“What did you say?”
A roar filled with Ether echoed through the skies of Haenam District. Gu Geon-yi, who had arrived on the scene with Maria. Immediately after receiving the report from the 3rd Team Leader of Glory Guild, his face hardened.
“A Hunter on a search mission has gone missing… Are you serious?”
“I regret to inform you… but yes.”
Getting on Gu Geon-yi’s bad side meant that any chance of promotion was a distant dream. His performance evaluations were famous for being merciless. If he could have, the 3rd Team Leader of Glory Guild would have wanted to give a different report.
But the disappearance of the Hunter sent out on patrol was a clear reality. C-rank Healer Jo Jin-chan. The Hunter who was ordered to search for Yoo Ji-won had vanished without a trace.
“I heard there have been some missing person cases in the Haenam District area recently…”
Gu Geon-yi would usually agree with Maria, but this time, he shook his head.
“Is a civilian missing person case the same as this? Even if, by some chance, there was a human trafficker, would a Hunter, of all people, be taken down by a civilian?”
“That’s true, but…”
“Where was his last confirmed location? There must have been a GPS signal from his device.”
At Gu Geon-yi’s sharp question, the 3rd Team Leader answered, sweating profusely.
“It was right around here. An explosive Ether reaction occurred once in this spot, then it disappeared.”
“Damn it…”
Gu Geon-yi spat out a rough curse. He had given his Guild members the order, ‘If you detect an Ether reaction while on patrol, confirm if it is Yoo Ji-won.’ This was because a Hunter who has entered the Rampage state cannot hide their Ether.
But what if, by some chance. Yoo Ji-won was in a state where he could hide his Ether? The search operation Gu Geon-yi ordered would have been a ‘failed order’ from the start.
‘But how…?’
In his life as a Hunter, Gu Geon-yi had occasionally witnessed Hunters fall into a ‘Rampage’ state. A Hunter in a Rampage state is more unstable than any human. Like a walking time bomb, they emit Ether, causing clashes with their surroundings.
He had never experienced a ‘Rampage’ like this. Even if it was certain that Yoo Ji-won was responsible, questions still remained. How could a guy judged to be a mere ‘E-rank’, and a healer at that, have overpowered Jo Jin-chan?
Gu Geon-yi felt like he had been dropped into a complex maze.
Beep.
“What is it?”
The 3rd Team Leader received a radio report from someone. Even while receiving the report, he rolled his eyes to check Gu Geon-yi’s expression. The 3rd Team Leader’s face, tense as he received the report, suddenly crumpled.
“What’s the big deal about another Hunter showing up? Is there a rule that says only we can be here?”
However, the name of the ‘other Hunter’ was someone who would surprise the 3rd Team Leader, Gu Geon-yi, and Maria.
“Cheon… Hae-seon?”
“?!”
Why is Cheon Hae-seon here? Gu Geon-yi and Maria looked at each other.
“Representative Gu. According to the report, Cheon Hae-seon is moving from near Haenam District, 57th Street, towards an abandoned building.”
For a ‘district’, Haenam District had a rather large administrative area. 57th Street was more than 5km away from here in a straight line. Considering Jo Jin-chan’s radio went dead here, it was a rather unrelated place.
But Gu Geon-yi’s intuition kept nagging him. There might be something over where Cheon Hae-seon is. That thought tickled Gu Geon-yi’s mind.
“Representative. Let’s go too.”
Did Maria feel the same way as Gu Geon-yi? The two nodded to each other and quickly moved.
“…”
I almost didn’t recognize him. The ‘thing’ before my eyes looked more like a Monster than a human. But the face attached to its neck was clearly Yoo Ji-won’s. Though twisted and distorted, it was the same face that had looked down on me during the Hunter Qualification Test.
Kiiik.
The facial muscles on Yoo Ji-won contorted violently.
Hey.
If you react like that, it makes me look like the bad guy. He even trembled as if he had just witnessed his mortal enemy. I was just as shocked to see him.
Yoo Ji-won was just unlucky, but otherwise, he was a rather handsome man. But now, far from handsome, he was indescribably repulsive. His physique, which had doubled in size, was asymmetrical, and the hideous fur and stooped back could no longer be called ‘human’.
To eat a person in such a state. If my sister or Bi-soo had seen it, they would have fainted on the spot.
Ptoo. Clang.
Something shot out of his mouth. A small, golden object shone in the moonlight.
“Is that…?”
A Glory Guild badge. A healer’s badge, made to be instantly recognizable in battle.
So.
Does that mean the guy he just ate was a Hunter?
Ssk.
I narrowed my eyes and glared at Yoo Ji-won. Nothing matched what I knew about ‘Rampage’. Since the news of Yoo Ji-won’s incident, I had read every piece of data related to ‘Rampage’.
Not only the data released by the Association, but also confidential materials. But in no document was there any mention of becoming so monstrously disfigured or eating people. In short, it meant this was a type I had never seen before.
The V1 also lacked data. Other than the three characters of his name, not a single piece of information was displayed. Who are you?
Why do you look like that? Shwaat- In an instant, Yoo Ji-won’s form vanished. Just as I was thinking he had sunk into the ground, I felt a sharp pain from behind me.
Crunch.
“Ugh…!”
I instinctively struck his face and retreated backward. I thought only his appearance had become monstrous, but his actions are no different, are they?
‘By the way… what was that movement just now?’
I had faced many monsters with a high Difficulty rating. Among them, there were some with swift movements. But I could follow most of their movements.
That was because I had ‘Poison Step’, a mobility that was a level higher than my physical level. Shwaat- Again, he vanished, leaving only an afterimage, and recalling my previous experience, I leaped upward.
“Ugh…!”
But this time, too, his teeth tore at my ankle. Does falling into a ‘Rampage’ state develop one’s physical abilities to this extent? I couldn’t know the exact reason, but I had to admit one fact.
The current Yoo Ji-won was faster than a C-rank Hunter, no, faster than ‘Poison Step’.
‘I guess I should be glad his attack patterns are simple.’
There was a sharp pain, but that was all; there were no particular external injuries. This was because I had gained ‘Body Protection Aura’ after absorbing the Treasure Hunter’s Core. Unless his physical attack was S-rank, it was impossible to wound my body.
What was surprising was his attack pattern. As if one bite was all it took, he focused all his attention on clinging to my body. Just like my past self when I wielded Exa.
‘Could it be…?’
A strange smell spread throughout the abandoned building area. Could he have also awakened Monster Poison? It seemed impossible, but the creature before me had long since departed from the realm of common sense.
Moreover, if it was Monster Poison, the recent missing person cases made some sense. Once bitten like this, they would lose consciousness without being able to resist. Of course, before a Poison-type Hunter, known as the King of Poisons, no poison should…
Dizzy.
“?!”
It had an effect. It wasn't enough to make me lose consciousness, but I had to endure a slight dizziness. It was truly unbelievable.
To cause a change in my body, which remained fine even after being fatally wounded by a boss Monster.
‘…This confirms it.’
I organized my thoughts while focusing on Yoo Ji-won’s movements. This is not a simple Rampage. Not a single thing matches the details of ‘Rampage’ known by the Hunter Association.
But the process when the lab exploded was a typical example of Ether emission due to ‘Rampage’. Then, the following conclusion remains.
‘After the Rampage, there was a ‘plus alpha’.’
There was no way to confirm what that plus alpha was for now. It was impossible to have a ‘conversation’ with a Yoo Ji-won who chewed on human bones. What I had to do right now was to neutralize the monster before me.
Should I summon the Crimson Venom Snake and crush it? But it was uncertain if such a precise strike would be possible against a creature faster than ‘Poison Step’. What I had learned through training so far was that the Crimson Venom Snake wasn't very smart.
A cruelly merciless physical attack would occur against a stationary target, but if the target moved quickly, there was a high chance it would just end up destroying the buildings around it.
Sway.
A small haze bloomed from my palm. My control over Ether was still not smooth. But what about this method?
Swoosh.
Yoo Ji-won leaped towards me again. By the third time, I was getting used to it, but it was still impossible to move and dodge. He, on his part, seemed to be getting worked up because I wasn't falling.
Don't get so heated. Since I became a Poison-type Hunter, you're the first one to cause even a slight ‘status abnormality’ in me. I deliberately extended my right arm forward.
If the ‘strike’ itself is the goal, there is no better bait than a protruding body part.
Chomp.
As expected, Yoo Ji-won swallowed my hand down his throat.
‘This is the stuff of nightmares.’
Seeing him struggle after swallowing my hand made me scowl. His teeth, several times larger, tried to gnaw on my arm, but only minor scratches remained.
Dizzy. Again.
As Yoo Ji-won bit my body, my head spun with dizziness. But am I becoming immune to this too? It seems I'm recovering even faster than before.
It seems the nickname ‘King of Poisons’ is not just for show.
“Hey.”
Kiiik.
“You were bad luck from the moment we first met.” ?
Fwoosh.
A haze rose from within the hand he had swallowed. A flame that emits Black Ether in the form of psychic power. The so-called ‘Poison Flame’.
The basic principle is the same as the Ether energy emitted by Espers. The difference, I suppose, would be the destructive power of the energy itself. The Black Ether erupting from my palm traveled up his neck and exploded from within.
Pabababak. Kieeeeeeek!
He probably thought he had bitten me, but in reality, it was the complete opposite. He had opened his mouth wide, allowing me to shove a bomb into his body. The grip that had been tenaciously biting my arm became useless as he was slammed into the opposite wall by a single blast of ‘Poison Flame’.
CRASH!!!
“Whew.”
The disgusting smell of burnt flesh stimulated my sense of smell. Yoo Ji-won’s body was shattered beyond recognition. Well, his original form wasn't what you could call normal either.
The torn-up corpse and the remains of the missing people. This place was truly a space fit for a hellscape.
Ssk.
Even the minor wounds healed naturally. The status abnormality warning from the V1 had also disappeared. External physical attacks were blocked by ‘Body Protection Aura’, while psychic power and Monster Poison were defended by ‘Black Ether’; I was like a walking fortress.
An S-rank Healer who takes no damage. This felt like a cheat in its own way. But then, Twitch.
“No…?”
The face of Yoo Ji-won, whose limbs were torn to shreds, twitched. Could it be that he’s still breathing? Surprisingly, it wasn’t just breathing.
Shhhh…
‘Healing?’
That was definitely the Healing Ability used by Hunters. Although Yoo Ji-won was originally registered as a ‘healer’, a higher level of energy was healing his tattered body, pulling it back together. The Glory Guild badge on the floor caught my eye again.
Surely, he wasn't doing something as absurd as acquiring the abilities of those he ate, right? As I was contemplating whether to attack him again, his torn limbs joined and reattached. It was far from perfect, a grotesque figure that looked like it had been haphazardly stuck together with clay, but still.
“For a Self-Healing Ability, that’s an unbelievable recovery rate…”
It was an attack that would have been fatal for a human. No one could survive their body being torn into several pieces. His healing ability far surpassed that of a human.
As I was inwardly clicking my tongue at his tenacious vitality, “Cheon Hae-seon!” A voice called out from behind me. A familiar voice, yet one that was annoying the more I heard it.
Why are you here? When I turned my head, Gu Geon-yi and Maria were staring this way with expressions of utter shock.