NOVEL NEXT Chapter 25
Chapter 25. Giant Cat Monster (3)
Chilla thrust its whiskered face towards Yoo Ji-han.
It looked like it was sniffing him, wriggling its nostrils on both sides.
“Did you not wash your hair today, hyung?”
“I washed it this morning…”
Yoo Ji-han lifted one arm to smell his clothes.
It might have been the scent of the giant monster’s blood from the hunt they had gone on recently.
‘By the way, it’s cute.’
A chinchilla, belonging to the family of rodents like hamsters.
It was just bigger, but that adorable appearance hadn’t vanished.
Min Yu-ri asked Yoo Ji-han, “Do you happen to have a chinchilla or hamster at home?”
“No, I don’t keep any animals.”
“That’s strange… he wouldn’t be acting this way without a reason.”
Min Yu-ri tilted her head, gently stroking Chilla’s back.
The critter seemed to be enjoying it, closing its eyes.
Its behavior was no different from a well-behaved puppy, which meant it trusted its owner, Min Yu-ri, that much.
“I’m Min Yu-ri from Snowflake.”
“I’m Yoo Ji-han from Sweet Fun. This is Guild Master Kim Si-hu.”
“Sweet Fun?”
“Yes, Sweet Fun.”
“What a cute name.”
After Min Yu-ri greeted Yoo Ji-han first, he briefly introduced the party in return.
Those watching their conversation seemed intrigued, so they didn’t leave.
Suddenly aware of the gazes around her, Min Yu-ri poked Chilla’s side.
Chilla, which had been staring intently at Yoo Ji-han, turned its body towards the barrier.
“I’m sorry for the trouble. I’ll be going ahead.”
“Yes, please take care.”
Min Yu-ri disappeared inside the barrier.
As she did, the gazes directed at them rapidly decreased.
Kim Si-hu said to Yoo Ji-han, “She seems to be quite well-known among Rank 4 Heroes.”
“Yeah, it looks like it.”
Yoo Ji-han gazed at the direction Min Yu-ri had vanished.
Whether Chilla was showing interest or not…
He couldn’t help but feel one question arise within him.
The last time he saw news related to Snowflake was nearly 3 or 4 years ago.
Though it was a one-person guild, if they were famous enough to draw the attention of heroes like this, surely they should’ve already ranked up to Rank 3.
‘Is it not something I should worry about?’
He walked towards the barrier, just like Min Yu-ri.
*
“The barrier is definitely thicker than a Rank 5’s.”
Having crossed the barrier, Kim Si-hu lightly brushed his forearm with his hand.
The sensation of resistance from crossing the Rank 4 MA’s barrier still lingered on his skin.
“If you find anything unusual, just tell me right away.”
Once they entered the apartment complex, they first checked the playground and the surface parking lot where vehicles were parked.
However, there was no sign of the monstrous cats outside.
‘No choice then.’
They had no option but to head directly into the building.
Ignoring Apartment Complex 1, he quickly moved to Complex 2.
It was because he already saw several parties searching in Complex 1.
The broken outer walls and shattered glass doors here and there were evidence that heroes had already fought here.
Those parties must have been around before this MA was declared.
[Green Light Apartment]
[Building 207]
“This should do.”
Yoo Ji-han and Kim Si-hu entered the interior of Building 207, where there were almost no traces of magic or shock.
From the entrance, they could see a spacious hallway covered in marble.
With this space, it didn’t seem like they would face too much restriction during a fight in the hallway.
“Let’s start from the bottom.”
“Okay.”
The building ranged from Basement Level 3 at its lowest to the 29th Floor at its peak.
The higher they went, the more difficult it would be to get down and clean up, so Yoo Ji-han aimed to move primarily on the lower floors.
After all, there was a limit to how many monsters two people could handle, so there was no need to be greedy.
‘The electricity’s still on.’
The 1st Floor still had no power outage, so the lighting was intact, and the elevator was working normally.
But it was risky to use an elevator that could break down at any moment.
Once they made their decision, the two headed for the emergency stairs.
“Hey! Who are you guys!?”
Suddenly, a man shouted from behind them.
Turning around, they saw another party entering through the apartment door.
“What do you mean, who are we?!”
“……?”
The man who shouted first glared at Yoo Ji-han.
Not liking his tone and expression from their first meeting, Yoo Ji-han replied somewhat bluntly.
“What are you suddenly talking about?”
“Don’t you know this is the area our guild is in charge of?”
“In charge? What do you mean by that…”
“‘In charge’ means ‘in charge!’”
Thud!
The man, wearing solid boots, stomped heavily on the marble floor.
He was claiming that this apartment belonged to them.
Yoo Ji-han and Kim Si-hu frowned almost simultaneously.
“Saying you’re in charge? That’s the first I’m hearing of it.”
“What? Didn’t you see the post on the MA map bulletin?”
“There was a bulletin feature on that app? Si-hu, did you know?”
“I didn’t know either.”
“This is ridiculous…! Which guild are you guys even from?!”
“Sweet Fun.”
“Sweet what?”
“Sweet Fun.”
“What are you even saying….”
Naturally, the man had no idea whose guild the two belonged to.
“Anyway, this spot from Building 207 to 209 is already reserved by our Knife Guild, so you better scram.”
“I don’t want to.”
“What?”
Without hesitation, Yoo Ji-han replied.
He had heard of the Knife Guild a few times, but regardless of what guild they belonged to, he found no reason to comply with their demands.
“Stop being annoying… Are you really not listening?”
“Yup. I’m not.”
“Damn it! This is why no-name guilds fail. You think you can ignore me just because I’m speaking in Korean?”
“It’s all being understood. I already said I’m not leaving. Can’t you hear me?!”
“…Are you seriously crazy?!”
The enraged man shouted profanities.
As he stepped forward to approach, Kim Si-hu opened his mouth as well.
“Hey.”
“What is it, punk?”
“I am the Guild Master of Sweet Fun. If you continue to talk down to us like this, I will formally lodge a complaint with the Knife Guild through the Hero Department today.”
“……!”
The mention of a complaint made the man stop in his tracks.
‘That little guy is the Guild Master?’
This was no mere fight between parties; if it escalated to a guild dispute, it had become too large for him to handle.
In the end, he retreated to the back where his party was.
However, not feeling any better, he continued to glare at Yoo Ji-han.
‘Go ahead and glare.’
Yoo Ji-han shrugged it off and headed back to the stairs.
He might have been different in the past, but now he had no intention of yielding to someone so rude.
Now, he wasn’t an unofficial party member of Keroes who couldn’t reveal his identity and move freely.
Kim Si-hu, walking beside him, said, “You were just a little Guild Master-ish back there.”
“Just a little…?”
*
Instead of heading down to the basement as initially planned, Sweet Fun quickly ascended the stairs and reached the top floor, the 29th Floor.
It might be a bit inconvenient, but it was because they would possibly be disturbed by the following party on the lower level.
“Check every boiler room door.”
“Do we have to go that far?”
“Sometimes there are monsters hiding in narrow, dark spots.”
They pried open all the locked doors on each floor from the top down, slowly checking each apartment, including the main rooms and inside the bathroom tubs.
Though most doors were locked, they had to check thoroughly, as monsters could be hiding.
“Found them.”
Then, they discovered two Giant Cat Monsters emerging into the hallway on the 26th Floor.
“Meow.”
“Meow—”
The critters were eagerly tearing something out of a ripped shopping bag.
As Yoo Ji-han remembered, they were similar in size to leopards, primarily featuring elongated noses and mottled patterns on their bodies.
Usually, Giant Cat Monsters were cases where stray cats had turned into monsters after scavenging for food outside, so it was highly likely this was a similar situation.
They looked relatively cute, except for their size, but…
The problem was that these starving critters could eat even humans.
There had once been a disturbing video of a Giant Cat Monster gnawing on a dead human’s arms and legs that had gone viral on the internet.
“Think we can hit them?”
“Of course.”
The two hidden around the corner waited.
The Giant Cats still hadn’t noticed they had entered the 26th Floor.
With a smooth motion,
Kim Si-hu conjured two Wind Arrows in the air.
This were barely high enough to touch the ceiling as he slowly moved them towards the hallway.
Whoosh!
The Wind Arrow that bent downward shot at the Giant Cat Monster.
Focusing solely on speed, one arrow flew straight and pierced through one of the Giant Cat’s forehead.
“Gah—!”
“Tch.”
However, the other critter, seeing its friend being ambushed, leapt into the air, dodging the arrow.
Emerging from the hidden wall, Yoo Ji-han rushed towards the hissing Giant Cat Monster.
Whoosh!
The Giant Cat leaped forward like a spring.
The rapidly flying critter swung its front paw, thicker than a human wrist, at Yoo Ji-han.
Clang!
The sound of sword clashing against the Giant Cat’s claw resonated like two hard objects colliding.
Unable to withstand the sword’s strength, the claw chipped off a bit, and blood began to flow from the wound caused between the claws.
‘That’s hefty.’
Though he blocked the attack, he couldn’t underestimate the power behind that limb.
If he had brought his previous sword, it would have shattered during the previous collision.
Yoo Ji-han bared his teeth as he lifted his sword towards the critter, baring its own fangs.
Whoosh!
The sharp blade, imbued with anger from the Angry Yak’s horn, sliced through the Giant Cat’s front leg down to the bone without a hitch.
Though the critter tried desperately to block his sword, it was in vain.
“Meow!! Meow!”
It took only 7 seconds to end the life of the critter, one of whose legs had been severed.
The blood from the two Giant Cat Monsters poured profusely onto the apartment hallway.
Drip.
Yoo Ji-han retrieved a liquid-form monster hemostatic agent from his pocket and sprayed it over the Giant Cat.
The magic-infused hemostatic agent quickly coagulated the blood, making it easier to take the monster after hunting.
Being small with little blood volume, he didn’t need to worry much about the Giant Cat.
‘And I did bring a new bundle.’
The bundle he brought today was enhanced with lightweight magic to reduce its weight, along with materials that reacted to the hero’s magic allowing it to float in the air.
The special material used for monsters was so costly that the smallest size went for 5 million won each, but he would rather invest money for convenience.
At this level, with Rank 4 monsters, there was certainly more to manage than with Rank 5s.
And Yoo Ji-han, who handled all the tedious tasks in Kim Hyun-tae’s party, was very efficient with those matters.
“This is going to be quite the task going down the stairs, huh?”
“Let’s try to take down at least 2 or 3 more before heading down.”
Given the layout of the apartment complex, carrying large loads down from the higher floors would be a hassle.
But for now, they had no choice, so they led their slightly elevated bundle down the emergency staircase.
They had been going down for a while when—
“Meow!”
At the moment they were passing the 17th floor.
From the stairs on the lower 16th floor, a Giant Cat Monster stared right at them.
“What…!”
Yoo Ji-han and Kim Si-hu hurriedly set their bundles down.
Thud thud thud!
The fast-moving Giant Cat sprung up.
With its front paw raised high above its shoulder, it aimed for Yoo Ji-han.
Yoo Ji-han calmly defended against the incoming attack with his sword.
[Wind Cutter]
From a slightly higher step, Kim Si-hu shot the wind blade downward.
It flies straight towards its intended target, penetrating less than an arrow, but its casting speed makes it a great spell skill to use in urgent situations.
“Hah!”
The sharp wind cut through the Giant Cat’s waist as it swayed.
Yet it did not lose momentum and glared at Yoo Ji-han with a ferocious and poisonous expression.
Sympathy for a monster that harmed humans was a luxury.
Yoo Ji-han plunged his sword deep into the injury on its waist, finishing it off.
“You surprised me by suddenly popping out.”
He pulled out his hemostatic agent once more.
However, the whiskers of the Giant Cat that he assumed was dead suddenly twitched.
Instinctively, Yoo Ji-han thrust his sword forward!
At that moment, something flickered in his mind.
“Those whiskers, they’re something…”
Looking closely, one notably long and thick whisker was rapidly vibrating from the face of the dead cat.
He quickly lowered his hands towards the cat’s face instead of the sword, pulling the whisker out completely.
The long whisker, detached from its body, gradually lightened in color and turned translucent.
Kim Si-hu seemed to have noticed something and widened his eyes.
“Hyung, don’t tell me!”
“Lucky Whisker!”
“……!”
Lucky Whisker.
The whiskers from the Giant Cat that supposedly bring great luck.
According to industry information, it was a precious item discovered at a very low probability.
Who would have thought they would obtain something like this here?
“What? A Lucky Whisker?!”
In that timely moment, people exited from the 16th floor door.
They were the party from the Knife Guild, who had crossed paths with them at the entrance.
As Yoo Ji-han had thought, they were climbing this building.
Had they gone up one floor at a time, they would have been disturbed.
“That’s real!”
“That can’t be!”
They gawked at the translucent whisker, their mouths dropped open.
Yoo Ji-han pretended to dust off the whisker as if to make it more visible to those around.
‘If only those guys hadn’t been here, we would have caught it ourselves…!’
The party leader, the man who had shouted at the apartment entrance, glared at him with a look of deep frustration.
*
“The heavens must be congratulating us on our rank-up.”
“Seems today is indeed a lucky day.”
Yoo Ji-han and Kim Si-hu exited the barrier, grinning.
They had caught 5 Giant Cats in a short hunt.
However, the items they had obtained were worth far more than that.
Moreover, the delight at seeing the expressions of the party they encountered earlier brought them a sense of satisfaction.
“How long until Sa-im gets here?”
“She said she’d be here in about 10 minutes.”
In 10 minutes, Mongdang was scheduled to visit this place.
Yoo Ji-han leaned against the wall, leaving all the burdens behind, waiting for Jang Sa-im’s contact.
“Don’t cross over!”
“Why can’t we?!”
“Everyone, let’s hold on just a bit more!”
“For our precious children!”
Meanwhile, a commotion ensued at the entrance of the MA.
Members of IUPC, who were protesting, were trying to get through the wall of the Hero Department.
Bang!
“Oh no!”
Then someone tripped, causing the Hero Department’s defensive line to break.
All the IUPC members rushed towards the opening created.
“Look, there are heroes!”
“Don’t miss this chance!”
“Catch them!”
“……?”
Suddenly running out, they surrounded Yoo Ji-han and Kim Si-hu.
“Ahhh! Everyone, look at that!”
A woman pointed at the bundle that Yoo Ji-han had leaned against the wall.
Without fear, she strode forward and hastily untied the bundle’s strings.
“What…?”
In the face of this unexpected spectacle, Yoo Ji-han froze for a moment.
They say that when a person feels a great shock, their body can freeze, and that was exactly what was happening right now.
“How could you do something so cruel!”
“Wahh! Meow, I’m sorry, human!”
As soon as the woman laid the corpse of the Giant Cat on the ground, tears filled the eyes of the IUPC members.
The emotion of sadness swiftly spread among them like ripples across a lake.
There were even people kneeling on the floor, crying.
Then that sadness quickly turned to anger, and the anger was directed at the heroes standing right in front of them.
“You call yourselves heroes?!”
“Heroes? These guys aren’t heroes! They’re just murderers!”
“How dare you….”
“What! Why! Are you even going to try to make excuses?!”
“Let’s pray for our little ones who suffered an unjust death!”
More than ten people unleashed a barrage of words almost like scathing accusations aimed at Yoo Ji-han and Kim Si-hu.
It was utter chaos!
‘What a nuisance.’
Heroes couldn’t directly lay hands on civilians.
They were left to wait for reinforcements from the Hero Department.
“Could you move aside? I have business on that side.”
A man wearing sunglasses stepped forward from the side.
The man who had been pointing at Yoo Ji-han shouted sharply.
“And who the hell are you?!”
“Me?”
The man took off his sunglasses.
The expressions of the IUPC members turned pale as they recognized his face.
“The worst guy in Seoul.”
He was an officially recognized Rank 1 Hero from the Hero Department.
The Guild Master of the Dice Guild, one of the top 10 guilds in Korea.
The Troublemaker, Yoon Do-ha.