The Time-Limited Leader Makes the Raid a Success - Chapter 37



Only Noblemtl

Episode 37

37. Something seems strange.

‘You little bastard! Are you treating me like a piece of shit? Isn’t this revenge for the parking lot incident?’

Choi Mi-ran was away from Kim Sung-hyun for a long time and had gone hunting.

Her new party members were mostly low-ranking rookies.

As a senior in the guild, I had worked closely with the main hunters of the expedition line, so it was quite humiliating to have to form a party with the newbies at the bottom.

but.

Her rank is C+.

He was an unfortunate hunter who had awakened over 10 years ago but failed to become a B-.

The strategy team assessed this as her limitation, and her colleagues didn’t think much differently.

Still, I was able to endure it because I was in a support position that took care of miscellaneous tasks for the party rather than dealing direct damage to monsters.

Fortunately, Choi Miran had a good sense, so much so that she received considerably better scores in tactical evaluations than in stat evaluations.

That’s why Kang Moo-hyuk gave her the role of giving party orders.

“Aww, it’s frustrating! No matter how fast the blood squirrel is, it’s still like that. Can’t you let go of the sword once? Hey, tank! Did you boil the shield and eat it? Hold on tight and take it with your body!”

“Fuck… He’s a senior who’s always been a C+.”

The tanker that Choi Mi-ran had been patting on the back and nagging started complaining.

“… … .”

Choi Mi-ran heard the tanker’s rebellious complaints, but pretended not to hear them for the time being.

No personal feelings during battle.

Even though she was of low rank, she knew what a hunter’s stance was.

On the other hand, the tank responded by swinging its shield like a weapon, seemingly oblivious to the orders. As a result, the rest of the party members suffered.

Finally, when the Blood Squirrel was out of the range of Choi Miran’s party and had to be dealt with by another party, she reorganized her formation and shot the tank.

“Hey, did you call me a bitch earlier?”

“Huh? Me? No. It’s not ‘Ssibul’, it’s ‘Ssippul’. Your senior’s Ssippul rank is correct. Why? Did I mention your senior rank hurt your pride? I’m sorry about that.”

Is this a fight or a silence?

‘Are you touching me gently?’

This was something that Choi Mi-ran often experienced outside the guild.

Hunters who have stopped growing for a long time are not treated well anywhere.

There is no seniority system, and being recognized as a guild veteran is something I could never have dreamed of in the Hunter World.

Because it was a Taesung guild, and because it caught the eye of the expedition leader, Do Kyung-hoon.

She knew very well that she was being treated as a senior.

‘Hold on, hold on. I can’t ruin the hunt by trying to kill this kid right now. I’ve already been marked by the captain. Let’s see where I put it later.’

* * *

Unlike Choi Mi-ran, who still thought she was being targeted by the manager because of the incident in the parking lot, Kang Moo-hyuk was evaluating her coolly.

‘Choi Mi-ran. A supporter with a high level of tactical understanding. She was evaluated as a freelancer with good growth potential when she first joined the team, but she has been stagnant at C+ rank for 5 years. Why is that?’

While there are geniuses who awaken and become A-rank within a few years, there are also hunters who never reach B-rank in their entire lives.

Considering that reality, Choi Mi-ran could be considered a hunter whose growth had stopped.

but.

‘Your hunting history is too short compared to your current age and the time you were awakened. You couldn’t enter Gate-EL when you should have been growing a lot.’

Kang Moo-hyuk’s thoughts were a little different.

Compared to hunters of the same rank and age in upper guilds, the hunting experience is insignificant.

It was diagnosed that this was the reason why Choi Mi-ran’s growth was stagnant.

“The blood squirrel is running away.”

“I think it’s right to say that I missed it.”

As Joo Sea said, it was more like missing than running away.

More than half of the blood squirrels, who were gradually becoming more vulnerable, escaped from the correctional facility.

At most, we caught eight.

Only five of them were completely decapitated. The remaining three were being finished off by having their legs and tails cut off.

“We failed to properly block the escape. If this was inside the gate, we would have failed.”

It was not uncommon for monsters that were missed at the gate to return as a troublemaker.

So, each guild had a highly mobile party that took on the task of blocking.

This was the same for Irewill, but the party that was actually in charge of blocking ended up in danger after rushing out to catch the monster, so they received help from another party.

Thanks to that, the scrum collapsed and the blood squirrels were lost.

“It’s a shame there aren’t any dead hunters. I guess we’ll have to review today’s battle using the camera footage we installed in the camp.”

Kang Mu-hyeok ordered the treatment of the wounded and the maintenance of the camp. Then, he was about to send out a scout party in case of a possible attack.

-Sir, I think you should come to the situation room.

Gongduri’s voice was heard through the earset.

“What’s going on?”

-This is Watusi Snake. I heard he entered into battle with ‘Beta Two’.

“!!”

* * *

The animal called Watusi is easy to understand if you think of it as an African bighorn heron.

Horns grow on both sides of the head, and the horns grow to a maximum length of 2.4 meters at each end between the horns.

So the snake monster with huge horns that resembled a Watusi was called the ‘Watusi Snake’.

‘This is a monster that is considered a top 4 star monster with only horn attacks and physical defense leather. It’s difficult to use as a reconnaissance party.’

It wasn’t just difficult; it was a do-or-die situation.

At this time, Joo Se-ah, who was sharing a communication with Kang Mu-hyeok, said.

“I’ll go. Where is it?”

“Guild leader.”

When Kang Mu-hyeok turned to Joo Se-ah, she shrugged and responded.

“I know that Gilma can’t come out one by one. But they are still not ready. For now, we have to save the hunters.”

Kang Moo-hyuk thought about the best card besides Joo Se-ah, but it was true that it was not suitable.

To deal with Watusi, a party that included experienced B-ranks was required, but each hunter in the party had different speeds, making it difficult to rescue them in time. They could easily be defeated individually as soon as they arrived.

In that case, it was certain that he would have to go alone and finish it off at least as an A-rank hunter, but among the hunters he could send right away, the only one he could trust was Jang Deuk-gu.

However, as a tank, he had a weakness in speed.

Naturally, the best solution could not help but come to mind, Joo Se-ah.

Kang Mu-hyeok nodded his head in agreement.

“please.”

“okay.”

When Joo Se Ah, who had received the party location, was about to take a step, she saw Kang Mu Hyuk’s face, which seemed to be deep in thought, and couldn’t help but say a few words.

“Chief Kang. I understand that you don’t want to take the easy way out. But let’s not force ourselves to take the dangerous path.”

As soon as she said that and flew away, she disappeared from the schoolyard in an instant.

Kang Moo-hyuk expressed his concern as he watched her back, which had disappeared beyond the horizon and turned into a dot.

‘Before even fighting the goblins, the blood squirrels and then the Watusi snakes? Neither of these two species would attack so openly. They even targeted the base camp. And they attacked the scouts. It doesn’t seem like a coincidence.’

Kang Moo-hyuk headed to the situation room to check if he had missed anything.

* * *

When she arrived at the scene, the first thing Joo Seah discovered was a 15-meter-long horned snake.

As it happened, the Watusi Snake was about to eat.

It was similar to anacondas on Earth in that they wrapped their bodies around their prey, suffocating it and then swallowing it after it had passed out.

The hunters continued to attack in an attempt to rescue their captured comrades, with the Watusi Snake in the middle, but their firepower was insufficient to pierce its hide.

“You little snake!”

Joo Seah’s eyes flashed and she rushed at the Watusi Snake.

The Watusi snake sensed danger and flipped away, closing its mouth as if about to swallow its prey.

The Watusi snake, which had quickly gained distance with its spring-like elasticity, bit its prey and tried to retreat.

Judging from the threat I felt a little while ago, I recognized this as a difficult opponent.

Hunting beyond one’s hunger was prohibited.

As it was a beast-like monster that believed in the warnings of its instincts, it tried to back down with regret.

“Who can run away on their own?!”

The Watusi Snake was startled by the sudden presence close by.

I thought it would be okay if it fell this much. No?

Since they couldn’t escape, this time they attacked.

He turned his head and stuck out his horns.

Even monsters stronger than him do not attack him easily because of these horns.

Even if you win, you could suffer fatal injuries.

If you become weak, you die.

The instincts of the Gate monsters were no different from those of the wild.

“Where did you get your horns from?!”

Jusea jumped up to the height of the Watusi snake’s head, landed on the snake’s snout, and grabbed hold of its horns.

At this moment, Watusi Snake predicted victory.

Because I believed in the poison contained in the horn.

Passuss …

Joo Sea, who was absentmindedly watching the hand holding the horn turn black, looked down at the Watusi Snake and said.

“What is poison?”

As if those words were a signal, the venom that had risen to my elbows began to recede.

Joo Seah expelled the venom from the snake’s snout in just enough time for a single puff of air to escape, then raised her fist above her head.

Then he activated the tank’s basic skill.

“Strengthening muscles.”

Kwaang!

With a loud noise like a thunderbolt striking from a fist, the Watusi Snake’s head crashed into the ground.

It was instant death.

The Watusi Snake’s head was cracked open, and yellow brain fluid flowed out.

Joo Seah felt relieved as she pulled the freed hunter out of the coiled snake’s body.

“Whew, you’re still breathing.”

The guild members who had been watching Joo Se Ah’s activities came running, thinking that it was fortunate that it was not too late.

“Hey, Gilma!”

“No one is hurt anywhere—!”

“??”

The guild members were puzzled by Joo Se Ah’s stiff face and shutting her mouth while speaking.

Joo Sea gave an order, leaving the unconscious hunter in charge.

“Return to camp. And let Captain Kang Mu-hyeok know.”

“yes??”

They could tell that Gilma was in battle mode again.

The surrounding air was warm with a tingling sensation that even made my skin tingle.

The heat generated by Mana made even their bodies feel warm.

Even though no one said anything, all the party members turned their heads in the direction Joo Se Ah was glaring at.

The forest was in an uproar.

“Um, what is that… … .”

“Let’s go. We don’t have the luxury of fighting while guarding.”

As Joo Seah continued to urge them, the hunters hastily gathered up their unconscious comrades and left the place.

Everyone glanced back as they ran south.

“Oh my god. What is all that… … ?”

Beings crawling out through the forest.

It was a Watusi snake.

And not just one or two, but dozens.

‘That little snake lives in groups?’

It was natural for a strong and large entity to move in small groups or alone.

It was because of the food.

Except during mating season, they had to defend each other’s territory to secure sufficient food.

On the other hand, the current Watusi Snake’s behavior was completely different from what hunters knew.

“Notify the camp. There’s something strange here.”

* * *

“Even if we assume that the blood squirrels move in groups, the Watusi are way beyond our expectations. Has there been some change in the ecology of the Bukpocheon monsters?”

Kang Mu-hyeok, who received a report from the retreating hunters, focused on the basic tendencies and movements of the attacking monsters.

Gongduri, who was watching this from the side, said something.

“Aren’t you worried, Gilma? You should send support or something.”

“It’s okay if the guild leader doesn’t request it.”

“Even though there are so many snakes that are nearly 20 meters long?”

“It will be a bit difficult, but it won’t be dangerous. There are other things more important than that.”

Joo Se-ah was the one who didn’t worry about Kang Mu-hyeok at all.

Although it showed different aspects from other Watusi snakes, there was no way that a mere 4-star monster could bring the Indomitable Witch to her knees.

‘Right now, the priority is to understand the situation first.’

It wasn’t for nothing that Joo Seah told the hunters to report first.

She was looking for Kang Mu-hyeok’s advice on this strange phenomenon.

‘No matter how wide Bukpocheon is, it is not large enough to house dozens of Watusi snakes.’

Kang Moo-hyuk searched through his notebook files, where he had organized similar cases.

“You’re here.”

Watusi King Cobra.

‘AKA the King of Snakes.’

Not only the Watusi Snake, but also all snake monsters below 4 stars were under the control of this King Cobra.

‘The strange thing here is that even if it’s a king cobra, it doesn’t release its men into such a narrow space. In the first place, the king cobra itself is a species that evolved from an old watusi snake that shed its skin. That would require abundant food and a long time. This isn’t some goblin, and it wouldn’t have increased its numbers ignorantly… ‘

At that moment, something flashed through Kang Mu-hyeok’s mind.

“Oh… That’s it?!”

Soon, as he realized the situation, a darker complexion covered his face.