Chapter 216

Chapter 216

That in itself wasn’t strange. It was actually quite rare to perfectly predict where a monster wave would appear. The predictions were bound to be inaccurate to some extent...

‘Something is strange.’

The initial vision disappeared, and another one appeared. Once again, it was a vision of the monster wave, but yet again, it wasn’t in South Korea.

-Will it occur in two places?

-Two places?

-After being linked by the gate, the Earth and the Abyss have been getting closer and closer to each other. Unsurprisingly, Earth will be more affected the closer it gets to the Abyss. If the monster wave happens simultaneously in two places not far from each other...

-......!

Choi Yeonseung suppressed a shudder at the goddess’ words. Come to think of it, it was actually plausible. If a monster wave occurred in two places, it was natural to have inaccurate predictions. Those making the predictions would naturally assume that it would happen in one place.

‘Where are they coming from? We have to be prepared to prevent damage.’

However, Choi Yeonseung didn’t have to worry about it because the report came in right away.

“Monsters came out?”

“What? Where? Is it quiet? Is it a small wave?”

“No. It’s not even here. It’s in China.”

“Ah...”

Sighs erupted among the hunters. Of course, it was best if monsters didn’t appear at all. However, if monsters were going to emerge, then it was best if they were nearby. If the monster wave had been in South Korea, then it would’ve been easier to split the rewards, whether it was cores or items. Naturally, everything would’ve been easier, since it was their country.

However, since it was confirmed that the monster wave had appeared in China, they had to enter the country, move to where the wave was, and kill monsters while talking to Chinese officials who couldn’t speak a word of Korean...

“Will those bastards give us proper compensation?”

“I've heard they were fair during the last monster wave.”

“How can you believe that? It’s most likely a fake rumor they made up.”

As the hunters were talking, waves started soaring frantically from the distant sea. All hunters could feel a wave of magic power on their skin.

“Monsters! Prepare for battle!”

The first monster emerged from the bottom of the sea, creating huge waves.

***

.

The tortoise head mountain was an A-grade monster. Both South Korea and China had encountered this monster multiple times, and ironically enough, neither of them had managed to eradicate it. After fierce fighting, it would always flee to the sea when it was at a disadvantage. In the end, it was the household members of the evil god constellations occupying China and North Korea that managed to defeat it.

The atmosphere changed instantly when the monster reappeared.

“Is that the tortoise head mountain?”

“It’s so huge...”

The tortoise head mountain was an extremely large turtle. It wasn’t particularly fast or cunning, but its sheer size alone raised its rank to A-grade. This monster appeared from the sea with a huge island on its back. To make matters worse, that island was full of other monsters raised by the tortoise head mountain.

“What about the people on the boat?”

“That’s what they get for acting all smug on their boats.”

The hunters murmured when they saw the slowly approaching tortoise head mountain in the distance. Those waiting on the shore didn’t care, but those who rented huge cruise ships and were in the sea were shocked by the sudden situation.

“Shouldn’t it have been more noisy if a monster wave appeared here?! How come it appeared so quietly?”

“The monster wave appeared in China, not here!”

“Then what’s up with that monster? Did it come all the way here from China?”

“Perhaps so...”

“Stop chattering and get ready to fight!”

“Don’t talk nonsense! That monster is immune to most attacks!”

Some of the hunters were familiar with the tortoise head mountain and weren’t happy at all that they had to deal with it.

“First of all, why isn’t the tortoise head mountain considered S-grade? Did people deem it as an A-grade monster just because it hasn’t killed that many people?!”

“If the monster actually appeared in China, we need to hurry over there...”

Among the giant cruise ships was a ship with Chinese hunters onboard. The moment they grasped the situation, they quickly tried to turn around, but it wasn't that easy to escape from the tortoise head mountain.

-■■■■■■■...

The tortoise head mountain let out a deep, low cry, and the waves rose once again. They were so big that the magic cast by the hunters had no effect.

“Evacuate! Evacuate!”

“Get behind the shield!”

The hunters in front were frightened and took refuge behind the barriers. There were already hundreds of magic barriers overlapping with each other in preparation for the monster wave. However, the hunters on the ship couldn’t get behind the barriers.

Baaaang!

“That crazy thing...!”

The hunters on the ship were frightened but managed to get away from the monster. Those who could use flying magic had an easier time escaping, while those who didn’t have the proper movement skills had to swim. Hunters wouldn’t die from something like that. The problem was what happened next.

-■■■...

The tortoise head mountain opened its huge mouth and started to frantically suck the water in. The hunters that were still in the water had to quickly distance themselves from the monster. They knew damn well what would happen if they got sucked into the monster’s mouth.

“Should we start the attack?”

“We will launch an attack when those hunters manage to get away from the monster! If we attack now and mistakenly hit the hunters as well, who knows what the government is going to do with us?”

The officials at the scene couldn’t take action and they only managed to stomp their feet in frustration. The hunters were still near the monster, so they couldn’t risk launching an attack at that moment. They thought they would be punished by the government.

Kieeeeeek!

There was an eerie sound and the monsters sitting on the island on top of the tortoise head mountain spread their wings and soared into the sky. They were C-grade monsters called ‘man-eating birds.’ They were fast and cunning, but they had a weak defense and no special skills. Naturally, strong hunters wouldn’t worry about such monsters, but...

“T-That...!”

“I think those people are in trouble.”

The man-eating birds were now the worst enemies for the hunters who were drowning. They had no way of avoiding or blocking their attacks. The man-eating birds were painfully aware of that and spread their wings while flying.

Bam!

“!”

Following the piercing sound, the man-eating bird in the front fell into the sea with a hole in its neck. Choi Yeonseung had rushed in and fired the finger energy, penetrating the man-eating bird. He kept moving and firing finger energy in all directions. In an instant, sharp energy filled the sky and took down the man-eating birds.

“Uh... Uh!”

The hunters who were struggling were surprised to see Choi Yeonseung running on the surface of the water. Some spells allowed hunters to walk on water.

Most hunters didn’t bother learning it because there were very few situations in which such a spell was useful. Moreover, they didn’t want to waste precious magic power just to walk on water. Even if one went through the trouble of learning the spell, that didn’t mean they could freely move on water. It was so difficult that it required a great amount of concentration just to manage to stand on the water. That was why Choi Yeonseung’s use of the spell was doubly impressive.

“Why aren’t you getting out?”

“......!”

The floundering hunters were speechless at Choi Yeonseung’s question.

“T...This?”

In fact, they were unable to leave because the monster was still sucking in the water, but it was too embarrassing for them to say that.

“Should I help?”

“Thank you for your help...”

Choi Yeonseung grabbed one of the hunters and pulled him up. Then he threw the hunter.

“????”

“What is that?”

The hunters were startled to see a hunter flying out of the sea in the distance. Did he fail to use flying magic?

Thump!

Odaigon, who had been waiting, immediately set up a defensive shield to protect the hunters. The hunter thrown by Choi Yeonseung violently landed on the ground and rolled like a sack of potatoes.

“C... Crazy...”

He hadn’t known Choi Yeonseung would help him like this. The other hunters in the sea waved their hands in dismay.

“No! I think I’ll be fine!”

“Why are you still doing this here?”

Choi Yeonseung once again grabbed a hunter and threw him. The man-eating birds were still targeting them so he had to throw them as fast as possible. Of course, it wasn’t the most comfortable thing for the hunters, but they had to suck it up. Choi Yeonseung picked up the drowning hunters one by one while simultaneously shooting the man-eating birds the instant he saw them. He then looked away.

‘It’s really big.’

He had dealt with big monsters like that in the Abyss many times, but he had never seen one this big on Earth.

“Let’s start the attack! Go all out!” shouted one of the overseas hunters. However, as soon as he uttered his sentence, Han Seha quickly grabbed him by the collar.

“Can’t you see there’s a person over there?!?”

“N-No. I said that because Hunter Choi Yeonseung is an A-grade hunter, so he could instantly move out of the way if we attacked! Don’t misunderstand!”

“What is there to misunderstand? Do you wanna be thrown all over the place like those hunters were?”

“Hunter Han Seha, stop!”

Several overseas hunters tried to intervene, but it wasn’t easy to stop an A-grade hunter. Fortunately for them, Choi Yeonseung had finished rescuing the hunters and had just returned from the sea. There were many hunters present, so there was no need for him to go all out against the tortoise head mountain.

“He got out! Attack!”

The hunters positioned on the shoreline launched their attacks. Their rating varied greatly, but given the sheer number of hunters, the combined attacks became a powerful force. A tremendous magical storm cut through the air and poured down on the tortoise head mountain.

Baaaaaaang!

‘It’s a spectacular sight.’

Choi Yeonseung was honestly impressed. The hunters had definitely improved, both individually and as a generation. Throughout the years, hunters had become more skilled in magic and in using artifacts, and they had found new ways to become stronger overall.

‘Everything has improved except the use of martial arts.’

It was a bit ridiculous that only martial arts were excluded, but it didn’t matter. At the very least, more people were interested in martial arts as of late. He was glad that, lately, more and more people came to him to receive lessons in martial arts.

-But isn’t their level still low?

Choi Yeonseung ignored the goddess’ words.

-■■■■■■■!

The tortoise head mountain had received quite the beating and cried out as it twisted its body. The individual attacks weren’t particularly strong, but as long as all of them hit at once, it clearly had to be painful. The high-ranking hunters who had been waiting began moving slowly in order to close the distance.

-We ought to focus on the attack rather than how to divide the profit later.

-I know!

The profit one would gain from A-grade monsters like the tortoise head mountain was astronomical. For that reason, people said that this monster should be classified as an S-grade monster... When it came to dividing up the loot from such a monster, the hunter who inflicted the most damage had the most say in it.

“Uh, shouldn’t we move as well? I think we need to get a bit closer...”

“Hmm... No. Let’s wait a bit longer.”

“Huh? Are you serious?” Kwon Yeongseung asked in a bewildered voice. Based on Choi Yeonseung’s personality, he thought he would charge in at once.

Han Seha reacted fiercely.

“Hey. He told us to wait.”

“I was just asking...!”

“I think it’s not dead yet, so I’m not sure we need to approach it now. If we do approach it and it goes on a rampage, we’ll have to retreat.”

Choi Yeonseung read the situation clearly. Even though the monster had received a lot of damage, it was still alive. As some of the hunters tried to approach it, the tortoise head mountain started to create waves again.

“......”

“......”

The hunters’ formation collapsed in an instant and the magic they had prepared when moving on the sea was also broken. Choi Yeonseung clicked his tongue when he saw that the hunters were drowning once again.

“I have to throw them again.”

“You should charge them a fee after this is over!”