episode_0075

75.

“Eeee!! Open the door! Open it!!”

“······.”

As soon as he woke up, Kang Jin-young scratched at the fire shutter until it bled.

My fingernails have been falling off for a long time.

The skin was peeled off and bleeding.

BAM───!

The buckshot hit the training room wall with a loud noise.

The wall wasn’t soundproof.

A low moan could be heard from a distance. Kang Jin-young shook his head when he heard the sound. He couldn’t hold back the tears that welled up in his eyes.

‘Hunter Killer. Perfect counter to the Awakened. Seonghan is in danger.’

It is a monster that has been counter-punching the new humans since the Great War.

Even the most rational person would have had a hard time dealing with him.

Disarming grenades, anti-demon steel, and even mana-eliminating technology.

It’s a normal monster, but you have to fight it with all your might. Moving Lee Seong-han and Lee Kang-jin to the hallway was a very ‘sensible’ choice.

Because we can’t fight while leaving the wounded behind.

Even more so if it is a serious illness that is not unusual even for sudden death.

So, they were evacuated to the hallway.

It was a reasonable judgment, but Kang Jin-young cried out toward the fire shutter with tears in her eyes and a runny nose.

“Mr. Seonghan! I can fight too! Please! Don’t, don’t abandon me! How much I, how much I······want to be by your side.”

He put his forehead on the shutter. The black blood that came out of his fingers was stuck to his feet.

Blood tainted by shadows.

The skin of a contaminated person rots and wilts like leprosy. Kang Jin-young knew that too.

But it was the desire to be with the person she loved that brought her here. The desire to always be by their side, to be together.

“Again, I don’t want to be abandoned again… … .”

Kang Jin-young chewed his lower lip. He couldn’t understand. Sacrificing himself to save someone, and fighting alone.

I really don’t know what he’s thinking when he does this.

‘Why was I abandoned? I did my best. I made the best decisions at every moment. I’m superior to you. I’m stronger. Why can’t you be by my side?’

He sat down like a marionette whose strings had been cut. The blood of the monsters he had killed soaked his shins.

Kang Jin-young.

She was used to being abandoned throughout her life.

Academics, friends, comrades, recognition, honor, popularity.

That’s how my life has been.

Because I’ve always lived in the shade. If I’m used to it, I’m used to it.

This time, the circumstances were different, but I can’t forget the gaze that looked down at me until the very end.

“I’m sorry, Jinyoung.”

Those lips that whispered and those gazes that looked down made people freeze.

Kang Jin-young knew.

What is he thinking?

Those were the eyes of someone who had given up on death.

She has seen those eyes before.

Because it looks exactly like my father’s face, who has already passed away.

My father was a war hero who survived until the end of the Great War and was also an ordinary citizen. He thought he would marry the new tycoon Kang Cheo-kyung and live happily ever after. Everyone was like that.

It had to be a happy ending. He always put his family first.

If it weren’t for the news that came a few days ago, it would still be correct.

“The gate is open. Hunter, you must help us. ”

“······I believe that other people will handle the gate, not me. Moreover, I am retired. I can no longer stand on the front lines. ”

The employee held his breath for a moment and then added a detailed explanation.

“That’s a continental gate. All Asian countries including China and Japan are moving. You should go for the honor of the Republic of Korea. Your daughters are still there. There’s also the money issue.”

“What?”

“A large number of S-class monsters appear.”

“Shit.”

“You must leave immediately. Your colleagues are also moving now. It won’t take long since you appeared in former North Korean territory. ”

A continental gate that the entire Republic of Korea is rushing towards.

I never dreamed that something that only existed in theory would appear in real life.

He looked around at his family.

My relationship with my wife had become distant, but I wanted to hold my daughters in my own hands.

“Where are you going, Dad?”

Kang Jin-young, who had just woken up from his bunk, asked.

Although she had just started talking, she seemed to be on the verge of tears, as if she knew the mood was tense.

“Dad is going to save people. He’ll be back soon.”

The appearance of a continent-level gate. It was an event that announced the end of the great war.

Continental gate.

He was a vicious being who deployed S-class monsters. He arrived at the scene and stood at the forefront as the vanguard.

-… … Thus, the glorious 12-member advance party succeeded in closing the gate, but most of them were found to be missing or dead.

And then he died.

I wanted to believe that he wasn’t dead, but the circumstances made it clear that he was dead.

As I found out later, he was abandoned by his country.

The need to block the continental gate was just an excuse.

The government was afraid that the hunters’ influence would become too strong.

They set the plan and killed him.

Also known as a tosagupeng.

But he survived.

The first hunter in Korea to achieve Class A. As soon as he heard that his father had returned alive, he ran like crazy.

I wonder if you haven’t forgotten his face. I heard he’s recuperating, so I wonder if it would be a good idea to go there even if it means killing him.

The stench of decay filled the ward I went to to relieve my pain.

“Oh, Dad?”

On the bed, black bones were visible. They looked like chicken bones that had been in a deep fryer for a long time. Above them, black blood vessels and organs were visible, shaking to survive.

It was my father.

He is Kang Jin-young’s father and a legendary hunter.

That skinny hand that stroked my cheek, that black eye that was filled with color, that fleshy person who showed me the numerous scars he received from the front lines.

It was an old story now. He died a few months later.

Kang Mi-young and I stood guard at the funeral home together, wearing black uniforms.

At that time, I cried for three days and nights without fail. I had nowhere else to turn. I was in danger of collapsing.

I was afraid that taking responsibility could lead to such an end.

“Again, I have to catch your eye again.”

It’s still too early to give up.

***

Kang Jin-young went back, tracing the complicated path like a maze.

First, I had to get the shutter back up before I could help him or not. The top priority was to get the fire shutter back up to normal.

[─Security protocol activated─]

[Evacuate all personnel from the facility]

To do this, you must first disable the security protocol.

‘There are many enemies.’

My senses became sharp and I stood up straight.

As expected from a closed underground facility (and research center), several monsters have appeared in blind spots that have not yet been dealt with.

“Kyaarruruk!”

“Fucking bastards.”

Ectoplasm, cyborgs, automatons······.

In addition, there are various types of strengthened monsters.

“Get out of here!”

Kang Jin-young was unstoppable.

They all died while blocking the way.

The skin fell off and blood spurted out.

I killed him somehow.

The liquid was magically melted and the machine circuits were burned.

-Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

-No!! Cyberstan!! Capitalist revolution!!

-Kuaaaah! Dropship! Dropship······Ah.

‘Seonghan is in danger. It’s because of Dana, me, I came looking for nothing… … Ugh.’

My heart ached so much that it felt like it was going to burst.

I disappointed him.

Kang Jin-young was out of breath.

I leaned against a nearby wall to calm my frowning face. Even this didn’t last long.

The choice to sacrifice oneself alone.

Rather, wouldn’t it be the case that I, who have become useless, am doing useless things?

‘But there is no other way.’

If you want to be recognized, you have to prove it with your actions. No matter how bad your condition is, if you can prove it, you can continue to be by my side.

My joints were creaking on their own. I couldn’t stay still, so I did some light stretching and kept running.

“Raise the shutter right now!”

Kang Jin-young shouted as he entered the control room.

Monster corpses were rolling around like a mountain on the bottom floor of the control room.

The blue flames were burning the monsters.

It seemed like a surprise attack while I was away. Blue powder was floating on the ground.

“Are you here?”

A bloody Baek Min-ho was sitting leisurely, reading the manual.

His face was very dark, as if he had been through quite a difficult battle. He was also injured. Looking at Baek Min-ho, his face darkened for no reason.

‘What about Kang Seo-jin?’

I turned my head. He was sitting quietly next to Baek Min-ho.

I was safe.

Without a single scratch.

I was sleeping soundly.

“He had a seizure a while ago. So I put him to sleep. I gave him some medicine, so he’ll be fine. ”

Still, it was fortunate that he was a person who kept what he had to keep.

‘You’re good at it’

Kang Jin-young laughed.

If that kid dies, it’ll be a huge headache.

It’s not like Kangcheon Heir is pulling out sweet potato vines from a field and coming out breathlessly.

Moreover, it is time for Kang Cheo-kyung to retire.

Among them, the urethra will probably be even bigger.

It’s like handing over the crown princess, who will inherit the empire, to a traitor.

······In a way, you could say he let me go because he figured out a way to exploit my weakness.

The more I look at him, the more cunning he seems.

Kang Jin-young stood in front of the instrument panel countless times.

“What’s your key card?”

“There is.”

A dashboard connected to the facility’s central computer.

It’s security level 3. Levels 1 and 2 are basic workers, while level 3 and above are managers.

‘If you insert the key card you found in the security room on the way back here.’

When I inserted the keycard, several panels appeared on the monitor.

I typed on the keyboard according to the manual. My fingernails fell off, and every time I pressed the keys, black blood seeped between the keys.

‘The wind of regeneration.’

The black pus drained from the affected area, and new flesh and nails grew.

Mana was reaching its limit.

It felt like my whole body was being burned by an intense fire.

I couldn’t stop here.

“Are you going?”

“Yes. We need to save Seonghan.”

“CCTV is down. I don’t know what’s going on… … … Do you really have to go?”

“Yes.”

“Can’t you go a little slower?”

“No way.”

Kang Jin-young pressed enter for the last time after hearing those words.

[-Alert lifted-]

‘It’s open!’

The alarm was lifted and the facility returned to normal.

I have to go back now.

I ran quickly towards the training ground.

The shutter was open.

The corpse of the fallen hunter-killer.

There, the man with his body split open was gasping for breath for a moment.

The upper and lower body are separated from each other.