MLCAI 11

Chapter 11

“Move, move, quickly!”

A person who appeared to be an Awakened one brandished a weapon and began pulling the victims off the cart.

The moment his rough hand reached for a child, Kang Suho’s voice erupted.

“Don’t touch him!”

He lunged forward with his bound body, aiming at the man.

But there was no way an ordinary person could stand against an Awakened with a weapon.

Thud!

Kang Suho was knocked down in one blow, rolling across the dirt floor.

“Hyung!”

A child’s tearful cry reached him, but all he could return was a stifled groan.

“Hey! Didn’t you put him under hypnosis?!”

“W-Well, I did…! But sometimes, even ordinary people’s mental strength is too strong, so it wears off quickly…”

“Damn it, you incompetent bastard! How could you fail a simple hypnosis on an ordinary person!”

The man shouted at another Awakened wielding a staff at the front of the cart.

Though both wore hoods with the same emblem, the subservient posture revealed the nature of their relationship.

Tch… just my luck.

Thud!

The man kicked Kang Suho in the abdomen, who still hadn’t gotten up.

His younger sibling tried to rush over while crying, but was restrained by their captors.

“Separate the two of them. This is why, when picking up children, you pick the ones without families.”

Irritated, the man kicked Kang Suho once more before walking inside the building.

“Saebyeok… those people…”

Kim Ihan, quietly observing the situation, lowered his voice to speak.

But when he glanced at Saebyeok, he trailed off.

Looking down at the scene, Saebyeok’s eyes radiated indescribable rage.

Kim Ihan, astonished that Saebyeok—usually calm, indifferent, or mocking—could show such intensity, stared at her silently for a moment.

Then he noticed the magical energy around them trembling in response to her emotions. He grabbed her shoulder.

“Han Saebyeok, Hunter.”

At his touch, Saebyeok drew a short, sharp breath as if regaining control.

She relaxed her bloodshot eyes and suppressed her boiling emotions.

“I didn’t know you had this side, Han Saebyeok. Surprisingly chivalrous, aren’t you?”

“I just can’t tolerate people committing crimes against children.”

Saebyeok gave the most humanitarian answer she could, careful not to let him know it was Kang Suho who had triggered her reaction.

If he knew, he would inevitably ask who he was, what their relationship was, and attract unnecessary attention.

Fortunately, Kim Ihan seemed satisfied and nodded, returning his gaze to the scene.

“So, what’s your plan now? Are you trying to save them?”

Kim Ihan asked, watching the captors move people and weapons further inside the building.

“Saving them is secondary. The real goal is to eliminate them.”

“If they’re a cult, aren’t they all brainwashed? It won’t be easy.”

“The followers inside the building, yes. But the Scavenger Guild members aren’t. They’re only involved due to business dealings, not actual membership.”

“What kind of cult is it?”

“I don’t know exactly. I only know it’s some kind of demon worship. They like ‘pure’ offerings—children or virgins…”

“They’re crazy.”

As he nodded sharply in agreement, Saebyeok’s personal alert popped up before her eyes.

!! Notification !!

<Buff: Riding a Horse Without Legs (S*)> applied.

All active skills of <Title: Spear of Dawn> increase by 18%*.
└*Values fluctuate in real time.

<Title: Server Administrator> has no relevant effects.

!! Notification !!

<Buff: An Eye for an Eye, A Tooth for a Tooth (A*)> applied.

Counters all status attacks with 24%, elemental magic attacks with 16%, and melee attacks with 8%* effectiveness.
└*Values fluctuate in real time.

Can be applied up to 3 times (0/3).

One corner of Saebyeok’s mouth curled upward.

This was why Kim Ihan was South Korea’s top Buff Hunter.

The A-rank weapons she saw earlier only boosted one attribute—fire. His buffs, however, enhanced all skill power uniformly.

And while now it was only her, he could apply this buff to the entire raid simultaneously.

Though the exact upper limit was unknown, considering Glory Guild’s first raid team had twelve members, it could apply to at least twelve.

Some might question how boosting by only 18% could be S-rank, but that number wasn’t fixed.

Saebyeok didn’t yet understand how it fluctuated, but she had seen it spike to 64% once.

Just once, and the presence of this one person had increased the whole raid’s power by 64%.

In reality, 64% was just a raw figure; factoring in skill, weapons, and teammate synergy, the actual effect was beyond imagination.

What if the number of Hunters who could receive the buff wasn’t capped at twelve?

What if it could go higher than 64%?

If a 50-person raid could receive 80–90% buffs, that would be absolutely insane.

Saebyeok glanced at him and spoke,

“I thought you only cared about your popularity, but you do have a sense of justice, huh?”

She returned his own words.

“If I can gain points with you through chivalry, I’d be happy to do so.”

Kim Ihan claimed he was only doing it to gain her favor.

Whether it was sincere or genuinely compassionate was unclear, but right now, it didn’t matter.

“Then, while you’re at it, I have one more request. I realized I need to make more use of your position, Kim Ihan.”

“…?”

Saebyeok half-sat up.

“Listen carefully.”

Bound and trapped in an iron cage, Kang Suho struggled to cut the ropes.

No matter how he twisted, the ropes only dug deeper into his skin, showing no sign of breaking.

“Damn it…!”

“Hyung, just give it up.”

A man beside him sighed.

Dressed in dirty clothes with a bucket hat pulled low, the man reeked.

All twenty or so people here looked similarly miserable.

“The opponents are Awakened. Ordinary people like us can’t do anything against them.”

“Shut up.”

“Wow, such a hot-tempered guy, huh.”

Bang!

Kang Suho slammed into the iron bars.

Naturally, the bars didn’t budge. The solid clang of metal only inflicted more pain.

“Ugh…”

His unhealed rib injury opened again, making breathing difficult. He collapsed onto the floor, lungs compressed, gasping.

Other aches from his body—gained at Seoul Station—also rushed back.

Though he had treatment from the Association Hunter, it hadn’t fully healed him.

Perhaps his body was too damaged to recover from a single treatment…

Since childhood, having one or two broken bones was normal for Kang Suho.

His mother’s abuse.

Labor to earn money.

He had lived in pain all his life, never knowing what it meant to feel truly healthy.

“Tch… useless…”

He gritted his teeth at the man’s clicking tongue, but his body wouldn’t obey.

Yet, thinking of his younger sibling, he summoned all his strength to rise.

“Sihoo… just wait a little… hyung…”

Hyung…

Then, realization struck him.

What now? Do you think you can escape from here?

As the homeless man said, the opponents are Awakened.

He had barely survived against mindless D-rank monsters—how could he fight Awakened?

Even if he succeeded in escaping, it would just repeat that miserable life.

Hiding from his father’s eyes, avoiding the police and Association.

No matter how he struggled, survival was barely possible.

Yesterday, thinking of Sihoo, he should have relied more on the Association.

Receiving their blankets, their food, would have helped Sihoo more.

But his uneasy feeling made him leave after basic treatment.

He had heard the Association had been reformed under the new chief, but the thought that they might still be connected to his father gnawed at him.

After all, aren’t Hunters all the same?

Anxiety consumed his mind.

The Association was untrustworthy.

The police were incompetent.

The world was heartless.

To survive, to protect Sihoo, he had to grow stronger.

He needed money and power.

But how?

Gates, Awakened, monsters—this world belonged to them. Ordinary people were merely props.

Kang Suho had painfully learned this all his life.

He had no reason to exist.

Perhaps that was why he wanted to protect his sibling even more—like permission to live.

Protecting that child was the only justification for this pitiful life.

But now, even that was over.

“Damn it…”

He pressed his forehead to the ground, curling up.

The pain he had endured since yesterday—or perhaps the lifelong pain he had ignored—flooded him all at once.

How should he live now? For what?

Was there even a reason to live?

Why bother with this cursed world?

Then, a flash of memory struck Kang Suho like a red lightning bolt.

“Follow me!”

A clear, refreshing voice jolted him awake.