WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Arsène

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ How an A-Rank Hunter Lives ◈

Chapter 56: Baron of Gyeyang-gu Kim Seok-hee - [7]

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I freely logged onto Huntweb, and as expected, people were talking about me nonstop.

Anonymous: Watching the video, Kim Geuk took down around six awakened people by himself. Shouldn't they promote him to S-rank? That's terrifying.

Ⓐ Justice1994: He caught a shot from an anti-materiel sniper rifle with his bare hands. Doesn't that mean Kim Geuk might have a neural acceleration ability too? I heard lots of people awaken with it and don't even realize they have it.

Given Kang Jun-chi's ability level, their excitement was absurd, and the theory that I had a neural acceleration ability was wrong too. Still, I could tell the video had shocked them.

I enjoyed their reactions for a while, then wrote a post in a cute tone.

Ⓐ BabyBerserker: BabyMushroom's getting a theatrical release this time!

BabyMushroom is a magical girl who always protects her town, but this time BabyMushroom had a very sad fight...

A former magical girl who worked too long on the frontier of beautiful Incheon and was corrupted by the evil energy of neighboring demon realm Seoul! A showdown with former magical girl Princess Kim Seokhee!!!

BabyMushroom tried very hard to convince Princess Kim Seokhee to come to her senses, but it was no use... To protect Incheon, BabyMushroom fought Princess Kim Seokhee with tears in BabyMushroom's eyes!

First, BabyMushroom defeated all the guys who were bewitched by Princess Kim Seokhee's beauty and followed her!

Then, to draw the Seoul energy out of Princess Kim Seokhee's brain, BabyMushroom waved BabyMushroom's mushroom wand (······)

Just as I posted it, my phone rang.

It was Park Mihyeong. When I answered, I heard worry in her voice.

“Kim Geuk, I heard they just finished questioning you today. Are you okay?”

She sounded genuinely worried, so I said, “That’s unexpected.”

“What is?”

“I thought you’d be angry, but you’re worrying about me first.”

At that, I heard her click her tongue over the phone.

“Do I even have the right to be angry? I watched the situation grow more frustrating, and all I could do was get angry at thin air. If I’d been able to help even a little, I could’ve stuck my nose in and asked why you acted alone after I worked so hard. But as things stand...”

“Things did get frustrating in a lot of ways.”

“They really did. I’m only a city councilor, so I can accept that I couldn’t help much. But even after the mayor personally stormed into police headquarters and screamed at them to do their jobs properly, it did nothing. What the hell is happening to this country? Anyway, you had it rough, Kim Geuk. Get some proper rest for a while, okay?”

I decided not to mention that it had actually been quite enjoyable.

Instead, I put on a grim face and said, “This incident has been all over the news, so I suppose I should lie low for a while.”

“Exactly. Come to think of it, the fact that it keeps appearing on the news is what I find hardest to understand.”

“What do you mean?”

“You were active in Korean Awakened Solidarity for a long time, so you know better than anyone. Crimes involving awakened people rarely make the news, right? Do you remember when those three ice users ran an assassination website while we were active?”

“I remember. Three ice users killed nearly a hundred people in two months, so everyone was horrified.”

“Right. Yet even that horrifying incident never made the news. It would’ve been the perfect case to show people why suppressing ice users was justified.”

“The government probably buried the whole thing because they feared broadcasting it would only lead to more copycat crimes.”

“Exactly. Maintaining social order is what the people at the top care about most. This incident should’ve been subject to a complete media blackout too.

“This has made it widely known that even if powerful awakened people commit crimes, the police can’t lay a hand on them. I don’t understand why they let it air, and that makes me uneasy. They couldn’t have loosened press control without thinking it through...”

“You think this is groundwork for some policy?”

“Maybe. Anyway, Kim Geuk, I’ll say it again. You went through a lot. But you know you aren’t the only one suffering right now, right? There are plenty of people having a hard time because of you too. If something like this happens again, I won’t let it slide.”

I told her I understood and hung up.

Not long after, my phone rang again.

“Kim Geuk?”

This time, it was Im Hyeongtaek. Since I had a guilty conscience about him, I apologized first.

“Yes, sir. I’m sorry. You understand how I feel, though.”

“I really don’t know whether I should be angry or grateful.”

“Just be grateful.”

“Don’t say something so easygoing...! I clearly told you to hand him over to the police. You said it would be fine and told me not to worry, so why did you have to... Do you have any idea how dumbfounded I was?”

Even though he said that, I knew he had gone out of his way for me.

He had probably gone around to reporters looking deliberately ragged, complaining about how a Body Enhancement user had beaten him so badly he nearly died, and how Kim Geuk had seen it and lost his temper.

“You really didn’t have to worry. Even if I got arrested, I had enough severance pay saved up for the team, so no one would starve just because I went to prison.”

“Is that why you said it would be fine?”

“What else would it be?”

“You... Anyway, this time I’m giving you advice as both your subordinate and someone older. You absolutely can’t do this again. Understand? You may be sitting comfortably at home after causing trouble this time, but if it happens again, they’ll detain you first. Remember that, okay?”

Im Hyeongtaek was saying the same thing as Park Mihyeong. Listening to those two adults, I wondered.

Would I really be detained if something like this happened again?

At least, I had expected that I would not be detained this time. No one other than Kim Seokhee would have wanted me to serve prison time.

If I went to prison and my contract with Incheon was terminated, I could return the advance payment to Incheon.

But to do that, the authorities would have had to seize and sell the construction materials I had bought for my high-rise apartment. That would have halted construction, and that was never going to be good for Incheon City.

My high-rise apartment plan had been treated as one of Incheon City’s major projects, important enough for the mayor to personally keep an eye on it. No nearby resident, building owner, or anyone else would welcome construction being stopped.

The same went for the Incheon Recovery Project I led. Whether it was the mayor of Incheon, who actively supported my work and enjoyed citizens’ support because of it, or the people of Incheon who profited from my achievements, no one in this area wanted to see me arrested.

Unless some absurd situation occurred where the textbook theory of separation of powers actually applied in real life, there was no way an Incheon court would give me a real prison sentence while Incheon City’s will was so firm.

Still, perhaps people were worried I would go to prison. Even now, protests demanding Hunter Kim Geuk’s full exoneration were supposedly taking place throughout Incheon.

I felt sorry for the people struggling on my behalf, but I opened Huntweb again.

The post I had put up earlier already had a ton of comments.

Anonymous: Kim Seokhee used to be a major name on Huntweb. Now there’s a video of his whole organization getting beaten senseless, and he’s being publicly humiliated like this too. I actually feel bad for him.

Ⓐ ElmayaKaeyo: Feel bad for him, my ass. He used to be a Hunter. When he saw junior Hunters working hard, he should’ve supported them instead of acting like that. He interfered with hunts, kidnapped and assaulted an older Hunter, and ended up like this. It’s just karma.

Ⓐ syberMagneto: Exactly.

Anonymous: This started because an awakened person assaulted a non-awakened Hunter, so why is this Nazi reacting like that...? Did he break character because he’s scared Kim Geuk will beat him up if he says what he usually does?

Ⓐ syberMagneto: There are deeper circumstances that non-awakened trash like you wouldn’t understand, trash.

Ⓑ GoodHunter: I already knew Kim Geuk was strong, but you’re unbelievably strong. I can’t exactly support vigilantism, but watching the video felt satisfying! I was there and understand why this happened. Seeing Im Hyeongtaek’s condition made my blood boil too.

Maybe because they understood it as unavoidable vigilantism brought about by the police being so useless, most people reacted positively. Still, some saw the situation negatively.

Anonymous: They say the Incheon Recovery Project will restart soon too. Isn’t this a problem?

5myJesus: What’s the problem? Kim Geuk made a hard decision because his teammate was assaulted and he didn’t want it happening again. Knowing the police wouldn’t help, was he supposed to just stand around and do nothing?

Anonymous: I understand why he did it, but shouldn’t they at least have detained him? Letting him go as if nothing happened makes no sense. The social atmosphere is already a complete mess. Wouldn’t handling things this way only make it worse...?

Ⓐ Stonehead Youth: How are they supposed to detain a Body Enhancement user who can use Spatial Teleportation? Are they going to pull a Sea-Prism Stone out of a comic book?

Ah, there was another reason I had thought I would never be detained.

The very idea of putting me in prison was ridiculous from the start.

Everyone knew this, but Korea currently had no money.

There was not enough money to fund the police, which was why local public safety had become such a mess. So where would they find money for prisons, facilities that had always been hated for doing nothing but run financial deficits?

Of course, they had none.

People imagined prisons for awakened people as special facilities for superhumans from comic books. In reality, awakened people went to the exact same prisons as ordinary criminals. There were no special facilities capable of restraining powerful awakened prisoners, nor were there awakened guards capable of subduing rebellious ones.

And the potbellied correctional officers there had virtually no way to control prisoners with force-field exoskeletons or Body Enhancement. In reality, they either granted every sentence reduction possible to get them out before they caused trouble, or never locked them up in the first place.

Likewise, Kim Seokhee, who I had beaten into a wreck, was not about to be raided by the police and dragged off somewhere. After the police learned that I had dealt with Kim Seokhee harshly and his gang had practically disbanded, they did not even pursue him.

By now, Kim Seokhee was probably heading to Bucheon.

Anyway, I felt good. Kim Seokhee being free, me being free, all of it.

As I kept enjoying the comments, I received a Huntweb message.

I checked the sender and opened my eyes wide.

Ⓐ GangStar☆: Delete that post right now or I’ll kill you.

It was Kim Seokhee. He seemed to have been humiliated by the post I made.

I was about to ask whether he was talking so arrogantly because I had not beaten him enough, but decided against it. I simply replied in a cute tone.

Ⓐ BabyBerserker: No can do! It’s BabyMushroom’s first-ever feature film, so BabyMushroom has to promote it hard...

Ⓐ GangStar☆: Stop talking bullshit and delete the post you made this time, please.

Ⓐ GangStar☆: Was everything you’ve done so far not enough? Are you trying to stomp me completely into the ground?

Ⓐ BabyBerserker: Hoee... It’s not like that...

Ⓐ GangStar☆: Then why are you doing this much, seriously? You released the video too. If you destroy my reputation like this, how am I supposed to make a comeback?

Ⓐ GangStar☆: If I fall all the way to the bottom, did you think I wouldn’t come after you with nothing left to lose?

It was pitiful, watching him threaten me and beg at the same time. Smiling, I moved my fingers.

Ⓐ BabyBerserker: Mmm... BabyMushroom is small and young, so BabyMushroom got zero on a dictation test... That’s why BabyMushroom can’t explain it in writing!

BabyMushroom wants to tell you directly. Will you give BabyMushroom your phone number? BabyMushroom isn’t asking you out, so don’t misunderstand♡!

Kim Seokhee sent me his number.

The moment I called, I heard his angry voice.

“Hey, Kim-”

I cut him off.

“Seokhee. Do you really want to die? It sounds like you’re trying to threaten me, but don’t say stupid things. Which do you think is easier? You launching another pathetic attack, or me, with Spatial Teleportation, finding you and beating the shit out of you again?”

Maybe the sudden change from my cute tone startled him. Kim Seokhee went silent for a moment. After hesitating, he spoke in a tense voice.

“Please, just let me save face. Is that too much to ask? If you take away every shred of my dignity until I can’t even maintain a boss’s authority, how am I supposed to keep running my organization?”

“What does a boss’s authority matter?”

“Don’t you understand? If I want to keep the organization going, I need charisma...”

I spoke again.

“Seokhee. You aren’t the boss of that organization because you have authority.”

“What?”

“Legitimacy, competence, charisma... Awakened people don’t need that kind of thing to play sovereign. Those are virtues non-awakened leaders need. Do you know why?”

Kim Seokhee stayed silent, and I continued.

“Non-awakened leaders need those things because, at their core, they’re an unremarkable breed. They’re ordinary people with no real difference from those they rule.

“Kings and nobles are no different from farmers once you strip off their expensive clothes. So they need authority, bloodlines, refined language that sets them apart from ordinary people... All kinds of decorations to pretend they’re special and different from everyone else, so they can rule their underlings. But you don’t need any of that.”

“Why...?”

“Because you’re an awakened person. A king who commands an army of a million becomes no different from an ordinary person if you take his royal seal and robes. You aren’t like that. I fought you myself, so I know. You alone were stronger than all your subordinates combined. And you know it, right? Power comes from guns and blades.”

Kim Seokhee was silent again. I continued.

“You acted like a Soweol person, so think like a Soweol person. Authority means nothing to your rule. Like the awakened people who rule the Third World through force alone, even without the support of their people and while ignoring every interest within it... You should stop worrying about useless authority and just rule your members with strength. That will be enough. Understand?”

“I-”

Kim Seokhee still seemed to have something he wanted to say, but I had no intention of listening.

“Bucheon is honorary Incheon, so I’m sure you understand how grateful you should be that I let you work there. So, Baron of Bucheon? Do a good job playing lord. I’m hanging up.”

After that, I thought over everything that had happened and felt a rush of exhilaration.

I had won this time. I had won against the powerful awakened person Kim Seokhee, and I had won against the law.

The latter made me especially happy.

It was so satisfying that the damn law had failed to bind me this time.

Even back when I lived caught in the crossfire of my parents’ fights, I had never thought positively of the law.

To me, the law was like a switch prepared by those in power so they could wield it however they pleased. I had never once seen it used properly.

Why had the police, called by a neighbor who had apparently been disturbed by my parents’ marital fights, seen my parents fighting in front of their underage son and daughter in the middle of the night, then simply warned them not to be loud instead of reporting them for child abuse?

Why had the school discipline teacher, who beat students with a wooden club until my first day of high school, not been arrested for assault?

Why had the training camp drill instructor, who got angry at a survey sent to his commander and threatened trainees, not been punished according to the rules?

Then, only after I could not take it anymore and threw a punch, why did that wonderful law suddenly make its presence known and throw me in prison?

All I felt in every one of those situations was horrible unfairness.

Experiences like that were why I hated the law.

Just as I did not want to be loyal to a country I had not chosen to be born in, I did not want to obey laws I had never agreed to.

Besides, I’m an awakened person. Even if the law suddenly disappeared one day and the world became a place where everyone killed and was killed, I was someone who could survive without difficulty.

So why should someone like me, who did not need the law, obey it?

* * *

Footnotes:

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