Free Web NovelYou don’t have to fight every battle.
Some fights lack purpose. Some are unwinnable. Some bring no gain.
Even if the Silent Awakened, Prophet, was seriously getting on my nerves, it took just a minute of browsing his posts to realize this wasn’t a fight worth picking.
PROPHET: Hunting #1
PROPHET: Hunting #2
PROPHET: Hunting #3
PROPHET: Hunting #4
PROPHET: Hunting #7
PROPHET: Hunting #5
PROPHET: Hunting #6
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The important detail here is the posting dates.
His first post went up only a week ago.
In that week, he’s uploaded a series of hunting clips under the same “Hunting” title.
The videos span different seasons and clearly date back a while. It’s obvious he’s been recording hunts with a body cam for some time and only recently decided to release them.
Coincidentally—or maybe not—the first video went up the same day the legendary Skelton (me) resurfaced on the forum after a long absence.
That was the day I casually hinted I’d be heading south and got flooded with hundreds of comments.
“What’s that got to do with anything?”
Someone like Cheon Young-jae wouldn’t see the connection.
But Oldbies like Woo Min-hee and Emgu? They’d not only spot the correlation—they’d likely infer Prophet’s entire motive.
“Hm. Smells fishy. Smells like insecurity.”
“Yeah, same. Some Awakened guy who's always had a grudge against Skelton probably saw him get hundreds of comments and treated like royalty, and it rubbed him the wrong way.”
Not the most lovable people, but at times like this, they’re surprisingly reliable.
Let’s just skip over how disturbingly close Woo Min-hee and Emgu seem to be.
If I had to say something... birds of a feather, I suppose.
Anyway, I agree—this outsider Prophet seems to be burning with some kind of competitive fire against the legendary Skelton.
Especially after Woo Min-hee laid out her theory on why he’s so suddenly obsessed with one-upping me.
“...I’m Awakened too, remember? There was a time when we were treated like superhumans. Even in the States, people treated us like heroes. It’s inevitable. When society lifts you up that much, it’s hard not to develop a sense of entitlement. Even the lowest-rated kids holed up in Jeju PC cafés believed, deep down, that they were better than your average farmer or factory worker.”
Prophet seems like one of those Awakened who’s still clinging to that infantile superiority complex.
He’s not alone.
Even those arrogant Jeju Awakened only acknowledged me because I killed what they couldn’t. Deep down, they probably still think they’re better.
Because they can trigger pulses.
Even if it’s been revealed that the pulse ability is half a curse, the raw difference between having power and not having it doesn’t need to be explained. freewebnσvel.cøm
So Prophet’s goal is clear.
He’s targeting Skelton.
*
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The artillery started early this morning.
According to Pyo Won-sang’s subordinates, remnants of an enemy warlord faction had been loitering nearby, so they were firing warning shots.
I went to check on Kang Han-min’s disciples.
As expected, Go Hee-seol—her face flushed red—was pacing her cabin like a caged beast.
Another outburst of her infamous anger issues, it seems.
Luckily, it hadn’t escalated yet.
Park Hae-min, the kleptomaniac, had left her alone and was lounging on another seat with his shoes up, playing some massive tablet game. As expected—it was baccarat.
Probably gambling real money through some illegal server.
In New Seoul, we use the Jeju “credits” system, and it seems those credits are now accepted at underground gambling sites.
But I wasn’t here for them. I came to see Moon Yang-gyeong—their handler.
As always, not a hair out of place. Immaculate and composed.
But today, something was different.
She was fixated on her tablet, completely unaware of my presence.
She used a larger 12.9-inch model, so her screen was more visible than the others.
I circled around and peeked at what she was doing.
Internet.
Looked like the Viva! Apocalypse! interface. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
Curious.
What’s so interesting about our forum?
Melon Mask opened the gates too wide, and now the place is a mess.
He let just anyone in. Even with Necropolis broadcasts boosting the servers, response time was down, and the forum was flooded with crime, sex trafficking, toxic rumors—exactly the kind of garbage we used to see on FailNet. And then you’ve got stuff like the Soup Battle flooding the culture.
What used to be a haven for intellectual survivors had turned into a sewer.
And yet Moon Yang-gyeong seemed thoroughly entertained.
Didn’t even flinch when I glared from behind.
Well, I suppose someone used to the locked-down filth of the Intranet would find our forum like discovering daylight for the first time.
Then, suddenly, she started typing.
Looked like a comment.
But—
taptaptaptaptaptap!
“?!”
Her typing wasn’t ordinary.
She wasn’t quite at my level—30 posts per second—but for someone using a tablet, her speed was insane.
“...”
I’m not usually into spying on people’s internet habits, but at that level? It’d be rude not to look.
I sipped my coffee and eagle-eyed her screen.
“?”
I couldn’t believe my eyes.
IlIlIllll: Skelton bubble~ water rocket~ Skelton bubble~ water rocket~ Skelton bubble~ water rocket~ Skelton bubble~ water rocket~ Skelton bubble~ water rocket~ Skelton bubble~ water rocket~ Skelton bubble~ water rocket~
IlIlIllll: Skelton bubble~ water rocket~ Skelton bubble~ water rocket~ Skelton bubble~ water rocket~ Skelton bubble~ water rocket~ Skelton bubble~ water rocket~ Skelton bubble~ water rocket~ Skelton bubble~ water rocket~
IlIlIllll: Skelton bubble~ water rocket~ Skelton bubble~ water rocket~ Skelton bubble~ water rocket~ Skelton bubble~ water rocket~ Skelton bubble~ water rocket~ Skelton bubble~ water rocket~ Skelton bubble~ water rocket~
...
...
What the hell?
What is this?
A cry for help?
No parental love?
Complete moral collapse?
I had so many questions—none of them had good answers.
Moon Yang-gyeong slowly turned her head.
“!”
For a moment, she looked shocked—but then she calmly closed the tab, stood up as if nothing had happened, and greeted me politely.
“When did you get here?”
“...”
I must’ve let my face slip.
Her expression cracked.
“...You saw?”
A short question. But so much hung on it.
I paused—then replied quickly.
“Saw what?”
I know playing dumb isn’t always the best move.
But this was an accident.
And what she did was technically private.
Everyone has the right to be judged—but this time, I chose mercy. Ignorance was kindness here.
We exchanged work-related updates, status checks, basic logistics.
Then I left the Awakened’s cabin.
Up to that point, it was just another awkward, forgettable incident.
People talk shit, get caught—it happens all the time.
But maybe I need to reassess Kang Han-min’s judgment.
IlIlIllll: Skelton bubble~ water rocket~ beatbox garbage~ Skelton bubble~ water rocket~ beatbox garbage~ Skelton bubble~ water rocket~ beatbox garbage~ Skelton bubble~ water rocket~ beatbox garbage~
IlIlIllll: Skelton bubble~ water rocket~ beatbox garbage~ Skelton bubble~ water rocket~ beatbox garbage~ Skelton bubble~ water rocket~ beatbox garbage~ Skelton bubble~ water rocket~ Skelton bubble~ water rocket~
IlIlIllll: Skelton bubble~ water rocket~ beatbox garbage~ Skelton bubble~ water rocket~ beatbox garbage~ Skelton bubble~ water rocket~ beatbox garbage~ Skelton bubble~ water rocket~ beatbox garbage~
...
...
“Is this bitch for real?”
Here we go again.
It’s not just one defective—they’re all defective.
“Yo, what’s this? She says your beatbox sucks.”
Woo Min-hee’s trashy laughter only deepened the wound.
“You can beatbox, Senior?”
“Yeah. I just suck at it.”
Even Cheon Young-jae, who should be on my side, was snickering along—acting like a fool who learned his morals from the internet.
Sometimes, only a purebred namefag can understand the pain.
“Skelton.”
Emgu again.
“I can’t take this anymore. Let’s shoot something.”
I nodded.
*
The provinces are crawling with mutations.
They spawn naturally from the mutation factor seeping through the cracks—but unlike humans, very few die off through natural selection.
The two great cold °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° waves helped thin their numbers, but aside from that, most mutations only die when torn apart by others. And smart ones? They avoid each other and go after easier prey—humans.
Hunters like Baek Seung-hyun were only able to cull them because they operated in the metro area.
The countryside had money but no capable hunters. Most who volunteered were inexperienced or unverified, and most ended up dead or gave up.
The cities are relatively cleared. But the surrounding counties? Mutation paradise.
Ask any survivor on the train and you’ll find at least one story about a dangerous nearby mutation.
“Over there. That bastard lives there.”
Where humans are weaker than the local mutations, the monsters get cocky.
That black cat that stalked me before? Child’s play.
Some mutations strut around like royalty—lording over humans.
They say a mutated Rottweiler is living nearby.
It tore through an entire extermination squad sent by the warlords, and no one’s dared touch it since.
Unlike other canine mutations that form packs, this one drives out or attacks its own kind.
“You sure about this?”
“It’s not exactly hard.”
I wouldn’t say it’s not dangerous.
It’s extremely dangerous.
Even a small mistake could mean death or a crippling injury.
Normally, I’d never take this on. But...
Maybe I’ve been tainted by the madness of the apocalypse too.
I don’t want to admit it, but maybe Prophet pushed me into this.
Even I have to admit—his fights were stylish. Impressive.
But I’ll never say he’s better than us.
We’ve fought battles where a centimeter’s mistake meant death.
To us, “error” means “corpse.”
Grrrrrr...
They call him “Yeonsan-gun.”
A name borrowed from a tyrant, and he lives up to it—cruel, arrogant, and appropriately holed up in a lavish countryside villa.
Human bones scattered throughout the house. Bent, crushed firearms hanging like trophies on the window bars.
The overgrown vegetation rustled from his ragged breath, making it impossible to spot his exact location.
“Wow. Fuck me. Should’ve stayed home.”
Emgu tried to play it off.
“Honestly, mutations freak me out more than monsters. You can avoid monsters. These freaks? They act like people.”
One thing’s for sure—he’s got balls.
Even with two armed men approaching, the thing didn’t flee. It stood its ground, rumbling deep in its throat from the center of the garden.
A mutation from the metro area would’ve disappeared long ago—or prepped an ambush at least.
Better this way.
Click.
I raised my weapon and advanced.
The green wall of underbrush loomed ahead like a barrier.
The monster was just behind it.
Grrrrr...
That subsonic growl shook my guts.
I told Emgu to fall back and moved forward.
Ten meters... eight... five...
Then—
GRRRRAAGH!
It burst through the foliage in a blur of black muscle.
It filled my entire view like the end of the world.
Not a bad strategy.
A solid ambush. Using its toughness to rush in close—an easy win against an inexperienced hunter.
The photos showed its body riddled with gunshot wounds.
Trading flesh for bone, I guess.
Letting bullets sink into its meat in exchange for cracking skulls.
But that reckless strategy? That’s why I didn’t bring Woo Min-hee or Cheon Young-jae.
“...”
I aimed.
A hunter’s virtues:
Precision. Speed.
We don’t rely on pulse.
Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
In a flash, I targeted the sagging underside of the jaw—right beneath its raised head—and shredded it.
Click.
With blood and tissue flying, I immediately switched to a .45.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Both eyes burst. That proud snout crumpled and flew off.
When fighting a mutated dog, destroying the snout is a textbook strategy.
No need for an axe.
THUD!
Its massive body slammed to the ground.
Of course, it was already dead before it hit.
Sure, its strategy worked on clumsy hunters. But today, it met its match.
I stepped back and silently signaled to Emgu.
“What the hell?”
He lowered his phone and tilted his head.
“That was too easy, no?”
I suppose it looked that way.
A third-party would’ve just seen a short, one-sided shootout.
And when Emgu edited and uploaded the video, it didn’t make much noise.
It looked like a shooting demo—not a real fight.
But those who know—know.
“Captain M9’s new video... Was that really you, Commander?”
For the first time, Moon Yang-gyeong approached me with a personal question.
“Was it you...?”
I grinned bitterly and said,
“Dunno. But I bet the water rocket and bubble guy didn’t do it.”
Her face flushed crimson, and she fled like a startled cat.
Woo Min-hee, who’d been watching, swooped in like she’d been waiting.
“What?! What?! What was that? Senior?! What happened?!”
“Just something that happened.”
I didn’t tell her that Moon Yang-gyeong was the infamous barcode ID troll.
Judging by her comment history, those juvenile insults weren’t exclusive to me.
If I told Woo Min-hee, someone might actually end up dead.
But the real highlight of the video?
PROPHET: Hm.
For the first time, the Silent Awakened left a comment.
And this guy—
PROPHET: That good, huh?
Is he... a fan?
