Chapter 15
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 015
Chapter Title: Incheon Hunter Kim Geuk - [3]
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After that, clips of my final interview started bouncing around the internet nonstop, from one site to the next. The one where I explained why I'd chosen Incheon, that is.
I'd been pretty unfiltered in the interview, and it seemed like that had sparked some kind of cult following. Just search for 'Park Mi-hyeong,' and 'brainwasher' pops up in related terms. Type in 'Kim Geuk,' and you get 'Incheon's psycho Awakener.'
HuntWeb had the same interview post go up three times already, and the comments cracked me up.
I thought that guy was only nuts on HuntWeb, but turns out he's nuts in real life too;;
Isn't he just keeping up the act in real life too?
That's no act. If it was just a concept, no way he'd ditch Seoul for Incheon.
If the interview was just that dumb on purpose to get attention, I'd buy it. But he picks Incheon—way tougher and lower pay—and still acts like that? Guy's gotta be for real...
Does this dude really act like that IRL?
I'm from the same academy as him, and he doesn't act like that in real life.
At the academy, he's seriously dignified. Doesn't talk much, no chit-chat during class.
During physical training, he pushes till his arm breaks using that Super Regeneration of his. That's the guy I respected.
What;;
He doesn't smile much usually, and his tone's pretty aggressive, so he was hard to approach at first. Seeing that strict, dignified guy turn into a lunatic online and in interviews? Threw me for a loop.
So he's heading to Incheon for work—how's the academy reacting?
Why would they react?
Aren't they bummed he's going somewhere tough? For Awakeners, Incheon's ten times harder than Seoul. Won't the academy hate losing a student to such a rough spot?
Nah, our director's thrilled. If he'd gone to Seoul, it'd be harder to slot academy folks into his team. Now that he's in Incheon, we can send a bunch.
He's calling Kim Geuk a saint or whatever.
As I scrolled through the comments, it hit me—I had work to do.
I needed to report my new Hunter team to the association soon.
The lineup was already set. I'd stick with the guys I usually hung out with.
Seong Mun-yeong, Kim Jin-jun, Lee Jong-ho, Jeong Jin-yeong, and Im Hyeong-taek...
Im Hyeong-taek and Jeong Jin-yeong weren't exactly top picks—they were pretty lacking.
Jeong Jin-yeong's reflexes were abysmal, and he was such a space cadet that I worried he'd freeze up in a crisis. Still, that video he shot had boosted my value big time. As payback, I decided to keep him around.
Im Hyeong-taek's issue was stamina—he'd probably collapse in anything extreme...
Eh, whatever. Honestly, it didn't matter who I picked.
I thought back to the day I'd taken down my first monster, battling that Rock Spirit.
Whether it was Kim Jin-jun, who hit the gym harder than anyone, or Seong Mun-yeong, strutting around with his "industry insider" knowledge, or 43-year-old Im Hyeong-taek, who lacked confidence in his endurance—they'd all been equally useless that day.
Really, all the same.
In that abandoned building, the non-Awakener Hunter hopefuls were nothing but cheerleader machines.
Not comrades in battle—spectators. In their hands, popcorn would've fit better than rifles.
Just like that day, weren't all non-Awakeners pretty much useless in the same way?
Maybe that incident was too extreme. They hadn't even had proper weapons, after all.
But what came after was even more shocking.
I recalled the Hunters I'd run into after the situation wrapped up.
I'd figured any Hunter with real field time would have some aura that set them apart from civilians. Veterans who'd faced life-and-death against monsters should've had something special, even without Awakening.
Nope. They were just thugs with guns—and cheap K-2 rifles at that, barely scratching the Rock Spirit.
The alert had clearly said Rock Spirit. So why'd they show up with fire extinguishers? When I asked, what was their excuse?
They never planned to fight it, probably. Something like:
"Monsters like Rock Spirits are for the Awakener Hunters arriving later. We're just following association orders, hopping around for the duty pay. They give us money just for showing up, right?"
My take? "Dead weight with zero intention of doing real work."
Asked how long they'd been at it, they bragged about a whole year. And it turned out those thugs had more experience than our academy's ex-Hunter instructors. Shattered my illusions about 'veteran non-Awakener Hunters' that day.
From what I'd seen, non-Awakeners were freeloaders with no interest in defending the city or handling big jobs.
So no need to cherry-pick skilled ones for my team. Non-Awakeners were all the same anyway.
Fit or not, years in or not—they hovered around the same useless level. Normal person or track champ, neither could touch a cheetah.
That's how I built my team: folks to hype me up and react cool when I shined. The director was thrilled, said he'd take good care of the academy crew.
As I sorted my thoughts, my phone rang.
It was Park Mi-hyeong. When I asked what was up, she said:
"Well, I've got someone to recommend."
"Someone to recommend? You mean a Hunter?"
"Yes! Kim Geuk, you haven't finished your team yet, right? I looked into it—new teams need vets to show rookies the ropes. So I'm recommending one?"
"Uh, the academy already hooked me up with two vets."
"Oh? Can it not work?"
She sounded flustered, so I decided on the spot.
"Eh, I'll just tell the academy to cut it to one."
"Oh, really? That'd be amazing— you sure?"
"Gotta look out for my councilor lady first, of course."
After the call, I rang the academy, and sure enough, the director was like, "Oh yeah? Got it!" and accepted immediately.
That afternoon, I met Park Mi-hyeong at a café.
Next to her sat the 'veteran Hunter' she'd brought. One look, and I frowned.
Was this woman really a veteran Hunter?
She didn't look it. Sunglasses on, but even from her chin down, she was a knockout—long straight hair to her armpits, crop top showing off a navel straight out of a magazine.
For a second, I wondered if Park Mi-hyeong was using "veteran Hunter recommendation" as cover for a blind date setup.
She introduced the woman.
"This girl's got two years and four months under her belt. Only two months shy of the Hunter longevity record. Total industry vet—impressive, right?"
Hm, two years four months. Considering most Hunters died or quit within a year, yeah, that was something.
But she still didn't scream Hunter. I kept doubting and asked:
"What's your name?"
"Baek Dam-bi. Pretty name, huh?"
I'd heard it before.
"Baek Dam-bi? The Ice Awakener the city was scheming to boot out?"
"Exactly! Wow, Kim Geuk, they said you were a literature boy in middle school—great memory!"
Park Mi-hyeong clapped, then launched into the two-year-four-month vet's story.
"Remember about a year after Gates opened? Everyone was getting used to Awakeners by then..."
Yeah. That's when they debated conscripting Awakeners and kicked off the Hunter system.
And the insane vibe that every Awakener had to become a Hunter or be a traitor.
"Back then, it didn't matter age or gender—if you Awakened, you fought monsters or you were a traitor. That's when freshly debuted idol Baek Dam-bi caught eyes. She's one of the strongest Ice Awakeners, but instead of fighting, she was doing fan service. Pissed people off."
According to Park Mi-hyeong, hate comments and protest letters flooded her idol group. Facing traitor backlash, her agency caved.
So Baek Dam-bi started 'temporary' Hunter work to show the public, planning a few months before rejoining the group. But it didn't pan out.
"Economy sucks then and now. While she was Hunter-ing, her agency went bust, group disbanded. What now? Gotta eat, so she kept at it. But you know?"
Turned out, her Ice Ability was useless for monster hunting.
And Incheon City, figuring she was untrained but powerful-looking, locked her into a four-year deal to milk her—160 billion down the drain.
Now they were pulling shady moves to break the contract and claw back the signing bonus (no way kind Incheon folks would; probably Seoul plants in city hall). And it was ongoing.
"Your contract requires a certain number of call-outs per month, right? Hers too, but lately she can't get deployments. They'll claim breach and cancel if this keeps up."
"Why can't she deploy lately?"
"Her old team's disbanded, and no other teams will take her. Guess they're wary of the city..."
"So you want me to slot her in?"
"Yes. City's footing the bill, so no money worries. And she'll teach you the ropes as a vet... Pretty please?"
She'd been trying to help this girl since Korean Awakener Alliance days—couldn't abandon her. And with my 50-billion-plus contract, the city wouldn't dare pressure me over her.
I nodded reluctantly after hearing it all.
"Eh, no reason not to."
"Oh, Kim Geuk, thank you!"
Park Mi-hyeong made a fuss, then turned to Baek Dam-bi.
"He'll take you—great! What're you waiting for? Say thanks!"
Baek Dam-bi murmured softly to me.
"Thank you..."
Park Mi-hyeong didn't like that. She scolded her for the meek tone, then kept at it.
"First, ditch those sunglasses! You've had them on the whole time? Don't you know it's rude not to remove them when talking? Take 'em off already!"
Finally, Baek Dam-bi gave in and removed them.
Revealing sky-blue eyes. Debuted as an idol, huh? She's a real beauty, I thought, meeting her gaze.
Uh...
Sudden dizziness. I felt myself getting sucked somewhere.
The familiar hallucination kicked in.