Chapter 14
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 014
Chapter Title: Incheon Hunter Kim Geuk - [2]
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"We're already short on Awakener Hunters, scraping by as it is. They're even rolling out the red carpet for ex-cons like me, throwing big bucks at us just because we're Awakeners. Who gives a damn if you've trolled on shady forums, sexually harassed someone, or bullied kids in school? Just hunt the monsters well, and that's that."
Park Mi-hyeong seemed troubled by my words. Her voice was drained as she offered advice.
"Yeah, well, you know the industry stuff better than I do, Kim Geuk. Still, please watch your mouth, alright? My heart was pounding just watching you."
I smiled, said I got it, and ended the call.
Of all people, this lady was the only one looking out for me. As I felt satisfied about that, my phone rang again.
Who's this now? I checked and saw it was the academy director. Was this guy calling to chew me out over that interview too?
Nope. When I picked up, it was nothing but praise.
"Kim Geuk, how can I ever thank you? You mentioned our academy directly in that interview—I'm so moved I'm about to tear up here."
The call went on like that, just endless gratitude and compliments toward me. Not a single critique of my interview the whole time.
Looks like the academy director knew the industry ropes too. He clearly understood what would cause problems and what wouldn't, nice guy that he was.
Well, that's the Hunter world for you.
After that, the contract offers I received started getting leaked to the press and such.
Awakeners' market value was already skyrocketing on the international scene. Whenever one of my offers hit the news, people just got jealous or envious—no one was shocked or calling it unbelievable.
Everyone knew that even throwing tens of billions at an Awakener like me per month was still cheaper than endlessly firing missiles that cost hundreds of millions or billions per shot.
In the end, my contract offers kept inching up day by day. Online articles about me piled up with jealousy from all the non-Awakeners, and finally, that day arrived.
The day I had to decide where to sign. I didn't call the press myself—the association set it up big-time.
They loved announcing which Awakener signed with which region. Supposedly, it boosted property values there.
Even the association chairman showed up in person for the press conference and chatted me up like we were buddies.
"Heard Seoul offered you 150 billion for two years? Chongqing or whatever, anyway, better than that first Chinese bid, plus all sorts of perks. Congrats! Man, excluding that bastard Kang Jun-chi, that's a rookie record."
"China came back with even higher after that. They've sure got the cash."
"But you're not going there, right?"
"Nah, not China."
"That's the spirit! Patriotism...!"
"Not for patriotic reasons. Heard all three—Korea, China, Japan—treat Awakeners like crap, but China's the worst."
"So if Japan matched China's offer, you'd go there?"
"Nope. Signing domestic anyway."
The chairman frowned at me, but I ignored it. Every Hunter knew he was basically a government plant, half civil servant. Any decision he made in the association's name was the government's will.
A bunch of other people came over to greet me too, besides that blockhead chairman.
"Congrats on the rookie record! We'll be seeing you in Seoul next, right?"
They all mentioned the "Seoul, 150 billion for two years" and congratulated me. As a first-year newbie landing that kind of deal, just imagine how huge the next one would be after some results.
I just smiled it off each time. No point acting humble.
Seoul? Yeah, right.
I'd decided where to sign from the start. All those other offers were just stepping stones to get better terms there.
So when it came time to announce, I declared:
"I've decided on Incheon."
"Could you say that again?"
"I'm signing with Incheon. 52.5 billion a year—generous offer. I've felt how high the expectations are from Incheon's citizens, and I promise right here I won't let them down..."
I went on about being honored to defend Korea's spiritual capital, carrying on the great glory of Incheon, whatever. The reporters looked baffled but kept snapping photos.
Amid the flashing cameras, I recalled that hallucination from before.
After that nasty business—the me in the hallucination also signed with Incheon. 29 billion a year. Back then, unlike now, Incheon's offer stood out, thanks to Councilor Park Mi-hyeong's efforts.
Thanks to that, hallucination me landed a decent deal and saved face among the other Awakener Hunters.
Plus, for the me in that hallucination, tormented by delusions that all of Korea hated him, Incheon's generous terms felt like salvation. Like Incheon was the only place in Korea that accepted him when everyone else shunned him.
And so, hallucination me developed not just affection but outright loyalty to Incheon, which I'd already liked...
Was my signing with Incheon now about repaying that favor?
Or not some grand repayment, but even turning down better offers elsewhere—was it because my affection for Incheon grew even more after that hallucination?
In other words, was this decision—and the pride for Incheon swirling inside me now—influenced by the hallucination?
I didn't know.
But no regrets. Even if somewhere else offered more, I could always renegotiate better after a year anyway...
Meanwhile, the decision didn't sit right with the reporters. At their request, we did a follow-up interview.
Here's how it went:
Q. Is there a reason you chose Incheon?
A. Two reasons. First, as I mentioned, Councilor Park Mi-hyeong of Incheon has supported me hand and foot this whole time. She personally suggested I sign with Incheon if possible. I decided to go with that.
Q. You said two reasons—what's the other one?
A. Even if they sell me off as an Incheon guy, you can't abandon Incheon.
Q. But still, you can't sell out the country, right?
A. Sure you can. Next question?
Q. So we'll take that as you holding Incheon in that high regard. Anyway, there are plenty of places besides Incheon desperate for capable Awakeners, and many with way better terms. Was there some special reason you had to pick Incheon over all those?
A. The others weren't even worth considering. One Incheon citizen's life is worth more than ten thousand Seoul lives, obviously.
Q. Sounds like you're saying people outside Incheon have no human rights.
A. It's weirder if non-Incheon folks have human rights. How's "Incheon" and "human rights" sharing the same sound for "in" a coincidence?
That's what I said, but damn, it sounds brilliant.
The interview wrapped up after more back-and-forth, ending on that joking note.
Q. Did Incheon Councilor Park Mi-hyeong brainwash you or something? If so, when you get a chance, wave a carrot around as a cry for help.
A. I know Park Mi-hyeong's an Ice Ability user, not a mind controller. Awakener abilities don't work on other Awakeners anyway—why say that?
Mentioning Park Mi-hyeong multiple times was deliberate. Politicians love name exposure, so I made sure her name popped up plenty for the articles.
Huh, who knew I had this much loyalty in me. Park Mi-hyeong herself didn't seem to appreciate it, though.
"Kim Geuk, did you punch a reporter during the interview? Or grab one by the collar and curse them out?"
She called right away, her voice laced with anxiety again. I answered calmly to reassure her.
"Didn't hit anyone or curse. Why?"
"The interview clips look like malicious editing gone wild. You haven't seen the articles yet?"
"I did. They aired it straight, no distortions."
It took a while to clear up that misunderstanding.