Ch.148148. Brainwashing

The monster faction thought. The damage was ‘less than expected.’ The picture they were painting on their canvas was now in disarray.

The watching eyes had therefore alerted them to the existence of the primitive species, and the monster faction was now in a state of emergency.

Separate from preparing countermeasures against the primitive species, the Predator was currently active.

The Predator.

For now, the monster faction believed that humans’ forecasts and warnings were becoming increasingly faster.

So they found monsters that wouldn’t trigger these warning systems.

The Jeju Island incident was precisely such a case. They used creatures weak enough to avoid detection but capable of infecting other entities.

Based on this, the monster faction created new monsters capable of “surviving and growing on their own.”

This was different from the future where Ho Sang-hyuk existed.

In a way, these monsters could be said to have been created like a butterfly effect.

They were given the name “Predators” and scattered throughout the world.

Their survival methods varied.

Some simply devoured and absorbed power. Others controlled and used others.

Some induced their targets to eat them and then grew like horsehair worms.

They were currently growing through various survival methods.

The Predator that had nested near Aksan Mountain chose brainwashing.

Its method was infection.

It inserted its own cells into the target’s body. Once infected, the person could be controlled according to its will.

At first, it targeted the village chief, then waited for everyone’s guard to be down during a company dinner.

Oh Chang-min also somehow joined and became excellent prey.

His meeting with Do Jong-hyun was purely coincidental, with no connection whatsoever.

The Predator planned to gather its captives to save itself.

[Eat the brainwashed. Become stronger.]

True to its nature as a Predator focused solely on survival and growth, it intended to consume those who rescued it and become infinitely stronger.

[This method is efficient. Attack enemies.]

For this, it needed a lot of energy. For more brainwashing.

What appeared before Do Jong-hyun now wasn’t particularly unusual.

It was just looking for the next target to brainwash. But it was clumsy.

The moment it openly broke down the door, the Cheonji Guild noticed the anomaly and moved to assess the situation.

“Who are you!”

Shin Do-seong appeared at the front, and Jeong Ha-ru rushed over.

“The captain is sleeping! What’s happening so suddenly? Your red eyes make you look like you’ve been brainwashed.”

“That’s right! Someone go wake up the captain… Huh? Oh Chang-min! What are you doing there?”

While Shin Do-seong hesitated, Oh Chang-min was already thrusting his thin blade.

If Jeong Ha-ru hadn’t blocked it from the side, he would have nearly died just now.

“Get a grip. The captain can afford to be relaxed, but we can’t.”

Strength began to enter Jeong Ha-ru’s blank gaze.

“Let’s subdue him before our captain wakes up. It doesn’t seem to be a fake.”

From Do Jong-hyun’s perspective, this was an incredibly fortunate moment.

At least until the Jaeger beside Oh Chang-min collapsed.

Something like a thread was transmitting magical power.

At that moment, Jeong Ha-ru was the first to move.

She mercilessly struck Oh Chang-min’s neck. But Oh Chang-min sneered at the blow.

“So soft.”

“Get out of his body!”

Jeong Ha-ru continued with a flurry of attacks, but there was no killing intent in them.

At the same time, Shin Do-seong tried to subdue him from behind.

But soon, when Oh Chang-min took one of the fallen Jaegers as a hostage, Shin Do-seong had to back off.

“It’s a failure for now, but I’ll see you later. Our friends aren’t just one.”

“Oh Chang-min, snap out of it!”

Ignoring Shin Do-seong’s desperate cry, Oh Chang-min ran toward the window.

His eyes met Do Jong-hyun’s on the way, but he passed by indifferently.

“Damn it! I’ll pursue him.”

Shin Do-seong shouted, but when Oh Chang-min threw the hostage into the air, he had no choice but to catch them.

Meanwhile, Jeong Ha-ru answered an emergency call.

“We’ve been hit. Looks like we were attacked.”

The temporary storage facility for studying monsters had been attacked.

In other words, it wasn’t just Oh Chang-min.

“This is a disaster.”

The situation was becoming increasingly serious.

*

Last night’s incident was now being kept strictly confidential. The only damage was to the storage facility and my hotel room.

That meant it could be easily covered up.

[Currently conducting full inspection. Comparing with captured brainwashed individuals.]

But the situation was serious. We all underwent examinations and were now on standby.

Park Tae-sang woke up, heard the news, and went out to search.

“What happened?”

“They say it’s a new monster’s ability. It infects people and brainwashes them.”

“That’s a terrifying ability.”

But a weakness immediately came to mind. The Cheonji Guild thought the same.

“Han Min-woo, come out for now.”

The Cheonji Guild also borrowed strength from those participating in this lecture.

Han Min-woo, without question, had excellent defense that could block brainwashing and was focused even among professionals.

Therefore, he was selected.

Geum Do-hyun, who handled fire spirits, was also picked because he could easily prevent infection.

“They say I’m dangerous. I wanted to participate.”

“Me too…”

It would have been normal for Gu Sang-heon and me not to be chosen. But at this moment, Geum Do-hyun called us both.

“These two should be fine, so please include them. And Do Jong-hyun, can you call someone?”

“Who?”

“Seol Yu-hwa.”

I realized what he meant. With Seol Yu-hwa’s ability, she would be good at searching and, above all, could detect where enemies were coming from.

“An excellent choice. I wonder if she’ll come all the way to Gangwon-do right away.”

I called Seol Yu-hwa. After explaining the situation, Yu-hwa said she would come immediately.

“Yu-hwa, will you be okay?”

[I’ll be fine. Absolutely. The situation has become serious, right?]

Seol Yu-hwa said without hesitation that she would come to us. Five hours later, Seol Yu-hwa joined us, and we immediately began searching.

“There was a witness report that they fled toward this mountain range. Contact us immediately upon discovery.”

With walkie-talkies, we set out to search in groups.

Trusting Seol Yu-hwa’s Brisingamen, we combed through the area meticulously.

And they needed my help.

“Do Jong-hyun. Look at this trace.”

“It’s artificial. A person did this.”

“Tch.”

Geum Do-hyun left, disappointed. While Brisingamen searched for presences, I was looking for what kinds of monsters might be on our path.

My role was to identify traces, ecology, and provide information.

“Is it slime? Something’s melted!”

“Something’s moving!”

With Seol Yu-hwa’s signal, Gu Sang-heon suddenly darted forward.

“Hey, Gu Sang-heon!”

Before Geum Do-hyun’s shout ended, a sword passed through the branches, and something like a caterpillar fell below.

“How did you find it?”

“I saw it.”

Gu Sang-heon spoke as if it was nothing, but what exactly did he see by himself?

Among us, the only one who wasn’t surprised was Min-woo, who was naturally quiet.

I heard Seol Yu-hwa’s voice expressing admiration.

“You noticed right away. Amazing.”

“Thanks for the compliment.”

Going forward with Gu Sang-heon, we soon realized there were many caterpillars like the one from earlier.

“This is perfect for me.”

Just as Geum Do-hyun was happily starting to burn them, Han Min-woo suddenly jumped.

“Step back!”

His shield faced forward, and with a clang, a caterpillar fell to the ground.

Where did it come from?

“From underground!”

I was shocked by Seol Yu-hwa’s cry. It was evidence that the caterpillars were acting intelligently.

“Min-woo! Can that shield mimic enemies too?”

Instead of answering, he nodded.

“Then absorb the caterpillar and pretend to be one of them!”

“Got it.”

Han Min-woo absorbed the caterpillar’s power and pretended to be one of them.

This would allow us to determine whether these entities were connected as one or not.

Would they be able to distinguish us pretending to be comrades by emitting pheromones?

Surprisingly, we passed through safely, suggesting that the enemy wasn’t connected to them.

“Then it must be repeated commands or something like that. Assuming people are handled separately.”

“Yes, Do Jong-hyun. That’s the kind of thinking I was expecting.”

Geum Do-hyun was clapping, pleased with my reasoning.

In my vision, I could see caterpillars continuously wriggling up.

“Yu-hwa, can you tell where these guys keep crawling up from?”

“Wait a moment.”

Seol Yu-hwa determined that the caterpillars were coming up from some underground location.

Geum Do-hyun cheered.

“Did we find it? Checkmate?”

“No. Unfortunately, there are people ahead of us.”

Seol Yu-hwa’s finger pointed to where Park Tae-sang and other professionals were already present.

As expected, they arrived faster than us.

“Then I guess we should wait…”

Suddenly, Han Min-woo lunged at me. I was startled by the sudden situation but understood.

When he acts like this, it means there’s a problem on my side.

His shield moved and burst a caterpillar.

“Wait? After ignoring them all this time?”

“They’ve been given orders! Everyone be careful!”

Suddenly, dozens of caterpillars began to attack us from all around.

In this case? A possibility arose in my mind.

Brainwashing.

“Someone’s giving direct orders!”

At the same time, the ground began to shake.

“No way?”

“Everyone be careful!”

Amid the rumbling sounds from everywhere, a landslide began.

“Damn it!”

Geum Do-hyun gathered flames and shot them like a laser, piercing a huge boulder.

But rocks were collapsing everywhere, causing chaos.

Han Min-woo stepped forward, and Gu Sang-heon hurriedly blocked falling rocks.

As an unidentified noise rose from underground, the ground behind us shook violently.

I lost my balance.

“Jong-hyun!”

Seol Yu-hwa quickly grabbed my hand, but a caterpillar was targeting her from behind.

“No! Behind you!”

I tried to pull away, but Seol Yu-hwa wouldn’t let go of my hand.

She was stung by a caterpillar and gritted her teeth as she shielded me.

“Yu-hwa?”

“Ugh…”

I held her hand as she suffered.

“Don’t worry.”

“…”

Seol Yu-hwa smiled briefly before her expression turned vicious.

“Die!”

Not like a yandere. The effect of brainwashing.

Suddenly feeling resistance throughout my body, I couldn’t control myself.

As Seol Yu-hwa’s power took effect, I collapsed on the unstable ground, and a massive boulder was moving.

I wouldn’t die like this, would I?

[Sub Card]

-Evolution

At that moment, I transformed into an Insect Sura and instantly split the falling rock.

Avoiding the rock that crumbled like soft tofu, I set off a smoke screen.

As I tried to approach behind Seol Yu-hwa, passing over her, one of my hands was twisted backward.

“I knew you’d come from behind.”

“Same here.”

But my powder fell on Seol Yu-hwa first.

“Ugh!”

“Sorry, stay like that for a moment.”

I rescued those who had collapsed around us and soared into the sky. I needed to see how the situation should unfold.

I clearly saw it. In the midst of the chaos, with people buried under soil and debris everywhere, I saw a giant caterpillar moving through the ground and Park Tae-sang.

I had to save them. By breaking through the ground.

[Point Conversion]

-Converting monster points to DNA points.

[Evolution Form]

-Purchase

What should I transform into? Numerous silhouettes began to unfold before my eyes again.