33 chapter - Natural Healing Pension (3)
Under Im Jin-sol’s orders, everyone in the pension had gathered together.
This particular accommodation had a window facing the parking lot where the Orcs had first appeared. If they came from that direction again, this would be the first spot to notice.
Not long after Choi Changshik’s group left, gunfire rang out.
The fight with the Orcs had begun.
Im Jin-sol paced nervously back and forth.
“Noona, if you’re that worried… shouldn’t we follow them now?”
“Are you crazy? You know how dangerous those Orc bastards are.”
“But… if we have guns…”
Im Jin-sol cut him off with a sharp glare.
“Don’t say dumb shit.”
Seong Yohan immediately shut his mouth.
Im Jin-sol was radiating a vicious, unfamiliar aura he hadn’t seen from her before.
‘Ask one more stupid question and she might actually kill me.’
But no matter where you go, there’s always one idiot who can’t read the mood.
“Hey! You think just ‘cause you’re a Hunter, you can do whatever the hell you want?”
It was the same guy who got chewed out by Im Jin-sol earlier.
He was a big guy, built solid like someone who spent a lot of time working out.
“Not gonna answer? You think you can point a gun at civilians and just walk away from that?”
The guy looked confident.
Unlike earlier, he was holding a rifle now.
It was one of the guns the manager had distributed to group leaders.
From his perspective, Im Jin-sol looked smaller and thinner than him. Even if she was a Hunter, they were both armed now, so he figured there was nothing to be afraid of.
Seeing that Im Jin-sol didn’t respond, the guy got bolder.
He pointed the gun at her and sneered.
“Bitch, how’s it feel to be on the other end now?”
Im Jin-sol’s eyes calmly observed the muzzle aimed at her, then locked onto his eyes.
“Shoot.”
“W-What?”
“I said, shoot me.”
The moment the guy saw Im Jin-sol’s eyes gleaming with pure madness, he froze.
Unfortunately for him, Im Jin-sol definitely fell into the category of “crazy bitch.”
“What? You scared now?”
Im Jin-sol started walking toward him step by step.
“D-Don’t come closer! I-I’ll really shoot!”
That’s what he said, but for every step she took forward, he unconsciously stepped back.
It was obvious to everyone that his confidence was crumbling.
“Shoot.”
Before he realized it, Im Jin-sol had closed the distance, grabbed the barrel of the rifle, and pressed it against her own chest.
The guy’s hand, gripping the gun, trembled violently.
Mocking him, Im Jin-sol smiled and asked,
“Just curious… when you pump yourself full of steroids, does it really stop working down there?”
At that moment, the guy snapped.
He had a serious inferiority complex about exactly that.
“You crazy bitch!”
Driven by rage, he squeezed the trigger.
Click!
But the gun didn’t fire.
The trigger jammed, stuck on something, clicking uselessly.
“W-What the hell…?”
In front of him, Im Jin-sol grinned with an eerie smile.
“You actually tried to pull the trigger?”
She grabbed the gun, ripped it from his hands, and immediately smashed the stock into his jaw.
“Ugh!”
The guy collapsed backward, staring up at Im Jin-sol with terrified eyes.
“Listen carefully. This is your last lesson before you die. Here’s how you actually shoot.”
Im Jin-sol switched the safety from ‘Safe’ to ‘Single Shot’ mode, showing him casually.
Then, as if it was nothing, she pressed her foot down on his chest, aimed the gun at his head, and whispered,
“Target acquired.”
A blue crosshair appeared, perfectly centered over the guy’s nose.
“H-H-Help! Please don’t kill me!”
He struggled wildly, but terror had drained his strength — he couldn’t shake off Im Jin-sol’s foot.
Everything slowed down as he watched her finger rise to the trigger.
The fear of death creeping closer moment by moment nearly drove him insane.
And then… he pissed himself.
He was so scared, he couldn’t even control his body.
The person who saved him was the pension manager.
“Hunters! Hunters! It’s bad—!”
The manager pointed frantically toward the window facing the parking lot.
“O-Orcs! The Orcs are here!”
“What?”
Im Jin-sol rushed to the window to check.
Sure enough, the Orcs were heading straight for their building.
‘How the hell do they know we’re here?’
She thought for a moment, then found the answer.
She whirled toward the manager and shouted,
“Why the hell are the lights on?!”
“Huh?”
“The lights! You’re basically telling the Orcs, ‘Hey, we’re right here!’”
“O-Oh!”
To be fair, part of that was Im Jin-sol’s mistake too.
She’d been too complacent.
She assumed the Orcs wouldn’t come here, thinking Choi Changshik’s group was handling them.
On top of that, the gunfire echoing from halfway up the mountain made her think the battle was happening far away.
She didn’t think the Orcs would make it this far.
That’s why she hadn’t cared that the lights were still on.
‘Shit… At least it’s not that many of them.’
It looked like this group was just a scouting party.
‘The main force must be held back by the boss.’
There were eleven Orcs approaching.
‘Manageable.’
Im Jin-sol pressed the stock against her shoulder, aimed at an Orc’s head, and pulled the trigger without hesitation.
Bang—! Crash!
The window shattered, and the Orc she shot dropped instantly, a bullet through its skull.
The rest of the Orcs visibly panicked as their comrade collapsed.
It was the first time they’d faced firearms.
They needed to take out as many as possible before the monsters adjusted.
“What are you doing?! Open fire, now!”
Snapped out of their daze by Im Jin-sol’s shout, the others rushed to the windows and started shooting.
Bang—! Bang!
In seconds, the Orcs’ numbers were cut in half.
Not just Im Jin-sol — there were several excellent marksmen among them.
Most of the armed people here were military veterans, no strangers to firearms.
‘Six left.’
The surviving six were smart enough to hide behind the cars in the lot, using them as cover.
They’d killed every visible target, so there was a brief pause in the gunfire.
‘They’re definitely still out there…’
Im Jin-sol scanned the parking lot with sharp, uneasy eyes.
The moment one of the Orcs moved—
Bang!
She nailed it with a headshot.
‘Four left.’
But just then—
“Kyahhh!”
A scream rang out, followed by glass shattering as several Orcs stormed into the building.
The eleven from the parking lot weren’t all of them.
“Grahhh!”
“Ahhh!”
“Si-hyun!”
The enraged Orcs rampaged wildly.
“What are you waiting for?! Shoot them!”
Ratatatatata—!
The belated gunfire shredded three of the invading Orcs.
But in those few seconds, two people died and another was badly wounded.
Im Jin-sol bit her lip, eyes flicking to the bodies on the floor.
In the chaos, the lights had gone out.
Blood dripped from her lips.
“H-Hunter-nim!”
Her face twisted in realization as she turned back toward the window.
Taking advantage of the chaos, the Orcs hidden behind the cars had pushed up to the building itself.
Im Jin-sol stayed calm, methodically picking them off one by one.
“Grahhh!”
Among them, one stood out — wrapped in a faint blue glow.
Bigger than the others, wielding a double-bladed axe.
An elite Orc.
The bastard charged forward, roaring with rage.
Ratatata—!
Im Jin-sol shouted urgently,
“No! Run!”
The monster barreled through the hail of bullets like it was nothing.
Blood spurted from its body where bullets struck, but it didn’t look seriously hurt.
Most of the rounds simply bounced off its thick hide.
In an instant, the Orc leapt straight through the window.
“U-Aaaaah!”
The man who had been firing desperately to the last second had his head lopped clean off by the double-bladed axe.
“Target acquired!”
Bang—!
The moment a blue crosshair appeared on the back of the monster’s skull, a bullet punched directly through the center.
Unlike the rounds that bounced off earlier, this one stuck deep into the Orc’s head.
“Grrrk!”
Incredibly, the bastard was still alive.
It turned its head, glaring murderously at Im Jin-sol, but she met its eyes with a completely unfazed expression, as if she’d expected this.
“Target acquired!”
Bang—!
“Target acquired!!”
Bang—!
Her skill-fueled bullets continued to drill into the Orc’s massive body.
But the shots that failed to penetrate deeply weren’t doing enough damage.
All they did was fuel the Elite Orc’s fury.
“Grrraaahhh!”
The enraged Orc warrior charged Im Jin-sol, double-bladed axe crashing down.
Im Jin-sol, who had fought desperately until now, had no choice but to give up.
She clenched her eyes shut, bracing for the death rushing toward her.
Thud!
A sickening, wet tearing sound echoed through the room.
But strangely… there was no pain.
Cautiously, Im Jin-sol opened her eyes.
“……!!”
Right in front of her stood Seong Yohan, his body absorbing the full force of the double-bladed axe.
The weapon had buried itself from his left shoulder down into his chest.
Splurt!
Blood gushed out like a fountain.
But oddly, the blood wasn’t coming from Seong Yohan’s body… it poured from the Orc in front of him.
Seong Yohan’s ability, Wound Transfer, had activated.
The Orc warrior collapsed, strength gone from its body.
At the same time, Seong Yohan collapsed as well.
“Seong Yohan!”
The double-bladed axe was still embedded in his torso.
Im Jin-sol inspected his condition, forcing her voice to stay steady.
“What the hell… what’s going on with you?”
Seong Yohan managed to groan weakly,
“Cough… If this thing… stays stuck….”
“Stop! You don’t need to say it. I get it, I just pull this out and you’ll heal, right?”
Im Jin-sol reached for the axe, but Seong Yohan grabbed her wrist.
“Don’t… If you pull it out… I’ll die.”
“What? What are you saying?”
“My mana…”
The Elite Orc was a powerful monster.
To transfer a fatal wound to the beast, Seong Yohan had to burn through nearly all his mana reserves.
“You idiot! You should’ve waited to use your ability after pulling the axe out!”
“There wasn’t… cough… another chance….”
There had been no other option.
Despair clouded Im Jin-sol’s expression.
“Don’t die. If you die, I’ll kill you myself.”
Seong Yohan chuckled weakly at the absurdity, then closed his eyes.
“…Seong Yohan?”
With trembling hands, Im Jin-sol brushed his blood-soaked cheek.
Clear droplets fell onto his face, mixing with the blood.
“Come on… stay with me.”
Her desperate voice echoed through the dark, powerless room.
**
Ratatata—!
As expected, rifles alone couldn’t kill an Elite Orc.
The close range did help — it looked like some damage was landing — but landing a critical, lethal blow wasn’t happening.
Hissss!
The monster’s harsh breath wheezed through jagged tusks, making that distinctive Orc noise.
The stench of its rotten breath hit my nose as its glaive came crashing down toward my head.
‘I can see it.’
I currently had pure monster blood injected into my right eye — 100% purity.
With my skill operating at full efficiency, I could read every movement the Elite Orc made.
Clack!
I deflected the glaive strike with my rifle, immediately tilting the barrel up and firing directly into the monster’s open mouth.
Ratatata—!
The rounds shredded the soft flesh inside, burying deep into vital areas.
Thud!
The Orc collapsed, frozen mid-swing.
Moments later, I felt it — mana swelling inside me, my body pulsing with renewed strength.
The growth boost was even greater than when I’d killed the D-Rank boss.
‘It works!’
It was a tip I’d seen on YouTube.
Even against Elites, if you jam bullets into their mouths, you can kill them.
{Granted, most people probably can’t pull that off!}
I silently thanked the Honeybee Channel run by that B-Rank Hunter and swapped magazines.
Up ahead, I saw a mob of Orcs charging toward me.
The Orcs, emboldened by their Elites, were rushing in as a group.
Bang—!
I fired off a few suppressive shots and immediately bolted.
Not toward the pension — in the opposite direction.
‘Whatever’s happening, Seong Yohan and Im Jin-sol should be able to handle it. They had plenty of ammo.’
I was curious, but heading toward the pension wasn’t an option.
Leading these bastards there would only get everyone killed.
‘I just need to stall them.’
Fortunately, my physical abilities didn’t fall behind theirs.
None of these monsters could keep up with me while I had my skill active.
Bang!
I kept firing as I retreated, chipping away at their numbers.
The goal was simple — piss them off enough to stay focused on me.
Then, suddenly—
Hissss…
A towering Orc stepped into my path.
‘Of course.’
An Orc fast enough to overtake me.
The Orc boss had arrived.