Chapter 508: Childhood Friend (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 508: Childhood Friend (2)
What sounded like a confession was, of course, not a confession.
“I heard from Si-hoo. He said he’s training to pass the second-quarter Hunter qualification exam….”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
It was the first goal he and I had agreed upon when he began his training in earnest after returning from the Vatican.
Apostle material or whatever.
First, he had to become a real Hunter before he could do anything properly.
“What do you think, Sunbae-nim?”
“What do I think about what?”
“Si-hoo… do you think he can pass in the second quarter?”
“Hmm, well.”
Giving a vague answer, I studied her face as she asked the question.
It was peculiar.
It seemed like she was asking out of concern for Si-hoo.
But it also felt like she was asking because something else was bothering her.
Focusing on the changes in her expression, I answered her question.
“If passing is the goal, I don’t think it’ll be that difficult.”
“Ah… is that so.”
What’s with that expression?
She looked relieved, yet there was a strange hint of disappointment mixed in.
Which one was it?
Let’s provoke her a little more.
“Actually, as long as he doesn’t make any mistakes, I’m 100% certain he’ll pass. What rank he’ll get is another story, though.”
“He’s… that good?” Jin Ha-rin asked, her eyes widening in surprise.
Right.
She wouldn’t know yet.
Just how much her childhood friend’s skills had improved.
“He’s worked hard. Right now, I don’t think he’d fall too far behind you, Jin.”
“……!”
I saw it.
The moment her expression twisted for a split second before returning to normal.
But I didn’t understand.
I was certain my last comment had upset her… but why?
As if nothing had happened, Jin Ha-rin put on a smile.
“That’s great. Si-hoo always seemed to lack confidence in his skills, so I was worried.”
“He did?”
“Yes…. He doesn’t really show it in front of others, so you probably didn’t know.”
“I see.”
That was a bit surprising.
His will was so strong, I never thought he’d worry about things like that.
“Um, Sunbae-nim.”
“Yeah.”
“We’ve gotten a little off-topic, but there’s something I’d like to ask of you.”
“What is it?”
Jin Ha-rin looked up at me with pleading eyes.
She continued.
“I… I want to learn from you, too.”
She wants to learn from me…?
Hmm.
“Sorry, but that’s going to be difficult.”
“Ah……?”
I refused.
* * *
A hostage situation had broken out in the middle of the city.
The culprit was an A-rank Villain.
The hostages were an entire 15-story building.
“I’m gonna kill them all! All of them!”
When I arrived at the scene, I could see the villain shouting from the fifth floor of the building.
Look at his eyes.
The chilling aura pouring out of him… it’s obviously because of a grudge.
I walked over to the commander of the special forces team that had completely surrounded the building and was in a standoff with the villain.
“What’s the situation?”
“Not good. Bombs have been installed throughout the entire building. The hostages are all tied up on the fifth and sixth floors.”
“Negotiations… are out of the question, I take it.”
“Yes, it seems to be a crime motivated by a grudge.”
I think I knew why I’d been called here.
I turned my head and read the large sign at the top of the building.
“Hanmaeum Savings Bank….”
I’d heard that name before.
It used to be notorious in the third financial sector, if I remember correctly.
That means… this is likely a money-related problem.
“Hee… hehehe…! Fi-fi-five minutes le-left!”
The man flashed five outstretched fingers and burst into a mad laugh.
A barrage of camera flashes erupted from the reporters lined up behind the special forces.
That’s what he was after.
For his story to be spread far and wide by the reporters who came to cover the incident.
Most people who are about to die want to leave something behind after they’re gone.
“We’re counting on you, Hunter-nim. Please stop him.”
“Yes, I’ll do my best.”
I crossed the police line and headed toward the building.
As I did, one of the special forces members standing guard asked me.
“Excuse me, Hunter-nim.”
“Yes?”
“The person… following you is…?”
Ah, right.
He was here.
“He’s my assistant, you can let him through.”
“Ah, yes.”
Only then did Yoon Si-hoo follow behind me with an awkward gait.
“Um, Sunbae-nim.”
“What.”
“Should I really be coming in here…?” he asked, his voice tense.
He had a point.
Only authorized Hunters were allowed to enter a crime scene like this.
For a mere chick who wasn’t even a Hunter to enter was absurd.
“In principle, no.”
But is this world really one where we live by following principles and rules to the letter?
“When you’re an S-rank Hunter, you can pull some strings for something like this.”
“Ah…….”
I could just make something up.
Say that he’s a kid I’ve been keeping an eye on and training lately, and I brought him along for a field trip.
“…Come to think of it, that’s not an excuse, it’s the truth.”
Anyway.
If I said that, the Association would probably be thrilled.
An S-rank Hunter taking an interest in someone meant they had to have outstanding talent.
They’d probably even ask if there was anything they could do to help.
“Now, Si-hoo.”
“Yes, Sunbae-nim.”
I put my arm around his shoulder, pointed to the man yelling his head off on the fifth floor, and asked.
“Why do you think he’s doing this?”
“Um… I’m not sure.”
“Nine times out of ten, cases like this are crimes motivated by a grudge.”
“A grudge?”
“Yeah, a grudge. You see the sign on that building, right?”
“Hanmaeum Savings Bank….”
“That place used to be a really notorious loan company. They made a fortune and are now living respectably like this.”
“Ah…….”
The kid’s mouth fell open slightly as if he’d realized something, and he nodded.
I continued.
“He’s probably involved with them over money. It must be a huge grudge, big enough to take hundreds of lives hostage.”
“…….”
“He was surely a victim. But there was probably no legal way to solve his problem, and that frustration must have driven an innocent victim to become a perpetrator, a villain.”
Everyone has their own story.
Villains are no different.
No one is born a criminal.
If you line up ten villains and ask them, only one or two became villains because they were addicted to the thrill of crime.
The stories of the other eight are varied.
Because of a deep grudge, to make a living, or because they were coaxed into it by someone else.
“In a way, that guy is a pitiful person, too. He was created because the law and society failed to properly save him.”
“That’s… true.”
The kid nodded, his brow furrowed.
When you listen to criminals’ stories, they are all either tragic or bizarre.
Sometimes, you even find yourself empathizing, thinking, ‘Ah, he really had no other choice.’
“But, Si-hoo.”
“Yes….”
“Should we really have to know their long, sob stories?”
“That’s….”
Yoon Si-hoo started to answer, then clamped his mouth shut.
He thought for a moment, then shook his head.
“…There’s no need to know.”
Correct.
No matter what tragic story that bastard has, nothing changes.
He has committed a serious crime, and we have to catch him.
“That’s the right answer.”
The criminal, who had been standing tall and laughing madly, disappeared somewhere for a moment before reappearing.
Tucked under his arm was the head of a middle-aged man who looked to be in his fifties.
“Everyone, look! It’s this bastard! This bastard killed my parents, you hear me?! What the hell is money that—!”
“Ugh, ughhh… p-please, save me!”
“Shut up! You’re dying with me here, no matter what.”
“Kugh!”
A voice filled with a bone-deep grudge echoed through the air.
Did they borrow money in a rush, fail to pay it back on time, and choose suicide after being harassed?
Back when Hanmaeum Savings Bank was in the third financial sector, it was a time of great social turmoil.
Property damage from monsters was frequent, so loan products were selling like hotcakes.
Thanks to that, the loan business boomed, and Hanmaeum Savings Bank was one of them.
They charged interest rates higher than the legal maximum and wouldn’t hesitate to use illegal collection methods to get their money.
The grudges from back then were now coming back to haunt them in their respectable lives.
And that guy was the most radical and deeply resentful victim of them all.
But so what?
What about it?
“Si-hoo.”
“…Yes.”
“There’s only one thing I want to teach you by bringing you here.”
As a Hunter, you’ll encounter all sorts of people.
Sometimes, you’ll meet Hunters who are more like villains than villains themselves.
Other times, you’ll meet villains who are more human than Hunters.
I don’t know if it’s because the world has gone mad.
When that happens, a crisis will come.
A moment when the beliefs and sense of justice you hold collapse and become tainted by something else.
A moment when you begin to doubt your entire life.
There’s only one way to prevent that crisis.
“Close your ears.”
“…….”
“No matter what they say, your job is set. Just do that.”
The light in his ever-twinkling eyes went out.
He was lost in thought.
He was probably confused, doubting whether what I said was right.
In the meantime, I secretly used my mana, which had climbed up the building, to constrict the body of the man who was still spewing his anger.
“Ugh……!?”
He froze on the spot.
“This side is done.”
The bombs were all taken care of, too.
While we were talking, I had sent streams of water flowing beneath my feet to submerge all the bombs detected throughout the building.
“Wh-what. Why isn’t it g-going off!”
The gunpowder is all wet, of course it won’t go off.
I spoke to the special forces members on standby.
“You can move in now.”
“Yes…? Ah, yes!”
The situation was resolved quickly.
Even so, the kid was still standing there blankly, lost in thought. I tapped his shoulder lightly to bring him back.
“Let’s go back.”
“…Yes.”
It was time to go back to training.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
As always, the training ended just before midnight.
“Good work.”
“You… you too, Sunbae-nim… good work.”
The kid who used to collapse every day managed to finish his sentence without losing consciousness for the first time today.
Impressive.
We did take it a bit easier than usual because of the field trip, but it still wasn’t a level he could easily endure.
Could it be that the topic I threw at him earlier had hardened his resolve?
“Sunbae-nim.”
The kid, drenched in sweat and trembling, called out to stop me.
“I’ve been thinking about what you said earlier.”
“And?”
“I was confused at first… but I’ve accepted it now. To be precise, it’s because I couldn’t think of any other way.”
He gave an awkward smile.
“But I also want to help those who were unfairly pushed down the wrong path. If I can, before they choose that path.”
“…….”
“You said it yourself, Sunbae-nim. That an S-rank Hunter’s influence can sometimes be greater than the president’s.”
“…I did.”
“That’s why I’m going to become an S-rank Hunter. I’ll use my influence to cut out the rotten parts of society. So that no more victims are unfairly pushed to the edge.”
It was a grand ambition that could only be dismissed as a dream.
His eyes held a more brilliant light than ever before.
“It won’t be easy.”
“But I’ll do it. I definitely will.”
His will had grown even stronger.
That solidified conviction would likely never change, even with a knife to his throat.
“Work hard.”
“Yes, Sunbae-nim!”
He suddenly bowed deeply, his voice ringing out.
“I look forward to your continued guidance and discipline!”
“We’ll see how you do.”
I replied with a nonchalant attitude and turned away.
And I marveled.
“…He’s not apostle material for nothing.”
I didn’t know which god it was, but they had picked one hell of a candidate.
Just as I was about to leave the training ground.
I felt a familiar presence beyond the door.
When I carefully twisted the door open a crack, it was just as I expected.
Jin Ha-rin was standing near the door.
And with a very dark, terrifying expression on her face.
“…….”
What’s with her?