novelraw Chapter 122
Chapter 122
Chapter 122
Jung Oh-hoon received my gaze and wore a burdened expression.
“I feel like you are going to make me do something I really don't want to do.”
“It is not that difficult of a task.”
At my words, Jung Oh-hoon wore a look of disgust.
“So my role is the important one, right? Then give me some more money.”
“You damn money-grubber.”
He was a friend who went around blabbing that he did this work specifically to make money anyway. Such a request was only natural.
“Fine, I get it. You know that trick you used to do with the bayonet?”
“Calling it a trick huh, it is a finishing move ya bastard.”
Whether it was a finishing move or whatever. The important thing was not what it was called.
“With your current level, you can easily fly it a distance of about 7 or 8 kilometers, right?”
“It is possible.”
The plan I thought of was simple.
“Let's borrow a helicopter from a nearby military unit.”
We would take the helicopter, secure a view of the fortress in question, and then Jung Oh-hoon would fire the bayonet burning with Paradoxical Flame.
There was only one difference between a mortar and the bayonet fired by Jung Oh-hoon. A mortar cannot be controlled, but Jung Oh-hoon’s bayonet can be steered.
Listening to my story, Jung Oh-hoon wore an expression that said he had a headache.
“So, you are saying that after I fire the bayonet, I have to evade all the interceptions from that fortress?”
“That is about it.”
At my words, Jung Oh-hoon played the video displayed on the screen. It was a video of the fortress blocking a bombardment that had been poured out to test Kaesong’s interception capabilities.
Yes, even in my eyes, it was not an easy task. The reaction speed of the fortress was agile, and the speed of the projectiles fired for interception was also incredibly fast.
“....”
“You can do it. Probably.”
At my words, Jung Oh-hoon said, “Wow, man!” and then looked at me while leaning against the wall.
“Fine, let's do it. It is not like we have anything to lose anyway!”
Hearing Jung Oh-hoon’s words, Han Sang-ah scratched her head and replied.
“There is something to lose. The bayonet. And if it fails, it proves that it is incredibly difficult to handle Kaesong’s shield.”
It was a very cold analysis. Just as Han Sang-ah said, if this was blocked, it meant I would have to approach personally to pierce the shield.
“Right. Thanks for the pressure, Sang-ah.”
“I am glad I could be of help.”
After that general conversation passed, Jung Oh-hoon looked at me.
“But, let's say we succeed in handling the shield somehow. What then?”
“We go in and beat them up. Like a giant hornet attacking a beehive.”
At my words, Han Sang-ah and Jung Oh-hoon simultaneously sent me a gaze filled with a certain meaning.
“What, why are you looking at me like that?”
“Just the three of us?”
Ah, I understood what these friends wanted to say.
“What, you don't think we can do it?”
At my words, the two of them nodded their heads at the same time. What should I tell them?
“Evaluating yourself too highly is a problem, of course, but evaluating yourself too lowly is also a problem.”
These two also had their names on the List of Hope. And it was not like they were ranked 100th or 90th or anything like that. Both of them succeeded in making it into the top 30.
“Hey, people like you are so sought after that everyone is dying to recruit you, so why are you so afraid of so many things?”
Besides, you even went through hell in Cheorwon. At my words, the two of them wore suspicious expressions.
“Still, it is only three people.”
“Oh, you guys. Once you reach our level, the opponent’s numbers lose much of their meaning.”
We go in and beat them soundly, and if it feels like we are a bit overwhelmed, we pull back and rest, and then we invade again and beat them up.
“The Triple Blood Cave isn't in Kaesong.”
Kaesong was merely a base we had to pass through in the middle. It was not the land where a Class 1 Erosion Core was located.
Of course, monsters that popped out of the Triple Blood Cave would be stationed there, but most of the monsters settled in Kaesong were riffraff that came out of the nearby Class 2 or 3 Erosion Zones.
“And, the command system of the undead is different from the command system of humans.”
Undead who are under command move like the limbs of a higher entity. However, to put that the other way....
“If the heads die, the undead under control turn into idiots. We experienced it in Harbin.”
I continued speaking while perched on the table.
“Three skilled people, the characteristic of the undead where the underlings become completely useless if you take the head, and the crown I received and brought from the association.”
Folding my fingers one by one, I looked at Han Sang-ah and Jung Oh-hoon with a serious expression.
“Since there is a sufficient possibility of success, let's do it before the other hunters arrive.”
I don't carry out such a big task with a mindset like ‘It will work out somehow with passion and grit!’
“Even if we can't completely demolish the fortress built in Kaesong, it is certain that at the very least, the three of us can cause enormous damage.”
Listening to the story, Lee Hee-sun admired quietly.
“Wow, that sounds good to me too.”
Huh, I didn't intend to persuade you along with them.
“If separate instructions hadn't been given, I would have made the hunters under my command participate in that operation as well.”
I smiled bitterly at those words. Right, what Taebaek promised was support, not forming a joint front. In the first place, I didn't feel much like it either.
Why would I trust Taebaek and fight together with them? Those bastards aren't Jannabi. Entrusting your back to an untrustworthy ally is as dangerous as underestimating the enemy you face.
“Besides, personally, I also admire the three of you from Headhunter.”
“No need for admiration.”
Lee Hee-sun replied.
“Aren't all three of you strong? Of course, the relationship between Hunter Yoo Chan-seok and Taebaek is not on the good side... but despite that, a significant number of the hunters belonging to Taebaek respect the three of you.”
Han Sang-ah tried to say something, and since I thought there was no need for her to say some uncomfortable truth in this atmosphere for now, I muffled her mouth.
The words she intended to say were obvious; she would have said something like how the ideology of Taebaek, the survival of the fittest, which Sung Sihoon, the representative of Taebaek, puts forward, is just a means to control the hunters of Taebaek according to his own taste.
“....”
Han Sang-ah looked at me for a moment and then kept her mouth shut. Right, if you can't lie, it is enough if you just obediently listen when I ask you to keep your mouth shut at the very least.
“Then let's prepare right away. We can borrow something like an Army helicopter from Paju Airfield, right?”
At my words, Han Sang-ah replied.
“I will try to make contact immediately.”
And a little while later, an answer came back.
“They said they are sorry.”
Sorry for what? I looked at Han Sang-ah with an expression of disbelief.
“An answer came back that the schedule is full, so cooperation seems difficult.”
Jeez, things sure are going well. I got a strong feeling that they just don't want to help. The South Korean military belongs to the government anyway. Taebaek promised to cooperate with us, not the South Korean government.
Judging by the way things are going, it seems that someone from the higher-ups gave some kind of instruction.
“Is there no way to get one?”
At my words, Han Sang-ah thought for a moment and then replied.
“Should I try to get cooperation for a broadcast helicopter from a station in Ilsan?”
“Hey, if even the military won't lend us a helicopter, would a broadcasting station lend one?”
In the first place, the influence of the media was big in why a part of public opinion started to look at us unfavorably.
No, to be blunt about it, President Jo Wonhoon is currently dictating South Korea. He has been serving consecutive terms as president ever since the occurrence of the Erosion Zones.
And as a result of meeting and having a meal with him, I received the feeling that he did not want to step down from the presidency.
Dictatorship and media control are in an inseparable relationship, like pizza and cheese.
“Damn it, now that I think about it... even if we secure a helicopter, if we don't get permission from the South Korean military, flight is impossible in Paju.”
And, I’m sure the South Korean military, which isn't even cooperating with a helicopter, would give flight permission. I should wish for something realistic.
Since there was no way at this rate, I fiddled with my smartphone and eventually contacted somewhere.
― Hmm? What made you contact me for once.
“Please help me.”
The person I contacted was Lee Se-eun. Whether she was 10th on the List of Hope or whatever, that kind of thing was not important.
Lee Se-eun has influence. She is not the strongest hunter, but she is the most respected hunter, excluding the 1st rank who one cannot even know where they are stuck right now.
There are almost no hunters who can refuse her request. Her name value is at that level.
It was a fact already confirmed while crossing Siberia together. And, clearly, that enormous influence would not be limited only to hunters.
I slowly explained the situation to Lee Se-eun.
― So, you need a helicopter, but it seems like the atmosphere won't help you guys out, right?
“To summarize, that is the situation.”
Lee Se-eun was silent for a moment, and soon she let out a small sigh.
― It is not like I am some magic pocket that pops out items when you say, ‘Come out!’
After Lee Se-eun complained like that, she replied.
― I suppose I cannot call this a personal solicitation. Wait a moment.
With those words, Lee Se-eun ended the call. And about 30 minutes later, the military unit that had refused our request contacted Han Sang-ah again.
After finishing the call, Han Sang-ah looked at me and spoke.
“An answer came back that it is possible.”
“...It seems you really are a magic pocket after all.”
In the end, whether it was the South Korean military or whatever, it was proven once again by this that refusing Lee Se-eun’s request was an enormously burdensome task.
Even though it was clear that an instruction had come down from the higher-ups, the aviation unit could not refuse Lee Se-eun’s request.
However, clearly, this was a task Lee Se-eun helped with while enduring the damage she would suffer herself.
“We owe her one.”
This was a debt that must be repaid to Lee Se-eun. Lee Se-eun will definitely suffer damage from this as well. Since she has a position built up until now, her standing won't be shaken by something like this, but....
To be blunt, we didn't help her at all in her climb to that position. An attitude like ‘It is okay even if you suffer a little damage, so help us’ is a total thug attitude.
Vroom, vroom. A message flew in along with the vibration of the phone.
[You meet with Owner Sa Seung-hee occasionally, right? Arrange a meeting for me later too. I want to have a chat, but people like her rarely meet hunters with a solid position like me.]
Of course, if Lee Se-eun pressed down with authority, Sa Seung-hee would have no choice but to meet her... but in the first place, if Lee Se-eun had gone around wielding her power like that, she wouldn't have been able to create the image she has now.
I accepted immediately. I was worrying about how to repay the debt I owed Lee Se-eun, and it was solved right away. This should be enough to repay the debt reasonably well.
“We secured a helicopter. Let's go immediately.”
At my words, Jung Oh-hoon muttered, “Damn it.”
“Alright, let's do this.”
We boarded the helicopter we were supported with from the aviation battalion together. Since there was no specific need for Han Sang-ah to ride along, she was waiting nearby.
If the bayonet wrapped in Paradoxical Flame succeeds in flying off and burning up that shield, Jung Oh-hoon and I will jump from the helicopter and join Han Sang-ah. And then we will rush toward Kaesong.
The helicopter flew while rattling its motor. And a little while later, the helicopter pilot spoke to us.
― This is as far as we go. I understand that if we approach any further, we will be intercepted.
From now on, Jung Oh-hoon’s role was important.
“Do you see it?”
“Of course. I see it very clearly.”
The distance was quite far, but for Jung Oh-hoon, there were not many constraints. In addition to the view looking down from the sky, Jung Oh-hoon could examine places his vision reached in a format like a bird's-eye view.
“The bayonet.”
At my words, Jung Oh-hoon handed me the bayonet. I wrapped the bayonet with Paradoxical Flame. The Paradoxical Flame, which was compressed as much as possible, was burning fiercely as if it would melt the bayonet at first glance.
“Is it okay to touch this?”
“You are such a coward.”
Jung Oh-hoon received the bayonet I held out and fixed it to his rifle.
“Then, I am getting ready.”
Jung Oh-hoon lifted his rifle, aimed at Kaesong visible in the far distance, and then gathered his mana.
There was nothing I could do right now. This was the part Jung Oh-hoon had to accomplish. I should just watch.