Ch.1616. Irregular

Despite the excruciating pain from the force field tearing through his armor and corroding his flesh, Sejun somehow resisted and quickly drew his secondary weapon—a single-shot pistol loaded with monster-piercing rounds—and fired.

BANG!

SCREECH!!!

Unfortunately, the monster-piercing round was designed to penetrate thick armor plating, not force fields.

Though it did cause some damage, the monster was able to block the penetration with its force field. Unhindered in its movements, the monster seemed about to charge at him again—when suddenly it pulled back.

“What the hell is this thing doing?!”

It’s a proven characteristic of monsters, established through decades of research, that while they might attempt ambushes, they never retreat due to their genetic hostility toward humans.

Yet here before his eyes was a case that completely contradicted those research findings. A monster that only conducted reconnaissance, another that remained hidden and fired quietly without revealing itself, and now even a mid-level monster retreating after a failed ambush.

‘This is dangerous, really dangerous!’

There was fear from the life-threatening situation, but more than that, as hunters, they were contemplating the worst possible future.

If humanity had struggled so much against Hive Minds that had no strategy beyond brute force, what would happen when facing these monsters with new behavioral patterns?

“Miss!”

“I know! We need to get back and report this no matter what!”

In this moment, the two hunters were in complete agreement. They needed to escape from these creatures somehow and report the emergence of this variant Hive Mind to the Association or anywhere else.

If they didn’t eradicate it preemptively, this Hive Mind would build up its forces in Gangwon Province and completely devastate South Korea.

Patient and adaptable monsters—especially a Hive Mind—could turn what seemed like an absurd hypothesis into a terrifying reality.

“Show me the shortest route!”

“Right away!”

And so, they chose to flee.

After Sejun searched for an escape route using the chip connected to his brain and transmitted it to Su-jin’s holographic information display, they began to retreat at full speed.

Su-jin concentrated psychic energy in her legs, while Sejun used his jet pack in short bursts to move forward quickly.

They had only one goal: to alert someone, anyone, about the danger these monsters posed.

※ ※ ※

“Good, keep pushing them that way!”

After hastily producing and deploying numerous surveillance monsters on the battlefield, I was maneuvering them to herd the hunters toward a prepared location, blocking their escape.

Normally, it would be impossible to use low-level monsters to guide mid-level hunters along a specific route, but I was more than capable of it.

I had equipped Hive Infantry with laser shooters and positioned them along anticipated routes to provide covering fire when enemies approached.

This behavior pattern, which had existed early on but was patched out due to balance issues, was commonly referred to in the community as “Zerglings fighting like Marines,” named after an old game.

Of course, firepower limited to laser shooters is manageable for mid-level hunters. Unless hundreds of monsters focus fire on a single target for dozens of seconds, the scattered laser fire from a dozen or so monsters is something even low-level hunters can break through.

That’s why I brought out my secret weapon—one I couldn’t deploy against the Raptors due to their speed and the risk of friendly fire.

WHOOSH—BOOM!

Hive Infantry carrying energy blasters on their backs—bio-weapons I’d recently obtained by reverse-engineering the energy cannon from a Giant Armor.

In monster bio-weaponry, if shooters are rifles, then the larger blasters are cannons. Though not particularly fast-moving projectiles, allowing small mid-level monsters or hunters to dodge if they see them coming, they’re devastating if they hit.

[B-blasters incoming!]

[I can see that, Sejun!]

Unlike the naturally cold-minded monsters, humans become intimidated as long as there’s even a slight possibility of being hit.

[…We’re being herded.]

[This isn’t the time to point that out! We need to detour, detour!]

So these hunters, even after realizing they were being manipulated, had no choice but to follow the path I was guiding them along due to their fear of the energy blasters.

[Wait—Miss, there’s a cliff ahead! It’s a dead end!]

[…What?! That’s… No, let’s head that way anyway! We can jump over the cliff!]

Good, move there. Yes, right there. Number 3, wait there, and Number 4, hide a bit deeper.

They were heading straight toward the area where I had set my “trap.”

[That cliff?]

[Yes!]

[Got it, let’s climb!]

The two hunters began running toward the clearing in the middle of a steep cliff surrounded on three sides by dense forest. Right into the center of my encirclement.

‘Fire!’

BOOM! BOOM-BOOM-BOOM! BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

WHOOOOOOSH!!!

Hundreds of Hive Infantry waiting atop the cliff, equipped with bio-weapons I’d produced by sacrificing half my remaining monsters, opened fire all at once.

From a conventional military perspective, being lured into such a position would seem foolish, perfect for encirclement and annihilation. But the hunters couldn’t be blamed.

After all, the ranged bio-weapon-equipped monsters they’d faced until now would simply charge forward like front-line infantry while firing their weapons, rather than executing such complex tactics.

Naturally, these hunters—unless they were state-employed—had no idea how to deal with monsters that took cover and fired like real soldiers. The result was what we now saw before us.

[…Sejun, what’s your status?]

[Barrier depleted, power system damaged… 49% of functions offline. And you, Miss…?]

[I’m at my limit too. Even with supplements, my psychic energy is less than a quarter left.]

As the firing temporarily ceased to prevent overheating, they lowered their voices in the dust cloud and assessed their condition.

They had barely survived without major injuries by deploying overlapping psychic shields and the barriers built into their powered suits, but the hunters were severely depleted.

The powered suit was in tatters, and the female hunter was visibly exhausted. As they belatedly took cover behind a large rock, I decided to give them a gift.

‘Detonate.’

[Psychic Explosion (D) activating.]

[Miss—]

KABOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!

My gift was an explosion—detonating the psychic energy of dozens of Chief Brains I had hidden underground, blasting the entire clearing at the base of the cliff.

‘Oh? They’re blocking it?’

Surprisingly, the hunters managed to survive the explosion by squeezing out their remaining energy to form barriers and psychic shields.

[…Sejun? Park Sejun?]

[Ah…]

Of course, only one survived unscathed. Thanks to the male hunter throwing himself to protect the female hunter, he was reduced to a rag doll while she remained relatively uninjured and mobile.

[…!]

I expected the female hunter to explode with rage, but unexpectedly, she wore a determined expression and raised her greatsword, preparing for the coming battle.

Well, if she were the protagonist, this would be the moment for an awakening speech about not letting his sacrifice be in vain… but reality is cruel.

‘Go tear her up and bring her in.’

SCREEEEEECH!

Four waiting Hive Raptors attacked her. The female hunter managed to take down one before being subdued by the remaining three, who mauled her until she lost consciousness.

And so ended my hunter capture operation, which had required all my resources.

※ ※ ※

After subduing the hunters, I completely restrained them and brought them to my base. I placed them in hastily constructed analyzers to conduct detailed examinations and extract their memories. In the process, I discovered something surprising.

‘He kept calling her “Miss,” and she really is a high-ranking person!’

As it turned out, these two were hunters belonging to a guild directly affiliated with a major corporation—one that often appeared as a client in the game—and they were the youngest daughter of the chairman and her bodyguard.

‘What should I do… what should I do…’

If these two don’t return, the chairman will inevitably send an investigation team to find his beloved youngest daughter, and that would be the end for me.

Hundreds of mid-level hunters and several high-level hunters would swarm in, combing the forest until they found me, and that would be it.

I barely managed to handle two mid-level hunters; there’s no way I could defeat such an investigation team.

So I fell into deep contemplation. How could I prevent such a situation? Thinking about it, there were two prerequisites for any solution.

One was that these two hunters needed to return unharmed, and the other was that they couldn’t retain any memories about this place…

‘Ah, that’s it!’

At that moment, I had an excellent idea. Based on the knowledge of human and monster physiology I had accumulated while creating Nina No. 7, the disguise monster, I could manipulate these two hunters’ bodies as well.

In other words, human modification. While I did have some reservations, nothing is more important than survival, so I could certainly handle that much.

…Actually, I had been wanting to try human modification anyway.