Chapter 10: The Price of Impulse

Despite my leisurely pace, I arrived a full forty minutes ahead of the designated assembly time.

Stepping past the crimson line demarcating the gate’s immediate vicinity, I found the hunt still raging fiercely.

A monstrous entity, equine in form with a blazing mane, thrashed ferociously. Known as a Spenta in the demon realm, it bore the Hunter Association classification C-13. Within Baekdam, a city where gate limits capped at C-class, this particular monster ranked among the most perilous.

Despite the danger, the hunters displayed not a hint of apprehension. They maintained their positions with practiced ease, systematically eliminating the Spentas without undue haste or frivolity.

Moments later, the final one collapsed.

Thud.

As its massive form toppled onto its side, the fiery mane dwindled into embers. All the monsters were dead. The gate, still an ominous crimson ripple, would likely dissipate within the hour.

I stared intently at the shimmering surface of the gate.

Its true essence was merely a minuscule orb of ice. This enigmatic artifact, rooted to the ground, would engulf handfuls of roaming monsters and regurgitate them into this world each time its magical energy swelled.

Much like the orb the knight had thrown, and the one I had extracted, it was likely structured such that any anomaly would cause its cycle to terminate, allowing a nascent gate to manifest elsewhere.

“Excellent work, everyone!”

“Indeed. You all did well.”

The hunters, having served as a provisional team, exchanged farewells and ascended into their waiting vehicles. Managers, who had been poised, converged on them en masse, offering isotonic drinks, fresh towels, and opening car doors with impeccable deference.

“What’s so captivating about that?”

Park Myeong-seok, having arrived twenty minutes early, strode over and stopped beside me. As I offered a polite bow, he delivered a hearty thwack to my lower back. He had likely aimed for my shoulder, but his height proved a limiting factor.

“Come on. Let’s snag a coffee before the others get here.”

‘…’

Park Myeong-seok downed three cups of coffee and devoured six packets of snacks. He insisted that the association’s snack booth was meant to be thoroughly plundered, thrusting a handful of treats into my hand with an urging gesture.

It was always wise to replenish calories when the opportunity arose. I nodded, accepting the snacks without protest. Before work commenced, a briefing outlined the necessary precautions. There was nothing particularly unusual; the primary instruction was to pay close attention to which parts of the monster required dismantling, as this varied by species.

Today, it was hooves and teeth.

‘A Spenta’s mane is its most crucial part.’

Yet, to acquire the mane, one had to capture the creature alive.

The magnificent, fiery mane embodied their very life force. At the zenith of their physical prowess, it rippled with a golden hue like a wheat field at sunset, but in dying creatures, it was sparse and withered, akin to a field scorched by herbicide.

Once their breath completely ceased, the mane vanished alongside them.

“Alright, it’s our turn. Let’s finish this swiftly and head home.”

I rose, joining the throng of laborers. All superfluous thoughts were promptly dismissed.

“Oh, and today’s daily wage is one and a half times the usual. After all, that monster is one of the most dangerous types in Baekdam, isn’t it?”

“Ooh!”

Park Myeong-seok was a seasoned veteran. He understood precisely which words to utter, and at what moment, to maximize work efficiency.

The wage hike sent the laborers’ morale soaring. A youthful man, who had been lost in thought, meticulously counting on his fingers, hurried over to Park Myeong-seok. It was Yongsik, a temporary part-timer.

“So, can I just work until today?”

Having clearly calculated his earnings, he seemed to have reached his desired sum. Park Myeong-seok readily assented. Yongsik, in turn, shoveled with unprecedented fervor. The work proceeded smoothly; despite the increased pay, the difficulty remained unchanged.

The laborers chatted, hummed, and moved busily about their tasks. It was approximately ten minutes after work had begun that I first perceived something amiss.

‘…?’

Sensing a subtle presence, I turned my gaze. There lay only the inert carcass of the fallen Spenta. I initially dismissed it as a misperception, but I was mistaken. I sharpened my senses.

‘……!’

I immediately set down everything I was carrying. With swift strides, I approached Park Myeong-seok and firmly gripped his shoulder.

“Whoa, damn it, you scared the living daylights out of me… Cheol-su. What is it? What’s wrong?”

I frantically gestured toward the carcass.

“What? It’s just a corpse—”

Park Myeong-seok’s words trailed off, his eyes widening dramatically. He wasn’t the foreman merely for show, after all. His complexion began to blanch as the terrifying realization dawned upon him.

“Everyone, get out of the site! Get out, now!”

He bellowed at the top of his lungs, his short legs churning as he scrambled across the site. His destination was the dispatched Hunter Association staff member. The employee, who had been reflexively adjusting their glasses, spun around, startled by the sudden uproar.

The incident unfolded as the two men exchanged words, their voices verging on shouts. The Association staff member, facing the scene, spotted it before Park Myeong-seok, whose back was turned. The employee, who had been replying with a fastidious expression, now mirrored Park Myeong-seok’s horror, frantically tapping on their terminal.

The staff member’s body trembled violently, like an aspen leaf, their hands fumbling uselessly several times.

The seasoned laborers, sensing the grave abnormality, swiftly retreated to safety. Having toiled alongside Park Myeong-seok for years, they understood he wouldn’t behave so frantically without cause. Yet, the temporary part-timers, drawn by the allure of quick earnings, remained bewildered, failing to grasp the gravity of the situation.

Yongsik, in particular, was utterly lost.

Twitch.

The Spenta’s inert body, lying beside him, gave a sudden twitch. Yongsik shrieked, stumbling backward in terror. He squinted, fixated on the monster’s intermittent spasms. A Spenta’s flame was intrinsically linked to its life force; its extinction signified death. Moreover, hadn’t the gate been properly sealed?

‘Then what, exactly, is that twitching…?’

The instant that thought crossed his mind, the monster’s belly violently ruptured. Azure flames erupted, and a small, nascent Spenta burst forth.

It was a cub.

“Aaaargh!”

Yongsik screamed, flailing wildly. Already in close proximity, his terrified shriek drew the newborn Spenta’s attention inexorably towards him.

The monster exhaled a torrent of fire. Yongsik was instantly incinerated.

Grraaargh!

The Spenta, having achieved its inaugural kill, let out a triumphant roar. Its azure flames gradually deepened to a fiery crimson. Its once hesitant, stumbling gait now held a steady purpose. Creatures born into a world where the strong devoured the strong adapted with astonishing rapidity. Recognizing its newfound predatory status, the Spenta began to rampage in earnest.

“Aaaargh!”

“Nooo!”

The laborers scattered like a panicked swarm of locusts before a wildfire. The Spenta’s maw gaped wide, its teeth, more lupine than equine, tearing through the terrified workers. This was a site abandoned by combat personnel; no one remained to quell the monster’s rampage.

No one, except for me.

Though I couldn’t wield magic, my augmented physique remained intact. A fledgling C-class creature like this could easily have its skull crushed, even without a weapon.

‘I could crush it.’

‘…’

My gaze drifted diagonally upward. A surveillance camera was visible, an omnipresent fixture at any gate opening. Beyond its lens lay the Association’s monitoring room.

I clenched my fist, knuckles white.

The Spenta, having claimed Yongsik’s life and devoured two more, now turned its predatory gaze sideways, fixing on Park Myeong-seok and the Association staff member. The intent was unmistakable.

“Foreman Park!”

Someone shrieked Park Myeong-seok’s name.

He was desperately dragging the dazed Association staff member along. Hearing the cry, Park Myeong-seok saw the Spenta swivel its head towards him and, along with the employee he was aiding, crumpled to the ground.

With a thud, Park Myeong-seok dropped to his knees, his face contorted in utter despair.

I stood at a precipice of choice. Yet, it was a choice in name only; I could plainly see myself remaining rooted. The image of the middle-aged man I had known for barely a month, and the grueling existence I had endured by Kratus’s side, flashed through my mind in rapid succession.

It was then that Park Myeong-seok let out a laugh.

“Hah, hahahaha.”

His desolate laughter eerily echoed the mirth of the dying knight, who had once laughed even as his limbs were severed.

My legs, betraying my conscious will, surged forward. *Chwaaak*, my feet slid, then halted precisely in place, not a moment too late. I stood with my back to Park Myeong-seok, confronting the Spenta. My gaze locked onto the charging monster’s crimson eyes, radiating the same killing intent I’d once reserved for foes on the battlefield.

[I will kill it.]

[Approach further, and I will rip you limb from limb.]

If it persisted, refusing to halt its assault, then so be it. I would simply pay the price for this impulse. I clenched my fist, fully intending to shatter its skull with a single blow.

However, the Spenta, with its keen instincts, reacted with a ferocity beyond my expectation. Its legs tangled, sending the creature tumbling to the ground. *Prrr. Prrr.* Snorting furiously, it regained its footing, then slammed its front hooves onto the ground, unable to contain its rage.

Bang, the cement shattered like brittle cracker. The huffing Spenta cub circled me warily, torn between its visual judgment of me as weak and the primal instinct screaming that an attack would lead to its demise.

Thwack!

The standoff did not last. A white crystal, launched from somewhere unseen, embedded itself in the monster’s head. The creature that had murdered three people collapsed weakly onto its side. It was an instant death. Upon closer inspection, the crystal was not crystal at all, but chillingly transparent ice.

“What a mess.”

So spoke a tall, powerfully built man as he strode forward.