The Hunter's Divide (1)
As soon as I returned to the lodging, a staff member from the front desk who had been sitting on the lobby sofa stood up and approached me.
"Um, excuse me. Are you Ms. Jang Sajeong?"
"Yes, that's me?"
Thinking something was up, I approached, and the staff bowed politely before speaking.
"First, I sincerely apologize for the unfortunate incident that occurred between our shelter guests."
Hmm. So those punks' actions had reached here after all. Nureongi and Bbi-Bbi seemed to treat it as just some annoying pests bothering them and didn't make a big deal out of it, so I hadn't paid it any mind. But to apologize over something like this.
"Ah, it's fine. We just thought of it as a minor incident."
When I waved my hand lightly, the desk staff bowed their head again with a troubled expression.
"Well... We appreciate that you see it that way, but the matter has escalated a bit differently. Those team members officially raised the issue with us first..."
The moment I heard that, I almost burst out laughing. They really were idiots beyond just being rookies. They had been spouting off like they were some kind of big shots, only to get caught in their own trap.
"So what happened to those Hunters?"
"According to our regulations, we immediately evicted them and notified them of a ban on accessing our affiliated facilities within Nonsan City. This is in case of retaliation or other harm, so if anything like this happens again, please be sure to contact us."
I just smiled and nodded. Seeing my expression, the desk staff finally seemed relieved and responded with a gentle smile.
Still, the good luck charm had worked out nicely. A lottery ticket that missed in a good way, plus those idiots who picked a fight. At this rate, I'd used up all the misfortune that might come during tomorrow's hunt in advance. My mind felt at ease. Tomorrow's hunt seemed like it would end more smoothly and easily than expected.
Leaving the front desk behind, I headed up to the lodging in the elevator, filled with anticipation for tomorrow.
The next day at dawn. Leaving behind Nureongi and Bbi-Bbi, who were still sound asleep in dreamland, I slipped out of the lodging. Cutting through the chilly dawn air, I stopped by the Nonsan Police Station to pick up my firearms, then headed to the entrance of Gyeryongsan, today's destination.
I thought I'd hurried quite a bit, but apparently not. Most of the yeopsa I'd seen at yesterday's briefing were already in hunting gear, armed and in position. In the dim light before dawn, they silently smoked cigarettes or quietly checked their equipment one last time. As expected, people who moved like clockwork in real situations. It seemed to perfectly showcase the characteristics of us yeopsa, and I couldn't help but smile.
I joined the group of yeopsa as is. Around the time dawn was faintly breaking, government officials in uniform stepped forward, apparently confirming that all personnel had arrived. They began briefing us on today's hunt. They said all hiking trails in this area had been blocked off since a few days ago, and the final check confirmed that all civilians had been evacuated. Now there was only one thing left to do. Us yeopsa would go in and hunt the animals that had unfortunately mutated due to the dimension deviation. That was the purpose of this operation.
Looking at the teams and hunting zones assigned according to each person's age and experience, it seemed the Nonsan City officials weren't new to this kind of work. However, what slightly soured my mood was that only my name was listed in the most dangerous and rugged hiking trail zone. While mutated creatures in other zones were at the level of squirrels or water deer, the expected appearance list for my assigned zone included wild boars as well as leopard cats, written in large letters. It was a lineup reminiscent of the African savanna.
When the briefing ended, other officials began distributing palm-sized devices to the yeopsa. As everyone accepted them familiarly and attached them to their vests or waists, I followed suit and tucked the device into my waistband.
"As you all know, these are location sensors. If you leave the designated zone, an alarm will automatically sound. Your location information is being transmitted in real-time to our control center, so we'll do our best to prevent friendly fire incidents between yeopsa."
Oh... As expected of a city, they had countermeasures prepared for such troublesome situations. All the yeopsa equipped themselves and began moving toward their respective trails with their team members. Before heading to my assigned zone, I also received an ammunition box distributed by the city hall. Wow... In Dohoang-ri, you have to procure even a single bullet yourself, but here it seemed the country was providing the bullets too. But there was something a bit unsettling. While all the other yeopsa mostly received ammunition boxes for catching small animals, what I held was the same heavy ammunition box as the one used when catching the giant mudskipper last time.
"Firearm use is only permitted after entering the assigned zone."
"Yes. I'll keep that in mind."
When I answered with a smile, the young official handing over the ammunition also smiled slightly.
Before moving to the assigned zone, I took out the device from my waist and examined it. Kindly, the device was already turned on, and there were even sticker instructions on the outside saying 'Do not tamper arbitrarily' and 'Please wear the included earphones.' These small details were probably the difference between the countryside and the city. Opening the small cover on the back of the device, there was a pair of wireless earphones that looked like earplugs. When I put them in both ears, I could faintly hear other people's voices, probably controlled by the central command center. Having such cutting-edge equipment at today's hunt site filled with only elderly and middle-aged people. It was a really awkward combination, but what could you do about the times? I had to adapt.
...
As I entered the entrance of the rugged hiking trail I was assigned to, a clear voice came through the earphones.
[Ms. Jang Sajeong. You may begin operations in 5 minutes. The safety distance to the no-entry sign ahead is 20 meters, so please do not approach beyond that.]
"Yes~"
I answered at length, but since there was no microphone function in the earphones, there was no response afterward and silence resumed. I took out my smartphone from my vest pocket, waited for 5 minutes to pass, and finally began the search.
Usually, when you think of 'hunting,' you imagine moving in teams like the other yeopsa in other zones, driving the prey into one place and dealing with it with gunfire. But this zone had only me alone. In fact, this place was a zone that should have been handled by Hunters, but since there were no volunteers, someone like me, a quasi-awakened, had been pushed in instead. Therefore, instead of the traditional hunting method, I had to move like a Hunter. However, there were clear limits to moving like a Hunter. I couldn't fly between trees or run as if skimming the ground like real Hunters whose physical abilities were far superior. But I had something they didn't. The experience I'd gained living as a yeopsa sufficiently compensated for my lacking physical abilities. Where they frequently appeared, where their shelters were, where the faint remaining footprints led. While some of these were knowledge learned from books, most were instincts honed from experience. While continuing to search the mountains, occasionally dull gunshots could be heard from other zones. It seemed the other teams had already started catching something, but strangely, my assigned zone was only quiet.
'Since several days have passed since the dimension deviation ended, have the quick-witted ones already fled to other areas?'
It would be a bit disappointing if I returned without catching even one, but it couldn't be helped. Running around desperately here would only bring in a few more pennies in allowance. As long as I didn't get shot by yeopsa from other zones while wandering through the forest, that would be enough. Now that there were no radio transmissions either, I removed one earphone and quietly moved my steps along the forest path. As it had been a hiking trail, before long an old sign came into view. It indicated that there was a temple nearby, but since the officials hadn't mentioned anything during the briefing, it was probably an abandoned temple that had closed its doors to avoid the chaos long ago.
Right then. A very faint sound passed by my ear that wasn't wearing the earphone. It wasn't the sound made by wild boars or water deer. Even if they were wary, they wouldn't move so unnaturally. This was... like the sound of someone who had been intentionally stopping their movements making a mistake and stepping on a dry branch.
If it had been a fellow yeopsa or someone else approaching, a warning would have sounded from the earphones long ago. The continued silence meant that someone was intentionally hiding their body. In this era, there were no lunatics who set up a mountain stronghold in a closed temple and plundered civilian homes. Even people who lived with the mountains as companions had no reason to come to such a place unless they were coming to check their own grave. Then there was only one answer. Either a monster that wasn't human, or a human who hunted humans. Pretending not to notice anything, I slowly began retracing the path I had come. Then, when I found a place where a stream was flowing by the roadside, I naturally stopped as if a tired person taking a short rest. Pretending to cool off by dipping my feet in the water, I instantly slipped my body into the bushes by the stream.