WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Arsène

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◈ How an A-Rank Hunter Lives ◈

Chapter 61: Huntweb A-Rank Baek Dam-bi - [1]

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Huntweb had maintained one tradition ever since its founding: a culture of worshipping awakened people.

If a user verified that they were an awakened person, Huntweb put a fancy A badge beside their username.

Having that badge came with all sorts of benefits.

The badge alone made a user stand out, greatly increasing their post views, and everything an A-badge user said gained an incredible amount of authority. It was similar to how people on Blind worshipped Samsung employees and legal professionals.

And just as Blind looked down on employees at new companies, Huntweb looked down on non-awakened Hunters.

According to Huntweb users, awakened Hunters were valuable enough for every country to compete over, while non-awakened Hunters were nothing more than mercenaries whose lives had hit rock bottom. Their contempt for non-awakened Hunters ran so deep that they had even coined the term porter for them.

It was strange, considering most Huntweb users were probably non-awakened people themselves. Almost all of them were not awakened, yet they acted as though they were on the awakened people's side.

Baek Dambi understood how they felt. She herself was not a proper A-rank Hunter, yet she identified with A-rank Hunters on the site.

She was truly glad she had joined when the site was first established. Back then, the standards for handing out A badges had been loose enough that even iceheads received them just for being awakened people.

She had benefited greatly from getting her badge back then.

Anonymous: Korean awakened people are way too docile. That's the problem.

Anonymous: Seriously. Just look at the awakened people representing Korea. Kim Geuk, Kang Jun-chi, they're all so damn well-behaved that the government's gotten cocky.

Ⓐ Stonehead Youth: ? Calling Kim Geuk or Jun-chi model citizens is a bit much.

Anonymous: Did you see Kim Geuk's latest video? He just tossed a few bullets at the guy who shot him with an anti-materiel sniper rifle, then forgave him. Isn't that incredibly generous?

Anonymous: True. If they were average awakened people overseas, they'd have beaten everyone there to death. Kang Jun-chi would have reenacted Days of Future Past in front of the National Assembly long ago.

Baek Dambi, whose Huntweb username was Cyber Magneto, felt it as she watched new posts pour into Huntweb.

Anonymous: Upvote if you think Cyber Magneto was right.

Ⓐ Justice1994: Teacher Magneto, we never understood the greatness of your ideals.

Cyber Magneto had been nothing more than a troll who posted nonsense, yet now she was being worshipped. That alone showed Huntweb's current atmosphere.

The announcement about mobilizing awakened Hunters and putting them to work for the country had driven every Huntweb user into a frenzy.

As Huntweb's prophet, Baek Dambi delivered a sharp rebuke.

Ⓐ syberMagneto: Non-awakened trash... Shouldn't they all be thrown into gas chambers?

Even this post, which would normally have been ignored, quickly received a flood of upvotes and comments.

It made her happy, but Baek Dambi was not actually very interested in the situation.

From the sound of it, the government intended to mobilize awakened Hunters, not ordinary Hunters. What did that have to do with her? Just because they needed awakened Hunters did not mean they would try to mobilize iceheads too.

To be honest, she envied them for being important enough that the country wanted to forcibly mobilize them. It meant their usefulness was recognized.

It was also quite satisfying that Naito had the sense to keep his mouth shut in this situation.

That disgusting bastard... He probably had some idea what kind of urge she felt whenever she saw him. Just look at how he had been groveling before her for no reason whenever they met during hunts lately...

Anonymous: Looks like they'll push ahead with the policy as announced, right?

Anonymous: Of course. Why would politicians need to worry about awakened people? There aren't even five thousand awakened Hunters in the whole country. Most of them are in Seoul or scattered around, so when counting votes, they might as well not exist.

Ⓐ Dragon: Shouldn't someone speak on behalf of awakened people? Don't we have a representative or organization?

Anonymous: There's the Hunter Association.

Ⓐ ElmayaKaeyo: Come to think of it, what the hell is the Association doing? Didn't it fail to even express regret when Kim Geuk got hit with a 9th-Grade Call?

Ⓐ ElmayaKaeyo: I've heard the Association has been doing a poor job training new Hunters lately, too. If they're not going to look after Hunters at all, why does the Association even exist?

Anonymous: Sir... Everyone knows the Hunter Association is a government puppet organization. They made it so they could treat their own citizens like foreign mercenaries and avoid paying compensation even if they die defending the country. Is there anyone who doesn't know that?

Baek Dambi also knew the Hunter Association was meaningless in its current state.

The current Hunter Association president's only achievement was trying and failing to give Deathclaws the pure Korean name Hooked Claw. If that attempt had succeeded, even that sole achievement would have disappeared.

Anonymous: We need another organization that represents Hunters, not a puppet group like the Hunter Association.

Ⓐ Dragon: There should be a separate organization for awakened Hunters too.

Ⓐ Stonehead Youth: Would the government allow an organization like that to operate? Looking at this incident, it seems even six awakened people simply gathering together was enough for them to consider it threatening and put them under surveillance.

Ⓐ Stonehead Youth: If a few thousand awakened people gathered and formed an organization, I wonder if they'd call them rebels plotting to overthrow the country and try bombing them.

Naturally, Baek Dambi was not very interested in that topic either. Even if an organization for awakened people were created, she did not think she could confidently join it.

Ⓐ syberMagneto: Those iceheads caused trouble again, and now look at this mess.

She kept pretending to be deeply interested in the current situation, cursing the government, insulting iceheads, and making hateful remarks about non-awakened people like a true owner of an A badge when she received a call.

“Hey, Dambi?”

Baek Dambi flinched at the familiar voice.

Kim Geuk. Her boss now, more or less. They were not actually in an employment relationship, but still.

“Yes, Kim Geuk. Go ahead.”

“I wanted to discuss something. The rainy season's coming soon, right? So...”

After hearing him out, Baek Dambi stared blankly for a moment before asking.

“So if things go well this time, I might be able to open a Gate?”

“That's right. I heard it should be possible if we take out a few water elementals.”

“Wouldn't that be too difficult for you, Kim Geuk? I know hunting water elementals is quite difficult...”

“Even if it is, we have to do it. With Behemoth around, it's extremely important to check what's happening inside the Gates. We need to regularly confirm where Behemoth is moving and when the Monsters following it will come out. If you can open Gates now, I think you'll become a real treasure of Incheon, probably.”

Baek Dambi tried to ignore the way that man talked about Incheon.

At first, she thought it was just an act, but after seeing him in person, she was terrified because it did not seem to be one. He had taken a smaller signing bonus to sign with Incheon City, and judging by his usual behavior, he seemed serious about it in every way. She could not understand that madness.

“It would certainly be nice if I could do that, but why are you so concerned about me opening Gates...?”

“Because you're desperate to go into Gates, Dambi. You try to go in whenever you get the chance, so I thought it'd be good if you could open them yourself.”

“Ah...”

“Why? Does it sound too difficult? If it feels like too much, we can forget about it.”

Baek Dambi hurriedly answered.

“No, no. I'll take part.”

After ending the call and thinking over their conversation, she felt her motivation rise again. Her heart, which had cooled over an internet topic that had nothing to do with her, was beating properly again.

Joining that man's team had clearly been fortunate for her in many ways. Not only because she could keep working as a Hunter and hold on to her signing bonus, but for her mental health too.

Since joining his team, she had been given plenty of opportunities to shine.

Kim Geuk, who led the team, clearly thought she was capable and tried to make use of her in many ways. Thanks to that, she had repeatedly been given chances to prove herself as an awakened person. She did not know how much of her damaged self-esteem had been restored because of it.

Her previous team, on the other hand, had been terrible in every way. It was full of pathetic nice guys who pretended to be considerate because she was a woman. When she ignored the subtle affection they showed her, they must have gotten angry, because when they retired, they dumped filth all over Huntweb. Her reputation in the industry had fallen to the worst possible level because of them, and she had suffered terribly.

Compared to that team, this one was good in every way.

Honestly, it was moving enough to make her emotional.

No one hit on her here, perhaps because they were wary of Kim Geuk, and even if she was not on the same level as the other awakened Hunters, she had chances to show what she could do.

As she continued browsing Huntweb, she found a new post.

Ⓐ BabyBerserker: BabyMushroom and the Ice Princess are scheduled to subjugate water elementals!

Realizing that her boss had posted it, Baek Dambi froze for a moment.

With trembling hands, she moved the mouse and clicked the post. Then she closed her eyes tightly.

When she opened them, horrible words polluted her eyes and brain, and Baek Dambi screamed silently.

Ⓐ BabyBerserker: It's summer, nya! It's a special episode that'll give your eyes a treat, just like in cartoons, nya!

BabyMushroom is heading out in a school swimsuit♡♥♡!!

BabyMushroom is a lady, so she should wear a sexy bikini, but then all the citizen gentlemen might get so busy looking at BabyMushroom's body that they can't evacuate. BabyMushroom was worried they might be captivated by her charms, nya! So BabyMushroom decided to hide her charms! What a sweet and admirable BabyMushroom!!

Anyway, this rainy season, Ice Princess Baek Dambi, big sis, and BabyMushroom, who's sexier than big sis, will head out and...!!

Every time she saw the posts that man made, she felt her insides twist and something rise in her throat.

It seemed to be some kind of male culture, but Baek Dambi could not accept that behavior. It was especially difficult because whenever she saw posts like that, she remembered what that man was like during hunts.

To cleanse the madness staining her mind, Baek Dambi looked over at the table.

She looked at the acrylic stand bearing her image.

It was something Incheon City had made for her.

It was also the only thing she liked in this damn house, where short circuits happened everywhere and repair technicians would not come because it was supposedly a dangerous area, so the circuit breaker tripped all the time.

It proved that she was useful, that people recognized her.

She would probably be able to leave this damn house in another two or three years. By then, the apartments that man was building would be complete...

Considering that, until recently, she had even considered just leaving for Sword World as Kang Jun-chi suggested, it was a real change.

She had benefited from that man in many ways, so she should be grateful. But when would Park Mihyeong finally free him from his brainwashing?

* * *

A few days later, the rain forecast in the news arrived, followed by three days of torrential downpours.

Water flooded the ground. Flooding in a city had been bad even in the old world, but after the Gates opened, it had become something that threatened every citizen's life.

So Incheon City called Hunter Kim Geuk, who was now considered something like Incheon's savior, and requested that he respond.

Kim Geuk accepted the request, so Baek Dambi boarded a helicopter with him.

They had some time for small talk inside the helicopter.

“What about the other team members? It looks like they didn't come this time...”

Kim Geuk answered Baek Dambi's question.

“We're going to hunt things bullets don't work on, so there's no need to bring them along. I even left my Hunter Rifle behind. Dambi, you didn't need to bring your light machine gun either. Why did you?”

“I just felt anxious.”

Kim Geuk grinned at her unremarkable answer. Sitting across from him in the seat ahead, Baek Dambi wondered whether this man liked her.

The fact that he was taking part in this operation because he wanted to look after her was probably a sign of goodwill. She could feel that he treated her well in other ways too, so she naturally had those thoughts. But she could not be sure. He treated the other team members excessively well too.

That alone showed he was a genuinely good person.

Except for his Huntweb activity.

Looking at the way he acted on Huntweb, perhaps his gender identity was unusual...

She only had a moment for such relaxed thoughts.

From the helicopter floating in the air, Baek Dambi saw waves sweeping across the road.

They were not some ordinary natural phenomenon. They had to be water elementals.

Monsters that had come from the Gates. Hideous creatures full of the desire to eat people.

It had already been four years since the world became this way, and even though Baek Dambi had been a Hunter for three years, she often felt as if all of it was a dream.

Sometimes, as she wore the crop top and sunglasses she used to wear as an idol, she imagined that she might wake up from the dream and everything would return to normal.

She would stop shooting guns despite never being meant for it, and the man in front of her would be competing in the UFC...

“Ah, I'll be right back.”

Kim Geuk's angry growl, and the infrasound contained within it, pulled Baek Dambi out of her detached mood.

Kim Geuk used Spatial Teleportation first and disappeared, and the hunt began.

* * *

Footnotes:

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