Chapter 98: A Beating Is Medicine for a Crazy Bastard (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 98: A Beating Is Medicine for a Crazy Bastard (1)
The weather, which had felt unseasonably hot until mid-September, cooled down rapidly within a single week. As the refreshing breeze arrived, people’s short sleeves grew longer, and the shift in seasons became palpable.
Before heading out to work on the day of the duel, I had a conversation with Eunha. The topic, of all things, was Superhumans. It wasn't that I held any particular prejudice or narrow-minded views toward them, but after getting to know the members of Hunter Killer, I wanted to resolve a lingering curiosity.
Except for Yubin, who still hadn't revealed her identity as a Superhuman to me, it was a question I could have asked any of them. However, I felt that asking Eunha would yield the most heartfelt answer.
"Eunha."
"Yes?"
As I called out to her after finishing my preparations to leave, she tilted her head curiously, standing there to see me off.
"Can I ask you something about Superhumans?"
"Yes. You can ask me anything."
Even though I had her permission, I felt a twinge of apprehension about asking such a direct question. Part of it was the fear of being found out, but a bigger worry was that a thoughtless question might hurt her feelings.
But since she told me it was okay, I decided not to hesitate.
"The public perception of Superhumans isn't exactly great, is it?"
"No, it isn't..."
Perhaps because she, as a Superhuman, knew this better than anyone, she nodded with a somewhat bittersweet smile.
"I was just wondering why you keep active as part of Hunter Killer despite that."
I’ve traveled to various planets aboard Spacetro ships. When humanity encounters an alien force with overwhelmingly superior technology, their reactions usually fall into a few predictable categories. Of course, there are also frequent conflicts between inhabitants of the same planet.
I’ve seen cases, like Earth, where there is extreme discrimination against a specific race. However, I had never seen a discriminated group continuously go out of their way to help the very people who shunned them.
"That's because..."
My gaze fixed on Eunha as she spoke cautiously.
"If I work hard, maybe one day someone will appear who looks at Superhumans in a positive light. I'm sure the other members feel the same way."
Hearing her answer, my first thought wasn't that she was admirable or amazing. Instead, I wondered: If I were in her shoes, could I give my all for Spacetro? Someone might look at a Superhuman's actions and think it's only natural. But it is by no means easy.
To protect the land of your birth while facing extreme discrimination, waiting for the day people might finally accept you? It’s hard to comment on a situation I haven't experienced personally, but one thing was certain: the members of Team Hunter Killer, who continued their activities as Superhumans, all shared that same hope.
"And because I worked hard, you appeared, Oppa."
Her sincere, smiling words left me with a lot to think about. Although my initial reason for approaching them was different from what it is now, I truly want them to feel even a little bit of happiness. It felt as though my feelings, and the actions born from them, had exerted a positive influence on the members of Hunter Killer.
After parting ways with Eunha, I headed straight for Spacetro Headquarters. Last night was last night. I believed today’s duel should be treated as a duel, so I tried to keep personal thoughts out of it.
However, now that I had established relationships with all the members of Hunter Killer, it was impossible not to have some lingering thoughts. While I had no complaints about dueling in such a peaceful manner, this repetition of the same actions would eventually hit a limit. These duels had been going on for twenty years, and I had been part of them for ten—half that time.
Was there really a way to improve the current situation?
"A."
Just as I arrived at the front of Headquarters, lost in thought, I ran into Kruger and Jack, who had arrived at the same time.
"You two coming in together?"
"We ran into each other out front."
Without needing further pleasantries, the three of us—Kruger, Jack, and I—entered the building and headed for the third floor. We went into the usual locker room, only to find a mountain of boxes stacked inside.
"What's all this?"
Kruger approached first, inspecting the boxes from different angles. Just then, the locker room door swung open.
"Is that all of you?"
The person who opened the door was none other than Luche. Convinced she was the only one who would know where the boxes came from, we looked at her. Of course, I had something to say first.
"How can you just swing the men's locker room door open like that, ma'am?"
"It's not like you were changing yet!"
I chuckled at Luche, who shouted back with a reddened face, and immediately shifted the topic to the stacked boxes.
"What are these?"
"Look at the top of the boxes. Your names should be on them."
"Oh? You're right. Our team members' names are on here."
Jack, who found the box with his name first, looked at Luche as if asking for permission to open it. Luche gave a slight nod of her chin.
Jack immediately tore the box open. Inside was another metal case used for storing equipment.
As Jack touched the case, a green light flickered, and a message appeared on top: 'Identifying.' Soon, the message changed to 'Identification Complete,' and the case began to open. Inside were gauntlets and boots with a design reminiscent of plate armor.
"Whoa?! What is this?!"
Excited by the new gear, we all looked at Luche simultaneously. She was wearing a proud smile.
"New equipment was issued because your last training scores were good."
"......"
We fell silent. Luche, who had clearly expected an immediate reaction, just stared at us.
Then, a beat later, the reaction exploded.
"Woooooooaaaaahhh!!!"
I was the most excited of all. I had been waiting and waiting for new supplies to be issued. I was simply overjoyed that we were being given new equipment as a reward for our training performance.
"What?! What's going on?!"
The rest of our comrades, who arrived late, rushed through the door at the sound of the commotion. It didn't take long for everyone to join in the cheering over the new gear. For us, who always maintained the lowest scores at the Seoul Headquarters, I couldn't even remember the last time we received equipment issued to the entire soldier corps.
"Hey! Can we win with this?!"
At Ban's words—he was as giddy as a child receiving a birthday present while trying on the gauntlets—we all fell silent for a moment.
"......The odds might have improved a little?"
"If we do well, maybe. Or maybe not."
Getting new gear felt great, but better equipment didn't mean our abilities would skyrocket. Moreover, since we were a team that had lost to Hunter Killer every single time, we couldn't quite visualize a victory just because we had new gear.
"Why is the mood suddenly dropping?! Everyone, get changed!"
Luche, trying to boost morale in her own way, spoke loudly and left the locker room. Even if we couldn't see a victory yet, the new equipment would definitely have an impact. My 3rd Team comrades and I, our spirits lifted, noisily changed our clothes and donned the gauntlets and boots over our suits.
The gauntlets were made of the same material as the suits, with the fingers, the back of the hand, and the forearms covered in metal plating. The boots were based on combat boots, reinforced entirely with metal accents. They were a bit heavy, but not enough to be a problem.
I called them "accents," but since the metal-covered areas were the primary body parts used for attacking and defending, our overall offensive and defensive power was bound to increase significantly. Finally, as I put on my helmet, a process for accessing the data of the gauntlets and boots synchronized with the suit appeared before my eyes.
"The functions are incredible since it's brand new."
As we went through the added features one by one, our team—which usually fought in a semi-analog fashion—finally got a taste of modern technology.
"There was even better stuff than this back when we were in space."
"How long ago was that?"
Once the data access was complete, the metal of the gauntlets and boots, which had been clanking like loose armor, tightened and molded to fit my body perfectly. I marveled at the stable feeling around my hands and feet, turning them this way and that.
"Can I actually look forward to today's duel?"
I asked Kruger, who was standing next to me as we headed down the elevator. Kruger, who had his helmet off, looked into the air for a moment in thought. Then he looked at me, a smile spreading across his lips.
"Maybe we can look forward to it just a little bit."
Feeling like we had returned to our days in deep space, Kruger and I were genuinely excited for the first time in a long while. When we reached the basement, we ran into Team 4, who were also discussing their new equipment.
"What's this? Is Team 3 heading out for a duel?"
The window of a van rolled down, and Seira, sitting in the passenger seat, poked her head out.
"Yes. Is Team 4 dueling today as well?"
"Yeah. That's how it turned out."
Kruger saluted first. Since subordinates were present, I asked her politely using formal speech, and Seira answered me with her usual familiarity.
Suddenly, the thought of Team 4's opponent, Team Guerrilla, crossed my mind. Kruger seemed to have the same thought, as he fell silent.
"Work hard, and make sure to comfort Luche so she doesn't cry."
"That happens every time, so don't you worry about it."
Perhaps because she saw how excited the soldiers were after receiving new gear, Seira seemed to be in a good mood today as well.
"Let's go."
"Right."
Patting the shoulder of the stationary Kruger, we headed toward the aging van belonging to Team 3. Daniel, our driver, was already in the driver's seat looking at his smartphone. I tapped on the window and gave him a light greeting.
"What's up, Daniel? Why the long face?"
"......You guys got new gear."
I reflexively let out an "Ah." Unlike us, Daniel wasn't a regular combat soldier. For us combatants, new weapons were our new gear, but for Daniel, who was in charge of driving, his "gear" was the vehicle.
I gave a hollow laugh as I looked at the old van and patted his shoulder.
"Hey! Don't worry. We got new gear. If we produce results, who knows? Maybe we'll get a new car."
"Sure. If you win, that is."
He wasn't mocking our long history of losses. Daniel simply couldn't imagine a scenario where our team beat Team Hunter Killer. Since I couldn't bring myself to say we would definitely win, Kruger and I just climbed into the van.
As we waited in the back, our comrades came down one by one and piled in. Finally, Luche hopped into the passenger seat. As usual, the overloaded van was packed so tightly with men that it was hard to find a gap.
Still, I felt better than usual today. The reason, as I’ve said until I’m blue in the face, was the new gear. We had occasionally been given experimental weapons to use, but those could hardly be called "issued supplies."
But now that we had been properly issued equipment that could actually be used in the field, I felt my fighting spirit being rekindled for the first time in ages.
We excitedly rode in the van driven by Daniel toward today's duel location. Today's venue was a large construction site in Gangseo-gu, Seoul—an empty lot where buildings hadn't gone up yet, with only some construction materials scattered about.
Since it wasn't a place people frequented, I thought the duel would proceed more smoothly than usual without having to control civilians as I stepped out of the car.
And there, at the duel site, we were met with a strange sight. The faces were familiar. They had to be. But the scene itself was utterly alien.
During duels, teams are sometimes swapped due to scheduling conflicts. However, that had never applied to our 3rd Team. I didn't know if it was because we lost every time and they didn't want us encountering other teams, but while our duel schedule might change, our opponent never did. We couldn't help but be bewildered.
Luche also seemed completely caught off guard, her eyes wide as she surveyed the scene.
"You're here?! You pathetic shits!"
A group of men stood there, wearing suits made of the same material as Hunter Killer's, but without their helmets. And those faces were all too familiar to us.
How could we ever forget the faces of the ones who had utterly ruined our long-awaited team dinner?
Even while wearing my helmet and keeping my eyes on the enemy, I could feel the atmosphere among my comrades shift drastically.
For the first time in the ten years these duels had been held, we were facing Team Guerrilla.