WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Ceaseless
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ I Became the Gate Summoner Hunters Obsess Over ◈
Chapter 21: Caused Trouble. Went on a Mission.
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Kang Yul had never been particularly interested in physical strength.
Perhaps things would have been different if this were some romantic age where fists were closer than the law.
But in the twenty-first century, throwing a punch carelessly naturally brought the law down on you at once.
Especially now, when supernatural phenomena had begun appearing, the fearsome force of the law had become even more apparent. The reason was simple.
Those in power wanted it that way.
So they made policies accordingly.
For example, there were posts like this that occasionally appeared on the gallery.
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[Title: Today’s Video of a Knife Attack at Seoul Station Getting What It Deserves]
[Anonymous]
(Video of office workers being stabbed with a kitchen knife on their commute)
(Video of the attacker getting his head smashed in by a Hunter commuting to a Gate)
(Video of the attacker being dragged away by Hunter Association employees with his brains leaking out)
Listening to the nonsense he was saying in the video,
apparently he couldn’t get a job, got jealous of hardworking office workers, and stabbed them.
After that, well... lol
───
[Comments]
[There are still lunatics stabbing people in public these days?]
ㄴ[Lord, another one ascends today.]
ㄴ[Isn’t this an advanced job-application strategy?]
ㄴ[(Hunter bro, you fucking genius! emote)]
ㄴ[(Hunter bro slaps his knee! emote)]
ㄴ[I’m a newbie Hunter bro, but what does that mean?]
ㄴ[(Ah... you little punk... do you Dun?no? emote)]
ㄴ[(I see. You Dun?no? emote)]
ㄴ[Newbie Hunter bro wants to knowww! Please tell me~!]
ㄴ[(Then this Speedy Hunter Bro shall explain! emote)]
ㄴ[To put it simply, in this modern age of supernatural phenomena, there are many Gates that threaten human lives.]
ㄴ[And among them, there are sometimes Gates that can only be managed if humans die.]
ㄴ[But you can’t openly conduct inhumane human sacrifices in the modern twenty-first century.]
ㄴ[So most countries created new legal provisions. Their names differ, but their contents are similar.]
ㄴ[They make it possible to forcibly hire people who committed crimes into state agencies as “employees” to manage Gates.]
ㄴ[So that knife-wielding friend has now earned the boundless honor of managing Gates as an employee of the Management Bureau!]
ㄴ[One-line summary: Welcome to voluntary enlistment, recruit!]
ㄴ[(Hunter bro: Wow! I totally get it now! emote)]
...
The more chaotic the world became, the clearer the distinction between good and evil grew.
And the clearer that distinction became, the stronger those in power became.
Social unrest and crises were enough to make the public seek simple answers and strong leaders.
As long as the social order did not collapse completely, those in power could keep growing stronger by using that distinction between good and evil.
So, while solidifying their authority, they had to present a way to pursue the public good.
What they came up with was managing the supernatural phenomenon known as Gates.
[Wouldn’t it be enough not to commit crimes in the first place?]
ㄴ[For real lol.]
ㄴ[Besides, it’s not like they definitely die, right?]
ㄴ[If they follow the manual, there’s a chance they’ll live.]
ㄴ[I heard there are Gates where they definitely die. What about those?]
ㄴ[Those are where death-row inmates go in the first place, so that’s natural death lol.]
ㄴ[Wow, they get paid because they’re employees, they get a home, and they get meals. What exactly is the problem here?]
ㄴ[This is a real lifelong job lol.]
ㄴ[Ah! I’m so jealous!]
ㄴ[Want one too?]
ㄴ[(Hunter bro: You do it yourself! emote)]
This method was more than enough to earn public support.
Of course, civic groups advocating for human rights had not quietly accepted it.
But as casualties caused by supernatural phenomena increased, they had no choice but to accept reality as well.
If someone had to die in the end, then it should be criminals who threatened us, our families, and our peaceful daily lives.
And so, in the present age, society naturally came to value ability, meaning competence, capital, and social standing, more than physical strength.
The Hunter industry was not much different.
Among supernatural phenomena, overwhelmingly more types had to be neutralized by finding their rules and loopholes than by solving them through physical force.
What would happen if someone knew nothing about them and tried to handle them with strength alone?
Usually, they would be reduced to finely minced meat. Or they might become part of the phenomenon itself, wandering around neither dead nor alive.
Therefore, academic consensus held that building physical strength had little merit unless one trained to the absolute limit, reaching a level where they could crush most supernatural phenomena outright.
Since most people knew they could not become that strong, it was common to focus on supernatural abilities, meaning magic, and utility, meaning scouting and support, rather than physical strength.
“...My God.”
Kang Yul was surprised once as he looked at the dark-colored pistol in his hand, or rather, the dokkaebi club that had transformed into the Muggle’s magic wand he had just chewed up.
Then he was surprised a second time after reading the changed contents of the instruction manual enclosed in the box.
──────────────────
Anti-Supernatural-Phenomenon Combat Semi-Automatic Pistol
「Hecate H-9」ver. Jet
──────────────────
■ Product Overview
The dokkaebi club is currently imitating the 「Hecate H-9」.
It converts what the user has ingested into ammunition. Through the mana-interference suppression structure formed inside the firearm, it can deal a certain minimum level of physical damage to most supernatural entities.
Furthermore, due to the properties of Jet, it has a certain suppressive effect against damage caused by supernatural phenomena and curse-type phenomena.
■ Recommended Targets
ㆍSupernatural life-forms ranked C or lower
ㆍPossession-type entities
ㆍCurse-infected entities
ㆍSmall or medium evil spirits and anomalous creatures
■ Precautions
※ Do not engage entities ranked B or above alone.
──────────────────
“So this is what it meant by changing...?”
The dokkaebi club the Worm had made was not limited to copying an item’s appearance.
It was a kind of all-purpose MacGyver club that enhanced the copied item’s capabilities by one level.
#####
Honestly.
Kang Yul chewing up the pistol had been a half-gamble.
───────────
[Perv Sis]
───────────
▶ [Sis, if I eat something like a supernatural rarity, can the dokkaebi club imitate it?]
▷ [I was trying to find that out, but Yul suddenly went home, so even I don’t know.]
▶ [Ah.]
▷ [So, was it fun abandoning your sis to go mining?]
▶ [Sis, my mom told me to buy tofu, so I should get going!]
▷ [You said you didn’t have a mom!]
───────────
Anyway.
Even Kim Chaeryeong, whom he trusted, said there was no way of knowing and that actually eating it was the only option.
So Kang Yul spent a long time debating whether or not to eat this magic wand that obviously looked like a supernatural rarity.
His choice now might make all the iron he had mined with difficulty for a week go to waste, so he had no choice but to be cautious.
But before long.
‘It gave me this wand because I asked for something that worked well with the dokkaebi club’s ability, right...?’
After deciding that the odds of success were high, Kang Yul chewed up the gun.
Crunch. Crunch. Crrunch.
“So firearms taste like this...?”
“It feels like chewing a dense pound cake.”
To give the conclusion first, it had been the right choice.
Pshk!
Crack!
Bang!
“Bullets really do come out based on what I ate...?”
The performance of the pistol-shaped dokkaebi club was certain.
Just as its description said ammunition was made from what Kang Yul had ingested, when he pulled the trigger while recalling something he had eaten, that very thing fired in the form of a bullet.
The ammunition was not restricted by shape or properties.
Pshk!
When Kang Yul recalled the water he had drunk, a bullet made of water fired out.
Honestly, it did not look very lethal.
At most, it seemed like getting hit would soak someone’s clothes and put them in a bad mood.
Crack!
When Kang Yul recalled the dirt he had eaten, a bullet made of dirt fired out.
Seeing the bullet hit the wall and scatter with a Crack!, he thought it would probably sting quite a bit if it hit someone.
Bang!
Starting with bullets made of coal, he could feel some recoil.
They pierced the wall of the cavern and embedded themselves in it. But seeing them shatter inside, he thought that if he hit someone in the vital spots several times, he could easily kill a person.
At this point, they were practically live rounds.
Then came the long-awaited turn of iron...
“If coal is this strong, iron should just be a little stronger, right?”
...At that moment, Kang Yul should have realized.
Ordinary bullets were often made of lead and copper.
And bullets made from a harder material like iron were called armor-piercing rounds.
“Let me recall the time I ate iron ore...”
...Then, without a single doubt, he pulled the trigger.
Baaang!!!
“Uagh?!”
Wiggle?!
...A tremendous boom, like a bomb exploding, echoed through the cavern. Pushed back by the powerful recoil, Kang Yul fell backward and rolled across the floor.
Wiggle!
﹝Special Characteristics﹞
: It feels deep affection for you!
: It is worried about your condition!
“Ugh... I-I’m fine, Worm... The recoil just got really strong all of a sudden, so I fell over...”
That was a lie.
In truth, rolling across the ground had scraped up various parts of his body, leaving them throbbing.
But his embarrassment was greater than the pain, so Kang Yul told the Worm he was fine as if nothing had happened.
But that only lasted a moment.
As Kang Yul shed a few tears from the pain, the real problem happened next.
Tap... patter-patter!
Was it because of the tremendous boom that had just echoed through the cavern and the impact of the fired bullet embedding itself?
Clumps of dirt began falling from the hole in the ceiling where thin rays of light had been shining through.
Then, not long after.
Crumble!
Large fragments began dropping as though part of the ceiling were collapsing.
“Worm!”
Thinking the cavern was collapsing, Kang Yul picked up the Worm and began running for the Gate entrance.
He had no time to consider what would happen when the Worm came out into the world.
His first thought was that he had to survive. At the same time, all he could think was that he had to take the Worm with him.
But as he ran toward the entrance.
Wiggle!
﹝Special Characteristics﹞
: It feels deep affection for you!
: It thinks you are safe!
“It’s not collapsing...?”
At the Worm’s reassurance from his hand, Kang Yul stopped for a moment and examined the situation.
...
Even after waiting for a long time, no more dirt fell.
Kang Yul let out a sigh of relief while reflecting on his own foolishness.
No matter how accustomed he had become to living in a cavern, using a firearm in such an enclosed place...
His brain had clearly gone completely stiff from focusing only on mining.
‘Before bed, I should thoroughly read 100 Reasons Hunters Die...’
He thought he needed to correct his lax state of mind for tomorrow’s exploration, and that he should return to his beginner’s mindset and make the rounds through the gallery’s useful tips.
But only for a moment.
Wiggle!
﹝Special Characteristics﹞
: It feels deep affection for you!
: It thinks it smells delicious dirt this way!
When the Worm wriggled upward, saying it smelled delicious dirt, Kang Yul looked up at the cavern ceiling, wondering, ‘How could that smell come from above rather than below?’
Then.
‘Outside?’
The cavern ceiling had split open because dirt had fallen from it during the previous impact.
Thanks to that, more sunlight entered, and he could faintly see outside.
But he could not see the blue sky and sun he had expected.
Something between the cavern and the sky blocked the view beyond.
“What is that...?”
Kang Yul narrowed his eyes and examined the thing covering the cavern ceiling.
It was white and seemed entirely lifeless.
Its uneven, net-like form resembled dried-out tree roots. For a moment, he wondered whether a tree was growing above them.
Ding!
[You have discovered ‘Tree with a Thousand Roots - Baniar.’]
[It will awaken from its sleep and follow you once you fulfill its conditions.]
A familiar notification window appeared before him.
It was a notification he had seen once with the Worm, telling him to fulfill certain “conditions.”
‘If this goes well... could I recruit another new companion like the Worm...?’
Of course, he knew the process would not be easy.
If he woke it the wrong way, rather than gaining a companion, it would be no different from awakening an unbearable disaster with his own hands.
But.
‘...It’s well worth trying.’
Kang Yul looked at the Worm wriggling on his palm and thought.
The greater the risk, the sweeter the reward for succeeding would be.
So this time as well, he would find the “right conditions” and recruit a new companion.
But first.
“Then I will brief you on today’s operation. A series of indiscriminate disappearances targeting office workers is currently occurring across the Seoul subway system. Hunter Kang Yul, you have been assigned the mission of uncovering this incident’s ‘conditions for disappearance.’”
Though he had no idea how a rookie Hunter had ended up accompanying such a dangerous mission, for now, he decided to focus on somehow seeing the job through and returning alive.
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