The All-Master of Cyberpunk

The All-Masters of Cyberpunk,

Episode 12

12. That’s Not My Cat

“Somehow, things just work out.”

Was this how Kim felt on her lucky day? It was strange that I hadn’t encountered a single mutant, even in the yellow zone.

Even in the game, you’re supposed to encounter at least two or three of them per raid.

Of course, encountering mutants isn’t the problem. It’s something I’ve been expecting since I left the barrier.

Having single-handedly defeated a Gargoyle, an advanced flying mutant, a few days earlier, the mutants found in the Yulha dong area adjacent to the Eastern Checkpoint were not particularly threatening.

To use an animal analogy, they’re about as dangerous as wasps.

If you’re prepared, you can go in and wipe out the entire population without any damage.

Of course, if you get caught, you can still die.

But why Hellcat? There are plenty of other mutants.

I stared at the four pairs of red tentacles, wiggling like seaweed stalks. Eight tentacles in all, it was a fully grown adult.

Now I understood why this place was so quiet, even though it was near a busy shopping district with its own department store.

“You’ve got it coming.”

It had claimed this area as its own.

An intermediate beast-type mutant.

A step down from the advanced flying gargoyle we encountered last time, and lacking the intimidating flight capabilities of the gargoyle, they were instead mutated to enhance the agility and flexibility of their base beast, the cat.

These traits made the Hellcat sometimes more difficult than the Gargoyle to navigate in urban areas.

Only the horse was an intermediate mutation, but its agility made it feel like an advanced mutation in the game.

Hellcat roared again. The sound was nothing more than a cat’s mandibular grunt, but the menace in its roar was immense. I flicked at the chicken that had sprouted on my arm and squeezed the trigger.

Bang, bang!

The hellcat flexed its body in a frighteningly fluid motion and shot back with tentacles. Rebar from the construction site seemed to fall on me one after another.

A shard of asphalt grazes the underside of my cheek, and the pavement rumbles and rises.

At that strength, a mere scratch would be a serious injury.

Bang! Bang! Ping!

That didn’t stop them from firing.

Hellcats have sacrificed durability and regeneration in exchange for agility. Unlike the gargoyle, which could take no damage from a quick hit, even a small-caliber pistol round would do enough damage.

Of course, he didn’t plan on staying on the rooftop. It leaped into the air, dodging the flying bullets, and landed in front of me with an almost too-light step.

“Kyaaaaah, weyyyyyyy!!!”

“Ugh, shit…….”

Up close, the hellcat’s skeleton was even more horrifying than I had imagined. The pale pink flesh, devoid of any hair, and the dried, twisted body, with every organ and bone clearly visible,.

As if that weren’t enough to disgust me, four pairs of tentacles sprouting from its tailbone made it clear that it was no longer just a sick cat but a man-killing “mutant”—a m monster.

Not to mention the horrible stench that assaulted my olfactory senses.

I could barely get my tongue around the sight before another Hellcat’s tentacles swooped in. This time, two at once.

As mutants with superior senses are wont to do when hunting in cities, they use a multi-pronged attack to keep their opponents from reacting.

But having hunted countless Hellcats in Seoul in 2056, I wasn’t surprised. In fact, it was a relief.

“Same attack pattern.

It was right out of the game. A stab to the top left, followed by a swing to the bottom right.

I threw myself into an empty space on the right to dodge his attack.

At first glance, it seemed to move freely, but the tentacles were definitely moving in a pattern. I wondered if it was some sort of instinct.

Once I figured out the pattern, it wasn’t hard to dodge the next attack.

Two pairs of tentacles are flying in a spiraling trajectory. I accelerated my steps and dove behind a pillar on the first floor of the villa. An ear-splitting explosion sounded, but the pillar was still standing.

No matter how powerful the tentacles were, it would be impossible for them to smash through the dense concrete blocks in one fell swoop.

He leaned in and fired, and red blood poured from the few tentacles that were hit by the bullets.

“Kyaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!”

It cried out in pain. I quickly change magazines and fire at the other tentacles while it’s still reeling.

The continuous gunfire shakes the silent villa complex.

Eventually, the Hellcat, overwhelmed by my momentum, began to hesitantly retreat.

You’ve never met an opponent who could do that before, have you?

Now that my opponent had chosen to retreat once, it was time for the air power to shift.

I scrambled for the sedan that had been left in the villa’s parking lot. The Hellcat’s attack, hoping to capitalize on the moment I leave the concrete, falls flat again.

Two shots in quick succession. Bang, bang, bang, bang!

“Hahahah!”

Once again, I failed to land a hit, but the creature stiffened in surprise.

A split second of hesitation. I had no intention of letting go of the opening I’d barely caught. With two pairs of tentacles missing, now was my chance.

I quickly closed the distance. My heart pounds in my ears, and my vision narrows to an extreme.

I toss the pistol away and clench my fists tightly.

Pistols aren’t as effective in close combat as I thought. They didn’t develop melee-tech bodies in the world of Seoul 2056 for nothing.

If not for humans, then at least for mutants, a heavy steel arm was far more effective than a squeeze of a pistol trigger.

If it resisted physical force, you just crushed it with more physical force.

“Hmph!”

“Kyaaaaah!”

Shockwave. Simple but powerful. It wasn’t the kind of ability that made Kim Sang-yup a B-class hunter for nothing.

I threw my fist at the Hellcat, merely swinging it into the air, but the power in my body created a powerful shockwave that shook the air.

Kwaaang!

The sound of compressed air is exploding. The hellcat’s tentacles, which had easily pierced the asphalt, fell to the ground like seaweed stalks.

“Kyaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

I missed. I guess agility was one thing the other mutants couldn’t match.

But they didn’t stop attacking. Again, combat was a ‘flow’.

Moreover, the Hellcat’s movements were clearly sluggish. It was clear that it was seriously wounded.

Right off the bat, he looks panicked. Does it realize now that it’s completely trapped?

Of course, even if he did, it wouldn’t change anything.

“That’s it.”

I swung my fist again, harder this time. One, two. I punch the air with the force of my back and heels.

Two explosive shockwaves hit the Hellcat.

Pfft!

It went limp, unable to even scream. With a crunch of bone, the Hellcat’s body crashed to the asphalt.

It was the last of the monstrosities that had wrinkled the entire villa complex.

I dusted off my hands and retrieved the pistol I’d thrown away earlier. The T-shirt I wore was drenched in sweat, clinging to the leather of my back.

Hellcat, of all things.

It was a very tricky opponent because it was still poorly armed. If it weren’t for Kim’s ability to absorb it early on, I would have been able to escape.

The extras, who had left the scene with a cold shoulder, had unintentionally helped.

“You saved my life.”

I thanked the now deceased Kim Sang-yup profusely and walked toward the Hellcat’s carcass.

The purity of its soulstone must have been very high, since it was a mutant that was the local lord of the land.

If done right, it could fetch more than a gargoyle.

True to its word, the soulstone in Hellcat’s hand glowed a brilliant green. The darker the color, the higher the purity, so it should fetch at least 10 million won.

‘What? Hahahaha! That’s right, you’ve defeated both the Gargoyle and the Hellcat in one go. You’re really old, Mr. Dojin!

I can already hear the guild leader’s voice, damn it.

“Let’s get this favor out of the way first, before all those gunshots send the shivers down your spine.”

Of course, there was no time to waste. The loud gunfire might have stirred up the nearby mutants.

Even if they weren’t, humans wandering around inside the Yellow Zone would be wary.

Unless they’re visiting the liberated villages themselves, I’d consider them all competitors for now.

I quickly retrieved the shiny soulstone and headed back to my original destination, the villa.

Villa 204.

The locked front door was ripped open with a shockwave, and the interior was in disarray. There were broken dishes scattered around and clothes that hadn’t been packed.

In a space of just 24 square meters, it’s a testament to the chaos that gripped the world.

“Bittersweet.

I gathered up the family album that had been left unattended in what I assumed was the master bedroom, feeling unnecessarily heavy.

I figured this would be better than just bringing her a single photo.

“Oh, come to think of it, the roof of this villa was a hellcat’s nest, wasn’t it?”

As I was about to make a swift return trip to get my commission, I remembered something I had forgotten.

Like the Hellcat earlier, the mutant that is taking over an area often has a nest of its own.

It’s worth checking to see if he’s hit any young.

There’s no point in leaving them in harm’s way. It’s not something you can just dismiss as an annoyance.

When I arrived at the villa, there was no worried hellcat cub on the roof, but instead something shiny and shimmering in the sunlight.

“Is that…?”

An impact gauntlet.

A heavy piece of equipment that generates a miniaturized force field, allowing the user to lift huge chunks of concrete with ease.

Among the users of Seoul 2056, it was known as a melee weapon.

I couldn’t help but pick up the gauntlet, mesmerized.

“Why is this here?”

It was in mint condition.