“Huh?”
The people gathered in the office blinked at the news on the TV.
[Today, the government and Suseong Group announced a joint plan to hunt the monsters occupying the Daejeon Civilian-Military Complex Industrial Complex. The government and Suseong Group plan to eliminate all monsters at the Hwaseong site using their own E-rank and F-rank hunting teams, along with numerous general hunting teams. The hunt is scheduled for one week from now. The Civilian-Military Complex Industrial Complex is jointly operated by Suseong Group and the Ministry of Defense’s research lab……]
Everyone turned their gaze to team leader Han. In the middle of the meeting, he had suddenly answered a call and turned on the TV in the corner of the room.
This was the new office Team Crazy had acquired in Pyeongchon. Thanks to the profits from E-rank monster hunts, team leader Han had been able to secure a nice office.
On top of that, they had hired a new woman to answer calls and handle administrative tasks. She was quite attractive, which brought smiles to both team leader Han and Kangwoo.
The office was quite clean and spacious.
Each person had their own desk, and there was a lounge-like space on one side. Behind a glass door was a small meeting room.
This was the first time the group had gathered in the meeting room since getting the office. They were currently discussing their next hunt.
As the team members looked at him, team leader Han began to explain.
“I just got a call from someone on the government side. He’s the highest-ranking contact I’ve been in touch with, and he suddenly suggested a hunt.”
Team leader Han explained the call he had received.
“As mentioned in the broadcast, the government and Suseong Group are conducting a joint operation to clear the monsters in the industrial complex in Daejeon. They called to ask if our team would participate. They also mentioned significant compensation.”
Upon hearing team leader Han’s explanation, the others fell into thought.
As F-rank and E-rank monsters continued to emerge, more and more areas across the country were being designated as restricted access zones.
However, thanks to the efforts of the Awakened, many of those zones were cleared of monsters and had their restrictions lifted.
But there were still some places where access remained restricted. These were areas with too many monsters or monsters that were too powerful.
In particular, there were places even the Awakened affiliated with the Link System Company had abandoned entirely.
People called those areas monster-occupied zones. Dead Zones.
And one of those places was the Civilian-Military Complex Industrial Complex located in Daejeon.
“Looks like the government has drawn its sword.”
Lost in thought, Kangwoo was the first to speak. Team leader Han nodded.
“This time, an E-rank team affiliated with the government is stepping in. It’s probably a team composed of military Awakened.”
It was a team the government had prepared to assert its own voice, having been dragged around by the Link System Company for so long.
“Well, since the parent company has ties to the U.S. government, they’ve always been under the Link System Company’s thumb. The government must’ve been pretty frustrated.”
Kangwoo agreed with team leader Han’s words.
“Looks like Suseong was also fed up. That industrial complex is one of the key joint ventures between the government and Suseong Group, and now it’s overrun by monsters.”
Team leader Han glanced at Yonghoon.
“And the Awakened team under the group hasn’t been able to gain any recognition, their performance has been poor.”
Responding to team leader Han’s words, Jimin chimed in.
“That’s because of our team. We kept overshadowing them.”
The others gave bitter smiles at her words.
While she wasn’t wrong, it wasn’t like they could just stop hunting on purpose.
“Still, don’t you think the government and Suseong are overreaching? No matter how important the site is, this seems like an excessive move.”
At Kangwoo’s words, team leader Han shrugged.
“We have no way of knowing.”
Team leader Han addressed everyone.
“Anyway, the government contacted us asking for our team’s participation. The terms are quite good. 500 million won for E-rank teams. And apparently, every other E-rank general hunting team has agreed to join. The government seems to want every E-rank hunting team, including ours, to participate.”
After thinking it over, the group slowly turned to Yonghoon.
“Captain, what do you think?”
Jimin asked on behalf of everyone.
Lost in thought, Yonghoon raised his head at Jimin’s question.
Yonghoon asked team leader Han.
“What kind of monsters are there?”
Team leader Han answered Yonghoon’s question.
“According to reports, they looked like human-sized silkworms. There were quite a few of them. One Awakened who got close said their smartwatch detected some E-rank signatures.”
‘Multiple F-rank silkworms, plus E-rank.’
Yonghoon organized his thoughts.
“I think we should decline. If the company declined, there must be a reason. And the participating Awakened lack sufficient skill. There’s not enough intel, and the risk is too high.”
Yonghoon recalled the many hunts in the other world where countless Awakened had died. Many of those occurred in danger zones, especially near Singularities where Dimensional Power was weak.
He couldn’t be sure if this place was a Singularity. But it was too dangerous to move with a large number of untrained Awakened in a Dead Zone.
Jimin looked disappointed at Yonghoon’s words, but the others agreed.
When it came to hunting, they had all agreed to follow Yonghoon’s judgment. And what he said made a lot of sense.
Team Crazy decided to sit this hunt out.
One week later, the joint hunting team departed for the Civilian-Military Complex Industrial Complex, cheered on by the public.
The industrial complex was a cluster of defense contractors, most of which were Suseong Group factories.
But after a recent monster attack, all employees had been evacuated.
Since then, the halt in operations had caused hundreds of billions in losses and severely disrupted the supply of military materials.
Along with the Suseong Group’s E-rank superpowered team, two other E-rank teams and six F-rank teams entered the complex. It was a large-scale operation with over a hundred people.
The scene was broadcast live. The government seemed to consider this a chance to shift public sentiment.
The members of Team Crazy had completed one more hunt over the past week and were now watching TV in the office.
They had adjusted their schedule during the meeting a week ago.
Hunting once or twice a week remained the same as before.
But instead of meeting at a café before the hunt, they now took a day off after hunting and then reported to the office.
At the office, they would analyze the previous hunt, plan the next one, and set up training schedules.
“What a shame.”
Jimin was watching the TV with regret.
The scene showed dozens of Awakened walking toward a cluster of massive factories-some holding shields as Defense-type Awakened, others wielding impressive swords as Strike-type Awakened.
It was the sight of the joint hunting team entering the industrial complex.
“Why? Does it look cool?”
Kangwoo asked after overhearing Jimin’s mutter.
“No. It’s all money.”
At her words, Kangwoo shook his head.
Even Yonghoon felt Jimin’s obsession with money was a bit excessive. But since she didn’t cross any lines, he just accepted it as part of her personality.
“Do you think the hunt will go well?”
Sunhee asked Yonghoon. Her face looked brighter than before. Over the past two weeks of hunting, she had pulled her weight and regained her confidence.
And ever since Yonghoon had praised her recently, her expression had brightened even more.
“Hard to say. There’s too little information. I really don’t know.”
Yonghoon replied calmly.
Based on the current intel, the best-case scenario was a safe retreat, worst-case was total annihilation.
Honestly, the odds of success didn’t look very high, but there was no need to say that out loud.
And once the Awakened disappeared from the TV screen, the group turned it off and started planning their training.
A short while later, Jimin despaired at Yonghoon’s training plan, while Kangwoo and team leader Han looked troubled.
[Team Beta, approaching Factory A Line]
Hearing the voice in his earpiece, team leader Kim Junho felt slightly reassured.
Kim was the leader of an E-rank superpowered team under Suseong Corporation, moving toward the target with his team.
So far, everything was proceeding without issue.
The Awakened were split into teams and heading toward buildings. Some had suggested they move as one group, but that would have been inefficient.
So they had agreed to use communicators to support any team in trouble, a plan approved by most of the Awakened teams.
Thinking back on the meeting, team leader Kim gave a bitter smile.
Everyone had made decisions in the interest of their own teams. They didn’t want to lose out on the monster hunting rewards to other teams.
Kim thought it would’ve been better to unify the profit distribution system for better control, but the higher-ups in the government and company seemed to think differently. They had subtly encouraged team-based operations.
His team was moving alongside some government researchers and E-rank Awakened affiliated with the government.
Fortunately, Kim was put in charge of this group, and he let out a sigh of relief. He found it hard to trust the E-rank Awakened who came from the military.
But Kim still felt uneasy about moving with ordinary people.
They had split from the other Awakened and were heading toward a secluded building deeper inside the complex.
“Everyone, halt.”
Team leader Kim ordered everyone to stop. At his command, all personnel halted in place.
A massive building stood before them.
[Korea Energy Research Institute]
That was the name of the building written on the front.
‘Is this a military research facility run by the government? It’s huge.’
Team leader Kim was slightly surprised by the size of the building.
Fortunately, everyone had arrived safely up to this point.
They had encountered a few silkworm monsters in the parking lot, but as F-rank monsters with slow movements and no special abilities, they were just ordinary prey for the team.
Kim turned his gaze to the government officials. Then he asked the oldest among them, who he had heard was the head of the research institute.
“Did you say we should head to the basement first?”
The man with graying hair nodded at his words.
“Yes, there’s an important experimental device there. We’d like you to check it first.”
“Understood. Everyone, move out.”
Team leader Kim led his team into the research building.
The interior looked like a large hall. There were bulky machines and large pipes visible. It looked like a massive pump and water pipes.
Kim checked his smart watch.
In the center of the hall, a yellow mark appeared. It was an E-rank monster.
It was hidden behind the machines and pipes, but it was clear an E-rank monster was positioned in the middle.
Kim itched to hunt, but the mission came first.
After glancing at the monster’s direction, he descended the stairs located in the corner of the research building. The rest of the team quietly followed him down.
The basement consisted of a long corridor with laboratories on both sides. Several layers of automatic security systems were installed. However, the power was out, so it was dark inside. The group used flashlights to check their surroundings as they advanced.
As they walked down the corridor, they looked around. The place was clean. It seemed monsters hadn’t invaded here yet.
Ahead of them appeared a security door that was still operational.
“From here, we’ll go on alone. The security is too strict for you to pass.”
The government personnel stepped forward. They scanned their IDs and irises, then entered.
Government-affiliated Awakened stood guard in front of the door. They held shields and spears for Awakened, along with rifles.
Seeing that, some of Kim’s team members grumbled.
Since entering the basement, communication with other teams had been cut off. The security was so tight that Kim couldn’t help but grumble inwardly.
A short, dull moment passed. The team members were starting to get bored when suddenly, the people who had gone inside burst out with pale faces.
“We need to eliminate the monster here as fast as possible!”
The head of the research institute spoke to team leader Kim with a grave expression. The others looked visibly frightened and restless.
Kim nodded at his words. Clearly, something had gone wrong, but they were here to eliminate monsters anyway.
If killing the monster solved the problem, they just had to take care of it quickly and leave.
The group began moving toward the first floor. Flashlight beams shook wildly in the dark hallway.
Soon after, the group reached the first floor via the stairs.
[Damn it! Everyone fall back!]
[Team Gamma! We’re retreating! Damn it, help me!]
[Shit! We can’t get out!]
Startled, Kim yanked the earphone from his ear. Screams were pouring through the earpiece.
Kim was shocked.
Something had clearly gone wrong.
“This is Team Alpha! Report your situation!”
Kim shouted into the mic. But none of the teams responded properly.
“Something’s wrong. We need to retreat for now.”
Kim explained the situation to the others and began preparing for retreat.
“No! We have to eliminate the monster and shut down the facility while we still can! There’s not much time!”
The research director screamed at Kim, his face pale.
Kim saw another government official frantically talking on the phone.
It was clear now that this was a major problem.
But trying to hunt in this situation was sheer stupidity.
He was about to refuse the research director’s plea.
That’s when it happened.
“Beeeep!”
A monstrous screech echoed through the entire research building.
Everyone turned their gaze to the center of the research facility.
It was the screech of a monster that had been hidden among the pipes.
It must have heard the research director’s scream.
A massive object shot up from behind the pipes.
It was a gigantic moth.
“Oh my god, it’s a flying-type monster!”
One of the team members muttered in shock.
“Everyone get out! Retreat!”
Kim shouted to his team. It was the first time they had encountered a flying monster. There was no way they had prepared to hunt it.
“No! We have to kill it! If we don’t, the core will melt down!”
The research director, face pale, grabbed Kim’s arm.
“Core meltdown?”
Kim asked in shock, and the research director replied.
“There’s a medium-sized smart reactor down there. And beneath that, plutonium is stored! If we leave it like this, a meltdown will cause an explosion! We need to kill the monster and cool the reactor immediately!”
Kim’s face turned pale as well.
Only now did he understand the strange behavior of the government and the company.
This place was a secret nuclear bomb research facility the government had prepared behind America’s back.
Everyone turned their eyes toward the center of the research institute.
A gigantic moth was rapidly approaching their view.
The moth monster lunged at the group.