Chapter 34
Chapter 34
5. Seoul Expansion -1
"Team Leader Park, how is Seoul doing?"
"Ah, Hunter Noah Won. Seoul is in excellent shape. We've stockpiled over two weeks' worth of food, and the citizens are getting along without any real trouble. Most of all, now that people have full stomachs, even the ones who were on edge have softened up considerably. Hahaha!"
"I'm glad to see there's no trouble. Your complexion looks better too, Team Leader."
"It's all thanks to you, Hunter Noah Won. So, what brings you here today⋯⋯?"
"Ah, well."
Thanks to the recent chain of events, Seoul had become prosperous.
Compared to the old days, when we were weighed down by worries about food, electricity, heating, and every other concern imaginable, it was a complete transformation. The construction materials airlifted from Camp Ace had provided livable shelter, and through steady trade with Sohye, food kept piling up.
Maybe that was why Team Leader Park's once-sallow face seemed to have regained a fair amount of color. The eyes that had been sunken from chronic fatigue had somehow returned to normal.
If things kept going like this, he might even get back to how he looked in his prime. Right now he was worn down, but back when he worked as a civil servant at the Hunter Support Agency, Team Leader Park had been a lively person.
But his good days of light workload ended today. I felt a little sorry for him, but what we needed wasn't just comfortable survival.
Once you have resources, you have to invest. When you have breathing room, you have to tech up. That was a code of conduct passed down since the ancient days when Korea's folk game StarCraft first emerged.
If a single battle could completely annihilate the enemy, that would be one thing, but our main enemy was plants endlessly pouring down. On top of that, those bastards kept raising the invasion difficulty in stages. If you couldn't keep up with the tempo, you'd get overwhelmed at some point.
Taking the future into account overall, now was exactly the time to spend surplus resources.
"We're going to push through the forest, gather the scattered survivors, and expand Seoul's scale. In the long term⋯⋯ I'd like to build the city up to the point where it can be self-sufficient and support research."
"⋯⋯⋯⋯!!"
"Get ready to welcome the new people with Minsik, Team Leader."
"Good grief, things are about to get busy⋯⋯"
Team Leader Park's face aged rapidly. New people meant new conflicts, new distribution, and new work. Probably, the more the population grew, the more all-nighters he'd have to pull.
There would also be issues of integrating with existing citizens and territorial attitudes, and if any of the new people were hunters, he'd have to spend effort just maintaining discipline. He was in for a headache.
But he didn't only dislike the pile of work coming his way. If you looked closely, you could see the corners of Team Leader Park's mouth twitching upward.
Territorial expansion—wasn't this something we couldn't even have dreamed of back when we had no breathing room? It was a task we couldn't have done even if we'd wanted to, too busy just getting through the present.
So it seemed the reality that Seoul was moving forward with hope was finally sinking in for him.
Thump!
Team Leader Park shook his head to cast off his lingering regrets, then grabbed my forearm and pleaded earnestly. A certain fervor was blazing in his eyes.
"Hunter Noah Won, if possible, bring me people who worked in HR⋯⋯ that would be ideal. Or staffing agency owners, lobbyists—people like that, people who are good with words and can manage people. Please grab⋯⋯ escort them here. I beg you!"
I couldn't tell whether that fervor was about reducing his workload or quickly normalizing Seoul's internal affairs. Either way, his passion was unmistakable. I nodded.
"Yes. If I come across any on the way, I'll be sure to bring them."
"Yes⋯⋯ What scale and composition are you thinking for the expedition?"
"Around ten people should be enough."
"⋯⋯Isn't that too few? Pushing through the forest aside, if there are people surviving in the outskirts, their groups will definitely include hunters. If combat breaks out⋯⋯"
I showed my confidence with a smile.
Do you know the saying about a frog in a well? That's us.
The hunters on Earth had no magic tomes boasting a thousand-year history, no martial arts or techniques for wielding magic power, no advanced technology like space elevators or mining spacecraft. Until now, there had only been people.
So we'd had no choice but to rely on grit and guts to scrape by. But what about now?
I had gained many things from the vast universe called the System. Currently, over ninety percent of the hunters under my command had trained in the magic power cultivation method Sergios had taught us. An advanced field of magic power study that had never existed on Earth.
What did that mean?
"Team Leader. If some medieval army borrowed the power of a time machine, armed themselves with muskets, and fought spearmen of the same era, what kind of exchange ratio do you think they'd get?"
"⋯⋯Wouldn't it be ten to zero? If the technological gap is that wide."
"Yes. And we're that army."
It meant that between ordinary Earth hunters and Seoul's hunters, there was already an era-level gap as wide as the one between spearmen and musketeers.
Of course, if the spearmen were the type who wrapped three skills around their spears, that would be a different story, but in the Republic of Korea, the high-ranking hunters had all been wiped out after the Hunter Monarchy coup.
The ones who survived that chaos either submitted to me or left with the other coup leaders who had established themselves in the east and south. So even if there were scattered unaffiliated hunters remaining around Seoul, their ranks wouldn't be high.
And⋯⋯
I also had a feeling that adding 『Martial Arts』 to hunters wouldn't end at simply increasing combat power. It was still just a vague intuition, though.
Excluding the personnel who had to stay in Seoul for weeding the living-zone forest and city defense. So Minsik was excluded too. True to his former manager background, he had a knack for personnel management—without Minsik, the schedule wouldn't run smoothly.
From the remaining hunters, I selected mainly those who were good at clearing paths.
"Noah—no⋯⋯ Captain Noah. Personnel assembly complete!"
"Good work."
Snap!
I accepted the salute Hyejin snapped up. Nobody had told her to, but she'd asked around and practiced, and now her posture was razor-sharp. Anyone watching would think she was a high school girl who'd done her military service.
The main force of this expedition was the flame-type hunter Lee Hyejin. Her ability was called 『Azure Flame』. Since it could project firepower over a wide area, it would be a huge help in pushing through the forest.
"Let's move out. We clear the area quickly and politely escort the citizens back."
"Yes. Oh, what should we do if there are still people who think we're in the Hunter Monarchy era?"
"Do what we always do. When have we ever compromised?"
"Yessir."
Hyejin grinned as if she fully understood.
⋯⋯⋯⋯
Expedition Leader: System D-rank Hunter Noah Won.
Expedition Members: Earth-standard B-rank Hunter Lee Hyejin, plus nine C-ranks.
Ten people in total.
Departure.
After the natural disaster called the Gate occurred, the world's class system was reorganized around the chosen ones who had received special abilities—hunters.
B-rank Hunter Park Dusik was one of them. He had awakened while berating a newly hired employee to relieve stress, and the moment he awakened, he quit the company. Slapping his insufferable senior colleague and knocking out a few teeth had been a bonus.
He had always thought a small company like that didn't suit him. He was someone who deserved far better treatment than this.
So he went to the Republic of Korea Central Hunter Association and took an ability test. The result: B-rank.
It wasn't satisfying, but it was still a high enough rank. Actually, it was good. E-rank was basically trash, no different from a civilian who could use a little psychic power. D-rank still had to tremble when police pointed guns at them.
Compared to that, what about C-rank? At that level, even the police started walking on eggshells. They could handle firearms to a limited extent, and if they set their mind to it, killing several people was nothing.
At B-rank, even low-ranking police didn't dare write a hunter a ticket.
A-rank⋯⋯ looking purely at ability, they were superhumans truly unbound by society, but precisely because of that, the government watched them with burning intensity. So in some ways, A-rank was worse off than B-rank.
Park Dusik repeated this to himself, swallowing his inferiority complex and regret toward A-rank.
He lived the life of a hunter. He dealt with plants, gained wealth, and spent all of that money satisfying his own pleasures. But even in that life, his grievances and dissatisfaction gradually grew.
The reason was simple: the state kept trying to put a leash on hunters.
The event that drove the wedge in was this.
-Enforcement Ordinance on Military Service by Hunter Rank
How dare they.
Were they saying that ordinary people who hadn't even been chosen would block the path of those chosen by heaven? Why should the state take the byproducts earned from fighting the plants pouring out of the Gate?
So, one day, when the image of the presidential residence burning was broadcast across a TV screen he happened to pass by. When five A-rank hunters of the Republic of Korea joined forces and declared they would overturn the existing order and build a nation of hunters.
Park Dusik, cracking open a beer can in his room, shouted.
I knew this would happen!
After that, the country ran quite properly. Hunters could receive treatment befitting their status. They weren't punished for messing with ordinary non-hunters as they pleased, and no one said anything no matter how they acted.
"Hey, you. Bring me that hamburger."
"No, what's this all of a sudden⋯⋯ I just barely got this ration! Without this, I'll starve today⋯⋯!"
"You maggot barely surviving thanks to hunters dares to resist? Without us, you'd have become fertilizer long ago, and instead of being grateful—!"
"Aaaagh!"
Those were good times.
Park Dusik even received a knighthood, and it seemed like if he did well, he might receive a viscount title along with a territory. If that happened, he could even take up to five wives.
But the heavens were cruel⋯⋯
A demon appeared and shattered the hunters' paradise.
One day, a single hunter appeared at the palace of the King of Seoul and roared. Park Dusik, who was serving as a guard at the Seoul palace at the time, could hear the argument along with the other guards.
"—You inhuman bastards, they're people just like you! Is it so hard for people to treat people like people? Do you only feel satisfied when screams and pleas burst out?"
"Who was it that first treated us like dogs and tried to use us as bullet sponges, Honorary Duke Noah Won! Who was it that looked at hunters like monsters, gave no proper compensation even as we died of overwork, and pushed us to save people with nothing but whippings?"
"At least it wasn't all those people you're tormenting. I understood, so I looked the other way. I didn't interfere with the coup because I didn't want to see our people ground down any further. But⋯⋯ look! Look at yourself! You're acting exactly like those bastards!"
Hunter Noah Won.
One of only ten A-rank hunters in the Republic of Korea, and the leader of the moderate faction. The Black Tortoise of Seoul. He openly raised the banner of rebellion against the King of Seoul and the Hunter Monarchy system.
A messenger came running and shouted.
"Y-Your Majesty! Duke Park Sihu and Countess Yeon Arang have risen in revolt! The Duke of Incheon is holding them off, but⋯⋯!"
"⋯⋯Is that so. Noah Won, you've joined hands with those two. While they clean up the regional forces, you intend to hold me here so I can't march out?"
"That's right. You're not leaving this palace. And this childish rank game of dukes and counts ends now!"
Noah Won readied his shield and short sword in a combat stance. The King of Seoul summoned his forces and prepared to punish the traitor Noah Won.
In truth, Park Dusik hadn't felt any sense of crisis even at that moment.
Because the numbers alone gave the answer.
Noah Won was one man, while there were three A-rank hunters stationed at the Seoul palace at the time. If there were a difference in rank, that would be one thing, but if same-rank hunters fought one against three, wasn't the outcome obvious?
On top of that, there were five B-rank hunters including Park Dusik, and with numerous C-rank hunters added in, it wasn't even a contest. One hunter couldn't hold off this many people.
It was a reckless plan, to the point you'd wonder if he'd come to commit suicide.
However.
When three hours passed, Park Dusik thought, "Maybe."
When the battle passed six hours, all the C-ranks had been knocked out.
After twelve hours, the B-rank hunters including Park Dusik also withdrew from the fight due to exhaustion.
Then at the twenty-fourth hour, even after a full day had passed, the battle hadn't ended.
"⋯⋯⋯⋯"
Noah Won's appearance was wretched. Having fought this long while so badly outnumbered, he had naturally sustained severe injuries all over his body. But he still stood blocking the gate of the Seoul palace.
The three A-rank hunters who had rushed to break through him had only minor wounds and no significant damage. Yet even so, they couldn't do anything about that single walking corpse.
They were the same A-rank, but something was decisively different.
Was it because of his unusual ability? Noah Won's ability was famous. He had a kind of copying ability, and in this fight too, he had used it at exactly the right moments.
Those participating in the battle never knew when their own abilities might turn on them, so they had to stay wary of that sharp blade. But even so, there shouldn't have been any reason for the fight to drag on this long⋯⋯!
It was a battle situation Park Dusik couldn't comprehend. The only thing he realized was that Noah Won's attacks landed with an absurdly high frequency—and conversely, the Hunter Monarchy side's attacks landed with a low frequency.
Then.
Boom!
The gate of the Seoul palace opened—not in the direction of leaving, but in the direction of entering.
"Honorary Duke Noah Won—this Park Sihu is a little late! That Duke of Incheon had a hidden trick up his sleeve⋯⋯ I ended up losing an arm!"
"You held out until now? They call you the Black Tortoise of Seoul⋯⋯ Right, even back in the music show days, your stamina was something⋯⋯"
The rebellion leaders, Duke Park Sihu and Countess Yeon Arang, entered with their hunters.
And so the Hunter Monarchy fell.
Park Dusik barely managed to escape. The moment the Seoul palace gate opened, he judged that something had gone wrong, abandoned all his comrades, and ran out first.
After that, the world changed once again. From modern society—to the Hunter Monarchy—to the apocalypse.
He heard that Duke Park Sihu had moved south and Countess Yeon Arang had moved east, each building their own independent city. And Honorary Duke Noah Won⋯⋯ that treacherous traitor had coiled himself up in Seoul.
Due to the successive coups and civil war, manpower had plummeted. Of the ten A-rank hunters, only three were known to remain. So the influence they could exert was also limited.
So he fled far away.
Then he forcibly dragged out the civilians who had holed up in bunkers and shelters, surviving day by day, and built a small village to live in. Park Dusik had finally obtained the territory he had wanted.
The civilians farmed and went out scavenging for Park Dusik's food. And he sat on a throne like a well-fed wolf, ordering them around.
He thought.
Noah Won, that stupid bastard's ideology was wrong. If the strong didn't rule and the weak didn't submit, what kind of world was he hoping for? It made no sense.
Such an ideology would crumble like a sandcastle. Just as the Republic of Korea, which had oppressed hunters, had fallen, that city-state he'd built would also sink from within due to internal conflict.
Yes, that was surely how it would go!
It was providence and natural destiny. No matter how he thought about it, Seoul under that man's rule was doomed to collapse. In that case, what about aiming for that moment? When Seoul staggered and fell, what if Park Dusik appeared at the right time and took the crown?
There could be nothing more righteous.
Below Seoul. A point a little further south from the Han River.
Park Dusik had settled there and was watching Seoul. Someday, when Noah Won was ruined and Seoul collapsed, he would march in fiercely, reclaim that old territory, and become the new King of Seoul.
"⋯⋯⋯⋯?"
But Seoul wasn't collapsing—it kept growing.
Park Dusik slumped down with a dazed expression, like someone watching stock prices crash.