Im sorry to say this but my teams safety is much more important to than the safety of hunters I dont even know.
Then I guess I cant persuade you to do otherwise.
She got up from her seat and picked up her bag.
Surely youre not trying to go in by yourself?
What? I never said anything of the sort. Im not crazy
Sooah started cracking up.
And whats so funny over there?
No, I just rembered the ti you ca to save . I really thought you were a crazy person that ti.
Hm..
Sothing like that happened? Very interesting.
Manager Kim said as he stroked his chin. All of a sudden it felt as if the way everyone viewed changed ever so slightly.
Old man, did you think I was so psychopathic killer or sothing?
No, nothing that bad.I just thought you were soone who didnt bleed or cry tears.
Sa thing! Lets just pack up all the items and leave this place. I dont think we have any further need to stay here any longer.
Item?
Sohn Aram spoke up in confusion. I didnt feel like I needed to explain any more. Because if we leave like this, we probably wouldnt run into her again.
Ah, I ant equipnt.
I said vaguely as I got up from my seat.
It was then.
Taaaang!
It felt sothing strike the back of my head. It felt as if sothing cold and sharp had struck .
My first thought was that it was an unpleasant sensation.
Kyaaaak!
A bullet had been shot through my head.
My vision blurred into red as the ground rushed up to et my forehead. I fell to the ground.
It was as if I was intoxicated.
Bam!
I didnt feel any pain. It just felt as if I was being sucked into a dark void. I wondered if I was dying.
But being able to even think like this was proof that I wasnt dying.
The world started coming back into view.
Skill Immortality.
The skill that allowed to co back to life one ti in a day no matter the cause of death had activated.
As if nothing had happened, my body was returned to normal.
Huh?
Sooah stared at with a stony face.
Then her eyes rounded as if she had just seen a ghost.
I just slightly lifted my head and spoke. Because if I were to get hit by another bullet there would be a big problem.
Snap out of it.
Sunbeh oppa?You didnt die?
You sound like you wanted to die?
No, no thats not it.
We need to hurry and locate the sniper first ok?
Bam!
I jumped up from the ground like a spring.
Huh?
It was very small, but soone had let out a sound of surprise. Good. Im sure I shocked that noise out of them after coming to life even when they confird a kill shot. But I couldnt tell their exact location yet. I just started running towards the general direction of the sound.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
I wove in and out between trees as quickly as possible. But he remained quiet.
He probably chose to remain hidden rather than make a shot that misses among the thicket of treeswhich could reveal his location.
I needed to think of so other way to lure him out. It might be a bit dangerous but this was the only way.
I exposed my body ever so slightly.
As if he was just waiting for this mont, a bullet ca flying at .
Taaang!
Ping!
It hit the left shoulder of my armor and bounced right off. Firearms are of no consequence to items.
Though it is true that hunters dont use firearms too much because of the governnt restrictions, it is also not used that often because there is little use for them.
First, being caught with a firearm was an automatic prison sentence. But the most important part was that firearms did not have much use against monsters.
The only dangerous aspect of firearms ca into play if you were to be hit in an area not protected by armor.
A shiver ran down my spine.
I almost died. Just now.
I got you now. You piece of shit.
I was finally able to locate the sniper after the second shot. I spied the sniper hiding between so branches of a tall tree.
Imdiately after identifying the location of the threat, I climbed 20 ters up the tree in an instant and grabbed the sniper by the neck.
Here you are.
Woosh!
He quickly pulled out a small dagger from a strap on his thigh and brandished it nacingly at .
From his movents, he was either military or a hunter with a military background.
Crack!
That was the sound of his wrist bone splintering.
Heuk!
He used his remaining hand to aim his gun at before firing a shot.
Taaang!
The shot split the air harmlessly. There was no way he was going to be able to shoot while in such an awkward position.
The gun was Russian modified for sniping. It was a famous model that even I was able to recognize.
I snatched the gun from him as I delivered a powerful fist to his face.
Crash!
About 80kg of weight fell 20 ters straight down.
I didnt want to imagine what state he was in now.
Keuk.
But, even though there was a small crater from the impact of his fall, he had not died.
I guess he had an item that absorbed most of the shock from the fall.
Now that I looked at him again, he had on a level 3 armor. He was lucky. Otherwise, all of his bones would have shattered into millions of pieces from that attack.
HmI see youre not dead yet. But then again, you were able to get a shot at so I wouldnt expect anything less.
Keuk.how the hell did you.?
None of your business.
Then I stepped on his right hand. Now he had none.
Squash!
Kyaaaa!
Thats what you get for trying to reach for that damn dagger again.
As his bones splintered, they began to rip through the flesh. It was gross to look at but this much was repairable if you had the right amount of money.
I heard that level 10 healers could even restore limbs that have been permanently lost. Truth be told, I havent seen it myself.
Since I havent seen it broadcast on the news or tv either, I guess no one actually tried testing it out.
Kyaaaaak!
He didnt stop screaming. Hes much more of a baby than I expected..jeeez!
Barrf!
He began to vomit black blood and died before I could even get started.
What the hell.
Hunters are known to usually do what is in their best interests.
Im sure this would have been the sa for the Chinese because who would want to invest tons of money into hunter grade equipnt.and then die for a cause that wasnt their own?
I couldnt believe that the Chinese governnt would ask their hunters to commit suicide.and I further couldnt believe that Chinese hunters would even obey such a command.
First things first, I picked up the dead body and headed towards my party mbers.
As soon as she saw , Sooah started running towards with a handkerchief in hand. She then proceeded to wipe my face.
Seeing it co off with black blood stains, it seed the dead guys blood had splattered onto my face without my realizing it.
I thought I was going to die from shock.
Its your fault for forgetting about my new skill.
Who the hell would rember all of the things you can do? And even if I did rember it, there isnt anyone on earth who wouldnt have been shocked by what happened.
I guess, I cant say I wasnt surprised a bit myself.
See.
Sooah said loudly as she nodded her head. Everyone else in the party looked equally upset.while Park Hanbum and Sohn Aram who didnt know anything about my skill looked even more so.
But what happened to him?
Hes dead. Suicide.
What..
Han Joonseok had a very uncomfortable expression on his face when I said it was suicide.
I turned into the direction of Wang Ze Ming, who was still tied up tightly, and asked.
Do you have a poison ampoule in your mouth too?
Yeah right. What if I accidentally bit down? Then what? There isnt anyone among us crazy enough to do sothing like that.
Theres one right here. Hello.
I pointed at the dead body on the side. Wang Ze Ming just shook his head.
What kind of a hunter would put an order above his own life? I wouldnt. And I know that none of the people I ca here with would do the sa.
So thats why you had no qualms over ratting out your comrades?
They would have done the sa.
His face turned a bright red. Im sure he was ashad of sharing this.
Anyway. Enough with the chitchat. Do you know where this guy might be from? If what youre saying is true, hes not one of you.then who is he?
Ive never seen his face in my life. But there are so hunters among us who are a bit off. Actually, now that I think about it, there are quite a bit of them.
Wang Ze Ming looked at the corpse as he spoke. The dead dont speak. But I can try to get so clues from his body.
Unlike other hunters, his clothing was relatively clean, he had well grood hair, and he was in great physical shape.
This was very telling. Because hunters who rely on their skills and equipnt dont take the ti to train their bodies theres no need.
Why? Because no matter how much they trained, most hunters believed that it would fall short of what an item is able to do. Aside from my effort skill, I wouldnt say this was untrue.
For this reason, there were very few hunters who had well developed bodies like this.
On closer inspection, I could tell that he had trained for quite a long ti.
I wondered if the Chinese governnt had sent in soldiers like this to hide among hunters and do what they couldnt.
What if he was a hunter who is part of the National Security Agency?
National Security Agency?
They dont have sothing like that in Korea? You knowlike a covert group?
Ah, sothing like NIS (National Intelligence Service)?
I heard rumors that there were a lot of people recruited for sothing like thatbut I cant be sure.
So then thats one possibility, I guess.
I dont know just how much of Wang Ze Mings words I should believe. But I also dont see why he would lie about sothing like this. Since he could have just said he didnt know a thing.
What are you guys talking about?
Sooah walked closer to us and asked.
He said that it might be soone part of a covert group sent by the National Security Agencysothing similar to NIS in our country. Since they cant just send in their military troops. I think they might have sent in so naless soldiers who will be able to move independently. If thats the case, it explains his skills as a sniper. Above all, he had excellent marksmanship.
It was a distance of about 50 ters from where he was hiding in the trees and where I had been shot. It wasnt that far, but what made it impressive was the fact that he was able to shoot accurately even with branches and foliage in the way. The branches were not still either. They swayed with the wind, making the shot even more difficult.
Isnt that a big problem? It could incite national conflict.
Lieutenant Arams face beca pale.
I an, the national conflict had already begun way before this. Naive.
Manager Kim smirked. I agreed with him.
If they sent in hunters in this way, that ant they were already braced for an all out war.
But theres still sothing I dont get.
Han Joonseok, who had been silent in thought this whole ti, spoke up. Feeling my stare, he said towards .
What are they trying to gain by doing sothing like this? The three countries in East Asia had been maintaining a friendly relationship this whole ti. So why now? It was the first ti since the monsters first appeared that things have been so strained.
Well there was the whole North Korea situation too.
As soon as Mr. Kim said this, Han Joonseok shook his head.
That was sothing that we expected to happen. Of course so of us might still be upset of what happens, but since China absorbed North Korea when they kept threatening us with Nuclear bombsyou cant be too mad.
Honestly, China absorbed North Korea very easily. But you were to ask if it benefited them in any way..Id have to say no.
It was an incredibly small land and everyone on that last was pretty much in poverty.
Could it be that they are just greedy for land? Isnt there a saying about how its the people who have that always want more?
Park Hanbum asked.
I guess you can think like that but.it still doesnt quite do it for . I keep thinking that there was a reason they had to pretend to be congenial with our country while they invaded our part of the new land.
He had sothing there. Sothing about this whole thing made uneasy. Why did they need to invade the new land from behind?
And why did they need to send over 3000 hunters to do the job?
At first I thought they ca to check out our hunters on our side, but if the NIS was sending n in as wellthe reason must be more serious.
Why
I put all the clues to the forefront of my mind and thought.
What is it that China wants at this very mont.
Everyone considered this and started thinking. Sooah was the first to break the silence.
Money.
Well, Im in the sa boat. Not that. Sothing more specific.
Chet.who on earth doesnt want more money?
Supremacy..no?
Yeonkyoung said quietly. Speaking up after being silent the whole ti.that wasnt a bad guess.
I nodded my head and said.
China has wanted to increase their influence. But since they didnt want to be in a physical qar, they used another thod to achieve this by boosting their economic status. And the reason they were able to do that
I went speechless for just a mont. I felt as if I almost had it.
Han Joonseok responded with a sigh.
Booming food production.
There was a recent story about how there was a sharp decline in Chinas food production.
As if she suddenly rembered sothing, Sohn Aram quickly intervened. It was sothing I had heard before too.
And I was directly involved.
China had used the land around dungeon, which allows plants to grow quickly, to produce and harvest many crops. They began to establish cooperative farms around the dungeon and stationed several hunters there to promote safety. But when the level 1 and level 2 dungeons disappeared, things went south.
What does that have to do with any of this?
Asked a frustrated Manager Kim.
Thats what I wanted to know. This was all speculation.
If we wanted to know more, we needed to do so more investigating.
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