Chapter 12: Save the People (1)

I ran while keeping the hologram map on, looking at the map.

Towards the red dots, towards the monsters, to block the monsters and save people.

At the same time, I checked the status of the Hunters shown on the map.

When an invasion situation begins, the first priority action a Hunter must take is to turn on the map.

This is because only then can they properly understand the situation and deal with it.

This is emphasized even in the World Hunter Association’s official manual.

I also tried to turn on the map immediately when the cars in front stopped earlier and the alarm sounded from the Hunter Watch.

But then I saw a citizen running away, so I prioritized saving the person first.

[Lost.]

[Lost.]

[Lost.]

Since there was no one I needed to protect right now, I detailed the situations visible on the map.

The words 「Lost」, appearing at the locations where Hunters had died, were filling the map.

This meant Hunters were dying in droves.

This absolutely meant the current attack was not a small-scale one.

It was at least a medium-scale attack, where hundreds of citizens could die.

It was a big problem.

Looking at the map, most of the dead Hunters were D-class.

However, it was visible that some C-class Hunters had also died.

For several C-class Hunters to have died, it meant a fairly strong monster had arrived.

And it also meant that I could die as well.

Because I am also C-class.

While running, I occasionally saw citizens’ corpses on the street.

It was regrettable.

But there was nothing I could do about it.

Saving the people who were still alive was the best I could do.

With the desire to save even one more person, I ran with all my might.

“Aaah!!”

“Kyaaak!”

As I was running towards the red dots while looking at the map, I heard several people screaming from somewhere.

Looking into the side alley where the sound was coming from, five or six people were being chased by three monsters.

Two out of the three were monsters that ran on four legs like dogs.

Those black monsters, with even faster speed, were chasing the citizens, running terrifyingly on four legs.

“Aaah!!”

And when I looked at them, two citizens who had fallen behind were already caught by the monsters.

That citizen screamed and struggled to escape from the monsters pressing down on their body.

But they were soon killed by the monsters.

No!

Because it was obstructing my view, I temporarily turned off the map.

And I quickly ran towards them.

Looking closer, there were four citizens.

‘Let’s definitely save at least the remaining four.’

I ran towards the monsters while gathering magic power.

Blue lights of magic power gathered around my running body.

“Hunter! Save us!!”

Seeing the blue light gathering on my body, the fleeing citizens urgently shouted at me.

“Come behind me!”

I shouted that and immediately swung my fist.

One of the four-legged monsters jumped towards the citizens, trying to catch them as they came behind me.

Boom!

I quickly swung my fist gathering magic power.

And then I strongly struck that bi*ch’s head.

“Kieeeek!!”

As if being hit hard on the head was very painful, the monster that was hit by me and flew away rolled around on the ground, flailing its four legs.

You got what you deserved, you bi*ch.

The four-legged bi*ch wasn’t the lowest level monster, so it didn’t die in one hit.

Phew.

By a narrow margin, I barely managed to detach it before the citizen was caught.

If I had swung my fist a little later, one more person would have been caught and almost died.

When I hit the monster, the citizens, scared, all scrambled to hide behind me.

“Rest assured. I will win.”

The citizens were, as expected, in a state of extreme fear and anxiety.

So reassuring them was the priority.

Thus, I said while hiding and protecting them behind me.

As I spoke with a confident voice, I could feel the citizens relaxing a little.

It wasn’t just talk to reassure the citizens; I actually could win.

However, since those were lower-level monsters, it was hard to win as easily as before.

Moreover, unlike before, it was a 1 vs 3 battle.

My Patcheon-kwon is more advantageous in 1 vs 1 battles compared to other C-class Hunters, but in turn, it lacks area-of-effect techniques, making it disadvantageous in 1 vs many battles.

Since I could somehow handle up to three monsters.

I could only fight hoping that no additional monsters would swarm besides the three.

The monster that had fallen seemed to regain consciousness and stood up.

Perhaps still damaged, the monster’s legs trembled.

But even so, its eyes glared at me as if to kill me.

‘So what are you going to do?’

‘I also want to kill you just as much, you bi*ch.’

“So Jin!!”

After hiding behind me and escaping the crisis, the citizens saw the gruesome sight of the people who had been fleeing with them lying dead.

One of them sobbed, calling out the name of a person who had died.

‘They must have been a precious person.’

It was regrettable.

But I wasn’t allowed the luxury of even feeling regret together in my heart.

Because the situation wasn’t over yet, and the lives of the remaining people all depended on me, a Hunter.

The moment I make a mistake, the people behind me will unconditionally all die.

That citizen is mourning the death of their friend right now, but soon they might be in a situation where they themselves could die.

I desperately wanted to save at least the remaining people.

So, to make sure I succeeded, I focused on the monsters, sharpening all my nerves to the maximum.

The remaining four-legged monster and the humanoid monster that had arrived late also appeared, and the three monsters and I briefly faced off.

Holding our breath, we tried to predict each other’s movements.

I kept my eyes on them and stayed alert.

While doing so, I pressed the button on my Hunter Watch and turned on the map for a moment.

It was definitely a dangerous action to take during a fight.

This is because when the hologram map is on, it obstructs the view to some extent.

There were options to turn the map on big or small, in various sizes, but even when turned on small, there was definitely a part where the view would be obstructed.

And the act of glancing at the map during a fight was itself a dangerous action.

But I had no choice because I had to keep assessing the situation.

Fortunately, the lower-level monsters weren’t intelligent enough to aim for the part of my view obstructed by the map and attack.

So I only needed to be wary of surprise attacks.

A standoff filled with extreme tension.

I kept watching to see when they would attack, and in fleeting moments, I would quickly grasp the data on the map.

I could see red dots marked even behind the alley where the citizens and I were standing.

Ha, given this, I couldn’t just send the citizens to escape on their own.

The citizen I saved earlier could be sent to escape alone because there was a safe path on the map.

But for these people, it was a situation where I could only save them by escorting them to a safe path after defeating these three monsters.

The problem was that it was already difficult to fight comfortably, but I had to fight and win while protecting these citizens.

The map was full of red dots, and not a single living Hunter was visible.

It was a situation where I was surrounded by monsters alone, and it meant I couldn’t expect any reinforcements at all.

F*ck.

Before other monsters could feel the magic power of the four citizens here and swarm, I had to finish it as quickly as possible.

“Kiya!!”

The very short moment of standoff ended with the monsters’ roars.

The monsters screamed and simultaneously lunged towards me.

One of the two four-legged monsters bit my left forearm.

In the pain that pierced through the magic power protection wall wrapped around my body, I scowled intensely.

If there weren’t citizens behind me, I would have just dodged.

However, I couldn’t do that now because if I dodged, the citizens would immediately die.

Escort combat, fighting while escorting civilians like this, is also a clear duty of a Hunter, and I had been sufficiently trained.

It’s okay.

Even if it’s difficult and painful, I am confident I can protect them all.

Thud.

I strongly struck the abdomen of the bich that impudently bit my left arm with my right fist.

As the fist filled with blue magic power struck its belly, the force of the magic power exploded powerfully, dealing damage to that monster.

Chomp.

While I was punching one monster like that, I felt the pain of another one biting my right foot.

And I saw the humanoid monster throwing a punch at me.

A fist filled with black magic power flew fiercely towards my face.

Whoosh.

Since I was in a state where my left hand was bitten and I had just swung my right hand, I had no hand to block that punch.

So, inevitably, I quickly leaned my upper body back to dodge the punch.

Bang!!

But because my right foot was bitten and fixed in place, I couldn’t lean my body back as much as I intended.

So, although I avoided getting hit in the face, I couldn’t completely dodge the punch.

The humanoid monster’s punch struck my right shoulder.

Ugh.

An intense pain was felt in my right shoulder.

But seriously, these bi*ches?

Getting bitten in two places consecutively and getting hit by one attack made me furious.

You are all dead..