Boobie-Boobie Bunny Girl (1)
There are basically two ways a Hunter gets work.
One is the fixed assignment route—like the local first-response teams that handle a set beat every day.
The other is the freelance route: you take whatever missions pop up and handle them yourself.
Think salaryman versus freelancers.
Of course, there are also cases like mine—getting dragged into an urban legend against your will…
But that doesn’t count as receiving a job.
That’s just a Hunter having a really bad day.
Being an Awakened doesn’t mean you can handle every ghost story that comes along. Cross paths with an anomaly that counters you hard, and nine times out of ten they find your body later. Never a pleasant situation.
If I’m being honest, the fact that I’ve already been through it twice means my luck is absolute garbage.
[‘The Goddess Who Praises’ whispers carefully. Awakened and anomalies sometimes draw each other in. The stronger the Awakened, the more often this happens.]
Ah, so it wasn’t coincidence?
Doesn’t that just mean most of this is your fault?
[‘The Goddess Who Praises’ defends herself desperately. Where there is a powerful light, a deep shadow always follows…]
I snapped at her, but I didn’t actually resent her for it.
Someone has to get pulled into these things. Just because a ghost story skips me doesn’t mean it’ll leave everyone else alone. If I dodge it, some innocent person ends up taking my place. Better that someone strong and ready—me—gets grabbed instead.
Honestly, I should be begging the legends to come after me.
Anyway, besides getting tangled in ghost stories, there was one more way Hunters received work.
"Hello, Hunter Lee Hasol. This is Director Cheon Kang-heon of the Hunter Management Department."
"Ah, yes. Hello. You’re the one I met at the ignition ceremony, right?"
"Yes. The situation is urgent, so I’ll get straight to the point. We have a green-grade designated mission."
A designated mission.
As the name suggests, it’s when they hand a specific job straight to a particular Hunter.
Green grade meant it shouldn’t be anything too brutal. No reason to refuse, so I started getting dressed right away. Designated missions were famous for paying extremely well—and they never showed up without a good reason.
"Do designated missions even go to E-ranks?"
"Regulations don’t prohibit it. And we don’t have any suitable replacements right now."
"Just give me the location first. I’ll head out while you talk."
"Thank you. I’ve sent the exact coordinates by message. One Awakened is currently causing a disturbance… the situation is complicated."
NAME:Regression/Possession/Reincarnation Syndrome
DANGER LEVEL:E
ID NUMBER:BPA-PSY-I-037
A condition in which the subject believes they have experienced one or more of the following: regression, possession, or reincarnation.
Primarily manifests in low-rank Awakened, though it occasionally appears in ordinary civilians as well.
Subjects maintain highly consistent memories and display faint ■■ ■■ reactions, distinguishing the syndrome from ordinary mental illness.
In severe cases, the subject may be consumed by the implanted memories and go berserk, or the condition may express itself as multiple personalities.
The forcibly generated memories have been confirmed as a mash-up of numerous creative works. The syndrome can occur even if the subject has never read the original material.
Following the Hunter Management Department’s directions, I arrived at a temple halfway up a mountain.
It wasn’t a particularly large temple—more the sort of place neighborhood elders might stroll up to for a quiet walk. Only a handful of monks lived there, and the buildings all looked thoroughly aged.
And in that shabby, secluded temple, a black-haired woman sat languidly atop a tiled roof.
Her speech was as leisurely as the slow fanning of her hand.
"A precious guest has arrived. You may look like a mere girl on the outside, but these eyes of mine cannot be deceived. One who is both beautiful and strong—this seat does not dislike such a person."
Meanwhile, the sandy courtyard still bore faint traces of a fight. Dark blood-soaked sand caught the eye first. A couple of teeth lay scattered about, along with multiple slash and thrust marks from swords and spears. Clear signs that the woman had already “handled” the Hunter team that arrived before me.
Her black clothes showed not a single cut or puncture. The skill gap must have been overwhelming.
She didn’t react hastily to my gaze. She simply smiled—a seductive, inviting smile that said I was free to look as long as I liked.
I couldn’t hold it in any longer and asked her straight out.
"Uh… you’re Jeong Chae-rim, right?"
"…This seat’s name is not Jeong Chae-rim."
"Ah, yes. Thank you for the answer."
The Hunter Management Department is a competent organization. After the report came in that an Awakened was causing a disturbance, the self-proclaimed “Heavenly Demon’s” identity was uncovered in under five minutes.
Name: Jeong Chae-rim. Age: twenty-four. Graduate of Korea National Sport University, former national boxing athlete… and so on.
The woman sitting up there was one hundred percent pure Korean Jeong Chae-rim. According to her records she had never even left the country. A rare, thoroughly local type these days.
"From this point forward I will regard you as a subject of mental contamination by an anomaly and begin subdual. And… what came after that again?"
"Insolent thing. What nonsense are you spouting? This seat’s patience is not so vast."
"Ah. Right. Any injuries incurred during the subdual process are your responsibility. Please be advised that the Hunter Management Department has done its utmost to protect your life."
"I was prepared to show you mercy for the sake of your beauty, yet I can endure no longer. The crime of mocking the Heavenly Demon—you shall pay for it dearly."
Jeong Chae-rim said all that, but she didn’t look particularly Heavenly Demon-like. In all my life I had never heard of a Heavenly Demon wearing a black three-stripe tracksuit.
Her seated posture and fanning were reasonably stylish, but the problem was the fan itself. It was a free promotional fan from some bank, and written across it in huge letters were the slogans:
Your Reliable Promise Toward the Future
Stay Healthy — Diabetes Coverage!
Turning someone into a Heavenly Demon with diabetes insurance… was there anything more tragic in the world?
It was an atrocity on the same level as turning a perfectly normal person into a bunny girl! Human dignity should never be trampled this thoroughly. Anomalies might be cruel, but this was going too far.
"…Why… why do you look at this seat with such eyes?"
"Just wait a little. I’ll protect Jeong Chae-rim’s dignity for sure."
"You wretched girl! So you force this seat to act after all!"
In the end Jeong Chae-rim dropped down from the roof and charged. Her patience had lasted longer than her words suggested.
Despite her earlier leisurely act, her movement was impressive. Exactly the kind of skill that could send several Hunters to the hospital.
Jab. Jab. Straight. The punches were razor-sharp and blisteringly fast. Without my level of reaction speed, dodging by sight alone would have been impossible.
In other words, I had enough leeway to watch and dodge. The reaction speed granted by my skill Max Level Rabbit was…
"Shameless creature! What is that lewd outfit supposed to be?!"
"L-lewd?"
"How can a master of your caliber possess so little dignity! This will not do. It seems this woman must educate you thoroughly!"
A method-acting diabetic Heavenly Demon calling me lewd?! Beyond absurd—I was about to explode. On top of that, this Heavenly Demon was naturally fighting with boxing as her base. Her footwork, steps, and weaving were completely professional-level.
Well, that’s probably why the designated mission came to me in the first place.
The self-proclaimed Heavenly Demon still hadn’t killed anyone. She had rampaged in a remote place and, in order to maintain her unique “dignity,” hadn’t gone overboard. The Hunters carried out injured were only lightly hurt.
In short, her threat level was low relative to her combat power. That was why the Hunter Management Department wanted to find another solution instead of simply putting her down.
Awakened strong enough to seriously injure Jeong Chae-rim were unsuitable. Anesthetics didn’t work on Awakened, and anyone weak in close combat risked getting wrecked instead. In the end, someone who could simply overwhelm her with raw physical class—me—was the optimal choice.
And that fact was about to be proven.
"What?! This seat’s fist does not work…!"
Even a clean punch to the solar plexus barely registered. Weight class is a major issue even in ordinary combat sports. Between Awakened it was even more decisive. Without special anomalous interference, my body could tank a car crash.
I had expected to lose in pure technique. Jeong Chae-rim might have her head scrambled right now, but she was still a former national-team pro fighter. A beginner like me trying to match her skill for skill would be pure arrogance.
But I was simply faster and stronger than her. Even crude punches were fine as long as they were too fast for her to handle.
They said a few broken bones would be acceptable…
But how could I do that to someone suffering the same kind of humiliation I was? I wanted to restrain her without hurting her if at all possible. She hadn’t chosen this out of malice; getting injured because of an anomaly would just be too unfair.
So my plan was to take a couple of hits and then grab her arms.
"Did you think catching this seat would grant you victory?"
Chae-rim also knew her way around jiu-jitsu. The Heavenly Demon’s legs coiled around my arm like vines.