WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Oblivious
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◈ Surviving as a B-Rank Hunter ◈
Chapter 32
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The suddenly appearing man in an enhanced armored suit stood 2.2 meters tall.
Encased in his armor, he looked less like a human than a tank or an android. Thick chest plating and plates covering his shoulders, arms, and thighs interlocked in layers, without the slightest gap.
What was more, the black joints between those thick metal plates moved as smoothly as lizard scales, making the suit seem entirely unrestrictive.
Small sensor drones rose over both shoulders with a Whiiirrr, already more than ten meters in the air as they scanned the battlefield.
The machine gun in his hands was too large to be called a personal weapon. It looked like something that belonged on an armored vehicle or in a bunker. Its ammunition belt ran into a tactical backpack strapped to his back.
Past all that weaponry, his face came into view. The helmet's gray faceplate gleamed as it reflected the surrounding light.
A glassy armor plate that shone coldly, without expression or gaze. It was a face that made anyone looking at it feel as though they faced an object, not a person.
Watching from behind, Dohyeon felt the excitement that had been boiling inside him vanish completely.
An A-rank hunter. Not a dungeon hunter armed with strange artifacts, but a war superhuman fully equipped with a conglomerate's cutting-edge modern combat gear.
A conglomerate's war dog, born of the revised Private Security Act. No, a battle elephant wearing bulletproof armor and armed with an autocannon. Except compressed into human size.
“P-Park Kangseok...?”
The scrawny man clutching his severed wrist muttered that with a blank expression. Then the jaw of the war superhuman called Park Kangseok shifted slightly.
His eyes were not visible, so it was impossible to tell whether he was looking this way. Yet everyone present could feel his gaze.
An electronic voice rang out from beyond the helmet.
[Oh Cheolsang. Trash like you dared to threaten me?]
“Uh, well, what the... How did you... get here...?”
[Did you think I wouldn't figure out how trash like you operates? Do you think I gave work to the likes of you because I truly lacked the ability to handle it myself? And you dared demand money from me as a threat?]
The scrawny man, the man called Oh Cheolsang, merely moved his lips without answering.
Dohyeon thought he understood why Oh Cheolsang was so flustered. He had either seen one of these fully armed conglomerate A-rank hunters before, or at least heard rumors about them.
So he was stunned to see one growling in front of him now.
But true to an assassin deranged enough to open fire in the middle of South Korea, he soon hardened his expression and snapped back.
“You fucking bastard who threw money around asking us to kill your daughter, what did you just call me? Human trash? You're the last person who gets to say that, you piece of shit.”
[You fucking worthless little shit...!]
Dohyeon could sense disaster brewing amid their casually exchanged vulgarities.
An A-rank hunter had descended, armed with an enhanced armored suit and a machine gun. The scrawny man, no, Oh Cheolsang, had realized it at once. That hunter had come here intending to spill blood.
“If we're trash, then you're nuclear waste, asshole! What do you think you can do coming here alone? Hunters aren't immune to bullets, are they?! What are you idiots doing?! Shoot the bastard!”
The men who had gotten out of the cars and motorcycles reflexively raised their guns at his shout. Dohyeon quickly ducked behind cover.
Then came a burst of gunshots and flashes. Tutatatak! Tukwang! Drrrk! Bang! Bang!
Oh Cheolsang's men fired every gun they had at the A-rank hunter called Park Kangseok. Assault rifles, shotguns, handguns, submachine guns. Their mismatched weapons spat fire in their own ways, pouring out lead.
It was a barrage that would have reduced not only an ordinary human, but a lion, bear, or even a real elephant to scraps in an instant.
Bullets ricocheted in every direction, scattering sparks. Dohyeon crouched low behind some metal materials and waited for the gunfire to stop.
“...”
A moment later, the shooting ceased. Dohyeon cautiously raised his head, saw exactly what he expected, and gave a bitter smile.
[Finished shooting?]
The materials around them and the concrete floor had been shredded, but Park Kangseok was unharmed. Paint had chipped from his enhanced armored suit in several places, yet there was not a single puncture. Even the faceplate bore several bullet marks, but remained intact.
Seeing that, Oh Cheolsang's men began reloading in a panic. As they removed and dropped empty magazines, metallic click-clacks rang out from all around.
Amid that scene, Oh Cheolsang turned and fled.
[Human trash.]
Park Kangseok aimed his barrel at the gang member farthest to the right.
Then came the gunfire.
With a deafening Krrrrrrk! like metal scraping, a yellow stream of light erupted from the barrel and swept over a man reloading his assault rifle.
The man did not even have time to scream. In less than a fraction of a second, dozens of bullets tore through him, reducing his body to a bloody mass. The gun in his hands shattered as well, becoming scraps of metal.
Having turned one gang member into rags, Park Kangseok slowly stepped forward and began turning his barrel.
Another Krrrrrrk!
This time, two people scattered like torn paper. Park Kangseok calmly aimed at the next target, as though the sight meant nothing to him.
“Scatter! Find cover!”
One of the gang members came to his senses and shouted. The men who had been standing stupidly while reloading hurriedly scattered.
Park Kangseok did not care. He simply walked forward, step by step, dismantling the gang members one at a time.
But he did not target just anyone. He accurately picked out the men who had finished reloading and were trying to aim at him again, filling them with bullets.
After dismantling five more, he stopped short.
One gang member was reloading behind a vehicle.
“...!”
His bolt had jammed, and he was fumbling with it when he noticed the presence in front of him and looked up in horror.
Park Kangseok's left hand reached over his shoulder. With a click, a long rod rose from his backpack and settled into his grasp. Park Kangseok pulled it down and swung.
The head of the club, as thick as a person's thigh, smashed the gang member's head apart.
Park Kangseok strode among the gang members, holding an absurdly huge club in his left hand and a machine gun in his right.
Whenever his machine gun let out that Krrrrrrk! of gunfire, hiding behind vehicles or materials did nothing to stop the bullets.
Hundreds of bullets ground people and vehicles apart together. His descending metal club seemed capable of driving a person's head straight down into their chest.
A few gang members finally finished reloading and desperately fired back. But their bullets could not penetrate Park Kangseok's enhanced armor.
Some simply turned to run. Yet Park Kangseok uncannily spotted those fleeing and aimed his barrel in their direction. The runners were reduced to dozens of pieces, becoming bloody masses without even turning around.
The gang members, who had numbered in the dozens, were being slaughtered wholesale.
While they were all being reduced to lumps of flesh, Dohyeon moved backward. That was how he found Park Tae-eun.
She was curled up in a corner of the factory, covering both ears and trembling. When Dohyeon approached and touched her, she jolted and looked up. Her round eyes brimmed with tears.
Seemingly relieved to see him, she let out a deep breath and threw herself into his arms.
But Dohyeon casually pushed her away and met her eyes.
“Park Kangseok. Have you heard that name before?”
“What? Park Kang... How do you know that name...?”
“Do you know it or not?”
“...It's my father's name. The father who left my mother and me behind and went to Korea...”
What a fucking situation.
If the A-rank hunter outside really was Park Kangseok, and this woman's father, then he had hired assassins to kill his daughter.
Then some sort of conflict had erupted between him and those assassins, and he had apparently deployed in person, fully armed, to settle it.
“...What a fucking situation.”
Without realizing it, Dohyeon raised his head and looked around. He was wondering whether there was a mirror or some smooth reflective surface nearby.
Had the Valkyrie known this was the situation surrounding this woman? Had she known and egged me on?
Did she want me to fight an enemy this extreme and die?
To take me to Valhalla?
[Warrior. This is not the time to doubt yourself. The enemy is coming.]
As if she had read his thoughts, the Valkyrie's whisper reached him. Dohyeon already knew an enemy was coming.
The Krrrrrrk! of gunfire had stopped.
Dohyeon quickly pulled Park Tae-eun to her feet and moved between the materials.
As she got up, Park Tae-eun noticed his condition and gasped.
“Y-You're shot...”
“Quiet. Move first.”
He led Park Tae-eun into hiding among the cover. Then heavy footsteps began to echo. Through the piled materials, he saw Park Kangseok.
The paint that had been stripped away after deflecting bullets had now been coated in a dark crimson pigment.
Smoke rose from the faintly heated barrel of his gun, and instead of the club, he was holding a person in his left hand.
After entering the center of the factory grounds and looking around, he casually threw the person he held forward.
“Urgh...!”
The scrawny man, Oh Cheolsang, sprawled on the floor and writhed in agony. Neither of his legs existed below the knees.
Even so, he immediately began crawling with his remaining arms. Judging by his unfocused eyes, he had already reached a state where he could barely comprehend his own situation.
Then Park Kangseok's foot crushed Oh Cheolsang's one remaining hand.
“Argh...!”
[Trash. Do you understand your place now? Hm?]
Crushed beneath the several hundred kilograms of the enhanced armored suit, Oh Cheolsang's hand naturally became flattened like dried fish.
His bones and muscles were completely destroyed, leaving it beyond any possibility of recovery. Oh Cheolsang had lost both hands as well.
With all four limbs ruined, he screamed.
“Just kill me! You fucking bastard!”
[Why should I listen to a worm like you?]
Park Kangseok pressed the heated barrel against Oh Cheolsang's forehead. Oh Cheolsang shook his head, trying to avoid it, but he could not escape that lump of metal bearing down like a press.
“Guhhh...”
[Hmph. But I'm a far more successful and admirable person than you, so I suppose I can grant a request. Admit one thing. That you're human trash.]
“Ahhh... Y-Yes, that's right...! I'm human... human trash...!”
[...]
His flesh sizzled for only a moment. The heated barrel went beyond searing his forehead and began crushing through skin and bone.
Oh Cheolsang's eyes rolled in different directions.
Crunch.
It was the last sound Oh Cheolsang made as his head shattered.
Having finished off one piece of trash, Park Kangseok raised his head. He looked around and spoke, his voice booming through electronic amplification.
[I know everyone here is hiding. I want to see your face one last time, so come out.]
Park Tae-eun's expression collapsed at those words. Her face was a confused mixture of fear, dazedness, and faint anger.
[Do I have to call that ridiculous name for you to come out? Come out, Park Tae-eun. Didn't you send letters and messages saying you wanted to see this father of yours so badly?]
“...Dad?”
The instant Park Tae-eun muttered that, Park Kangseok's head snapped toward them. Dohyeon quickly grabbed Park Tae-eun and pushed her down, preparing for the gunfire that would soon follow.
“...”
But no gunfire came.
Park Kangseok was merely looking in their direction.
Only after a moment did he speak again.
[Come out, Park Tae-eun. Let me see your face.]
Silence continued for a long while.
Then Park Tae-eun hesitantly stood from among the piled materials.
She stared at Park Kangseok with terrified eyes and slowly walked forward.
Park Kangseok watched her through his unreadable helmet gaze, then raised a hand and operated his faceplate.
Click.
The panel turned translucent, revealing his face.
“You're prettier than your mother.”
“...Do you remember my mother?”
“Of course. She was the prettiest of all the women I met back then.”
A faint smile appeared on Park Kangseok's lips. A smile as if he were recalling a distant memory.
At the sight of it, a vague hope passed over Park Tae-eun's face.
Then he spoke again.
“Why didn't you do something else with that pretty face?”
“What?”
“These days, you can make money just by being pretty. Why did you come looking for me and make a nuisance of yourself? I gave you such a fine face, so shouldn't you have been grateful and lived your own life? Hm?”
“...”
The smile vanished from Park Kangseok's face.
“If you don't even have the talent for that, then sell your body like your mother did. You don't want to work, but you don't want to become a prostitute either. Is that why you came looking for me?”
“I... I just wanted to see Dad, just once...”
Tears welled in Park Tae-eun's eyes.
But Park Kangseok's expression remained cold.
His barrel shifted.
Park Tae-eun still stared only at her father's face. As though she were trying somehow to find the father she had wished for in that face.
The barrel aimed at her eyes.
“...!”
At that moment, a red warning indicator appeared on one side of Park Kangseok's faceplate. The instant he saw it, he raised his barrel.
Dohyeon was falling from above, gripping a long sword in both hands, drawn back all the way behind his back.
“I knew there'd be a rat left-!”
In that fleeting instant, Dohyeon had pulled his body as far back as possible. Then he brought the sword down like releasing a bowstring.
Within the endless time divided beneath a fraction of a second, Park Kangseok's barrel, aimed at Dohyeon and the blade, met the descending sword.
A black blade forged from dungeon materials collided with a gun barrel made through modern advanced materials engineering.
The collision lasted only an instant.
The black blade began to split the long barrel. The point of contact glowed bright yellow and sprayed sparks.
At last, the black blade passed vertically through the machine gun, which weighed dozens of kilograms.
With a thud, Dohyeon landed on the floor and dropped to one knee, still in the posture of his downward swing.
For a moment, neither Dohyeon nor Park Kangseok moved.
“...”
Then half of the machine gun, split vertically in two, fell to the floor with a clatter.
Shock appeared on Park Kangseok's face behind the faceplate.
“What kind of crazy bastard is this...?”
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