Chapter 25

Chapter 25

“……”

The moment word spread that Kim Younghwan was dead, Jung Juho quickly contacted the Hunters who had been forming the encirclement.

The message was simple: break the encirclement and retreat immediately.

“I’ll end up taking the blame for this, but…”

The death of a Level 8 transcendent. The fallout would be anything but light. With this, the government had been backed into a position where it had no choice but to be dragged around by the major guilds. And it occurred to him that Choi Junho’s value could only rise.

Kim Younghwan’s death was largely self-inflicted. If he hadn’t tried to hog all the credit for himself, the other Hunters would have bought him time to escape before he died.

But there was one thing that didn’t add up.

Choi Junho, who had been gunning for Berserker the entire time—why had he just stood by and watched the clash between Berserker and Kim Younghwan? Since when did that brat ever listen to anyone?

“Don’t tell me. No, surely not.”

Kim Younghwan had died to Berserker too quickly for anyone to intervene. The moment the news came through, Choi Junho had scrambled to the battle site. There would have been no time to do anything.

Jung Juho pushed the what-ifs filling his head aside and focused on commanding.

When news of Kim Younghwan’s death spread, the atmosphere around them grew restless. If Berserker were to barge in amid all this, they could suffer heavy losses.

The reason they had tried to capture the two villains was the fear that they would become an even greater disaster if they joined the League. But now that Kim Younghwan was dead, capturing them would require accepting significant losses.

Jung Juho judged that it wasn’t worth enduring those losses, and to save as many people as possible, he ordered a retreat.

“We’ll stay until the very end and buy time for our comrades to pull back.”

“Yes, sir!”

At Jung Juho’s declaration, the public service Hunters of the Special Team nodded.

* * *

After relaying Berserker’s escape to headquarters, I passed along the news that the Puppeteer was going to raid a major guild’s hunting team, then got on my motorcycle and started moving.

The Puppeteer is a villain on a completely different level from Berserker.

He has never once shown his face, yet he has kidnapped countless Hunters and turned them into puppets.

There was no reason behind it. Sometimes for fun, sometimes just because, sometimes because he simply wanted to kill someone.

His favorite thing is to bring his kidnapped puppets face-to-face with their families and break them right before their eyes—his malice needs no further explanation.

…Or so the National Guard Bureau Hunters say, but from where I’m standing, he’s a pathetic bastard who only picks on the weak.

“Go on, hunt those golden goblins to your heart’s content.”

A real-combat level-up chance has arrived.

Through Clairvoyance, Yunhee’s location comes into view.

A hunting team worn down by a fierce battle. And the puppets that have come to raid them.

Surrounded on all sides, they’re fighting desperately. It’s the perfect situation for latent potential to bloom.

Watching the battle unfold, I twisted the throttle.

* * *

It was some time later that Lee Sehee, who had organized a reserve force in preparation for the threat of Berserker and the Puppeteer, heard the news of Kim Younghwan’s death.

Not long after, when word came that the Puppeteer was raiding a hunting team in southern Gyeonggi, she immediately assembled a rescue squad.

There were currently three teams out on the hunt. To save all three, Lee Sehee split her forces and moved.

The Puppeteer’s goal would be the bodies of talented Hunters. She had anticipated a raid might happen, but the number of puppets mobilized was greater than she’d expected.

Lee Sehee revised her strategy—not to repel the Puppeteer, but to rescue the hunting teams. The problem was the sheer number converging on Team 3. Deciding she would have to step in herself, she requested additional support from headquarters.

As Lee Sehee’s worry deepened, the driver’s voice reached her ear.

“Ma’am, there’s a motorcycle coming up behind us.”

“Is it one of ours?”

“No. But it’s going over 200 kilometers an hour, so we should be careful—what the hell!”

The driver cursed as the motorcycle shot past them, missing them by a hair. But Lee Sehee couldn’t bring herself to agree. She had caught a glimpse of the rider’s face, just for an instant.

“That’s…”

It was unmistakably Choi Junho. And where he was headed was exactly where Team 3 was under attack. He was going to save Choi Yunhee.

Suddenly, all her worry melted away like snow.

Her assessment complete, Lee Sehee raised her voice.

“Follow that motorcycle!”

“What? Ah, yes!”

And Lee Sehee split the force that had been heading for Team 3, redirecting them to where Teams 1 and 2 were.

If the total rescue force was ten, she sent five each to Teams 1 and 2, and only herself was heading to Team 3.

Lee Youngtan, the Deputy Team Leader of General Operations riding in the passenger seat, voiced his concern.

The Puppeteer was sometimes called immortal, and if he mobilized all the puppets under his command, their numbers rivaled a mid-sized guild.

“Ma’am, if we split our forces like this, we might be able to get Teams 1 and 2 out, but Team 3 will be difficult. That’s where the most puppets are right now…”

“It’s fine.”

If she hadn’t seen Choi Junho just moments ago, Lee Sehee would have agreed with Lee Youngtan. But now that he was on his way, the situation had changed.

“Right now, Team 3 is where the survival odds are highest.”

In that instant, Lee Sehee saw it. Choi Junho on the motorcycle vanished like a ghost.

* * *

“……”

Choi Yunhee bit down hard.

She’d heard countless times that a hunting team could be in danger, but she’d never imagined a situation like this.

She knew it was a Hunter’s fate to potentially be raided by a villain. But for that villain to be the Puppeteer—the difficulty had just spiked far too high.

“There’s a shitload of them.”

The moment she saw the puppet legion swarming in, Choi Yunhee hit the power button on the location tracker her brother had given her and put in a support request to the guild’s reserve force. She didn’t know how long it would take them to arrive, but her job right now was to hold out.

It was a chilling thought, but the Puppeteer had his eye on her. Judging even that as something she could use, Choi Yunhee decided to hunker down with her teammates, minimizing stamina loss while enduring.

She couldn’t begin to guess the limits of what the Puppeteer could mobilize. No matter how many they knocked down, the numbers didn’t decrease—they only grew. The moment she saw there were over two hundred, she gave up counting.

Facing an extreme crisis, she found herself remembering all the brutal training her brother had put her through.

Back then she hadn’t understood why he did it. Now she did.

Her mind was a mess and her body was exhausted, but her body moved on its own.

Had he known she would end up in a situation like this? Is that why he gave her the location tracker, too?

Did he think she could overcome even this? Knowing that man, he probably was watching her right now, fighting for her life.

The thought of all that training made her temper suddenly flare.

“Do you have any idea how hard I trained?”

Maybe it was because she remembered the training she’d been through with her brother. This situation that had felt so hopeless now seemed almost ridiculous.

If that bastard had been the Puppeteer, it would have been even more vicious. He probably would have hurled disposable puppets to collapse the formation first. Then, through the broken ranks, he’d insert puppets to isolate each team member and pick them off one by one.

A complete party wipe by a zombie horde, basically.

Knowing that man, he might even have puppets spit or throw dirt.

That bastard wearing her brother’s face had put her through every cheap trick in the book, insisting villains would do nothing less.

This was a man who’d even made her strike a dog pose to prepare for monsters.

Compared to that, the Puppeteer’s methods were tame.

—I’m on my way. Hold on a little longer. And Junho is coming too.

Strength she didn’t know she had surged up at Lee Sehee’s radio transmission. Her brother was coming? Then the Puppeteer was done for in one hit.

She actually felt sorry for the Puppeteer. That man would not let this slide.

“Ugh!”

Sympathy her ass—the moment a puppet threatened her, any pity vanished.

Choi Yunhee was focused on the puppets’ movements when she saw one with hardware far superior to the others charging in.

“Mr. Chulmin, watch out!”

Thwack!

“Ghhk!”

The chest plate of the hunting team’s tank, Ki Chulmin, caved in as blood burst from his mouth. He was a veteran tank and the hunting team’s leader, a Level 5, but before the puppet’s onslaught he was helpless.

“Sir! Are you okay?”

“I’m fine… more importantly, that’s Jung Haesol. Don’t face him head-on.”

“Jung Haesol, you mean…”

He had once been one of Avant-garde’s top fighters, a martial artist evaluated at Level 7. His alias was Crushing Fist, and he had led hunting teams with a charisma that inspired others to follow. Someone every guild member had respected and liked. He was famous enough that even Choi Yunhee had heard his name.

For someone who had shone so brilliantly to now be the Puppeteer’s slave.

The thought that she could end up the same way sent chills crawling across her entire body.

“Kuhk!”

She’d only exposed an opening for a moment, but the puppet slipped through perfectly, its fist slamming into Ki Chulmin’s shield. The shield that had withstood even a monster’s onslaught shattered to pieces, and Ki Chulmin, sent flying far away, didn’t move again—he must have lost consciousness.

Jung Haesol’s face twisted grotesquely. It was a sneer.

Then a thoroughly cracked, eerie voice spilled out.

“Is this the end? That would be a letdown. Kikik! Is it really over? Hmm?”

“Shut up and come at me!”

You’re just a puppet.

Choi Yunhee glared and tightened her grip on her sword.

The Puppeteer used disposable puppets for swarm tactics while using Jung Haesol to tear apart the team’s formation.

Swinging, stabbing, then rolling and throwing herself at them.

She fought desperately, but one by one, they fell.

Choi Yunhee held out to the last, surviving about twenty exchanges, but it wasn’t enough. Her stamina had long since run dry, and she was breathing ragged.

“You’re disgustingly strong.”

Her grip slackened and she lost even her sword. If not a sword, then she’d fight with her fists.

But normally, wouldn’t you despair in a situation like this?

Amid the bleak circumstances, looking at herself still calm, Choi Yunhee thought she herself wasn’t normal.

Jung Haesol let out a horrifying laugh filled with glee.

“Finally caught you, kikikik!”

“Die!”

Choi Yunhee gathered her last strength and kicked at a vital point. She felt the sensation burst through her toes, but the puppet didn’t stop moving.

Was she going to be caught like this? She should have struggled more.

Just as Jung Haesol’s hand was about to touch her shoulder, Choi Yunhee saw light burst from the bracelet on her wrist and squeezed her eyes shut.

Bang!

When Choi Yunhee opened her eyes, what she saw was her brother’s back—and it was more reassuring than anything.

Jung Haesol, who moments ago had displayed overwhelming martial prowess, was sent flying far off.

That face that was usually so infuriating felt especially welcome now.

“Brother!”

“You held out pretty well. Gained some experience points?”

Choi Junho curled the corners of his mouth upward at the teary-eyed Choi Yunhee.

* * *

Yunhee was thoroughly exhausted. But she had fought far better than I’d expected.

She’s a rookie who hasn’t even been a proper Hunter for three months. She’s hunted monsters and been through a fierce battle—it’s impressive that she’s still standing.

Those thirty minutes facing the puppets were probably the longest of her life. But they would become the most valuable thirty minutes of her life as an Awakened. Chances to rack up this much experience without serious threat to your life don’t come often.

As expected, Yunhee has talent. I’ll have to push her harder from now on.

Now it’s my turn.

The gift I just activated is Transfer, which lets me move to the location of an object imbued with my Force. Range is within 3km. It’s a gift that works through an object between two people, so it can be used as a useful escape method—but for me, who had no one to trust, it was a gift I couldn’t make good use of.

If only it had no usage restrictions like Blink that I saw before. The biggest drawback of Transfer is the extreme Force consumption. The original possessor of this gift would be bedridden for two full days with Force exhaustion after a single use. Space-type movement gifts tend to have severe restrictions like this.

Of course, Force consumption is completely irrelevant to me.

“Get some sleep. By the time you wake up, it’ll all be over.”

“Yeah. I’m pretty worn out. But brother, you didn’t… right?”

“Didn’t what?”

“Wait and watch the whole thing before showing up. You didn’t, right?”

I just smiled instead of answering.

“You worked hard, so rest.”

“…You have to answer me later, okay? But did I do well?”

“You did well.”

“That’s a relief.”

Yunhee smiled faintly and collapsed into sleep.

I wiped the smile I’d put on to reassure her from my face.

“……”

Leaving Yunhee lying there, I stood and reached my hand toward the sword rolling on the ground. The cold feel of the handle met my grip. I’d said I would use the Puppeteer’s raid as a level-up opportunity, but my heart wasn’t nearly that easy about it.

No, honestly, I was furious.

Because the whole battle, I’d had to watch my sister be threatened. I’d held back because Yunhee needed to gain experience, but I couldn’t watch that scene with a smile.

So I’m going to kill the one who laid hands on my sister, right here.

I raised the sword and activated the Slash gift. An enormous amount of blood-red Force burst from the blade, sweeping across the surroundings like a tidal wave.

In that instant, the world was dyed crimson.

…!!!

Thud! Thud thud!

Over two hundred puppets caught in the Force tidal wave collapsed, their upper and lower halves severed.

The only puppet left standing was Jung Haesol.

I looked into that puppet’s eyes.

I could feel the Puppeteer’s presence beyond them.

“So you’re immortal?”