Chapter 37 King of Wolves, Explosive Wolf

Red Gate.

A Red Gate is an extremely dangerous gate in the high-risk category, with difficulty starting at minimum A-class and reaching up to SS-class.
If you fall into such a gate, naturally there’s no chance of survival, but if you still want to survive, cooperation is not an option but a necessity.

However, at this moment, I couldn’t help but be confused by a quite unexpected situation.

An Se-ah, who was sucked into the gate along with me and Park Jin-ha.

It was because An Se-ah was now regarding me and Park Jin-ha with extreme wariness.

Growl.

Despite clearly having the appearance of a girl, An Se-ah before my eyes was making beast-like sounds.

Moreover, there had been some changes in An Se-ah’s appearance as she watched me warily.

An Se-ah’s golden hair with a reddish tinge had changed to a brilliant silver.

Additionally, the small beast-person ears and tail that were slightly visible before had become even more distinct and larger.

Also, in the dark cave, her eyes were emitting a yellow glow.

Overall, a sense of wildness was strongly emanating from her.

It was the appearance of activating the [Beast Transformation] skill.

It seemed that right now, me and Park Jin-ha were being regarded with suspicion, and it would be difficult to easily obtain cooperation.

“Si-woo. That person An Se-ah, it seems she’s a genetically modified hunter, isn’t she?”

“Jin-ha. You knew about this too?”

“Yes… I know a little.”

The transformation from golden hair to silver hair, plus the beast-like sounds.

Seeing the animal-like behavior, we could easily tell that An Se-ah was a genetically modified hunter.

I was a bit surprised that Park Jin-ha knew this, but Park Jin-ha is an S-class hunter in her own right, so it wasn’t that strange for her to know.

Artificial animal-type hunters created by the [Witch’s Temptation] guild, also called genetically modified hunters.

It’s an ability created by injecting skills developed by the Witch Min Seo-jin, which is why Min Seo-jin is called a witch.

Hunters created by the Witch Min Seo-jin in this way gain animal abilities and senses, and can fully utilize them in combat.

However, it’s not just advantages.

In exchange for such animal physical abilities and senses, genetically modified hunters bear a painful risk.

That is, they become more faithful to instinct than reason, and they cannot speak human language.

In other words, they have tremendously increased strength, but decreased intelligence.

Also, they’re not very cooperative, so they’re not very welcome in parties with other hunters.

But still, the merits are clear, so genetically modified hunters have their pros and cons.

“She’ll certainly be uncooperative with us, right?”

“There’s a high possibility of that.”

But right now, the disadvantages are too painful for us.

We felt worried looking at An Se-ah who wouldn’t lower her guard against us.

After all, in this situation of being trapped in a Red Gate, cooperation was an essential element.

“Well, I’ll try talking to her first.”

“Will that be okay?”

“Yeah. Despite how I look, I’ve been popular with dogs since I was young.”

First, I needed to maximize cooperation.

To increase our chances of survival, even if just a little.

I smiled at Park Jin-ha who was worried about me.

“Of all times for me to be injured… ugh…”

“Don’t push yourself. Just lie down.”

“… Yes… I’ll rest for a bit.”

Park Jin-ha apologized to me once more while clutching her painful leg.

After reassuring Park Jin-ha, I slowly approached An Se-ah.

“Hey… is it okay if we talk?”

I gently tried to speak to An Se-ah.

Growl…!

An Se-ah was still hostile towards me, but we had no reason to be hostile in this situation.

I just asked in case there was something uncomfortable, and thought if An Se-ah was wary of me, there must be a misunderstanding.

So I approached to clear up any misunderstanding.

Stealthily.

I approached An Se-ah one step at a time.

When the distance between An Se-ah and me became a span closer, my hand was not very welcome.

Chomp.

I reached out my hand to An Se-ah.

But An Se-ah bit my hand while showing her sharp fangs.

“Aah…!”

I forcibly pulled away from An Se-ah.

Honestly, it didn’t hurt that much.

I don’t know if it’s because I have the Hero’s body, but I was fine.

However, right now I’m very bewildered.

Biting someone’s hand out of nowhere, I was dumbfounded by An Se-ah’s attitude.

She seems to be quite a violent beast girl.

“Don’t try to touch me freely, you human…!”

“Huh?”

An Se-ah, who finally let go of my hand, didn’t lose her guard against me as she moved far away.

And with sharp eyes wide open, she began to speak in a rough tone.

She speaks?

I watched An Se-ah speaking with surprised eyes.

“How dare a lowly human try to touch the king of wolves, how impertinent!”

She glared at me with her ears and tail standing straight up, as if she was very angry at me.

I didn’t mishear.

An Se-ah definitely spoke human language.

“You can speak human language? That’s really amazing.”

“Hmph. For a genius wolf like me, speaking the lowly human language is easier than eating cold porridge.”

I couldn’t help but be very surprised at this situation.

I was honestly surprised that An Se-ah was hostile to me.

That wasn’t the only surprising thing, but the real reason I was surprised was because the An Se-ah in front of me right now could speak.

I thought An Se-ah wouldn’t be able to speak.

A human born through genetic modification.

Usually, humans born through genetic modification are close to impossible to speak.

Because in exchange for gaining animal physical abilities, they become more faithful to instinct and lose intelligence.

That’s why among hunters, this genetic modification is called a double-edged sword.

But in An Se-ah’s case, she definitely seemed to have reason.

Originally, genetically modified hunters are literally beasts themselves.

They absolutely cannot have even light conversations like this.

When I was at [Frozen Heart], I heard that Min Seo-jin’s research was gradually improving.

That statement was not false, it seems.

Min Seo-jin of Witch’s Temptation seems to have done quite a lot of research.

A person who has the intelligence to speak and yet has the power of an S-class hunter.

I don’t know whether Min Seo-jin’s research is amazing or if An Se-ah’s ability is amazing.

But as someone who knows about genetic modification, this situation was quite admirable.

But anyway, I had to stop admiring.

Now was not the time for me to be in awe.

“Haha. I see. So are you An Se-ah?”

“That’s right.”

“Well, since we need to clear the gate anyway, would you like to accompany us?”

What’s important to us right now is breaking through the Red Gate.

I smiled at An Se-ah and requested her companionship.

If we can communicate, the story is simple.

Now is the time to join forces.

If An Se-ah wants to live too, there’s nothing bad for her.

Also, being able to speak is proof that she can think rationally enough, so I expected a positive answer.

But.

“No.”

An Se-ah rejected my proposal.

With a sulky face, she went “Hmph” and turned her head away.

I became slightly bewildered by the blunt attitude and blunt speech.

“Hmm… why not?”

“As is well known, wolves are solitary! Walking with a lowly human like you would shame my reputation as the Explosive Wolf.”

I asked An Se-ah as if coaxing a child.

An Se-ah continued to speak to me as if it was very obvious.

An Se-ah was growling at me and angrily refusing.

Hearing those words, I couldn’t understand at all, but if you think of her as a child with severe middle school syndrome, it wasn’t that strange.

No, rather than middle school syndrome, it might be closer to a young child throwing a tantrum.

It seems that while An Se-ah has intelligence, her mental age is somewhat young.

But wolves are supposed to be solitary…?

Are wolves solitary?

I wondered if she knew wolves are originally animals that live in packs when she said such a thing, but it wasn’t particularly important.

I’m not an asocial person, and I don’t want to nitpick about such things.

“Hmm…”

Anyway, cooperation was rejected.

I found this situation a bit awkward.

I thought about trying to persuade her again, but it didn’t seem like it would work.

An Se-ah’s attitude of glaring at me with wide eyes was too hostile, and it didn’t seem like persuasion would resolve anything.

So I gave up on persuasion, and now it’s the next problem.

“Then what are you going to do about clearing this gate?”

I asked An Se-ah what she would do if she wouldn’t cooperate.

But I don’t have any expectations.

She naturally wouldn’t have a plan, but I’m asking just in case.

“Hmph. Isn’t it obvious?”

At my words, An Se-ah continued speaking as if it was very obvious.

“Lowly human. You wait here. I’ll clear this gate by myself!”

And with a grin, she ran towards the inside of the gate.

“Well… okay. Go for it!”

As expected, she had no plan.

But it was fine with me.

Since she spoke so confidently, would she be okay alone?

I cheered for An Se-ah as she left.