Chapter 202: Monster Hunt 1
Translator: - - Editor: - -
[A monster is expected to appear at Seoul station. All employees evacuate to a shelter.]
The sudden broadcast made the new employees nervous, and Junhyuk turned to them. Before he had a chance to say something to them, the whole building shook. They got more nervous, and Junhyuk looked at each of them. Of all of them, only Tsubasa looked relaxed.
"Don't panic. The quake just now was caused by the deployment of the iron soldier."
"Really?"
"We have two iron soldiers stationed here. Even if something were to happen, we would be safe. Follow me."
Junhyuk knew he could protect himself from any situation and was very relaxed. His demeanor made the others feel less nervous.
He guided them to the basement shelter. The shelter had been made by repurposing the basement parking lot and covering it with steel on all sides. Junhyuk entered and saw that the others were already there.
Everyone in the building was now inside the shelter. They could sit and watch things unfold on a large TV screen. Junhyuk knew that the image feed was coming from the iron soldier's perspective, and his eyes gleamed.
He was wondering if it was a good idea to show them the battle. Then, Dohee came out from a room inside the shelter and called for him.
"Mr. Junhyuk Lee. Please, come this way for a moment."
He entered the room and saw Elise, Eunseo and Sora. Sora saw him and waved at him gladly. He bowed slightly to her, and Eunseo offered him a seat.
"Just in case, there is another iron soldier preparing for deployment."
"That's a relief, but are you expecting the appearance of a monster?"
"Correct," Elise said proudly. "We invented a machine that can predict when monsters will appear."
"Is that even possible?"
"How we made it is a secret, but it's possible."
"With what kind of delay can you make the prediction?"
"Right now, within three minutes."
The iron solder was flying over Seoul, broadcasting a message.
[A monster is expected to appear at Seoul station. Evacuate the area immediately.]
People moved quickly. They knew about the iron soldiers and trusted them. They all believed what it said and ran fast. People thought of monsters as things that massacred people, and they all were busy fleeing. Seoul station was evacuated, and the image in the feed descended as the iron soldier landed.
Elise, who was looking at her computer, said, "We have three seconds."
Junhyuk thought the machine was more precise than he had given credit. The iron raised its head, and the sky turned dark. Ten huge bats appeared.
They were just like the one Jeffrey owned, and Junhyuk grimaced. If even one of those got away, there would be huge repercussions.
The iron soldier's back opened, and missiles shot into the sky. The bats opened their mouths as the missiles approached and released supersonic waves at them.
Boom, boom, boom, boom!
The missiles exploded in the air, and the iron soldier raised both of its hands. From there, a spray of bullets shot out in the direction of the bats.
Their wings were shredded, and Junhyuk was left astonished.
"What happened?"
Elise smiled and said, "The recently hired scientists coated the bullets in the monster decomposition liquid. It renders the monsters' defenses useless."
There was a limit to how many missiles the iron soldier could use, but it had a lot more bullets. The iron soldier fired like he was trying to make Swiss cheese out of the bats, and some of the bats fell from the sky.
Five bats had fallen, and the others counterattacked. They flew in, releasing supersonic waves. Three bats attacked the iron soldier. One bat flew toward Seoul station, and the other flew toward Namdaemun, Seoul's South Gate.
The iron soldier flew up, cracking the ground underneath, shooting and killing the three approaching bats. Then, it chased after the one that had gone to Seoul station.
The bat released supersonic waves at the station's shrine, shattering the glass surrounding it.
Screams were heard from within the shrine, but the iron soldier arrived, peppering the bat with bullets and killing it.
Only one bat remained, and screams could be heard coming from the South Gate. The iron soldier zoomed off quickly. Junhyuk was thinking that the iron soldier could easily kill the remaining bat when he heard the emergency siren go off.
Elise looked at the monitor and frowned.
"We're expecting another monster attack."
"Where?"
Eunseo turned to look, and Elise answered calmly, "Where Guardians HQ was located."
"They don't know we've moved."
"Right."
Elise turned around, and Eunseo fixed her glasses and said, "We have to go and meet them. I'll allow the iron soldier's deployment."
Soon, the whole building shoot, and another screen appeared. While watching it, Junhyuk asked, "Why does the building shake before the iron soldier's deployment?"
Elise answered, "It's on roof."
He wanted to ask why she was using the roof if it would be safer to deploy from the basement, but he turned to the screen. The bat that was heading to Namdaemun was flying acrobatically, trying to get away. The iron soldier couldn't hit it.
Even if the iron soldier shot precisely, the bat was moving erratically. It was always flying low and in between buildings. There were people still running on the streets, and the iron soldier could injure someone accidentally.
The bat did not attack the people below, but the crowd had broken into a stamped, and some people had been hurt.
Eunseo asked, "Can it move faster?"
"It can. It can break the speed of sound. But the shockwaves from that will destroy the area."
"OK. Can you evacuate the people from Namdaemun?"
"Yes."
"Once the evacuation is complete, use of speed of sound is allowed."
"There will be collateral damage."
"Guardians will reimburse the city for the destruction," Eunseo said, and Elise quickly operated her computer. All of the speaker at the gate blared evacuation orders, and people quickly moved inside the buildings.
"Then, I will increase its speed," Elise said.
She entered some commands, and the image changed very quickly. Screams and the sound of broken windows were heard from every direction, but the iron soldier had already made its way to the bat and was holding onto the bat's wing.
The bat turned around, clawing at the iron soldier. The bat grabbed the iron sodier's leg, swinging it around and slamming the iron soldier against a nearby building. The iron soldier kept its aim on the bat, and bullets shot off from its hand toward the bat's face.
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-ta!
The bat's face was destroyed, and everyone was relieved, but Elise frowned.
"Another monster attack is expected at Seoul station."
When Junhyuk heard that, he frowned.
"Did they just open a door and let them keep coming?!"
Elise frowned and answered, "I'm not sure what you mean by that, but I will redeploy the iron soldier to Seoul station."
"Do it."
They looked at the screen to see the same type of monster that had appeared in Paju. At the time, the iron soldier had had a hard time with it, but its weaponry had improved, so it would be able to handle it this time.
The fight started, and Junhyuk asked calmly, "Can the iron soldier deal with it?"
Elise bit her lips.
"It's time to see what the new weapons can do."
Junhyuk was relieved. Paju was far away. If the iron soldier lost, people would die, and they wouldn't be able to help them. The iron soldier's new weaponry wasn't too different from its previous weaponry. The only difference was that it was designed for huge monsters. They were basically the same, but specialized differently. Those monsters couldn't fly, so the iron soldier seemed to be winning.
However, the monster was not ordinary. While its hide was being destroyed, it was taking time to do it.
"Another five bats have appeared," Elise said calmly.
The iron soldier flew up to shoot the bats, and Elise saw her computer light up again and exclaimed, "Shit!"
Everyone looked at her, and she continued, "There'll be another monster attack."
"Is it going to Paju?"
"No, it's coming toward our building."
Junhyuk gulped.
"Wait! Three minutes is not enough time for us to evacuate the building!"
Elise looked at the monitor and continued, "We have to block the monsters to one side, but that looks difficult right now."
"Then, what do we do?"
"Bring the security team members inside," she told Dohee.
Dohee went out and brought in five men. When Junhyuk saw them, he realized they were R-agents. Once inside, Elise walked over to a wall and pushed hard against it. The wall opened to display a stash of firearms.
She smiled at Dohee, "These are intended for huge monsters. Can you handle firearms?"
Dohee nodded and signaled for the R-agents. They selected what they liked and also took some ammunition.
"The locations have overlapped, and there is no way to know if it's coming from the air or from the ground. I don't know how strong monster will be, but it won't be easy to kill."
She meant to say that it was possible the monster might not be killed simply by shooting at it, then she sighed and continued, "If a monster does show up, buy some time until the iron soldier returns."
The R-agents have quick regeneration powers. so she wanted them to act as decoy until the iron soldier could join the fight.
Junhyuk was a little nervous. The R-agents were being deployed, but they were only a bit stronger than minions, and they didn't know what kind of monster would show up. Normally, R-agents posed no problems for the monsters.
"We have 2 minutes. Protect the entrance to the shelter," she said calmly.
Dohee signaled, and the R-agents left quickly. Then, Elise looked at Sora. That made Sora curious, and she stared back at her.
"And our shelter's final boss is you," Elise said calmly.
"Me?"
Sora became nervous, and Elise, smiling, pushed against the wall where the firearms had been located one more time. The wall turned, and the display changed, and two-handed sword appeared.
Sora just stares at her, and Elise shrugged.
"Are you familiar with it?"
Sora gripped the two-handed sword and looked at Elise.
"What do you want me to do with it?"
"It's a longsword designed for huge monsters, and it's also been coated with decomposition liquid."