Ch.16The Monster of Jamsil, You’re Mine!

The Hunter Association, always bustling with activity, was even busier than usual at the Korean branch today.

The monitoring room observing Myeong-dong was in absolute chaos.

“A-A danger level A monster, codenamed Twin-Head, has appeared!”

“Ability assessment complete! Strength 8, Durability 8, Agility 5, Magic Power 4, Skill 3, totaling 28 points!”

“The C-rank Hunters first deployed to the scene have been annihilated! Hunter Yoo Cheran is engaging to evacuate civilians, but… it appears she can only buy time temporarily!”

“W-wait! Suddenly detecting strange activity from Twin-Head!”

BOOM!

“…!”

“T-that’s… Demonic Equipment?”

“The Twin-Head that appeared in Myeong-dong has been observed to use Demonic Equipment!”

On the large screen in the situation room, the Twin-Head was emitting black lightning.

The Hunters monitoring the situation froze in shock at the sight.

This included A-rank Hunter Rolling, a conditional National Authority-Level Hunter who had just arrived at the situation room for this Twin-Head incident.

“A Twin-Head appearing on the Korean peninsula, which is only a C-rank danger zone on average…!”

“Mom. I’ll go.”

Sophia, who had entered the situation room with B-rank Hunter clearance alongside Rolling.

Though they were meeting for the first time since the airport that day, this was essentially a wartime situation. Setting aside personal matters, she volunteered herself as someone who could deploy immediately.

“Mom, you know that B-rank Hunters in America are different from B-rank Hunters in Korea. I’m a B-rank Hunter from the ‘Hunter Headquarters.'”

“But… even so, taking on a Twin-Head is still too early for you, Sophia.”

“…! So we’re just going to leave that girl dying out there?! That Yoo Cheran is your disciple, Mom!”

“Yes. That’s why I’m planning to go myself.”

Her disciple in danger and her daughter ready to rush into battle without caution.

To protect them both, Rolling was preparing to return to her National Authority-Level position, recognized even by America, for the first time in ten years.

“RAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!”

“?!”

“T-that roar just now…?”

At least, that was the plan until they heard that unforgettable roar through the monitor.

“I-impossible… we’ve confirmed a new monster reaction in Myeong-dong!”

“Judging by its size, it appears to be humanoid… wait, this reaction seems familiar?”

“…!! Commander! And Miss Sophia! The monster that just appeared has a reaction that completely matches the monster discovered at Busan Port ten years ago!”

“What…”

“What did you say?!”

“It’s the Monster of Jamsil! The Monster of Jamsil!”

“Confirmed reappearance of the Monster of Jamsil after exactly 3,654 days, 11 hours, 23 minutes, and 41 seconds!”

The Monster of Jamsil.

The moment they heard that name, both mother and daughter’s eyes widened.

Appearance location – Unknown.

Appearance timing – Unknown.

Appearance method – Unknown.

Unlike ordinary monsters that emerge through Gates, this was a mysterious monster whose very method of appearance remained an enigma.

They thought it had disappeared after the “Smiling Monster Incident” ten years ago…

‘So that thing has appeared again…?’

During its first appearance, it was Queen Niflheim with B+ danger level.

The second time, it was the National Disaster-Level monster Cheonsa (Angel).

And now, for the third time, it was facing the A-level danger Twin-Head.

‘It’s almost like a gatekeeper protecting this country.’

Well, that couldn’t be the case.

History books were full of monsters that pretended not to harm humanity, feigned goodwill, then stabbed humans in the back.

The most prominent example was Gojillia, who pretended to be a mountain god and lived symbiotically with humans in Hokkaido, Japan, 60 years ago, before suddenly transforming into a monster and causing a catastrophe.

Although by coincidence or not, she owed her life to that creature at Busan Port…

‘History is filled with nations that trusted monsters and were destroyed.’

Like Sparta, which tried to cultivate extremely strong warriors using monster power and ended up self-destructing.

Or the ancient British kingdom that fell for monster Merlin’s deception and perished in civil war.

As they say, history repeats itself, and there was no guarantee Korea wouldn’t suffer the same fate.

“Situation room!”

Though Rolling felt uneasy, for the sake of the country and her two children living in it.

“Contact the President immediately and tell him to prepare to declare martial law!”

“Y-yes!”

She fulfilled her role as a cool-headed commander.

“This monster is unusual in that it shows no interest in humans despite being a monster. To subdue it, we need to focus on how to execute a preemptive strike.”

“Understood!”

“I’ll contact the Ministry of Defense… no, I’ll personally arrange for supersonic missiles to be on standby. Deploy all available Hunters to Myeong-dong now! Ensure civilians are evacuated quickly!”

“Yes, ma’am!!!”

Despite the chaotic situation with an A-level danger and a National Disaster-Level monster appearing, Rolling gave thorough instructions.

Thanks to her composed attitude, the atmosphere in the situation room calmed somewhat.

“Where is the head of the Korean branch of the Hunter Association right now?”

“The branch director is in the research wing underground, as always!”

“I see. I’ll head to the scene with the branch director as soon as I’m armed. Oh, and Sophia, you…”

She was about to ask her daughter to assist from behind, given her B-rank Hunter status…

“…Sophia?”

Her daughter, who had been standing right beside her until just a moment ago, had vanished.

Anxiously looking around, even checking the trash cans…

“Um… Commander?”

“…?”

“About Hunter Sophia… she ran outside the moment we mentioned the Monster of Jamsil.”

“……What?”

What nonsense is this?

Rolling’s expression went blank before sweat began pouring down her face like a waterfall.

“Get the branch director…”

“Commander?”

“We need to deploy immediately! Hurry up and bring the branch director!!”

Unaware of her mother’s near-collapse, Sophia was rushing toward the Monster of Jamsil rather than Shinwoo, her face full of excitement.

‘Finally found it… the monster I’ll command!’

***

Cheran’s condition.

Fortunately, though covered in burns, she was still breathing.

That meant she could survive if taken to a hospital immediately.

Relieved, I carefully placed the unconscious Cheran on the ground.

And then.

CRASH!

“RAAAARGH?!”

“Grrrk?”

‘What are you doing?’

Twin-Head swung its club fiercely at the back of my head.

But seeing me turn around unharmed after taking the hit, it wore a terrified expression.

Well, not that I was planning to spare it.

“Grrrrrk.”

‘No time. Let’s end this quickly.’

For Cheran to be rescued, both Twin-Head and I needed to disappear right now.

So, this mere A-level danger monster…

“R-RAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!”

Perhaps it knew this was its last stand.

As if making a final act of defiance, Twin-Head raised its goblin club high into the air.

Black lightning surged from the ground and was absorbed entirely into its club.

The club, now perfectly black, came down toward my head to fulfill its wielder’s wish.

And the monster’s wish was instantly shattered.

CRASH-!

With pure strength rather than technique.

Following instinct rather than reason, I channeled my anger into my fist and unleashed it.

“GRAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!”

Twin-Head’s body, pierced through along with its summoned Demonic Equipment, spilled its innards before—POP!

SPLASH.

It exploded, splattering blood everywhere, completely retired without a trace.

“Phew…”

Just.

Just because of something like this, Cheran almost died.

Since preventing the “Smiling Monster Incident” in Busan that would have led to a bad ending, I had been holding back to avoid disrupting the original story.

If a National Disaster-Level monster kept appearing for various reasons, the original storyline would be ruined.

But now that the prologue had begun, there was no reason to hold back anymore.

From now on, whenever possible, I needed to eliminate all the forced tragic developments from the original story… no, I would eliminate them all.

There would be commotion every time I transformed into a monster, but I had been prepared for that since being transported into this world ten years ago.

So for now, I needed to retreat quietly…

Swish.

…or so I thought.

“Grrrk?”

“Found you. The Monster of Jamsil.”

As a sharp blade was pressed against my neck from behind, I naturally turned around.

And my mouth fell open at the familiar face that matched the familiar voice.

“Grrrrrrrk?!”

‘S-Sophia?!’

Sophia was threatening me with a long scythe-shaped weapon, grinning widely.

She clearly believed she had me completely cornered.

“I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time…”

“Grrrk…?”

“The day I would ‘command’ you!”

What is she talking about?

How could a mere B-rank Hunter like her command a National Disaster-Level monster?

As far as I knew from the setting, there were only two Beast Hunters who had ever commanded National Disaster-Level monsters.

What confidence she had.

With a very pleased expression, mistakenly believing she had the upper hand, Sophia spoke to me in a half-threatening manner.

“Become my monster right now. Then you won’t have to worry about being hunted.”

“……”

As I was contemplating how to gently persuade her into unconsciousness…

Sniff, sniff.

“Grrrk?!”

Suddenly, her eyes widened, then narrowed as she pressed her nose against my jet-black skin and started sniffing.

‘W-what is she doing?! Suddenly?’

Could she have developed some strange preferences while in America?

As I was worrying as something of an older brother figure, Sophia raised her scythe high into the air and swung it down at me with all her might.

Thump.

What was it this time?

Judging by the ‘scythe shape’ of her equipment, it seemed like a specially crafted weapon rather than a common mass-produced one.

Not wanting it to break from hitting my body, I gently caught the blade with both hands.

Then.

“Hey……”

“Grrrk?”

“Why do you smell like Shinwoo?”

Chills.

With her innocent smile gone, replaced by eyes that looked ready to kill someone, Sophia asked why I smelled like myself.

“What did you do to him?”

“……”

“If you did anything to him, I’ll really kill you.”

A deadly warning flew at me.

But wait, Sophia… how do you even know my scent?