WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Arsène
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ How an A-Rank Hunter Lives ◈
Chapter 79: Special Forces Member Han Hee - [3]
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I'd known it from the moment we first met, but Han Hee was timid even for someone new to working life.
It took him more than ten minutes after I dragged him along before he finally asked.
“Where are we going?”
“Ah, a hotel. One with a spacious restaurant.”
Had he thought I'd take him to some gukbap place? Han Hee blinked at the unexpected answer, but I managed to bring him to the hotel anyway.
The other guests had already arrived at the hotel restaurant. They recognized me and immediately came over.
“Ah, boss!”
An elderly couple approached me. Realizing they were Jeong Jinyeong's parents, I bowed politely.
“You're Jinyeong's father, right? I'm always in Jinyeong's debt.”
“No, no! We're the ones who should be...”
The elderly couple showered me with thanks, saying how sincerely grateful they were that I looked after their good-for-nothing son and asking me to keep taking care of him.
They seemed to know who had helped their shut-in son earn so much money. I tried not to act too arrogantly in front of them. Wasn't it only natural for the Duke of Incheon to take good care of his flock?
After they stepped away, I spoke to Han Hee, who was standing there awkwardly.
“Ah, I forgot to mention it, but this is our hunter team's dinner. It won't be awkward for you to join us for a meal, though. Like you just saw, everyone brought their families.”
“They brought their families to eat together?”
“Yes.”
“At a place like this?”
It was an excessively luxurious venue for a casual team dinner.
Just looking at that tuna sashimi over there, which only remained because it had been frozen before the Gates opened and there was no way to catch more, you could feel the vanished glory of the old world.
“Did Incheon City arrange something like this? For Kim Geuk, who's contributed so much to Incheon City...”
“No. We happened to have the day off from hunting, so I booked it with my own money to feed the team.”
“You booked a hotel like this with your own money?”
“Employee welfare, I guess? I know asking them to come out for a meal on their day off could be stressful...”
I gestured toward Seong Munyeong, Lee Jongho, and their families.
“Still, they seem to like it, right? Look, they even brought family and friends.”
On Huntweb, only awakened Hunters were treated as valuable, while non-awakened Hunters were seen as lowly people who simply made a lot of money. That attitude was not limited to Huntweb. It had spread throughout Korean society.
So I decided my team members needed opportunities to save face in front of their families, to show the people around them that their boss treated them well for their work as Hunters.
That was why I arranged gatherings like this whenever I had the chance.
“Excuse me. I'll go greet my team members' families for a moment. Han Hee, start eating first.”
“Ah, okay.”
Then I did exactly as I said. I went over and greeted my team members' families first.
“Jongho's mother? It's an honor to meet you. You know Jongho does good work, right?”
“Goodness, I thought you were some celebrity, but you're Hyeongtaek's wife? Hyeongtaek really is a lucky man. Ah, you brought your daughter too! Your daughter's a Heat Ray user? Wow...”
Baek Dambi entered while I was in the middle of that. She had come alone. It looked like she had no family of her own, and her only friends were probably from Huntweb.
Ah, calling them friends was a stretch too. My poor ring girl might not have a single friend at all.
After showing my ring girl to her seat, I returned to Han Hee.
Seeing him pile food onto his plate and eat, I felt satisfied myself.
“You're eating well. Does the food suit your taste?”
Han Hee flinched in the middle of eating, then slowly nodded.
“There are so many foods I haven't even seen since the Gates opened. Things that feel like if I don't eat them now, I'll never get another chance...”
“Don't you get plenty of chances to come to restaurants like this? Your father's a high-ranking public official.”
“That doesn't mean our family has a lot of money. My father and I are both salaried workers in the end...”
That was quite unexpected. Han Heeseok was the National Security Ministry's vice minister. At that rank, he must have had plenty of ways to make money besides his salary. Was he playing the part of an incorruptible official so no one could find fault with him?
It was disgusting that his precious son was the one suffering because of it.
Han Hee looked around with envy as he spoke.
“Hunters really must make good money. Seeing this level of employee welfare is honestly impressive. I know you earn especially well because you're such an incredible Hunter, Kim Geuk, but...”
“If you're jealous, quit the Special Forces and become a Hunter too. You'll probably make as much as I do.”
Han Hee gave an awkward smile at my sincere suggestion.
“How could I possibly become a Hunter?”
“What will you do if you don't become a Hunter? I heard before that you're not satisfied with life in the Special Forces either. Are you going to keep doing it?”
“For the next few years, at least...”
“Why?”
“I still have mandatory service left. About three years... Still, it doesn't only have disadvantages. Serving in the Special Forces exempts me from military service...”
I clicked my tongue at his defensive explanation.
“It's still a bad deal. I heard the mandatory Special Forces service period is four to six years? Instead of being tied down that long, regular military service seems better... Anyway, once your mandatory service ends, will you become a Hunter right away?”
“I'd like to, but I don't know if I can...”
“Why? Does your father stop you from becoming a Hunter? Does he tell you not to even think about doing lowly physical work like hunting?”
“It isn't because Hunters are lowly, but my father does stop me. He wants me to become a public official...”
“So he forced you to join the Special Forces?”
“Yes.”
“And after you joined, your father got kicked out of his position as Special Forces commander, so you're the one suffering?”
“Yes...”
My blood pressure rose at that timid answer. Seriously, fucking hell.
I muttered exactly what I felt.
“Seriously, those Special Forces morons. Looking at what they do, it's hard to even call them awakened people. Do they think this world is still the same as before the Gates opened?”
Han Hee looked at me with a flustered expression, probably startled by my sudden outburst.
I continued.
“Han Hee. I'm serious when I say this, but you're worth more than the entire Special Forces.”
“What?”
“Whether they're ordinary people or awakened people, civil servants or Special Forces members, nobody has adapted to this changed world yet. The world changed, but they still think and act according to the values they had before it changed. That's why you're being pushed around like this.”
“What are you talking about...?”
“People may all look similar, but that doesn't make them the same. It's like how it makes no sense to treat a small motorboat and a warship as the same kind of ship...”
Han Hee listened blankly as I continued.
“If ordinary people are motorboats, the awakened people in the Special Forces are medieval junks. They can ram motorboats and sink them whenever they want. So they think they're amazing. They figure there's nothing to fear if the junks gather into a fleet.
That's because they think the only ships in the world are motorboats and junks. If another ship invades from the sea, they think sending out a few panokseon, traditional Korean warships, will be enough to suppress it. But the world has changed, so that won't work.”
I scoffed and went on.
“Now, ironclads weighing thousands of tons cross the sea. Ships that can sink every junk and motorboat by themselves, whether they form a fleet or however many ships there are. And you know you're a particularly special ironclad, Han Hee?”
“Me?”
“Of course. You're an ironclad that might be able to sink an aircraft carrier. Whether motorboats throw a fit or junks throw a fit, you have every right to ignore them all and sail whichever route you want... But you haven't adapted to the changed world either, so you can't even bring yourself to do that.”
Just as I said, “I hope one day you'll ram them all,” Seong Munyeong approached and asked,
“Who is this?”
I introduced him.
“Han Hee from the Special Forces.”
“Ah, that SoulOfTheKoreanPeopleIsHan guy from Huntweb?”
Before Han Hee's expression could twist up, I explained first.
“And once he makes his Hunter debut, he'll be treated as well as I am.”
I immediately explained Han Hee's entire ability catalog, and Seong Munyeong reacted exactly as I wanted.
“Wow, that's fucking amazing. Once you start life as a Hunter, seriously...”
I clearly saw Han Hee's expression change for an instant.
A series of emotions passed across his face. As befitted an acceleration ability user, hope, dismay, and gloom flashed across his face in rapid succession.
Had his desire to quit the Special Forces and become a Hunter grown stronger now?
I sincerely hoped so. Wasn't that why I had given him such a passionate speech?
It frustrated me that this guy, who deserved to be treated as well as I was, had started life as a public servant because of the demands of a worthless non-awakened person, only to be pushed around by people far inferior to himself.
While we continued eating, I muttered,
“Ah, the Association meeting is over.”
A look of realization crossed Han Hee's face. I tapped at my phone, sent him a file, and spoke.
“Here, I sent you the meeting recording. Submit this to the Special Forces. You can say you went into the meeting room and recorded it yourself.”
Han Hee's eyes widened at the unexpected gift.
“How did you...”
“I sent a KakaoTalk message earlier and asked them to prepare it separately. I did well, right? Now you've completed your mission, so eat in peace. You can use your smartphone or go straight home if you want. Take a break before you go, okay?”
By now, he should have understood that I had truly done him a personal favor.
As I stood up from my seat, Han Hee said,
“Thank you... for everything.”
I grinned.
“For what? We're both ironclads. And just in case, will the Special Forces keep sending you for Association matters?”
“I think so...”
“Then don't suffer for no reason. Find me first. If I'm not there, at least call me. Got it?”
Han Hee hesitated, then nodded.
After that, I spent time enjoying the meal with everyone.
Everyone had eaten their fill, and just as the gathering was beginning to break up and people were deciding whether to leave or get coffee, it happened.
Since the Gates opened, one way the world had changed was that disasters striking out of a clear sky had become far too common.
Unannounced catastrophes now erupted frequently, as though that were perfectly normal.
Today was no different.
“Bzzzzzzzz...” The phones of all the Hunters gathered here rang at once.
Seong Munyeong's face hardened as he looked at his smartphone. He said to me,
“Boss, a Gate opened...!”
He did not need to tell me. The aftereffects, the countless emotions unique to Gates, had already begun digging into my mind.
I had adapted enough by now that it was not painful, but the families my team members had brought looked like they were about to faint.
I stood and called out loudly.
“Everyone, gather up. You need to evacuate. There's a shelter nearby, so I'll teleport you there!”
As I prepared to use Spatial Teleportation on Seong Munyeong and his family first, he asked,
“What about you? You didn't bring a weapon either. Are you going to evacuate with us?”
“Me? I'll see the situation and decide whether to evacuate or not.”
I gave him a vague answer, then moved Seong Munyeong and his family to the shelter.
At the moment, my team members, including him, were useless in this situation. None of them had brought weapons.
This was Seoul. Unlike the generous Incheon police, who did not care if Hunters carried machine guns or rocket launchers down the street, the petty Seoul police cracked down on Hunters carrying even automatic assault rifles.
Of course, I was empty-handed too, but I wasn't some non-awakened person who became weaker than a chimpanzee when someone took away his gun. Was I?
After evacuating everyone, I hurriedly searched for a usable weapon.
Ah, I found one right away. The massive hammer in the bed of Seong Munyeong's pickup truck.
It was something he always carried for me, in case of an emergency.
When I gripped the enormous hammer, Han Hee finally seemed to understand what I intended.
His eyes widened.
“Kim Geuk, a Gate opened. Are you going to get involved?”
“Yes.”
“You just said you'd decide whether to get involved after seeing the situation...?”
“I said that because if the boss says he's getting involved, the other team members might feel pressured about evacuating. Besides, I'm an A-rank Hunter. In a situation like this, shouldn't I naturally get involved?”
Han Hee stared at me blankly. I had no idea what he was thinking.
I asked him,
“Come to think of it, I've never heard that the Special Forces get mobilized when a Gate opens. Don't Special Forces members have a duty to respond in situations like this?”
Han Hee could not answer immediately. After a long pause, he finally opened his mouth.
“Well, Special Forces members are forbidden from hunting Monsters.”
“Why? Is there some rule that gets you disciplined if you hunt a Monster in the Special Forces?”
I asked jokingly, but his answer was unexpected.
“Yes. It's not an explicitly written rule, but there's an unspoken rule shared among Special Forces members... Even if Seoul City or the police ask for help because a Monster appeared, we're supposed to ignore it.”
“Why would there be a rule like that?”
“If Special Forces members start going out to hunt Monsters once or twice, eventually they'll be treated as though it's natural to mobilize the Special Forces for Monster hunting.”
“Ah, so they can't do dangerous work like that for a monthly salary of only twelve million won?”
“More or less... So if a Special Forces member even kills a Deathclaw, the senior members say that person harmed the organization. They don't just give them a hard time, they...”
Han Hee trailed off and watched my reaction. I could understand why.
Even he must have been embarrassed. I was an Incheon Hunter and had no reason to get involved in this situation, yet I was doing it out of professional ethics. Meanwhile, he was going to stay still because he was afraid of his seniors.
Honestly, hearing that made me think the Special Forces really were a bunch of freeloaders and half-baked awakened people, but I did not say it aloud.
As I always said, powerful awakened people deserved respect.
Han Hee was still acting like a sheep, but he still deserved my respect.
Thinking of his pride, I said,
“Then there's nothing you can do. If you have time, could you bring a Hunter Rifle from a nearby police station?”
“A Hunter Rifle?”
“At least fifty kilograms. Bringing me equipment won't count as participating in a hunt, right? I'll head to the scene right away, so if you bring the Hunter Rifle, leave it here...”
He seemed burdened by being unable to do anything, because he did not refuse even that request.
“I'll bring it right away!”
Han Hee ran off at a speed so great that I could detect his movements only through my mental net.
He disappeared in an instant.
I gripped the hammer tightly and prepared to hunt.
Even I thought it was a little strange for a Hunter contracted with Incheon City to get involved in an incident in Seoul, but it did not matter. If I wanted to get involved, I would. Who could say anything?
And it looked like I had more than enough reason to do so.
Judging from the Gate's aftereffects I had just felt, it was a large Gate. Gigantic Monsters and powerful Monsters were sure to come pouring out.
Sure enough, the roar of an enormous Monster rang out from far away. The infrasound it carried gave me a brief jolt, and adrenaline began spreading through this heavy body.
Today, I stepped into the Octagon again.
* * *
Footnotes:
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