Chapter 112

Part 112

Tokyo Metropolitan Area.

As always, people were crowding the streets outside the barrier line. The more densely populated the area was, the tougher the evacuation process.

“Huh?”

“Look!”

“What is that?”

Citizens tilted their heads in the direction of the blocking line. Vehicles were coming out of the operation area.

“Are they retreating?”

“The crack hasn’t even opened yet…”

“Maybe they are changing the operation layout…”

It was a strange scene in the eyes of the citizens. Even if hunters had to change their positions due to special circumstances, they always did it within the operation area.

“There are so many…”

“Didn’t they say it’s a big crack?”

“Why are they leaving…?”

Anxious voices could be heard from the crowd. The preparations that had been made this morning were for an unprecedented catastrophe.

So why did it seem the hunters were now pulling out?

Some picked up their cell phones and photographed the cars leaving the site. Some inquired directly to a policeman leading the evacuation. Some raised their voices and asked questions to the hunters.

However, the answers came from a direction they did not expect.

-Hello. Citizens!

A voice from the portable loudspeakers resonated through the area. Uniformed Disaster Management Administration began disseminating information to the crowd.

-Currently, an unexpected situation has occurred outside of Tokyo.

People stopped what they were doing and focused on the announcement.

-We need to move some hunters out of the city to take appropriate action, but we will leave enough hunters to carry out the rift operation. We are confident that there will be no impact on the safety of citizens!

After this announcement had repeated several times, the people’s reactions began to change.

“I heard that something happened in the Shinjuku side this morning…”

“I’m glad they announced it in advance.”

“Well, manpower should be put in the right place.”

The tone of discontent and anxiety began to subside.

The people were convinced by the Disaster Management Administration’s explanation.

Since ancient times, Japan had been exposed to continuous threats of disaster. Its history had resulted in an excellent disaster management system, and the citizens had considerable pride and trust in the authorities. The Disaster Management Administration had not betrayed them, either. Strictly speaking, it wasn’t lying.

“…we will leave enough hunters to carry out the rift operation…”

It was a factual statement. Statistically, they had left enough hunters for the operation area of a Storm-class rift.

However, it was only a statistically-correct estimate for an average crack. They had not explained that removing a number of hunters from the site also removed emergency standby personnel in case of emergency.

If something out of the ordinary were to occur, their number would be insufficient.

“…there will be no impact on the safety of citizens!”

Someone noticed the group badges on the departing vehicles.

“What, it’s the first-class guys that are falling back?”

But soon, he closed his mouth as he felt the eyes of other people around him. A good citizen should not doubt the authorities.

***

For Yoo-seong, today was quite a day to be covered with blood.

Bigstep Mite-★★~★★★★

Crustaceans with elongated legs, resembling snow crabs.

When their water-balloon-like bodies were cut, blood that had been sucked from other prey burst out. A single Mite could fill a large bathtub with blood.

Yoo-seong, who had just dealt with dozens of them, felt a little confused.

‘This is strange,’ he thought.

The Mites were the third type of beast he had battled in less than twenty minutes. Of course, he was in the alien world.

A small, weak-looking human like him would definitely attract predators. This was different, though.

‘They didn’t come for me,’ he realized.

Rather, it felt like his path had just overlapped with theirs. They were all going in the same direction.

Tokyo.

This was the direction that Auto-Hunt wanted him to go.

If so, there could only be one reason why monsters were going to the same place.

A rift.

Yoo-seong thought that it must be a fairly large one. He’d used the Sky Scissors and Sky Needle to escape, but Auto-Hunt was making him travel through the alien world.

It was leading him to Tokyo without bringing him back to the real world.

Did Auto-Hunt want him to deal with a large Tokyo crack in this state?

He turned off the button to catch his breath. He had been fighting for over three or four hours now, without rest. His physical strength and CE were not infinite.

The biggest concern right now was his CE.

Even with the strength that the Golden Pill gave him, his veins were now as stiff as steel due to exhaustion. There was no way to continue fighting in this state.

Moreover, his total CE was only about 15,000.

The reason Yoo-seong had been able to overcome numerous adversities so far was that Auto-Hunt allowed him extreme efficiency.

Considering that Yoo-seong’s first and last CE injection was half a year ago, at his debut, he would definitely run out of it soon.

Yoo-seong shook his head and pressed the button once more.

As his legs began running toward Tokyo again, he couldn’t help but feel even more disappointed. He realized Kodama and Chairman Tatsuo must have sent hunters after him despite a large crack opening in Tokyo.

“It’s the same situation with the sudden rift. Japanese hunters are so lax…”

Suddenly…

Something happened that he couldn’t even have imagined happening.

Kwa-ang-!

His eyes reacted first. His ears followed soon after.

Kwa-ang-!

Lightning.

The alien world had clear skies, without dark clouds. However, lightning continuously flashed from the horizon beyond him, again and again.

Kwa-ang-!

As if it were sent from an ancient thunder god. Soon, he saw countless dots running from it.

Monsters.

Countless numbers of different species running from the direction he was going.

They weren’t coming for Yoo-seong. Instead, they were running away from the crack.

Dudududududu-!

Yoo-seong and the horde of monsters soon met.

Yoo-seong skillfully navigated between monsters the size of a house.

‘They look afraid,’ he observed.

Yoo-seong tried to calm his heart. The lightning beyond had already stopped, but the feeling he had was the same. He had encountered something similar to this before, after all.

Something that had given him the same feeling – the Turtle Dragon.

That was the worst monster he had ever faced with Biyeon. The lightning strikes were like the pillar of fire the Turtle Dragon breathed.

‘If it’s as strong as that beast… no, even if it was slightly weaker…’

Countless people would definitely die. Didn’t the Turtle Dragon handle three of the Ship Zone hunters as if they were gnats?

At the same time…

Jiiii-!

The fluctuations soon began.

The rift was going to open soon. Still, Yoo-seong continued running toward Tokyo under Auto-Hunt’s control.

‘What are you planning?’ he asked himself.

He was in no condition to face a Turtle Dragon-level beast.

He couldn’t even say for sure if he had enough CE to sew a Storm-class crack closed.

However, for some reason, Auto-Hunt continued to lead him to Tokyo.

“Ah!” He realized something.

Just before he reached Tokyo, he found the answer. It was something he wasn’t expecting.

He pulled it out of his slot.

***

“It doesn’t make sense!” Tatsuo screamed.

Kodama and numerous other hunters were standing in front of him with their heads bowed.

“Are you all this incompetent?! What?! I can’t believe it. You say that after all his traces led to the basement, he simply disappeared?”

“Mr. Chairman, but…”

“Shut up!”

In the nearly thirty years he had spent serving the Chairman, Kodama had never seen the old man lose control like this.

“Find him! No matter what it takes! He took what is mine! He… argh…”

“Chairman!” Kodama’s voice was worried as the Chairman began coughing harshly.

At the same time, Kodama’s phone rang. It was the direct line from Tokyo Operation Control Room.

Kodama didn’t take a second to consider which was more important.

“Are you okay, Chairman?”

After rejecting the call, Kodama approached the Chairman to support his frail body.

The phone rang three more times after that, but it took more than five minutes before Kodama finally answered it.

“What? Why do you keep calling?!” he yelled into his phone.

At the same time, he looked at his wristwatch.

Less than twelve minutes had passed since he first received the notification that the crack was open.

They had started to call him five minutes ago, which meant that they had only been in operation for seven minutes.

It was just the initial stages of the crack, meaning it was too early for any unusual situation to have occurred.

“Do you know what I’m doing right now? If this is not a big deal-”

Suddenly, Kodama froze with his mouth hanging open.

No sound came out of it. His appearance was so strange that even the Chairman was curious.

“What happened?”

However, Kodama did not answer.

“Hey! Kodama!”

“This… first…”

Kodama’s voice was trembling as he turned his gaze to the Chairman.

“Later… Oh, no, I will contact you as soon as possible. Later…”

Click-

Tatsuo Sukune watched Kodama stand before him. The man’s eyes were filled with fear.

“Chairman…”

Then tears began to run down the man’s face.

Kodama briefly explained what had happened.

Seven minutes.

It had taken only seven minutes to annihilate the rush team they had sent inside the crack.

***

Yoo-seong fell out of the crack.

Something made him widen his eyes.

The beast wasn’t visible. However, the operation area before him was totally charred.

Only burnt, black ashes remained.

Yoo-seong’s heart started to beat like crazy.

He looked at what was in his hand.

The Jade Pill.

It was the item he had obtained from the two Chinese hunters who had tried to take the Scissors from him.

Seoyu, who had also seen the item, had given him advice.

“Use it later, when you have a lot of time,” she’d told him. “You should be prepared to rest for one or two days after taking it.”

Yoo-seong had stored the item in his slot, following her advice.

Since he had been busy in the days that followed, it had slipped his mind.

But now…

‘Please,’ he thought.

He hoped Auto-Hunt’s decision was right. Before his feet landed on the ground…

Gulp-!

The Jade Pill went down his throat.