Chapter 7 - Bounty Hunt (2)

Bounty Hunt (2)

Il-hyun looked tired as he walked through an empty alley.

If he gets lucky, he could get two or more ethers today, at once.

However, he could not find any of the four monsters yet.

Suddenly, a rat squeaked and ran out of the building next door.

It ran quickly and stopped near Il-hyun’s feet.

He lifted the rat up and put it on his hand.

“How did you go? Was there nothing in that building?” he asked it.

The little mouse nodded vigorously.

Il-hyun sighed heavily.

He was searching through the buildings and streets with his summoned mouse.

He thought that with it, he could find the monster right away.

However, there were many high-rise apartments and many locked spaces, so it took more time than he thought.

“What… Still, it’s better than going around alone,” he murmured.

He quickly placed the mouse back in his pocket when he sensed someone was approaching.

There were two men who seemed to be Awakeners, running.

He listened to their conversation as they passed by.

“Where did they find it?”

“It was stuck in the library’s underground warehouse. Ah, damn it. There are only three left now. I don’t have any work these days; I was trying to take advantage of this opportunity.”

“Ah… if you can catch even one of them, you get the bounty, and you get ether prices. Big…”

“Let’s find one before it’s too late!”

They rushed in the opposite direction.

After hearing their words, Il-hyun ran straight to the library.

A little more than ten people gathered in front of the library where Il-hyun was running to.

All were Awakeners, except for the two police officers who ran after hearing the news.

A man opened the library door and yelled, “Coming out!”

When the library front door opened, a man cried.

There were gasps from the crowd as a man and a woman in black coats dragged a monster body out.

It was an ugly monster. Blood was dripping behind it as it was dragged.

Balaks have dark scaly skins and long tails.

One of the men dragging it was swearing over the body.

“Cuck, it was eating one person.”

The man couldn’t help feeling strong hostility and resentment to a monster that ate an innocent civilian guard.

People gathered around it and buzzed with excitement and fear.

“Look at this guy!”

“It looks unique.”

“The real thing is scarier than the photos, though.”

Il-hyun blended into the crowd and evaluated the appearance of the monster.

He was surprised at himself because he didn’t feel much while looking at it.

I don’t find it scary at all. Is it because I am an Awakener?

Meanwhile, a woman came across the street from the other side.

He recognized her. It was Park So-yeon, who he met just 20 minutes ago.

She approached the man and woman who pulled out the monster.

“Where is the victim’s body?” she asked urgently.

“Uh? You are Park So-yeon, the reporter, right?” the man answered.

“Yes, that is correct. Can you bring me to the area where it was discovered?”

“Of course.”

“Let’s go.”

She didn’t notice Il-hyun in the crowd. Park So-yeon went into the building with the pair who pulled out the corpse.

Il-hyun felt interested as he watched them.

How did the man know her? Is she a well-known reporter?

He felt embarrassed that he didn’t recognize her when they met earlier.

By the way, they just left the body!

Il-hyun saw his chance.

Ether has already been extracted, and the body has just been left outside the library.

Other than ether, most of the by-products from monster corpses were useless.

Monster’s flesh could not be used for animal feed, or as edible food. It also rotted quickly and spewed strong toxics.

In addition, it was difficult to dispose of them, so they had to be processed at a specialized monster carcass facility.

Il-hyun listened as the Awakeners around him chatted.

“Damn, they caught one while I was shoveling.”

“I looked everywhere, where are they hiding? I don’t get it.”

“Well, they said that the monsters could go underground…”

Il-hyun’s lips were damp as he thought about his next move.

Finally, a body came out.

Il-hyun walked around as he waited for this chance.

After a while, the majority of the crowd left.

Making sure that no one is looking at him, he tapped his chest with his fingers.

Then the mouse in his pocket pulled its head out.

The two exchanged looks; then the mouse acted as previously told.

The rat jumped down, looked around for a moment, then ran to the body of the monster.

Fortunately, no one has seen it.

Il-hyun walked away and went to the back of a building, where he was alone.

He waited.

Soon, the mouse arrived. Il-hyun looked at it expectantly.

“Did you get it?”

The mouse nodded and opened its tiny mouth.

A tiny chunk of the monster’s flesh fell on the floor.

Il-hyun couldn’t help but smile as he saw the flesh.

“Okay, then shall we start?”

* * *

“Shhh!”

An Awakener woman jumped in surprise when she saw rats crossing the road.

The man beside him had the same reaction.

“Oh. What is that?” the frightened man faltered.

There were five rats running hard and in a line.

It was the first time the man saw anything like it.

The rats passed by, but the woman is still shuddering at the creepy sight.

“Oh, it’s gross. There are so many rats in the world these days,” she grumbled.

“How are you scared of a mouse? You’re not even scared of looking for the monster.”

“They are not the same! Rats are disgusting. By the way, you were scared too. I saw your face.”

“No, I wasn’t. I was just shocked because there shouldn’t be rats in the middle of the city,” the man denied.

“You are funny. Last time, you had the same reaction against the moth monster”, the woman laughed.

When the old story came out, the man couldn’t find a response and shut his mouth.

He couldn’t forget the feeling of looking at the dozens of moth eyes staring at him. The moth monster was bigger than a human.

At that time, it was really scary.

He hated to lose. The man thought about how to retort to the woman when he noticed something in her feet.

“Hey, hey! Look! There’s a rat on your feet!” the man yelled and pointed.

“Are you stupid? That won’t fool me! Sucker!” the woman laughed.

She thought it was a joke, but when she looked down… there was indeed a mouse on her feet.

“Ahhh!” she panicked. As she did, the little mouse got frightened and fled quickly.

“What a lot of mice!” the woman shouted in a mix of embarrassment and anger. “Is there a rat den around here?”

The man, too, was puzzled and shook his head.

It was unusual to find a single mouse in cities in the 2030s.

It was more unusual to see them in bunches.

“By the way, don’t the mouse look a little strange?” he asked the woman.

“What?”

“It sounds strange, but I think its face was little crooked…”

“Strangely crooked…? I don’t know; I haven’t looked at it closely. We can’t find any monsters, let’s just go home,” the woman said as she started to leave.

The man, who was also tired of finding monsters, followed her.

“Yes, let’s go just back.”

* * *

“Arghh!”

Il-hyun stopped.

He was making a mouse out of a brick he found, but the mouse’s back was too round, making it look strange.

“I’m losing my concentration.”

Il-hyun frowned and stiffened his eyes.

“I should do this. I can’t even fight the monsters if I can’t find them.”

He squatted down on the floor.

He was quickly making and summoning mice in the back of a building.

Using this ability consumed more mana than he thought.

“Anyway, I already made fifty… No, I think I made seventy. That should be enough.”

Il-hyun lay on the floor and threw a brick sideways.

All he had to do was wait quietly.

What is that terrible smell?

He looked at the flesh of the monster his first mouse brought him.

It hasn’t been long, but the flesh is already decaying and emitting a foul smell that was difficult to describe.

He had dozens of rats sneaking through the city, thanks to this piece of flesh.

Create a rat, make it remember the monster’s smell, have them track the others.

In special circumstances, police bring two or three police dogs to the site.

Il-hyun smiled as he thought about the dozens of mice scouring the city for him.

Still, the bad smell…

Il-hyun grumbled and turned his head. He can’t seem to escape the smell.

Fortunately, it was not long before he heard a squeak.

He immediately jumped up.

A rat was staring at him.

It was soaked and quite dirty, unlike when he sent it out.

“Did you find it?” Il-hyun asked.

The rat nodded.

Upon hearing the good news, his fatigue and irritation flew away.

He followed the rat as it ran through the streets.

Whoa, I made a lot.

Il-hyun looked around as he walked. He encountered rats multiple times as he went past the city center.

“But where are we going? Did you really find it?” he stared suspiciously at the mouse he was following.

The scope of investigation covers Ilyeon-dong, where the gate appeared.

But now, Il-hyun and the mouse were beyond the city.

They entered a neighborhood with people in the streets.

Unlike in Ilyeon-dong, where there were only police and Awakeners moving around, they are now in a neighborhood with people in the streets.

There is no way a monster could be hiding here, Il-hyun thought as he looked around. Surely, people would have seen it.

The mouse in front of him continued to run, and he had no choice but to follow.

Suddenly, the mouse stopped.

It stopped at a manhole cover and tapped at it with its tiny feet.

“Are you sure?” Il-hyun was frozen in place.

It was the entrance to the sewer.

He knew what this means…

Il-hyun looked around for a moment and lifted the manhole cover.

People walking around suddenly paused to look but didn’t think it strange when they saw he was wearing a defense coat.

Il-hyun heard what they were saying.

“Wow, I thought it was just a honey sucking job… you also get into shit.”

“Hey, are there monsters down there?”

“Huh, stupid bitch. Why are you here?”

The manhole was near the pedestrian crossing, and people giggled and mocked at him as they waited for the signal to change.

They continued their abusive language as Il-hyun descended.

Tuck, his foot touched the floor.

The smell wasn’t bad, and there was no debris floating.

Fortunately, it wasn’t a place to transport sewage, as the people above said.

It was like a place to move rainwater.

“Is this the way you came here?” his voice rang out.

Monsters rarely entered sewers with lids, unless the lids are smashed or left open.

The sewage pipes also go a great distance.

So, this is why no one has found this one yet.

Il-hyun took the pieces of the sword out of the bag. The pieces fell on the floor and made a sharp sound.

He used his ability to put the pieces together and made a sword.

“Where is it?” Il-hyun asked, and the mouse advanced, sniffing the ground.

Il-hyun, who was somewhat nervous in the long and dark space, fiddled with his sword.

When he was a child, he fervently practiced using a sword, believing that one day, he’ll become an Awakener.

He also searched for the countermeasures against monsters posted on YouTube.

Of course, he couldn’t remember any of the details at the moment, and even if he remembered, he knew it was only worthless knowledge.

It was stupid to read and watch all those tips. It doesn’t go like that in real life. 

A sound startled him.

The monster’s low and fierce cries came from a distance.

He stopped.

A moment of silence filled the surroundings.

A crazy rumbling rang in the sewer.

From the sound of the monster’s cries, Il-hyun realized something.

“There are two of them here?”

Il-hyun’s lips were dry.

Obviously, the situation was dangerous.

Just the day before, he struggled to defeat one E-rank monster.

Even though he just consumed an ether core yesterday, he wasn’t sure if he could fight and win against two monsters at the same time.

For some reason, however, a thick smile that he couldn’t control spread across his mouth.

They are going to be my prey.