Ch.150150. Suspicion

Keum Do-hyun was greatly flustered by the unexpected situation. The enemy’s attack method was changing in ways he had never seen or heard before.

For caterpillars, he just needed to prevent them from approaching with his abilities.

‘They’re weak. Clearly weak.’

Fortunately, these monsters were easily burned and blocked. But everything changed drastically when that giant caterpillar appeared. An avalanche occurred with such force that it was difficult to even stand properly on the ground.

This was more challenging than any training they had ever done.

The members were scattering while trying to avoid the caterpillar and the avalanche.

And massive boulders and debris were covering them.

“Damn it!”

“Come to me!”

Han Min-woo was shouting loudly while deflecting huge falling rocks with his shield.

“As expected, he stays calm in situations like this!”

Keum Do-hyun gave him a thumbs up, but soon the ground collapsed, and they began rolling down the slope.

“This way!”

Han Min-woo held out the longest here, but the rest were scattering in all directions.

‘What a mess!’

Considering their abilities, they should have been able to block falling rocks. Keum Do-hyun only realized how much he still lacked.

‘What about the others?’

His gaze moved around with difficulty. But it was hard to find traces of anyone in the chaotic scene.

Just then, he saw an insect monster emerging from the debris carrying Seol Yu-hwa.

‘Huh? That insect monster?’

It was a form that had already appeared in the media several times. That monster was rescuing Seol Yu-hwa.

‘Who was with Seol Yu-hwa at the end? Wasn’t it Do Jong-hyun? Where did Do Jong-hyun go, leaving only Seol Yu-hwa?’

Why was he thinking this? Keum Do-hyun instinctively pretended to be unconscious when the insect monster tried to approach him.

There was no need for that.

He already knew that the insect monster was rescuing people.

The monster quickly rescued him and others before leaving. Keum Do-hyun was left with questions.

“That monster aside, what about Do Jong-hyun?”

That’s right. Among those rescued, only Do Jong-hyun was missing.

Worry briefly took precedence, but soon he was more shocked by the evolution taking place.

‘The monster evolved! It’s shrunk in size!’

But it looks stronger.

He watched as the monster, armored like a knight in steel, fought.

After an intense battle showcasing the greatness of parrying, the insect monster emerged victorious.

Do Jong-hyun was found unconscious some distance away from them.

‘What’s going on?’

Considering the avalanche and falling rocks, something was strange. The direction was odd, and why was he alone over there?

That’s why Keum Do-hyun looked at Do Jong-hyun with suspicious eyes.

Do Jong-hyun approached him.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Just wondering how you managed to escape all by yourself.”

“I was just running away mindlessly. My energy was completely drained. Maybe I’ve become a coward.”

He casually touched his shoulder as he walked away.

‘Am I being unnecessarily sensitive?’

It’s suspicious.

Why was Do Jong-hyun alone? Just to be sure, he discreetly asked Han Min-woo and Koo Sang-heon.

“Weren’t Do Jong-hyun and Seol Yu-hwa together?”

Wasn’t Do Jong-hyun with Seol Yu-hwa at the end?

“…”

If the insect was rescuing people, it should have rescued Do Jong-hyun too. Why was Do Jong-hyun missing?

‘He had to escape, but this is too strange. Could Do Jong-hyun possibly…?’

Keum Do-hyun’s gaze began to fill with suspicion.

*

The incident in Gangwon Province wasn’t widely reported.

It just said that the Cheonji Guild handled the situation.

Well, that was all there was to it. One thing to note was Keum Do-hyun.

[Do Jong-hyun. You… did you see that monster?]

Rather than just a strange look, suspicion would be a more appropriate description. Keum Do-hyun was suspicious of me.

I managed to brush it off, but I needed to be more careful around Keum Do-hyun in the future.

Additionally, the closing ceremony was inevitably canceled. It was a tough schedule in many ways, but I still gained valuable experience.

From monster combat techniques to lectures that would normally cost money.

I had established a direction for my training.

However, strange things had been happening during the two weeks I was away.

[Monsters suddenly appearing across the country to help humans. What is their purpose?]

Monsters helping humans had suddenly increased nationwide in just two weeks.

This is problematic.

“What nonsense.”

As someone who knows the future, I knew such creatures couldn’t possibly exist.

If they did, they would have appeared long ago. Why now? Especially at a time when monster attacks are being well-contained?

The current world is much more stable than before my regression, with nations and Jaegers having sufficient resources in reserve.

So why would such monsters suddenly appear in such an era?

“Maybe the future has changed, so they appeared.”

Of course, if we’re weighing suspicion against belief, it’s about 8:2 in favor of suspicion, but I shouldn’t blindly dismiss the possibility that they might be allies.

This is really annoying.

I’ll reserve judgment for now.

I spent January mostly observing. I had already made excuses to go out twice in January, and I didn’t have any more excuses.

So I only went to a dungeon once in the third week. And now it’s the last week of January.

I was checking my points while waiting for the promotion exam in February.

-Monster Points: 8

-DNA Points: 13400

-M Points: 26500

“Hmm. I have excess M Points.”

The M Points I had diligently saved up were approaching a moment when they needed to be spent.

It meant I could draw a large number of cards for once.

There would surely be various useful cards there. Well, I can draw whenever I want depending on the situation.

Anyway, it’s random, so I don’t know what will come out.

Speaking of which, I used 15,000 points to select a new card set.

And frustratingly, I got four duplicate cards.

“…No way! I got the High-Speed Propulsion and Energy Supplement again!”

If they had different uses, it might be okay, but I couldn’t put cards I already had back into my deck.

“…I’ll have to grind them.”

That means combining the remaining cards to create a new one.

It would be nice if something good came out of it, but such luck doesn’t happen every time, and sure enough, I got a dud.

“Blood Rage? That’s a card from the very beginning!”

It’s used for dinosaurs, but it doesn’t have much meaning. Alright, alright.

I’ll just have to keep collecting and try again.

Just as I was spending time after wasting my gacha pulls, it happened.

[Monster Report]

“Wow. Three times in a month? It’s been a while since it’s been this frequent.”

The Monster Report missions have been actively helping me.

Let’s see, the monster is… What? S-class? It’s a monster that can be handled at the adult stage.

It will happen in four days, and the location is… Well, if it’s in a busy area, I can pretend to be out shopping and buy some time.

I create an image in my head and run a simulation.

There’s no possibility of losing. But I’m concerned about the monsters that catch that monster.

And this anxiety slightly materialized.

*

On the day the Monster Report indicated. Today, like a dutiful son, I was loitering in a store under the pretext of shopping for my parents.

Soon there would be a monster break, and I could slip away appropriately.

And everything was going according to plan. The monster break occurred, the security guard brother protected me before leaving, and I hid to transform.

I transform into an adult wolf state and take it down.

The scenario was clearly proceeding as planned.

If only an interferer hadn’t appeared.

Suddenly, a humanoid monster blocked my claws.

“!”

As expected, it came. There was a moment of silence, and then we both separated.

I looked carefully. That’s an A-class monster, a Flame Giant form. But strangely, it wore a mask.

Has the number of enemies increased? Or is this some kind of trick?

But at this moment, our target began attacking the masked monster.

They’re fighting each other?

Is it really an ally or not?

The confusion didn’t stop. Well, whatever it is, dealing with that monster is what’s important.

I quickly jumped and threw a chunk of broken debris at the back of the target monster.

In an instant, there was an opening. The masked monster succeeded in killing the target monster.

-Acquired 2 Monster Points

It ended well, but the problem was that he and I were awkwardly staring at each other.

I can’t stay here for long.

After this first encounter, we parted ways. The media was praising the monsters that saved people.

However, the Goegyeopdan was busy using them to expand their influence, just as they had used me.

“I do the work…”

And they take the credit? You’re all traitors to humanity anyway.

But from my perspective, I had to keep watching.

News of several monsters helping humans was being reported nationwide, so I needed to understand the situation better.

In February, I received a message from Oh Ju-hwan about the promotion.

[We’ll conduct it along with the demotion review. Jong-hyun, if you want to apply, you can do so online.]

February’s schedule includes the promotion exam and small-scale attacks by monsters.

[Monster Report]

And the Monster Report that never fails to find me.

This is roughly the schedule for February.

However, this time it’s an SS-class. A Void Monster. This time, I’ll transform into a wolf to catch it.

This time it’s happening near a shopping area by an apartment complex, so what excuse should I use?

But humans can always come up with excuses if they try hard enough.

Wracking my brain, I finally created an imaginary friend in the apartment complex.

Just like how I previously created a fake friend in Incheon.

And on the day, the incident was indeed happening.

It was the same route again. Since it was a Void Monster, I was going to transform into a wolf to eliminate it, but that monster guy had appeared again.

However, this time, he seemed confused because his attacks weren’t working, so I handled it directly.

[Monster Report Mission Success!]

-Acquired 4 Monster Points

This time, after I dealt with it, he gave me a thumbs up for some reason.

I couldn’t follow him. The security guard sister would be calling me soon.

So I just got the points and returned, but something different had happened.

[Today, a mysterious corpse was discovered at the scene in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province. The brutally mutilated appearance suggests it was attacked by a monster…]

“What?”

An ominous feeling washed over me.

*

Flowing Milky Way was reading information provided by the monster side.

“The enemy appears at ‘predetermined’ times and changes schedules, making them hard to find.”

“At least it’s not from our side.”

Astro sipped black coffee beside him. Flowing Milky Way watched him.

“When I ‘forcibly’ opened the mind of the suspected informant last time, there was none. Unless it’s you, Astro, there isn’t one on our side.”

“I’m not an informant. I have no such attachment.”

“I know. But they want a major revision to future schedules, which is strange.”

“What is?”

In response to Astro’s question, Flowing Milky Way began to reason based on the information.

“Whether we change the schedule or not, if they have precognition or tracking abilities, it would be the same. Yet they ask us to change the schedule? Something doesn’t add up. They’re hiding something from us.”

“The monster side? Surely not. They wouldn’t deceive us.”

They are in a cooperative relationship. Aren’t they all working together for the downfall of humanity?

But they’re hiding something?

“Or the informant might be on their side, not ours.”

“I hadn’t thought of that, but it’s possible. After all, haven’t our operations been delayed because of these monsters helping people?”

Flowing Milky Way’s perspective was correct. Until now, they had suspected within the Goegyeopdan, but conversely, this could be the fault of the monster side.

Is that why they’re hiding it?

“If that’s the case, we need to confront them immediately. We can’t work together with hidden information.”

“But they hold the key, so will it be easy?”

“We won’t gain respect if we’re always dragged along from the bottom.”

Just then, Park Je-moon entered with a smile.

“It starts today. I’ve told the ‘heroes’ to kill one person each today.”

“Yes, bankrupt their flimsy credit. Monsters that belong nowhere, unilateral help without communication can never win.”

“Additionally, a monster in Busan who’s become friendly with a child is asking when they can kill them.”

“Not yet. That’s for when this situation grows larger.”

“As expected of the senior official. Indeed, it’s still too early. I should tell them to pretend to be friendly with humans for longer. Finally, we’re getting revenge on that damn guy.”

The Goegyeopdan was moving shrewdly.