29. Disaster (2)

With that, the troll's head exploded,

[Magic increased by 0.002].

[Clone Strengthening skill level has increased].

And the troll's body shriveled up.

Sangwoo, a Rank F Hunter, had killed a Troll, a Class D monster.

However, Sangwoo couldn't care less.

There were monsters everywhere.

The shock of killing a living creature was overwhelmed by the survival instinct that comes with being close to death.

Quickly, Sangwoo forced No. 3 out of the troll's arm and pulled back the bloody No. 1.

As he hurried to the basement, he saw something glowing near the troll's shattered head.

Up close, it was a green crystal that sparkled like a jewel.

'What is this?'

Even with that question, Sangwoo realized it might be valuable, so he quickly shoved the crystal into his pocket.

Just then, his father, Hyun Jeong, called out from the basement.

"Son! Are you okay!"

" Yeah, I'm fine."

"Hurry downstairs! Hurry!"

Hyun Jeong's expression was urgent.

Sangwoo started heading to the basement.

He could see people running around in the chaos in front of the apartment complex.

They knew each other as childhood neighbors.

It would have been easy to just turn around and head down to the basement, but Sangwoo couldn't do that.

The selfishness of going down, closing the basement door, and surviving.

The conscience to go and help his neighbors.

"Dad, close the door and wait for me!"

"Sangwoo!"

Sangwoo ran out of the apartment entrance.

His clones followed him, injured.

'Let's just save them.'

Their targets were the neighbors in front of him.

"Come this way!"

Sangwoo shouted to the fleeing people, and one by one, they ran toward him.

And the monsters behind them.

"Stop them!"

The two clones lunged at the ostrich-like monster that was pursuing them.

The feathers on the ostrich's body burst into flames.

But they didn't care about burns as they grabbed the creature's legs and tried slicing them off with their swords.

Keeeeeeee-!

The monster ostrich collapsed with a wound on its leg.

Sangwoo's baseball bat flew at its head.

Bam!

The ostrich's head snapped back from the force of the blow.

[Power Strike skill level increased].

Sangwoo smashed the now featherless, flameless ostrich's head repeatedly.

Crunch!

When the ostrich's head finally lost its shape and crumbled, the flames stopped.

The two clones were burned all over.

However, there were still many monsters around.

Skeletons, wolves, and cows made of rock.

Most of the monsters had fallen from the sky and were in poor condition due to the impact of the fall, but strangely, they still charged at them with murderous intent.

Sangwoo frantically fended off the monsters with the help of his clones.

How much time had passed?

The people he was trying to save had already descended into the basement through the apartment's entrance.

But Sangwoo couldn't turn around.

There were too many monsters around, and if he turned his back, he would be killed.

"Get the fuck out of here, ahhhhh!"

Sangwoo swung his baseball bat wildly.

The monsters backed away.

But it was just a bluff.

'--- I'm going to die.'

He wonders if it was the after-effects of using the Power Strike skill.

His wrists ached so badly.

And then, as if at the end of his strength, No. 3 was summoned back.

Monsters pushed through the gap left by No. 3, who had shattered into shards of light.

No. 1 tried to block them with his body.

However, the monsters already in front of him were difficult to block even when his body was still intact.

How do you stop a cow made of rocks with a knife and a baseball bat?

To make matters worse, a saber-toothed tiger with one front paw the size of a man was charging at them.

Roar!

The surrounding monsters, Sangwoo, and No. 1 all stiffened as if the roar contained some magical power.

The tiger's front paw swept away the monsters and No.1 at the same time.

Kwah!

The monsters were instantly turned into meat and sent flying.

In the meantime, Sangwoo could see No. 1 turning into light and scattering.

'--- This is it.'

Sangwoo felt that death was just around the corner.

He trembled.

He was terrified.

He felt like he was going to pee.

Then, his past life flashed before his eyes.

Memories of family, meeting friends, and playing games.

'I can't believe the last thing I remember is playing games.'

He laughed.

It was a self-deprecating, regretful laugh.

'If I had it to do over again, I would have---.'

Would he hide in the basement instead of saving his neighbors?

Would have have headed for a shelter instead of spending the holidays?

Would he have worked harder instead of relying on his clones?

... Would he have trained hard and become strong enough to protect his family?

But life didn't wait for him.

A saber-toothed tiger leapt straight for him.

It opened its mouth like it was about to take a bite out of a tasty meal.

That's when it happened.

Swoosh.

The tiger stopped moving.

And then.

Crunch.

The saber-toothed tiger's flesh splintered, separating exactly to the left and right.

Chaaaaack.

Blood gushed out of the monster's carcass like a fountain.

Sangwoo is drenched in it.

BANG!

The ground exploded in front of Sangwoo, who was covered in blood.

In the middle of the ground stood a man he hadn't seen before.

A man taking off his raggedy wingsuit.

"--- Who are you?"

"I'm Wontae Park of the Cainus Guild. Are you okay?"

* * *

Three minutes ago.

After confirming the disaster, the Cainus Guild's emergency response team was heading to Bucheon City on a transport ship.

A state-of-the-art transport ship with mana engines.

[You have arrived at your destination].

"Open the exits!"

The rear of the transport ship slid open.

"Descend!"

One by one, the wingsuit-wearing members of the Cainus Guild jumped out of the transport.

Using the wings on their arms and legs, they quickly descended towards their destination, Bucheon City.

And among them was Wontae Park.

-When we get down, save the survivors first! Leave the megalosaurus to the other guilds.

-Yes, sir!

-Yes, Captain.

Bucheon City slowly approached.

The city filled with apartment complexes had already been destroyed.

Flames roared and concrete dust rose from the rubble.

A Megalosaurus rampaged through the streets.

It was already fighting with another guild.

A flurry of skills, missiles, and rockets were fired at the Megalosaurus's body.

Presumably, they were targeting it first to get the raid loot.

'Bastards-- We should be saving the people first.

Then a sight caught Wontae's eye.

Broken apartment buildings.

In the middle of them, countless monsters were gathered at what appeared to be an apartment entrance.

Wontae focused his eyes on what looked like a dot.

His vision zoomed in.

And there, in front of him, were strikingly identical triplets.

The others had disappeared into the apartment entrance, leaving them behind.

The triplets were unable to follow them into the apartment, frantically fending off the onrushing monsters.

'Not bad.'

They were fighting very well, even though they were close to normal.

But the swarming monsters were about to kill them.

'It's dangerous.'

Wontae adjusted his falling body to face that direction.

The scene was getting closer.

However, one of the triplets with a gaping hole in its abdomen collapsed.

Wontae felt sorry for him.

'Oh no--- What?'

However, the fallen man soon disintegrated into light.

Wontae was surprised to see only his clothes fall to the ground.

'What is it? It's not a person.'

By the time Wontae got over his surprise, the situation had become too precarious for the two left.

The tense front had collapsed.

And when a giant tiger appeared, the scene became even more chaotic.

One of the men was blown away.

His body disintegrated into light, leaving only his sweatpants behind.

All that was left was a man with a baseball bat.

And a giant tiger charging at him.

Wontae Park was close to the ground, but he realized he was running out of time.

As he fell, Park reached for the sword hanging from the waistband of his wingsuit.

Mana, or qi, surged from the blade.

It traveled through his upper body, up his arms, and into the sword in his right hand.

Then a glow formed on the sword.

It was sword qi, also called sword aura.

Wontae swung the bluish sword energy and shot it out in the form of a half-moon.

It flew out in a flash.

The sword qi sliced the giant tiger in two.

Seeing this, Park righted himself and landed on the ground with the same force he had fallen with.

BANG!

The ground shattered under the impact.

Wontae tore off the wingsuit that was in his way.

His battlesuit was revealed.

In front of him was only one lone man.

He was covered in blood and had a dazed expression.

He opened his mouth to speak to Wontae Park.

"--- Who are you?"

"I'm Wontae Park of the Cainus Guild. Are you okay?"

* * *

A few days had passed since a city-level disaster struck Bucheon.

A university hospital in Seoul.

The TV in the lobby of the hospital was showing the news.

"--- The number of casualties is still unclear, and authorities believe it could be in the hundreds of thousands. The death toll is likely to be even higher, as many of the wounded are unconscious. With monsters still in the city, the toll is still rising. The damage has virtually paralyzed Bucheon as an administrative city, and the mayor of Bucheon has made a tearful appeal to the people and hunter associations around the world to help with the recovery. Hunters, volunteers, and supplies are now coming in from all over the world------."

The hospital's mana intensive care unit.

In a hospital bed lay a pale-faced Jiwoo.

Jiwoo was awake and alert.

She was smiling brightly.

But her expression was pitiful. Her mother held her hand tightly.

Tears were dripping down Aesook Lee's vinyl sterilization suit.

"--- Jiwoo."

Two men stared at the two of them from beyond the glass wall.

It was Hyun Jeong and Sangwoo.

"--- Dad, what happened to the house?"

"--- I think I can get the insurance money. We should start looking for a place."

"Buy a place here, near Seoul."

"Here?"

"Yes. So we'll live together. I'll take a room."

"--- Okay. I'll look into it."

'Because I'll protect the family now.'

Sangwoo swallowed his last words.

He turned and left.

He left the hospital to get some fresh air.

He thought back to the conversation he had with the doctor a few days earlier.

When he was finally rescued by Wontae a few days ago, he was relieved and thought it was all over.

However, the words he heard after he was admitted to the university hospital were like a bolt from the blue. "--- You are infected with the MA (Mana Absorber) virus."

Jiwoo had been unconscious since the apartment collapsed.

Everyone in the family thought she had passed out from the shock.

But it turns out she's been infected by a virus that crossed the portal.

Now that she's awake, she looks fine, except for her pale face.

"Normally, viruses that cross the portal are unable to adapt to Earth's ecosystem and are wiped out. However, this MA virus is different. It continuously absorbs its host's mana and multiplies. To the point where the body is unable to perform vital activities."

"--- Isn't there anything we can do?"

"There is no possibility with modern medicine. Even using the healing magic skill proved ineffective because it absorbs mana. If you block all surrounding mana, it will suck out all of the host's life-giving mana---."

"---."

The doctor said with a hint of regret.

"However, an S-class healer might be able to do something about it, or perhaps some of the items that come through the portal. For example--- elixirs or mandragoras or something like that."

"---Elixirs---."

"But they're so hard to come by---. For now, all we can do is feed the virus with mana from the mana ward to slow its progression."

It was the last resort to save his little sister, the doctor said.

Earn money to call in a Ranker or buy an item.

…Or he could try to get it himself.

Sangwoo looked up the price of the elixir and saw that the previous auction price was hundreds of billions.

'--- Money after all.'

Sangwoo's expected salary is 3.6 billion, but hundreds of billions would take decades to save up.

'Then there might be a way.'

He recalled the business card he had received not long ago.

[Wontae Park, head of the Cainus Guild].

Sangwoo hesitated and was about to call Wontae.

His smartphone rang.

It was Junmo Kang.

"Yes, Agent."

-Mr. Hunter, your assignment has been taken care of.

* * *

Inside Kang's shabby car.

"Mr. Hunter, I'm sorry to be calling you at this time. I'm sorry to hear about your sister, I don't know what to say to console you---."

"--- It's okay, I'm going to work harder now and make sure my sister is cured."

"Okay, good luck. I'll do my best to help you too."

Despite his words of encouragement, Sangwoo's face looked gloomy.

Looking at that face, Junmo Kang couldn't bring himself to say the next words.

He carefully spoke up.

"--- The corpses at the disaster site and the monster carcasses hunted by No. 2 were sold and the proceeds deposited, and this---."

Junmo Kang held out something to Sangwoo.

It was a green crystal that had come out of the troll's head.

"I appraised the item you entrusted to me, and it's a jewel."

"A jewel?"

"Yes, it's a rather common miscellaneous item--- Here's the appraisal."

Junmo Kang handed the appraisal sheet to Sangwoo.

Sangwoo slowly examines the appraisal.

───────────────

<Low Grade Regeneration Jewel>

A crystal that contains the power of regeneration.

-Usage: Ingest or activate with mana to absorb.

-Effect: Permanently increases Regeneration by 0.005.

-Limitation 1: Cannot be used on humans.

-Limitation 2: Cumulative use will result in monsterization of the target.

───────────────

The condition that it cannot be used on humans stood out to Sangwoo.

'So this is why it's a miscellaneous item---. Wait, isn't it only unusable on 'humans'?'

Sangwoo's eyes flashed.

"As you can see, it's a stat boosting item, but it can't be used on humans. They say it can be used on summoners and pets, but the monsterization penalty, where they turn into a monster and get out of control, is often fatal for summoners and tamers, so they can only use it once or twice per individual, and as you know, there are so few summoners---. There's no demand, so the price is a little low, but I'm not too disappointed---."

"Agent. --- Don't sell it."

"What?"

"Do you think you can get more of these?"

Sangwoo's gloomy face began to brighten.