Chapter 40:


    The news that the Berserker eliminated the Executioner was ryed all the way to the Blue House through the Awakened Security Office.


    I thought bringing a lunatic like him would lead to unfavorable remarks, but the response was quite positive.


    Berserker will be a great strength for our country. I would like to express my gratitude to you for bringing him here.


    I had never seen Cheon Myeong-guk with such a bright expression before. It seemed that Berserkers power was indeed significant. Perhaps crazy people could be useful.


    Well, considering that he showed the resilience of a cockroach, surviving for 15 years in my previous life, he must have been quite troublesome for the government.


    Having a viin like Berserker not acting as a variable already gives a great sense of stability. You never know when a crazy person might go off. However, its regrettable that this cant be easily disclosed to the public.


    It would be appropriate to say that Berserker was currently employed by the government. They even talked aboutpensation, money, and equipment.


    The government had long been keeping an eye on viins whomitted rtively fewer crimes and struggled to adapt to society.


    They had been pushing ns to rehabilitate them, but the problem was that there was no one to control the viins waywardness, so it was indefinitely postponed.


    In the midst of this, I took a step forward by forming a bond with Berserker.


    This guy, Berserker, should be thankful to me. I even told him how to obtain Complete Immunity. I had a strong desire for it, so I need to research if theres a way to get it without killing Berserker.


    Forming a pursuit team to chase viins is already a significant burden, and reducing this burden is quite beneficial.


    Was this still the guy who made apromise to kill me in myst life?


    Thinking back to the torment I endured at that time still gave me the chills.


    I was starting to get a little grumpy.


    Transcendent-<em>nim</em>, did I say something wrong?


    Its nothing.


    Good. If I ever offend you in any way, please let me know anytime. I will correct it.


    Berserker is a free spirit, so its best not to expect him to cooperate.


    Yes, I understand that. But thats enough.


    His calction was simple. Among the most threatening individuals in South Korea, the Berserker, the Puppeteer, the Executioner, and the ck Reaper, if two died and one became an ally, it would greatly weaken the viins forces.


    The League had backed off, and demon hunting was going smoothly.


    Although more than half of the territory was still upied by demons, the situation was rtively goodpared to other countries where 70-80%, or even over 90%, had been taken over.


    ck Reaper is an elusive viin, so eliminating one of the dangerous viins among them means that the viin forces have diminished significantly.


    Thest remaining assassin, the ck Reaper, had an unknown identity.


    I hadnt seen them in my previous life, but their notoriety was tremendous.


    There were rumors that he was associated with a viinous organization operating within the city.


    And.


    Cheon Myeong-guk changed the topic as he looked at me.


    Shouldnt you start forming a hunting team?


    A hunting team? Why would I need that?


    Transcendent form hunting teams to maximize their power.


    Oh, I see.


    You didnt know?


    I must have overlooked it because I had no particr interest in hunting. I had only recently learned that it was crucial for the evaluation of Transcendent.


    But did I really need a hunting team?


    I had been hunting demons alone throughout my previous life.


    I had never felt the need for it.


    The high-level hunters couldnt track targets and just rushed in without drawing aggro.


    Was it because of the dismantling of the corpse after the hunt? But even with that, theres no one who could dismantle as perfectly as I do with the sh Gift.


    Rather than not knowing, Ive never thought about it.


    Huh.


    Cheon Myeong-guks face changed to an expression I often saw.


    Did he really think of me as half-baked?


    For now, I should put Cheon Myeong-guk on that list. Of course, if hes innocent, he could be removed anytime.


    Really.


    Rumors are circting because you havent formed a hunting team.


    Does that mean forming a hunting team is necessary to extinguish the rumors?


    I thought they were spreading rumors because I wasnt going hunting, but apparently they were making assumptions based on theck of a hunting team.


    It might be hard to get me to talk, but its easy to get a hunt team member to talk.


    But I didnt feel the need to dispel the rumors. Those who wanted to curse me would do so anyway, so wouldnt it be mutually beneficial to pull everyone out of this opportunity?


    They could relieve stress by cursing me, and I could find out whos cursing me.


    Was this what they called a win-win situation? What a beautiful word.


    Transcendent-nim, Im not talking about you. There are a lot of eyes watching to see when youre going to put together a hunting team.


    Ill think about that part. I dont think a hunting team is really necessary.


    Huh! A hunting team is very, very important to a Transcendent.


    Its not important to me.


    Transcendent-<em>nim</em>, please


    It was when Cheon Myeong-guk clung to me persistently that a sudden call came with a loud notification sound.


    Transcendent-<em>nim</em>, its a Transcendent Call.


    A Transcendent Call was a request from an outside source for Transcendent assistance. Its up to the Awakened Security Office and the Transcendent to decide whether or not to respond.


    Most of the time, the call falls somewhere in the middle, so the fact that theyre talking to me meant that it was a matter that required consultation.


    Danger Level 7 ck Wyvern hase out of the area, and the hunting team is in danger.


    Theyre all going to die.


    If we dont mobilize, the hunting team will be wiped out.


    The problem was that the hunting team wasnt too far from the city, so there was a risk of the city being attacked inadvertently.


    Cheon Myeong-guks gaze turned towards me. It was mixed with difficulty and urgency, but it also seemed tock certainty.


    Lets go.


    Ill prepare the helicopter.


    Cheon Myeong-guk and I headed to the Blue House helicopter pad, where he gave me a quick rundown on the ck Wyvern and how to deal with it.


    It could identify prey from 10 kilometers away and would kill anything it saw, even if its not prey.


    Thats about as much as I knew about it as well.


    In simple terms, its a story of taking a risk without knowing if its a deadly situation that could end up badly.


    Whats important is the survival of the hunting team. They will assist you, Transcendent-<em>nim</em>.


    Since I hadnt organized a hunting team, I was told to use the ones in the field.


    I could tell that he wanted me to hunt well, and that he wanted the government hunting team to survive.


    The current location of the ck Wyvern was on the border between Anseong City and Jincheon County.


    Before boarding the helicopter, I asked Cheon Myeong-guk.


    My orderse first in the field, right?


    Yes, thats correct, but


    I understand. Ill go.


    I silently confirmed the answer while looking at Cheon Myung-guk, who had a somewhat anxious expression.


    ***


    Support has departed and will arrive in 40 minutes.


    40 minutes.


    Government-affiliated Hellhound hunting team leader Lee Chang-soo repeatedly muttered the word 40 minutes. Normally, it might not have seemed like such a long time, but at this moment, he thought it would be an excruciatingly long period, one filled with tension and worry.


    He has responded to the Transcendent Call. From now on, well use all our power to escape. In 40 minutes, the Transcendent will face the ck Wyvern.


    Team leader, can we survive if the Transcendent arrives?


    Lee Chang-soo turned his head in response to the voice full ofints. There, Han Jung-seok, a 3-year veteran of the Hellhound Team, had a displeased expression.


    We can survive.


    Im looking at it with skepticism.


    What do you want to say?


    Choi Jun-ho hasnt been validated as a hunter yet.


    Han Jung-seok, a young hunter at the age of 28 this year, was a talent that Lee Chang-soo cherished. His sharp situational judgment and his passion for protecting his colleagues were great.


    He was making efforts in various ways to increase the hunting capabilities of the Hellhound Team under Lee Chang-soos guidance. Han Jung-seoks goal was for the Hellhound Hunter Team to surpassrge guilds and be the best.


    However, he had a negative perception of Choi Jun-ho.


    If Choi Jun-ho shows up, he could take over the team leadersmand and cause chaos. Wed have a better chance of survival if he didnte.


    So are you suggesting that we ignore the Transcendent who ising to save us?


    Thats not the case


    Even at this moment, we, along with other hunting teams, are being targeted.


    The closest hunting team fell victim to the ck Wyvern. Even now, many hunting teams were under attack, losing contact one by one.


    They were retreating in fear of being targeted at any moment.


    Han Jung-seok sighed and revealed his thoughts.


    Honestly, I cant trust Choi Jun-ho, who has no hunting experience.


    A Transcendent who appeared six months ago, capturing only viins. His most prominent achievement was catching the Puppeteer.


    Its good that he caught hundreds of viins, but his record in hunting demons was nowhere to be found. While his strength could be acknowledged, its not strange to have concerns when thinking about the various side effects awakened individuals experienced in the early stages of demon hunting.


    Among awakened individuals, there were cases where they acquired trauma while hunting demons and could never hunt again, or they froze in the face of a demons presence and died helplessly.


    Its not for nothing that the first demon hunt took the most casualties, and its not unusual thatrge guilds assigned veteran hunters to help new hunters get used to the hunt.


    Choi Jun-ho was far less known than his abilities would suggest.


    Youre right about that. However, I dont think the government made a hasty decision. Bing a Transcendent at that age means theres extraordinary talent. Geniuses are different. They easily ovee all the trials and errors weve experienced.


    The media had covered numerous geniuses, but among them, there was no one who reached Level 8 in their 20s.


    The one who upied that position was an entirely unknown Choi Jun-ho.


    Lee Chang-soo didnt know Choi Jun-ho. However, he believed in Choi Jun-hos talent.


    I think everyone can survive as long as we hold out until Choi Jun-ho arrives. Trust me. We have no other choice.


    Understood.


    Han Jung-seok nodded, his voice filled with unwavering faith. It was the only way now.


    ***


    The helicopter that took off from the Blue House quickly passed over Seoul and headed towards the outskirts of Gyeonggi Province.


    During that time,munication was active, and real-time reports were received on how many casualties urred and where the ck Wyvern was located.


    Having a helicopter meant not being envious of most spatial-type Gifts.


    We will soon enter the border.


    I nodded in response to the pilots words. The helicopter arrived near the location of the ck Wyvern at a high speed.


    Should wend nearby?


    Lets keep going like this.


    What? But if we keep going like this, well encounter the ck Wyvern.


    It doesnt matter.


    !


    The pilot turned his head to look at me in surprise.


    Were heading toward where the ck Wyvern was. Why was he so surprised?


    We have to get closer to the ck Wyvern to catch it.


    The ck Wyvern could identify prey within a 10km radius.


    This was assuming that there was prey on the ground. In the unobstructed sky, its field of view would undoubtedly be broader. If anything entered its line of sight, it would attack anyway.


    Lets go.


    All right.


    Even without activating on-sitemand authority, the authority of a Transcendent was evident. The conflicted pilot nodded and steered towards the location of the ck Wyvern.


    There is the ck Wyvern. Within 10km.


    We must have already entered the ck Wyverns field of vision. The pilot began to tremble. It wasnt the helicopter that was shaking, after all.


    I said to the trembling pilot, Lets keep going.


    Yes, yes!


    The helicopter approached ck Wyvern at a rapid speed. As it got closer, the pilots trembling became more pronounced.


    Distance to ck Wyvern, 5km!


    ck Wyvern started toe into view. Its body, shaped like a lizard, was about 20 meters long, and its wings resembled those of a bat. Despite its rtively small wings, it was fascinating to see how it could fly.


    By the way, ck Wyvern meat wasnt very tasty.


    Distance to ck Wyvern, 3km!


    Keep going.


    Distance to ck Wyvern, 2km! Its looking this way! Its starting to approach!


    It was a report mixed with screams. I was also watching.


    ck Wyverns flying speed was impressive. As we got closer, the distance between us rapidly decreased.


    Distance to ck Wyvern, 1km! Transcendent-<em>nim</em>! What should we do?


    Ill catch it.


    Yes?


    When I get out, you can do evasive maneuvers.


    I opened the helicopter door.


    A tremendously strong wind rushed in. I looked at the ck Wyvern flying ahead. It had the intelligence of a lizard, mistaking us for prey and charging toward us.


    Come to think of it, higher-level demons often couldnt grasp the situation and acted recklessly. On the other hand, lower-level demons were more specialized in their survival instincts and managed to avoid trouble on their own.


    Thats why theres no need for a hunting team. As long as I could catch and kill them when they attacked, why bother forming a hunting team? The more people there were, the more troublesome things would be.


    I kicked the ground and threw myself into the air.


    <em>Dwoong!</em>


    The Force flowed out of me, creating a Force foothold at my feet. I stepped on it and charged at ck Wyvern.


    Since I didnt have a flight Gift, I unleashed an enormous amount of Force to keep myself up. It was roughly equivalent to spreading a beach towel on the ocean.


    As I ck Wyvern approached, it opened its mouth wide. It was preparing to unleash its fire breath.


    It considered me as prey it had captured. Thats why it was aiming to use its fire breath.


    <em>Kyaaaaaah!</em>


    A stream of mes shot out. I jumped high, spurred on by the Force footholds, and dodged. The surrounding air ignited, and intense heat radiated. This fellow could cause wildfires, which would be troublesome.


    As I dodged upwards, the ck Wyvern followed, its eyes tracking my movement.


    The challenge with aerial creatures was that they could freely roam the skies, giving them the advantage. When attacking from the sky like the fire breath it had just unleashed, there were limited means of retaliation.


    However, now that I could move freely in the air, it had lost that advantage. Instead, it became a stationary target when firing its fire breath, making it an easy target.


    Its the mostmon mistake made by fledglings.


    <em>Thud!</em>


    The ck Wyverns head dented. It didnt prate the hard hide, but mynd mine crushed the brain inside.


    No matter how resilient a creatures life force might be, once its brain was destroyed, it couldnt survive.


    Kyaah!


    The ck Wyvern let out a final scream. Its eyes rolled back in its head, and it died instantly.


    I had hunted many fledglings in this manner during my time as the Blood Master. Fledglings always thought they were the predators, so approaching them and nting and mine in their brains was a guaranteed kill.


    The demon with a danger level 8, Nuri, might not be an easy target, though. But I would soon get a chance to find out.


    Noisy little fledgling.


    I looked down from the sky at the falling ck Wyvern before turning towards the approaching helicopter.


    Hunting while riding a helicopter was actually a bit challenging.