The Hunter Interview (1)

There are times when a person is convinced that whatever they thought must be right.

Sometimes they truly aren't wrong. When they are, the trouble is usually something they learned badly, or knowledge too shallow to trust. If someone nearby is willing to point out the mistake, it can be fixed quickly enough—provided they aren't stubborn.

Fortunately, I was probably not the type to believe my own thoughts were right no matter what.

"Don't put it off. This is the kind of thing you've got to lock down for sure."

"Sungjun's right. You know that saying, strike while the iron's hot? So just keep it going like this."

"...Mm. Is that actually right?"

"It is. Trust me."

"Stall for no reason and it'll be a headache later, I'm telling you."

We had gathered to drink, just as we'd arranged over Kertalk. The occasion was a celebration of me becoming a hunter, so the talk turned naturally toward my hunter story. I had no real experience as one yet, but the process of earning a hunter license was plenty of material for bar talk.

The problem showed up at the tail end. The moment I admitted that I had become a hunter and was still hesitating over whether to do the work, my friends set about persuading me not to think so hard.

"I get what you're saying, but I still can't use my ability, you know?"

"If you could, you'd already be bragging."

"This is the part you've got to settle fast, ability or not. Trust me!"

Better to do a thing quickly than to put it off.

—And behold, that famous Korean national trait: ppalli-ppalli!

"Even so, I only got the license today. What's so wrong with resting a little?"

"—Unemployed."

"...What?"

"Unemployed. So what if you're a hunter? Do nothing, and you're not a hunter."

Getting smacked with the facts hurt. I wanted to argue, and I had nothing to argue with.

"I'd love to tell Soonjae to quit piling on, but he's right. The guy who hated being unemployed so much he went all the way out to the countryside for work doesn't get to be unemployed now."

"......I only gave you the short version earlier. I went through brutal hunter training for a whole month, okay?"

"So?"

They said it at the same time, and for no good reason I shrank.

"...So I can rest a little, can't I? I worked hard."

"Yeah. No. We're not waiting."

"Where there's one job, another one shows up."

Had they always been like this? They hadn't, had they?

"You two. You used to be kinder friends. Brighter. When did you turn into this?"

At that, the two of them suddenly looked at each other. Were they passing something back and forth?

"What else would it be."

"Assignments."

"Exams."

"My situation, all of it."

"Not considered."

"One bit."

How did they land on it that perfectly? Were these guys in on it together?

"Huh. Is college really that rough?"

"Fucking brutal."

"You know what it's like? Every class dumps a team project on you. You have any idea what hell that is?"

"And then the other classes assign team projects too?"

"There's individual work on top of that."

"Hell."

"And then, right in the middle of project season, exams overlap?"

"Projects and exams, a double!"

"That's when hell actually starts."

They had gone to different universities, but the situation looked about the same. Otherwise a reaction like this couldn't exist.

"Huh. Rough. College."

"So you, Haseong, quit whining about wanting a little rest."

"No, seriously—I was actually working a job, and then I prepped for the hunter license...?"

"Yeah. Easy work. So work. I said work!"

College had completely remodeled my two friends into different people. Terrifying thing, college.

"But you guys came out here to hang around too."

"Thanks to the semester ending."

"I heard college students don't even get breaks. What about that?"

"That's the ones aiming higher. Ordinary students like us don't go that far. I sure don't."

"More importantly, Haseong. Make it official. That's how this autograph goes up in value too."

My friend slipped a sheet of paper out of his bag and showed it off. The first thing we had done after sitting down wasn't ordering drinks. It was signatures. They were my friends, and they had begged, so I had signed.

"Hey. If that was the plan from the start, hand it back."

"Mm-mm. Not giving it~ It's mine now~"

"Watch your mouth."

"For the record, Sungjun suggested it first."

"—Hey!"

"Fine, fine. But you're buying today."

At that, both their faces went stiff.

"Aigoo~ Threatening broke college students~"

"I-I don't have any money! Spare meee~"

"Nope. Not letting it slide."

And so, this time, I got fed.

A day passed.

Even a hunter wants to rest the day after drinking.

......I had only just become a hunter, and the moment I thought it, the line was so cringeworthy that, more than anything, I couldn't stand myself.

Did the alcohol knock something loose?

I moved around a little, got a grip on myself, and sat down. The drinking was an excuse. In truth, I had been turning it over ever since I heard what my friends said yesterday.

I really was a hunter now. So long as I held a hunter license, that much was fact. The problem was that I still couldn't use my ability. Visualizing it had made no progress even with the Hunter Association's help, and the frustration of that was all I had. I was just as lost when it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠came to picturing the ability myself.

This part was only a guess, but I thought I was putting off the work of being a hunter precisely because I couldn't use my ability. Hunter videos on Utube, and everything I had seen and heard at the Hunter Association, had taught me the worth of a hunter who couldn't use an ability. Somewhere underneath, I had already understood.

—No team, no matter which, would take a hunter who couldn't use their ability.

......

Still, as my friends had said, there was a chance my worries were wrong. Even if I couldn't use my ability, there might be a team somewhere that would take me. The question was what kind of place someone like me would hold on that team. I didn't need to agonize over it. The answer came at once.

—Dead weight.

Of course, this thought might be wrong as well, and there might unexpectedly be work I could actually do. The worry still refused to leave.

"......Hah. Creation!"

The ability did not activate. Even with the Hunter Association's help I couldn't call it up, so it would have been fair to call the situation hopeless—but giving up wasn't allowed. I had to believe that someday I would be able to use it. What I needed now was the courage of one small step.

"Right. Worrying won't change a thing."

I got up from the chair, picked up my phone, and called Mr. Lee Muo.

Lately, Lee Muo had been fixed on a single problem: some means by which the new hunter might visualize his ability. He had already gone beyond any number of institutions, gathering information with the help of countless hunters, and still he could not see so much as a thread that might lead to an answer.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

The records spoke of Immortal, a class appearing for the first time, and of Creation, the ability that class possessed. Immortal alone had produced every kind of interpretation, and they had yet to determine what Immortal even was. Under those circumstances, discovering what sort of ability Creation might be came close to impossible.

He said he understood, took up his notebook, and moved. The man had called it a consultation; speaking about it in the office might be awkward. As he changed seats he listened to Hunter Kim Haseong and wrote, and when the account was nearing its end he set the notes in order.

There had been more to it, but reduced to its core, that was the whole of it.

It was not a mistaken thing to say. From a guild's point of view, there would be no desire to invest in a hunter whose class and ability were both unclear. Even so, Immortal was a class that had never appeared before. There might be guilds willing to invest with an eye on the future.

He was grateful the man had chosen the Association. An affiliation and a team, however, were different things. If he could only get into a guild, a team would be easy to find.

With that, the call ended.

What he had to do now was settled: the procedures for affiliating Hunter Kim Haseong with the Hunter Association, and the search for a team that would take him. A few teams had been looking for hunters lately, but whether any of them would take Hunter Kim Haseong, he could not say. The one fortunate point was that the man's physical ability was exceptional enough to bear comparison with other hunters. It was not the sort of thing printed on a license. All he could do was hope it would at least count as a strength.