Chapter 25
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 025
Chapter Title: B-Rank Hunter Naito Merchant - [2]
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Perhaps because I was so shocked, my heart was still pounding relentlessly.
I'd thought that with this many hunters around, we could keep massacring monsters without a hitch. But no. One of them had nearly died already.
If I hadn't deliberately kept Baek Dam-bi away from the most exposed spot in the encirclement, a hunter would've died right at the start—blood gushing from his throat. I knew hunter work was dangerous, but feeling it so viscerally was something else.
Sure enough, just standing around playing radar like an idiot wasn't going to cut it. Whether for the sake of those pitifully fragile non-awakeners or my own mental health.
"Alright, all the bodies loaded onto the truck? Then let's move out again!"
As we all relocated together, we spotted another pack of monsters and once more formed an encirclement around a villa.
And this time, I didn't just watch from the back.
I took position on the rooftop of a building across the way, observing the situation.
"Throw!"
Smoke billowed from inside the building once again. And sure enough, the Deathclaws burst out from unexpected angles, lunging at the hunters.
One with exceptional jumping ability was headed this way too. It smashed through a third-floor wall and leaped straight at a hunter. Even for a former pro fighter like me, that leap was too fast to react to.
If I hadn't spread out my mental net in advance—if it hadn't sensitively detected the thing's movement—I wouldn't have been able to do a thing.
"Uh..."
Before its claw could reach the unlucky hunter's throat, my hunter rifle roared. Bang!
The Deathclaw that had been about to pounce shattered mid-air and was flung far away. Amid the spray of blood and flesh in the sky, another Deathclaw that popped out took a headshot from me too.
Another sector cleared.
"Whoa, thought I was a goner..."
The hunter who'd just cheated death was sprawled out making light of it, but Naito Merchant's reaction was even more intense.
"Whoa, did you catch that on camera? You got it? Awesome. Hey everyone? You just saw two Deathclaws get shredded one after another, right? Blown apart by hunter rifle cannon rounds! That's Kim Geuk over there nailing the shots! Kim Geuk Hunter, sir—you see yourself on that fourth-floor villa rooftop, holding position? You were supposed to just hang back as reserves, but man, your passion is unreal. You grabbed a spot for support fire and showed off your skills right away? Everyone remember how nearly a hundred Deathclaws poured out of that massive Incheon gate last time, and Kim Geuk here took down close to seventy percent of them solo? With over three hundred hunters on site, that number seemed insane—but watching your marksmanship now, it all makes sense!"
I couldn't help thinking that guy really knew how to kiss ass. Even after I'd yelled at him to get lost earlier, here he was, spewing nothing but praise for me on his broadcast.
The extermination op continued like this. After taking down a few more packs of Deathclaws in succession, we were moving to the next area.
"Kim Geuk Hunter? Where are you right now? No monsters nearby? Then hold position there for a bit..."
The sudden call from the government official halted the entire hunter team. Puzzled, I waited as two vans pulled up and stopped.
The officials who got out were carrying something that made the hunters gasp in awe when they saw it.
"Chicken and pizza!"
Five years ago, you could have these whenever you wanted. But these days, you needed some kind of special occasion just to get a taste. Even pizza was rare—pizza joints were so scarce that most people in Incheon didn't even know where to find one anymore.
How precious they were? Just look at the high-earning hunters' excited reactions. Everyone was clamoring: Is this for us? Can we eat now?
"I heard chow time was at 1 PM? It's only noon—why'd they bring food already?"
When I asked, one official explained.
"We had regular meals prepared separately, but this is from the local residents."
"Local residents?"
"While we were prepping, a residents' rep came by and said they'd made this to give to the hunters running the op. Just gather up, get some photos, and dig in!"
The project had been promoted in various ways already, so the locals had been eagerly awaiting this operation. Hearing it was going smoothly must've gotten them hyped—they whipped up these gifts on the spot.
Everyone let out awed "oohs" and started devouring the food. The officials smiled, snapping photos.
"Alright, Kim Geuk Hunter gets a drumstick! Grab the juiciest one for the photo..."
"Got it. Got it, but this must've cost a fortune, so we gotta stop this starting tomorrow. Otherwise, it'll turn into a bad habit where locals have to feed hunters during ops."
I muttered like a hotshot while subtly closing and opening my eyes.
A tickle deep in my chest was driving me nuts. Good lord, a sneak attack like this?
I'd figured I couldn't solo-monster-massacre like I'd hoped, and with those annoying foreign non-awakener dregs mixed in, my mood wasn't great. Never expected an event like this.
Sure, we were all here to make money, but moments like this stirred up a sense of duty that hit me right in the feels. That inner fulfillment was almost too much to bear.
Truly, long live Incheon.
The operation resumed after the meal.
Even I, boasting perfect marksmanship from the safest spot, couldn't relax. The tension that one miss could mean someone's death dominated my thoughts.
Now I understood why the academy instructor had hammered home not to waste time aiming—why he taught to fire as fast as possible, whether snap-shot or point-shooting, the instant you spotted the enemy.
I'd never hunted bears or deer myself, but you couldn't treat monsters like that.
Letting them get closer because "I can hit better up close" would get you killed. They could close the distance in the blink of an eye and slice your throat or gut with those long scythe claws.
"Still, these guys today have insane athleticism, right? I've seen more than a couple Deathclaws, but the ones we're hunting feel especially feral. They're all so fast and jump so far?"
"That's 'cause they've already eaten a bunch of people and leveled up. Like in an RPG? These have done a ton of it."
"So we get paid more for these?"
"Who knows? Anyway, it's not just these—the monsters have been steadily getting stronger since the gates opened, you know? The ones from a year ago are on a whole different level from now..."
As the hunters debated, Jang Byeong-gon—something of a veteran—claimed a few of today's kills had awakened force field exoskeleton abilities.
The fields weren't tough enough to need classifying them as Force Field Bodies—just barely penetrable by rifle rounds—but several had noticeably superior athleticism and jumping power. The ones I'd sensed as threats and shot dead were mostly those, he said.
"Anyway, you guys owe me big time. Here, some Pocari..."
"Thanks."
Jang Byeong-gon waved off my politeness as he took the drink I'd offered.
"Agh, don't thank me. I'd feel guilty as hell if I didn't do at least this much."
"Guilty?"
"Kim Geuk, you know what they call non-awakener hunters who tag along with awakeners on HuntWeb?"
"No idea..."
"Pack mules. Awakeners lump all non-awakener hunters as pack mules, especially the ones following them around. Means that's all they do—carry gear. That's exactly what we're doing today."
"So you're feeling down, all self-conscious?"
"Nah, it's sweet as honey. Same uncertainty about dying any second in Seoul, but this? Too good, too grateful. Thanks for letting us tag along, Kim Geuk!"
The other non-awakeners on our team felt just as sidelined and awkward.
Baek Dam-bi, who'd more than pulled her weight in the encirclement today, was getting heaps of praise too.
"Dam-bi noona was badass today! Even after her throat got slashed, so chill..."
Even Seong Mun-yeong, who'd hated her guts at first, was sucking up now. Wild.
I chimed in slyly too.
"Yeah, luring those Deathclaw attacks today? Saved at least one life."
Baek Dam-bi nodded slowly with her usual blank expression at our praise, but I caught her cheek twitch just a bit.
Maybe tease her about it—but nah, I let it slide.