The First Hunter

79 – The Price of the Blood, Part I

Chapter 28. The Price of the Blood, Part I

Translator: Khan

Editor: RED

1.

‘It’s like that time.’ It was a memory from Seoul on the last day of 2016, when Lieutenant Colonel Yoo visited Bucheon again.

It was hell in Seoul that day, but that didn’t mean it would collapse helplessly. It was the capital. It was the heart of the country, and of course, its power was stronger than anywhere else. In fact, Seoul has been fighting its own battles against the monsters since they appeared. There were certainly conditioned and willing to fight.

‘When the monster appeared.’ It was a dragon with navy pupils that destroyed their wills. Every time it breathed out flames, every time it flicked its wings, the scenery of Seoul went back a hundred years.

The scenery of Bucheon now reminded him of that time. The scenery of Bucheon was so terrible.

“He’s inside.”

As soon as he saw him, Lieutenant Colonel Yoo, who was guided into the coffee shop, had to say this instead of greeting him. “You’ve been through it.”

There was Kim Tae-hoon within reach of the words, already reeking of vertiginous coffee, as if he had drunk several cups, and then turned the caffeine into a fierce look.

“I don’t need to be comforted.” In addition, his tongue spoke out the words like a sharpened blade.

“Neither do I. You can’t be a comforting person.”

“Let’s get down to business right away.”

After finishing speaking, Kim drank the coffee in his half-full mug. But he didn’t enjoy the coffee as usual. Gulping, Kim drank coffee like water.

Then he put a clean empty mug on the table and asked, “Why did you come?”

It was a determined expression. He had no intention of taking time in today’s conversation. He never thought to waste his time like that.

“I contacted Colonel Lim Hyun-joon. I gave him your message, and got an answer.”

“Is that a good answer?”

“He said, “If you want to meet, come see me in person. That’s how a subordinate treats his superiors.”

Kim nodded lightly. Colonel Lim Hyun-joon’s response was expected. Now Colonel Lim was the king in chess. He was also a powerful king who had secured military power in the front line, including Gangwon Province. Colonel Lim’s opponent on the chess board was the Capital Defense Command, which held the justification.

It would be rather strange if Colonel Lim, who was engaged in a fierce war against the Capital Defense Command, came to meet Kim in person. And Kim also had no desire to meet the Colonel right now.

“I think I should postpone the meeting with Colonel Lim.” He should stop the assassination, but something much more important had happened now.

“Are you putting it off later? Do you have anything to do?”

“I want to meet the leaders of the Capital Defense Command.”

“What?”

“Isn’t that your purpose here?”

The Lieutenant Colonel Yoo was silent. Kim’s statement was true. The position of Lieutenant Colonel Yoo was not great enough to come to Bucheon to deliver news about Colonel Lim. Of course, he came to Bucheon because of a different order!

“You came here to put the dead body of the blue-grade monster, Gamecock, on the negotiating table.”

His goal was a blue-grade monster, the dead body of the Gamecock. Monsters’ bodies were in many ways valuable. The value of the monster stone was indescribable, and if not, the value of the monster was infinite.

It was ridiculous to discuss the value of the Gamecock. From the standpoint of the Capital Defense Command, it was necessary to obtain the remains of the Gamecock. So Lieutenant Colonel Yoo came to investigate the situation of Kim and that had the Mac Guild that successfully killed the blue-grade monster. Of course, there were many things to look after.

“If not, do you intend to rob, not trade?” If Kim and the Mac Guild were hit hard, the Capital Defense Command would send troops to take away everything they had gained. No, in fact, such a thought was stronger.

From the standpoint of the Capital Defense Command, the Mac Guild and Kim were not a good group. The stronger their group, the worse it would be. In other words, Lieutenant Colonel You came to Bucheon for spying. It was his duty to assess the state of the object to be plundered.

“We have a plan like that.” Lieutenant Colonel Yoo did not hide the fact. He was already on Kim’s side. It was no good hiding dangerous facts from the Mac Guild and Kim.

That was why he gave advice. “So, it’s dangerous. If you go to Seoul, you’ll have a table to negotiate. There’s no way they’ll let you go if negotiations break down there.”

But the advice was pointless. “I don’t want to let them go because the negotiations break down.” Kim didn’t really want to negotiate with them, either. “I’m setting up a negotiation table to get the price for the blood.”

“The price for the blood?”

“Many people died. They will pay for it.”

Lieutenant Colonel Yoo gave a long sigh. “I’ll report it.”

Instead of answering, Kim nodded.

Lieutenant Colonel Yoo immediately got up and left Bucheon, heading to Seoul. The very day after that, he visited Bucheon again. “They’re going to negotiate. The place to negotiate is the Namsan Tower.”

2.

On December 31, 2016, Seoul was the place where the largest number of monsters appeared in Korea, and it was the most fiercely fought place. In a way, it was obvious. Seoul was the home of more than ten million people, in other words, the number of Awakeners was high. From that point of view, Seoul had to be the most splendid in Korea.

“What a hell this place is!” But now, in the eyes of Jang Sung-hoon, around Digital Media City Station in Eunpyeong District, Seoul, was more miserable than Bucheon, where the Gamecock went crazy.

“Oh, my God…” Among them, the overwhelming one was four claw marks drawn on a tall building where a large mart was located. The huge claw marks were the first seen in Jang’s life, but it was not difficult to tell whose claw it was.

“That’s its mark, isn’t it?”

“It’s the mark of a Dragon.”

Dragon.

The monster that passed through Bucheon was the main character of the terrible devastation in Jang’s eyes.

“If it weren’t for the dragon, Seoul wouldn’t have collapsed this far.” Lieutenant Colonel Yoo turned his head and explained.

There was an asphalt road that the turned onto. Of course, the road was not an ordinary one. Once the road melted, it seemed as if lava had passed by. Jang swallowed without even realizing it.

Lieutenant Colonel Yoo continued his conversation by recalling the day with dry lips. “We didn’t even get a scratch on its body after we attacked it with all means. It felt like an ant facing a human.”

“It wasn’t just a human, it had bug repellent in one hand and a lighter in the other. Oh, that’s terrible.”

At Jang’s words, Lieutenant Colonel Yoo frowned with one eye. He was not happy to dilute his miserable memory with jokes.

“Be careful from here on, anyway. We haven’t finished cleaning up the monsters yet.” Lieutenant Colonel Yoo gave his own warning to Jang.

However, it was not Jang, but the subordinate soldiers of Lieutenant Colonel Yoo who were nervous about the warning. Special forces organized to search and carry out special missions outside of Seoul had sharply raised their senses.

It was not because of some vague fear. The subway line six, centered on the Digital Media City Station that they were now passing by, was not yet properly cleaned up of monsters, as Lieutenant Colonel Yoo had warned.

This meant that it was not unusual for monsters to move through subway line six and appear at the Digital Media City Station. There had even been reports of orange and yellow-grade monsters appearing recently. A yellow-grade one was a disaster for the Awakeners.

“Oh, really?” Of course, Jang was not scared. “Oh, I’m scared. Boss, I’m so scared. Can you hug me?”

There was a disaster-like Awakener beside him. That catastrophe to the monsters, Kim Tae-hoon shook his head.

Shh! As soon as he turned his head, the arrow at Kim’s waist immediately shot toward where he was looking. His arrow stuck to the wall of a building that looked like nothing special.

Thump! A monster stuck to the outer wall of the second floor fell to the ground like a broken doll.

The monster that fell to the ground looked like a giant lizard, but it was a furry monster like a monkey. And it had orange eyes.

“The furry lizard!” For the Awakeners and survivors, it was a scary monster called the assassin. It was very difficult to deal with the monster with its amazing stealth skill, a whip-like extending tongue, and poisonous saliva. Due to its tough skin and persistent vitality, it was not easily killed by bullets. Only shooting the brain and the heart could they could kill it.

Finally, they lived in groups. One was a sign of beginning, not the end.

“Be careful!” “There’s more around!” At that moment, everyone was nervous and vigilant around.

Thump! What they saw was a scene where the furry lizards attached to the walls had large holes in their heads, dripping blood out through the holes and falling on the ground.

Thump! As if playing a musical instrument, the carcasses began to hit the ground sequentially.

Thump! At the end of the performance, Kim lifted his right hand lightly. As soon as he closed his right hand, a featherless Arrow came back into his hands! He put it back into a leather holder in his left hip. Everyone looked blank at the sight.

“Let’s move.” Kim gave them short notice.

At the same time, Jang Sung-hoon also made a brief announcement. “Those are something our boss killed. Please pack them so that we can take them on our way back. Don’t eat secretly in the meantime.”

3.

Namsan Tower…

The only place in Seoul where tension could be eased was filled with tension. The cause of the tension was a group of people walking towards Namsan Tower. The three of them were silently climbing the stairs without much conversation.

The first thing which welcomed them was the red pillar. In front of the monument, the Sunsubi of King Jinheung, which protected Namsan Tower from monsters, stood three men on the other side, as if to match the numbers on their side.

“Are you Major Kim Tae-hoon?”

They were men with stars: Lieutenant General Lee Hyuk, Commander of the Capital Defense Command; Brigadier General Yoon Seok-young, Commander of the Armed Forces Capital Command; and Major General Lee Ki-soo, Chief of the Investigation Department of the Ministry of Defense.

Three generals were looking at Kim. It was a surprise; it was nothing else, and the only time star-studded generals came to meet him was when he was superior to them. That’s all.

If they showed up first in any other case, it would never be a meeting. It was a declaration of war or the initial suppression. It was just one of the tricks to press an opponent to face from now on.

It was Lieutenant Colonel Yoo who was nervous in front of the trick. He led Kim and Jang to Namsan Tower.

‘Oh, my God.’ He was not informed of such a case. He was just ordered to guide Kim to Namsan Tower. But not one, but the top leaders of the current Capital Defense Command appeared like this? ‘What’s this…’

However, if the generals moved, the troops who escorted them would also have to move. Lieutenant Colonel Yoo whizzed around. Currently, the best men under the Capital Defense Command would be filling the area. If Kim were to act rashly, they would move by any means possible to get rid of him. ‘They’re all here.’

Or the moment one of the three gave a signal, they would move to kill Kim, regardless of the reason. Kim couldn’t have known about it.

“Yes, I am Kim Tae-hoon.” However, he acted calmly in this situation.

“You want to make a deal?” It was Gen. Yoon Seok-young speaking.

“I want a fair price. As you’ve been briefed on, there’s been a lot of damage done to hunt the blue-grade monster, the Gamecock. Property damage is indescribable, and many people are dead.”

At Kim’s answer, Major General Lee Ki-soo smiled. With the smile, he continued. “I’ve heard the bad news, but that’s the way it is. It’s no joke to get paid here. You’re the one who claimed to be independent.”

Major General Lee’s tongue was pointed like a needle. Lee frankly did not like the situation where Kim appeared in front of him alive and well. Of course, Lee did not want to condone the deal.

“We hunted the blue-grade monster with much damage,” repeated Kim.

“So it’s…”

“Thanks to that, everyone in Seoul kept their lives.”

“What?” At that moment, the mood changed in a cruel way as soon as Kim said it.

“That’s what I’m getting for saving these people, the price of their blood.”

“That’s funny. Let’s talk more about it.”

“Lieutenant General?”

It has changed to something very bloody.