Chapter 17
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17. Underground Cave (2)
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*Kree-k. Kree-kree-k.*
The Queen let out a chilling sound. Above the dark underground lake, its pale yellow eyes glowed like a pair of sinister moons.
"……Don't shoot."
Jae-hak whispered quietly.
"Wh-why……."
"If you cry out like last time and call your kin, we’re dead."
Yoon Ye-eun, clinging to the ladder, trembled and slowly lowered the muzzle she had been trying to raise. *Kree-k.* The Queen tilted its head at a grotesque angle.
Somehow…… it looked amused.
Jae-hak thought calmly. This thing is a Queen. It’s not a combatant. It has never fought a human, and it has likely never even been outside this cave. When it lays eggs, its subordinates must carry them out of the water.
If so.
‘Let’s form a hypothesis.’
This underground lake is where people were thrown to it as offerings.
‘Doesn’t it think of us as…… food offered as a sacrifice?’
*Kree-kree-k…….* It was approaching. *Splash, splash.* The smell of raw fish intensified. A creature much larger and more repulsive than the average Bloodgill was closing in. Barely suppressing the instinct to climb the ladder and flee, Jae-hak stood still.
Jae-hak had one weapon: the fact that the creature saw him as nothing more than prey. No one…… ever expects the prey to attack them.
If there was an opportunity, it would be only once.
"Ms. Ye-eun. When I move, climb the rest of the ladder immediately."
"I’m not leaving you behind, Mr. Do-hyeon……."
"I’m not telling you to leave. Go up and secure the exit. So we can run if things go south."
Jae-hak whispered.
*Kree-kree-kree…….*
The Queen stopped in front of the newly fallen prey. It had been a while since it had fresh food. Its mouth watered. But this one was different. Usually, when it shoved its face this close, they would scream or struggle. This one was quiet.
Curiosity flickered in the Bloodgill Queen’s simple mind. This one is different. Interesting. What makes it different? I wonder if it will stay silent even if I roll it, stab it, and tear it apart…….
And that curiosity birthed complacency.
*Swish.*
The sound came first, and the pain followed. The Queen clutched its throat, not even knowing what had happened. Instinctively, it tried to let out a cry for help. Or rather, it tried to.
*Hiss.*
But only the sound of escaping air came from its throat. Just as they had seen at the community center, the Bloodgill’s screech was produced by building pressure in the throat and releasing it.
What Jae-hak had sliced with his tactical knife was the very sac where that pressure gathered.
‘Did it not reach the windpipe?’
If the blade had punctured the windpipe, it would have been an instant kill. But it was hard to expect that much from a short tactical knife…….
‘Regardless, it can’t call its kin now.’
Jae-hak gripped his knife tighter and aimed at the Queen. A clear provocation. The Queen’s eyes bloodshot. The confusion of being attacked by prey quickly turned into rage.
"Ms. Ye-eun, climb the ladder!"
Jae-hak shouted toward the ladder. At the same time, the Queen lunged like a sliding shadow. It possessed a spring-like agility that belied its two-meter-plus frame.
*Bang!*
But when the spray settled, there was no one there.
Seeing and dodging a monster’s attack. That was what Jae-hak had been doing for the past two weeks, right up to the brink of death. Compared to the erratic movements of the Human-Faced Spider, the Queen’s attack—having never fought a human—was…….
‘Easy to read.’
*Rip!*
Once again, the Queen’s webbed hand sliced through empty water. Jae-hak boldly twisted his shoulder just enough to evade the claws. Then, behind the curtain of scattered water, he dove in at an angle.
*Slash.*
Black blood erupted from the Queen’s bloated lower abdomen. It might be a Queen, but at its core, it was still a Bloodgill. And it didn’t seem to have much…… combat experience.
If he could drag this out into a war of attrition, he could win, Jae-hak thought.
But at the same time, Jae-hak instinctively realized something. He didn’t have the stamina left to keep up this out-boxing style.
The battle at the community center. The fall. And carrying Yoon Ye-eun through the darkness until now.
‘The depletion is too severe.’
His hands and feet were already going numb, and his breathing was becoming labored. He couldn’t guarantee…… how much longer he could move like this.
‘There’s no…… refill.’
He had used up the provided refill earlier. How much injury could he recover from with only the nutrients left in his body?
Now, while he still had strength, he had to do it.
Dodging another attack, Jae-hak steeled his resolve. Thinking he could get through this without getting hurt was naive.
He would strike head-on and end it in one go.
Jae-hak put strength into his legs and lowered his stance. Then, for the first time in this fight, he kicked off the water and surged toward the Queen.
*Kree-kree-k…….*
The Queen’s eyes widened. A dash that caught it off guard. Cutting through the center of its blind spot, Jae-hak leaped. He was aiming for the throat again. The knife, thrust at the shortest distance, curved sharply.
*Crunch.*
It was…… caught directly in the Queen’s hand.
"!!"
Jae-hak’s eyes wavered. The Queen grinned with bloodshot eyes. This prey is special. It’s fast, and it has claws he hadn’t seen before. But…… it seems to only have them on one side.
Then, I just need to deal with that side, right?
*Cr-cr-crunch…….*
"Ugh…… Aaaargh……."
The sound of hand bones being crushed. Jae-hak screamed. *Splash*, the knife fell from his mangled hand and sank to the bottom of the lake.
The Queen raised its other hand. And with all its might, it struck Jae-hak.
*Bang!*
Jae-hak’s body flew through the air and slammed into the lake at an angle. His vision spun for a moment. Jae-hak stumbled and touched the ground. Fortunately, his crushed hand was twitching as it regenerated. Feeling a burning sensation in his gut, he figured a couple of ribs had just broken and were currently knitting back together.
*Ptooey*, Jae-hak spat out the water that had entered his mouth. He had lost his weapon. What now? Should he tell her to shoot? Could they climb the ladder before the Bloodgills swarmed in at the sound of gunfire?
The Queen approached slowly. Its stance was clearly more wary of Jae-hak than before. It seemed unlikely he could count on the same stroke of luck as the first time…….
"It’s locked……!"
*Bang, bang.*
He heard the sound of something being hammered on with great difficulty from above. They usually keep it locked, huh. Well, of course. It’s a hole for throwing people in.
Nothing had changed. Because there were no other options.
He had to keep striking head-on. That was all.
*Rip*, Jae-hak’s feet kicked off the water again. His vision blurred. The distance to the Queen closed explosively. The Queen didn’t reach out its arms. Was it planning to snatch Jae-hak’s hand again?
‘If so…….’
Jae-hak’s shoulder extended straight. The Queen reacted as if it had been waiting. The trajectory seemed a bit different this time, but it didn’t matter. The monster’s reaction speed was far superior to a human’s. Once again, the Queen caught Jae-hak’s hand in mid-air.
*Crunch…….*
*Cr-cr-crunch*…… his hand was crushed again. But it was a pain he had already braced for. Jae-hak instead stepped one foot further forward and drove the object in his pocket into the Queen’s arm.
*Stab.*
It was the Human-Faced Spider’s poisonous stinger he had tucked into his pocket. The Queen grinned, *kree-k-ing* at the trivial pain. Jae-hak gritted his teeth, enduring the agony of his shattered hand bones scraping against each other.
If only it would stop moving for a single moment.
*Kree-k……?*
Suddenly, the Queen’s hideous facial muscles twitched. Its head snapped from side to side as if having a seizure. Nerve toxin.
"……."
And Jae-hak did not miss that opportunity. He reached into the lake beneath his feet and grabbed a rock. Gripping it firmly, he struck the Queen’s knee with all his might.
*Snap.*
The joint bent the wrong way. The two-meter-plus giant collapsed. The Queen’s face came down. Finally, within reach of Jae-hak’s hand.
*Thwack.*
Black blood splattered into the air. The Queen’s fin was torn off and flew away.
*Thwack.*
The Queen’s body fell backward. *Splash*, water sprayed everywhere. Jae-hak leaped onto the Queen’s body. And he brought the rock down again.
"Ugh……?!"
Jae-hak looked down, struck by a sudden, suffocating pain. The Queen’s fingertips had pierced his abdomen and were buried deep in his internal organs. Through the rock, the yellow eye that hadn’t been crushed yet stared at Jae-hak.
Hot blood surged into his mouth. It tasted fishy…….
*Thwack.*
But Jae-hak did not stop his hand. He continued to strike that malice-filled yellow eye and the sunken face. With every strike, a nauseating sensation rose to his fingertips.
*Cr-cr-crunch…….*
A sound, distinctly different from anything before, echoed through the underground lake. Jae-hak slowly dropped the rock. The Queen, with the rock embedded in the center of its face, merely twitched as it let blood and brain matter flow into the underground lake.
"Ugh……."
Jae-hak pulled the Queen’s hand out of his stomach. *Gurgle*, something threatened to spill out. Clamping it shut by force, Jae-hak looked up. The ladder. It was high. Could he climb all that…….
His thoughts stopped there. Jae-hak collapsed, vomiting blood.
I have to climb. I have to climb.
It felt like he heard a gunshot, too.
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* * *
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"Search!"
Meanwhile, on the surface of Bijeokdo Island, a search operation led by Baek Jeong-ju was in full swing. It was a large-scale operation that mobilized a company-sized force and even seasoned Hunters.
"……."
And Trainee No. 11, Kim Dong-hyeon, was volunteering to participate in this operation.
He had two goals. The first was, naturally, to look good to Baek Jeong-ju. With things having turned out this way, his previous ranking was completely meaningless. No, the entire training session might even be scrapped.
If he could get into Baek Jeong-ju’s good graces, even if he didn’t get a certificate, he might at least get a recommendation letter.
And the second was…….
‘There’s no way, but…….’
If by any chance No. 2 or No. 78 were alive, he had to silence them. He hadn’t even had the chance to deeply reflect on why he had stabbed No. 78 back then. At this moment, he was dominated entirely by the obsession that he had to destroy the evidence.
Really, there was no way. The chances of those who fell into that deep hole being found alive were zero.
But as always, fate was not so lenient.
*Rustle…….*
"Uh……?"
While conducting a perfunctory search, he happened to push aside some bushes and found two people lying inside. Military uniforms. They were battered and gaunt, but they were definitely faces he recognized.
No. 2, No. 78.
How did they get up here? Without dying down there…….
"What is this strange rope……?"
A strange rope, red with brass fittings, lay scattered in disarray around them. Kim Dong-hyeon glanced into the deep hole that gaped open beside them. It seemed they had woven the rope together to climb up.
'What on earth is this…?'
Around the hole, strange patterns that looked like an altar were drawn in repeating sequences. Was this a place where some kind of ritual was held?
But that wasn't what was important right now. At least, not to Kim Dong-hyeon. He thought with a face drained of all color.
Even now. If he confessed even now. It was an emergency situation. Perhaps it wouldn't escalate into such a massive problem. A court-martial. A few years in prison. The path to becoming a Hunter would be blocked forever, but…
But at that moment, the faces of his parents flashed through Kim Dong-hyeon’s mind. The faces they would make when they heard their child had become a criminal. The faces they would make as they blamed themselves, saying it was because they hadn't done enough for him.
*Click.*
'…No, a gun is out of the question.'
Since their existence had already been revealed, Baek Jeong-ju would continue his search even into the depths of the underground cave. It was only logical to assume the bodies would be discovered, too.
…Let's drop them.
Kim Dong-hyeon hoisted the limp No. 78 onto his back. Now that he looked, his hands and body were covered in blood. If he dropped him, he would die instantly, Kim Dong-hyeon thought.
*Click.*
It was then that a cold metallic sound rang out from behind him.
"Put… him down."
Kim Dong-hyeon turned around slowly. A trembling muzzle was aimed right at him.
"…Ms. Yoon Ye-eun?"
"Put him down…."
Yoon Ye-eun said with great effort. Kim Dong-hyeon looked back slowly. Then, he forced a smile onto his face, his expression laced with guilt.
"No, Ms. Ye-eun. What could I possibly be doing…."
"At the community center… I saw everything. You running away."
*Damn it…* Kim Dong-hyeon swallowed the curse. *Damn it. Damn it.*
"I won't say it again… put Do-hyeon down."
Yoon Ye-eun said in a weak voice.
"I'll shoot."
"……."
Kim Dong-hyeon looked at Yoon Ye-eun, then at the gun in her hand. And soon, as if he had realized something, he smiled sadly and said.
"That's an empty gun."
*Bang.*
The smile slowly faded from Kim Dong-hyeon’s face. His chest hurt. It hurt… a lot. It was hot.
Huh? Kim Dong-hyeon blinked. *Wait?* The hand he touched his chest with was bright red. His knees hit the ground. *Thud.* The cold dirt pressed against his face.
Where did the bullet come from…? Kim Dong-hyeon asked himself again and again as his consciousness faded.
Of course, no answer came.
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