Chapter 16: One Strike

Han Yu Ri urgently called out to the A-class Hunter.

But that A-class Hunter was scared and running away.

“Come back! If you run away, everyone will be in big trouble!”

“I’m sorry!”

Their conversation was heard amidst the frantic escape.

I glanced towards the people.

I saw that people were looking distraught.

Many were seen sitting and crying.

They seemed to think there was no hope left.

Ha.

For an A-class Hunter to run away.

He was the only Hunter we could immediately place our hope in.

Even though Han Yu Ri came right in front of him and persuaded him that they could win, it didn’t work.

Since they were the ones who had already abandoned Han Yu Ri and run away, I didn’t have high expectations.

Still, I had slightly hoped that if an S-class Buffer came right in front of them and persuaded them, their minds might change a little.

But as expected, it didn’t.

That’s how great the fear they felt towards a Grade 3 monster was.

Even with the world’s best Buffer offering buffs, an A-class Hunter was that afraid.

A-class and B-class Hunters who weren’t fighting but hadn’t run away yet due to conscience.

But when Han Yu Ri started persuading them to fight together, they ran away.

When the A-class Hunter ran, all the B-class Hunters followed suit and ran away together.

I became at a loss as to what to do.

I couldn’t defeat this monstrous guy with my power.

But if I ran away too, a truly big problem would occur.

Just the people immediately visible numbered over a hundred.

If that Grade 3 monster wasn’t stopped, the damage would be truly immense.

Right now, only Han Yu Ri and I wanted to stop this situation.

It was right to somehow endure this monster, at least with those who had the will.

I wanted to prevent a catastrophe.

I wanted to do the best I could.

What I could do was to buy as much time as possible.

By now, the Hunter Association’s command center must have detected the Grade 3 monster.

Therefore, there was a high possibility that reinforcements were coming.

I had to hold on, putting my hope in that.

I continued to move quickly to avoid the monster’s attacks.

I started getting physically exhausted from moving quickly for a long time.

I kept dodging the monster’s attacks well.

Then the monster turned its eyes towards the people.

And it started walking towards the people.

No!

If that guy goes towards the people and swings his fist just once, a hundred people will be massacred just like that.

I suddenly became desperate.

The monster took a large step towards the people.

People started screaming in unison.

I wanted to draw the monster’s attention back to me.

To do that, there was no other way than to take a risk and attack that guy.

If I attacked incorrectly, I could be hit by a counter-attack immediately and die.

I had to evade quickly with all my might immediately after striking.

I concentrated my mind.

I rapidly approached near the heavy body of the monster, which was walking towards the people.

As I got closer to the monster, I felt a sense of being overwhelmed by its size, like a small building.

To think I, a C-class, had to attack first against a monster that fought on equal footing with S-class Hunters.

It was an extremely dangerous thing to do.

But I had to.

There was no guarantee that the monster would look towards me just because I attacked it.

If it didn’t look towards me, I couldn’t stop the people from dying any longer.

Please look back at me!

Thud!

I gathered magic power and carefully struck the monster’s leg.

Ugh!

After hitting the monster, I moved my body away as quickly as possible.

When I struck, the monster momentarily attacked me with its hind leg.

I barely managed to dodge being hit by that attack.

My strategy was successful.

The monster started paying attention to me again.

The monster changed its target back to me and started chasing me.

My attack, being only C-class, probably didn’t do any damage.

But it must have been annoyed by me chasing it.

“Are you alright?!”

From afar, I heard Han Yu Ri shouting loudly at me, infusing magic power.

“Yes. No problem. What about reinforcements?!”

“Attacks are occurring simultaneously in several areas right now, so everyone is blocking other areas. It seems difficult!”

It was devastating news.

“How much longer do you think we need to hold on?”

“I don’t know! I’m sorry.”

It wasn’t that she wasn’t sending reinforcements, there was nothing for her to be sorry about.

“Run away. There’s nothing we can do. At least you survive.”

Hearing that she didn’t know when reinforcements would come, my mind went blank.

I couldn’t think of what to say.

So I just kept dodging the attacks here and there without saying anything for a moment.

Then Han Yu Ri continued to speak.

Her voice, heard through magic power, was sad.

She must want to save people as much as I do.

But just wanting to save people desperately didn’t mean you could always save everyone.

The only remaining forces were C and D-class Hunters.

Even among them, only one C-class Hunter, me, had the will to fight without being scared.

Furthermore, the situation was such that we didn’t know when reinforcements would come.

Even for Han Yu Ri, there was nothing she could do in this situation.

She seemed to be giving up on this battle and trying to save at least me.

“Cast an attack blessing on me.”

I was grateful for her concern for me.

But I didn’t want to just leave everyone behind like this.

Let’s try one more time, risking everything.

So I have no regrets.

“What?! What are you talking about?! What are you trying to do?! Are you perhaps trying to attack alone?”

Han Yu Ri said, greatly surprised.

“Yes!”

Yes.

I’m going to try.

“You’re C-class! No!”

Han Yu Ri, who had grasped my rank with her Hunter Watch, urgently tried to stop me.

Unlike Han Yu Ri’s worry, I thought it was worth trying at least once.

When I landed a one-punch on Kim Joon Hyuk.

Clearly, I had dealt a significant blow to Kim Joon Hyuk, who was wearing a protective barrier at a C-class level.

After hearing how much Kim Joon Hyuk was injured, my friend Dong Geon had said that it might have been an attack power at least at the level of a high-tier B-class Hunter.

Then, if I could hit just a little harder, couldn’t I possibly achieve A-class Hunter level damage?

An A-class Hunter who receives Han Yu Ri’s blessing can defeat that Grade 3 monster.

Then, if I could attack that monster with A-class Hunter level damage, couldn’t I win too?

The possibility was low, but it was worth attempting.

Originally, I hadn’t planned to, but now that the A-class Hunter had run away and the only hope was me, I had to.

If it was going to be like this, I wished I hadn’t wasted energy running away earlier, and had tried hitting it sooner.

But before, I thought it was right to try persuading the A-class Hunter to fight together one more time.

Since it’s come to this, let’s try hitting it with all my might, and if that still doesn’t work, let’s try to escape as desperately as possible.

“Coming right now. Please do it right now!”

I shouted that and immediately charged towards the monster.

From the moment I entered to save Han Yu Ri until now, I had been running at full speed the entire time.

Because I had been running at full speed for too long, I was getting physically exhausted.

I couldn’t waste any more time persuading Han Yu Ri.

If I was going to attack, it was advantageous to do it as quickly as possible without further wasting stamina.

So I couldn’t give Han Yu Ri time to hesitate or try to stop me.

I ran quickly towards the monster and shouted at Han Yu Ri.

“It’s too reckless!”

“If you don’t cast it for me, I’ll be even more dangerous! Please! When I give you the signal, cast it immediately!”

As expected, Han Yu Ri wanted to stop me.

It was natural.

I knew my potential, but from Han Yu Ri’s perspective right now, I was just a C-class Hunter.

A C-class Hunter asking for an attack blessing to attack a Grade 3 monster.

I knew that from Han Yu Ri’s perspective, I could only look like someone going to commit suicide.

But there was no time to explain.

I had no choice but to blindly ask Han Yu Ri while charging like this.

So that she couldn’t refuse.

“Come back! Please!”

“Now!”

I prepared for the final battle with that monster.

Whether that monster died from this final blow, or I gave up and ran away or died.

The outcome would be decided.

To deliver a desperate blow, I unleashed all my magic power and charged towards the monster.

And I kicked off the ground with the power of magic power.

I jumped to where the monster’s head was and soared up quickly.

And I shouted towards Han Yu Ri.

Sparkle.

Sparkle.

I saw the butterfly floating above my head change to red.

Han Yu Ri’s attack blessing was cast on me while I was airborne after jumping.

It was a relief that Han Yu Ri listened to me.

Han Yu Ri’s world’s strongest buff, which could give an A-class Hunter S-class Hunter level attack power.

That buff, and my unknown power.

Gathering these two powers.

I had to end it somehow.

『Patcheon-kwon.』

Here I come!

As I ran up so suddenly and jumped, the monster seemed momentarily flustered, perhaps not expecting me to act like this.

The monster’s body, almost the height of a 3-story building.

I quickly flew up right in front of that monster’s face.

An enormous amount of magic power swirled and gathered around my airborne body.

Because it was enhanced by Han Yu Ri’s blessing, a vastly different and enormous amount of magic power gathered quickly, compared to when I gathered magic power to hit Kim Joon Hyuk.

Ku-gu-gu-goong.

As I gathered magic power, I felt everything around me vibrate and shake due to the immensely huge magic power concentrated in me.

『Je Samgyeok.』

I prepared the Patcheon-kwon, 3rd Form, which I used to hit Kim Joon Hyuk.

The technique with the strongest single-strike damage among all the techniques I currently possessed.

The enormous amount of magic power gathered in me began to rotate and converge into my right hand.

My right hand was wrapped in a brilliant blue light.

If this desperate attack of mine lands with A-class level damage or higher, it’s highly likely this guy will die.

But if it lands with B-class level damage or lower, I’m highly likely to die.

Here I go!!

『Patcheonseom Seomyeolgyeok!』

Boom!!

I slammed my fist into the monster’s face with all my might.