The Time-Limited Leader Makes the Raid a Success - Chapter 61



Only Noblemtl

Episode 62

62. It must be time for you to start getting hungry.

-Did you see the video I sent you?

“Yes, I saw it.”

-What do you think, Captain? Those guys who did this. Judging by the tribal markings and the evidence of ritualistic eating. They’re just like those guys, right?

“Maybe they are the ones that Captain Lee Jin-ju is thinking of.”

Kang Moo-hyuk watched the gruesome scene in the video over and over again.

They nailed a human head to a pole and surrounded it with cow intestines. They also stuck the cow heads into the fence of the barn like stakes and aligned them left and right, which seemed to be a kind of ritual performed by tribal monsters.

Especially in the form of temporary decorations made by weaving grass and branches like totems.

It was a sight I had seen before.

‘Orc.’

During his time in the Titan Guild, Kang Mu-hyeok had experience in raiding the gate several times, so he was well aware of the orcs’ habits.

Since the Orc tribe data was also made public through the Hunter’s Association, research into the meaning of totem shapes has also progressed considerably.

That’s why I was even more skeptical about the totem in the video.

‘This totem is a bit out of the blue. Victory… . Jubilation… . What on earth are they celebrating? Eating their fill? Killing humans? Whatever it is, it doesn’t seem like something worth celebrating, yet they made a totem. I don’t understand it.’

The cow’s head stretched out to the left and right like a path signified improvement or victory, and the head and entrails in the middle, adorned on a pillar, signified joy.

A totem usually seen only among orc tribes that have fought in wars.

It was an expression I couldn’t understand at all. Where had the orcs fought a war? In Nampocheon, they were a group that had no achievements to erect such a grand totem.

This sense of discomfort was also the same for Lee Jin-ju.

-Even though the orcs filled their heads with muscles instead of brains, this is the first time I’ve seen a totem without context. What on earth made them put a totem like this in, man.

“It’s true that orcs are stupid and irrational, but they don’t put totems on without any meaning. Totems are like sacred rituals and history books to them. That’s why some argue that orcs should be classified as a race similar to humans, not monsters.”

-Pseudo-humans? What the heck! How human. After all this. Those who claim that have never been through a gate. There is no one more barbaric and cruel than the Orcs.

“So we need to find them faster. There could be more victims in the future. Can you track them down?”

Lee Jin-joo scratched her head as if she was troubled by Kang Mu-hyeok’s question.

-You know that orcs are really good at hiding, right? It’s a pain if they get stuck somewhere inside the city other than the gate.

“Any traces?”

“It’s been a while and it rained, so there are no footprints or excrement left. Also, the tracking skill was cut off midway. I think it was intentionally erased. Looking at this, I don’t think it’s an ordinary orc.

A wrinkle appeared between Kang Moo-hyuk’s eyebrows.

The fact that even the veteran Jinju Lee from the expedition team had missed the traces meant that he wasn’t just a simple orc. The fact that he had taken measures that would make his skills ineffective was even worse news.

‘It’s a hunter’s nature for monsters to erase their traces. It seems they’ve evolved considerably.’

Like goblins, orcs were also tribal, evolved monsters.

The more we gather, the more time passes. We become stronger and smarter.

Beginner hunters who don’t know anything are happy when they catch a goblin or an orc. This is because the items they get are quite good compared to the difficulty of the hunt.

But experienced hunters are disgusted.

It was fortunate if they were small, but if they were in large groups, they were more difficult than any other monster.

If we happened to encounter a large tribe of orcs that had reached the final stage of evolution at the gate, we would consider giving up the raid.

From then on, the raid level was raised to almost war level.

-By the way, how did you get over the electric fence without being detected? You said that monsters have gotten over it before, but never sneaked in.

“The police and Pocheon City conducted a joint investigation. They discovered traces of digging the ground.”

-Tunnel? Huh, these guys are not usually that smart, are they? For a monster.

“The victim lived alone and had no family, so the discovery was delayed. Because of that, I roughly found out about the livestock farm by asking people around. I checked how many cows were raised in the farm and how many were missing.”

-Why the cow… . Ah, scale? You must have had a company dinner with beef… . So how many orcs do you think came over?

“Based on the traces of the cows they ate, it is estimated that there were about ten cows in the group. It has been four days since they preyed, so they must be starting to get hungry.”

-Are you saying that if it’s hiding somewhere, it will show up soon?

“Yes. Appetite is the instinct that orcs cannot control the most.”

* * *

A mountain behind the city that can be found anywhere in Korea.

Birds were chirping leisurely, and the rough breathing of animals could be heard out of nowhere on the path where people coming to get medicinal water should have walked.

“Kuruk.”

With its depressed nose, short, pointed ears, protruding lower molars, dark skin, yellowish eyes with prominent veins, and horizontal, oval-shaped pupils, it was an hideous sight that would make your stomach churn just by looking at it.

The orcs came down the mountain.

I hid in the grass and watched the people leaving for work early in the morning, like a hunter selecting his prey.

It wasn’t long before the orcs discovered easy, tasty prey.

[Nuribyeol Daycare Center]

The little people getting off the yellow iron carriage one by one looked like they had rough skin just by looking at them.

“Kurukur. Kuruk. Quaquaker.”

An orc with an ornate feather decoration on his head, unlike the other orcs who were dressed in plain attire, gave the signal.

‘There are a lot of people. Wait until the surroundings become quiet.’

The orcs who received the order hid deep in the grass.

Now, happily awaiting the dinner party that is about to come.

* * *

“Ahhh, everyone is so free. So leisurely. I’m dying.”

Freelance hunter Kim Su-jeong was sitting in a cafe, enjoying the view outside.

It was a weekday afternoon, and I had nothing to do but complain about the situation, as I was playing at a time when I should be busy going around hunting grounds.

“Normally there aren’t many people at this time. Everyone is at work or school.”

“Shut up. If you hadn’t brought up so many false information, you wouldn’t have been sucking your thumb all week.”

“No, I said it was really reliable information. The source was also reliable.”

“That cousin? He’s at the guild office? Heh! Be honest with me. Is that legendary cousin really real?”

“Did this older sister just live a lie? Would I lie and say that I ate well and stuff? I mean, my brother said that Iron Will would open the Bukpocheon hunting grounds soon. He told me that if you go in first, you’ll get a lot of benefits. We, the novice players, need to keep an eye out for events like that.”

“But this damn thing. He’s not some unemployed person. I should have gone to Jirisan Special Activity Area instead. The fees are high, but there are a lot of mobs there… Hey, who can I blame? It’s my fault for trusting you.”

“I told you not. I told you it would definitely be announced this week. Just wait and see. There’s a huge big event coming out of Iron Will.”

The same party member, Yoo Seong-ju, pounded his chest as if he was frustrated.

Kim Soo-jung spoke with the feeling of pouring water on spilled milk.

“Okay, okay. Since there are restrictions on entry to Jirisan these days, even if I go now, I’ll just have to wait. It’s not like I’ll die if I stay here a few more days. The credit card bill is a bit high, though… I’ll just pretend I’m being fooled and wait a little longer, okay?”

“I said it’s true, really… … .”

Leaving behind Yoo Seong-ju’s loud voice, Kim Soo-jung lay down on the table and turned her gaze out the window.

I could see children running around the playground beyond the fence of the daycare across the street.

It was a day when the chilly late autumn weather was warmed up by the sunlight. Kim Soo-jung sighed as the weather made her want to go on a trip somewhere.

“The weather is nice~ I wish I could go back to kindergarten like those kids. I wouldn’t have to worry about food and shelter.”

“I worry about buying equipment before I worry about making a living.”

“Eight, that damn gear, gear, gear! Since I became a Hunter, I’ve been running a deficit every month because of buying gear. I woke up for nothing, tsk! I thought I’d eat well and live well once I became a Hunter, but who would’ve thought I’d end up in debt? I wish I’d ​​just been a normal office worker.”

“Yeah. It would be better if you joined a decent guild.”

“Yes, a guild. Not a small or medium guild, but at least a mid-sized guild. If that were the case, wouldn’t we be suffering like this now, Orcs?”

“What? Why are you digressing?”

“No, really. That thing over there. Isn’t that an orc?”

“This older sister sang the hunting, hunting song, and now she’s seeing things? Why is there an orc here? It’s an orc.”

I noticed orcs sliding down the hillside connected to the road.

Kim Soo-jung and Yoo Seong-ju looked at each other with their mouths wide open. At the same time, cheers burst out of their mouths.

““I got it!””

They were laughing and joking as they packed up the boxes of equipment they had placed next to them. But they were startled when they saw the orcs heading to the daycare center.

“These crazy kids!”

“Hey, go over there quickly and stop it!”

* * *

“Detective Kim, if you’re tired, just let me drive. Don’t fall asleep.”

“Ah, this damned coma. The sun feels just right.”

“It’s not because of anorexia. It’s because you came straight out of duty yesterday. No matter how great the promotion is, you need to take it easy.”

“It’s chaos these days. At times like this, we need to show our military discipline.”

Kim Bu-yong couldn’t stand it any longer and stopped the car to swap driving duties with his junior.

Kim Bu-yong, sitting in the passenger seat, immediately put on his seatbelt and leaned back to get some sleep.

It was when the junior was adjusting the sheet to himself.

bang!

The car shook with a loud impact, tilted toward the passenger side, and then flipped over onto its side in an instant.

“Eww! What, what is it?”

“Ugh… … .”

“Hey, Taeho. Are you okay?”

“Yes… yes. Except for a little sore neck.”

Kim Bu-yong was hanging upside down from the seat thanks to his seatbelt. In contrast, his junior, who was unbuckling his seatbelt to adjust his seat, rolled with his back against the roof of the overturned car.

“Is this a traffic accident? What happened?”

“Well, I’m fine too… … .”

at that time.

bang!

There was a heavy impact to the floor of the overturned vehicle. The vehicle then shook and something fell through the passenger window.

Thick ankles, comparable to adult thighs, and dark blue skin.

It was the lower body of a monster.

“Oh, Orc… … .”

Kim Bu-yong was able to immediately recognize the monster’s identity from the back of its head as it moved away from the car window.

Although I had never heard of any rumors of them living in Bukpocheon, orcs were monsters commonly known to the general public.

Intuitively, the two detectives realized that this was the culprit who had committed the crime at the barn.

The junior quickly turned over in the narrow car and opened the car door.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

“I have to catch it. There’s a daycare center in front of me.”

“Fuck. Are you kidding me with Orcs? They’re still monsters.”

“An orc like that would die if shot in the head.”

“Hey, hey!”

Before Kim Bu-yong could say anything, his junior ran outside and took out a pistol as he chased after the orc.

Kim Bu-yong was worried about his junior.

The junior was much younger than him, and was from a generation that had not experienced the chaos of the monsters of the past. So he seemed to have only heard rumors and thought lightly of the orcs.

“Damn it! If a gun works, then it’s a monster.”

Kim Bu-yong also tried to follow him quickly, but his seat belt did not come off properly, perhaps due to the impact when the car flipped over.

“Why can’t it be like this? Ik, Ik… Taeho. Wait a minute. Don’t act all alone!”

“Then it’ll be too late!”

Kim Bu-yong shouted desperately, but the junior pulled back the bolt in haste and aimed at the orc.

Just at the moment when he was about to aim for the back of the orc’s head.

“Swish!”

“uh?”

With another shadow cast behind him, the junior fell like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

Boom, roll.

“Taehoya!”

Kim Bu-yong made eye contact with his junior who was just rolling his head and looking at him, and screamed as if spitting out blood.