The First Hunter

Chapter 38. Trojan Horse, Part III

Translator: Khan

Editor: RED

8.

‘The monster is nonsense in existence, its existence is nonsense, and beyond the yellow-grade monster, it has irrational ability beyond common sense. Some have the ability of fire, some have the ability of witchcraft, and some have the ability to detect beyond the range of normal senses.’

In that sense, the Ghost Turtle was incompetent for having green eyes. It didn’t have fire, it didn’t have a superhuman sense, and it wasn’t the kind of thing who could show a great deal of activity. It did not even have a lot of monsters under its command.

It was true that those who saw the devil of the back skin went stiff with fear, and that was its special ability, but it was doubtful whether they could call it special compared to the fear of another green-grade monster.

So, what was the specialty of the Ghost Turtle?

Rumbling!

A huge back shell a hundred meters in length, huge legs like a pillar suitable for carrying its shell, and a long neck as thick as a tree. That was the specialty of the Ghost Turtle.

Its body was a very powerful, an overwhelming weapon that refused to compare with any monster. Just moving its huge body was a disaster for humans.

Right now the body of the Ghost Turtle was racing over the port city of Hakata at about thirty kilometers per hour. It was not slow, but it was a cumbersome speed compared to other monsters that showed absurd performance.

But the huge body regarded a five-story building as a mere cumbersome obstacle when moving at that speed, enabling a destruction that no other monster could easily show.

“Get out!”

In front of such a Ghost Turtle, the port city of Hakata, a forest of buildings built over decades, was like sand castles on the beach. They thought it would be better for a tsunami to come in, or an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0. Worst of all, there were people in the commotion.

“Never show your back!”

Those wearing specially designed black uniforms were moving away from the Ghost Turtle in the broken port city of Hakata. It was in a state of unimaginable disaster, a situation where they could not even think of running away in despair. They could suffer a heart attack just by listening to the footsteps like a thunderstorm.

“Okay, it’s gone.”

“That’s awesome, the asphalt road is crushed like a tofu.”

However, there was no sign of despair even though the faces of those who were caught up in this situation were nervous.

“Sergeant Park Jin-seo, five buildings just flew into the sky.”

“That’s about nine people on that scale.”

“No, ten people have to pretend to die.”

“Yes, it’s better to die a lot anyway.”

Rather, in this situation, they were playing with the word, death.

“There must be more than a hundred deaths now.”

Of course, it was possible to talk like that because it was not real.

“To be exact, it’s 109.”

In the first place, the Ghost Turtle was not a disaster for them. The one that the ghost turtle was dealing with was none other than Kim Tae-hoon, their savior, and a nightmare to the monsters.

To call such a big green-grade Ghost Turtle a disaster to Kim Tae-hoon was nothing more than an insult to the real disasters that Kim had faced so far. In other words, the situation itself was a lie.

“You guys are dead from now on.”

Kim Tae-hoon did not do that even though he could get rid of the Ghost Turtle at once if he had the heart. He intentionally provoked the Ghost Turtle and taunted it to break the buildings that were barely left in the port city of Hakata.

Kim made a great and terrible stage for them to cover their mouths with both hands, and his men pretended to die. Death washed their identity as a ghost, not smuggled men.

“You will join the First Special Operation Unit and carry out the operation.”

“Yes!”

“I wish you good luck.”

“Yes!”

And now they were ghosts, and they would dig into the major facilities in Japan with the ghosts that had come before. That was the real reason they came here. These were not here for monster hunting, but for the war that Japan had begun, willing to respond to the war.

“There are now 98 survivors.”

“I don’t need any more deaths.”

“Okay.”

And when the moment no longer needed dead men…

“Send a signal to the master, we don’t need any more dead men, so he can kill it now.”

“Yes.”

Red smoke that had risen from somewhere began to rise above the sky. Exactly three minutes later, the smell of coffee bloomed in the totally ruined port of Hakata Port.

9.

“What’s the situation?”

“The Ghost Turtle is destroying Hakata.”

“What’s the situation around us?”

“We’re trying to stop people from going to Hakata, at the command you gave us, and in fact, we don’t have to stop them. Who would go there if they’re not crazy?”

At the question of his subordinate, Kyushu branch manager Hiyoshi tapped his desk with his finger instead of answering.

‘We have to kill it,’ he thought, ‘Somehow, we have to kill the Ghost Turtle.’

At this moment, Hiyoshi was experiencing the most intense irritation of his life.

‘I bet everything I have.’

The fundamental reason for this Ghost Turtle Hunting was that he had taken ahold his destiny, and the additional reason was that the Kyushu Branch of the Imperial Hunting Unit did not participate in this hunting.

‘Damn it, I should have just put in an Imperial Hunting Unit? Even if it was the best elites, it was reckless to kill the green-grade monster with only two hundred men.’

The reason why he didn’t put in an Imperial Hunting Unit was simple. The presence of Kim Tae-hoon and his men had not yet been reported to his home country, so they were illegal weapons that were not allowed or easily explained.

There would be nothing good coming if there were many people who knew about such weapons. Because of that, he did not support them, and no one was allowed to go to Hakata Port, and he had to arrange his trusted men on the way to Hakata Port. He put the reliable men there to stop those who were heading there. He was going to make this hunt one without witnesses.

Even Hiyoshi himself grasped the progress of this battle situation only through intermittent reports in his office in Kokura Castle, not on the battlefield. Therefore, he had to be nervous.

Furthermore, the situation of the battle that was reported was not good. The Ghost Turtle was going crazy, and the port city of Hakata was returning to the Stone Age.

‘God.’ In the end, Hiyoshi skipped all his troubles and anguish, and he prayed earnestly to God.

“Heck, heck, heck!” A man appeared through the open door with a panting breath. “They got it! They got the Ghost Turtle!” / update by AllNovel

At that, Hiyoshi did not answer. He just stood up and ran to Hakata Port with all his might.

10.

Even though the giant Ghost Turtle was still dead, it still boasted an eerie presence. Those with low Energy rank were not even allowed to approach the body. Therefore, Hiyoshi was looking at the body of the Ghost Turtle from a distance, too.

‘How did they kill it? I can hardly see any external wounds…?’

Next to him was a man with a pretty serious injury, his head bandaged, a crude sling around supporting his broken right arm.

Kim’s subordinate reported on behalf of Kim to Hiyoshi, “There are 112 dead, 13 missing, and 36 injured, and now Kim… Master Sergeant Kim So-hoon is being treated for a serious injury.”

It was a serious report. The hard-faced expression of Hiyoshi began to be distorted. ‘We got it.’ But the distortion was not really for any serious concern about what he was told.

‘That’s the best scenario.’ It was a distortion that occurred when he tried to resist the smile he wanted to display in this serious situation. That was all.

‘God is looking over at me, too!’ The situation was so perfect that the nervousness that Hiyoshi the Kyushu branch manager had faced so far became meaningless.

‘Once we killed the Ghost Turtle, we have achieved the most important thing we wanted. And there were no victims in the Imperial Hunting Unit!’

Of course, the report would be written: the success of the hunting of the Ghost Turtle, the recapture of Hakata Port, no deaths, no injuries…

‘Is there a more perfect report card than this?’

And during the hunt, Kim Tae-hoon was seriously injured…

‘If I do well…’

The eyes of Hiyoshi looked at the man Lee Hyung-woo reporting to him. The mouth of Hiyoshi began to twitch in the eyes of Sergeant Lee Hyung-woo, who did not show any shaking even in front of his injuries and the terrible deaths of his colleagues.

‘I can make them mine if I do well.’ The men, brought by Kim Tae-hoon, were only illegal immigrants. Those had no place to lean on. They had been abandoned even in Korea. If Kim disappeared from them, who would be the one they should choose their destiny with? The answer was obvious.

‘If this level of elite soldiers and the relics they brought from Korea come into my hands…’ Because it was so obvious, Hiyoshi did not worry anymore.

“Thank you. I pray to God that Master Sergeant Kim will recover quickly.”

Now it was time to get the prize of gambling and winning everything!

11.

The recent atmosphere in Tokyo, as October loomed before them, was the atmosphere of the night before a storm. The storm they were waiting for was nothing but a report to arrive from the Kyushu branch.

“A report from the Kyushu branch has arrived.”

“The storm finally came.”

It was not unusual to express the report as a storm, as the Kyushu branch report determined whether or not to hunt an Eight-tailed Fox. Of course, the report could not be read by an individual as he pleased.

“Call the council in the royal presence. Until then, keep this report sealed, and keep a close watch on it. No one is to open it!”

The report was sealed until the meeting was convened again, and it was of course Musashi who read the sealed report for the first time.

The process was not simple, either. Matsumoto Kanyo, the head of the Imperial Hunting Unit, opened the sealed report and handed it to Musashi. It was to completely block any noise that might happen or any tricks.

So Musashi read the report and handed the bundle to Matsumoto Kanyo, with words that seemed to be madness beyond meaning.

“Kanyo, God is in favor of my will.”

So, at the moment he heard that, Matsumoto Kanyo guessed that everything was wrong. And the guess was convinced the moment he read the report.

‘Does God really want us to hunt an Eight-tailed Fox?’

In front of this conviction, Matsumoto Kanyo forced a cool expression to disguise his introspection, and Musashi spoke to the crowd, “The Kyushu branch has successfully recaptured the port of Hakata. They hunted the Ghost Turtle, without a single death!”

At that point, the people gathered in the crowd somehow struggled to follow the expression of Matsumoto Kanyo.

‘Oh, my God.’

‘How the hell?’

‘… if this happened, we’ll have to kill an Eight-tailed Fox.’

‘A dark blue-grade monster hunt, isn’t it a hunt no one has ever succeeded at?’

They did their best not to express their anxiety and fear.

“The Kyushu branch has done so great for the great will of the Japanese Empire, and it is impossible without God’s protection that there were no deaths in the recapturing of the Port of Hakata!”

Musashi, on the other hand, did not hide his inner self and blatantly said, “It doesn’t make sense if I am afraid, even the demoted Kyushu branch manager has been under God’s protection! I will hunt the Eight-tailed Fox!”

Then he nailed it. “We will hunt the Eight-tailed Fox and reclaim Kyushu; we will head for the Korean Peninsula through the port of Hakata, and we will use the Korean Peninsula as the cornerstone of the great history for the Japanese Empire to be written!”

There was no objection. No one could break through the spirit of Musashi and utter any advice. It was the same with Matsumoto Kanyo.

‘How could he have recaptured the port of Hakata, if he was not so competent?’

There was obviously a question. The Kyushu branch manager Hiroshi, who Matsumoto Kanyo knew, was not incompetent, but he was not one who could have such an amazing result. But Matsumoto Kanyo did not stick to the facts.

‘No, whatever the Kyushu branch manager did is fine.’

‘In such a situation that the dam has already collapsed, it is stupid to worry about the reason why the dam has collapsed. Likewise, Musashi will go on a hunt for the Eight-tailed Fox, and there is no way to stop it now.’

‘What matters now is…’

If so, there was one best choice left. By using all means and methods, he had to lead the hunting of the Eight-tailed Fox to success and keep Musashi safe.

“Lord, I’ll prepare Kamikaze.”

At the appearance of the word, the faces of the crowd, who were trying to remain calm, began to get white.

“Kamikaze?” Musashi also questioned.

“It is to kill a dark blue-grade monster for the first time, and no matter how much we prepare for it, we are not sure of everything.”

“How many Kamikazes do you intend to put in?”

“I think we should put everyone in if we need to.”

At the words of Matsumoto Kanyo, Musashi closed his mouth tightly. Kamikaze was not an immediate unit. It was more of an operation than a unit.

The operation was that the Samurai would make their live candles before their deaths by using the power of the relics, making impossible things possible by burning their last flame.

Kamikaze was the last choice, of course. Even if he succeeded in the hunt, the Samurai would be virtually out of power.

‘We put all that Kamikaze in as needed?’

If all Samurai became kamikaze, it would be a loss even if they killed the Eight-tailed Fox. This was a resistance of Matsumoto Kanyo, in a sense.

‘Without that much determination, we can’t do it.’ It was Matsumoto Kanyo’s final resistance against Musashi.

At the resistance, Musashi spoke, “Yes, we should. Rather than being a coward trapped in the archipelago without even following what I said, it would be better to be a light for the history of the Japanese Empire. Matsumoto Kanyo, you’re right. Gather the Samurai. If necessary, I will hunt the Eight-tailed Fox at the cost of them all.”

Everyone bowed their heads at the answer.

The hunt for the Eight-tailed Fox was ready to begin!

12.

Kim was drinking coffee in a temporary shelter. No one could find any trace of a man who had led a fierce battle to victory. Not a scratch, not a bit of fatigue was found.

“I finished the report.”

In front of him was Sergeant Lee Hyung-woo, wearing a bandage. With those words, he saluted at attention with his right arm.

“Thank you for your service.”

As soon as he heard the report, Kim answered and drank another cup of coffee. Holding the coffee, he closed his eyes.

“If it is Musashi, of course, he will move to hunt the Eight-tailed Fox.”

Over his closed eyes, the information he had seen before his death was shining.

‘The Samurai will serve as a suicide squadron for that Musashi.’

Step by step, Kim recalled the information he had seen. He measured information about the person, and about the monster.

‘In the end, they will fail in the hunting of the Eight-tailed Fox.’

Eventually, Kim came up with a note in his mind: a memo in his dream stated that Japan would fail to kill the Eight-tailed Fox on October 15, 2017.

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Due to my current health, my uploads will be reduced to two chapters for a short time. Please bear with me and smite the bug that is eating at me as you do! Thank you! == Khan