ETH 191

J: Chapter 4 of 10.

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I passed the checkpoint and entered the Yellow Sea district. It was a bustling place before as well but there were even more people moving about.

Most of them were people trying to pack up and leave but there were quite a few hunters equipped and waiting with a grim expression.

There were vehicles going in and out of the hospital constantly. Even now, there was a fierce battle happening here.

I had gotten an introduction to a guide thanks to An Gyu-bum’s mediating.

Waiting at the appointed location, I was able to see a familiar person came up to me.

“Lieutenant Son Aram?”

“It’s been a while. Also, I’m not a lieutenant anymore.”

She who had cut her long hair short had a thin face as if having gone through much hardship.

I looked at the two flowers on her shoulders and nodded.

“You have been promoted.”

“Thanks to you.”

Superintendent at 28 was pretty fast.

She might even be the fastest among her coworkers.

“But what are you here for.”

“I was appointed to Mr. Sang-min.”

“Lieutenant Son…… No, superintendent was?”

Once someone became a superintendent, they didn’t show up on the front lines. Of course, she was a Police University graduate so it was different from a person that was promoted from a constable but it was still not a position that would be a personal guide.

“I volunteered.”

“No, leaving aside volunteering. Does a police do such work?”

“You have quite some connections you know? To be the GE Group. When did you get so close to that person?”

Since she knew An Gyu-bum from the forest region battle, she was probably convinced that An Gyu-bum had a hand in this once the GE Group story came out.

But for them to be able to put an executive of the police organization on my side. It seems the government was desperate. They were in a situation where they needed the cooperation of a high rank raid team so it seems they couldn’t refuse the request of the GE Group who had team Galaxy.

“Either way, it’s comfortable for me since it’s someone I know but…… Shouldn’t there be things you have to do here? It looks busy at a glance.”

“It looks like that doesn’t it? But it’s actually quite lax.”

“What does that mean?”

“Everybody avoids me. There’s no duty assigned to me either. I was just staying at this place for a while.”

“Is it a way of keeping you in check?”

It can’t be helped that the surroundings would be wary of someone that got promoted quickly at a young age.

“I think it’s just being more uncomfortable. There’s no problem in particular so please don’t worry. I suppose I will just receive another special promotion by following around Mr. Sang-min.”

“There won’t be such a thing this time. I am just planning on seeing the situation after all.”

If I am able to meet Lee Hui-seung as a bonus, that would be even better.

He’s a person that could become a potential enemy so I couldn’t miss the chance to see his abilities personally.

After boarding the van, she soon got along with Soo-ah and chattered away together.

Soo-ah was good at creating relationships whether it was guys or girls. It’s probably because of her purely active personality as well but she also had the ability to leave out topics the other side wanted to avoid.

Thinking about it, she was good at matching Song Han-sol’s standards.

It meant that she wasn’t a simple idiot. She has pretty fast wits and did the work she had to do well.

She was the best as a comrade and wasn’t bad as a friend either. She wasn’t a great beauty but she became a lot prettier than when I first saw her. It was to the point that quite a few people would stare when walking on the road.

“Where will we be going?”

I was having such thoughts when Soo-ah suddenly asked.

I hid my agitation and turned my head towards superintendent Son.

“A place where Baek Gyeong is as much as possible…….”

“Baek Gyeong?”

Son Aram said.

“Ah. That white haired weird hunter.”

“Ah. You mean the White Knight.”

“Does the police call it the White Knight?”

“He has white hair as is incredibly powerful after all. It’s a bit simple but it’s easier to call it like that after all.”

Soo-ah continued with a light laugh.

“However, it won’t be easy to meet it properly.”

“Why is that?”

“The White Knight only appears momentarily and disappears soon after pouring out attacks.”

“I did think that it would do so though.”

Her eyes sparkled at my words.

“Is there something you know by any chance?”

I was wondering whether I should tell or not and decided to tell her. It should spread soon after all. There was nothing bad if she could profit from this information after all.

“Firstly, Baek Gyeong isn’t human.”

“It’s not human. Then what in the world is it?”

“You can think of it as a type of monster. It’s a mass produced entity of China.”

“The police has been making similar predictions. There can’t be 10 people that look identical after all.

“Also, it is impossible for them to be active for extended periods of time. They’re not yet a complete existence you see. They probably have to rest for a while after pouring out attacks due to the risk of breaking down.”

“Hm. There is certainly some credibility to it. It fits with the White Knight’s activity pattern as well.”

“What would I get from lying?”

“But how in the world do you know such things?”

Son Aram suddenly asked a sharp question.

I answered while shrugging my shoulders.

“That. Is because an aquaintance has quite some power.”

“Are you talking about An Gyu-bum? Urg. I can’t even begin to grasp how someone could become friends with such a person. He was really unlikeable.”

“I don’t like him either. It somehow became like that while associating with him. Either way, let us go to the place they most recently appeared. You know the location right?”

“Yes. You just have to travel around 100km in the northwestern direction. You just have to follow the road so it shouldn’t be difficult.”

We moved according to her words first.

After traveling for about 20km upon leaving the Yellow Sea district, the paved road ended.

It was unpaved but it was flattened quite well so it was possible to travel at over 50km/h.

At this rate, it seemed like it would be possible to arrive in a few hours so I checked the situation in real time through the market bulletin board and the news.

There were some threads that posted the situation in real time and there were even some guys that broadcasted live.

Soo-ah opened her mouth.

“Look at what that person is doing. It’s coming out right now.”

“That person?”

“You know, the famous streamer. Called Pacheongeom.”

“Ah. The guy that broadcasted at the forest region? That guy came all the way here?”

“Because it earns money. There’s 1,000 Moon Balloons bursting in real time. Oh my god.”

“Did you send some as well?”

“A, about 1?”

“You’re staring at that the entire day. You only sent that much?”

“I sent 100. You need to send that much to enter the fanclub.”

Soo-ah replied with her head hanging low.

No. It’s not like there’s anything wrong with it. There’s no need to be so sorry.

“It’s work done with his life on the line so sending that much is whatever.”

I said so and turned on Pacheongeom’s broadcast.

Tremendous explosions could be heard from the phone. Wow. This was insane.

“Is it broadcasting in the middle of a battle?”

I was pretty surprised. I thought that he would broadcast from an appropriate distance from the battle but this Pacheongeom guy was holding a camera in the middle of a battlefield.

Looking at the angle, it seemed to be a type of GoPro that filmed while attached to the head.

[Brothers! Hah hah! Can you see this? Those crazy bastards are the White Knights!]

Also, Baek Gyeong showed up on the screen he turned to.

I opened my mouth in surprise.

“Where is this?”

“It’s called the 2nd Canyon Region! It’s 30 minutes from here!”

Son Aram’s who had been calling somewhere replied desperately.

“Edward! Step on it!”

“More than this?”

The speed was already surpassing 70.

The van was mercilessly shaking and my innards were already turning inside out.

“Just step on it all the way! The van won’t break anyway!”

“The person is the problem.”

Edward said so and stepped on the axel.

The sound of the engine roared as the van shot forward.

The instantaneous acceleration at least was on the level of a sports car.

***

Flash!

Strong light burst out from the other side of the hill far away.

“It seems like it’s over there?”

Soo-ah said so while pointing at the window.

It was a distance that could be seen with the naked eyes but it seemed like it would take at least 10 minutes to arrive. In that time, it was a situation where it would be a miracle if they weren’t annihilated by Baek Gyeong.

I did think it might be possible for them to endure somehow but it was difficult to expect much after what happened at New Alaska.

There were only hunters at least at level 6 and it didn’t take more than 10 minute after all.

“I will go ahead first.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Run.”

“Eh…… Seonbae oppa. Oh my god.”

“What are you so surprised about. You’re going as well.”

“Kyak. Then are you carrying me there?”

“No.”

I held Soo-ah up using psychokinesis. If this girl was around, all my abilities increased by 20 percent.

On top of that, I was planning on raising Concentration using Reward Points.

“Edward! Open the back door!”

“That’s passive…….”

“Hah!”

I left the back door wide open and left the van.

I lightly saluted superintendent Son Aram who had frozen up with wide eyes and immediately started running.

The van brushed by. I was faster than the van even in this state but.

I poured in the Reward Points into my stats.

Once I invested 25,500, Concentration that had been 700 rose to 1,000.

There was a lot of reward points remaining. But there was a simple reason I invested it here.

– Concentration rose to 1,000. A new ability unlocks.

– Passive skill Direction Change will be activated.

It was to confirm the newly added technique.

Direction Change : Able to change direction while ignoring momentum. Speed is maintained during Direction Change.

To put it simply, it made it possible to change direction while running.

It was similar to how I usually used the Dancing Sword to change my direction but it was possible to change my direction any time I wanted while maintaining my speed so it was safe to say that there was no one that could catch me in close combat once I gain speed.

“Hieek! Why did we suddenly get faster…….”

Soo-ah got surprised as she held her hair that was getting ruined.

“It will get faster.”

I checked the skill for now and continued pouring Reward Points into Concentration.

By the way, the amount of Reward Points I had left was 300,000.

This was all earned from inside the Alpha System. The number of white monsters that died in my hands reached almost 1,000 so even 300,000 was little.

I poured in an additional 150,000 and raised Concentration up to 2,000.

I didn’t think that I was overdoing it.

Baek Gyeong’s Hadron Cannon wasn’t something that was blocked just because one tried to block. The answer to an attack that was impossible to defend against was avoiding it and agility was the most important to be able to avoid it.

On top of that, since I had just gotten the Direction Change skill, moving fast itself would be of great help in battle.

Also, once Concentration reached 2,000 a message appeared once more.

I was wondering what kind of skill would appear this time when.

– Stat has reached its limit.

A message that I didn’t imagine would come out came out.