Chapter 77
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 077
Chapter Title: Special Task Force Member Han Hee - [1]
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Q. The two months of effort to rescue Miss Shin Mi-rae have paid off. I want to offer sincere praise for that dedication and congratulate you as well.
- If it's congratulations on awakening the Force Field Exoskeleton ability in addition to your existing powers, then thanks.
Q. Beyond rescuing Miss Shin Mi-rae, there's so much more to praise. It's impossible not to be amazed by Hunter Kim Geuk's overwhelming performance.
- That's only natural.
Q. I'm newly impressed by Hunter Kim Geuk's humility as well... On top of that, you've gained a new ability amid all this, so I imagine your value as a Hunter will skyrocket endlessly. There are even opinions that at this level, you should practically be considered S-rank. What's your take on that?
- People who don't know what S-rank entails must be the ones saying that. If they search 'Kang Jun-chi' on YouTube, they'll see exactly how far I have to go.
Q. Still, it's hard to deny that Hunter Kim Geuk is on a level far superior to ordinary Awakener Hunters. Opinions are rife that the 50 billion won contract with Incheon City—what was once seen as a record-breaking rookie deal—was actually a bargain.
And come January next year, your contract with Incheon City ends, and you'll need to sign a new one. Do you plan to renew with Incheon City then?
- Of course. Even if an Incheon native like me sells Korea off to the Aztecs as a colony, I could never leave Incheon.
Q. But what if, just hypothetically, you're considering a contract with Seoul or another local government?
- Sorry, but I'm a Hunter and a civilized man.
Q. What does that mean?
- It means I couldn't even dream of living in savage lands beyond the reach of civilization.
Q. However, I understand Incheon's budget is insufficient. Next year, with your value sure to soar even higher, how could Incheon City afford the contract fee?
- If they lack the funds, the government can just cover it.
Q. Does the government have any reason to do that?
- Naturally.
Q. Care to explain?
- Simple. The government wouldn't want to see me selling cigarettes in Seoul alongside Kim Seok-hee. If it comes to that, everyone will understand it's because the government didn't provide Incheon with enough funding.
This interview was also posted on HuntWeb.
I checked out the comments attached to it.
Come to think of it, when Kim Geuk first debuted, his specs were already insane, but looking at his recent re-test records, all his awakening abilities have grown to ridiculous levels... How is that even possible?
You rarely see abilities grow that much even after tons of hunting, right? Plenty of people hunt forever without much growth.
It depends on the Awakener's aptitude. Like mobile game characters—different rarities cap at different levels. Some max out at 30 even stuffing them with EXP, others hit 60...
Okay, aptitude aside, the speed of his ability growth is insane too, right? Did he stack EXP buffs like in a mobile game or something?
Watch how Kim Geuk hunts versus other Hunters and you won't say that.
Seoul Hunters like me get fixed zones and hunt maybe once every few months, but that Kim Geuk guy treats all of Incheon as his turf and deploys every time a Gate opens, right?
Plus, with the Incheon Reclamation Project, he was basically manufacturing work to hunt, and now he's even busier.
From these reactions alone, it's clear I'm doing well as a Hunter.
It was true before, but even more so now.
I entered the Gate with my round girl.
As we walked through that purple space, prey soon appeared.
"Deathclaws. Four of them... Can you teleport them all at once?"
I nodded at Baek Dam-bi's words.
Then I teleported. Taking the pack of Deathclaws right in front of me, we crossed over from the Gate into reality.
The moment we teleported—me and the monsters—bullets rained down from all sides.
"Fire! Fire now!"
The Hunters waiting there opened fire in unison. At the monsters I'd brought.
They fired without hesitation even with me right there among the monsters, trusting my Force Field Exoskeleton ability. Ordinary personal firearms couldn't pierce my barrier.
And sure enough, after the barrage ended, I was unscathed, but the Deathclaws I'd teleported in with were riddled with holes, sprawled on the ground bleeding out.
I'd repeated this yesterday, the day before, and every day since. Nonstop, ever since teleporting inside Gates became possible. Not a single day off.
It was mechanical hunting, hardly even risky.
In this way, for a full month, I'd been proactively thinning out the monsters encroaching on Incheon's territory. Whether they popped out of Gates or lurked inside, I hunted them all indiscriminately.
Of course, only I could pull this off, and even I couldn't spam teleportation infinitely. I hadn't cleared every monster in Incheon in one go. I was working hard, but plenty remained.
Still, the visible results were there: Gate openings in Incheon had sharply declined.
To be precise, while Seoul saw over twenty Gates in the past month, Incheon had just one. Everyone knew my Gate interior cleanup was working.
The other day, I saw a villa in my neighborhood listed at 40 million won by the local realtor. It used to go for about 15 million, and apparently Incheon real estate had surged across the board?
I won't say out loud it's thanks to a certain Hunter named Kim with 'Geuk' in his name.
"Whoa, bro. Check that out!"
After finishing work and heading home in the company car, a large banner on the street caught my eye.
- Hunter Kim Geuk, Incheon believes in you!
- Please, next year just like this year! We count on you!
Below the bold text were donation account details and a phone number. Citizens were already fundraising for my renewal contract next year.
That alone showed I hadn't let Incheon's people down.
"They're treating you like a damn messiah..."
Baek Dam-bi said enviously, and I grinned.
As you can see, everything was going perfectly.
My dreams still featured that damn mushroom cloud without fail, but anyway...
Back home, I logged into HuntWeb again.
Scanning the posts for any about me, my eyes suddenly widened.
A gruesome post had gone up on HuntWeb.
Recruiting for the Special Task Force! Message this account, and I can advise on Task Force work.
It's true the Task Force pay is worse than Hunters, but it offers value beyond money. If you want authority and pride as a societal elite, consider the Task Force!
Special Task Force promotion on the sacred HuntWeb?
What bold nonsense. Even before that incident, HuntWeb users looked down on the Task Force constantly, but now it had escalated to outright disgust—and they were promoting it?
And sure enough, no recruitment inquiries in the comments—just nonstop mockery of this brave soul.
Special Task Force? Aren't those the psycho murderers who try to kill you even if you surrender? Seeing a murderer casually posting online scares me so much
No skills whatsoever, but no hesitation on murder or assault—went after civilian Hunters first and got wrecked 6v1 by outsiders lol societal elite haha
Those rotten bastards treat civilian wiretapping like it's no big deal.
How could I miss this party? I jumped right in, posting a cute, polite roast.
Are there really such kidnappy old uncles? Baby mushroom is so scared my wittle hands and feet are shaking~ Special Task Force? Just hearing about those kidnappy uncles sounds like a total illegal gang... Shouldn't we call the police uncles to arrest them all right now~?
Cute little baby mushroom! Big bro is super duper scared too, but the police uncles are afraid of Awakener thugs, so they won't arrest even if reported
Then who do we report to to get those mean uncles arrested~?
There's this Kim Geuk guy who the Task Force thugs fear, but I don't have his number so I can't tell you
Anyone wanting personal contact with Hunter Kim Geuk, inquire at Councilor Park Mi-hyeong's office, running as No. 2 in next year's Incheon mayoral election. Office number: 032-XXX-XXXX
Oh no, Park Mi-hyeong's brainwashing malfunctioned again.
See, Task Force buddy? This is how you do viral marketing. Nobody remembers the Incheon mayor, but now everyone knows Park Mi-hyeong's name. Learn this know-how somehow.
And so HuntWeb users were lynching this presumed Task Force member.
Then a former Task Force member commented.
Han Hee?
Nope.
What do you mean nope? I saw Han Hee-seok posting on HuntWeb with that account. It's Kang Jun-man—don't you remember me?
Oh, hyung Jun-man? How's life after leaving the Task Force?
Definitely Han Hee. You're doing too well post-Task Force, man.
Han Hee-seok borrowed your ID to make that account, right? He got fired, so you reclaimed it?
Watching that exchange, I couldn't believe my eyes.
This guy was Han Hee? The Special Task Force member getting roasted by everyone?
It was absurd. Han Hee was the Task Force's ultimate weapon, a powerhouse even I couldn't take lightly now.
For such a mighty Awakener to be doing grunt work promoting the organization on a site? No one at that level should stoop to that.
A powerhouse like him would feel stifled even in high-level admin roles, let alone wasting time on comment shilling.
I wondered why, but it turned out there was a reason even for that.
So why the sudden change? Seniors order you? No work, so recruit here in downtime?
Yeah, kinda...
Figures. With Han Hee-seok fired, they're bullying his kid to get at him. Not personal, so don't take it too hard.
Anyway, everyone, stop picking on him. He's young, innocent, and super nice, okay?
But did the HuntWeb users care that he was Han Hee-seok's son? If anything, they ramped up the mockery and parent-bashing.
I had no intention of stopping the pile-on, but suddenly I felt a surge of anger.
Han Hee didn't deserve this treatment. A powerful Awakener should command respect on their own merits.
Just as I did—someone with similar potential should get the same.
Yet this guy was getting bullied in the Task Force?
I could guess why.
As I saw when we met, Han Hee gets nervous around adults—timid personality. In a rough crowd like the Task Force, he wouldn't fit in. Young, no social experience—he'd get ignored left and right.
Now his own father, the boss, got booted, so this young Awakener was openly ostracized.
By my estimate, Han Hee could solo the entire Task Force roster. Yet instead of ruling them, he was beneath them. Infuriating injustice.
Back when Gates were closed, personal strength didn't matter much in organizations.
Now that Gates were open, sheer power should let you dominate any group...
The more I thought, the madder I got, but I had no way to help. Operating in Incheon, I'd never cross paths with him.
That's what I thought—but I met Han Hee just four days later.
```