WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Arsène
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ How an A-Rank Hunter Lives ◈
Chapter 70: Veteran Sergeant Kim Yo-han - [7]
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Kang Jun-chi trailed off as though it was difficult for him to answer right away.
“Um...”
Seok Jangsil pressed him.
“You aren't really planning to overthrow the country like this, are you? Storm the Blue House and demand a change of government or something?”
“Why would we?”
“Then what exactly do you want?”
Everyone on the bus focused on Kang Jun-chi's mouth. At last, he spoke.
“I just... want to screw over the Special Forces and that bastard Han Heeseok. It'd be nice if we got rid of the law that lets the Special Forces mobilize awakened people too...”
More than a few awakened people probably wanted to sigh at that limp answer.
I was one of them. Goddammit.
A force on the scale of an entire corps could not possibly make demands that small. How much would the important people, who had been tense and afraid of the awakened people on this bus, laugh at us when they heard them?
They might decide that, superhumans or not, we were still afraid of state power, since we couldn't even make serious demands. Then they might keep pulling this kind of bullshit in the future.
If we wanted to change something properly, we had to demand more than that.
Fortunately, I wasn't the only one who thought so. Kim Hyeongman spoke.
“What else should we demand?”
Seok Jangsil looked at him.
“You want to demand more?”
“We should. This is a show of force, after all. We definitely gathered too quickly. Because of that, we didn't even have time to properly decide the purpose of this protest, but I think we should make every demand we can. When else will we get a chance to gather like this again? We have to do it while we can.”
“So what demands come to mind right now...?”
Kim Hyeongman answered.
“I think we should use this chance to purge the existing Hunter Association, or establish a new one ourselves.”
“Come to think of it, Mr. Hyeongman, didn't you complain a lot on Huntweb about how the Hunter Association never does anything?”
“That's right. There's already a Hunter Association, and the government insists on monitoring even six people getting together for drinks. That made it hard for a larger group to establish any kind of organization, so let's promise to create one here and now! Or completely remake the existing Association!”
It was something everyone there could agree with. The existing Hunter Association had faithfully followed every order from the government under the excuse of serving the public good. It was no different from a lawyer hired by the defendant taking the prosecutor's side because they couldn't support a criminal.
Kim Hyeongman raised his voice further.
“I can't stand that government puppet organization anymore. I can't stand watching some bastard who has never hunted even a water deer, much less a Deathclaw, speak as if he's the chairman of the Association!”
“Then who will head the new Hunter Association?”
“Whoever it is, they have to represent our interests well, right? I don't even care if they're eager to line their own pockets. As long as they line them while protecting our interests, that's fine. I'd even welcome them using the Association as a stepping stone into politics. After all, there isn't a single former Hunter wearing a gold badge in the National Assembly right now...”
Kim Hyeongman kept passionately explaining why we needed an organization to represent our interests. It was just what I expected from someone who played an Elementalist. As his username showed, players of that class couldn't tolerate their group being put at any disadvantage.
“So wrecking the Special Forces and its commander... and establishing a Hunter Association is all we want from this opportunity?”
At Seok Jangsil's question, I spoke up.
“I have one thing I want to demand too...”
“What is it?”
“Shouldn't we pressure them to create something like an Awakened-Person Anti-Discrimination Act?”
It was apparently a rather unexpected suggestion.
“An Awakened-Person Anti-Discrimination Act?”
“Isn't the core problem behind all this that the government keeps taking extralegal measures against awakened people? We have to stop them from continuing to do this!”
“What do you mean by continuing to do this...?”
“They throw ice ability users into prison or containment facilities without physical evidence! They try to kill wanted awakened people right away because they say they'll be hard to control even after being subdued! They install listening devices in an S-rank Hunter's hotel room because they want to know what the hell he thinks about every day! We have to stop that. They're pulling all this shit outside the law just because we're awakened people. Shouldn't we stop them?”
When I mentioned ice ability users, everyone remained calm aside from briefly glancing at Baek Dambi. That changed after the rest of what I said.
“That's true. But if we demand a law, will they actually listen right away?”
“After what happened today, won't something work out somehow? The legislative process will take time, of course, but still...”
A serious discussion was taking place among the awakened people gathered there. Even Kang Jun-chi nodded, perhaps because his own name had been mentioned. I clenched my fist.
Everyone was talking excitedly on the bus when we heard the sound of propellers. I looked out the window and saw a helicopter flying alongside us.
“What is that? It isn't a military helicopter about to fire missiles at us, is it?”
“It looks like a broadcasting station helicopter.”
“Ah, they must be filming footage to air on the news.”
“If they report on us, what angle will they take?”
“They'll probably make us look like shit. Those bastards put out every news report and article exactly as the government tells them to.”
Everyone seemed to hold a grudge against broadcasters as they whispered among themselves. Kim Hyeongman gave a playful smile.
“Should we stop them from filming?”
He stuck his index finger out the window. A beam from his Heat Ray ability shot from his fingertip and struck the broadcasting station's camera. I watched its lens melt.
“Oh? Their camera broke, so those bastards are pulling out smartphones. They're determined to report this somehow, huh?”
Kim Hyeongman clicked his tongue, and I cut in.
“Should we just bring them down? There aren't any cars passing by, so it should be fine.”
“You want to kill them?”
“Not that.”
Instead of explaining, I used Spatial Teleportation.
When I appeared inside the broadcasting helicopter, the reporter and the others who had been aiming smartphones at us widened their eyes.
“Hi.”
I grabbed them and the pilot, then used Spatial Teleportation again. After setting them down beside the road, no one remained inside the helicopter. Kim Hyeongman fired his Heat Ray ability again, and this time the helicopter exploded.
With a thunderous roar, the falling helicopter slammed into the road. “Boom!” It was completely wrecked, flames and smoke pouring from it. Everyone started clapping.
“Wow!”
Back when I was active in the Korean Awakened Solidarity, it had been ignored every time it requested terrestrial television coverage. I had finally settled that grudge. Seeing those people stare blankly at the helicopter they had been riding in was incredibly satisfying.
I didn't care how the media or the public responded to this. Let those Nazi bastards who loved propaganda worry about that.
All we had to do was secure the rights that should rightfully be ours. Every right we deserved as superhuman awakened people, but which non-awakened scum had seized and refused to give up.
The bus continued through the increasingly excited atmosphere when someone spoke.
“Huh?”
Everyone's smartphones vibrated.
It was a Gate alert. The alert had been issued in Seoul. It looked close.
“This is probably related to Behemoth. Where is it?”
Even in the middle of all this, everyone showed the professional ethics expected of Hunters.
The bus changed course toward the location in the alert.
Passing cars racing in the opposite direction, our bus reached a Gate shimmering in midair.
Then we saw the beast lurking within it.
A beast so enormous that it seemed to have been shaped by a god. There was no other way to explain its existence.
“Behemoth...”
The Monster from myth was there.
Part of Behemoth's face showed through the Gate as it expanded in real time.
Behemoth was a Manticore from Sword World that had awakened to Gigantification thousands of years ago.
After living for thousands of years, the colossal Manticore had awakened not only to Heat Ray but also to the Rock Elemental ability. It was now famous as a four-hundred-meter Rock Elemental that shot down fighter jets and attack helicopters with beams fired from its Heat Ray ability.
I looked at the part of its face revealed through the Gate.
Ordinary Rock Elementals had outer shells made from rocks of varying sizes, making them look as if someone had forcibly stuck a pile of boulders together. Behemoth was different.
Perhaps because the rocks forming its body had been joined together for far too long, they formed a single solid shape, as if they had been one mass from the beginning.
That left the Manticore's distinctively hideous face clearly visible in the stone.
A Manticore's grotesque face was ugly enough to be revolting, but at that size, it seemed to possess a kind of sacredness.
An unreal creation, one that no longer looked like anything that had ever been alive, stared down at us as though it had been made in heaven to punish the earth.
More precisely, Behemoth seemed to be looking at Kang Jun-chi.
As a Rock Elemental, Behemoth could see the souls of awakened people. It could see Kang Jun-chi's ability itself and gauge how powerful it was with the naked eye.
Behemoth had likely started moving because Kang Jun-chi was absent. After confirming that he had returned, it seemed to abandon the idea of hunting.
“It's backing off!”
Sure enough, Behemoth moved away. It had probably taken only one step back inside the Gate, but that step felt enormous to us.
Behemoth quickly grew distant, and the Gate shrank with it.
Kim Yohan, who had already displayed a journalist's instincts once before, was filming everything.
“The response will be insane if I upload this online, right? Quite a few people didn't believe Behemoth stopped because of Jun-chi. Now everyone will know what happens if Jun-chi leaves!”
That was right. Kang Jun-chi had now proven that this country couldn't do without him.
Kang Jun-chi seemed extremely pleased by that fact. He had done nothing, yet he wore a broad smile.
Despite his small-minded nature, Kang Jun-chi craved the attention and approval of the masses. You could tell from how he kept uploading videos of himself teaching people lessons to his internet broadcast channel, despite having no need to make money.
Perhaps because the situation had satisfied his desires and boosted his confidence, he said,
“That was an amazing sight. Now let's go back to where we were heading!”
After we got back on the bus and resumed our journey, Kang Jun-chi had no intention of stopping.
If soldiers had blocked our path, I would've gladly clashed with them. Dozens of powerful awakened people were gathered here, and Kang Jun-chi was with us. It was entirely possible.
Unfortunately, what blocked our path was not military forces or the Special Forces.
Several dozen minutes later, a group of people in suits stood in front of the bus.
We got off and looked at the suited people standing before us. Wearing awkward smiles, they said,
“Ah, Hunters who always work so hard for the country! It is truly a pleasure to meet you like this. It is regrettable that we have to meet after you've gone through such an ordeal. Before we speak, I would like to begin by apologizing...”
I didn't know their exact titles or names, but they looked like people I had seen at least once on political television channels. They had come out to greet us.
Kim Hyeongman, who seemed well informed about politics, looked them over and muttered with satisfaction.
“Wow, five gold-badged lawmakers, and even the Minister of National Security?”
I would've gotten angry first if those important people had held their heads high and shouted for us to get lost. Fortunately, they weren't stupid enough to bark orders in front of a legion of awakened people brimming with confidence.
Everyone there looked fairly old. They must have lived through the harsh modern era and seen every kind of bloodshed. They had probably learned firsthand that in difficult times, simple violence could be far more threatening than laws or status.
Kim Hyeongman and several others who were good with words stepped forward to convey our demands to the important people.
Awakened people known for their strength, like Kang Jun-chi, Seok Jangsil, and me, stood behind them with our arms crossed, lending weight to their words.
“Uh, so... isn't the reason that bastard Han Heeseok was able to run wild like this because this country has a habit of not following the law when it comes to awakened people? That's what we're dissatisfied with and why we've gathered here...”
Kim Hyeongman seemed nervous about speaking to important people, so he was rambling, but it didn't matter.
Just as I was acquainted with Park Mihyeong and the mayor of Incheon City, any successful awakened Hunter had one or two politicians they knew. We could work out the details of the demands through them.
It was hot.
Sweat continuously ran down the faces of the important people who had come out to meet us beneath the blazing sun.
They kept saying yes, yes, without saying anything unpleasant or trying to lecture us from above. Dopamine flowed through my brain as I watched those politicians.
I saw the idea of Korean ethnic identity as something only Nazis would worship, so my feelings when reading Korean history were different from theirs.
When the Mongol army conquered Goryeo, when the Qing Dynasty forced King Injo to kneel, Nazis would feel humiliated reading those accounts. I often felt pleasure.
The pleasure of some powerful outside force, beyond anything the rulers of this land could imagine, destroying every existing order and hierarchy...
That was the pleasure I felt now.
Today, the awakened people gathered here had won. There might be differing opinions on whether we had defeated the Special Forces or the government, but one fact was clear.
We had won.
* * *
Footnotes:
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