Chapter 150: Hero (1)
Hiss—!
A rough, steam-engine-like breath tore through the silence of the reception room.
The faint clink of porcelain followed as a white teacup trembled.
Under dim lighting, a strange scene unfolded.
A massive man with the head of a bison sat across from a white-haired man.
The silver-haired man, eyes narrowed into his usual slits, smiled faintly as he looked at the bison-headed man.
“An interesting exchange, Chief.”
At those words, the bison-headed man—Chief—quietly tucked his communicator away, picked up a green tobacco leaf from the table, and began chewing it.
“Edward, forget about that transmission. Let’s get back to our work. The quality of this batch was disappointing. Sloppy managent.”
Even as he chewed, a heavy presence radiated from him.
The pressure of a predator, weighing down on anyone who stood before him.
Edward watched him silently for a mont, then touched the corner of his mouth as he spoke.
“You didn’t inform the Union about Balzac, did you?”
Chief fixed Edward with a steady gaze.
“Found a topic to divert attention, did you?”
“Work matters can always be discussed later, can’t they?”
Edward replied smoothly. Chief snorted in irritation.
Hiss—!
“There are plenty of people in the Union who hold a grudge against Balzac. He made quite a spectacular exit.”
Chief tapped the desk with a thick finger, once, twice.
“If they all learned where Balzac is now, things would get rather entertaining…”
He slipped another leaf into his mouth before continuing.
“But old sentints got in the way. I couldn’t bring myself to do it.”
“Ah, I understand.”
Edward knew well what Balzac had done within the Union.
And how many people were sharpening their knives to see him “dealt with.”
“Then Alicia doesn’t know either?”
“The mont that woman finds out, Balzac is a dead man. I don’t want that.”
“Hm. That’s a relief for
as well. Balzac is a valued colleague.”
“A valued… colleague.”
Hot breath escaped from Chief’s nostrils.
“Valuable for your plans, you an? Ga pieces are always valuable.”
Their gazes clashed sharply in the air.
A brief silence fell—Chief’s eyes asking what he would say to that.
“I can’t deny it.”
Edward t his stare without flinching.
“Though I do value Balzac more than most.”
“Everything you call valuable tends not to last long. Objects or living beings alike.”
“I won’t deny that either. You’re particularly sharp today.”
In the subtly chilling atmosphere, Chief shrugged and gestured with his cup.
“Another cup?”
Liquid poured with a soft sound, steam rising.
Edward drank in silence before speaking again.
“Still, I’m surprised.”
“About what?”
“You almost never withdraw an operation at the last mont.”
“It couldn’t be helped.”
Chief replied casually, lifting the cup.
“Balzac wouldn’t care about the Union. He’d act according to his new persona.”
He shrugged.
“As far as I know him, he’s the worst. And at the sa ti, if he sets his mind to it, he can be the very best.”
“So he’s acting like a hero now.”
“More than anyone.”
Chief said it flatly.
“If I’d pushed ahead with the operation, my subordinate would’ve died by Balzac’s hand on the spot. He’s too valuable to lose right now. A piece that can be used far more profitably.”
He did not want to lose a ga piece.
A simple, unembellished reason.
Edward agreed. He had already seen Balzac—now living as Ryu Jin-woo—in action.
‘On the surface, he’s nothing more than a hero trainee.’
But inside him lurked a serpent, one that deceived the world and sought to devour humanity.
“By the way, are you in contact with Balzac?”
After chewing in silence for a while, Chief asked suddenly.
“Not recently. Bren operates autonomously by nature. Still…”
Edward gazed down into his teacup.
His smiling eyes reflected in the dark liquid.
He slowly swirled the cup, crushing that smile into the vortex as he murmured.
“I may have a favor to ask soon.”
“That sounds promising.”
The swirling tea gradually stilled, and a heavy silence settled over its surface.
***
Grrrrk—grrrrk!
More than a dozen crawlers poured down from the building.
I tightened my grip on my sword and faced them, gauging the distance as I watched the ones at the front.
It was a feeling—instinct, maybe.
The one on the right would charge first.
Then the one on the left would follow up with a pincer attack.
So how should I respond?
With multiple enemies, I needed to minimize the burden of Pain accumulation.
Sure, I could overwhelm them with sheer destructive power.
But that was a dangerous approach.
‘Overdoing it and stacking backlash would be bad.’
So I’d go for vital points, one by one.
I steadied my breathing and focused on the one to the right.
Just as it tensed its leg muscles to leap—
Pshhk—!
A sharp whistle cut through the air.
At the sa ti, the creature’s head snapped back violently.
Grrrk?
It let out a confused groan, a hole punched clean through part of its skull.
Its flesh began to knit back together—
Pibibib—!
Bullets tore into its head in rapid succession.
Three more holes opened, bodily fluids spraying as it collapsed with a final shriek.
Dududududu—!
A loud chanical roar thundered overhead.
I looked up to see a Chinook-class transport helicopter with twin rotors erging between the buildings.
From the open hatch, soone was aiming a sniper rifle at the battlefield.
‘A hero?’
A woman with a ponytail and goggles.
She wore a lightweight titanium suit, her movents sharp and efficient.
Each ti her rifle flashed, a crawler’s head burst open.
Pshhk! Thud!
Bullets punched straight through their skulls—
Pah-bang!
Seconds later, the rounds detonated inside their bodies.
‘Explosive rounds.’
Impressive firepower.
She’d imdiately assessed their regeneration and chosen to blow their heads apart entirely.
GRAAAGH!
As their comrades fell, the remaining crawlers lifted their heads.
Black acidic venom launched from their maws like artillery shells.
The transport helicopter increased output and shot straight upward.
The venom barely grazed the fuselage, slicing through the air.
Even amid the violent movent, the woman’s rifle never wavered.
Boom!
Another crawler’s head exploded like a lon.
And amid that chaos—
Whoosh!
A massive shadow leapt from the helicopter.
A man clad in heavy armor.
A large, bearded man with an imposing build.
Notably, the armor on his arms had been removed, leaving his bare arms exposed—
thick muscles and bulging veins on full display.
He raised an enormous tal hamr in midair.
“Which one’s ready to get smashed!”
KRAAANG—!
The hamr struck a crawler square in the waist.
Its body folded like paper, killed instantly.
But the attack didn’t stop there.
The hamr head slamd into the asphalt—
KUUUUNG—!
A fan-shaped shockwave rippled outward from the impact point.
KRAKRAK—!
The ground twisted as jagged stone pillars erupted upward.
Crawlers within the area were impaled and left dangling in the air, thrashing helplessly.
Overwhelming power.
A brutal, decisive technique.
The mont I witnessed it—
Shrrrk—!
The mimic’s page turned.
The hamr-wielding man was a full-fledged hero.
A valid target for skill imitation.
[Tactical Manual]
‘Earth Shatter’ has been observed.
Would you like to learn this skill? (Y / N)
[Required SP: 90,000 SP]
‘Expensive.’
Flashy, destructive, undeniably powerful.
But whether I could actually use it was another matter.
If it wasn’t swordsmanship—sothing I was already proficient in—it wasn’t worth spending that much SP.
‘I’ll put it in the cart for now, at least.’
Setting that aside—
Boom! Crunch!
The hamr hero swung relentlessly.
Each rotation of his hamr tore bone from flesh.
Support fire rained down from above, and the situation seed to be wrapping up.
But things never stayed simple.
Grrrrr…
After the heroes arrived, the number of monsters actually began to increase.
They weren’t spawning spontaneously—
the ones rampaging nearby were being drawn in all at once.
‘That device, probably.’
I spotted a small hemispherical unit attached to the hamr hero’s back.
A monster lure.
It emitted a frequency inaudible to humans but irritating to monsters.
It diverted their attention from civilians and drew out any stragglers.
In other words, the heroes were deliberately acting as bait.
Bang!
A bullet grazed the hamr hero’s shoulder armor and pierced a crawler behind him.
“Hey! Watch your aim! I’m bait, not a target dummy!”
“I save you and you complain? That’s because you’re huge, old man!”
The hamr hero shouted skyward, and the woman snapped back just as loudly.
“Hmph! A few more of these won’t make a difference!”
Grumbling, the hamr hero tightened his grip again and returned to combat.
I watched his back briefly—then reacted to movent from the side.
Grrrk!
One of the lured monsters charged at .
Slash—!
No hesitation.
My sword traced a sharp arc, cleanly severing its neck.
“Oho.”
The hamr hero noticed, his eyes lighting up.
“You know your way around a blade. And not bad muscles either—nice!”
“…Muscles?”
Caught off guard, my gaze followed his to my arms.
Only then did I realize my uniform sleeves were in tatters.
They’d been corroded when I blocked a crawler head-on earlier.
My rapidly trained biceps, triceps, and forearms were fully exposed.
‘Not bad muscles. Yeah. I’ll take that.’
From a guy like him, “not bad” ant “very good.”
My pride swelled a little.
“Yours too, sir. Impeccable conditioning.”
Complint for complint—that was etiquette.
At my words, his grin stretched nearly to his ears.
“Knew kids these days had good eyes.”
He flexed his bare arm proudly, then grew serious and motioned to .
“Joking aside, fall back, kid. With this lure on my back, things around here are about to swarm. You’ll get dragged into it.”
He was telling
to retreat—that he’d handle the aggro.
‘Right.’
Heroes had arrived.
It was only natural to step back.
That was the plan from the start—hold out until support arrived.
Still, with the battlefield in full swing and my strength finally being tested, it was hard not to feel a bit regretful.
I clicked my tongue softly.
‘I wanted to try out a few more techniques.’
Venom Crawlers weren’t exactly common opponents.
But no need to push it.
Just as I was about to sheath my sword—
“…Wait.”
The hamr hero stopped , eyes gleaming.
“You look disappointed. You aiming to be a hero too?”
“Huh?”
I was disappointed, yes—but that wasn’t quite why.
‘It’s not that noble.’
He had interpreted it differently.
“Well, age and credentials don’t matter when it cos to saving people. I like your spirit.”
He gave
a thumbs-up.
“Alright. Zero’s kid—let’s see how we work together. Hey! Gunner! Careful not to hit this one!”
He shouted skyward, and an annoyed voice shot back.
“Stop talking nonsense! Student! Ignore that old man! I’ve never hit a civilian on the job!”
Her confident shout echoed across the battlefield.
But the hamr hero clicked his tongue and shook his head.
“You nailed
plenty during training. I still have scars on my ass, you know? Even now, it’s a close call sotis.”
“……”
Noted.
I’d keep the sniper in mind too as I took a ready stance.
“Let’s go!”
KRAAANG—!
The hamr crashed into the ground once more.
At the sa ti, I plunged through the dust straight into the monsters.
Thud! Crunch!
The massive hamr shattered the front line, breaking their formation.
As they staggered under the sheer force—
Bang! Bang!
Precision shots rained down from above, piercing foreheads and bursting skulls.
And over the necks of monsters still charging—
Slash—!
A cold, straight line flashed, separating bodies from heads.
The classic formation.
Tank breaks, ranged supports, lee finishes.
They draw the monsters to themselves and shoulder the burden to protect civilians.
‘This is… a real hero.’
Then—
Grrrk—grrrrk!
A crawler blocking my path opened its jaws to spit venom.
Just out of ideal range to cut down imdiately.
KRAAANG—!
The hamr hero slamd the ground.
Grrk?
The earth beneath the crawler surged upward, throwing it off balance.
Its head snapped back, exposing the nape of its neck—previously shielded by tough hide.
‘Clean.’
Veteran instincts.
Even on our first coordination, he had read my blade’s path and served up the perfect opening.
I wasn’t about to waste it.
Slash—!
I swung without hesitation, severing the monster’s neck.
The clean sensation of the cut transmitted up my arm.
‘Teamwork.’
A strange exhilaration welled up in my chest.
A pleasant breeze brushed past my cheek.
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