The Difference Between Hunters (3)

Back at the lodging, I let the tension drain out of a body that had been wound tight all day and settled in to rest up for the hunt that was supposed to resume tomorrow. Late that evening, the room phone rang. It was Nonsan City Hall.

They were calling to say the hunt had been terminated early — a safety precaution, after those Hunters had come barging in without authorization.

Those brats had left a lot of people holding the bag, one way or another. Me, I'd more than broken even thanks to the hush-money envelope the Hunter Association had slipped me — but the other huntsmen weren't so lucky. Coming all this way just to turn around without even covering their gas money? Of course they were going to be furious. Well... that was Nonsan City Hall's problem to sort out, not mine.

I figured I might as well flip on the TV and check tomorrow's weather. And wouldn't you know it — they were covering everything that had happened today.

There they were on screen: the three young punks, cuffed and being hauled off like rag dolls by other Hunters. Looking at them like that, I even found myself feeling sorry for them.

The Hunter Association had clearly done a thorough job of locking down the narrative.

Then the weathercaster came on.

Once I'd heard that, I shut the TV off without a second thought.

That was when Poppy came trotting over and waved a coupon in my face.

"Unnie! The Shelter sent us dinner coupons! I asked, and they said it's a complimentary service!"

"Did they? Nice. I guess that's the difference when a place has money to burn."

Even a hotel-grade lodging doesn't just hand out meal tickets like that. The Shelter was making a point of showing some goodwill. I appreciated the thoughtfulness, but for country bumpkins like us, lingering too long in a place this fancy would only leave us more uncomfortable. Still... it'd be rude not to use a free meal ticket, right?

I looked at Poppy, whose ears had perked straight up with anticipation, and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at Hana behind her, tail swaying, and said,

"Don't you two go getting a taste for the high life after this, you hear?"

"Yes, Unnie. We won't."

"I'll eat anything~"

Watching them answer so proudly, I couldn't help but laugh. They were thinking, How good could it possibly be? — and I could already picture them flailing the moment they came face-to-face with actual fine dining.

But of course, they blew right past my expectations.

Even in the Shelter's elegant buffet restaurant, Hana and Poppy didn't so much as hesitate.

"Unnie, this is burrata cheese salad — they say you have to drizzle that sauce over there on it for it to taste right."

"Unnie, this side's supposed to be wine pairings, but we can just eat it as is, right?"

It wasn't that they instinctively knew table manners. They were simply far more up to date on the wider world than I was. They searched the menu on their smartphones in real time, busy telling me the names of dishes they'd never seen before and how you were supposed to eat them. Watching them, you'd have thought a pair of famous food critics had sat down at our table.

"This is just ham, isn't it?"

"No, Unnie! This is prosciutto, and that one's jambon. They taste totally different!"

I just sat there and ate whatever they piled onto my plate — dishes with names I could barely pronounce. Looking at the beef tartare and the escargot, I thought, That's just yukhoe and whelks, but I couldn't quite bring myself to say it out loud.

Honestly... my body had become about the same as theirs, but my mind felt like it was getting older by the day.

I glanced around, wondering if maybe the two of them were just making a fuss over nothing. But the other Hunters in the restaurant were mostly eating alone or busy talking with their own teams, paying no attention whatsoever to the three of us lighting up over unfamiliar food. Really... I felt like the oldest person in the room.

Only after I'd forced down a long stretch of food that didn't even suit my palate did Hana and Poppy seem satisfied enough to get up from the table.

As we stepped out of the restaurant, the two of them were still gushing over everything they'd just eaten. That was when my eye caught a sign posted beside the stairs leading downstairs.

Wow... they've got an indoor shooting range and I never heard a single shot. Money really does solve everything, doesn't it.

But it was Hunter-only, and my precious gun was by now sleeping soundly in a police evidence locker, so I had no business going down there. There were other facilities too — a shop selling specialized gear, something like a pawnbroker's — but after happily swiping my card all over town with Hana and Poppy, I didn't have the budget for any of it.

I couldn't stop a silly little laugh from slipping out. When you got down to it, I'd shot someone on this trip, nearly died, and almost nothing from start to finish had gone the way it was supposed to. And yet, strangely enough, I felt pretty content. Was it because those two had been smiling all day?

I put the laugh away and walked over to Hana, who was staring with open curiosity at the Hunter bulletin board off to one side of the lobby. Just like last time, it was packed tight with all sorts of thoroughly uninteresting notices.

"Curious?"

"Yes! It's so interesting! I wonder what the Hunters' world is like?"

"Hmm~ Beats me. They probably eat well and use nice things, but... I imagine it's awfully dangerous, don't you think?"

"Isn't that the same for you, Unnie?"

"I eat junk and sleep in lousy places, though."

"Ah, that's true!"

Hana's utterly innocent reply drew a few quiet laughs from the Hunters standing nearby. This bleak place felt, just for today, a little warmer — all because Hana was in it.

That night, for the first time in a long while, I slept deeply, without a single dream.

The next morning. Ordinarily we would have been heading back to Mount Gyeryong, but with the hunt wrapped up early, I found myself staring at a stretch of empty time and no idea what to do with it.

Staying a few more days on the original reservation, soaking up the five-star treatment, wouldn't have been the worst idea. The Shelter probably wouldn't have said a word. But I'd extended a courtesy from the start, and it seemed better to see that through to the end. People say that if you keep showing kindness, folks start treating it like a right — that you'll get taken for a sucker. For a country bumpkin like me, though, a kindness too generous to handle was more poison than gift.

Hana and Poppy seemed to feel the same. After a full day of sightseeing downtown and sleeping in on those plush ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠beds, they didn't look like they had any particular plans for today. In that case... we might as well go back to our ordinary life in Dohwang-ri.

I went straight down to the front desk and told them I'd be checking out today.

"You still have nights remaining on your reservation, ma'am."

"There's no anomaly warning, and the weather's perfect for traveling."

"Understood. One moment, please."

Then the desk clerk pulled a fairly large shopping bag from under the counter and handed it to me.

"The items you requested yesterday. One smartphone, one tactical vest. Would you like to check them?"

I took the bag and looked inside. There was the latest-model smartphone Poppy had been singing the praises of, and a sturdy hunting vest with a somewhat rough finish. Just as the clerk had said, it looked far better suited for combat than what I'd been wearing yesterday. Well... they don't seem likely to take a return, so I might as well accept it gratefully.

The first thing I did when I got back to the room with the shopping bag was call Poppy over and hand her the smartphone.

"Here. This is for you."

"Huh? Didn't you get this for yourself, Unnie?"

"My old phone is plenty for calls and texts. Something this nice is wasted on me. If I smash it rolling around in the woods like yesterday, it'd just be a shame."

Poppy hesitated for a moment at that — then a bright smile bloomed across her face. Yeah. This was the right call.

Before heading back to Dohwang-ri, we had a few more stops to make. First the police station, to get my firearm back, then a nearby phone shop to replace my smashed smartphone and set up Poppy's new one. Only once everything was taken care of did we find ourselves standing in front of the Nonsan tollgate again.

It was a very different scene from when we'd first arrived. The back of the truck held not just Hana and Poppy and my bag, but all sorts of things we'd bought in the city. It felt exactly like coming home from a short vacation.

At the tollgate, soldiers were still inspecting vehicles and waving them through one by one. When my turn came, a soldier walked over, checked the truck's license plate, and gestured for me to go — no extra procedures. I gave him a little nod of thanks and put my foot down on the highway toward ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Dohwang-ri.

Huh. Looks like they decided to cut me some slack on their end. That's give-and-take for you.

Watching the landscape of Nonsan City recede in the rearview mirror, I made up my mind to set down everything that had happened here. The good memories I'd pack into the shopping bag and take with me. The bad ones I'd leave behind in Nonsan, every last one.

It might have been a little selfish — but that was the happiest way to live.