Chapter 37
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: The Sword Empress, and Also a Sister
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Han Yuseol's words brought silence to the room, as if everyone had died.
It wasn't because they didn't understand the meaning.
It was a short but weighty blow that precisely pointed out the current state of the hunter ecosystem.
"Could you elaborate a bit more on your insights?"
At Langford's words, Han Yuseol nodded.
She had come here like a messenger of the gods to relay the heavy words that Hayang had passed on to her.
"Gates appear all over the world without warning. When they first emerged, everyone rushed into gate research."
"That's right. Especially my home country, which cut back on defense budgets to pour everything into it."
True to its nickname as the Celestial Dynasty, Langford's homeland, the United States, poured astronomical sums into defense budgets every year.
But after gates appeared and awakeners emerged,
America had redirected a significant portion of its defense budget to gate research.
The world wasn't entirely at peace,
but monsters right before their eyes and the endless gates popping up across that vast land felt far more pressing than distant threats.
However.
"That was only up until about a year ago."
Langford's bitter voice filled the conference room.
Indeed.
Even America, so zealous about scientific research and national defense,
had essentially half-given up on gate research starting a year ago.
In fact, research institutes set up under the name of gate labs
had shrunk by half—no, about 70%.
There were various reasons for this,
but Langford summed it up in one firm word:
They had given up on understanding it.
Just as physicists who first learned quantum mechanics
early on abandoned the dream of unraveling all the world's mysteries,
people were increasingly giving up on understanding gates and the monsters that emerged from them.
They began treating them as mere disasters or anomalies.
"Even so, we can't criticize them for it. In my view, gates are a phenomenon that far exceeds human comprehension."
That didn't mean they were ignorant fools.
Gates were simply too alien to think otherwise.
Unlike typhoons or earthquakes with precursors,
they appeared anywhere in the world,
without warning or reason.
That was the nature of gates.
"I know that too. But wrapping it up like that felt too premature a surrender."
"I agree. It was as if everyone had made a pact to drop it early."
"I don't think it's just because they gave up understanding."
"Then, you're saying there's another reason?"
"Yes."
At Han Yuseol's words, Choi Geonwoo, sitting beside her, gave a bitter smile.
He had a rough idea of what she was about to say.
After all, as an S-Rank Hunter on the front lines just like her,
he was one of the people who had personally realized how rotten the hunter world had become.
"They're afraid."
"Exactly, Choi Geonwoo."
"Afraid of what?"
"What do you mean by that?"
Choi Geonwoo muttered softly to himself,
Han Yuseol nodded promptly,
while Langford and the others tilted their heads in confusion.
The reactions couldn't have been more opposite.
They might be officials in the hunter world,
but without being awakeners themselves, they weren't true hunters.
Just dipping their toes in a hot spring didn't let them feel its full warmth.
Everyone except those two couldn't fully grasp what they had felt with their own skin and experienced firsthand.
"Everyone here should know this. The money hunters—and by extension, nations—earn from gates is astronomical."
"What's there to say?"
At Han Yuseol's words, everyone nodded as if it wasn't even worth denying.
As of last year, 2034,
South Korea's semiconductor exports alone were about 200 billion dollars.
Yet gate-sourced mana stones, plus byproducts like items and jewels, had already surpassed that.
Setting everything else aside,
the mana stone—a godsend fuel with limitless value—was the real issue.
An irreplaceable natural resource usable anywhere,
its commercial value was immense.
"So, we can pose this question to hunters in this situation: Are gates a means to make money for you? Or targets to conquer for your nation's safety?"
"...I see."
"So that's it."
Though concise, Langford and the others instantly understood and let out sighs of admiration.
Langford in particular gained a major realization.
He had thought they were simply tired of dealing with gates,
but it was the exact opposite.
They didn't want the gates to disappear.
They just wanted to keep looking away, pretending not to know,
and coexist with the gates and the monsters inside.
But what if gate research advanced vigorously,
and they found a way to fully close them,
or eradicate monsters entirely?
What would the world become then?
How would hunters survive?
That anxiety was what held them back.
"That explains my country's policy. No wonder they shifted most of the gate research budget to hunter training...."
"Yes, the Korean government's gate research budget is practically gone now. That's why association researchers came looking for jobs... but hearing the Sword Empress, it makes sense."
On the other hand, the two could also understand why nations had inevitably shifted that way.
Hunters were already excellent soldiers in themselves.
They could slay monsters that no ordinary soldier with any weapon could handle.
They were a nation's greatest weapons and assets.
At the same time, superb producers.
No country had a surplus of hunters crying for more.
Especially vast nations like the US, Russia, and China.
To manage gates across such huge territories,
they needed every hunter they could get.
"That's why I've come here today to say this: If we keep settling for the status quo, we may one day face even greater despair."
"True, the recent Layered Gate incident hit me hard. If we sit ignorant, these things that seem like money-printing gold mines now could bare their fangs at any moment—"
Langford crossed his hands, his sharp eyes glinting through the gap.
"—and we might get devoured without any resistance."
It was a clear warning the recent Layered Gate crisis had delivered to the world.
I couldn't ignore Han Yuseol's recommendation,
so after she left the house, I chugged a chocolate milk, took a short nap, and hurried to the playground.
As Han Yuseol said, it had all sorts of play equipment,
and next to it, even a pretty artificial stream.
I'm not exactly a little kid,
but playing at the playground was more fun than I expected.
Well, I never really played at one as a child anyway.
Our neighborhood didn't have anything worth calling a playground.
The most was messing around in the dirt by an empty lot next to the fields.
Splash splash—
"Hehe."
After enjoying the equipment thoroughly,
I sat with my feet in the stream, swinging my legs hard to recover my stamina.
How did they even think to create a space like this inside an apartment complex?
Rich people really are on another level.
And all of it free too.
Could I live in a place like this if I make a ton of money later?
I wanted to pump myself up with 'Sure I can!'
But thinking it was Han Yuseol's apartment made it feel a bit burdensome.
She must have more money than I could imagine.
This place is probably insanely expensive to match.
I might never afford it, even if I work till I die.
Ugh.
Thinking that way made me a little depressed.
Screw it, I don't know.
Let's splash more.
"Soyeon mom, do you know where that kid lives?"
"No idea. Looks like I've never seen her...."
"Feels kinda familiar. But her appearance is a bit...."
As I swung my legs diligently,
I heard aunties whispering nearby.
Wondering what was up, I turned,
and they were staring blatantly at me.
Huh, at me?
Why?
Just because a random kid is splashing alone?
But their gazes were... frowns, like spotting a dirty rat sometimes.
I hope it's just my imagination.
"No matter how I look, she doesn't seem like one of our apartment kids, right?"
"Sigh, those cheap clothes. Must be from outside."
"Even if we tell the guards, they let kids like that in. Is that why I pay such high maintenance fees?"
The whispers grew louder behind me.
Did I do something wrong?
Like, turns out you can't put your feet in?
But other kids were dunking their whole bodies in.
Some even came in swimsuits for water fights.
Then what was the problem?
"Little girl."
"Y-yes...?"
While pondering, a woman approached and spoke to me.
One from that group earlier.
"You look new around here. Which building do your parents live in?"
"P-parents? I don't have parents...."
Why ask that suddenly?
The abrupt question startled me, making my voice tremble a bit.
"No parents? Then you live in another neighborhood?"
"Y-yes... that's right."
"...Sigh, I knew it."
The auntie sighed loudly enough for everyone to hear.
"Kids from other neighborhoods can't come in here, okay? So could you leave now?"
"Huh? B-but I was told it was okay...?"
What?
Why different from what Han Yuseol said?
Right before Han Yuseol left,
I'd worriedly asked, 'Even people not living here can use it?'
And she clearly said, 'With so few kids these days, outsiders can use the playground and stream too.'
"I don't know what you heard wrong, but this is only for kids in this complex. Kids like you might bring germs. That okay?"
"N-no. Sorry. I'll leave right now."
But as she raised her voice for all to hear, I felt overwhelmed and lost the courage to argue.
Besides, she had a point.
The kids here were spotlessly clean.
I was better now staying at Han Yuseol's, but before, I was pretty grubby.
I might carry bad germs.
And maybe Han Yuseol got the rules wrong, like she said.
As I kept bowing and apologizing,
"Hey. What's going on that you're raising your voice at my little sister?"
"......Huh?"
My head snapped around at the familiar voice from behind.
There stood Han Yuseol, glaring coldly at the auntie who had just scolded me.