The First Hunter Chapter 35-37

Chapter 35 – Turf War (2)

3.

'Thanks to Chang Sung Hoon, I won’t have a headache over this.'

After recalling Chang Sung Hoon’s actions, Kim Tae Hoon began to organize the details in his head.

The awakened from Messiah had come under Kim  Tae Hoon as his hound dogs.

From now on, the awakened would offer up 40% of their monster stones to Kim Tae Hoon.

In return, Kim Tae Hoon would provide for them a safe hunting zone.

'Quite the smart guy.'

That wasn’t all.

Since Messiah’s awakened are going to be Kim Tae Hoon’s hound dogs, then that meant that the ordinary survivors would have no choice but to follow Kim Tae Hoon.

A gun was the only weapon that was effective against both monsters and awakened humans, but they were in the hands of Kim Tae Hoon and the Mek Clan.

Well, it wasn’t perfect.

'There are problems that even that clever guy won’t be able to solve.'

Not everyone would be happy with this system.

On top of that, the system wouldn’t be able to control everyone.

Even right now, there are sure to be people who are scheming against him, and amongst those people there are bound to be very clever individuals.

Obviously, issues would crop up in one form or another. Huge conflicts where the instigator and the victim both have to die will probably appear soon.

It was something that Chang Sung Hoon was well aware of.

That’s why Chang Sung Hoon said it was necessary.

'As long as the snake demon is killed.'

Demon snake’s body.

A powerful symbol, and a powerful s.h.i.+eld.

All of the survivors would be indebted to Kim Tae Hoon should he succeed in killing the demon snake, which would result in their desire to protect Kim Tae Hoon since he would become a beacon of hope for them.

'As long as I kill it.'

In Kim Tae Hoon’s mind, the reasoning was simple.

It wasn’t a complicated issue.

The situation was clear.

"Boss, boss! I was finally able to take a picture! I was able to take a picture of the beast!"

It’s just that it wouldn’t be easy.

4.

The raging blizzard had turned the world white. That was all that could be seen. All traces of the catastrophe that had befallen the world had been covered by snow.

In other words, the places out of the snow’s reach still held the remains of the gruesome tragedy that had taken place.

This was Sinjung Dong station.

The rectangular walls and floor, and the impressively high ceiling, all of it was wrecked as though a bull had rampaged through.

Seureureu······.

A giant monster was pa.s.sing by.

Snake.

The snake had scales darker than the gloom of the lightless station.

However, it was far too large to call it a snake. No other snakes could even compare to it.

It was a creature equipped with tremendous durability, that once again, could not be compared with other snakes.

Tuktuk, even when the snake would only lightly tap the station walls, tiles would cascade onto the floor like a waterfall.

The seemingly unstoppable snake stopped. There was a mountain of corpses.

Chiureu! Chiureureu!

Although it flicked its tongue in front of the pile, the snake did not immediately start eating. Instead, it used its whip-like tongue to sample the taste of the corpses.

Seureureu!

The appearance of the snake backing up was identical to that of a child refusing to eat something because of its picky eating habits.

The snake ignored the pile of bodies and instead moved towards the station’s exit. Its goal was to find a warm-blooded living creature to feast on instead of the cold pile of bodies.

As it began to ascend the stairs, it slowly was exposed to the sun.

It gradually exposed more of its head, eventually revealing the orange eyes embedded in its triangular head.

In the sunlight, it’s eyes were not so much orange, but rather a beautiful gold, however, no sane person would ever dare consider its eyes to be anything but terrifying.

In the presence of its eyes, even the fiercest of beasts would be no better than a small mouse.

It basked in the sunlight, revealing an old wound located on top of its incredibly tough body.

Chiureu!

It did not intend to stop there. The rest of its body that had been steeped in darkness began to slowly expose itself.

Hwiing!

At that moment, a cold wind swept across the land.

Chiureureu!

The cold breeze made the snake stop moving. It began to turn its body as the winds swept up again.

The beast returned to the subway station, and resorted to swallowing the pile of bodies.

Like that, the beast and the pile soon disappeared, and from the spot where the snake had retreated from, a camera was silently snapping away.

5.

Everyone who had seen the pictures stiffened.

The picture itself wasn’t very clear, and was in fact quite blurry. In addition, the lighting was very poor, but despite the overall poor quality of the photo, the existence depicted in the photo overwhelmed everyone who had seen it.

An existence far beyond their reach.

'Good G.o.d, we have to kill this thing? What nonsense. No matter how you look at it, it’s on a completely different level than the monsters we’ve fought until now! The monsters on the level of the Black Orc cannot even touch this creature!’

"This is impossible. There’s no way we can kill this beast."

The first person to say anything despite the situation was Bang Hyun Wook.

Bang Hyun Wook was shaking his head, his eyes as wide and round as the first time he had ever faced a monster.

Hearing Bang Hyun Wook’s voice, Chang Sung Hoon came to his senses. Having come to, his expression stiffened.

'I miscalculated. To think that it would actually be this strong······ No matter how strong of a monster it was, I thought that our chances of victory would be considerably high if we used grenades, claymores, and other explosives in conjunction with boss’ Telekinesis······.'

The one who was most insistent on killing the demon snake was none other than Chang Sung Hoon.

No, more than that, all of Chang Sung Hoon’s plans were built upon the a.s.sumption that Kim Tae Hoon would be able to successfully kill the snake.

He had felt that the odds were in their favor.

Because it was none other than Kim Tae Hoon. Because he had Telekinesis.

Telekinesis had great compatibility with guns, explosives, and other firearms.

You don’t need perfect marksmans.h.i.+p if you control a grenade’s flight with Telekinesis, especially now since the Mek Clan soldiers could be outfitted with rifles, SMGs, grenades, claymores, and other firearms that could allow them to display a much greater firepower than before.

It might not be enough to fight against a dragon, but wouldn’t it be more than enough to take care of a single large-bodied snake?

'I was wrong. This beast isn’t something we can handle right now.’

But having witnessed a first-person account, that was not the case.

Kim Tae Hoon trying to hunt the snake was like a slightly larger than average mouse trying to hunt a cat.

If it was lucky it would be able to get a bite in, but it wouldn’t change its role from prey to predator.

"Boss, let’s leave it alone for now. If you look at its behavior, you can tell that it hates the cold, so if we just keep throwing in corpses······."

Because of that, Chang Sung Hoon opted to change his plans.

Listening to what Chang Sung Hoon said, Kim Tae Hoon did not reply.  Instead, he began to recall the picture once more.

He kept replaying the photos that had been captured by the installed camera as the snake exposed itself to the sun.

He focused on the demon snake’s body as it revealed itself.

'It’s skin will be on a completely different level than that of the Black Orc.'

Its hide will be much tougher and much more durable than that of the Black Orc’s.

It wasn’t some blind guess.

The ruined subway station would be very dangerous. It would be like walking through a th.o.r.n.y patch, completely naked.

Even if he doesn’t receive any large wounds, he would acc.u.mulate sc.r.a.pes and scratches.

But despite having lived in the station for a few days, the demon snake did not have any noticeable injuries. Its body was like a beautiful prized gla.s.s craft.

However, there was a distinct wound on that strong body.

'A sword wound.'

Sword of the Commander. A sword whose original owner could never be known. It was a sword that thirsted for blood, and had also inflicted a wound on the snake.

'This situation is actually much better than when I faced the Black Orc.' [TN: Wut.]

He had a varied a.r.s.enal to select a weapon to use against the demon snake.

The firepower of the Sword of the Commander or Yi Sun Sin’s Arrow was high.

At least this time, Kim Tae Hoon would be able to set the battle stage this time.

As long as it’s not a sudden battle and he had enough time to practice and prepare, then he could fight where he chose.

It was certain. The situation this time was incomparably better than when he fought the Black Orc.

There was only one thing left.

'As long as I can control my Telekinesis skillfully.'

It was whether Kim Tae Hoon could take advantage of his Telekinesis appropriately. As long as his abilities were up to standard, then there would be no reason for the demon snake hunt to fail.

"Chang Sung Hoon, how much time can we spare?"

"What?"

Chang Sung Hoon was frightened.

“Are you going to hunt it?"

That was because the ‘spare time’ that Kim Tae Hoon was talking about was the time it would take before the various Awakened that came under his command would start to act up and carry out their schemes.

"Boss, you can’t kill it. It’s impossible!"

Chang Sung Hoon tried to discourage Kim Tae Hoon again.

"How much time do we have left?"

"That······."

However, Chang Sung Hoon kept saying the same thing.

"It’s not like I majored in psychology, but······ as you know, boss will start to receive the monster stone tributes once a week. From their perspective, they won’t make any trouble with the first s.h.i.+pment. No, rather, even if they don’t want to, they’ll do so in order not to arouse any suspicion. But if there are no results by the time the second s.h.i.+pment comes, they’ll start to doubt you."

The world right now was unstable.

If all trust and hope in Kim Tae Hoon disappears, then in this situation, they will begin to act out in desperation.

And that would be a catalyst for collapse.

"The first payment will come in 3 days, and if you add a week to that, then I guess about ten days?"

"That should be the maximum limit. No, actually, not really. There might be problems, but if you explain······."

Although it may not be a hard limit, in Chang Sung Hoon’s mind, there would only be dark days after the ten days.

'The monster hates the cold. But if you look at it another way, if it gets warmer, it will ignore the pile of bodies. I’ll have no choice but to make living sacrifices······ then it’ll be over.'

In the end, the best way to control the demon snake was through sacrifices.

In order to stall for more time, he had to do what Lee Jin Sung had done, something that was the worst of the worst.

And, this was something that Kim Tae Hoon was more aware of than Chang Sung Hoon.

"What they want isn’t an explanation."

The hound dogs’ patience was not important.

"Begin training to start the demon snake hunt."

6.

"For now, stability is the most important. Don’t strain yourself too much."

"Th, thank you. Thank you for saving me."

Seeing the young man bow towards her, Ahn Sun Mi could only awkwardly smile.

'To talk about stability, how ironic. Who in the world could be stable now?'

While Ahn Sun Mi was thinking to herself, a woman approached her.

"Seonsaengnim, a patient in need of urgent care has come. The patient was bitten by a monster. The patient says that they’re an awakened."

The woman was a former nurse who had joined the Mek Clan with a group of survivors a few days ago.

She was now responsible for taking care of patients along with Ahn Sun Mi, and had opted to call Ahn Sun Mi by the honorific t.i.tle of Seonsaengnim.

[TN: Ok, so there are a few reasons as to why I decided not to translate ‘seonsaengnim’ into English. The direct translation means ‘teacher’, so like a math teacher or a science teacher. However, the word ‘seonsaengnim’ can also be used as an honorific when talking to or referring to a stranger, a doctor, an older male, or in other various contexts. So with that in mind, I decided to just leave it at ‘seonsaengnim’, but keep in mind that in this context, it means doctor.]

And, she wasn’t the only one.

Ahn Sun Mi was now working as the doctor.

"Where is the patient?"

For now, she was the only one that the patients wanted to see. It was because of her ability. She was the only one with the ability to save them.

She was also an integral member of the Mek Clan.

The world as it was currently, had no access to proper medical care. With no medicine in their hands, they would need to frequently risk their lives to scavenge for them. The absence of antibiotics or antipyretics could lead to death.

Given that situation, there being someplace you could visit in order to receive decent medical care was absolutely incredible.

"Euuuh······ p, please save me, please······."

"What kind of monster bit you?"

"A dog······ no, I was bitten by a monkey-dog."

"Did it only get your arm?"

Furthermore, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that a person’s ultimate goal in the current world was to simply maintain their own lives.

Insurance, life insurance– these things were worthless now. In this day and age, there was no reason to ever have to give up your life for anything.

Especially if someone was an awakened.

"What? Yes. It was only my arm."

Ahn Sun Mi’s eyes promptly focused onto the patient’s right arm.

It was a serious wound. Without proper medical care or facilities, it would be better to just amputate the arm.

"Ready the tools."

"Yes ma’am."

However, after inspecting the wound, Ahn Sun Mi immediately started treatment.

"Brush and knife."

Even her tools, Ahn Sun Mi held onto a brush and a knife instead of a scalpel or scissors.

They were actions that didn’t make sense.

But, she used the brush to apply her own homemade medicine, and used the knife to smear some of the Mud Troll’s flesh onto the wound.

The once serious wound began to heal at an alarming rate.

"That’ll be 8 monster stones." [TN: I was eating while translating, and this line almost made me spit my food out.]

The treatment ended in the blink of an eye, and the reparations negotiation started immediately.

"I, I understand Here······."

The patient’s comrade promptly fished out eight red colored monster stones and handed it over.

Considering how the treatment was completed in such a short amount of time, the others who were waiting in line were surprised to see that the man’s injuries were completely healed without even a scar.

Chang Sung Hoon approached from within the stillness.

"Noonim, how is business today?"

Hearing that, Ahn Sun Mi gave him a sour look.

Chang Sung Hoon reminded her of her little brother who had recently gone off to college. Of course no older sister would flash a smile at a little brother like Chang Sung Hoon.

"What do you want?"

"We’ve discovered another Mud Troll. Well to be exact, it’s more like a Mud Troll’s nest. Presently, we’ve only identified three of them. They turned a five hundred unit apartment into a grave of corpses. Unfortunately, the corpses have attracted large swathes of goblins and orcs, so it’ll take some time to deal with."

"Did you come here just to tell me that?"

"Of course not. I came here to listen to what you have to say. So, how’d it go?"

Ahn Sun Mi replied with a firm expression on her face.

"Whatever. There was nothing special about the body."

They were talking about anatomy.

It was about details of a dissection.

The awakened grow stronger by eating more monster stones. But if that was the case, then was there a stone within the heart of an awakened?

Although everyone had their suspicions, there was n.o.body who was willing to confirm it.

But to be fair, they had never had access to the corpse of an awakened who had frequently ingested monster stones.

To put it another way, the bodies of Lee Jin Sung and his aides would help them solve this mystery.

So of course they would do a dissection.

Unfortunately, there were no results.

When a monster died, it would leave behind a monster stone, but when an awakened died, they would leave nothing behind.

"It looks like the human animal knows only how to consume, not to conserve. Even after the world has changed."

Ahn Sun Mi tossed a shoulder bag with monster stones inside towards Chang Sung Hoon who had just finished being philosophical.

"Uh, why’d you give me this?"

"Give it to boss."

"But isn’t this what noonim earned on your own?"

"It’ll only be a waste to be used on me."

"Boss has suddenly become a pimp. The second lieutenant and noonim are both working hard and dedicating your earnings······ naturally a strong man would be eaten up in this world. But the compet.i.tors this time are a cut above the rest······ or are they? But considering how the world has changed, there isn’t really a reason to insist on monogamy now, is there?"

Ahn Sun Mi cut in to stop Chang Sung Hoon’s incessant chatter.

"So what’s boss’ situation right now? Can he really kill that monster?"

Chang Sung Hoon laughed lightly before replying back.

"Our luck is seriously really good. Like really really good."

Chapter 36 – Turf War (3)

7.

Under an overpa.s.s.

"Stab it! Stab!"

What was originally an area bustling with cars was now a battlefield soaked in blood.

Keuuuh!

It was a battle between three orcs and nine humans.

"d.a.m.n it, what kind of monster strength······."

"Spear! Throw one of the spears!"

It was a primitive and brutal type of warfare. While fighting against the monsters, the humans were armed with simple sharpened pipes as spears and car doors as s.h.i.+elds.

And it was a desperate battle.

"Spray! Hurry and use the spray can!"

The orcs’ opponents were doing everything they could to fight back.

The humans were in a line like you would see in an American Football game, their car-door s.h.i.+elds being struck by the orcs. Some of the humans who wore motorcycle helmets on their heads began to paint the orcs’ eyes and mouths black with the bottles of spray paint in their hands.

"Euaaaah!"

One of the men stabbed an orc with all of his strength, driving his sharpened pipe forward.

In that desperate struggle, victory was quickly approaching the humans.

Keuuuh! Keuuuh!

The bloodthirsty orcs were like hedgehogs. There were spears sticking out of their bodies, causing them to cry out in pain.

"It’s almost done!"

The faces of the humans began to bloom into smiles, confident in their chances of victory.

Keuheung!

Right up until an orc that was larger than any they had seen before appeared on the bridge.

"On the overpa.s.s! On the overpa.s.s!"

The oversized orc was clearly some sort of leader of the orcs, its appearance das.h.i.+ng their hopes.

It seized the opportunity to reverse the moral of both orcs and humans, swelling its chest and letting out a roar.

Keuaaaaah!

Its roar resounded throughout the area, sweeping through the area like a wildfire.

"Euuh······."

Immediately, some of the humans’ legs began to tremble.

Keuuuh!

The momentum they had built up vanished like a used up candle.

The battlefield had changed.

"Keep your wits about you!"

"Hang on! They’re all on their dying breaths!"

Although there was a human trying to raise morale, the chief orc moved towards the overpa.s.s’ ledge, seemingly laughing at them.

It was going to throw its huge body into the fray.

"Hey!"

At that moment, something approached the chief orc from its left side at an alarming pace.

Keuuh?

When the chief orc turned its head, it saw the head of a hammer you would find in a factory.

Bbak!

The hammer smashed into the orc’s face, crus.h.i.+ng its face and skull.

Puhwat!

The chief orc’s head was like the inside of a watermelon.

The man who had ended the orc’s life in one blow, Bang Hyun Wook, had his leg hoisted on the overpa.s.s’ ledge while yelling.

"I’ll be taking this one then."

Bang Hyun Wook’s words kindled their desire to fight instead of provoking their ire.

"Wooooooh!"

“Kill them! It’ll be over once we kill these b.i.t.c.hes!"

Compared to the humans, seeing that their leader had fallen, the orcs’ courage began to falter.

Afterwards, the battle was completely one-sided.

The three orcs became nothing more than corpses, and those who had survived the battle let out long sighs.

Maybe it was because there was a shortage, but some of the men began to gently fish out cigarettes before carefully smoking them.

Watching the scene for a little bit, Bang Hyun Wook then turned his head. He saw Chang Sung Hoon observing the buildings in their surroundings, a map in his hands.

"Hyung."

"What’s up?"

"The buildings in this area haven’t been cleared out yet, isn’t it dangerous here?"

Asking that, Bang Hyun Wook began to look around. There wasn’t a single white flag visible anywhere near those buildings.

"Well that’s why I dragged you along."

"No, it’s more than that······ if I run into a problem I can just leave with hyung, but the people down there······."

Hearing that, Chang Sung Hoon folded his map and looked down at the humans who were busily extracting the monster stones from the orcs.

"You would have to take risks if you want to save them."

"And if I die?"

"It’s better than not doing anything then dying. Regardless, it’s not like you intend to die, right?"

Thinking of those who would do anything to survive, Chang Sung Hoon let out a sigh.

'Looks like the parties are growing.'

Party.

Groups of survivors began to hunt within the Mek Clan’s domain.

'It’s what I wanted.'

After Kim Tae Hoon had required a 40% tax, some of the survivors began to actively hunt for monsters. There was more activity compared to when Lee Jin Sung had been the leader.

There were many reasons.

'If it’s that much, we have to at least express good will.'

For now, since Kim Tae Hoon could get monster stones through the Mek Clan, then he needed to reveal some tricks of the trade.

He revealed the reason behind why he used spray paints, the recipes to the toxic concoctions he made with pesticides, petroleum, and other various toxins, and the weaknesses of some of the monsters he had encountered.

The Mek Clan also began to move out. They started hunting the stronger orange-eyed monsters instead of the weaker red-eyed variants, and they also began hunting down the herd monsters.

Outside of wandering or fugitive solitary monsters, there were no large groups of monsters within the vicinity of any buildings where the Mek Clan had hoisted a white flag. Safe hunting was made possible thanks to the hound dogs who took care of the more dangerous creatures.

Of course, the biggest reason was the 40% tax.

'More than that, are those guys wearing orc leather armor? It’s well made. There’s a rumor floating around that an old cobbler is making leather equipment in exchange for monster stones······ I suppose I should greet him eventually.’

Aside from the 40%, the rest was up to the hound dogs.

Basically, it was up to the hound dogs to choose what to do with the remaining monster stones and monster bodies.

That didn’t mean they could be careless with their resources though. If they ever thought they could be careless, they would never have embarked on the road to be a hunter.

They were hunting because there was something to get out of it.

They hunted so that they could have a steady supply of materials to fuel their consumption.

'Since an ecosystem has been settled, they would use their heads to develop easier methods for survival.'

There were definitely those who were trying to develop more efficient and effective ways to utilize monster parts.

The old cobbler, a craftsman who had turned to crafting leather armor out of monster skin; a construction worker was using construction materials to create various sharp weapons like spears or knives; and a worker from a car factory had even outfitted a tram for the purposes of smas.h.i.+ng monsters.

'At least now the area is somewhat appropriate to live in.'

Humans had adapted to the situation in order to survive.

Humans had become the top predator by demonstrating their creativity and by improving upon preexisting inventions and tools.

It was the same even in this era of monsters.

If humans wanted to survive in this era, then they had no choice but to ‎adapt.

'Once boss kills the demon snake, the number of parties will explode. The smarter ones will probably create their own force like ours.'

But of course, should Kim Tae Hoon fail to kill the demon snake, then everything they had built up to this point would collapse.

"Rather than that, you’ve been looking at the map an awul lot hyun, what are you looking for?"

"Well, we have to check the monsters’ territories. There’s a pretty high chance that there are strong monsters dwelling in the the apartments and housing complexes."

"Amazing. Honestly, who knows if hyungnim can even kill the snake, it might just be a pipe dream."

If Kim Tae Hoon fails to kill the snake and ends up dying, then Bucheon would definitely have only dark days ahead.

There would be many scenes where humans would fight each other instead of the monsters.

The survivors in Bucheon would literally all perish.

However, Chang Sung Hoon didn’t think that Kim Tae Hoon would fail.

"We won’t figure out the answer just because we’re worrying about it."

That was the reason why they had come out here.

"All we need to concern ourselves with is what comes after boss kills the snake."

'It’s definitely somewhere here. Baek Sung Taek's secret warehouse where he stored all of his artwork is definitely here somewhere.'

It was Chang Sung Hoon’s responsibility to plan what came after Kim Tae Hoon killed the demon snake.

'But still, I can’t actually see everything just because of a map. Are there any map-like relics that exist? M-maybe something like a maphack?!'

8.

Gulp!

After Kim Tae Hoon swallowed another monster stone, he took a picture of his right hand.

[Basic Abilities]

– Strength : 100

– Stamina : 89

His Strength had finally exceeded 100 points.

It was amazing.

'Progress is just as fast as when I monopolized everything.'

What was even more amazing was the fact that Kim Tae Hoon hadn’t hunted a single monster for those stones.

But regardless, his rate of progression was just as fast as when he was fighting on the front lines.

'Chang Sung Hoon was right.'

It was all thanks to Chang Sung Hoon.

His system had turned any and all survivors into hunters.

The hunters hunted more and more monsters, and as the number of monsters killed went up, the amount of monster stones at his disposal also went up.

Of course, it wasn’t all for free.

Kim Tae Hoon lifted his head.

Orbiting around Kim Tae Hoon like a satellite was the Sword of the Commander.

Its movements were very smooth. It was as though the sword had a life of its own.

It was thanks to the strenuous training that he had been going through.

'It finally reached a decent level.'

Although Telekinesis had a set potential, it’s utility was unfathomable.

However, the user wouldn’t be able to cover the infinite number of ways to utilize it.

Just like how an F1 race car had no meaning when in the hands of an average person.

A child who held onto scalpels and surgical scissors didn’t automatically become a doctor.

The same was true for Kim Tae Hoon.

Telekinesis’ value may be unfathomable, but Kim Tae Hoon’s ability to utilize it was woefully low.

Of course, with enough training and practice, the ways Kim Tae Hoon could utilize it would become just as unfathomable.

Unfortunately, Kim Tae Hoon didn’t exactly have the time to practice and learn the nuances of his ability, at least not right now.

Instead, he sought to simply be better than he was before.

To be faster than before, stronger than before, and more precise than before!

He was training his Telekinesis so that he could manipulate a sword to be faster and more precise.

'Cut.'

Moving according to his thoughts, the orbiting Sword of the Commander shot out.

Like an arrow.

The sword skimmed the top of an erect tire located behind Kim Tae Hoon, grazing right past it.

Swik!

Following the sound of the wind, a flap from the top of the tire fell off.

The most recent slice had landed on top of a pile of previously cut tire chunks.

The ones at the bottom of the pile were thicker than a finger, but as you went up, the slices became thinner and thinner.

The ones at the top of the pile were like thin sheets of paper.

Kim Tae Hoon let out a long breath.

He was like a steamboat that had already embarked. [TN: Maybe referring to the cold and how when he exhales his breath would be like a white mist?]

9.

Demon snake, this beast had been feeling rather irate lately.

Recently, it had only been able to feast on cold bodies. Eating cold food in cold weather was a crime against eating itself.

But because the Demon Snake could not stand the cold, it had endured.

Seuseu! Seuseu!

However, the Demon Snake couldn’t stand it anymore.

Today was the day that the Demon Snake was going to fill its stomach with a nice warm meal. It didn’t even want to look at the usual pile of bodies.

By this point, the location where the bodies would usually be was like a dining table for the snake.

And as always, there was something there.

There was a single body all by itself.

Chiureureu!

Seeing that, the demon snake was angry. A mockery! One sacrifice wouldn’t be nearly enough to satisfy the snake!

Chiureu, chiureu!

Furthermore, there was a disgusting stench coming off the body.

s.h.i.+aaa!

The demon serpent immediately realized that this body was not a sacrifice, but a poison!

Kyaa, Kyaa!

The demon snake grew angrier and eventually, he harbored no intentions to endure his rage.

It felt that it needed to demonstrate its power and majesty once more.

The demon snake began to slither up the steps without hesitation.

The cold air did not dare to block the enraged demon snake’s path.

The demon snake suddenly burst through the entrance of the subway.

Kyaa!

It began to once more revel in the sunlight.

Vroom!

At the same time, a large bus rushed towards the demon snake.

Kwagwagw.a.n.g!

It wasn’t long before the bus slammed into the snake, turning into nothing more than a sc.r.a.p.

On the other hand, the snake merely trembled and squirmed, but did not fall or move from its spot.

Seuu!

Instead, the demon snake’s yellow eyes gave off a murderous intent.

The demon snake slammed its tail against the bus that had slammed into its body.

Kw.a.n.g!

It crushed the bus and split it in half, like chopsticks cutting through tofu.

As though that weren’t enough, the demon snake also began to smash the street around it with its tail.

There were terrible scars on the ground.

In fact, the whole world seemed to have frozen in fear. A stifling silence filled the surroundings.

Awooooh!

A loud howl cut through the silence.

That same howl shook the demon snake’s body. The demon snake’s eyes narrowed until they were like mere threads.

The shape of its pupils were indicative of its anger.

Some b.a.s.t.a.r.d werewolf had dared to trespa.s.s onto its territory and use its Howling on the snake, clearly challenging its authority.

The demon snake had no intention of letting it go.

Awooooooh!

The demon snake rushed towards the sound of the Howling.

The demon snake soon arrived at an empty lot that had been reserved for construction.

And on that plot of empty land was a lone man who had come out to greet it.

Chapter 37 – Turf War (4)

10.

It was an empty lot packed with dirt, ready for a building to be built.

Kim Tae Hoon was standing in center of the vacant lot, there were a number of Mek Clan soldiers and a decent amount of awakened hanging around the surrounding area carrying out a mission they were a.s.signed, they were waiting for the right moment to fulfill their mission.

'I just need to pull the trigger.'

'All I have to do is act as I’ve been ordered. It’s not difficult.'

While they waited, they went over their commands over a hundred times.

All of that was up until the point the demon snake appeared after chasing after the Howl Kim Tae Hoon had given off, the moment when a giant, 20 meter long snake that could swallow a car whole appeared.

Ah!

They went stiff.

Fear, the demon snake had yet to utilize that terrifying ability.

Those who laid eyes on the beast would easily imagine their own deaths.

Like that, they stiffened.

Awoooo!

It was the Howling, Kim Tae Hoon had used it once again to help the soldiers come back to their senses.

Afterwards, the demon snake snapped its gaze towards Kim Tae Hoon, and the other soldiers began to move.

"Water!"

"Water!"

The first thing to move was a fire truck.

Kwa kwa kwa!

Two firetrucks shot out strong columns of water into the air, soaking the ground as though it were rain.

Kyaaa!

The demon snake that was watching Kim Tae Hoon eyed the water nervously.

The water falling like rain, especially in this cold weather, was much more irritating and troublesome than the bus had been when it crashed into it.

So naturally, the demon snake would try and smash the fire trucks that were spraying water.

Seuk!

A sword slash swept across the snake’s skin, but it didn’t leave a cut deeper than a finger.

The demon snake’s eyes began to move around when it got injured

Swik!

It saw a sword flying through the air.

It defied all laws of physics, and even the birds could not compare to it.

Kya! Kya!

The demon snake was having trouble dealing with the flying sword.

The snake went upright and chased after the sword, but the sword evaded its attacks. The flying sword kept making small wounds on the snake’s body.

But there were no deep wounds.

Most of the wounds were only as deep as a pinky.

The demon snake’s giant body, considering its thick skin and flesh, the wounds were nothing but a drop of blood, they were nothing but mere scratches.

Because they weren’t deep, they didn’t stop.

'All according to plan so far.'

If the sword stabs deeply, then the would would be deep. But in the end, that’s it.

That’s why Kim Tae Hoon had practiced cutting and slicing lightly. There were no deep wounds, but only wounds that were just barely deep enough to draw blood.

Of course, it would be impossible to kill the snake with only that.

"The water cover is complete!"

"Get out! Get out of the firetruck!"

But that’s why he had prepared the firetrucks.

The purpose of the fire trucks was to spray the snake and irritate it.

"But will it eat the pesticide?"

"Although it’s a half water and half pesticide mix, it won’t have any effect if it doesn’t go in the body."

They had poured pesticide into the fire trucks beforehand.

If it were to enter its body through the wounds, then the effects were show to show. The pesticide was a medicine for death.

It was also the reason why they chose a plot of land packed with dirt. The dirt will mix with the mixture and turn into mud, which would cover up the snake’s wounds, becoming a vector for the transmittance of the pesticide.

It would be the same if traces of mud entered the snake’s mouth and entered its internal organs.

But above all, this was just the beginning.

Kyaaa!

'The beast is focused solely on the sword.'

Seeing that the snake was chasing after the sword, he fished out an arrow from his belt.

Yi Sun Sin’s Arrow.

This arrow that lacked any fletching was different from other arrows. Its shaft was covered in a layer of ice.

And the ice, of course, was not ordinary either.

It was poisoned ice.

Furthermore, it was no different from tetrodotoxin. [TN: Tetrodotoxin is a neurotoxin found in pufferfish and other toxic marine animals.]

Blowfish poison.

When Kim Tae Hoon had first heard of the demon snake, all thoughts of hunting it through strength were thrown out the window. Instead, he decided on a softer approach utilizing poison.

In fact, the place where he had heard the story, a sus.h.i.+ restaurant, had inspired him.

The idea to use blowfish poison.

Afterwards, Kim Tae Hoon had collected the toxins from the various blowfish found in sus.h.i.+ restaurants around Bucheon.

Its efficacy was also verified.

There wasn’t much to be scavenged from the blowfish that were prepared for consumption, but he was still able to retrieve some toxins, which he tested by leaving poisoned birds on the floor for scavenging monsters to eat.

So he knew.

The amount of poison he was able to gather from the blowfish wasn’t enough to deal a fatal blow to the snake.

So it wasn’t really a big deal.

As long as the snake stumbled, wavered, or lost focus just a small bit, it was more than enough.

That’s all he wanted.

The arrow flew towards the snake that had pushed Kim Tae Hoon to the back of its mind, ceaselessly chasing after the sword.

Puk!

Then like small syringe, the tiny, needle-like arrow entered the giant demon snake’s body.

'It’s done.'

Through his Telekinesis, Kim Tae Hoon felt the tactile feedback of the arrow piercing the snake.

At the same time, the arrow’s presence disappeared from Kim Tae Hoon’s senses.

'It starts now.'

Everything until now was nothing but the prologue.

This wasn’t a simple battle. The interior of Bucheon City was the battleground between predator and prey, a battleground where the winner would occupy the center of the city and become the ruler.

All or nothing.

'First is the mortar.'

It was only natural to prepare for all out war.

A mortar shot would signal the start of the war.

A mortar’s firepower far outstripped that of a rifle. But in return, it was difficult to operate. There was not a single case where a mortar had been succcessfully used against a monster until now.

There was not enough distance to take aim, and there was not enough room for it to be effective.

But, simply put, if a target were to enter the blast zone, then there was no weapon more effective than the mortar.

Especially now since the target was bigger than a tank. Even if they wanted to miss, it would be difficult to do so.

Even more, it wouldn’t be hard to find one or two artillery operators within a hundren Korean men.

Kim Tae Hoon lifted his head and looked at the snake that was still struggling against the sword.

The flying sword’s movements were toying with the snake. The demon snake acted as though it were possessed by the agile flying sword, which would close in on the snake whenever there was a gap in its defenses, as though it were racing towards a finish line.

Kyaaa!

There was only the sword in the snake’s eyes.

It saw only the sword and nothing but the sword.

Now, Kim Tae Hoon began to attract the demon snake. He guided the snake towards the center of the vacant lot by use of the sword and his Telekinesis.

'Now.'

All that remained was to give the signal.

As soon as the other side received his signal, a mortar sh.e.l.l would streak across the sky.

At that moment.

Shya!

The demon snake’s eyes changed.

Its eyes which had been focusing only on the sword began to give off a golden light. It wasn’t just a regular glow.

'Ah.'

Aura.

Something that couldn’t be called anything other than an ‘aura’ spread out across the vacant lot.

Those who were exposed to it froze.

It was like they were buried.

It felt as though the demon snake were seeing through their entire bodies and was dissecting them.

Before long, the demon snake began to focus on the flying sword, after which it began to follow the source of the sword’s power until it found the Telekinesis user.

Of course, it was Kim Tae Hoon.

Chiureub!

The Yellow Eyed Demon Snake stared at Kim Tae Hoon and flicked its tongue.

11.

'It caught me.'

As soon as the demon snake’s eyes changed, Kim Tae Hoon felt that the snake was no longer looking at the sword, but the power moving the sword.

So when the demon snake turned towards Kim Tae Hoon, he knew he was right.

'I’m going to die.'

Kim Tae Hoon would be eaten and killed by the demon snake today.

It wasn’t some vague guess or a gut feeling.

He had already experienced death before. Thanks to Napoleon’s Golden Goblet, he had a clear feeling of what it meant to face certain death.

However, those various scenes and experiences didn’t flash before his eyes.

'It’s going to kill me.'

There was never a moment up until this point where Kim Tae Hoon had wanted to die. He had done all he could to stay alive.

During all that, he had learned. He had learned what he needed to do in order to survive in the middle of a sea of death.

Tenacity, a stubborn attachment to life.

'Then before I die, it will die first.'

To kill before being killed.

Kim Tae Hoon’s body began to move.

The Energy in his body responded to his will to live. It freed Kim Tae Hoon’s body from the shackles of the demon snake’s eyes.

However, the demon snake’s gaping maw had already cast a shadow over Kim Tae Hoon’s head.

Escape?

No, it was impossible.

His flesh and bones let him know. His seasoned body let him know that the chance had already pa.s.sed.

So Kim Tae Hoon didn’t try to escape.

Instead, he did the opposite.

Kim Tae Hoon threw himself into the abyss that was the snake’s mouth.

Like that, Kim Tae Hoon was sucked inside the snake’s body.

Kag!

A sound resembling that of something being caught in the snake’s throat rang out. As it was going to consume its prey, the morsel had suddenly thrown itself into its own throat.

But of course the demon snake didn’t really mind.

As far as it was concerned, Kim Tae Hoon wasn’t a creature that had poisons inside of it.

No, it wouldn’t really have mattered if he was poisonous. The demon snake’s eyes had seen all.

Kim Tae Hoon was the only one that could bare its teeth at the snake while the rest were nothing but prey to be hunted down at its leisure.

Gulp!

So he swallowed Kim Tae Hoon whole.

The demon snake began to crush Kim Tae Hoon.

Buudeuk!

The body was being forcibly compressed– flesh was ripped off the bones while the bones themselves grinded against each other until they snapped.

That sound even reach Kim Tae Hoon’s ears.

Buudeuk!

It was the sound of death.

The loud sounds of his bones knocking against each other reached his eardrums from inside, but he didn’t focus on those sounds despite being near to death.

But Kim Tae Hoon ignored that sound.

'Let’s hear it.'

What he was listening to wasn’t from himself but something else.

·····Dugeun!

It was the slow heartbeat of the demon snake’s heart.

Dugeun!

After waiting what seemed like an eternity to hear the next heartbeat, Kim Tae Hoon ordered the sword that was still linked to him through his Telekinesis.

The sword flew and stabbed towards the sound!