Chapter 27: Episode 27 – Power Enhancement, Part II
Chapter 10. Power Enhancement, Part II
Translator: Khan
Editor: RED
3.
“Major, we’re all here.”
It was late, and the sun had already fallen and disappeared. Cold breath filled the place, and the group was gathered under the thick darkness where even their cold breath was not visible.
‘There is no exception.’
The identity of the mess was the survivors.
Bang Hyun-wook approached the survivors immediately as soon as Kim Tae-hoon’s permission was given … approaching and talking to his unrequited love, Joo Ha-yeon.
The Mac Clan was accepting applicants. If you passed the Mac Clan tests, you could move with it.
At his word, the twenty-two survivors announced their intention to join the Mac Clan without a single exception. It was natural for survivors who thought that there might be a chance of life, even if was the worst case!
—–
“I’ll tell you a few things.” Kim Tae-hoon said to those who had gathered.
“One, our Clan’s name is Mac, the Mac Clan, and two, the monster stones that the Clan has acquired from the monster hunt, and all the monster parts, are all mine. Three, you must obey orders unconditionally.”
Kim Tae-hoon paused there for a moment. He didn’t add a warning, such as, “Don’t say anything later,”
This was not a training room for new employees in a company, and if they said something else later, he would just deal with it without warning. Those who had such schemes were not worthy of consideration.
Kim Tae-hoon stopped and looked over the crowd, the expressions in their eyes.
Most of the survivors had dead eyes. They had seen many deaths, to be exact.
Of course, not everyone looked that way. Even in this situation, there were those who looked at Kim Tae-hoon clearly.
The woman, who made Bang Hyun-wook take action, was one of those who looked at Kim Tae-hoon clearly.
‘Her eyes are not dead.’
The cute and pretty appearance, the hairstyle that was cut short with a cat-like face, was obviously popular from appearance alone.
Bang Hyun-wook had said, “She was an aspiring entertainer.” Although she had not made her debut yet, she was still a trainee at an entertainment agency of fair size.
Of course, Kim Tae-hoon did not really think much of the fact.
“Then we’ll start classification.” His role was to pick out the good and bad from these applicants.
“Who had a career in a professional like manufacturing and agriculture?”
At his question, four people looked around and carefully raised their hands.
Three men, one woman. The woman looked to be in her twenties, the men in their thirties.
“What’s your field?”
“I worked at a factory, not very professional, but I did a lot of things.”
“Well, I worked on the construction site. My career was pretty good. I’m good at tools, though I don’t have a license.”
“I’m a nurse, and I’m very good at it, though I’ve only got a few years of experience. Please…”
There was no power in the voices of those who answered sequentially. They lacked confidence.
They were suspicious that they could be saved by saying these things.
One of the four was different.
“I’m a lawyer.” He introduced his job with a pretty confident expression as if he were waiting for the question. “For reference, I’m with the Haesung Law Firm.”
He also had confidence that he had not showed before, adding his own affiliation.
It was pretty good. The Haesung Law Firm was not the best in Korea, but it was in the top ten of Korean law firms.
The combined income of the three people who had introduced their professions earlier would not equal the income of the man who said he was a lawyer.
Of course, he deserved to be confident. And the attitude would be worth if it was a week ago.
But not now. “The three, except for the lawyer, are accepted.”
“No, wait! Are you saying I’m out? Those three are passing?”
Kim Tae-hoon answered the lawyer’s question as if he was hard to understand. “I don’t know why you’re so proud of yourself.”
“No, I’m with Haesung Law Firm …”
“Just tell me one reason why I need to hire a lawyer against the monsters.”
The lawyer was about to say something more, but then he stopped. His mouth closed, and the glitter in his eyes died quickly.
Kim Tae-hoon ignored the lawyer and continued speaking. “Who was an artilleryman or a tanker during his military service?”
“I was in the artillery unit.” “I was also in the artillery unit!” Two men raised their hands quickly.
They looked to be in their mid-twenties, and at this moment they seemed to have noticed who Kim Tae-hoon wanted.
“Who has the first-class license?”
“I have it, I know how to handle forklifts and cranes.”
The number of people raising their hands began to decrease as the questions were repeated, and later on, there was no one left to raise their hand.
“Prepare for the test.” Kim Tae-hoon gave a signal.
The soldiers moved immediately. They lined up the dead bodies of the Sabretooth Wolves.
It was not just a dead body.
The heart was pulled out to get to the monster stone, the body that was chopped all over for slaughter practice, and it was in a terrible state.
‘Oh, my God.’
Of course, the survivors had pale faces as soon as they saw the body of the Sabretooth Wolf.
Some with weak stomachs began to vomit immediately.
“The test method is simple.” Ignoring them, Kim Tae-hoon continued speaking.
“Cut off the legs of the Sabretooth Wolf. It does not matter what the condition is. Whether it is front or rear, right or left, bring it to me after cutting it. The time limit is one hour. Tools…”
Kim Tae-hoon grabbed a knife and threw it at the body of the Sabretooth Wolf next to him.
Pook! The knife went deep into the Wolf’s belly, only the handle showing.
“One knife, then, and we’ll start testing.”
4.
“Oh, shit!” a man working on the sawing off the Sabretooth Wolf’s skin and flesh with a knife shouted loudly.
“Damn it, argh! Goddamn it!” Harsh words filled with emotions flowed out of his mouth.
Those who were doing the same thing reacted to the man’s feelings. Some chewed on their lips, some shed tears, and some cried out.
They were all watched by the Mac Clan’s soldiers.
Some of them thought to themselves, ‘Does this test mean anything? ‘What is he testing with this?’
It was a terrible, miserable sight.
However, the test to cut off the legs of the Wolves, compared to their desperation, did not seem to have much meaning.
Kim Tae-hoon did not intend to deny the fact.
It would be useful to practice stabbing the insides of meat and bones, cutting off the dead monster’s legs was not meaningful.
But his reason for doing this was simple.
“There is no reason to accept them unless they are prepared to eat a monster’s corpse.”
Can you do it, or not? It did not mean to see it.
In the first place, Kim Tae-hoon did not expect much from the survivors. His expectations were just vague expectations.
So, what Kim Tae-hoon wanted to see was their will to do it, or not.
If they do not have enough fighting spirit to cut apart a dead monster body and the will to survive, they are just living dead men, eating and making poo.
He didn’t want to have such a survivor.
Fortunately, the survivors had strong wills to live. Strong enough that they were able to meet Kim Tae-hoon and the Mac Clan alive!
The way the survivors came here was hell.
“The time limit is up.”
Eventually, all twenty-two survivors crossed the line proposed by Kim Tae-hoon.
“Passed.”
After the short words of Kim Tae-hoon, the faces of the survivors who had wrestled with the hide, muscles, flesh, and bones of the Sabretooth Wolf for an hour, were filled with cheers and deep fatigue.
“Clean the body.”
Kim Tae-hoon did not give any congratulations or shake hands with them.
The night was late enough, and the test was over. Now was the time to take the rest that had been originally planned.
The Mac Clan must move again tomorrow when the sun rose.
They had to hunt monsters, get food, make roads, and secure relics.
And they had to repeat it again and again. They had to be ready for tomorrow, which would be more hopeless than today.
‘It’s over now.’
Most of all, death was predicted for Kim Tae-hoon. Within three to five years, he would be dead.
It was a time-limited life. He did not have time to celebrate something and to comfort.
‘I have to find a way.’
Kim Tae-hoon did not intend to meet the fate of the dream Kim Tae-hoon.
That was how the night began.
5.
At 5 AM, Jang Sung-hoon was not able to fall asleep easily.
The cold weather was the reason, but the fact that his mind was full of the shining Golden Glass was the biggest reason he could not sleep.
‘It lets us see our crisis in our dreams.’
The Golden Glass of Napoleon.
It was a shock to Jang Sung-hoon in many ways.
‘It’s a tool that can change the future.’
Knowing a crisis meant avoiding it. It was like changing the future.
It would change the world. It was a shock that such a relic existed in the world.
‘Such relics are overflowing in the world.’
But there was something even more shocking.
‘The world will be crazy… Those greedy people will not leave them be.’
Jang Sung-hoon was a chick in society at his age, he was still childish> His age was not much different from Bang Hyun-wook, who had a young personality, behavior, and attitude.
However, Jang Sung-hoon’s social experience was darker than other people. The world he belonged to was filled with the word greed.
Jang Sung-hoon saw a lot in such a world.
How much greed could human beings have for art which is essentially useless?
How terrible is the greed of human beings who can do things that ignore human dignity to get that desired artwork?
The greed of such people would seem rather crude compared to the three desires of human beings.
In addition, the art that had an artistic value was now much more than that.
‘I feel like they have a missile launch button in their hands.’
What was even eerier was that most of the art was already in the hands of greedy people.
‘Even if I look at the situation right now, it is so.’
World-class artworks, historical relics, were not in the hands of ordinary people, but in the hands of those who knew the ability and methods of filling their greed.
Would they make efforts for the good of the world with those relics, the indispensable weapons which had amazing value now, when dealing with monsters?
Jang Sung-hoon, at least, did not want to leave his fate to such people.
‘This fucking world.’ Jang finally gave up sleeping.
If he slept, he’d have to get up sooner or later. Instead, he’d better get up early and organize his thoughts.
Jang Sung-hoon opened the car door and climbed out. The cold dawn wind hit his body.
Naturally, Jang Sung-hoon’s gaze was on the blazing fire, and he headed for the man who was in front of the fire.
‘Boss?’
Kim Tae-hoon was in front of the fire.
He was flying an arrow around himself, a featherless arrow which had only an arrowhead and shaft, while sipping coffee from a mug in his right hand.
Jang Sung-hoon walked toward Kim Tae-hoon. “Boss.”
The conversation between the two of them began again.