Chapter : 19
Troll Hunter (5)
“How do we do this?!”
“Just stay still.”
Someone once said that artillery was the god of modern warfare. There was a similar saying on the planet Cameron: firepower is the answer to all problems.
Of course, in reality, firepower alone doesn’t solve everything. But for humanity, facing monsters with defense capabilities far beyond any earthly animal, firepower inevitably became one of the most crucial factors.
Hunting trolls was no different. You needed enough firepower to penetrate their defense and regeneration. Suhyeon had scolded Kim Chang-sik when he suggested using a rocket to kill a troll, but rockets weren’t entirely useless. After all, rumors about someone using a rocket for troll hunting only spread if someone actually did it—and if no one did, no one talked.
Every new troll hunter, unfamiliar with the creatures’ habits, might pack a rocket or other heavy weapon for firepower. A few might get lucky and succeed, and then baseless rumors would spread. Experienced hunters who knew better never bothered correcting such stories; they just scoffed silently.
It made sense that Kim Chang-sik was anxious about their firepower. They hadn’t prepared weapons specifically for trolls, nor did they have anything ready to set fire immediately. Close-range attacks might cause some damage, but trolls’ regeneration was terrifying. To stop it, you needed fire or poison.
What is he thinking?
Kim Chang-sik felt uneasy but had already promised to follow Suhyeon. He tried to hide his tension and kept close behind him.
“!”
His eyes met a troll attempting to crawl out of a pit, and Kim Chang-sik flinched. Even hellcrocodiles were terrifying, but the troll’s gaze was worse—a look of pure anger, as if it intended to tear apart anything it saw.
The troll’s eyes turned red—it had spotted its prey: a human.
“Shoot?!”
“Didn’t I tell you to stay still?”
Suhyeon’s voice was ice-cold. That tone immediately snapped Kim Chang-sik back to reality. Suhyeon was usually friendly enough, but sometimes he could appear so cold it intimidated even Kim Chang-sik.
Right. Just like when facing hellcrocodiles or Calcutta gorillas!
Goosebumps rose, but it was reassuring. In a life-threatening monster encounter, someone as calm as Suhyeon was like a human shield.
What do we do?! It’s going to crawl out!
Thinking this, Kim Chang-sik watched Suhyeon. He seemed completely unafraid, striding confidently toward the pit.
“Hey?!”
The troll was thrashing its arms, trying to climb out. One wrong move, and it could have bitten him.
“Crazy…!”
Then Kim Chang-sik saw something unbelievable. Suhyeon’s movements suddenly became lightning-fast. He dashed forward and sliced the neck of the troll, halfway out of the pit, with a military combat knife.
Shing!
The thick neck, which could withstand bullets, was cut halfway through by a simple knife. Blood gushed, and the troll’s red eyes reflected pain, anger, and fear.
The troll, struck first, couldn’t even scream properly. Believing in its regeneration, it swung its hands to strike the audacious human. To recover from this fatal blow, it needed to create distance.
But its body didn’t move.
Suhyeon, like a butcher at a slaughterhouse, sliced through the remaining half of its neck in one swift motion. The troll had exposed just the right angle—its head barely out of the pit—which made the kill easier.
Hunters risked their lives every hunt to kill a troll, but Suhyeon made it feel like slaughtering livestock. Kim Chang-sik watched, mouth agape.
“Bring the blood bag.”
“…!”
Completely overwhelmed, he could only nod and dash to fetch the equipment.
Not bad. Still sharp.
Suhyeon nodded with satisfaction. In the past, he had weaker psychic powers but stronger equipment. He would jump onto a troll in a pit and aim for its neck, which was risky because a hit to a vital spot could trigger a dangerous frenzy.
This hunt, however, was absurdly easy. First, he swung a psychokinetic knife at the troll’s neck. Its tough neck couldn’t block a psychic-enhanced attack. Halfway cut, the troll realized it had been ambushed and tried to resist, but Suhyeon restrained it with psychokinesis. Suddenly, the fight became ridiculously easy—like cutting hanging meat.
Slice the neck, restrain the movement, finish the kill. Suhyeon spun his knife to remove blood and returned it to the sheath at his ankle. Even if his powers improved, he wouldn’t let his combat skills rust. More weapons were better.
“I got it!”
“No need to rush. Standing still, it won’t bleed out too fast.”
Kim Chang-sik had assumed he was hurrying to save the troll’s blood, but he was just overwhelmed by Suhyeon’s skill.
“Set up the support frame. Put it there. It’s easier to drain blood upside down, so connect the tube…”
“How do we hang it upside down?”
Kim Chang-sik asked, puzzled, though he had obediently followed Suhyeon so far. A troll weighed tons; you couldn’t flip it without equipment.
“Like this.”
“?!”
Suhyeon dragged the troll by the shoulders out of the pit. A tube connected its neck to a blood bag, designed for easy replacement. Then he rotated the troll and placed it upside down in the pit. Suspended from the frame, it began to bleed out.
“Uh…”
“Good job. Let’s rest briefly. Trolls usually live alone, but some roam in family groups, so stay alert.”
“How did you do that?”
“What do you mean?”
“From start to finish! I know nothing about troll hunting, but I’ve never heard of someone doing it like this! How did you even lift the corpse? Did you undergo physical enhancement surgery?!”
Kim Chang-sik fired questions like a waterfall, still recovering from the shock of watching Suhyeon hunt.
Physical enhancement surgery—thanks to advanced genetics, human physical abilities had improved significantly. This surgery multiplied human capabilities. It was costly, but once undergone, its benefits were unparalleled. Suhyeon had received it in a previous life, though not now.
Hmm. How should I explain this?
He didn’t intend to hide his abilities entirely. Working together meant showing enough to explain appropriately. Leaving everything unexplained would only cause misunderstandings.
He decided to keep psychic powers secret for now. Suhyeon focused most on healing magic, which was more useful to others than himself. Revealing psychokinesis along with healing would make him humanity’s first dual-ability user—and invite nightly masked visitors.
Other than that, lifting the heavy troll alone would be hard to explain otherwise. The easiest excuse was family ties; on Cameron, military connections justified a lot.
“Don’t tell anyone.”
“R-Really? How did you get it?”
“My father asked someone to get it secretly when I was young. Keep it confidential.”
“Of course! Also, you’re military… must have been an impressive person. Military hospitals cost less than civilian ones, but still…”
Being a soldier, Kim Chang-sik quickly understood. Suhyeon could secretly receive surgery using military doctors and internal equipment.
Taking me to uncharted lands, secretly doing enhancement surgery… quite the eccentric. Special forces, maybe?
Special forces on Cameron were notorious for their oddities. Regular soldiers couldn’t behave like this, so Kim Chang-sik thought Suhyeon must be special forces.
“All the blood’s drained. Let’s clean it up.”
“The corpse?”
“Too heavy to carry. Skin and meat could be sold, but transporting is impractical. Blood is most valuable; discard the rest.”
“Ugh, wasteful.”
“Don’t worry. We might catch a few more.”
Kim Chang-sik stared, unsettled. He hadn’t even fought properly against one troll, but Suhyeon was already planning the next hunt.
“What are you doing? You said skin and meat weren’t needed.”
“I have personal use for the heart.”
“What?! Are hearts sold at high prices too?”
“No. I’m taking it for someone I know. No money. If you want, I can give you the next troll’s heart to try selling.”
“Fine. I’ll stick with blood.”
Kim Chang-sik watched as Suhyeon expertly dissected the troll, still fascinated.
