WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Arsène
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ How an A-Rank Hunter Lives ◈
Chapter 87: Soldiers - [1]
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What especially shocked me about this hallucination was how the government's actions in it went beyond anything I expected.
Until now, the government had committed every kind of illegal act through the Special Forces. Wiretapping, spying on gatherings of awakened people, attempts to summarily execute wanted awakened people. All kinds of filthy acts meant to monitor and control awakened people...
But at least those acts had been carried out in secret.
A decapitation show that seemed intended to openly announce who had done it was clearly different from the government conduct I had experienced. The method, the extremity, all of it.
That let me draw a few conclusions.
First, the futures I saw in hallucinations were not futures connected to this reality, but futures from some parallel world. I assumed that because, despite clearly preventing Baek Dambi from being kidnapped to Soweol, the future I later saw showed that she had already been kidnapped.
In that parallel world, Kang Jun-chi would have hated the government far less than he did now. That world's Kang Jun-chi would have gone to the hospital in an ambulance sent by the government without my help and received treatment. As a result, his delusion that the government wanted to kill him would have lessened considerably.
That world's Kang Jun-chi would not have been close to me, and he would not have come to take my side when the Special Forces gathered outside my house. He would not have joined the awakened people's bus protest either.
In the end, that world's Kang Jun-chi would not have sided with awakened people. He would have stood by and watched as the government oppressed them.
Also, the parallel-world me would have been embarrassingly weak compared to who I was now, and would not have achieved nearly as much as a Hunter. Whether it was the Kim Hyeongman from the hallucination or the Kim Geuk from it, neither would have been enough to become a focal point for awakened people.
So even if the Special Forces suddenly cut off Kim Hyeongman's head, the other awakened people would have simply been terrified. They would not have dared to take collective action in protest or retaliation.
In this reality, though, Kang Jun-chi had narrowly survived with my help and even experienced an attempted wiretap. He showed far greater hostility toward the government than before.
The awakened Hunters had also already united twice, and they had learned that collective action could get them what they wanted from the government.
The government would know that simply cutting off Kim Hyeongman's head would not solve anything now.
Unless they cut off my head or Kang Jun-chi's...
Damn it. I finally understood what Kang Jun-chi had been thinking when he shut himself eight hundred meters underground.
My head was full of thoughts like, What if someone casually comes up beside me, pulls out a force-field-coated knife, and tries to stab me? Or, How do I stop Special Forces members from breaking in while I'm asleep?
How was I supposed to live normally like this?
The fact that the hallucination I saw was a future that might or might not become reality made my head hurt even more. I had no idea how much attention I was supposed to pay to that future.
All these worries were practically a mental illness.
To reduce those paranoid worries, I took a few measures.
Ⓐ SoulOfTheKoreanPeopleIsHan: Military-exemption benefits if you join the Special Forces! Send me a message, and I'll kindly walk you through it!
Anonymous: Your fucking mom.
Up to that point, it was the usual sight on Huntweb. Han Hee promoted the Special Forces on his senior's orders, and sharp comments followed.
In the past, a stream of mocking comments would have appeared beneath that, but not anymore.
The owners of A badges came out in force and started fussing over Han Hee.
Ⓐ syberMagneto: A non-awakened piece of trash dares to curse at an awakened person? Are you trying to become soap?
Ⓐ ElmayaKaeyo: Don't say harsh things to this kid. Haven't you heard he worked hard to help Kim Geuk save civilians?
Ⓐ Justice1994: I heard he got chewed out by the Special Forces too. He's a really impressive young man. Once his mandatory service period is over, he'll make a name for himself in the Hunter world. I'm looking forward to it.
First, I persuaded influential Huntweb regulars like Kim Hyeongman, Kang Junman, and Cyber Magneto to leave supportive comments under every post Han Hee made.
It was meant to make Han Hee feel at ease rather than stressed whenever he visited Huntweb, and to make him feel attached to the Hunter community.
Of course, just leaving nice comments was not the end of it. Later, I planned to collect money through the Association and secretly deliver it to Han Hee and several other Special Forces members.
The plan was to make sure we had people on our side within the Special Forces and use them to gather information about what went on inside.
I also suggested that Kim Hyeongman hire a bodyguard. He did not seem likely to be the Special Forces' top assassination target for now, but you never knew.
Naturally, he just treated me like Kang Jun-chi.
Ⓐ ElmayaKaeyo: Kim Geuk, why are you worrying about assassination... Did you catch it from Jun-chi?
There were quite a few other measures I had thought of.
I could ask Kang Jun-chi to prepare a residence in a cavern hundreds of meters underground, then eliminate the passage to reduce the threat of assassination. Or I could secretly spread my mental net whenever an unfamiliar person approached me claiming to be a fan.
They were exactly the kind of thoughts Kang Jun-chi would have.
I was too busy to put every one of those ideas into practice.
I was a Hunter of Incheon, so I focused on hunting again today.
* * *
The destination for this Incheon Recovery Project was Ganghwa County.
There were plans to someday recover even Incheon's lost territories, such as Gimpo and Bucheon, but Ganghwa County was the only place in Incheon still swarming with wild Monsters.
As I got into a vehicle with the other Hunters, cheers rang out behind us.
“Kim Geuk! Kim Geuk!”
“Stay in Incheon even after you finish recovering Incheon! Okay?”
They were Incheon citizens who had come to cheer for me.
Those middle-aged men and women had become even more intense after I got involved in the Seoul Gate incident. Apparently, since I had made a name for myself in Seoul and caught the attention of those Seoul bastards, they were afraid Seoul would steal Kim Geuk away.
Of course, it was a good thing. I did not dislike receiving such passionate attention, so I left Incheon's mainland satisfied.
Once we crossed Ganghwa Bridge and entered Ganghwa Island, Naito began the broadcast.
“Can you all see it? The secret behind how Korean rice prices, and now even the prices of Korean ramen made from rice, remain controlled during these difficult times is right here!”
Naito's cameraman filmed the young men outside, busy planting cabbage seedlings.
“Do you see how most of the people working there are wearing ROK Army training uniforms? Nearly all the young people farming here on Ganghwa Island are active-duty soldiers!
“Oh, where did all the people who used to farm go? As you know, sparsely populated places like islands and rural areas are attacked by Monsters more often, aren't they? They're much easier targets for Monsters.
“Since the Gates opened, many rice paddies and fields in the countryside have been abandoned. In South Korea, the government buys those abandoned fields and farms them directly!”
That disgusting bastard. I had no idea why Naito was speaking so excitedly about the country working its soldiers to the bone.
“Countries around the world are trying to stabilize food prices, but very few have succeeded as well as Korea! Even Japan's rice prices...”
My already furrowed brow tightened further.
Now Naito was starting the patriotic chest-thumping too. Comparing Korea to Japan over and over so Koreans would enjoy hearing it...
“Japan is larger than Korea, so it cannot manage things as systematically as Korea does. As a result, it has more abandoned rice paddies and fields.
“Oh, what does Japan do when there are empty rural fields? Yakuza illegally occupy them, then use the land, farm equipment, and fertilizer without the owners' permission to grow rice and sell it at market! Why do they grow rice instead of marijuana? Because selling rice is safer and makes money more reliably, I suppose.
“Of course, rice prices are kept down because using soldiers lowers labor costs, while the government handles production and distribution itself. Korean farmers also have plenty of complaints since they must compete with soldiers who do not receive minimum wage...
“Still, this is both an impressive and difficult thing to accomplish. Many countries try to manage food at a national level, but few succeed like Korea! Even if the government sets food prices low, black markets form and the real prices shoot up. Compared to that, just how impressive is Korea, where you can buy cheap rice even at convenience stores...”
That bastard's fucking patriotic broadcast finally ended when we got out of the vehicle.
Baek Dambi headed for the shore. She was obviously not going there to play in the water.
When she gestured, seawater froze and took the shape of an animal. An ice beast soon walked up onto land.
It was a bear. A bear made of ice.
When we rescued Shin Mirae last time, we had hunted an Ice Elemental bear together. It looked exactly like that thing.
Baek Dambi had caught it and recalled what she remembered of it. Having succeeded in shaping this bear, she had decided to use it for hunting.
“Look at how unbelievably amazing Baek Dambi has become! Who could dismiss her as an icehead now?”
Seong Munyeong, Lee Jongho, Jeong Jinyeong, and Jang Byeonggon brought over a Hunter Rifle, grunting with effort.
The four of them set the Hunter Rifle on the ice bear's arms.
It was the 55-kilogram Hunter Rifle I had used until recently. Once I began using a new 78-kilogram Hunter Rifle, Baek Dambi bought the old one cheaply. Then she put it in the hands of an ice sculpture she had created.
“Those of you who watched the last broadcast know that bear really fires that Hunter Rifle. It even shoots well! The standard for being recognized as an A-rank Hunter is having firepower equal to or greater than heavy weaponry. Dambi now meets that condition perfectly, because as you can see, she is literally firing heavy weaponry!”
The ice bear showed Baek Dambi's hard work in many ways.
Its center of gravity had been altered so it could walk on two legs like a person, and its fingers were humanlike. It was clear that she had gone beyond simply copying a bear and created an entirely separate creature.
It was still fundamentally just a bear, so it had limits. It could not handle delicate tasks such as changing magazines, but that was not a major problem. The hunter team traveling with it could take care of that.
My ring girl had truly succeeded in becoming a proud A-rank Hunter.
I did not know if other ice ability users could do the same. At least, none of the testimony from people who came over from Soweol said ice ability users could do anything like this.
Could Baek Dambi be the first? It would be nice if other ice ability users could do it too, instead of this being something only she could accomplish. If it was proven that everyone had room to grow, it would bring greater changes in treatment than a thousand awakened-person rights movements.
I was watching the ice bear and Baek Dambi, who created it, filled with pride, when I noticed that she moved in response to the cameraman's movements.
My eyes widened.
“Are you seriously turning your head because you're conscious of the camera? So your face will show?”
When I went over and casually asked, Baek Dambi flinched before nodding.
“Yes, that's right...”
“You hated Naito so much before. Are you trying to look good on that broadcast now?”
“That's right. My desire to appear on television got the better of me. I'm a truly shameless woman.”
I was dumbfounded by how readily she admitted it.
“Is this also part of your effort to win the Golden Arrow Award?”
“Yes. I need to advertise how much I've improved to the public somehow...”
“Why do you want that award so badly?”
When I asked in disbelief, Baek Dambi answered in a serious voice.
“The ceremony is broadcast on network television.”
After hearing that, I waited for her to continue, but Baek Dambi closed her mouth.
Unable to wait any longer, I asked again.
“That's it?”
“Yes.”
“What's so great about being on network television? I heard even celebrities who used to earn tens of millions of won a day make less than a quarter of what they did before the Gates opened. Aren't you doing far better than most celebrities now?”
“Even so. It's important to me. Kim Geuk, you appear on the news all the time, so you probably don't understand how I feel...”
She stopped there and looked around.
Once she made sure no one was listening, she continued.
“...I think I can finally let it go and move on only if I do that. If I can proudly appear on that network television broadcast...”
I had been about to tease her, but I closed my mouth.
I could not fully understand how she felt, but I knew she had been practically forced to quit being an idol.
It was not difficult to guess that this wish was related to the idol career she had been unable to finish.
An awkward atmosphere lingered for a moment, so I deliberately changed the subject.
“By the way, Dambi, you signed that Hunter Academy petition this time. You did really well! You signed it after seeing the post on Huntweb, right?”
“No? I don't know what Huntweb is, but I got an official notice asking me to sign it. After reading that notice...”
“I think your signature was already there before the official notice arrived.”
“Was it? I don't remember very well... Maybe you saw something wrong?”
It really was a shame that this woman had quit being an idol. Judging by how shameless she was, she would probably have been a great actress too. Even if she appeared in a drama, there would not have been any controversy about an idol's terrible acting. Maybe controversy about an idol being tone-deaf, though.
After that brief conversation, we went past the fields where soldiers worked and headed toward the old tourist area.
The tourist sites around Manisan, now abandoned by tourists and blocked off by barricades to keep Monsters from crossing easily...
Guard posts manned by soldiers lined the area around the barricades.
As we passed one of those posts, the sentry asked us to wait a moment.
When I asked why, they said their commander wanted to meet us.
“Why?”
“I don't know the exact reason either...”
Footnotes:
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