5.

Kim Tae-hoon did not think of himself as perfect. In particular, there was no perfection in battle. Therefore, after the battle was over, it is always necessary to reflect, and through reflection, he could realize the lack and find a way to fill the shortcomings.

The same was true of the battle with the Dragon. In the bloody battle with the Dragon, Kim Tae-hoon had reflected on many parts and at the same time, he took better measures.

The answer which he came up with was simple: use bait.

Anyone was fine. If someone became a bait and drew the monster's attention for a second, it would be a chance for Kim Tae-hoon.

"Bucheon High School's fifth batter is here! Come on!"

In that sense, Bang Hyun-wook, who appeared in an improved Dragon armor with perfect armament, was a bait close to perfection. It was not simply because his abilities were excellent, and his relics and items were powerful.

Bang grew up differently from the hunters of the Mac Guild. Other hunters tried to become hunters like Kim Tae-hoon, but they were not him. He wanted to be strong, but he wanted to help Kim Tae-hoon, rather than resemble Kim. It was like that from the beginning. He always acted as bait for Kim and faithfully performed his role.

And so did Kim Tae-hoon. When he faced the unexplained disaster of the Black Orc, and when he tried to kill it, who filled the gap and made an opportunity? Bang Hyun-wook made it.

That was the beginning. Bang had lived thanks to Kim, and Kim had also survived with the help of Bang. Of course, they knew each other well, they did not have to talk to each other about how they would move and how they would want the opponent to move.

The teamwork, which had been created by risking each other's lives, would not lose its light in the separation of a few months.

"Yipe! It's hurt! Shit, it's really hurt!"

Bang had avoided and withstood the blue lightning that the Blue Qilin was now blatantly pouring out, and he had gained time from the Blue Qilin.

"You son of a bitch! I am going to hit you!"

Furthermore, he drove the specially made bone lance, the Dragon lance made from the Dragon's bones, not anything else, into the body of the Blue Qilin, and drew out its anger.

"Yes! I'm the best at throwing! I am Randy Johnson of Bucheon!"

Chii! While the Blue Qilin was so angry with Bang, Kim was willing to take advantage of the opportunity.

'Bang Hyun-wook, you are the best at provoking monsters.'

Kim Tae-hoon, who held the Dragon Light Sword in the Draconian state, slipped under the body of the Blue Qilin and created a big wound along its belly. At the same time, his eyes could feel the throbbing under the belly skin.

'… here is the heart.' The moment he grasped where the heart, he delivered his words by telepathy. -Bang Hyun-wook, draw its attention once more!-

"Yes, brother, I'll do what you ordered!"

Bang Hyun-wook inflated his chest. Foo-hoo-hoo! He turned quickly to the Blue Qilin who was chasing him, and he poured out an intense flame. He released the ability of the Flame-spewing Wolf Crocodile he had gained by his own strength.

Of course, it was impossible to draw the attention of the Blue Qilin with just the flames. The flames could only interfere with its gaze for a moment… but that was just what Bang wanted.

As soon as the Blue Qilin came out of the flames, Bang threw the Bell-tail of the Bell-tailed Rat as if throwing a stone. The Bell-tail flew toward the head of the Blue Qilin.

Clank! The Bell-tail of the Bell-tailed Rat knocked on the head of the Blue Qilin and made a clean sound. It was a more wonderful and magnificent sound than "Doo-woo-woong", the sound of the Bell of King Seongdeok, which resonated repeatedly.

With that sound, the Blue Qilin looked at Bang with an eerie eye. It was not just an angry look.

"Uh, sorry."

It was annoyed anger, very damned anger that someone felt when he was suddenly hit on the back of his head in class. Of course, at that moment, the dark blue eyes of the Blue Qilin were all on Bang.

Chii! Chii! The Blue Qilin ignored the Dragon lances that the Dragon Knights threw at it, and it rushed to kill Bang.

"I'm sorry!" Bang started to escape with a cry for forgiveness from the Blue Qilin.

A flash of light that seemed to cut Mt. Baekdu in two finished the funny chase that started like that.

6.

Colonel Lim Hyun-joon was staring silently at the river flowing in front of him. The river was quite large. That was all. The river was not especially clear, nor did it have a beautiful landscape around it.

Colonel Lim lowered himself in front of such an ordinary river, and after putting one knee on the ground, he opened the lid of the canteen in his hand and put the waters of the flowing river into the canteen. Soon he, who had filled the canteen with water, looked up at the sky.

'On December 31, the monsters appeared. In exactly one year, I am drinking the water of the Yalu River.'

Colonel Lim, who dropped his head again, looked at the Yalu River.

'Now I can put the words, "a soldier who drank the water of the Yalu River", in the slogan of the 8th Mechanized Infantry Division.'

In the mind of Colonel Lim, the slogan of the 6th Infantry Division came to mind. The 6th Infantry Division, which was the first of the Korean army and the UN forces to advance to the Yalu River during the time of the Korean War and the first to put the Yalu River waters in their canteen, always regarded it as an honor, boast, and pride.

And now the Unit led by Colonel Lim would be the new protagonist of the slogan.

"Hoo-oo." Colonel Lim gave a long sigh at the fact. When the long sigh was over, he saw a man walking toward him.

Kim Tae-hoon.

His expression, which had been writing a legend that no one could believe for a year after the monster appeared, was not so good. It was an uncharacteristic expression for the hunter that had killed the last dark blue monster, the Blue Qilin, left in the territory of the Republic of Korea.

Of course, Colonel Lim was nervous. "What happened? You look bad."

Kim Tae-hoon answered the question with a cool reply. "Bang Hyun-wook is drunk and is making some trouble."

Colonel Lim immediately remembered.

At the end of the hunting, the moment when Kim's Kusanagi pierced the heart of the Blue Qilin, Bang suddenly started to dance on the spot when it fell. It was an expression of his own joy. And it was also an expression that he could do anything.

'The ambassadors to Korea were shocked in a different way.'

The problem was that this Blue Qilin hunt was not just a hunt, but a hunt in front of the ambassadors to Korea. In the minds of the ambassadors to Korea, only Bang Hyun-wook, who danced in front of the body of the Blue Qilin, was left.

After that, Bang had drunk a lot during the entertainment after the ceremony. It seemed that Bang lost control of himself against Kim in such heavy drinking.

"Bang Hyun-wook is an adult, so he can be drunk, can't he?"

"A child or an adult should not be drunk, and they should not lose control of themselves."

Colonel Lim burst out laughing at the reply. "But it is great, and there will be only Bang Hyun-wook who loses control of himself in the heavy drinking against you in the Republic of Korea." 'And there are few people who you will let drink like that...'

At that, Kim Tae-hoon did not answer. He looked at the Yalu River silently.

Colonel Lim no longer talked about Bang. The story about Bang was definitely pleasant and entertaining, but the reality that they had to face from now on was neither pleasant nor entertaining.

"We're going to build a new front line around the Yalu River. It won't be easy. Pyongyang was close to Seoul, and there was a lot of firepower near the Military Demarcation Line, but this is the northernmost part of the Korean Peninsula. Moreover, it's January tomorrow, and the winter in the North is harsh."

The final defense line must now be extended to the Yalu River. It would not be easy. A lot of people would be sacrificed, and more would be sacrificed after expanding the final defense line.

"It will be a hard winter in many ways."

From now on, the monsters in China, Russia, and their vast territories would come to the Korean Peninsula for food.

Frankly, Colonel Lim could not even gauge the future he would face from now on.

'I didn't know I would come here, but I can't imagine what the future will look like from now on.'

"How did the negotiations go with the ambassadors to Korea?"

Colonel Lim could not imagine what the future Kim was painting would be like.

"You'll have to ask the guy who's coming."

"Boss! Boss!"

Then he heard a voice calling Kim Tae-hoon from a long distance. He did not even have to worry about who was the main character of the voice.

"Why! Why did you just run away?"

Jang Sung-hoon was walking toward the place where Kim Tae-hoon and Colonel Lim Hyun-joon were. Jang's expression was very similar to the expression Kim had made a while ago.

"Hyun-wook is throwing up now!"

At the end of Jang's words, Colonel Lim laughed again. "I'll leave you alone."

At the end of the sentence, Colonel Lim stepped down with his canteen, and Jang came over to Kim.

"Boss, do something about Hyun-wook. He drank and became a dog."

At the appearance of Jang, who was angry straight away, Kim replied with his eyes: What can I do?

"No, you have raised him wrong, so you have to take responsibility?"

Kim did not even respond to the answer, as if it was not worthy of dealing with.

However, Jang did not stop. "When you drink with him at least, the situation will be going well. Since you have raised him wrong, you have to drink as punishment."

With that, Jang slowly pulled something out of his arms. The Golden Glass was showing a red liquid within.

"You'll have your first dream of the new year."

Kim received the Glass from Jang, and stood silent for a while. He had to dream of his own death as his first dream of the new year. It was desperate beyond unpleasant, but it did not silence him. Rather, he was neither offended nor discouraged at the moment. The silence was only due to worry. As he worried, he looked at the back of his right hand.

[Achieved Abilities]

- The Blue Lightning (Grade 2): The power of the Blue Qilin consumes Energy and Mana to produce the Blue Lightning.

'I have acquired three abilities of dark blue-grade monsters.'

With the ability of the Blue Qilin, Kim has now acquired three second-grade abilities. Already, it has exceeded the power that human beings could tolerate. To be honest, he could not easily imagine himself dying of something other than the curse.

On the other hand, Kim had to imagine it.

If he was the head of the Six Snakes, what would he do to kill a monster named Kim Tae-hoon?

"Boss, if you're scared, will I drink it?" Jang, who was looking at the worry from the side, carefully asked a question.

At Jang's question, Kim broke the silence. "No."

Jang resisted the resolute word of Kim. "What? Why? I drank it the other day and got some pretty good information. Why not?"

"You'll find out why you didn't get married, not why I died."

"Oh, don't make me laugh! I'm getting married, definitely. No, do you think I'm not capable? If I make a public proposal now, applicants will be lined up from the Yalu River to the Han River. I'm not kidding. I'm going to marry over a hundred times!"

Kim smiled lightly when Jang huffed irritably. With that smile, he remembered today of a year ago, looking at Napoleon's Golden Glass: December 31, 2016, that day at a large mart when he did not even have time to dream.

'So, this will be the first dream of the new year, after the monsters appeared.'

On December 31, 2017, Kim Tae-hoon was still alive!...