WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Ceaseless
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Martial Arts Survival Guide ◈
Chapter 22: That's a Lot
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He was scared.
That was exactly right. Lee Seok-cheon was scared. He was level 180 and the leader of Heavenly King, one of Korea’s two major guilds. He had been a hunter since the Abyss first appeared four years ago, weathering all kinds of hardships and nearly dying many times. Yet his brief encounter with Baek Hyun had filled him with a strange fear.
It was different from the fear he felt in the face of killing intent. Completely different... Was it different? Even Lee Seok-cheon couldn’t tell what exactly had frightened him. Baek Hyun had never said he would kill him. In fact, he had said he wouldn’t. Nor had Lee Seok-cheon done anything to upset Baek Hyun, such as betraying him.
‘What is this...?’
He didn’t know.
It felt like looking at some creature that wasn’t human. A different creature, like a monster? No, that wasn’t it. He simply didn’t know. Lee Seok-cheon didn’t want to understand his own feelings. Looking at that face, which held no malice or killing intent, made his stomach twist.
“I-I’m... fine.”
Lee Seok-cheon barely managed to get the words out.
“Well...”
“You don’t have to be so formal. I’m younger than you, after all.”
Baek Hyun smiled as he spoke. At those words, Lee Seok-cheon swallowed again with a gulp.
“...R-right. Baek... Baek Hyun, just like you said, monsters don’t belong to anyone... Of course. Of course they don’t. So I’m not upset.”
As he spoke, Lee Seok-cheon took a few more steps back. His feelings were slowly settling down.
“...You really are something, though. How do you have that kind of strength without even having a contract with a monarch?”
“My master taught me.”
“...Your master?”
“I wonder if my master’s playing Go in the Immortal Realm right now.”
Muttering to himself, Baek Hyun glanced up at the sky. Was he joking? Lee Seok-cheon followed his gaze. All he could see in the bright summer sky were the dazzling sun and the helicopters.
“There aren’t any more coming out after this, right?”
“...Huh? Oh...”
“Then I can go now, right?”
“...Yes.”
Lee Seok-cheon nodded stiffly. Should he try recruiting him into Heavenly King? The thought crossed his mind, but he quietly put it aside. Baek Hyun’s existence was suspicious, but Lee Seok-cheon also admitted that he couldn’t handle him. Letting someone like that into the guild would threaten his own position. Heavenly King had to remain a kingdom for him alone.
“W-wait a moment.”
It was Jeong Su-a who stopped Baek Hyun as he approached the iron gate under the stares of the still-stunned hunters.
“Oh, Su-a.”
Baek Hyun looked pleased when Jeong Su-a stopped him.
“Do you need something from me, too?”
“...Sorry?”
“Like, did watching me fight make your heart race and make you want to fight me?”
“...No, that’s not it...?”
Jeong Su-a looked at him as if wondering what on earth he was talking about. Her answer left Baek Hyun looking a little disappointed. The monster extermination he had been looking forward to had turned out to be easier than expected. And Lee Seok-cheon of Heavenly King, whom he had expected to throw a fit, had tucked his tail between his legs without doing anything interesting.
In fact, Baek Hyun was rather more interested in Jeong Su-a than Lee Seok-cheon.
To be precise, he was interested in the monarch she had contracted with, the “Serpent of Regeneration.”
His chance to make a contract with one of the monarchs and receive their powers had already passed. That didn’t mean he had no interest in those powers. Someday, Baek Hyun intended to travel through the Abyss and meet every monarch. If possible, he wanted to fight them, too. Naturally, he was also very interested in fighting hunters who held a portion of their powers as practice.
‘I can’t just pick a fight for no reason.’
Baek Hyun wasn’t so uncivilized that he would suddenly throw a punch and demand a fight. Nor did he intend to pick on Jeong Su-a, who bore him no ill will. If possible, he wanted to keep things friendly and fight a sparring match.
Smack. Baek Hyun smacked his lips in disappointment.
“What is it?”
“Oh... Well...”
Although Jeong Su-a had stopped him, she didn’t actually need anything from him. Baek Hyun was mysterious in so many ways that she had felt reluctant to let him leave just like that. She had simply stopped him first.
“Where are you going?”
“Home, of course.”
“Home?”
“I have a home, too, you know.”
Who didn’t have a home? Jeong Su-a had no idea how to respond to such an obvious answer. She couldn’t keep holding Baek Hyun back. He glanced at the iron gate, which was still closed.
“Isn’t the gate opening?”
“I-it should open if you wait a little.”
As soon as he heard that, Baek Hyun bent his knees and leaped into the air. After jumping high, he ran up the steep wall on his two feet. The hunters watching from below gaped.
“He said he didn’t have a contract...”
One hunter muttered in a hollow voice.
* * *
[You lunatic.]
Seo Min-sik let out a sigh.
[Even for you, wasn’t that a bit much?]
“What was a bit much?”
[Doing all that out in the open.]
“Of course I did it out in the open. Was I supposed to hide it?”
[Couldn’t you have held back a little... You know, done it normally?]
“I did hold back, in my own way.”
[Held back what?]
“My strength.”
Bubble, bubble. Baek Hyun dropped the ramen into the boiling water as he spoke. On the other end of the phone, Seo Min-sik muttered a quiet curse.
[That was you holding back?]
“Yeah.”
[Like hell you were, you crazy bastard!]
“I’m telling you, I was. If I’d gone all out, everyone there would’ve died.”
[Are you serious?]
“Why would I lie about something like this?”
Should he add an egg or not? Baek Hyun folded his arms as he considered that small question. After a moment’s thought, he decided against it.
[...I don’t know what to say.]
“This should’ve made me famous, right?”
[Of course you’re famous. Don’t you watch the news? Right now, you’re... Just watch it yourself. Why bother making me explain?]
“I’m too embarrassed to watch.”
[Embarrassed, my ass... You pulled that shit in front of dozens of cameras!]
“I didn’t think much of it at the time. But now that I think about it, it’s a little embarrassing. Maybe I should’ve worn something nicer.”
As he answered, Baek Hyun turned off the stove. He lifted the hot pot with Remote Object Manipulation and headed to the dining table. At the same time, he used Remote Object Manipulation to open the refrigerator and take out some kimchi.
‘Am I the only person who uses Remote Object Manipulation like this?’
His phone was floating through Remote Object Manipulation, too.
[...Your relatives were on the news.]
“Really? What’d they say?”
[What do you think? The usual stuff. They haven’t contacted you, have they?]
“I changed my number like you told me to. The Bureau won’t give it to them, will it?”
[The Bureau’s fucking strict about that stuff, so don’t worry. Your personal information won’t get leaked.]
Seo Min-sik sounded certain. He hadn’t taken part in this extermination himself, but he had helped Baek Hyun in various other ways. Two days earlier, Baek Hyun had changed his phone number on Seo Min-sik’s advice. Once he became famous, all sorts of people would try to contact him. Thanks to that, the only ones who knew his number now were Seo Min-sik and the Abyss Administration Bureau.
[Your old classmates were on, too.]
“Classmates? Middle school or high school?”
[Even elementary school. I went to a different high school, so I wouldn’t know about those people. But there were a few middle school classmates I recognized... They even showed the orphanage we grew up in. The place is fucking famous now, thanks to that. They’re calling it a prestigious hunter-producing orphanage. It’s not even funny.]
“Come to think of it, do you go to school reunions?”
[Are you nuts? Why would I go there? What do you think I’d hear?]
“What would you hear?”
[People asking to borrow money? Or trying to sell me insurance or a used car... Don’t even think about going to reunions from now on. Think of it as hitting reset on your entire social life.]
“You’re the only one I’ve got left anyway.”
Baek Hyun answered in an indifferent voice. Seo Min-sik snickered.
[You poor bastard. Don’t you have any friends besides me?]
“No.”
[Am I supposed to be touched?]
“Not yet. I’ll give you something to be touched about later, so save it for now.”
[Oh, give me a break.]
Baek Hyun ate his ramen as he listened to Seo Min-sik’s teasing.
[...I’m only saying this just in case, but you... Your relatives...]
“I’m not going to do anything.”
Crunch. Baek Hyun bit into his kimchi. He had bought it from a side dish shop, but he had never eaten homemade kimchi in the first place. As a result, he wasn’t picky about how it tasted.
“Why? Are you worried I’ll do something to them?”
[...Wouldn’t it be strange if I wasn’t? Your parents’... You know, their insurance money and everything. Your relatives took all of it, dumped you in an orphanage, and never showed their faces again. When we were kids, you were pretty fucking upset about that.]
“I was back then.”
Baek Hyun chuckled.
“Come on, that was only natural. Even setting aside teenage angst... growing up in an orphanage isn’t exactly a great thing to be known for. But I don’t feel like getting revenge now.”
[...Right. That’s a good decision. Being a hunter doesn’t put you above the law. Inside the Abyss, it’s hard to prove things, sure... but if you commit a crime in the real world, you pay for it.]
“To be blunt, I don’t know if anyone could even arrest me.”
[Hey!]
“I won’t do anything. Don’t worry. I don’t really feel anything about them now. They’re them, and I’m me. I don’t even think of them as relatives anymore. If they show up and act like family, I’ll just tell them to get lost. Though if they have any shame, they won’t even try.”
Slurp. Baek Hyun drank the ramen broth as he finished speaking. He took the empty pot to the sink, then went to the sofa and dropped onto it with a thump.
“The monsters were weak.”
[...Or are you just too strong?]
“That, too.”
[Aren’t you amazing. So what’s the problem?]
“I don’t really have a problem. You said the monsters that crawl out get stronger every month, right?”
[...They do. The damage is getting worse because of it, too. Korea probably won’t have much to worry about thanks to you, but other countries are suffering badly.]
Seo Min-sik muttered.
[Especially the Middle East and Africa... Those regions suffer a lot. Put simply, poorer countries. Countries with lots of land where it’s hard to get around. Guilds from Europe and the US do go out to help as mercenaries, but I guess it’s still tough.]
“Really?”
[Do you know how many Abysses there are on Earth? Fifty. Fifty of them. Korea’s lucky to have only one, but even Japan has two. Underdeveloped countries with small populations are bound to struggle.]
Seo Min-sik’s voice was unusually serious.
[And the monsters coming out every month keep getting stronger... In a few years, people really might not be able to handle them.]
“What happens then?”
[I don’t know, you lunatic. Why are you asking me?]
Baek Hyun chuckled as he listened to Seo Min-sik grumble.
[...Park Jun-hwan. Do you think that guy will take an interest in you after this?]
“I hope he does.”
[You really have no plan, do you? What if he just ignores you?]
“Then maybe I’ll go find him myself.”
[...I don’t know anymore. I saw how strong you are this time, so I get it... But you can’t think of an ‘apostle’ as just another hunter.]
Seo Min-sik let out a long sigh.
[An apostle, you see, is completely different from a hunter who makes a contract with a monarch. A monarch’s avatar... I guess that’s what you’d call them. They’re the one person given power on a truly one-to-one basis.]
“Now you’ve made me even more curious.”
[Honestly, I don’t know how strong apostles are, either. Most apostles and apostle candidates stay holed up in the Abyss, including Drave, the first to become a monarch’s apostle. They don’t even take part in the monster exterminations on the last day of each month.]
“Why not?”
[Because there’s no point.]
Seo Min-sik answered.
[The biggest benefit of monster exterminations is that your contracted monarch rewards you for how well you perform. But once you’re an apostle, you don’t need any more rewards. It seems your level still goes up after becoming an apostle... but there aren’t any more powers to receive.]
“No more powers?”
[Right. An apostle can use all of their monarch’s powers.]
Hearing that made his heart beat a little faster.
[And by that point, the monarch gets bored, too. Someone who’s already proven how outstanding they are doing well in an extermination is just a predictable person doing something predictable. That’s why I don’t take part in exterminations much, either.]
“Well, aren’t you special.”
[Tempest’s really hard to please, you know.]
Listening to Seo Min-sik sigh, Baek Hyun looked up the current apostles.
Four hunters had completed all their trials and been officially appointed as apostles.
Three provisional apostles were still going through their trials.
“That’s a lot.”
Baek Hyun smiled as he clenched and unclenched his hand.
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