Chapter 627

〈Chapter 627〉 Part 2, Chapter 2, Episode 27

Gangwon-do is heaven for B-Rank Monsters.

Due to the rugged terrain of the Taebaek Mountain Range, the destroyed transportation infrastructure from monster rampages, and the bizarre placement of S-Rank beings clustered south of the 38th parallel, Gangwon-do became a sanctuary for B-Rank monsters.

The S-Rank monster in Seoul.


The S-Rank Light Blade in New Seoul.


The S-Rank Seok Harang in Busan.

These three S-Ranks created a delicate balance of power, causing most monsters to instinctively hide beneath the earth to avoid their gaze. And most of them ended up hiding in Gangwon-do.

Because of this, Gangwon-do became the perfect hunting ground for hunters.

The ruined transportation network didn’t affect hunters at all. Just drive until you reach the Taebaek mountains, then walk or run the rest of the way.

Despite frequent visits from hunters, the monsters don’t leave Gangwon-do.

A-Rank monsters typically pass through Gangwon-do on their way south to areas with larger human populations, where they’re usually dealt with by A-Rank heroes.

The monsters that settled in Gangwon-do realized something:

They could hide in the rugged terrain and grow stronger. Occasionally arriving hunters were dangerous, but also provided good prey.

This made Gangwon-do a sacred ground for B-Rank monsters.

Each monster guarded its own territory, waiting for hunters to come crawling in, while strengthening themselves to consume even more powerful beings from both north and south, hiding throughout Gangwon-do.

And now…

The monsters of Gangwon-do are being slaughtered by three magical girls.

“Nuri, take a break to restore magic power. Yuna will confuse vision with light bombs. Raon will finish it off with a spear thrust to the Achilles tendon.”

The three magical girls moved in perfect sync, their frilly skirts fluttering dramatically.

Nuri rolled backward to dodge an axe, Yuna launched a light bomb with her staff to obscure vision, and Raon dashed forward to stab the monster’s Achilles tendon.

ROOOAAARR!!

The brown-furred Minotaur roared as it collapsed forward. The massive red pine tree it had been wielding crashed to the ground, and the 4-meter tall monster fell under the girls’ assault.

“Let’s wrap this up quickly. Yuna and Raon extract the core. Nuri, use your sword to cut off the horn.”

As soon as the Minotaur fell, the trio followed my instructions precisely.

Yuna and battle-experienced Raon quickly extracted the B-Rank core from the monster’s heart using techniques learned at the academy, while Nuri used her water-infused blade to cleanly sever one of the horns.

“Boss, should we cut off the other one too?”

“No, one is enough. Let’s go.”

I waved the fire hose connected to our truck. The three girls stepped into the spray to clean off the monster blood that had splattered all over them. Thanks to the magical water, they were cleaned instantly.

PSHOOOOW!

Their A-Rank magical girl battle suits emitted steam. Complete with post-battle sterilization functions, the girls emerged fresh and clean as if they’d just taken a shower.

“Put the core in a vacuum-sealed capsule in the back. Put the horn in the farming box.”

“But boss, it’s such a waste…”

Nuri couldn’t let go of the remaining horn. With her remaining magic power, she could definitely cut it off and return safely. The horn was worth at least 5 million won, but I firmly shook my head.

“It’s dangerous. That’s an order. Get back here.”

“…Alright.”

Nuri reluctantly climbed onto the trailer, though she initially showed some dissatisfaction. But she already understood why I chose not to take both horns after so many explanations.

RUMBLE RUMBLE.

The mountain began to shake. Sparrows took flight into the sky, and ominous energy swirled around us.

“Rule of Gangwon-do: Cores belong to hunters. Most leftovers belong to…”

“Monsters.”

KREEEEEEK!!

In the sky, monster birds appeared. On the ground, monstrous beasts emerged. Even giant bugs crawled out from beneath the earth. They eyed our trailer briefly, and I waved my gun at them in greeting.

“Let’s be polite, shall we?”

I pointed my gun at the dead Minotaur. Seeing the mostly intact body minus the horn and core, the monsters immediately rushed forward.

Even a quadrupedal monster ran right past our truck.

CRUNCH CRUNCH CHOMP!

As if on cue, the monsters began tearing into the Minotaur’s corpse. I climbed into the passenger seat as YuhaX started the truck and drove us away from the feeding frenzy.

“Nuri, see that? If you’d cut off the other horn, at least three of those things would have chased us.”

“I know…but still 5 million won…”

“We’ll catch something else. Still, I kind of envy the monsters. They’re eating prime grade 1++ Hongcheon beef raw.”

Most of the monsters in Gangwon-do are local animals that transformed into monsters.

Though they’ve become strong enough to eat humans, they retain memories from their days as livestock or wild animals and don’t indiscriminately attack humans.

They know it’s troublesome to bother humans. Plus, there’s one more factor that led to an unusual coexistence between hunters and monsters:

“Respect for the hunter.”

The tastiest part, the core, is yielded to whoever hunted the monster. Hunters take a bit of flesh as a trophy, and leave the rest of the carcass for other monsters.

Because humans and monsters have overlapping interests, Gangwon-do has become a bizarre ecosystem filled with B-Rank monsters.

C-Rank monsters are too weak to avoid hunters easily, and A-Rank monsters are strong enough to claim entire cities. But for B-Rank monsters, which fall between these extremes, Gangwon-do is the perfect place to evade danger and grow stronger.

“That’s why most B-Rank monsters gather in Gangwon-do. What do you think about it?”

“Commander, as always, you’ve brilliantly uncovered truths about the Korean Peninsula’s monster ecology that academic researchers haven’t yet discovered. Here’s 10 billion won.”

I explained to the three girls in the back while collecting information fees from Yuhwa. They nodded as they replenished their magic power.

‘Though really, it’s just a good hunting ground for B-Rank level ability users.’

It’s simply an appropriate hunting spot for Level 50-75 ability users. There are C-Rank and A-Rank monsters too, but the abundance of B-Ranks is just a convenient explanation.

“I never expected to see one of those in Samcheok.”

“The Minotaur?”

“Yeah. A Hanwoo-taur. Looks like one that grew up in Hongcheon and came down here.”

We came up through southern Gangwon-do toward Samcheok, expecting mainly marine or plant-type monsters, but unexpectedly encountered a Hongcheon-style Hanwoo-taurus.

“Maybe it got pushed out in territorial competition?”

“Or maybe it came east to catch people by the sea?”

“With Gangneung still functioning as a city…that possibility is high.”

“Gangneung?”

I opened Hero Wiki on my magical gear. It updated regional information much faster than official government sites.

Gangneong – Current population 300,000.

“The population has decreased significantly.”

“Since everyone in Gangwon-do has gathered in Gangneung. I learned this in social studies.”

“<White Fox>, <Half Moon Bear>. Two A-Ranks guarding Gangneung, and by extension, all of Gangwon-do.”

While many people have moved to New Seoul and Busan, not everyone left their rural homes.

For various reasons, those who couldn’t move far gathered in regional hub cities, and local heroes chose to protect their hometowns rather than moving to New Seoul.

“People in Gangneung will sleep peacefully tonight.”

“Why?”

“Because we’re staying in Gangneung for a day.”

“Hmph.”

The three snickered. Even Yuhwa smiled while driving. I felt awkward for showing off unnecessarily.

‘I’m serious though.’

B-Rank monsters might not notice, but the A-Rank monsters scattered throughout Gangwon-do, those above Level 80, will instinctively understand this:

NYAAAOOO-

That touching Gangneung – or us – tonight would mean having one’s neck sliced by freezing winds.

* * *

< Late Night, Yuseong Hotel, Gangneung, Gangwon-do >

After dining at Yuseong Hotel in Gangneung, we booked two rooms. One for the three magical girls to share, and another for me alone. I called the girls to my room.

“15 points out of 17.”

Their performance was sufficient. In every battlefield scenario I anticipated, they executed perfect teamwork following my instructions precisely.

“Your handling of <Annoying Potato> with Nuri and Raon switching roles between tank and damage dealer was excellent. Completely obliterating <Corn Fryrost>‘s kernels was impressive too. Your trust in following my indicated weaknesses without question was crucial. However, the reason for the 2-point deduction is-”

“It’s my fault.”

Nuri hung her head low and raised her hand, not fully extended but only slightly lifting her palm while muttering.

“It’s because I hesitated about taking the horn, boss.”

“That’s correct. Not immediately following the commander’s retreat order is definitely a point deduction factor.”

Nuri remained silent. The other two tried to comfort her while glancing at me nervously, but I needed to handle this issue firmly.

“You must absolutely follow the commander’s orders, no matter what. This isn’t the military, but hero and hunter teams require even stricter discipline than the military because lives are at stake.”

The reason we only collected the core and one horn before retreating was exactly this. Not just this situation, but in future scenarios, greed leading to injury or death is extremely common.

“How many people die or get injured because of wanting ‘just one more core’?”

“…Sorry.”

Nuri curled up further, becoming even more deflated. I reached out and patted her head.

“Originally it would have been a 3-point deduction, but I’m reducing it to 1 point since you’re showing remorse. You immediately turned back after receiving my order, which earns 1 point back. So total deduction is 1 point. Good job.”

“What if I hadn’t done either?”

“Triple punishment.”

When dealing with Kim Nuri, it’s important to remember she’s someone whose self-esteem has been severely damaged from prolonged bullying. She easily becomes deflated from minor mistakes and compensates with excessive enthusiasm, often leading to trolling behavior.

Appropriate reprimands combined with proper praise. Working with Nuri feels very much like raising a child.

“Still, you did well. I thought passing 10 points would be sufficient, but clearly choosing you three as teammates was an excellent decision.”

“You’re praising yourself.”

“Of course. How could you not look good when following my perfect instructions? Actually, this is why I secretly formed a team here in Korea.”

“Because heroes in our home country…America don’t follow orders?”

“Exactly.”

Though technically it’s because Yuna is here, foreign-national teammates do tend to be more free-spirited. Unless they have military backgrounds, civilian-born members sometimes openly defy a commander’s orders.

‘Best examples being Su Ri and Aruel.’

One comes from a rebellious background and the other exists in a position above everyone else. Naturally, they don’t listen to commands well. In contrast, this current group is demonstrating fantastic coordination.

“Still, boss is pretty amazing. Following boss’s instructions makes it feel like we can do anything…”

“Yuna, that’s different. Boss only gives instructions within what we’re capable of doing.”

“Raon understands well. Definitely from experience. Hehe.”

“…Boss, that was a sex joke. I know.”

“Caught me.”

After preemptively making all the sex jokes Yuna was supposed to make over the past month, my patterns have become predictable.

“Hehe, only possible because I’m the commander.”

And making sex jokes is a way to lighten the mood. The three, now changed into hotel robes, exchanged glances as they surrounded me.

“You don’t need to say that. Everyone knows about top and bottom. Shall we start with Yuna?”

“But boss, we…”

“Shouldn’t older brother help us too?”

As Yuna began removing her robe, the other two expressed their discontent. They were suggesting a 4P, but I declined.

“I’ll do each of you individually. One hour per person.”

“Hmph, this is all due to boss’s consideration. We worked up the courage to make this suggestion.”

Completely naked, Yuna seemed even more determined than when wearing her magical girl outfit.

“When do you think you’ll be able to handle each of us individually forever? Our levels keep rising thanks to someone.”

“Hehe, you’re still far from matching me in a 1-on-1, let alone a 3-round match.”

Even a heroine not yet reaching divine status would easily win against them in a triple match.

“You’re still not ready.”

After giving each of Yuna, Raon, and Nuri one hour of affection in turn, I put all three to sleep side by side on the bed.

Additional note: The reason for the extra 1-point deduction?

Because they blushed while wearing their magical girl outfits.

* * *

Roof.

After a quick shower, I ascended to the hotel roof with a warm strawberry latte, courtesy of Yuhwa’s arrangement ensuring complete privacy. As I enjoyed the cold Gangneung night breeze alone, she spoke up.

“The night wind is chilly, nya~”

“Kim Penril.”

Penril stood before me in a black long padded jacket. A wind barrier surrounded us, ensuring our conversation remained private.

“Any particular reason for revealing yourself?”

“I’ve thought long and hard…and this feels right.”

CRACK. Kim Penril extended her sharp claws.

“I’m going to kill you, nya~ Commander.”

The cold night wind brushed against my neck.