Chapter 28
(This extra chapter is brought to you by these heroes of humanity: Keneth P, Emil T. H, Yunhao T, Tyler B, Valentino W, and Dale B. Thank you for your support!!)
– According to the current estimates, a total of around 2000 Vampires are living peacefully while consuming the blood of livestock. The government is currently protecting their identities which helps them enjoy a smooth integration with the society. And the increase in the number of Vampires seeking this protection of the government seems to be a fast-growing trend as well. I believe the reason why the Special Investigation Division of the Police has designated the serial killings of Vampires as hate crime, is because the authority doesn’t believe they aren’t serious enough in nature.
– However, weren’t all three murdered Vampires drinking the blood of humans? And on top of that, human remains were discovered in their homes. Not to mention, the last Monster Outbreak near the nameless church was the work of the Vampires as well.
– Of course, those incidents are being thoroughly investigated, as revealed by the investigators themselves. But, those incidents and this one is a separate issue. And, even if Vampires had mitted such an atrocity, the punishment should not be immediate execution. We even established a special munication channel for Vampires as well, so this…
From the TVs installed inside the waiting area of the Rest Stop, the conversations that made Sae-Jin unfortable continuously leaked out. From his point of view, he just could not understand.
Vampires consuming the blood of livestock - what a pleasant idea.
However, the real nature of Vampires wasn’t like that. Vampires had a totally different origin from the Soo-ins, who had blended in with the rest of humanity by suppressing their nature and even going as far as mating with humans, knowing that their identity might be lost in the process. After all, they weren’t being referred to as bats for no reason, were they? These bastards betrayed others as if enjoying a meal…
"Mister Kim Sae-Jin. Mister Sae-Jin!!"
Sae-Jin woke up abruptly from the thrall of TV’s broadcast by the call of the approaching Yu Sae-Jung.
"What were you doing? You didn’t reply even though I was calling for you."
"Oh. I’m sorry. My bad. I was thinking about something else. Let us get going, then. So, which hunting ground did you say it is?"
"The low Mid Tier hunting ground."
Sae-Jung promptly answered. Sae-Jin fell into a slight contemplation. Currently, he was acting as a perfectly normal human Kim Sae-Jin. In other words, his Stats were in the lowered state. If he was to do rough evaluation of his rank in terms of the Knight ranking system… no matter how favourable, a Low Tier at most.
"…Alright. Sounds good."
It sounded about right, a team of a low Mid Tier Knight and a Low Tier hunting together in the low Mid Tier ground.
"Oh, by the way, what is your current Hunter ranking? Back then, you were ranked a Low Tier, yes?"
"I rose up by two ranks and now I’m a Mid Tier."
Yu Sae-Jung’s lips became o-shaped in an expression of admiration after hearing his words. It had been only four months. The difficulty of raising the rank by two during that short amount of time would have been unimaginably high, no matter whether one was a Knight or a Hunter.
"As I thought, your speed of growth is really fast. By the way, is that a weapon on your waist?"
"Eh? Oh, this? Yes, I also use a close-range weapon.
As you already know, it’s because of my Trait. But, well… it’s nothing much pared to a Knight, so it should be better to just think of me as an assistant for today. Back then, I just got lucky, is all. As I have said before, I can’t use Mana. Like a musclehead, all I’ve got is my physical strength."
Seeing Kim Sae-Jin speak as if it was nothing much, Yu Sae-Jung lightly smiled and nodded her head, telling him not to worry.
*
There was a lot of danger lurking around in the Monster field. As the instances of sudden Monster encounters were rather mon, even the Knights thought better of hunting solo in a ground with the equivalent rank. 'Hunting solo' in this case meant either a Knight moving alone or a Knight and a Hunter forming a pair to hunt together.
"I’ll help you pile up good achievements today. For the next two hours, let’s catch five Monsters, which should be enough."
Regardless of the dangers, Yu Sae-Jung was, outwardly at least, full of confidence. She was full of energy seemingly because she wanted to make up for the defeat of the other day, or maybe to show off the different and improved side of her.
"Alright, I’ll be in your care, then."
Sae-Jin replied with a smile.
And with the end of the conversation, the hunt began in earnest.
20 minutes passed as they searched around the low Mid Tier hunting ground for a Monster, until finally, a faint smell entered Sae-Jin’s nostrils.
[Northward, 300 metres, one Schemer.]
A Schemer was a skeleton-type Monster wearing a special robe. This robe featured an amazing protective colouring ability that allowed the sly Monster to blend in with the surroundings and perform sneak attacks that were difficult to avoid.
Since it carried around a "Death Scythe" constructed from Mana, those who had witnessed a Schemer for the very first time mistook it as the so-called Grim Reaper and therefore, a very powerful Monster; but in reality, as long as one was wary of its sneak attacks, it didn’t amount to much.
But spotting it was terribly difficult, so a Schemer fell into the category of the troublesome Monsters to deal with in the low Mid Tier hunting ground. Especially so, for a Knight like Yu Sae-Jung here, who enjoyed going out on a solo hunting. She was mindlessly walking straight towards the Monster’s direction, never in her wildest dreams imagining that there was a Schemer waiting for her there.
"Hold up for a second."
Sae-Jin grasped her shoulder.
"…?"
Yu Sae-Jung floated a big question mark above her head. Sae-Jin simply pointed towards the seemingly empty Northerly direction.
"…What is it?"
"It’s a Schemer."
"…Eh?"
She narrowed her brows. A Schemer was nearly impossible for a human to spot. Only a Knight with a rank of high Mid Tier or High Tier could just barely perceive the feelings of danger…
"I’ve got a knack for stuff like this. I can sense nearby Monsters like a clairvoyant." (TL: the author wrote "like a ghost". Changed to "clairvoyant.")
Before Yu Sae-Jung could make a retort, Sae-Jin picked up a stone and threw it at the Schemer’s position. "They" said that action was better than words, and seeing it personally would be the best proof there was.
Ppuck-
The stone drawing a parabolic line flew until colliding with the empty air. The Schemer slowly revealed itself after getting struck unexpectedly on the back of its head by a rock.
"See? It’s your turn now. Charge~!"
Kim Sae-Jin refreshingly smiled.
Yu Sae-Jung was momentarily lost for words at his ability to find a Schemer, but still quickly drew her sword out and rushed forward. Already, the weapon’s blade was gleaming in the layer of blue Mana.
At the sudden attack of its enemies, the Schemer raised the scythe to resist, but her sword that cut straight down ignored such a pathetic attempt at defense and cleaved the Monster and its weapon in half. Just like her personality, her swordsmanship was straightforward without any unnecessary add-ons.
The fatally wounded Schemer became a heap of dust as it fell, and on top of this mound of dust laid a brightly shining Mana Stone.
"…"
Even though she had oh-so-easily taken care of the Schemer, Yu Sae-Jung still carried a confused expression on her face as she looked at him.
"I’ve got a good perception and an eyesight."
Sae-Jin made an excuse as she continued to gaze at him, but it was not enough to pletely dissolve her curiosity. A Schemer wasn’t a Monster that could be located by some perception and an eyesight…. But what could she do? The person himself said so.
"Let’s go somewhere else."
Kim Sae-Jin pushed the back of still-unconvinced Yu Sae-Jung and urged her towards the next prey.
*
Their hunting proceeded without a hitch. The monly occurring sudden encounters never happened once. As soon as Sae-Jin located Monsters, Yu Sae-Jung would rush out and cut them down. If there was a group of Monsters, then Yu Sae-Jung took the front and Sae-Jin brought up the rear. The strength of the human Kim Sae-Jin wouldn’t be able to defeat a Monster from the low Mid Tier hunting ground, but it was enough to buy them some time which helped Yu Sae-Jung a lot.
Like this, the number of Monsters they were able to hunt during the two hours together was 15. This was the highest in Yu Sae-Jung’s career, all thanks to Sae-Jin’s ability to locate Monsters like a radar.
"My pockets are full only after two hours. I didn’t expect this… Looks like we’ll make a pretty good pair, don’t you think so?" (TL: the "pockets" here aren’t literally her trouser pockets, as you’ll see below.)
Yu Sae-Jung spoke as she hefted the Expanding Pocket full of Monster remains. (TL: "??????????" lit. Expanding Pocket.)
"I agree. Us two, work better than expected."
Sae-Jin replied while smiling lightly. At his joking tone, she narrowed her brows and stared at him with serious eyes.
"I’m serious. Normally, a Knight would pair up with other Knights or Hunters of equivalent ranks, you know? But I don’t want to pair up with another Knight as that would divide up the achievements. That’s why I paired up with Hyun-Oh Oppa back then."
"Hyun-Oh… Oh, you mean that Bullet Man?" (TL: not sure whether the author made a reference here or not - but he used "?????? ??????" to describe Hyun-Oh. Although it literally means "a man riding on a bullet
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