Ch.68The Savior in the Flames

“Ugh, aaah!”

Splash.

“P-please, save me…!”

Slash.

“Everyone, run away quickly…”

Zap.

When it leaped into the middle of downtown, the once lively voices of Seoul disappeared in an instant.

All that could be heard now were screams and monstrous howls.

In a sea of blood reminiscent of hell on earth, the cyborgified monster was simply slaughtering people, driven by instinct.

But there was something strange about its behavior.

“Save me…!”

“You, why, is, your, body, like, that…?”

“Huh?!”

“Are, you, a, beauty? Why, try, to, be, pretty?”

Pretty women.

Men with good physiques.

Women and men who looked wealthy.

And other Koreans who tried to be at the top of their respective fields.

It killed them all without mercy.

But when it encountered foreigners or Koreans who were clearly below average…

“…Pfft!”

It gave foreigners a kind smile.

Conversely, it just snorted at the below-average Koreans with contempt before actually letting them live.

“What the hell is that thing?”

The Hunters who had responded to this inexplicable cyborg monster were all equally confused by its behavior.

A monster that selectively killed people?

Such a case had never been heard of, let alone recorded.

Judging by its slurred speech, it didn’t seem intelligent enough to communicate fluently with humans.

“Either way, that thing has completely destroyed Hongdae!”

How should they deal with this?

While the Hunters were struggling to figure out a strategy, there was one man.

A man who was helping evacuate the survivors filtered out by the cyborg monster, glaring fiercely at the creature as it moved farther away.

A-rank Hunter Joo Sangho, famous for his uncontrolled anger toward anything that harmed humanity regardless of who they were, pulled out the spear from his back, his fighting spirit burning as fiercely as his red hair.

Then he charged straight at the cyborg monster that was about to embark on its next massacre.

“People aren’t menu items for you to choose from! You think it’s okay to pick and choose who you kill?!”

***

“To think the monster they were trying to control was none other than the Nightmare of California. They brought something truly terrifying to Korea.”

At the top floor of the Korean Hunter Association.

Branch Director Lee Jin-ah was simply monitoring the current bloodbath situation in Hongdae in real-time.

“Should I step in?”

Lancelot, who had suddenly appeared from Jin-ah’s shadow, asked while gripping the holy sword at his waist.

“It’s fine, Lancelot. Just stay put.”

Jin-ah remained calm.

Rather than allowing the holy knight to intervene to protect people, she stopped him, leaning back in her chair as if timing something, tapping her fingers.

Then she explained:

“I’m planning to use this to put the United States further in our debt.”

“In debt to us?”

“Yes. That cyborg monster is clearly a disaster artificially brought from America. Korea is currently suffering massive casualties due to America’s ‘mistake,’ right?”

“…! Jin-ah, you don’t mean…?!”

Yes.

Just as Lancelot had feared, this was all part of Lee Jin-ah’s plan, who was one step ahead of Donzo Mykree.

“You knew this would happen?”

“Of course. After all, I personally directed that Monster Weaponization Project as team leader during my time in the United States.”

“…! How did you make the monster go berserk?”

“It’s simple. The Monster Weaponization Project—honestly, it had a fancy name but was essentially a hopeless project.”

A project to weaponize dead monsters using only human science.

Jin-ah had secretly laughed countless times at their efforts to make what was essentially science fiction a reality.

Then there was one specimen that seemed likely to fail due to decay, but American researchers were overly optimistic about it as their last hope.

The Nightmare of California – Alien Beth.

‘Hmm… this one might be useful.’

Of course, with current technology, this specimen would also end up in the trash soon.

But Jin-ah had a good idea.

‘The more insurance, the better.’

By that time, Jin-ah was already showing signs of being forced out of the United States.

So, just in case it might be useful later…

Jin-ah deliberately revived the Nightmare of California with her ability when it should have been discarded during the experiment, pretending the experiment had succeeded.

At the same time, she gave up control over the creature in exchange for not managing it.

“It was meant to be a suicide weapon, but I never dreamed I’d encounter it here.”

“Is there no way to control it?”

“No. In exchange, I set it up to move as if it were alive without my management. But its lifespan won’t be long. I set it to last at most 24 hours.”

“Hmm…”

Lancelot could at least take comfort in the fact that it had such a short lifespan.

The problem was that this mayfly was a National Disaster-Level monster from the United States.

“At least tens of thousands will die…”

This was the monster that had turned one-tenth of California, which is larger than Korea, into a sea of fire.

There would certainly be numerous casualties this time as well.

But as if that was exactly what she had aimed for, Jin-ah smiled and said:

“The estimated death toll is approximately under 50,000.”

“……”

“In exchange, we gain America’s apology and aid.”

“Hmm…”

“Between 50,000 lives and relations with the United States, the latter is obviously more valuable, don’t you think?”

As if placing two objects on a scale.

Having completed her calculation, Jin-ah simply continued to monitor the Nightmare of California in real-time with a smile.

…If there was one thing that bothered her:

‘Why does it seem to be selectively killing people?’

The creature’s behavior.

That behavior was almost like…

“…Lee Heejeong?”

The food she had painstakingly provided to wake it up after about 50 years.

It looked exactly like it was acting out the posts Lee Heejeong had written on community forums.

***

“Everyone please follow the instructions of the Hunters and soldiers!”

“Do not enter the downtown area under any circumstances!”

Back at the scene.

It had been over 30 minutes since the Nightmare of California appeared.

Outside the Hongdae area, soldiers and Hunters were working together to quickly evacuate civilians from the streets.

“Is it impossible to counterattack with tanks or missiles?”

“Yes. Unfortunately, orders from above state that Hongdae is a famous Korean tourist spot, so we need to recapture it while preserving it as much as possible. Heavy equipment support is virtually impossible.”

“What? So we have to fight it directly?!”

“Yes…”

The soldiers were loading monster-specific ammunition.

The Hunters were also taking out weapons suited to their individual abilities, but…

‘They want us to take down that thing…?’

‘I happened to see that monster up close…’

‘None of our attacks had any effect on it!’

Due to the nature of their profession, Hunters were typically the first to engage monsters before soldiers.

The Hunters who had already ventured into Hongdae recalled the monster’s strength.

They were terrified, remembering how everything they shot or swung at it only produced a sharp “clang!” before cleanly slicing everything around it in half.

And to make matters worse…

“Medic! Is there a Medic Hunter anywhere?!”

The person being carefully carried out among the civilians by some Hunters…

Seeing him, everyone—both Hunters and soldiers—who had been about to re-enter the area froze in place.

“M-Mr. Joo Sangho!”

“Senior!”

The person being carried out on a stretcher, covered in blood, was none other than Korea’s A-rank Hunter, Joo Sangho.

It was unclear how he had been injured.

There were countless clean cuts all over his body, and his face seemed particularly severely damaged.

It looked as if he had been the victim of a revenge crime committed by a “person.”

“W-what should we do…!”

“Medic! Bring treatment supplies quickly!!”

Hunters with healing abilities and medics rushed frantically to Joo Sangho, who was on the verge of death.

He needed to be anesthetized and given full medical attention immediately.

But just before the syringe was inserted for anesthesia…

“Don’t… go… in…!”

Joo Sangho suddenly opened his eyes and grabbed the arm of one of his juniors.

“Senior?!”

“Ah, ugh, ah…!”

With his lips torn apart, he could barely speak!

As if he had something more important to say before treatment, he wouldn’t let go of the arm, so his junior had no choice but to lean closer.

Then came a strained voice:

“That… thing… is… human…”

“…What?!”

“Not… a… monster…!”

“What are you saying? Senior, senior?!”

It clearly looked like a monster.

With these incomprehensible words, Joo Sangho lost consciousness before he could explain everything.

Meanwhile, deep in the center of Hongdae, far from the increasingly confused outskirts…

“Everyone, come this way.”

“Ah, yes!”

“Thank you, Hunter.”

In the heart of Hongdae, which had long since become a sea of fire, there were still many civilians who hadn’t evacuated in time and were just waiting for death.

In that place, there was a single Hunter leading people and quickly rescuing them.

Despite orders from above to retreat having been issued long ago, she stubbornly remained, still extending a helping hand to the powerless people.

“Sis… are we all going to die?”

“No, of course not.”

The Hunter with flowing gray hair was clearing a path for people to escape through the dangerous flames.

C-rank Hunter Yoo Cheran, just as she had been saved that day…

She was still rescuing people in a battlefield that a C-rank Hunter should have left long ago, determined to save the weak and powerless just as she had been saved.

“I’ll save all of you. So don’t worry, let’s all get out of here alive.”

“…! Okay!”