Second Life of a Dragon Raising Hunter

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Chapter 380: The Monster Train

The Monster Train is safeguarded by various magics. It must defend against the monsters attacking its body and keep the passengers safe from rowdy ones inside, or hijackers like the ones right now.

But what are we protecting when the hijack has already happened? That’s a fair point! In this situation, the protective spells set up for the people are inadvertently shielding the attackers as well.

For Yeon-woo, who has to resolve this pickle, it’s a tough spot, but honestly, it’s not the creators’ fault.

If you think about it, it’s impressive that a Soolma was able to penetrate such thoroughly installed magic.

Well, it seems like I have to bear the burden of this hassle.

As Yeon-woo pondered this, he observed the terrorists’ appearances. Overall, nothing particularly special stood out.

Their armor was nothing more than cheap, ordinary gear, and their weapons were just standard guns and swords.

They didn’t look especially skilled—how on earth did they get chosen by a Soolma?

They probably expressed dissatisfaction with society. Holding discontent isn’t inherently bad, I think.

But blindly accepting what an unknown noble offers and channeling that into terrorism is just not right.

Sighing quietly to himself, Yeon-woo let his arms hang loosely. A long Doppleganger slithered out from him, stretching out on the floor.

A passenger sitting next to him was startled by the sight, but when Yeon-woo smiled and put a finger to his lips, the passenger nodded repeatedly. It seemed he finally recognized who Yeon-woo was.

The Doppleganger morphed into a wavy periscope. Thanks to the items he’d devoured, it was equipped to help.

Yeon-woo covertly peered into the rear vehicle with his new telescope.

No matter how much they wanted to, it seemed impossible to assign two guards on every vehicle. Thus, there was only one armed with an assault rifle in the back vehicle.

It seemed they were alternating between two and one in each passenger car.

With a total of ten passenger cars, that put their number at about fifteen. Although it was set to autopilot, a conductor was also stationed in the locomotive, bringing the total to about sixteen or seventeen.

Since the vehicle Yeon-woo was in was at the front (excluding the locomotive), it looked like he would clean up from there.

The cautious points were to avoid attacking civilians and to move as carefully as possible, considering the limitations of Ki sense and magic.

If only he’d brought Shar along. He could call her back immediately, but he didn’t want to disturb a child who was having fun.

Having roughly devised his plan, Yeon-woo ducked his head as he saw the approaching terrorists ready to bind the passengers’ hands, extending his arms.

He couldn’t afford to be recognized. The moment his face was seen, a battle would erupt.

Feigning trembling nervously, he waited for a terrorist’s rough hand to grab his wrist. As soon as that happened, Yeon-woo twisted his wrist and slipped out of the seat.

“Ugh…?”

With a clueless sound, the terrorist’s body spun in the air before crashing to the ground.

Before the second terrorist, who had dumbfoundedly watched the scene, could even pull the trigger, Yeon-woo snatched the gun from the downed terrorist and shot at the wrist of the other.

“Ugh, aaah!!”

The terrorist’s agonizing scream echoed through the quiet vehicle. The smell of gunpowder wafted in, and Yeon-woo looked towards the rear vehicles.

Fortunately, the clever barrier he had set up successfully blocked any communication, so the back vehicle remained unaware.

He quickly gathered the two terrorists in one place and tightly bound them with the Doppleganger.

Then Yeon-woo drew the sword from the fallen terrorist’s waist and made his way to the driver’s seat.

There was a security spell in place, but for Yeon-woo, this was child’s play.

With the experience taught by his superb magic teacher, Shar, he quickly pinpointed the key to the spell and infused it with mana, opening the door and rushing inside. Luckily, there was only one terrorist present.

Startled by the sound of the door swinging open, the terrorist aimed his gun at Yeon-woo. Bang!! Clink!! Yeon-woo dodged the bullet, which ricocheted off the wall.

If that bullet were to hit a civilian or the conductor, it could end poorly, so Yeon-woo swung the sword to slice it in half, then used his low posture to sweep the terrorist’s legs out from under him.

“W-what the hell…!!”

Amidst the near-screaming shout, Yeon-woo grinned and struck the terrorist’s wrist with his fist.

With a painful scream, the pistol rolled away, and Yeon-woo slammed his retrieved fist right into the terrorist’s face. It was a punch from an Aura Master, so it would hurt like hell, but he wouldn’t actually die.

Grabbing the unconscious terrorist by the collar, he dragged him out of the driver’s seat and tied him up with the Doppleganger.

Seeing this, the passengers were about to erupt into applause and cheers for Yeon-woo. He quickly shushed them with a finger raised.

Finally comprehending the situation, the passengers nodded and lowered their hands. The front vehicle was cleared. The terrorists he had dealt with were tied up with the Doppleganger, so they couldn’t escape.

Having retrieved all the weapons they possessed to Relin’s Warehouse, Yeon-woo took off the masks from two of the terrorists.

“P-please stop…!”

“Hey, if you’re going to make this mess, you should’ve been ready to get caught.”

As the masks were removed, the terrorists’ appearances abruptly changed.

Indeed, were these magical tools that could alter body shape, overall impressions, and voices from the outside? One of them wore one of the masks as Yeon-woo manipulated his mana.

The enchantment’s magic enveloped Yeon-woo’s body, warping his shape. He transformed to mimic the terrorists’ attire, and soon enough, a duplicate emerged from his mana.

It was a clone. Without needing to explain, the clone grabbed the other mask from Yeon-woo’s hand and put it on.

‘This feels really dirty.’

That’s what the clone muttered. Yeon-woo nodded in agreement. The feeling of being enveloped in mana was incredibly weird.

But there wouldn’t be any danger of losing control. The Dragon Heart would reject the encroaching mana.

Weights aside, the Dragon Heart could consume simple forms of mana like this, converting them into nutrients.

Feeling icky, Yeon-woo moved towards the next vehicle. Realizing its role, the clone seized an assault rifle and shoved the tied-up terrorists into a corner.

As soon as the passage opened, the terrorists would peek into the front vehicle. There was no doubt about it.

Since there were two in the front vehicle, the absence of one would raise suspicion.

No matter how overwhelming Yeon-woo’s advantage was, he needed utmost caution.

When the door to the connecting passage opened, the terrorists began yelling. But it was meaningless. Yeon-woo’s protective magic blocked their way.

Ki perception was controlled, but as long as it didn’t form a shape that extended beyond the train’s body, localized barriers could still function.

Given that it was a security spell, as long as it didn’t cause a significant impact on the vehicle’s structure, it was merely disregarded as a matter of course.

The passengers seemed anxious, but upon seeing that the terrorists from the rear vehicle were unresponsive even with the door open, they relaxed somewhat.

Yeon-woo bounded across the barrier and sealed the connecting passage. The terrorist, now alone, greeted him happily. Thankfully, everything was going according to Yeon-woo’s plan without raising suspicion.

“What’s up? Did you come to relieve the boredom? Is the front done?”

“Yeah, it went well. Now we just have to keep going. How’s the back looking?”

“I never expected that in this day and age, having one gun would make things go this easily. I guess we should consider how strict the security is.”

Chuckling, the terrorist laughed while the passengers in vehicle two looked uneasy. Yeon-woo gestured with his chin.

“Time to tie them up.”

“Oh, right. Should I do it?”

“You do it. I just bound some, and my hands are sore.”

With that, Yeon-woo looked down on the terrorist reaching for the cable ties. Hmmm, perfectly fooled.

With lightning speed, he struck the back of the terrorist’s head with his pistol, causing a croaking noise before the terrorist collapsed.

Looking at the passengers, who wore puzzled expressions, Yeon-woo slightly removed his mask and shushed them, signaling silence.

Then, the passengers all heaved a sigh of relief.

At that moment, the connecting door to the rear vehicle burst open with a bang. Yeon-woo sighed softly.

“Y-you… what are you doing…!!”

Tatatat!! Gunfire erupted. This was troublesome. Yeon-woo charged straight into the bullets flying towards him.

Not a single one could be allowed to go past him. With a smooth swing of his sword, he elegantly deflected all the bullets away.

He could feel the masked terrorist’s face contort in horror.

Thud, the bullets fell from Yeon-woo’s sword as if they were crushed under his fingers.

“A monster…!!”

“Never thought I’d hear those words directed at me.”

He might have looked masked, but Yeon-woo gave a thankful smile.

Seeing this, the terrorist realized he couldn’t win with a gun and drew a sword from his waist. What a popular weapon!

“But, is that really going to work?”

Could that guy even match bullets with his sword? If so, he wouldn’t have been so horrified.

After processing Yeon-woo’s words, the terrorist’s complexion went pale as he grasped the situation.

“C-can we just call it a draw?”

“Go to sleep.”

Whack! Yeon-woo struck the handle of his sword against the back of the terrorist’s head. Now things had become a bit messier. He hadn’t deployed the magic barrier yet.

The screams of the terrified passengers would carry to the rear vehicle due to the gunfire, and it would inevitably turn into a race.

With the barrier withdrawn, Yeon-woo nodded towards another version of himself, the dark Yeon-woo, standing in the front vehicle.

As if understanding, the clone picked up a sword. Then, it dove into the shadows, vanishing from sight.

Shadow Dive. This spell is strictly limited in a controlled space, but it does not necessarily restrict spirit magic.

Especially in this form, it was even less affected. Since it moved from shadow to shadow without interfering with the vehicle.

They would clean up both the front and back simultaneously. Both versions of Yeon-woo made that decision, and they had the capability to execute it. Even within this high-speed Monster Train.

*

“Good job.”

“If you knew, you should have tried harder.”

The clone slapped high fives with Yeon-woo before returning to his body. They were merely pathetic terrorists, so even with his physical abilities halved from using a clone, he was able to deal with them easily.

Honestly, there was a moment of doubt at first. After all, these people were lured in by a Soolma.

I thought there might be a skilled individual among them, but it turned out otherwise. They were all somewhere between apprentice and amateur level.

Anyway, the sixteen terrorists he captured were thrown to the security team when Yeon-woo disembarked from the Monster Train. The security team, stunned by the sight, quickly stood up and saluted.

“Are you not Hunter Choi Yeon-woo? What are you doing here… no, who are these people…?”

“They’re terrorists. They tried to hijack the Monster Train.”

“Whaat!? The Monster Train!? How could they do something like that….”

“For now, I’ve handled it, so just report it. But, I’ll take this as a favor.”

Yeon-woo waved the mask of a terrorist. The security team nodded absentmindedly, and before they could say anything, Yeon-woo dashed away from the station.

The security team members, watching his retreating figure, muttered in unison.

“What a badass….”

Yeon-woo himself thought he was being a total cool guy.

(To be continued in the next episode)