Chapter 61
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 061
Chapter Title: HuntWeb's A-rank Baek Dam-bi - [1]
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HuntWeb had a tradition that had continued from its founding right up to the present day: the culture of revering Awakeners.
If a user verified that they were an Awakener, HuntWeb would attach a stylish A-badge next to their nickname.
Having that badge came with all sorts of benefits.
Just sporting an A-badge made you stand out, dramatically boosting views on your posts, and every word from an A-badged user carried an astonishing level of authority. It was like how Samsung employees and lawyers were idolized on Blind.
And just as new company hires were despised on Blind, non-Awakeners were scorned on HuntWeb.
According to HuntWeb users, Awakener Hunters were vital talents that nations competed to recruit, while non-Awakener Hunters were nothing more than dead-end mercenaries. The extent of their disdain was evident in terms they coined, like "pack mules."
It was bizarre, considering most HuntWeb users were non-Awakeners themselves. Nearly all of them, despite not being Awakeners, threw themselves into role-playing from an Awakener's perspective.
Baek Dam-bi could understand their mindset. She herself wasn't a proper A-rank, yet on the site, she fully immersed herself as one.
She was truly fortunate to have joined right at the site's launch. Back then, the criteria for A-badges were lax, handing them out even to total nobodies claiming to be Awakeners.
Thanks to snagging one back then, she was reaping the benefits in spades.
Korean Awakeners are too docile for their own good, seriously.
For real. Even our top Korean Awakeners are ridiculously model citizens. Kim Geuk and Kang Jun-chi are both such goody-two-shoes types that the government could pour money down the drain on them.
? Kim Geuk-ham or Brother Jun-chi as model students? Kinda stretching it.
Kim Geuk-ham just tossed a bullet back at the guy who shot him with an anti-materiel rifle in that latest video and forgave him. Isn't that insanely magnanimous?
True. If he were your average overseas Awakener, he'd have beaten everyone there to death. Kang Jun-chi would've Deo-fued right in front of the National Assembly ages ago.
Baek Dam-bi, known on HuntWeb as syberMagneto, felt that reality sink in as she watched posts flooding HuntWeb willy-nilly.
If you think syberMagneto is right, give it an upvote.
Magneto teacher, we didn't understand your grand vision.
Even syberMagneto, once just a troll posting nonsense, was now being worshipped. That alone painted a clear picture of HuntWeb's current mood.
And for good reason. The announcement about deploying Awakener Hunters for national duties had driven every user on HuntWeb into a frenzy.
As HuntWeb's prophet, Baek Dam-bi delivered a piercing strike against the situation.
Non-Awakener trash... Should we just shove them all into gas chambers?
A post that would normally be ignored was racking up upvotes by the second, comments piling on in its wake.
It cheered her up, but truth be told, Baek Dam-bi had little real interest in the uproar.
From the looks of it, the government planned to mobilize Awakener Hunters, not regular ones. What did that have to do with her? They wouldn't drag nobodies into it just because they needed Awakeners.
Honestly, she envied those being forcibly conscripted by the state. It meant their value was being recognized that much.
Meanwhile, it was satisfying to see that Na-i-to bastard wisely keeping his mouth shut.
That revolting guy... Every time they crossed paths, he had to sense the impulses she felt toward him. Just look at how he'd been bootlicking her for no reason lately during hunts...
Looks like they'll push the policy through as announced?
Obviously. Why worry about Awakeners in politics? There aren't even 5,000 nationwide. And most are in Seoul or scattered around, so you can just ignore them come election time.
Shouldn't one of the Awakeners step up as a representative? Don't we have any leaders or organizations?
There's the Hunter Association.
Come to think of it, what the hell does the Association even do? Didn't they fail to even issue a statement of regret when Kim Geuk got an emergency call?
I hear they're skimping on training new Hunters these days too. If they're not gonna look out for us at all, what's the point of the Association even existing?
Uncle... Everyone knows the Hunter Association is a government puppet organization. They treat their own citizens like foreign mercs—no compensation even if you die defending the country. Who doesn't know that?
Baek Dam-bi knew full well that the current Hunter Association was pointless.
The Hunter Association president's sole achievement was failing to rename Deathclaws to "hooked talons" in pure Korean. Had he succeeded, even that would have vanished.
We need a real organization to represent Hunters, not puppets like the Hunter Association.
We should have a separate one for Awakener Hunters too.
You think the government would let something like that operate? From what we saw this time, they get threatened by just six Awakeners banding together and try to surveil them.
If thousands of Awakeners formed a group? They'd call it a rebel force plotting a coup and bomb us flat, probably.
Of course, Baek Dam-bi had zero interest in that topic either. Even if an Awakener group formed, she doubted she'd fit in openly.
Damn nobodies stirring up trouble again, making things like this...
Pretending to be deeply invested as befitting an A-badge holder—bashing the government, cursing nobodies, spewing non-Awakener hate—her phone suddenly rang.
"Uh, Dam-bi?"
Baek Dam-bi flinched at the familiar voice.
Kim Geuk. Her boss, in a manner of speaking. Not an official employer-employee relationship, but still.
"Yes, Kim Geuk? What is it?"
"I've got something to discuss. It's almost rainy season, right? So..."
After hearing him out, Baek Dam-bi sat there blankly for a moment before asking,
"So, if things go well this time, I might be able to open Gates myself?"
"Yeah. They said taking down a few Water Spirits should do it."
"Wouldn't that be too hard on you, Kim Geuk? I hear hunting Water Spirits is pretty tough..."
"Gotta do what we gotta do. With Behemoth around, checking inside the Gate is crucial right now. We need to periodically track where that thing's headed and when its monster entourage might pop out. If you can open Gates, you'll be Incheon's treasure, I reckon."
Baek Dam-bi tried to ignore his Incheon this and that.
At first, she'd thought it was just a gimmick, but seeing him in person made it clear it wasn't—and that terrified her. Signing a contract with Incheon City for less pay was eccentric enough, but his everyday behavior screamed sincerity. She couldn't comprehend that madness.
"It'd be great if that works out. But why are you so hung up on me opening Gates...?"
"'Cause you've been dying to dive into Gates, right? Always jumping at chances, so I figured if you could open them yourself, even better."
"Ah..."
"What, too tough? No pressure—if it's a hassle, we can forget it."
Baek Dam-bi replied in a hurry.
"No, no. I'm in."
After hanging up and mulling over the call, a fresh surge of motivation welled up. She could feel her heart—numbed by irrelevant internet drama—pounding properly again.
Joining that man's team had been lucky in every way. Not just because it let her keep hunting and hold onto her contract money, but for her mental health too.
Since joining, opportunities to shine had come aplenty.
Kim Geuk, the leader, clearly saw her potential and utilized her in all sorts of ways. That had given her repeated chances to perform as an Awakener, restoring her battered self-esteem more than she could measure.
Her previous team, by contrast, had been a total disaster. A bunch of simpering sweet-talkers pretending to cater to her as a woman, showering her with fake consideration—until she ignored their subtle affections, at which point they rage-quit and trashed her on HuntWeb. Her industry rep had tanked, and she'd suffered endlessly because of it.
Compared to that, this team was worlds better.
Honestly, it was moving.
No clingy weirdos hanging around—maybe out of deference to the boss—and chances to show off her skills, even if not quite on par with other Awakener Hunters.
While scrolling HuntWeb further, she spotted a new post.
Baby Mushroom-ie, off to exterminate Water Spirits with Ice Princess!
Recognizing it as her boss's post, Baek Dam-bi froze for a moment.
With trembling hands, she clicked it and squeezed her eyes shut.
When she opened them, the horrific Korean text assaulted her eyes and brain. Baek Dam-bi screamed silently.
Summer-ieyang! Special episode that'll delight your eyes like a cartoon-ieyang!
Baby Mushroom-ie in school swimsuit, deploying soon♡♥♡!!
Baby Mushroom-ie is a lady, so sexy bikini it is, but then citizens might get captivated by Baby Mushroom-ie's figure and fail to evacuate-ieyang? So worried! Decided to hide Baby Mushroom-ie's charms! Such a brave and noble Baby Mushroom-ie!!
Anyway, this rainy season-ieyang! Ice Princess Baek Dam-bi unnie and her sexier junior Baby Mushroom-ie deploying!!
Every time she saw that man's posts, her qi and blood churned, something rising in her gut.
It seemed like guy culture, but as a woman, Baek Dam-bi couldn't stomach it. Especially since reading them conjured his hunt persona.
To cleanse her madness-tainted mind, she averted her gaze to the desk.
She looked at the acrylic standee of herself.
Incheon City had made it for her.
In this rundown shack—where shorts kept tripping breakers and no repairmen came because it was a "hazard zone," sending the meter plummeting—it was the one thing she truly liked.
A proof that she was useful, recognized by people.
Even here, she'd be out in two or three years. By then, that man's apartment project would be done...
Not long ago, she'd even considered ditching everything for some rural life like Kang Jun-chi suggested. What a world of difference now.
She owed that man in so many ways—it was something to be grateful for—but when would Park Mi-hyeong snap him out of his brainwashing?
A few days later, as the news reported, the rains began.
Three days of relentless downpour.
Water flooded the streets. In the old world, urban flooding was bad enough, but post-Gates, it threatened every citizen's life.
Thus, Incheon City called in Kim Geuk—now practically their savior—and requested his deployment.
Kim Geuk accepted, so Baek Dam-bi boarded the helicopter with him.
Inside the chopper, they had a moment for small talk.
"Where are the other team members? They didn't come this time...?"
Kim Geuk answered her question.
"No need to drag them along for bulletproof bastards. I left my hunter rifle behind too. You didn't need that LMG either, Dam-bi—why bother?"
"Just... felt uneasy."
Kim Geuk grinned at her casual reply. Sitting across from him, Baek Dam-bi pondered.
Did this man actually like her?
Stepping up for this op to look out for her was surely kindness. He treated her well in other ways too, sparking such thoughts. But who knew? He was excessively nice to all team members.
That alone proved he was a good guy. Minus the HuntWeb antics.
Those made her question his gender identity...
Her leisurely thoughts were short-lived.
From the airborne helicopter, Baek Dam-bi watched waves sweeping the roads.
Not mere natural phenomena—Water Spirits.
Gate-spawned monsters. Abominations brimming with man-eating hunger.
Four years since the world turned like this, three since she became a Hunter, and still, it often felt like a dream.
Wearing her idol-era crop top and sunglasses, she half-deluded herself that waking up would restore normalcy.
She'd quit this unwanted shooting gig, and the man before her would shine in UFC...
"Ah, I'll be right back."
Kim Geuk's angry growl, laced with infrasound, yanked her from her daze.
Kim Geuk Teleported away first, and the hunt began.