Chapter 48
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 048
Chapter Title: A-rank Hunter Nguyen - [6]
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The next morning, a call came in from an unknown number.
As expected, it was Nguyen on the other end when I picked up.
"Kim Geuk? Got a minute?"
"Yeah, Nguyen? What's up?"
Nguyen's voice over the phone was nothing like his usual self. He sounded deflated, lacking any of his boisterous energy, as he asked cautiously.
"I got pretty wasted yesterday, right? I must've said all sorts of dumb shit... Did I...?"
"You need to cut back on the drinking from now on. You were so smashed you couldn't keep your mouth shut. Spilling all kinds of things you shouldn't have."
A brief silence followed.
It took him quite a while before Nguyen finally spoke up.
"If I offered you money to keep your mouth shut...?"
"No need. I've got plenty of my own."
My quick response brightened Nguyen's voice.
"Right? Still..."
"Even if someone beat me to death, I wouldn't say a word, so don't worry."
"For real? Promise? But if there's anything you want me to do, tell me now, yeah? Make my heart feel at ease!"
"I told you it's fine... But if you're still anxious, you could always hustle like you did last hunt. I won't blab about what you said just because you slack off sometimes, but getting buddy-buddy with me can't hurt, right?"
Only then did Nguyen seem to relax. Over the phone, his voice returned to its usual booming cheer.
"Knew I had you pegged right! A stand-up guy like you wouldn't blackmail me or pull any sleazy shit over a secret!"
"So, you'll step up when we hunt together?"
"Damn right! I'll give it my all, so look forward to it, Kim Geuk!"
I could picture his excitement just from his voice. He was probably flashing that signature toothy grin on the other end.
Damn, I fell for that friendly smile when we first met.
After hanging up, I let out a sigh. Then I mentally cursed the guy I'd just been talking to.
That fucking bastard. Lowlife scum without a shred of dignity.
I couldn't report his antics to Incheon City. It wouldn't do them any good anyway.
Even as I'd kept pouring drinks down his throat yesterday to pry info out of him, over half of the contract payment Incheon City had given Nguyen was already converted to bitcoin. And a hefty chunk more had vanished as hush money long ago. Breaking the contract wouldn't get the full payment back.
Besides, Korea had changed the laws ages ago to issue hunter licenses even to those with criminal records. From what I'd looked into, canceling contracts over past deeds was now nearly impossible.
So, no choice. The best I could do was soothe his ego without bruising it and make sure he actually joined hunts when I was around. At least get some value out of the money they'd already paid him.
All things considered, it left me with complicated feelings.
I personally liked Kang Jun-chi, but his small-time citizen vibe rubbed me the wrong way. Nguyen was the exact opposite.
Any personal liking I'd had for Nguyen evaporated yesterday when he bragged about raping women left and right. But his track record? That I approved of.
His rebel days, specifically.
Vietnam, like many poor countries, didn't recognize the hunter system. They drafted Awakeners into the military with salaries several times that of regular soldiers, but it was still peanuts compared to international rates. Naturally, Awakeners were pissed.
In the midst of that, the Awakener troops dispatched to suppress the Ca Mau City Gate incident broke free from military control and seized Ca Mau City.
It was a full-on uprising by mistreated Awakeners. And since it let them go abroad and make real money, you could argue it was a partial success.
As an Awakener myself, I saw the rebellion as necessary. Ignoring the ugly parts like looting civilian property along the way, it was what mistreated Awakeners had to do to reclaim their rights.
And my warped new mindset, twisted by repeated hallucinations, was now telling me to befriend this Vietnamese Awakener as a future comrade.
Crazy bastard.
Of course, that was impossible. Not even a delusion worth entertaining.
I'd already seen the end for idiots who put such delusions into action.
Me in the hallucination. That terrorist moron...
I wouldn't end up like him.
I had too much to do to meet the same fate. I had to protect Incheon, help Councilor Park Mi-hyeong's campaign, and gift my little sister a Porsche and an apartment when she got out. And if possible, make my round girl end every sentence with "yang, yang."
Bombing shit would ruin all that.
I sorted my thoughts and called the civil servant I'd met before.
I fed him the appropriately edited version of events.
"Yeah, I had a long talk with Nguyen... Looks like treating him like some foreign laborer was the issue. He was overflowing with resentment, but he seems to like me at least. I soothed him, and he promised to hustle whenever he's hunting with me."
"Ah... Well, as long as he works hard with you around, that's something. We can just request him for your deployments..."
"Exactly. Don't hold back on the praise."
"No joke, I'd kowtow in thanks! You didn't have to agree to my request, but you did it anyway. Truly grateful!"
After his repeated thanks, I said,
"So, since I did you this favor, mind doing one for me?"
He told me to spit it out, so I laid out my request. He agreed immediately.
"Oh, that's nothing. Sorry it's so minor? I'll get it done right away. Thanks again, Kim Geuk!"
The next afternoon, I sat beside Councilor Park Mi-hyeong.
I gazed at the crowd gathered in front.
Local merchants and landlords... With hopeful faces mixed among the people and reporters, Councilor Park Mi-hyeong declared,
"Right here, right now... I declare the resumption of the Incheon Reclamation Project!"
The reason for gathering such a huge crowd for the announcement was obvious. Promote policies to revive Incheon's land values while grabbing a chance to make noise like politicians love.
And Councilor Park Mi-hyeong no longer even needed to speak up at events like this.
"Long live Brainwash Awakener Park Mi-hyeong!"
"Keep Kim Geuk under tight brainwashing from now on!"
Thunderous applause erupted, and I stood from my seat. I raised one arm high toward the sky.
After holding the pose for five whole minutes in that video, it had become my signature victory stance. The cheers came instantly.
"Kim Geuk! Kim Geuk! Kim Geuk!"
Amid the cheers I always heard after slaying monsters, I closed my eyes and opened them. Confirming once more what I already knew.
I loved being a Hunter.
I took immense pride in protecting Incheon and its citizens as a Hunter. It felt like a sacred duty only Awakeners could perform.
That's why seeing non-Awakener trash like Director Naito outshine most Awakeners pissed me off—it was overstepping. And it was one reason I personally disliked Nguyen: Hunter-related.
Despite being an Awakener optimized for combat, Nguyen shunned Hunter work as dangerous drudgery. Compared to lording over a city as warlord, this Hunter gig was just grueling outsider labor.
Anyone who wants to rule as a lord shouldn't think like that.
Even if they saw non-Awakeners as mere livestock like Sowol did. A shepherd has a duty to protect sheep from bears and wolves. Whether you view non-Awakeners as sheep or people, failing to protect them disqualifies you from ruling.
Nguyen wanted to lord it up while ditching that sacred duty—his head was all fucked up. Someday, I'd drag him to Sowol and fix that rotten mindset...
After the press conference, just like at the last award ceremony, we sold Incheon Hunter character merch.
Two new items had been added this time. One was the baby mushroom T-shirt I'd ordered (a black tee featuring a redheaded girl wearing a colorful mushroom—planning to wear it often from now on). And...
Baek Dam-bi couldn't take her eyes off the other one.
Hard not to. Ignoring an acrylic stand of yourself? Tough sell.
"What's this?"
She asked, so I answered,
"What else? Your character merch, Dam-bi. Can't see it with those sunglasses?"
"No, I can see fine. But they stopped selling after the award ceremony the other day...?"
"They weren't ready yet back then."
To be precise, I'd demanded it yesterday, and they'd rushed it out.
After getting Nguyen's promise to work under certain conditions, I'd asked the civil servant to sell merch for my round girl too. It didn't make sense selling that non-Awakener trash Director Naito's merch without hers. Plus, last time, I'd seen how jealous Baek Dam-bi was of my merch selling.
Her reaction confirmed I'd done right.
To get a proper look at her own merch, Baek Dam-bi even took off her sunglasses—the ones she wore almost constantly outside hunts.
With slightly trembling hands, she picked up the acrylic stand of herself.
"Ah..."
She stared at it for a long time before hastily putting her sunglasses back on—clearly to hide the tears welling in her eyes.
I barely held back the urge to force her to shout "Incheon forever!"
Back home, I weighed myself. My weight had doubled from last time. I stared wide-eyed.
Why the sudden gain? Massive muscle growth? No, my muscles were already maxed out to the point of hindering joint movement. Physically, they couldn't grow more.
This had to be from advancing as a Physical Enhancement Awakener.
Proof that even with the same arm volume, the bones inside were thicker and denser, muscle density had skyrocketed, and even the composition had changed.
Which meant my strength as a Physical Enhancer had surged far beyond the weight gain.
Heading to the academy gym confirmed it.
Lifting a barbell five times heavier than my usual max (pushing it pretty hard), every trainee's eyes locked on me. Yang Tae-ja, spotting me, freaked out.
"Bullets probably won't even dent those muscles now. What the...?"
"Looking impressive even to you, Coach Yang?"
"Yeah. Even killing the same monsters, Awakeners improve at different rates with different limits. Looks like you're crushing both, Kim Geuk. Your power's shooting up non-stop..."
"Not just 'cause I hunt the toughest ones?"
"That's a big factor, but you're just built different talent-wise. Most Physical Enhancers plateau around your old level, no matter how many more monsters they kill. At this rate, you'll snag an S-rank badge for real. That'd be badass..."
His genuine awe felt good.
For a moment, the thought flashed—keep powering up until I could survive missiles and wipe out the president, congressmen, all of them—but I shook it off.
Even plotting national overthrow, who the hell would I ally with? Nguyen? Ridiculous.
How could I trust that drunk blabbermouth to help topple a country?