WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Arsène
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ How an A-Rank Hunter Lives ◈
Chapter 100: Behemoth - [3]
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I kept killing powerful Monsters, one after another.
I shot them dead with autocannon rounds, killed them with the impact of falling, and tore off parts of their bodies. I did it while using Spatial Teleportation over and over without resting for even a moment.
Shifting positions in real time and picking off only the powerful Monsters had paid off. The number of clearly formidable creatures in the wave of Monsters had dropped so much that I could barely spot any now.
Who knew how many Force-Field Creatures were mixed in with those countless Deathclaws, or how many powerful creatures still remained inside the Gate. But anyway.
Even so, the calls for me did not stop.
The radio messages calling me went like this.
「An A-rank Hunter was killed in action here! A Force-Field Creature we haven't killed is rampaging! Get Hunter Kim Geuk here, quick...!」
A-rank Hunters, awakened people, were dying everywhere.
Whenever one did, I had to use Spatial Teleportation to take their place. I'd conserved it as much as I could until now, but I was already feeling dizzy. Still, I couldn't just sit still.
Ugh.
I pulled the trigger as I used Spatial Teleportation. The moment my view changed, autocannon rounds poured from the muzzle toward the rampaging Force-Field Creature's side.
That killed another Monster.
This one was another Deathclaw Force-Field Creature. I'd seen so many of them that I was sick of it, and killing one or two was no longer that difficult for me. It must not have been the same for the other A-ranks.
I looked to see which awakened person had died fighting this Force-Field Creature, and I recognized the face. I recognized the man whose belly had been slashed open and whose intestines had spilled out.
Kim Yohan.
He was the guy who had filmed the situation and posted it on Huntweb when I'd clashed with the Special Forces, supporting me. As far as I knew, his Hunter contract with Seoul had already ended. I had no idea why he'd answered the call.
I couldn't close his eyes or pray for him to rest in peace. I just closed my eyes once, opened them again, then used Spatial Teleportation to go somewhere else I was being called to.
As I got called all over the place, I kept seeing familiar corpses whenever I arrived where awakened Hunters had died fighting.
Kang Junman, killed when a Deathclaw Force-Field Creature cut halfway through his neck.
One of Kim Seokhee's people, a guy who had recently debuted as an Incheon Hunter, grabbed in an Ogre's hand and killed.
The older force-field exoskeleton user whose face I'd gotten familiar with at an A-rank Hunter drinking party, his belly slashed open by a Deathclaw...
And finally, Mr. Kim Hyeongman.
Seeing that older man in his traditional medicine doctor's coat, his head severed from his body, I squeezed my eyes shut, then opened them again.
More than sadness, another emotion weighed on me.
Emptiness.
Now I understood why other Hunters seemed so unaffected even when their comrades died during a hunt. After going through this sort of thing countless times, part of anyone's brain would have to go numb.
“This is Kim Geuk. Aren't you calling the Special Forces? Things are this bad...”
I asked to vent my frustration, and an even angrier voice answered me.
「We called them! We called them, but nobody came!」
It made sense. Those were the bastards who chose salaried jobs because they didn't want to fight Monsters.
The Special Forces members probably knew the country wouldn't be able to punish them later, even if they disobeyed orders during a crisis. No matter how angry the government was, it couldn't sentence them to prison. It couldn't just unleash dozens of superpowered criminals in Seoul.
Disgusting half-baked awakened people...
I kept fighting after that. By my rough estimate, I alone killed more than half of the powerful creatures that came out of the Gate. With Kang Jun-chi gone, it was only natural for me, the strongest awakened person on the Korean Peninsula, to do it.
All sorts of things happened as I killed Monsters. The team members I'd sent far behind nearly got attacked by a seven-meter Deathclaw, and Behemoth used the voices of the dead to lure civilians out...
Then, while I kept fighting without rest, Behemoth changed direction.
Where was it going?
Someone screamed over the radio.
「Behemoth is heading for the shelter! Get everyone in the shelter farther away!」
It couldn't be a coincidence that Behemoth was heading there of all places. Behemoth was an elemental, and it could see souls and where they were.
It hadn't absorbed as many souls as it expected because most people had already evacuated while it was opening the Gate. Naturally, it would seek out people gathered in one place to harvest more souls.
The radio messages made it sound like evacuating everyone from the shelter would take quite a while.
Then Seok Jangsil stepped up, saying he would buy them time.
「I... I'll try to lure it away.」
「Behemoth? How...?」
「I'll let it spot me, then run away. It'll follow me. Behemoth and I are both Rock Elementals. They say spiritual power grows more easily the more same-type ability users it absorbs, so wouldn't I look like the tastiest prey to that bastard?」
Seok Jangsil spoke surprisingly calmly about becoming bait.
Behemoth's Heat Ray was powerful enough to shoot down even supersonic fighter jets. Once it targeted someone, death was inevitable. What kind of courage did that take?
No, it wasn't courage.
His words about accepting death carried resignation rather than resolve.
I could understand how he felt. It looked like he'd given up and wanted to make his death the final decoration of his life.
I had no energy to encourage him or stop him.
I continued using Spatial Teleportation to go wherever I was called, all while watching Behemoth and Seok Jangsil, who was trying to lure it away.
Was he trying to make himself easier for Behemoth to spot? Seok Jangsil turned into a fourteen-meter rock giant, larger than usual, and began sprinting through the city. That alone was an unreal size, but compared to Behemoth, which was hundreds of meters tall, even he looked like a dwarf.
Behemoth did take an interest in the rock giant. It subtly moved its legs and changed direction toward where Seok Jangsil was running.
Seok Jangsil didn't seem to be openly trying to die. Instead of running down empty roads, he sprinted while keeping behind buildings. It looked like he was making sure that even if Behemoth fired its Heat Ray, it would hit cover before it hit his body.
Even that effort seemed trivial to Behemoth.
As Seok Jangsil ran beyond a building, Behemoth aimed the tip of its tail in that direction. Then it fired a Heat Ray at the building between them.
Even in my exhausted state, I was shocked to see the Heat Ray pierce through and melt the building. Could concrete really be penetrated that easily?
Seok Jangsil must have been shocked too. He ran even harder, but when Behemoth fired another Heat Ray, he collapsed mid-run.
His legs, made of rock, had melted under the Heat Ray.
Seok Jangsil couldn't get back up right away.
Behemoth approached him.
If Behemoth wanted, it could have pierced through the center of the rock giant and killed him at once. Perhaps it had only destroyed his legs and disabled him because it couldn't absorb his soul if it killed him from too far away.
So it looked like it was planning to get closer before killing him.
That meant there was still time.
I used Spatial Teleportation.
I stood on top of the rock giant as it flailed in panic, desperately trying to get up.
Seok Jangsil had to be inside the center of the rock giant's body. I swung my force-field-wrapped Hunter Rifle against its torso, cracking the granite.
After hitting it a few more times, Seok Jangsil appeared from inside the rock. His eyes went wide when he saw me.
“Kim Geuk? Why...?”
“I'm going to teleport you. I can't teleport you while you're attached to all this rock because of the mass, so I have to separate you first.”
“You're evacuating me? Why bother...?”
“You can't keep serving as bait like this. You'll just die, bastard.”
“Just... leave me.”
I snorted at Seok Jangsil's words.
“Like hell I will.”
That spy bastard created this whole mess. I couldn't let him die a heroic death and whitewash everything he'd done.
That spy bastard needs to take plenty of abuse before he dies. I couldn't stand watching him die all solemnly like some tragic sacrifice. Never.
The moment I pulled Seok Jangsil out of the rock giant, Behemoth seemed to notice something was wrong and aimed the tip of its tail at us.
I was faster.
Before the Heat Ray fired from its tail, I used Spatial Teleportation with Seok Jangsil.
I left the stunned Seok Jangsil in an alley and went back to my own work.
「Hunter Kim Geuk, we need support!」
Now they were openly calling only for me.
And naturally, when weak non-awakened trash called, I had to go protect them.
I used Spatial Teleportation again and killed Monsters over and over. Then something happened.
I had no time to react. It happened before I could even blink.
I was fighting when I turned my head and saw the tip of Behemoth's tail aimed in my direction. I didn't react at first. Several buildings were serving as cover between us.
Then a Heat Ray, thicker than the one it had used to melt a tank, filled my vision. It pierced through several buildings between Behemoth and me, then the Heat Ray it unleashed scorched me.
The heat was so horrible that I lost my senses for a moment.
“Hunter Kim Geuk!”
When I came to, my lower body wouldn't move. I checked myself, wondering if my spine had been hit.
That wasn't it.
My entire lower body had been burned away by the Heat Ray.
Why had that bastard targeted me?
I'd killed plenty of Monsters, but they weren't really Behemoth's subordinates. I hadn't even touched Behemoth itself, and it had wasted a huge amount of energy piercing through several buildings just to kill me. Why target me...?
It was probably angry because I'd just taken away its prey. It still seemed eager to devour my soul, so it had left my upper body intact instead of killing me at once.
Maybe because half my body had been blown away, I couldn't even feel pain. It let me ask surprisingly calmly.
“Looks like Behemoth's heading toward me. If I stay in this direction, will it get closer to the shelter?”
Nobody seemed to hear me. The soldiers nearby only kept asking whether I was okay.
Then there was no choice.
I roughly judged the direction and used Spatial Teleportation to go somewhere with fewer people. If Behemoth wanted to devour my soul now, it would have to walk much farther.
As I lay there abandoned on the ground, I heard an Incheon accent.
“Kim Geuk?”
I barely turned my head and saw Nguyen standing there.
Nguyen stared down at me with wide eyes, apparently shocked by the state of my lower body.
“How did this...?”
Nguyen, that barbarian bastard who was born in the wrong century.
My prophet's instinct told me what was about to happen.
Nguyen was going to try to kill me here.
There was no doubt. Considering that I knew a secret he needed to hide and his personality, there was no reason for him not to kill me here.
I tried to use my last bit of strength to activate Spatial Teleportation, but I failed.
There was no choice.
Half resigned, I thought to myself.
Fine. If you want to kill me, kill me. Take my power and become Superman. Go establish a new dynasty in Vietnam or something. Contributing to awakened society that way would be better than becoming Behemoth's food.
I closed my eyes and lay still.
Then I felt my body rise.
I opened my eyes in confusion and saw Nguyen lifting me up. My body was draped over his shoulder.
Nguyen started running at full speed with me on his back.
Was he taking me somewhere nobody could see us to kill me?
Then Nguyen spoke into the radio.
“Hospital! Where's the hospital?!”
A hospital? Why?
The unexpected word made me listen closely. Nguyen seemed to notice that I'd regained consciousness, and he shouted at me while still running.
“Kim Geuk, you can't die like this! We still have to drink together, yeah?”
Ah. The part about him liking me had been true.
It also seemed he sincerely wanted to save me now, out of loyalty.
Nguyen ran even faster.
Han Hee was usually much faster than Nguyen. That was because Nguyen didn't have Neural Acceleration, so if he ran at full speed and hit something, it could turn into a disaster. It wasn't because Nguyen had developed less as an awakened person than Han Hee.
When it came to running in a straight line, Nguyen was far, far faster than Han Hee. Especially on empty roads after everyone had evacuated.
The scenery raced by so quickly I couldn't see it. When I closed and opened my eyes, I was inside a hospital.
Nguyen carried me in and shouted.
“Healer!”
What was a healer? Shouldn’t he call a doctor?
Apparently he had called for a Healing Ability user. A woman was called over and, looking at me, asked in an exhausted voice.
“Isn't he already dead?”
“He's alive! Can't you see his organs have already recovered halfway? Kim Geuk is a Body Enhancement user, so if you just help a little, he'll live. Hurry up and save him!”
There seemed to be some arguing after that.
I couldn't hear clearly, but it sounded like there were already too many emergency patients and they couldn't change the order at will.
Then, apparently frustrated, Nguyen shouted something into his radio. A moment later, another voice came through.
「If that Kim Geuk bastard has been brought to the hospital, stop arguing and save him first! There isn't time to explain, so don't ask why. Hurry up!」
The voice on the radio sounded like the National Security Ministry minister. Instead of wasting time barking that there was no time to explain, the minister could have explained that saving Kim Geuk first would save more people. I had no idea why the minister kept saying there was no time to explain.
Then several things that looked like IV tubes were stuck into my body. The thick liquid flowing through them seemed to be some kind of drink for people with Super-Regeneration.
As my body absorbed the nutrients, my regenerative power activated.
I could feel new flesh growing. Bones that had burned away emerged again, and muscles covered them...
Before long, I opened my eyes and found that my lower body had regrown. I put on a pair of pants lying nearby that didn't even fit me, then bowed my head to the Healing Ability user.
“Thank you...”
“No, I barely even had to use my ability before you regenerated after we injected the solution...”
“Then that's a relief.”
After that, I checked my condition.
It was a mess, obviously.
Even my muscles wouldn't move properly, but I could still move my body. Behemoth's Heat Ray had clearly broken my force field earlier, but had it recovered because I'd rested for a while?
The force-field exoskeleton had already repaired itself. I could use it like muscles and move my body.
When I got up, Nguyen reacted.
“Kim Geuk? What are you doing? Rest!”
No. I couldn't do that.
It wasn't as if I was non-awakened trash.
Awakened people were superhuman.
Awakened people were superior to non-awakened people.
Physically, mentally, in every way, they were a hundred, a thousand times superior to non-awakened trash.
I would show those insignificant non-awakened trash the superiority of awakened people.
As I stood up and prepared to use Spatial Teleportation, a man pointed a camera at me.
He seemed to be a reporter dispatched to cover the emergency. Normally, if I had time to spare, I would've raised a hand and given him my signature pose. I couldn't do that now.
Instead, I met the reporter's eyes, gave him a grin, and muttered.
“Long live Incheon.”
Then I used Spatial Teleportation.
I returned outside the hospital, to the octagon where the battle against the Monsters was raging.
When I looked at the sky, nothing was exploding anymore. There were no drones, helicopters, or fighter jets flying around. Had they already all been wiped out? I knew requests for Air Force support had gone out everywhere, but there was still no word.
Then I had to do my job.
“This is Kim Geuk. You have explosives, right? Gather as much as you can. What am I going to use them for?”
I spoke into the radio.
“Can't you see that Behemoth over there?”
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