Capitalist Monster Hunter - Chapter 5

shouting for help in a world without Hope or Dreams (3)

“Kieeeek!”

The creature screeched as it swung its long, sickle-like forelegs toward Yoosung.

“Holy crap!”

Yoosung threw himself to the side.

Wham!

The creature’s sharp forelegs slammed deep into the ground right beside him.

“What the hell? Is it just pierced concrete? That solid stuff?”

He couldn’t believe it. What on earth did this thing eat to bust through concrete like it was just clay?

Eve’s voice chimed in, interrupting his confusion.

[It’s a Mansstag, one of the evolved types. It’s a hybrid developed from the DNA of a praying mantis and a stag beetle.]

Under other circumstances, Yoosung might’ve been grateful for Eve’s helpful explanation. Not now.

“Explain later! Can we kill that thing?”

[Yes, it’s possible. Jackal’s high-explosive armor-piercing rounds can penetrate the Mansstag’s tough shell. However, I don’t recommend using plasma weapons, as the Mansstag’s shell seems resistant to plasma for reasons we don’t yet understand.]

At least he knew it was possible to take down this “Mansstag” creature. But Yoosung had no intention of fighting it.

The creature looked grotesque and terrifying, and he doubted he could take down something that could slice through concrete like butter.

He grabbed his weapon and some ammo from the box. The odds of survival seemed higher if he just ran rather than fought this beast.

Even famous war strategy books said so: when conditions don’t favor a fight, it’s best to retreat and regroup.

Yeah, running was the best option.

Yoosung started running. He ran, and he ran and he ran some more.

But that Mansstag creature kept chasing him.

“Just leave me alone, dammit!”

“Kieeeek!”

Yoosung’s outburst only seemed to anger the Mansstag more.

How long had he been running? Thirty minutes? An hour?

Yoosung had been running for a long time trying to lose the Mansstag. He had never run this much in his life. His combat armor, which boosted his speed and reduced stamina usage, helped, but eventually, his stamina started to wane.

His ankles throbbed, and his pace slowed. Meanwhile, the Mansstag was still screeching and chasing him down.

This thing just wouldn’t quit. By now, it should’ve given up. What’s the deal, anyway? Why was it so dead-set on chasing him?

Yoosung was starting to think as much.

“Huff… huff…”

He was running out of breath. He couldn’t keep running like this. He couldn’t hide either, not with the mansstag right on his heels. If he ran out of stamina and stopped, those sharp forelegs would slice him in two.

He had to fight.

“God, Buddha, Allah, and all the other gods, please let me survive this.”

He prayed on his own for the first time, not because a priest made him do it. This really was the end times.

Come to think of it, it really was the end times. Hunters were born to prevent humanity’s extinction, so yeah, this was doomsday. Better pray as much as possible before the world goes to hell.

Yoosung stopped running and turned around.

“Kieeeek!”

He saw the Mansstag, grotesque and terrifying. If he saw it at night, he’d probably wet himself.

“Oh, screw it, should I just keep running?”

Seeing the Mansstag made his will to fight fade. To be honest, he didn’t feel like he could win this fight.

For one, it was massive. How the hell does mixing a mantis and a stag beetle make something the size of an elephant? Did it take some kind of super-steroids or what?

“Deep breath~ exhale! Deep breath~ exhale!”

Yuseong took a deep breath. Doing this didn’t actually make things better, but at least it calmed his wildly beating heart.

With his heart steadied, Yuseong pulled out the Stone of Salvation from his inventory. Believing firmly that this stone would save him, he activated it.

As he gripped the Stone of Salvation tightly, a blinding light shot out from it.

A message popped up in front of Yuseong’s eyes.

[The Stone of Salvation is summoning a being to save you.]

[A Savior has responded to your call: <Dragon Slayer>]

With a flash of bright light, someone appeared before Yuseong.

This was the savior summoned by the stone.

“Huh? What the hell? Where am I now?”

The savior who appeared in front of Yuseong… was wearing nothing but a single pair of underwear.

“You’re the one?”

“Uh, y-yes?”

“Man, why’d you call me while I was sleeping?”

“S-sorry…”

Ah, he was summoned while sleeping. Yuseong finally understood why his savior was only in his underwear. I mean, unless he was a weirdo, who walks around in just underwear, right?

“Great, I wasn’t even supposed to be making contracts with gods or anything. And here I am, freezing my ass off.”

‘Well, of course, he’s cold,’ Yuseong thought, but he kept that to himself. The guy’s face was full of irritation. Getting dragged out here in just your underwear while you’re sleeping would annoy anyone. Yuseong knew it was best not to get on his nerves, so he kept his mouth shut.

“All right, so I just need to take that thing down?”

“Y-yes, please.”

In the savior’s hand, a long greatsword appeared, emanating a powerful, mystical aura.

‘Wow… that really doesn’t match at all.’

The combo of the guy in underwear holding a huge sword was… well, pretty hard to put into words.

He’d come to save Yuseong, but the sight was disappointing. If he’d shown up in some cool armor, heroically coming to the rescue, it might’ve left a great impression. But a swordsman in just his underwear? That would be memorable for all the wrong reasons.

“All right, let’s get this over with!”

SWOOSH!

The underwear guy swung his greatsword, slicing the Mansstag clean in two. The massive creature fell in a single strike. Watching the Mansstag die so easily left Yuseong feeling empty.

“Guess it’s true what they say about high-level players not needing much.”

He thought that only applied to games, but apparently, it worked in real life too. It felt like everything he knew was crumbling.

“Hey, you’re in all that fancy armor, and you couldn’t take down a single monster? Are you even a Hunter?”

“It’s an evolved creature.”

“Evolved? Whatever. Doesn’t change the fact that it went down like a weakling. Keep at it, though. Keep training, and eventually you’ll be able to kill bugs like that in one hit.”

The underwear guy—or rather, the Dragon Slayer—patted Yuseong’s shoulder encouragingly.

“You’re a newbie Hunter, aren’t you?”

“Yeah.”

Actually, he wasn’t even a newbie. He was technically a Hunter, but he had no magic or martial arts, so he was pretty much an ordinary person.

“I can’t give you anything huge, but I’ll leave a few potions and basic equipment. Use them well.”

[A gift from <Dragon Slayer> has been added to your inventory.]

“All right, I’m out. Oh, wait. This is a satisfaction survey—could you mark it as ‘very satisfied’?”

The Dragon Slayer handed Yuseong a pen and a survey. With the Dragon Slayer watching over his shoulder, Yuseong marked ‘very satisfied’ with everything, even though he was actually very unsatisfied with the underwear situation.

“Great. All set.”

“Could I know your name, by the way?”

“My name? It won’t do you much good, but since you asked, I’ll tell you. It’s Siegfried. Some people call me Sigurd, but I prefer Siegfried, so call me that.”

“Thanks for helping me, Siegfried.”

“No problem. Just doing my job. If fate brings us together again, we’ll meet again.”

With a wave, Siegfried disappeared.

[Uh… who was that? Where did he come from, and where did he go?]

Eve sounded completely confused. For an AI to get confused, that underwear guy must have been something else.

“Calm down. I’ll explain it all slowly from the beginning.”

[So, that means User Han Yuseong is different from the Han Yuseong I know.]

“Yeah. I’m from another world.”

Yuseong explained everything to Eve. It felt simpler to just tell her the truth.

[How fascinating. The fact that gods exist… academia is going to lose its mind over this.]

Eve sounded surprised. He’d thought she was stiff and robotic, but it turned out she had quite a bit of emotion.

[Magic and martial arts too… That’s like something out of a novel or movie. And the fact that other dimensions exist as well… scientists’ theories were right. User Han Yuseong, may I report this information?]

“No, keep it to yourself.”

[Understood. Well, this explains a lot. Now I understand why User Han Yuseong’s responses seemed so lacking.]

‘So she thought I was clueless this whole time…’

For some reason, that stung a little.

[From what the fairy Titania said, User Han Yuseong will have to stay here for at least a month.]

“Yep.”

[How interesting. Helping someone from another dimension… I doubt any other AI in the universe is having this experience. Though the original User Han Yuseong is gone, as his support AI, I’ll continue to assist you, the Han Yuseong from another dimension.]

“All right. I’m counting on you.”

Having told her everything, he felt like he’d gained a trustworthy friend.

[Then, let’s proceed with the original mission. We need to retrieve research data from the Ramden Central Lab. Even if you’re from another dimension, the mission still has to be completed.]

“What if another creature like the Mansstag shows up…?”

[Mansstags aren’t something you encounter often, at least not on Caden. Unless you’re on another planet, of course. If any common evolved creatures appear, it’ll probably be something like the Crotch.]

“What’s a Crotch? Just from the name, it sounds like it could be a cockroach.”

[Close enough. Crotches are evolved from cockroach and grasshopper genes. They’re dangerous for unarmed civilians, but to soldiers, they’re nothing but walking targets. The only thing to be wary of is their numbers.]

“Sounds like there’s a lot of them, then.”

[Yes, their rapid growth and reproduction are all they’ve got going for them. As long as you keep that in mind, they won’t be much of a threat. Shall we head out?]