25. Functional Recovery (5)

I took out Han Jin-kyung’s backpack from my inventory again. It was just an ordinary black backpack.

When I lifted it, the weight was surprisingly light, and it didn’t seem to contain anything particularly special.

“Hmm.”

Opening the backpack, I found snacks and drinks that appeared to be emergency rations inside.

There was also a notebook and pen kept in a ziplock bag to protect them from the rain. It seemed to be a diary.

“Hmm.”

As I expected, the notebook was filled with trivial diary entries.

Mostly complaints about academy life and grievances about difficult interpersonal relationships.

Frankly, Han Jin-kyung’s worries and feelings weren’t important to me at all right now. What I needed was information about the protagonist and the people around him.

I read the most recent diary entry, hoping to find some information about the protagonist Jang Yi-sang.

‘Damn bitch, how much do you even like eating?’

But there was hardly any information about Jang Yi-sang as I had hoped, just endless descriptions of what she had eaten today.

Judging by the content, it seemed like a form of escapist writing. She seemed unable to properly accept her current situation, escaping reality by fixating on completely different thoughts.

“Sigh…”

The only somewhat useful information was that Jang Yi-sang had recently shown interest in female monsters and had almost completely lost interest in human heroines.

As expected, he’s now openly displaying his monster fetish without even trying to hide it anymore.

Just how much does he love monsters? This insane possible bastard…

‘Is this all? Really nothing useful.’

There was nothing else of use in the backpack.

‘Time to go shopping…’

I carelessly tossed the empty backpack into a corner and opened the general store.

I currently have 1,304 points. I earned 75 more points from hunting those goblins earlier.

“Purchase.”

I immediately used my saved points to buy the Lightning Book and the Spell Book.

These books would allow me to learn Lightning Strike, Lightning Whip, and the Shadow Shikigami Creation technique. I spent a total of 600 points.

“Whew. Let’s postpone the reset until next week…”

Today is Friday. After Saturday and Sunday pass, the general store will automatically reset, so if I reset it now by mistake, I might miss out on good items even if they appear.

So it’s better to just let this week pass.

‘Alright, today I’ll just read some books and meditate.’

For next Monday, I can rest or casually hunt goblins to farm some points during this weekend.

·

·

·

I spent over 6 hours just reading. Is there really no way to get a speed-reading skill? It takes too much time to read books.

Anyway, by the time I finished reading, it had been long since the sun set, and I gained three new skills.

[Learned Lightning Strike.]

[Learned Lightning Whip.]

[Learned Shadow Shikigami Creation.]

“Hah.”

I’ve grown even stronger now.

Moreover, since it’s still raining, if I unleash Lightning Strike powerfully onto the wet ground, everyone standing nearby would get electrocuted and die.

I’m already looking forward to it. I feel like going out to hunt right now, but I’m too tired today, so I should rest.

“Huuuu…”

After sitting in one position for too long, my body felt stiff, so I did some light stretching before heading to Room 402.

I need to do surprise inspections like this from time to time to maintain discipline.

It must be hell for subordinates, but if they don’t like it, they can just die.

*Clunk*

“Hmmnya…”

“Hey. What are you doing?”

“Huh? Aaah!!”

“Shh!! Shh!!”

“Hup!! Ah, s-sorry… I was so sleepy…”

“Sigh…”

Number 1 had been dozing off in the meantime. I was holding a lighter, thinking about giving them a little burn, but they defended against it with a magic book.

“I-I finished reading this. And… it was too hard to understand…”

“You finished the basic book? Did you learn mana accumulation and release?”

“Yes…”

“Hmm. Really?”

It seems they weren’t completely slacking off. I’m not exactly proud, but my anger subsided a bit.

“Next time you feel sleepy, pinch your thigh or something. Or just meditate. Seriously, how can you sleep when it’s time to study?”

“Ehh… Y-you sound like my mom…”

“Who’s your mom?!”

“Eeek!! S-sorry. I’m sorry. I-I messed up…”

“Sigh… It’s currently… 4 AM, so I’ll come back at 8. Finish reading the alchemy book by then. If I find you sleeping again, I’ll light your right toe on fire.”

“Whaaa…”

Number 1 made a despairing face.

Looking at Number 1’s dazed expression, I suddenly wondered if they were hungry. Even if they’re a monster, they must need to eat something to stay active.

Like how the goblins were moving the corpses of dead Tracking Crawlers to eat them.

It would be such a waste if they starved to death.

“By the way, aren’t you hungry?”

“Huh? Ah… I ate earlier…”

“Ah, you ate Han Jin-kyung. Hmm… Here, eat this.”

I took out a chocolate bar from my pocket and tossed it to Number 1.

“Woah..! Chocolate..!”

Number 1 picked up the chocolate and eagerly unwrapped it. I gave them a pretty big one, but they shoved the whole thing into their mouth and chewed noisily.

“What, do you like chocolate?”

“Mmm… *slurp* Ah, it’s because of the absorbed memories… I remembered eating it…”

“Ah.”

Number 1 had been curious about the taste because of the memories of chocolate from the humans they had absorbed.

They seemed to really like the chocolate. If I only use the whip, efficiency might drop, so I should dangle some chocolate as a carrot occasionally.

“If you keep reading well, I’ll give you another one.”

“R-really..!?”

“Yeah. Well, I’m leaving. I’ll be back at 8.”

“Yesss!!”

After offering chocolate as a reward, I left Number 1 alone and went outside.

“Whew…”

Now I should meditate too. I said I’d come back at 8, but I can just go whenever I wake up.

If subordinates can predict their superior’s patterns, they’ll slack off, so I need to keep them on their toes by being unpredictable.

“Well then…”

Just as I finished my tasks and closed my eyes to start meditating…

“Huh…?”

I heard the sound of helicopter motors in the distance.

“What the…”

I quickly ran up to the rooftop to check the situation.

“Whoa…”

A helicopter was indeed flying around with its lights on.

Even further away, I could faintly see tanks and hunters in powered suits sweeping away monsters.

“That’s…”

The logo on the tanks and powered suits looked familiar. A circle with five stars.

“Osung Group…”

The cliché corporation that always appears in hunter or corporate-themed stories, and in this world I’ve been transmigrated into, it’s South Korea’s top conglomerate.

They’re the company that makes the best hunter equipment in South Korea.

Of course, they also dabble in everything from smartphones to cars and computers-basically everything except the food industry.

Anyway, the fact that they’re openly rolling out tanks and roaming Seoul to exterminate monsters at this point… might mean that the city’s functions could soon be restored.

‘I don’t know about other regions, but if the situation has deteriorated enough for them to act so freely in the city…’

They must have decided to abandon the provinces and focus on saving Seoul.

This isn’t a government-led rescue operation but the beginning of corporate control.

In other words, it indirectly shows that the South Korean government has completely lost its functionality, and a true hunter society where ordinary human rights don’t matter has begun.

‘I had some idea when the Blue Cross Group was active, but…’

Not only the Osung Group and the Blue Cross Group, but if my predictions are correct, Pax Company-which operates Asia’s top PMC hunter team-will soon start large-scale recruitment and begin occupying Seoul.

Of course, the Hunter Association, which has several S-rank hunters, is also likely to regain functionality.

A fierce confrontation between groups is expected. The already unstable balance has now completely collapsed…

Villains will emerge, and HP Bio-a pharmaceutical company that secretly conducted human experiments-will probably start hunting civilians too.

On top of that, there will be conflicts between mid-tier guilds that already had bad blood, and minor guilds might turn into bandit groups.

‘If the military, which is on the front lines, moves south and joins the battle for Seoul, things will get even messier. The academy will likely separate completely from the Hunter Association and operate independently under the protagonist.’

The worst part is that all these major groups have historically seen each other as thorns in their sides and have had terrible relationships.

It’s not just business rivalry-there’s deep-seated animosity.

The protagonist might even get himself killed if he acts recklessly. Though, being the protagonist, he might end up uniting all the factions.

‘Anyway, the streets are going to get chaotic for a while…’

Maybe it would be better to quickly join one of these groups now.

But unfortunately, I’m not good at politics. For me, building and maintaining normal human relationships is harder than killing people or abandoning them.

I’d rather just kill, run, hide, and ambush-it’s easier and more comfortable.

Instead of getting caught up in factional struggles, it’s simpler to act unpredictably and kill everyone in my way.

Given how things are going, even more terrifying creatures will keep crawling out from beyond the Gates, so I doubt the battle for Seoul will mean much.

From what I can see, the current Gate outbreak is just the beginning of the real catastrophe.

‘Yeah, the author who put me in this world wouldn’t just turn this into some half-baked political drama.’

The author who transmigrated me here used to write nothing but brutally difficult apocalyptic horrors before this work. Something that will kill humans like bugs is bound to appear.

So I shouldn’t worry too much about human territorial disputes and just focus on collecting points.

I don’t understand group conflicts or politics-I’ll just do my own thing.

In this world, one overwhelming superhuman is more powerful than a bunch of idiots.

So I’ll just secure this neighborhood and focus on building up my strength.

If I collect enough points to become the strongest in this world, I can crush Osung, Pax, and everyone else.

Yeah, I’ll become a reclusive powerhouse-a growth-type munchkin.

So for now…

‘Let’s meditate.’

I went back to my room, closed my eyes tightly, and began meditating.