Chapter 34
Wooong- The siren sound announcing rift entry could be heard faintly in the distance. Mujin was looking out the window with both hands thrust into his pants pockets. The new guild had chosen a spot with an excellent view in the southeast of District 3 as their base.
The color contrast between the cloud fragments hanging on the mountaintop and the clear blue sky was so bright it hurt his eyes. Below that, the lush greenery and sparkling river were all captured in the wide-open window. They said that when restrictions were placed on human habitation due to rifts, the nature of the ‘Bottom’ quickly regained its original power.
District 3 was said to be more dangerous because it was at a lower altitude than District 1, but statistically had the lowest rift occurrence rate on ground level. Judging by how distant the siren sounded, this rift must have occurred in District 1.
“This rift wasn’t caught by the prediction device and there was no prophecy either. After you and Eunseong-ssi made a mess of Huiseon’s front yard and left, a rift burst right underneath, so the Rift Control Agency guys were dying.”
Lee Haesu, who had followed Mujin out, rattled on with things no one had asked about.
“Do Yeongmyeong’s prophecies work according to his own taste.”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying. I don’t know why everyone gets swayed by that cult leader. You only have one life, you should be careful.”
Just as Lee Haesu was grumbling, both their phones rang simultaneously. It was a different alert from rift notifications – a new hunter-exclusive alert service that had been created recently. At the sharp sound, Mujin turned it off without even looking, but Lee Haesu was different. He pushed up his glasses and focused on reading the message.
[ Emergency Response Alert ]
District 3 Airspace A – Sector 508 / Unidentified monster appearance confirmed / Number of entities: 1
Damage type: 3 civilian casualties / 1 missing
Physical identification information and scene photos attached
〉Request for nearby hunter dispatch: Please indicate acceptance/rejection
〉Due to delayed on-site response, the entity is currently confirmed to be on the run.
“Wow, this changgui is quite…… really creepy? Don’t you feel like these things are becoming more intelligent? At first they appeared disguised as women or elderly people, but this time it’s a child.”
“……”
“Mujin, are you really not interested at all? Look at the photo. It’s really horrible.”
How the hell are we supposed to deal with this. Looking at the small body caught on CCTV and the photo of the original child the changgui was imitating, Lee Haesu frowned his small eyes endlessly. It was because he was unbearably angry.
Even as he fumed, Mujin just kept staring endlessly at the outdoor scenery. In truth, all his nerves were directed toward Eunseong’s hospital room, so he couldn’t hear anything about changgui or whatever.
“……”
The hunters occupying the hospital room seemed to be extremely interested in the emergency response alert, just like Lee Haesu. One clueless guy was even reading the entire alert message contents to Eunseong. There was also a tactless bastard vividly describing the appearance of the child the changgui had disguised as and about its parents.
Stop spouting such nonsense.
Eunseong’s voice responding was already trembling finely.
‘Does the monster have some grudge against those parents? Otherwise…… why would it need to be so cruel?’
Tsk, Mujin clicked his tongue in displeasure out of habit. Overflowing with sympathy and naturally inclined to take responsibility even for things that weren’t his business, just like Yoo Eunseong, he had completely fallen for it with just a few pieces of information and was deeply empathizing and hurting. If they put the guild leader hat back on him, it was obvious he’d go around doing charity work again like before, handing out items and casting buffs.
He once thought he only cared for him like that. But now it seemed Eunseong’s generous heart didn’t discriminate between people.
“It’s close, so should I go take a look.”
“What?”
Looking at Mujin who casually said he’d go subjugate the monster like he was going to buy snacks, Lee Haesu made a surprised sound.
“If we leave it, the alarms will keep coming. If I clean it up quickly, it’ll be quiet and nice.”
“Since when did you care about that? More importantly, is your body really completely fine? Let me take a look. Huh?”
Ignoring the chattering Lee Haesu, Mujin took out his phone from his pocket. He moved his fingers tap-tap to recheck the alert contents, then soon made a call somewhere.
The call was received by the Rift Control Agency, specifically the team leader of the new unidentified monster – changgui specialized team. Seeing the number displayed, it was obvious they knew it was Baek Mujin, but the voice flowing from the receiver sounded disbelieving.
– What’s gotten into you. I thought you were dead. Is this the first time in 3 years? Are you really Baek Mujin? By any chance, are you also a changgui?!
“Please give me detailed tracking information for the currently fleeing unidentified monster, changgui. Also send one person from the initial response team over here.”
– ……Why?
At the dazed response, Mujin sighed.
“The alert location is close to where I am.”
– ……Oh, oh oh, oh right! Wait a moment. Just wait! Just a moment!
It was just a small monster. They weren’t this delighted because they lacked manpower to catch one thing. Because it was like a signal flare announcing hunter Baek Mujin’s return to the field, joy was evident in specialized team leader Woo Nayeong’s voice.
After ending the call, Mujin quietly looked down at the information being uploaded to his phone. Even during this, they were endlessly talking about changgui inside the hospital room. The voice dramatically exaggerating the story was definitely Joo Hyeonwoo’s…… They should be sharing the joy of reunion, but do hunters have nothing but rifts in their lives?
Mujin looked up at the ceiling and blew air at his forehead. An indescribable irritation surged up.
“……Wow, Baek Mujin, are you really going?”
As soon as he sent the dispatch response, the diligent alert system updated the information. Lee Haesu was so surprised he looked ready to flip over, but Mujin felt no emotion whatsoever.
‘Huh? Did you all get the alert? Baek Mujin hunter is going?’
‘Baek Mujin hunter?’
Confirming the commotion inside the hospital room, Mujin waved his hand and turned his back on Lee Haesu.
As he left the new guild building in District 3, Mujin looked up once more at the floor where the hospital room was. Come to think of it, they needed to name the guild. That was something he’d have to ask Eunseong about.
In the middle of downtown, despite the cold weather, Mujin was wearing short sleeves. He pressed down the hat he’d brought as if it were combat gear. Even so, his large build couldn’t be hidden, so he drew everyone’s attention.
Mujin quickly left the busy district, cutting through the crowds. Only when he reached an alley with no people did he look up at the sky. With a single leap, he flew up and landed on top of a building. Unlike rifts, downtown had many restrictions on movement. He planned to chase the changgui while looking down from above.
* * *
At the top of the highest spire in District 3.
Mujin’s eyes were scanning the vast area below. Though they said the monster had hidden in downtown, from far away it couldn’t look more peaceful.
Behind the scenes of the busy district, hunters’ search operations were being carried out quietly but thoroughly. Moving secretly to prevent civilian confusion naturally slowed the capture speed.
The hunter standing beside him was just waiting for Mujin’s silence to end. A solo operation with Baek Mujin – he had rushed over full of expectations, but after the briefing, he was burning inside watching Mujin just keep looking down.
“What happened to all the entities classified as ‘changgui’ so far?”
At the unexpected question, the hunter panicked and fumbled.
“We attempted capture but failed, so they were all eliminated!”
“So they were easy to catch. Why did these guys do such unrewarding things……”
Just when it seemed like he’d finally move, what he came up with was a riddle. The hunter’s mind went blank without being able to give a proper answer. Wasn’t the reason for being dispatched to provide entity information? Could this be some new evaluation method? He was thinking all sorts of things.
“The first one that appeared was too clumsy.”
Mujin seemed not to expect an answer and just muttered to himself.
They said the first ‘changgui’ that appeared at the Rift Control Agency director’s house was in the exact clothes worn on the day of disappearance. It appeared neat and without a single scratch, as if nothing had happened.
They’re definitely intelligent.
If ‘infiltration’ was the purpose, they shouldn’t have appeared wearing the skin of the dead. Common sense would be to disguise as someone with low presence that no one would pay attention to. The appearance pattern was too irregular for assassination of key positions to be the goal, and their combat power was low enough that they were all eliminated.
‘Does the monster have some grudge against those parents? Otherwise…… why would it need to be so cruel?’
Eunseong’s words crossed his mind again.
“I think those guys wanted to see human reactions.”
Maybe learning was the purpose.
“The entity that stayed the longest did show unusual behavior. I saw a report that it acted as a lover and went on dates.”
Mujin looked at the hunter beside him for the first time. At their meeting eyes, the hunter unconsciously lowered his head.
“I don’t know District 3 well, so where’s the fastest route from the residential area to the Bottom?”
“There’s the waste disposal drop zone…… but why do you ask that?”
“If observation rather than hunting was the purpose, the unidentified entity’s top priority would be returning to base – it’s probably heading to the Bottom.”
After checking the map, Mujin casually threw the tablet to the hunter as if he’d finished his business.
“Through the hole it came from, it’ll try to go back the same way.”
Then without hesitation, he threw his body downward.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
