Chapter 79 – Day 79

Day 79

“Something… the atmosphere has changed a lot.”

Cheon Seoa muttered, looking around after arriving at the Korean Hero Association building.

If the Hero Association building of the past had a strong feeling of being a resting place for heroes.
Now, the current Hero Association building feels like…

“It has a stronger atmosphere of a hunting ground.”

To be more precise, it would be correct to call it a space for hunters looking for prey.

Listening to the conversations of heroes equipped with gear created by technology that has advanced over the past 10 years, there was a high proportion of discussions like ‘A strange creature has appeared in such and such place’ or ‘I’m going to catch the strange creature in such and such place’.

Strange creatures.
This term refers to the monsters that began appearing 10 years ago, and it was given this name because their origins were based on various ghost stories and urban legends.

The name of the strange creature that Cheon Seoa caught last night was Red Mask.

It was one of the ghost stories that was popular a few years ago, especially among young children.

It would suddenly appear and ask, “Am I pretty?” If you answered “Yes, you’re pretty” to that question, it would take off its mask to show its torn mouth and say it would make you just like itself.

Or if you said “You’re not pretty,” it would become angry and again say it would make you just like itself by tearing your mouth.

Of course, when it only existed as a ‘ghost story’, there were ways to deal with it.

Red Mask hates pomade, so you apply pomade.
Red Mask hates dogs, so you walk with a dog or run towards where dogs are. Or you write the Chinese character for dog (犬) on the back of your hand.
Red Mask hates high places, so you escape to the second floor or higher… and so on.

However, now that such ghost stories have become reality, it’s different.

Of course, it would be nice if the countermeasures that worked when it was just a ghost story still worked, but these are essentially ‘beasts’.
In other words, they are beings born from the influence of foreign gods. They are not beings that such simple countermeasures would work on.

The fact that the abilities of superhumans work on them is like a ray of hope in this current Earth where ghost stories have become reality.

At least, even if they can’t be completely sealed or annihilated, they can be ‘exorcised’.

Well, thanks to that….

“Although it’s inconvenient that we have to get our hero licenses again.”

Cheon Seoa muttered as if whispering.

Of course, for the hero profession.
If one were to only engage in activities like defeating villains, there wasn’t really a need to get a new license.

Getting a new hero license essentially meant transitioning to become a ‘monster hunter’.

However, as a result, the ratio between ‘typical heroes’ and ‘monster hunters’ became about 3:7.

It was an undeniable fact that the monster hunter side was a bit more lucrative.

As Cheon Seoa was observing the somewhat changed atmosphere inside the Hero Association building for a while.

Eaeaeaeaeaeaeng-!

Suddenly, a siren began to blare inside the Hero Association building.
At that, the expressions of the heroes moving around inside the building hardened…

“What’s happening?”

“Huh…?”

Feeling puzzled by the sudden siren sound and the changed atmosphere among the heroes, Cheon Seoa asks a question to a nearby hero.

The hero who received Cheon Seoa’s question looked at her with eyes that seemed to say, ‘You’re a hero too, and you don’t know what this siren means?’, but Cheon Seoa just looked back at them as if it was no big deal.

What’s so wrong about asking about something you don’t know?

“This siren sounds when a ‘disaster-level’ monster appears.”

“Disaster-level monster?”

“It refers to monsters that, once they appear, have a high possibility of spreading damage on a large city scale.”

“Ah, I see.”

At the other’s answer, Cheon Seoa nodded as if she finally understood.

At the same time, she also understood why these people were so tense.

Certainly, if the damage caused by a single entity could be on the scale of a large city, it was somewhat understandable why they were so tense.

However.

“What kind of ghost story or urban legend could cause that much damage?”

“That’s what we’re about to find out.”

With those final words, the hero who had been answering Cheon Seoa’s questions had suddenly disappeared.

Either they had fled, or gone hunting.

The reason for their disappearance was likely one of those two.

However, it wasn’t just that hero who had quietly disappeared after answering Cheon Seoa’s question.

At some point, most of the heroes who had been bustling around had quietly vanished.

They too had either fled from the disaster-level anomaly or gone to hunt it down.

Seeing their actions, Cheon Seoa also.

“This should be interesting.”

Muttering that, she moved to observe the disaster-level anomaly that had appeared somewhere in Seoul.

* * *

Gangnam Station, located in Gangnam, Seoul.
The place that should have been bustling with countless people was now so empty that not even an ant could be seen.

This was because a disaster-level anomaly had suddenly appeared at that very Gangnam Station.

The name of the disaster-level anomaly that appeared at Gangnam Station this time was the Black Blood Tiger.

It was a giant tiger whose fur covering its entire body and the blood flowing through it were as dark as darkness, hence the word ‘Black Blood’ in its name.

However, one should not underestimate a tiger.

Usually, monsters related to ‘tigers’ do not appear alone.
Although the numbers may vary, tiger-type monsters always appear with at least a few, and sometimes up to dozens of ‘window ghosts’ each time they show up.

And this time, the Black Blood Great Tiger, true to its disaster-level monster characteristics…

“Damn, there’s a hell of a lot of them.”

A man holding a sharp sword in one hand clicked his tongue and said.

He was a Grade 2 monster hunter dispatched to hunt the Black Blood Great Tiger, and his strength was comparable to that of a hero of the same rank.

The number of window ghosts that caught his eye was easily in the hundreds.
The problem is that this isn’t even all of the window ghosts.

The target Black Blood Great Tiger isn’t even in sight, but hundreds and thousands of window ghosts are rampaging all over Gangnam Station…

“This is going to cause severe damage.”

Swoosh-.

The man muttered as he swung his sword.

The swinging sword was wrapped in blazing flames, and the window ghosts engulfed by these flames melted away without a trace.

However, even if he melted several window ghosts with one swing, in the blink of an eye, many times more window ghosts filled the empty spaces.

As a result, the monster hunters were in a situation where they couldn’t readily enter Gangnam Station.

Meanwhile, Cheon Seoa, who was watching this scene.

“Hmm.”

She let out a strange laugh as she looked at the window ghosts rampaging inside Gangnam Station.

Somehow, it felt strangely familiar.

“It seems they’ve been influenced by the beast as well.”

The moment Cheon Seoa muttered those words and took a step forward.
In an instant, Cheon Seoa’s figure appeared inside Gangnam Station, traversing space itself.

“Now, where is the Black Blood Tiger?”

The Black Blood Tiger, which had caused this situation, was located in the deepest part of Gangnam Station.
Having pinpointed the location of the Black Blood Tiger, the protagonist advanced one step at a time.

As if to block Cheon Seoa’s path, hundreds and thousands of window ghosts rose and charged at her, but it was futile.

“For window ghosts, window ghosts would be best, right?”

Flash-.

A gloomy black light flickered in Cheon Seoa’s eyes, and suddenly her eyes changed.

Cheon Seoa’s eyes transformed, resembling those of a tiger.
Simultaneously, ‘window ghosts’ made of gloomy darkness rose around Cheon Seoa.

Cheon Seoa looked over the window ghosts rising as if to protect her and said.

All of you.

“Devour them all.”

Shaaaah-!

As soon as Cheon Seoa’s order fell, hundreds of black window ghosts spread out in all directions.

The window ghosts created by the Black Blood Tiger were momentarily bewildered, but soon they charged towards the black window ghosts rushing at them, biting and clawing in combat.

Black and blue window ghosts tangled in fierce battle all around.

Cheon Seoa walked through the chaos of the battle, incredibly calm.
As if taking a stroll, she walked out as if nothing had happened.

How long had she moved through the chaotic battlefield filled with countless spear ghosts?

It was the moment Cheon Seoa was about to enter the stairs leading to the underground where the Black Blood Great Tiger was located.

Crash-!

Whoosh! A giant blade fell from the ceiling.
The blade passed by Cheon Seoa, literally missing her by a hair’s breadth.

However, Cheon Seoa spoke with an expression as if she had already known the blade would fall.

“Should I consider you… the gatekeeper?”

As she said this, a strange being holding a huge sword had already taken its place before her eyes.

A bizarre figure with disheveled hair.
It had a height exceeding 5m, with a body made of bulky muscles.

However, what was peculiar was the color of the creature’s skin.

“Green, huh. With that huge body and overwhelming strength. It’s like an ogre from a fantasy novel.”

In the past, they were considered the tyrants of the forest, apex predators, and symbols of strength.
But now, ogres have fallen to become mere cannon fodder monsters.

The strange being that appeared before Cheon Seoa, clutching a giant sword, was reminiscent of such an ogre.

Of course.

“But what should I do about this? I’m not interested in you.”

Crash-!

As Cheon Seoa lightly clenched her fist, the imposing creature instantly turned into a small ball and rolled on the floor.

Cheon Seoa once was a monster that emitted overwhelming strength. However, now she merely descends the stairs, passing by what has become nothing more than a tiny ball made of flesh.