Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: Live If You Want to Live
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I wanted to be loved.
I wanted attention.
I hoped for recognition, but since studying was never my strong suit, I chose athletics instead.
And not just any—Kyokushin Karate, the famous striking art from the East.
Wouldn't Mom, whom I'd never even met, come back if I won gold?
Wouldn't Dad, who only ever told me to fuck off and drink, finally look my way?
My "Kyokushin" was a solid wall built solely to chase that faint "hope."
Those seeking "love," those craving to be "admired," those prizing "honor"—no matter what they treasure and train for, nothing could be dearer than "family."
That's how I endured. That's how I won.
But in the end, my dreams never came true.
"Dad..."
"......"
The national team spot I'd earned on recommendation was, of course, revoked after I came back from the army with crippled legs.
And when I finally returned home after so long, what I saw was my father's corpse, passed out amid empty bottles, dead from alcohol poisoning.
Cause of death: dying alone.
It was my fault for never coming home, too busy honing my Kyokushin just to earn praise and approval.
After sending my father's ashes to the sky, right before locking myself away in a tiny one-room, a thought crossed my mind.
If there's a next life for me—
—at least if there's someone by my side I can help, I'll do whatever it takes to aid them.
"O, Dad..."
"......"
"Wh-what if... I, I wasn't... born...?"
Rain falls.
As if sympathizing with the baby monster's heart, a relentless downpour begins from the heavens.
And the little one looking up at me, drenched—its face almost like it's crying as it asks.
I don't answer the endlessly pained, lonely expression of a being unsure of its own purpose.
Instead, I drop to one knee and pull the lonely monster into a tight embrace, as if to say it's not alone.
"Kruk kruk."
'No way that's true.'
"C-can... I... live...?"
"Krrruk."
'What do you want?'
The baby monster pulls back slightly from my arms, now truly crying as it faces me.
Its trembling lips form the words "I have to die."
But it can't bring itself to say them.
Because it wants to live now.
Even if the whole world is against it, it has a nest—one that will always take its side.
It wants to live together with that someone.
So even knowing it'll be a burden, it speaks.
"I... I... I! Want... to live!"
The baby monster sobs out its answer.
"Kruk."
'Then live. I'll raise you somehow.'
I pull it back into my arms and reply.
Of course, it was a promise I couldn't possibly keep.
Not even a Beast Hunter, yet talking about capturing, killing—no, raising a monster.
It could turn all humanity against me.
But I couldn't just look away.
The agony of suffering from one's very existence... I've felt it before in this world—no, I lived it, and it led me through hell.
Hypocrisy's not my style.
If I can save someone with my own hands, I'll gladly step into that hell.
"Are you done talking?"
"Kruk."
'Yeah.'
I'd sworn it to myself right before shutting myself in that room.
The red-haired hunter before me.
People called her Lee Jin-ah, right?
Anyway, she starts walking toward me, and after one last stroke for the baby monster, I head her way too.
Soon, we stop about a meter apart, facing each other.
"Pleased to meet you, Jamsil Monster. I'll introduce myself first—sound good?"
"......"
"Hehe. I'm Lee Jin-ah, the branch chief of the Hunter Association's Korean branch—the one and only constant National Power-level hunter in Korea right now."
"...!!"
Even facing a monster in humanoid form, she greets me politely like a gentleman.
But that's not why I'm shocked.
'She's the Korean branch chief...?'
I can say it with certainty.
I never saw this woman in the game, not once.
An extra, maybe—but branch chief? That's basically a major character.
The Korean branch chief I knew was some burly old man with muscles for days.
'Who the hell is this...?'
The original story's changed.
Since when?
Did that Busan Port "Smiling Monster Incident" I resolved ten years ago trigger some weird butterfly effect?
Or did getting isekai'd add some unoriginal DLC?
I'm confused.
But one thing's clear even in this mess.
"Jamsil Monster, I thought you were a monster I could reason with. And since you're hearing me out instead of attacking right away, my guess seems at least partly right."
"......"
This woman's dangerous.
No hard proof, but my senses—and my veteran gamer instincts—scream not to let her get close.
"Jamsil Monster, return what's mine. Then I won't harm you, even if you're friendly to humans."
"Kruk?"
'What's yours?'
Even knowing words won't work, I reflexively growl back.
Did she read my expression?
She gets it roughly, smiles brightly, and nods toward my shoulder.
"That baby monster behind you is a lifeform I created through genetic recombination."
"...!"
"All for 'humanity.' Born from the lower body of Angel, the entity you killed ten years ago."
I'd guessed it was lab-born.
But its creator being the Association's branch chief? No way.
"That baby monster holds limitless potential. And I can unlock it all."
"Kruk..."
"Me getting stronger with it as a national representative hunter means this country's power grows too. You get what I'm saying, right?"
Not... entirely wrong.
Branch chiefs in each country—except the US HQ—are the face of that nation's hunters.
Lee Jin-ah represents Korea right now.
If she takes the baby monster and powers up somehow, Korea's standing rises accordingly.
"Prove you're on humanity's side—no, Korea's side, Jamsil Monster."
She shows me her palm.
A gesture demanding her property back.
"O, Dad..."
"......"
I want this world's happy ending.
To bring perfect peace to the Hunters Blood universe I'd played thousands of hours without ever seeing it.
And for that, handing the baby monster to Korea's branch chief makes sense.
But I refuse.
"Kruk."
"Why...?"
Words won't work, so I step aside, fully blocking her view of the baby monster.
She gets my intent—her smile vanishes for the first time.
"So... you're not on humanity's side after all?"
"......"
Of course I am.
I'm on humanity's side.
If I can save people with my power, I want to save as many as possible.
I don't want anyone else like the me from long ago—begging for help that never came, locking myself away.
That's why I reach out. And among those I want to save is the "baby monster" behind me.
Especially because—
"Krrruk!"
—I've been pointing at Lee Jin-ah, who's been "lying" nonstop, and snarling.
"Kruk kruk!"
"......Hmm."
In Hunters Blood, there were five stats.
Strength for power.
Endurance for defense.
Agility for speed.
Magic Power for mystical force.
And Dexterity, boosting precise skills and senses to extremes.
Since facing her, an inexplicable unease pricked my skin.
Then, when she spoke of the baby monster, I knew.
Why being near her soured my mood so much.
She was weaving clever "lies" into the truth.
"Could it be... you saw through me?"
I nod.
Words failing, so I nod instead.
She chuckles again, shrugs, and spills her true intent.
"Yeah, you're right. Truth is, it's less for the nation and more 'cause I want to get stronger with that baby monster. But is that a problem?"
Her hollow eyes glare as she continues.
"Just a bit more personal greed. But even for Korea—no, all humanity—it's a win. Only I can save it. Only I can change it. Only I know how to end this hellish world."
Does that make us the same?
No.
No one who knows how to end this nightmare would have eyes like a madwoman.
So I step forward, warning her off.
"Hmm..."
She calms instantly, looking disappointed.
"Negotiations failed?"
"Kruk."
'Yeah.'
I answer right away.
Moments later, with her sigh, her shadow spreads wide beneath her feet.
Before summoning from it, she says—
"Oh yeah, I lied to you about one more thing."
"...?"
"I said I'm Korea's top hunter, right? Sorry, but my level's way beyond some puny half-peninsula backwater nation."
National Power-level hunters vary wildly by the nation granting the title—not global standards.
Just like countries divide into developing, developed, advanced.
And the one that demoted Lee Jin-ah here as "uncontrollable National Power-level"? The sole Hunter HQ nation worldwide.
Number one in hunter power: the United States.
Rumble rumble rumble.
Two entities emerge from her spread shadow.
Just appearing makes Gangnam—no, all of Seoul—quake.
Their presence hits; the watching baby monster chatters its teeth in terror, collapsing in place.
"M-mon, ster...! D-Dad...!"
I swallow hard, eyeing the two "monsters" before me.
First, the left one: a massive, roughly 5-meter-tall obese humanoid.
Wearing ornate clothes like a Western soldier's uniform, clutching a bottle in one hand, jiggling drunkenly.
Its face? A weird chicken mask without a beak.
I glance right.
There stands a "knight" constantly emanating brilliant blue magic, tinting only its surroundings azure.
Eyes closed, neat black hair.
Height like my human form, clad in armor sprouting crow-feather-like plumes.
Dual-wielding rapier and saber—looks almost human.
But I'm shocked not just by appearances.
'These guys...!'
Why.
How.
Why from a human's shadow?
Memories of fighting Angel ten years ago flood back. My fists clench; tension rises.
Because these two?
The aura they exude is unmistakably National Disaster-class scale.