“Ah, hello everyone! As previously announced, today I’m here with the famous Hunter Kim Geuk, who led the Incheon Recapture Project!”
The man speaking to the camera was Naito-san. He was a B-rank Hunter who had been assigned to my team. He was currently holding a selfie stick, his face beaming with a bright, professional smile as he addressed his subscribers.
I stood behind him, feeling a bit awkward. I hadn't expected him to start filming the moment we arrived at the site.
“Today, we’re going to show you how a real, high-level subjugation operation is conducted. Please look forward to it!”
Naito-san’s voice was energetic, perfectly tailored for his audience. I watched him for a moment, struck by a thought. For a piece of Japanese scum, he sure speaks Korean well.
His accent was a little peculiar, but it was a passable standard Incheon dialect. He was spouting that standard Incheon dialect right at the camera.
Looks like he’s filming a video for YouTube, huh? That disgusting non-Awakened.
Wait, no. He was an Awakened. A B-rank, at that. But for some reason, the way he acted—constantly chasing clout and managing his online image—made him feel like one of those bottom-feeding content creators.
“Kim Geuk-ssi, could you say a quick word to the viewers?”
Naito-san shoved the phone toward me. I stared at the lens, my expression blank.
“...Just don’t get in the way.”
I muttered the words, not really caring how it would come across. Naito-san didn't seem bothered at all; he just laughed it off as if my cold demeanor was part of my "charismatic, mysterious" persona.
“Haha! As expected of our cool-headed leader! He’s all business, even off-camera!”
He turned back to the screen, continuing his enthusiastic commentary. I sighed and turned my attention to the task at hand. We were here to clear out a nest of monsters that had taken over a residential block. The air was thick with the stench of decay, a stark contrast to the cheerful, high-energy broadcast happening just a few feet away.
“Alright, let’s get started,” I said, my voice cutting through his chatter.
Naito-san finally lowered the phone, his expression shifting from "influencer mode" to "Hunter mode" in an instant. It was a practiced transition.
“Understood. We’re ready when you are, Kim Geuk-ssi.”
“Ah, hello everyone! As previously announced, we’re heading out for a hunt today. Oh, it’s not because a Gate opened! If it were an emergency with a Gate, I wouldn’t be able to broadcast so leisurely like this, right? This time, we aren’t defending—we’re attacking! We’ll be collaborating with the Hunters of Incheon City to…”
Watching that bastard blather on, I thought to myself: for a piece of Japanese scum, he sure speaks Korean well.
His accent was a little peculiar, but it was a passable standard Incheon dialect. He was spouting that standard Incheon dialect right at the camera.
Looks like he’s filming a video for YouTube, huh? That disgusting non-Awakened piece of trash.
That guy was Naito-san. I heard his real name is Matsumoto Masashi, but the reason he’s called that is because his streamer nickname is "Knight-ssi," or something like that?
Anyway, I didn't like it. An internet broadcast during a life-or-death hunt? Is this a joke? I had to suppress the urge to smash his camera to pieces.
Besides, look at the way that piece of trash is dressed.
“What the hell is that outfit? Is that some cheap cosplay costume?”
Sung Moon-young answered my question.
“It’s probably a hoodie he bought online? If you ignore the fact that the hood looks like a medieval knight’s helmet and he’s got weird decorations on his shoulders to look like pauldrons, it’s just a normal piece of clothing. Since his concept is a medieval knight, he just wears stuff like that.”
Sung Moon-young seemed to say it without much thought, but my blood boiled.
I glanced at Baek Dam-bi, who was dressed in her usual attire. When I thought about how that woman gets called a "crazy bitch who thinks she’s a celebrity" just for wearing a crop top, I couldn't understand why this non-Awakened trash’s costume-like outfit was tolerated.
Anyway, I don't like it. Every single thing about that guy.
While I was sulking, Naito-san approached. Unnecessarily streamer-like lines flowed from his mouth.
“Now, everyone? This person is the protagonist of this project. Hunter Kim Geuk! He’s a Physical Enhancer and a teleporter! Wow, just looking at his abilities, you can tell they’re brilliant, right?
It’s often the case that people have superior Awakening abilities but mediocre skills! But as you know from watching his videos, that is absolutely not the case with him! With muscles trained to the highest level, fitting for a former UFC fighter, and an indomitable fighting spirit! And his use of Spatial Movement is so flashy, you’d think we were filming a movie with a pre-arranged script…”
Even while being praised, I glared at him. I poured all the unpleasantness I felt toward this disgusting situation—where a piece of non-Awakened trash was evaluating an Awakened—into my gaze.
Noticing that look, Naito-san seemed flustered. He started talking to me with an unnaturally bright smile.
“Hunter Kim Geuk, nice to meet you! Wow. I’ve seen you on HuntWeb a few times, but this is my first time meeting you in person! Um, by the way, did I perhaps make a mistake…”
He lowered his voice for the last question. He was asking why I was showing such obvious hostility from our first meeting.
I couldn't exactly say out loud that I didn't want to treat him like a human being because he wasn't an Awakened and wasn't from Incheon. If I wanted to show him my hostility, what justification could I use?
I dredged up a memory from my head and opened my mouth.
“This isn't a live broadcast, is it?”
“Yes, that’s right. It’s a recorded broadcast, but…”
“Then I’ll ask a personal question. Was your HuntWeb nickname ‘GoodHunter’?”
“Excuse me? Ah, yes.”
“And a year ago, on a post about Baek Dam-bi, you left a comment asking why she wasn't beaten into correcting her attitude, right?”
I asked because I remembered seeing a comment roughly like that, and it seemed I was correct.
Naito-san’s eyes widened, and he stammered out a reply.
“I don’t remember exactly, but that didn’t mean she should be hit because she didn’t listen…”
“And you also posted something about how ex-convicts entering the Hunter industry would muddy the waters. That was posted for guys like me to see, wasn't it?”
Naito-san couldn't answer that immediately either. To the guy who stood there with his mouth shut, seemingly trying to think of an apology, I snapped.
“Get lost, you asshole.”
At that, Naito-san hung his head as if intimidated, muttered, “I’m sorry, I’ll explain later…” and backed away.
Sung Moon-young, who had been listening to the conversation next to me, asked.
“That guy posted stuff like that on HuntWeb?”
“Yeah.”
“How do you remember all that?”
“I have a good memory. Thanks to this memory, I was first or second in my class without going to an academy until I graduated middle school.”
“I don’t know if that’s true or a lie, but seeing you growl while remembering petty grudges with that great memory of yours is honestly terrifying…”
After Sung Moon-young got hit and grumbled as she backed away, Baek Dam-bi, for some reason, approached me and spoke.
“You don’t like that Japanese guy? You seemed to be chasing him off while cursing at him earlier.”
“Yeah, I really don’t like that guy… Do you like Naito-san? Are you a fan of his broadcast?”
“No, I just wanted to say you did a good job, whatever the reason. I don’t like that human either.”
This lady has an eye for people, I see.
Feeling a sense of camaraderie, I instinctively held out my palm. It was a signal for a high-five, and I was surprised at myself for doing it without thinking.
*Slap.* Baek Dam-bi smacked her palm against mine.
I couldn't see her expression because of her sunglasses, but I could see her flinch, as if she were surprised by her own action.
“Hmm?”
I grinned, feeling like I’d gained something, and Baek Dam-bi quietly returned to her position.
Meanwhile, Hunters continued to gather. And now, Naito-san only watched me from afar and didn't approach to act friendly, and I was roughly satisfied with this situation.
Although Park Mi-hyeong, who came to check on the preparations, seemed dissatisfied.
“Did something happen? I told you two to stick together, so why are you so far apart?”
“Something happened in the past.”
“I don’t know the details, but try to get along if you can. Okay? I didn’t bring him here for no reason; the promotional effect is huge when I bring that friend along. We paid a lot of money to bring him specifically to let people know what’s going on in Incheon City.”
Is that why his price tag is so absurdly high? Because he’s more famous than most Awakened and has good promotional value?
It was ridiculous, but I decided to endure it for now. I could understand that the promotion was important.
Eventually, the ‘Incheon Recapture Project’ began.
*******
While riding in the official vehicle, I focused my mind. After taking down three powerful monsters, I expanded my mental mesh to several times its previous size.
Objects within a radius of over 1km began to be captured in my brain. I examined only the moving objects.
That’s a car, that looks like a homeless person, and that is…
“Found them.”
I reported the location of the monsters I had just captured, and the information was transmitted to all the Hunters gathered here.
The Hunters set off toward the location I had indicated.
Meanwhile, Naito-san didn't stop blathering at the camera while riding his silver bike.
“Look over there. Garbage is piled up like a hill in the alley, right? For those of you watching from Seoul, it might be hard to see things like this, but those of you living in the provinces have probably seen it often. When a neighborhood is designated as a danger zone and garbage trucks stop coming, but the residents haven’t all left yet, trash piles up like this.
It’s not just like this in Korea; there are many places like this in Japan, too. In Korea’s case, almost the entire area of Seoul is being managed properly, but in Japan, there are many places in Tokyo where slums have formed like this, so…”
Hearing that made my disgust for him grow even more. Isn't he subtly comparing it to Japan and praising Korea? That kind of subtle hyper-patriotism was even more disgusting. Perhaps that was the secret to his popularity.
“Look. See that square hole in the villa’s exterior wall? It’s cut so neatly, as if it were measured with a ruler. A Deathclaw used a Force Field Blade to cut the wall and create a hole to shove its body through. That’s why it’s useless to live in a sturdy house.
That’s why villas and detached houses in Korea are dirt cheap for no reason. When monsters attack, low-rise buildings are always targeted first, rather than apartments where they’d have to go through the trouble of climbing up.
If you look around here, it’s all villas and houses under three stories, right? You can consider that these places have almost lost their value as normal residential areas in Korea. Mansion prices in Japan have jumped, but…”
Just as he said, there was no sign of life around here.
There’s no reason for abandoned villa towns or deserted houses like that to be traded. Even villas that are practically brand new have lost their property value, having long since devolved into troublesome piles of concrete.
When a neighborhood like this is created where people have left, the negative effects spread to the surrounding residential areas. Monsters are bound to settle in abandoned villages and buildings, and they end up attacking the nearby residential areas as well.
So, it was clear that just by exterminating the monsters in this vicinity, the prices of all the buildings in the area would rise.
The Hunter team stopped. Everyone took up positions around the building I had pointed out.
“Alright, everyone to your positions, to your positions!”
The position assigned to me and my Hunter team was the very rear. With only Baek Dam-bi inserted into the encirclement, we took on the role of a reserve force in case of an unforeseen situation.
As someone who planned to hunt even one more monster, I was unhappy with the situation, so I grumbled.
“Ah, damn it. It would be faster if I just went inside and shot them all to death, so why call in so many other Hunters…”
“You said you get fatigued if you use Spatial Movement outside your line of sight, hyung. So, isn’t it right to do it this way if we want to keep the operation going for a long time? Also, we have to be careful because an Awakened shouldn’t get hurt by acting recklessly. I’m sure the latter is the more important reason, right?”
Eventually, someone threw something into the building.
A moment later, smoke began to seep out through the cracks in the building’s windows. Whether it was tear gas or mustard gas, I didn't know for sure, but it was a chemical weapon intended to force the monsters inside to come out. It was a tactic that could only be used because we were certain the monsters were in there.
"They're out! Everyone, fire!"
Finally, the monsters revealed themselves.
Just as I had identified earlier, they were Deathclaws. Four of them.
In a normal situation, you would expect enemies to burst out through windows or doors and pour your firepower there, but that wasn't the case with these things.
The Deathclaws popped out from the walls of the first floor and the walls of the second floor. They were always like that. They could cut through concrete walls in an instant with those damn Force Field Blades and jump out from anywhere. Because you never knew where they would emerge, it took five Hunter teams just to surround this one small villa.
The Deathclaws, having sprung out from their respective positions, leaped toward the Hunters forming the perimeter.
Even while being pelted by concentrated fire from everyone, one of the monsters' claws managed to reach a Hunter.
That woman, the one at the very front of the perimeter...
"Dam-bi nuna!"
As Sung Moon-young screamed in horror, the Deathclaw's hooked claw slashed across her throat. The Deathclaw, having landed on the ground, finally collapsed under the subsequent barrage of gunfire.
In the midst of all this, what about Baek Dam-bi?
Instead of blood gushing from her half-severed throat, ice crystals were swirling in the air.
And that was it. She didn't even say a word.
Baek Dam-bi just calmly poured bottled water onto the slashed area of her neck. And, as is the nature of the Spirits' physical restoration mechanism, the water froze and filled in the damaged body part, and her neck was restored in an instant.
Watching this, Sung Moon-young stared with wide, dumbfounded eyes. Honestly, I was surprised too, but I pretended not to be and spoke up.
"Why are you so surprised? You remember how she talked like a total nerd the other day, saying her Ice-Ability had evolved so much that she’d basically become an Ice Spirit? She won't die unless she's destroyed to the point where her human form collapses."
"No, I know, but seeing it in person is still shocking... Anyway, I guess there's a reason she always stands at the very front..."
Admittedly, my own heart was pounding, too. Damn it all.
I realized one thing anew.
This is seriously dangerous.
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