No Romance in the Hunter Life
There's no romance in a hunter's job. What romance is there in risking your life? Fuck that. The only upside is the money.
After the Gate incident, 40% of the world's population got shredded. Korea held it to around 20% since our country's small and most guys know how to shoot, but it was still a massive hit. One-fifth of the working population vanished, yet paradoxically, the economy boomed. Ridiculous tech like the spray Do Hyun-ah invented became reality. Mana stones from monsters, byproducts from their corpses... And honestly, it's easier and simpler to rob other hunters who've been drained fighting monsters than to hunt the damn things yourself. Plenty of hunters prey on that. The ones who skip monster hunting and target hunters only. Scavengers, those fuckers.
"Goddamn it."
Finding Jin Seong-ah was easy. She'd left the guild at 2 a.m. I traced her path through all the nearby police CCTVs. Gates are like flowing rivers. Block them sloppily, and they burst. Like a concrete dam with periodic releases, we leave non-dangerous gates open and just clear out the monsters inside. If the mana builds up and clogs, then blows all at once, no one can handle it. There were over ten such permanent gates in Seoul alone. This was the closest one to the guild. The nearest to where all the major hunter guilds had their HQs. The spot with the most hunters coming and going—and the most scavenger scum. I'd already spotted five scavenger teams inside this gate. That was at least twenty heads by count.
Scavengers ripping off other scavengers, then more scavengers coming to strip the losers' corpses... Amid that carnage, I started searching for Jin Seong-ah.
"Hid well, huh."
Better than I'd expected. With twenty scavengers I'd spotted, there were probably around fifty inside the gate total. Normally, with her personality, she'd have smashed everything and drawn all their attention. The fact they were creeping around quietly meant she'd hidden smartly.
"...Hoo."
Let's give it a shot. I gathered my meager mana. I knew Jin Seong-ah's mana signature and traits. Get close enough, and I'd sense her. I prowled the gate's darkness. Bumped into a few scavengers, but we both pretended not to see each other. I had nothing worth taking anyway. Why would they bother stripping some guy with just a pistol? They wouldn't attack unless I shot first.
Then.
-Bang!
My enhanced hearing caught the gunshot. I whipped my head toward it on reflex. Sound spreads everywhere. Even a massive boom is just noise from dozens of meters away. No flames visible meant a small blast. Not for killing monsters. A threat grenade. I moved quietly that way.
"Hey, fuck! Why use the explosive arrow already? You crazy?"
"That bitch keeps hiding. You wanna chase her? Can you even catch up?"
Scavenger voices. I flicked off my pistol's safety.
"Gotta scare her. She's strong as fuck, sure, but coming in solo like a retard? She'll panic and bolt for the exit—nab her then."
...Strong as fuck, but dumb. Sounds just like Jin Seong-ah.
"And with this..."
The twang of a bowstring tightening. Who the hell uses arrows these days? Use a tactical pistol like me. Seongjin Guild bastards.
Nine out of ten scavenger archers were from Seongjin Guild. They play nice outside, turn scavenger the second they enter a gate. Shin Ji-hye had headaches because of those pricks. Might get to skim some loot off this.
"No matter how tough she is, she can't tank this."
-Whoosh!
The arrow flew as the string released. My mana-enhanced sight tracked its path. That pinpointed Jin Seong-ah's position, but I held still and waited. Sounded like just two from the talk, but there could be more.
"Hit."
"Oh, nice? See her face? Fucking hot."
These crazy fucks, eyeing my junior.
"Call the crew. Time to wrap this up."
"Roger."
The scavenger reached for the communicator on his arm, smirking. I closed in silently, aimed at the bow guy's head, and pulled the trigger.
-Pfft.
The suppressor swallowed the shot as he crumpled forward.
"Huh? What the—why'd you suddenly...?"
"Hey, buddy."
I grabbed the other guy's shoulder as he reached for his fallen pal, spun him, and pressed the barrel to his ear. Bang.
"Gurk...!!"
"Shh."
"H-how... pistol... mana..."
"Let's keep it quiet, yeah?"
I shifted the muzzle to his forehead. He shut up obediently after the warning.
"Buddy, one question."
"Wh-what..."
"How many of you?"
"......"
The fucker clammed up. I felt his mana ripple. I teased the trigger loudly.
"Your punch or my trigger—which is faster?"
"......"
"Or wrap your head in mana. Let's see if it holds."
"F-five."
"Including you two? Or five more?"
"In-including..."
Got what I needed. I pulled the trigger. His body slowly tilted sideways.
-Beep.
I hit the communicator on his arm. Then hid under the rock they'd been using for cover.
"One, two... five, spot on."
Two down, three left. They were fanning out after Jin Seong-ah from different angles. I crept toward them silently.
Can't save all three with just two hands.
Nothing for it. I blew the head off the first unlucky bastard I spotted.
"...!!"
Not total scrubs—they reacted to their buddy dropping. One drew a dagger and scanned around wildly. Unfortunately, pistols lose punch at this range. And it's dark for aiming.
"Fuckin' who is it!!"
"......"
"Show yourself, asshole!"
His wild swings or me subduing him—which first? Screaming like that, he had zero experience regardless of skill. So, before he clocked me. I kicked off the ground.
"Hup...?!"
The instant I launched, his eyes locked on. He backpedaled on reflex, dagger thrusting at me. Time seemed to slow; I fought to stay calm and raised my gun.
Pfft! First shot to his hand. The bullet pierced his knuckles clean; he dropped the dagger. Rookie mistake.
-Whoosh!
But the stubborn fuck swung a mana-charged fist with his left. The air ripped as the shockwave barreled at me.
"......"
I tracked its flow silently. Hit direct, I'm dead. Bent my knees, kicked off, twisted head and arm to aim.
"Die, fucker!"
He gritted his teeth, left hand thrusting again. Mana condensing. But my bullet was faster.
"Gah!"
It punched through his solar plexus. He staggered, dropped to his knees, collapsed. No point talking to this one. One more to the jaw, one to the shoulder.
"Grkk...!"
Tongue gone, couldn't even scream right. Confirmed he was twitching on the ground, then turned to Jin Seong-ah.
"Seong-ah."
"Sunbae...!"
"One behind you."
Her eyes flashed feral the second she heard. Yeah, that's my Jin Seong-ah.
BOOM!
The scavenger lunging at her exploded mid-swing. Corpse shredded beyond recognition.
"Ew."
I murmured a prayer for the guy and approached her. She was a mess.
"S-sun-sun-sun-sunbae, this is..."
"Put some clothes on."
"...Huh?"
"You grown-ass woman flashing your tits around?"
The blast had torn her clothes to shreds. ...Damn, she's packing more than I thought. Hidden under the clothes. Not Shin Ji-hye level, but still.
You crazy bastard.
I pinched my thigh to snap out of it and shrugged off my coat, handing it over. Blushing beet-red, she snatched it.
"Can you walk?"
"A-a bit..."
"That sticky shoe glue—you peel it off okay?"
"Ah... this won't come off easy..."
I knelt, checked her legs. Black adhesive gummed up her feet. Grabbed her leg, looked up.
"On three, push. Got it?"
"F-four... I'll try."
"Ready, one, two..."
Three. Before I said it, the glue snapped with a crack.
...Hadn't even pulled yet.
"Good job."
"Ah, uh, ah..."
"Seong-ah."
"Y-yes... sunbae..."
She winced, squeezing her eyes shut. The hunter she'd just pulped was probably higher ranked than me by grade alone. Turning a pro like that into ground meat in one hit, yet cowering before me—it was kinda pitiful.
"Gotta clock in."
"...Huh?"
"How long you gonna slack off?"
"Ah..."
"Wait by the gate exit."
I said that, then went back for the scavenger I'd spared. He'd crawled pretty far in the meantime.
"Ugh, fuck. Why so heavy."
"Grrk...!"
"Not killing you. Hang in there."
I grabbed his collar and dragged him. That's when I locked eyes with a group of scavengers.
"What're you looking at, fuckers."
They melted silently into the dark.
#
"Haa..."
What happens in the gate stays in the gate. Unspoken hunter rule. Fights inside get settled inside; even if you're banging an affair partner in there, outside you act like strangers. Hunters break laws like breathing, but society still enforces them. Gate crimes like murder or robbery hit hunters extra hard.
"This is why I retired from active duty."
But this mess... didn't feel right burying it quietly.
"Officer? Mind coming over?"
I dragged the flopping fish-out-of-water scavenger out with Jin Seong-ah. Permanent gates like this are managed by the Hunter Agency and cops to keep civilians out. I flashed my hunter ID at the approaching officers.
"Yuseong Guild's Yoo Sung, hunter."
"Ah, y-yes..."
Their eyes shook like aspen leaves at the bleeding, shot scavenger.
"This here's our guild's Jin Seong-ah. Seong-ah, got your ID?"
"L-lost it..."
"She lost it. Anyway, this gentleman's the one who attacked our Seong-ah. Let's head to the station and file the report."
Without knowing she's S-rank, Jin Seong-ah just looked like a weirdly dressed early-twenties girl. Perfect one-sided victim. The bleeding one was the scavenger, though. World's unfair—looks matter. Hard lesson from ten years grinding as a hunter.
"Uh, hunter sir. Hunter disputes go through the Agency..."
"Outside the gate, it's cops' jurisdiction, right?"
"Y-yes, but..."
"Where are we? In the gate or out?"
"Out..."
"Exactly. Station it is. Give us a ride? Cuff this fucker too."
"U-understood."
He nodded reluctantly and headed for the squad car. The other cop cuffed the scavenger.
"Seong-ah, quick stop at the station. Cool?"
"...Y-yes, s-sunbae."
"Hoo..."
Craving a smoke. Habit of not bringing cigs into gates bit me. Texted Shin Ji-hye, pocketed my phone.
"Gonna demand a raise."
What kinda guide does this shit? Sighing, I climbed into the cop car.