Chapter 41

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Translator: Ace

Chapter: 041

Chapter Title: S-rank Hunter Kang Jun-chi - [4]

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And then Kang Jun-chi made his demand.

"Take me to a doctor operating without a license."

"What?"

"I said take me to an unlicensed doctor. One the government doesn't even know exists... That way, I can be sure they haven't been put up to it by the government."

I had been ready to grant him just about anything he asked for, but... well... even I couldn't fulfill a request like that.

"Didn't you say your internal organs got sliced up? Lung or heart or something."

"Yeah."

"You look like you're in horrifically critical condition. How's some back-alley quack supposed to fix that? Even a major hospital might not guarantee a successful surgery."

"Then a healing Awakener... Maybe one operating in secret..."

I barely held back a sigh.

"Awakeners with money-making abilities like that don't hide their powers or work on the down-low. They'd have joined a big hospital ages ago."

"Still... I can't go to a big hospital. They'd send my treatment records straight to the government, right? And then word would get out that my force field gets pierced by force field blades..."

"You can't afford to reveal your weakness?"

"Exactly. I hear the government's rounding up Awakeners to form some special forces unit or whatever. If they train up a force field blade user in that unit to take me down..."

"Isn't it already common knowledge that force field blades can slice through even the toughest force fields? Do you really need to hide it?"

"Still, they can't find out that even my force field is vulnerable!"

I kept trying to convince him after that—unlicensed doctors or secret healers were a pipe dream, and he needed to go to a major hospital—but it wasn't getting through.

Kang Jun-chi just kept insisting there was no way he was setting foot in a big hospital.

"The second I show up at a hospital, they'll see it's too serious an injury and call the cops to investigate. And once the cops ID me and report up the chain, who knows what the government will pull!"

Another bout of paranoid stubbornness, no doubt. I swallowed another sigh and replied.

"Whatever the government tries, whatever the cops try, I'll stop them."

"What?"

"I'll stand guard at the operating room door. Anyone tries anything funny, I'll kill them on the spot."

Did he think I was bluffing? Kang Jun-chi eyed me skeptically.

"You ever killed anyone before?"

"Just recently. Some Sowol guy with a force field exoskeleton. Kicked him so hard his body burst open."

"Oh, that bastard who sliced half your neck open..."

He muttered it under his breath, then fell silent for a moment. Maybe he was trying to decide if he could believe me.

Or maybe he was thinking, 'Come to think of it, this guy's killed before. And I'm human too...'

But he didn't have the luxury of mulling it over for long.

Something tripped my mental web. It was a Deathclaw. I'd already sensed a few up on the mountain while scoping out ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Kang Jun-chi's position, so I'd kept the web spread the whole time we talked.

And then it leaped from the underbrush.

Aiming straight for the wounded Kang Jun-chi. The speed was arrow-fast... Damn, even though I'd gotten pretty used to these bastards, they were still the trickiest and most hated opponents. One slip, one moment's lapse, and someone's head rolls. The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠pressure never got easier.

I didn't let it show. I swung the sledgehammer I'd been holding, and its head slammed into the Deathclaw's back—just as it reached inches from Kang Jun-chi's face.

Its back hide and spine crushed together, the Deathclaw died without even a scream.

Kang Jun-chi finally clocked what happened, his eyes bulging as he looked back and forth between me and the corpse.

And I, oozing maximum confidence, said it deadpan on purpose.

"There. See that?"

"What..."

"If any bastard tries something stupid, I'll smash 'em just like that monster. And this time, I definitely saved your life, right?"

If I'd wanted you dead, I'd have let that chance slide ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠by without getting my hands dirty. It implied my intent to keep him alive was rock-solid, and he seemed to get it.

"Yeah... I really owe you my life now. Shit, look at those guns. Veins popping on your forearms from the swing... Terrifying enough to piss myself..."

"I'll guard you at the hospital too, so let's go already. You're critical, remember? ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Stop dragging your feet."

In the end, he caved to my persuasion. He closed his eyes, opened them, and muttered with a complicated look.

"Fine. Hospital."

"Can you walk? If not, I'll teleport you—just drop the force field."

"Why drop the force field?"

"Teleportation doesn't work through a force field. To take someone along, there needs to be physical contact, but whether it's because my hand hits the field instead of their body or the field's mass is too much, force field exoskeleton users are tough to teleport with. You gotta turn it off."

Kang Jun-chi hesitated big-time, but he followed my lead in the end. Probably because I'd just proven I had no intention of killing him—by letting him rack up that life debt.

"Ah, damn. Never even turned it off to sleep before..."

I grabbed his arm, and we teleported.

I'd called a cab ahead of time. We loaded Kang Jun-chi in and headed for the hospital. He still looked uneasy as he asked.

"Where to?"

"Incheon St. Mary's Hospital."

"Why Incheon? Oh, right... A hospital in Incheon means the government hasn't gotten to them yet. They'd only have reached out to places in Seoul or Busan ahead of time..."

"Probably. So cheer for Incheon early."

"You mad bastard, forcing that crazy chant on everyone... Guess it wasn't bullshit after all..."

"Incheon forever. Go on."

"Fine, fuck... Incheon forever."

In the end, Kang Jun-chi got his surgery at the hospital. True to my word, I stood guard outside the ER, peeking in now and then to check progress.

The lead surgeon barked orders left and right, and some woman extended her hand to follow them.

She placed her hand on Kang Jun-chi's cleanly severed organs. Green mist poured from her palm, infusing his guts with some mysterious energy.

A healing ability. I'd brought him here precisely because I knew this hospital had an Awakener like her.

People say Awakeners can't use their abilities directly on other Awakeners' bodies, and you'd think that means the powers don't work at all—but that's not true.

Awakeners just can't set the origin point of their ability on another Awakener's body. Once activated, the effect applies to other Awakeners just fine.

For example, force field blades slice other Awakeners clean open, and my teleportation can move them. That's because the force field blade manifests from their sword or claws, and my teleportation from my body.

Similarly, since the healing energy originated from her hand, it was definitely affecting Kang Jun-chi, fellow Awakener or not.

I could see the severed section—clamped temporarily by forceps—reattaching in seconds.

Time passed, surgery wrapped up, and the moment the anesthesia wore off, Kang Jun-chi bolted from the hospital. He didn't even properly check out.

"Big surgery like that—you need rest, no?"

He shuddered at my question.

"No thanks. How can I trust hospital food?"

"What's wrong with hospital food?"

And it wasn't about bad taste. He said it in this unnecessarily grave tone.

"I never accept food from anyone. Don't even do delivery much."

"How do you eat then? Cook everything yourself?"

"Nah, I wander the streets, duck into some random shop I spot, and buy something. That way, no one can predict which place I'll hit."

"You think someone's gonna poison you?"

"Obviously."

Already confirmed it multiple times, but yeah. Crystal clear.

Kang Jun-chi's paranoia was severe. To the point he couldn't even eat normally?

He went on.

"Anyway, thanks to you, I'm alive. This favor... No, wait. Debts should be paid right away."

"Right away?"

"You said you blew your whole fortune on that high-rise for ice Awakeners. Now you're broke, short on construction cash, need loans, right?"

"Yeah, but you gonna give me money?"

"Obviously. I've got money to burn."

I almost asked for something else instead of cash, but held off. After sorting my thoughts, I nodded.

"Sure, that'd be great."

"Alright, hold on... Can't transfer that much through account transfer. Banks open at dawn—I'll do it then. Wait up, okay? And thanks for all the help, seriously..."

The next day, after parting with Kang Jun-chi, I saw the amount he'd sent and nearly went into mental shock.

I relayed the shock via HuntWeb message.

Construction material prices had skyrocketed so badly that my current funds fell short of building the high-rise I wanted.

I'd planned to take out loans and even dip into next year's projected earnings to finish it. But Kang Jun-chi sent an insane sum—even I was shocked. Enough to buy up all the materials we needed before prices climbed higher.

One worry off my plate. I was thrilled... but also wondering.

Was it really smart not to ask about my little sister when he offered to repay the favor?

I'd been tempted yesterday to ask him to bust her out of prison.

If Kang Jun-chi strode into the slammer and dragged her out, it might not even count as a jailbreak.

The government and media don't want to advertise how an Awakener tramples the "equality under the law" principle. That's why nothing he does ever hits the news.

So even if he yanked my sister out, it might not make headlines—or even internet articles.

But I held back, for two reasons.

First, my little sister was getting out soon anyway.

Less than a year left on her sentence.

Pretty quick for killing five people. Maybe the cells were overcrowded, so they shortened terms for any excuse?

Or since the conviction was politically motivated despite no evidence, or because she was a bullying victim, the judge went light from the start. Who knows.

Point is, no need to bother an S-rank Awakener for someone due out that soon.

And second, I figured Kang Jun-chi might not take kindly to the request.

Meeting him yesterday proved he wasn't the utter outlaw I'd imagined—or some invincible superman thumbing his nose at the government.

He saw the government as a serious threat. And after nearly dying once, his wariness had only grown.

Under those circumstances, he might balk at storming a prison for a jailbreak stunt. It'd ramp up his perceived threat level from the government even more.

Anyway, the real-life Kang Jun-chi was a far cry from the guy in my head.

Separate from the human sympathy and camaraderie I felt toward him, that was disappointing.

I'd thought he'd topple the system here like powerful Awakeners did in the Third World or Indonesia. That when Awakeners finally rose up against the regime, he'd lead as their champion.

Looks like wishful thinking.

He was too ordinary, too petit bourgeois. Miles from a revolutionary or usurper.

Look at him fretting over poison in his food. Instead of crushing the government he suspects of wanting him dead, he picks the super passive route: ducking into random shops for meals.

I could guess why he's so middle-class at heart. He's probably content with his lot right now.

He spent years in misery and poverty. Passing the civil service exam in one year? Born from sheer desperation to survive.

Compared to those days, being an S-rank Hunter who can wire hundreds of billions just for saving his life? Feels perfect, no room for improvement.

So why rock the boat with regime change for more?

Hate Korea, Koreans are whatever—he might still be so satisfied with life here that he has zero plans to bail to some incomprehensible foreign hellhole.

Still, my hopes for Kang Jun-chi haven't died.

That hallucination I saw... It looked like a future another version of me faced. In it, Kang Jun-chi was alive and well.

Did hallucination Kang nearly die abusing Deathclaws in the mountains too? Probably.

And since hallucination me and him were strangers, he likely couldn't find anyone trustworthy to help. Makes sense—truly anti-government Awakeners are rare.

So, in mortal peril, hallucination Kang probably had no choice but to call 119. Rode the ambulance to the hospital, got surgery in fear and trembling, survived. And his distrust of the government would've eased considerably.

But in this real world, Kang Jun-chi survived because I—an Awakener comrade—protected him. So he still believes the government's out to kill him.

Thus, someday, if something stokes that paranoia even more...