Kwakwakwakwa!
Once again, a scout monster came crashing down into the cavern along with the earth.
As it fell, the scout monster thrashed its tentacles in every direction, but they caught nothing.
The people waiting below had already moved outside the range of the tentacles’ movement.
The person standing closest looked at the falling monster and shouted loudly.
“It’s a scout, all right!”
He shouted as he fled backward, and the tentacle the monster swung seized only empty air.
Sterling’s bellow rang out from a short distance away.
“Everyone, get into position! If any of you get caught by those tentacles, you’ll answer to me!”
It was not the same voice that had once tried to sound impressive.
Nor did he look as neat as he had a week ago.
With a scruffy beard and clothes covered in dust, he was commanding the people.
And yet, he looked more alive than before.
At the sound of his hoarse voice, the people moved quickly.
“Firing team, ready!”
The firing team was the first to move.
At Sergeant Kim’s command, people holding unfamiliar guns aimed at the monster.
They were people I had personally checked over the past week.
People I had spoken to while shaking hands.
I could not determine with certainty whether they were telling the truth the way I could on Earth, but at the very least, I could tell whether they were the sort to stab me in the back.
There were five people I had confirmed that way.
Together with Sergeant Kim, who had received a gun first, they became the firing team that shot the energy guns.
Of course, Tom and Staff Sergeant Woo, who were exploration team members, also had energy guns, but the two of them were not people who belonged on the firing team.
“Full fire! Don’t let it get its bearings!”
Papapapak!
Beams shot from the guns, and the monster screamed.
Just like with the magic monsters, the energy guns only inflicted shock and pain on the scout monster, but it was a different story when they struck the tentacles.
Puk!
One of the tentacles flailing about wildly burst apart.
Puk!
Seeing another tentacle burst apart as well, it was no coincidence.
Only one person had hit the tentacles.
The person sniping the monster with an energy gun from farther away than the firing team—Staff Sergeant Woo.
He had shown exceptional skill even with ordinary guns, but once he used an energy gun, he became an incredible sniper.
Judging by the way he hit tentacles moving frantically in every direction, it was not simply that his skill had improved.
He had clearly gained an ability in that direction.
“That’s it! It can’t get its bearings! Strike team, move in!”
“Yes!”
At Sterling’s next command, people armed with spears and swords rushed in front of the monster.
Some of them were holding glowing swords.
Those were also swords I had given them.
Unlike the other weapons, those swords could cut through the monster’s hide.
Slice! Slice!
Carlo, at the front, moved at incredible speed and carved into the monster’s body.
The monster, roused to its senses by the sheer agony, tried to attack the people, but each time, a long rope flew out and wrapped around its remaining tentacles.
It was the rope—no, the whip—that Magretta had thrown from hiding.
The whip was so sturdy that no matter how violently the tentacles thrashed, it did not get cut apart.
While they disoriented it with guns and tore its hide to pieces with close-range weapons, several people were focusing their minds with their hands stretched toward the monster.
They were people who had gained sensory abilities instead of combat abilities.
Some had vision superior to others, while others had delicate hearing or the ability to sense the flow of energy.
What they had gained were abilities similar to my senses.
[Do not even make such an absurd comparison. Those abilities can hardly even be called inferior versions.]
Though Soph nitpicked, they were also a great help in battle.
Sterling shouted toward them.
“Have you confirmed the location of the black stone?”
“I’m sorry. We haven’t found it yet.”
However, it seemed they could not show much skill in this hunt.
Thuk!
While they were floundering, unable to find the black stone, an arrow flew and lodged itself in the monster’s belly.
A brightly glowing arrow.
It was an arrow shot by Hannah.
“I found it! The black stone is where the arrow is stuck!”
It seemed Hannah had found the location of the black stone with her ability.
Through the continued hunts, Hannah had also become able to use her ability more freely.
Just as she had found places and people through light to protect her own life, she had found, through light, the weakness that would bring down her enemy.
Once the weakness was found, every attack was directed there.
The monster also rampaged even harder, and some people were injured, but before long, the scout monster collapsed after its black stone was extracted.
Thud!
“We got it!”
“No one died, right?”
“Great! We finally got one by ourselves!”
When the monster fell, the people cheered.
It was only natural.
They had succeeded in hunting a monster without help from Catherine or me.
Unlike before, no one had died either.
There were some injured, but they were being treated at the makeshift infirmary.
Tom was also treating people there.
“Argh! It hurts! Be gentle!”
“Bear with it. I’m forcing a broken bone back into place—of course it’s going to hurt!”
There were people who complained of pain because of his excessive strength, but he was doing well too.
Watching the hunt, I said to Catherine beside me,
“At this level, they should be fine without us, right?”
“Yes. They’ve become much better than I first expected. I’m still a little worried, but at this point, I think they can hunt even without Captain Hyun.”
For the week we had been out hunting, we had trained the people diligently.
We selected people, handed over weapons brought from Venus, and helped whenever things became dangerous, doing our best to make it possible for them to hunt without me.
Even so, people were injured every time, and some had died.
Still, compared to before, this could at least be called a relatively safe hunt now.
The people who had killed the monster looked back at us.
When they did, Catherine shouted loudly.
“We’ve confirmed it, so as promised, we’re returning to base!”
Waaaaah!
At Catherine’s words, cheers rose again.
They had been stuck underground for a week, continuing the hunt, so of course they were happy to hear that they were going back.
Unlike before, the food and atmosphere were not bad, but it was still exhausting all the same.
Excited, the people ran toward the cavern opened to the terminal.
I also began walking slowly.
As I walked, I asked Catherine,
“How many did we kill?”
“Including the last black stone, we obtained a total of thirty-five, and four black stones were destroyed during battle, so we killed thirty-nine in all.”
“Not bad.”
“It’s more than just not bad. If you count them as ordinary black stones, it’s as if we obtained thirty-five hundred.”
Looked at that way, it really was a huge amount.
“Don’t worry about the report. I’ll make sure Hyun’s share is properly stated. In reality, it’s over fifty percent, but Earth won’t accept that, so the reward may be reduced a little.”
“That’s fine.”
It was called a reward, but money no longer meant much.
It had already been decided that I would go to Paradise and check the relics, too.
Besides, once I brought the “Wizard’s Flower” to Earth, this reward would truly become nothing special.
“It’s not because of the reward. I was calculating the monsters left on the surface. If we killed forty, that means we got about half.”
A week ago, we had gone up to the surface and confirmed the number of monsters remaining in the city.
Excluding the humanoid monsters, there were a little under a hundred.
Except for five or six defensive-type monsters, we had killed about half in a week.
“If I and the exploration team are gone, the hunting speed will slow down. Will it take about a month to get the rest?”
At my words, Catherine shook her head.
“No. Without Captain Hyun, it will take two months, maybe longer. There won’t be anyone watching their backs, so they’ll have to be extremely careful even to kill one.”
Catherine had changed.
Until recently, she had been someone who treated human lives lightly if it meant the operation would succeed.
And yet now, she was being so cautious.
“You’re not going to force it through like before.”
“Back then, there was no fallback. It’s different now that Captain Hyun is here.”
In other words, this was also because of me.
She was always so direct with her words, so this time I changed the subject.
“Even so, you’ll be able to secure more black stones than before, so there shouldn’t be a problem.”
“There are plenty of problems. This means we have to change every plan the home country had drawn up. The people in Paradise, the government, and the cartels will all have a lot to think about. Of course, so will I.”
Changing the subject had become meaningless.
At her last words, I looked at her, but her expression did not change.
It seemed she had meant exactly what she said, with no other meaning.
We passed through the long cavern and returned to the terminal.
The luggage that had been organized in advance was piled to one side, and the base where we had lived for the past week had been returned to its original state.
I said to the people who had arrived first,
“Everyone, get onto the magic circle. You all know your own transfer capacity, right? I’ll bring the remaining luggage later, so just take your personal belongings.”
At my words, the people quickly climbed onto the magic circle.
Thanks to the help of others, even the injured were able to get onto the magic circle.
As people passed by me, they acknowledged me.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
The Koreans bowed their heads as they passed, and the Americans also waved or offered words of thanks.
Among them were even Americans who cracked jokes.
“Hey, Captain Hyun. Give me gun too. I shoot gun good.”
“Just say it in English. He understands you just fine.”
“If I say it in Korean, maybe he’ll find it cuter.”
“As if that’ll work.”
[Is that truly a joke?]
That had to be a joke.
In any case, during the past week, everyone who had seen my skills and received my help expressed gratitude and respect toward me.
While the people were getting onto the magic circle, my team members gathered beside me.
Seeing the team members come to my side, Catherine asked,
“The exploration team isn’t going with us?”
“We have somewhere to stop by.”
The samples to take back to Earth were complete, and it was time to show the exploration team the house where they would be staying.
My team members and I planned to stop by the underground city of Ice Star first.
At my words, Catherine narrowed her eyes and looked at me.
“You’re not going to tell me where that is, are you?”
Even if she tried to make it a secret, there was no one on this planet who could force an answer out of me.
The same was true for Catherine.
Even so, I could not simply ignore the commander forever.
I answered Catherine’s question.
“If Catherine finishes thinking things over and makes a decision in a good direction, I’ll tell you.”
She should be able to understand what I meant.
Catherine stared at me for a moment, then turned around.
She was the last to step onto the magic circle.
Once everyone was on, I stood in front of the shelf.
Magretta’s voice came from behind me.
“Womanizer.”
It came out of nowhere.
Dumbfounded, I turned around, but she was speaking to Hannah.
“Hannah, you should be careful around men like that too.”
“I merely follow the light.”
At Hannah’s answer, Magretta let out a sigh.
Perhaps finding it absurd, Tom and Staff Sergeant Woo laughed, then turned their heads away under Magretta’s gaze.
On top of that, Soph also said something strange for the first time in a while.
[It seems you have more talent in this direction than I expected. But why is it that not a single one of them is normal?]
It seemed everyone found it fun to tease me.
Shaking my head, I activated the spatial transfer device.
The magic circle shone.
Before the people vanished, I said to Catherine,
“It’ll take a few days. I’ll see you later.”
At my words, Catherine looked at me with a puzzled expression before disappearing.
Even if we stopped by the underground city, there was no reason it would take several days.
Since we would be resting for the next few days anyway, I planned to stop by the underground city with my team members, then go west of the mountain range alone.
Most importantly, I needed to get a black stone.
After attaching an ordinary(?) magic monster’s black stone to my spear instead of the controlled entity’s black stone, the reverse adjustment was no joke.
Before going to Earth, I had to embed a good black stone in it again.
Manufacturing