Chapter 32 – Joint Operation (Part Five)

The path from which the massive spear that had finished off the monster had flown.

It was a place far beyond Il-hyeon’s vision—which was already far superior to that of an ordinary person—obscured not only by the great distance but also by the numerous buildings in between.

On the rooftop of a building in the heart of the city, a man and a woman stood.

“We’ve positioned ourselves at the target location and safely received the items from the backup team.”

Lee Jeong-hyeop, a towering man of 197 centimeters with a large, muscular frame, spoke in a deep voice.

Already large, Lee Jeong-hyeop looked monstrously huge in comparison to the petite-looking woman standing next to him.

All around him, large spears were embedded in the floor.

-You’re just going to jump in now? We’ve already cleared out more than half. Why don’t you just go home?

“If the team leader wasn’t here, I’d have planted a spear in your head.”

Lee Jeong-hyeop and Sera bickered sarcastically, as usual.

As a member of the same B-Team, Lee Jeong-hyeop’s personality was as rough as his appearance, making him difficult to approach.

However, Sera, with an equally strong personality, was not one to be intimidated by him.

Thanks to that, they clashed constantly, making it impossible to tell whether they were close or on bad terms.

-Cut the chatter on the comms during the operation.

-Yes, sir.

“…”

At a single word from Team Leader Jo Yoon, who had been listening, the two who had been growling at each other quietly shut their mouths.

Lee Jeong-hyeop turned his head to look at the woman standing beside him.

The woman, who had long, straight hair and wore a black coat like him, had her eyes closed and slowly opened them.

“How is it?”

“I’ve got a lock on everything. Looks like we need to take care of the two Craegers at the 34-degree mark first.”

“Isn’t that right near where I threw the last one?”

“That’s right.”

“Give me the exact location.”

As Lee Jeong-hyeop spoke, the woman nodded and closed her eyes.

Then she took his left hand.

The moment their hands touched, precise coordinates flowed into his mind.

“Good.”

Lee Jeong-hyeop lightly pulled one of the many spears embedded in the floor.

Then, stepping forward with one foot, he swung his arm back.

He launched the spear precisely in the direction she had indicated.

The massive spear, imbued with incredible power, tore through the air as it flew violently.

*Swoosh! Crash!*

The spear pierced through two buildings blocking its path and continued onward.

It then successfully penetrated the head of a running monster in a single blow.

The B-Rank monster, a Craeger, was silenced with just one attack.

*Swoosh!*

And another spear was thrown.

From the moment he picked up the spear to it flying and closing the distance, it all happened in an incredibly short time.

The other Craeger, having witnessed the death of its kin running beside it, barely managed to spot the incoming spear.

But due to its incredible speed, the creature didn’t instinctively dodge; instead, it tried to block with its arm.

That was the wrong choice.

*Thud!*

The spear pierced straight through its arm and embedded itself in its head, causing the Craeger to fall backward.

“Target down.”

Opening her eyes, she confirmed the deaths of the two monsters and spoke.

Her name was Joo Hye-jin.

She was a prominent Awakened among the holders of the [Detection] ability.

An ability that allowed one to perceive the presence of others without seeing or feeling them directly.

At first glance, the Detection ability seemed useful in many ways, but in reality, it wasn’t highly regarded.

In fact, the rank assigned to it by ability testers was merely E-Rank.

The reason was simple.

For most Awakened, the effect of the ability was so weak as to be completely useless.

Detecting and identifying enemies from hundreds of meters away was out of the question.

At best, they could barely perceive a presence just beyond a single wall.

Compared to other types of abilities, holders of the Detection ability were relatively common, but useful talents among them were extremely rare.

Only a very small number emerged as Awakened capable of perceiving a radius of several tens of meters, and even they were incredibly precious.

There were countless applications for the Detection ability, such as preventing terrorism and tracking missing monsters.

As a result, governments around the world were struggling to acquire even those talents.

But Joo Hye-jin of Aegis.

She was on a completely different level.

A monstrous ability that could cover an entire small city with Detection alone.

On top of that, her detection speed and accuracy were unparalleled.

Joo Hye-jin could not be described as merely a rare Awakened.

Not to mention other organizations, the Korean government in particular had offered all sorts of conditions and even resorted to various schemes to recruit her.

Of course, as evidenced by her remaining here, she hadn’t batted an eye no matter what grand conditions the government offered.

“There’s definitely… a lot of them.”

“So it’s living up to its Stage 0 rating. I wonder if we have enough supplies for this many.”

Lee Jeong-hyeop muttered, looking at the dozens of spears embedded in the rooftop floor.

Normally, it would have been more than enough, but for a B0-Rank Gate, it was a different story.

“By the way, who was that Awakened you mentioned was nearby? If it were a team leader, the monster would’ve been gone by the time I threw. If it’s A-Team, is it that Ghost guy?”

Lee Jeong-hyeop raised a spear, looking ready to launch it at Ghost’s head if it was indeed him.

He couldn’t even be bothered to care about his own teammates, let alone members of other teams.

But Ghost was so meddlesome and pushy whenever they worked together that he could still hear his voice clearly.

His taunting was an added bonus, and that crappy Phasing ability of his made it hard to even land a punch.

“No, it’s a presence I’ve never felt before. Probably that new A-Team rookie they were talking about. Was his name Kang Il-hyeon?”

“Ah… that rookie everyone’s been talking about lately?”

Lee Jeong-hyeop quietly lowered his spear.

He, too, had heard things about Il-hyeon.

“What’s your first impression? See anything special?”

He asked, curious.

The news that A-Team’s Leader, Lee Soo-yeon, had personally scouted him had piqued his interest considerably.

“Well, for someone who’s only been Awakened for three months, he’s strong. Seems pretty fast, even by our standards. Other than that, I’m not sure. I don’t sense anything special.”

“Hmm…”

Disappointed by the anticlimactic assessment, Lee Jeong-hyeop’s interest waned, and he looked away.

If he possessed some extraordinary ability or outstanding power, there was no way Joo Hye-jin wouldn’t have detected it.

The fact that she didn’t sense anything special meant he was by no means someone worth paying attention to.

“Let’s get back to work.”

***

*Thud!*

The black monster, a Craeger, collapsed weakly, hacked to pieces by two swords.

“Phew, that was tough.”

Having finished off the monster, Il-hyeon plopped down on the ground.

He was drenched in sweat from killing so many monsters in a single day.

“Today was definitely brutal. I’m so sick of these things now.”

Ghost said, nudging the fallen Craeger’s corpse with his foot.

“But at least it’s all over now.”

Il-hyeon said with a relieved laugh.

After the initial clearing, they were now finishing up the remaining monsters in the inner district.

The one lying beside him now was the last monster he had been assigned.

Ghost took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth.

Just as he was about to light it with a lighter, a small pebble flew in front of him.

And with a tiny explosion, a spark burst forth.

Just enough to light the tip of his cigarette.

“Jeez, you scared me!”

“Is everyone finished?”

Sera approached them with a bright smile.

Her relaxed gait suggested she had also finished her work.

“My life almost ended just now, you know?”

“Haha, don’t be so dramatic.”

-Situation clear. Everyone, gather at my position immediately.

Suddenly, Lee Soo-yeon’s voice came through the communicator.

Seeing that not only the A-Team but also Sera reacted, it seemed the call had come through the all-channel.

The three of them wondered what was going on, exchanged glances, and then hurried away.

They soon arrived at Lee Soo-yeon’s nearby location.

It seemed they were the first to arrive, as no other team members were in sight.

Spotting the approaching Il-hyeon, Lee Soo-yeon looked at him and pointed to a captured man.

“This is the man you mentioned, right?”

“Ah, yes. That’s him.”

Il-hyeon replied, recognizing the man.

It was the Scavenger he had captured and tied up.

The situation on the ground had been so urgent that he’d had to just report it over the communicator and focus on dealing with the monsters.

He was still bound hand and foot, unable to move, but he had apparently woken up at some point, as his eyes were darting around.

“But what’s wrong?”

“When I only heard the report, I thought he was just a simple Scavenger… but the situation is more serious than I expected.”

At Lee Soo-yeon’s unusually serious tone, not only Il-hyeon but also Ghost and Sera tensed up and looked at her.

Lee Soo-yeon showed them a device she was holding in her hand.

It was an unknown object, just small enough to fit in one hand.

“This is a jamming device he was carrying.”