Chapter 64: Kimcheon Liberation Zone (2)
Kang-hoo had set his return point near Pohang Station and promptly rented a car to head for the Kimcheon Liberation Zone.
The Liberation Zone was inaccessible by KTX trains and even safety buses.
Most travelers had to take a detour, and those who did pass through would do so without stopping, making disembarkation impossible.
The car Kang-hoo rented was a cheap model, even among other budget vehicles.
He was prepared to abandon or wreck it if necessary.
The Liberation Zone was a place where anything imaginableand morecould happen; safety was far from guaranteed.
If Im lucky, I might snag items at really low prices.
This possibility was one of the reasons Kang-hoo was drawn to the Liberation Zone.
The usual market logic of pricing didnt apply there.
Prices could drop drastically as sellers hurried to unload their goods.
Items obtained by others and offered at low prices for a quick sale were also common.
The dubious origins of such items werent a concern for him.
After all, some of the items Kang-hoo wore had been taken from other people.
If I just find Min Su-hyun, I can forge a close connection with Lee Hyun-seok.
The mission to rescue Min Su-hyun was important.
Lee Hyun-seok had a reputation for being rigid and uncompromising.
However, he was a man who clearly upheld relationships of gratitude and vengeance.
He would show trust and gratitude to those he was indebted to.
And he would exact revenge on his adversaries, no matter the time and effort needed.
This trait of his had remained consistent ever since he became known to the world.
Look at the atmosphere. Its dreadful.
Kang-hoo frowned as the Kimcheon Liberation Zone came into view on the horizon.
The apocalyptic atmosphere, heavily emphasized in the original story, gave the place an extraordinary vibe.
The atmosphere in liberation zones, both domestic and abroad, was similar.
The sight resembled the gates of hell, with something red and black smoldering.
The closer one got, the more dizzying and worrisome it became.
As he began to enter the narrow path leading to the Liberation Zone,
Vroom! Vrooooom!
suddenly, two trucks hidden nearby appeared and blocked Kang-hoos car from the front and rear.
They had sealed off the entrance to an old street that had become uninhabited no-mans land.
Naturally, there was no one around to ask for help near the Liberation Zone.
Even if you tried to call 112, the area near the Liberation Zone was off-limits.
It would be fortunate even to connect a call to 112, as calls often got rerouted incorrectly.
For instance, a call for help might inadvertently inform criminals in the Liberation Zone since they controlled the base stations.
Gripping the steering wheel, Kang-hoo quickly concealed his presence as he noticed a group of hunters disembarking from the trucks.
Using a concealment technique, he opened the car door, and Kang-hoos presence vanished as if shrouded by a veil.
The transition was flawless.
The hunters, who had targeted Kang-hoo, were confused by his sudden disappearance as they checked the car.
Whats this?
Where did this guy disappear to?
He must be hiding. Use the detection gear!
Two of the five hunters hurriedly donned goggles designed to detect invisibility.
Kang-hoo felt like applauding their preparedness.
But that was only a thought he entertained as a bystander.
By then, Kang-hoo had already set his sights on the lives of the two hunters with goggles.
[Technique of Concealment Veil]
[Skill Proficiency: Lv Max]
[Creates an invisible barrier within a radius of 11 meters.]
[Within this area, the user remains in a state of absolute stealth, undetectable by any sensory abilities.]
[However, once out of the barrier, the stealth effect disappeared along with the barrier, and the user's movement speed doubled for 2 seconds.]
The Technique Veil he had obtained from Deraila was a skill that synergized perfectly with Kang-hoo.
It was ideal for hiding and targeting the enemy or finding opportunities to escape when necessary, right?
The Technique Veil specialized in resolving tricky situations.
Its only downside was the high mana consumption it required in a moment, but that was manageable with Kang-hoos mana hypersensitivity.
The mistake the two hunters made as they were about to put on goggles was that they were too close to Kang-hoo.
Within the range of the Technique Veil, they couldnt anticipate his approach.
Even with goggles, they couldnt see Kang-hoo, and with his shadowless presence, they didnt notice him.
The outcome was straightforward.
Thud! Thwooosh!
Ugh!
K-kh!
It was death.
Kang-hoo effortlessly took the lives of the two hunters, truly embodying the term lightweight.
As hunters without a Throne Contract, Kang-hoo had been confident of his victory from the start.
It was merely a question of how swiftly he could dispatch them, and given their blindness, he quickly made his move.
Shit, damn it, what the hell? Whats this?
The remaining three panicked.
Unable to pinpoint Kang-hoos location, they floundered in a one-sided assault.
Meanwhile,
Kang-hoo had targeted another hunter who leapt in to join the fray.
There might have been a chance for a fight, but the result was immediate death.
Of course, Kang-hoo used a beheading skill right from the start to avoid causing a commotion
Yet, these opponents were too feeble.
They thought they could defend from front and back, overwhelming with their numbers and presence.
But Kang-hoo wasnt someone to be intimidated by such a flimsy encirclement and threats; he had far too much experience with these tactics.
Lets run! Lets run!
Hey, what about these guys?
Theyre dead! Just leave them, damn it!
The last two showed some quick wit.
Willing to pay with their lives, they threw a few items they had and ran away, using the 36th strategy of retreat.
Kang-hoo picked up the items while they created time to escape.
What are they even trying to accomplish
Watching the fleeing hunters, Kang-hoo displayed a look of disdain.
He felt no need to chase them, as they didnt seem worthwhile.
The useful items had already been discarded by them, further diminishing his urge to pursue.
Maybe I should just stop here.
After collecting various items from the dead hunters,
Kang-hoo parked his car in a secluded area, turned off the engine, and locked the doors.
He didnt drive into the nearby liberation zone because cars were prohibited from entering.
The total appraisal value of the items he collected was about 300 million won.
It was an embarrassing sum considering it came from three hunters.
The liberation zone and its vicinity were lawless, but not everyone there deserved to be.
Many, like these guys, were so weak that they could lose their lives in one strike.
In this lawless place, they merely exhibited madness and caused chaos.
Here, only the rule of power prevailed, and Kang-hoo found such a place more to his liking.
Where force was necessary, one simply acted without hesitation, and the situation would resolve itself.
Damn it.
As Kang-hoo entered the outskirts of the Liberation Zone, he pinched his nose.
It was due to the pungent smell of various narcotics being burned.
He immediately put on a mask he had brought, just in case.
Breathing in this stench directly could make one staggeringly drunk in short order.
The variety of narcotics being burned was so diverse that it was impossible to identify them all.
Anyone staying here and inhaling this continuously
Would feel as if they were walking on water non-stop, with the world dissolving into pastel colors.
Furthermore, every breath would stimulate the peripheral nerves, intensifying the excitement.
In short, it was the perfect environment for driving people mad.
Hehehe.
Hehe
Hunters lost in hallucinations and auditory illusions staggered around the streets.
Judging by their lack of proper weapons and clothing, they appeared to have been robbed early on.
Apparently, they were left alive since they had nothing of valuehardly worth killing.
A few blocks further in, the streets were quieter than I had expected.
It seemed unlikely that the hunters of the Liberation Zone had gone elsewhere; such quiet usually indicated an event was taking place.
Sure enough.
The sound of a commotion ahead and the scent of blood confirmed my suspicion.
A deathmatch?
A special arena came into view.
The same kind of fight I had witnessed in Club Hades was occurring inside the Liberation Zone.
Fighters in the arena battled until one died.
That was what a deathmatch entailed.
The betting odds were set according to each fighters skill, with stakes being placed accordingly.
A portion of the stakes was distributed to the two competing hunters.
Naturally, the winning hunter claimed his entire share of the bet.
And all items worn by the opponent could be taken as spoils, like war loot.
Kang-hoo wasnt interested in the match.
Just mediocre hunters killing each other meaninglessly in a battle.
More often, one found more faults than learning opportunities in such fights.
So, he had no desire to spoil his eyes by watching.
Instead, he headed to a market set up on one side of the arena.
Here, items looted as spoils from defeated hunters were sold.
One bizarre sight, though.
As if bragging, they displayed the dead hunters bodies behind the items for sale.
Clearly marking whose belongings they werein a nicer sense, a tribute; in a worse sense, an insult to the dead.
It made me wonder who had named this place the Liberation Zone.
What exactly was liberated here? Liberated from this world to the afterlife?
Of course a self-diss. A secret I cant share with others.
Anyway, Kang-hoo set aside his discomfort and concentrated on his original objective: item hunting.
As he browsed the stalls, he noticed that the decent-looking items had already been sold.
Only replicas remained on display after their sale, or items that were still awaiting payment.
Todays not my day, he thought.
There were plenty of items, but none of them useful.
The inventory changed daily, comprised of items from deceased hunters.
Some days youd find such items, but other days, like today, youd find nothing.
Unfortunately, today belonged to the latter category.
But then, in that moment
Hmm?
His attention was captured by a skill book, one that had been handled by many hunters hands.
Skill books were usually so rare that it was said they couldnt be sold.
The fact that this one remained unsold despite its prominent display meant it was probably of little or no value.
It was likely a skill book associated with a rare profession or one not worth learning.
But for Kang-hoo, it was a different story.
He had no problem learning any skill, regardless of the profession it was associated with.
Just as he had cleverly mastered the beheading skill with Baltmans help.
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