WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Ceaseless
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ I Became the Gate Summoner Hunters Obsess Over ◈
Chapter 9: Cooperated. Was Treated Like a Monster.
──────
Rrrrrrrk!
Rrrrrrrk!
Rrrrrrrk!
Rumble...!
Two days had already passed since Kang Yul shut himself inside the Gate and focused on mining.
He kept working hard, hoping something like the amber from last time would turn up, but he had yet to find anything worthwhile.
“Phew...! It’s hot. So hot!”
Only two days remained before he had to help the Management Bureau.
He needed to find something today and raise money for Hunter equipment, but Kang Yul decided not to get impatient.
After all,
The Worm wriggled.
“You came, Worm.”
The Worm wriggled again.
﹝Special Characteristics﹞
: It feels deep affection for you.
: It wants to help you.
“I’d appreciate your help today too.”
For the past two days, Kang Yul had always mined alongside the Worm.
The Worm did not mine directly. It could, but it was far too inefficient.
After all, the finger-sized Worm could only eat so much at once.
So Kang Yul asked it to do something else.
He had it eat the dirt piled on the floor and clear it away.
Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp.
It might not have seemed like much, but it was a huge help to Kang Yul.
Kang Yul mined while the Worm ate the dirt.
And while the Worm ate, Kang Yul installed support beams to reinforce the tunnel so it would not collapse.
Only one step had been removed from Kang Yul’s work, but his efficiency had noticeably improved.
‘Maybe it’s because I’m not working alone. This feels more manageable than before.’
Thanks to that, Kang Yul’s mining time had doubled.
He used to grow tired after about four hours, but now he could easily last around eight.
Whenever he felt hungry, he could grab a handful of nearby dirt and toss it into his mouth for a meal.
‘This dirt-eating ability is more useful than I thought.’
Saving on food was nice, but eating dirt also seemed to fill him with energy.
It felt as though some of his fatigue faded away.
‘Though that’s probably more because one step of the work is gone.’
In any case, he mined, ate dirt, and rested briefly while cooling down his overheated rock drill.
Then, once he was done resting, he went back to mining.
The Worm suddenly wriggled toward him at incredible speed.
“What’s wrong, Worm?”
As though it had something to say, the Worm tapped Kang Yul’s shoe a few times.
Then it looked toward a point slightly away from the direction he had been mining.
The Worm wriggled.
﹝Special Characteristics﹞
: It says it smells delicious dirt from this direction.
: It wants to eat the delicious dirt.
“There’s delicious dirt this way?”
The Worm wriggled.
﹝Special Characteristics﹞
: It feels deep affection for you!
“So that’s what you mean...?”
Kang Yul picked up the hot drill and began mining in the direction the Worm indicated.
He did not know what kind of dirt the Worm considered delicious, but if it tasted different from the dirt they were currently eating, that meant the strata were different.
Maybe he would find a new mineral nearby that could make him money.
Rrrrrrrk!
Kang Yul dug through the wall and installed support beams.
Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp.
The Worm ate the dirt and assisted him.
Rrrrrrrk!
Rrrrrrrk!
Rrrrr... Krrrkkk!
Twelve hours after he began mining, the sound of the drill striking the rock wall finally began to change.
“!”
The Worm wriggled.
As though they had made a promise, Kang Yul and the Worm glanced at each other before carefully approaching the wall.
Inside was a pitch-black stratum, as though it had absorbed ink, completely unlike the layers they had seen until now.
The Worm wriggled.
﹝Special Characteristics﹞
: It is happy to have found delicious dirt!
: It wants to eat the delicious dirt.
“This is dirt...?”
He did not want to dampen the Worm’s excitement, but Kang Yul did not think that black stratum was dirt.
At first glance, it might have looked like black soil, but if he dug a little deeper...
Krrrkkk!
A dark, glasslike gleam appeared.
Kang Yul ran his fingertips over the smooth black stratum and thought,
“Is this... coal?”
The Worm wriggled questioningly.
﹝Special Characteristics﹞
: It feels deep affection for you?
“No, I’m not saying anything. I was just wondering whether you can eat this deliciously even though it isn’t dirt.”
Well, considering the Worm had happily chewed and eaten amber, it probably did not eat only dirt.
Given its epithet, the mountain-eating worm, it might even be omnivorous.
‘Though if it’s omnivorous, it still won’t eat the bones in that hollow.’
That had happened yesterday.
Wondering just in case, Kang Yul pointed to the bones in the hollow and asked the Worm whether it would eat them.
The Worm wriggled weakly.
﹝Special Characteristics﹞
: It does not think it is delicious dirt.
: ......
The Worm refused to eat the bones.
Still, its refusal did not feel like, “I don’t want to eat that.”
It felt closer to, “I must not eat that.”
‘Just what are those bones...?’
Kang Yul pondered what the bones could be, but soon gave up.
There were truths better left undiscovered.
And in Kang Yul’s opinion, if even the Worm was wary of eating those bones, this was probably one of those truths.
The Worm wriggled.
﹝Special Characteristics﹞
: It wants to eat the delicious dirt!
“Ah, sorry. I’ll break some off for you now.”
Krrrkkk!
Snapped out of his thoughts by the Worm’s urging, Kang Yul used the drill to break off a suitable amount of coal and set it in front of the Worm.
He also put some into a box and traded it with Friendly Merchant.
He figured coal would sell for more than dirt.
A little while later, Kang Yul waited while tasting the freshly mined coal alongside the Worm.
“So coal tastes like cinnamon...? More importantly, I can eat minerals too? Is this really okay?”
The Worm wriggled.
﹝Special Characteristics﹞
: It thinks this is delicious dirt!
“Hmm... Well, I already shovel dirt into my mouth. Eating some minerals probably won’t make much difference.”
Click!
“Oh, I got a message.”
Kang Yul received the usual white note saying that the deposit had been completed, then left the Gate and checked his smartphone.
Then Kang Yul became certain.
[HT Bank] Deposit: ₩3,000,000 (Sender: Friendly Merchant) Balance: ₩4,305,921
“Hah, three million won in one go?!”
His time had finally come.
######
A psychologist once said that developing world-class expertise in a specific field required at least ten years.
Of course, spending ten years however one pleased did not make anyone an expert.
That level of mastery required prolonged, intense focus and repeated practice.
Naturally, this tendency was even more apparent in professions where competition or a single mistake could decide whether someone lived or died.
By now, one profession had become a prime example.
A profession dealing with supernatural phenomena.
More specifically, Hunters, people who directly confronted, managed, and studied supernatural phenomena.
“Team Leader Myo, that one came empty-handed. They’ve got no sense of caution. They won’t last long in the Hunter world.”
“...”
“On the other hand, why is that guy wearing so much? Mental contamination is the most dangerous thing in the Suraksan Gate. It’s obvious he hasn’t checked Hunter Gallery. He won’t live long either.”
“...”
It had already been twenty years since supernatural phenomena appeared in the world.
Twenty years was enough time for an industry to become stagnant, and among those entrenched veterans, a saying had been passed down.
‘You might not be able to pick out the ones who will live a long time, but it’s easy to spot the ones who will die soon.’
They said that if one worked in this field long enough, one could not help but learn.
It was an industry where seeing someone alive yesterday and finding their corpse today was not unusual.
If they were unlucky, they became an unrecognizable lump of flesh.
If they were even unluckier, no trace of them could be found at all.
So the longer a Hunter had been active, the more sensitive they were to death.
To them, relationships were not judged by ordinary standards like personality or appearance.
There was only one thing they cared about in relationships.
Could the other person stubbornly survive or not? That was all.
“Hey, Team Leader Myo. Am I the only one here with a mouth? Say something.”
“...”
“You quiet bitch. We’ve known each other for years. How can you not say a single word? Say something!”
“Words.”
“Crazy bitch. You’d better die after I do.”
That was why veteran Hunters maintained their connections even if their personalities did not quite match.
Someone who was not about to die.
Someone who would survive long enough to exchange information.
A welcome familiar face they had not seen in a while.
Someone they could meet occasionally and chat with about trivial things.
That was enough.
“If you die before me, I won’t leave your corpse alone. I’ll work you until I die.”
“Yes. Please do.”
“Ugh... You’re no fun. What am I supposed to talk about with an aloof cat bitch like you?”
Of course, sometimes even that was no longer enough.
For veteran Hunters who had a screw loose after years of Hunter life, everyday life was nothing but boring.
In the end, that boredom became one reason they kept living despite being unable to give up the life of a Hunter.
“I want to get into the Gate already, but these rookie Hunter bastards have no manners. Making their lofty senior wait... Ah, I’m annoyed. Should I just turn them all into corpses and go in?”
“...”
“Hey, Team Leader Myo. Say something, bitch. I’m really going to cause trouble.”
“Words.”
“Ha, you sly cat bitch. Fine. Let’s see who dies today, you or me!”
Crash!
“T-Team Leaders! If you fight here, we’ll all die!”
“Gah! Help! Please! Somebody help!”
Most Hunters considered entrenched veterans in the industry never had to worry about money for the rest of their lives.
They could retire immediately without trouble, so theoretically, they should stay away from Gates where they might lose their lives and simply enjoy the rest of their days.
Yes, theoretically.
“Team Leader Oh! Please calm down! There are rookie Hunters downstairs too!”
“Let me go, you bastards! Do you all want to die?”
“Gah! Team Leader Myo! Please say something!”
“Words.”
Veteran Hunters had usually traveled too far.
When they finally came to their senses and looked back, they had often already stepped beyond the realm of humanity.
Or, without realizing it, they had gone so far beyond control that they had become something other than human.
Because of that, veteran Hunters could not help but react more sharply than anyone else to alien beings like themselves.
“Fine! I’ll turn all of you into corpses and make you parade around naked... Hm...? Hey, what’s that?”
“I do not know.”
The two Team Leaders, who had looked ready to fight at any moment, turned their heads toward the same spot.
At the end of their gaze, an unremarkable-looking man was entering through the doors of the auditorium.
“Hey, black cat. Don’t you know anything? Nowon District is your territory.”
“I do not. It is a being I have never seen before.”
“You’re telling me someone like that has been walking around in broad daylight and you didn’t know?”
“That is correct.”
“Good job, bitch.”
Even while talking, neither Team Leader took their eyes off the man who had entered.
He showed his Hunter license at the entrance and received a name tag bearing the name [Kang Yul].
He pinned it to his chest and sat in his designated seat.
Unable to join the conversation among the rookie Hunters around him, he watched from a distance with an awkward expression.
He looked exactly like an ordinary rookie Hunter.
Yet neither Team Leader looked away from him for even a moment.
“That’s pretending to be human...?”
“Quite naturally, too.”
“Exactly. If I didn’t know better, I’d think it was a real human. What the hell is it?”
Having stepped beyond the realm of humanity, they instinctively knew.
The man wearing the name tag [Kang Yul] was no ordinary Hunter.
He was something that had crossed the line long ago, something other than human.
“The mana density within it is at least B... No, A?”
“Either way, that is not mana density a rookie Hunter could possess.”
The two Team Leaders analyzed him with sharp eyes.
His total mana amount was extremely low, perhaps intentionally concealed.
But its density was so abnormal that any experienced Hunter could recognize it at once.
“Was it trapped in an A-rank Gate for around ten years? What kind of density is that?”
“That may truly be the case.”
The two Team Leaders clicked their tongues and glared at him. They could not help it.
A Hunter’s internal mana density gradually increased depending on how dangerous a Gate they survived in and how long they endured there.
And that was directly tied to the measure of the Hunter’s strength.
High mana density was practically proof that one had survived in a more dangerous Gate.
Like the rings of a tree.
Not many Hunters knew this fact.
Most Hunters and ordinary people could not sense differences in mana.
So they could not recognize mana density. They judged strength only by the mana amount they could roughly estimate.
That was why, among veteran Hunters, someone with immense mana but pitiful density was treated like a worthless husk.
Mana reserves could be increased somehow through drugs or byproducts, but density could not.
“So what are we doing? If we mess with it for no reason, it feels like we’ll be the ones getting screwed.”
“Do you think we would lose?”
“You fucking bitch, you provoke me at a time like this?”
“Answer the question.”
“...”
Team Leader Oh silently watched the being sitting in the auditorium.
In her eyes was an unidentified fear that even she did not understand.
“...Honestly, I’m not confident I could win. It’s not just the mana density. How do I put this? It feels fundamentally dangerous. I don’t know why, but I get the feeling that if we mess with it, we could really be screwed.”
“Is Team Leader Oh’s skill warning you?”
“No, my skill is quiet. That’s why it’s more unsettling. The fact it’s quiet when looking at something like that is unnatural in itself.”
At that, Team Leader Myo simply said, “Understood,” and closed her eyes.
A moment later, her bright yellow pupils flashed as she continued.
“I share Team Leader Oh’s opinion. Therefore, we will leave that being alone.”
“Are you sure? This isn’t my territory, so I can just pretend not to know and run. But you have a lot to take responsibility for.”
“Is there another option?”
“Calling the Association President, or getting help from a corporation...?”
“Do you believe that would give us a chance?”
“Uh...”
Team Leader Oh turned her head and looked down at the auditorium.
Not long afterward, her face drained of color. She shook her head and said,
“...No, the feeling that we’ll be screwed just got stronger. To the point that we really won’t be able to undo it.”
“I feel the same.”
Team Leader Myo shifted her gaze to the being.
Then she saw the man wearing the [Kang Yul] name tag looking around with fascination.
“For now, we have no choice but to trust that appearance, which seems friendly toward humans.”
“Well, there are plenty of people so obsessed with their personas that they hide their true selves. If that thing is one of them, it’ll keep pretending to be a rookie Hunter as long as we don’t provoke it.”
Do not provoke the man acting as [Kang Yul].
The two Team Leaders settled on letting him maintain the appearance of a rookie Hunter who had only recently Awakened.
“Ah, but who’s going to lead that thing?”
“Would you take charge of it?”
“Would I? It’s your territory, so you deal with it.”
“Understood.”
Thus, when the two veteran Hunters representing Seoul’s autonomous districts concluded that the rookie Hunter named [Kang Yul] was something resembling a human...
At that very moment, Kang Yul was thinking,
‘When is this going to end? I want to finish quickly and go mining...’
Completely unaware of any of it.
He was eager to mine the rest of the new resource the Worm had found the day before yesterday.
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
