WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Arsène

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◈ How an A-Rank Hunter Lives ◈

Chapter 1: Awakened Kim Geuk - [Prologue]

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Lately, I've been experiencing déjà vu a lot. So often and so intensely that I'm starting to wonder if I need to see a psychiatrist.

Whenever I do something, an inexplicable sense of déjà vu flashes through my mind and makes me pause. Playing a game feels like something I've already done, and even pointless small talk feels like a conversation we've already had. It's driving me crazy.

It's happening even now, while I sit through a class at the academy.

"If a Hunter arrests or confines a criminal, that's the crime of unlawful arrest and confinement, as I mentioned before. A Hunter's status under criminal law is ultimately that of a private individual..."

The instructor is droning on about some boring-as-hell lesson. It will be on the Hunter written exam, but there is nothing special about it.

Normally, I would've just dozed off. Everyone knew the written portion barely mattered in the Hunter exam. The government didn't want smart people with good judgment as Hunters. They wanted brain-dead morons who'd charge at any Monster as long as someone paid them.

Yet even now, I'm listening to this class closely. Why?

It definitely isn't because the class seems interesting today. Every nerve in my body is simply focused on this moment without my say-so.

"If an apartment security guard breaks into a resident's home over a noise complaint, then beats up the resident causing the noise, they'd get arrested, right? It's the same for Hunters. You pay a fine or go to jail."

This strange feeling...

"Do you all watch the news? Apparently, there have been a lot of Hunters getting indicted lately because they act like they're the police. Why the hell are they doing that?"

I felt like I'd already experienced this class. The same time, the same situation, the same instructor repeating the same words.

That goddamn... déjà vu. Déjà vu so severe that I wondered if it was really déjà vu at all, or some kind of mental illness or superpower.

"Of course, there are always exceptions to the law."

As I sat there confused, the instructor looked at me. The moment they opened their mouth, I felt irritated.

"What might that exception be, Kim Geuk? Want to answer?"

Why the hell were they asking me that? Did they want to get punched?

I was about to say I didn't know.

The instant our eyes met, I felt my consciousness being sucked somewhere else. At the same time, I thought:

Ah, it's this again.

* * *

"If a Hunter arrests or confines a criminal..."

The moment I heard the instructor's voice, I reached a conclusion.

A hallucination.

I'd been through this a few times already, so I wasn't confused this time. Things like this had been happening a lot lately.

"A Hunter's status under criminal law is ultimately that of a private individual..."

In the hallucination, the instructor was teaching the same boring, useless class from moments ago. Then they asked me that irritating question at the end.

"Of course, there are always exceptions to the law. What might that exception be, Kim Geuk? Want to answer?"

In the hallucination, I replied blankly.

"I don't know."

The instructor narrowed their eyes and sighed. Then they went on and on.

"If the act of arrest or confinement constitutes self-defense, necessity, or self-help, its unlawfulness is negated... I told you it would definitely be on the test last time, didn't I? Is this how our academy's savior is going to act, Kim Geuk? What a disappointment."

I immediately got pissed and clenched my fist. That fucking bastard.

How dare they give me shit, acting like some so-called teacher? That scrawny bespectacled bastard wouldn't even be able to complain if they bumped shoulders with me on the street...

The urge to drive my fist into that wrinkled face was overwhelming.

* * *

The hallucination ended in an instant. Back in reality, I wasn't particularly startled.

This had already become familiar. I quickly assessed the situation instead.

I looked at the instructor's wrinkled mug. They were waiting for my answer, so I recited what I'd learned in the hallucination.

"When the act of arrest or confinement constitutes self-defense, necessity, or self-help?"

They must've liked that answer. The instructor grinned.

"Oh, looks like you reviewed properly, Kim Geuk? I thought you weren't even paying attention in class, but I'm touched."

The instructor swept their gaze over the other students, their voice full of laughter.

"You all saw Kim Geuk recite it word for word just now, right? Even an A-rank awakened person studies this hard, so can the rest of you afford not to study? You all need to memorize this..."

Getting treated like a model student wasn't in my fate. Still, it was hard to feel purely happy just because I'd received a little praise.

While the instructor continued the class, I took a deep breath.

It was to suppress my anger.

Being scolded by that instructor had only happened in a hallucination, yet the unpleasant feeling I had toward them still lingered. As if it had really happened...

Of course, I knew these feelings weren't normal. I knew I should ignore them.

But it wasn't easy.

It was far harder than I expected.

* * *

I spent the rest of the day like a diligent aspiring Hunter.

At the academy gym, I did strength training with the trainer's help. I kept going until the muscles throughout my body tore apart.

The moment I finished, Super-Regeneration began repairing all the damage to my body.

The pain of muscles rebuilding larger and tougher than they had been before the damage was horrific, but as always, I endured it. I didn't bother taking painkillers that wouldn't even work on me. I only gulped down protein shakes as if they were high-proof liquor.

After returning home, I washed up and fell asleep like I'd collapsed.

Then, as usual, I dreamed.

I dreamed of detonating a nuclear bomb in Seoul. Of sending up a crimson mushroom cloud, killing hundreds of thousands of Koreans, and dying too...

It was the dream that had repeated without fail ever since that damned déjà vu began.

* * *

Footnotes:

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