Chapter 773: Searching for My Brother (1)
Gyeol was a hunter.
The asphalt streets, lined with smooth, right–angled buildings, were foreign terrain, but he adapted quickly. The shadows cast by the tall buildings made hiding easy, and the air, thick with countless mingled scents, covered his trail. The broad roads made it simple to watch movement come and go.
The moment he arrived in this world, he assessed the environment, his prey, and his own condition. By this world’s standards, Gyeol’s stats had been adjusted to S–rank, and most of his skills had yet to be applied by the system. His prey, on the other hand, was stronger than expected.
A quasi–Source. A bipedal humanoid under two meters tall.
Keeping a safe distance, Gyeol climbed to the top of a high building and observed his prey with his exceptional eyesight. Primary weapon estimated at SS–rank or higher. Chain type, highly irregular movement, capable of separation and recombination. Main attack skill: electric current, with attack patterns difficult to predict. Acute perception, as though he could anticipate his opponent’s actions. On top of that, the rainy environment favored the prey.
The human beside the quasi–Source did not look easy to deal with either. In particular, the ability to nullify an opponent’s skills was extremely dangerous. They must have fought together often, because his coordination with the quasi–Source was excellent.
After confirming that much, Gyeol withdrew quietly.
Recover all skills first. Then isolate the quasi–Source and strike.
There were many rivals, but he was not worried. The other subordinates, unable to use their skills properly, would also find it difficult to capture that quasi–Source. Having retreated from the battlefield, Gyeol began gathering information again.
The quasi–Source and the kin surrounding him. Unlike a dungeonized world, this place still retained every trace of its original world. Gyeol easily gained access to magazines, newspapers, news broadcasts, and the like.
[Sesung Guild Leader Visits Dodam Breeding Facility]
[Awakener Management Office Chief’s Record of Arresting Sesung Guild Leader]
[Director Han Yujin of the Breeding Facility Casually Admits He Has Visited the Sesung Guild Leader’s New Residence]
[Interview with Sesung Guild Member Kang ○○: “As Long as Chief Song Taewon and Director Han Yujin Are There, We Don’t Need to Worry About Our Guild Leader!”]
[Hunter B of the Awakener Management Office Expresses Deep Regret Toward the Sesung Guild Leader]
[Haeyeon Guild Member S Says Haeyeon and Dodam Will Be Together Forever, While Sesung Is Merely a Business Relationship]
[The Dodam Family’s Friendly Afternoon, Captured in One Shot]
[Director Han Yujin of the Breeding Facility and Chief Song Taewon of the Awakener Management Office Spotted Walking with Baby Monster Little Song]
[Breaker Guild Leader Talks About the Charms of Dodam’s Breeding Facility Director: What Is the Truth Behind the Rosy Rumors?]
[Is the Child Under D Company’s Protection the Biological Son of S Company?]
“Han Yujin.”
When targeting a herd, the basics dictated that one should hunt the weakest member first. Gyeol quietly watched the back of Han Yujin, the weakest at F–rank and yet deeply connected to the quasi–Source and other S–ranks. Han Yujin got off his bike and was taping a flyer to a utility pole.
[Han Yuhyun, Come Back!]
A photograph of Han Yuhyun was printed beneath the large words.
[Your Hyung Will Always Love You! Please Accept My Message. Let’s Talk This Out!
Anyone who sees Haeyeon Guild Leader Han Yuhyun, please contact the number below. Reward: 1 billion won.]
Gyeol could not understand Han Yujin’s actions at all. Why was he trying to locate an adult S–rank by posting pieces of paper? Still, the world was full of countless cultures, so he let it pass. Instead, he heightened his senses even further.
‘Song Taewon, approximately thirty meters away.’
There was no way they would send the weakest member of the herd out alone. This was bait. Activating the stealth skill that had been applied first to its fullest, Gyeol crawled down the side of the building. Han Yujin was staring at the flyer he had just posted and letting out a small sigh.
‘Extremely friendly with the quasi–Source.’
He appeared to have come out as bait, but if Gyeol captured Han Yujin, he could be used in many ways. Han Yujin was also one of the targets the Transcendents had taken an interest in securing. Gyeol’s third eye swept carefully over Han Yujin’s back. Bipedal humanoid under 1.8 meters tall. Much smaller build than an S–rank male of the same sex. Well built compared to an F–rank male of the same sex. Final combat grade due to equipment: maximum B, minimum D. Given that S–ranks keep him nearby, high probability of buff–related skills.
Han Yujin gathered up the bundle of flyers and lightly climbed onto the motorcycle. The stretch of his leg, the movement of pulling his body up, the practiced motions of his hands operating the machine. Judging by his physical control, his rank was low, but he had extensive combat experience. As the bike started off, Gyeol followed by crawling along the wall. It was a fairly fast machine, but not fast enough that he could not keep up. Meanwhile, the distance from Song Taewon grew wider.
After about five minutes, the bike stopped again. Han Yujin posted another flyer. Gyeol approached him more closely, senses sharpened. Han Yujin’s gaze flicked briefly into empty air. Song Taewon was now more than a hundred meters away. Han Yujin got back on the bike. The scales along Gyeol’s neck rose slightly.
‘Now.’
He would capture him. There were no presences besides Song Taewon’s. Song Taewon even seemed to be moving slowly, as if he was not using a machine. At this rate, once the distance widened a little more, Gyeol would have enough time to grab the bait and hide. Even if Song Taewon used a machine, he would not arrive in time.
Vroooom — the motorcycle shot forward. It sped along the empty road. Behind it—
Thud!
Gyeol landed. His stealth skill dropped. Han Yujin looked back. Toward that slightly startled face, Gyeol kicked off the ground. His four feet, which had been suction–cupped for clinging to walls, transformed into hooves. Even among S–ranks, his speed could not be compared to that of a bipedal type.
Crack! The paved road shattered as steel–hard hooves caught up to the motorcycle in an instant. Han Yujin hurriedly swerved. He narrowly avoided the reaching hand, and with a shrill screeeeech, the bike jumped toward the sidewalk. Then—
Crash!
It smashed through a display window and plunged into the building. Gyeol followed inside without hesitation. Han Yujin, still on the stopped bike, looked at him.
“Well then, bye.”
He spoke with a light wave of his hand. The words and gesture did not fit the situation, but Gyeol bared his teeth. In the society he came from, waving a hand like that was an extremely insulting gesture. He understood cultural relativity, but he could not help the reflexive flare of anger.
Even so, he remained calm. He had just decided he would cut off only one arm or so and capture him alive when—
KABOOM!
A bomb exploded. Gyeol’s vision filled with flame and light. S–rank items detonated one after another beneath his feet, and from the collapsing ceiling above—
Ruuumble.
S–rank sticky mud poured down. The mud wrapped around his body, which had been weakened by the direct hit of the explosion. It was a consumable item that rapidly stuck to living beings and hardened on contact, slowing movement. Even as an S–rank item, it was not enough to stop an S–rank of the same grade, and it was not difficult to avoid either, so despite its rank it was usually only used in mid–level dungeons. But in a situation like this, things were different.
“Ow, damn, that hurts.”
Han Yujin had used Grace, but it had not been enough to block every fragment, and he grumbled while spraying disinfectant on the thin cut drawn across his cheek. Gyeol opened his mouth. He tensed his whole body to break free from the hardened mass of mud. But before he could—
Thump! A spear shot from the motorcycle as it crossed the empty display window frame. The spearhead, stained with black shadow, nullified the hardness of the mud and burrowed deep inside it. Then, with a grinding crack, it pierced through to the other side. The subordinate’s body collapsed along with the crumbling mud.
“Are you all right?”
At the worried look, I spread my arms. Yep, perfectly fine.
“The motorcycle’s wrecked, though. The flyers burned up too. Guess Yuhyun isn’t around here.”
If he had been, he wouldn’t have ignored a subordinate chasing me. Whichever Yuhyun it was. Chief Song found a magic stone in the subordinate’s corpse.
“This still seems dangerous.”
“After what you and Mr. Seong Hyunjae pulled, they’re not going to show themselves casually, are they? The ones left will hide until their skills get applied.”
How many subordinates had the two of them caught already? The cautious ones would have seen all that and disappeared.
“Park Hayul couldn’t pin down this one’s exact location either.”
He said he could tell roughly where it was, but once its stealth skill got stronger, it kept blinking in and out. Still, it had shown itself to target me. I took out my phone and checked the map. Red, blue, and yellow marks were scattered all over Seoul. They were locations where items had been prepared.
Before the Transcendents invaded, I had asked Hyunah, the Awakener Management Office, the Hunter Association, and Shishio. Please gather consumable items from around the world and install them all over Seoul. Due to the time limit, they couldn’t actually bring every high–rank item in the world, but still, all sorts of items had been set out like land mines. Even the ones too precious to use had been dumped in.
“Somehow, Ms. Hyunah and I ended up being the only ones with this map.”
I had meant to share it with Yuhyun and Yerim too, but Seong Hyunjae had been nearby, so I hadn’t gotten the chance to mention it. Seong Hyunjae might have ended up hostile, after all. Chief Song had agreed with him too. In the end, though, Yuhyun was the one who’d unexpectedly wound up on the other side.
“If I lure them properly, it’s enough to trip up an S–rank who can’t use their skills properly. I have Grace, so it’s not that dangerous, and they’ll only try to capture me.”
“Still, please be careful.”
“Yes. Hayul, nearest subordinate location.”
[Near Apgujeong Rodeo. I don’t know the exact location for this one either. I put a new bike outside!]
“Good job! Thanks.”
Park Hayul had gotten better at handling dreams within dreams, so moving ordinary objects like motorcycles had become easy for him. Apparently, it was similar to tweaking the background of his own dream with imagination. When I went outside, Seong Hyunjae was standing there.
“I thought I’d bought S–rank bait, but it turns out it’s worse than F–rank! This is fraud. I’d like a refund.”
“Refunds for simple changes of mind are available within seven days. Dear customer, your purchase history is dated August 30 of last year.”
“Then at least do the repairs properly. It hasn’t even been a year yet, but it breaks down at the drop of a hat. At this rate, I should be returning it as defective.”
“During that time, Customer Han Yujin shot it in the head and stabbed it in the chest—”
“Mm, yeah, I can see why it broke. Since hitting it usually fixed it, I got careless.”
Even if they refused free repairs within the warranty period due to customer negligence, I could accept that. Seong Hyunjae held out a hand to Chief Song. Chief Song glanced at me before handing over the magic stone. I knew it wasn’t good, but stopping him didn’t feel right either. Until I found another way… interfering would be out of line. This was Seong Hyunjae’s own way of staying alive.
Swallowing a sigh, I contacted Hwang Rim.
“You putting up the flyers properly?”
[It’s such a novel experience. I’m really starting to understand why the Sesung Guild Leader likes you so much~]
Hwang Rim, who no one was targeting, had been assigned to search for Noah and Liette. We desperately needed those two, especially Noah’s power. Now that Yuhyun had seen Yerim’s abilities too, he wouldn’t attack without any countermeasure.
[The method I mentioned would be much more effective for drawing out Jin’s brother. Still not interested?]
“Nope. Not interested. You lunatic.”
We had to clean up the subordinates first anyway. I deleted the message full of weird nonsense and contacted Peace, who was also searching for the two.
“Peace, nothing happened, right? Be careful. If you run into a subordinate, avoid it.”
[Kkiang!]
Our Peace was such a good boy. I checked the map again and climbed onto the bike. Just as I was about to leave for Apgujeong, a message from Park Hayul arrived.
[Hyung! I think the subordinates are gathering in one place!]
“What?”
[Blue Willow Leaves is near there too. I still can’t find Butterfly, though. Oh, Blue Willow Leaves got blurry just now too. Did Butterfly help?]
…I’d wondered, but sure enough, that brat Yuhyun was planning to draw in the other subordinates. Yuhyun usually acted alone, but he was still a guild leader. The twenty–five–year–old Yuhyun in particular had been much better than now at leading guild members in battle. After even Seong Hyunjae disappeared, he had also been the guild leader of Korea’s top guild and the leader of an alliance of other guilds.
‘Even without social skills, he can still learn and put things into practice.’
If anything, he could probably move even more coldly.
“Find the locations of the subordinates that haven’t joined up yet as accurately as you can.”
We needed to reduce their numbers as quickly as possible. I relayed the locations Park Hayul gave me to Seong Hyunjae, Song Taewon, and Hwang Rim. I also sent them the locations and effects of nearby installed items.
“Luring them out with bait would be faster, but we don’t have a choice. Please head nearby and find them somehow.”
“Han Yujin, don’t tell me—”
“Yes. I should go.”
I stared down at the map. At the place where the subordinates were gathering.
“If it really is Yuhyun, then when it comes to buying time, me jumping in is the best option.”
“It’s dangerous!”
“He’s still Yuhyun.”
I looked Chief Song straight in the eye.
“One of them in particular would rather…”
Throw himself away than hurt me. He already had.
“Is that what you’re exploiting?”
Seong Hyunjae’s words cut right through me. A bitter smile slipped out on its own.
“Yes. Whatever it takes. So please work hard on taking care of the remaining subordinates. And eat in moderation.”
I started the bike. I drove along the road, where traces of destruction remained here and there. I’d go check the situation, and if possible, split the subordinates up a little.
‘I’ll probably get locked up at worst.’
With Park Hayul’s support, getting out shouldn’t be too hard. Even if I couldn’t escape, I could still pass information to our side. I checked the item information on the map. Since I was going anyway, I’d like to take a few of them down too. Let’s see. Hmm.
“Hayul, prepare a few things for me.”
[Yes! Hyung!]
“Rookie, can you help too, if you’ve got room?”
[Just say the word, Honey!]
I accelerated. The bike raced along the wide, open road. Trees flashed past, and just before I crossed a crosswalk with a blinking traffic light—
[Honey!]
[Hyung!]
Clang! The bike caught on a wire that appeared out of nowhere. The whole machine flipped into the air, and another wire wrapped around me as I floated above the ground.
[Blue Willow Leaves!]
Park Hayul’s message blinked. My body dangled in midair, and on top of the streetlight where the end of the wire was anchored stood Yuhyun. Around ten butterflies fluttered around my twenty–one–year–old brother.
“It’s dangerous to walk around alone.”
“Yuhyun—”
A butterfly flew at my face, cutting me off.
“Stay quiet until this is over, Hyung.”
I hadn’t expected Yuhyun to come meet me. I was grateful he had come all this way, but still. I quickly scanned my surroundings. This street. That building. I sent Park Hayul a message. And a moment later—
Boom!
An explosion went off inside the building. Then, for an instant, the shadow of a person flickered there. Yuhyun’s gaze turned that way. At the same time, I moved my body hard. My swinging leg grazed the wire, and the hidden blade cut through it with a snap.
As I landed on the road, Yuhyun looked down at me.
This was getting a little tense.
–TL Notes–
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