Why He Became a Hunter

"Hey. Can't you all put up a little more of a fight? This is just frustrating."

Kanghyuk said, glaring down at the bodies sprawled across the training floor. But with every last one of them knocked out cold, no answer came back.

"Whoa. You really made a mess of them."

At the sudden voice, Kanghyuk blinked and turned his head. Standing there was a man built on a far larger frame than his own.

"What, you here to catch pigeons too?"

"Pigeons? What pigeons? Are you that lunatic who supposedly runs virtual simulations all day long?"

It felt like round two was about to begin, and Kanghyuk could hardly contain ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠his excitement. But then—

Pop!

A petite woman abruptly sprang up over the giant's back.

"Kim Chulmin, you crazy bastard! Did I or did I not tell you to watch your mouth?"

"My deepest apologies. This kid's got a good heart, but his words come out without ever passing through his brain. I ask for your understanding."

The gulf between how the man called Kim Chulmin addressed the woman and how he'd addressed Kanghyuk himself was so stark that Kanghyuk's will to fight evaporated on the spot.

And why, might I ask, are you riding on his back?

He wanted to ask — but the pair's outrageous appearance sealed his lips.

"Huh? It's Chulmin!"

It had been a long time since I'd last seen his face, and I was glad of it. He looked far younger than on the day we'd first met, of course, but I knew him at a glance.

"And who might that be?"

"My closest junior and friend. The sort of man you can turn your back on without a flicker of doubt. Loyal, passionate about the work — a walking model of what a hunter ought to be."

Watching Chulmin and me meet, Ping tilted her head.

"He's picking a fight with you right now, though?"

Just as Ping said, my first meeting with Kim Chulmin was nothing like the one I remembered.

"What is your problem this time!"

Apparently the Chulmin of those days wasn't the man I knew at all.

"Huh? Constellation-nim, there's a person clinging to that man's back."

"Sister-in-law? What's she doing there? And what's with the way she talks?!"

Was the whole world playing a trick on me? Was there a hidden camera somewhere?

"Well, at least it doesn't look like your Kanghyuk is going to come to blows with your friends, Constellation-nim."

"Yeah. From the way they're talking, I don't think they will. More importantly... was I too hard on him?"

"You're always hard on him, Constellation-nim."

Ping shot back without missing a beat — but one look at my face told her something was different today.

"Is something weighing on you, Constellation-nim?"

"You see... all my life, my one great regret was that I never grew any stronger. So I poured everything into forging my past self. But watching him now, I'm starting to think I had it wrong."

"He's becoming a hunter who literally hunts things — not a hunter who protects people."

"I'm not sure I follow?"

"Look at him. He's having the time of his life beating people down. If you want to protect someone, you can't take pleasure in hurting them."

Somewhere in the middle of that conversation, my mind slipped back to my childhood.

"Mom, when are you coming home?"

When I was little, my father was always busy. I only learned that the reason was another woman around the time I'd grown old enough to notice such things. And at some point, my mother began leaving me alone and coming home later and later.

"Dad, this time I—"

"Dad's busy. Later."

"Mom!"

"We'll talk at dinner!"

The me of those days was always alone. Even in the moment an undiscovered dungeon tore open.

Eeeeaang—

I still haven't forgotten the wail of the sirens from that day.

"Dad! Mom!"

Those alarms, screaming like something being torn apart, were terror itself. That day, too, I was alone.

Skreek. Skreek.

The cry of a monster rippling out in front of our house numbed every sense I had.

"Somebody... please, somebody help me."

I hid in the walk-in closet, shaking like a leaf. By some mercy, the monster never set foot inside our home, and only after a very long while was I finally able to creep back out.

...

The house was silent. And even then, I was alone.

Perhaps because of that day, I felt little when my parents were later caught in a gate and killed. Even learning they'd been together at the end — a leftover of the divorce — failed to shock me. I was used to it. Being alone.

"Why on earth does one shield cost this much?"

In that future-which-was-also-the-past — the timeline that would have simply run its course had I never intervened — I bought a shield. Its grade was F, even then. But that shield, purchased with a small fortune, was what let me take my first job at the Hunter Association as a shield bearer.

"Shields up!"

"Up!"

"Lock on three. One, two."

"Three!"

Under the command of a hunter with the Shield Formation trait, I was nothing more than a spare part.

"Emergency! Emergency! Gate collapse!"

Right up until the day I died, gate prediction technology was never perfect — and back then, its accuracy was worse still.

My first taste of real combat left me wound beyond reason, my legs trembling without my even noticing.

Then a tiny hand clamped around my leg. A girl barely half my height looked up at me and asked,

"Mister, you're one of the people who punishes the bad guys and protects good kids — right?"

"Why is there a kid in here! Get her out, now!"

A veteran hunter beside us bellowed, but the monster pack was far too close.

"No time! Just hold! Shields up!"

"Up!"

"Mister. Punish the bad guys — and protect me. Please."

Somewhere along the way, my trembling legs went still. I could see it — myself as a child, praying for someone, anyone, to come help.

"Of course! I'll protect you. I swear it."

"Lock on three. One, two."

"Three!"

The instant we raised our shields, the monsters hurled their bodies against them. The crushing weight of Mad Cows ramming into the metal poured through every inch of me. Without the hunter bearing the Shield Formation trait, every hunter there — myself included — would have been ground meat.

Kugugugung! Bam!

Ahead of the shield wall, shells burst again and again,

"Waaah!"

"It's okay. It's okay. Nothing bad is going to happen."

I forced a smile. If I let my strain show, the girl would only grow more frightened.

When that eternity finally ran out and the impacts ceased, I turned my head and met the girl's eyes.

"We beat the bad guys!"

"Thank you!"

Tear-streaked and trembling, the girl bowed and bolted. But before long, the tears swallowed her all over again.

"Mom! Where are you, Mom? Waaah!"

I had saved her. And I had failed to save her.

...

All I could do was watch.

I took a grave injury after that, but I never retired. No — I couldn't retire. If I just kept saving people, I told myself, someday I would forget the girl who had been crying. And the child I had been, as well.

"Constellation-nim! Constellation-nim! What are you thinking about?"

"Ah — just some old memories."

I must have been under far longer than I'd realized, because Ping kept flitting in circles around me.

"What he needs, I think, is real Hunter Association experience."

"The Hunter Association? All of a sudden?"

"Yeah. The rescue team."

It seemed the me of today needed a turning point of his own.

"So... what exactly brings you to me?"

Kanghyuk, whose attention had been hijacked by the surreal sight before him, finally managed the question after a long delay.

"Oh, hello! I'm Seong Jina, and this is Kim Chulmin. We heard there was someone out there who, like us, does nothing but virtual simulations — we wanted to meet you at least once."

"I am Choi Kanghyuk. Do you have any idea what academy fees cost these days? Of course one makes do with virtual simulations. What precisely is strange about that?"

"Virtual simulations don't give you any real feedback, though. Getting hit doesn't even sting. Most people train hard at first and then quietly slack off once it stops feeling real — but we heard you've kept at it, and nothing but."

Kanghyuk had managed to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠forget that he alone felt pain when struck. Now he remembered.

"True. I thought we were the only ones like that. So there's someone else out there, apparently."

"How old are you, talking down to me like that?"

"If it ruffles you, why don't you talk down to me too?"

Smack!

"Mouth!"

"My deepest apologies."

Kanghyuk found Seong Jina more frightening than Kim Chulmin. So this was the split personality he'd only ever heard rumors of.

"So. Is there an actual matter, or did you simply need to see my face?"

"We were curious why you keep using virtual simulations, Kanghyuk-ssi."

"Do I owe you an explanation?"

"We wondered if there was a story behind it. Our own monster kill counts in simulations are nothing to boast of, you see. So now and then, ill-mannered sorts take us for easy marks and pick a fight."

Could that possibly have something to do with your visuals? he wanted to say — but mercifully, the words died in his throat.

"So we came by in case you needed help... though it seems you don't especially need any."

Seong Jina's words dissolved the misunderstanding. Strange people, certainly. But harmless.

"The reason's nothing much. There's a crazy Constellation glued to me, that's all."

Seong Jina and Kim Chulmin both jolted.

"A Constellation? So that's why you felt so strong. This is the first time I've ever seen a player contracted to a Constellation in person."

"He's just a crazy Constellation."

"You're not exactly normal yourself, though?"

"Mouth!"

So saying, Seong Jina smacked Chulmin across the lips.

"You are not exactly normal yourself either, if I may say."

Clutching his lips, Chulmin tried again.

"You really do have to live with one to understand..."

Kanghyuk had no intention of dwelling on his Constellation. Merely speaking of the man was exhausting.

"Seong Jina-ssi and Kim Chulmin-ssi, was it? Then why do the two of you use nothing but virtual simulations?"

"May I speak comfortably?"

"Suit yourself."

Trading banmal, Kanghyuk reckoned, beat feeling a chill crawl up his spine every time the woman addressed him with such flawless politeness.

"My trait's Monstrous Strength. See this shield? I fight carrying this thing."

Kanghyuk was eyeing Kim Chulmin's absurdly oversized shield. It looked broad enough to shelter several grown men.

"My trait is Contact Buff. The more of my body stays in contact with an ally, the stronger the buff becomes."

"I fight by letting Jina's buff raise my speed."

Only now did Kanghyuk understand why ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the two of them looked so bizarre.

"Then — are the two of you dating? Or married?"

"Blegh! Me, with him? We've been friends since the day we were born!"

Seong Jina recoiled in horror, pounding on Chulmin's back. Chulmin simply took it.

Hm... so it's one-sided?

Kanghyuk found himself suddenly feeling sorry for Kim Chulmin.

"But what does that have to do with running nothing but simulations?"

"Because Jina can't be allowed to get hurt."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"If I make a single mistake, Jina could be the one who pays for it. So I practice blocking every last attack in virtual simulation."

"Kyaa! What are you even saying!"

Seong Jina began pounding on Chulmin's back again. Chulmin didn't so much as sway.

This one's a pure-love devotee, isn't he.

Kanghyuk nodded to himself as he thought it.

"Well then — is your curiosity satisfied?"

"Yes. Thank you for telling us."

"Ah — a rescue mission, out of nowhere? And what's this 'cringe memories' business supposed to be?"

"Rescue mission? Cringe memories?"

"Ah — the Constellation just issued me a quest. The words slipped out."

Kim Chulmin seemed to turn something over in his mind, then put a question to Kanghyuk.

"By rescue mission, do you mean the Association's rescue work?"

"That's right. His Excellency the Constellation has, of all things, ordered me to go perform rescue missions."

"Could we do that alongside you?"

"Chulmin — where is this coming from all of a sudden?"

"It feels like it's about time we got a taste of real combat. And rescue work would actually mean something."

Seong Jina considered it for a moment, then nodded.

"He does have a point. Might we possibly come along?"

"No — why on earth would I..."

"What? Where's the penalty? All I have to do is go along, is that it? What's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠gotten into him?"

"Why the sudden soliloquy?"

"Nothing. The Constellation says we're all going. Let's be off — to the Hunter Association."

It was the moment the bond between Choi Kanghyuk, Kim Chulmin, and Seong Jina first began.