Chapter 95
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 095
Chapter Title: Protector God of the Korean Peninsula, Kang Jun-chi - [1]
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Did I really tell Secretary Seok from the council office that I could quit being a Hunter anytime?
It was a lie. How could I possibly quit now, when I've found such immense satisfaction in this Hunter work?
I checked out the post I'd uploaded to HuntWeb.
It was the one about the baby mushrooms putting on a morale-boosting show or whatever. I'd posted it the day after taking down that blimp monster on Ganghwa Island, but the news about what went down there probably didn't break until a few hours later.
Once people saw the news, HuntWeb users finally pieced together what my post meant—and the comments came flooding in after that.
You take down a monster tougher than a skyscraper and then post this? What a madman??
Kim Geuk... is he a god?
Kim Geuk is one thing, but Baek Dam-bi? She's way past the point where we can call her a lightweight. At this rate, she's superior to most A-rank Hunters... We should track down everyone who trashed her back in the day and send 'em all to the gas chamber, right?
5myJesus: For real.
Doesn't give a damn about whether it's Flame Spirits or skyscraper-level monsters—just wipes out every single one he runs into? And this guy's out here posting crap online lol scary af.
I've felt this since his debut, but his growth rate is insane, and there's no sign of it slowing down. He's gone beyond being one-of-a-kind. At this rate, is Korea seriously about to get a second S-rank?
Every single one of those comments sends a rush of dopamine straight to my brain.
All that praise, all those reactions—they fill me with tremendous pride.
It's not just the online buzz. I feel it every time I see the aunties and uncles who come out to cheer me on during hunts or bring lunchboxes for the Hunters.
Pride in knowing my activities are positively impacting so many people... pride in how everyone reacts to my every move...
Ever since I started this Hunter gig, everything's been going my way. The thought of quitting makes my skin crawl.
This has to be one of the key differences between the hallucination-version Kim Geuk and the real me right now.
In that hallucination, his debut was marked by his whole team getting massacred, then smear articles targeting him spread like wildfire. No wonder he had zero attachment to the job.
That's why hallucination-Kim Geuk could pull off reckless stunts anytime, anywhere, without a care. But not me.
I can't throw away the honor and achievements I've built. I can't even dream of crossing the line like he did.
Impulses like overthrowing the country or nuking Seoul? They stay as fantasies, nothing more...
That said, the whole Jin-beom incident last time was a close call.
Me causing a scene at the police station? If any other Hunter did that, it'd be an instant license suspension and the special task force swarming in.
I still get a thrill from the "victory" that day, but it leaves a bad taste too.
Rampaging like that at the station was pretty extreme, even by my standards. Normally, I wouldn't go that far. What came over me?
Was I just pissed off that day, or was it the cumulative effect of those hallucinations?
I know they're affecting me for sure. I've consciously tried avoiding hate terms like "non-Awakener trash" to shake off the influence, but it does nothing.
No matter how hard I try, those words keep flashing through my mind. Can't help it when the stuff non-Awakeners do is so revolting, though.
To keep enjoying everything I've achieved, I might need to lay low for a bit.
I sorted out my thoughts and opened HuntWeb.
One post stood out with sky-high views. No surprise—it was from one of HuntWeb's biggest names.
Ⓢ Kang: When the hell is Behemoth gonna leave already?
When can I finally head back to Busan?
I came to Seoul at the government's request, figuring a month or two holed up in a hotel would wrap this up.
But it's mid-September now, and shit's still the same. Behemoth hasn't budged. I'm not in a hotel anymore—I'm trapped underground.
It's hot as hell, stuffy as hell, I'm seriously gonna lose my mind. This is what I get for Hel-Joseon crab fishermen?
Screw Behemoth, national defense, all that bullshit—I just wanna bail... or flip the whole table in a rage...
I clicked my tongue. Kang Jun-chi, spouting off again, huh?
I've got his patterns down pat by now. Even accounting for that, I'm dead certain he won't actually leave Korea or turn against the nation, no matter what he says.
This is the Prophet's intuition speaking—one that peers into the future. No way it'll be wrong. It's as solid as the fact that Naito-san is non-Awakener trash.
This post is obviously just bait for sympathy from his fans, so no need to take it seriously. But one Hunter's dead-serious reply caught my eye.
Bro, you still stuck down there?
Yeah...
Still no power or water hooked up down there?
Yeah...
Aw, poor guy...
Why do you always go out of your way to suffer, man?
How the hell is this me going out of my way? Ffs.
If you're not picking the suffering yourself, then what?
You serious? The crab fishermen tried bugging me and got caught, so I can't risk that again—that's why I'm suffering. How is that my fault? I'm already on the verge of exploding from frustration, so cut the snarky bullshit, please.
Sounds like you're in bad shape for real haha
Hold tight, bro—I'm coming to you.
Watching that exchange, I wondered.
What was Secretary Seok planning to do by going there? Convince Kang Jun-chi to finally come up to the surface? Or calm him down, seeing all that pent-up resentment toward the government?
Once I started suspecting Secretary Seok might be a government spy, even that well-meaning gesture looked suspicious.
Come to think of it, if he really is a gov agent, he's pulled off a masterstroke. Maintaining close ties with me and Kang Jun-chi—Korea's top two powerhouses.
Maybe he deliberately cozied up to key Awakeners as part of his spy gig...
Still, it's not a sure thing he's a spy.
It's not just me hating on guilt-by-association—I've got actual reasons to think he might not be.
For one, in that last hallucination, the guy who helped me open a gate for the Awakener soldiers and non-Awakener slaves to cross? None other than Secretary Seok himself...
Late September, the Ganghwa Island hunt finally wrapped up.
It took longer than expected to clean up. Being ground zero for the initial Gate probably made it worse than we thought—monsters swarming every deserted spot, human remains scattered everywhere. Casualties were way higher than I'd figured.
We only learned the full extent by operating there ourselves. The government must've strong-armed the media into holding back reports to downplay how bad it was.
But that's all over now.
No more wild monsters on Ganghwa Island. Who knows if more'll pop out of Gates and repopulate someday, but for now.
Early October, my Hunter team resumed operations on the Incheon mainland.
Mostly clearing out monsters holed up inside Gates.
I'd expected the Gate monster population to have grown since I left for Ganghwa. Monsters fed up with trailing Behemoth might've scattered through the Gates and wound up in Incheon territory.
But no. There were fewer than anticipated.
Fewer than before I left for Ganghwa, even. What the hell?
Baek Dam-bi, who'd gone in solo to scout, reported back to everyone.
"The monsters inside the Gates... they were straight-up running away?"
"What? What do you mean?"
Baek Dam-bi explained in a baffled tone.
"Exactly what I said. The monsters are fleeing. Specifically... away from wherever Kim Geuk is."
As I puzzled over that, Jeong Jin-yeong's eyes went wide like he'd just realized something. He said excitedly,
"They're running from Kim Geuk, right?"
Im Hyeong-taek picked up,
"Running from Kim Geuk? Huh... yeah, what else could it be?"
"Exactly! Remember how Gate monsters won't even approach where Kang Jun-chi is? Same deal! And from a regular monster's perspective, Kim Geuk-hyung is way scarier than Kang Jun-chi—'cause hyung drags 'em out of Gates and kills 'em anyway..."
"Makes sense. They must've seen that in the Gates and got spooked."
"Yeah! The other monsters inside would've witnessed it multiple times!"
Naito-san's cameraman was filming the whole convo. Looks like his next YouTube title's gonna be something like "The Man Who Scares Even Gate Monsters Shitless."
Great start, as you can see. And so, through October, I mopped up monsters inside and outside Gates, corner to corner. If a recent disappearance popped up in an already-cleared area, I'd head back and sweep the surrounding monsters.
I crisscrossed Incheon like that. Considering how vast it is—you'd be hard-pressed to tell it apart from the US on a map—it was grueling, but we got it done.
Thus, late October, the Incheon Reclamation Project finally ended.
And whether it was thanks to my culls or Jeong Jin-yeong's theory that Gate monsters fled in terror from me, not a single Gate opened in Incheon through November. Not once.
Early November, Incheon was in full festival mode.
TV, internet, every media outlet was talking about me.
"Incheon Reclamation Project Ends After Exceeding Initial Goals by 300% (...)", "Incheon's Peaceful October: Hope Blooms in One Region (...)", "Hunter Kim Geuk: A Year of Miracles Since Debut (...)"
Even now, broadcast news was covering it. After five years since the Gates opened, hope for resolution was finally in sight... Come January, the contract fee for Hunter Kim Geuk would be a record high... etc.
Considering how tightly the media's leashed by the government—and how I've pissed them off lately—the glowing coverage was kinda surprising.
The government clearly hates my guts, but whenever I make a splash, they still broadcast it.
They hate me all they want, but they won't pass up a chance to show the public that things are getting better, huh?
HuntWeb's probably flooded with posts praising me right now. Shame I couldn't pull out my smartphone and scroll through 'em.
"A toast to Hunter Kim Geuk!"
The Incheon mayor led the toast, and the whole hall echoed it: "To Hunter Kim Geuk..."
Then the mayor strode proudly past the officials and councilors, beaming as he declared,
"When I first drafted that contract estimate for Kim Geuk, honestly! I never dreamed he'd deliver this kind of result! Sure, he's one of the world's rare Teleporters—what's so special about that, I dunno—but ex-UFC fighter, so he's got fighting spirit, I figured. That was it. Sent the contract on that basis.
At least he won't slack off and eat our money like that Nguyen bastard, right? That's all I thought. Awakeners do their job if they just show up and fight properly a couple times every few months without bailing. Way cheaper than firing off hundred-million-won missiles, so as long as they earn their keep, great.
But look at this now! I've busted my ass for Incheon in all sorts of ways, sweating bullets plenty... but out of everything I've done, sending that contract to Kim Geuk? Hands down the best move..."
Hearing that gleeful voice, I happily downed another glass of cola. The mayor hustled over, refilled it pronto, and I threw back another with gusto.
Truly, the best day ever.
"Jun-chi hyung, that's not..."
"The hell it's not, you fucking spy bastard?"