Chapter 46
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 046
Chapter Title: A-rank Hunter Nguyen - [4]
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Baby mushroom makes her entrance today wearing sexy triangle panties♡♥♡!!
Pet pet the oppa unni crowd! Baby mushroom protected Incheon again this time!
Baby mushroom was resting, getting pets from Ice Princess Baek Dam-bi unni, after smacking all the bad hyenas with her tiny, adorable hands—yapbi, yapbi, yapbi!
Then she felt a super evil wave threatening the village's peace!
And there it was—a ridiculously huge wild boar uncle had come to the village! He was so big that a thousand baby mushrooms lined up wouldn't even reach him! Baby mushroom trembled cutely, her slender body shaking in fear...
And in the middle of all that, ogre uncle shows up in the village too? Baby mushroom bravely scolded ogre uncle, telling him to go home right now 'cause he was being noisy!
Then ogre uncle finally noticed baby mushroom's beauty and cuteness—his eyes turned into hearts!
(///♡o♡/// - Exactly that expression!)
That "yapbi, yapbi, yapbi" you're talking about... is the monster massacre where she wiped out all the beasts from the gate in under a minute...
Stop stop stop stop stop stop stop stop stop stop please stop
When heart-eyes ogre uncle proposed to baby mushroom to be his bride, even baby mushroom went "tee-yong!"
Baby mushroom shook her head side to side, saying she's way too young to get married!
But ogre uncle, already totally captivated by baby mushroom's cuteness, wouldn't listen! He charged in, saying if she refused, he'd kidnap her and make her his bride anyway!
Baby mushroom in crisis of chastity!!!
To protect her purity, baby mushroom fought desperately! And it wasn't just ogre uncle who fell for her beauty—even the gruff cool-guy wild boar uncle jumped into the fray to claim baby mushroom as his bride!
Ogre uncle and wild boar uncle fought each other over baby mushroom, and both ended up off to the afterlife
Men are all idiots anyway. They see baby mushroom and get addicted to her cuteness like fools...
Baby mushroom became a sinful woman who seduced two men with her fatal charm and got them killed. Now she's a bad girl who won't get presents from Santa grandpa, but she already cried hing hing before and didn't get any, so that's fine!
I checked the comments on the post I'd worked hard to write. There were fewer over-the-top reactions than I'd expected.
Everyone knows it was thanks to this bro's bloody efforts that, even with a massive gate, we only had four deaths and didn't waste a single pricey missile to wrap things up, right?
Watch out, everyone... If you check out that YouTube video that's up now and reread this post, you'll pick up on a creepy message: anyone who doesn't say they fell for baby mushroom gets beaten with a hammer, then a 30mm autocannon shell jammed into their eye for a painful death...
If you're reborn as a monster, don't eat people carelessly. Do that, and even after death, you'll be preserved on the internet described in your horrific state.
A death where even your ugly, suffering soul can't rest in peace.
The video was seriously cool. They're holding a commendation ceremony over this—first time a local government does even a ceremonial something for hunters, right? Go represent all us hunters!
Apart from a few faint-hearted types, everyone was calmly analyzing this battle record as usual.
Since the two giant monsters killed this time were the ones that rampaged horrifically in Australia, rumors spread overseas too about the hunt video. Thanks to that, the footage was being used as national pride fodder.
Gates opened similarly in Seoul and Incheon this month, but Incheon's casualties were ridiculously low compared to Seoul's—all thanks to our valiant baby mushroom, or so they said.
Everyone seemed pretty adapted to my posts, showing more level-headed reactions than expected. It was frustrating—should I crank up the cringe factor here?
I scrolled through the comments seriously pondering that when Seong Mun-yeong muttered.
"Hyung looks happy right now, but Dam-bi noona looks way happier than you... Is it 'cause she got a fat reward payout this time?"
At that, I looked at Baek Dam-bi and freaked out.
Anyone could see she was in a good mood right now—she was humming while staring at her smartphone (the off-beat rhythm proving she was never the vocalist in her old idol group).
Come to think of it, she had every reason to be thrilled.
While I was hunting the giant monsters, Baek Dam-bi went out to locate the gate and scored beyond expectations. Not only did she find it, but she successfully observed and reported on the monsters inside.
With figuring out Behemoth's movements being top priority these days, that alone was a huge achievement. Plus, she'd saved me earlier using her ice ability when I was on the verge of passing out. For someone who rarely gets chances to use her powers, even that must've satisfied her pride.
She'd shone properly as both a Hunter and an Awakener, so no wonder our cyber Magneto was in high spirits.
I was sipping my coffee contentedly too.
"Kim Geuk? You were awesome this time!"
I'd heard that unique Incheon accent before.
Sure enough, when I looked up, Nguyen was standing in front of me.
"Oh, Mr. Nguyen? Thanks so much this time..."
"Thank you! Keep it up like this from now on, yeah?"
I didn't even get a chance to bow properly. Nguyen grabbed my hand, shook it wildly, patted my shoulder, and took off. As I stared blankly at his back, the Hunters under him came over to apologize instead.
"Uh, sorry for the chaos."
"No need to apologize. Why's that guy acting like that?"
"Well, Uncle Nguyen really likes you, Kim Geuk. He's always singing your praises."
"Why, though?"
When I asked genuinely puzzled, one Hunter explained.
"He says thanks to you, his job's gotten way easier?"
"What's that mean?"
"Normally when something pops off, they call in foreign A-ranks first. Not discriminating against foreigners or anything—their rates are cheaper than locals', so..."
"I know. Less burden if they die or get hurt, so they send foreign Awakeners to the front lines first. And?"
"So they kept calling Uncle Nguyen to dangerous spots, which pissed him off. But since you debuted, that stopped cold."
"How come?"
"By the time Uncle Nguyen gets there after being dispatched, you've usually handled most of it. They just mop up a Deathclaw or two after the crisis is over—easy way to fill the dispatch quota in the contract. Nice and chill."
Seong Mun-yeong, listening in, chimed.
"Now that you mention it, I've never seen Kim Geuk hyung skip a gate dispatch. No wonder the porter gig seemed busier than expected—that's the unusual part?"
The Hunter nodded and continued.
"And the emergency calls... you know from last time, right?"
"Yeah, obviously."
"Uncle Nguyen was stressed about those too. After that superhuman from Incheon City died, they tried using him like a tool, threatening indirect penalties if he refused. He was fuming."
"Please explain properly that it was Seoul plants infiltrating Incheon behind it."
"Uh? Oh, yeah. Anyway, the emergency call issue got blown wide open by famous Kim Geuk here, so now they can't pull that anymore? Stress gone, and he says he's benefited from you in all sorts of ways..."
As he kept talking, I smiled and interjected, but felt my whole body heating up.
It was that phenomenon where reading an unjust story online made me rage unconsciously, body temperature rising. Felt way too personal—my chest burned without me even trying.
Why should a superhuman Awakener put up with that crap? Nationality shouldn't even matter. What matters is whether someone's Awakened or non-Awakener trash.
Don't those nauseating Nazi bastards loyal to the state even get that? Someday when I flip this disgusting country over, I'll make sure...
I snapped out of it the moment I noticed, shoving the delusion aside. Damn it. What the hell am I even thinking?
The more hallucinations I went through, the more my hatred for non-Awakener trash and fury at this country grew.
At this point, even I had to recognize the seriousness. Fine, the chosen-people vibe toward non-Awakeners. But delusions of overthrowing the nation? That's getting dangerous.
I shook off the fantasies and focused on the conversation at hand.
The Hunter said.
"Oh, and personally, he digs your manly fighting style. Says he's worked in Vietnam and Japan too, but never seen anyone fight like you."
"Well, there's only me and one Dutch guy with Teleportation, so yeah."
"Nah, it's not the Teleportation—it's the whole style that's badass! I saw the video that went up this time too..."
He was about to go on when an Incheon city official called us over.
"Kim Geuk? And where'd that Nguyen guy wander off to... Anyway, everyone get ready. Ceremony's starting soon..."
Sure enough, we all stood up.
We were here today for a commendation ceremony hosted by Incheon City.
Hunters had it rough this month, so this was to comfort their efforts—or so they said. According to Park Mi-hyeong over the phone, it was basically for me.
Honestly, even I thought my performance wasn't ordinary.
Since that last gate, Seoul kept getting them non-stop, but Incheon's were sporadic. That gave them leeway for this ceremony.
HuntWeb users claimed even that was baby mushroom's adorable grace.
The stragglers from the gate got massacred in a minute, and the two giants didn't even last ten minutes after emerging—supposedly that put fear into the monsters still inside watching.
No idea if that's true, but one thing was clear: I was one hell of an impressive guy.
Meanwhile, Park Mi-hyeong mocked that if Incheon wanted to renew my contract next year, they'd normally pony up a fat prize, but with the local budget barely covering smashed traffic lights, they were giving a fancy certificate instead.
There was some injury compensation too, but it was Incheon merchants' association vouchers with a paltry amount. So my Hunter team—including Seong Mun-yeong—looked unimpressed, but not me.
"Kim Geuk Hunter and his Hunter team, entering! Give them a huge welcome—"
The moment I stepped onto the podium, thunderous applause erupted.
"Kim Geuk! Kim Geuk! Kim Geuk!" My name echoed as I felt like I was ascending to heaven.
I flashed a solemn smile, raised my fist high, and the cheers swelled even louder.
"Uh, Kim Geuk Hunter? You're not gonna hold that pose for a full five minutes like in the video, right? If you'd say a few words using this opportunity..."
"Incheon forever. To the respected citizens of Incheon, Councilor Park Mi-hyeong who supported me to be here, and Mayor Lee Reul, the legitimate ruler of Incheon who made this possible—my thanks..."
I spoke with a grave expression, and for some reason, the audience burst into laughter.
"Ah, Councilor Park Mi-hyeong! Sorry, but just hearing her name makes me crack up. Guess the brainwashing's still going? Great for Incheon!"
The MC laughed too, then took back the mic.
After that, he went on praising how my contributions minimized damage, then his gaze shifted to my round girl beside me.
"Continuing the commendations, Baek Dam-bi Hunter here. For her proactive search efforts..."
He lauded her for locating the gate twice and reporting internals.
When it was my turn, the MC mixed in funny lines with passion, but for Baek Dam-bi, his energy seemed dialed back. Did he see her as just a sidekick in my ceremony?
Worried she might be offended, I glanced at her expression. Nope.
My round girl, in crop top and sunglasses even here, had her lips twitching faintly—only my superhuman vision caught it.
Looked like she was holding back a laugh. Why?
My guess: she found this commendation deeply moving. Starved for recognition, even this objectively minor event felt hugely valuable to her.
When the MC handed her the mic, she coolly said short and sweet.
"It's an honor. Incheon forever."
"Whoa, that line again! Did Kim Geuk Hunter teach you?"
"Yeah. He keeps forcing me to say it..."