Chapter 162 – Episode 162 Gangneung, the City Occupied by Pseudo-Violence

“Keeek!”

A sea anemone-like monster that stretched out its tentacles like a space monster. Blood splattered when the mother’s tentacles were cut open.
Tearing the monster’s flesh, he moved forward more and more.

Dozens of monsters were blocking the road, so I had no choice but to get off the road and wipe them out myself.

In Gangwon-do, it was natural for monsters to be on the roadside.

A giant monster break that exploded around the Taebaek Mountains 10 years ago.
At that time, as the monster break exploded, countless monsters poured into Gangwon-do.
Guild associations and various hunter groups, which were not yet fully prepared, blocked the west centering on the Taebaek Mountains, but the Yeongdong region and several Gangwon-do cities beyond it could not be blocked.
Communication was cut off for a while, and I thought it would never be restored.

But Gangneung, Sokcho, and Samcheok.
In these three cities, various military units in Gangwon-do and the Awakeners and Hunters who remained in the center of the city endured a grueling street fight and were able to connect with them again only after three years had passed since the monster break exploded.
However, it was not easy to restore the entire Gangwon-do, which was already teeming with monsters.
There were too few troops to wipe out all the monsters hiding in the mountains, forests, and valleys.
In the end, the limit was to establish a link between cities through the main road with the center as a base.
It was for this reason that the cities east of the Taebaek Mountain Range had separate autonomy.

This was Gangwon-do, where ordinary people could not even go out of the city.

“Whoa.”

Arriving at the center of Gangneung, I stopped the car in front of the entrance with the wreckage of a broken building as a barricade.

“Stop! Who are you?”

A soldier standing guard from behind the barricade approached and asked.
It had a crooked stick bearing the symbol of three figures.
Superior.
I don’t think I’m even in my late 20’s yet, but being a boss meant that I was a person of considerable skill.

It was the 2nd Corps in Gangwon-do that united the three cities.
I knew that the current corps commander of the 2nd corps served as the governor of Gangwon-do and was raising troops with the goal of restoring the entire Gangwon-do.
Since the army has become the de facto leader, the system has no choice but to follow that of the army.
I handed over the camouflage ID I had received from Kim Hyun-jung to the soldier and said,

“It’s Jeong-gu-pal. I am a graduate of the Korea Academy, and I came to Gangneung for personal business.”
“… Did you receive any reports?”
“I’m entering Gangneung, but I didn’t hear that a separate report was needed, right?”
“Ah, it’s a special alert period now. When outsiders come in, we need procedures.”
“Special vigilance period? Are you new?”

It was the first time I had heard of it.
I know there was no such thing when I came here three years ago.
Has the policy changed?

“Recently, the movement of monsters has increased. An investigation team made up of hunters and soldiers is being dispatched. So we are verifying the identity of those entering.”
“Something must have happened.”
“That’s right.”

The soldier checked my ID.

“Hmm, first of all, we don’t accept those who haven’t agreed in advance due to the procedure, but there’s nothing wrong with the ID card, and the graduation certificate has been confirmed to be genuine…”

The soldier who returned my ID thought for a moment, then nodded.

“I have to fill out the paperwork to get a temporary pass, but please park there.”
“All right.”

After following the guide of the soldier who opened the barricade, I wrote down the purpose of my visit and the length of my stay.

-Research. 2 nights 3 days.

“Can it be three days?”
“Yes, maybe.”
“Then you can come back here by this time the day after tomorrow.”

The soldier who received the papers from me pulled something out of a drawer.

“Jeong Gu-pal, take this.”
“What is this?”
“This is a temporary pass. I would appreciate it if you could contact the headquarters every evening.”

Is this the end?
Without any investigation?
Is it an army?
It was a process that was unnecessary and bothersome and was not practical.

If that’s not the case, then you must be yourself.
Confidence that even if I had an accident inside, they could cover everything.

“Is this the end?”
“Yes, when the accommodation is decided, please text me with this number. It will be managed by headquarters, and inspections may go in unexpectedly.”
“All right.”

I’m confident.
It meant that if I caused problems, I could control them.
It’s because it’s a closed society.

It’s a pseudo-religion in a place like this.
It’s even weirder
However, if the news spread to Seoul, it meant that it was not a rumor.

Currently, Gangwon-do has a more closed society than anywhere else.
The fear of being destroyed at any time because of the monster break.
There must have been a lot of people who had no place to lean on.
Perhaps, it was also a city where it was natural for the pseudo-religion to spread.

However, this is where the commander of the 2nd corps is under strong leadership.
The commander of the 2nd corps gathered soldiers and awakeners scattered here and there, joined hands with hunters who gathered in various cities, and saved several cities in Gangwon-do.
He was a hero and a strong pillar for the citizens of Gangwon-do.
If such a person was ruling properly, there was no way that it would be contaminated with falsehood.
Okay.
If the corps commander is normal.

In a city where the atmosphere changes depending on one person’s ruling power, the most important thing was what kind of state that person was.

If the commander of the 2nd corps is in good shape, rumors like this wouldn’t happen.

‘What if the 2nd Corps commander was the founder of that religion?’

It was a hypothesis with some validity.

‘Or maybe the 2nd Corps commander was broken for some reason.’

In any case, it was clear that something had happened to the commander of the 2nd Corps, who was to control Gangwon-do.
It dawned on me that it might be a bigger problem than I thought.

-Recently, a pseudo-religion started in Gangneung and spread to various cities in Gangwon-do. The pattern of the person they claimed to be a god was the same as this picture.

It is said that the pseudo-pseudo has already spread in several cities in Gangwon-do.

‘I need to check.’

I passed the checkpoint and entered Gangneung.

***

I went around downtown Gangneung.
The city was more lively than expected.
There was no fear in the people walking around.
It was amazing.

‘It’s strangely bright.’

It’s like being under mass hypnosis.

If someone who didn’t know saw it, they would have thought that the power of the 2nd Legion was still there.

‘It’s unnatural.’

I became more and more convinced of the hypothesis that the entire 2nd Corps fell into a pseudo-religion.

It means that a quasi-state-level armed group has fallen into a pseudo-religion.
Perhaps.

‘There might be a war.’

Not a war between humans and monsters, but a war between humans and humans.

Assuming the worst, I drove and pulled over to a nearby lodging.
After receiving the room key from the kind innkeeper, I gathered my weapons and equipment before touring Gangneung.

It was filled with the favorite bottle that he always used, the saber and the hunter’s anti-knife suit that he wore under his clothes, and even the potions for quick recovery.

“First of all, I go around town and search for places where I feel a sense of incongruity. I check the place where I am intentionally vigilant. And if there is a pursuer, I hunt him down and check the information.”

I intend to intentionally expose myself from now on.
So that the church could send someone to me to keep an eye on me.
Hunt down the pursuers they sent to get their information, and sneak into them.
That was my purpose

Making the prey a clue was simple.
Hypnosis of Mina Han.
Currently, there is one hypnosis slot left thanks to the hypnosis that was cast on Jung Soo-ryun.

You only need to recruit one commander.

It was a dangerous attempt to bait me.

‘I won’t be able to figure it out otherwise.’

There is no fruit without risk.
In order to achieve rapid results, some risk had to be followed.

It was no different from entering the mouth of a monster in a monster nest.

‘I’m much stronger than before.’

As long as no S-rank or higher hunters attacked me, there was no way I would be defeated.
According to my information, I knew that there was no Hunter of that level in Gangneung.
You just have to be wary of the large number of enemies.

“Whoa.”

I took a deep breath and checked my gear one last time.

“Let’s go out now.”

Power went into the hand holding the sword at the waist.

***

How many hours did you wander around downtown Gangneung?

I feel eyes following my back.

‘One, two, three… A total of eight.’

It was a member of a squad.
It was a movement that could only be made by those who were not well trained in their regular and stealthy steps.

‘I knew it.’

The 2nd Corps has already put a final emphasis on the hypothesis that it is no different from the pseudo-church.

I looked around.
I could feel the eyes of the citizens who were doing their job pretending not to see me knowingly and unknowingly turning to me.

‘Did the notice already go out to the citizens?’

The entire city has already been stained by the cult.
I don’t know who did it, but it was a bold move.

I entered a deeper alley as if to lure the people following me.

How long did it take

Phut!

There was a bullet mark where I was.
Even had a silencer installed.

“Isn’t that too professional?”

I looked in the direction the bullets came from.
A soldier who had already positioned himself had his gun pointed at me.
I brought it to a corner to deal with it secretly.

“Is this your yard?”

You took a seat before me who lured you in.
It was a part that showed how he defended Gangneung against monsters.

A total of 8 people surrounded me.
2 people on the roof of a building next to an alley, 5 people who surrounded me, and even 1 person hiding in the shadows and aiming for an opening.

‘If you see that the squad leader is invisible…’

The guy hiding in the shadows and targeting me must be the squad leader.

“Say something. It’s uncomfortable when you don’t say a word.”

They seemed unwilling to respond to me.

“Kill him.”

With that one word, 7 soldiers pointed their guns at me and opened fire.

The sound of gunfire coming from the muzzle equipped with a silencer hit my ears.
Mana bullets, which are effective against quite a few monsters as well as hunters, covered the place where I was.
I quickly retreated with a maneuvering strike and telekinetically twisted the guns of the two soldiers on the roof.

Crunchy!

Pervert!

As soon as the muzzle twisted, the manatan exploded in the middle of the muzzle.

“Quaaaaagh!”

The hand holding the gun and part of the face were blown off, and the two soldiers screamed in agony and died.

‘I removed the annoying guys upstairs.’

“He uses strange magic. He rushes into close combat.”

With the words of the squad leader hiding in the shadows, the surviving soldiers pulled out their swords in perfect order.
If you come to melee, it’s good for me.

Five soldiers attacked me.
It was an attack prepared for death without a single defensive stance.

‘The resolution is amazing.’

I don’t know if it’s because I’m obsessed with pseudoscience, or if the soldiers in Gangwon-do are really this extreme.
However, there are opponents that cannot be defeated by mere willpower.

“Keah!”
“Cuck!”
“Ugh…”

I cut down five soldiers like flowing water.
And when you slash the last soldier.

“Cuck!”

I broke the wrist of the squad leader who jumped out of the shadows and was aiming for my back, and grabbed him by the neck.
The squad leader, whose face was red from not being able to breathe properly, glared at me as his body trembled.

“Did you know I didn’t know?”
“Turn it off…”
“You have to take me to your headquarters.”

I looked into the eyes of the squad leader and took out his cell phone.
Then he brainwashed him using the hypnosis he got from Mina Han.

The soldier’s eyes looking at me slowly began to open.
I ordered the drooling guy.

“Blow all you know.”
“… Yes.”

The fishing with me as bait was successful.