S-Class Hunter Heals with Monsters - Chapter 218



Only Noblemtl

218. The Mask is Stripped, The Identity of the Coconut Family

Cheon Do-woon saw Dodak in the midst of the commotion.

Dodak landed in perfect posture with both arms spread wide.

-Whew!

He didn’t forget to let out a roar as he landed.

The priest who saw that also ran towards him with a brisk pace and looked up at Cheon Do-un.

-Beep!

“You want to come up too?”

When Cheon Do-woon raised his other hand, Sasa also jumped on top of it.

A sasa in his left hand and a dodak in his right. The siblings who saw it from afar laughed.

“It seems like our position is in danger.”

The Coconut Family also laughed at that playful remark. Of course, Rep. Park Woo-jung, who was watching, couldn’t laugh.

‘What? What happened? Did you jump out of my office window? From there to here?’

He looked back and forth between Cheon Do-woon and his own office in confusion.

Even for the most awakened, it is difficult to jump over this distance in one go.

I was surprised he did it, and surprised he came out of his office.

He tried hard to hide his feelings and approached Cheon Do-woon.

[The leader of the Coconut Family team has arrived. As you heard, there are suspicions of foul play again. Can you prove your innocence?]

“Proof. That’s a strange thing to say. If there’s suspicion, you should first provide evidence that they cheated. You’re saying to falsely accuse someone and then prove their innocence? Doesn’t that seem like the order is reversed?”

Cheon Do-woon spoke with mana in his voice on purpose.

As his words spread throughout the audience, people nodded their heads.

“That’s right. It’s strange to rush into something based on just circumstantial evidence.”

“Why is the organizer, who is supposed to remain neutral, acting like that?”

As the boos poured in, Rep. Park Woo-jung’s face turned into a look of defeat.

I didn’t hand over the microphone on purpose so that people would only get biased information.

That shallow trick was broken when Cheon Do-woon spread his mana through his voice.

But I can’t give up here. I’ve already started, so I have to see it through to the end.

Rep. Park Woo-jung took the microphone again and spoke.

[I understand you are offended, but please cooperate in the interest of fairness. Can the judges examine that branch?]

Rep. Park Woo-jung pointed to the branch that Dodak was holding.

Cheon Do-woon laughed. It was funny to see what he was thinking.

He could have subdued them by force, but Cheon Do-woon didn’t do that. For him, it was more fun to listen to what the other person said.

It’s more fun to see the look on someone’s face when their planned plans fall through.

“Okay. Then take a look and give it to me.”

Cheon Do-woon handed the branch to the judge.

Rep. Park Woo-jung’s eyes wavered at his confident appearance.

‘Why are you so confident? Could it be that there really isn’t any device in place?’

No, that can’t be. The power I saw in the game was definitely not ordinary. It wasn’t the kind of power that such a small creature could produce.

‘There must be something written on that branch.’

Even as I thought that, I couldn’t help but feel uneasy at Cheon Do-woon’s calm appearance.

‘If the game so far isn’t a trick, Team AA can’t beat the Coconut Family.’

He felt like he was on the edge of a cliff, but he didn’t lose hope.

‘When I really don’t like it, I use the last resort. I want to save money because it was expensive, but… this is not the time to be concerned about such things.’

He saw the heavens. Such skilled people could not have fallen from the sky.

It was highly likely that someone had created a team by hiring high-level Awakeners.

‘Is it the president of the Hunter Association again? Or are they the ones who participated at the instigation of my opponents?’

Whatever it was, they were probably people trying to narrow their own position. We had to prevent those people from winning.

‘No matter what happens, I’ll be the one laughing last.’

Rep. Park Woo-jung thought about the last step he had prepared with insurance.

* * *

The judges examined the branches carefully.

I tried blowing mana into them one by one, but it didn’t produce the same power as when Dodak swung it.

“It’s just a regular branch. I can sense the monster’s aura on it, so I think it’s part of the body of that plant chimera.”

They returned the branch to Cheon Do-un and said:

As Cheon Do-un had expected, no one recognized the value of the tree branch.

“That’s what they say. Did you hear?”

Cheon Do-woon looked back at Rep. Park Woo-jung. His expression was distorted, as if he had chewed on a bitter persimmon.

Although he immediately regained his composure, his face turned red after meeting Cheon Do-woon’s eyes.

‘Their skills are real. If that’s the case… I guess I’ll have to use my last resort.’

Let’s activate the device we’ve prepared. Let’s ruin this year’s festival itself.

If the festival is canceled, there will be no winners, and no one will get to propose legislation this year.

‘It’s to keep my position.’

He designed it so that when he gave the signal, a natural gate would open in the sky.

Of course, the gate was fake, but it would have been enough to halt the festival if an evacuation order had been issued.

Rep. Park Woo-jung secretly sent a signal to his secretary.

* * *

The secretary, who was watching the situation from nearby, took a small stone out of his pocket.

‘I told you to break this when I gave the signal. What is this?’

The secretary looked at the stone he had taken out.

It looked similar to a return stone, but the red glow gave it a different feel.

All he knew about the stone was that Rep. Park Woo-jung had bought it from someone.

I don’t know what it is, but I have to do what I’m told until I quit.

The secretary broke the stone as instructed. At that moment, the spell was activated and a red light gathered in the sky over the playground.

* * *

“I apologize for misunderstanding that you cheated. I think there was a mistake on our part. I will make sure that something like this never happens again.”

Rep. Park Woo-jung bowed his head to Cheon Do-woon.

The voice was polite. The way he bowed his head also seemed genuinely apologetic.

At that moment, the sky turned red. Those who looked up were astonished to see a giant gate opening in the sky.

It wasn’t the blue gate that hunters used to pass through. It looked similar, but the color was clearly different.

“Father, the red gate… .”

“It’s a natural gate! The gate is open!”

The moment someone shouted, a 10-meter tall monster appeared inside the gate.

It looked like a crab from the sea. It resembled a crustacean and came halfway through the gate.

But the gate was too small to get out, so they just waved their claws in the air.

[Everyone, stay calm! The audience has a top-level protective spell cast on them! It’s safest to not leave your seat!]

The host jumped into the audience and shouted.

The contestants and judges also quickly flew towards the audience.

Most of those who participated in the festival were not combat-type Awakened.

Since about half of the people were just there to have fun, no one stepped forward to fight the monsters.

There were active hunters, but they were not reckless enough to rush into monsters bare-handed and unarmed.

As everyone evacuated to the stands, Cheon Do-woon was the only one left in the stadium.

He looked up at the open gate in the sky.

“Hey, come here quickly! It’s safe here!”

“T, you’re wrong. That guy isn’t moving at all. He must be frozen in surprise!”

“Shouldn’t I bring it?”

“How do you get there? You’re too close to the monsters!”

People were at a loss as they watched Cheon Do-un.

Unlike them who were stamping their feet, Cheon Do-woon calmly examined the gate.

“Something feels strange. A gate that large should emit a strong mana.”

If it’s a naturally occurring gate, we’ve seen it countless times since ancient times.

In his opinion, that wasn’t a gate.

-Kirruruk!

The crab-shaped monster swung its pincers at Cheon Do-un.

It didn’t touch the ground, but the wind pressure alone tore the tents pitched on the playground apart and blew them away.

Screams echoed from all sides. No one was hurt thanks to the protective barriers placed around the audience, but the feeling of fear was a different matter.

People fell to the ground when a giant monster suddenly appeared.

Rep. Park Woo-jung also leaned in and joined in. The only difference was that the corners of his mouth went up because he couldn’t hold it in.

‘This is the end of this year’s festival.’

He looked at the playground with a smile of conversion. The giant pincers were swinging at Cheon Do-woon again.

* * *

Boom. A giant claw slammed into the playground. The man standing there was probably crushed flat and dead.

People trembled with miserable faces.

But the sight that was revealed when the dust cleared was not what they had expected.

“Look at that! It’s alive.”

Someone shouted. It wasn’t even close to being alive.

Cheon Do-woon was holding the crab claw with one hand.

It looked like he had been caught lightly, but the floor around him was hollow.

That alone made me feel how strong the blow was.

The problem was that even if you could block the claws, you couldn’t stop the gust of wind they created.

-Whew, Whew!

The gust of wind that hit the ground caused Dodak’s mask to be torn off and blown away.

Dodak, standing on Cheon Do-woon’s shoulder, was captured in close-up on a large screen floating in the air.

“Huh? That thing… that thing on that guy’s shoulder.”

Those who recognized Dodak’s eyes grew wide.

Park Woo-jung, who had been smiling with conversion, froze the moment he saw Dodak.

“Do… Dodak! That’s Dodak!”

The shouts of those who recognized Dodak echoed throughout the auditorium. People looked up with surprised faces and looked at the playground.

A plump body. Plump limbs. Fresh leaves and dignified eyes.

There was no doubt about it. It was a dodak.

There is only one person in the world who can take along a S-class hunter, Dodak.

The identity of the masked man popped into everyone’s mind.

“Tripod… a tripod with a handle.”

Someone groaned as he spoke. An old-time S-class hunter, Dodak’s tripod.

The unknown Cheon Do-un was soon being called Dodak Samgakdae.

“Hey, that guy was Tripod!”

“Wow! We survived. We survived!”

People who had been trembling in fear cheered in an instant. Their fear disappeared and they started filming with their cell phones.

While everyone was laughing, only Rep. Park Woo-jung had a distorted expression. He couldn’t move with his mouth open.

Meanwhile, Cheon Do-woon looked at the crab claw he had caught.

“It was so light that I couldn’t believe it. It was true.”

Cheon Do-woon waved his other hand.

The thread from his fingertips wrapped around the claw. When he pulled on it, the claw was torn to pieces with a creaking sound.

Broken crab claws fell everywhere.

There was no blood. There was no flesh flying. People’s eyes widened when they saw it.

“Hey, what is that?”

“It’s empty.”

The inside of the pincers was empty. The body visible beyond the severed part was also empty.

“This is an empty shell that has been dead for decades.”

Still, it moved. It rolled its eyes as if it were alive.

It was all a fake move, made to look plausible.

“Corpse manipulation.”

The ability to control the corpses of creatures you kill when certain conditions are met.

It was a special ability that was considered rare even among the Awakened.

“As far as I know, there is only one person with this ability.”

Cheon Do-woon looked back at Seok Woo-hyeok.

Seok Woo-hyuk was looking at the hollow crab claws with a stern face.

The siblings also had stiff expressions. They had left the lab when they were young, and their memories of that time were hazy, but there was one person who came to mind.

“Director of TDA’s Research Institute.”

Seok Woo-hyuk’s father and the one who turned him into a doppelganger and abandoned him.

That was the ability of the director of that research institute.

“I think I caught a big fish at this festival.”

Cheon Do-woon jumped towards the fake gate.

He kicked the struggling crab that was stuck in the gate and sent it inside.

At the same time, the threads coming out of the tips of the ten fingers threaded through the gate that had opened in the air.

As I pulled both hands in that state, the gate closed as if it were sewn shut with a thread.

“I, what is that… I sewed the gate.”

“That’s ridiculous. Is that possible?”

It would have been impossible originally. Now, it was possible because this was ‘something that imitated the gate’.

Thanks to this, a bizarre sight was created where the stitches were floating in the air.

People’s mouths were wide open as they took pictures and videos.

The group also approached with curious expressions on their faces.

“Can you close the gate too?”

“No. That’s not a gate. Someone used their subspace abilities to imitate a gate.”

“Subspace abilities?”

“Oh. It looks like they put the monster in there in advance and controlled it. It was made so elaborately that I almost got fooled.”

If it had disappeared like that, everyone would have thought it was a gate.

However, because Cheon Do-un had threaded it with mana, it remained and could not disappear.

Cheon Do-woon looked around the audience.

When his eyes met with his, Park Woo-jung’s face turned pale.

“Found it.”

The culprit who opened it and the link to the TDA Research Institute Director.

Cheon Do-woon moved. The moment he took a step, he was already standing on the back of the audience seat.

“Eek!”

Rep. Park Woo-jung stumbled and fell.

Cheon Do-woon looked at him and lifted his paper mask.