Chapter 231 – Strike Back (9)
“Aigoo.”
Lee Jun-hyeok sat down on the floor and exhaled deeply. Around the bridge, a scenery unlike any other in Hell spread out. There were dozens of monsters that had fallen on the floor, and the blood of the monsters couldn’t seep into the asphalt, forming a thick river that flowed along the riverside.
Drops of blood that reached the river through the river bank spread like rose petals like ink falling into a glass of water, forming bright red stems. The duck boat floating on the sea of blood looked foreign. Maybe this place is really hell? Lee Joon-hyeok gasped in vain as he inhaled, the smell of blood entering his lungs.
Looking to the side, Ichie was sitting on the floor wiping his sweat. And beside him, Kim Yoo-jung, who looked relatively lively, was lying on the car seat, shaking her head with her tired face.
Based on her regenerative ability, she went to the forefront, but she was wearing other clothes than the ones she was wearing, which were urgently airlifted from a nearby clothing store when her clothes were torn while tanking. Kim Yoo-jung looked at the price tag on her clothes and said with tears in her eyes.
“Guild leader. This clothes. Shouldn’t I ask?”
“Hey, I’ll buy you that much. Don’t worry.”
Lee Jun-hyeok shook his head and looked to his side. Jung Soo-hyeon was lying on top of Strong Boar’s corpse. He was petting the strong boar’s fur and drinking water from a canteen. Beside him, Misaki was wiping his face and giving him a lap pillow. Lee Jun-hyeok asked incredulously at the carefree appearance, which seemed to be in the midst of a battlefield.
“Hey, are you comfortable?”
“No. I want to die.”
The first-class contributors to this battle were, of course, Jung Soo-hyeon and Kim Yu-jeong. Jeong Su-hyeon broke through the enemy’s center with overwhelming combat power that could not be called C-class, and Kim Yoo-jung assisted the attack of allies while attracting the attention of tricky monsters with strong power.
“Good job. Now let’s go in and get some rest.”
So Lee Jun-hyeok gave Jung Soo-hyeon a thumbs up and said that. Jeong Su-hyeon also listened to Lee Jun-hyeok and raised his thumb. The gate was closing. Since it was such a huge gate, it took time to close it. Beyond the gate where the boss disappeared, I saw a monster belatedly and briskly moving.
Lee Joon-hyeok smiled at him and shot his lightning bolt with his fingertips.
“Keeeeek!”
The monster hit by the lightning collapsed as it burned to black. When the gate completely disappeared after seeing him, the hunters giggled and cheered without anyone saying anything first.
“I won!”
“Let’s rest! Now!”
Lee Joon-hyeok smiled and took a look at the guild members who were making a fuss. One of the senior guild members asked Junhyeok Lee.
“What happened to all the other gates?”
Lee Jun-hyeok heard his question and shouted to Kim Yoo-jung.
“Yoojung. Bring me my cell phone over there.”
“This one?”
Kim Yoo-jung rummaged under her car seat and found her cell phone. Junhyeok Lee said.
“Throw it.”
Kim Yoo-jung, lying down, measured the distance for a moment, then roughly threw her cell phone at Lee Jun-hyuk’s face. Lee Jun-hyeok lightly accepted the phone as if playing catch and said.
“Yes. Where…”
Lee Jun-hyeok was currently registered as a guild leader in the Hunter Association, so important news was delivered right away. The first news that caught Lee Jun-hyeok’s eyes was that he had succeeded in closing the five gates again. If all 14 gates had been opened as originally planned by Lee Hyeon-woo, such a quick solution would not have been possible, but with all the locations of the gates known, there were even people waiting in front of the gates with cooperation in advance, so such a quick response was possible.
There is one place that hasn’t been reported to have broken the gate yet. It was this gate that [Ground Zero] Was in charge of now. In other words, all gates were closed. Junhyeok Lee said.
“Guys! The gates are all closed!”
At that, everyone cheered again. Jeong Su-hyeon, who had fallen, also raised his hand and cheered. Looking back, there was a peaceful city. As if two different worlds were attached to each other, the city was going about its daily life even if you took one step forward from where the hunters gathered.
Jeong Su-hyeon saw the city in good shape and felt something in his chest rise. It felt like I was facing the source of pride that hunters feel. After reporting the situation to the Hunter Association via text message, Lee Jun-hyeok frowned when he saw the newly posted notice.
The hunter next to him saw Lee Jun-hyuk’s expression and said.
“What is it?”
“No… Lee Hyeon-woo ran away, and is now requesting support for the pursuit team in that direction. They told me to select two hunters per guild and search around the city?”
“Patience.”
They looked at the fallen Hunters, feeling relieved that they had just closed all the gates. Picking two of them and throwing them at an s-class hunter was a bad thing. Junhyeok Lee stroked his weapon with his fingers as he clicked his tongue. Wouldn’t it be better for him to go quietly by himself?
And Jeong Su-hyeon was listening carefully to their conversation. He had a conversation with the Almighty in his heart.
[What should I do?]
[Did you say ‘run away’? Didn’t you say you’d pick two hunters to track? It means that Lee Hyeon-woo is now in a state of disrepair and dying.]
[Then should I try?]
[I don’t know to what extent it was destroyed, but looking at the stable rating line, it seems to be in a fairly serious condition. A Hunter’s ability is proportional to his physical strength. Even if you don’t win, he won’t be able to chase you down and kill you.]
Jeong Su-hyeon stood up. It was the moment when Lee Joon-hyeok sneakily raised his body. Jeong Su-hyeon grabbed Lee Jun-hyeok’s shoulders and said in a low voice.
“I’ll go.”
Jeong Su-hyeon’s eyes were burning with fighting spirit.
******
“Hey, if we catch Lee Hyun-woo, won’t we become popular stars too? A D-class hunter who caught Lee Hyun-woo! ‘Lollipop’ Moon-seok Yoo!”
“Don’t be a jerk. What if Lee Hyeon-woo comes out and picks you up by the neck?”
“Hey, why don’t you come out. I’m just half a corpse because I’m running out of strength right now. Huh? I’ll take this opportunity to fight.”
“Hey, he’s still an S-class hunter. Huh? His fighting sense is already beyond human?
“Ah, asshole. I’m kidding. I’m kidding.”
On a deserted street, two hunters were walking leisurely, joking around. Hyunwoo Lee sat on the roof of a closed commercial building and gnashed his teeth listening to their conversation. To be called that way in such people’s conversations was humiliating to him. Lee Hyun-woo, who was about to jump over the building using his ability, looked at the endless buildings in front of his eyes. Can you really move between those buildings using only your abilities? Won’t I collapse from exhaustion before then?
Wouldn’t it be shot down in the air?
He was about to go to the roof of a shopping mall once more, but he decided that it would be better to move on foot to conserve energy. He usually conserves his strength and moves on, and when he encounters a desperate situation with Hunter, he decides to pour his power into dealing with it and run away. But the fact that he had to be nervous no matter who he met, his entire body trembled from the humiliation. In a position to be worshipped, he got tangled up in a mistake he couldn’t figure out where he went wrong.
Was it wrong to run away? Was the arrogant idea of starting over somewhere else wrong?
Lee Hyeon-wu himself knew very well that there was no point in reflecting on it now. What he had to do now was escape, not self-reflection or a hearing. Lee Hyun-woo hid himself once more. Hunter’s voice was heard in the distance.
“Lee Hyeon-woo, asshole-!”
“Where is Lee Hyeon-woo, Hogu bastard!”
I knew the personal information of the two people. One was a c-rank hunter, and the other was a c-rank hunter just like him. Lee Hyun-woo pondered whether to deal with those two hunters or just pass them by. If he catches the two hunters and makes a lot of noise, there is a high possibility that other hunters will come, and if that happens, he has no choice but to be caught. Therefore, the correct answer here was to simply use the ability lightly and run away from the hunters’ sight.
“Fuck it…!”
From his own room, he would sometimes look down at the Hunters on their way to work. He was satisfied with the tidy appearance while looking in the full-length mirror after seeing the tired hunters come and go to the company in unwashed and filthy appearances. Now I have to hide like a rat from those who are nothing. Do you even have to worry about getting rid of it?
Hyunwoo Lee really couldn’t bear this humiliation.
“Did you just hear something?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Who do you think was swearing?”
“Nothing?”
Kongdak Kongdak
The sound of a beating heart.
Like a young mouse escaping from a cat’s pursuit, Lee Hyeon-woo hid in his back alley and breathed in his breath.
And trembled once again at his own wretched figure.
