Chapter 61

Chapter 61

• What are you? How did you know that?

“Let us talk in person.”

• I cannot right now. I stepped out somewhere for a bit.

“Are you in Bucheon, by any chance?”

• ......

Choi Yura fell silent.

“I am in Bucheon too, so come to Sosa Station first. We will talk when you get here.”

• Why are you in Bucheon?

“We will talk when you get here.”

• I will head over right away.

“Do not make a scene when you come.”

• What is that supposed to mean?

“You already stand out as it is. If you drive around in a Lamborghini on top of that, what else would it be but advertising, ‘I am Choi Yura’?”

• Sorry, but I came by taxi?

“Huh?”

Even someone as hot-tempered as Choi Yura seemed to have at least a minimum sense of judgment.

• You should have called a little earlier. Catching a taxi in a neighborhood like this is an ordeal in itself.

“......?”

• Wait. It will take about fifteen minutes.

“Call me when you arrive.”

While waiting for Choi Yura, I leaned against a telephone pole and looked around.

Stagger, stagger....

People passed by, impossible to tell whether they were drunk or drugged.

The street, lined with broken streetlights and peeling signs for adult-entertainment establishments, was nothing short of eerie.

‘It is no different from a garbage dump.’

SCREECH, a taxi came to a stop.

“One second.”

CRASH!

SHATTER!

As soon as Choi Yura got out of the taxi, she strode toward the driver’s side, shattered the window with her fist, grabbed the taxi driver by the collar, and dragged him out of the car.

THUD!

The middle-aged taxi driver slammed onto the asphalt.

“What is wrong?”

My brow furrowed on its own.

No matter how powerless the law had become in this era, a Hunter beating a civilian in broad daylight could never look good.

“This.”

Choi Yura shook some beverage can in front of me, then drove her foot down onto the taxi driver’s shin.

CRACK!

The taxi driver’s leg bent at a grotesque angle.

“Aaaaaaaaaargh―!!!”

A scream burst from the taxi driver’s mouth.

“Drugs?”

“Correct.”

Choi Yura smiled coldly.

“I-I just did what I was told......”

The taxi driver trembled like an aspen.

“Figures.”

I clicked my tongue, because I could guess what had happened.

No doubt he was an errand runner who drugged young female passengers, did unspeakable things to them, then sold them off to a human-trafficking organization or a Wrecker group.

It was also possible that he worked as a taxi driver by day and a Wrecker by night.

Judging from the air freshener on the driver-side vent, marked with the Nine-Tail Crew logo and office phone number, Choi Yura did not seem to have misjudged him.

“I will make sure you never do anything like that again.”

THUD!

Choi Yura drove her foot down between the taxi driver’s legs.

“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah―!!!”

The taxi driver’s lower half turned crimson.

“Aaagh! Aaaaagh! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!”

Served him right.

Far from feeling sorry for him, I only felt satisfaction.

I considered stepping on him once myself, then decided against it because it would only dirty my foot.

“Are you going to do more?”

“This is enough. Huhu.”

Choi Yura gave a smile thick with murderous intent.

“Let us go.”

“Sure.”

We left the taxi driver behind and moved on.

The absurd part was that even after such a commotion, no one cared.

Those who did look merely glanced over and went on their way, making me realize just how badly public order had collapsed in Bucheon.

It made me wonder how common incidents like this had become.

“Let us talk somewhere quiet.”

“Yes, fine.”

Since the subject was sensitive, we decided to talk in as secluded and deserted a place as possible.

***

A dim alley.

Homeless people who looked steeped in drugs stared at us with dull eyes.

WHOOSH, CRACK!

Choi Yura struck the ground with her Spirit Sword and issued a threat.

“All of you, get lost. Unless you want to die.”

“E-Eek!”

The homeless people scattered in every direction like startled cockroaches.

“Ugh.”

The stench of urine and food waste pierced my nose, making my brow furrow on its own, but there was not really anywhere suitable for a quiet conversation, so I decided to endure it.

There was not even a decent café where we could sit down and talk.

“So how did you know?”

“You do not need to know that much.”

I could not tell her even if I wanted to....

“All I can tell you is the real culprit’s name.”

“Who is it?”

“Jeong Mujin.”

“......What?”

Choi Yura looked as though she could not understand at all.

“Wasn’t the culprit Jeong Mujin named Gu Taeil?”

Gu Taeil.

He was a 5-Star Hunter and the leader of [Nine-Tail Crew], a subordinate organization of [Incheon Union].

And with Incheon Union’s support, Nine-Tail Crew had completely taken control of the Bucheon area.

“H-How did you know that?”

Of course.

As expected, my prediction had not missed.

“The real leader of Nine-Tail Crew is Jeong Mujin.”

“......!”

Choi Yura trembled as if she had been struck in the head with a hammer.

“D-Do not lie. How could Jeong Mujin be the leader of Nine-Tail Crew?”

“Then how did your dead boyfriend end up working as a Wrecker?”

“That is......”

“Why did he keep acting passive, as if he was helping you but not quite, only to tell you the real culprit now?”

“......”

“It must be hard to believe. I understand. Jeong Mujin was your dead boyfriend’s best friend.”

I did not expect Choi Yura to believe me.

People believed only what they could see with their own eyes.

“How am I supposed to believe th......”

“What if I show you?

“Show me......?”

“If we smash Nine-Tail Crew piece by piece, Jeong Mujin will show up on his own and reveal his true colors. He has to protect his source of income.”

“You are out of your mind.”

It was only natural for her to react that way.

After all, how could a fledgling like me possibly smash Nine-Tail Crew alone?

“You are saying you are going to face Nine-Tail Crew alone to keep your promise to me?”

“Do not get the wrong idea.”

“......?”

“I am trying to smash Nine-Tail Crew because I have business at the Bucheon Station Gate, not only because of the promise I made to you.”

Bucheon Station, once one of Bucheon’s key subway stations, had now become a hunting ground for Hunters’ growth as a Fixed Gate, just like Sindorim TechnoMart.

The problem was that Nine-Tail Crew had monopolized the Bucheon Station Gate.

Because the monsters that appeared in the Bucheon Station Gate dropped an unusually large amount of Etherium, it could bring in enormous economic profits.

Of course, my true target was not Etherium, but a certain monster.

“You are going to volunteer for a suicide mission just because you covet a little Etherium? While spouting nonsense that Jeong Mujin is Nine-Tail Crew’s actual leader?”

“Whether it is nonsense or not, we will know soon enough.”

“Madman...... You are a complete madman......”

Choi Yura spoke as if she were sick of me.

“Decide.”

“What?”

“Whether you will follow me or not.”

“If you are planning to use me......”

Choi Yura stopped mid-sentence.

“Just as you said, we will know soon enough. Whether you are trying to use me, or whether you are telling the truth.”

The eyes of Choi Yura, who had made her decision, flashed with murderous intent.

***

The Transference Crisis, the creation of Gates, and monsters.

This series of threats had not only harmed humanity.

Gates and monsters were disasters, but at the same time, they were also new opportunities.

After the Transference Crisis, superhumans called Hunters appeared, and a new resource called Etherium was discovered.

And the corpses of monsters, along with various items, created new value that had never existed before because of their mysterious effects.

As a result, monster hunting by Hunters naturally established itself as a new industry, and Fixed Gates with unchanging locations were treated like mines from which resources could be extracted.

The Bucheon Station Gate was a representative example.

Compared to other Fixed Gates, it yielded two to three times more Etherium.

Nine-Tail Crew, backed by Incheon Union, had taken control of the area around Bucheon Station, monopolizing the Gate and earning enormous income.

Of course, a considerable portion of the profits was funneled upward to Incheon Union, the parent organization, but it was still more than enough for the Hunters of Nine-Tail Crew to indulge freely in luxury and pleasure.

An office near the Bucheon Station Gate.

The Hunters affiliated with Nine-Tail Crew had gathered in the office from early evening, huddled together and gambling among themselves.

Every one of them wore designer clothing like Thom Browne or Louis Vuitton, and luxury watches like Rolex or Audemars Piguet gleamed on their wrists.

They were also drinking expensive champagne, Armand de Brignac, as if it were water.

“Hey, go easy. I am going to end up broke at this rate.”

“Come on. That is not how this works, boss.”

“Is that bastard a cardsharp?”

Just as the Hunters of Nine-Tail Crew were absorbed in gambling, each with a cigarette clamped between his lips.

CLICK!

The lights went out as if there had been a blackout.

“What the hell?”

“Damn it.”

Irritated voices burst out from all over, and at the same time, someone kicked the door open with a BANG! and stormed into the office.

SLASH, SLAAASH!

SPURRRRT!

“Aaagh!”

“Aaaaaaargh!”

Along with a chilling sound, desperate screams rang out.

“W-What is this!”

“Fuck! Which bastard is it!”

Savage shouts burst out everywhere.

SLASH, SLAAASH!

THWACK!

SPURRRRT!

“Aaaaaaaaaaagh!”

“Argh!”

CRASH!

SHATTER!

Inside the dark office.

Black silhouettes tangled, collided, and thrashed about as chaos erupted.

But only for a moment.

It took less than thirty seconds for the office to fall silent.

The office became quiet.

There was not a single groan.

Only the occasional noises from outside could be heard....

CLICK. A white beam illuminated the interior of the office.

It was the lantern Choi Yura had turned on.

Flinch!

Choi Yura trembled without realizing it when she saw the scene spread out before her.

The inside of the office was...... no exaggeration, a scene from hell.

Severed limbs and heads lay scattered everywhere.

The floor was slick with pools of blood, and the walls and ceiling had turned crimson from the splattered blood.

And in the center of it all stood a beast covered head to toe in blood—no, a demonic beast.

Slowly.

The demonic beast, Eunseong, looked back at Choi Yura indifferently.

Drip, drip....

Blood running down his hair trickled along his sharp, pale nose and down the line of his neck.

A chill ran through her.

Choi Yura could not help being overwhelmed by Eunseong’s appearance.

Slaughter?

Choi Yura herself possessed so much murderous intent that she would be offended to be called second to anyone.

There had been more than one or two times when she had torn apart anything that stood before her, human or monster, if it was an enemy.

But Eunseong was beyond that.

He looked as though he felt not the slightest hesitation about killing people.

That indifferent, almost bored expression proved it.

Slowly, Eunseong’s hand groped around his waist.

Choi Yura unconsciously held her breath.

“Yes, Mom.”

A gentle voice flowed from Eunseong’s mouth as he held the phone.

“I stepped out for a bit to meet a friend. Of course I am all right. Yes, yes. Of course I ate lunch. Did you eat too, Mom? What about the kids? Ah. Right, I think I might be a little late....”

“......”

Choi Yura was at a loss for words.