Chapter  06 …

“Crazy bastard! Who told you to pull the trigger without permission first!”
Choi Yura cursed at me.

“I was going to kill them anyway!”

I shouted back.

It was the truth. It was a fight that was going to happen no matter what.

The Wrecker group wearing Pepe masks were among the worst even within Wreckers—completely unhinged bastards.

And Choi Yura was also famous for having a violent temper. Once harsh words were exchanged, killing each other was already the expected outcome.

Choi Yura probably knew that too.

She was just shocked that I had suddenly pulled the trigger without warning.

And given her personality, a civilian like me starting a fight on my own must have been another thing that pissed her off.

“You! I’ll deal with you later!”

“You gonna kill me too?”

“Yes!”

“Everyone! The hunter is trying to kill a civilian!”

I fired back shamelessly at her threat.

Spilled water can’t be gathered again.

Well, once things settle down, I’ll probably just take a couple punches to the face.

“You son of a bitch!”

“Kill that bastard first!”

The Wrecker bastards, despite being hunters, were even using firearms.

Bang! Bang bang bang!

Bullets fired by the Wreckers flew toward us.

Some of them, under covering fire, began advancing toward the rock where Doo-hyun and I were taking cover.

“Like hell I’ll let you.”

Chwaaaaarrrrrrr!

At that moment, an iron chain swept in and swallowed the men providing suppressive fire.

“Ugh!”

“Damn it!”

The attackers hurriedly dodged.

Choi Yura’s chain was infamous for being vicious beyond belief.

Even a graze would tear away skin and muscle, and if it wrapped around you, it would shred flesh to pieces and easily sever limbs.

If it wrapped around your neck, your head would be cleanly separated. Without enough defensive strength, your waist would be sliced clean in half, separating upper and lower body.

Because of that, even the Wreckers had no choice but to avoid the chain at all costs.

Thanks to Choi Yura, we were able to peek out from behind the rock and fire at the approaching enemies.

Drdrdrdrdrdr!

“Ugh!”

“Ghk!”

As the BR-2’s muzzle flared, the advancing Wreckers were riddled like a beehive and collapsed.

“Damn bitch!”

“Ugh!”

Perhaps because they were wearing Pepe masks, the Wreckers dodging Choi Yura’s chain looked like actual frogs hopping around.

It would’ve been a comical sight under different circumstances, but my face remained rigid.

Even after blowing one away with a shotgun and spraying full-auto fire into the clustered enemies, we still weren’t in a favorable position.

If this had been a fight between non-awakened humans, more than half would already be dead.

But our enemies were a group of hunters.

They weren’t the kind you could suppress with a couple bullets.

“Ghk!”

The man who had been hit by the shotgun earlier was slowly getting back up.

He was covered in blood, but didn’t seem fatally injured.

Even those hit by bullets were mostly still moving.

Only one non-awakened man who had been unlucky enough to take a headshot had gone down.

Choi Yura seemed to have taken a few hits as well, but she didn’t look particularly affected.

Well, even a 1-star hunter—the lowest rank—has an invisible barrier within a radius of about one meter centered on their body that protects them, significantly reducing bullet impact.

Unless it’s a lucky headshot, even a 1-star hunter can endure one or two bullets.

At 3-star level, even 7.62mm rifle rounds struggle to cause fatal damage. Above 5-star, the barrier becomes so strong that even heavy-caliber rounds can be deflected.

That was why our sudden gunfire hadn’t been very effective—and why the Wreckers hadn’t feared a firearm ambush in the first place.

Some even said that if a non-awakened person wanted to kill a hunter, they were better off using cold weapons like knives or axes and closing in within at least one meter for melee combat.

That was the difference between hunters and the unawakened.

From the perspective of the unawakened, hunters were no different from monsters.

—

As I had expected—no, as I knew from experience—Choi Yura was struggling.

Even though she was considered outstanding among 4-star hunters, fighting simultaneously against three 3-star hunters and multiple 1–2-star hunters was too much.

Grit!

She clenched her teeth and swung her chain, but the Wrecker group—clearly experienced from long coordination—were expertly handling her.

But this wasn’t the time for me, a non-awakened human, to worry about a 4-star hunter.

Click. Click.

Even though I had packed enough ammo, my rifle rounds were already gone.

Bang!

I switched to a pistol, but since they were returning fire, even peeking out was dangerous.

“W-we’re out of ammo!”

Doo-hyun, who was taking cover with the unnamed couple behind a tree across from us, shouted in frustration.

“Take this!”

I threw him a Glock 23 and a shotgun.

“What about you, hyung?!”

“I’ll handle it!”

I shouted back and pulled out the axe I had used to crush goblin heads.

Maybe this was better.

There was no better weapon than an axe when it came to finishing off hunters.

I listened closely.

Footsteps were approaching.

‘Three, two, one.’

On timing, I burst out and swung my axe.

“Huh?”

The Wrecker dodged my attack and smirked.

He was wearing a Pepe mask that looked like it was hanging from a noose.

“Cute.”

Yeah, sure.

He was probably around 2-star level. To him, I probably looked adorable.

At that level, a non-awakened human was basically a toy.

At minimum, you needed to be a professional fighter or someone trained in special forces-level lethal combat just to stand a chance.

“How should I kill you? Cut your neck? Or slice your limbs off?”

The Wrecker lowered his gun and pulled out a military knife from his waist.

Swish. Sssshk.

“….”

He made threatening sounds with his mouth while swinging the blade playfully.

“Shh-shh! Shh-shh-shh!”

“….”

“You bastard, not even flinching?”

“….”

“You think you’ll keep that annoying expression even if I cut your guts out?”

He lunged at me with the knife.

I met him with my axe.

Clang! Clang!

The axe and knife collided, and my hands felt like they were being torn apart, my arms going numb.

“Oh? Not bad. Shh-shh!”

“….”

“Hey, I’m trying to play with you here!”

Noticing I wasn’t showing fear at all, he became visibly irritated.

“Ugh!”

I focused entirely on defense, waiting for an opening.

Acting confused, panicked, and clumsy—I deliberately exposed openings to lure him in.

‘One chance. If I’m lucky, two.’

Even while taking knife wounds to my thigh and shoulder—

“Didn’t I say I’d cut you open and take your insides out?”

“….”

“Then I’ll start with your stomach.”

He swung the knife wide.

Now.

I lowered my stance in an instant and swept his legs.

Thud!

He fell embarrassingly to the ground.

Crack!

I brought the axe down with all my strength, but because he was a 2-star hunter, the blade didn’t fully penetrate.

It only sank about 3 cm into his skull.

But that was fine.

Because I wasn’t done yet.

I wrapped my legs around his neck.

“You bastard… ngh!”

As he struggled, my strength slowly faded.

I knew.

A simple choke wouldn’t finish him.

So I prepared a gift.

Squeeze!

Using all my strength to choke him, I tore off his mask.

I pulled the safety pin from a grenade, forced his mouth open, and shoved it deep inside his throat.

“Goodbye.”

“…!”

One, two… now.

BOOM!

The moment I dove away, the grenade exploded and his head burst like a watermelon.

“Haa… haa…”

I didn’t even have time to check the corpse before scanning the surroundings.

Chwaaaaarrrr!

Choi Yura was still fighting the Wreckers with her chain.

Bang bang bang!

Boom!

Doo-hyun and the uncle were resisting well as a two-man firing team.

“Ghk!”

I wrapped a tourniquet tightly around my thigh where I had been stabbed by the knife, then ran to support Doo-hyun and the uncle.

But our enemies weren’t only the Wreckers.

“Kyaaaak!”

“Kihiiit!”

Just as I thought.

Monsters were pouring in.

—

As always, gunfire attracts monsters.

The sounds of battle—weapon clashes, shouting, screams, explosions—inevitably lure them in.

“Grrrrrrr!”

“Keeeeek!”

Dozens of monsters of various kinds crashed into the battlefield.

Our fight with the Wreckers turned into a chaotic three-way battle, and casualties began to pile up rapidly.

“Agh!”

“Damn it! Gah!”

Several Wreckers were taken down by monsters.

“Kyah!”

Even Choi Yura was struck by a blow from a 3-star Wrecker and was knocked away.

Our strongest combat asset was now out of action.

The worst situation.

But there was no need to despair.

I could feel it.

A faint surge of ether building inside me.

Swoooosh.

A soft golden light wrapped around me.

‘Huh?’

This wasn’t like my previous awakening.

Back then, it had been a blue light like everyone else.

‘Don’t tell me…’

A faint spark of expectation ignited in my chest.

‘Please… dealer. Please.’

I didn’t want to awaken as a non-combat hunter like before.

I didn’t want to be treated as a tool, serving dealers, being used, threatened, and discarded.

‘Please, not a support role. Not support…’

I wished desperately.

I wanted that wish to reach somewhere.

To come true.

Swoooosh.

Feeling my heart grow hot, I removed my plate carrier and unbuttoned my shirt, looking down at my chest.

Every awakened person had a sentence engraved at the center of their chest representing their role.

Meaning, the role I would receive would be revealed by the word engraved there.