WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Oblivious
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Surviving as a B-Rank Hunter ◈
Chapter 34
──────
* * *
Park Kangseok stopped walking and stared blankly ahead.
[What the hell is this now...]
Something was rising where he looked.
A protruding snout, a body covered in coarse jet-black fur. Long arms that nearly reached its knees, and supple muscles not hidden even by that dark fur.
It was a black beast.
The shape of its snout, face, and ears was unclear. It looked like a bear, but also like a wolf.
It resembled both, yet differed from both. It even looked like an entirely new kind of beast.
Even the enhanced armored suit's AI was displaying error messages, unable to understand the being before it. No, more precisely, it seemed unable to accept the black beast's very existence.
The cameras were clearly recording it, yet the algorithm could not process it. It looked like an error caused by trying to interpret something nonexistent as real.
Like trying to make an AI understand a dungeon.
Then the black beast bared its teeth and let out a low Grrr.
The white teeth gleaming in the darkness and the yellow glint in its eyes made a chill run down Park Kangseok's neck.
Only when he met those yellow eyes did Park Kangseok realize that this black beast was the hunter he had knocked away earlier. Though he had watched the transformation and its rise in sequence, he had been unable to accept them as the same being.
[What the fuck... You transform because you think you're going to lose? You can do that outside a dungeon? Is that the power of that black sword too?]
Apparently not. The sword that had been in the hunter's hand until moments ago lay rolling across the floor over there. The black beast held nothing now.
No. There was something else. More precisely, dagger-like nails gleamed at the ends of its huge fingers.
Had it noticed Park Kangseok's gaze? The black beast raised one hand and struck the pile of construction materials beside it.
The bundle of steel rebar was shredded by its nails and came crashing down.
[...]
The black beast held out its nails and growled threateningly.
Park Kangseok, who had been muttering to himself in confusion, fell silent.
He was an A-rank hunter too. He had wandered through dungeons, facing countless strange Anomalies and monsters.
Though they did not work outside dungeons, he had collected and used numerous artifacts, and still owned many as souvenirs.
So, setting aside the fact that this was not inside a dungeon, an artifact that transformed someone into some beast that was neither wolf nor bear would not have seemed particularly remarkable.
Park Kangseok quietly raised his club.
[Combat calculations terminated.]
The combat AI, which had only displayed error messages because it could not process the black beast, shut down. His faceplate turned semitransparent, revealing his face again.
The black beast's bright yellow eyes and Park Kangseok's dull eyes glared at each other.
A smile formed on Park Kangseok's lips.
“A rabid dog needs a beating. Come on, you son of a bitch.”
Perhaps it understood the insult. The black beast let out a Rooaar! and launched itself from the ground on all fours.
Its body had grown several times larger, and combined with its incredible speed, the black beast was like a cannonball. Before Park Kangseok could react, the beast collided with him.
The two tangled together and flew backward, collapsing a pile of materials.
The black beast pinned Park Kangseok atop the pile and wildly swung both hands. Palms as large as pot lids and dagger-sized nails at their ends battered Park Kangseok's enhanced armored suit.
The alloy plates that had barely thrown off sparks when struck by the sword moments ago began to tear apart like rags.
“You bastard...!”
Then Park Kangseok's fist shot up from beneath it and struck the black beast beneath the jaw. A heavy Thump! rang out like a drumbeat, followed by a shockwave.
As the black beast staggered backward and released the pressure, Park Kangseok pulled both knees to his chest and kicked out with both feet, shoving the beast away. The double kick struck its chest like a battering ram.
The black beast was sent flying backward, but snapped its waist in midair, righted itself, and landed on all fours.
Then it immediately sprang at Park Kangseok again. Sparks flew from the concrete as its claws scraped across the floor.
Park Kangseok did not remain still either. Having judged the black beast's speed from that single exchange, Park Kangseok swung his club at the incoming beast as if it were a baseball bat.
The lump of alloy metal collided with the black beast's head.
A deafening Bang! echoed, and the charging black beast staggered.
A faint smile appeared on Park Kangseok's lips.
Despite its imposing appearance, the black beast seemed manageable.
It was fast and strong, and those nails could tear through enhanced armored suit, but in the end, in a fight between beast and human, the human with a tool was bound to win.
He had no help from the combat AI, but the senses of an A-rank hunter were enough to keep up with that thing's movements-
The black beast, which had seemed to be staggering, suddenly turned its head and thrust its teeth forward.
“Ugh!”
Park Kangseok hurriedly tried to evade, but he was slightly too late. As he backed away, his right hand was caught in the beast's jaws.
Before he could do anything, its white teeth bit clean through his wrist.
Neither the suit made of superalloy nor an A-rank hunter's enhanced body mattered. His arm was severed from his body up to the middle of the forearm.
“...”
Park Kangseok stumbled backward and stared at his own right arm with a dumbfounded expression. It burned, but the pain was not too severe.
It had been cut off that cleanly.
When he looked at the black beast in disbelief, it spat out his hand with a Ptui! as though it had bitten into something bitter.
“You fucking beast-!”
Park Kangseok's eyes rolled back when he saw his hand on the floor. He charged while swinging the club in his left hand.
The black beast did not retreat either. It roared and charged at him.
The alloy club struck the black beast's head. Long nails tore through Park Kangseok's chest.
When they came close, Park Kangseok drove his knee into the black beast. Hit in the solar plexus, the beast answered with a headbutt.
Every exchange brought rough shockwaves and thunderous impacts. The dust in the factory scattered in a circle around their battle.
After the headbutt, cracks spread across Park Kangseok's faceplate. He staggered with a slightly dazed expression. That headbutt had been no ordinary blow.
And during that brief stagger, the black beast's nails slashed upward, drawing a line from Park Kangseok's left side to his right shoulder.
Slash!
Five marks remained. Blood sprayed out at once.
“Grahhh!”
Park Kangseok let out a sound that was neither a scream nor a battle cry and swung his club. Once again, he struck the black beast beneath the jaw. The beast scattered blood and broken teeth.
But the head that had snapped to the side returned to its place the next moment. Blood dripped from its snout, but its yellow eyes remained fixed on Park Kangseok like arrows. The killing intent and fury overflowing from them did not dim in the slightest.
“...!”
Only then did fear cross Park Kangseok's eyes.
Cracks ran across his enhanced armored suit, and he was bleeding, but he could still fight. Combat stimulants, pain stabilizers, and hemostatics installed inside the suit were flooding into his body within minutes.
One arm was gone, but the suit's functions still worked. The black beast was clearly bleeding too, so it was not invincible.
But the moment he met those yellow eyes, Park Kangseok understood.
Even if both its legs and arms were shattered, this beast would try to tear its opponent apart with its jaws. It seemed to have no particular concern for the destruction of its own body. If it could kill its opponent in exchange, that was enough.
Park Kangseok had not come here for a fight with his life on the line.
He had merely come to punish the insignificant people who had ignored and threatened him, and to personally finish off the bitch of a daughter who had been bothering him. He had never been prepared for death.
Why should he have needed to be?
He had already passed a corporation's rigorous evaluation, been certified as an A-rank hunter with a body clearly superior to those of B-rank hunters, and then joined Samgyeong's security team for an annual salary of more than a billion won.
He had a bright future ahead of him. He could not die in some corner of this abandoned factory.
He must not die.
The instant that thought crossed his mind, Park Kangseok planted the club in his left hand against the floor, leaped up, and kicked the black beast with both feet.
The strike was meant less to hurt it than to create distance, so the black beast's body flew backward and tumbled among the already ruined materials.
After confirming that he had opened the distance, Park Kangseok tried to flee without looking back.
He only needed to get out of here first. Things would be bad, but he would not die. And then, even if not with Samgyeong, he could find another job easily enough.
After what he had done, a major corporation like Ohwa would be impossible, but he could still join some mid-sized company...
He felt the beast's breath behind him.
The instant he realized it, Park Kangseok tried to turn and swing his club. But the beast's snout reached his neck before he could move.
“W-Wait! Hey! Get ahold of yourself! Hey!”
Park Kangseok struggled as the beast bit his neck. Then the black beast's claws pierced both sides of his torso. Park Kangseok felt his breath catch with a Hurk!
Nails of unnatural sharpness and a grip with pressure like a press machine tore through the enhanced armored suit and plunged into his organs.
Park Kangseok dropped his club in his struggle for breath and desperately flailed to stop the black beast. But its teeth began to break through the neck guard and dig in with a Crunch!
“Wait! We can come to another agreement, some other d-direction that benefits us both, another c-conclusion-!”
His words stopped. Blood surged up from within him and sprayed from his mouth, staining his faceplate red.
Park Kangseok felt his feet leave the floor. Had the beast grown larger? Had it become a giant and lifted him up?
“Grrr...!”
Park Kangseok tried to say something. But with blood filling his throat, he could only make a faint bubbling sound.
Forced to look upward as the beast held him by the neck, Park Kangseok saw a faint shape in the black sky.
A female warrior wearing a winged helmet, with enormous wings spread behind her. Her green eyes looked down at him. He could not tell whether those eyes condemned his life or pitied it.
The next moment, the black beast's teeth severed Park Kangseok's neck.
Then its two hands, embedded in his torso, pulled to either side. Park Kangseok's body was torn in two.
All that remained were three chunks of meat that had once been Park Kangseok. As blood and organs poured out, the black beast crushed the head that had fallen to the ground beneath its foot.
Then, drenched in blood, it looked up at the empty black sky and howled.
Awooooo!
Only the beast's cry drifted high through the moonless, starless sky.
Then something made a Clatter.
The beast that had been howling at the sky whipped around.
A small woman stood there, staring blankly at the beast with a startled expression.
Looking at the panting black beast, her hand trembled before she carefully opened her mouth.
“Um, are... are you all right...?”
She had watched what happened from behind and knew what the black beast had looked like before becoming such a creature. She had seen him change while lying on the floor and rise afterward.
That was why she thought the beast was the same person.
“Um, perhaps-”
The black beast bared its teeth. Park Tae-eun's mouth froze as she faced those gleaming white fangs.
Her reflection appeared in its yellow eyes.
Be angry. Be angry. Destroy the world and pour out the rage within you.
Leave behind none of the shackles that bind you.
Rage shall grant you complete freedom.
As the goddess's song commanded, the black beast raised its nails again and moved toward its enemy. The enemy looked terrified, but it could only be a deceptive tactic. Cowardly enemies always sought to deceive it.
Those cowardly enemies were precisely the ones that needed to be torn to pieces as an example for every enemy in the world. Their blood and corpses would terrify the rest, ensuring none could bind it.
It saw the “enemy,” staggering backward, trip over something and fall. It saw tears welling in the enemy's eyes, and despair close to resignation settling there.
It did not matter. This was only an enemy to tear apart and kill. So-
A bird's Screeeech! suddenly filled the sky above the factory.
At the same time, a black crow fell from the black sky like lightning between them.
When it reached the ground, the crow swiftly transformed as if by magic.
“Recover your will, warrior! Would you become a fool who cannot even distinguish friend from foe?”
The crow that had suddenly appeared, no, the woman with messy blond hair, thrust out a hand at the black beast. Strange letters flashed from her palm.
Facing that light, the black beast lost consciousness and collapsed forward.
And from the moment it fainted, its fur began to fall away as it slowly returned to its original human form.
Naturally, the one left behind was Dohyeon.
With the sudden change in events, Park Tae-eun could only blink her large eyes as she lay on the ground.
The woman with messy blond hair turned toward Park Tae-eun.
Her skin was pale enough to look like a corpse, and she wore heavy black mascara and lipstick.
But her eyes shone amber.
“...Who are you?”
“Heir to ancient traditions and bastard of the new age, the crow hidden in the night sky. I have come here in search of the warrior swept away by the waves of rage.”
Park Tae-eun stared up at her blankly.
“...What?”
“I’m Irina Sørensen. Nice to meet you, Park Tae-eun.”
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
