The First Hunter

Chapter 41. Pyongyang, Part III

Translator: Khan

Editor: RED

5.

‘We will eat dinner in Pyongyang Tomorrow.’

When the words were delivered to soldiers and hunters who were active throughout the country trying to advance to Pyongyang, no one accepted it as a serious story.

“We are having dinner in Pyongyang tomorrow… we can’t get to Pyongyang even if we start to run right now.”

“There are so many monsters around Pyongyang!”

“Did he say that from the heart? I think that it’s just the name of the operation.”

It was natural. Even though they had tried to go north for several months, they had never even drunk water from the Daedong River. Therefore, it was impossible for anyone to reach Pyongyang in just one day.

“Kim Tae-hoon? The Master is here?”

“That’s why we came up with that operation.”

“But it’s impossible to eat dinner in Pyongyang tomorrow unless the master eats alone.”

No matter how Kim appeared on the battlefield, they did not believe that it would be possible. However, they began to change their minds when the sun went down and the new year came up.

“Am I dreaming?”

“…if this is a dream, we’re having the most brutal lucky dream in the world.”

Pyongyang-Kaesong Highway.

The road that should have been filled with cars was now occupied with the dead bodies of monsters. What was more surprising was the state of the dead bodies. The monsters’ bodies were all beheaded and crumpled on the street.

It was a sight that even hunters who had hunted many monsters could not easily accept.

“How the hell could he kill all this?”

“It is possible to cut off the head.”

“No, I mean…”

It was not just because the heads were cut off. Cutting the head off was a very effective way, because some of the monsters were still alive even after they were struck by a hail of bullets. So, cutting off the head was one of the most obvious treatments, after destroying the heart.

“I don’t know how it’s possible to make hundreds of monsters into a pile of bodies dead at once.”

The problem was the numbers. Usually, when a monster group was hit hard enough to almost wipe them, it was when an artillery-led intensive bombardment was carried out. Of course, in that case, the condition of the bodies was far from clean. In other words, it was a common-sense picture to those who had survived in the present era.

The testimony of those who witnessed the scene in person made the already unusual sight more unusual.

“It was five swords.”

“What?”

“Five swords moved to the monsters and cut off the monsters’ heads together.”

The fact that five swords moved freely and cut off the monster’s heads was so unusual that even those who had seen it were unable to express it properly and explain it. But no one was frightened by it.

“In a word, it was… wonderful.”

Rather, they were the opposite!

“I just felt that when I saw the monsters came in a horde and then fall to the ground as a headless body, all I have to do is trust the master and follow him.”

Everyone was encouraged by the dead bodies of the monsters and the stories of their colleagues who were witnesses. Of course, those who gained that courage no longer doubted!

“If I trust the master and follow him, I can eat dinner in Pyongyang tonight!”

And their faith had become a reality.

6.

Pyongyang…

The capital of North Korea was more or less as attractive as expected. The presence of the Ryu Kyung Hotel, once the highest building in Asia, was much more intense than expected, as well as the high-rise buildings that did not match terrible North Korea known to the world.

But those who visited Pyongyang directly felt something heterogeneous in its splendor. Eventually, they realized that Pyongyang was not a city, but a film set that directed the city.

So if a stranger who did not know anything saw Pyongyang now, he would think they are filming a movie on the set. They would also think that the actors were monsters, not humans, and among them was a giant bloody-furred bear-man measuring at least ten meters long. Blood Werebear was the leading actor in a movie filming in Pyongyang.

Keureureu!

Of course, as soon as they stepped into Pyongyang, they realized that it was not a movie, but a tragic reality.

The Blood Werebear’s blue eyes were full of the fear that could not be produced in any other way. But now there were groups approaching the Blood Werebear, monsters made of golden smoke.

Starting with an elephant, the group comprised a lion, a tiger, a bird, and humans! It was a herd of animals that had no sense of unity. At the same time, it was a group that could not be any threat at all. There was no reason to be afraid of their claws and teeth, which were otherwise devoid of substance.

Blood Werebear was one of the monsters with blue eyes! It didn’t even intend to take this ridiculous threat seriously. Therefore, Blood Werebear opened its mouth and vomited its fear out through its huge mouth.

Keueoeoeong! The ferocious fear that could destroy the heart of the listener shook Pyongyang.

The animals in gold smoke were the same. Their bodies began to tremble like a haze in front of the fear that the Blood Werebear was letting free.

Twang! It was nothing but the sound of a geomungo, a six-stringed Korean zither, that stopped the shaking.

Toot-toot! Then the two sounds of the tungso, the six-holed bamboo flute, and the zither began to blend together.

Dum-de-dum! Dum-da-dum! Drumming began to give strength to the performance. That was how the five musicians, made up of golden smoke, began.

The golden beasts of the play began to change. The golden smoke beasts, which were swaying like a haze in the fear, were no longer shaken, and it wasn’t just that.

Ppoo-woo-woo! Every beast began to get bigger, and their claws and teeth turned sharper and sharper. They became beasts which even Blood Werebear could not help but respond to seriously.

Keuwawaang! Of course, the Blood Werebear did not feel a sense of crisis or shrink back. On the contrary, it charged toward the golden beasts that were now clearly its enemies.

The Blood Werebear started to run on the road, its paws thudding loudly, while golden beasts also began to race, too. The battle that began was astonishing.

Keuaang! Whenever the Blood Werebear swung its arm, the building nearby became a garbage dump. Furthermore, unlike regular bears, a two-legged Blood Werebear had longer arms than legs, and its upper body was larger than its lower body.

Its offense was very diverse. As long as the Blood Werebear just ran up and swung its arms, it used its arms as if it were a human boxer. Above all, its power was enormous.

Its might, which made the Twin-head Ogre’s strength laughable, was so powerful that it could fling the golden smoke elephant nearly a hundred meters away. The elephant was oppressed that much, so the tiger and the lion couldn’t do their best.

Keuwang!

They tried all they could to leave the marks on the body of the Blood Werebear with their teeth and claws, but the damage was only a scratch. They were clearly inferior. No one could see a winning chance for the beasts of the golden smoke.

At that time, a Sword flew from a long distance and stuck into the Blood Werebear’s chest with breathtaking speed.

Keueoh? While the surprised Blood Wearer was in a state of confusion, another Sword flew over and drove into its chest again.

Keuaaah! The Blood Werebear, who had been attacked on its chest twice in a row, looked in the direction the Swords had come from with surprised and angry eyes.

Pook, pook! At that moment, two more swords, two katanas, dug into the eyes of the Blood Werebear. That was the beginning.

Pook! From a long distance, a kilometer or farther away, a sword began to fly unceasingly and stuck into the body of the Blood Werebear. All the flying swords were katanas. However, they were not ordinary katanas. The named swords, which were treated as national treasures in Japan, had now become relics and the teeth and claws of humans hunting monsters! They were also no ordinary relics.

Pook! The seventh Japanese sword in the body of the Blood Werebear was a katana named Tojigiri Yasutsuna, which was one of the five most powerful swords in the world.

Pook! The eighth Japanese sword was one of the five most powerful swords in the world, named Mikazuki Munechika.

Pook! The ninth sword was named Onimaru Kunitsuna.

Keueoeoeo! This sword, which pulled out the loudest scream from the Blood Werebear’s mouth, was considered to be the peak of the Japanese swords.

King’s use! It was a treasure among the treasures, and not even designated as a national treasure because it was a possession of the Heavenly King, the Japanese Emperor.

Only one person would use such a treasure as a substitute for an arrow, and that was Kim Tae-hoon.

‘It’s more powerful than I thought.’

From a distance where they could not see the Blood Werebear with human eyes, he saw it very clearly with his black Eyes, as twenty-five Swords waited for their owner to call them.

Tsureung! Now the tenth sword showed itself, and without delay began its flight toward the Blood Werebear.

7.

3 p.m.

By the time hunger began to circulate, soldiers and hunters began to enter Pyongyang City.

For monsters, it was a pleasant situation that their prey appeared at their feet after a long time. But no monster dared approach the crowd. It was because of the man who led the crowd: Kim Tae-hoon.

There was no monster willing to show its teeth to him, who had defeated the Blood Werebear and become the new owner of Pyongyang.

“From now on, we are getting rid of all the monsters in Pyongyang.”

Of course, it did not mean that Kim Tae-hoon was giving mercy to the monsters who did not attack.

“There is no meal until we clean up the monsters in Pyeongyang.” Furthermore, Kim did not give unconditional mercy to the soldiers and hunters, either.

What they needed in the first place was not mercy.

“I certainly ordered that we will have dinner in Pyongyang tonight.”

What was needed was a command from a trustworthy leader and its leader.

“Yes!” At Kim Tae-hoon’s order, the soldiers and hunters who came to Pyongyang felt their eyes burning, and so the cleaning began.

—-

“Boss.” The conversation between Kim Tae-hoon and Jang Sung-hoon began.

“You easily killed a blue-grade monster now, that’s great.”

At the words of Jang, Kim rubbed his temple with his right hand instead of answering. “It’s not enough.”

“Yes?”

“I’m not sure about the dragon hunt with this much.” In fact, Kim was not very happy now. He was not as sure as he had claimed.

“This isn’t enough?” Jang was dumbfounded at the fact. Moreover, Kim’s poor appearance and uttering that he was not so sure about his hunting was almost unheard of in his memory.

If Kim made a weak sound, those who followed him should have exaggerated their pain. However, he did not want to hide the reality with his awkward confidence at this moment.

“I’ve already died once.” He had already experienced that death.

“Ah… the first.”

The first death he had experienced after drinking Napoleon’s Golden Glass was the one by a dragon. So he knew better than anyone what the level of battle with the dragon was.

Jang, who knew that fact, shook his head. “So you came to Pyongyang,” he suddenly said.

At the words, Kim cocked his head. “So I came to Pyongyang?”

“Yes?” This time, Jang cocked his head. “Isn’t this reason why you came to Pyongyang?”

“The reason I came to Pyongyang was to take over Pyongyang and deploy a defensive force here, as I explained yesterday.”

“That’s natural, but what I’m saying…” At that moment, Jang made a sudden expression, as if he had just realized something. “You didn’t know. No, you could not help but not know, because I never told you.” He continued carefully, “There is a royal tomb of King Dongmyeong in Pyongyang, the tomb of Dongmyeongseongwang, also known as Jumong of Goguryeo!”