Chapter 4. Even a Hero Doesn't Want to Join the Army
Chapter 4. Even a Hero Doesn't Want to Join the Army
"Wow... Mom's really made it big, huh?"
"Why? Does she seem that different to you?"
A high-rise apartment with an unobstructed view of the Han River.
And a penthouse on the very top floor.
The enormous living room, the sleek interior design, the luxurious furniture—it all hit me at once.
"Our son's room is over there, and our daughter can use that one."
'Am I a trust-fund kid now too?'
I opened the door, giddy with delight.
The furniture was arranged exactly like our family home from five years ago—the bookshelf lined with books, posters on the walls.
I closed my eyes and opened them again. Memories flooded back.
And I felt with absolute certainty that I had truly returned.
"...Mom really knows how to move a person..."
"Son, I'll call you when it's time for dinner, so come out then."
---
As the days passed, I did an astonishing amount of nothing.
I was faithfully satisfying the three great human desires: eating, shitting, and sleeping.
"This one still hasn't finished."
The manga about a protagonist dreaming of becoming the Pirate King still hadn't made him king.
"This guy was practically the main character of the whole series, and he died?"
The chaebol heir character who wore a weaponized suit died in the movie.
And the thing I spent the most time on was internet broadcasts.
"This person is still streaming just the same."
I was living a life less than human, eating and sleeping and shitting off my parents' money.
The one saving grace was that I liked being physically active, so I was at least exercising consistently.
After returning to Earth, Laila diligently learned the language and culture.
I heard that, perhaps because her body was chosen by the Goddess, she had already mastered Korean and English and was studying additional languages.
'...'
I tried to list out everything I had done since returning to Earth.
No, there was no need to.
---
─ Knock knock
"Son, can I talk to you for a moment?"
At my mother's summons, I went to the living room, where my father and Laila were also seated.
"You've been living a very fulfilling life, I see."
My mother tossed a stack of papers in front of me.
"This is...?"
"Why don't you read it yourself?"
[ Grandpa King Jokbal : 32,000 won ]
[ Copang Shopping : 46,000 won ]
[ Naver Payment : 320,000 won ]
[ Hoseok's Three Chickens : 21,000 won ]
[ Nexon : 150,000 won ]
...
I didn't need to read any further.
"..."
"That is our son's card statement for one month."
There was a long list of detailed transactions, but looking at the total amount alone, it was a sum that made you wonder if I was out at company dinners every single night.
"Son, take a look at our Laila. She's working hard on self-improvement, helping with the housework, and even cooking?"
"Ma'am, but he is the Hero who saved the world."
Laila, at times like this, you're really the only one I could count on.
"Goodness... our precious daughter, saying things like this..."
I couldn't go on like this, enduring everyone's glares while mooching off the family like an insect that just eats and did nothing at home.
"Sigh... I'm not telling you to work. I just wish you had a hobby or something, instead of doing absolutely nothing at home."
"Mom, just give me a little time..."
I said that and retreated into my room as if fleeing.
Honestly, I had considered working as a hunter.
"But I don't want to give up this comfort right now..."
My serious resolve to try doing some kind of work didn't even last an hour before I was watching internet broadcasts again.
─ Knock knock
"...?"
"Hero, may I come in?"
Laila often comes into my room.
She doesn't really do anything, but she just comes in, sits for an hour or two, and watches whatever I was doing.
"Hero, are there races like elves or beastmen on Earth too? I was under the impression that..."
"VTubers?"
"Ah, they're called VTubers?"
The world had changed a lot.
With the emergence of monsters, mana, and magic, content in that vein had advanced tremendously.
Unless you analyzed it frame by frame, virtual characters could be rendered so realistically they looked just like reality.
"Heh... so Hero, you like that sort of thing...?"
If anyone else said that, it'd mean 'So you're into that kind of stuff, huh?', but Laila seemed to be feeling purely innocent interest.
"Well, even if it weren't for these, I watch a lot of other streamers too."
I sat Laila down next to me and explained things to her step by step.
"What's the one marked with a star?"
"!?"
The one I had subscribed to...
"...Hero, was this kind of woman your type?"
It wasn't anything weird like what Laila was imagining.
She was purely a streamer who played a variety of games.
"Ah, anyway, broadcasts like these exist."
"Then couldn't Hero do a broadcast yourself?"
"Me?"
"Yes."
Could I speak in front of other people without losing my nerve?
It wasn't really difficult.
Would it be entertaining?
I had my extraordinary experiences from the other world.
"Hmm..."
"Or would you like to try it together with me?"
What kind of herbivore idea was this...
A broadcast where there were two main characters instead of a guest?
Still, it was better than living as a shit-producing machine doing nothing at all.
"Wait a moment..."
I went to the living room to talk with my mother.
My mother listened very attentively to the story of her son who talks out of his ass.
"Son, you do know you have to go to the army, right?"
That day, Song Hoon's world crumbled.
---
To be precise, it almost crumbled.
"So you're saying if I become a hunter, I don't have to go to the army?"
"Yeah."
Isn't there some delinquent-like way to avoid both being a hunter and the army?
Mom was the master of a top major guild, so how could there not be?
The moment I let those words slip out of my mouth, I would have everything I currently enjoy confiscated, be stripped of it all, and kicked out onto the street.
"Uh, by any chance...?"
Just as I suspected, there was.
People who were hunters but walk the path of a streamer.
People who had jumped into the blue ocean of 'hunter streamers.'
No, to be precise, there were plenty of 'hunter streamers.'
It's just that their numbers were overwhelmingly smaller than regular streamers.
"Shall I try to pull off a deal?"
I immediately changed my clothes.
Then, as I rummaged through my pockets, I found the business card I had received when I first came to Earth from a man called the Association President.
I promptly entered the building's address into my phone, and the location popped up.
"Five minutes?"
That's close.
I arrived at the Association building in the blink of an eye.
'Hunter Management Association, huh... The name was straightforward, but it's so tacky.'
I looked around and scanned the area.
Because if anyone saw me, the situation would become awkward for both sides.
I confirmed no one was there and put strength into my legs.
"Hero, where are you going?"
"Aaaah!!!"
Laila was right there beside me, staring intently.
"You scared me..."
"Hehe, I was just curious where you were going. Wherever you go, let's go together!"
She had always been like this.
Curious about where I was going, and always following.
The funny thing was, I had never once managed to detect Laila's presence, no matter what method she used.
'Do I just feel so comfortable around Laila?'
Anyway, that wasn't the important thing.
I told Laila my plan.
Laila's eyes grew round, and she tilted her head, falling into thought.
"Hmm... I think your mother would be angry if she found out?"
"That's true..."
"I'll pretend not to know, so let me go with you."
Well, it's always been like this, so I've just come to accept it by now.
I wrapped my arm around Laila's waist and put strength into my legs.
─ Boom!
My body shot up vertically, and I immediately saw the building's rooftop.
Originally, I would have had to go up from the first floor step by step to meet the Association President, but as they say, the most convenient deal was a face-to-face deal.
When I opened the rooftop door and went downstairs, I saw a door to a room that anyone could tell belonged to the most important person there.
Someone was standing guard, but I masked my presence and quietly passed by.
And when I focused my senses, I felt the presence of exactly one person inside the room.
"Who...?"
"It's Song Hoon. From that gate..."
"Ah, ah? Oh! How on earth did you come to be here...?"
"Do you have a moment to talk?"
"Yes, I do. But clearly outside..."
He was looking at me as if asking how I got in when there were likely guards outside.
"I came in quietly, avoiding their attention."
"...?"
He looked like he didn't believe me at all.
To divert his attention, I got straight to the point.
"Is it true that if you're a hunter, you don't have to go to the army?"
"That's correct. By any chance...?"
"No, I don't want to become a hunter right this moment. I looked into it, and there seem to be a lot of duties and things to do?"
The Association President openly wore a disappointed expression.
Probably because having a strong hunter like me around would be good for the country as well.
"Then?"
"I have a proposal for you."
He stared at me with a look that said 'What kind of crazy bastard was this?'
Any normal person would have wanted to smack me on the back of the head, and he looked very disappointed that he couldn't.
"I'm not that much of a delinquent."
"You already..."
"Pardon?"
"Nothing. Since you've come here in person like this, there must be a reason, right?"
"I'm going to broadcast under the title of a hunter. I mean, a public broadcast, but not terrestrial TV—an internet broadcast."
The Association President's expression changed to one that said 'He really was a crazy bastard.'
I could see his fists trembling visibly.
"I'll let that indiscriminate attack you launched at me before slide as just a minor incident."
"But that was an unavoidable...!"
"I know that as well. I could have been a monster, after all. First, please hear me out and then judge."
All operations would be conducted while the stream was live.
I could enter gates designated as unclearable or other danger zones, and any items obtained during the clearing process become my property.
In return, I would cooperate if a gate break occurs that the country cannot handle.
"What do you think?"
"It's certainly... an interesting proposal, but..."
I had succeeded in piquing the Association President's interest.
I had to keep diverting his attention here and there before he could think about it coldly.
"And how much would it help aspiring hunters and novice hunters if I broadcast raid missions?"
"The intent is very good, but..."
"Wouldn't it be a huge help for the growth of the Republic of Korea's hunters? Isn't this a reasonable deal for both sides at this point?"
He was clearly a man with the experience befitting an Association President; he didn't stamp his seal easily.
I would have to bet boldly here.
"Actually, there is a country that has sent me a naturalization request..."