Human Hunter — Part 3
The magic chip I prepared before entering the mall’s forbidden zone—
I snapped it in one motion.
A flash of light enveloped me, and I teleported.
As I leapt several dozen meters away, the bullet meant for me hit the ground behind with a hollow thunk.
“There you are?”
I kicked off the ground.
Sprinting with all my strength.
Fwoosh!
Of course, there just had to be a burning gas station in front of me.
Go around?
I didn’t have the time.
The sniper—Human Hunter—would already be on the move.
Even a minute’s delay would give him enough time to find a new vantage point to snipe me from.
Or worse, he’d escape.
I couldn’t let that happen.
A crooked smile tugged at my lips.
I swapped traits and boldly dove straight into the flames.
[Fire Resistance][Endurance][Einherjar Cultivation Technique]
[Sprint][Leap][Black Flame]
Just as the fire was about to consume me—
I summoned Black Flame and launched myself forward.
Fwoooosh!
The world turned crimson.
Scorching air wrapped around me.
But I could bear it.
The Black Flame shielded me first, and Fire Resistance and Endurance handled the rest—even though these weren’t ordinary flames but an oil-fueled inferno.
My dash through the flames took only a few seconds.
I burst through the blazing gas station and emerged on the other side, cutting across the inferno and reaching the main road.
A glint of light caught my eye from a fifth-floor building, just up ahead.
As if waiting, another flash appeared.
Bang!
“Ugh!”
I had no time to think.
Almost instinctively, I swapped traits and twisted my body.
[Evasion][Mobility]
My body pivoted sharply.
Moving vertically as if defying inertia, my hair fluttered as a bullet narrowly grazed past it.
I felt a faint shock.
The bullet had skimmed my hair.
A chill ran down my spine, and my blood surged, making my head feel hot.
“There you are!”
I moved again.
Leaping straight toward the fifth-floor building, aiming for the rooftop that loomed tall from the ground.
Like a bird, I soared.
I couldn’t reach the fifth-floor rooftop in a single leap.
Instead, I crashed through a third-floor window mid-way up.
Crash!
Glass shattered around me.
I rolled onto the floor, eyes scanning my surroundings.
[Insight]
Combining my helmet’s detection ability, I quickly assessed the situation on the third floor.
No traps.
The moment I realized this, I sprinted again.
Crossing the fourth floor, I dashed to the fifth and finally reached the rooftop.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
I kicked open the rooftop door and tossed in a grenade.
The traps triggered, scattering red flames in every direction.
Incendiary traps.
Of course, it was Human Hunter.
He was following the same patterns I’d seen in the game.
‘Where did he go?’
I scanned the area quickly.
My goggles adjusted for the light, but there was no sign of him.
He must have moved the moment I entered the third floor.
As I leaned out to check further, a cold sensation crawled up the back of my neck—a warning.
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
“Damn!”
If not for my danger sense, I’d be dead.
And I hadn’t even equipped Insight.
I ducked just as bullets rained down.
The rapid rhythm of automatic fire—a bit sharper and lighter than a rifle.
A machine gun!
If I stayed exposed here, even a mana shield wouldn’t hold up.
Just like last time, when focused fire shattered it in an instant.
Should I use mana shield?
No. Mana shield consumes too much mana. Better to find another way.
Click.
I pulled out a grenade and removed the safety pin.
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
Listening to the gunfire, I calculated the distance and direction.
Directly in front.
The distance was surprisingly close.
Barely 20 meters away.
After making careful calculations, I threw the grenades one after another.
[Throw]
With the trait equipped.
Whizz! Whizz! Whizz!
Five grenades thrown in quick succession!
There was an immediate response.
A bright flash exploded, and the world turned white.
Moments later, a hissing sound followed as thick white smoke billowed up.
One flash grenade, four tear gas grenades.
This alone wouldn’t take down Human Hunter.
Like me, he was wearing a helmet equipped with goggles and a gas mask.
But it would at least disrupt his line of sight.
Even if the goggles blocked most of the flash, some effect would remain, and his traits wouldn’t allow him to see through the tear gas smoke.
Tap! Tap!
I sprinted forward.
Equipping Sprint, Mobility, Leap, and Charge, I burst out in pursuit.
Rat-tat-tat!
Bullets whizzed past, but I’d already slipped out of the attack zone.
Bullets trailed after me, the orange tracers closing in like washing lines stretched across my path.
As they approached within inches, my heart pounded wildly.
Just before they hit me—
I leapt with all my might.
“Haaah!”
Jumping into the air like this was practically suicidal.
I couldn’t dodge while airborne.
Maybe that’s why—
The tracer rounds abruptly stopped.
A brief silence.
Human Hunter was surely aiming at me.
But I was faster.
The tracers had given away his position.
I aimed my rifle right at it.
Switching traits in real-time while suspended in mid-air.
[Shoot][Aim][Snipe]
[Focus][Deep Breathing][Insight]
My concentration surged.
My head felt hot, and my vision narrowed.
All I could see was a single point.
A faint shadow in my scope’s crosshairs.
Covered in a camo tarp, a long black barrel extended.
Human Hunter!
Bang!
Who fired first?
All I knew was that as soon as I pulled the trigger, the tarp fluttered, and a streak of black liquid sprayed out.
Rat-tat-tat-tat!
Human Hunter fired back.
Orange tracers pounded my shield.
But I’d already switched traits right after shooting.
The mana shield swelled robustly, blocking the bullets.
Though a few shots hit me, the recoil threw off his aim, scattering the rounds in all directions.
This time, his machine gun wasn’t enough to breach my mana shield.
The moment I landed felt like an eternity.
As soon as my feet touched the ground, I swapped traits with lightning speed.
My body felt lighter.
In a single step, I crossed half the rooftop. With the second step, I reached the edge, and on the third, I vaulted straight toward the building where Human Hunter was.
“You… bastard!”
Human Hunter cursed as I closed in.
Calmly, I leveled my rifle and pulled the trigger.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
But I missed.
Right before my muzzle flashed, Human Hunter twisted out of the way.
A flawless backflip from a prone position—practically acrobatic.
Or rather, physically impossible.
Standing up, he could do that easily, but from a prone position, it shouldn’t be possible.
There was only one explanation.
The [Disengage] trait.
One of Human Hunter’s core traits.
[Snipe] and [Disengage].
On a side note, when recruiting a Level 3 Human Hunter from a quest, they also come with [Preparation] and [Trap].
“Take this!”
Human Hunter pulled a gem-like object from his belt and threw it.
A softly glowing yellow glass orb.
It hit the ground where I was about to land and shattered, instantly forming a three-dimensional magic array.
The array started to pull me in.
But I wasn’t surprised.
I knew exactly what kind of trap this was.
I sprayed bullets in Human Hunter’s direction to keep him pinned and discarded my empty rifle.
Flash!
The three-dimensional array activated.
Almost simultaneously, I pulled out my magic pistol.
Mana stored in my ring infused the pistol, and the array exploded with dazzling light.
With a clack, Human Hunter landed.
With skilled hands, he aimed his machine gun at me.
It was the moment I’d been waiting for.
The timing was exactly like in the game.
His movement patterns, the time it took to execute each action.
In the end, I had perfectly stolen Human Hunter’s time.
Whoosh!
A streak of black flame shot forward.
A tiny, bullet-sized beam of light struck Human Hunter square in the chest.
Right at the thickest part of his torso, protected by a bulletproof vest and a refracted barrier from his defensive magic artifact.
Human Hunter froze.
I could see his body seize up.
The machine gun that had been aimed right at me wavered.
And then came the scream.
“Aaaaaargh!”
A piercing howl of agony, as if he were being stabbed with a hot iron.
Right about then, the trap magic circle activated.
The concrete rooftop beneath my feet transformed into a sludge-like swamp, pulling me in, while stone spikes grew around me, binding my body tight.
An earth-elemental trap spell.
This was one of Human Hunter’s specialties.
Trap his target in place, then blast them with gunfire or explosives.
But having been hit with Black Flame, he wouldn’t have the mental clarity to do that right now.
“Graaagh! Aaargh!”
Human Hunter screamed in agony, still wildly firing his machine gun.
The bullets scattered in every direction.
Trying to aim a gun while burning alive was practically impossible.
There’s a reason the self-immolation of Vietnamese monk Thich Quang Duc shocked the world—extreme pain doesn’t bring calm.
And Black Flame doesn’t allow even a shred of clarity.
“Huuuup!”
I took a deep, steady breath.
The concrete swamp had reached my knees.
Stone spikes held my torso and arms in place, making it hard to move.
If I let my guard down and got hit by a stray bullet, I’d be in trouble.
[Mana Shield][Endurance][Resolve]
I equipped three traits to reduce magic damage.
[Strength][Mighty Strength]
And two more to help me push through the swamp.
My bloodsucking glove was drawing energy to support me, and my belt emitted a faint glow, assisting my efforts.
[Purification]
The earth-elemental mana invading my body was dissolved by this trait.
Slowly, I advanced through the concrete swamp.
In about ten seconds, I managed to free myself.
Across from me, Human Hunter, who had doused the Black Flame with holy water and activated his artifact, was trembling as he looked at me.
“Goddamn it!”
The machine gun was gone.
He’d thrown it aside in his struggles without realizing it.
His hand reached for the pistol and submachine gun on his belt, and then he took off in the opposite direction.
Dropping magical traps as he went.
I didn’t rush.
Calmly, I pursued him.
The traps were set at strategic points, but I ignored them.
I simply charged through them head-on.
By mixing Sprint, Dash, Leap, and Charge in perfect combination, I was able to maintain a good speed despite the traps slowing me down.
But the main reason I could do this was something else.
[Earth Resistance]
This newly acquired trait.
Because of it, I could break free from each trap in just two or three seconds.
If Human Hunter had a speed-boosting trait like Dash or Acceleration, he might have escaped by now, but all he had for escape was his emergency Disengage.
Maybe because I kept trailing him so relentlessly?
A red arrow appeared in my vision, pointing directly at Human Hunter.
[Track]
Now, there was no escape for him.
“Damn it! Die already!”
Tat-tat-tat-tat! Bang! Bang!
Boom!
In desperation, Human Hunter lashed out.
He sprayed bullets from his submachine gun, fired shots from his pistol, and threw grenades.
None of it mattered.
With my reinforced mana shield, I simply pushed forward.
The grenades were the only real threat, but I had Insight.
Whenever he pulled the pin, I’d fire my magic pistol to disrupt his throw, preventing him from aiming properly.
After taking such intense damage once, he’d run out of options. His holy water and artifacts were likely used up.
In the end, Human Hunter couldn’t put up a meaningful resistance and was cornered.
On a rooftop of a shopping complex near the main road.
On one side, a broad avenue stretched out; on the other, an apartment complex too high to scale; behind him, a small elementary school playground.
There was nowhere left to run.
Human Hunter glanced over his shoulder, then shook with laughter.
“Heh… haha… hahahaha!”
Click.
I pulled a shotgun from my golf bag and loaded it.
“Any last words?”
“Screw… you…”
Human Hunter’s hands trembled.
He had nothing left.
His guns, bombs, traps, all his supplies—they were gone.
At this point, Human Hunter typically did one of two things.
Either make a desperate final attack, or surrender.
“Huuuu.”
Human Hunter let out a long breath.
“Can I… have one last smoke?”
“Go ahead.”
With shaky hands, he reached into the chest pocket of his bulletproof vest.
He pulled out a thick cigar.
He removed his gas mask and tossed his goggles aside.
For the first time, I saw the worn face of a middle-aged man who had weathered all of life’s hardships.
He clamped the cigar between his wrinkled lips.
He pulled out a lighter and lit it.
The cigar glowed with colorful mana, releasing puffs of blue-green smoke.
Savoring the flavor as if it were the last pleasure in life, Human Hunter took a deep drag on the cigar.
I counted silently to five, then asked him a question.
“Is it good?”
“Hmm?”
“I asked if it’s good.”
“Heh, of course it’s good. It’s damn delicious. Like the sweet taste of smacking a punk like you upside the head.”
Human Hunter spat out the cigar.
It spun through the air, trailing a colorful light and smoke.
At the same time, Human Hunter’s body seized up.
His pupils shrank to a single point, and his mouth twisted into an unnatural grin.
A clear sign of mutation.
But that was as far as it went.
Bang!
One gunshot rang out.
A single bullet I’d fired after silently counting to ten.
“Oh…”
Human Hunter looked down at his chest.
A gaping hole had been blown through it.
The high-caliber slug had torn through him.
Inside the hole, his heart was gone.
All that remained were torn flesh and blood trickling down.
“What… what the…”
The heart is the core of a mutation.
The very heart of the mutant body.
There’s a reason the mana core forms in the heart.
If the mutation had fully completed, I might not have been able to stop him. But as it was just starting, a single bullet was all it took.
“Guh… guh… guaahh…”
His body began to disintegrate.
His skin and muscles sloughed off, separating from his bones.
I crouched in front of him and spoke.
“You should have surrendered.”
“Hngh… hrrk…”
“If you had, I would’ve spared you.”
I meant it.
He was an R-rank superhuman, after all.
And R-ranks don’t betray easily.
His abilities would have been quite useful.
Was there really any reason to kill him?
Human Hunter lifted his head, bloodied and gasping, struggling to speak.
“My… my brothers… they’ll… they’ll…”
“Yeah, I know.”
They’ll all just end up as my prey.
I know exactly how they’ll attack and what traits and abilities they have.
“Goodbye.”
Watching Human Hunter die in agony, I decided to show him one last mercy.
Bang!
My shotgun roared.
His headless body crumpled forward.
–TL Notes–
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