novelraw Chapter 102 : Remarkable Growth (1)
Chapter 102 : Remarkable Growth (1)
"Damn it!"
Were-mole, or in other words, mole-human Park Duseong.
He was bewildered by the battle situation that had been flowing unfavorably from the start.
'How the hell did they figure out our surprise attack?'
According to the plan, they should have already taken down several people at the moment of surprise and been easily subduing the confused enemy.
But what was this?
As soon as they began the surprise attack, there was a flash and explosion, followed by sirens and even announcement broadcasts.
'What the hell is going on? Did someone anticipate where we would emerge and set up booby traps?'
It was an incomprehensible situation.
What made it even more confusing was that, despite all this, the students, Instructors, and Assistant Instructors all reacted somewhat slowly, as if it was truly unexpected.
Their acting was so good that he thought they might be better off changing majors.
'That bastard! Could he have set a trap? Or is this a case of turning the tables?'
So his conclusion also leaned toward the possibility that Hwang Won-jae might have played some trick.
'Hmph, I expected you might stab us in the back.'
What was there to hide?
Hadn't they themselves set operation objectives quite different from their instructions?
'Things won't go according to your wishes.'
Hwang Won-jae, who had forced their comrades to kneel and commit miserable suicide.
The executives who had snickered watching that scene.
He had no intention of forgiving any of them.
'Hmph. With a leader like ours, contingency plans are already in place for variables like this.'
Park Duseong smiled.
"Kuk!"
After pushing an Assistant Instructor with his brutal claws and bringing him down by slashing his thigh, he dug a hole on the spot.
"Lie down here for a while. Don't worry, I won't kill you."
"Damn it..."
"Stop the bleeding yourself. Don't die, okay?"
Pababak!
After burying the Instructor's entire body except for his face, he gauged the battle situation with his sensitive sense of smell amidst the shouting and screaming.
'I heard that those famous kids are concentrated in Groups 1 and 2.'
Looking at it, the situation on that side seemed ominous.
'I knew they were strong, but I didn't expect to this extent.'
Of course, Plan B wasn't bad either.
While the Ma-in assigned to Groups 1 and 2 stalled and tied them down, the Ma-in who had subdued other areas could join in.
It was while he was thinking that.
Flash!
Two cadets who had risen into the sky brightened the darkness using lightning, and weren't two more flying toward where the Assistant Instructors were?
'These kids are quite clever.'
As the thought occurred that even Plan B might go awry, Park Duseong became urgent.
'...No choice then?'
He recalled the last method his leader had emphasized.
[Got it? If the surprise attack fails due to unexpected circumstances or the situation becomes unfavorable, just overturn everything.]
The tunnels he had dug weren't just for surprise attacks.
'Since I've dug recklessly, the foundation is extremely weakened.'
In other words.
If he detonated the bombs installed in key areas, the weakened foundation would collapse, potentially causing a forced landslide.
"Huu."
After steadying his breath, Park Duseong pressed the detonator button.
Kururururung!
Ominous vibrations and explosions were transmitted from beneath the ground.
Soon, trees, rocks, and a massive amount of soil began to flow down from the mountain peak like a wave.
Kwarrrrrruk!
"Aaah!"
"What is this!"
"Run away!"
Park Duseong laughed as he heard the cadets' shrill screams from all over.
"Ah, this means that Assistant Instructor bastard will die, right?"
His laughter grew louder.
"Well, can't be helped."
From now on.
"Try to survive on your own."
A brutal battlefield of every man for himself was about to open.
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Oh Min-seon and Jeremy McGarr, isolated somewhere on the mountainside, were under an untimely attack from a flock of seagulls.
"Uaaaah! Fuck! What the hell are these things?"
Jeremy McGarr was disgusted by the flock of seagulls charging with blood-red eyes, undeterred even by his fire-wrapped spear.
"There are too many!"
"Hide behind!"
Oh Min-seon raised high walls by pulling up earth mixed with soil, gravel, and broken and uprooted trees.
Gagagak!
Oh Min-seon was terrified by the momentum of the seagulls that were ramming and going berserk outside the earth wall.
"What kind of seagulls don't sleep at this hour of the night and go crazy like this?"
"Crazy bird bastards!"
"Hehehehe, children! Peck out all their eyeballs!"
The Ma-in, Han Sumin, who was watching the two's predicament from a distance, laughed.
Her characteristic was "Bird Master," with an innate leadership over the species of birds.
Furthermore, her ability, mutated by her Ma-in transformation, was to turn birds into fierce warriors more ferocious than predators.
"I don't think I'll ever find seagulls cute again."
"I agree. But were seagulls originally this big?"
A flock of seagulls with wingspans reaching nearly 1 meter presented a more imposing sight than one might expect.
"Damn. They're too fast for me to attack with my ability."
"And they're not afraid of fire either."
The two swallowed dry saliva, saying that they'd prefer to face the strange Ma-in they were dealing with earlier.
"I wonder if everyone else is okay? We managed to withstand the landslide thanks to my ability, but others probably didn't."
As Oh Min-seon said.
It was hard to expect that the fortune of escaping the landslide without much injury thanks to her earth-manipulating characteristic had occurred for other cadets as well.
'Tch, do we just have to stall for time for now?'
As Oh Min-seon was thinking that.
Pajijijik!
"Kiiiiik!"
A streak of lightning that came from somewhere instantly turned four seagulls into electric barbecue.
"A-yun!"
"Oh My!"
The faces of the two lit up.
She had been separated from Group 1 members including Su-hyeon after being swept away by the landslide.
"You're safe! Thank goodness!"
"Yeah."
Kim A-yun leaned on Oh Min-seon's shoulder with a slightly pale complexion.
"What! Are you hurt somewhere?"
"I think my ankle is twisted. My back also hit something hard."
"Ugh, that must hurt. Are you okay?"
"I can fight, but moving around is difficult. Can I rely on you two for defense?"
At those words, Oh Min-seon beat her chest.
"We're the ones who are extremely fortunate that A-yun came. It was difficult for us to deal with that crazy flock of seagulls."
"I see."
"Hm, come to think of it, it's the same members we worked with during practice before."
Kim A-yun forced a smile at Jeremy McGarr's words.
"You're right."
Stepping forward, Kim A-yun said.
"Everyone be careful. I can't control lightning perfectly yet."
"Don't worry!"
Pajijijik!
Lightning whips extending from Kim A-yun's hands flew toward the seagulls, and a bunker made on the spot by Oh Min-seon covered the blind spots of the three.
"Here I go!"
Oh Min-seon felt somewhat unfamiliar seeing Kim A-yun's unrecognizably dignified appearance.
'When did she become so...'
It seemed that people can change really quickly when they want to.
'I can't lose either.'
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There were two lycanthropes in MK-1 participating in this operation.
One was the mole-human Park Duseong.
And the other was Were-Bison Jang Manho, who had combat power that could be counted on one hand even within MK-1.
He was a Ma-in who had shattered countless human skulls with simple attacks using the robust horns and skull of the bison that once roamed the American prairie.
"Keuuk!"
Jang Manchun, who had grabbed an Assistant Instructor's collar even while being swept away by the landslide, looked down at the Assistant Instructor who had already become a mess in the meantime and smiled.
"Ah, this is the problem with humans. Their bodies are too weak."
Saying it was a shame since the Assistant Instructor had been quite agile and fun to fight, he headbutted the Instructor's head.
Kwaang!
The Assistant Instructor, whose skull was shattered, died without even being able to scream.
"You bastard!"
"Hmm?"
Jang Manchun turned his head at the shout coming from far away.
"How dare you do that to the Instructor!"
"Oh?"
As Kong Yeongjin, who had a noticeably unusual heavyweight physique, came running, Jang Manchun smiled brightly.
"You look like you can use some strength!"
Kwaang!
The two giants began a test of strength, grasping each other's hands.
Kudududuk.
"Wow, what are you? How can a young kid like you have such good strength?"
Kong Yeongjin, with a simple characteristic that could convert mana into strength.
His strength was enough to make even Jang Manchun, the bison-human, feel burdened.
But.
Kwaaaang!
Jang Manchun headbutted Kong Yeongjin's forehead while still grasping his hands.
"Aaaah!"
Kong Yeongjin rolled on the ground from the tremendous impact that shook his brain.
"Stupid guy, if you come charging like that, it's like begging me to headbutt you."
Jang Manchun clicked his tongue.
"What about you over there? Can you use strength too?"
"Damn it!"
Hwang Gyeongsu, who had a characteristic handling magnetic force, clicked his tongue and took out a metal ball from his chest.
Piseung!
The metal ball, flying like a bullet using repulsive force as propulsion, however, couldn't penetrate Jang Manchun's thick skin.
"This is cowhide, you bastard!"
Jang Manchun, who charged while shaking the ground, then grabbed Hwang Gyeongsu's collar and headbutted his forehead.
Kwaang!
"Kruk."
He threw Hwang Gyeongsu, who had fainted while foaming at the mouth, carelessly.
"Ah damn, no fun. You guys should know you're lucky. Our leader said to capture the kids, not kill them."
Jang Manchun snickered, saying if he had butted them with his horns, they would have had air holes in their heads.
"But, come to think of it, wouldn't it be okay to kill one or two? It wouldn't even be noticeable."
As Jang Manchun wiggled his fingers, trying to pick a cadet to kill, his senses detected a fairly weighty presence.
"Oh? Who are these now?"
He saw two cadets coming down the slope that had been messed up by the landslide.
"This son of a bitch."
"Yeongjin, and Gyeongsu too?"
Kang Geon-woo and Go Do-il.
The two had angry expressions as they saw their friends lying at his feet.
"Hey, what's this? One of them is already in bad shape."
Jang Manchun sighed as he saw Kang Geon-woo, who was tearing his clothes to stop the bleeding as if something had stabbed his side.
"Were-ape, should I say? Quite rare, so it's a shame."
But Jang Manchun chuckled, saying that cowhide is naturally tougher than gorilla skin.
'Damn, I've lost quite a bit of blood.'
Kang Geon-woo, who had been stabbed in the side by a tree while being swept away by the landslide, was drenched in cold sweat from pain and tension.
"Geon-woo, are you really okay?"
"I'm fine. Don't worry."
Kang Geon-woo clenched his molars and endured the pain.
"By the way, it seems like it's been a while since we teamed up, since the entrance exam?"
At those words, Go Do-il smiled.
"That's right, we can do it if it's the two of us."
Dudududu!
Watching Jang Manchun charging fiercely, Go Do-il raised the hardness of his body to the maximum.
'Harder than steel.'
Kang Geon-woo's thick muscles firmly supported his back and waist.
Kwaaaaaaang!
Jang Manchun's horns and Go Do-il's two forearms collided head-on.
"Keuuk!"
Without exaggeration, it was like the impact of being hit by a massive truck.
But they were no longer the novices who had struggled to withstand even one punch from Oh Chang-seong wearing restraints during the entrance exam.
With much stronger bodies and characteristics, and above all, more experienced, they withstood even Jang Manchun's brutal charge.
"Oh?"
Jang Manchun opened his eyes wide as if surprised.
It showed that they knew how to withstand maximum impact with minimum force.
'Not bad.'
But what surprised him more was the next scene.
Kang Geon-woo, who had been acting as a support behind Go Do-il, suddenly came around to the side and wrapped his arm around his neck.
Buuung!
He executed a picture-perfect German suplex, slamming Jang Manchun's head directly into the ground.
Kuuuuung!
A proper German suplex that could make one think an earthquake had occurred.
It was an intense attack filled with killing intent that would have shattered the skull like a watermelon if the target had been human.
But.
"Ah~ this one hurts a bit?"
Jang Manchun, who had created a crater with the back of his head, giggled lying down.
'Crazy. He can withstand this? What the hell are his bones made of?'
'Is the durability of the cervical spine itself on a completely different dimension from primates?'
The two cadets gulped.
"How should I repay this?"
A frost-like cold killing intent settled in Jang Manchun's eyes.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Kheuk!"
After Jang Manchun grabbed Go Do-il's collar and executed three consecutive headbutts, Go Do-il, suffering a concussion, bled from his eyes and nose.
"What? Is this all you've got!"
"Damn it. Do-il."
Kang Geon-woo, who collapsed unable to endure the pain after taking one hit to his injured side, had a frustrated face.
"What are you guys?"
Jang Manchun sighed as if disappointed.
"How many hits did you take to become so weak already?"
He threw Go Do-il on top of Kang Geon-woo.
"Keuk!"
"Well, still, you were the most fun."
He smiled.
"Now die. Ah, I shouldn't kill you? That's annoying."
He walked over cracking his neck.
"Then I'll half-kill you. That's quite considerate of me. No, no."
"Should I take off your mask? Want to drink some of my blood? Wouldn't you guys get expelled if you do something wrong?"
As Jang Manchun approached snickering, he hurriedly turned his head at the killing intent that made his spine shiver.
"Keok!"
Su-hyeon's foot, wrapped in a Mana Shield, kicked his head like a soccer ball, sending him flying far away.
"!? Su-hyeon!"
"Are you both okay?"
Su-hyeon, who had kicked and sent flying a muscle mass easily exceeding 200kg, turned around and asked.
"...Do-il got hurt. So did Yeongjin and Gyeongsu. The Assistant Instructor too."
Su-hyeon asked again to Kang Geon-woo, who answered swallowing his resentment.
"Are you frustrated?"
"I'm frustrated to the point of madness. I'm frustrated by my weakness, and maddeningly frustrated that I couldn't pay back these guys who target my friends with such cowardly tactics."
"Don't forget that frustrated feeling."
Su-hyeon said.
"That's enough for now. As long as you're alive, you can become stronger from now on. Strong enough to never feel this kind of frustration again."
"......"
Kang Geon-woo, whose complexion had paled from too much blood loss and shock, bit his lip.
"So leave it to me for now."
"...I'm counting on you."
Kang Geon-woo, whose consciousness had blurred, collapsed sideways.
'You held up well.'
After looking at Kang Geon-woo's side, Su-hyeon turned his gaze forward.
"Rat-like bastards. Well, well, another one appears."
Su-hyeon walked forward toward Jang Manchun, who was rising while massaging the back of his neck.
"Those horns, I like them."
"...What did you say?"
"I'll take them as a souvenir."
Su-hyeon's drawn hwando gleamed blue in the moonlight.