Chapter 154
Chapter 154. Zoo (3)
“Did you think I wouldn’t find you just because you hid in the fur?”
Yoo Ji-han forcibly pulled the man, who was clinging to the wolf’s back, away.
The white-haired man screamed in resistance but soon fell off the wolf’s body.
Despite having above-average strength, it was not enough to surpass Yoo Ji-han.
‘They’ve really made everything under the sun, haven’t they?’
The wolf’s back was equipped with stainless-steel handles, footholds, and even a belt to secure the waist.
It seemed like a device to prevent falling off a shaky body.
The man, caught by the scruff of his neck by Yoo Ji-han, continued to struggle.
“Let go! I said let go!”
“What? Are you asking me to hit you?”
“……!”
Wham!
Yoo Ji-han knocked the man out with a punch to the jaw.
As he collapsed onto the ground, the wolf’s movements came to a complete halt.
“Stop! Cease the attack!”
“What’s going on up there?”
“It looks like that Spirit Master has gone up.”
“I saw him flying around with a sword.”
The heroes, who noticed Yoo Ji-han’s presence, halted their attacks.
Carrying the unconscious man, Yoo Ji-han slid down from the wolf’s back and spoke.
“This man was controlling the wolf.”
“Now it makes sense why things seemed suspicious…”
“We should check if there’s another person attached moving forward.”
“There’s probably a reason for needing to cling to the monsters.”
It was a well-known fact that the IUPC was controlling the monsters.
Understanding the general situation, the heroes gazed cautiously at the now-calmed wolf.
“Aw?”
The fierce-looking wolf had turned into a gentle pup.
After observing the creature for a moment, Yoo Ji-han looked toward where Park Jae-kyung was.
A large wolf appeared there, bloodied and collapsed on the ground.
“Hiiiii!”
Another person was riding on the back of the other wolf as well.
Having grasped the situation, Park Jae-kyung brought him over to where the unconscious man was.
“Cheep! Cheep!”
“Aw, awoo!”
Meanwhile, the wolf that survived thanks to Yoo Ji-han and Chilla exchanged indistinguishable dialogue.
Looking at the wolf, Park Jae-kyung commented.
“That one seems quite docile. Maybe it was raised at a zoo.”
The wolf, sitting on the ground with its butt on the floor like a puppy, was surprisingly calm.
Even with the humans who had injured it just moments ago ahead of it, it showed no substantial reaction.
“It might be possible to tame it.”
“Isn’t that too risky?”
“It’s a wolf that had been around humans for a long time before becoming a monster. Considering the combat ability it showed earlier, it’s worth a try.”
A monster exhibiting considerable combat ability with just an amateur controlling it.
If it could be tamed, it would be a significant asset.
Park Jae-kyung looked at Yoo Ji-han and said.
“If it’s okay with you, I would like to take that wolf back to the Dice Guild.”
“……Are you talking to me?”
“It survived thanks to Ji-han. I’ll send the payment after the expedition.”
“The wolf from the zoo isn’t my property.”
“We’ll negotiate with the zoo on our end.”
“If that’s the case, then go ahead as you wish, Jae-kyung.”
There was no reason to refuse when money unexpectedly came into play.
*
Jung Young-wook’s party had captured the monster transformed from a deer in the deer pen.
Although it was difficult because there was a mutation among the beasts, they managed to succeed in capturing the mutation as well.
“Are there any left?”
“Looks like it’s over.”
“You all did well.”
“Thank you for saving us!”
They even managed to find people trapped inside the pen.
Jung Young-wook’s party, having played their roles well in a battle with several Rank 3 parties, gained recognition from the older heroes around them.
“Your party is doing really well for a Rank 3.”
“I recognized you the moment you came in. You’re going to be great heroes.”
“Haha, thank you.”
Receiving recognition from someone other than oneself.
Jung Young-wook felt immense joy from this.
However, depending on who offered the acknowledgment, that joy varied.
Earning praise from someone better than him brought great joy.
Being acknowledged by someone at a similar level was a moderate joy.
And receiving recognition from someone inferior was a small joy.
In that regard, the acknowledgment from older heroes who advanced to Rank 3 first felt quite pleasant.
“Huh? What’s that?”
At that moment, a group of people passed in front of them.
It was a group of a Rank 2 party led by Park Jae-kyung.
The most eye-catching among them was an exceptionally large wolf!
The heroes’ eyes widened in surprise at the appearance of a monster they had never seen before.
‘Why is Kim Si-hu over there…?’
Jung Young-wook spotted Kim Si-hu and Yoo Ji-han among them.
He briefly wondered why a Rank 3 party was mixed in with them.
As he pondered, he caught a glimpse of Kim Si-hu engaged in an enjoyable conversation with a Rank 2 mage from the Dice Guild.
The problem was that the mage usually displayed a stern attitude toward Jung Young-wook.
‘Why is he smiling at Kim Si-hu like that?’
The mage had never once spoken kindly to Jung Young-wook.
He was all smiles and chatting happily next to Kim Si-hu.
‘What on earth is going on?’
Crunch!
Jung Young-wook gritted his teeth while watching Kim Si-hu drifting farther away.
That half-elf was truly someone hard to like.
*
“Were you the one who interrupted my spell earlier?”
“Are you talking about [Fire Rocket]?”
Kim Si-hu tensed at the sight of the person who had spoken to him.
It was the mage who had used the spell Kim Si-hu deflected to cover Yoo Ji-han, who had leaped into the air.
Kim Si-hu bowed his head in apology.
“I’m so sorry for deflecting it carelessly! I was trying my best to avoid any harm to Ji-han hyung.”
“No, I’m not blaming you. The timing of your deflection was perfect, though?”
“Oh, thank you.”
“Did you calculate the angle after the collision?”
“Yes. I didn’t want anyone else getting hurt, after all.”
The two continued their conversation about magic and mana.
Usually, a mage interested in developing new spells found common ground with Kim Si-hu.
“If the guild had a junior like you, I would have enjoyed magic research together occasionally.”
“Rather than me, my friend Jung Young-wook from the Dice Guild is pretty good at magic too! He’d be of great help.”
“Oh… That guy is a bit…”
Upon mentioning Jung Young-wook, the mage shook his head side to side.
Kim Si-hu asked.
“Why’s that?”
“That guy was smoking on the street.”
“Huh?”
“I don’t even want to talk to street pests who smoke.”
“Oh, I see…”
The mage had developed a dislike for Jung Young-wook simply because he smoked on the street.
It was a reflection of his intensely personal views, so Kim Si-hu found no words to counter.
Meanwhile, Yoo Ji-han stepped forward briefly to talk with Park Jae-kyung.
“What will you do with the captured individuals?”
“We’ll send them along with the wolf to Seoul. They must be punished appropriately. I’m also considering sending them to the lab.”
“Are you suggesting experiments on living subjects?”
“I won’t comment on the details, but don’t worry; it won’t exceed the law’s boundaries.”
Park Jae-kyung thought death would be too light a punishment for these individuals who disturbed the nation, especially since it was intertwined with Yoon Do-ha’s disappearance.
She believed she could inflict unbearable pain on them within legal limits.
“Vice Guild Master! The rhino situation has been resolved.”
“What about the giraffes and elephants?”
“It seems both have completely vanished. The same goes for the eagles.”
“Hmm…”
Some enclosures in the zoo, home to various animals, stood empty.
Particularly, many of the animals there had a high potential to turn into strong monsters.
‘It seems the IUPC took them all.’
Yoo Ji-han concluded that members of the IUPC had taken away other animals.
The fact that this happened immediately after the train accident indicated they had been preparing for an ambush near the zoo in advance.
From the train falling into a space distortion to the events occurring here, it all appeared to be premeditated.
“Are the kidnapped people not here?”
“There are still a few more places left to check.”
As another party meticulously searched the zoo, Park Jae-kyung pointed at a large building.
It was the aquarium, where aquatic creatures gathered.
‘At least this place seems intact.’
Contrary to Yoo Ji-han’s expectations, the interior of the aquarium was pristine.
The aquariums were unbroken, and the fish had not transformed into monsters.
It appeared they had left the animals that couldn’t walk on land alone.
“Caw!”
“Quack, quack, quack!”
However, inside the aquarium, birds, including mutated gigantic crows, were flying about for some reason.
These creatures invaded even the large aquariums, catching and devouring rare fish that were hard to find in Korea.
The aquarium, filled with food at every glance, was like paradise for the birds.
“Let’s go!”
With monsters controlled by humans on one side and those running rampant after being turned into monsters on the other, both posed threats to people.
Crunch!
Yoo Ji-han’s party began hunting the surrounding monsters.
Since the ceiling of the aquarium wasn’t that high, it made facing winged monsters much easier.
Min Yu-ri shot down a giant crow’s wings with an arrow and said.
“I don’t see any people here either.”
It seemed plausible that kidnapped individuals might be in the area where the birds gathered.
Yet, despite thoroughly searching the aquarium, no sightings of people were to be found.
But then…
Wooong!
The sylph hovering beside Yoo Ji-han suddenly dashed toward a blocked wall.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The sylph knocked against the wall with its round body.
Not just once, but repeatedly.
This was behavior it hadn’t shown even during the intense battle outside.
‘There’s something there.’
Yoo Ji-han quickly placed his hand on the wall the sylph was knocking against.
When he lightly tapped it, he heard a sound suggesting an empty space inside.
Crash!
As he slowly tore down the wall, a large space within was revealed.
“Such a place exists.”
“It wasn’t on the map.”
[Light]
Kim Si-hu illuminated the surroundings with a warm glow.
The dark floor was covered in gray dust.
It appeared to be a space not typically opened to the public or used internally.
“Oops!”
“What’s that…?”
As they continued to enter, a large brown object riddled with holes came into view.
It was a bird’s nest made of twigs, straw, and animal fur all bundled together.
“I found it.”
Within the nest filled with white eggs lay eight individuals sprawled helplessly.
Kim Si-hu, feeling the people’s presence, addressed them.
“Heroes! Please, don’t worry.”
“……!”
At his words, they felt a tremendous sense of relief.
There was even a woman shedding silent tears.
As this scene was vividly captured by several cameras, Yoo Ji-han looked at the sylph and said.
“You’ve really been working hard lately.”
Wooong!
The sylph, increasingly providing help to its contractor day by day, rolled around happily in response to the praise.
