Ch.81Resolve of Pitch Black

“We need to stop this right now!”

“Huh? Looks like Shinwoo is doing your job for you. What are you suddenly talking about?”

“This incident can’t be resolved just by being good at fighting!”

Han Jaewon was sweating profusely inside the submarine as he watched the monster from Jamsil land on the Triads’ warship.

“Originally, this mission was just about cleanly taking care of those Triad members disguised as Chinese military. But if he charges in recklessly like that, the Korean military will suffer casualties whether we like it or not.”

“So you’re saying this could turn into a naval battle between Korea and China?”

“That’s what happened in the actual history. That’s why I came to prevent it. The monster was supposed to appear right in the middle of the Triad members!”

If they started firing shells at each other trying to catch Han Shinwoo…

Some of those shells might miss the monster and hit Korean warships.

Han Jaewon was about to open the hatch and transform into a monster himself to quickly deal with the Triad members.

However…

“Really? But Shinwoo seems to be handling it just fine on his own.”

“…What?”

As expected, the Triad warships began firing shells in all directions to catch the pitch-black monster.

But whether by coincidence or not, Han Jaewon’s urgent expression turned to bewilderment as he watched every single shell miss the Korean warships and fall into the sea.

“…Huh?”

***

The sub-quest “Chinese Forces in Korea Incident” was originally supposed to start from the Korea Strait.

Because of that, in the original work, the map was much more complex than the current situation where Chinese ships and Korean warships were facing each other with the Chinese vessels surrounded.

And this quest had something called special points.

[Korean Side Damage Rate: 0%]

In the game, this would show the damage rate to Korean naval forces, and the closer it was to 0%, the rarer items you would receive.

But now this was reality, not a game.

Even if no damage was done to the Korean side, there wouldn’t be any items received.

‘Still, I can’t let those guys who answered their country’s call become casualties.’

Having been injured during my military service, I couldn’t ignore this.

Although the military in “Hunter’s Blood” supposedly treats soldiers much better than the real military, that’s beside the point.

‘I need to raise Korea’s military prestige!’

Who am I?

I’m a veteran player who cleared not just the naval CG but all the minor challenges too.

I was the one who figured out how to complete the Chinese Forces in Korea Incident quest with 0% damage to the Korean side.

In other words, the current situation, which is easier than the original, is nothing to me.

“M-monster…!”

“Aaaaargh?!”

As in the original, the Triad members came on a total of 10 warships.

They were arranged in 5 rows with two ships each, moving back and forth.

I jumped onto the deck of the middle ship in the very back row to start the battle.

“Graaaaaaah!”

“Eeeek?!”

“H-ha! A Korean monster like you is nothing…!”

Typical Chinese yakuza.

At first, they attacked using QBZ series assault rifles like the Chinese military would.

But after I quickly took out about half the crew on the deck while taking bullets, they seemed eager to show their true colors.

They threw away their guns and started trying to stab me with sashimi knives and katanas like they normally would.

“D-die! You bastard!”

“Drop dead!”

But.

Clang.

“Huh?”

“…What?”

Right, I’m a monster now.

They probably thought their blades would work well if they were made of ‘monster-grade equipment.’

Unfortunately for them.

Crack!

“Ugh, aaargh!”

“Grrrr…!”

If this kind of thing hurt me, I wouldn’t be classified as National Disaster-Level in the first place.

“Graaaaaaah!!”

‘Your equipment is Chinese-made anyway! You fools!’

Bang!

After covering the entire deck in blood and killing about 90% of the ship’s crew, I raised my clasped hands high and slammed them down onto the floor.

The completely wrecked warship began to sink deep into the sea.

“U-uwaah?!”

“It’s coming this way!”

Taking advantage of the moment, I landed on the deck of the ship positioned to the left.

“F-fire the shells!”

“?! But our guys are still…”

“Damn it! Just fire!”

Now the bites were starting to come.

‘Just as expected.’

The reason I deliberately killed the crew on the deck first instead of destroying the ship right away was for this purpose.

To instill fear.

In the original “Hunter’s Blood,” if you just sank the ships without eliminating a certain number of Triad members…

They would fire shells at the Korean side, complaining why the Korean marines weren’t helping them—turning the tables in the most absurd way.

Bang! Boom!

“You crazy bastards!”

“We’re on the same side!”

That’s also why I targeted the ships from the back first.

If the Triad members started friendly fire while I was at the front, shell fragments might have flown toward the Korean warships that were facing the Chinese side.

In fact, when I was first playing through “Hunter’s Blood,” I hit that astronomically low probability several times and ended with a 1% damage rate.

‘And now this is reality, so there’s no replay option!’

Countless shells rained down on me under the night sky as they tried to kill me.

Boom boom boom!

In an instant, another ship sank, friendly fire be damned.

“Did we get it?!”

The Triad members smiled brightly as they looked at the smoldering corpses of their comrades.

“Kekeke!”

“Uh, uhhh?!”

“Kyaaaaaaah!”

No matter how trashy they are, aren’t comrades supposed to be close?

How truly garbage can these guys be?

I revealed myself on the third ship by clapping my hands around the head of a Triad member who was snickering at the sight of his comrades’ bodies floating on the sea.

“I-it’s him!”

“He survived that bombardment?!”

“W-wait, wait! Hold on!”

Without giving them time to be surprised, the deck of the third ship quickly changed from the team doing the friendly fire to the team receiving it.

The surrounding allied ships wasted no time firing countless shells in this direction too.

Boom boom boom!

“B-but we’re comrades!”

I helped things along by using my hands to smash the deck, making the ship sink faster.

***

In the command room of the warship positioned at the front center of the Triad fleet, closest to the Korean warships…

Laohui Zhaodong was taking a heroic nap amid the roar of shells when a soldier rushed in frantically.

“Boss! Wake up! Something terrible has happened!”

“Mmm… what is it?”

“T-that! A black monster appeared on the deck of our fleet and…!”

“It’s just a monster from a small country… Can’t the great nation’s problem-solvers handle one of those?”

“W-well, about that…”

“B-boss…!!”

At that moment.

Another subordinate appeared, dragging his backward-bent legs, his entire body soaked in blood and seawater.

“P-please save me…!”

“?! Why do you look like that?”

“W-we’ve been wiped out! Because of that monster… e-everyone’s been wiped out!”

“……What?”

Our great nation’s problem-solvers were annihilated by a small country’s monster?

“What’s the damage situation?”

“T-that…!”

“Currently, all warships in the rear formation have sunk.”

“And you came from those rear ships?”

“Yes, t-that’s right! I somehow managed to survive that hell by desperately…”

Bang!

However, before the Triad foot soldier could finish speaking, his head was grabbed and exploded.

“You dare call yourself a man of the great nation…”

“……!”

“And come back after being defeated by a creature from a small country?!”

This is why we need to teach the Japanese seppuku culture to these young rookies.

At least that way, they die with honor.

Laohui was no longer laughing cheerfully like before.

With a frown so severe it made even his subordinates tremble, he strode up to the deck and looked around at the sea of flames, shouting:

“Where are the great warriors of China?!”

“””W-we’re here!!”””

“…?! The rest! Where are the rest?!”

The only ones who responded to his thunderous voice were the men from his own ship.

There was no answer from any of the surrounding ships.

…No.

“T-this is all of us!”

“……What?”

It wasn’t that no answer came—this was the entire answer.

During that short nap he took until they reached Korean waters, despite using warships from World War II, the only ship remaining in the fleet was the one he was standing on.

“All of them… sank?”

“Yes, th-that’s right…”

Laohui turned to look forward.

Across the water, the faces of the Korean marines looked just as dumbfounded as his subordinates.

They just stared in this direction as if they couldn’t believe what they were seeing.

‘Damn it! …In that case, should I just charge into the middle of the Korean warships and create a scene of fighting together?!’

What the hell were these underlings doing while the fleet was being reduced to this sorry state?!

With that thought, Laohui started walking toward the control room, intending to force his way through and charge their ship into the midst of the Korean warships.

But since I wasn’t the type of veteran player to rule out that possibility…

Boom!

The moment Laohui turned his back.

“Eek?!”

“It’s him!”

“Hooh…”

The pitch-black monster jumped from the top of a sinking ship and landed on the deck of the last warship.

Upon discovering it, Laohui stopped his anger and turned to face the creature with a smirk.

For good reason—the monster was humanoid.

It was the optimal opponent for him to play with better than anything else.

“Was it you? The one who killed my precious subordinates.”

“……”

“No words necessary. Very well, I’ll kill you right here.”

Grin.

“Then from now on…”

“…?!”

“I’ll create my domain.”

With a confident expression, Laohui first cleanly sliced the necks of all his subordinates gathered behind him with a single gesture, completing his preparation.