Shall We See What You Can Do?

The withdrawal order had been issued to the Disaster Management Bureau Hunters.

After hearing the news, Oh Hyeonseong calmed the people inside the shelter.

The agitated villagers finally began to settle down, and the Yoo siblings also breathed a sigh of relief.

“What? So it really was a false alarm?”

“It was because of my Spirit, so it wasn’t their mistake. If anything, they did their job properly.”

“Ugh. I’m already exhausted enough as it is, and we went through all that for nothing.”

Joo Jihye collapsed onto the floor.

After dragging her exhausted body here following another hellish session of high-intensity training, it was only natural that she had no energy left.

“Still, seeing how you’re already able to walk around normally, your stamina has improved too.”

“…No, it hasn’t.”

“What hasn’t?”

“Just… no. Ughhh…”

Joo Jihye, her face turning pale, finally rolled over with a groan.

Even when he complimented her, she refused to accept it.

Besides, she would adjust the training intensity appropriately herself anyway.

However, the evacuation order that should have ended quickly somehow continued.

It was possible that things couldn’t be wrapped up immediately due to procedure, so Oh Hyeonseong waited patiently.

But as the amount of time they spent in the shelter stretched far longer than he’d expected, he began to wonder.

‘Why haven’t they completely withdrawn yet?’

Several vehicles belonging to the Disaster Management Bureau had already left as part of the withdrawal.

Most of the staff and Hunters stationed outside the shelter had also departed.

But a few remaining personnel had been standing by the communications equipment for quite some time.

Sensing that something was wrong, Oh Hyeonseong approached them.

“I heard the situation was over. Is something happening?”

“Ah, one of the teams patrolling the outskirts hasn’t responded, so we’re checking on them. Once we confirm their status, the evacuation order will be lifted immediately. It’s for everyone’s safety, so please bear with us until then.”

The employee answered politely.

Something seemed to have gone wrong, but the general atmosphere suggested it wasn’t a serious problem involving a Gate or monsters.

Still, after hearing the explanation and turning away, Oh Hyeonseong felt uneasy.

‘…Something doesn’t feel right.’

He had a bad feeling.

There was no Gate, and he already knew the identity of the wavelength that had been detected.

There was no real reason to worry.

Yet the intuition he’d developed over his long career as a Hunter was telling him something was wrong.

It might have been a coincidence, but accidents always seemed to happen at times like this.

‘Come to think of it… I haven’t seen Gwon Gyeongmin around for a while.’

Gwon Gyeongmin and his wife were still nowhere to be seen in the shelter.

He had heard that Gwon Gyeongmin was looking after the other villagers, but even taking that into account, too much time had passed for him not to have arrived yet.

‘Don’t tell me…’

Oh Hyeonseong suddenly remembered the contamination that had appeared at the siblings’ farm not long ago.

Normally, the appearance of monsters and localized contamination had nothing to do with each other.

It was simply the process of tainted energy that had accumulated underground over a long period of time erupting to the surface, so it wasn’t directly connected to the immediate appearance of monsters.

But there was one other possibility.

It was an extremely unlikely possibility—one so improbable that it would normally be reasonable to dismiss it.

But with several circumstances overlapping now, Oh Hyeonseong felt as though he was finally beginning to understand the source of his unease.

“Joo Jihye, get your equipment.”

Hoping the thought that had just occurred to him was nothing more than a false premonition, Oh Hyeonseong abruptly rose to his feet.

Joo Jihye moved instinctively at his words, slinging her equipment case over her back as she hurried out of the shelter.

“W-what’s going on all of a sudden?”

“My friend is missing. I have to find him.”

“But they said there’s no Gate, so does it really matter? And it doesn’t seem like anyone would be out there anyway.”

Oh Hyeonseong and Joo Jihye crossed the deserted village.

Most of the Hunters had withdrawn, and the residents had been evacuated, leaving the village as silent as the grave.

“Maybe he’s outside the village?”

“No. And I’ve had a bad feeling for a while now.”

“A bad feeling? Are you going to open a fortune-telling shop next…?”

KWA-AANG!

At that moment, a tremendous explosion erupted in the distance.

A flash of light burst from the mountain beside the village.

“I-It really is something.”

“…Damn it!”

After standing dazed for a moment, Oh Hyeonseong and Joo Jihye simultaneously broke into a run.

“Hurry! We need to get out of here!”

Three Hunters were running through the mountains.

As they descended the slope, all of them were covered in blood and looked completely battered.

Among them, Seo Jinkyu was carrying the civilian Gwon Gyeongmin over his shoulder.

“Damn it! We should’ve just pulled out when we had the chance!”

One of the Hunters cursed in frustration.

The search team had originally intended to retreat as soon as they discovered the contaminated footprint and report the situation.

Their communications equipment had been rendered useless by sudden interference, making it impossible to contact headquarters.

And judging from the level of contamination, it was clear that they couldn’t deal with it on their own.

It had been the only reasonable decision.

But their plan had quickly fallen apart.

They had witnessed a pack of monsters resembling black dogs abducting several civilians.

They attacked the pack and succeeded in rescuing the villagers, but the monsters immediately began pursuing them.

More and more monsters poured in from every direction, as though they had appeared from nowhere.

In the end, all but one of the civilians they had rescued were taken back.

Even another search team that had arrived as reinforcements fell victim to the creatures, leaving the Hunters running for their lives.

“Move your legs instead of talking! More are coming from the left!”

Seo Jinkyu shouted and extended his arm.

A massive explosion erupted in the direction he pointed.

The earth-shaking blast swallowed up the monsters.

But black wild dogs burst through the smoke, opening their grotesque jaws wide.

“Damn it…!”

The monsters possessed powerful resistance to mana.

Because their damage was greatly reduced, killing them was extremely difficult.

The Hunters drew their weapons and fought back, but the ferocious swarm steadily drove them into a corner.

“We c-can’t hold out any longer!”

“You idiot! Watch your side—!”

VMMMM!

At that moment, the monster that had been exploiting the Hunter’s opening suddenly stopped moving.

The force that halted it was powerful telekinesis.

The creature trembled violently in midair before its body twisted with a sickening crunch and it died.

CRACK! CRUNCH!

Joo Jihye emerged from the bushes.

Every time she extended a hand and clenched her fist, corpses dropped to the ground with the sound of bones breaking.

The number of monsters rapidly dwindled.

“Isn’t that… Joo Jihye of Aegis?”

The Hunters stared in shock.

A major private-sector Hunter had suddenly appeared, rather than reinforcements from the Disaster Management Bureau.

Meanwhile, Oh Hyeonseong appeared.

“Hunter Oh!”

“Is the person over there all right?”

“Ah, yes! His life isn’t in danger.”

Seo Jinkyu lowered Gwon Gyeongmin from his shoulder.

Oh Hyeonseong hurried over and examined his condition.

He appeared to have suffered a deep cut to his thigh.

It wasn’t immediately life-threatening, but judging by the completely soaked bandage, he’d lost a considerable amount of blood.

“Gwon Gyeongmin! You’re all right, aren’t you?”

“H-Hyeonseong…”

When Gwon Gyeongmin saw him, he grabbed his arm with a trembling voice.

“I can’t go back like this. Hana… Hana was dragged away by those things.”

“Your sister-in-law is still alive. Go to the village hall and get treatment first. Having an ordinary person here will only get in the way.”

“Please. I beg you. If Hana isn’t there, I…”

“Don’t worry. No matter what happens, I’ll bring her back.”

Gwon Gyeongmin lowered his head.

For some reason, despite everything that had happened and despite his state of confusion, hearing those words somehow reassured him enough to close his eyes.

Meanwhile, Joo Jihye crushed the neck bone of the last monster, bringing the battle to an end.

“Were there any other casualties?”

“Ah, yes. Three residents and two teams of Hunters who came as reinforcements were all attacked and dragged away. And there’s a boss creature inside their nest.”

“A burrowing-type monster?”

“Yes. It seems so. Apparently, the one that had been hiding began moving once it realized we were disturbing the area.”

There was an enormous variety of Gate and monster types.

Trying to conquer every Gate as though they were ordinary Gates would inevitably result in annihilation.

To prevent that, Hunters had to devise strategies according to each type.

Among them, however, burrowing-type monsters were notorious enough to claim a spot among the most feared types.

The greatest characteristic of burrowing-type monsters was their avoidance of combat with Hunters.

After a Gate first manifested, they would hide among the other monsters and slip outside without the Hunters noticing.

While the Hunters believed the Gate had been completely cleared, the creature would move to another area and establish a nest.

At first, its presence was so weak that it couldn’t even be detected.

But as it adapted to Earth’s environment, it rapidly grew stronger inside its nest.

They gave humanity no time to prepare, and their inherent strength had allowed them to inflict enormous damage.

“Judging from the traces of contamination, it’s at least an S-rank boss monster. Judging by the level of its subordinate monsters alone, it’s definitely not A-rank.”

“Understood. Transport the injured and return to inform the Disaster Management Bureau.”

“And you, Hunter Oh…?”

“We’ll handle it.”

Seo Jinkyu fell silent for a moment.

Under normal circumstances, he would have tried desperately to stop him.

It was practically suicide.

But now, he merely nodded.

“…I wish you good luck.”

Seo Jinkyu withdrew with his team.

“W-wait a second! You said it’s an S-rank boss! Are you really suggesting that the two of us go in there?”

Joo Jihye approached with her eyes wide.

The burrowing-type monster had already established a fully developed nest deep inside the cave.

At this point, its adaptation was essentially complete.

And if that was the case, the environment inside the cave was no different from that of an S-rank Gate.

“S-rank Gates are normally cleared by teams made up of Hunters Rank 10 or higher… We don’t even know what we’re up against. The two of us absolutely can’t do this.”

“We don’t have a choice. If we wait for reinforcements, everyone who’s been dragged away will be dead.”

Monsters instinctively sought to exterminate humans.

They couldn’t communicate and possessed nothing but instinct.

If they hadn’t killed the humans they’d captured, it meant they had a purpose.

And if the subordinates of a burrowing-type monster had dragged people back to their nest, the reason was obvious.

They were being used as food for the boss.

Human flesh was a delicacy that helped the monsters adapt to this environment more quickly.

“And besides, we’ll only know once we try.”

“Are you sure this is okay? We’re talking about subjugating an S-rank Gate without even meeting the minimum number of people. Even my company would never let us do something this crazy.”

“The world has gotten too comfortable these days. Back in our time, S-rank or not, we just charged in headfirst.”

“Wow, are you really going to pull the ‘back in my day’ card here?”

“Then you kids can be the first generation.”

Oh Hyeonseong chuckled and walked ahead.

Despite saying that, Joo Jihye quietly followed behind him.

Even though her life was on the line, she showed no hesitation.

They followed the trail Seo Jinkyu had told them about and discovered a cave cleverly concealed within the terrain.

“…There’s an incredible amount of tainted energy. This much, even though we haven’t actually entered a Gate?”

“It’ll be worse once we go inside. Stay sharp.”

Oh Hyeonseong entered the nest first.

Joo Jihye thought this was completely insane, but she followed him anyway.

The monsters had dug the tunnel incredibly deep, creating a space on a scale that could never have occurred naturally.

The concentration of tainted energy was so intense that it was difficult to breathe.

‘No wonder partial contamination occurred at Seungsu’s farm… with something like this nearby.’

In the deep darkness,

they could sense countless presences surrounding them.

Who knew how many monsters had multiplied inside this nest?

They could feel the movements of an enormous number of creatures surging through the passages ahead and behind them.

“They’re coming in huge numbers. What should we do?”

Joo Jihye urgently asked, glancing in every direction.

If they fought all these enemies, it would consume an enormous amount of mana.

And if that happened, she might not have enough strength left to fight the boss.

These weren’t enemies that could simply be swept away with a large-scale attack, either.

“For now, do nothing. Don’t waste your strength before we need it.”

Oh Hyeonseong stepped in front of her.

The monsters had already emerged from the darkness, baring their teeth as they charged from every direction.

A white chill began to emanate from around him.

“You haven’t gotten rusty just because we haven’t seen each other in a while, have you?”

The Water Spirit, Albern, had appeared behind him.

The Spirit smiled gently and nodded.

“Then let’s do this.”

Bark! Bark! Bark!

The monsters rushed within striking distance.

The one at the very front opened its jaws wide and leapt toward Oh Hyeonseong’s neck.

He didn’t even move.

Then—

a storm of frost erupted.

CRACKLE! CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

Merciless cold poured forth, swallowing everything in its path.

Pure-white frost swept over the monsters, engulfing the entire space in freezing air.

Silence descended in an instant.

Not even a scream remained.

“W-what…?”

Joo Jihye took a startled step backward.

The floor.

The ceiling.

The walls.

Even the monsters.

Everything around them had frozen solid, leaving behind nothing but icy remnants.

The only thing left untouched was the circular area around the ground where the two of them stood.

“Is… this a Spirit…?”

She stared blankly at Oh Hyeonseong.