WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Arsène

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ How an A-Rank Hunter Lives ◈

Chapter 63: A-Rank Hunter Baek Dam-bi - [2]

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Baek Dambi stood there blankly for nearly thirty seconds. Unable to take her eyes off what she had caused, she simply stood still.

Then she staggered.

Startled, I hurried over. My legs were buried in ice, but I broke free through sheer force, rushed to her, and caught her.

“Are you okay?”

“Huh? Yes... I’m just a little dizzy. Why is this happening...?”

“Did you overuse your ability? If I spam Spatial Teleportation, I get so dizzy I can barely stay on my feet.”

“Then that must be it...”

“This isn’t important right now! Meditate, quickly.”

“Meditate?”

“You heard how to open a Gate, didn’t you? You’re an elemental, so you must’ve absorbed the memories of the one we just killed. You need to check whether any of those memories include a way to open a Gate...”

Baek Dambi did as I said. After I brought her somewhere safe and away from the water, she staggered and sank down before closing her eyes.

Then I got to work.

I entered the flooded subway and knocked on the train door.

“It’s safe now. Come out!”

The door did not open. When I pressed my ear against it, though, I heard someone say, “Never open the door. They say elementals can talk like people for a while after eating someone...”

I had no choice but to use Spatial Teleportation through the door. A group of survivors huddled together in fear came into view.

The grim faces of people who looked ready to meet their end brightened in an instant.

More precisely, it happened the moment they saw me.

“It’s Kim Geuk!”

To put it as modestly as possible, Hunter Kim Geuk appearing in Incheon now meant survival was guaranteed.

The survivors seemed to realize they were safe the moment I appeared. They crowded around me and fired off all kinds of questions.

“What about the elemental across the way?”

“I got it.”

“Wow!”

“Anyway, it’s safe now, so everyone come out. Oh, the other side is frozen, but there are several bodies under the ice. Be careful not to step on them...”

The people who emerged from the train car widened their eyes.

“What the hell is this...?”

Their eyes were filled with astonishment as they stared at the completely frozen subway tracks.

They had just seen corpses and narrowly escaped death, yet several people were filming the scene with their smartphones. That showed just how incredible they found it.

It was understandable. Even I, who had seen Kang Jun-chi use his ability firsthand, could barely believe this was real.

Icehead or not, she was still an awakened person. She was one of the great race born to rule weak non-awakened people, beings closer to gods than anything on Earth.

I was so proud that I wanted to grab my ring girl’s wrist, raise it high, and loudly announce that she had done all of this. It was only a shame I could not do that when so many people had died.

After getting everyone to safety, I returned to Baek Dambi and asked.

“So, did you figure out how to open a Gate?”

Baek Dambi trailed off.

“No. I don’t know...”

“Really? Well, that one looked like an Earth creature that had awakened. Since it was from Earth, it probably didn’t know how to open a Gate either. So absorbing its memories didn’t get you anything?”

After that brief conversation, we boarded the helicopter again.

The job was not over yet. It was monsoon season, and places throughout Incheon were in chaos.

As we headed to another destination, we talked.

“You looked surprised by what you did earlier, Dambi. Have you never used your ability at maximum output?”

“I tried it once last year. It wasn’t this powerful then...”

“So you got that much stronger in seven months this year?”

“Yes, probably...?”

“Does that even make sense?”

“Now that I think about it, maybe it does... No, it seems completely possible.”

“Why?”

Baek Dambi answered my question.

“This team has killed dozens of times more Monsters this year than I killed in nearly three years of working as a Hunter. We also killed two elementals with this team... Should I thank you, Kim Geuk?”

“Please do.”

“Yes, thank you very...”

“Anyway, do you think you can use your ability to hunt other Monsters now? Or is it still difficult in places without much moisture?”

“Maybe if it rains...?”

“Then we should hope it rains often. Seriously, that was amazing! I’ll have to call you the Ice Queen instead of the Ice Princess now. You were practically Elsa.”

Baek Dambi listened silently to my praise, then casually put her sunglasses back on. I knew why. She probably wanted to hide where her eyes were wandering.

Anyway, she seemed embarrassed but pleased. The slight tremble in the corners of her raised lips made that clear.

I wanted to keep praising her until her whole face turned red, but I could not.

The helicopter had reached another destination.

Once again, I grabbed Baek Dambi’s wrist and used Spatial Teleportation.

From the roof of a building, I surveyed the situation.

This place was flooded too. Water covered the entire street, and a massive tidal wave was sweeping down one road.

A brown-skinned man was running away from it.

“Nguyen? You’re working hard right now, huh?”

When I greeted him over the radio, fluent Incheon dialect came through the other end.

「I told you I’d definitely come!」

Down on that water-filled road, Nguyen was keeping his promise to work hard in any operation I joined.

He seemed to be rescuing survivors. Carrying two survivors on his back, he ran from the massive tidal wave. Water had risen to his calves, yet Nguyen did not slow down. He ran at an astonishing speed.

The combination of an acceleration ability and a force-field exoskeleton really was broken. The tidal wave could not keep up with him.

Before long, Nguyen disappeared into the distance with the survivors on his back.

Having lost its prey, the tidal wave lost its momentum.

Then the body of an ancient predator made entirely of water revealed itself.

A megalodon? Or some unknown plesiosaur?

It looked like some enormous prehistoric aquatic predator had become an elemental. The elemental swam along with a huge fin exposed above the water, then sprayed out a stream of water for no reason and smashed an electric pole.

Judging by that tantrum, it seemed angry. Had it made an expedition onto land to hunt, only to lose its prey and find nothing else worth hunting?

Large-scale casualties from Water Elemental attacks had only occurred during the first year after the Gates opened. Since then, people had adapted. In areas that obviously looked likely to flood, they evacuated or shut themselves inside high-rise buildings to avoid danger.

People still died during monsoon season, but nowhere near as many as in that first year.

Baek Dambi, who had been watching the elemental beside me, suddenly spoke.

“Looking at it, I think we can just leave that thing alone. It doesn’t seem like it has caused any casualties...”

She seemed to be right. Water Elementals and Flame Elementals were extremely difficult and troublesome to kill, so people usually left them alone rather than trying to take them down. Besides, this one looked much stronger than the elemental we saw in the subway earlier...

“Still, should we try killing it?”

Baek Dambi looked at me.

“Are you trying to help me open a Gate?”

“Yes. It obviously doesn’t look like it’s from Earth, does it? It seems like an elemental that came from Soweol by opening a Gate itself. If we kill it, maybe this time you’ll finally be able to open one...”

Baek Dambi seemed to think it over for a moment, then nodded.

Soon, I grabbed her wrist and used Spatial Teleportation again.

The moment we appeared in front of the elemental, the enormous Water Elemental immediately seemed to recognize us, two awakened people, as threatening enemies.

Streams of water shot out from all over its body...

I had just watched it destroy an electric pole with those streams, so I was prepared this time.

After we used Spatial Teleportation, more than a dozen streams of water passed through the spot where we had been standing and smashed windows and all manner of things.

And us?

We had arrived even closer to it.

We were standing on the roof of a submerged passenger car, with the elemental’s fin right beside us.

Soon, the swimming elemental reached us. Its fin was right in front of us.

Glass fragments and concrete dust flew through the air as I gave the signal.

“Now!”

Baek Dambi immediately stretched out her hand, and the cooling began. The elemental’s fin, where her hand had touched it, started to freeze.

Maybe because she had overused her ability in the subway, the cooling was not as explosive as it had been then. Still, it was enough. The cold was freezing the elemental’s massive body in an instant.

The elemental seemed to sense the danger. It even gave up on fighting back and desperately tried to get away from her.

I did not let it.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

I used Spatial Teleportation in front of the elemental as it swam away with half its body frozen. Then I swung my hammer wide and struck it head-on, scattering its head into countless droplets.

The blow did not kill it, but that was fine. Baek Dambi’s cold caught up with the elemental after it paused for an instant to reform itself.

At last, the cold spread through its entire body.

The moment its scattered head reformed, the shark froze solid.

I admired the masterpiece in front of me.

An ice statue of a gigantic ancient aquatic predator. It was magnificent and beautiful.

“Wow...!”

Then there was my ring girl on the ice, admiring the statue she had created...

My heart pounded as I looked at her. I had to fight back the urge to suddenly ask her out.

If I were not basically her boss, if someone in a higher position asking her out would not put her under considerable pressure and stress, I would have confessed long ago.

If there were not a real possibility that my failed confession could fracture the team, I would have confessed already...

I could not lose myself in my thoughts for long.

To finish off the frozen elemental, I raised my hammer high. Even in the rain, faint sunlight and the glitter of the massive ice made the hammer shine.

When I looked up, I saw a broadcasting station’s helicopter filming us. It had probably recorded Baek Dambi’s remarkable feat as well.

With a heart full of satisfaction, I brought the hammer down.

After several strikes, the massive elemental’s body shattered into pieces. The moment it finally died, I held back the joy flooding my mind and shouted.

“Dambi, meditate! Meditate now!”

* * *

I still did not know whether Baek Dambi had finally gained the ability to open a Gate as a result of this hunt.

Still, I knew she had found some kind of clue in the memories she gained after killing the elemental and was working hard on it.

I also knew she was feeling extremely proud of herself right now.

I could be sure of that after checking Huntweb.

As expected, footage taken by the broadcasting station’s helicopter had been uploaded to Huntweb. Two famous Huntweb users had appeared in it, and the video itself was incredible, so the reactions were enthusiastic too.

Ⓐ Dragon : Ice Age, holy shit.

Anonymous : She’s way beyond the level of being called an icehead. If an Ice Crystal ability user could use their ability to this extent, there’s no way they would’ve been looked down on worldwide.

Ⓑ GoodHunter : I had no idea Dambi was this amazing even though I see her all the time...!

Most of the comments were sincere admiration for her achievement, but a few people suddenly started talking about me.

Anonymous : How damn well has that bitch been riding Kim Geuk’s coattails?

Ⓐ ElmayaKaeyo : Now that I think about it, she really does owe Kim Geuk. That guy has responded to far more calls than A-rank Hunters who have been active for nearly three years.

Anonymous : ? He hasn’t even been active for a year. How is that possible?

Ⓐ Stonehead Youth : Kim Geuk is a maniac on Huntweb, but he’s a maniac in real life too. Every time Incheon calls Hunters, he responds without missing a single one, even if it’s the middle of the night.

Ⓐ Stonehead Youth : On top of that, he’s been running the Incheon Recovery Project and slaughtering Monsters. That young lady Baek Dambi must’ve joined every time too, so she got tons of experience points by his side.

I was worried that those comments might have hurt my ring girl’s feelings, but it seemed to be a needless concern.

Before long, one comment hinted at exactly how she was feeling.

Ⓐ syberMagneto : This icehead’s pretty good, lol.

She looked so happy she did not know what to do, huh? Cute little thing.

Still, why was this woman fooling around on Huntweb instead of practicing to open a Gate? I considered calling to question her, then decided against it.

Maybe she did not need to open a Gate anymore. What she had shown this time was more than enough for her to be recognized as a proper A-rank Hunter. Incheon City might even try to extend her contract in preparation for monsoon season.

Besides, the Baek Dambi I saw in the hallucination had been treated badly despite being able to open a Gate, and she had eventually left for Soweol. That suggested that gaining the ability to open a Gate did not automatically mean people would treat her well. Maybe, in that hallucination, Behemoth had already moved away from Korea, so checking the situation inside Gates had not been urgent...

With a grin, I shut down my computer and started getting ready for bed.

Then I suddenly got a call. Seok Jangsil spoke from the other end.

「Kim Geuk, did you see that post on Huntweb?」

“Oh, Dambi’s post? Of course I saw...”

「No, not that one! Go look for yourself!」

Since Seok Jangsil said that, I obediently opened Huntweb again.

When I saw the new hot topic on Huntweb, I realized it concerned me.

Ⓐ SeoulTobagi : The Special Forces says I need to cooperate with them to catch Kim Seokhee. What’s this?

Is this some kind of 9th-Grade Call? I’ve never heard of them contacting someone by email for a 9th-Grade Call.

There were already a ton of comments below it.

People explained that the law announced last time seemed to have gone into effect, and the Special Forces were apparently trying to mobilize awakened people.

The poster soon responded angrily.

Ⓐ SeoulTobagi : Are you kidding me? I’ve worked as a Hunter and earned every bit of my pay without being inferior to anyone, so why are they trying to make me work for them?

Ⓐ SoulOfTheKoreanPeopleIsHan : ;; Doesn’t the official document say you can’t leak the operation details to outsiders?

Ⓐ SeoulTobagi : I checked, and it does. So what? Why should I care?

Ⓐ SoulOfTheKoreanPeopleIsHan : Judging by your username, you seem to be an A-rank Hunter working in Seoul. Since Seoul falls under the Special Forces’ jurisdiction, they may be able to penalize you. I’m saying this because I’m worried. You should delete this post quickly.

Ⓐ SeoulTobagi : It’s fine. My contract with Seoul ends this September anyway, lol. I’ve earned enough after working as a Hunter for almost two years, and I don’t plan to renew it, so I’m not scared of whatever penalties they give me.

Ⓐ SeoulTobagi : Do these fucking bastards think they can order a veteran sergeant around? Let’s see if I listen just because they called me, you assholes.

I had a feeling this was not someone else’s problem.

I checked my email, and sure enough, one message from the Special Forces stood out.

It was an email about something called the Kim Seokhee Subjugation Operation.

* * *

Footnotes:

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