Chapter 449 — Gift
Powder. Or rather, I should probably have called them seeds. Naturally, there were a lot of them. On the other hand, Director Song wasn’t suited for dealing with large numbers.
“I’m fine, so go help Director Song—”
My mouth snapped shut. Wait a second. Since I had Eunhye, I could shrug off most attacks, but those—
“So they’re tentacle-type monsters. What kind of principle is this?”
“Yoohyun! Yerim!”
I need you two! I flung Songi up onto Sung Hyunjae’s head, then clung to his shoulder as well.
- Meeee!
“Don’t come down, just stay still! That thing, that thing, it even has electricity-attribute resistance!”
At that moment, it was a blessing beyond measure that Sung Hyunjae was tall. I pulled myself fully up so I was almost hanging over his shoulder.
“You said you were fine.”
“I’m not fine when it comes to tentacles! They’re useless, useless against them! Tentacle types and amorphous monsters that swallow people!”
What Eunhye had wasn’t a barrier but a damage-nullification item. Which meant it couldn’t block things that wrapped around your face or entered through your mouth or any other opening. Naturally, if you couldn’t breathe, you died. So against that kind of monster, not just high-rank ones—even a low-rank one would still be dangerous. If I had my earrings, I could probably manage up to mid-rank, but still.
“So Han Yoojin-gun’s weakness is tentacles and slimes.”
“I’ve disliked tentacles even more lately!”
By then, the tentacles fully emerged, covered in black chitin. Like sea anemones rooted to the ground, they waved strand after strand.
“They’re called Kentnishi. In appearance they’re closer to animal-type monsters, but in reality they’re plants, somewhere between B-rank and A-rank. Since they’re plants with roots, their mobility is low, but they do occasionally spring upward. They have at least B-rank electricity-attribute resistance, so it’d be better not to use your skill, Sung Hyunjae-ssi.”
As I pulled out my phone and hit a speed-dial number, I kept talking. If he were alone, that would be one thing, but this was the middle of a city. Because of how current spread, if he were to unleash enough electricity here to burn all those tentacle-plants away, the collateral damage wouldn’t be trivial. On the other hand, those things were bad at moving, so it would be better to issue an evacuation order and clear them out slowly.
[Hyung.]
“Yoohyun, did you hear? Come immediately.”
[Yeah, I’m on my way. Actually, I was just about to call. Hyung, are you okay?]
“Of course I am.”
It seemed the call had reached Haeyeon first, as expected. It was the S-rank guild closest to the Hunter Association. I gave him a brief, rapid explanation of the situation and hung up.
“Does the cut on my face look bad?”
“There’s blood beading on it.”
“…Mm, I guess it’ll be fine.”
As I hurriedly pulled on a cardigan, I answered. There was no way I could avoid telling Yoohyun there had been a sniper, but I didn’t necessarily have to let him know my arm had been hit too. It had already been treated.
In Sung Hyunjae’s hand, there appeared a long, slender woldo, almost like a spear.
“S-rank?”
“A-rank.”
“Do you really carry around A-rank weapons, Sung Hyunjae-ssi?”
“They’re useful for pruning.”
If it had been anyone else, I would have taken it as a joke, but since it was Sung Hyunjae, I genuinely couldn’t tell. He really did seem like the kind of man who would use an A-rank weapon to cut tree branches.
“For trimming grass too, I suppose.”
“Are we living together, by any chance?”
“My shampoo ran out, so please buy some on the way home.”
Whoosh—the blade of the woldo cut a wide circle through the air. Just in this area alone, there were already over thirty tentacle-plants packed together.
“Fewer than expected, considering how much powder there was.”
“They’re a kind of spore, but they don’t all grow. The ones that sprout first absorb the surrounding spores and grow even faster.”
“Have you fought them before?”
“On TV. On TV.”
They’d appeared in my favorite program, after all. More importantly, those Kentnishi weren’t supposed to show up this quickly in the first place. And someone had even obtained the spores and scattered them. Were they related, after all, to a transcendent, to the side of the Immoral people? They kept saying it was a ceasefire period. Wasn’t this cheating?
“Let’s move for now. People who don’t know their traits are probably wasting effort out there.”
I tried to call the Hunter Association, but the line stayed busy. Well, of course. With chaos like this, the calls must have been flooding in.
“Hold on tight.”
Sung Hyunjae said that as he lowered his upper body a little. After asking him to bear with it, I used the Teacher skill on him. I thought maybe he was just going to go straight out like that, but instead, tension gathered in the arm holding the woldo. His shoe stamped hard against the ground, and with a heavy sweep, the woldo slashed diagonally down into the earth.
Kurrrrung— As if there had been an earthquake, a tremor spread out, and cracks began racing forward from the point where the woldo had sunk in. Then electricity ran along the weapon and crawled into the ground.
And right after that—
KWAAANG!
With a tremendous explosion, a mound of earth shot upward. The tentacle-plants were also flung helplessly into the air. Toward them flew a golden chain. Chrrrraak, with the sound of metal, it wrapped around and bound the writhing tentacles.
The woldo vanished from Sung Hyunjae’s hand, and instead he caught the end of the chain. Like a man swinging a whip, he gave it a light flick and hurled the bundled tentacles over toward the Association parking lot. Still carrying dirt clinging to their roots, the tentacle-clumps disappeared beyond the wall.
“There shouldn’t be any left here.”
“I don’t think so.”
“It wouldn’t do for Director Song Taewon’s child’s playground to burn down.”
It was already a mess, though. Still, it would be easier to repair this than if the whole place had burned to ashes. After clearing every last tentacle out of Songi’s outdoor play area, Sung Hyunjae kicked off the broken, split earth. In an instant, the scenery around us changed, and the broad parking lot of the Hunter Association came into view.
“Ugh.”
The sight of the parking lot packed with black tentacles made me feel sick. Cars wrapped up and crushed by tentacles lay strewn everywhere, and Hunters were moving frantically.
- Meee!
Unable to endure the shock of Sung Hyunjae’s landing, Songi rolled right off. The Searcher’s Chain snatched the lamb up and held them dangling in the air.
“Director Song! Is being here the answer?”
Song Taewon, who had been helping build up barricades while warding off reaching tentacles, turned back toward us.
“Yes. They haven’t spread outside.”
“Their regeneration is excellent, so normal attacks are almost useless! You have to cut and cut and cut before they finally die. The Haeyeon Guild Leader will be here soon, so just stop them from getting outside!”
For monsters ranked mid- to high-grade, they weren’t all that threatening. Beyond wrapping around and constricting things, they didn’t have any notable offensive skills. They were just troublesome because they were tough, regenerated quickly, and reproduced well. They were weak to heat and cold, so a Hunter with a high-rank area-of-effect skill could clear them easily.
At my shout, the Hunters attacking the tentacles pulled back toward the outside. They switched to a defensive formation, encircling the monsters that filled the parking lot. Sung Hyunjae also drew the woldo once more and only cut down the tentacles that extended along the perimeter.
“You do look practiced. Do you really trim the lawn yourself? The garden at our place is starting to need work too.”
“Are you proposing a side job? If the terms are right, I’ll come.”
“Is there no partner discount?”
“In return, I’d appreciate a five-star review.”
“Wow, the great Seseong Guild is asking for a paid review? Do you want to end up plastered across the front pages of every portal site? Ranking number one in the search terms and all?”
“I’m already a regular customer there.”
Aren’t you pleased with yourself. While we were exchanging idiotic remarks, a red dot from far off in the sky rapidly drew near. The Hunters all immediately backed away upon seeing Peace. The Flame-Horned Lion stopped in midair, wings spread long. From that absurd height, Yoohyun leaped down lightly.
He didn’t use Azure Willow Leaves. With the Raiment of the Thunder Bird fluttering around him, flames burst forth in a great rush. Centered on Yoohyun, vivid red fire whirled like a storm, then darkened, blackened, and turned black-blue. Wrapped in broad blazing fire, he dropped just like that—
KWAAANG—!
Right into the center of the tentacle mass. Heat and flame spread out in an instant, like a bomb going off. All that could be seen was the thick black-blue blaze. The fire rose high, swallowing only the tentacles precisely. It was as though it had been trapped behind invisible walls—control that delicate.
Tat-tat-tat! The tentacles burst and charred in every direction, burning down in an instant. Leaving black ash scattered everywhere, the flames swept back down sharply. The parking lot and the unfortunate cars had melted, but beyond that there was no damage at all. As the fire faded at the will of its owner, my younger brother appeared from within.
“Wait, Yoohyun!”
Yoohyun turned toward me. The moment he spotted the cut on my cheek, his brow furrowed deeply. And then, the burned remains of ash began to move.
“Right now it’s at the stage where it has damage nullification above S-rank, so don’t waste your strength!”
The ash gathered together, clumping into a round mass. Yoohyun stepped back and came over my way.
“Were you hurt?”
“No, it’s just a scratch. A little one. What happened was—”
“Your clothes.”
“Uh, it was a little cold being out at Songi’s outdoor playground.”
After hearing my answer, Yoohyun looked at Sung Hyunjae. Sung Hyunjae only smiled without saying a word. Then Yoohyun’s eyes shifted toward Director Song. No, no.
“Someone shot at me, but missed! It only grazed me.”
“…Shot?”
By then, the pile of ash had begun to change. It took root in the ground and sent up a single long black stalk. At the tip of the stalk, which grew to around four or five meters, something like a round fruit began to form.
“It’ll burst soon, so get ready.”
At my words, Yoohyun turned toward the black stalk.
“You just have to cleanly burn away the spores.”
When a Kentnishi colony was completely wiped out, it tried to reproduce. At that point, even an S-rank Hunter’s attacks barely worked. But right after the fruit burst—while they were still spores—they burned easily. It would be troublesome if they rode the wind and spread, but with Yoohyun’s ability, he’d be able to destroy every last grain of powder without missing a single speck.
Around Yoohyun’s body, fine flames swam in slow circles. The fruit swelled and swelled until it was two or three times the size of a person. And then—
Pop—
It burst, and the spores… the spores…
“Hyung, flowers come before fruit, right?”
“Huh? Uh, well…”
Normally, yes, but that thing hadn’t even bloomed. Instead of fruit, what burst open was a flower bud, and bright pink petals came pouring out. It was a huge pink flower, several meters across. Layer after layer of petals, dazzlingly ornate, even a little beautiful.
…That was strange.
“I’m unAwakened!”
At that moment, someone suddenly shouted. Not just me, but the other Hunters too, all turned toward the source of the voice. A middle-aged man stood beyond the barricade. With a frightened face, he shouted again.
“They said they’d spare me if I only delivered the message, so please don’t attack!”
The man raised both hands high. Had someone threatened him?
“I heard that Director Han Yoojin of the rearing facility likes pink flowers, so this was prepared.”
I do not!
“It’s a light greeting, and a gift for the Director, so please don’t worry. It’s safe.”
Safe? Whoever it was was insane, wasn’t he? The flames around Yoohyun shot forward like arrows. They wrapped around the enormous flower and burned it away in an instant.
“Once the time limit ends, we shall meet again.”
…It really did seem to be someone connected to Chatterbox after all. This was a greeting? More importantly, they were allowed to worm their way in and do this kind of thing to us, but we weren’t allowed to go at them? Wasn’t that unfair?
“I’m a fan of Director Song Taewon.”
The man closed his mouth. Under the flood of stares, he added awkwardly,
“That last part too… I was told to pass it on.”
Now everyone’s eyes turned toward Director Song. Director Song just looked tired.
“…For now, let’s begin the cleanup.”
He spoke after swallowing down a short sigh.
The aftermath was handled quickly. First, it was decided that there had been no monster appearance. Since it had not been long since the stabilization of dungeons, there was nothing to be gained by announcing that monsters had appeared. Instead, it would be reported that there had been something strange among the dungeon items.
Since this was the Association with the Hunter Market, and since what had appeared at the end was a harmless giant flower, it wasn’t too hard to gloss over things. Something like a seed item that bloomed into an enormous flower.
“The upper channels have reported it as an act carried out by an anti-Hunter terrorist group.”
Director Song said that as he entered the meeting room. In his hand, he was holding some kind of bouquet. It wasn’t pink, but a mix of red and white flowers.
“Neither the first bomb nor the bullet that grazed Director Han Yoojin were dungeon items. There are many anti-Hunter groups overseas that carry out terrorism using modern weapons.”
“They didn’t make it into Korea until much later, though.”
Since everyone here already knew I had regressed, I said it comfortably.
“They weren’t very strong either. Of course they did quite a bit of damage, but they never used monsters like they did today.”
This whole situation felt utterly unfamiliar to me, since I had never left Korea. They mainly targeted the Hunter Association or large guilds, so I’d never had much reason to cross paths with them either. To the great guilds, they were about as serious as an ant bite. More nuisance than anything else.
“What about that man who delivered the message?”
“He was an ordinary unAwakened person. He said his family had been taken hostage.”
As he said there had been no way to extract information about the one making the threats, Director Song placed the bouquet he’d been holding on the desk.
“…It came to me.”
Oh dear. Had he picked up another one like Sung Hyunjae? I cast a glance at Sung Hyunjae, and he shrugged. Nine times out of ten they’d be a foreigner, so wasn’t this basically a stalker who’d gotten attached after following the Seseong Guild Leader around?
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