Chapter 28
Chapter 28
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 028
Chapter Title: Mad Hunter: ??? (12)
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20.
“Please, spare me. I beg you.”
I shook my head in agony.
Spare me? What kind of life had they been forced to endure?
It took a long time to convince them that the Baek Society had fallen and they no longer had to work here.
“R-Really?”
“Really.”
One. Then two.
The citizens with hollow eyes blinked.
They collapsed to the ground and began hugging each other, sobbing.
“I’m sorry it took us so long to get here.”
“No. No. Not at all. Just the fact that you came…….”
The citizens told us how they had lived.
It was 18-hour shifts.
If they failed to meet their quota, they weren’t exiled—they were tortured.
If they failed three times, someone’s family member was dragged in and killed in front of everyone.
“That can’t be.”
Kim Gye-sang couldn’t close his mouth.
“People can become that cruel?”
“There were types like this even before the fall. They gave up being human.”
I pointed out the reality.
Kim Gye-sang pressed his forehead and let out a sigh, and I turned back to the citizens.
“Where’s the room Jin Han-baek used?”
“Third floor. Right above us.”
The chairman’s office was a luxurious space with a great view. Glass windows on all sides, with a long desk at the far end.
While rummaging through the desk, I found something peculiar.
A bundle of photos wrapped in red silk.
All of them were pictures of Jin Han-baek.
One in particular stood out: Jin Han-baek smiling with a woman and a toddler.
It wasn’t his usual sinister smirk.
It was a genuine, happy smile. A young family man, perhaps? I flipped the photo over.
[Jin Soo-young. July 21, 2042. Third Birthday!]
I stared at those words for a long time.
Once again.
Jin Han-baek’s final scream echoed shrilly in my mind.
Was it the rage and loneliness of losing his family? Had that turned an ordinary young family man from the old world into a beast?
I don’t know.
I’ll never know.
“We’ve looked everywhere, but no one’s on the third floor. Let’s head down. I don’t want to stay here any longer.”
Jeong Ha-kyeong’s voice came from the doorway.
I let out a sigh.
Then I tore the photos to shreds and scattered them into the air.
“Yeah, let’s go.”
It doesn’t matter what the truth was.
What I know for sure is that you chose to become a beast in this world, not a human.
No regrets.
No pity. No sympathy.
And yet, why.
Did my chest feel so tight?
All the way down the stairs, I thought about it. I shouldn’t have seen that damn family photo.
If, just if.
If the world hadn’t turned into a nightmare, would Jin Han-baek have lived and died as a good father, husband, and neighbor?
Was it his innate evil?
Or did the changed world make him that way?
I don’t know this either.
I don’t know, and I don’t want to know.
I quietly closed my eyes.
Something cold and lonely brushed past my cheek and trailed down.
The world was trapped in a nightmare.
A nightmare (惡夢) for sure, yet a dream (夢) we couldn’t wake from.
21.
After the Baek Society subjugation, I did three things.
First.
I publicly announced the existence of otherworld Hunters in Paradise.
I hoped the rear-line Hunters would stay vigilant, but Kim Gye-sang praised the decision for a different reason.
“Excellent judgment. When the second incident erupts, the Nightmare Hunters will jump in eagerly.”
Kim Gye-sang’s words made sense.
You could acquire exclusive skills from otherworld Hunters.
High risk, but high return. Nightmare Hunters craving power might perk up their ears.
Second.
I appointed administrators in the west.
I’m not an idiot.
If citizens snitched to me, I could assassinate them without a trace.
But if fellow Hunters did it?
So I selected three reputable Hunters for the roles, but they initially refused flat out, making me sweat bullets.
“We’re grateful for the nomination…… but all retaliation will come to us first. While you’re in the east.”
“I’m not asking for free charity.”
I promised them soulstones. The highest-grade ones from the Nightmare Zone.
Two per week. It was a painful expense, but it was my mess, so I had to take responsibility to the end.
“It’s not about catching villains and judging them. Just listen to complaints and pass them on to me.”
Six soulstones a week.
The cost of maintaining minimal order. The fact that I didn’t need soulstones for my level-ups also influenced this.
“……Understood. Once our levels rise, they won’t dare touch us.”
Whether this would maintain order was unknown, but at my current level, it was the best I could do.
Finally, the third.
I transferred the injured to Severance in Sinchon.
Hunters don’t need doctors, true.
But there was no medical facility in Seodaemun-gu with a caregiving system as perfect as Severance.
“I don’t think there’ll be any more issues now.”
The female doctor bowed her head as she spoke.
“We’ve washed off all the bloody water and extracted the hook under anesthesia. The rest will be handled by the ‘Stars’ Healing’ effect.”
She was the one who oversaw Park Ji-yeon’s care, but the [Medical (醫療)] brand on her forehead like a slave made me uncomfortable for no reason.
“When will she wake up?”
“She’ll probably sleep for four or five days. From what I’ve seen of Hunters…… the ‘Stars’ Healing’ effect repairs the body while bringing immense fatigue.”
Four or five days.
I accepted it immediately, having experienced it myself.
She’d been on the brink of death, plus the mental stress of being kidnapped by a murderer.
“Thank you. Please take good care of her.”
Park Ji-won was also admitted to the double room.
She didn’t need hospitalization, but she refused to leave her sister’s side no matter what.
“Baek-jun.”
As I left the room, Baek Hyun-jong and Yang Je-gyeom approached.
“We’ll head back to DMC Station. With all the Hunters out, we’re worried about the station.”
“Of course. I can’t thank you enough for joining today’s operation, Hyun-jong and Je-gyeom.”
Hong Byeong-gyu’s group came clamoring up the stairs.
Changed into casual clothes.
But…… what’s with all that stuff? Booze bottles?
“Bro. We’re not sleeping till we finish all this.”
“……What’s with the booze?”
“We looted it from Baek Society HQ. Whew, they hoarded the good stuff.”
Really can’t stop these guys.
I shook my head, and Baek Hyun-jong clapped his hands.
“Everyone. How about an afterparty at our station? It’s humble, but…… the station residents would be thrilled.”
DMC Station?
I exchanged awkward glances with Hong Byeong-gyu’s group.
I don’t hate DMC Station.
Just felt iffy about heading back west. Hong Byeong-gyu voiced our feelings.
“Baek bro. DMC’s fine by us. We’d like to go.”
“……?”
“But let me say this first: no guilt or regrets about crushing those Baek Society scum.”
Hong Byeong-gyu let out a low sigh and added,
“But…… we did wipe out that many Hunters in one go. That lingering unease remains. Feels like it’d get worse if we went back west.”
Baek Hyun-jong went “Ah” and waved it off.
“I got carried away for a moment…… my apologies for the rudeness.”
“Why not just go?”
Jeong Ha-kyeong jumped into the conversation.
Dressed simply in modern commoner attire. For some reason, it suited her plain style perfectly.
“Oh. Ha-kyeong lady.”
“You gonna wimp out and act all sensitive?”
“……?!”
“We’re gonna drink a ton. Better do it somewhere safe, right?”
Jeong Ha-kyeong glanced at me.
Alluding to how I’d become a target for some Hunters.
“Somewhere safe?”
“No Hunter can breach the subway barriers right now. Isn’t DMC the perfect spot?”
Certainly…… a valid point.
We looked at each other, but aside from the unease, no counter to Jeong Ha-kyeong’s words came to mind.
“What do you think, old man?”
All eyes turned to me at Jeong Ha-kyeong’s words.
Asking me to decide…… no choice then.
“Alright…… everyone, to DMC Station.”
22.
The DMC Station drinking party was lavish like a festival.
Three hundred station residents gathered in the concourse around a bonfire.
A huge crowd.
But since we’d raided Baek Society HQ, food overflowed.
“Dear station residents!”
Once everyone gathered, Baek Hyun-jong drew attention with a loud voice.
“Allow me to introduce properly. Kim Baek-jun. Jeong Ha-kyeong. And Hong Byeong-gyu, Kim Gye-sang, Yoon Geon-woo, and Cha Seung-hyeon.”
He pointed to each of us.
“These Hunters rushed here in our hour of peril. Without conditions or rewards. Simply to help, they came all this way.”
He bowed deeply toward us.
“Please offer them…… infinite gratitude and sincere respect.”
Tearful applause filled the concourse.
No one hates praise. Hong Byeong-gyu’s group exchanged embarrassed glances but seemed pleased.
“No, we didn’t come for this kind of welcome.”
What can I say? It felt heartwarming.
Seeing my comrades bask in the residents’ fervent support.
The real drinking party that followed was a total mess, but fun.
Hong Byeong-gyu.
Belting out old man songs with peers like a company dinner.
Kim Gye-sang.
The former elementary teacher smiled while playing with the kids.
Yoon Geon-woo. Cha Seung-hyeon.
The college and high school kids chatted joyfully about old world games with peers.
Most memorable was Kim Gye-sang, a Christian, singing a hymn.
“After the dark night passes, dawn breaks.
Behold the bright light. That light.
The kingdom of our Lord Jesus will soon come to this land, come it will.”
How many believers in Christianity in this world? Probably not many.
But.
After the dark night passes…… dawn breaks.
The wave of emotion from those words…… transcended religion.
“After the dark night passes, dawn breaks.”
“After the dark night passes, dawn breaks.”
Before long, the refrain echoed through DMC Station as a chorus. Desperate, earnest voices.
I tilted my glass, listening to the song with Jeong Ha-kyeong.
“This place…… is definitely different from Paradise.”
“Because the absolute hierarchy isn’t as rigid here.”
That’s why, perhaps.
Hunters and slaves mingling? No, it felt like people mingling with people.
“Reminds me of the old days somehow.”
“……Old days?”
“What old days? Before the world went to shit.”
Jeong Ha-kyeong listed the old days one by one.
Spring. Summer. Winter. Fall. Sun. Moon. Friends. Family. Law. Unit…… so many, and each made me sadder.
“Mornings, the sun rose, birds chirped one by one. Summers, those damn cicadas forced wake-up calls, shitty but…….”
“Mosquitoes gave great wake-up calls too.”
“Right! Those mosquito bastards were a pain every night. Night…… nights. Y’know, I liked staring blankly at the moon.”
Talking about the old world, Jeong Ha-kyeong’s eyes dreamed, her voice childlike and innocent.
“Then friends or parents would always call? Nosy bastards nagging, ‘When you getting married?’”
“Hahaha…….”
“I’d snap, ‘Who the fuck you mocking?’ but not to mom and dad. Just ‘Yes, yes, I’m the sinner.’”
I laughed, then flinched. A tear welled in Jeong Ha-kyeong’s eye.
“Why…… didn’t I realize back then? Every little thing was huge happiness.”
No words to offer.
Jeong Ha-kyeong silently took out a cigarette and offered me one.
Silence settled in the smoke.
Sweet, painful silence like cigarette haze. After a long while, Jeong Ha-kyeong spoke.
“When family, friends, and squad mates all died, I thought I’d never see that world again. Just live as the Holy Apostles’ toys till death.”
“Most think that.”
“But after meeting you, old man, not anymore. Dunno why. Just…… someday…… I feel hope we can reclaim it.”
I inhaled smoke and paused.
Jeong Ha-kyeong’s eyes stared straight at me.
Awkward.
What do you say in this situation…… oh, right.
“This was used very effectively.”
I drew the pistol and “that” from my waist. Placed them in Jeong Ha-kyeong’s hand; she looked flustered.
“What’s this? The…… Trap Hunter’s soulstone?”
“Payment. Please accept, Ha-kyeong.”
“Wait. I don’t take stuff like this.”
“Guess I read you right.”
Jeong Ha-kyeong let out a disbelieving laugh for a moment.
“Fuck…… fine, warning from one old-timer to another. If it’s impulse, take it back. Not too late.”
“I’ve thought it through.”
“Thought what?”
“That without you tagging along, I never would’ve won that fight.”
Without Jeong Ha-kyeong, I’d have used Dawnlight Yeomyeong Sword on the platform or World Cup Stadium Station for mob cleanup.
How would I have caught the Trap Hunter then?
“And trap-setting suits you better than me. Super Acceleration plus traps? Insane combo.”
For the first time since we met, Jeong Ha-kyeong seemed flustered.
“You’re really giving it? No take-backs?”
“Absolutely no take-backs, so don’t worry.”
“Could be super important. Okay to just hand to anyone?”
I couldn’t help but chuckle.
Jeong Ha-kyeong’s wide eyes and flushed cheeks from drink had a cute side unlike usual.
“You’re not just anyone, Ha-kyeong. Didn’t you say you’d always watch over me?”