Chapter 9

9. Emergency Subjugation

Tada Tada Tada Tada!

Massive gunfire filled the subway station.

A swarm of Squids that tried to get out of the ticket gate exploded like a water balloon and died. The floor was littered with blood and flesh that emitted a fishy odor.

Clap clack!

His 30 rounds of ammunition quickly ran out. E-class hunter Kim Sang-seok changed the magazine with skillful workmanship, and it only took a few seconds to reload.

As he was about to take a shooting position while pulling on his loading handle, he heard a sudden shout.

“Uncle, be careful!”

The person who spat out the words was Lee Ye-rim, a D-class hunter.

Kim Sang-seok realized that her gaze stayed behind him. At the moment, the back of his head ran cold. He immediately turned around and saw a Squid flying in the air with its huge jaws wide open.

It was a fleeting moment. Kim Sang-seok had a lot of thoughts. Would he shoot it off, throw it to the side, or give it one of his arms?

‘It’s too late!’

Lee Ye-rim immediately turned the gun toward Kim Sang-seok, but she couldn’t pull the trigger easily. That was because the Squid and Kim Sang-seok were too close, and she could hit him with a shower of bullets.

At the moment of desperation, an agile person passed by Lee Ye-rim’s peripheral vision. It was Ko Byeong-gap. He ran quickly and stretched out his arms. The sharp tip of his blade penetrated the Squid’s jaw and broke through its dorsal fin.

“Ahhhhh!”

He swung his sword nonstop and hit the floor. The body of the Squid was bent at a bizarre angle and fluttered. Ko Byeong-gap struck once more like an axe, completely separating the monster’s head and body.

“Oh, thank you…”

“Look ahead!”

Ko Byeong-gap warned Kim Sang-seok and slashed his sword diagonally. Pooh! The Squid’s bloodstains spread, and its teeth that flew in shattered.

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Kim Sang-seok quickly regained his consciousness and resumed shooting. One should never let go of their nerves in such a confined place. Doing so could send you into the range of the monsters.

Ko Byeong-gap casually threw away his long sword and grabbed the rifle from his back. They fired indiscriminately at the Squids that were about to cross the ticket gate.

The disturbance only subsided after they had exhausted two magazines. The bodies of Squids piled up like mountains around the ticket gate.

“Gasp! Gasp!”

Lee Ye-rim breathed in with a recalled face. She spoke as she looked back at Kim Sang-seok and Ko Byeong-gap.

“Are you both okay?”

“No problem.”

“I’m fine too.”

After replacing his empty magazine with a new one, Ko Byeong-gap picked up the long sword that he had thrown on the floor.

Kim Sang-seok approached him and bowed his head.

“Thank you for earlier. Thanks to you, I got away from danger. I’m also very grateful to you, miss.”

“I didn’t do it to be thanked.”

“Yes. We’re all making a living together, so let’s get it over with, get paid, and leave.”

Lee Ye-rim frowned as she fumbled through her bullet pouch attached to her battle vest.

“How much ammunition do you have left? I only have 30 shots in one magazine.”

“That’s all I have left.”

“Same here, but there won’t be a problem. There are going to be 50 of them all over the place. If we add up to what’s out there, we’ll have about 20 monsters left.”

“That’s true, but… I’m a little nervous without bullets.”

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“If you’re careful, you’ll be fine. Alright, let’s move on.”

The three walked over the corpses and passed through the ticket gates. It wasn’t long before they got down to the platform.

“Kegigi geek!”

As soon as they entered the platform, a Squid that hid behind the stairs flew in. The three responded without any notice.

Lee Ye-rim and Kim Sang-seok each turned their guns. However, by the time their fingers touched the trigger, the enemy had already been cut in half.

Lee Ye-rim relaxed her hand holding the handle with a trembling face.

“Your sword skills aren’t normal. Are you a top hunter by any chance?”

“No, I’m a D-class.”

“Huh? D-class? I’m D-class too.”

“I can’t believe it. You’re unlike any lower-level person I’ve seen before.”

It was said that among the lower awakeners, a D-class was beyond the human range. For example, a D-class gentleman who had awakened was physically stronger than an ordinary martial arts fighter who had trained for a lifetime.

Even so, it was quite an achievement to break down a flying monster with a single sword.

“It’s just…”

Ko Byeong-gap roughly accepted it. Until just a few minutes ago, there was no need to explain that he was also a D-class awakener.

Ko Byeong-gap looked around. The screen door on the track heading toward Bongcheon was broken.

“Let’s go over there. Does anyone have a light?”

“I have one.”

Kim Sang-seok took out a light from his belt and attached it to his gun. He took the lead, while Ko Byeong-gap and Lee Ye-rim stood on both sides to cover him.

The monster appeared in a few steps. From deep in the tracks, twinkling eyes popped up and approached them. There were more than a dozen Squids.

“Shoot!”

The three uttered the same thing almost at the same time. Soon, the track was filled with gunshots. The Squids fell to their deaths with only 20 paces left, and all their magazines were emptied. Their barrels heated up and let out steam.

Kim Sang-seok lit the high-performance lantern forward. The corpses of the dead and crushed Squids laid there.

“Is the boss monster even deeper into the station? The monsters are clustered here, so it seems like they’re in this area…”

He cautiously stepped on his feet, and at that moment, Ko Byeong-gap sensed anxiety that couldn’t be described in words. He instinctively shook his head.

“Up!”

There was a monster hanging from the ceiling. It was an E-class monster called a Squirrel Ghost. A hideous monster with spider legs on a human body with the habit of liking the dark.

The Squirrel Ghost released the spider legs that sprouted from its arms. The pointed limbs pierced directly through Kim Sang-seok’s arm.

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“Argh!”

Lee Ye-rim immediately shot at the top. However…

Clap clack!

“Oh my God!”

A gun with an empty shell couldn’t spit out bullets.

The Squirrel Ghost freely climbed the wall and shot its spider legs downward. Lee Ye-rim tried to avoid it but tripped over the track and fell.

The bundle of legs rushed at her. Ko Byeong-gap swung his sword like a baseball bat and cut off all of its tentacles.

“Gasp!”

The Squirrel Ghost shrieked and shriveled.

Pulling his sword, he picked up his gun again and went on a rampage, but the monster had already hidden in the dark.

Clap clack!

‘Damn, the place is so bad!’

Even though their opponent was only an E-class monster, it wasn’t difficult to deal with because it was dark, and walls blocked all sides.

Ko Byeong-gap pulled the light attached to Kim Sang-seok’s gun. He held it in his mouth and took the sword in his other hand.

He ran in the direction where the Squirrel Ghost had escaped. Every time the light shone on the walls and ceiling, its afterimage passed by.

“Humph!”

Ko Byeong-gap looked back with a flash of chill for a moment. The Squirrel Ghost attacked him, stabbing his leg like an awl. He dodged the attack by throwing himself aside. The Ghost’s legs dug into the floor.

Ko Byeong-gap quickly rose and rushed in. The enemy’s limbs flew straight at him, but he had no trouble catching them. Instinctively, Ko Byeong-gap stirred his blade, and the limbs were cut off like candy.

“Keeeeek!”

The Squirrel Ghost started screaming and climbing up the wall.

‘Did you think I’m going to let you run away again?’

Ko Byeong-gap threw his sword away. The blade flew unbelievably fast and pierced the Squirrel Ghost’s chest. It didn’t stop there, and its body was nailed to the wall. He was determined to end the encounter, and as soon as he grabbed the handle of his sword, he drew it up.

“Argh! Argh!

The rippling scream was only for a moment. The Squirrel Ghost was split from its chest to its head and died. The filth it spilled soaked the entire floor.

When the boss monster died, the world collapsed. Soon, the escape portal appeared.

* * *

The crack at Sillim Station was attacked in less than 50 minutes after it broke out. It was quite fast for one E-class hunter and two D-class hunters.

Kim Sang-seok sustained a penetration wound, but he was immediately treated with the stand-by potions brought by the association’s staff.

Ko Byeong-gap and Lee Ye-rim weren’t hurt anywhere else.

“Thank you for your hard work. The reward will be deposited within today.”

Ko Byeong-gap, who was promised 1 million won for the day, felt better. As he was about to return home after work, Lee Ye-rim, who was with him during the attack, caught up with him.

“Hey, wait a minute.”

“What’s the matter?”

“I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you so much. If it weren’t for you, I would’ve been in big trouble.”

“Just helped and lived.”

“But are you really a D-class?”

“Didn’t you see it when I signed it? D-class.”

“Yes, but I’ve never seen a D-class hunter like you.”

“Is that so?”

“So, do you have any active teams? If you don’t have it…”

“I’m sorry, but I work alone.”

Ko Byeong-gap just cut her off and refused. Lee Ye-rim looked disappointed.

“Really? Then I can’t do anything. Anyway, thank you for today. I hope to see you again next time when I have a chance.”

“Yes, go ahead.”

On his way back home, he stopped by a nearby butcher shop. He was thinking of buying some pork.

“Welcome. What can I get you?”

“Pork hind legs, one for roasting…”

“A pound of pork hind legs?”

Ko Byeong-gap hesitated and corrected himself, “Twenty kilos, please.”

“Twenty kilograms? Oh, yeah. I’ll have it ready right away.”

“I’d like to have one muscle roasted, and the rest cut into chunks.”

“Yeah!”

The butcher was excited and began cutting the meat.

Even if it was 20 kilos, the hind legs were cheap, so it cost only 150,000 won. He said that he would buy a lot of it, so the butcher gave him a 20,000 won discount.

He walked home with a plastic bag containing 20 kilos of pork. Even with a gun and a long sword, he didn’t feel heavy at all.

He took his portable gas burner, a frying pan, and a few bottles of soju to Ashvilam.

The Goblins were nowhere to be seen. It seemed like everyone was in the cave.

‘It’s getting late, but are they still working?’

“Hey! Everyone come out! Let’s eat!”

Ko Byeong-gap called the Goblins. After shouting a few more times, they showed up one by one.

“Stop it and come out to eat. Since I bought meat.”

“Meat?!”

“Yes, it’s not the trash meat you eat. It’s real honey meat.”

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He sat down in a suitable place and grilled the meat. He threw everything but his own food to the Goblins.

‘Hey, it tastes good.’

The taste of alcohol and meat while enjoying the magnificent view of the rocky mountain was unique. It was incomparable to his occasional roast at home.

The Goblins ate well, even raw. Suddenly, when they saw Ko Byeong-gap grilling meat and eating it, they began to imitate him.

Turka came from the river with a wide stone tablet. The Hob Goblins and Normal Goblins gathered firewood, and Kiriyan used his lightning power to make a fire.

They started grilling the meat on the flat stone plate. It looked pretty plausible.

Ko Byeong-gap thought it was a little shabby when they grilled their meat on the stone.

“Hey, you bastards. Is it good to grill it on a stone plate?”

“Yes, it’s delicious!”

“Lord, thank you for giving us the form. Thank you!”

“I’m… eh.”

He approached the Goblins, emptying a bottle of soju. The Goblins laughed and chatted, eating meat with branches. Among them was the Albino Goblin Kiriyan.

Ko Byeong-gap talked to him with a cigarette in his mouth.

“Hey, Kiriyan.”

“Yes, Lord.”

“How are you doing?”

It was the third day since Kiriyan came to Ashvilam. He was more intelligent than the Hob Goblins and had a better vocabulary, so there were no blockages in their conversation.

Kiriyan replied with a smile, “Since I came back to Ashvilam, every day has been like a dream. I’m very happy.”

“What makes you happy when all you’re doing is using a pickaxe all day?”

“It’s not hard at all to think that the hard work of my compatriots and I is a stepping stone to the reconstruction of Ashvilam. Also, Lord takes such good care of us, so we don’t know where to put ourselves.”

Ko Byeong-gap burst into a false laugh. He couldn’t believe that he was so thankful for the pork hind legs that the others couldn’t eat. Whether their welfare was good or not, all he had to do was throw them a few loaves of bread for a snack.

On the contrary, it was Ko Byeong-gap who was grateful. Thanks to the Goblins, things became easier in many ways. In addition, he found a way out of the limits of the lower awakeners through the ‘growth potion.’

“Yes, work hard. Sooner or later, I’ll increase our family… Huh? Someday I’ll rebuild it and fry more for you.”

“Yes! I believe you.”

Ko Byeong-gap chatted freely under the influence of alcohol.

“Hey! That little guy over there! Let’s dance!”

“Keeek!”

On this day, Ko Byeong-gap ate meat and alcohol with the Goblins, laughing and talking.