Ch.54Chapter 54 – Airplane (1)

[Ladies and gentlemen, this is Captain Bae Seung-min speaking. I hope you’ve had a comfortable journey. Our aircraft is currently passing over Pennsylvania, and we expect to arrive at our destination, New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, in approximately 30 minutes. The local time is…]

The landing announcement echoed throughout the cabin. For Shin Jae-hyuk, who had been staring out the window with drowsy eyes, this was welcome news.

‘Finally, I can escape!’

The prospect of no longer having to listen to Mephisto’s chatter instantly drove away his sleepiness. Mephisto had been repeating the same questions for hours without sleeping—what food is delicious in New York, which tourist spots are good—already on his seventh repetition….

“Looks like we’re arriving soon.”

“Ugh~! I’m exhausted… I barely slept. I’m diving straight into bed when we get to the hotel.”

“Hey, you dropped your passport! Put it in your bag so you don’t lose it…”

Other passengers were also waking up at the captain’s announcement, drinking water or organizing their belongings. As the cabin grew busier, the broadcast continued.

[The local weather is slightly cloudy and the temperature is… Huh? Huh? *static*]

The captain suddenly stopped mid-announcement. The unexpected interruption confused not only the passengers but the flight attendants as well.

“What’s going on?”

“I’ll go check.”

This wasn’t a situation covered in their training manual. The senior flight attendant headed toward the cockpit to find out what was happening. Feeling uneasy, passengers peered over their seats, watching her walk away. The remaining flight attendants tried to reassure everyone.

“Everything’s fine. Please remain in your seats.”

“Why did the announcement cut off?”

“It seems there was a mistake with the microphone. The issue will be resolved shortly. We apologize for the inconvenience…”

Shortly after, the flight attendant who had entered the cockpit returned. Much to everyone’s dismay, her face was deathly pale. Forgetting the flight attendant’s protocol to always remain calm, she hurriedly approached the front row of first class. There sat Wilhelm Shon, the escort hunter. It was now mandatory for every flight to have one hunter on board to deal with potential flying monsters.

The flight attendant whispered something to him as he was reading a newspaper. The passengers couldn’t hear what she said, but it wasn’t difficult to guess what was happening from her urgent manner and frightened expression. Not difficult at all.

“I think there’s a monster…”

“What! They said the chances were lower than being struck by lightning…!”

Fear began to spread, starting with the first-class passengers closest to them. Fear is an emotion that spreads like wildfire. The news, exaggerated as it passed from mouth to mouth, soon reached business class.

“They say a swarm of monsters has appeared! They’re the size of cars? What are we going to do!”

“Are you serious? Dozens of them? Is that true?”

“Damn it, why did this have to happen on my flight!”

Fear of monsters that no one had actually seen gripped everyone’s hearts. The descriptions of these monsters, passed from person to person, became increasingly terrifying and grotesque. The unidentified monsters evolved into more frightening forms with each retelling.

The terrified passengers thought: at this rate, they’d be trapped in this metal prison and sent straight to meet the Grim Reaper. They had to do something.

Thinking it better to act than to sit and die, people frantically checked outside their windows, searching for monsters. At the very least, they wanted to know what was about to kill them. They strained their eyes, looking for any sign of life against the backdrop.

Thick clouds, then sky, then more clouds. Nothing was visible.

“…I don’t see any monsters. Can you see anything on your side?”

“No, nothing here either.”

It was the same for Shin Jae-hyuk. All he could see were dense clouds and sky. He tried to expand his spiritual sense to detect demonic energy, but nothing registered.

“…There’s nothing? Maybe it’s not a monster problem?”

Jae-hyuk looked curiously toward the front row. He could see Hunter Wilhelm, who had folded his newspaper and was seriously scanning the sky outside. Judging by his reaction, it seemed the captain had indeed spotted a monster. Jae-hyuk focused on reading the hunter’s lips.

“…Where is it?”

Where is it?

Even Jae-hyuk, who didn’t speak English, could understand that much. It seemed Wilhelm, like himself, couldn’t pinpoint the monster’s location. Confirming that it wasn’t just his imagination brought a wave of relief.

‘It must be outside my detection range. Maybe we just passed by it?’

Jae-hyuk thought this commotion might be nothing serious. Isn’t this the kind of thing that happens on flights? Sudden turbulence makes the plane shake violently as if it’s about to crash, then moments later everything is calm as if nothing happened. This incident might be no different….

Of course, ordinary passengers who couldn’t sense mana couldn’t reach the same conclusion as Jae-hyuk. Ignorance breeds fear. Fear breeds chaos.

“We’re all going to die! Shit, shit!”

“What should I do? I told my mom I’d call when we arrived…. I’m sorry. *sob* *sob*”

“Lord… lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil…”

When the chaos in the passenger cabin showed no signs of subsiding, the captain turned on the broadcast again to quell the rumors circulating among the passengers.

[This is Captain Bae Seung-min. I apologize for causing confusion. We have confirmed the appearance of an unidentified monster. Currently, the thick clouds make it difficult to determine its position, but fortunately, there is only one, and we have Hunter Wilhelm Shon on board as our escort hunter. We are now connecting with the control center to request assistance and gather more information, so please remain seated…]

The captain’s sincere plea had an effect. The response was dramatic. People gradually freed themselves from their exaggerated fears and began to calm down.

“It’s, it’s okay… There’s only one monster. It’s probably nothing. Right?”

“If they spotted it a few minutes ago and there’s been no attack, maybe the monster just passed by without noticing us?”

“I guess so… Thank goodness…”

“HOLY SHIT! FIREBALL!!”

A scream cut through the relieved murmurs. All eyes turned toward it. To the window. It was exactly as the voice had said.

A fireball was hurtling toward the plane.

“Wh-what is that?!”

“D-danger!”

The size was alarmingly large. It was obvious what would happen if it hit the plane. While everyone froze in shock at the sudden attack, the captain spotted it just in time.

[…so please don’t panic and QUICK TURN THE HANDLE-!!!!]

The aircraft twisted sharply. The plane tilted steeply to one side. The deadly fireball grazed just beneath the wing.

The aircraft shook violently. Passengers who had narrowly escaped death screamed. Even the flight attendants were in a panic, trembling. Some bravely tried to calm the passengers and prevent chaos, but they couldn’t hide the fear evident on their faces.

As everyone fell into terror, the captain broadcast with a shaking voice:

[Do-don’t worry, ladies and gentlemen! Hunter Wilhelm is a B-rank hunter who has passed the Association’s tests and obtained a first-class aircraft escort knight certification. He’s a veteran…]

That’s right! The escort hunter! Everyone’s eyes turned toward first class—the location of the only savior who could resolve this situation. In their gaze, Wilhelm was glaring out the window.

‘Where is it?’

But glaring changed nothing. The monster still wasn’t registering within his detection range. Was it attacking from an ultra-long distance beyond his spiritual sense? No. Wilhelm had felt mana gathering just before the attack. He couldn’t have mistaken that slimy energy unique to monsters. If that was the case, there was only one possibility.

‘Mana concealment ability…!’

Like the veteran hunter he was, he approached the truth after just one attack, but he wasn’t happy about it. Wilhelm gritted his teeth, feeling dismayed. The clouds were already limiting visibility, and to make matters worse, the enemy had stealth capabilities… The situation was very bad.

But he couldn’t just sit there waiting for the enemy to attack. He needed to apply at least minimal pressure. So that’s what he did.

Mana condensed outside the airplane window. Wilhelm’s skill, Lightning Arrow. The mana crystallized into six separate bolts, taking the form of electricity as Wilhelm intended. Front, back, left, right, up, down—one in each direction. Six lightning arrows flew out.

Sure enough, there was a reaction. The clouds momentarily writhed unnaturally, and something within them darted away to avoid the lightning. There was about a 0.8-second delay before the demon’s protective coloration took effect, and that interval was enough time for a B-rank hunter to capture the monster’s outline.

“Gotcha-!”

Wilhelm pulled at the air as if drawing a bowstring, then released. Lightning appeared out of nowhere in the empty sky outside the plane and shot forward. Wilhelm was confident. His skills were advantageous for long-range attacks, and he also possessed the achievement <Marksman>. The synergy between the two was excellent. Once he had locked onto a target, there was no way he would miss…

The pterosaur nimbly navigated through the clouds, dodging arrows left and right. But no matter how accustomed it was to flying, it couldn’t avoid all the incoming attacks—especially when each trajectory was corrected by the system.

Eventually, one lightning bolt hit its wing. Wilhelm’s face lit up with excitement. But it quickly darkened.

“What the fuck..!”

The pterosaur was far too unaffected. It flinched momentarily, then continued flapping its wings as if nothing had happened. Because truly, nothing had happened. No matter how much of a mob monster it was, it had emerged from an S-rank gate. It wouldn’t be damaged by a mere B-rank hunter’s attack.

Wilhelm had no way of knowing which gate the pterosaur had come from, or what had caused this situation. Still, he had plenty of similar experiences. Wilhelm was a veteran who had faced monsters stronger than himself many times during gate raids. He gritted his teeth. If one hit wasn’t enough, then two; if two weren’t enough, then three would do the trick…

Drawing up his mana, Wilhelm fired arrows indiscriminately at his opponent. Though the accuracy of each individual shot decreased, the sheer volume meant more hits landed. There was still no significant damage, but Wilhelm believed electricity was steadily accumulating inside the monster’s body. Eventually, all that stored electricity would discharge at once, causing major damage.

The demon didn’t wait patiently. After circling the plane in a 360-degree evasive flight, the demon opened its grotesque beak and gathered demonic energy in its mouth. Like a monster charging an energy ball in a game, a fireball formed in its mouth, and once fully charged, it shot toward the plane in an instant. It was too fast to dodge.

“Shit-!”

[Right! Right! No, the engine-!]

The trajectory was terrifyingly precise. The captain screamed as he predicted the target point. At this rate, the plane’s wing and engine would be damaged. That meant a crash.

Wilhelm fired arrows to intercept the fireball. But the fireball broke through the lightning net with alarming ease.

As Wilhelm watched in shock, the fireball approached within striking distance. It would hit directly in seconds. Wilhelm stared at the fireball in despair, sensing the end was near.

That’s when it happened.

“..?!”

A translucent wall suddenly formed in midair, blocking the fireball. It appeared and disappeared so quickly that others didn’t seem to notice, but the B-rank marksman’s keen eyes caught the fleeting moment. Wilhelm guessed what the phenomenon was.

“Barrier skill..!”

Was there another hunter in the passenger cabin? There was no time to ponder. Grateful for the help, Wilhelm unleashed his mana at full power. A dozen lightning bolts flew toward the pterosaur monster, which had revealed itself after the attack, and half of them struck its body directly.

The pterosaur seemed to falter momentarily, then flapped its wings again.