< Chapter 18. The Flame-spurt Gator (2). >
4.
On December 31st, 2016, humanity encountered the monsters for the first time.
They found out that the monsters were stronger and smarter than they expected and that they knew not a single thing about the monsters.
Kim Taehoon was the same. The time when he realized it from the bottom of his heart was when he fought against the black snake. He did not know that the black snake would be that strong and smart, so he faced the monster with only the Sword of the Great General.
The result?
He almost died. He was lucky to survive.
Everything about the battle against the black snake had been a mess. He didn’t want to repeat that same mistake against the flame-spurt gator.
‘I need a more detailed research and investigation.’
So he studied. Since he couldn’t dissect the flame-spurt gator, he studied the wolf-gators that were similar to the flame-gator. Their nature, behavioral patterns, physical structure, etc, he studied awfully hard.
‘Also need a new skill.’
He was in need as well. For some new thing he could do with his telekinesis.
Using the weapons as he wanted with the telekinesis was not enough.
More, he needed to make telekinesis the definitive ability of his, not just leave it as a potential option.
Time was limited so Kim Taehoon had to choose between all the possibilities.
‘The weapons are enough. I need a way to use them properly and precisely.’
The final decision of Kim Taehoon’s….‘If only I could fly, I could make it like an attack helicopter. A fight without space restrictions.’ …was levitation.
If Kim Taehoon could fly with all the weapons and ammunitions acquired from the ammo unit and Division 17, he would be able to act the same as an attack helicopter.
It wasn’t as easy as said. If he could levitate as he wished, he would have already accomplished it.
But he couldn’t just think about it anymore.
‘I will get it done somehow.’
He had no choice. He would live if he gets it done, if not he would die. And Kim Taehoon did it.
Psssssshhhh! Kim Taehoon pulled the trigger of the Panzerfaust 3, while standing in the sky.
5.
The objective of an anti-tank warhead was not to break a tank into bits and pieces. If it were a giant anti-tank warhead fired from an attack helicopter it could be possible, but you couldn’t expect the same thing from a handheld anti-tank warhead.
First, a tank was not just a moving chunk of steel. It was more like a small fortress. If an infantry soldier could blow it up with a single rocket from their shoulder, no country in the world would have made a tank that was worth $5 million.
So the anti-tank warhead focuses more on piercing than destruction. The primary goal was to make a hole in the surface of the tank which can’t be just described as ‘thick’.
Sticking out of the front of the Panzerfaust 3, like a swordfish, was the product of that goal.
Pssssh! With a rough sound, the rocket was fired.
The target was the flame-spurt gator!
Krr?
It was already too late for the flame-gator to figure out the existence of the rocket since the point of the warhead was already touching its body.
BAAAANG!
It exploded right away. It wasn’t a simple explosion. The explosive power of the warhead that burst right in front of the target was compressed into one spot like a hydraulic cutter, and pierced the tough skin of the flame-spurt gator like a sharp spear.
KWAAAA! A scream came out of the flame-gator.
Kim Taehoon looked at the scene while making a bitter smile.
‘I can’t even laugh.’
It was definitely a big wound, but it wasn’t critical enough to make the flame-spurt gator die.
The scream was just for the pain, not a death knell before its death.
‘Just a wound after taking a hit from the anti-tank rocket which has enough power to pierce a tank…’
Kim Taehoon couldn’t help but make a bitter smile since he knew well about the modern weapon, and even had experience using the Panzerfaust 3 against a living human being.
But he didn’t hold that bitter smile for very long.
Also, he didn’t get disappointed too much.
Instead of using his left hand he pulled out a grenade from his waist while holding the Panzerfaust with his right hand.
Ting! The safety pin of the grenade bounced out and then the safety clip bounced off automatically.
While the flame-spurt gator was struggling out of pain and holding its mouth open Kim Taehoon threw the grenade into its mouth.
‘Move as soon as you hear the explosion.’
At the same time, he visualized inside his head. A sword that was waiting for his command, and lusting for the blood of the enemy.
Bang!
The sound of the explosion hit his ear.
6.
Vrooom!
The cars that were carrying the helpless soldiers that had been exposed to the fear started to drive down the cleared road.
Thud thud thud thud!
The wolf-gators insanely chased the cars trying to catch them.
Kyaaa! Kya!
While chasing the cars some of the wolf-gators felt something from the buildings near the road. They turned and moved towards the buildings.
That few intuitive wolf-gators detected the ambush hiding inside the building that was trying to gain some more time, which included firing the claymore.
The first thing those gators faced was. PHHHHWAAAA! A giant flame that came from an awakened’s mouth.
Frrrr!
The fire instantly wrapped around two gators that entered the building without suspecting anything.
Kyaaaa!
The two gators screamed out of pain that was caused by the fire that lit their furry coats.
The pain did not end there.
“Throw!”
While the awakened who spat fire tried to escape quickly, two water balloons were thrown into the scene from far away.
Splash!
The water balloons burst and splashed as soon they hit the raving wolf-gator’s bodies and soaked them with whatever was inside.
The thing inside was lighter fluid. The lighter fluid mixed with water planted the flame into every strand of fur they had.
Kyaa!
While those two fireballs were going nuts in front of the building door, a new wolf-gator revealed itself.
That one had the most terrible death. Smash! Because a giant hammer struck down on its head like a lightning strike from nowhere and smashed its head into bits and pieces.
“Haa!”
The man who killed the wolf-gator in a single swing was Bhang Hyunwook. He was the first one to overcome the influence of fire-spurt gator’s fear because he had the highest Energy rank within the Maek Guild, excluding Kim Taehoon.
The Energy which was trying hard to overcome the fear had spread to all of his body.
He felt the full strength as if he was high on some drug.
Also, he was not hesitant to do anything.
“Come at me! Come at me!! Let’s make a movie over here! Come!”
The absence of hesitation. It wasn’t just with Bhang Hyunwook. Many of the awakened were prepared to fight against the wolf-gators in the building near the road and no one could find a bit of hesitance in their eyes.
There was a reason for that.
Tata, tatata!
“Fire! Don’t save the bullets!”
“Keep firing!”
First, they had guns which were powerful weapons.
“We can eat them all! Kill one more!”
“We got the orange eye one here!”
Second, they had permission to possess whatever they killed today.
But out of everything the biggest reason was.
“Jesus!”
“What happened?”
“It, It collapsed!”
That Kim Taehoon was here. That the battle would be nothing but victory.
7.
The rocket that came out of the Panzerfaust had left a deep wound on the back of the flame gator.
KWAAA!
Of course, the flame gator had to scream. It wasn’t to spread the fear around but out of pure pain.
Kwwww…
When the scream started to turn into a screaming for the fear effect. Snap! A grenade was thrown into the mouth of the giant mouth of flame gator and became lodged inside the throat before exploding.
Bang! The explosion wasn’t loud. It looked even more terrifying because of that.
The explosion that was supposed to be intense only happened inside the throat of the flame gator and took away the flame gator’s voice for a while.
It also took away its rationality and senses. The head and brain were also shaken really hard, all the senses went into a panic for a minute due to the large sound and the impact.
Of course, it wouldn’t think straight.
The only thing the flame-gator could do at that moment was to lower its position and roll into a ball. Like an armadillo.
It was rather pitiful and pathetic but had to be done to survive.
That was why.
‘As I expected.’
Why Kim Taehoon purposely hurt the flame gator in the back. Not anywhere else but on the back, where the axillary would be if it was a human body.
‘Same reaction as the wolf-gators.’
He experimented with the wolf-gators multiple times. How the wolf-gators would behave instinctively when they in a life-threatening situation or received a critical wound.
He learned that when they were critically wounded, they crouched down and lowered their bodies into a ball. That’s why he hurt the monster on the back. If it crouched down and rolled into a ball, the wound on the back would open itself up even more.
At the same time, he was able to figure out where the heart was located by dissecting the wolf-gator’s body.
Over that open wound, the heart would be pounding. It would be pounding even harder to survive. To stop that pounding, a single sword struck like lightning.
8.
“The enemy is down! Boss did it!”
A soldier who was holding a walkie-talkie reported to Jang Sunghoon with a bright smile.
But Jang Sunghoon did not return the same bright smile.
Instead, he told the soldier.
“Get the situation under control, send the scouts out to see how the monsters in the surrounding area are behaving, get the number of the injured and report it to the hospital.”
“Yes, sir!”
Jang Sunghoon all of the sudden recalled the rank he had on the military uniform he used to wear.
Corporal. That was his rank. It was nothing. And his rank did not really change now.
Of course, Maek Guild did not belong to the military so the ranking system did not mean anything. But the fact that Jang Sunghoon had the right to command was pretty funny.
‘This is why the lower ranked ones want to go out in war. The survivor would be the general regardless of their previous rank.’
But he did not keep that funny thought for too long.
Jang Sunghoon turned his face stiff. The rank does not mean anything anymore. The important thing was that Jang Sunghoon had to play a role of staff.
So now as a member of the staff, it was time to calculate the cost of the victory.
‘Boss now became the indescribable monster. He fired the anti-tank rocket while floating in the air, and threw a grenade…. He’s an apache chopper. An apache chopper.’
They thought the battle would be much harder than this. Even though they had secured an incomparable amount of firearms compared to the battle against the black snake, but the enemy also was leading hundreds of monsters.
And the fear was very threatening. Because everything was incapacitated as soon as they were exposed to the fear no matter how powerful the firearms they were using.
The troops consisting of civilians against the monsters were like a candlelight in front of a wind.
‘Well, the easier the better.’
But the battle was a lot easier than they expected.
They could say that it was because of their thorough preparations, but the fundamental reason would be Kim Taehoon. He kept the experience and the lesson he took from the battle against the black snake in his mind and learned from it.
‘He’s something.’
Once again he would be growing stronger today. He would be consuming the monster stone from the flame-spurt gator and acquire a new ability and power.
That's the way Kim Taehoon had chosen to survive.
So Jang Sunghoon could easily predict what Kim Taehoon’s next move would be.
‘Anyway, Kim Hyunsuk said?’
Kim Hyunsuk. The dude was lucky enough to find Kim Taehoon, the luck from the heavens, and became a survivor. He told them everything about what he had seen, heard and knew from Gwangmyeong for a ramyun noodle and some instant rice.
There was a very important piece of information within his words.
‘We had no idea about the solar power generator factory located in Gwangmyeong.’
There was a factory that produced the solar power generators, a pretty big one, located in Gwangmyeong.
It was information that was not available to the public.
So neither Kim Taehoon nor Jang Sunghoon had any idea about it. Not a single one among the survivors knew about it either.
‘We have to secure that place no matter what.’
It was a precious piece of information. It had the potential of changing the future of the survivors and the Maek Guild. Because the modern conveniences couldn’t be utilized without electricity.
To rephrase, if they could get a steady supply of electricity through the solar power generators that would increase their chance of survival and their quality of life.
So Kim Taehoon would make his next goal as occupying that generator production facility.
‘We have to get it no matter what… It’s that thing the problem.’
The problem was there was a green level monster that was located in Gwangmyeong.
In fact, Jang Sunghoon would not chance going into Gwangmyeong. He didn’t know what kind of monster it was, he only knew that this one would be on a totally different level than the ones they had dealt with so far. It was suicide to walk into a monster cave with only that amount of information.
But Kim Taehoon would because he knew that this was not something that could be avoided by turning their back or closing their eyes.
‘I know how it feels like to have Superman as a boss.’
Jang Sunghoon shook his head and pulled out Daedongyeojido once again and looked at the Gwangmyeong area.
“Huh?”
Jang Sunghoon gasped.
“Where, where did it go?”
< Chapter 18. The Flame-Spurt Gator (2). > The end.