Chapter 111

Chapter 111
Chapter: 111

Chapter Title: Crisis in the Foreign Enclave

—

The event was progressing in a way that was nothing short of aggravating. Observing the casual stance of Choi Yeo-reum as she hovered in the air with her legs folded, it didn’t appear that she was the mastermind behind this chaos.

“An enclave for foreigners, and at a time like this?”

I had a decent grasp of the situation. The pressure radiating from that foreigner enclave was a sensation I had encountered far too frequently in the past.

I really should have realized something was wrong when the enclave was brought up during the briefing, but…

“How was I supposed to foresee that they would target foreigners, slaughter 1,500 people in one go, and transform them into beasts?”

If I could predict things like that, I’d be a professional seer rather than a hunter. Regardless, the main takeaway was that my battle with Choi Yeo-reum was essentially finished.

Start the fight over, you say?

Hardly. Whoever set this in motion intentionally derailed our contest—and likely threw in those 1,500 lives as a sacrifice to secure a few extra advantages.

They had put in too much capital for this; there was no chance they would permit us to trade blows again. I had no idea what kind of justification they would manufacture, but one fact was certain: I wouldn’t be getting another opportunity to go against Choi Yeo-reum.

“It seems the match is on indefinite hold.”

Ending her phone conversation, Choi Yeo-reum peered down at me, then descended to the earth with a heavy impact and reached out her hand.

“What, are we doing a friendly handshake now?”

Choi Yeo-reum snapped back at my comment.

“A handshake? Don’t be an idiot. I’m going to transport you to the site. Present your collar.”

She looked absolutely livid.

“You’re going along with this plan quite easily.”

As she snatched my collar, Choi Yeo-reum barked back.

“Are you aware of how many lenses are focused on us this second? I’d much rather just go back to my place.”

However, with her public reputation on the line, she had no alternative but to accompany me to suppress the chaos in the foreigner enclave.

The person who arranged this had set the stage flawlessly.

“Does this count as a win for me…?”

“Shut it, you prick. It was only a matter of time. I’m in a terrible mood, so don’t push it.”

With that sharp reply, she gripped my shirt and vaulted into the sky, flames trailing from her back as she gained incredible momentum.

“Is it strictly necessary to transport me this way?”

It felt exactly like being hauled away by the scruff of my neck. Because that’s exactly what it was.

“Would you prefer I carry you like a bride?”

“Oh? You’d do that for me, my hero?”

I made my voice sound overly theatrical on purpose, and immediately, Choi Yeo-reum swung her arm and pitched me through the atmosphere.

“…She really can’t handle a bit of banter.”

As I plummeted toward the earth, I surveyed the condition of the foreigner enclave below.

“Demonic entities, huh.”

Features of black goats, leathery wings, and tridents to match. The heavy scent of sulfur permeating the air was a classic addition as well.

They must have noticed my descent, because their eyes shifted toward me. Fire burned where their pupils should have been. Those with wings spread them and swarmed toward me simultaneously.

It looked like a cloud of hornets erupting from a nest poked with a stick.

“Time to put in some effort.”

As the pavement approached, I shielded my frame in Paradox Flame. It incinerated the force of the fall. Touching down with both feet caused the concrete to splinter with a crash, and the Paradox Flame flared outward to absorb the kinetic energy before dying down.

“Let’s see how these goats hold up.”

Aren’t black goats supposed to be a health tonic? I braced my muscles as the pack rushed in.

Energy from the surroundings flooded into my system, surging down into my limbs. With a thunderous crack, the road exploded, and I surged forward. The air roared as the distant goat-creatures were suddenly within reach.

My swinging fist crushed the skull of one creature, snapping its horns and caving in its face.

I lifted my palm, ignited the Paradox Flame, and drove it hard into the soil.

“Sudden discharge.”

The intense Paradox Flame burnt through the explosive strength of the monsters pouncing on me from every angle.

Once caught in the heat, they were unable to move even if they anticipated the strike. Naturally, escaping was out of the question. They were essentially just immobile targets.

Stunned, they merely stood their ground, absorbing the damage without a single twitch.

“…”

As I pulverized their heads, those who hadn’t been touched by the Paradox Flame started beating their wings to retreat.

Suddenly, I felt a massive accumulation of mana. Fire surged up like a barrier, creating a massive translucent dome that cordoned off the entire foreigner enclave.

“Dammit, you’re the reason I’ve wasted so much energy. And this is all the progress you’ve made?”

That was Choi Yeo-reum’s contribution from the clouds.

“Did I force your hand or something?”

She was the one who lost her temper and burned through mana like it was nothing, so why was she complaining to me? Furthermore, it wasn’t even an accurate complaint.

Even after manifesting that fiery dome over the whole district, she still possessed several times the mana capacity of someone like Han Sang-ah.

“Clean up the rest yourself. It doesn’t look like much of a challenge anyway. This barrier will dissipate in about three hours.”

With those parting words, Choi Yeo-reum sped away. Now I—and these abominations—were confined within the walls of flame.

“Three hours. That’s excessive.”

She had set the duration that long specifically to spite me.

No matter. Once I wiped these things out, I would simply melt a passage through with Paradox Flame and depart.

“Nowhere left to run, gentlemen.”

You’re all meeting your end here. You might have been human once, but that time is gone.

“1,500 of them.”

My mind was racing. Not every resident in the foreigner enclave had been converted into a monster. And since the incident was fresh, many people were likely still tucked away in hiding, unable to find an exit.

“Choi Yeo-reum. Just flying away like that.”

I spat on the pavement. In a mess like this, rescuing every soul was an impossibility. It was physically out of reach.

The bottom line was…

“If I have the seconds to rescue one person, I’ll use them to slaughter a monster instead.”

That was the strategy for preserving the most lives. Saving one person helps that individual. But terminating one monster saves many more—the potential victims that creature would have butchered.

As rapidly as I could, targeting as many as I could. I moved without a second’s hesitation. Shouts echoed through the air, along with desperate cries for aid.

A youngster weeping for their parents. A man without an arm holding his stump, making incoherent sounds as he wandered.

I turned a blind eye to the carnage. While I might be protecting a single person, one monster elsewhere could be murdering ten.

I sharpened my awareness with mana, identifying beasts with my senses and ending them instantly. I repeated the cycle without end. A blur of tragedies passed by: a child’s head being ripped away, a woman being disemboweled.

A man screaming with his limbs shredded. An elderly person lying dead in filth. Men, women, youths, and the aged—all displayed in a thousand variations of mortality and suffering.

“It’s a wonder I can keep my head in a place like this.”

In total silence, the number of monster corpses I had ground to dust exceeded a hundred. Fleeing creatures and those who fought back both fell like pests hit with poison, stacking up on the earth.

I projected my senses further, pinning down monsters at a distance. I caught a lunging trident with my bare palm, wrenched it away, and drove the weapon back through its owner’s cranium.

“Functional enough.”

A trident functioned well enough as a spear. I grabbed it and went to work. These cheap tools never held up for long. When one looked like it was going to break, I’d hurl it at a far-off target and snatch another from the next beast. Over and over.

“…”

Drenched in the dark ichor spraying from the mountain of bodies, I wiped my brow and stared down the creatures. They were retreating now, making pathetic whimpering noises.

I lunged at one, tore its head off with my hands, and threw the skull at another.

The heads impacted and burst. The headless torso spasmed for a moment before going limp.

“Well, look at that. You monsters actually understand terror.”

Excellent. I slammed my fist into a decaying wall, pulled out a massive stone block, and chucked it. Monsters who couldn’t dive out of the way were flattened in a heap.

1,500? I could butcher ten times that amount. More monsters simply meant the pile of victims would grow higher.

“It’s finished.”

A few minutes later, I probed the area with my enhanced senses and spat on the ground. My spit blended with the black grime.

Sitting atop a mound of demonic remains, I clicked my tongue.

“Such a high body count.”

Not the monsters—the people. They never envisioned meeting their end in a place like this. Honestly, even the monster I was currently using as a seat had been a person once.

“My apologies. But there wasn’t another way.”

I tapped the crushed skull of the corpse beneath me and whispered that. Then I scouted around and located some liquid.

“…”

It was just rainwater, pooled up and cloudy with the taste of dirt. A foreigner enclave. I guess the rumors regarding the total lack of infrastructure funding were accurate.

I gathered some, drank it, spat out the sediment, and waited. The danger had passed, but no survivors dared to show themselves.

“Hello, is anyone there?”

I dialed the Association using my phone.

― Hunter Yoo Chan-seok.

“The situation in the foreigner enclave has been neutralized. Where is the designated rally point for survivors?”

The Association President went quiet after my report. After a pause, I scoffed and went on.

“I take it there is no evacuation strategy.”

― As a rule, foreigners living in enclaves are prohibited from leaving except under strictly managed conditions.

And apparently, a massacre wasn’t on the approved list.

“The foreigners were turned into abominations.”

― I am aware.

Aware, my foot.

“It seems there are quite a few people who believe they are the cleverest players on the board, Mr. President.”

― What are you implying?

What do you think? Pay attention, because I’m going to lay it out for you. Why is everyone in such a rush?

“Foreigners becoming monsters? That’s a flawless pretext to restrict immigration and tighten conditions.”

More rigid protocols mean more opportunities for illicit cash flow. Bypassing bureaucracy with kickbacks happens in every corner of the world.

“Beyond that, the public will ostracize foreigners even further… and all those activists shouting about human rights will finally be silenced.”

1,500 dead foreigners here opens up a massive profit margin. The public gets very comfortable with tyranny when it’s directed at ‘security risks.’

“You’ll soon hear demands to stop elite hunters from going on foreign missions and keep them here for domestic control.”

That’s the real objective. The rest might play out, but it won’t affect me.

“Let me make this clear: don’t even think you can put a leash on me using this incident.”

― That thought never crossed my mind.

Right, of course not. Everyone says that to save face. Only a fool would actually believe it.

“One more thing: regarding my duel with Hunter Choi Yeo-reum.”

― That will be finalized in an upcoming assembly.

An assembly, sure.

“Just leave Choi Yeo-reum at the #3 spot on the Hope’s List. It seems that’s what everyone is desperate for anyway.”

The significance of #3 on the Hope’s List isn’t the title itself—it’s the absolute certainty of the power associated with it.

The public watched me fight her as an equal and even take the lead. At this stage, whether my name is officially on that specific list is completely moot.

My name, Yoo Chan-seok, now commanded the same respect as a #3 Hope’s List hunter. I had attained the status without needing the official label.

― Is there anything else you require in exchange?

“The crown.”

At the very least, you owe me that.