Ch.17Wait, Why Is That Here?

“The reason Sophia didn’t command any monsters until she became a B-rank Hunter.

It’s surprising that it was because of me, but what’s even more surprising is that despite not having any monsters under her command…”

Bang!

Clang!

Ching!

“She fights much better than I expected.

‘Hey, are you really a Beast Hunter?’

Typically, Beast Hunters stay in the back, sending their commanded monsters to the front line while they rest behind.

But what is she doing?

She’s freely swinging a scythe-shaped weapon larger than herself, persistently trying to leave afterimages against me.

She shows much more potential than most close-combat Hunters.

However, that wasn’t important right now.

“Why! Do you! Smell like! Shinwoo! Answer me!”

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

How am I supposed to explain why I smell like myself?

Besides, I’m a monster who can’t speak human language, so how does she expect me to answer?

‘She’s being way too careless with a monster…’

Of course, it would never happen, but if I were actually Sophia’s enemy, I could have killed her easily by now.

It’s fortunate that it’s actually me.

Just thinking about Sophia acting this recklessly with other humanoid monsters…

“Grrrr…”

A chilling thought crossed my mind.

‘This won’t do. I need to teach her some caution.’

I also needed to get Cheran to the hospital quickly, so I decided to give Sophia what you might call a ‘lesson.’

Grab!

“Huh? What?”

Sophia thought she had the upper hand, elegantly swinging her curved blade like a dance.

But the pitch-black monster easily caught her blade with one hand—a blade that had never stopped until its opponent fell.

Then I forcefully took her weapon and grabbed both her empty wrists with my other hand, lifting them up.

“What! What is this!”

Feeling like she was dangling in handcuffs, Sophia desperately kicked, trying to break free.

But the only thing that hurt was her own toes from kicking the monster.

‘Has she calmed down now?’

I tossed the scythe-shaped weapon aside so she could easily retrieve it later.

Then I looked directly into Sophia’s angry face and eyes.

It was the first time I’d seen my family member’s face since that brief moment at the airport.

When she suddenly said she was going to America—a Beast Hunter with practically zero social skills—my heart had pounded with worry.

Really… I’m so relieved she returned safely.

‘But I’m not sure when I should let her go.’

Should I knock her out?

With that thought, I raised my hand to examine her nape.

“Eek…!?”

Suddenly, Sophia started trembling in fear.

I immediately withdrew my raised hand.

“Grrrr…”

‘This is frustrating…’

The heat in her body seemed to have dissipated, and now she was looking at me with slightly teary eyes.

An awkward silence hung between us for several seconds. Sophia was the first to speak.

“Why do you smell like Shinwoo…”

“……”

“You’re actually a ‘good monster,’ aren’t you? I saw you at Busan Port ten years ago. And I felt it. A feeling that was both alien yet comforting—something I couldn’t feel from other monsters.”

“Grr?”

I tilted my head at Sophia’s words.

‘A feeling both alien yet comforting.’

Is that how Beast Hunters perceive me? Or is it just Sophia who feels that way?

This situation never happened in the original story, so I couldn’t draw any definite conclusions.

The only thing certain was:

“You’re different… Even now, you could kill me, but you just neutralized me instead…! You’re not like those monsters in history books that pretended to help humanity while actually harming us!”

Sophia absolutely trusted me.

She continued, sobbing as she poured out her feelings.

“But if you’ve harmed Shinwoo in any way, I’ll have to kill you. Even if you’re a kind and good monster, I can’t forgive something like that!”

“Grrrr…”

I thought she would hate me after what happened at the airport.

But maybe because we’re family, she still cared deeply for me.

As family, I should clear up this misunderstanding.

Swoosh.

“…Huh?”

Once I revert from my monster form, I need to find Sophia right away.

I should apologize for not keeping my promise and tell her that I became a Hunter Meister instead.

With that in mind, I slowly lowered her to the ground.

Her face showed complete bewilderment.

That wide-eyed expression, now as before, was the look that proved Sophia was Sophia, no matter how much she’d matured.

Perhaps that’s why.

Pat, pat.

Without thinking, I found myself patting her head—something I used to do regularly before she left for America—while still in my monster form.

She looked up at me with sparkling blue eyes, and just as I realized what I was doing and pulled my hand away—

“…Shinwoo?”

Shiver!

Before her casual guess could turn into certainty, I leaped high into the sky and quickly fled the scene.

Left alone, Sophia absentmindedly touched the top of her head where the monster? Shinwoo? had patted her, her face full of life.

“…Ah! Ms. Yoo Cheran!”

That girl her mother had brought along as a supposed disciple when she came to America on business.

She had fainted after being attacked by Twin-Head, so Sophia needed to call 911 first.

***

Korea Branch of the Hunter Association.

In the research wing in the basement, accessible only to top executives:

“The signal suddenly disappeared completely…?”

“Yes. Thanks to that, the military unit that was heading to Seoul after contacting her husband is now heading back to Gangwon Province.”

Rolling was talking with a researcher in front of a massive test tube emitting green light between dim lighting.

She had just come down to the research wing to change into “Armament – Baekho” but was now deactivating her equipment with a shrug.

“Is this situation fortunate… or unfortunate?”

“Obviously fortunate. Even monsters without hostility toward humans will counterattack if provoked. If it just retreated, that’s a win for us.”

“I suppose so.”

The researcher nodded at Rolling’s answer.

Then she suddenly asked:

“By the way, Rolling, I’m curious about something.”

“What is it?”

“About that Jamsil monster. You’ve been consistently describing it as ‘having no hostility toward humans,’ but this is only its third appearance, and the total time of all appearances is barely 10 minutes. How can you be so certain that this monster ‘has no interest in humans’?”

Such a reckless statement might be understandable from an ordinary Hunter.

But coming from one of Korea’s representative Hunters…

…was that what she thought?

Of course, Rolling was somewhat aware of this herself. She was feeling an inexplicable “attachment” to a mere monster.

And for good reason.

Bang!

Ten years ago, on that day.

Owing her life to it was one thing.

But after everything was over, the Admiral had saluted the Jamsil monster with a karate punch despite not being able to communicate with it.

When the monster responded with the same karate punch, Rolling truly felt, if only for a moment, as if she were facing a human.

So… that seemed to be why she had made such a judgment.

“I apologize. It seems I made a mistake. There’s no way a monster could exist without hostility toward humans…”

“No, we don’t know that yet.”

At that moment.

The researcher interrupted Rolling’s self-reproach, actually affirming her statement.

Twirling her red front hair with her finger, she continued with interest:

“It might simply be undiscovered. Or perhaps history has recorded it incorrectly.”

“That’s… too much speculation.”

“Perhaps. But that doesn’t mean we can leave the Jamsil monster alone indefinitely.”

After finishing her words, the researcher leaned against the massive test tube behind her.

Rolling had momentarily forgotten about it because of the Jamsil monster, but she had accidentally discovered “that thing” when she entered the research wing today after a long time.

Rolling frowned at “that thing” which had been brought in without consulting her, despite her position as Deputy Director of the Korea Branch.

“Don’t make such a scary face, Rolling.”

“…Then Director, you need to explain immediately why something like that is in the basement of the Hunter Association building.”

“Sigh…”

The Research Director of the Korea Branch of the Hunter Association.

Also serving as the Branch Director, a narrow-eyed woman with hair half green in front and half red in back.

Lee Jin-ah, currently Korea’s only permanent National Authority-Level Hunter, felt Rolling’s sharp gaze that seemed ready to shatter the test tube behind her with a single misspoken word.

“Hmm…”

She moved away from the test tube to lean against the wall, intending to explain, but first let out another sigh.

“Director!”

“Yes, I understand. I’ll explain everything. First of all, we brought that in to strengthen our Korean branch’s capabilities.”

“…Director. Not for personal reasons?”

“Deputy Director Rolling. Don’t speak so harshly. This is all for national interest.”

After pausing, Jin-ah pulled out a cigarette from her researcher’s coat.

But Rolling’s face showed she was far from convinced.

No matter what abilities the Director possessed as a Hunter.

That thing was far too dangerous.

“Bringing in the corpse of ‘Cheonsa’ that died at Busan Port is insane!”

Between the two women, inside the massive test tube emitting green light…

Was the body of Cheonsa, the National Disaster-Level monster that nearly turned the entire Korean Peninsula into a sea of flames ten years ago.