NPLLD 10

Chapter : 10

Yellow Belt (2)

Near the forest area of the Yellow Belt.

Lee Yoonhee was running through the middle of the woods, her hair disheveled and her lips split open as she panted heavily.

“Haa… haa…”

‘I’m done with this.’

It had been an endless cycle of suffering.

She had only studied diligently, aiming for a good university.

But her life had been completely ruined by one male student she met in her second year.

Park Jin-tae.

The son of Judge Park Jin-beom, a candidate for the Supreme Court, a boy so untouchable that even teachers and the principal turned a blind eye to his actions.

On the first day of school, his target had been a girl.

“You look like shit.”

All it took was that he didn’t like her appearance.

From that moment on, he unleashed relentless cruelty.

Her phone was flooded with hateful messages and calls.

Even though he never directly touched her, his followers harassed her endlessly.

She changed her phone and number, but he still managed to track it down and continue his harassment.

The once healthy girl became pale and gaunt, her cheeks hollowed.

Even the school delinquents were intimidated by him, because he could easily summon hunters through his connections.

Eventually, one bullied girl tried to hang herself—but survived thanks to her parents’ intervention.

Her parents reported it to the press and filed lawsuits.

But Park Jin-tae, with a judge for a father, had nothing to fear.

The very next day, he said casually:

“Even the heavens are indifferent. Why didn’t they take that bitch? No idea.”

That sentence snapped Yoonhee’s last thread of sanity.

The girl he had tormented was her childhood friend.

“Stop it! You crazy bastard!”

When she came to her senses, everything was silent.

Park Jin-tae, instead of being shocked, smiled like he had found a toy.

From that moment on, Yoonhee suffered even worse than her friend.

Even when she was splashed with water in the bathroom or burned with cigarettes, she never reacted.

Each time, Park Jin-tae only grew more excited.

“Wow, how do I make this bitch cry? She’s like a robot leaking oil.”

And then—he crossed the line.

It started when he bribed members of the Hunter field unit.

“Hey, Yoonhee. Want to come somewhere fun with me?”

“No. I’m in class. Get lost.”

He barged into class openly while the teacher pretended not to notice.

“Teacher, we’re leaving. Mark me as absent.”

“Let go! Let go of me!”

And just like that, he dragged her out of class in front of everyone.

At the Yellow Belt border, a field officer took a stack of money and opened the gate for him.

“Haha, our Jin-tae. You really do spend money like water.”

“Bro, I’ll pay you back double later.”

Bringing a student into the Yellow Belt was reckless and dangerous.

But Jin-tae even brought two B-rank awakeners as backup.

Yoonhee, her wrist nearly crushed, was dragged inside.

‘I’m scared.’

Terrified of what would happen, she bit his hand.

“Ah! You damn rat!”

Startled, Jin-tae let go.

She ran.

That was why she was desperately fleeing now.

Swish.

But her efforts were meaningless.

A man like the wind appeared and pressed her shoulder down.

“Eek!”

Her shoulder dislocated instantly, and she collapsed, trembling.

The man looking down at her was a B-rank awakener, Huh Tae-woong—hired by Jin-tae.

“You really thought you could run? Jin-tae told us to catch you gently after tiring you out.”

“Let go! Let go! Aaaah! Help me!”

He grabbed her hair and dragged her across the ground.

Yoonhee finally burst into tears.

Jin-tae laughed hysterically.

“Hahaha! Finally crying! So you are human. I thought you were a robot leaking oil.”

At that moment—

Thwack.

A sharp tearing sound echoed.

Silence fell instantly.

Blood dripped from Huh Tae-woong’s mouth.

“W-what the hell…”

A weapon had pierced his chest.

A hornet-like monster with poisonous stingers embedded in its fist.

“Stinghawk!”

Realizing what it was, Tae-woong’s face darkened as venom rapidly spread through his body.

“GAAAH!”

He screamed in agony.

BUZZZZZ!

The monster’s wings roared like a storm.

“What the hell?! Why is a B-rank getting taken down like that?!”

“That’s how dangerous Stinghawks are!”

Another B-rank awakener, Ma Dong-gi, quickly crushed one with a mace—but venom splattered onto Yoonhee.

“Good!”

Jin-tae cheered.

But Tae-woong, barely conscious, injected an antidote.

“Run… they called their swarm…”

He pointed upward.

Dozens of Stinghawks filled the sky.

“Shit! Fall back!”

Meanwhile, Seoyul entered the Yellow Belt.

“I really don’t like this place.”

The Yellow Belt was no longer a normal ecosystem.

It was a forsaken zone where monsters had adapted and mutated beyond control.

Trees had become blade-like predators.

The ground was poisoned with monster residue.

And the dominant species here—

BUZZZZZ!

Hornets.

Before him floated corpses of hunters, already torn apart by Stinghawks.

The swarm turned toward him.

‘New prey.’

Three seconds.

Seoyul stepped forward.

Two seconds.

“Why are you staring? Want me to spray you with insecticide?”

One second.

BUZZZZZ!

They attacked.

Seoyul’s spear, Roga, twisted like a wave.

Bang!

Three Stinghawks exploded mid-air.

“Dragon Wave Step.”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

He dodged and counterattacked seamlessly.

Behind him, more enemies rushed—

[Sphere generated.]

They were instantly absorbed into the labyrinth.

“This place is insane.”

He activated detection skills.

[Silent Wave activated.]
[Synesthetic perception activated.]

But reality was worse.

More and more Stinghawks surrounded him.

“Get lost if you don’t want to die.”

He swept his spear.

Enemies who got too close were swallowed into the sphere instantly.

Meanwhile, Jin-tae and his group were resting under a giant tree, exhausted.

“What are those things?! I thought Yellow Belt monsters were weak!”

Tae-woong shook his head.

“We were wrong. Information was hidden from us.”

“Damn it! That bastard took my money and lied!”

BUZZZZZ!

Another attack.

SLASH!

A tree was sliced apart.

A new monster appeared—different from the Stinghawks.

“Honey Slasher. Same swarm species, different variant under the same queen.”

Tae-woong’s voice trembled.

“It’s… all hornets.”

Their faces turned pale with despair.