Dungeon Hunter - Chapter 147
Chapter 147: Episode 47. Roy and Rose (2)
About 50 awakened heroes were surveying the outskirts of Seoul. The heroes were very cautious that they did not dare make a sound while breathing.
The city, which had been a megalopolis only a year ago, was now completely destroyed. Skeletons and crows were everywhere. Roads were cracked, cars were broken into pieces, and windows were shattered.
There was no sign of any living thing in the city. Death prevailed, and, sometimes, screams were heard.
“Stop.”
The awakened hero, who was leading the others, raised his hand. At his signal, the other awakened heroes, which were about 50, stopped.
The name of the unit leader was Jin Wooram. Along with his teammates, he was carrying out a mission near Seoul.
Jin Wooram noticed footprints on the ground and looked at where they were headed to. Then he nodded.
“About four days ago, a large number of monsters started moving towards this direction. Based on the footprints, the monsters consist mostly of Trolls and a few Ogres. The direction is from East to West. The number of monsters is about 500.”
Gulp!
All of the team members were nervous.
There were only 50 of them, while the number of monsters was about 500.
Furthermore, the monsters were not just ordinary monsters. They were mostly Trolls, which were intermediate monsters, and a few Ogres, which were high monsters. The awakened heroes carrying out the mission were the finest of finest. However, going to a full-fledged battle with 500 monsters was suicide. They would get slaughtered.
“Are we going after them?” one of the team members asked Jin Wooram.
He thought that chasing after the monsters was reckless. Anyone in their right minds would be able to tell that pursuing 500 monsters was very dangerous.
However, Jin Wooram ignored his teammates’ pleas and spoke, “Hundreds of awakened heroes are being treated like animals. Among them are some of the most important members of the major guilds. If we can’t get them out of there, not only us, but the entire Korea has no hope.”
“However, the monsters have started behaving strangely for the last few days. They have become very belligerent.”
Whoever said that was correct. The awakened heroes could not fathom the reason, but the monsters did have become very aggressive. Even the slightest irritation triggered the monsters, and they destroyed everything. Without any careful plans, the awakened heroes might all die.
Jin Wooram was also aware of these. However, he insisted on continuing the mission.
“Based on the drone surveillance from 10 days ago, we know that there are survivors. If you want to forsake our fellow awakened heroes, go ahead and run away. However, if I ever see you again, I’ll beat the shit out of you,” Jin Wooram threatened.
Everyone was silent. No one attempted to respond.
Although the rest of the team was silent at their leader’s determination, they still had complaints.
The team confirmed that hundreds of awakened heroes were alive. However, it had been 10 days since the surveillance.
Ten days was a long period. Should there been any unusual circumstances, they would have already happened.
During that period, they could not gather any more information. The team was unsure if the monsters had gone wild or how many of the survivors were still alive. It was hard to be optimistic. No one spoke about it out loud, but most of the team believed that all of the survivors were dead by then.
Despite the pessimistic situation, Jin Wooram did not lose hope. After all, if the survivors were still alive, Jin Wooram’s optimism would rescue them in the end. However, the chance of successfully rescuing the survivors was very low, and the team had to risk the lives of 50 members.
“From here on, there will be a lot of aerial monsters. Lower your body as much as you can, and we will move on.”
Jin Wooram led them.
The 50 team members started moving forward in search of hope in the devastated city of Seoul.
The target area was near.
Jin Wooram and his teammates painted the Troll feces on various parts of their bodies, which they had prepared in advance.
The feces produced a disgusting odor, but they couldn’t care less. The team members continued painting their bodies with feces. They seemed to be quite used to such a situation.
Then the awakened heroes formed pairs. An awakened hero with hiding skills paired up with another one with detection skills. Pairs started surveying the area.
“There will be a tunnel in about 500 meters from here. We need to check the survivors without getting caught by the monsters.”
Jin Wooram was serious. He wanted to rescue the survivors as soon as possible, but he needed to be very cautious. If they got caught, the situation would become more complicated.
In the worst case scenario, the entire team might all die. The destruction of the team would be a huge loss to Korea, and the situation could worsen.
The scouts left to check the survivors, and the rest of the team spread out as far as they could. They needed to watch monsters. Furthermore, should there been any emergencies, the scattered team would be able to respond more promptly.
Grrr.
Grrr!
Trolls, drooping everywhere, looked around with their red eyes. They looked very nervous and unstable. They showed their teeth, too.
Among the herd were a few Ogres, who also appeared very hostile.
If provoked, the entire herd would go after the perpetrator.
It would be a terrible scene to watch.
‘About 500 Trolls and three Ogres,’ Jin Wooram thought.
Many thoughts popped in his head.
There were about 30,000 monsters in Korea. Five hundred was a small portion compared to 30,000. However, only so many in Korea were strong enough could fight such a large number of monsters at once.
The five prominent guilds in Korea had fallen.
The monsters’ sudden attacks divided the guilds and isolated the members. The survivors couldn’t get a hold of each other and were barely hanging on. The guilds were technically gone.
-We have found about 200 survivors. They are in terrible shapes.
The scouts sent out signals.
It had been 10 days, but there were still 200 survivors!
Jin Wooram clenched his fists.
‘If I could only rescue them successfully…,’ he pondered.
If the team succeeded, it would mark the beginning of the comeback. The awakened heroes and humans would be able to work together once again, recover Seoul, and get rid of the monsters.
The thought of a comeback made the team happy for a moment, but, unfortunately, it made them let their guards down.
Screech!
A few of Wyburns discovered the team and screeched loudly.
The Troll feces could only mask their odors, but monsters could still see them with their eyes. As soon as the team was discovered, they became a target.
Grrr.
Grrr?
Trolls turned around at once.
Boom! Boom!
Ogres started moving their gigantic bodies.
“Shit!” Jin Wooram cursed.
Wyburns were the culprits.
They came from the back and already killed three members.
The situation could not get any worse.
If it continued, the entire team would die.
They could only do so much to cope with this situation. Lacking any other options, Jin Wooram and the rest of the team chose to fight until their end.
“Let’s show these monsters the power of mankind!”
The team wanted to kill as many as they could before they died.
Although they were outnumbered, every one of them was the finest of the finest awakened heroes.
They wanted to show the monsters that humans were not preys.
The heroes believed that monsters could not stain the dignities of their lives.
The desperate situation, which cornered them, had stirred the determination in them. The heroes promised themselves that they would at least kill half of the monsters before they died.
Jin Wooram, swinging his sword, yelled at the radio.
“We will spare some time fighting the monsters. Get the survivors out of there!”
Death was unavoidable in this fight.
Most of the awakened heroes in the team were not afraid of dying. Their loved ones had already died, and such losses pushed them to their limits. They had nothing to lose, and this encouraged them to fight until the end.
Yet, they had one wish: to rescue the survivors.
The survivors were the hope of mankind. The team might get wiped out during the rescue, but it was a small sacrifice for the greater good, which was the help that the survivors could bring to the mankind.
Slash!
The team members struck their swords and ripped flesh. Blood was spilled everywhere. The awakened heroes were desperate.
-Leader!
“Hurry up! Don’t waste time!”
The voice from the radio sounded urgent, but Jin Wooram didn’t have time to respond.
The awakened heroes were surrounded. More than 10 members had already died.
‘God bless us! I don’t care about dying, so please help the rest rescue the survivors! Please…,’ Jin Wooram thought.
“Aaah!”
The screaming of heroes became louder.
Now there were less than half of the team left.
At this rate, they could not spare much time. The team needed to hang on tighter.
Jin Wooram killed a Troll and yelled, “We are humans! We are…strong!”
They were desperate to spare time.
The longer they held, the higher the chance of rescue. The awakened heroes, who were sent out as scouts, were also very good. They were masters of hiding.
Grrr!
Ogres joined the Trolls. It seemed that the team couldn’t hold any longer.
Boom!
Boom!
Ogres stepped on and ruthlessly destroyed the awakened heroes.
‘Is this it? Is this all we can do?’ Jin Wooram pondered.
The unit leader bit his lips.
Everyone was losing hope.
At that very moment, something happened.
Slash!
A knight wearing silver armor charged at the monsters like a storm. The knight swung his lance violently and wiped out dozens of Trolls.
Dark flames came in and burned monsters, too.
Jin Wooram and the rest of the team who survived turned around and looked at where the help was coming from.
As soon as they saw who the savior was, their eyes widened.
The savior had huge wings made of dark flames!
He wore a skeleton mask and black armor. The knight looked overwhelming.
Grrr…
Monsters looked frightened when the knight showed up, and they started backing off.
The knight charged at the monsters like the wind and struck them hard. Soon, the number of monsters started to decrease rapidly.
It didn’t take more than 10 minutes for the knight to wipe out all of the monsters.
The awakened heroes were speechless at the tremendous power of the knight.
When the fight was over, Rose spoke, “How was it? How did I do? Roy didn’t fight. He was contented to watch.”
Rose implied that she moved M3 by herself. I recalled M3 and the fight for a moment. Then I replied shortly, “You play way too many unnecessary tricks.”
Rose slightly stuck out her lips.
“The queen complimented me… You indeed have very high standards, Master. I will try harder!”
I liked her attitude; she never gave up. No child had such a mature attitude, and I could tell that Krithli taught her well.
M3, which eliminated the enemy, slowly walked towards his side. Behind it were about 20 awakened heroes, who were still awestruck.
“Who’s the leader?”
“T-that’s me.”
A man, who was as large as a bear, walked up to the front.
I quickly opened the Mind’s Eye.
Name: Jin Wooram
Occupation: Fighter (Warrior)
Titles:
*The one whom you can rely on (R, Strength +4)
*A qualified fighter (U, Strength and Health Point +3)
Statistics:
Strength 62 (+7), Intelligence 55, Agility 49, Health Point 57 (+3), Mana 52, Potential (275+10/368)
Comments: None
Skill: The Will of a Fighter (U), Sensory Activation (R), Weakness Analysis (Ex U)
The leader’s statistics were great considering that he was a human. Other awakened heroes were also as good as the leader.
I spoke to Jin Wooram, who was standing in an awkward posture. “I have found some other awakened heroes nearby. Are they part of your attack unit?”
“Ah!”
Then Jin Wooram took out his radio as though he had just learned an important fact.
“We eliminated all of the monsters. Come and join us.”
-What the… Are you serious?
“We received help from others.”
-Okay. I will leave right now.
After sending short messages, Jin Wooram turned his head.
“Thank you so much for saving me. My name is Jin Wooram, and I am a part of the Guild of Mithril.”
The name of the guild sounded very familiar. Frowning, I asked Jin Wooram, “One of the five major guilds?”
“You are correct, although the five guilds are no longer there… Of course, not everyone here is a part of the Guild of Mithril.”
I had attacked several different locations so far. The book, which Gaparam had given me, contained specific information about the respective locations.
However, there were no survivors in any of the locations. In fact, it was my first time seeing an awakened hero in the flesh.
“Were you trying to save other survivors? I didn’t know there were awakened heroes left in this world to carry out such missions.”
“We have a gathering point in Yongin. Ah…if you don’t mind, could I ask who you are?”
“I’m a hunter.”
“Huh?”
Jin Wooram and his teammates seemed to be alerted.
However, I didn’t want to introduce myself as the unit leader of Devil Hunter attack unit and a part of the Guild of Heaven’s Will for several reasons. First of all, a Dark Elf was standing right next to me. It was very unusual for a human to stand or work side by side with an elf. If somehow these awakened heroes in front me spread a rumor that I was not a human, such a tattle would make situations very complicated. Furthermore, there were chances that the other Archdukes, including Pandemonium, could use humans as their tools. I didn’t want to befriend any random humans, since there were chances that they could be working for or being controlled by one of the Archdukes.
Perhaps they had already figured out that I was the unit leader of Devil Hunter attack unit. Had it been my previous life, I wouldn’t care. After all, they were merely humans, and they could only do so much. However, this life was different. Through Oculus’s case, I learned that what worked in the previous life would not necessarily work again in the same way in this life.
‘It doesn’t hurt to be cautious,’ I told myself.
Everything was unpredictable for now.
Stereotypes were toxic in such unusual times.
When I collected my thoughts, I spoke to the leader nonchalantly.
“Don’t worry. I won’t hurt you.”
“I’m sorry, but it’s hard to trust you unless you reveal yourself,” Jin Wooram spoke with a concerned tone. He looked very nervous. “The two Dark Elves next to you also look suspicious… I want to thank you again for saving us. However, I would appreciate it if you could tell us who you are, so that we can be at ease.”
Then Rose suddenly puffed her cheeks.
“The queen was right. Humans are very dumb indeed. Master saved them, but they are so doubtful! If you wanted to harm them, you could have killed them!”
“Be quiet.”
“Okay…”
Rose puffed her cheeks even more.
Roy, who seemed nervous, looked at me and Rose.
Both of them were as cute as Lyhee, but this was not the time to admire them.
“I’m going to the South, and I will destroy all of the monsters that I encounter on the way. You can follow me if you want. If you don’t, you are free to go.”
After saying that, I turned around.
Rose stuck her lips towards the humans and followed me.
“Sir…”
“Shit.”
One of the team members talked to Jin Wooram. At the call, he covered his face with his hands.
Soon, 200 survivors would join them. Then, the entire team and the rest of the survivors must head to Yongin. If they chose to head South and ran into monsters, there would be a lot of casualties. The number of individuals who could fight were significantly reduced.
However, Jin Wooram and the survivors witnessed a miracle.
The stranger and his elves destroyed 500 demons in the blink of an eye.
Jin Wooram thought that they were not humans, because he had never heard of any human leading Dark Elves.
He had two options: join the man despite not knowing who he was or head South by himself.
The leader thought for a moment and came to a decision.
“We follow the man!”
Jin Wooram thought that he had options to choose from. However, he realized that the best option was to follow the man.
