Chapter 168: Black Shatter’s Roar

Hunter Association’s Gate Surveillance Team.

Even though Gate Burning had ended, the place was still in disarray.

So far, after each Gate Burning event ended, the number of Gates that appeared had decreased for a while, but this was only the third time.

They couldn’t afford to lower their guard.

Besides, since the damages from Gate Burning hadn’t even been recovered yet, missing a Gate now could lead to an even greater threat.

That’s why the Gate Surveillance Team maintained their vigilant state as if Gate Burning was still ongoing.

Still, nothing unusual had happened so far.

At this rate, by tomorrow, they might be able to relax and return to their usual routine.

If that happened, the hardworking staff could finally take their vacations in turn, or so they thought.

“Gate signal detected!”

“Ha, how long has it been since Gate Burning ended? Is it a naturally occurring Gate? What’s the grade?”

A report of a Gate appearing came in.

It wasn’t good news, but they didn’t worry too much.

Even though Gate Burning was over, that didn’t mean Gates would stop appearing altogether.

This time was no different.

It wouldn’t be a big deal.

Thinking that, they were about to brush it off lightly.

“Rank 7. No, Rank 8. Wait… it’s climbing even higher!”

“What? Then are you saying it’s a Rank 9 Gate? Damn it, it’s only been a week since Gate Burning ended and now there’s a Rank 9 Gate!”

This was not something they could take lightly.

The rank of the Gate displayed on the surveillance monitor kept rising.

It was definitely a Rank 9 Gate.

As they thought that, and tried to contact the Sword Saint, an employee spoke up with a trembling voice, “Rank 10…….”

“What? Rank 10? That can’t be! Isn’t that a mistake?”

“It’s surpassed even Rank 10… it’s still climbing.”

“No, what kind of nonsense is that!”

It was unbelievable enough just to hear that a Rank 10 Gate had appeared.

But to surpass Rank 10?

What did that even mean?

It had to be a System error.

Otherwise, there was no way a Gate of a level surpassing Rank 10 could appear.

If such a thing happened, there was absolutely no way to handle it.

At that moment, someone else shouted, “Director! You need to see this!”

“It’s broken after all, isn’t it?”

“No! It’s….”

“What now?!”

The director turned his head.

What appeared on the monitor the employee had turned on was not the Gate surveillance program.

It was the news.

Why the news, all of a sudden?

But then—

“Kugugugu—”

The ground began to tremble.

And at the same time—

“Kugugugu—!”

The monitor began broadcasting the image of a Tower rising up.

It was clear.

The Gate now emitting power surpassing even Rank 10—

That was it.

It looked different from a Gate, but without a doubt, that was the ‘threat’ the director had once denied could destroy the world.

Even if he didn’t know exactly what the Tower was, the director knew better than anyone what he needed to do right now.

“Contact all Hunters connected to the Hunter Association! Order them to gather at that Tower!”

“But Director, the identity of that structure hasn’t even been determined yet, and all the Hunters are…!”

“That’s an order! Call them all in!”

“Yes, sir!”

At the director’s command, the Hunter Association, which had been quiet for a while, sprang into motion.

Although ‘Director’ wasn’t the highest rank, the Director of the Gate Surveillance Room had sufficient authority for this.

The Hunter Association’s strongest—

No, even Korea’s strongest Hunter, the Sword Saint Han Yu-ra, rushed toward the Tower.

Even the Chairman arrived, asking what was going on.

The director wondered if the Chairman might scold him for causing a commotion when nothing was confirmed yet, but—

“Well done.”

“Thank you.”

Instead, the Chairman supported the director’s decision.

And a moment later—

“Kiiiiiieeeeek!”

Monsters began pouring out from the Tower.

Just like a Gate Break.

No—could this even be compared to a Gate Break?

If he had to compare, it was as if hundreds of Gate Breaks had exploded together.

The number of Monsters easily surpassed thousands, and their grades were all over the spectrum.

At first, it seemed like the Monsters’ grades were on the lower end, but before long, a Rank 9 boss Monster—an Imugi known for its corruption—began climbing down the Tower.

Rank 9 Monster.

Even though Berserker Park Kang-chul could hunt Rank 9 Monsters alone, that didn’t mean Rank 9 Monsters were weak.

Hadn’t even that Berserker risked his life to take down a Rank 9 Monster?

The Sword Saint was the same.

No matter how much stronger the Hunters had become, it was difficult to face a Rank 9 Monster alone.

If the director had hesitated and delayed deploying the Hunters?

Enormous damage might already have occurred.

But then—

“Kiiiiiieeeeek!”

“My god….”

“So many Monsters…”

The Monster Wave didn’t end there.

A Wyvern that crawled out from the Tower spread its wings.

A chunk of rock that fell from above hit the ground and rose up, becoming a Golem that started marching forward.

Even though the Hunters had been gathered quickly, the number of enemies was overwhelming.

In a rush to check, it seemed that other countries were facing similar situations.

If Korea was struggling this much, how were other countries faring?

It was concerning, but now was not the time to worry about others.

“Grrrrrooooo!”

The number of Monsters continued to increase.

Then, more Rank 9 Monsters began to appear in succession.

The situation kept getting worse.

As Monsters kept flooding in like a tidal wave, the Hunters’ defensive lines were on the verge of breaking, and it seemed as though Monsters might soon overrun everything.

“Boom!”

A distant explosion rang out.

It wasn’t the sound of something exploding.

It was the sound of something being ‘fired.’

Everyone’s gaze naturally turned toward the direction of the blast.

Then, they saw a sphere flying rapidly through the air.

What was that?

A cannonball?

But it was well known that military weapons didn’t work properly against Monsters.

Though it caught their attention, most people didn’t expect that cannonball to inflict any real damage on the Monsters.

But before long, the swiftly-flying cannonball reached the Monster Wave.

At that moment—

“KWAANG—!!”

An enormous boom erupted.

When the cannonball hit the Monster Wave, it exploded but that explosion wasn’t just any explosion.

It wasn’t just powerful—the searing flames born from the blast writhed as if alive, spreading in all directions.

“Kiiiiiieek!”

“Grrrrgh!”

Monsters caught in the flames screamed in agony.

With just one strike, dozens—

No, over a hundred Monsters shrieked and burned up.

That alone gave the Hunters holding the defensive line some much-needed breathing room.

And more importantly—

The cannonball that just came wasn’t even the main support fire—it was just a signal shot.

“Boom!!”

With another booming launch, new cannonballs began flying toward the Monster Wave.

“KWAANG—!!”

***

As the first cannonball exploded—

I clenched my fist in triumph.

“Yes!”

Even though everything was ready, it was only natural to worry about the first shot.

But the attack showed more firepower than I’d hoped for.

Of course I was pleased.

“Next, reload!”

“Reloading.”

Guild master 1 rammed the second cannonball into the cannon’s barrel.

It was completely different from the perfectly spherical first shell.

This one looked as if thick vines were tangled all around it.

As soon as it was loaded, and Combat 2 aimed the cannon where I wanted—

“Fire!”

“Fire.”

“Boom!”

The second cannonball was launched.

The material used for this rapidly-fired shell was an S-grade material I obtained after clearing the ‘Malignant Vine’ Trial on the Tower’s 41st floor.

The shell made from it was called—

[Thorn Vine Shell]

It’s so straightforward that it’s not particularly cool.

But as expected of a shell made from S-grade material, its power was formidable.

“Boom!”

The moment the shell crashed into the heart of the Monster Wave and exploded—

“Schrrrrrrk!!”

As if it were a seed, hundreds of thick thorn vines suddenly erupted from the explosion.

The rapidly growing thorn vines hungrily ensnared the nearby Monsters.

Sharp thorns pierced through Monsters, and thick, tough vines wound around them.

With the nutrients they sucked from the Monsters, the thorn vines grew even larger.

“That’s no joke.”

I made these shells for just this purpose, but their power was stronger than I’d imagined.

Of course, the reason was obvious.

[Black Shatter Cannon]

L-grade cannon, Black Shatter Cannon.

As befitting an L-grade weapon, its abilities went far beyond just firing shells.

Attack speed and accuracy were a given, but it also boosted shell range and firepower, and even maximized the special abilities of the shells.

That’s why the [Thorn Vine Shell] was displaying such power.

Unless a Rank 9 Monster appeared and tore apart the vines, the thorn vines would keep growing and wrapping around the Monsters.

It was an ability optimized for slaughtering weak Monsters.

The next shell followed.

“Boom!!”

This one used material from the 42nd floor, after clearing the ‘Zombie Mushroom’ Trial.

A shell made using ‘Zombie Mushroom Spores.’

The shell was riddled with holes like a netted mushroom and didn’t look like it had any physical force at all.

And the result was the same.

The spore shell crashed on the side opposite the growing thorn vines, but didn’t do any physical damage.

It hit a Monster’s body, but even that Monster didn’t take much damage.

Instead—

“Pssssss—”

The shell burst with a faint pop, scattering spores everywhere.

At first, nothing happened.

Monsters breathed in the spores and felt discomfort, but confirmed that nothing was wrong and kept advancing.

Then, after a short time—

“Gaaaaaaah—”

The Monsters dusted with spores lost their minds and began rolling their eyes.

From the bodies touched by the spores, bizarre mushrooms began to grow.

Those Monsters, just like Cordyceps, began attacking their allies to spread more of themselves.

Whenever a Monster was attacked, new spores took root in its body, mushrooms sprouted, and it lost its mind, going on to attack its own side again.

If you’re thinking this doesn’t actually reduce the number of Monsters and thus doesn’t help the Hunters—

No.

The mushrooms growing on the Monsters’ bodies kept draining their life force.

As soon as a Monster’s life was exhausted, the mushroom simply scattered more spores and withered away.

I had deliberately fired at the area around the Tower, far from the Hunters, so there was no risk of harming the Hunters.

“Good, good!”

Even just culling the lower-tier Monsters this way gave significant support to the Hunters’ defensive lines.

Rank 8 Monsters might not fall so easily to the vines or spores, but Rank 7 or lower Monsters couldn’t resist these attacks.

The cannons kept firing.

Wherever the shells fell, Monsters went down quickly, just as I’d intended.

[Level Up.]

[Level Up.]

Was it because there were so many Monsters?

My level was rising fast.

But then—

A problem occurred with cleaning up the lower-tier Monsters.

“GROOOOOH!”

Rank 9 Monsters.

The number of Rank 9 Monsters, already a huge threat, increased even more.

At first, Rankers like the Sword Saint or Berserker Park Kang-chul could manage to mark them, but as their numbers rose, even the Rankers couldn’t handle all the SS-grade Monsters.

So I—

“Guild master 1, load that one next.”

“Understood.”

A shell made to deal with Rank 9 Monsters.

We began loading the special bomb, crafted from SS-class Materials, specifically for use against the Rank 9 Monsters.