# Chapter 9
BANG!
Something like a whip flew toward Sano from amid the dust cloud. It moved too quickly to dodge. Sano was sent flying into the abandoned building opposite. It was a powerful attack that would have killed an ordinary human instantly.
“Je Sano!”
Having fulfilled its purpose, the tail disappeared back into the dust. Startled, Iyeon hurriedly ran while glancing briefly toward the Blue Tiger. Through the dust, he could see the massive creature leisurely rising.
“Are you okay?”
Once inside the abandoned building, Iyeon found Sano without difficulty, thanks to the path of destruction he’d created through everything in his way before landing. Fortunately, he seemed to have defended himself at the moment of impact, as he had no notable injuries. He must have used physical enhancement.
“More or less.”
His expressionless face was unreadable. Iyeon asked soothingly:
“Can you handle it?”
“Better than expected.”
“Should I request backup?”
The brightly glowing green eyes stared at Iyeon. Feeling somehow tense under that gaze, Iyeon secretly swallowed.
“No.”
The slowly delivered answer was resolute. As Sano stood up, building debris and dust fell from him. Standing up as if nothing had happened, Sano looked toward the outside of the abandoned building, where the Blue Tiger was.
“Let’s try a bit more.”
After saying that, Sano made a low jump, almost like springing up, and instantly escaped outside the abandoned building. Soon a dull thud shook the building. The beast’s growl was also clearly audible.
Does he have a plan? Or… no, such thoughts can wait. Weakly shaking his head, Iyeon also turned to leave the building.
As expected, it was almost a one-sided battle with Sano fighting alone. Even for a Tier 5, facing a Grade 2 mutant wasn’t easy. Think, Jung Iyeon. Iyeon blinked. There must be some way he could help Sano within his abilities.
It was then that the phone call came.
With the ringtone, his phone vibrated. Who’s calling at such a busy time? Lost in various thoughts, Iyeon answered the phone without checking the caller.
“What?”
[What do you mean ‘what’? You called me first, hyung.]
The voice sounded languid, as if just waking up, while Iyeon was struggling. Only then did Iyeon check who had answered the call. It was Hyegang, the cause of all this trouble.
“Hey! Didn’t you complete the quarterly mission I asked you about before?”
[Huh? Oh, that… I postponed it because of some crazy guy, then completely forgot. Sorry. Should I submit it now?]
“It’s already been marked as pending and gone!”
BANG! Just as the grumbling Iyeon stepped out of the building, a large steel beam fell right in front of him with the sound of something shattering. It brought him back to his senses. This wasn’t the time to be leisurely assigning blame.
[What was that sound? Are you on a job?]
“Hyegang, connect to your laptop right now.”
[Huh?]
“I’m in Combat Zone 32 right now. With a Grade 2 mutant.”
[…Huuuh?]
“Tell me when you’re connected. Hanging up!”
Hurriedly putting away his phone, Iyeon started sprinting while avoiding the combat debris raining down like hail. Though Hyegang had a relaxed and easygoing personality, he wasn’t stupid enough to misunderstand the situation. The signal would come soon.
The contact came at just the right moment. Iyeon pulled down the goggles that had been hanging around his neck. His vision was covered by the familiar blue lenses.
Iyeon’s business partner, Lee Hyegang, wasn’t a Hunter. However, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Chageum couldn’t function without him.
A former hacker, Hyegang oversaw all digital systems within the company. Moreover, he was a capable operator who provided excellent rear support in combat information recording, data collection, situation analysis, and judgment by developing his own programs based on his professional skills. Even the large desk in the office belonged to Hyegang, not Iyeon.
During mutant missions, Hyegang remained at the office to analyze situations and forces, direct operations, and assist Iyeon. Iyeon’s combat equipment, the goggles, were communication devices connected directly to Hyegang.
– Ah, ah. Can you hear me?
“I hear you.”
Hyegang was also a superhuman, but he had received the lowest rating, Mugunghwa Tier 1. Despite having decent gi-ryeok and ability application skills, the reason Hyegang was limited to Tier 1 was solely due to the type of his ability. It was deemed to have very low utility when responding to mutants.
This wasn’t incorrect. His superpower was wave interference. It was utterly useless against mutants that didn’t use electrical technology, and during his superpower evaluation, Hyegang couldn’t do anything in the virtual mutant response test.
Yet paradoxically…
– Why are you so far away? I thought I was going to die running up to the rooftop because the transmission wasn’t reaching…
“Good job.”
This ability, capable of processing and intercepting various communications, was more advantageous than any other in modern society. Hyegang’s communications, which could intercept and use any nearby line, never disconnected as long as electricity flowed through the city.
– Why did you get involved in handling a Grade 2 mutant anyway?
“It’s not like I wanted to get involved.”
– What is it? Do you know what it is?
“It’s called a Blue Tiger. Do you know anything about it?”
– Ah… I’ll look it up.
Being able to intercept any line meant having access rights to all servers. From official documents to news articles, community posts, and even the most trivial personal records. Hyegang could access all data uploaded to the internet.
To think such an ability was only rated as Tier 1. No matter how systematically organized, systems always have vulnerabilities.
– I found something roughly.
The communication came in shortly after. Considering that his search range was the entire city, it was a terrifying speed.
– Official documents don’t say much. I’ll send it over, take a look.
Soon, text lines appeared on the blue lenses. Iyeon’s pupils moved rapidly.
Grade 2 mutant Blue Tiger. Approximately 10M body length. Tiger-shaped with glowing blue fur. Mainly uses physical attacks utilizing its enormous body, confirmed to possess thunder-type abilities. When first discovered, two Mugunghwa Tier 4s responded but were all rendered combat-incapable in a short time before it fled. On a subsequent encounter, six Mugunghwa Tier 4s and three Mugunghwa Tier 3s responded but were again evaded as it escaped.
It was as Hyegang said. The lack of even significant combat characteristics suggested they were completely overwhelmed.
Grade 1 and 2 mutants, classified as top-tier dangerous mutants, had not appeared many times throughout decades of mutant history. Among those, cases where their habits or weaknesses were discovered were even rarer, and successful kills were only in the double digits. When facing top-tier mutants, the basic principle was to drive them away rather than kill or subdue them. The reality was that it took a lot of manpower just to send them back into the Red Void.
As expected, he learned nothing useful, just that the Blue Tiger was stronger than anticipated. Moreover, lightning… was the worst match for Sano, who mainly handled metals. Iyeon frowned as he stared at the text. At least it hadn’t killed anyone yet. Perhaps it wasn’t aggressive by nature? But then why did it attack us?
– How did you run into the Blue Tiger? Why would you encounter something like that?
“No, we didn’t seek it out…”
Iyeon paused mid-grumble. Come to think of it, something was strange.
“This was actually a Muribul bird mission. Could Muribul birds be bait species? Or maybe they’re related to the Blue Tiger somehow.”
Among mutants, there were occasionally ones with habits of calling other mutants when in danger. These were commonly called bait species. Though he had never seen information that Muribul birds were bait species, given that current mutant research wasn’t perfect, it wasn’t impossible.
– Huh?
Amid the questioning sound, there was a clicking of keyboard keys.
– Um… they’re not bait species, but they seem to cause a lot of trouble.
Along with those words, a forum post sent by Hyegang appeared on the goggles screen.
Title: How much are MRBLs?
Content: Our chairman is obsessed with birds and wants to get them even if they’re mutants, he’s insisting they’re not dangerous
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Comments(6)
┗ Check the night market, someone might be selling them
┗ Some people with stuffed bellies even want to raise mutants lol the state of this city
┗ Muribuls are known troublemakers, is your chairman confident?
┗┗ ?? What do they do?
┗┗┗ Just masters at causing trouble while watching reactions, exactly like my two-year-old nephew
┗┗┗┗ Lol hahaha
*
Title: DON’T TAKE MURIBUL MISSIONS
Content: It’s already hell trying to catch these flying things, but after catching them the whole neighborhood becomes a shit show lol these fuckers can’t even be killed, sigh
* * *
Comments(3)
┗ Had to keep them briefly for a mission once, they pretended to be well-behaved then crashed into a passing citizen lol they tore a bag, pulled earrings, it was chaos, and in the end the company had to compensate for negligence and I had to write an explanation letter dammit
┗┗ You too? Our company’s statue was also bitten lol it was brand new and shiny, but seeing it completely ruined in one day, our boss almost passed out
┗ Seriously, NEVER take on Muribul missions. This is advice from the bottom of my heart
– Seems like quite a troublesome creature. Wasn’t there any other mission available?
“…”
Iyeon’s face darkened as he finally learned the hidden truth about Muribul birds. He’d thought they were just pretty birds… How on earth did he pick this of all things? What remarkable insight.
“Is there anything else?”
– Hmm… nothing unusual. What I just sent you is about all there is.
If Hyegang said that, there really wasn’t anything more. This is maddening. As he grumbled while trying to think of something, a large boulder flew past his ear. A chill ran down the back of his neck.
Pressing down his wildly fluttering bangs, he looked ahead to see explosions and thick dust rising. The scenery flashed intermittently. The thunderous noise didn’t stop, and already half the surrounding buildings were in tatters.
– Be careful. By the way, who is that? Did you request support?
Through the goggles, Hyegang could share exactly what Iyeon was seeing. With the chaos unfolding in front and something repeatedly flashing here and there, it was understandable that Hyegang, unaware of the situation, would be confused.
“No, there’s one more person.”
– Huh? Just the two of you against a Grade 2?
“He said he could handle it.”
– Who is he?
Though Iyeon was also anxious, he had no choice but to trust the person who had said so. So far, there hadn’t been any major issues.
“Je Sano.”
