< Chapter 8. The Second Relic (2).>
2.
Arooooooo!
The gigantic grey-furred werewolf, which was over 2m in height, howled towards the sky.
The howling was like a typhoon. It wasn’t a simple sound nor was it a sound that a solitary wolf made. Howling was a sound that a wolf made towards its pack to communicate.
Arooo!
Aroooooo!
As a result, the others returned howls back to the werewolf.
Arf, arf!
Unlike the werewolf, the animals that howled back were four-legged wolves but they were not like wolves found in the wild. The length of their bodies not including the tail was 2m. They were grey-furred with fierce heads that had red eyes and large fangs reminiscent of the saber-toothed tiger.
Saber-toothed wolf.
Arf! Arf arf!
Until now, the twenty or so saber-toothed wolves had been approaching their prey silently, but the moment the werewolf howled they started to run across the road littered with cars.
They were running towards the dump truck but the truck was not their target. Their target was the Maek Clan’s soldiers, whose heads and guns were sticking out from the back of the truck.
The soldiers were targeting the wolves.
“Fire!”
At Lieutenant Kim Suji’s command, the battle started.
Tatata!
Of course, the first attack was from the gunmen as their muzzles spat fire. The blindly fired bullets mercilessly poked into the saber-toothed wolves’ bodies.
Yip! Yip!
The saber-toothed wolves yelped from the gunshots but that was all. The rain of bullets couldn’t stop the wolves from their charge.
It wasn’t that the bullets were not strong enough.
“f*ck, f*ck, f*ck!”
‘Stop shaking, hand! Please stop!’
It was the shaky hands of the soldiers who were almost frightened to death while shooting their guns.
Aroooooo!
The reason why their hands were shaking was, of course, because of the howling of the werewolf.
That sound, as powerful as a typhoon, was the source of power and energy for the saber-toothed wolves. For the enemies facing it, it was the handcuff and shackles called fear.
If it weren’t for the pills that Ahn Sunmi concocted, if they had not consumed the pills before the battle, it would have been hard to even pull the trigger.
Ting ting, ting ting ting!
Ting ting, ting!
“Those f*cking cars!”
“F*cking for real!”
The cars that filled the whole road were also causing the soldiers to swear.
Even Kim Taehoon couldn’t shoot the saber-toothed wolves between packed cars with his shaky hands.
Grrrrrr!
Finally, four of the saber-toothed wolves reached the dump truck but they didn’t seem like they were going to stop. Maintaining their speed, they were planning to throw themselves into the truck.
It was Kim Suji’s yell that disrupted the wolves intentions.
“Percussion!”
“Percussion!”
Two short words.
BOOOOM!
With the command, claymores spat out hundreds of steel balls.
Yip!
In front of the claymore, the inhumane weapon, the saber-toothed wolves couldn’t help but make weak noises.
But it was only for a moment, the wolves were not even allowed seconds to breathe as their whole bodies became like a sponge; filled with holes.
ARROOOOOOO!
The werewolf howled again after seeing the whole scene. The howling was stronger and had a deeper anger in it.
AOOOOOOOO!
The wolves also replied to the werewolf and the sound started to resonate. A strange power wrapped around the battleground. It wasn’t a vague feeling.
It was like chanting an incantation and the incantation becoming a sorcery.
Krrrrr!
The strange power dimmed inside the eyes of the wolves, enhancing their wild nature and bloodlust.
It was then.
….Arg!
The werewolf’s howling suddenly stopped.
Arg! Arg!
The werewolf tried to continue howling but its mouth was shut and refused to open. As if someone wrapped its mouth with chains!
Arg! Arrrg!
The werewolf couldn’t do anything but panic.
A water balloon flew towards the werewolf. Arching across the sky, the water balloon precisely hit the eyes of the werewolf.
Splash!
It burst and released black liquid.
ARG!
The werewolf started to struggle in a painful tantrum with both eyes tightly closed.
It was predictable.
The water balloon held black ink, gasoline, pesticide, agricultural chemicals, lots of perfumes, and pepper flakes in it. Having such a liquid inside its eyes and nose, it would be weird if the werewolf were not in pain.
“There you go!”
Bhang Hyunwook put his fist up high in the air after striking the werewolf’s face with the water balloon; which was technically a chemical weapon.
“This is the pitching of Bhang Hyunwook the starting pitcher of Bucheon high school! I am the pitcher who wiped out the high school league! High school league complete game! 11 strikeouts! The Kershaw[1] of Bucheon high!”
The werewolf turned its body while rubbing its eyes, towards Bhang Hyunwook and his shouting.
At that moment, the power that was keeping its mouth shut was removed. The werewolf’s mouth opened as if it were going to swallow everything. All the rage it could express came out of the mouth.
KWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
Kim Taehoon appeared as Bhang Hyunwook tightened his grip on the steel baseball bat because of that werewolf’s roar.
Kim Taehoon fired from behind the werewolf while it was facing Bhang Hyunwook.
Tata, Tatata!
The bullets pierced the werewolf’s body and the back of its head.
100% accuracy.
Not a single round of the seven shots missed the werewolf.
Arg!
But the werewolf did not collapse. Even after getting shot in the head the werewolf cried out in pain but never collapsed.
‘Tough one.’
That was the proof of its tough skin, thick bones, and incredible vitality.
‘It’s skin must be useful.’
The fact that the werewolf was still alive didn’t bother Kim Taehoon much.
One of the scary things about gun wounds was that the countdown to death started as soon as you were shot. Bleeding starts, and if your joints or muscles were injured you cannot move properly.
On top of that, the werewolf’s senses were disrupted right now.
Even though he used pretty petty ingredients the chemical weapon Kim Taehoon created was very effective.
So Kim Taehoon was more relaxed than before and put another bullet into werewolf’s body.
Kwaaaa!
Kim Taehoon was also disrupting its movement with his telekinesis.
The werewolf that Kim Taehoon was seeing through the sights of his gun was like a scarecrow that had its limbs tied with giant chains.
‘Ah.’
It was then that Kim Taehoon’s intuition warned him. Feeling a hunch, Kim Taehoon looked to his left. There was a saber-toothed wolf, with its mouth wide open, launching its body like a spring.
It seemed impossible for Kim Taehoon to defend himself since the wolf was too close.
So he did not. Rather, he punched the wolf’s mouth with his right fist. A fist that was now colored in black; covered with the Dark skin.
BANG!
That fist immediately broke the fang of the wolf.
Pwwaa!
It also pierced through the roof of its mouth, straight through the head and brain.
“Sir be caref… ”
The wolf was already dead by the time Bhang Hyunwook tried to warn Kim Taehoon.
“...no need to I guess.”
Bhang Hyunwook’s warning ended with a small murmur.
It was not like Kim Taehoon was listening to him anyway.
Kim Taehoon picked up his rifle again and scanned the surroundings. After he confirmed there weren’t any more signs of saber-toothed wolves, he gave another shower of lead to the werewolf with the remaining rounds in his rifle.
Tata, ta, click!
As soon as the last bullet was shot, Kim Taehoon changed clips and yelled.
“Fight! Finish off the enemies!”
Kim Taehoon’s command using his ‘energy’ became a typhoon that shook the whole battleground.
3.
[The Crystal of the Werewolf]
When consumed, Strength increases.When consumed, Stamina increases.When consumed, Defense rank increases.When consumed, Energy rank increases.When consumed, the Werewolf’s ability [Howling] can be acquired.“Howling… Then you would be crying ARROOO! before you fight from now on?”
Bhang Hyunwook was checking the stone they got from killing the werewolf with his smartphone. He giggled as he imagined Kim Taehoon consuming the stone and howling ARROOO!
But he was the only who was giggling.
The soldiers of the Maek Clan, including Lieutenant Kim Suji, were sitting around the bonfire near the dump truck and couldn’t stop shivering so they did not have time for a laugh.
The fear of the werewolf was that effective, stronger than the imagination. Add in the blistering cold and the effect of the feat was doubled.
“Are you okay?”
Bhang Hyunwook asked Jang Sunghoon who was near him. Jang Sunghoon shook his head while shivering.
“Not at all. Are you alright?”
“I’m really hot now.”
“Hot?”
“The Energy is like some inner strength, it doesn’t cool down easily once it’s heated up. It is still moving around inside my gut.”
“I feel like my intestines are moving around inside me. Sh*t.”
The two of them could see Kim Taehoon walking towards them.
He seemed like he had finished patrolling around the bow museum which was their destination.
Everyone stood up since he had returned.
“Jang Sunghoon and Ahn Sunmi.”
Kim Taehoon called for the two of them among the crowd. The two stepped forward.
There was no need to question the pick. It’s already arranged.
Kim Taehoon could tell if a thing were a relic or not with a smartphone, but he did not have the talent to find the hidden relics. So it was obvious to pick Jang Sunghoon who already had the knowledge and Ahn Sunmi who had already sensed one relic.
“Lieutenant Kim Suji will be in charge. Bhang Hyunwook, you’re the attacking person when I’m not around.”
Bhang Hyunwook gave an immature salute instead of answering back.
Kim Taehoon gave Bhang Hyunwook a short scary look then left with Jang Sunghoon and Ahn Sunmi for the museum.
4.
Bucheon Bow Museum.
The place was located next to the Bucheon Sports Complex and contained various types of bows, arrows, as well as other things related to bows. The museum was without any lights.
Click, click!
A camera flash was seen here and there inside the museum. Any museum employee would have gasped at the scene. But there was something else you should be gasping at.
“Okay!”
One of the people in the dark broke the glass of a display shelf with a hammer.
Clink!
The sound of glass breaking was very clear and rather elegant.
“Like other thieves have said, the sound is pretty awesome. Addictive.”
One hand appeared through the broken glass while the guy was speaking and grabbed one of the displayed arrows.
“What did you find?”
“What is it?”
While the person was taking out the arrow, a man and a woman who had kept taking pictures with the flash on, gathered around the guy.
Jang Sunghoon showed them his smartphone instead of replying.
[The arrow of Sun-shin]
Relic rank: 4Relic value: rareRelic effect: The arrow possesses the power of a great admiral. The arrow’s piercing ability increases depending on the user's Energy rank.Rank 4, rare….. The text on it was more surprising than what they expected.
But what Kim Taehoon and Ahn Sunmi focused on was something different than the rank, value or effect.
“The arrow of Sun-shin?”
“Wait. If it’s Sun-shin…..”
Sun-shin.
Throughout Korean history, there was only one great admiral that had that name.
“Would it mean Admiral Yi Sun-shin[2]?”
Kim Taehoon did not respond to Ahn Sunmi’s question.
‘Yi Sun-shin…’
No, he couldn’t answer the question. It was out of his capability to answer that question.
“Was it possible that this museum had something valuable like this?”
The answer of course came from Jang Sunghoon.
Jang Sunghoon spoke while looking at the arrow in his hand.
“The opposite. It could stay in this museum because it was the arrow that Admiral Yi shot.”
Jang Sunghoon continued while inspecting the shaft and the head of the arrow with the smartphone light.
“Who would collect a nameless Chosun general’s arrow? It has to be someone like Admiral Yi who shot it then someone picked it up, kept it as a family treasure as a lucky charm, then it would stay like this a few centuries later.”
“No I mean, why would such a great treasure be in this small museum…..”
Jang Sunghoon smirked a little bit at the word ‘treasure’.
“An arrow cannot be a treasure. Unless it was made with a purpose to symbolize something, such as temples, otherwise it’s just an expendable. Admiral Yi would have shot at least 10,000 arrows while he was alive. Arrows can also be reused multiple times. It also doesn’t have a name tag, right? Something like this cannot be a treasure. The value of a treasure is only decided by how much someone is willing to pay for it. Nobody cares about the truth. Well, it is kind of different now though.”
Jang Sunghoon made a grin.
“Look at this. The arrowhead is so shiny as if it were made yesterday. How could an arrow from 1592 have no rust on it? This would be the sign that it has turned into a relic. Not just the effect it has, but also the appearance of the thing. Unless it’s made out of gold, it cannot be this clean and shiny….”
Jang Sunghoon stopped talking all of a sudden.
The grin on his face also disappeared.
Ahn Sunmi and Kim Taehoon were a little startled. They were waiting for Jang Sunghoon to continue speaking.
“Wait.”
Jang Sunghoon started speaking again.
“We have a place to go right now. There, we have to go there.”
“Organize your thoughts and words. Where exactly do we need to go and why.”
“There’s a European Porcelain museum. Inside the Bucheon Sports Complex… It has that.”
“What?”
Ahn Sunmi rushed him.
“The Champagne Glass.”
“A champagne glass?”
Ahn Sunmi asked back, Kim Taehoon frowned a bit.
Jang Sunghoon took a pause at their reactions while trying to get the words straight in his head.
“The golden champagne glass that Napoleon used.”
Gulp!
Instead of them speaking up, Jang Sunghoon only heard their swallowing sounds.
[1] Famous MLB pitcher https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clayton_Kershaw
[2] Admiral Yi Sun-shin: Famous Korean Admiral. aka Yi Sun-sin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yi_Sun-sin