WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Arsène

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ How an A-Rank Hunter Lives ◈

Chapter 78: Special Forces Member Han Hee - [2]

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A state must monopolize violence.

It has to keep dangerous weapons like firearms out of civilian hands, strictly prohibit private retribution, and prevent armed civilian groups from doing whatever they want. It cannot allow people outside state institutions to wield violence.

Except when it is cheaper to subcontract it.

As everyone knows, medieval city-states hired mercenaries to defend their cities not because Machiavelli had not been born early enough to lecture them about how standing armies were good and mercenaries were bad. They used mercenaries because hiring them was cheaper than maintaining a standing army.

For the same reason, the state maintains the Hunter system because it is cheaper that way.

It makes non-awakened Hunters, rather than soldiers, fight Monsters because it can put surplus workers with no jobs to use and avoid paying compensation when they are killed in action.

And it does not conscript every powerful awakened person into the military because paying them well without giving them explicit authority makes it easier to get awakened people to serve the state without becoming dissatisfied with society.

Gathering awakened people into one group and calling them soldiers would only increase the risk of rebellion. Apparently, keeping them as civilians and hiring them is cheaper in terms of social costs.

The conflict between awakened Hunters and the state stems from the state deciding to treat its own citizens like foreign mercenaries, then constantly thinking, “We still need to hold their reins...” and trying to monitor and control awakened people.

Looking at examples overseas, I could roughly understand why they did it, but it was hard for those of us being controlled and watched to put up with it.

Because we awakened people are the shepherds.

We are the ones who guard and protect the sheep, so why should we be watched by the sheep instead?

* * *

After finishing a hunt as usual and resting at home, I got a call.

「Kim Geuk, you've been busy as hell lately, right? Think you can spare some time?」

It was Kim Hyeongman. As befitted someone who played an Elementalist, that man loved gathering people together and speaking loudly. He asked me to meet him again.

He was not asking me out for drinks. It was for the “Association overhaul” he had mentioned before.

“So this time... you're electing the Hunter Association president, and you want me to come watch? As an Association committee member?”

Kim Hyeongman explained over the phone.

「More precisely, we're forming a Fairness Committee to monitor the Association president election process and an Awakened Committee to protect awakened Hunters' rights!」

“That sounds complicated...”

「Basically, we're gathering the people who were on that bus and giving each of them a committee position so we can keep an eye on how the Association operates! Obviously, you're busy, Kim Geuk, so if you really can't make it, it can't be helped...」

“I should go even if I don't have time. When should I come?”

So, for the first time since taking the Hunter exam, I set foot in the Hunter Association again.

I entered the Association's meeting hall.

As Kim Hyeongman had said, most of the awakened people who had gathered on the bus that day were there, including me.

“All right, Geuk? The vote among the committee members is in. From now on, you're the vice chairman of the Awakened Committee!”

Seok Jangsil said that as he pinned a name tag reading “Awakened Committee Vice Chairman Kim Geuk” to me.

I asked him.

“If I'm vice chairman, who's the chairman?”

“The chairman is Kang Jun-chi, but he said he couldn't leave his post carelessly, so he didn't come. He doesn't really need to come in person. Neither you nor Kang Jun-chi needs to do anything. You just need to lend us your names and give the organization more weight...”

Jangsil kept explaining with a grin, but I could no longer see that friendly attitude as entirely innocent.

Because this guy... was suspicious.

Very suspicious, though I had no plans to spread that suspicion to anyone else.

There was no physical evidence behind it.

I found Jangsil suspicious because Kang Junman's testimony that “there are no rock ability users in the Special Forces” conflicted with Jangsil's earlier claim that “a rock ability user in the Special Forces hid a listening device in the wall, and I found it.”

It was hard to think of a reason for Kang Junman to lie, but easy to think of reasons Jangsil might.

For example, it could have gone like this.

Suppose Jangsil was some kind of Special Forces secret agent and had planted listening devices in Kang Jun-chi's hotel room with other Special Forces members.

Then, when Jangsil was summoned by Kang Jun-chi, several listening devices had already been found. His own device was in danger of being discovered too, so he put on that act and gave that explanation to remove the device, which might reveal that he had hidden it in a way only a rock ability user like him could manage. He could have been trying to gain Kang Jun-chi's trust as well.

But reality was different from a detective novel. Common sense said it was much more likely that neither of them had deliberately tried to lie and that one of them had simply said something based on mistaken information.

Later, I tried to find information on the Special Forces members, but nothing about them had been released to the public. Since I found no evidence, I decided to keep that suspicion to myself for now.

Even if my suspicion was true, I did not think telling others would do any good. Kang Jun-chi would obviously go completely berserk.

He was already tormented by every kind of paranoid suspicion. If I gave him evidence that one of his suspicions had been right, his condition would only get worse, not better.

Kang Jun-chi was already keeping his distance from Jangsil out of suspicion. There was no need for me to say anything that might sow discord just because I wanted to prepare for a possibility that might not even exist.

More than anything, I knew how disgusting it was to accuse someone of being the culprit based on nothing but suspicion.

Whatever anyone else might do, I, with a younger sister who had been thrown in prison without evidence, should never do something like that. Never.

“Is everyone here? It has been a few months since we met on that bus, hasn't it? I'm glad to see you all again! I'm so happy that we can finally put into practice what we discussed back then!”

From the podium, Kim Hyeongman began speaking loudly to everyone, just as one would expect from an Elementalist player.

“Although I have taken the position of chairman of the Fairness Committee, it isn't because I know more than any of you! If anyone has an opinion, please don't hesitate to...”

The awakened people who had ridden that bus, along with prominent awakened Hunters who had not been there, gathered to listen to his speech. Baek Dambi, my ring girl whom I had brought with me, was among them too.

Baek Dambi, standing beside me, whispered quietly.

“I wonder if people will criticize me later. They might say Kim Geuk is favoring me too much just because I'm on his team...”

Was she worried that an icehead like her did not belong somewhere like this? I said it to reassure her.

“Don't say that. On Huntweb, everyone who saw footage of what you did that day was full of praise.”

“Sorry, but what was Huntweb again? I feel like I've heard of it before, but I can't really remember...”

Even that shameless Baek Dambi had been given a committee position, and though she did not say so, she seemed very pleased.

Because when she went to the restroom just now, Cyber Magneto had made a post on Huntweb hinting that she had become an Association committee member, using an extremely arrogant tone.

Ⓐ syberMagneto: I joined the Awakened Committee this time. Damn. They offered me a committee seat because I've been an awakened Hunter for over two years, so I took it without thinking much about it. Non-awakened trash can't do this, can they?

It was a place where every awakened person was having a good time.

Kim Hyeongman continued announcing strict and fair new Association regulations, satisfying everyone.

“As you can see, we have specified that anyone qualified to become Hunter Association president or a committee member must have been active as a Hunter for at least two years! This way, it will not be difficult for awakened people to retire and take a position each!

“After all, non-awakened people either die or retire before even working as Hunters for a year, don't they? If we selected Association members by a simple majority vote, we'd be outnumbered by non-awakened Hunters, so we added this special rule!”

“That certainly sounds good, but what about someone like Kim Geuk? I heard he hasn't even been a Hunter for a full year yet. Doesn't that mean he can't be given a committee seat?”

“Of course, to account for people like Kim Geuk, we have a separate exception recognizing anyone whose achievements are notable enough to be acknowledged by a majority of the committee members...”

Then a discordant note entered the room. A Special Forces member had appeared.

“Excuse me...”

An argument could be heard at the doorway.

Soon, an uninvited guest appeared in the meeting hall.

The guest was wearing a Special Forces uniform. With everyone's eyes on him, he spoke.

“I don't understand why you're trying to throw me out... Is there a reason you're stopping me from observing?”

I knew the Special Forces member who had shown up late and was spouting that kind of crap.

“Han Hee?”

Jangsil recognized Han Hee too and frowned. The awakened Hunters gathered there glared at him. There were especially many awakened people active in Seoul, so the Special Forces uniform alone gave them enough reason to dislike him.

“Why are the Special Forces here? Can't you see this is a Hunter Association meeting?”

Sharp voices turned toward Han Hee. He hesitated before answering.

“I told you. I'm here to observe the meeting...”

“That's exactly what I'm asking. What right does a bastard who's not even a Hunter have to observe?”

“I...”

“It’s obvious. You came to watch us because it looks like those subversive awakened bastards who put on a show of force that day have gathered here to plan something. Isn't that right?”

Someone asked that, and apparently it was the correct answer.

Han Hee moved his lips as if trying to make an excuse, then said this.

“I didn't come here to monitor you, but it is true that you need to disclose what is going on to the outside. Aren't soldiers prohibited from secretly forming private organizations? If you don't want to invite that kind of suspicion...”

“We're not soldiers. We're civilians. And we already said we'd submit the meeting minutes afterward.”

“Even so...”

“And even if someone observes, it should be a proper civil servant. Why is some nobody from the Special Forces here to observe? Do we need to see you start cutting people up the moment things don't go your way?”

There were two reasons the awakened people gathered here reacted this way. They did not want this meeting, equal to every Hunter but even more equal to awakened Hunters, made public. And every awakened Hunter hated the Special Forces.

“If you were going to send someone from the Special Forces, why not send Park Juheon? That bastard was a former Hunter who had worked for over two years. If things went well, he might even have qualified for a committee position.”

“One of my seniors was kicked out after the last incident...”

“Then why did they send you? Ah, I get it. Those Special Forces bastards knew this was a place where they'd get cursed at if they showed up, so they deliberately sent the guy everyone ostracizes. They're too scared Kim Geuk will beat them up if they swagger in and shamelessly force their way into the meeting like usual, so they deliberately...”

Han Hee was cursed at by everyone, openly humiliated, and whenever he tried to argue back, he was interrupted and laughed at. Just like on Huntweb.

It was unpleasant to watch him get lynched like that.

If that guy had brought a knife or something, I would have taken it as the Special Forces coming to make a show of force and thrown him out even if I had to fight to the death.

But Han Hee was empty-handed.

Seeing that, I thought he had simply come to take abuse on behalf of the Special Forces, and I felt sorry for him.

I regarded the Special Forces as half-baked awakened people because they oppressed awakened people under the orders of Han Heeseok, a non-awakened piece of trash. Even so, this guy was an exception.

Because Han Hee was strong.

Powerful awakened people deserved respect no matter where they were or what they did.

While everyone continued raising their voices at Han Hee, I shouted.

“Enough, enough! Everyone, be quiet for a moment.”

Just like on Huntweb, I had enough standing among Hunters to raise my voice.

Everyone fell silent, at least for a moment, and I asked Han Hee.

“What did your Special Forces seniors tell you? What exactly did they tell you to do here?”

Han Hee seemed thoroughly cowed after being harassed by everyone there, and he answered weakly.

“No, just... They told me to watch what you were discussing...”

“So you have to listen to what we discuss and report it to the Special Forces? That's your mission?”

“More or less...”

“Then I can explain what we discussed in the meeting hall to you later. For now, let's get out of here.”

“Yes... What?”

“Don't make everyone angry by saying you're here to monitor them. Come with me, okay? It's almost lunchtime, so we should eat. Let's go get lunch together. My treat.”

“What?”

“Dambi? I'm leaving first, so come to the place we're supposed to meet later today!”

Han Hee made confused noises as I grabbed his wrist and pulled him out of the meeting hall.

It was a repeat of the situation from last time.

Everyone seemed to think I had personally stepped in to throw Han Hee out. They applauded, and Han Hee and I left the meeting hall to their enthusiastic send-off.

Then I took him to a restaurant. The most expensive restaurant I knew, and probably the best place to feed a pitiful junior.

Footnotes:

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