Regurgitating Hatred (6)

-Clear.

-Bartender’s whisper: This neighborhood is stable. Move about three kilometers at 11 o’clock.

-On it.

An hour had passed since the initial outbreak. Kang Shin-hyuk had been in a state of constant motion with Eleanor to deal with the monsters pouring out of the constantly opening gates. As most monsters were between the B and A-ranks, Kang Shin-hyuk and Eleanor had no issues with them one-on-one. The problem only came with the sheer numbers of them.

“Senior, are you okay?”

“Ha…ha…” The fatigue of the body during battle was beyond imagination. Added to that was the burden of a situation where there were enemies everywhere, so it wouldn’t be surprising if you collapsed from exhaustion in such a situation after just a few minutes. However, they had spent an hour in those conditions, and it was Eleanor’s first time experiencing such a mass conflict, so it was natural that she had begun to struggle.

“Shinhyuk…why…are you fine…”

“Don’t do that.” Only the two of them were still moving, doing the part of a guild all by themselves.

“Actually, my stamina is S+ rank.” Stamina was directly related to the body’s durability, which included its defenses. That it was S+ meant that it was on par with a steel wall.

“That’s already at the top ranks…! But it’s weird, though!” Eleanor let out a loud cry. She wasn’t wrong. Even with S+ rank stamina, it wouldn’t be possible to fight for an hour without a drop of sweat like Kang Shin-hyuk now. The answer was his in his Golden Dragon Fighter. It was activating to rejuvenate his muscles before they could tire constantly. It had been the same with his regeneration before it became a part of his new skill, so it wasn’t that surprising. Of course, he couldn’t tell Eleanor about any of that, so he just smiled. Eleanor squatted in place, catching her breath as she reached her limit.

“Senior, would you like to take a break?”

“…I think I can recover in just five minutes.”

“Then, please do. It should be okay here for a while…” Kang Shin-hyuk reported to Claire and prepared to move, but suddenly a drone arrived from above. Although it was small and cute, Kang Shin-hyuk didn’t miss the muzzle on the front of it. Nor the potion hanging from it, indicating who had sent it.

-Bartender’s whisper: Drink it, it should help. I took one too…

-I’ll take it, but I don’t think I need it at this rate.

-Bartender’s whisper: Did you say it was Golden Dragon Fighter? It’s really insane. It’s not a pure stamina boost, right?

-Well, it should be about that level.

Kang Shin-hyuk recovered the potion from the drone as he chatted with Claire.

-Bartender’s whisper: Until she recovers, I can protect her with a drone. Another A+ gate opened, so you should go ahead and get started.

-It’s really crazy.

In an A+ grade gate, there was the possibility an S-rank boss might pop out. It had been that way with the wolf pack they had first encountered when they joined the fray. Originally, when an A+ class gate opened, the association would contact the top guilds to arrange a team to be sent.

-Will they have the manpower to handle this?

-Now, they are considering whether to ask Shinyoung to participate in the war.

-Other than that?

-Some guilds, including Vanguard, are urgently calling in teams from Japan…but it doesn’t change that we have to endure with the personnel we have until then. We might not be able to hold out.

Claire, along with Kang Shin-hyuk working as an operator, was blocking nearly half of the flying monsters herself while also helping and providing potions to the superhumans who needed support. In other words, this was a business trip for the Frontline Bar. There was no way to know that the first launch would be held at the countercurrent site.

“Senior, drink this.”

“Huh…I can’t hold it…” Eleanor didn’t have the strength to accept the potion. Kang Shin-hyuk reluctantly supported her chin and helped her drink it.

“Ahh…”

“Don’t make any strange sounds.” Kang Shin-hyuk felt the weird mood as he pampered Eleanor. He pulled out a clean cloth from his inventory and wiped the sweat from her brow. Her armor was covered in gore that he could do nothing about, but at least he could do this.

“Woo.”

“Hm?”

“I feel relieved…”

“Rest and then follow, I’ll go first.”

“Ah.” Eleanor stretched a hand towards Kang Shin-hyuk’s back but then withdrew before he could notice it.

“…I have to recover quickly and follow.” The drone continued to watch her. It was just guarding her, but Eleanor decided to dismiss it with a pout.

***

With the Venom Princess Soul increasing his agility to the rank of S+, Kang Shin-hyuk was able to move incredibly fast. He also had the added benefit of his A-rank Wind Mastery, increasing his agility almost to Baek’s level. In an instant, he traversed the space between him and his target point, running with ten strands of thread hanging behind him to cut through the monsters trying to ambush him.

-We have come—our dream.

-Kill them. Take control!

Those were the dangerous guys. In a short time he had been on the battlefield, Kang Shin-hyuk was able to grasp that those monsters who had clear intent and language were more dangerous than others of the same rank. They had high intelligence and often strange skills.

“I should’ve waited for my senior.” He muttered as he crossed his hands in front of his chest, pulling the threads tight to deflect the attacks coming his way.

“Sneak attacks are prohibited.”

-Read his energy!

-He’s strong!

-Look…

He stretched out his hands again, forming the thread into a sharp form. His Golden Dragon Fighter wrapped around the thread to make it look like a golden lance. Kang Shin-hyuk imbued it with his wind, causing it to rotate with enough momentum to crush the gate and the crowd of monsters protecting it.

“But no matter how intelligent you are, you can’t use your strength to protect.” With a particularly villainous line, Kang Shin-hyuk sent off his attack. Given that it was an emissive gate, the best line of attack was indirectly attacking the gate the monsters had arrived from. When the gate is destroyed, those who have lost their connection to their original world would weaken and suffer serious damage. There was also the possibility that the gate would collapse and force the guys inside to the outside all at once, so you had to act carefully, but in the current situation, that was functionally already happening.

‘But I don’t actually intend to break it down.’ The monsters would try to protect the emissive gate from collapsing early so that it could be used against them. By pretending to attack the gate, he could pierce the gaps that were revealed.

-Let’s use him as manure.

-I see his shadow. It will be ours.

-Come on, smash him!

A group of monsters furiously attacked him after realizing his intentions. He let out a laugh and evaded. The tactic when fighting with his threads was basically hit and run. It could move quickly to trap and crush the monsters in his range. Of course, he could also combine them to form bigger weapons to attack with, thanks to his Golden Dragon Fighter strengthening his attack power. He couldn’t waste his energy on long fights, however.

“Yeah, it’s the long game. The third countercurrent lasted more than five hours…”

-Kiiii!

-Die!

Kang Shin-hyuk recalled the distant past as he watched the monsters come at him like moths to a flame. Those memories of the violent scene he had been thrown into with his parents, spending two hours running away until the association rescued him.

Ten strands of thread swept across the floor to cut off the legs of the monsters. He tried hard not to remember that day in the corner of his mind, but now he didn’t need to suppress it. He didn’t know the day would come so soon where he could stand on this battlefield…yes, he felt grateful to Shin Eunah and Claire.

-Get him!

-Come this way, little boy. Let’s fight here.

-No, kill him!

Kang Shin-hyuk once more headed toward the group of noisy monsters, as, suddenly, a black haze began to bloom in the air.

-Bartender’s whisper: Shin-hyuk, step back.

Claire, who was observing the situation, responded calmly as she observed it.

-Bartender’s whisper: It looks like an S-rank. I will ask the association and Vanguard to come.

Only

-Sister, can you send me one drone?

However, Kang Shin-hyuk wasn’t backing off. He still had room. An S-rank gate was scary, but he could never consider running away without doing anything.

-Bartender’s whisper: … It’s dangerous. But yes, you won’t die with my help.

-Thank you.

-Bartender’s whisper: But if this is destroyed, you need to step back.

-I’ll keep it in mind.

Kang Shin-hyuk nodded firmly and swung the Venom Princess Soul to melt the monsters in the air with poison.

With it now clear, he pulled the Shinfeng orb out.