Chapter 22

Chapter 8. The Second Relic, Part II

Translator: Khan

Editor: RED

2.

A-wooooooo!

A Werewolf, with gray hair, a huge physique over two meters tall, howled at the sky.

It sounded like a typhoon.

It was not a simple sound. At the same time, it was not the sound of a wolf being lonely.

Howling was also an order, a wolf’s cry for his pack.

Awww! Aooo!

Of course, the howling of wolves followed the call of the Werewolf. They saw them coming; they were wolves running on four feet, unlike the Werewolf.

Of course, it was nothing like a wild wolf.

Excluding the tail, they were two meters long, gray-furred… but they had huge heads, red eyes, and a pair of massive fangs, like a sabretooth tiger!

A Sabretooth Wolf!

As soon as the Werewolf’s howl exploded out, about twenty sabretooth wolves, who had been quietly approaching their prey, began to race down the road full of cars.

At the end of the rush, there was a dump truck.

Of course, the dump truck was not the target.

The purpose of the rushing wolves was the soldiers of Mac Clan, who lifted their heads with guns in the back of the dump truck.

The soldiers’ purpose was also the sabretooth wolves.

“Start firing!”

The battle began with the order of Lieutenant Kim Soo-ji to start firing.

The first attack was from the gunmen; they naturally had range. The shots rampaged through the bodies of the charging wolves.

A painful cry came from the mouths of the wolves hit by the gunshots.

But that was all. The shooting did not stop them at all.

It was not a lack of gun power.

“Goddamn it, damn it, damn it!”

‘My hands, stop trembling, please stop!’

The reason was that the hands of the soldiers pulling the triggers were shaking like people with palsy.

The reason for the tremor was, of course, the howling of the Werewolf.

The typhoon-like cry was strength and wings for the sabretooth wolves, and a handcuff and shackle for enemies facing the fear.

If it was not for the pills made by Ahn Sun-mi, it would not have been easy to pull the trigger if they had not taken the pill in advance.

Ting ting ting!

Ting ting ting!

“The fucking cars!”

“What the fuck!”

The cars, which filled the road here, also earned curses from the soldiers. Even Kim Tae-hoon could not hit the moving wolves with his trembling hands as they ran between the cars.

Four sabretooth wolves approached the dump truck and were not going to stop. They were going to jump on it and throw themselves into the back of it.

Kim Soo-ji’s order prevented their expectations.

“Explode! Explode!” Two short words.

At her shout, the hundreds of beads from the installed claymore blew out.

In front of the inhumane weapon, the sabretooth wolves had no choice but to whimper.

Even that was the last sound, for the sabretooth wolves with holes all over them didn’t even have time to breathe again before they died.

Awwww!

The Werewolf, who had seen the sight, once again started howling.

The howling was stronger, more intense, and angrier than before.

AOOO!

At the howling, the sabretooth wolves also lifted their muzzles and began to howl, too!

A bizarre force began to swirl around the battlefield. It was not a vague feeling.

It was like casting a spell!

Just like a memorized spell becomes magic!

That bizarre power was in the eyes of the sabretooth wolves, and they began to inflate their power and fury.

At that moment the Werewolf’s howling suddenly stopped.

… Ooooop!

Oop! Oop!

The Werewolf tried to continue the howling, but its mouth did not open. It was just like someone had chained the Werewolf’s mouth shut.

Oop! Oop!

The situation had to be very confusing from the point of view of the Werewolf.

A water balloon flew toward the Werewolf, a precise parabola, and hit the eyeballs of the Werewolf exactly. It exploded without mercy and doused it with black liquid.

Ooop!

After the liquid hit, the Werewolf closed its eyes tightly and began to struggle painfully.

It was a natural response.

It would have been strange if it didn’t try to escape or struggle from the pain. The liquid, which was mixed with poisons such as gasoline, pesticides, and agricultural chemicals, various kinds of perfumes to give a bad smell, and plenty of red pepper powder, had gotten into its eyes and nose.

“Yes!” Bang Hyun-wook, who had thrown the water bomb so precisely, shouted with his fist clenched at the fact.

“That is the pitching of Bang Hyun-wook, the third starter of Bucheon High School! I’m a pitcher who won a complete game in the Phoenix League! The complete game in the Phoenix League! Eleven strikeouts! Kershaw of Bucheon High School!”

At his cry, the Werewolf turned toward him, rubbing its eyes.

At that moment, the force pressing on the Werewolf’s mouth disappeared. Its mouth opened as if it were ripping apart.

Through its mouth, all the anger it had seeped out.

Kuhuhuhng!

Kim Tae-hoon appeared at that moment, while Bang Hyun-wook grabbed the iron stick in his hand like a baseball bat at the Werewolf’s cry.

Kim Tae-hoon had moved behind the Werewolf while it was looking at Bang Hyun-wook, and now shot calmly.

Bullets drove into its backside

One hundred percent accuracy. Of the seven shots, not a single bullet missed its body.

However, the Werewolf did not fall. Even though it was shot in the head, it didn’t fall to its knees or even make a noise.

‘It’s tough.’ It was evidence of tough skin, strong and thick bones, and crazy vitality. ‘The Werewolf’s skin will be useful.’

Of course, it was not a special consideration for Kim Tae-hoon.

The scary thing about the gun is that the countdown started as soon as it was hit.

When the bleeding begins, and the joints and muscles are damaged, they do not move properly.

Moreover, the senses of the Werewolf were not normal now.

The chemical weapons made by Kim Tae-hoon were more effective than the use of trivial materials.

So Kim Tae-hoon was more relaxed and shot a bullet more accurately into the body of the Werewolf. His telekinesis also interfered with its movements.

In the eyes of Kim Tae-hoon, the Werewolf, seen beyond the barber of a gun attached to the body, was no different from a scarecrow whose arms and legs were tied to a huge chain.

‘Ah.’ At that moment, Kim Tae-hoon’s Sense issued a warning.

Feeling the tingle, Kim Tae-hoon turned his gaze to the left and saw a Sabretooth Wolf flying at him like it had springs, with its huge jaws open and oversize fangs spread wide.

It seemed impossible for Kim Tae-hoon to avoid the attack of the Wolf, which had almost reached him.

He did not avoid it. Rather, he thrust his right fist at the mouth of the Wolf, the fist covered by iron Black Skin.

There was a crack as his fist broke the sabretooth of the Wolf. After punching through the roof of its mouth, his fist drove into its brain in a messy spray.

“Big brother, be careful!” Bang Hyun-wook’s surprise warning reached him after Kim Tae-hoon’s fist alone had killed a Sabretooth Wolf.

“You don’t have to…” Bang Hyun-wook’s surprised cry ended with a low murmur.

Of course, Kim Tae-hoon did not listen to the cry.

Kim Tae-hoon was alert while lifting his rifle again, and immediately after confirming that there was no sign of another Sabretooth Wolf, he planted all the bullets left in the magazine into the Werewolf’s body.

At the end of the last shot, Kim Tae-hoon exchanged magazine and shouted.

“Start fighting! Exterminate the enemy!”

Kim Tae-hoon’s energetic cry became a typhoon and shook the battlefield.

3.

[Werewolf’s Crystal]

– Strength rank will increase when ingested.

– Health rank will increase when ingested.

– Defense rank skill will increase when ingested.

– Energy rank skill will increase when ingested.

– Werewolf’s power [Howling] can be acquired when ingested.]

——

“Howling … are you going to shout ‘Howl!’ before you fight?” Bang Hyun-wook, who was checking the contents of the spoils obtained by killing the Werewolf through a smartphone photo, imagined Kim Tae-hoon howling out, and laughed.

But it was only he who was laughing about it.

The soldiers of the Mac Clan, who were gathered around the campfire near the dump truck, could not afford to laugh at the trembling that had not yet stopped for everyone, even Lieutenant Kim Soo-ji.

The Werewolf’s fear was much more intense then they thought. When the cold weather was added to it, the effect was doubled.

“Are you all right?” Bang Hyun-wook threw a worried question to Jang Sung-hoon, who was sitting near him.

He shook his trembling head. “No, are you all right?”

“I’m hot.”

“Hot?”

“The Energy is like chi, but once it’s heated, it doesn’t cool easily, and it still wriggles in my gut. I feel my guts wriggling, damn it.”

The two saw Kim Tae-hoon walking toward them. He had come back after searching for monsters around the bow museum.

All those who were around the fire rose from their seats at the appearance of Kim Tae-hoon.

“Jang Sung-hoon and Ahn Sun-mi.” Kim Tae-hoon called out to two of them who had stood up. The two named nodded.

There was no reason to question about it because it had already been agreed upon.

Whether it was a relic or not, it could be seen by taking a picture with a smartphone, but he had no skill to find hidden relics.

So it was natural to bring along Jang Sung-hoon, who had the ability, and Ahn Sun-mi, who had already found the first relic.

“Lieutenant Kim Soo-ji commands the Clan. Bang Hyun-wook, when I’m not here, you’re the captain of the assault team.”

Instead of answering, Bang Hyun-wook made a clumsy salute.

Kim Tae-hoon looked at Bang Hyun-wook shortly and then headed back to the museum with Ahn Sun-mi and Jang Sung-hoon in tow.

4.

Bucheon Bow Museum…

Located next to Bucheon Stadium, there were various kinds of bows, arrows and quivers, and bow-related items displayed in full view. There was no light, so it was rather hard to see.

Cameras flashed all over the museum, a scene that would normally only scare a museum official. There was something really frightening about it now.

“Okay!”

A man in the dark broke the glass that stored the goods with a hammer. The sound of glass breaking was pretty loud.

“Just like the thieves said, the sound is really great. It’s addictive.”

With those words, a hand appeared suddenly through the broken glass. It picked up one of the arrows on display.

“What did you find?”

“What is it?”

As one of them pulled out the goods, the two, a man and a woman, gathered beside the man.

Jang Sung-hoon showed them a smartphone instead of answering them.

———

[Sun-sin’s Arrow]

– Relic Grade: Grade 4

– Relic Value: Rare

– Relic Effect: The arrow has the power of a Great Admiral. The penetrating force of the arrow increases with Energy rank.]

———

Grade 4, Rare … they saw more amazing words than they expected.

However, it was not about the grade, value, or effect of the relic that Kim Tae-hoon and Ahn Sun-mi saw.

“Sun-sin’s Arrow?”

“Wait a minute, if it’s Sun-sin …”

Sun-sin! There was only one Great Admiral with this name in the history of the Republic of Korea.

“Does it mean Admiral Yi Sun-sin?”

Kim Tae-hoon did not answer Ahn Sun-mi’s question. He couldn’t. At this point, the answer was beyond his capacity.

‘Yi Sun-sin …’

“Is it possible that such a valuable relic is in this museum?” The answer came, of course, from Jang Sung-hoon.

Jang Sung-hoon looked at the arrow in his hand and said, “It’s probably true. Only such an arrow that Admiral Yi Sun-sin shot would be in the museum.”

Jang Sung-hoon continued to look at the arrow and arrowhead in the light of the smartphone.

“It’s just common sense, asking who would take the arrow shot by an admiral of the Joseon Dynasty? As a great man like Admiral Yi Sun-sin would shoot, someone would pick it up and keep it as a family treasure or amulet, so that it will remain in shape after centuries.”

“No, I mean, such a treasure is in a little museum like this…”

Jang Sung-hoon gave a laugh at the word ‘treasure’.

“This arrow cannot be a treasure, and if it is not an arrow made symbolically, it will be a consumable. There must be more than ten thousand arrows shot by Admiral Yi Sun-sin during his lifetime. The arrows are recyclable. However, there’s no name tag and it’s not a treasure. The value of a treasure in this world depends on who pays for it. The truth doesn’t matter, but the story is different now.”

Jang Sung-hoon laughed.

“Look at this, the arrowhead that is flashing like it was made just now. The arrowhead during the Japanese Invasions of Imjin did not have any rust on it. This must be a clue that it turned into a relic. It’s not just its ability that has changed, but its appearance. Otherwise, it’s not going to be that good unless it was made of gold…”

At that moment, Jang Sung-hoon stopped talking. The smile on his lips was gone, too.

Kim Tae-hoon and Ahn Sun-mi cocked their heads at his appearance. At the same time, they waited patiently for Jang Sung-hoon to start talking.

“Wait.” It didn’t take him long to recover. “There is a place to go now. We have to go there, there!”

“I want you to sort out what you want to say, exactly where we are going, and why we should go.”

“There’s a European Pottery Museum. Inside Bucheon Stadium, there’s a European Pottery Museum… it is in there.”

“What is there?” Ahn Sun-mi urged him.

“A glass of champagne.”

“A glass of champagne?” Ahn Sun-mi repeated, and Kim Tae-hoon frowned.

In response to such a reaction, Jang Sung-hoon swallowed, and spoke the words echoing in his mind, “A golden glass of champagne used by Emperor Napoleon!”

He swallowed again in the silence following his words.