IHVIGO 13

Chapter 13

The moment I heard those words, I realized.

These guys must have formed some kind of bond while taking night watch together, and now they’d decided to share some kind of plan.

And with high probability, it was a completely useless plan that would help absolutely nothing. Damn it.

“…Excuse me. Do you think the others left the B-rank and C-rank beasts alone just because they didn’t feel like catching them?”

“What?”

“The easy, obvious monsters have already been taken down by the others. What’s left are either the ones that nested in the test field, live in groups, or are stealth-type. And you two really think those are just going to be easy to catch?”

That wasn’t just speculation—it was the truth.

At this point, the only monsters left in the test site weren’t ignored because people didn’t notice them, but because they were genuinely hard to take down.

“And let’s be clear—why is it my job to find them? Back during the hunt, was that steel pipe swinging itself because my ancestors were helping me out?”

Listing off everything I had contributed while still half-asleep just made me angrier.

Why was I the one having to patiently explain all this to them?

“They said we needed bait, so I risked my life to be that bait, didn’t I? Meanwhile, you two couldn’t even handle the tasks you were given and only dragged us down the entire hunt. You even almost got me killed when you cast a speed buff on the monster instead of me. Honestly, I’m pretty sure I did more by myself than the two of you put together.”

The Aqua Lizard was a water-dwelling beast, which meant to hunt it, you first needed bait to lure it out onto land.

In other words, compared to the damage dealers, who only had to attack once the Aqua Lizard was out of the water, the bait had to dive in and expose themselves to attack. Far more dangerous.

And I had been that bait. I went into the water, got completely soaked, and risked my life—and this is the thanks I get?

“How is that our fault? You never once showed us your skills, so we had no choice.”

“Y-Yeah, why are you hiding your skills like that? Are they some kind of shameful skills you can’t show us?”

Apparently they hadn’t expected me to blow up like this. Both of them looked flustered but still didn’t shut their mouths.

If words alone were enough to make them back down, they wouldn’t be villains to begin with.

“If you’re so against playing bait, then send your little brother out tomorrow. Seo-woo, was it? He doesn’t seem to be using his skills either.”

“Ha…”

This time, a sigh escaped from the depths of my chest.

“Hey.”

Screeech. The steel pipe I was holding scraped across the cement floor, making a chilling sound. I really couldn’t take it anymore….

“If my little brother dies, are you going to take responsibility?”

“…What?”

“So what now? I find the monsters, I play bait, I do the attacking too. Are you planning to give me all the points, then? No, right?”

Gripping the steel pipe in one hand, I marched down the stairs.

Clang, clang—each step echoed as the distance between me and the two villains closed, the metallic sound reverberating inside the building.

Because the building was completely empty, with no furniture to dampen the noise, the echoes sounded unnaturally loud and eerie. Kim Park-bak’s shoulders trembled violently.

“H-Hey, how old are you! You’re just a kid—”

“I’ll be twenty-one in a week. Trust me, I’ve eaten way more rice cake soup than you two ever have. Lay a finger on my little brother’s hair and see what happens.”

Finally, with only one stair left between us, I faced the villains. Still groggy, my eyelids kept drooping halfway shut even in this tense moment.

“I’ll kill you for real….”

The steel pipe slammed down on the last step, and then silence fell.

Standing there in the dark stairwell with these villains, I suddenly felt a wave of futility.

Why was I even doing this here? For what kind of wealth or glory…?

At that moment, Choi Cheol-soo, who had been standing in the back, cautiously raised his hand.

“Uh… I thought about it, and maybe C-rank and above is a bit dangerous after all….”

“Right?”

“Y-Yeah…”

“Then go inside and sleep now….”

“Y-Yes….”

Having seen their infuriating antics in the original story, I’d expected these two to keep causing trouble for a while, but surprisingly, they backed down without much fuss.

Probably thanks to the steel pipe in my hand.

‘No wonder background music is so important in horror movies.’

Either way, with the power of sound effects on my side, I successfully drove off the villains. Turning back to Piuri, I said:

“Sorry for taking so long. Let’s go up now.”

“Twenty…”

My half-lidded eyes blinked blankly. From up the stairs, Piuri muttered while looking down at me.

“My apologies. I thought you were my age.”

“High school?”

“Yes. I’m nineteen.”

“I see.”

I had known, actually. I just hadn’t decided when to bring it up—but now it came out like this.

Together with the now-docile Piuri, I climbed up to the rooftop. Stepping outside into the cold wind cleared my head a little.

“Ugh, so sleepy… No, no, gotta stay awake.”

“If you were going to be this tired, why did you insist on taking the second watch? You could have let your brother do it.”

“How could I? They need as much rest as possible.”

Piuri might be used to staying up all night and still looked fresh, but Yeomyeong and Kwon Seo-woo weren’t the same. Stretching my stiff body, I began scanning the surroundings.

‘That way’s the park, over there’s the Han River, and there are a lot of buildings right behind….’

This was definitely “that place” described in the original.

While I was busy piecing things together, Piuri had already set down a cushion and sat cross-legged at one side of the rooftop.

Thoroughly prepared, as always. But really, if he was going to pull out a cushion from his inventory, couldn’t he have brought one for me too?

“By the way, you surprised me earlier.”

“How?”

“When you were talking about the remaining monsters. I didn’t expect you to calculate that far ahead. Do you perhaps have a skill related to that?”

I was still checking the area, but maybe the silence had grown awkward—or maybe he really was curious—either way, Piuri struck up a conversation. Knowing his personality, it was probably the latter.

“Mm, no. I’ve just always been interested in monsters.”

“How could you…?”

Piuri’s pupils shook, like he’d just heard something unbelievable.

‘Well, can’t blame him.’

His signature trait, “Crow’s Nest,” actually summed up his personality better than anything else.

He liked pretty, shiny, pleasing things, and absolutely despised anything dirty or grotesque.

Of course, the only reason I knew all this was because I remembered the original.

‘That damned chuunibyou phase.’

Back then, when I kept rereading the original while declaring “I’ll save all the characters!”—ugh, even now, it’s the kind of memory that makes me want to kick nonexistent blankets.

“Anyway, that’s not the point right now. Oh—hey, why don’t you take out a gun?”

“A gun?”

“Preferably something loud. You’re a gear-maker, so I figure you must know how to use one too, right? Don’t you have one?”

“I do, but why…?”

“If something happens, it’ll be faster to fire a shot than to wake everyone up one by one and explain.”

In the world of Underworld, inventories were a privilege unique to some production-type ability users. Unlike other hunters, Piuri had access to a personal inventory as a gear-maker.

After a moment’s hesitation, Piuri nodded and pulled out a gun from his inventory.

As expected of an A-rank crafter—there was no weapon he couldn’t handle.

“A Kar98. I didn’t make it myself, just added attack power options. But it should work fine for sniping from a rooftop like this.”

“Oh, I know that one! It’s in Battl—uh, never mind.”

“…?”

“Nothing.”

Anyway, the watchtower clock now read 2 a.m. I could see other teams, also keeping watch on rooftops, all using Sinsa Station as their base.

The air was silent, completely still. Gripping the steel pipe again, I felt a tense chill run through me.

The world of this manga, Underworld, was merciless to both main and supporting characters.

When it first started serialization, readers thought it was going to be a typical “dreams and hope” style battle series about ability users. And then came this arc, which flipped all those expectations upside down.

The 204th Hunter Exam.

Out of 118 examinees, 16 died, and three sustained permanent injuries severe enough to make hunting impossible. That arc began at Chapter 9 of Underworld.

It was when the author, who had kept their true intentions hidden until then, finally started to show their hand. Damn it….

“That’s…!”

Just then, with a faint tremor in the air, the surroundings suddenly lit up.

Piuri’s hardened voice rang in my ears. Starting from the alley I’d been watching, dozens of rifts flared red and widened across the test site.

It looked like something straight out of that superhero movie Endga—, except where that movie’s portal scene brought awe and excitement, this only brought fear and dread.

I raised my weapon as a man strode boldly out of the alley’s gate.

Najin’s faded sand-gold hair whipped fiercely in the wind.

“Piuri, get ready to fire.”

Let’s see that oh-so-handsome face of yours up close.

<Attention, all examinees inside the test site! Currently within the test—>

The monsters bursting from the gates immediately attacked the speakers installed around the site.

“Wake everyone up! Now!”

“A—An A-rank monster…!”

The emergency announcement was abruptly cut off, replaced by the howls of monsters and the screams of examinees.

【A change has been detected in the designated zone. Synchronizing!】

[Remaining monsters: 517

A-rank (30 pts) ─ 329
B-rank (20 pts) ─ 292
C-rank (15 pts) ─ 41
D-rank (10 pts) ─ 60
E-rank (7 pts) ─ 3
F-rank (5 pts) ─ 0]

As the environment within the test site shifted drastically, the system window immediately detected it and displayed an alert.

The scoreboard at the watchtower also updated automatically to show the monster count.

I hadn’t realized when reading the original, but seeing it now, Najin’s first act—destroying the speakers to cut off communication—was chillingly calculated.

Bang—!

A sharp gunshot split the air.

“…!”

Smoke curled from the muzzle of Piuri’s rifle.

“…Slightly off. Shoulder hit!”

“That won’t cut it. Ready another shot!”

Clutching his shoulder, Najin turned his gaze toward us. The moment his bright yellow eyes met mine, I understood.

‘Oh hell. That crazy bastard.’

He really had lost it.

Not just murderous intent—but actual delight. He was enjoying this.

I knew that look. That was the classic face of a “flower field in the head” villain.

The kind who could smile innocently while saying, “Huh? What’s a few lives lost?”