SMH 149

Chapter 48 – Raid Hell (1)

TL: Boko

Editors: Isleidir, StellarRain

A formation of large flying ships appeared out of the giant warp gate in the sky. The ships looked quite rough around the edges, but they were definitely flying.

It seemed as though the warp gate had opened in other locations besides the sky, as Sung Joon felt mana reactions everywhere.

“Holy shit…”

Seol Ah, who had followed him out, was shocked once she saw the formation of flying ships. Eventually, Sung Joon heard his phone ring and hurriedly brought the phone to his ear.

“There’s an SS-rank raid around your house, Mr. Kang Sung Joon! We’ll send you the coordinates soon! Please get ready and stop the wave!”

Sung Joon could hear their urgency through his phone.

“What is its range?”

Considering the fact that he felt mana reactions from both the sky and the ground, he could tell that the scope of the warp gate was quite extensive. But he asked so that he could obtain accurate information.

“It’s all of Seoul.”

“I understand.”

As soon as Sung Joon answered, the connection was cut.

“Ms. Yoon Seol Ah. Please stay here. It’ll be safe here.”

His mansion was safe. There were several guards (who were Hunters) here, and above all, there were four skilled A-rank Hunters here.

Sung Joon didn’t even wait for Seol Ah’s response and jumped off the terrace’s railing. The height of the terrace wouldn’t pose a problem for an SS-rank Hunter.

“Sung Joon!”

Jung Hoon, who was in the garden, came rushing over to Sung Joon.

“Listen to what I say carefully. You and the other teammates protect the mansion. Ignore the coordinates for the assembly area. Don’t worry about the Bureau, I’ll talk to them.”

“I understand.”

Jang Hoon didn’t object to Sung Joon’s order for him to ignore the coordinates for the raid assembly area. It was quite clear how much Jang Hoon trusted Sung Joon.

Sung Joon got into his Hunter sedan and left through the front gate. At that moment, he received a message on his phone.

He came to a brief stop and checked his phone. The message detailed where the assembly point was.

Sung Joon grabbed the steering wheel again and drove. The assembly point wasn’t very far, but it wasn’t exactly close either.

He arrived after about twenty minutes of driving. There were at least fifty Hunters gathered in the assembly area. Considering the mana that he felt, he could tell how large the warp gate was.

“It’s the SS-rank Hunter, Mr. Kang Sung Joon!”

“It really is! We’ll be ok now!”

The Hunters who noticed Sung Joon disembarking from his car cheered. They were extremely uneasy, as this raid was judged SS-rank.

But because South Korea’s first and only SS-rank Hunter had appeared, it was obvious that morale would improve.

However, Sung Joon thought differently.

‘There has to be a reason why the assembly area was chosen here…’

Deciding where the assembly area will be depends on the ‘size’ of the warp gate. Considering the fact that he felt the mana of the warp gate not far from here, the wave would be hell.

‘Am I the last one…?’

There weren’t any more Hunters that joined them. Once a man, who looked to be a Dungeon Bureau worker, discovered Sung Joon, he rushed over to him.

He had a badge that said ‘Investigator’.

“Mr. Kang Sung Joon! I came from the Dungeon Bureau’s raid situation room!”

The Investigator introduced himself while running over. He checked his watch and then spoke.

“In five minutes, the warp gate will completely open. The Bureau has put you in charge of this ‘battlefield’.”

If fifty or more Hunters gather in a single area during a raid, the most skilled Hunter would be placed in charge. If they succeeded in stopping the wave, then the leader would gain another 10% of rewards.

They would pick a Hunter for that role even if there were less than fifty Hunters, but because it wasn’t a formal appointment, the leader wouldn’t receive additional rewards.

It was common sense for the other Hunters to follow the leader during the raid, but because the Hunters hadn’t been trained in strategy or tactics, it was best to not give them any complex orders.

“We’ve issued a warning to all of Seoul regarding the raid. Please take care of the defense.”

“I understand.”

Sung Joon nodded his head. The Investigator used his radio to talk with someone else. Contrary to dungeons, raids occurred in the outside world, so they could use communication equipment. However,  because phones were heavily affected by the mana interference, they couldn’t be used.

“Are you done with organizing the Hunters into groups?”

“Yes.”

Once the Hunters were organized into groups, these groups would be messaged to the raid situation room where they would take care of the rest.

“And we got a message from the Surveillance Team just a little while ago. Apparently, the warp gate has opened.”

“I assume the first wave will come now,” Sung Joon said. The Investigator nodded his head and spoke.

“That’s correct. Good luck.”

The Investigator went with the army to a safe location. Sung Joon sensed a large quantity of monsters approaching from afar.

“They’re coming!”

Eventually, one of the A-rank Mage Hunters sensed the enemies approach and warned the rest. The Hunters all drew their weapons.

“Do we have a Captain here?”

Sung Joon found the Captain at the defense line, and the Captain rushed over to him.

“You were looking for me?”

The Captain was in a location that allowed him to easily get help from the soldiers maintaining the defense line.

“We won’t need any artillery support.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

Sung Joon didn’t want their help. The Captain acquiesced, as Sung Joon reasoned that their artillery support would create dust which would obscure their vision.

“The wave is coming!” someone yelled. Hundreds of monsters followed the main road and rushed over. The vanguard consisted of A-rank Iron Golems, which were considered mid to high tier.

They covered their bodies with their thick iron shields and rushed over to the Hunters’ defensive formation.

As Sung Joon had asked, the army didn’t provide any artillery support.

“Buff!”

“Bless!”

As soon as Sung Joon yelled, the Supporter Hunter drew his mana. Those affected by the buff could feel their physical abilities increase.

‘Do we have an A-rank Supporter?’

He could definitely feel the effects of the buff. At worst, they were an A-rank Supporter Hunter. The worth of an A-rank Supporter Hunter rose rapidly depending on how many people were in their area and their skill. And right here, there were fifty hunters present, which was not a small number.

“Magic attack!”

The Mage Hunters began casting their magic. There weren’t that many of them, but the magic was powerful indeed.

Blades of wind and spears of ice pierced through the air, aiming for the monsters. The Iron Golems, with speed unbefitting of their large physiques, quickly raised their iron shields and blocked the magicians’ offensive.

“Inferno.”

An A-rank Hunter had completed their high-rank spell. Flames descended from the sky while lava burst from the floor. The vanguard of Iron Golems, as well as the Orcs behind them were swept up in the Inferno.

“Is it over?” someone asked. How foolish. As if proving just how foolish he was, dozens of Orc Mages combined their strength, creating an icy wind that neutralized the flames.

The ‘Inferno’ managed to destroy the eight Iron Golems that served as the vanguard, but there were too many Orcs left for them to be careless.

“There are two Orc Blademasters. And there’s also one Orc High Priest, as well as six Orc Warlords,” Rishubalt reported. Sung Joon looked at the Hunters spread out on the main street and spoke.

“Are there any A-rank Combat Hunters?”

“That’s me.”

“I’m an A-rank Combat Hunter.”

“Me too…”

A total of three hands went up.

‘We have another Mage and a Supporter, so there are five of them…?’

To be honest, in the current situation, the Mage and Supporter were unnecessary. The A-rank Mage would need to stop the S-rank Orc High Priest, and it would be difficult for a Supporter Hunter to fight against monsters of the same rank.

Because they didn’t have enough people, he had no choice but to send the three A-rank Combat Hunters to fight against the six Orc Warlords.

“Would you be able to take on six Orc Warlords?”

“I think we could take on five of them, but… Six is probably impossible for us.”

“Six is definitely impossible.”

One of them swallowed down their complaint while the other two replied in his stead.

Sung Joon turned his head and looked over the group of monsters. They had gotten a lot closer. The battle would begin soon.

“Please last for about thirty seconds. I’ll help you after I’ve killed the two Orc Blademasters and the Orc High Priest.”

Sung Joon spoke in an overwhelmingly confident voice. Seeing that, the three A-rank Combat Hunters stopped what they were going to say.

‘There are so many monsters, but he’s going to take down three S-rank monsters in thirty seconds?’

Their first thought was that it was impossible, but when they remembered Sung Joon’s Hunter rank, the A-rank Hunter had no choice but to shake his head.

‘He’s South Korea’s first and only SS-rank… He might be able to do it…’

The A-rank Hunter was intensely anxious. While Sung Joon spoke with them, the group of monsters had advanced quite far and come close.

When the Iron Golems fell, the Orc Blademasters took up the position of vanguard. These two Orc Bladmasters used their high-speed movement towards Sung Joon.

The A-rank Hunters around Sung Joon could barely see their afterimages, but Sung Joon saw them all too clearly.

“Ha!”

There was no need for him to use one of his sword techniques. Sung Joon, who was buffed by an A-rank Supporter, used high-speed movement.

His body quickly passed by an Orc Blademaster. It was too fast for it to be an attack and they hadn’t sensed a presence go by, so they thought he had just passed by, but… At that moment…

“Ugh!”

The Orc Blademaster cried out and was split in half, spurting red blood everywhere.

“H-How can a human…!”

The sole remaining Orc Blademaster was shocked at his ally being cut in half in a single strike. Fear spread in his body.

He thought about ordering his subordinates to attack, but he was well aware that they would be no match for his opponent’s overwhelming strength.

The Orc Blademaster cried out and used his high-speed movement. He disappeared and reappeared right behind Sung Joon.

But he had already lost his head.

“That’s impossible!”

“I couldn’t even see it…!”

The soldiers, who were preparing to assist them, couldn’t even see Sung Joon move, but they definitely saw the two Orc Blademasters spilling blood and falling to the floor.

“To be exact, it took you nineteen seconds,” Rishubalt reported. Sung Joon went over to help the A-rank Hunters fighting against the Orc Warlords. One of the A-rank Hunters had lost an arm and was quickly retreating. One of the Orc Warlords swung its spear at him and closed the distance.

“Heal!”

Sung Joon gathered his mana and used his ‘Heal’. The radiant white light ‘regenerated’ the A-rank Hunter’s left arm.

As soon as he saw his arm regenerate, the A-rank Hunter swung his sword and gave the Orc Warlord a grievous injury. While doing so, Sung Joon had already killed the rest of the Orc Warlords and had even killed the High Priest as well.

It seemed like the first wave was over.

“Sensing several mana reactions. More enemies are approaching.”

Rishubalt brought more bad news.