Chapter 389

It was a day when the cold snap had finally let up.

Students at last freed from the college entrance exam were busy either preparing to retake it or having fun, while office workers boarded public transportation with dark circles hanging beneath their eyes.

Amid that peaceful, ordinary routine, a bombshell no one had expected dropped.

[Breaking News—United Nations Security Council Makes Major Announcement]

The roughly thirty-minute video began with Chairman Xiao Yang staring gravely into the camera.

“I stand before you as the ninth state chairman of the People’s Republic of China and a member of the United Nations Security Council to address the massive monster wave that has erupted in Sichuan Province.”

It was a bombshell that seized the attention of the entire world and shook all of Asia.

One day passed. Then two. Then three.

Even after four days, the situation had not settled down.

There had been countless incidents and accidents since the Great Cataclysm, but the monster wave that had erupted in Sichuan Province was unprecedented in scale.

Chinese state chairman Xiao Yang officially declared martial law, and peacekeeping forces were deployed to the front with the approval of the United Nations Security Council.

The entire world was watching.

The Asian countries bordering China were especially on edge.

South Korea was no exception. Once again, the Hunter Issues section of the country’s largest online forum was boiling like a cauldron over a charcoal brazier.

Here’s a summary of the situation so far.

Nobody here hasn’t watched the Security Council’s major announcement video, right? If you haven’t, go outside and die. This is a real emergency. Even that supreme leader bastard up north has probably watched the whole thing on iTube and is lurking on this forum too.

Anyway, so many fucking vermin kept demanding a summary of something their own lives depend on that I finally lost patience and wrote one.

1. A massive wave of unknown origin erupted in Sichuan Province. Estimated casualties currently stand at a minimum of 300,000.

Of course, that estimate is already a week old, and the current figure probably can’t even be compared to it. Realistically, I think it’s impossible to calculate the numbers.

2. The Chinese government stepped in, but the scale was far more insane than anyone expected.

A monster army numbering at least tens of thousands has gathered around a creature called an Arch Lich.

The People’s Liberation Army and Air Force got absolutely wrecked, and more than two thousand Hunters from the Public Security Armed Forces have gone missing. Magical interference cut off communications and rendered satellite surveillance useless, so they can’t even confirm whether they’re alive.

3. The Chinese government secretly contacted several countries and hired several S-rank Hunters to suppress the situation as quickly as possible. UN peacekeeping forces were also deployed to the front two days ago and are fighting desperately.

The Security Council is posting updates on the battle situation, so anyone interested can check here.

(Link attached.)

Everything below this is just my personal opinion, so you can skip it if you want.

4. Anyone with a functioning brain already knows this, but the situation isn’t just serious. Mainland China is basically hell on earth.

They’re dragging every usable Hunter to the front, leaving other Gates neglected and their mana levels unstable. Hyperinflation is hitting every sector.

The truly frightening part is this: if the front collapses and the monster army advances beyond Sichuan…

I’ll leave the rest to your imagination.

5. So get to the supermarket and stock up on emergency rations before we’re all fucked. Obviously, I’m not telling you to hoard supplies and profiteer.

6. It’d be a shame to end here, so I’m throwing in some patriotic hype.

Our Sibeol-jwa and Ares Guild’s Jung Dragon are both tearing it up at the front. Keep stanning them as hard as you always have.

The end.

Within a few hours of being posted, the thread surpassed 100,000 views and caught fire with comments from netizens watching the situation closely.

(Best Comment) The situation really is as serious as the post says, but the author is laying it on a little thick lol. There are S-rank Hunters fighting, plus a hundred thousand regular Hunters. What’s there to worry about? And is the military just sitting around?

└ Yeah, they’re fooling around in the maintenance units right now.

└ …?

└ Didn’t you watch the news? All the Chinese military equipment broke down this time, exposing the largest military-procurement corruption scandal ever. They say it’s worth at least tens of trillions of won. Apparently more than one or two divisions are stuck.

└ Huh. This sounds awfully familiar.

└ Please replace the canteens already, you fucking assholes. I got discharged last year, so why does mine still taste like Normandy water? One sip and I can’t tell whether my name is Kim Cheol Soo or James.

└ Corporal Kim. Tonight’s dinner is braised boneless pollock.

└ Not eating that shit.

└ Anyway, the military being stuck because of broken equipment is a problem, but they have manpower to spare, so they’ll be fine. Hunters are the only ones who can actually hurt the monsters anyway. There’s a bigger problem than that.

└ What?

└ The monster count just broke 100,000.

└ ??

└ ?????

└ What the fuck do you mean, 100,000? Stop talking bullshit.

└ It’s not bullshit. It’s official from the UN Security Council. Follow the link in the post and check it yourself. The update went up five minutes ago.

└ Wow… fuck.

└ Judging by the reaction above, I guess it’s true. Holy shit.

└ No. I only reacted like that because it’s all in English and I have no idea what it says. I’m running it through Goggle Translate right now.

└ Is this guy insane?

└ But seriously, if the monster count has really passed 100,000, isn’t this a disaster? The largest monster wave so far didn’t even exceed a thousand, did it?

└ Obviously, this wave wasn’t this big at first either. The problem is that there’s an Arch Lich over there. Even an ordinary Lich appearing would be a major incident, but that thing is a top-tier named monster unknown even to academia. Realistically, it’d be more accurate to say that most of the monsters currently fighting are undead revived by the Arch Lich.

└ Arch Lich: “Kaioken times one hundred.”

└ Then can’t we just kill the Arch Lich? If most of the monsters are undead, killing the controller should end it, right?

└ ???????

└ And who the hell is going to kill the Arch Lich, you bastard? Some keyboard Aura Blade warrior with nothing but a big mouth?

The argument raged on.

Some commenters watched as if the whole thing were a fire on the far side of a river, while others took the situation deadly seriously.

And even as doomsday theories and optimism ran rampant, new updates continued to pour in.

(Best Comment) Official Security Council update: The east-west sector of the front was breached an hour ago. Fortunately, Pai Chen arrived as reinforcement and prevented the damage from spreading.

└ Damn, it’s true.

└ If it’s the east-west front, isn’t that where Wu Heixing is?

└ Yeah. That Chinese junkie guy.

└ But how did it get breached? He’s an S-rank Hunter.

└ Because he’s a Chinese-made S-rank Hunter.

└ Ah…

└ It could’ve been a real disaster if Pai Chen hadn’t been there. I guess that’s what you get from a well-made Hunter from the Great Cataclysm.

└ Pai Chen’s parents are Hong Kong citizens, so she’s Hong Kong-made.

└ Does the commenter above work in quality control or something? That was fucking clear.

└ While we’re at it, does anyone have news about the Korean Hunters?

└ Jung Dragon is in charge of the northern front and gaining the upper hand. I heard Sibeol-jwa won two or three times on the western front, but there’s been no news since, so I guess they’re holding the line.

└ Hmm… Everyone knows how strong Lee Jungryong is, so I’m not worried about him. But is Sibeol-jwa going to be all right? He’s still an A-rank Hunter.

└ ?? LOL

└ LMAOOOOOOOOOO

└ There’s still an innocent idiot who treats Sibeol-jwa like an A-rank Hunter? As an active A-rank Hunter myself, all I can do is laugh. That Jin Taekyung guy is just a monster lol

Hey heyheyhey!! The S—Security Council just posted an update on the w—western front!

└ Oh, Sibeol-jwa news. Been a while.

└ That sounds incredibly urgent. The western front? What are they saying?

└ They say it was breached?

└ Huh?

└ Huh?

└ What the hell does that mean? Don’t tell me Sibeol-jwa died…?

└ Wait. What is this actually saying? Guys, I’m going back to check it again. It’s on the main page, so go look for yourselves.

└ Ah. I’m suddenly fucking terrified. I’m checking it right now.

└ Go go go go go

The netizens who had been excitedly writing comments rushed to the United Nations Security Council website.

So many users flooded the site at once that it exceeded its traffic limit, forcing them to wait for quite some time. When they finally saw the announcement on the main page, they could only doubt their own eyes and ears.

“…What the hell is that?”

The map displayed the standoff with the monster army. The front line formed an oval, but the western front had been gouged inward like an awl.

…I just checked. It really was breached.

└ Is Jin Taekyung dead? How bad are the casualties?

└ No, the monsters’ line was breached.

└ ??

└ ???

└ The breakthrough was so fast that the updates couldn’t keep up.

└ …Does that even make sense?

└ Shut up and pull down the shutters. Today is the tavern lady’s death anniversary…¹

The battlefield where a fierce battle was about to erupt was crowded. An endless wasteland stretched out before us, and countless monsters filled my field of vision.

A wind that blew in from somewhere carried the thick killing intent and stench pouring off the creatures.

“Fucking hell. There sure are a lot of them.”

Team Leader Choi, standing beside me, answered my mutter.

“No matter how many we kill, there’s no end to them.”

It was the fourth day since we had been deployed to the western front and the fighting had begun in earnest. There was no trace left of the Team Leader Choi who had always looked immaculate.

Covered in blood and dust, he looked at me with a calm, somber gaze.

“When do we begin?”

“Who knows? We should hear what our little commander thinks first. Right?”

That last question wasn’t directed at Team Leader Choi.

The twenty-one-year-old “little commander” who had not left my side the entire time answered. It was Shao Shen.

“I will follow Teacher Jin’s orders!”

A snort of laughter escaped me at the sparkle in his eyes.

“You’re still going on about calling me Teacher. You were the one who told me to speak casually to you first. I said you might as well call me hyung.”

“Is it… Is it really all right if I do that?”

“I told you it was fine as long as you were okay with it. But can you really act like this in front of your men? I heard you’re about to be promoted to major general.”

Shao Shen shook his head at lightning speed.

“There’s no problem at all! H-h-hyung-nim!”

He was frighteningly calm in battle, so I had no idea why he stammered so much the rest of the time.

I looked at the Hunters from the Public Security Armed Forces lined up behind him. There were more than a thousand of them.

Their heated eyes held admiration and awe for the strong.

Of course, Shao Shen stood out even among them.

“Give us your orders. H-hyung-nim.”

“Orders, huh?”

I suddenly looked up at the sky.

A huge eagle with its wings spread wide circled above our heads.

I had a good feeling about today, too.

“Follow me. Just like you’ve done until now.”

“…!”

“Right now.”

With that answer, I stepped forward.

Crack.

The force of ten thousand geun concentrated in the tip of my foot split the ground like a spiderweb and drove it inward.

And then, in the next moment—

Boom!

With a deafening roar that left my ears ringing, I shot forward as a streak of light.

Flamefire Path.

The wind carrying the cold heated up and transformed into a blast of hot air.

As the ground, wind, and scenery streaked past, a tremendous roar erupted behind me.

“Charge! Charge!”

“Descendants of Zhonghua! People! Sweep every last one of them away!”

“Waaaaaaah!”

Thud-thud-thud-thud!

Kyaaaauuuuu!

Human battle cries and monster shrieks rang across heaven and earth. The immense vibrations shook the very ground.

At the threshold of that chaos, I swung the White Flame in my hand with all my strength.

Whoooosh!

The Extreme Yang force that surged from the spearhead sliced through everything standing in its way.