Brrrrr – Wheeing – Wheeing –
A long and then two short vibrations unique to the association.
If it’s an alert tone ringing at this hour, it’s almost always a bad signal.
Since she turned her phone toward me at an angle I could see, I was able to read the association message in full.
「Currently tracking a criminal organization for first-level criminal charges along with Investigation Unit 1.
Hunters receiving this message should immediately take measures corresponding to disaster level 2.
Targets of the pursuit: Multiple mutants enraged during ‘Evolution Stone’ production and five producers of the Evolution Stone. (The identities of the five will be announced collectively as soon as they are confirmed.)
Mutant combat power is estimated to be between level C and D.
The combat power of the producers is between level B and C. (It should be relatively easy to identify as they have only recently undergone forced second awakening.)
Hunters receiving the message must immediately conduct searches in their assigned areas and ensure the safety of citizens.」
I couldn’t help but click my tongue upon reading the message.
‘How did they manage to let this get so out of hand? They’re saying it should be easy to recognize an opponent whose identity hasn’t even been confirmed yet, considering how wild they must be acting.’
It’s commendable that the management bureau and the association are conducting a joint investigation to chase down the villain, but the collaboration between the two agencies has revealed gaps in handling these urgent situations.
“…Evolution Stone… this is terrible. What awful people.”
“… Clap…”
Yeon-hee was more concerned about the origins of the Evolution Stone, busy raising her anger gauge.
“Second awakening… they’ll have their abilities activated, so it should be easy to recognize them…”
“……”
“……”
A brief silence followed. Getting drafted to catch a villain happens from time to time, but the subject matter was grim. An Evolution Stone…
What exactly is an Evolution Stone?
Twenty years ago, a hunter in Sweden discovered a crafting method called ‘Life Potion’ in a dungeon.
It was a miraculous item that could resurrect the dead and restore youth to the living.
He, along with a few companions, dedicated a long time to research and eventually completed the ‘Life Potion.’
However, those who appeared to have achieved a great feat soon found themselves hunted by hunters.
The reason was simple. The cost of creating a single vial of that potion was incredibly high.
It required the lives of ten thousand people.
Having sacrificed an entire region inhabited by tens of thousands of inhabitants, they achieved their goal, but by that time, they were far from human.
The power condensed in an item capable of resurrecting the dead.
So, it was obvious that anyone who took that would not just stop at restoring youth. They were all exceptionally talented hunters.
The hunters who initially tracked them all ended up being killed, and the top hunters from Europe gathered to eliminate the monsters.
In the end, they only succeeded in eradicating them from the world after joining forces with the early awakened ones, but for some reason, their research wasn’t discarded and was delivered directly to the European Union.
After that, there was no information on how the results were managed.
However, a few years later, copies of the crafting method known as ‘Life Potion Production’ began to spread rapidly through the underground.
Of course, even if it was a degraded version, the fundamental crafting method was still intact, leading to research and unexpected accidents occurring in the shadows.
And it didn’t take long for that information to reach Korea.
To resurrect the dead, to reclaim youth… but those weren’t the only reasons.
The desire to become strong like the developers of the ‘Life Potion,’ who had obtained immense power, played a more significant role in its rapid dissemination.
However, it took quite a while for the transformed name of ‘Evolution Stone’ to rise to the surface.
No matter how much it was a degraded version, how it could be modified depended solely on the user’s efforts.
And in recent years, cases of children under ten going missing had rapidly increased.
What initially seemed like simple missing cases snowballed, leading to the Special Cases Unit 1 under the Hunter Management Bureau getting involved.
The results of a year-long investigation were shocking.
The ‘Evolution Stone’ was mainly made using children who had ingested runes and mana stones obtained from monsters.
It was an astonishing matter. How could fellow humans conceive such a method?
How many sacrifices were made in that process, and how many innocent children had to suffer for the completed crafting method?
The production of ‘Evolution Stones’ immediately found its name on the list of first-level crimes, and even minor involvement could lead to a serious crime with inevitable death sentences.
“Innocent children…”
Yeon-hee frowned, not hiding her anger. Anyone would feel rage in such a situation.
Wheeeeeee――!!
The siren outside began to blare loudly. Even in a world that feels like a movie, ordinary people easily panic in situations like this.
Quick resolution was needed, and we had the strength to help with that.
As I watched Yeon-hee prepare to set out, I fell into thought.
I had to stay calm. I mustn’t let my emotions influence me. I needed to view the situation objectively. Perhaps that was my biggest role since forming a team with Yeon-hee.
‘With combat power from B to D…’
The reason for classifying hunters and monsters is to allow for rapid response in situations like this.
We were mere D-rank rookies. The probability of encountering an opponent one or two tiers stronger than us was quite high.
‘Spread wide as much as possible…’
Having finished my thoughts, I sent out the waves of my senses as far as I could.
Woooooo――
I did my best, but the area I could perceive was about a 250-meter radius.
I first sensed hundreds of ordinary people. People panicking from the sirens. Many stumbled as they hurried inside their homes.
Even though they should have become somewhat accustomed to such situations, this was their response.
In this world filled with mana, even ordinary people who haven’t awakened possess a minuscule amount of magical power within their bodies.
For now, I erased the slight sensations from ordinary people and small animals from my mind. This was something only someone like me, who had trained such senses since childhood, could do.
As a result, my mental map became clearer, making it easier to see.
‘They haven’t shown up here yet.’
Fortunately, those guys were not around us. That was somewhat expected.
Even though disaster texts had been sent to the hunters positioned at the locations they fled to, it wasn’t possible to adjust the exact scope to pinpoint accuracy.
We might get lucky and this could become an unrelated incident to us.
‘Let’s turn off the stealth…’
With the range specified, I eliminated other abilities as much as possible. I was doing this to keep my senses sharp in any capacity.
Now, any living creature entering my range should be sensed immediately. Of course, this would be meaningless against a monster like Kang Yeon-su.
“Il-wol!! Let’s go out now!”
Nodding-
Once Yeon-hee stepped outside, various worries seemed to cross her mind. For now, she’d summoned only her companion ‘Ran’ and the Neos Harpy ‘Nefie,’ who didn’t visually present any major rejections.
“First, go up and see if there are any suspicious guys!”
As soon as the command was issued, Nefie took to the sky, scanning the area with her keen eyes.
“Il-wol, is there anything detected?”
“Clap, Clap.”
“Well… should we just keep an eye on the situation a little longer? It might already be handled elsewhere.”
Nodding-
Fortunately, Yeon-hee didn’t seem to be thinking of risking anything to find those guys. After all, the text merely instructed to guard their assigned areas, so the steadfast Yeon-hee would prioritize following that.
We stood tightly in a state of tension for about a minute.
We were positioned in an alley densely packed with villas on both sides.
One by one, neighbors began to open their windows, peering outside to see what was happening.
– What are they doing standing there? Must be hunters?
– A strange armored man and woman… They must be hunters, right?
– Oh, we have hunters in our neighborhood too.
The narrow alley’s worry and relief blended into clear voices that traveled through the night air.
It would have been nice for nothing unusual to happen, but soon one monstrous life form was detected within the waves.
‘It’s small… Tsk…’
Though I couldn’t see it clearly, caught at the edge of the waves, it seemed to be about the height of lower elementary school kids, moving almost like a four-legged creature. Moreover, the body… was split into various parts… Ha…
‘You trashy bastards…’
Having merely discovered a mutant, a desire to tear apart the wretched adults who had fulfilled such acts surged within me.
[Calm]
But my feelings settled soon, and with a bitter sensation, I signaled Yeon-hee.
“Ha… That’s the direction. Let’s capture it for now. You never know? There might be a way to bring the child back.”
“Clap…”
“Nefie! I’m counting on you!”
“Kyack!!”
The Nefie that had been soaring in the sky immediately flew in the direction of the mutant I pointed to. With her keen vision, she should be able to track it down quickly.
‘Will Yeon-hee be okay?’
She still seemed to hold onto a glimmer of hope. Even if it was a child turned into a mutant, she seemed to think that if they were captured, something could be done…
‘Let’s just capture it for now.’
Leading the way, I called out ‘Chehwa’ alongside Yeon-hee as we dashed in that direction.
The trail of our run showed signs of the mutant hopping along the walls, with broken windows in several villas.
This would probably be the most terrifying moment for the people in this area. Surely, if it were daylight, it might have felt slightly less intense, but in the dead of night…
It wasn’t long before we discovered the cornered mutant, caught by Nefie’s pressure in the alley.
“Kreghhh!”
“Ugh! Ah…”
Yeon-hee, seeing the mutant for the first time, could only let out a choking sound of despair.
Though it was said to be a transformed version of a child, I couldn’t find any trace of a human form even if I scoured with my eyes.
Covered with bark-like skin, bugs, fleas, aliens, tentacles in a filthy manner crawling all over, bright orange bulging eyes, spider…?
If I had to describe the mutant, that would be it.
Though it seemed to walk on four legs, its split limbs resembled tree roots that had been pulled up, and the squirming tentacles sprouting from its back and face only deepened the physiological rejection.
Its elongated face appeared to connect directly to its back, and its legs were adorned with countless thorns.
The drooping tentacles obscured its mouth, but it certainly seemed to conceal something lethal for harming others.
“Kiii!!”
– Kyaaaaaaa!!
While Nefie swooped down and slashed at it, the mutant retaliated, swinging its short tentacles.
People who were hiding inside nearby houses trembled, unsure of what to do, merely hoping this time would pass quickly.
“Is that… really what used to be a child?”
“……”
Yeon-hee stood frozen, seemingly struck by a huge shock, at the entrance of the alley.
I knew that the appearance of a mutant changes depending on what monster the material was obtained from.
However, that figure made it difficult to pinpoint a specific monster.
Given its root-like limbs, runes from an Ent were likely involved, but the challenge in identifying the rest indicated that numerous runes had been haphazardly blended together.
I recalled the information about the ‘Evolution Stone’ I’d heard from Kang Yeon-su in the past.
She, being in a high position, received all sorts of information, including details about the Evolution Stone.
It stated that when feeding materials to children, matching the grades, types, and measurements as closely as possible increases the success rate.
If one doesn’t finely tune it like that, the likelihood of transforming into a mutant while converting to the ‘Evolution Stone’ would be high. Seeing this first mutant confirmed that information was quite accurate.
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