Chapter 144

Chapter 144. Bounty Hunter (2)

I closed my eyes and recalled my purpose.

If I didn’t reflect on my purpose, I felt like I wouldn’t be able to move forward.

With my eyes shut, I settled my emotions for a moment.

Before long, team Leader Han Seokjun approached with a vehicle.

“I’ve finished talking with the SDT side, but I will need to accompany Lee Junmo to the hospital as he’s not in good condition. The other players need to stay with me because of Yun Jihye, so it would be best if you two returned first.”

“Alright, once things settle down, leave it to the field agents and return.”

“Yes, squad leader.”

As their conversation concluded, the vehicle roared to life with the ignition.

“We’ll head straight to the airport.”

“… Yes.”

Rubbing my eyelids, I replied without delay.

When I opened my eyes, I was faced with an unpleasant number that worsened my mood.

「Time Limit」

• 239:45:11

The ten-day leash tied to me by the Damned System continued its relentless countdown, urging me forward even in this moment.

Caught up in complex thoughts as I watched the timer tick down, Squad Leader Yang Jochul asked.

“By the way, what is our exact destination? If we need to visit multiple places, please let me know the list. I’ll plan the route.”

Without hesitation, I promptly replied.

“No need for a route. Let’s head to Afghanistan first. Specifically, near the Panjshir Valley, close to Kabul.”

For other missions, the target is a single person, but this one has three.

With more people involved, the risk factors are the greatest.

‘I have no idea why they brought in those monsters or what they plan to do with them.’

But given that a hidden mission has appeared for me, those targets must be eliminated without question.

On that point, there was no room for compromise.

I steadied myself, bracing for the death that loomed ahead.

* * *

Inside a worn-out brick building covered in cobwebs and dust, sat a man and a woman at opposite ends of the room, symbolizing their strained relationship.

The two, estimated to be in their mid-twenties, looked out their respective windows, passing the time.

Growing weary of the silence, the man, sidik, spoke up first.

“When will Gezal be back? There’s no response in the chat.”

The woman, ajita, barely glanced back as she responded bluntly.

“Probably busy hunting.”

“… What are we going to do if Gezal comes back?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, are we going to—”

“Sidik, stop whining. This is all for the greater good! We need to be willing to make some sacrifices.”

At Ajita’s reprimand, sidik stood up abruptly, raising his voice.

“When have I complained?! I’m just… the outcome is uncertain, you know…”

But Ajita cut him off sharply before he finished.

“Getting anxious won’t bring Gezal back any quicker. Just chill. Your constant fretting makes everyone else uneasy!”

Sidik was relentless in his complaints, always questioning decisions.

It was tiresome, and from Ajita’s perspective, her patience was wearing thin.

As a result, ajita’s eyes grew sharper day by day when she glanced at Sidik.

Feeling disregarded, sidik’s face oscillated between red and blue in anger.

Just as he was about to raise his voice again, a burst of white light flickered.

“Kirrk…”

“Kee….”

Monstrous beings suddenly materialized in the space before them, fluid secretions oozing from their bodies. Creatures with appendages resembling octopus tentacles, bearing suction cups, hung languidly.

There were six in total, with two stars above each of their heads, and they appeared unconscious.

“Gezal!”

Even Ajita, who had been rebuking Sidik a moment earlier, lit up at the sight of the newcomer.

Gezal, as he was called, sighed as he released the creature’s tentacles from his grasp.

“Any troubles?”

“No, it’s still quiet. Are you hurt anywhere?”

“I’m fine. It’s the usual routine.”

The three gathered here, including the faintly smiling Gezal, were all players.

They were also affiliated with the Resistance fighting against the Taliban.

Their goal was singular: to drive out the Taliban forces advancing from Kabul to the Panjshir Valley.

To achieve this aim, they were prepared to use any means necessary, without hesitation.

This included the use of monsters from Bihar, without a hint of guilt.

“Wow, there’s quite a lot this time!”

Ajita exclaimed, looking at the monsters that lay slumped, unconscious.

To her, utilizing monsters to systematically dismantle armed forces was a brilliant stratagem.

Gezal, who had initially proposed this approach, felt the same.

“Bringing them back was a bit of work. With this number, we should be able to wipe out the Taliban just by releasing them.”

Of course, not everyone was entirely on board with this method.

“Are we really doing this again?”

Sidik’s face paled visibly with Gezal’s return, indicating his reluctance to endorse this plan.

“You do know there are civilians in the area where the Taliban have moved in, right…?”

Monsters and evolved species do not discriminate between humans and enemies when attacking.

Every time the evolved species were unleashed and escape routes sealed to massacre the Taliban, the residents of small nearby villages were caught in the crossfire.

Recalling the chaos from past incursions, sidik’s voice shook.

“Last time, the villagers… all of them…”

“You think we want people to die?”

Ajita snapped and shoved Sidik’s shoulder, cutting him off.

She glared at Sidik with a piercing glare and retorted.

“We are doing this because we can’t let those murderers take our land!”

Thunk, thunk.

Repeatedly pushing Sidik, ajita spoke with a voice laden with restrained emotion.

“If you want to keep pretending to be so noble, just leave. We can do this without you!”

With that, she turned sharply, beginning to hoist the unconscious evolved species onto her shoulder.

“Sidik, if it’s too much for you, you can leave. We’ll handle it from here.”

Gezal added, making Sidik droop his head, still clutching his fists tightly.

For a brief moment, he trembled.

“… I’ll do it too.”

Sidik mumbled in a voice that quivered, lowering his stance to shoulder the burden of the evolved species, feeling it was cowardly to back out alone now.

Gezal glanced at Sidik with a bitter smile, patting his shoulder.

“I’m sorry to burden you.”

He explained that he never truly wished for such a brutal method.

But they had no choice.

He emphasized that this was a necessary sacrifice for the greater cause, asking for a little more endurance.

Repeating words spoken countless times before, gezal shouldered the evolved species and declared.

“Shall we leave?”

“Yes.”

“… Yeah.”

“Everyone has an Invisibility Stone, right?”

“Should we use it now?”

Each carrying two evolved species, they moved toward the doorway, reaching for their Invisibility Stones when suddenly, the magic within their surroundings began to ripple.

“Huh…?”

The three froze momentarily, recognizing the significance of this phenomenon.

Ajita reacted first.

“Sidik, why would you use a Barrier Stone now?! We need Invisibility.”

“I didn’t do it! Did you mess up?”

While Ajita and Sidik exchanged blame, gezal focused on the ground.

‘Warmth…?’

What was initially perceived as warmth emanating from the dirt floor rapidly became searing heat, and soon was aflame.

Instinctively, gezal enveloped herself in attribute mana.

Several months ago, her acquired high-rank Attribute Stone had granted her the cloud attribute.

Grade 4 advanced water-system mana was more than sufficient to shield her from the sudden flames.

“What’s going on? Fire?!”

“Get out, just get out!”

Lacking attribute mana, ajita and Sidik flung open the creaky wooden door and bolted outside.

“Wait!”

Gezal tried to warn them, but it was too late.

The two were already out of the building, and almost instantly, thunk, thunk-!

A series of monotone yet chilling sounds reverberated.

Gezal hastily launched herself to the side.

Discarding the evolved species she had been carrying, she lurched away from the doorway.

Gazing upward reflexively, gezal’s eyes began to quiver.

There were two black spear tips piercing through the building wall.

The red liquid dripping from them was the blood of Ajita and Sidik.

Moving purely by instinct, gezal rolled forward, not hesitating.

No sooner had she separated from the wall than a spear of black pierced through, nearly grazing her.

Thump, thump, thump.

Shocked by the sudden death of her comrades, gezal’s heart began to race.

Outside the building, a faint murmur reached her ears.

“Tch, how bothersome.”

No doubt lingered that the voice belonged to a fellow player.

The blazing flames surrounding and killing the other two players without any resistance indicated as much.

‘Could it be the Taliban had players of their own?’

If not, there was no reason for an unfamiliar player to attack them.

Swallowing hard, gezal drew her sword.

Her comrades had been Silver rank.

But she had achieved her second awakening and was Silver rank certified.

Gezal didn’t doubt that she could overcome this crisis.

‘First, I need to withdraw.’

The evolved species she captured was valuable, but they could be recaptured later.

Her priority was ensuring her own survival.

The unfinished mission of her fallen comrades needed to be completed.

Breathing only once to steady herself, gezal arranged her attribute mana.

Over the ground, still ablaze, an unreal fog began to gather.

‘Mistification.’

A Grade 4 magic that obscured vision and disrupted mana.

It was a supplemental magic often used for infiltration or escape, rendering detection and Stealth magic ineffective.

As the magic took effect, gezal picked up the discarded evolved species.

She tossed it towards the door, simultaneously launching herself from the ground, aiming for the open window.

The plan was to use the evolved species to distract the assailant’s attention at the door while she escaped through the window.

Once outside, escaping should have been a simple matter.

But the moment she set foot on the window ledge, an inexplicable feeling of dread made her halt abruptly.

A shadowy figure flitted past her vision in an instant.

And a split second later, a fearsome shattering sound followed, harsh winds whipping across her face.

The same spear that took her comrades’ lives swished past Gezal’s face.

Had she not stopped on instinct, her head would have been impaled.

As Gezal froze, the unfamiliar voice once again spoke close to her ears.

“You’re going to die anyway.”

The voice was unexpectedly close.

While Gezal was dazed, the mysterious player closed in on her.

Instinctively, she swung her sword.

In her haste, she didn’t even think to infuse it with mana.

As a result, she was left staring at her sword being sliced apart like paper.

In that very moment, her neck was severed as well, but Gezal failed to recognize her own death, her consciousness fading.

Her death was surprisingly peaceful for someone who had massacred hundreds.

Damned System