Chapter 106
Chapter 106
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 106
Chapter Title: The Boy Surrounded by Spirits
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"Emergency! Emergency!"
A sudden commotion broke out at Korea's Hunter Management Bureau.
The agency's staff rushed about frantically from the lobby onward, causing the long line of examiners waiting as usual to buzz with murmurs.
"Please form the line properly!"
"Hey, there! If you don't get in line right, we might not be able to process you today!"
Even the staff managing the queue were herding the waiters more strictly than usual, pushing them to one side.
Irritated by the staff's urgency, the waiting examiners grumbled as they huddled against the wall.
"What's the big deal?"
"No idea. Beats me."
A few among the examiners showed clear signs of annoyance.
A burly man who looked like a gym trainer scowled.
"We're already in line properly. Why the hell are they making a fuss?"
"Dunno. It's not like we want to be here getting tested."
By national law, anyone identified as a Hunter aptitude holder had to undergo screening, so the line included plenty of people with no ambitions to become Hunters.
They couldn't help but feel frustrated standing around for hours amid their busy lives, all because of their aptitude.
But such people were a minority.
Unlike the muscled gym trainers, most folks' hearts pounded just from being labeled Hunter aptitudes.
"Those guys are just full of themselves."
"Yeah, Hunters make bank. Who knows? Maybe we'll hit the jackpot and turn our lives around with a high rank."
Behind the noisy trainers, many whispered excitedly.
In Gate society, Hunters held that kind of status.
As a high-risk profession, they were compensated handsomely.
Even low-rank Hunters could earn more stably than most office workers, as long as they didn't get greedy.
But deep down, everyone in that line—not pretending otherwise—harbored the same dream.
Could I become a high-rank Hunter?
The lottery-like hope of striking it big.
Amid the crowd buzzing with anticipation, one student gripped his backpack strap tightly, his tension obvious as he swallowed hard.
"I can do this. It's fine. It'll be okay."
The name tag on his chest gleamed in the light.
[Gyeongdong High School - Jo Sung-min]
Hunter awakening had no age limit; it was a true lottery, striking anytime.
Jo Sung-min, the only high schooler among all the adults, clutched the name tag on his chest and closed his eyes.
"If I become a Hunter... I'll escape that hellhole for good."
Whoosh.
A breeze blew, revealing Sung-min's face from under his hood.
Fresh wounds and blue bruises that hadn't healed yet.
Swish.
Sung-min quickly pulled his hood back down over his face.
Just then, murmurs rose from the direction of the Hunter Management Bureau's main entrance far away.
"They're here!"
"They've arrived!"
Whether they were the cause of this chaos or not, the shouts of arrival spurred the staff into even faster action.
Rumble—
All the people in the screening line turned to stare at the approaching figures.
Two men strode confidently, escorted by bureau staff.
"Who's that?"
"Who the hell is he that the bureau's giving him a personal escort?"
The waiting examiners eyed them curiously.
As Hunter enthusiasts, they knew their stuff, but they'd never seen these faces before.
But as the pair drew closer, gasps of shock rippled through the line from those who recognized them.
"S-Sword Tiger!?"
"Sword Tiger?!!"
Korea's first S-Rank Hunter and one of the world's top five.
Walking beside Sword Tiger was an unknown man striding shoulder-to-shoulder with him.
Unlike Sword Tiger, no one seemed to know this guy; his name hadn't come up once.
But that didn't last.
"Hold on."
The stranger walking with Sword Tiger raised a hand, halting the procession.
Sword Tiger asked him,
"Something wrong? Know someone here?"
"No, but I might find one if I'm lucky."
"Oh ho!"
"Could you clear a path for a sec?"
Who the hell was this guy to surprise even Sword Tiger with a single word?
As everyone wondered, his command parted the staff's escort wall like magic.
The man stepped through, heading straight for the screening line.
Every eye that had been on Sword Tiger now locked onto him.
The man stopped in front of someone in the middle of the line.
He extended a hand to the boy.
"What's your name?"
The boy had his hood up, hiding his face.
"M-Me?"
Sung-min let go of his name tag.
"Jo Sung-min."
"Y-Yes, sir!"
Sung-min shouted loudly.
The man smiled and reached out.
"Won't you join me?"
Silence fell around them at his words.
Sung-min shrank under the piercing stares.
In this hated situation, his body stiffened, words failing him.
Tap.
The man's hand didn't falter.
Sword Tiger approached, throwing an arm around the man's shoulders like old pals.
He said to Sung-min,
"You have no idea what fortune you're wearing right now. This hand extended by One Ghost Soul. It'll be the greatest turning point in your life."
"Y-Yes...?"
Sung-min looked stunned.
But he kept his face hidden.
"Ghost Slayer Annihilation, Demon Dragon Squad. Whatever, a kid like you wouldn't get it anyway. Just remember that."
Tap tap.
Sword Tiger patted One Ghost Soul Myung-su's shoulder.
"Too bad."
"Can't be helped. What can you do? It's his fate."
Myung-su shrugged regretfully and withdrew his hand.
As he turned to leave—
"Excuse me!"
Sung-min, hood still up, called out to Myung-su.
Myung-su and Sword Tiger paused and looked back at him.
"If... if I take that hand, will I never get hit again?"
"What?"
Sword Tiger and Myung-su's eyebrows twitched at the odd question.
"If I take that hand... can my grandma stop hurting too?"
They exchanged glances at his follow-up.
But soon, they smirked at each other.
Myung-su approached Sung-min and said,
"No, grabbing my hand might get you hit even more."
Sung-min looked up.
Amid his shocked expression, his facial wounds and bruises showed.
Myung-su smiled without a hint of surprise at the boy's state.
"But it'll give you a chance to change that. A chance to avoid beatings, and to keep your grandma from hurting."
Chance.
The word carried meanings too complex for Sung-min's young mind to fully grasp.
But one part struck his heart.
I might not get hit...? Grandma might not hurt...?
He hadn't even registered "chance."
What etched into his mind was the possibility.
That possibility moved his hand.
Sung-min's hand rose slowly toward Myung-su.
But right then—
Thud!
Someone shoved Sung-min aside.
"...?!?"
Sung-min crumpled powerlessly to the ground.
"Me! Pick me! I can do it!"
Sung-min looked up from the floor at the spot he'd occupied.
A strange man stood there now.
The man grabbed Myung-su's arm, pleading desperately.
"I'm better than that weakling! I know who you are!"
Unlike the man's frantic begging, Myung-su's gaze stayed on the fallen Sung-min.
Sung-min lay there weakly, head bowed, silent.
Myung-su said to him,
"Get up."
But Sung-min couldn't.
He just trembled in fear, hiding his face in his hood.
"I said, get up."
"S-Sir, I know who you are! That kid won't even obey orders, so pick me..."
Hummm—
Myung-su's gaze shifted from Sung-min to the man who'd stolen his chance.
"Who asked you a question?"
The warm eyes he'd had for Sung-min turned to the cold, murderous glare One Ghost Soul reserved for enemies.
Flinch.
Terror gripped the man, as if his throat would be slit any second.
He jolted, then stumbled back.
Myung-su advanced on him, asking,
"He's family to Ghost Slayer Annihilation, my Demon Dragon Squad. My offer was to become family... and you just shoved my future family aside."
Shing.
Daggers appeared in Myung-su's hands.
"What do you think I'll do to you?"
"H-Hiiik!!! Aaaahhh!!!"
The bold intruder turned tail and fled like a scared rabbit.
A year ago, even Myung-su might've been shaken, but now, after a year of growth, this was nothing.
No mere screening waiter could withstand that pressure.
Droplets of urine trailed his escape path, proving it.
"Get up."
Even after the man fled, Sung-min didn't rise.
But the gaze fixed on him had vanished.
What had happened?
Murmurs grew among the examiners watching Myung-su stare at Sung-min.
"Wh-What? That kid disappeared?"
"He was right there a second ago."
"So who the hell is that guy talking to?"
At their voices, Sung-min rose from the ground.
He turned to face Myung-su.
"C-Can you... see me?"
Myung-su smiled at Sung-min's teary face.
"I see you. And all the beings surrounding you."
His words brought tears streaming from Sung-min's eyes.
"It's the first time... Sob sob, I thought I was crazy."
"You're not crazy. Nothing weird about it. That's just what people who don't know say. You're special."
Sung-min pulled off his hood completely, tears flowing.
He approached Myung-su and grabbed his arm.
"I'll do it. I'll go with you, bro. Please... save me."
Sung-min, who'd sought escape in becoming a Hunter, begged Myung-su with tear-streaked cheeks.
Myung-su smiled and embraced him.
"Thank you for coming to me like this... You'll be Six Ghost Souls, with me."
Sword Tiger chuckled at Myung-su's sincere words.
He crossed his arms and sighed deeply.
"They say the destined ones make it. Sigh, you snagged a good one. Tsk tsk. Where am I supposed to find Demon Dragon Squad members?"
Myung-su hugging empty air, Sword Tiger genuinely envious.
The screening waiters whipped out their phones, snapping away at the insane scene.
"What brings you here in person like this?"
In the Hunter Management Bureau Minister's office.
Minister Baek Myung-hee welcomed Sword Tiger and Myung-su.
She'd already known they were coming, thanks to Yong-un's call.
She'd done her utmost to prepare.
"Heh."
Their positions had changed, but she'd known them before they became Demon Dragon Squad Leader and One Ghost Soul.
She couldn't help but smile.
Just falling under Yong-un had transformed them like this.
As Minister, she looked forward to their future exploits.
I'll help them with everything I have.
Yong-un had set her course as Minister.
For the Hunters she cherished.
For the Korea they protected.
And for Korea's boundless prosperity!
She planned to lend all her power to aid Yong-un.
"I'd like access to the Special Examiner position, plus reports on all Korean Hunters' skills and personal records."
"Of course, right away."
The Minister approved without hesitation.
Personal information protection was a huge issue that could spark backlash later, but she didn't care.
She knew one step from Yong-un could bring massive gains to Korea.
She immediately pressed the intercom on her desk.
"Send Director Lee Jong-min up."
Three weeks remained until Yong-un's ordered Demon subjugation operation.
Busy days poring over countless records lay ahead.
"Who'll be the one to move my heart?"
"I'm already satisfied. I found one already."
"Damn it."
Myung-su smiled at Sword Tiger's scowl.
Who would it be?
Who would ride with Sword Tiger, Myung-su, and Yong-un?
They smiled, envisioning the unwritten future.