WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Arsène

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◈ How an A-Rank Hunter Lives ◈

Chapter 51: Baron of Gyeyang-gu Kim Seok-hee - [2]

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Once the official vehicle started moving again, I called Park Mihyeong. I told that lady all about how pathetic the cops had been just now.

“Like I told you, the police who came to help us are completely useless. It looks like they only sent total washouts. Could you call the mayor or police commissioner and ask them to replace the personnel?”

A few dozen minutes later, Park Mihyeong called me back. She explained in a deeply apologetic voice.

「I'm really sorry to say this to you when you're the one suffering out there, Kim Geuk, but I looked into it myself, and they said sending different officers probably wouldn't change anything.」

What was that supposed to mean?

After listening to her, this was roughly the situation.

The gang led by the self-proclaimed Baron of Gyeyang-gu, Kim Seokhee, was not an organization that stayed cooped up in Gyeyang-gu. They actively sent members to nearby Bupyeong and Bucheon to sell cigarettes.

I didn't know whether they grew tobacco themselves or stole supplies from a tobacco company, but their business was selling packs that normally cost fifteen thousand won for half price, eight thousand won. It was obviously something that needed to be crushed, since it harmed national tax revenue, yet the police did not touch those gang members.

Not because police in each area were taking fat bribes from the gang, but because they could not handle the aftermath if they provoked them.

“They're letting that happen in the capital area? Does that make any sense?”

「Apparently, the gang has more than one or two awakened people. And even overseas, authorities are hesitant to deal with gangs made up of awakened people. Not only in developing countries, but even in developed nations with strong law enforcement, they can't easily touch awakened gangs.」

“So those bastards aren't afraid of the authorities, and even the police are scared of them?”

「I think so. Our mayor heard what happened at the scene and got furious enough to personally storm into police headquarters. The mayor cares a lot about the Incheon Recovery Project too. The mayor needs this achievement to earn a seat in the National Assembly... But the police said there was nothing they could do. They said trying to take those people on with the police force would be like charging a tank with a bamboo spear.」

“Still, that's ridiculous.”

As I stood there dumbfounded, Park Mihyeong spoke hesitantly again.

「Would it be hard to conduct the operation somewhere else first?」

“That doesn't make sense. There aren't many places left for the operation anyway. You know we have to secure Gyeyang-gu first to stop Monsters from spreading into the surrounding areas, right? Gyeyang-gu is a Monster nest. Leaving it alone is out of the question.”

In the end, Park Mihyeong apologized repeatedly before hanging up.

Not long afterward, we arrived at Eurasia's finest mountain, Gyeyang Mountain.

After getting out of the vehicle, I explained the situation to the Hunters participating in this operation. Only after warning them to be careful of possible clashes with gang members did we begin the hunt.

The hunting itself went smoothly. After all, I was much more skilled and powerful than I had been back when Naito almost got shot by Goblins.

Not only had my raw ability grown much stronger, but my use of it had improved considerably. I had also repeatedly trained to react to bullets, steadily improving my reaction speed.

Deathclaws still seemed fast, but it was definitely much easier to respond to their movements than before.

I moved after locating the Monsters in advance through my mental net. By dealing with them one group at a time, we continued the hunt without anyone dying or getting injured.

Then a real big one appeared. Baek Dambi, who had returned from scouting, spoke.

“Kim Geuk, I think you'll have to handle this yourself.”

Just as she said, I grabbed a hammer and headed forward.

A pack of Deathclaws had noticed our approach and were glaring at us from ahead.

One Deathclaw in particular stood out.

It was obviously rare and powerful. One that had undergone an additional awakening and become a Rock Elemental.

It had blades that could cut through anything and armor that bullets could not penetrate. It was a horribly dangerous Monster.

Even an ordinary A-rank Hunter would not readily step up against something like that. They would need to make preparations before going out to hunt it.

In other words, it was something that required a rocket launcher to deal with.

I did not need one.

One hammer was enough. It would have been impossible in the past, but now I could do it.

“What are you looking at? Look at me!”

I roared and charged. As the Deathclaws all turned toward me and tensed their legs, the Hunters behind me opened fire.

The other Deathclaws dropped one by one amid the gunshots, but the Deathclaw covered head to toe in rock was unharmed.

That Monster leaped at me.

Then I used Spatial Teleportation. My view changed as I charged at full speed.

Ahead of me, as I ran with all my strength, I saw the rear end of the rock-covered hyena.

I did not miss the moment the Monster landed on the ground while slashing at empty air. My hammer struck its rocky armor.

With a loud crash, every rock covering it fell away.

After that, two more hammer strikes were enough to smash it to pieces. Thinking about how much trouble I had gone through to defeat the first Rock Elemental I encountered, it really felt like another lifetime.

Once its movements stopped, a vision of the Octagon appeared, along with a rush of exhilaration.

I glanced at Baek Dambi. She seemed to have absorbed the dead elemental's power as well. The corners of her mouth trembled as though she were trying to suppress her excitement.

Just as I had become stronger after defeating a Monster with Body Enhancement and absorbing the same type of power, my round girl would now be stronger than before too. That pleased me as well.

As I savored the increased power within me, I thought to myself.

I could not get enough of this process of becoming a superior being. It was not just good for me. The fact that the people around me and the citizens of Incheon also benefited from it made me incredibly happy.

Some useless trash wanted to interfere with this sacred hunt?

Ridiculous.

Absolutely unacceptable.

* * *

We were eating after finishing the morning hunt without incident.

I had spread my mental net only minimally so I could rest when one Hunter shouted as if they had spotted something.

“Who are you people?!”

Sure enough, something flashed from the bushes below. Then something tore through the mental net around me and flew toward us.

That speed. It was definitely a bullet. It had not been fired from our side. It came from over there.

So who had they aimed at?

One of the Hunters. But they had not aimed for the stomach or head. They had aimed for the ankle. I tracked the trajectory through my mental net, and it was clear.

They were not trying to kill anyone. They only wanted to injure someone and intimidate the Hunters here.

Then there was no need to confirm it. The sniper was definitely one of Kim Seokhee's gang members.

And I was not the only one to react quickly.

Naito. That guy's reflexes were so good that I wondered whether he was really not an awakened person. He reacted swiftly again.

Naito saw the muzzle flash and widened his eyes. The moment the gang member's bullet left the barrel, he moved.

Naito shoved the Hunter who was about to get hit. Then he stepped in front of where that Hunter had been standing. At this rate, the bullet would hit Naito in the stomach.

It had happened before, but something like that could not happen during a hunt I led. I would never watch him become some self-sacrificing hero.

I used Spatial Teleportation and stepped in front of Naito, who had pushed the Hunter away. The bullet hit my chest the next moment, but it only tore my skin a little. It could not lodge in my muscles.

Another gunshot followed.

Bang!

Even experienced Hunters were not used to being attacked by people. While everyone stood there stunned, Naito quickly fired his shotgun toward where the bullet had come from.

Nobody got hit. It was probably a warning shot.

What a coward.

Then I used Spatial Teleportation. I appeared beside the bastard who had fired at the Hunter's ankle. Before he could even panic, I took his gun and kicked the back of his knee.

“Argh!”

As he fell over, the gang members around him all aimed their guns at me.

“Go ahead and shoot if you want to.”

When I provoked them, one bastard's expression twisted, and he actually fired. It was not surprising. How rare was it for punks to lose their tempers and do something without thinking about the consequences?

This was where the results of my training with Seong Munyeong showed. I still could not catch bullets with my hands, but I had become good at reacting to their speed.

The moment the bullet broke through the net around me, I instinctively felt danger. I used Spatial Teleportation on reflex.

That put me behind the idiot who had fired at me. The bullet only grazed the spot where I had been standing. Then I kicked him down too, and the others around us froze, unable to even think of doing anything.

Subduing the rest was difficult afterward. Not because they resisted fiercely, but because I worried that if I failed to control my strength, I might break something and kill them.

The Hunters who arrived late helped tie them up.

“Kim Geuk? Once again, I sincerely thank you...”

Naito was about to thank me again, so I hid my sense of superiority and asked him.

“Matsumoto, aren't you an awakened person?”

It must have been a completely unexpected question, because Naito looked flustered.

“What?”

“Bullets keep coming your way. Seeing this, aren't you some awakened person who pulls metal toward himself or something? Come to think of it, Huntweb never revealed what kind of awakened person Cyber Magneto is... Could that person be you, Naito?”

“No? You know I'm GoodHunter, so why would you say that...?”

“You could have an alt account. I won't tell anyone, so be honest with me, okay?”

After bothering Naito for a while, I returned to my hunter team. Seong Munyeong looked ready to complain that I had played tank again, so I spoke first.

“You use Huntweb too, so you know Cyber Magneto, right? Huntweb's Nazi. I looked at that person's posts on Huntweb, and they seem pretty sneaky. In my opinion, Naito is Cyber Magneto.”

I made sure Baek Dambi was listening beside me, then said it loudly on purpose. Seong Munyeong looked dumbfounded.

“What? What are you talking about? Do you have any evidence?”

“Naito is sneaky, and Cyber Magneto is sneaky. Isn't that some great deduction?”

I enjoyed the way Baek Dambi's mouth twitched with anger this time, then looked at the tied-up gang members.

Next, I turned to the Hunters and spoke.

“You all understand the situation now, so I'd like to ask what you think. Like I told you before we started hunting, some gang... No, what kind of gang is this when we're in Korea? Some mob bastards are trying to drive us out because they say this is their territory. We knew that much, but I didn't expect them to start shooting at us. It seems dangerous. Shouldn't we head back now?”

The Hunters' response was exactly what I expected from Hunters.

“Aren't Deathclaws more dangerous than those guys?”

“That may be true, but isn't it reckless to keep hunting like this?”

As I spoke as though I were egging them on, another Hunter shouted as though they had been wronged.

“Reckless or not, let's just keep hunting, okay? Isn't it way more dangerous when we get called out every time a Gate opens and shoot at Deathclaws? Right now, Kim Geuk is using map hacks for us, and this hunt is easy as hell. Does it make sense to quit just because it got a little more dangerous?”

Looking at that punk-like Hunter, I thought with satisfaction.

That Huntweb user GangStar... Kim Seokhee, the one who sent these gang members, was supposedly a former Hunter, right?

It seemed he had been retired for so long that he had forgotten what Hunters were like. Even if the guts of the colleague standing beside them spilled from their stomach during a hunt, or their head was cut off at the neck, Hunters were the sort who could drink a glass of liquor and forget all about it.

For the Hunters gathered here, death during a hunt was simply part of everyday life. Compared to that, threats from some gang members were not even as frightening as a single Deathclaw.

In the end, Kim Seokhee could not stop our hunt.

Despite being interrupted twice, the Hunters gathered here continued hunting for the day. Only after darkness fell did we finish and head down the mountain.

At the mountain entrance, I had to hold back the urge to argue with the police for an hour when I saw them standing around blankly. Had they only stood there after I had stationed them to make sure the gang members did not cause trouble?

I handed the tied-up gang members over to the police.

“You can take these guys away.”

After everything was finished, I headed home and anticipated Kim Seokhee's coming retaliation. Would he dig up my mother's grave? Or would he do something completely unexpected...?

And something unexpected did happen.

But Kim Seokhee was not the one who did it.

* * *

I was eating after waking up when Park Mihyeong called. She spoke in an angry voice.

「Kim Geuk, did you see the morning news? The mayor and I are so angry we can barely speak!」

I wondered what news had made her so angry, so I looked it up and was stunned.

The news said that all the gang members who had fired at the Hunters on Gyeyang Mountain, the ones we caught yesterday, had been released.

According to the report, they had been locked in the detention cells of a nearby police station. That evening, gang members stormed the police station.

The police there offered no resistance and obediently released the gang members they had locked up.

I stood there blankly for a moment, wondering whether that could possibly make sense. Then the doorbell rang.

When I went outside, a crowd of reporters had gathered. One of them held a microphone toward me and asked.

“Kim Geuk, have you heard the news? Something utterly outrageous happened this time!”

“You mean all those guys got released from the detention cells?”

“Yes, exactly! How do you feel about this...?”

It looked like reporters had flocked to my house as soon as the news broke. Well, they probably wanted to interview me about how unfair I thought it was...

“So you want an interview, right?”

Expectation appeared on the reporters' faces at my question. Reporters liked interviewing me. After all, even looking at Huntweb's reactions, it was obvious that my interviews always got an incredible number of views because people found them funny and entertaining.

“Yes! If you're all right with it...”

The reporters probably thought I would be angry.

But I had no intention of doing that.

I smiled. Not a forced smile, but one born from genuine delight.

“Of course I'm all right with it. My house is a little shabby, but shall we all go inside and start right away?”

* * *

Footnotes:

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