"Huh?!"
Kancho, the deputy leader of the Yodel Rangers, lifted his head.
From the roof, a dozen beams of light shot outward.
Below them, Vayla knelt on one knee.
The backblast sent her hair and long skirt billowing.
'That's so freaking cool...!'
He couldn't help but let his eyes sparkle at the sight.
*Kwaaaaaang!!*
Soon after, explosions rang out from three directions.
All of them were in the air, at least two kilometers from the house.
The beams Vayla had just fired had shot them down.
Kancho holstered his assault rifle.
He'd come out because he smelled explosives on the wind, but Vayla had already handled it, one step ahead.
He climbed down from the tree, scaled the wall, and hopped onto the roof.
Aside from Elia, who was in the Star's Workshop, Renya, Seira, and Dark were there.
"All targets shot down."
Vayla retracted the railgun back into her arm and stood up.
Kancho let out a rough snort.
He'd have to tell Momo about this later.
*Ttuk.*
Renya cracked his neck and spoke.
"Where?"
"Three locations total. 4.8 kilometers west, 5 kilometers northeast, and 4 kilometers south."
The three of them kicked off the roof and launched into the air at the same time.
They didn't need the exact coordinates.
Once they got close enough, they'd be able to sense the enemy's presence anyway.
Kancho decided to stay and guard the house quietly.
His legs were too short to get there faster than those three.
"Vayla, you're the best! That was awesome! What other weapons do you have?"
"A nano-gauntlet."
A massive hand formed from the arm opposite the railgun.
Kancho pressed a hand to his forehead.
It was so cool it was making him dizzy.
"You gotta show Momo later too!"
"Understood. Where is Momo? I don't see her."
"She swam for two hours and then crashed. She wouldn't wake up even if a missile hit the house."
"Getting good sleep is important."
"That's true too. We can head back down now."
"We don't need to wait for the other three?"
Kancho's lips curled into a long grin.
"No need to wait. The guys who fired those missiles are as good as dead anyway."
Kancho and Vayla turned their gaze toward the three directions where the others had scattered.
I wonder if the enemies realize it yet.
That their lives are hanging by a thread.
---
At that same moment, on the rooftop of the building where Delta Squad was positioned.
"What... what the hell?"
The squad members frowned.
They'd fired from three directions as a precaution.
Not a single round had reached its target.
**[Delta Squad! What the hell was that?! What shot them down?!]**
"No idea, sir! Something fired from the target area!"
**[Get ready to fire again!]**
"Roger!"
The man finished the radio call and turned his head.
"Everyone, re—"
He had no choice but to stop mid-sentence.
Because they no longer existed.
Not a single squad member remained to carry out the order.
*Sarak.*
Moonlight illuminated a woman drenched in blood.
Her radiant silver hair framed crimson eyes that glinted with a chilling light.
What the hell was that?
Was she some kind of ghost?
Four squad members had been torn apart, and he hadn't even heard a sound.
"I don't know who you are."
His hand moved toward his pistol at the icy voice that seeped into his ears.
"But you tried to harm my master."
*Seokeok.*
"Die."
The man's head flew off without even a death rattle.
Seira flicked the blood off her blade.
Then she turned her head toward the direction of the gunfire.
---
*Dudududududu!!!*
South, where Alpha Squad was positioned.
*Click. Click. Click.*
He pulled the trigger, but it was useless.
They'd already used up all their ammunition.
"Y-you son of a bitch..."
The squad members, pale as ghosts, stared straight ahead.
They'd definitely turned him into a sieve.
They'd pierced every vital point—head, chest, lungs, liver—without missing a single one.
So why was he standing up?
And how, after taking hundreds of bullets?
"Kihk!"
How could he let out a laugh like that?
"Is there no more?"
The man drew closer slowly, a bright smile on his face.
The squad members drew the greatswords strapped to their thighs.
"D-die, you monster!!"
All five charged at once and drove their blades into him.
Again, the man didn't dodge.
He took the blades head-on and opened his mouth.
"Anyone want to live?"
Question marks formed on the squad members' faces.
The question was as irrational as the situation itself.
"First come, first served."
Had he even waited a second?
"I'll pick."
A chain swung from outside, crushing four of their bodies.
Their flesh, reduced to rags, squeezed out between the links.
"Uh...?"
The surviving squad member, spared by sheer luck, looked around.
He'd been through countless battles in the cartel, but he'd never seen anything like this.
As the man trembled like an aspen leaf, Dark curled his lips.
"Don't be scared. I'm not gonna kill you. But."
Dark leaned his face close to the squad member.
"Soon, you're gonna be jealous. Of the guys who just died."
The impact to his neck blurred his vision.
*Pulssuk.*
Dark caught the fallen enemy and threw off his shirt.
He'd just put it on after showering, and now it was rags.
"Got one."
He leisurely walked back toward the mansion.
The others would probably pick up one more from the other side, right?
---
West, where the main force of Rossasilus was stationed.
Captain El Colmilo sprinted between the trees and threw himself behind a boulder.
"This is Head. Alpha, Delta, respond. Alpha! Delta!"
He gritted his teeth at the silence that came back.
What the hell was going on?
He poked his head over the boulder.
He'd barely managed to create distance with his Awakened ability, but the other squad members hadn't.
"D-don't come! Don't—*Kuaaaak!!*"
*Udeudeuk!*
Another grotesque sound echoed.
No more screams followed.
*Seuak!*
A violet gleam tore through the dark trees at incredible speed, leaving a trail of light.
El Colmilo looked down at his legs.
One second until his ability recharged.
Once this was ready, he could create distance again—*Hwoong!*
El's eyes widened.
There had definitely been a fair distance between them, but the monster that had crushed his squad members was already right in front of him.
"Damn it!!"
He extended his pistol at point-blank range and pulled the trigger.
*Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Click!*
Cold sweat ran down his side.
The thing had dodged every bullet by a hair's breadth.
He'd wondered what kind of human could pull off something like this, but the moment he faced it, he understood.
This wasn't human.
It was a slaughterer.
A slaughterer who snuffed out life more efficiently than anyone.
"You bastard!"
El Colmilo gritted his teeth and gripped his greatsword.
But the greatsword never swung.
Four precise strikes shot out at incredible speed.
As a result, both of El Colmilo's arms and both legs were shattered.
*Kua... Teop!*
He wasn't even given the chance to scream.
"Too loud."
Renya clamped his mouth shut without a change in expression.
The violet eyes flashing before him made El Colmilo break out in a cold sweat.
Ignoring him, Renya grabbed El by the hair and kicked off the ground.
Time to head back to the mansion.
The master had returned.
---
* * *
---
Jinhyuk and Camella, who had emerged from the frog, stared straight ahead.
Two men knelt on the ground, their faces twisted in terror.
'Ugh.'
One of them already had all four limbs destroyed, except for part of his torso.
"Kihk."
Dark shook his head.
"As expected, you're brutish. Common sense says you should bring one back alive, doesn't it?"
"Why would I bother with something so tedious? That's for weaklings like you."
Seira replied flatly.
Good thing.
Renya wasn't here.
He'd almost provoked both of them at once.
Jinhyuk slowly walked over to the two men.
Then he bent down.
"Hello."
The two men, their faces pale to the point of being ghostly, lifted their heads.
He was the first normal person they'd met since arriving here.
"You fired a missile at my house. Mind telling me why? I just bought this place, so it's pretty precious to me."
El Colmilo, drenched in cold sweat, sneered.
"I know you're not gonna let me live anyway. Just kill me."
"You're not wrong, but."
Jinhyuk reached out and grabbed the intact squad member's shoulder.
*Udeudeuk!*
"*Kueeeeok!!*"
"Whether you live or die isn't for you to decide. It's for me."
"It's useless. That bastard doesn't know anything anyway."
"Is that so?"
When had she returned?
Renya, now close by, stomped her foot into the squad member's cervical spine.
A grotesque crunching sound followed, and the squad member went limp.
El Colmilo's eyes remained defiant, and Jinhyuk smiled.
He stood up and stepped back.
"You'll talk."
The moment those meaningful words ended.
*Hwooooo.*
Camella walked forward, accompanied by a hazy mist.
She bent her waist slightly and placed her hand on El Colmilo's head.
"This will be a bit gruesome."
*Thump!*
He felt like something had knocked him away.
And then it began.
A horrific experience unlike anything he'd ever endured in his life.
---
* * *
---
South Korean National Intelligence Service.
"An unidentified explosion just occurred in Seongnam! Based on the scale, it looks like a missile!"
"We're receiving reports of gunfire one after another!"
The situation room agents stared blankly.
This was the middle of South Korea, not some other country.
A missile and gunfire?
What the hell was going on?
"Son of a bitch!"
Team leader Moon Guk-hyun slammed his desk.
"The situation is like this, and they still won't tell us who the Runner is?!"
"It's... an order from higher up. We're only supposed to pass the intelligence we gather to the Player Hunter Agency."
"Does that make any sense?!"
"And if it doesn't?"
At the question, Moon Guk-hyun and the agents straightened up.
When had they arrived?
NIS First Deputy Director Woo Man-ho and Intelligence Bureau Chief Im Cheon-gu stared at Moon Guk-hyun.
"Don't make a fuss and follow orders."
"B-but, Deputy Director! This is too one-sided! If we could just contact the Blue House—"
"You think we haven't tried?"
Woo Man-ho and Im Cheon-gu weren't without complaints either.
No matter how impressive the Player Hunter Agency was, this request had crossed the line.
So they'd tried the Blue House hotline, but in the end, it hadn't worked at all.
'That damn Runner Effect.'
The Runner, who had killed the century's Necromancer, Mortarion, and brought enormous diplomatic benefits to South Korea.
The Blue House had stopped asking the Player Hunter Agency who the Runner was.
They'd taken a stance of overwhelming gratitude just for his existence, just for him climbing the Tower of Despair in Korea.
With things like this, what chance did the NIS have whining?
"Don't even think about it this time. Empty your head and just pass on the intel."
They'd handle it themselves then.
The monsters the Player Hunter Agency had on their payroll—the ones called Rankers.
----------
T/N:
Just for being a free member, you'll get 5 advanced chapters every week!
Access 35 chapters in advance on my Patreon:[email protected]//towerup