Chapter 19
Skinhead woke up from his seat and joined the other group of village people.
“Got it.”
He seemed to have low self-esteem, he just shook his head as he walked with his head down barely making a sound.
The group of people walked into the village meeting hall and the hunters left. leaving the rest of the crowd left to whisper.
“Wow, the ranks of these hunters are really high”
Said by village person about their visitors.
“Of course. Living that life takes a lot. Did you know that they didn’t listen to anyone in the past and were just thrown away in the mountains?”
Jaehwang was listening to what that one person said as the others continued to whisper. The first lady who got off carried a bow on her back and had an arrow case around her waist. She was carrying a lot of things with her.
She had the same metallic quality of weapons and armor that soldiers use. It was clear to see that she had a great build of muscles behind her shield. The power suit that she had was pretty well-known. It recharges its power like other powered household things but the one that she had looked like it was customized.
He was starting to see some familiar faces. he saw sees Mr. Song along with his granddaughters and their friends. They all saw a handsome hunter through the window and their faces suddenly turned red as if they were falling for him.
“Jaehwang.”
The village head called Jaehwang from the inside.
“I found the witness.”
“Yeah.”
Jaehwang took a deep breath and walked inside the hall.
***
“Yeah, I couldn’t hear anything at all.”
“Maybe there was something like a horn on the back?”
“If there was a horn then it would have been noticeable.”
“Maybe… They weren’t that big… how much should I explain?”
“50 centimeters? Didn’t it seem a little bigger than that?”
“Uhh…”
Jaehwang finished talking and the team questioned him with their arms folded.
“It had a head that looked like a snake and… the body of a giant wild pig. Leader… what if the monster hurts someone… Wasn’t there a gate leading towards the neighborhood?”
“There wasn’t one within 30 kilometers but there were two within 70 kilometers. The closest gate was towards Mujin district.”
“Oh…So there’s nothing near there?”
“Yeah. I don’t know much but there was a wormhole that could have been built. The worst case scenario is if they opened this neighborhood’s dimension gate but that could be a possibility. The wormhole to here was already destroyed.”
“But during the last hunter raid, was there a chance that something could have escaped here?”
“No. But I think that of all the possibilities can’t be overlooked. Second, someone had seen it already so if there was a gate then it needs to be found as soon as possible.”
“Let’s go and get ready to check it out.”
“Okay. The monster was most likely hiding out somewhere and we can’t ensure everyone’s safety…”
“Let’s hope for the best. I hope we could get lucky.”
“No, that monster better hope that he’s lucky. But, were not as big as the monster and even its head was huge. Maybe by the time we find it then it’ll be up to the 4th tier.”
“Maybe.”
After hearing what he said, Jaehwang prayed for luck one more time. There were a lot of possible ways to block an attack from a 4th tier monster but to catch that monster, you would need an A ranked monster hunter in your raid team.
“…We may not make it back. How much money do you guys have?”
Skinhead reached out his hand with a frivolous tone and the guy next to him started to talk.
“It sounds quite dangerous, will we be okay? Even if we find it, will we be able to catch it?”
“We could prepare for everything and we will always be ready for a fight. You can all go now.”
The middle-aged woman replied as he faced Jaehwang and nodded his head. Jaehwang stood in his place and replied,
“Going up the mountain is hard, it might even be harder for some first-timers. Would it be okay if I help guide the way?”
Everyone in the meeting hall room looked at Jaehwang as if he was speaking a language they don’t understand.
“Everyone else, leave.”
Pong!
“Ow…”
She slapped the skinhead’s head.
“Apologize…”
“I’m sorry.”
Everyone fell silent after that commotion.
“Thanks for the offer but, there is always something dangerous during a raid. We will take the necessary precaution if someone gets hurt. Or else our clan could get penalty points from the governor and that wouldn’t be good for anyone.
He answered with a stern voice, making Jaehwang step back with a quick nod. He wanted to leave as well but, that was not a good time.
***
Whriinng…
There was no light and the gases from the night sky surrounded everything that their eyes could reach.
“The driving system, Camera, heat sensor and the gas control system.”
“Good. First, we’ll get some sleep and the get to plan A to C and then we will sleep again. We should be getting close to the monster soon.”
“Got it.”
The two drones flew up the mountain and the clan’s supporting team drone started to analyze their environment by real-time data.
“When we find it then the first half of our job will be finished. Good luck everyone.”
“Yes.”
“The present time is now 23:34, let’s start the raid!”
***
Crunch… crunch…
The group of four people walked together along the dark mountain trail. The middle-aged woman took the lead and the handsome hunter walked right beside her. And the girl tattooed girl stood in the middle as the skinhead walked behind her.
“What if a ghost comes out.”
“Be quiet.”
Skinhead squirmed, the girl with the tattoo then turned around and told him to keep it down.
“You guys don’t feel it? Something’s chilly…”
“And? Do you want to find it and ask it to be nice? How does something even seem chilly?…”
Deudeudeuk…
“Hey… Stop being so scared”
She made a few noises as a joke to scare skinhead.
“Don’t break the formation. Someone could see you..”
“Yes, leader.”
Everyone behaved at the leader’s small warning.
Teuteuk.. Teuk..
“Ouch.”
The guy that walked behind the leader slipped and fell.
“Is this what that guy was saying when he said it was dangerous?”
“He was right about it being dangerous… be careful everyone and stick together.”
“Yes, leader.”
The supporting team then put on their headsets.
-We’re two kilometers from the northeast neighborhood… We have everything we need to track down the monster.
-Which way?
-Towards the southwest…
-Great. The supporting team hunting has begun!
-Okay. Looks like we’ll be there in about 5 minutes.
-Good. The fight is going great in our neighborhood. Where are you guys?
-I’ll check.
She checked their location as the squad prepared for action. The leader held a long spear in her hands, the handsome guy had two short daggers, skinhead wore a knuckle weapon and the the tattooed girl reached for the switch to power her suit.
About 100 meters Jaehwang sat and rested on a big rock.
-When will we arrive at the monster?
-I don’t know. But it looks like we’re getting close.
-Really? I can’t wait. Are there monsters from other dimensions?… did someone call it? Why are there some in America too?”
-Because the first dimension gate opened in America.
They talked for a while and then Jaehwang’s story about the monster came up. He realized that he didn’t get to see much of it. All he could remember is that it tried to attack him and he almost died.
Now that he thought about it, he was already living in the same world as a monster. His dad used to run into monsters and even trained himself for it. That time it obviously wasn’t a third tier monster but maybe if he knew what would happen that day then he would have gone into a hellish training just to prepare for it.
-Hmm… I can feel a different energy.
Jaehwang then woke up from being lost in thought and looked ahead. His right eye started to turn red as his retinas started to draw lines from out of it.
The lines were three different colors. The red color reached out in front of him in a circular shape. More red colors started to come but those were much bigger compared the other ones. Two blue lines showed up to where the hunters are… The last light was white, it was spinning in a circle.
-How far do we have?
-About 250 to go.
-How much in meters?
-Gosh… that’s about 900 meters.
-It’ll be hard to find the monster
-Yeah.
-Later we’ll take a break and eat tiramisu.
-Great!
Everyone was suddenly energized. Jaehwang smiled as he watched. The colors had disappeared, leaving one big red line behind.
Ever since he became a Gagseong, these things had been happening even at night. His eyes would glow and make his surroundings look as bright as midday. But besides that, he was able to help the people of the village with things like this.
-Going to an empty space would be great but that would also maybe not be a great idea.
Jaehwang then asked,
-Why?
-There’s a small cliff behind us. It’s covered with weeds but if you fall, it could be very dangerous.
Jaehwang started to move as soon as she stopped talking. He knew that he had to use his [Tiger Hunter] skill where or when no one was looking at him. He planned to drop himself from the trees once they had reached their destination which was 60 meters away from the battlefield.
-Everyone arm yourselves.
-Huh? Are we going to fight now?
-No… we’re not fighting now. We’re just getting ready…
-Okay.
They all did as the leader said. Jaehwang took out the big black protection shield in his right hand. It was something that his dad used when he fought the monsters. But today, Jaehwang would now use it as his own.
Star Dust Clan 2, The end.