Colossus Hunter – Chapter 72

Ch 72: The Rapidly Changing Modern Era（2）

The five of them were running directly towards me. They were moving their feet with all their might as if drawn by a magnet, and judging by their attire, they were dressed as simply as if they had come out for a walk.

‘Just beginners who have recently awakened.’

It was easy to tell. The problem was why beginners were in Nachalsan Mountain at this time.

As far as I know, there was only one person who could bring about this change.

‘Did that bastard do something?’

I heard that Min-shik went into the ‘Gate’ to hunt the Zombie King Achsiss. Quite some time has passed since then, so he must be moving to his next step.

And since Nachalsan Mountain is a very good place to grow, I understood that Min-shik had completely opened the gate.

Could these people have been accidentally drawn in during that process?

“Y-you over there! Get out of the way!”

“S*it! Shiiiiit!”

It was pitiful to see them running away with tears and snot streaming down their faces. Monster boars originally inhabit the 5th floor and above, but they also appear on the lower floors with a very low probability.

I shook my head.

Anyway… it’s an opportunity to hear the whole story.

There was no need to draw my sword. The moment I held the Black Wind Sword, there was a high chance that I would use more power than necessary without realizing it.

I quietly lowered my stance.

‘Now.’

I threw a punch directly at the boar that was approaching head-on.

Kurung!

The body of the charging boar lightly floated into the air.

Soon, its entire hide rippled, and its flesh seemed to bulge out.

The essence of the Hundred Steps Divine Fist. I had inflicted a direct blow to its insides.

Thud!

The monster boar fell to the ground in an unsightly manner, unable to even scream.

Death. Blood flowed from all the monster boar’s orifices, and it died on the spot.

After that, I shook my fist once and turned around.

The group of five who had been running away behind me stopped in their tracks and stared at me with their mouths open.

“H-he took down a boar in one hit…”

“I didn’t even see his fist.”

“C-could he possibly be a first-generation Awakened One?”

I slowly approached them.

When I got closer, some of them froze like ice, and only one of them started to blush and get excited.

“Excuse me! Are you perhaps a first-generation Awakened One?”

“A first-generation Awakened One?”

Judging by their attitude, they were quite used to encountering Awakened Ones. In other words, it meant that the existence of Awakened Ones had begun to emerge in the modern era as well.

But a first-generation Awakened One?

When everyone else was dumbfounded, only the woman wearing ripped jeans threw a question at me. When I asked her back, the woman said.

“We call people who awakened before the ‘Gates’ became known as first-generation Awakened Ones. Didn’t you know?”

“That’s the first time I’ve heard of that. More importantly, why are there stragglers in Nachalsan Mountain?”

“Ah, are you perhaps someone who was exploring this place first?”

“Answer the question I asked.”

Anyway, I was their benefactor who saved their lives.

Judging by the fact that they were only carrying hunting knives, they were beginners who were completely unaware of the dangers inside the ‘Gate’.

When I became irritable, the woman nodded.

“Nachalsan is the only dungeon that’s currently open to the public. Awakened Ones like us who have just awakened are encouraged to hunt only below the 5th floor here.”

“Does that person who’s encouraging it have the name Min-shik?”

“Oh! You know about that too? Or are you perhaps a guild member of the same guild?”

The woman’s eyes widened like a rabbit’s.

Good heavens.

I held my forehead for a moment.

So, that bastard Min-shik had massively opened Nachalsan Mountain to the public.

“What about the government? The government wouldn’t just let that happen, would they?”

“They tell us to stay away because it’s dangerous, but there aren’t really any other restrictions. But are you really not affiliated with the ‘Apocalypse’ Guild?”

Apocalypse Guild?

That name sounds familiar.

‘That’s the name of the guild I created first.’

At this point, there’s only one culprit.

That Min-shik had sweet-talked the government in the meantime, created a guild, and even established the terminology.

It was a huge change. While I was in Nachalgak, the world had changed. Of course, I would have to see it with my own eyes.

The woman kept chattering.

“We’re planning to give a presentation on ‘Awakened Ones’ for our university graduation thesis. Excuse me, but if it’s okay, could we ask you a few questions…”

“If you don’t want to die, go back.”

“Huh?”

“I said get lost.”

It didn’t seem like they were the kind of people who would understand if I spoke politely.

I quietly stared into the woman’s eyes.

Hiccup!

The woman who looked into my eyes started to hiccup.

It’s difficult for a beginner who has just awakened to handle my energy.

Seeing the woman trembling and her gaze shaking uncontrollably, I moved my feet.

Since it was the first floor anyway, as long as they weren’t extremely unlucky and encountered a monster boar, there would be no problem for them to get out.

More than anything, my concern right now is not them.

I need to see with my own eyes as soon as possible how the modern world is changing rapidly.

Even while coming out, I saw quite a lot of people.

At least a hundred people. That meant that more than that had entered Nachalsan Mountain.

And there were also people stationed to guard the entrance.

‘They’re not soldiers.’

They were civilians. But they were quite grown Awakened Ones.

They were wearing navy blue uniforms, and an X mark was engraved on their shoulders.

‘They’re stationed at every floor entrance.’

At least from the 1st floor to the 5th floor, people were stationed. They seemed to be guild members of the ‘Apocalypse’ Guild.

Moreover, they were also gathering people and distributing equipment.

“We’ll provide you with basic equipment.”

“I saw it at the cafe, but do firearms really not work?”

“Yes. Modern firearms don’t work well inside the dungeon. To put it simply, ‘ignition’ doesn’t work. All ‘fire’ brought from the modern world does not burn well. There are a few other theories, but it’s amazing, isn’t it?”

Judging by the questions and answers, they were very organized.

They didn’t seem particularly interested in me. It seemed that they hadn’t yet moved on to the ‘control’ stage. In the past, numerous guilds controlled Nachalsan Mountain by floor and collected money or managed it, but now, right after the existence of the ‘Gate’ had just begun to be known to the world, it seemed that there was no restraint.

『Exiting ‘Nachalsan Mountain.’』

『5, 4, 3, 2, 1』

I crossed the gate.

Soon, the surrounding scenery changed, and familiar air deeply pierced my lungs.

I looked around.

It was originally an abandoned house, but it seemed that it had been torn down and turned into an empty lot.

There weren’t many people, but there were about 20 or so people scattered around.

I thought that soldiers would be waiting outside the gate, but had some kind of deal been made?

‘I should go home for now.’

I quickly left the place.

Judging by the atmosphere, it seemed that Nachalsan Mountain had been exposed to many people.

I thought I would need time to go back and check things out. If I looked it up on TV or the internet, I would be able to approach the truth of the incident in more detail.

◈◈◈ * *

Click.

I moved the mouse and stared at the monitor.

Numerous articles, even major newspapers, were already endlessly churning out articles using keywords such as ‘dungeon’ or ‘Nachalsan Mountain.’

━Korea, the first country in the world to acknowledge the existence of dungeons.

━Dungeons. Is it a poison? Or a new beginning?

━The invasion theory of monsters. Is it true?

━The need for specialized training of Awakened Ones.

━Superhuman crimes will be punished more severely starting today.

━Kim Min-shik. The return of a hero.

━The Apocalypse Guild conquers the 25th floor of Nachalsan Mountain.

I looked through all the articles in order. The first article started 42 days ago.

It all started when Min-shik, who hunted the Zombie King Achsiss, returned with people.

Among the missing people were high-ranking political figures and third-generation chaebols, which caused an even greater reaction. After that, as if they had made a promise, they made public the matters related to the dungeon, and the political and business circles moved together, eventually declaring an ‘official announcement.’

And Min-shik, who rescued them, was treated as a hero, and at the same time, he created the ‘Apocalypse’ Guild and was said to be focusing on dungeon exploration.

‘He already created a guild, huh.’

It was a great achievement. To be honest, I didn’t think he would be able to accomplish this much in this amount of time. It’s an action that can’t be done without harboring a considerable amount of poison.

Click.

━The Apocalypse Guild conquers the 25th floor of Nachalsan Mountain.

「It has been 26 days since the Apocalypse Guild, which opened Nachalsan Mountain to the public, began its conquest. The Apocalypse Guild’s attack team, which conquered Nachalsan Mountain at a rate of one floor per day, has conquered even the 25th floor, drawing public attention. The 25th floor is home to unique monsters called ‘Black Carts’…….」

I could see Min-shik’s picture and about 30 members of the team.

Although firearms don’t work, cameras worked even inside the gate.

Anyway… Min-shik was recording all his actions and using them for large-scale propaganda. Perhaps he was creating the ‘image’ of an Awakened One right now.

I shifted my gaze to the comments on the article.

━Wow, what is that monster? Is this really a sign that the Earth is going to be destroyed?（cjdd◈◈◈*）-I heard that if you kill them before they come to Earth… is that true?（bobo◈◈◈*）-ㅋㅋㅋIdiots. What’s so great about that?（sson◈◈◈*）└A dog is barking somewhere.（toto◈◈◈*）└Here, have some attention.（2wee◈◈◈*）-It’s so scary!（seiz◈◈◈*）-Apocalypse Guild fighting! Min-shik-nim is so cool!（tuli◈◈◈*）-It’s like a fantasy.（goraz◈◈◈*）It had only been a few dozen days, but the reactions in the comments were so natural. How many media outlets must have covered and exposed it for the reactions to be like this?

Normally, it would have been treated as a rumor and the government would have intervened. But everyone was moving as one, as if they had become a symbiotic relationship.

There were also critical articles, but most of them viewed the Awakened Ones favorably. Moreover, the atmosphere of excitement over the appearance of dungeons and superhumans was intense.

Click.

『This is the official website of the Apocalypse Guild.』

There was also an official website.

Moreover, the number of subscribers to the website exceeded 2 million.

The contents of the website were simple.

It provided guides by informing people about the types of monsters and how to hunt them, creating an atmosphere like a ‘game website’ to make them adapt naturally.

After several trials and errors in the past, it had been determined that this method was the easiest for the public to learn, but this time, they made it take root from the very beginning.

Then, the title of one post caught my eye.

━I saw a man today who sent a monster boar to the afterlife with one punch!

「We were about to die after being chased by a monster boar from the 1st floor, but a man saved us! The boar died with blood splattering everywhere after just one punch. I know that there are a few Fist Masters among the Apocalypse Guild members, so could he be one of them? But he was so unfriendly. Hmph.」

└A monster boar with one punch? Are you a pathological liar?

└Yeah, next dream.

└If he was a representative Fist Master of the Apocalypse Guild, wouldn’t it be Son Oh-hyuk-nim? Looking at the videos, even he uses about three punches to catch a monster boar.

└I can hunt a monster boar with just my pinky finger? What’s so great about that haha└I can kill it with my boogers.└Isn’t a single strand of hair enough?

I clicked my tongue, feeling that the internet age was indeed fast with everything.

‘I should wear a mask or something.’

（72/251）