Chapter 12 …
It was definitely strange.
Orcs that normally charge at humans without thinking were waiting inside the building for the assault team before launching an ambush?
And they had left the civilians trapped inside alone until they started screaming?
‘There’s someone controlling the orcs.’
Lee Hyun was positioned at the tallest building in the area, about 800 meters behind the line where the soldiers had set up barricades, and another 800 meters beyond that.
It had taken him a little time to find a suitable spot, but by the time the special forces arrived, he was in position.
From the moment he started tracking the assault team, the feeling had been off.
Orcs wouldn’t normally leave humans alone like that.
Fortunately, the entire assault team had been saved.
Judging by the bewildered expressions of those on the ground, they had not anticipated Lee Hyun’s presence at all.
Lee Hyun brought his eye back to the scope.
The sight beyond was of Park Geon-Woo, completely dumbfounded.
“Didn’t think I’d see this again… If you’ve got any sense, run now, you idiot.”
He knew he was 1.6 km away, yet how could the guy on the ground not sense this ominous presence?
At that moment, the atmosphere around Gaechun Intersection changed.
No, it became heavy.
No one yet knew exactly what was happening, but there’s something called instinct.
Even Geon-Woo would feel it.
“…What?”
Geon-Woo exclaimed as he saw a monster emerge from the side of the building.
Twice the size of a normal orc.
Pitch-black fur.
Eyes glowing red.
A Dark Orc.
This wasn’t the type of monster that should appear here.
“Sergeant… isn’t that the one that comes out on the 15th floor?!”
It was the mid-boss of the 15th floor.
The assault team members who recognized it trembled with fear.
Geon-Woo shouted into the radio.
“S-sniper support! It’s a Dark Orc!”
A reply came immediately. It was Lieutenant Hee-Jun’s voice.
What nonsense is this?! How is a sniper supposed to kill a Dark Orc? Get out of there now!
But Geon-Woo and the assault team couldn’t run.
It wasn’t that they didn’t want to.
In their minds, they were already retreating back to the unit rather than the barricade.
Guuuu—
But their legs wouldn’t move, completely crushed by the presence of the Dark Orc.
“W-why is a thing like that appearing here…?”
The Dark Orc was on par with—or even stronger than—some of the higher-ranked Lizardmen in sheer strength, and its intelligence was clearly superior.
A terrifying hellish creature that transcended species limits.
It shouldn’t have been coming out of an E-grade gate.
Only then did Geon-Woo fully understand the situation in his head.
Why there had been so few orcs in the Myeongseong Building.
Why the orcs were capable of ambushing inside the building.
Looking at the Dark Orc’s menacing axe, there was no way he could have missed it…
Hoo— hoo—
The Dark Orc exhaled heavily.
Thump, thump, it walked forward.
Swooosh—
“Hiiiiiik—!”
The axe hovered right above Geon-Woo’s neck.
Yet the Dark Orc did not immediately end his life.
Instead, it slowly turned its head, scanning a distant area.
As if searching for someone hidden.
‘…The hunter?’
A presence flashed through Geon-Woo’s mind.
Someone capable of obliterating the orcs in a single strike.
Perhaps the Dark Orc was holding the assault team and civilians hostage, using them as a threat.
It seemed confident that it couldn’t be attacked.
A cunning monster.
Of course, Lee Hyun noticed the same thing.
“Look at that guy.”
Even with his Stealth stat raised, the Dark Orc seemed to roughly sense where he was.
And it seemed to be holding Geon-Woo and the other soldiers hostage.
“…Well, killing that guy wouldn’t really be a problem.”
Except that he had the hostages in a somewhat inconvenient position.
The harassment Geon-Woo had endured just a few days ago came vividly to mind.
It wasn’t only him.
Some of the non-commissioned officers that usually hung around the Dark Orc were also visible.
Lee Hyun had only ever seen the Dark Orc in manuals—this was his first encounter.
A rare species.
He had heard that even a shot to the face with a mana stone gun wouldn’t kill it instantly.
It looked just as the stories described.
Lee Hyun smiled coldly.
「Firepower: 17 → 25」
‘Alright, let’s see who wins.’
He instantly increased his firepower.
Placing his fingers on the mana input, the gun pulsed with a completely different sensation than before.
He aligned the scope perfectly on the Dark Orc’s head.
There was a slight breeze.
Considering all the stats, it wouldn’t matter much, but mistakes were unforgivable in this situation.
Better to eliminate variables.
The Dark Orc, sensing no attacks from the unknown source, snorted and slowly lifted its axe.
Perhaps planning to execute the hostages.
Geon-Woo was frozen on the floor, unable to even scream.
The moment the axe reached its highest point…
The wind stopped.
‘Fire.’
Lee Hyun pulled the trigger.
Thwok—!!
The increased firepower, combined with Stealth, responded with a noticeably stronger sound.
He calmly confirmed the hit.
Bwooaaak———!!!!
With a loud blast, the Dark Orc’s body froze mid-axe swing.
“…Huh?”
Geon-Woo, who had expected death, slowly lifted his head.
Of course, the Dark Orc’s body had stopped moving because it no longer had a head to control it.
The head of a Dark Orc—hard to even wound without a level 30+ hunter—was completely gone.
Pfft— pfft—
Even its blood seemed to intermittently spurt, as if it couldn’t believe what had happened.
“W-what…?”
Geon-Woo barely propped himself up, utterly bewildered.
His subordinates urgently pulled him along.
“Sergeant, we need to retreat immediately!”
“The orcs are coming!”
After the Dark Orc was dead, orcs everywhere began rampaging in anger.
Many ran toward the barricades, but a considerable number charged the assault team.
Tatata—! Tatata—!
The support team fired in a hurry, but their scattered volleys were insufficient to hold back the orcs.
However.
Pik— pik—!
“????”
For some reason, the orcs began dying one by one.
This time, no sound accompanied their deaths.
Blood seemed to spurt from their heads, then they died, one after another.
Geon-Woo, as if completely losing his mind, was dragged along by his subordinates like any civilian and ran.
The Goblin Bone Ammo had been incredibly efficient against the orcs.
‘I wanted to rely on mana for most of this, but my firepower’s grown too much.’
Lee Hyun licked his lips in slight regret.
Ammo remained.
He had intended not to leave anything that could be traced as evidence.
But he had already spent a fair amount of mana saving the support team.
With the orcs swarming in, it would’ve been close otherwise.
Also, with his sudden increase in firepower, there was a chance his position could be revealed.
Lee Hyun swallowed his smile at seeing Geon-Woo dragged away and held off just long enough for the support team to retreat safely.
The barricade side was fine—no orc could break through.
And from his side, visibility was good, plus there were snipers there as well.
“…This should be enough.”
Having killed about ten orcs in an instant, Lee Hyun left the spot without hesitation.
Fortunately, there were no confirmed casualties.
After putting his gun back into his inventory and killing time at a nearby café,
a notification for gate completion appeared.
「Gate (E) has ended.
Location: Gaechun-dong, Seongnae-gu, Seoul, South Korea.
Top Performer ID: ‘Ilgyeok’
Total Participants: 1
Rank: S+」
‘Thank goodness.’
Lee Hyun nodded.
This had ended flawlessly.
S+ rank proved it.
He was a little concerned that his ID appeared as the top performer.
For the first time, Ilgyeok had manifested in reality.
But he had no regrets.
What mattered most was that no one had died.
Even if some of those people had harassed him for no reason.
Soon, more notifications arrived.
「Top Performer Reward.
One of your skills will increase in grade.」
Clench—!
Unable to cheer like others, Lee Hyun clenched his fist instead.
Skill grade up.
‘As expected, doing good deeds gets rewarded!’
It had been good that he saved Park Geon-Woo!
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t “heaven” rewarding him, but the system.
Lee Hyun only had one graded skill.
Soulmate.
「Soulmate (C)
20% of an item’s stats are linked to the owner.
Firepower and range apply to Strength, Accuracy and Stability to Stamina, Stealth and Rapid Fire to Agility.
Applies even if the item is in inventory.」
Everything else remained the same.
The link rate increased from 10% to 20%.
The effect was already noticeable at 10%, so 20% was even more significant.
As his stats increased, efficiency skyrocketed.
While Lee Hyun marveled at his increased strength and sharpened senses, the other people in the café cheered in succession.
“The gate’s over!”
“Really? Where… uh?”
“Why?”
“I-I heard Ilgyeok was here!!!”
“W-what?!”
But their cheers quickly turned into awe and astonishment.
The news broke on the internet immediately after the Gaechun-dong gate ended.
[Breaking News: Single Participant ID ‘Ilgyeok’ Confirmed as Top Performer for Gaechun-dong Gate]
Ilgyeok’s existence was now spreading to the public.
People cheered more for his reappearance than simply for being safe.
“…Heh heh.”
Ilgyeok, feeling embarrassed, cleared his throat.
‘Is that all?’
He had only cleared one E-grade gate.
“…The gate is over?”
Meanwhile, Shin-Gung and Seo Su-Yeon arrived at Gaechun-dong as quickly as possible.
Su-Yeon, having heard from the special forces company commander, was internally quite baffled.
“Yes, I heard the notice goes out to hunters.”
“Ah, yes….”
Of course it had.
Just before Su-Yeon arrived, at the very last moment, a single hunter had participated and earned an S+ rank.
It had been Ilgyeok again.
But she asked because she couldn’t believe it was true.
The company commander was also nervously glancing at her.
Shin-Gung, ranked #1 in Korea, had personally rushed here.
Who would have guessed that the gate would close before she arrived?
Luckily, Su-Yeon had a good nature; other top-ranked hunters might have overturned the command post in frustration.
Su-Yeon muttered in a timid voice.
“I came all this way, even though no one was giving me any priority…”
However, the commander, standing in front of the #1 ranked hunter, misunderstood her, and was startled.
“Excuse me? Who said that to you, Shin-Gung?”
Su-Yeon shook her head.
The staff member seemed to be a new government employee, probably stressed by superiors.
It wasn’t anything important.
Either way, Su-Yeon didn’t have anything to do.
The commander bowed slightly.
“Thank you for coming, Shin-Gung.”
“No, I… didn’t do anything… But do you know about Ilgyeok…?”
“Ah, we only found out after the notice came… sorry.”
Again, no one had confirmed Ilgyeok’s identity.
Details would have to wait until the investigation was complete, but according to Geon-Woo, the assault team leader, the monsters had been killed without warning.
“Still, it was a relief. Because of the Dark Orc, the team and civilians could have been seriously harmed.”
“D-Dark Orc?”
Su-Yeon’s eyes widened.
A mid-boss from the 15th floor came out of a gate?
“Then that Dark Orc…?”
“Yes, Ilgyeok took care of it in one strike.”
“Woah…”
Su-Yeon couldn’t hide her amazement.
Of course, she could have handled it herself.
Even hunters around the 40th floor could probably manage.
But Ilgyeok was…
‘He’s only on the 7th floor, or maybe 10th at most!’
Based on the notice, he was only at the 7th floor.
Even if he fully climbed the 3rd floor not shown, it would only be the 10th.
Especially in the early stages, a difference of one floor or level is significant.
And yet a 10th-floor-level hunter managed to obliterate a Dark Orc in one shot…
‘What kind of person is this?’
She was genuinely impressed.
How could someone even pull that off?
Su-Yeon’s curiosity and sense of awe toward the unknown presence of Ilgyeok grew.
“Is there a problem…?”
As Su-Yeon remained silent for a while, the commander nervously asked.
She waved her hand.
“Oh, no!”
“Shin-Gung, are you also going to—?”
Without letting the commander finish, Su-Yeon hurriedly left the command post.
To an outsider, it was as if she vanished in an instant.
“Well, I heard a rough version… and what exactly happened here?”
Even the commander, who had only observed the situation, was left speechless.
As the system notification confirmed, a disaster had nearly occurred for the special forces, but Ilgyeok had appeared and resolved everything.
And the encounter with Su-Yeon was equally bewildering.
Although he had only seen her through interviews or media, this was the first time he met her in person.
Indeed, for a top-tier ranked hunter, she was very kind.
‘Seems like she really is shy.’
Perhaps even beyond just being kind.
Still, her attention toward Ilgyeok was considerable.
After all, this was a new force threatening the established #1 rank.
The public’s focus was now firmly on Ilgyeok.
So this small incident, though minor, might have irked her.
‘Shin-Gung is human too!’
The special forces commander, by profession, inevitably pays attention to hunters and the Tower.
He nodded, reflecting on a truly rare experience.
