Chapter 18: Chapter 18

The employees dispatched by the association waved their glow sticks, guiding the citizens to safety.

Usually, during large-scale invasions, major guilds collaborated to mount a defense.

Thus, it was rare to see monsters entering the city.

However, monsters were now spotted everywhere—in the sky, on the ground, and all around.

“Did it start earlier than expected, and they couldn’t respond in time?”

Looking around, most of the monsters rampaging through the city were lowly monsters that even D-rank hunters could hunt.

The presence of just those monsters despite the large-scale invasion provided a rough idea of the situation.

“They’re trying to handle the crème de la crème while leaving the scrappy ones for the lower-tier hunters.”

For the lower-tier hunters not belonging to any guild, that was already a matter of great fortune.

If it had been like before, Kang Jin-hyuk would have sweated bullets hunting lowly monsters.

But now that he had discovered the dungeons, he had no need to do that anymore.

There were more than enough of those pesky monsters in the dungeons, overflowing.

Even catching a few right now would just waste energy unnecessarily.

“I should head home and get some sleep.”

Regardless of whether Kang Jin-hyuk stepped in or not, other hunters would surely take care of it.

This kind of large-scale invasion wasn’t a rare occurrence; there was no way they would fail their defenses just because it started a bit earlier.

Kang Jin-hyuk stifled a massive yawn that nearly brought tears to his eyes while hurrying along the way home.

However, not long after, an urgent notification and the arrival of a message stopped him in his tracks.

[Attention Hunters!]

[Due to the urgency of the current situation, rewards for hunting monsters invading the city will be tripled.]

[This offer is only valid for today. Hunters who wish to claim the reward should gather items as evidence and visit the association once the current situation is resolved.]

Kang Jin-hyuk heard cheers erupting from various places.

It was clear that other hunters were celebrating upon seeing this message.

“Tripled….”

It was a legitimate opportunity to sell monster corpses without going through an organization, not to mention the rewards had surged threefold.

Heading to bed with such an offer in front of him would be foolish.

Kang Jin-hyuk immediately turned around and ran towards the city.

“Come at me, you monsters!”

* * *

The center of the large-scale invasion was surrounded by the Titan guild members, who had deployed barriers.

Most guild members jumped into the fray while maintaining a minimal number of personnel to uphold the encirclement.

Due to the shortage of manpower, they couldn’t block all the monsters.

“Don’t waste effort on lowly monsters! If we exhaust ourselves, it’ll be hard to maintain the formation!”

The executives ran around energetically, directing the guild members.

They were typically the ones scheming for profit, but in times of crisis, they adhered to their original roles diligently.

Greedy yet not incompetent, these executives.

This was the strength that kept Titan as one of the major guilds alive.

“The west has some leeway, so send about ten men to support the front!”

“Understood!”

Despite the chaos, the guild members diligently followed orders.

With a proper command structure in place, they moved with the dexterity of soldiers.

Thanks to the executives and guild members managing the current situation on their own, Seo Sang-ho could engage in battle with a sense of relief.

“Guild Master! Reports indicate that Yoon Tae-yoon’s side is being overwhelmed!”

“I’ll be right there, so hold out a little longer!”

Seo Sang-ho swept away the monsters huddled nearby with a single punch before dashing to the area that lacked manpower.

The strength of an S-rank hunter shone especially in tough situations.

“Haah!”

Moving around the battlefield, the sheer pressure of his blows ripped apart ordinary monsters that got even close.

Only large monsters, at least five meters tall, stood a chance against that power.

Seo Sang-ho sweeping away the monsters with his fist resembled a protagonist from a martial arts novel.

While the guild members were ecstatic, their morale boosted by the spectacle, Seo Sang-ho himself was nearing his limit.

“Damn it! No matter how many I kill, there’s no end to this.”

What he typically did in collaboration with other guilds didn’t feel as burdensome.

Despite being competitors that snarled at each other like enemies most days.

He never imagined he’d miss them this much when they weren’t around.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Why did everyone have to go abroad just when a crisis arose?

“I feel like I’m back on that group project where I had to do everything alone…”

With a heavy sigh echoing in the background, Seo Sang-ho raised his head upon hearing a guild member’s shout.

“A two-headed ogre!”

“Those below B-rank, retreat!”

The enormous creature, at least twice the size of a normal ogre, rampaged, causing the right flank to begin to crumble.

“Do they think they’re going to let us rest at all?”

Seo Sang-ho rushed towards the Twin-Headed Ogre before the situation worsened and swung a punch.

“Grrr…!”

The ogre, barely held back by A-rank hunters, was struck hard, leaving a gaping wound in its midsection.

With more than half of its innards gone, the Twin-Headed Ogre had no choice but to collapse on the spot.

While it was an astonishing scene, there was no time to admire it.

Seo Sang-ho and the guild members needed to hurry and find their next target.

“This invasion seems quite intense.”

When one of the nearby guild members half-jokingly mentioned it, Seo Sang-ho chuckled bitterly.

“True. This feels endless.”

A bigger issue than the sheer number of monsters was the appearance of heavyweights like the Twin-Headed Ogre.

Even if a few more lowly monsters showed up, the guild members could handle them.

But against a monster like the Twin-Headed Ogre, it was a whole different story.

Creatures of that level required several A-rank hunters to bring down.

When multiple A-rank guild members focused on one area, the formation became inevitably disarrayed, leading Seo Sang-ho to step in.

Thus, while guild members took breaks, rotating every thirty minutes,

Seo Sang-ho had been fighting for over two hours without respite.

Unable to watch any longer, his secretary dashed into the battlefield and headed straight for Seo Sang-ho, grabbing his shoulder.

“Please, get some rest. If you continue like this, you’ll collapse before the battle ends.”

“I just took a break.”

“Don’t fool me. You haven’t taken a single break since the invasion began.”

“… If I pull back now, it will only drag the fight on.”

Without enough personnel, prolonging the battle could risk breaking the defenses.

It wasn’t right to rush the guild members who were doing their best, so Seo Sang-ho resolved to push himself.

He’d also entrusted command rights to the executives to help focus on the fight.

“Take care of the clerics more than me. The longer the battle drags on, the more vital they’ll become.”

“They already have adequate protection. You need to focus on your condition, Guild Master!”

“I’m fine, really.”

Seo Sang-ho hurriedly rushed back into the battlefield before his secretary could complain further.

Though he might have seemed fine at a glance, his secretary sensed that Seo Sang-ho was teetering on the brink of collapse.

“Running around like that, there’s no way he’s actually fine…”

The executives who should be supporting him were focusing entirely on maintaining the defense.

While contemplating seeking help from Ahn Do-yoon, the thought vanished as she shook her head.

“Seeking help from that man even for a moment… What was I thinking.”

Given that guy’s track record, it would have been better to entrust fish to a cat than to rely on him.

“Clearly, I need to ask other hunters for assistance.”

The executives viewed this as a valuable opportunity to elevate Titan’s reputation and were minimizing the use of mercenaries.

Although Seo Sang-ho had previously opposed this notion, they pushed their agenda forward with that tiresome excuse built around their infamous killer.

Considering Titan’s overall strength and Seo Sang-ho’s capabilities, it didn’t seem unreasonable,

but nobody could predict how things might unfold.

If higher-level monsters started appearing en masse, the current crew wouldn’t be sufficient to manage.

The secretary believed that for safety’s sake, they needed to hire outside personnel before it was too late.

Knowing that the executives wouldn’t grant her permission at this point, she slipped out of sight, heading beyond the defense line.

* * *

Kang Jin-hyuk confirmed there were no more monsters nearby and perched himself on a nearby staircase.

Venturing into another area could yield more monsters to hunt, but others were already present there.

He didn’t want to rob what belonged to those who arrived first.

After all, he had suffered from such petty behavior while part of a major guild just weeks ago.

Kang Jin-hyuk had no desire to act as they had done.

“Let’s see here…”

He checked his inventory for the number of monsters he had hunted today.

“About thirty or so, I guess.”

If he received triple rewards, that would mean profits nearing a hundred.

It was certainly not an amount to complain over if he stopped here.

“Guess I should call it a day and head home.”

As he stood up and turned to go home, he locked eyes with a familiar face.

She was rushing over, having clearly recognized him as the one who previously accompanied Seo Sang-ho.

Kang Jin-hyuk’s recognition was mutual.

Seo Sang-ho’s secretary stopped right in front of him, panting slightly.

“Is that you, Kang Jin-hyuk? Do you have a moment?”

“No, I don’t. I was just about to head home…”

“If you don’t have any serious engagements, I need your help for a bit.”

Kang Jin-hyuk could sense urgency in her tone.

He recalled a time when he had been approached by a titan hunter pleading for assistance, a familiar déjà vu.

“Is it true that Titan is currently holding off the monster invasion?”

“Yes.”

“And they’re struggling without enough manpower?”

“Has word spread already? How do you know so well?”

“…”

Kang Jin-hyuk felt almost in disbelief that nothing had changed since that time.

It seemed Titan’s specialty was rushing into fix problems only after they broke out.

‘Do they lack the ability to learn?’

Though slightly annoyed, ignoring someone asking for help under such circumstances would surely make things uncomfortable later.

Reluctantly, Kang Jin-hyuk drew his baseball bat from his inventory once more.

“How much are you offering for my help?”

“Would you prefer hourly wages? Or performance-based?”

Usually, clerics preferred to receive hourly wages.

Since clerics specialized in support roles, they didn’t charge into battles like other hunters.

However, Kang Jin-hyuk without hesitation opted for the latter.

“Count the kills for me.”

“Huh? I thought you were a cleric?”

“I am.”

“So why the insistence on kill counts?”

Kang Jin-hyuk reverse-interrogated her.

“Do you know what true healing is?”

“Well, um… Bringing dead things back to life?”

“No, it’s about removing the source of harm itself. That is the ultimate healing.”

The secretary gazed at him blankly, unsure of how to respond to his words.