Chapter 16
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 016
Chapter Title: Ice Awakener Baek Dam-bi
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In the hallucination, I see the Gate shimmering with a purple hue.
I see the otherworlders standing before the Gate. And I see Baek Dam-bi, her arms gripped tightly by those otherworlders.
Baek Dam-bi. She's being kidnapped. Dragged off to some distant otherworld!
'Baaek Daaam-biiiii!'
A shout bursts from my lips, but even voicing it properly is a struggle right now. My throat is clogged with phlegm and blood.
Even lifting my upper body to glare at them is no easy task.
My lower body won't move. My two legs, severed clean off earlier, lie sprawled beside me. The only reason I'm still alive in this state is my Super Regeneration. Not because the wounds aren't severe.
In a torrent of rage and frustration, I spew curses even I can't make out. Directed at those scrawny otherworlders.
Those vermin from another world, living worse than North Korean refugees. Invaders setting out to plunder this bountiful land...
Bound by them, Baek Dam-bi looks at me, squeezes her eyes shut, and mutters,
"What are you going to do? Don't stay here—hurry up and Teleport. You have to survive—"
Baek Dam-bi's words cut off. The otherworlders yank her along.
The otherworlders glance at me briefly before pressing forward.
In the end, the otherworlders vanish into the Gate. Taking her with them.
I glare at their retreating backs for a while, then vomit up a gush of blood and turn my glare on the Gate.
I have to do something before that Gate closes. But how?
I force my mind to focus and Teleport. Right to the Gate's edge. Then, like a maggot, I wriggle my upper body alone, shoving myself forcibly into the Gate.
And so, the Gate that swallowed my comrade and the otherworlders devours me as well.
My vision fills with a purple world...
With a shift in my vision, I returned to reality.
I tried not to gasp for breath. I had to keep my surging emotions from showing on my face.
Damn it, I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs and smash something to bits.
But I had to hold it together somehow. I knew this rage wasn't normal. If I let it out here, I'd end up treated like some freak.
As the frustration swirled inside me, Councilor Park Mi-hyeong spoke up. Thankfully, not to me.
"Dam-bi, if you're switching teams, your hunting grounds will change, so you should move, right? Want me to show you one of my empty buildings?"
"I'm good. You don't have to go that far. You know I've got money."
"'Don't have to go that far'? Who rents easily to ice Awakeners like us? Even flashing my councilor card, they won't sell me an apartment because I'm an 'ice freak.' How the hell are you supposed to find a place?"
"There are plenty of cheap villas in abandoned neighborhoods. I bought one and I'm living fine."
"What? You're insane. Totally insane..."
While they talked, I took deep breaths over and over. It helped me finally rein in my emotions.
I spoke up.
"Alright, then. I'll take that as officially joining the team. I'll report it with your name added to the roster. When do the team members want to meet? Tomorrow?"
Baek Dam-bi replied without a change in tone.
"Just tell me the time, and I'll head out right away."
Her voice was utterly listless, like she might collapse any second. It had been the same during her chat with Councilor Park just now. Was this woman suffering from depression or something?
She wasn't just rude—she barely expressed any emotion at all. Even now, it felt like Councilor Park was more grateful for the favor I'd done Baek Dam-bi than Baek herself.
"Kim Geuk, thank you so much for today. I'm really sorry you had to hear crap at the academy because of me. You're doing better than me now, so it's hard for me to offer help... But if you ever need mine, call without hesitation, okay?"
Councilor Park saw us off as I parted ways with the two. Then I sent the association the roster for my hunter team: the existing members, the ones from the academy, and now Baek Dam-bi.
Next, I called the team members to let them know, starting with Seong Mun-yeong.
When I told him a woman was joining the team, he sounded puzzled.
"A female hunter? Women don't usually hunt unless they're Awakeners, right?"
"She is an Awakener. Ice Ability, though."
"Pfft, ice Awakeners count as non-Awakeners... So, is she hot?"
When I said she was pretty, he didn't sound thrilled. If anything, he seemed to sense something off and asked,
"A hot ice Awakener... Shit. Her name isn't Baek Dam-bi, is it?"
"It is. You know her?"
Seong Mun-yeong sighed in response.
"Baek Dam-bi? You don't know? She's one of HuntWeb's super villains!"
"Yeah, you might not know, hyung. She was famous about a year ago. Search her up!"
So I did as Seong Mun-yeong said.
And sure enough, searching "Baek Dam-bi" on HuntWeb brought up pages of results.
I skimmed the posts and clicked my tongue. What a messed-up woman.
No wonder Seong Mun-yeong wasn't excited about a pretty girl joining. Baek Dam-bi was infamous on HuntWeb as a total psycho.
It wasn't like she'd posted disgusting photos herself.
She was avoided in real life too, for two reasons.
First, the fact that an ice Awakener like her had pocketed billions in contract fees enraged everyone on HuntWeb, Awakeners and non-Awakeners alike. No one could stomach a mere "ice reject" raking in that cash.
The cash they gave that Baek Dam-bi bitch could've bought three Awakeners from overseas...
Everyone's losing their minds because that ice reject won't return half that money and keeps hunting like nothing happened lol
And the hunters who'd worked with Baek Dam-bi didn't rate her highly either. From the HuntWeb stories, her rep was like this:
'Psycho who thinks she's still a celebrity.'
'Shows up to a teammate's funeral in a crop top.'
She'd started out normal, but after a year as a hunter, she snapped. You could tell from her outfits alone.
We had to go hunting one day, and that Baek Dam-bi bitch shows up in sunglasses, crop top, and a jacket. Full makeup too—I thought she'd just swung by hunting on her way to a party.
But nope, next day and the day after, same deal. Crop top, makeup, sunglasses...
She used to dress normal like other hunters, then suddenly starts dolling up like an idol. Not just for a day or two—kept it up after that.
Eye candy's fine at first, but every day? Gets awkward. Why's this bitch acting up? Trying to go back to being an idol? I looked it up, and yeah—her agency went bust recently.
That's when it clicked. No hope of showbiz comeback, so she lost it.
Never took off those damn sunglasses. Not during talks, meals, briefings...
Only when firing shots on a hunt. Makes sense why—her rotten expression shows if she does. She hates mixing with teammates or eye contact. Hiding that mug, the crazy bitch.
Her team attitude was apparently awful. Plenty more complaints from teammates.
Someone buys her a drink after a job well done? Thinks you're hitting on her 'cause she's hot—"No thanks"—won't take it. So we hand drinks to everyone else? Thinks we're mocking her, has a depression meltdown, ignores you for days.
Tell her to fix her attitude? Won't listen to shit. Even big shots. Incheon mayor straight-up says her outfit doesn't fit hunting—she ignores him.
Kinda harsh to say, but if words don't work, no one tried smacking some sense into her? Hunters aren't that sweet to female teammates.
How? Non-Awakeners are trash who can't beat even an ice reject, trash.
Hate to admit it, but that guy's right. She's an Awakener despite her looks, so normals can't touch her. Someone swings a fist in anger? She turns it around and beats them. Team just boils inside.
So, from HuntWeb, it was clear why Baek Dam-bi couldn't find a new team.
Her industry rep was downright toxic. Not because of any pressure from great Incheon City, as Councilor Park guessed.
The next day, just like HuntWeb described—and exactly as she'd been when we met—she showed up dressed like an idol. I couldn't help sighing.
Seong Mun-yeong felt the same.
"It's exactly like on HuntWeb, huh? Crop top, sunglasses... Even big shots tell her not to, but she sticks to it..."
"Yup."
"Hyung, can't you do something?"
"Like what?"
"HuntWeb said no one's fixed her yet 'cause she's an Awakener—normie hunters can't touch her. But you're an Awakener too, and her ability doesn't work on you, so she must be scared of you."
"So, growl low and threaten to treat her like shit if she acts like shit?"
"Yes!"
"Eh, does it have to be that? If she were in heels, maybe, but that outfit doesn't look inconvenient for moving. Let her wear whatever."
"If she fights well like that, fine, but other teams will notice. Ruins team vibe too..."
I stared at Seong Mun-yeong for a moment, then said,
"Mun-yeong. I've hated people ordering me around since I was a kid. Dad telling me to fetch his drink, teacher saying cut my hair to X length—always pissed me off."
"Yeah, figures. So?"
"So I don't order people around unless I have to. Figure it'd piss them off like it does me."
After I shared my creed, Seong Mun-yeong didn't seem to get it.
"You trying to woo her by playing nice from the start?"
"My dick doesn't get hard, asshole."
"Why not?"
"Physical Enhancement Awakening sent all my baby-making nutrients to my muscles. No muscle loss either—living the dream, huh?"
A bit later, my full hunter team assembled.
Everyone but one was familiar.
The veteran hunter, recommended by the academy director after eight months of experience, introduced himself.
"Jang Byeong-gon here! Man, never thought I'd benefit from that academy. Actually, thanks to Kim Geuk for letting me join. Truly grateful! Nice to meet everyone..."
About a week passed after that, and we learned a ton from Jang Byeong-gon: industry ins and outs, cheap ammo sources, modern monster tactics...
Getting close to him was easy. Veteran, older, yet he treated me like a superior with respect, and the rest like juniors without lording it over—always polite.
Smart move. Sucking up to the Awakener me was a given; with five already knowing each other, acting big as a vet could've isolated him.
Naturally, Jang Byeong-gon blended in seamlessly.
Baek Dam-bi was the exact opposite. No twists—she was straight out of HuntWeb.
She said nothing unless spoken to first, offered no veteran advice unprompted, and never took off those sunglasses.
Watching her now, sitting silently in sunglasses, I wondered:
Can I really get close to this depressed mess of a woman?
No idea, but hallucination me managed somehow.
In the hallucination, we seemed deeply connected. Her getting kidnapped had me screaming and diving into the Gate. Maybe more than comrades—something intimate.
Like that hallucinated rage bleeding over, even now, thinking of it boils my blood.
But rationally, I can't fully empathize or merge with hallucination me's fury.
In my first vision, everyone died horribly. That instilled real crisis sense.
But her? Kidnapped intact in the hallucination—doesn't feel as dire. No burning mission to prevent it...
Suddenly, my phone buzzed.
Not just mine—everyone's.
Jang Byeong-gon checked his vibrating smartphone and shouted,
"Gate's open! Everyone, gear up!"