Joonbum looked at its claws. They were so sharp and thick that one blow to the body or head meant instant death. It quickly threw its paws at Joonbum, and he flipped back to dodge it. The snow made him slide further away quickly and he got up as he distanced himself from the monster. The monster, however, jumped up again. Joonbum held his arm up and the monster’s claw ripped apart the leather wrapped around the reinforced plastic armor inside. It did manage to withstand the attack, but Joonbum felt the impact transferred to him. He unsheathed a sword from his belt and quickly thrust it into the tiger’s mouth. The monster jumped back, blood pouring from its mouth as it fell. It was dead.
Jinpok, who also just finished killing another saber-toothed tiger, approached him.
“Wow, how did you do that? You show off!” Jinpok shouted as he checked how Joonbum killed the monster with one blow to its mouth.
“Haha, it was just luck.”
“Luck? Hell, if that’s luck, then you must the God of Luck or something.”
Jinpok shook his head. Then they heard other people shouting of their victory against the saber-toothed tigers. These were solitary monsters, but they seemed to have formed a pack to survive the harsh conditions after the disaster. The forest’s rules and territories were now gone. All living things of Khalodian Mountain seemed to be struggling to survive.
Jinpok frowned, “But this is terrible.”
“Yeah, they need to survive,” Joonbum commented. Even to Jinpok, the mountain looked like it was in a serious state.
People came running at them and master skinners began working on the tigers that Joonbum and Jinpok just killed. Hectos also came to them with two big deer legs on his shoulders.
“A deer?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Oh! I was getting hungry. Hectos, you surely didn’t forget…?”
“Jinpok, you know me best. I have this also.”
Hectos pointed to a leather bag on his waist.
“Let’s have lunch then,” Jinpok offered and Joonbum nodded. They gathered wood to start a bonfire. The meat was skewed into a big tree branch and was then roasted. As they started cooking, other soldiers around them began preparing food for themselves. The meat was abundant as the hunt went smoothly.
‘It’s a success. But…’
The mountain was still suffering the aftereffects of the disaster. If they encountered another disaster such as an avalanche, there was no chance of surviving. Joonbum turned to the peaks in the distance.
“Hmm.”
“What’s going on?”
“Oh, I was just looking at those mountains..”
Jinpok turned to the mountain peaks also. He was looking at the peak closest to them.
“Should we break that?”
“Yeah. That will reduce the danger in the future.”
“A few heavy rounds with the sniper rifle will do.”
“Maybe.”
“Or we can just throw an RPG at it.”
“Yeah.”
Joonbum laughed. They finished cooking the deer leg and began eating.
*
The expedition ended around February. It was the largest expedition known to date, consisting of hundreds of mercenaries, hunters, soldiers, and merchants. It was considered very dangerous, but in the end, all the participants were able to gain a huge profit and there were only a few hundred casualties. Even those were due to reckless moves to gain more profit.
The person who earned the most profit was Joonbum. Throughout the expedition, he utilized a total of twelve avalanches to kill off all the monsters in the area. The monsters killed by avalanches were retrieved in perfect condition as there were no wounds or damage.
The number of monsters dropped dramatically after the expedition and was replaced with the herbivores that the Ainos brought back. Most of the Guardians also returned to the mountain, except Galfus who stayed behind with Joonbum. After the mountain stabilized, two-thirds of the Ainos went back. A farewell feast was held for a week within the city as people sang sad farewells to the Ainos.
The road to the Khalodian Mountains was also being quickly reinforced. The trees were cut down and the roads were leveled. Ainos women used heavy machinery to do the work and the men gathered around the trees to drag them out. The result was a wide road of twenty feet that connected the mountain range to the Khalodian cities.