The Red Crocodile lay with its jaws wide open, basking in the sunlight.
A massive monster, easily over ten meters in length.
It resembled a crocodile in shape but was fiery red all over, with sharp, blade-like spikes protruding from its body.
Its bite was so strong that it could crush huge boulders like toys.
If it dragged you into the swamp while biting, no matter how big and powerful a monster you were, there was no way you'd come out alive.
This place was a Red Zone, quite far from Seoul.
Among hunters, passing through this swampy area was considered taboo. So no matter how urgent the matter, they usually went around it.
Hyeon Su-ho knew this well, yet he headed fearlessly towards the swamp where the Red Crocodile was resting.
First, he checked to make sure there were no other monsters around, then he approached as quietly as possible.
Taking a deep breath and holding it for a moment, he calmly pulled the trigger.
Bang!
The Red Crocodile flinched at the sound, but it was already too late.
The bullet Su-ho fired went straight through its eye.
Splish!
The eyeball burst, and blood and fluids splattered into the air.
An inevitable, horrific scream followed.
"Kaeeeeek!"
Writhing in pain and anger, the Red Crocodile quickly located Hyeon Su-ho.
"Grrrr!"
A wounded beast is always terrifying. And this one was not just a beast, but a monster.
Despite its laughably short legs compared to its body, it leapt over thirty meters in an instant.
Whoosh!
Red Crocodiles usually hide in the swamp and leap out to attack their prey.
If you get bitten or cut by its sharp spikes, it's over. If you get crushed, your internal organs are destroyed.
Its terrifying teeth bared, it flew towards Su-ho rapidly, but instead of retreating, Su-ho ran forward.
Running quickly to gain momentum,
Su-ho extended his foot forward and slid.
His body slid smoothly over the slippery swamp.
Swoosh!
Their gazes crossed in the short moment when the airborne Red Crocodile and the sliding Su-ho passed each other.
In that fleeting opportunity, Su-ho didn't miss and fired his pistol again.
Bang!
The bullet hit the eye again.
This time, it not only damaged the eye but also penetrated to the brain.
Thud!
Bright red fluid visibly splattered in the air.
The Red Crocodile, having lost both eyes and had its brain turned to mush, flailed in midair before crashing to the ground.
Thud!
The giant Red Crocodile slid across the ground, creating a long crater.
Even though its brain was completely destroyed, its limbs kept twitching for a while.
Only after confirming its death did Su-ho holster his pistol.
The Red Crocodile had tough and durable skin, making it very difficult to hunt.
It was generally agreed that you needed to be at least level 3 or 4 to take it down alone.
Yet Hyeon Su-ho, who had just reached level 1, took it down alone with just two shots.
It was an achievement that would leave anyone astonished, but instead of praise, he heard a scolding voice in his ear.
[Your shot was 0.12 seconds late, Master. That's why it didn't die instantly. In another situation, you could have been in danger.]
"Give me a break. I'm not a computer. Can't you overlook 0.12 seconds?"
"[t was quite dangerous this time as well. If you had used plasma bullets from the start, it would have ended with one shot.]
"A wannabe hunter can't just rely on weapon performance, right? I was practicing, so cut me some slack."
Su-ho looked at the Genocide in his hand and finally caught his breath.
An OOPArts-grade alien pistol.
When he first obtained it, it felt like a mix of metal and ceramic, without even a muzzle—just like a typical alien weapon from a sci-fi movie.
But now, using his newly acquired upgrade skills, it had transformed into a completely different weapon.
He changed its appearance to look ordinary to avoid drawing attention, but the biggest change was that it could now use live ammunition.
Click!
Plasma bullets consume mana.
They were powerful enough to penetrate the Red Crocodile's skin, but without mana, they were unusable—a critical flaw.
Moreover, they consumed so much mana that they weren't suitable for fighting multiple enemies.
To compensate for these shortcomings, he modified it to use live bullets.
Not only that, but he also upgraded the anti-monster bullets to increase their power.
[If Master had more mana, I would have turned it into a railgun.]
"With that energy, wouldn't it be better to use plasma? Anyway, the power seems sufficient."
A solitary creature, acting alone.
Big enough to be an easy target, strong but relatively slow, and with enough defense and health to be taken down with current firepower.
All these factors were calculated by Nova to mark it as a prey.
Hyeon Su-ho pulled out a butcher's knife and began to skillfully butcher the monster.
Slash! Slash!
These monsters had hides and bones that were useful for various purposes.
Normally, he would have butchered it entirely and packed all the expensive parts into his bag, but he was only after one thing right now.
"Found it."
He extracted a hard, dark red stone from the monster's body.
This was the monster's heart, a mana stone.
In the current era, mana stones were used to produce energy like electricity and to create magical items.
They had become essential to human society.
A mana stone of this size would easily sell for millions of won.
"No wonder hunters make a fortune."
He didn't extract the mana stone to make money.
Placing the mana stone and the Genocide pistol on the ground, he used a skill.
"Upgrade."
As he used the skill, the mana stone shattered into pieces and began to integrate into the Genocide.
Bzzz!
The current circuits of the Genocide were designed for utilizing electromagnetic forces.
To modify it to be suitable for mana usage, the mana stone of a monster was perfect.
Nova had already created the blueprint, so Hyeon Su-ho only needed to use the skill.
Soon, a bright light flickered and gradually dimmed.
He examined the now heavier Genocide.
"...Is it done?"
[My design is flawless. Would you like to test it?]
"Sure."
Aiming the Genocide at a nearby rock, he pulled the trigger, and a blue orb of plasma shot out.
Boom!
The plasma bullet flew so fast it was almost invisible, sinking deep into the rock.
It looked as if a sharp toothpick had pierced through soft clay.
And then...
Boom!
With a tremendous explosion, the giant rock shattered into pieces.
Even from a considerable distance, the shattered fragments flew and pelted his body.
The destructive power felt at least twice as strong as before the upgrade.
"Wow! This is incredible. Is this the power of the upgrade?"
[The power has increased, but so has the mana consumption. Until Master grows, using stronger monster mana stones might be overkill.]
"So, if I keep growing, I can become even stronger."
He still couldn't believe it.
How strong was he now?
If he could use mana freely, wouldn't he be stronger than a fireballer in terms of sheer destructive power?
Moreover, Hyeon Su-ho still had plenty of room to grow.
"Our goal is to quickly level up to 2 and acquire new skills."
The skills acquired with each level generally became more efficient.
The upgrade skill, obtained at just level 1, already had tremendous benefits.
What more amazing skills would he get later on?
"Is this the power of an EX-Rank job?"
People often overlooked even high-grade jobs if they weren't useful in combat, not including special cases like blacksmiths or enchanters.
Most support jobs remained at low levels.
If his case became known, would other support jobs start getting attention too?
"That's unlikely."
He was very lucky.
The synergy between his Arch (Ark) Mechanic job and the accidentally acquired Nova was incredible.
Without Nova and Genocide, he wouldn't have dared to fight monsters without an attack skill.
"Well then, the next mode to test is..."
There were still many modes of the Genocide left to test.
Feeling a sense of excitement, he was about to try the next mode when Nova spoke suddenly.
[There is a human life form nearby.]
"Humans?"
This Red Zone was relatively close to Seoul, so it was accessible to other hunters.
But Nova wouldn't report something for such a simple reason.
[A truck is moving with two humans inside. They are being chased by monsters.]
"Chased?"
[I will transmit the hacked footage from a satellite camera.]
With those words, a video began to play before his eyes.
"This is..."
A modified truck reinforced with monster hides.
Someone on the roof was firing a machine gun continuously.
Behind them, a pack of monsters was chasing them like mad.
"Merchants?"
It looked like a modified truck used by trading companies that supplied goods to the city.
The sky had already been taken over by monsters, and the subway had limited transportation capacity.
So individual trading companies bought and sold goods by traveling between cities like this.
Even with a barely established road network, in times like this when monsters were rampant, merchants had to risk their lives.
No matter how many hunters they hired as escorts, accidents always happened.
Just like now...
"Can I help them?"
You Can't Just Watch People in Danger
It wasn't about playing the hero.
If Nova had objected, Hyeon Su-ho would have turned back without hesitation.
Luckily, the response was positive.
[It's entirely possible. I will guide you, Master.]
"Alright."
With the Genocide in hand, he headed in the direction Nova indicated.
* * *
Mir Trading Company
Though still small in scale, Mir Trading Company had been around for 10 years and was quite solid.
They had been full of dreams of making a big profit after scoring some good goods from Anbyeon.
That was until they were chased by these monsters.
"Die!!"
Ratatatatata!!
A man in his 50s, perched on the roof and firing a machine gun.
Weighing over 100 kg with thick black hair growing on his forearms.
This was Jeon Jung-gu, the owner of Mir Trading Company.
In his 10 years of running the company, he had overcome many crises, but he had never been in as tight a pinch as now.
The monsters chasing the truck were Crazy Dogs.
These level 1 monsters were weak individually, but in packs, they could hunt even level 3 monsters.
The scariest thing about Crazy Dogs was that once they locked onto prey, they pursued it relentlessly.
Even if most of their pack was killed, they wouldn't stop.
This made them particularly terrifying for trading companies with weak firepower.
"Damn it!"
Ratatatatata!
The machine gun's barrel was glowing red hot from the heat.
They had nearly run out of the massive pile of bullets, but the number of chasing monsters didn't seem to decrease at all.
The woman at the wheel shouted sharply.
"Dad! We won't make it at this rate!"
Unlike the massive Jeon Jung-gu, she was small and petite, almost looking like a girl.
She wore large glasses that covered half her face, making her look like a high school student despite being 23 years old.
She had been following her father, Jeon Jung-gu, on trading trips for several years now.
She was a veteran, but in a situation like this, there was little she could do.
Jeon Jung-gu shouted while still firing the machine gun.
"Send a distress signal to the Hunter Guild! We're almost to Seoul!"
"I already did. But they're not responding!"
"Damn it!! One's coming up the side!"
"Hold on tight!"
Screech!!
Jeon Mi-rin skillfully maneuvered the truck to shake off a monster biting the side armor, but it was impossible to fend off the swarming monsters.
Crazy Dogs were surprisingly faster than the truck, already closing in from behind.
There was no hope at this rate.
As Jeon Jung-gu and Jeon Mi-rin pictured themselves becoming a meal for the pack, a shot rang out.
Bang!
A bullet from somewhere pierced one of the close monsters.
"What the? Is that support?"
A welcome voice came over the truck's radio.
"Keep driving straight, I'll provide support."
They didn't know who it was, but for the desperate pair, it felt like a lifeline from heaven.
Jeon Mi-rin floored the accelerator.
"Please do!"
Vroom!!!
* * *
Hyeon Su-ho had already reached high ground.
The small pistol he was holding had transformed into a long sniper rifle.
Using nanomachine technology, he could change the shape and function of the Genocide.
Bringing his eye to the scope, a red pointer appeared.
[The distance is approximately 3km. Considering wind, humidity, temperature, gravity, and rotation, this is the bullet's trajectory. Shall I activate the shooting assist function?]
"Please do."
Bang!!
The target was about 3km away.
Even a sniper with years of training would have trouble hitting such a distant target, especially one that was moving quickly.
Yet Hyeon Su-ho's bullets hit the mark every time.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
With each burst of the muzzle, the number of Crazy Dogs chasing the truck decreased without fail.