novelraw Chapter 187 : The Monster Rookie of the 1st Unit (4)
Chapter 187 : The Monster Rookie of the 1st Unit (4)
'We're fucked!'
In the secret space of the hideout that was being demolished in real-time, the few remaining executives were clutching their heads in despair.
"Damn it, of all people, that infamous Jo Sujin!"
"Fuck, fuck! Who would've thought those ghosts from the 1st Unit would come!"
Just how many Ma-in had they ground up?
"Those bastards, I heard they grind up Ma-in to use as soap!"
"From what I heard, they use them as fertilizer!"
"Let's escape while we still can!"
"Bullshit!"
A man slammed the desk as he looked at the executives who were in panic and spouting nonsense.
Crash!
"Shut your mouths. What are you so-called experienced guys doing?"
"......"
"At this point, we're all screwed anyway. After losing a route this significant, do you think they'll thank us for surviving if we run away?"
"...!"
The executives' expressions were painted with despair as they realized the reality.
"And they're not the type to let us escape in the first place."
"But still!"
"Calm down. There is a way."
"What way?!"
"Drake."
The executives' eyes widened at the man's words.
"We release him."
"The Drake?"
"Will it be okay?"
"Weren't we raising him for a situation like this anyway? And what good does it do to save him if we die? No one's going to praise us for that."
"That's true, but."
"Even those bastards will have a hard time handling him when he goes berserk."
"......"
A sliver of hope appeared on the executives' faces.
"We'll wait until they're exhausted from fighting the demonic beast, then strike."
The man grinned.
"The head of the 1st Unit's Senior Squad Leader. That should be enough to cover our failure with merit, right?"
"Of course!"
"But is it really possible?"
"We're not doing it because it's possible. We're doing it because there's no other way."
"But once that guy is released, even we can't control him."
"You still don't understand the situation?"
The executive sneered.
"However things turn out, it'll be better than how things are now. Or do you want to be captured and spend the rest of your life in prison?"
The executive, who seemed tired of arguing, got up.
"Those who don't like it can run away or do whatever they want! Only those who will follow me, stand up!"
"At this point..."
"We have no choice."
Seeing everyone stand up, the man clenched his fists.
"Even if we're going down, let's put up a fight!"
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"Krrraaaaaa!"
The Drake's roar echoed throughout the tunnel.
"What's that now?"
"Drake! It's a Drake!"
The Drake, one of the considerably strong demonic beasts among ma-beasts.
It's a subspecies of dragon with an appearance close to a dinosaur.
'If a wyvern resembles dragons in its ability to fly in the sky, a drake resembles them in its overwhelming physical power and ability to use breath.'
Su-hyeon thought.
'Its attack patterns are largely four types. It strikes with its overwhelming mass of a tail, hits with its forelegs, tears with its jaws, and breathes fire from its mouth.'
Add to that the defensive power of skin and skeleton with the insane durability unique to dragonkin.
The Drake was quite a troublesome and strong demonic beast among those of its class.
Of course, even so, it would normally be a demonic beast with strength around A-grade, but.
'Its eyes have gone wild.'
An extremely starved and ferocious Drake unleashes all its power at once, exerting tremendous strength.
'Moreover, if even one person gets devoured in this state, it absorbs their power to recover and continues to rampage, a troublesome ability.'
"Be careful, that bastard is in berserk mode right now!"
Jo Sujin, who couldn't possibly not know this fact, urged caution to her squad members.
"We need to avoid it!"
Whoosh!
The flames spewed by the Drake poured toward the squad members.
"Jaewoo!"
"Yes!"
Woong!
Kang Jaewoo shot a wave to counter it, but due to the sheer firepower, it only managed to slow it down a bit.
"Scatter!"
The squad members all dispersed to avoid the breath.
"Damn, the firepower is no joke?"
"I told you it's in berserk mode! Think of the current Drake as at least A+ grade or higher!"
"Damn it! What's a monster like that doing in a drug cartel hideout?"
"It means there's a big shot behind those bastards! That's good!"
Shing!
Jo Sujin drew her sword.
"Isn't that great! We just need to kill it!"
"Esteemed Senior Squad Leader!"
"What!"
"Is the bonus split equally?"
"Of course!"
"Yeehaw!"
The squad members charged in with cheers.
"What, what's with those guys."
The Ma-in who were watching from afar, waiting to attack together, were confused by the unexpected reaction.
Above all.
Grunt! Kwaaak!
They had to be shocked by the sight of the Drake suffering, being hit by the squad members fighting in perfect unison.
"What, what are those?"
"They're better at catching demonic beasts than hunters."
Gulp.
The Ma-in watched the fight anxiously, swallowing dry saliva.
"Kwaaaa!"
"Here comes the tail strike!"
"Block it!"
"Yes!"
Two tankers stepped forward to receive the powerful tail swung by the Drake.
Crash!
"Kuuuuk!"
"Damn, it's heavy!"
But amazingly, the two managed to stop the Drake's tail.
"Cut the tail off first!"
"Yes!"
Jo Sujin surrounded her longsword with wind and fire at maximum output.
'Liberation.'
Thump!
Su-hyeon, who activated Liberation, drew even on the mana stored in his bracelet to amplify his sword energy to the maximum.
"Hiyaaaa!"
Clang!
With several additional slashing attacks added to the two leading the charge, the Drake's tail, which had been as solid as steel, was cleanly severed.
"Kwaaaaaaa!"
As the Drake writhed in pain from having its tail cut off, Jo Sujin retreated for a moment.
"Tch! If Taesung were here, it would have been easier!"
"Hey, aren't you favoring the Deputy Squad Leader too much!"
Thud, thud, thud!
Two squad members who were standing by on the side climbed onto the struggling Drake's body, sticking knives into it, and reached its shoulders.
"Hiyah!"
They stabbed and burst the Drake's eyes with their knives.
"Kwaaaaa!"
The squad members briefly retreated, leaving the Drake thrashing and rolling from side to side.
"Game over."
The squad members snickered after so easily toying with a powerful demonic beast.
But.
"Uh-oh?"
The squad members' expressions became urgent when they saw the ground shaking with each thrash of the Drake.
"At this rate, won't the tunnel collapse?"
"I know. Let's just finish it."
Jo Sujin raised her longsword again.
"We'll go first!"
"It's okay. Do we need to rush in all together to catch it?"
Jo Sujin, who had been tilting her head to the side in thought for a moment, turned to Su-hyeon.
"Hey, rookie."
"Yes, Senior Squad Leader."
Jo Sujin, who saw Su-hyeon still looking like he had energy to spare, smirked.
"Follow me."
"Understood."
"You're taking the rookie with you? Will that be okay?"
"If things look bad, standby and join in! What's there to worry about?"
Crash!
Su-hyeon and Jo Sujin rushed at the Drake, each riding on Mana Shield and wind.
"Kwaaaaaaa!"
Flare!
The eyes of the two, who avoided the pouring breath with aerial maneuvers, met in mid-air.
"I'm going to behead it! Can you do it?"
"Yes!"
"Okay!"
Jo Sujin, who dodged the swinging foreleg, sliced the Drake's neck with sword energy infused with wind and flame.
Slash!
It was a single strike that completely split the Drake's tough skin and muscles, known for their hardness.
'As expected, cutting through the cervical vertebrae too was too much!'
Jo Sujin, who clicked her tongue with a "tch," stepped on the wind and flew into the air.
Su-hyeon, who rushed in next, twisted as if doing a hammer throw, then unleashed a full swing with all his kinetic energy, as if unwinding a clock spring.
Clang!
The Drake's massive head, with even its cervical vertebrae severed, shot upward riding a fountain of blood.
"Kuuu!"
"To behead a Drake!"
"Is the rookie already becoming a kill-stealer?"
"Hahahahaha!"
Squad members flocked to Su-hyeon, who landed after making a full turn in the air.
"I thought some puny rookie had joined us, but this is amazing?"
"Should we call you Drake Slayer from now on?"
"I told you all not to make a fuss!"
Jo Sujin tapped Su-hyeon's Moonless Sword with her blade.
"Rookie. You handle a sword well?"
"Thank you."
"Now then."
Jo Sujin's gaze turned to the Ma-in who were watching while hiding, not daring to charge.
"Let's finish this."
It seemed like hiccuping sounds were coming from somewhere.
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"Damn it! Let go of this!"
"Hit him once more."
Crack!
The resisting Ma-in went limp after being hit in the temple.
After capturing the Drake, the situation progressed smoothly.
Two Ma-in who tried to escape were each subdued by Kim Taesung and Yu Chanmin.
Of the three Ma-in who charged in desperation, two tankers subdued one, and Jo Sujin took down the leader in 10 exchanges.
"Kuuu. I've never heard of such a guy."
Finally, the last one who was resisting most fiercely was subdued by Su-hyeon, who brilliantly pushed forward utilizing both swordsmanship and bare-handed combat.
"Hey, we're seeing him for the first time today too."
The squad members chuckled as they patted Su-hyeon's shoulder.
"Rookie, very impressive."
"What do you mean one person's share? You did two people's worth."
"It's all thanks to you, seniors."
"Alright, alright, attention!"
Jo Sujin clapped her hands to focus attention.
"Good work today as well. We caught quite a big fish today."
"Can we look forward to a bonus?"
"I'll raise hell with the Chief of Staff if they give you a pittance, so don't worry."
"Hehe, that's our Squad Leader!"
"Let's also request reinforcements since there are so many to transport."
"I contacted them 5 minutes ago."
"As expected!"
Jo Sujin gave a thumbs up to Deputy Squad Leader Kim Taesung's meticulous work handling.
"The interrogation will be done by even more vicious bastards than us, so it would be better for you to speak up without resisting unnecessarily."
Jo Sujin said, looking at the groaning Ma-in.
"I hope you know a lot, for your sake."
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The sight of the drug cartel, which had defeated one squad of the 7th Unit, being completely annihilated by one squad of the 1st Unit made me newly realize the power that the 1st Unit possessed.
'This is why the human system is still maintained.'
The 1st Unit, an elite force, especially A Squad led by Senior Squad Leader Jo Sujin, was frighteningly strong.
'I made the right choice coming here.'
I will grow once more by absorbing all the experience here.
'Someday I'll have to surpass Jo Sujin too.'
Jo Sujin's combat power, utilizing her almost cheat-like abilities to the fullest, could be said to be almost on par with the current Lee Ho-seung.
'Of course, that's because Lee Ho-seung is in a weakened state due to injury.'
Jo Sujin was someone who, if she wanted, could aim for at least the position of unit commander, or even captain for units with weaker combat power.
'In other words, it means that when I surpass Jo Sujin, I'll be able to cross the wall of S-grade.'
"Hey, 'Drake Slayer'! What are you thinking about so intently?"
"Hahahahaha!"
The gleam in the eyes of the squad members teasing me and chuckling was literally worlds apart compared to before the operation.
"Don't make such a fuss."
Jo Sujin, who was roughly pushing back her hair wet with sweat, said.
"Rookie."
"Yes."
"How did you find it today, being out in the field?"
"I felt that I still have many shortcomings."
"You understand well."
Jo Sujin sneered.
"Genius, prodigy—it's all a fuss. Weren't there guys like you before? Only when such guys flock in and survive by being ground down in actual combat for over 10, 20 years can they finally become like me. Do you understand what I mean?"
"Yes. I understand."
I said.
"This is just a starting point."
"Hmph. You grasp the situation relatively well. I like that about you."
As Jo Sujin turned her head away with a "hmph," one squad member, who was glancing at her back, quietly whispered to me.
"Don't be too disappointed, rookie. Actually, noonim really likes you."
"Is that so?"
"Let's clock out! Let's go eat!"
Jo Sujin shouted as if she could hear everything.
"Yes!"
"Will you treat us to a special meal?"
"Order some chicken!"
"Pizza too?"
"What flavor?"
"Hawaiian, of course!"
"Bullshit! You eat that yourself!"
"Hahahahaha!"