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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Xrecker
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Rat-a-tat-tat, thud, thud, click.
I immediately turned both Ingram MAC-10s sideways and released the magazines. Then, I brought both arms together forcefully, crossing them.
Slide
The sideways magazines tilted slowly in mid-air. I let go of the Ingram MAC-10s and pulled out two magazines from my thighs, holding them up. I raised the magazines I was holding and attached them to the Ingram MAC-10s floating in front of me.
Click.
I grabbed the slowly descending magazines, put them in my thigh pouches, and then grasped the Ingram MAC-10s. I spread my arms. My fingers were on the triggers. And I pulled.
Rat-a-tat-tat, rat-a-tat-tat!
“…Damn it.”
I raised the guns and gritted my teeth. It was good to mow down the creatures coming from all sides. But the ones in the back weren’t glowing red because of the corpses of the ones in front that had been shot in the head. The projectiles didn’t curve like a whirlwind, they just moved slightly, so there was nothing I could do. I just had to wait.
Acceleration ended.
Roar!
The death cries that erupted from all sides echoed loudly. And dozens of creatures with pierced heads collapsed simultaneously. Blood sprayed everywhere.
“Phew…”
“—oon-ssi. Sung-hoon-ssi? Can you hear me? Huh? Sung-hoon-ssi!”
Huh? I had forgotten. I was wearing this thing in my ear, wasn’t I?
“Yeah, yeah, I can hear you.”
“Are you okay? I’ve been hearing strange noises for a while.”
I looked around. The human beasts. There were still some crawling up from the riverbank, but the number had definitely decreased. The creatures were coming from both sides, between the detached houses. I held out both arms and pulled the trigger.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat.
…Oh. So this was what it sounded like? Kind of like a whirring sound?
A dozen creatures collapsed with their heads pierced in an instant. The bullets were coming out really fast. Ah, right.
“Noise? What noise?”
I turned to the side and pulled the trigger again. There were so few of them, and they were tripping and falling over the corpses, so I didn’t even need Acceleration.
Rat-a-tat-tat.
“Like, it sounded like a choir singing? Sporadically, out of nowhere, like someone was singing.”
…What the hell was she talking about?
“A choir? Like a lot of people singing?”
“Yes. It just came on suddenly. Did someone’s signal get crossed? Did someone play music on a speaker over there?”
…I had no idea what she was talking about.
“No. No one’s playing any music. Wait a minute.”
I didn’t want to entertain such a nonsensical story right now. I wanted to focus on killing.
Rat-a-tat, tat-tat.
I had killed all the nearby creatures. Only a few were left, flailing like mudskippers in the distance, slowly getting up.
[Level Up x3]
…Oh. I must have killed over 150 of them…
…Huh?
No. I hadn’t.
I quickly looked around. The fallen human beasts. I had killed thousands of them, so I could roughly estimate their numbers. This wasn’t even 100.
…Could it be?
I looked at the dead cat. …Was it because of that? Did that one cat count as about 50?
…Ah. That made sense. The heads inside its body. Each one counted as a kill. In that case, that thing had eaten about 50 human beasts.
…Wait. Then, what about the other animals? …Were there any that had eaten over a hundred? What about one that had eaten hundreds, or even a thousand?
…Could such a thing possibly not exist in this world?
I looked around. I couldn’t see any other animals besides the cat.
…No. I had used too much of my stats. It would be a problem if something came out now.
At that moment. A chill ran down my spine. I looked to the side. Nothing. Just the sparse streetlights illuminating the village. And beyond them, darkness. If there was a moon, I might be able to see something, but there wasn’t. The unsettling feeling didn’t go away. I stared intently into the darkness.
…A light. I saw it. It was definitely there. Again, a light. Two lights. Red eyes. And, on either side of the detached houses. In the darkness beyond the many detached houses. Red eyes began to appear, one by one.
…I couldn’t even count how many there were.
The back of my hand was itching. Something was running down it… was it sweat? I stood frozen. No, I couldn’t move. I had overused Acceleration in my excitement. I didn’t have many stats left. At best, three or four times. Could I escape from them with just three or four…
Thud.
A footstep. The streetlight illuminated white fur. It was a long-snouted beast, covered in white fur. It looked like a dog, but a dog that big couldn’t exist in this world. A wolf would be a plush toy compared to it. It was almost the size of a house. It was far away. And yet, I had to look up at it.
It looked down at me. I looked up at it. Without blinking, we started a staring contest. I could hear something in my ear. I didn’t know what it meant, and I didn’t want to know. This was not the time to care about that.
At some point during the staring contest. The white beast raised its head. And it howled.
Wooooo
…A howl. Howls erupted from all around simultaneously. An incredible sound. It felt like my eardrums would burst. It wasn’t just a high-pitched sound, it felt like my eardrums were vibrating and crackling.
Grind.
I gritted my teeth. Endure it. Bear it!
These things weren’t attacking me. They were just howling.
The howling stopped.
Thud, thud.
Across from the white beast. A brown dog. No, a monster beast, walked out. It was small. No, small compared to the white beast. But it was still the size of a house. The brown monster approached the cat’s corpse. It opened its mouth wide.
…Its teeth… there must have been hundreds. All of them were sharp, protruding from its upper and lower jaws like canines. The creature took the cat’s corpse in its mouth and looked at the white beast for a moment. Then, it turned and went back the way it came. It trudged away, beyond the darkness. Soon, it was out of sight.
The white beast turned. It too walked into the darkness. One by one, the red eyes disappeared. A moment later, the unsettling feeling was gone.
“…Haa, phew.”
Crazy. Sweat poured down my forehead like rain. It dripped down my chin. Was this a cold sweat? Since the apocalypse began, and I had hunted so many human beasts, I had never felt anything like this. This overwhelming feeling. The white fur monster, it looked like a Jindo dog at a glance. I didn’t know if it was or not, and it didn’t matter now.
I looked around. Far away. Across the river, a darker wall in the darkness. The large mountain that looked like it. I could hear a sound coming from there.
Crunch, crunch, gnaw, gnaw.
It was eating. The cat. The human beasts that had been crawling up from the river were gone too. …The creatures that had been around here, the ones that had been crawling up from the river, they had eaten them all. How many had they eaten? Did they accumulate if they ate the corpses of those that had been shot in the head? Could it be? …I hoped not. If so, I had just served them a meal.
“Phew, haa…”
The corpses scattered in the open space. …It couldn’t be. If they accumulated even from eating corpses, they wouldn’t have just left these dozens of corpses behind. In that case, there was another reason why they ate the cat. Let’s just think that.
…It was quiet. I couldn’t hear a single sound. The unsettling feeling was gone. As if nothing had happened, the rural village had regained its silence.
“…Phew…”
I slowly replaced the magazine of the Ingram MAC-10. Just in case, I had to be prepared. After replacing it, I holstered it on my thigh and picked up my bow and duffel bag.
Anyway, I understood now. I knew what kind of creatures the animals were, why people were so afraid of them, and how to deal with them.
“Y-young man. A-are you okay?”
The detached house in the distance. The old man was peeking out of a slightly open window. I raised my hand and nodded. “Yes. I think they’re all gone now.”
“T-thank you. Thank you, young man. You’re brave.”
…Brave, my ass… I had frozen up when I faced that pack of dogs. Damn it. That pack of dogs, they were intimidating.
“I’ll be on my way.”
As I walked away, I heard voices from the detached houses here and there.
“Thank you.”
“Thank you, young man.”
“Thank you.”
…They must have seen everything. Did they see the Shadow Warrior too?
…Tsk.
Whatever, damn it.
I raised my hand and left the village, heading back to the downtown area. I arrived around midnight. The building where the special forces members were waiting. I pressed the elevator button and said, “I’m back. I’m coming up.”
…No answer.
“Hello?”
I tapped the earphone in my ear. …The battery must have died.
Ding
I took it out, stuffed it in my pocket, and got on the elevator.
“Status.”
The 3 points I had just gained. I put them into Agility, bringing it to 12. Level 97. …3 more levels to go.
“Phew…”
I pressed the top floor button and leaned against the wall. “…This won’t do…”
The pack of dogs was on my mind. There were at least ten of them. If they attacked, I wouldn’t be able to handle them on my own. …I needed the help of my comrades… …No. Even with the special forces members, it might not be enough. The residents would obviously not be much help. I had to meet the US military commander again.
With that thought, I got off the elevator and entered the house.
“Sung-hoon-ssi!”
None of the team members were asleep. Sung Ga-yeon stood up abruptly and ran to me. “Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Ah, yes. I’m fine.”
All the team members came over and asked how I was. I gave them a vague answer and took off my shoes. I was quite tired.
Sung Kyu-hyuk said, “It was a cat, you said. What was it like?”
There was no curiosity or worry on Sung Kyu-hyuk’s face. Just fighting spirit. The expression of someone who needed information about an enemy they would have to face.
I nodded. “You all know how to kill the human beasts, the monsters.”
The team members nodded.
I said, “The beast has heads all over its body. To kill it, you’ll have to shoot its entire body without trying to save ammo. Then you can kill it.”
The team members’ expressions changed. They seemed to be imagining something horrible. While they were doing that, I put down my duffel bag and unfastened my lifting belt. I remembered something and added, “Bombs would be good too.”
The team members looked at each other. Meanwhile, I was in agony. I wanted to wash up, damn it.
I walked to the bathroom and then suddenly remembered. “What was that noise earlier?”
Sung Ga-yeon looked at me. “What?”
“Like, a singing noise?”
“Ah, that.”
Sung Ga-yeon came over to me and fiddled with her phone. Then she held it out to me.
“Phew, haa. —Screech! Hup! Thump.”
Huh? Ah, my breathing and… ah, I see. It was the sound of me cutting the cat’s back with my sword. And then, at that moment… I had thrown my sword and the Shadow Warrior… …Oops. I had said, “Kill it.” I shouldn’t have done that!
But the sound that came from the phone wasn’t my voice. The moment I should have said, “Kill that thing.” a chord of music had played out of nowhere. It sounded like a string instrument chord, or, as she said, a choir. It was very short. Immediately after, my breathing could be heard. I stared at the phone, frozen. …What was this?
Sung Ga-yeon said with a forced smile, “It must have been a crossed signal… right?”
…There was no other way to explain it.
I nodded. “I guess so.”
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