member for now, and I came alone. Luckily, I was in Seoul for other matters…”
“Ah, I see.”
“Hey! Jin-noona! Over here, here!”
It’s Kim Gi-ryeo’s cousin, Choi Jin.
However, even with the presence of someone who possessed the Dragon’s Heart, he didn’t linger his gaze there for long.
Even with A-Class awakeners gathered, he couldn’t afford to be at ease, knowing their opponent was an S-Class beast.
“Ah, finally, our national hero has joined the scene.”
Fortunately, amidst this basket of eggs, a rock-like figure finally arrived.
Vroom.
From a white sedan’s back seat, ranking number one stepped out, fully geared up.
“Huh?”
“What’s that?”
But it wasn’t just the powerful fire mage that got out of the car.
Thud.
At the same time, a neatly-dressed figure in a suit exited from the front passenger seat of the vehicle.
A young Korean woman in her twenties bowed respectfully to the driver, appearing grateful for the lift, and to Jeong Ha-seong.
Most hunters at the scene were unfamiliar with her, but if someone like Ahn Yoon-seung, who often interacted with Association employees, it wouldn’t be hard to recognize her.
“Hey? Why is she here?”
“I called her, Mr. Gi-ryeo.”
“Uh?”
Did she call Seonwoo-yeon because of the beasts occupying the gate?
An alien looked at the Magic Tower Guild representative, as if he couldn’t comprehend.
“I didn’t specifically summon that person named Seonwoo-yeon. I just needed a witness, and there weren’t many options to choose from, thanks to the ‘presence’ that S-Class hunters typically have.”
Thankfully, the explanation wasn’t difficult to grasp.
“A witness, you say?”
“Since we’re facing beasts, well… honestly, there’s a chance casualties could occur, right?”
“Certainly.”
“Of course, if injuries do happen, we’ll try our best for it to be on the beast’s side.”
Swish, swish.
After discreetly scanning the surroundings, Esther stood on her tiptoes to converse with her industry colleague.
“You know, if we encounter beasts inside that place, we’ll need to inform those guys that the abnormal transactions are void and demand their surrender multiple times.”
“Is that an obligation?”
“We rushed to revoke their ownership through the new Association President… but we still live in a society governed by law. Conducting a clandestine collective ambush might harm the industry once the media finds out.”
“Huh.”
“Is that why so many superhero movies are coming out with ironical plots nowadays?”
To maintain a position of legitimate self-defense, there are far more points to avoid than expected.
Most understood the reasons behind it.
Yet, one question remained; why was Esther speaking such obvious things in hushed tones?
“Oh, are you wondering why I’m suddenly whispering?”
Curiosity rose in Kim Gi-ryeo, who asked the question, and the purple-haired figure answered quite readily.
“Actually, I told the Association I’d strictly adhere to the rules. But in reality, I have no intention of doing that at all.”
“What did you say?”
“A B-Class supervisor? I could always threaten or bribe them later to manipulate the situation to our advantage, couldn’t I?”
“But they’re Seonwoo-yeon.”
“Guess that might be tough…”
Damn, but the [Seocher] skill has many possible applications, and I really want that employee in the offensive squad.
Anyway, maintaining a benevolent stance in a lawful society is such a hassle.
While Esther was expressing her subtle dissatisfaction,
Thud, thud, thud.
Soon, S-Class and B-Class hunters approached from their direction.
“Jeong Ha-seong Hunter!”
“I stopped by the Association on the way here and received all the info.”
The moment Ha-seong locked eyes with Esther, a specific conversation began.
Seonwoo-yeon glanced nervously in between while a certain blond S-Class gestured for her to come over.
“Kim Gi-ryeo Hunter.”
“Yes…”
The only human who knew he was an alien moved to a corner and began a separate conversation.
“Hello.”
Whether it was a situation for needless greetings or not, Seonwoo-yeon cautiously opened her mouth.
“I’ve heard a bit from the Association, but if it’s not too much trouble, do you have any additional information about this case?”
Although easy to forget, the alien had clearly introduced himself as a high-level mage.
The Earthling woman slightly looked up at the creature taller than her.
However, the reply that returned was as chilling as the gaze they met.
“To summarize, we’re in trouble.”
“Uh?”
“I’m seriously only telling this to you, Yeon. …Wait a minute, is it okay if I refer to you like that? Well, anyway, this issue isn’t solely about the beasts.”
For a moment, explanations flowed between them.
The alien disclosed the secrets of the dungeon to the one agency employee he could at least trust.
‘The inner space of the gate can open along the perforations like packaging?’
If that were to cause a break in the barrier, the nearby apartments could be damaged by a magical incident, a terrifying disaster alert.
‘This place is filled with tall buildings already…’
So, should the nation’s orders be to evacuate everyone from the apartments right away?
At first, concerns like that danced in Seonwoo-yeon’s mind, but hearing the rest of Kim Gi-ryeo’s story, it seemed the evacuation had been successfully carried out just because the [Beasts] appeared.
Thus, if the apartments were to collapse, the only matter from now on would be to calculate property damage.
But given this was a high-priced area, the predicted damages were immense already.
Of course, the destruction of irreplaceable memories, like a child’s first outfit or ancestral relics, would be even more frequent.
“I see. So the residents are already evacuated.”
“It was all thanks to that person, Seo Esther. Honestly, I can’t disclose all the knowledge I have, making things quite awkward. After all, bothering anyone with news won’t make the dungeon easier to raid while there are beasts inside.”
The alien briefly placed his hand by his chin.
With Seonwoo-yeon and Jeong Ha-seong arriving, most of the manpower expected to assemble was already gathered.
(On the surface) they had three S-Class hunters, and even more A-Class hunters were packed in, so it seemed they could confront the beasts without getting utterly swept away.
But since the opponent could be three S-Class beings from who knows where.
Moreover, the sudden communication blackout with Kang Chang-ho’s phone was also quite a discomfort from the alien’s perspective.
So how to act under these conditions for the best outcome?
“Hmm.”
While the alien was in deep thought, Esther, who had become the representative of the scene, began discussions with the people.
Having entered the dungeon and directly confirming the beasts’ existence, she had more information than anyone else present.
“Now, hunters. First, there’s something we need to decide. Initially, I thought we should drive out the miscreants occupying another country’s gate as quickly as possible. That’s why I entered the dungeon right away.”
Esther continued speaking.
“But now that we have more personnel, it’s best to avoid careless actions as much as possible… so how about we play for time outside?”
They confirmed that the beasts were within the country, so it made sense to hasten everyone to gather. Now, suggesting they take a breather again?
If their enemy were monsters from another dimension, this strategy wouldn’t hold any water.
Yet, the biggest problem in this case was ultimately the incompetent ‘humans’ who had started imitating beasts a little too late.
Thus, Esther’s proposal quickly gained traction.
In summary, even beasts were merely animals vulnerable to fatigue and hunger; the proposal suggested setting up a defense in front of the passage, supplying suitable nutrients, and waiting for the enemy to weaken.
“…Um, excuse me for a moment.”
But at that time.
“Excuse me, but with that approach, we wouldn’t have a chance to negotiate with the awakeners inside the dungeon at all. If we inadvertently starve the beasts to death, then…”
A public official reluctantly raised their hand to voice an opinion.
Since the beasts wore the name of beasts, they were undoubtedly dangerous awakeners. While it was rational to prioritize Korean safety as Esther suggested, it was also correct not to kill fellow earthlings recklessly.
‘Come to think of it, the crimes that the beast group committed in Korea were, at least on the surface, limited to merely occupying the dungeon.’
There was also the matter of Esther getting injured, but since the curse mages also took a rib with them, this aspect remained legally ambiguous.
“Huh? Wait, is there an armed robber occupying an A-Class gate? This is incredibly serious terror for nearby citizens, isn’t it?”
“Y-yeah.”
“Are you saying we should think of the criminals’ lives in the midst of this? Seriously! What’s the significance of human rights for such scum?”
“Seo Hunter. I fully agree that we need to respond forcefully. I’m not opposing it; however, holding hunter licenses doesn’t exempt one from moral responsibility. So it’s really unavoidable. Therefore, I’m saying we could at least blast the speakers toward the passage…”
But just as the atmosphere was heating up,
-Crrrung!
Suddenly, a coarse breath that resembled a dog’s bark flowed in.
“What’s that?”
“Eh?”
“A monster?”
Rumble.
As beastly sounds emerged from somewhere, hunters gathered were turning their heads in fright.
“Hey? What the…!”
“This looks entirely new!”
What appeared was truly a monster with a rough outline that seemed like two to three wild dogs huddled together.
Furthermore, its mouth was characteristically toothless, and a singular eye was prominently split down the middle of its face.
As the modern-day hunters recognized the bizarre shape of the enemy, they immediately drew their weapons.
Clang!
Of course, the situation wouldn’t take long to resolve.
The monster that had spilled out of the gate posed merely an ordinary A-Class risk.
Moments later, with a final scream, the monster’s body lay sprawled on the ground.
Here, a multitude of the finest professional hunters in South Korea had gathered, so the outcome was only expected.
“Roar!”
…But the anomaly didn’t end there.
As soon as they defeated that oddly-shaped monster, exactly at that moment, another muscular monster emerged from beyond the gate…
“This is ridiculous.”
Dungeon creatures were meant to be designed not to leave their nests carelessly until a spatial breach occurred.
However, the frequent emergence of monsters concluded simply:
‘Could it be that the internal density has already…?’
Like cockroaches.
These creatures were supposed to reveal themselves only once they had no shade left to hide under. So, how different was the current situation from capturing that insect right in the middle of the living room?
“Hey? Wait a moment!”
The situation rapidly escalated.
In the course of two minutes where Korean hunters had gathered to discuss, the criminal group named Beasts had similarly reached a consensus, and one Earthling wearing a bone mask was the first to take proactive action.
“Damn it!”
“We must prevent them from coming out! If all the attackers inside escape, it’s a break!”
“Use skills! Skills!”
In an instant.
A awakenner, presumed to be S-Class, was detected sprinting from within the passage!
With the magical energy of the S-Class hunter rushing in mass, all the capable upper-tier psychics sensed the movement of the new beast charging toward the entrance.
‘This is nothing like Brooklyn. It’s smaller!’
Yet, despite all their efforts, the incoming fake beast successfully broke free.
-Cheeeeek…
Exposed to skills like acid, flame, or a certain amount of light, the ‘small’ beast that revealed itself became a mess except for its mask.
It was the complete emergence of the enemy.
‘Damn, I knew it!’
Furthermore, the fake beast, having exhausted itself to escape, latched onto a nearby person to use some kind of item.
‘So that’s why it clenched its teeth and crawled out!’
There was no time to analyze further.
The being wearing the bone mask reached out to grab Jeong Ha-seong, who stood closest to the gate, and unfolded a device.
Unfortunately, that which it wielded from another realm was remarkably similar to Brooklyn Morgan’s powers.
An ultra-fast spatial transport item.
The [Muffled Shroud of the Abyss].
A magic curtain darkened overhead as it aimed for a specific coordinate near the captured Jeong Ha-seong.
The first to react was Seonwoo-yeon, who happened to stand right next to Jeong Ha-seong.
Having seen the moving item known as [Muffled Shroud of the Abyss] during past investigations, she hurriedly recalled the magic tools she had acquired at that time, trying to drag Jeong Ha-seong out of the shadow.
At the same time, the ranking number one, who had unexpectedly become the target for kidnapping, attempted to pull himself back using his reflexes.
However, the being in the bone mask seemed to have consumed a forbidden awakening drug and unleashed a monstrous strength that surpassed humanity…