Chapter : 77
Rock Golem Hunt (5)
“They really do try everything. So this is what a highly intelligent monster is capable of…”
Was it raising those things on its body to use them for hunting?
Ignoring the things flying toward him, Suhyeon approached instead. The monster had left an opening when it threw the vines. He planned to close in with his power armor and shove it.
The poisonous insects and snakes thrown into the exposed cockpit couldn’t even reach him; they simply fell to the ground. Seeing this, the rock golem was shocked. It was as if there were an invisible barrier over the exposed spot.
“?!?!”
The squad members, who had been panicking about what to do from above, witnessed an astonishing sight.
‘Martial arts with power armor?!’
It wasn’t shocking to fight a monster in close combat with power armor. Skilled pilots could utilize the armor’s performance to its maximum, engaging monsters directly. But Suhyeon’s power armor had lost one arm, and what he was attempting now wasn’t a striking attack—it was a joint technique.
He didn’t miss the gap the rock golem had shown. By the time the monster tried to regain its stance, Suhyeon had already closed the distance. He lightly dodged the golem’s swing, lowered his stance as much as possible, and tackled downward.
Thud—crash!
A loud noise echoed. At the moment of impact, Suhyeon used psychokinesis to bring the monster down.
‘This level is fine…’
Among psychic powers, psychokinesis was relatively understated. It was dangerous if a monster’s punch froze in midair, but bringing it down in such close quarters gave plenty of excuses.
“That was quite annoying. Farewell.”
Stepping on the fallen monster’s back, Suhyeon raised his spear.
Crunch!
“Let’s check your condition first. Did you get hit anywhere…?”
“Did you forget I’m a healer? Even if I was hurt, I’d have already healed. For now, deal with the corpse. Let’s get back as quickly as possible.”
He had no intention of lugging the corpse around. Since it wouldn’t rot easily, he planned to store it somewhere sheltered from wind and rain before leaving. The fact that they had defeated the rock golem could be sufficiently proven with videos and photos.
“The power armor is completely torn up.”
“Doesn’t matter. It’s not ours.”
“….”
Since the armor was borrowed for government work, no one had to pay for damages. If such convenience wasn’t provided, no one would work with the government.
“It’s still operational, so we can ride it as is. Ah, don’t approach from that side!”
“Eh?”
“Almost forgot. Let’s take care of this first.”
Suhyeon picked up a vacuum pack and walked over. As he approached, he saw the poisonous insects and snakes he had struck with psychokinesis earlier lying on the ground.
‘The monster actually collected all sorts of things.’
Suhyeon began picking them up one by one. The fact that the rock golem raised them in its body was fascinating scientifically, but it meant little to him personally. He was collecting them for the poison.
[Poison Skill]
Avairam Poison: 0/1
Homef Poison: 0/1
Bladsoram Poison: 0/1
…
‘When am I supposed to collect all of this?’
The conditions were daunting, but he couldn’t just sit idle. He had to gather them one by one. After this, he planned to stop by the black market. Meeting Seokgang Seo by chance had been a good motivator.
‘I’ve been focusing too much on the company lately. In the end, the most important thing is my own strength.’
There were many who handled poison. The dangerous thing about poison was that even the strongest psychic could be defeated if struck first. He had to learn it as quickly as possible, without wasting time.
“Ugh. What’s that?”
“Why? Want me to give you some?”
“Are you going to brew snake wine or something? You’re not even an old man…”
“Don’t talk nonsense. These are all valuable.”
Seeing Suhyeon collect the poisonous creatures, the squad members made disgusted faces, and Shaina scolded them.
“Oh? Really?”
“How expensive these sell for… Stop thinking about cooking weird things and focus on collecting. Compared to the team leader, you’re too careless.”
“Enough. They’re my team members.”
Shaina fell silent at Suhyeon’s words, and the squad members bowed in embarrassment.
“I don’t expect full effort right now. It would be convenient if you did, of course. But as you can see with Changshik Kim, working with the team also involves investing in the future. Don’t blame yourself for being useless—it only hinders things.”
“Yes!”
“By the way, Shaina, we should start looking for Keshika soon…”
Suhyeon called Shaina aside and whispered.
“Oh, that? Wait a second, I forgot to check something.”
“?”
“The rock golem was growing grass on it. Earlier, I saw something that looked like Keshika.”
“Could it really be that easy…?”
Suhyeon walked with Shaina, half in doubt.
“Sorry, I was harsh just now.”
“What do you mean?”
“To the team earlier… Sorry. That wasn’t my place to say.”
“It’s fine. It wasn’t severe, and you needed to assert discipline. But don’t do it again. If multiple people speak like that, the atmosphere becomes strange.”
“Okay, got it.”
Shaina jumped onto the rock golem’s shoulder and began searching.
“Found anything?”
“Yes!”
“What?! Really?!”
Suhyeon was genuinely surprised as Shaina emerged holding a handful of grass. Perhaps as a reward for the effort in finding it, things were falling into place smoothly.
“Well done.”
“Bonus…?”
“Of course you’ll get it.”
Suhyeon stared at Kang In-gyu with a burning gaze. He was itching to run an experiment as soon as possible.
“Your gaze is scary.”
“Must be your imagination. Alright, if we’re done here, let’s move! Staying here won’t help.”
Suhyeon looked around one last time before leaving. The rock golem had blocked entry into the Outerp Mountain Range. Now that it was dead and its weakness known, the range would no longer remain unexplored.
‘All kinds of monsters will come in now.’
Overall, things were happening faster than during Suhyeon’s past missions, which made him slightly uneasy. Nothing had gone wrong yet, but if the future derailed, one of his weapons could disappear.
‘Not a concern yet.’
For now, the priority was reporting on the rock golem and gaining government recognition for it.
Hunting a massive monster, plus checking some resource areas—it had been exhausting, but the return was light-footed. Equipment loss was minimal, and there were no other injuries.
“Stop for a moment. Rest.”
“Already? And we’re almost there…”
“You need to be careful when you think it’s all over.”
“???”
“Rest. I’ll check something quickly.”
No one questioned Suhyeon’s decision.
“If it’s reconnaissance, I can use a drone… No, I’ll go with you.”
“Stay. I said rest.”
Ignoring the volunteers, Suhyeon moved alone. Watching from afar, Seokgang Seo flinched.
‘…Did he notice me?’
His orders from Wonjun Joo were simple: follow Uncle Jo Company and see what they were doing. But he had lost them at the start.
Wonjun Joo wouldn’t forgive such a mistake. Seo waited where he had lost them to see where they came from. He needed to do something, even if just to explain himself.
‘They went to the mountain range.’
That was all he could figure out. Biting his lip, Seo didn’t realize he was doing something futile. Soon, Uncle Jo Company’s actions would be publicly revealed, and tailing them was unnecessary.
“Come out.”
“?!?!?!?!”
“Slowly. If you reach for a weapon, I’ll shoot.”
Suhyeon aimed his gun precisely. Seo realized he had been caught. But how?
“Testing my patience? Come out.”
Seo slowly rose with his hands up.
“Good. Drop your weapon.”
Thunk—
“You were tailing me?”
“Yes.”
Some people could read others with just a few words. Seo sensed Suhyeon was not the type to fall for a sloppy lie.
“Can I ask how you noticed?”
“Ask how I noticed your poor stealth gear? It basically advertised you wanted to be caught.”
Spinning his pistol, Suhyeon explained. Upon noticing his presence, he acted without expectation—and caught a big one. Against experts using military-grade stealth, Seo was easy prey.
“You know if I kill you, no one will find out?”
In the mercenary world, tailing one another was risky but common. Shooting each other wasn’t unusual.
“…Okay.”
“Should I spare you?”
“I won’t fall for your games. Kill me if you want.”
“I could spare you.”
“Sorry, I won’t say anything.”
“You’re perceptive.”
In fact, Suhyeon’s mind was more active than Seo’s. He was quickly figuring out how to use this unexpected opportunity.
He guessed why Seo was there:
‘Wonjun Joo must have sent him.’
If Joo had been curious, he would want to know why Seo came. If blocked by security? He could still send someone to tail him.
‘Wait. Then Seo isn’t a psychic yet?’
Suhyeon valued Seo, but he knew his potential. Joo underestimating him wasn’t surprising. From a hunter family like Cameron’s, knowledgeable about poison—compared to a psychic, it was a bit tame.
“I’m not really curious. Joo probably sent you.”
“…!”
“Surprised? No need. Anyone who knows Joo knows he’s greedy.”
Seo stiffly hid his shock. Joo had often been compared to a crouching tiger—seemingly docile, but terrifying when he struck.
Yet someone who had never seen it before already knew.
“That guy thinks he’s the smartest in the world. Why be loyal to someone like that?”
“…”
“Did I catch a weakness?”
Seo said nothing. With someone like Suhyeon, any unnecessary words could be a liability. Silence was safest.
“Earlier I said, ‘kill me if you want,’ but I’m not that barbaric. Want me to tell you what I’ll do?”
“?”
“First, I’ll capture you alive. Then take you and officially file a complaint. One of Gaon Gil’s members tailed us. What will Wonjun Joo do? Take responsibility and compensate? Or cut ties?”
In an instant, Seo’s face turned gray.
“Scary, right? More than threatening to kill.”
Suhyeon knew exactly how to handle a man like Seo. Such people wouldn’t hesitate to risk death for what they valued. Threats had to come in other forms, not death.
If Suhyeon’s plan went as stated, Seo wouldn’t die—but he would be detained, and Joo would cut all support.
“…Please, don’t do that.”
“I never asked for respect. But nice to hear. Go on.”
“Also, my testimony doesn’t matter. Even if I report, Joo….”
Suhyeon knew Seo’s confession alone wouldn’t matter. Joo could claim it was Seo acting alone. Reputation might suffer slightly, but the damage would be minimal.
“I know. And I’m not here to get a confession.”
“??”
