35 chapter - Natural Healing Pension (5)

“Sergeant Kim Sangyoon, look at that.”

“Why?”

“The whole forest’s been sliced clean.”

Kim Sangyoon replied, utterly indifferent.

“Lee Yechan must’ve passed through. Damn it, why’d he have to chop down all the trees too? It’ll take forever to clear this mess.”

Unlike Kim Sangyoon’s disinterested tone, Private First Class Lee Hobum kept marveling as he spoke.

“It’s incredible, though. Doesn’t it look like a giant swung a sword through here?”

Kim Sangyoon frowned as he scanned the fallen trees and piles of Orc corpses.

“He could’ve just taken off their heads clean. Why the hell does he have to flex for no reason?”

“But it looks way cooler that way.”

“Cool, my ass. We’re the ones stuck cleaning all this up.”

Lee Hobum’s face turned serious as he asked.

“Wait, are you serious?”

“Who do you think’s gonna clean this up for free?”

“……”

Orc corpses and shredded trees.

Just moments ago, it all looked like some kind of art installation.

Now, it just looked like trash.

And it was trash, literally.

“Report to HQ. You know we’re scheduled to raid a Gate in the morning, right? We gotta clear this crap before then.”

“……Understood.”

Once the report was made, they began inspecting the Orc corpses one by one.

In case any of them were still alive, they needed to finish them off properly.

The results were clean.

Every last one of them had been severed in half.

“Sergeant Kim Sangyoon? There’s a few more over there, a little farther out.”

“Yeah? Let’s check it out.”

The Orcs they found there all had their heads cleanly severed.

“These are all Elite Orcs, right?”

“Yeah.”

Very few in the Mountain Guild could deal with Orc Elites this easily.

And this kind of precise decapitation? That was Lee Yechan’s signature move, the Mountain Guild’s A-Rank Hunter.

“How the hell do you even kill monsters that shrug off bullets like this?”

“Hunter Lee Yechan’s ability is pretty damn busted.”

“That, and over there too… what exactly is his ability…”

Kim Sangyoon paused, searching for the right words.

Then a fitting comparison came to him.

“You know Hunter Han Sooyoung?”

“Who in Korea doesn’t know the Sword Saint?”

“It’s like a watered-down version of that.”

Lee Hobum’s eyes widened as he asked.

“You mean… he’s got the same ability as the Sword Saint? Mana Enchantment?”

“Yeah. That’s why he blew up in popularity during last year’s certification trials. They called him the ‘Little Sword Saint.’”

“……Ah!”

Lee Hobum’s face lit up as if he’d finally remembered.

“He’s part of the Mountain Guild?”

“Obviously. Seriously, how do you not know Lee Yechan?”

Kim Sangyoon chuckled softly, shaking his head, but his expression suddenly turned dead serious as he stared at Lee Hobum.

“This is bad.”

The younger soldier tensed up too, scanning the area as he asked cautiously.

“Did something happen? More Orcs nearby?”

“No.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

“I was a Private First Class back then.”

“……Come again?”

“I was a Private First Class back then. That was over a year ago… ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) and I’m still stuck here doing this bullshit.”

“……”

Kim Sangyoon grinned wickedly, placing a hand on Lee Hobum’s shoulder.

“Damn shame for you, huh? I’m out of here next month, and you’ve got another year to rot in the army.”

Lee Hobum’s face twisted with disgust, having heard this same teasing routine countless times.

Kim Sangyoon snickered, clearly entertained by the reaction—until his eyes landed on an unusual Orc corpse.

Adjusting his headlamp, he took a closer look.

It was much larger than the other Orcs.

‘Huh? That’s an Orc Warlord… but…’

Seeing an Orc Warlord’s corpse here wasn’t surprising.

Someone like Lee Yechan could easily kill an Orc Warlord with a single strike.

The issue was the condition of the body.

‘……The head’s still attached?’

On top of that, there weren’t any visible wounds at all.

Suddenly, a chill prickled across his skin.

Click!

With a serious expression, Kim Sangyoon aimed his rifle at the body.

Lee Hobum spoke up, clearly not buying it.

“Come on, Sergeant Kim. I’m not falling for the same prank twice.”

“Shut up and raise your weapon!”

Kim Sangyoon’s sharp, humorless tone made Lee Hobum stiffen, instantly scanning the area with full alertness.

“What’s going on?”

Kim Sangyoon didn’t respond. Instead, he slowly approached the Orc Warlord’s body, hand trembling as he reached for its neck.

‘D-Dead.’

Relief washed over him, and Kim Sangyoon slumped to the ground.

Lee Hobum looked at him, confused.

“Sergeant Kim?”

“……All clear. You can relax.”

“What the hell just happened?”

“Take a look.”

Following where Kim Sangyoon aimed his headlamp, Lee Hobum frowned.

“That’s… an Orc Warlord, right?”

“Don’t you think it looks… a little too intact?”

Inspecting the body closely, Lee Hobum’s face went pale as he stammered.

“W-Wait… is it still alive?”

Kim Sangyoon tapped the Orc Warlord’s head with his boot and answered.

“It’s dead. No way someone like the Mountain Guild’s Chief would screw up something like this.”

Lee Hobum’s face twisted with suspicion as he asked.

“There’s barely a scratch on him… how the hell did he die?”

“We’ll find out.”

Switching off his headlamp, Kim Sangyoon placed a hand on the Orc Warlord’s head.

Closing his eyes for a moment, he opened them again—and both pupils gleamed with light.

Like a human projector, a recording began to play from Kim Sangyoon’s eyes.

The footage started with a man aiming a rifle.

Dudududu—! Clang!

“Holy shit… did it just deflect the bullets?”

“Looks like it. Damn…”

“That thing’s a goddamn monster…”

“Orc Warlords are monsters, alright.”

Lee Hobum grimaced, watching the scene.

“He’s dead meat, that guy.”

“Don’t be so sure. Maybe Hunter Lee Yechan popped in last second to save him. Gotta keep hope alive.”

Neither of them truly believed that man had a chance.

And for the most part, the beginning of the footage confirmed their expectations.

The view shifted rapidly as the man with the rifle appeared right in front of the Orc Warlord.

The Orc Warlord had moved.

“This is it.”

But contrary to their expectations, the man managed to block the Orc Warlord’s attack with his rifle.

“Oh?”

“He’s no ordinary guy.”

His reflexes were insane.

“Yeah… looks like B-Rank? His eyes are glowing red, probably using some kind of skill.”

“Was there a B-Rank Hunter like that active in Gangwon-do?”

“If I don’t recognize him, he probably just arrived here recently. Either way, if he’s B-Rank, he might just survive if he runs.”

But the man in the footage didn’t run.

“Wait, what the hell is he doing?”

The man charged straight toward the Orc Warlord.

Thud!

“Ah……”

In the end, the two soldiers could only sigh as they watched the man get impaled by the Orc's spear.

‘He should’ve just run like any normal person… Why pull that macho bullshit…’

But the footage didn’t end there.

Despite being skewered by the spear, the man took another step toward the Orc Warlord.

“Grrrk!”

Right after that, the Orc Warlord’s field of vision shook violently.

And in the next instant, the video showed the man’s face—eyes burning with murderous intent.

Out of nowhere, he shoved a pistol into the Orc Warlord’s mouth.

BANG—!

The sound of the gunshot echoed like the climax of the whole scene as the Orc Warlord’s vision cut to black.

The two soldiers froze, dumbstruck, watching that brief moment play out.

It was Lee Hobum who broke the silence first.

“……What the hell just happened?”

Snapping back to reality, Kim Sangyoon checked the inside of the Orc Warlord’s mouth.

Blood covered the interior.

Kim Sangyoon let out a small curse.

“Holy shit.”

Even after confirming it with his own ability, it was hard to believe—until he saw the wound for himself.

“……It’s real.”

Kim Sangyoon muttered blankly.

“A B-Rank… killed an Orc Warlord… alone.”

**

Because of the Orc raid last night, the pension was chaotic all the way until dawn.

The military and Hunter Bureau personnel who arrived late were scrambling everywhere, cleaning up the aftermath.

“We appreciate the Hunters’ efforts. Your performance during this Rapid Erosion Gate incident will be reported to higher authorities and positively reflected in your career. Furthermore, this will be officially recorded as a C-Rank Gate clearance, and your contribution reward will be deposited into your registered Hunter account. However…”

The Hunter Bureau agent glanced at me cautiously before continuing.

“Hunter Choi Changshik… Are you sure you want me to report it like this?”

He didn’t need to spell it out for me to understand what he meant.

He was asking if I was seriously claiming to have killed a boss-level Orc by myself.

“If you’re suspicious, you can go check yourself. There should still be a bullet wound in its upper palate.”

Even though I spoke the truth, the doubt in the agent’s eyes remained.

I could understand, to an extent.

A mere C-Rank Hunter taking down an Orc boss? It sounded ridiculous.

“……Understood. But be aware—if false information is submitted, the Hunter Bureau can penalize you accordingly.”

The distrust in his eyes was obvious to the end.

Lee Yuna snapped back in frustration.

“Are you saying my brother’s lying right now?”

“That’s not what I meant. I’m just obligated to explain the possible consequences per protocol.”

Im Jin-sol scoffed and added sarcastically.

“You think we’re idiots? The fact that you’re even bringing that up means you don’t believe him.”

The agent sighed quietly but retorted without backing down.

“So let me get this straight—a C-Rank Hunter killed an Orc Warlord? With a pistol? Please. You could empty hundreds of those cheap rounds into one, and it still wouldn’t die.”

Yuna and Jin-sol both fell silent.

It was common knowledge that bullets didn’t pierce Orcs ranked Elite and above.

Jin-sol, having experienced that firsthand, clenched her jaw.

The agent sneered, voice dripping with condescension.

“Inside the mouth? Don’t insult my intelligence. You think dressing that up with fancy words makes it believable? I’ve been working this field for years, kid.”

“……You ready to take responsibility for those words?”

This time, even Hong Soo-ah stepped in.

The air was thick with tension as the standoff escalated between our party and the agent—

“Actually, they’re right.”

A new voice cut in unexpectedly.

“……Hunter Lee Yechan?”

Lee Yechan spoke, addressing the Hunter Bureau agent directly.

“Hunter Choi Changshik’s telling the truth. You can kill an Orc Warlord by shooting into its mouth. That applies even to higher-ranked Hunters, by the way.”

“……Are you serious?”

“Yeah. And for the record, the one who killed the Orc Warlord was Hunter Choi Changshik right here.”

An A-Rank Hunter’s endorsement.

There was no room left for doubt.

“M-My apologies!”

The agent bowed at a ninety-degree angle, frantically apologizing before bolting from the scene.

Watching him retreat, Lee Yechan chuckled.

“Don’t be too hard on him, Changshik. A C-Rank killing an Orc Warlord is hard to believe, no matter how you spin it.”

“I get it.”

Lee Yechan smiled warmly.

“By the way… how’d you know to do that? Are you a Honeybee too?”

Honeybee referred to subscribers of the ‘B-Rank Hunter’s Tips’ YouTube channel.

I nodded.

“Yeah. I learned it from that B-Rank Hunter’s videos. First time trying it in real life… didn’t expect it to actually work. But it saved my ass.”

Lee Yechan smiled knowingly.

“Glad to hear it helped.”

His expression practically begged me to ask about his connection to the B-Rank Hunter.

The hint was so obvious I couldn’t ignore it.

“Are you… close with that B-Rank Hunter?”

Lee Yechan’s eyes sparkled as he responded, clearly waiting for that question.

“Of course. He’s on my team.”

“Oh, I see.”

“You a fan?”

“Something like that.”

I had subscribed, after all.

Watched plenty of his videos too.

“Wanna meet him?”

“Hell yeah.”

Lee Yechan grinned, making an unexpected offer.

“Then how about joining our Guild?”

“Sure—”

The word slipped out automatically, but I caught myself mid-sentence.

“…Huh?”

Lee Yechan beamed.

“You heard me. Want to join our Guild?”