How To Survive as a Class a Hunter

18. Ice Ability User Baek Dambi – [3]

Not long ago, after experiencing a hallucination related to Baek Dambi, teleportation outside my field of vision became much easier. Shortly after I spread out my mental net, I found the location of my comrades.

And then, teleportation.

I saw my hunter team positioned on the road.

“Did you miss me?”

At my words, Sung Moon-young turned to look at me.

“Hyung, you can’t just act impulsively!”

There was no time to scold me for saving over two hundred people just now. Monsters were attacking here too.

“Front! Fire!”

Four Deathclaws charging towards us.

They never run in a straight line, making it easy to shoot them. They zigzag in a bizarre manner, leaping several meters irregularly with each jump. Even a Stormtrooper would miss them.

To somehow hit them, our hunter team kept firing.

Who was standing at the front of the team?

It was Baek Dambi.

I saw Baek Dambi firing a light machine gun at the front. Just by looking at her crop top and long hair down to her waist, I could tell it was her.

The light machine gun in her hands kept spewing fire.

I learned during training that even if she kept firing like that, she didn’t need to change the barrel or use coolant. She was an ice ability user and could lower the temperature of objects with just her gaze or physical contact.

Three Deathclaws were finally hit by the gunfire from Baek Dambi and the rest of us, rolling on the ground.

All three seemed dead. One remained.

“It’s coming, it’s coming!”

One Deathclaw finally got close, but Baek Dambi showed no sign of panic. She didn’t flinch or try to dodge.

A sharp scream from the Deathclaw pierced my ears.

An ice stake that had sprung up in front of the charging Deathclaw stopped its advance. The ice stake was quickly cut down by the Deathclaw’s claws, but we didn’t miss that brief delay. Everyone immediately fired and killed it.

Seeing that, it’s clear that saying an ice ability user is no different from an unawakened person is nonsense. It’s just that their power isn’t worth contracting for billions.

It seemed that not only I but also the other team members recognized Baek Dambi’s significant contribution. Sung Moon-young muttered in a tense voice.

“Dambi noona, nice…”

In the meantime, I had finished replacing the magazine and was about to join in, but all the Deathclaws nearby had already fallen and were sprawled out.

Finally able to catch my breath, I checked on my team members.

“Is everyone okay?”

“Yes, yes…”

It seemed that no one was injured or dead. After all, we were in the rear of the operational area. It was a relatively safe place. Even in that safe place, everyone had bloodshot eyes from shooting to survive, but still.

‘Bang, bang!’

Gunshots rang out from all directions. It seemed that the hunters had arrived late and were forming a siege.

In the meantime, I received my personal magazine from my team members, along with bottled water and a calorie-supplementing energy bar, and prepared to fight again.

And for a moment, I caught my breath and waited.

Simply shooting and killing small monsters was something even ordinary hunters could do. Unless it was an urgent situation like before, there was no reason for me to step in and kill a few more.

A guy like me, in other words, an awakened hunter, had a different job.

To take down the real monsters.

Like the one I saw earlier, the one that attacked the helicopter…

Among the monsters that came out of the gate, there was always a leader-type monster mixed in. That monster was not only the leader of the group but also exceptionally powerful.

A monster too fast to hit with a rocket launcher or recoilless rifle, and too tough to kill with a fire extinguisher.

My job was to take down those kinds of monsters, and my hunter team’s job was to support me or act as a kind of meat shield to protect me. Whether the monster targeted them before me, or they killed the monster first, as long as I survived, my team members’ mission was accomplished.

Before long, my target was identified.

A scream-like transmission echoed through the radio.

“Reverse field body! Reverse field body appearance!”

I knew what a reverse field body was. It was the one I saw earlier.

As I spread out my mental net, I detected something moving unusually fast.

“I’ll go first, so move to the location mentioned in the transmission!”

I focused my mind and teleported out of sight.

And even though I literally crossed space, it was already too late.

The smell of blood was strong. Among the scattered corpses, I saw a muscular body with its intestines spilled out and its neck severed.

Damn it.

Even in death, the hunter rifle clutched in its hand indicated it was a body enhancer. Muscles that could block bullets below a certain caliber were cleanly cut.

The skin was brown. What was the original nationality? Laos? Cambodia?

Anyway, it seemed to be an awakened one brought in from abroad for money. Judging by the cuts on the abdomen and neck, it seemed to have continued shooting without letting go of the hunter rifle even after receiving fatal wounds.

But despite that struggle, it ultimately had its neck severed and died.

The bodies of the hunter team assigned to him by the city of Incheon were scattered around.

For the warrior who died fighting to protect the city, I silently paid my respects.

Then I saw the monster that caused all this.

It was the one I saw earlier. The one that leaped and attacked the helicopter in mid-air and remained unscathed from the crash.

Just as humans can, animals and monsters can also awaken. And the Deathclaws are a species that are inherently awakened with force field blades, and among them, a few exceptional individuals awaken to another ability related to the force field in addition to the force field blade ability.

Force Field Exoskeleton.

In the case of humans, just awakening to this ability is enough to be rated as A-class without any training, making it the most specialized combat awakening ability.

When awakened to this ability, an invisible force field envelops the entire body. If a specific part of the force field receives a concentrated impact, it is not just that part that gets penetrated, but the force field from other parts covers the damaged area. Therefore, no damage can be inflicted on the body until the force field is completely destroyed.

Additionally, similar to the concept of a reinforced exoskeleton, the force field itself has power. So, it not only has superior defensive capabilities but also allows the creature to exert strength beyond its physical limits through the force field. That incredible leaping ability was also undoubtedly exhibited through the force field exoskeleton.

Such a creature is called a force field entity. It is evaluated as a monster that increases the value of an awakened person like me by a hundred times.

“Hello.”

Meanwhile, the creature seemed to recognize me as well. There was no attempt to exchange greetings or threaten me with a howl.

All of its actions were excessively fast.

My vision blurred for a moment, and the creature was already swinging its hooked claws right in front of me.

If it weren’t for the unconscious teleportation, my neck would have been severed.

I gritted my teeth and pulled the trigger at the creature’s exposed back.

The 30mm autocannon rounds fired in rapid succession pounded the creature’s force field. The rounds were as long as three of my palms combined. Any creature hit by them would not just have holes punched through its body but would be shattered or torn apart.

And in the case of this creature, it seemed like it was hit by BB pellets.

The creature swiftly turned around and tried to attack me again, and its leaping speed was as fast as an arrow. There was no guarantee that I could evade it by simply moving my body.

I teleported to the rooftop of a building across the road.

I saw the creature pass through the space where I had been.

Having missed twice, it seemed to be getting angry. The creature lifted its head and howled.

‘Awooo…’ It seemed to be a signal for reinforcements. Deathclaws with blood-stained mouths emerged from various villas and all stared at me.

They began to climb the building I was on.

There were more than ten of them, but it seemed I wouldn’t have to face them all at once. The mental net I had spread out was still alerting me to my team’s approach.

“Fire!”

My team members, who had reached the designated location, began shooting for me. As the Deathclaws climbing the walls fell, the one-on-one duel between the creature and me resumed.

From the rooftop of the building beyond, the force field entity leaped towards me.

The building I was on was higher, and there was quite a distance between the creature and me. So, while it was in mid-air, I could empty the entire magazine of my hunter rifle.

It was evening. Darkness was slowly enveloping the city.

The 30mm cannon shells erupted from the muzzle, tracing thick golden lines in the darkness. The golden lines, suspended in the air, struck the creature’s body with unerring accuracy.

How much kinetic energy is carried by those golden lines? If I were to touch them, would I be reduced to a lump of meat instantly?

Piercing through those formidable golden lines, the monster landed on the rooftop.

As it zigzagged towards me, I retreated while firing my hunter rifle. My shooting skills are literally superhuman. My aimed shots hit the creature’s body multiple times, but it continued to close the distance without shedding a single drop of blood.

Die, please.

I was getting anxious. A few rounds of these 30mm bullets should be enough to shatter most force fields, so what is this thing? They say the strength of a force field varies greatly between individuals, but this one seems to be an exceptionally formidable monster.

It’s like facing a boss in an RPG. No matter how much I chip away at the boss’s HP with my attacks, there are no visible wounds or damage. Even worse, as long as its HP isn’t zero, it moves without any change in its abilities, and the fact that I can’t see how much HP it has left is driving me to despair.

No, that’s not it. My shots so far must have sufficiently damaged its force field. I just don’t know how much more I need to destroy it.

“Wow, you b*stard.”

And then it came.

With a snap, it leaped. From a close distance, it shot towards me.

Its speed was excessively fast, and this time I couldn’t dodge with a timely teleport. So, what to do?

I lowered my hunter rifle and dodged to the side as if avoiding a straight punch.

Ah…

Pain spread from one corner of my face. Its hooked claws had sliced off part of my ear and cheek.

But that was all.

As the Deathclaw passed by me in the air, I grabbed its forepaw.

I slammed it to the ground. ‘Bang!’

With the superhuman strength of a body enhancer, I struck it down. The concrete rooftop shattered, sending stone dust flying, but the creature still didn’t shed a single drop of blood.

As I tried to lift it and slam it down again, it swung its other forepaw even while being swung around.

That scythe-like claw struck my hand that was gripping it. Three plump caterpillars flew through the air, trailing red excrement.

My middle and ring fingers were cut off, but it didn’t matter. I could still hold it with just my thumb and index finger.

I slammed it to the ground once more. ‘Thud!’

This time it was a ‘thud’ instead of a ‘bang’. I sensed a change.

I could see cracks like shattered glass on its body. Those cracks spread explosively in all directions.

At last, the force field was broken.

I slammed the creature, which was trying to make a final struggle, into the ground. And the body, which had withstood the barrage of cannon shells, was crushed like mush as soon as it hit the ground, unable to withstand the force of my arm.

I panted for a moment in front of its remains. Then I laughed.

I won. Again.

“Ah.”

Once again, the cheers of the crowd began to echo in my mind. And once again, victory gave me strength.

Everything about him, his soul, seeped into me.

They say that the growth limits and growth rates of Awakeners vary, but I feel like my growth rate is on the faster side. The new power filling my body makes me feel the extent of the soul I have just absorbed.

I tried to ignore the omnipotence that dominated my entire body and shouted into the radio.

“I killed the force field!”

Then, words of praise returned with exclamations. They said that the situation seemed to be roughly sorted out, that I had really worked hard, and that I could start to rest soon.

“You’ve really worked hard, and you’re not hurt anywhere, right? The hunters gathered here will take care of the rest, so Mr. Kim Geuk, you can rest now!”

But then it happened.

There was a sound of something exploding.

Turning my head towards the sound, I saw the 10th floor of an apartment building, spewing flames and other things.

A gas explosion? Yes. But it wasn’t something that happened by chance in this situation.

I could guess whose doing it was.

A spirit…

Monsters pour out from inside the gate, but the monsters themselves cannot open the gate.

Opening the gate is the ability of a spirit.

And spirits and monsters coexist. When a spirit opens the gate, the waiting monsters pour out and cause a commotion.

In the midst of that chaos, the spirit slips out and starts hunting. In this way, it hunts humans and safely fattens its soul.

I looked at the rooftop of the apartment where the explosion occurred. There were still people gathered there who had not been rescued.

I imagined the burning spirit enjoying itself on the floor below.

I stood up. The hammer I had dropped earlier was lying on the rooftop of the apartment over there. I teleported forward and steadied myself.

The hunt was not over yet.

*