50. The Company’s Hunting Dogs (5)

“Ugh…”

The head of someone who failed to prove their worth floated into the air before flying over the balcony.

“Tch..”

“What. If you’ve got complaints, say them instead of glaring.”

“…None.”

“Then keep your fucking eyes open, got it? Huh? I’m pissed because my base just got wrecked, you know?”

“…”

The surviving Cleaner immediately lowered his gaze. I grabbed his head right then.

After some Torture Training, I’ll extract information from him. You can’t trust their words at face value. These Cleaners are the company’s dogs. They became Cleaners because they had some weakness exploited, owed a debt, or had some other reason.

Usually, someone in their family suffers from a rare disease, and in exchange for HP Bio covering the unaffordable medical bills of an Awakened family member, they work as Cleaners.

This bastard is probably no different.

But this fucker wouldn’t know. That under the pretext of treating rare diseases, they’re conducting human experiments on those they take in.

That’s what HP Bio is. Even before the world collapsed, it was a pharmaceutical company full of insane lunatics.

“Gurgle..”

Soon, his eyes glazed over as drool dripped from his mouth. The training was complete. Other World Infiltration is terrifying like this.

“Hey, snap out of it. Hey. You fucking bastard!”

“G-Gahhh. S-stop. Please stop. I-I’ll obey. Please.”

“Hoo. No lies from now on. You’ll tell me everything you know.”

“Ah..”

I immediately questioned him about where my belongings had disappeared to, how to retrieve them, how to infiltrate HP Bio’s underground headquarters, what Hunters were present, and how strong they were.

“As expected.”

Just as I predicted, all my belongings and subordinates were dragged down to the underground containment facility at HP Bio’s headquarters.

And if I go in as I am now, I’ll die.

‘HP Bio’s underground level. Also known as the Experiment Wing.’

Who knows what’s happening inside. Maybe my subordinates are already dead.

“So entering through the Other World is impossible?”

According to the Cleaner, accessing it through the Other World is impossible because they destroyed the headquarters building on that side two years ago through The Gatekeeper.

If I could cross into the Other World, enter HP Bio’s headquarters there, and then return to reality, things would’ve been much easier.

‘At any rate, this confirms that HP Bio and The Gatekeeper’s faction are definitely allied.’

They were scum even before the world collapsed. Well, I already knew they were filthy bastards, so no need to be surprised.

“So there’s no normal way to get in.”

“Y-yes. After the calamity began and government oversight disappeared, HP Bio has been… actively producing Mutants now.”

“Fucking lunatics.”

Mutants are experimental Awakened subjects that appear in the latter half of the original story. Created to hunt Great Hunters, they’re made by forcibly implanting two or nearly three Awakened individuals into a single human body.

They exploit the mental degradation caused by forced awakenings to create their own slave army.

‘If this bastard’s telling the truth…’

They’ve likely already produced over 100 Mutants in just a week.

With numbers like that, they could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Pax, Osung, or the Blue Cross Group. HP Bio, which had the fewest Hunters among Seoul’s top four factions, could now challenge for the top spot.

‘I couldn’t give less of a fuck about their petty power struggles or carving up Seoul among themselves.’

My only concerns are living comfortably here and becoming strong enough to take down that insane bastard Jang Yi-sang when he starts slaughtering everyone.

‘Jang Yi-sang… For now, he’s too busy fucking monsters to pay attention elsewhere, but he’s a woman-obsessed lunatic. Soon enough, he’ll try to make every woman in Korea-America kneel before him and suck his dick.’

Just thinking about it gives me chills. The protagonist of this world is a woman-crazed bastard. A true misogynist who considers NTL a virtue and can’t rest until he destroys families through milf romance.

Not the kind of simp who gives everything to women, but a genuine psycho who murdered his own Japanese grandfather in secret just because he wanted to fuck a woman with hime-cut hair.

Of course, that Japanese grandfather was a hateful sweet potato character, so people cheered when he died, but now that it’s reality and I’ve become a noticeably beautiful woman myself, it’s absolutely terrifying.

‘The fact that he genuinely believes he “saved” those women makes him a fucking deranged psychopath.’

Osung? Pax? Not scary at all. There’s a guy in this world who’s fully awakened his power, plans to fuck the Demon King himself, and is rampaging through Gates.

Having read about Jang Yi-sang’s insane rampage in the novel, all the fake madness from those blocking my path now seems trivial.

Oh Haryeong, the main villain who sacrificed thousands to an evil god, is scarier – she screamed for the god who granted her power while drooling over tentacle play.

How do you stop someone like that? You have to kill them.

“Hoo. Anyway, I’ve heard all I can.”

“W-wait..! You said you’d spare..!”

“Spare you?”

I drove my hand into his chest.

“Guhhk..”

The nameless Cleaner vomited blood violently before dying on the spot.

I ripped out his still-twitching heart. The divine ability granted to me – ‘Heart Extraction’.

The power to extract hearts from my subordinates, tamed through Torture Training, and convert them into holy relics.

“I offer this subordinate’s heart.”

The heart in my hand soon twisted and transformed into something even more grotesque.

“A bracelet?”

When Oh Haryeong used it, it became a club. But for me, it turned into a bracelet. A weird, damp bracelet that felt like a circular arrangement of dicks.

‘Wearing this…’

Allows free use of tentacle projection and flesh wall creation.

For only 24 hours.

‘After 24 hours, I’ll need to extract another one.’

At least I can use it longer than Oh Haryeong could. I guess that means I’m rated higher.

‘I was planning to enhance Number 2 as a Heart Extraction slave… Damn HP Bio motherfuckers.’

The more I think about it, the angrier I get.

This won’t do. I need to go kill them right now.

******

“Hey, not done yet?”

“Just a moment. They have family.”

“Get everyone in the trucks first.”

“Yes!”

People being loaded onto large 2.5-ton trucks for evacuation.

The trucks carrying them and the military jeep leading the way.

“W-what’s that?!”

“Shit, fuck!!”

A strange figure appeared before them.

The sudden appearance forced the lead jeep to brake hard, and the following trucks had to slam their brakes too.

“You fucking bastard! I told you to run over anyone who jumps in front of the car!”

“S-sorry, sir..”

This is the age of calamity. You’re supposed to run over anyone who jumps in front of your vehicle. It might be a trap, or a humanoid monster.

It’s safer to just keep going. Stopping for everyone would endanger those following behind.

“Get out first.”

“Fuck.”

Either way, the vehicles had already stopped.

The Hunters in the jeep grabbed their weapons and got out to eliminate whatever was blocking their path.

But even at relatively close range, the figure was hard to make out. As if affected by some perception-hindering curse, the Hunters grew tense.

“Hey, lead vehicle! What’s going on? Why’d you stop?”

“Someone suddenly appeared in front of us!”

“Wait. Senior. That, that mask..!”

“What?”

“It’s The Gatekeeper’s emblem!”

“Oh fuck! A villain?!”

The strange figure before them wore a mask marking them as part of The Gatekeeper. As if to emphasize they were a villain.

“Shoot! Villains get summary execution!”

“It’s a villain!!”

Those in the jeep immediately opened fire on the figure.

Gun barrels spat fire as countless bullets flew toward the figure.

“What. What just happened.”

The bullets all passed through her and struck an innocent bakery’s storefront behind her.

“Illusion?”

“No. Not an illusion. That’s…”

Intangibility.

A Hunter with spirit sight muttered.

Intangibility, which nullifies all physical attacks, is an extremely rare ability.

An Awakened with one of the world’s rarest abilities had appeared.

“No one in Korea has Intangibility.”

“A foreign villain?”

As they guessed, the opponent was indeed foreign.

“Tch..”

“They’re coming! The enemy has Intangibility! Mages to the froooont!?”

In an instant, the enemy’s form blurred and Oh Tae-seok, team leader of Pax Company’s civilian rescue team, had his neck twisted clean off.

Too fast to react. Or maybe it wasn’t even an attack – naturally, since it was a curse.

The Food God Extermination Method took the leader’s head. Simultaneously, tentacles flew in from all directions and flesh walls formed, beginning to claim the lives of Hunters, Awakened, and civilians alike.

Between the Shadow Race and all her item-enhanced skills, Elena slaughtered every survivor present, including lower-ranked Hunters.

Despite reinforcing their forces after last week’s team massacre, they were all wiped out.

Contrary to their expectations, Elena had grown even stronger in just a few days.

“Haa.”

[Quest Complete]

Soon, her reward arrived.

The quest to kill 10 Pax Company Hunters.

Reward: 10,000 Points.

“There’s merit in exclusively hunting low-level targets.”

Using the Level Measurement skill she’d purchased earlier, Elena had focused on hunting seemingly weaker Pax Company Hunters, completing her quota of 10 in just half a day.

“Then…”

What she purchased with her hard-earned money was…

“The Book of Immortality. Bon appétit.”

The minimum requirement for raiding HP Bio’s headquarters.

‘A body that cannot die’

Elena had now obtained it.

Soon, one of Seoul’s top four factions would disappear.

They had messed with someone they shouldn’t have, and would soon pay the price.