Chapter 19
Namgyuil and his team members, who had been dispatched to support the Chungcheong Hunter Bureau.
Screech.
The military bus came to a halt.
The doors opened, and Team 01 led by Namgyuil disembarked.
Soldiers were the ones to greet them upon their arrival at the Chungcheong Hunter Bureau.
Namgyuil felt puzzled.
‘What? Why are unawakened enlisted soldiers controlling the scene? Where are the other National Hunters?’
Namgyuil stared intently at the soldiers.
Then, a private with a single stripe on his rank insignia approached.
“Sir, are you the ones from the Seoul Hunter Bureau?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll guide you to the operations room.”
The private led Namgyuil’s group to the operations room.
Opening the door and stepping inside, a clamor of noise greeted them.
All manner of radio transmissions were pouring into this place.
Troop deployment.
Status checks on National Hunters.
Verifying newly appeared Gates.
It was utter chaos.
They must have been struggling for days; the skin beneath their eyes had turned dark and sunken.
They looked as though they had been up all night, at the very least.
Captain Kang, who had been giving orders over the radio, spotted Namgyuil’s group.
He approached them.
“You’re from the Seoul Hunter Bureau?”
“Sir, Team Leader Namgyuil of Seoul Hunter Bureau Team 01, along with nine others, has arrived.”
“Good. You must have had a rough trip.”
“But is the situation in Chungcheong quite bad right now? This is the first time I’ve seen the command center this swamped.”
“Seoul enjoys smooth replenishment of National Hunters, but the provinces don’t have that luxury. It’s a headache.”
“Is that so.”
Seoul was the top priority for National Hunter deployment, so it had fewer problems. The remaining regions were a different story.
Namgyuil thought to himself.
‘Seoul is already in chaos, but the provinces must be even worse.’
Stronger monsters would continue to appear from Gates going forward, and it was doubtful whether they could respond properly.
Things were already hanging by a thread as it was.
‘The probability of a National Hunter retiring with their body fully intact, less than 37 percent.’
The citizens had it hard, but for the National Hunters who had to enter the Gates, every sortie was no different from waging war.
Captain Kang patted Namgyuil on the shoulder.
“I’ve heard the rumors about Seoul Team 01. They say you’re incredibly skilled.”
“Thank you.”
“Hahaha, we’re the ones who should be grateful. National Hunters with a clean track record have come. I’ll be counting on you.”
“We will live up to your expectations.”
Namgyuil answered confidently.
Captain Kang let out a hearty laugh, his face weary. Then he briefed Namgyuil on the operation in detail.
To put it simply, they were being asked to close a newly appeared Gate.
Namgyuil’s group boarded the military bus again and headed for the location of the Gate.
Vroom.
The bus sped down the road.
There was no one to be seen on the streets.
‘Did they flee to the shelters?’
When monsters emerged from Gates, civilians were inevitably helpless.
That was why shelters had been built.
They weren’t made of five-meter-thick steel plates like in the movies, but they were still constructed of thick concrete with ample emergency food supplies stockpiled inside.
‘The citizens should be safe.’
But then, a rather curious object came into view outside the window.
It was a military drone.
A drone armed with explosives and firearms was flying through the air.
‘Why is that…?’
The moment he thought that.
Suddenly, the sound of an explosion rang out.
KABOOM.
“What? What’s happening?!”
Namgyuil’s group hurriedly got off the military bus.
When they arrived near the Gate.
Ratatatat.
The sound of machine guns echoed all around.
Muzzles spat flames, spraying bullets wildly.
Grenades detonated, and explosions that seemed to shake heaven and earth spread in every direction.
“Hey, bring ammo.”
“Here.”
The soldiers fired their weapons wildly at the Werebeasts emerging from the Gate.
Werebeasts were monsters in the form of beasts that walked on two legs and possessed human-like arms.
Their entire bodies were covered in fur with a spotted pattern like leopards.
Their leaping ability was tremendous, and they were fast runners. If even one got away, it would be a headache in more ways than one.
Therefore, the soldiers did not spare their ammunition.
They detonated Claymores as well.
Concentrating all their firepower in one place, they killed the Werebeasts the instant they emerged from the Gate.
Gray smoke from the explosives hung thick in the air.
There were no more signs of Werebeasts leaping out of the Gate.
“Cease fire.”
The soldiers loosened their fingers on the triggers and stopped firing.
Silence fell over the area.
The commander, judging the battle to be over, raised his radio.
“Huff—, huff—, Dangso Mole Three. This is Dangso Mole Three, reporting that all monsters emerging from the Gate have been eliminated.”
The soldiers exhaled long, slow breaths.
They completely removed their hands from the triggers.
They thought they had finished off all the monsters that had come out of the Gate.
Thud-thud-thud.
Suddenly, a single Werebeast leaped out of the Gate.
The creature used the thick pile of its kin’s corpses stacked before it as a foothold and jumped high.
Thud.
It instantly soared over the soldiers’ defensive position and tried to head toward the residential area.
“Damn it…”
The face of the commander who had been making his report turned deathly pale.
Fortunately, the civilians had evacuated to the shelters, but if that thing reached the residential area, property damage was inevitable.
At that moment, Namgyuil charged at the Werebeast.
Shing.
He gripped the long sword on his back.
The lengthy blade reflected the sunlight and flashed.
A blade swung in a flash of light.
Shhk—!!
With a single strike, the Werebeast’s head separated from its body.
The creature’s corpse rolled across the ground.
Namgyuil landed on the ground and flicked his sword, shaking off the blood that stained the blade.
The soldiers blinked in astonishment.
If that man hadn’t appeared out of nowhere, they would have missed the monster.
“W-who…”
One private stammered as he asked.
Namgyuil gave a faint smile.
“I am Namgyuil, Team Leader of Team 01 under the Seoul Hunter Bureau. I look forward to working with you.”
It was a memorable first encounter.
***
Before entering the Gate, Namgyuil inspected his weapons one last time.
The monsters in this Gate were Werebeasts.
They were troublesome to deal with, but they posed no threat whatsoever to Namgyuil’s group.
Since they had armor, there was no fear of injury.
At that moment, one soldier who appeared to be a commander approached Namgyuil.
There was a single diamond insignia on his rank.
He seemed to be a second lieutenant who had just become an officer.
“You…”
“What is it?”
“I wonder if I could request support immediately after you close the Gate?”
“A support request? We already received a support request to close this Gate.”
“That’s not what I mean…”
He hesitated, unable to continue.
Namgyuil sensed that the situation was taking an unusual turn.
“What is the matter?”
“We were too late in discovering this Gate.”
“Don’t tell me the monsters had already come out before the Gate was even discovered?”
“Yes. The situation is serious.”
Gates appeared from every direction.
Searching for each and every one of them was practically impossible.
You would have to patrol the entire country every day; it would be difficult even if the entire population were forcibly mobilized.
But there was a device that helped with this to some extent.
The Gate detector.
Using this, Gates that appeared within a certain radius could be located.
But there was a problem with this as well.
Namely, accuracy.
Because the detector’s accuracy was low, Gates it failed to detect would appear from time to time.
The Gate detector was ultimately not perfect.
They only used it because the situation was urgent and there were no other alternatives.
Namgyuil’s expression turned grave.
“How many monsters came out?”
“We confirmed through various strategic assets that the number is fifty-two. Of those, thirty-seven have been eliminated, but the remaining fifteen are unaccounted for. That’s why we’re searching this area with drones.”
“Is that so.”
“But no matter how much we search, we can’t find them. That’s why I intend to request support from you.”
Namgyuil looked at his team members.
Their mission was, first and foremost, to close the Gate.
No other mission had been assigned. Moreover, they would have to move immediately after closing the Gate, so their stamina consumption would be enormous.
‘We probably can’t do both.’
He stood at a crossroads.
Either close only the Gate, or help the soldiers and hunt the Werebeasts.
Namgyuil fell into thought for a moment.
‘Werebeasts themselves aren’t dangerous monsters. If it’s our team members wearing armor, they should be able to handle them safely.’
Probably, Hangangsu alone could close this Gate.
There was no need for Namgyuil himself to enter the Gate.
Therefore, he asked his team members.
“I intend to help the soldiers and eliminate the Werebeasts. Can you close the Gate sufficiently on your own?”
At that, Ichanu grinned and thumped his chest.
“Don’t worry! We can handle it just fine.”
“That’s right.”
Hwangilsu, who was standing beside him, chimed in.
Hangangsu pointed at himself with his thumb, brimming with confidence.
“What is there to worry about with me here? I could destroy all those Werebeasts by myself.”
No one voiced any opposition.
It was because they all knew how dangerous monsters that had reached residential areas could be.
And so, Namgyuil decided to help the soldiers, while the remaining Team 01 members entered the Gate.
***
Namgyuil held an operations meeting with the soldiers.
The site commander spread out a map.
He had drawn circles around the areas currently being searched by drones.
“The fifteen Werebeasts are inside this circle. They probably haven’t gotten out.”
“Isn’t it possible they unluckily made it outside the search area?”
Namgyuil asked.
The commander answered definitively.
“No. We used surveillance cameras and various other methods to confirm, and the conclusion is that they could not escape this circled area.”
“Is that so.”
Namgyuil tilted his head.
If that was the case, he thought they only needed to search the circled area and catch the Werebeasts.
He couldn’t understand why they still hadn’t found them.
The site commander let out a sigh.
“But no matter how much we search, we can’t see them. They must definitely be in this circled area.”
His tone suggested he had absolutely no idea where they were hiding.
Namgyuil pondered for a moment.
People only knew that Werebeasts were fast and had great leaping ability.
They didn’t know the creatures’ habits well.
Werebeasts were monsters that had appeared newly just a month ago.
Research on them was only at the starting stage, so there wasn’t any substantial information.
In the end, there was only one thing he could rely on.
‘I need to recall the monster-related knowledge I read in the Akashic Records.’
Namgyuil racked his brain intently.
At that moment, a certain piece of information flashed through his mind.
‘The greatest characteristic of Werebeasts is their appetite. They have a habit of constantly wandering in search of prey.’
They must be searching for food.
And very fresh meat at that.
Namgyuil checked the map. There were no supermarkets or butcher shops in the circled area.
He pondered more deeply.
What animal would be good prey for Werebeasts?
‘There’s no zoo or pet shop nearby…’
At that moment, a chilling premonition swept through Namgyuil’s mind.
The fine hairs on his body stood on end.
He had thought there was no place for the Werebeasts to hunt or obtain meat.
But he was wrong.
There was one place within the circled area where they could hunt.
‘The shelter.’
A shelter was encompassed within the area the circle covered.
And.
‘There is one way for them to secretly infiltrate the shelter!!’