Chapter 11
Chapter 11
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: The Beginning of True Education (4)
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Cha Su-ho staggered unsteadily to his feet. His arm had already fully regenerated, the skin peeking through his torn sleeve smooth and unmarred by any wound.
It was an astonishing regenerative ability, no matter how many times he thought about it.
"It's already healed."
'Of course it is. You've absorbed my power.'
Cha Su-ho let out a short scoff at Jin Seong-hyeok's smug words, his gaze turning icy cold.
"By the way, Jin Seong-hyeok..."
'What.'
"Even if you got lucky and killed one... how am I supposed to take down all those monsters?"
He could feel his body tensing up as he eyed the monsters closing in on him.
Jin Seong-hyeok burst into laughter at the sight of Cha Su-ho, who was clearly afraid yet still showed the will to fight back.
'Now he's thinking about killing them?'
Cha Su-ho was brave in the strangest ways. He'd been like that from the moment Jin Seong-hyeok first met him.
An F-grade Helper who'd charged in to save him, knowing full well it could mean his death.
'This is going to be fun.'
"What are you talking about? We don't have time to stand around watching... Suspicion!"
Wood-crack, wood-crack.
A few monsters were devouring the corpse of the one Cha Su-ho had just killed, bones and all.
Jin Seong-hyeok called out to Cha Su-ho, who stared at the monsters with a shiver of disgust at their lack of any camaraderie.
'Good, this buys us time. Hold out your hand. Focus harder this time—make it bigger.'
They had to form the energy orb quickly while the monsters were busy eating.
Having done it once before made focusing easier. The problem was control. The denser the electrical energy in the orb grew, the more his palm tingled and burned.
By the time the energy orb was the size of his fist, Cha Su-ho's face had gone pale, his hand trembling uncontrollably.
"Jin... Seong-hyeok, this is tough."
'It's because you haven't built up resistance yet. It'll get better with time—just focus for now.'
Cha Su-ho poured all his concentration into the energy orb, his entire body slick with cold sweat.
Crackle, sizzle—.
The clustered electricity began sparking wildly.
It was different from the first one. Firmer, and bigger too.
Kiririk, kiririk. Krurrung.
Having finished their meal, the monsters let out eerie cries and turned toward Cha Su-ho one by one. The bloodstains around their mouths sent chills down his spine.
The thought that letting his guard down could mean that blood on their muzzles would soon be his own made his body tense even further.
'They're all coming at once.'
At Jin Seong-hyeok's words, Cha Su-ho's eyes sharpened.
"I know."
The monsters, having tasted blood, hesitated no longer. Without any signal, they all bared their fangs and charged at Cha Su-ho like wild, untethered stallions.
Kuwaaak—!
Jin Seong-hyeok could have swept them all away with a few gestures, but for Cha Su-ho, even facing one was a struggle.
And in his hand, he held just a single fist-sized energy orb—barely enough to kill even one monster, if it worked at all.
As dozens of monsters rushed him, Cha Su-ho steadied his breath.
"All at once..."
He had to end them all in one go. There was no time to make another orb.
Fear gripped him. The monsters leaping toward him made every hair on his body stand on end, but his heart pounded fiercely.
Kiririk, kiririk.
It happened just as a monster lunged, slashing its sharp teeth and claws toward Cha Su-ho's face.
As if he'd been waiting, Cha Su-ho thrust out his hand and hurled the energy orb. It flew straight toward the monsters.
Kwabang—!
A massive explosion roared, accompanied by a blinding flash like lightning. It was so intense even Cha Su-ho's vision lingered with afterimages.
Kiaaaak, krak!
The monsters directly hit by the orb rolled across the ground, while the rest shuddered and writhed from the flash alone.
"Hah, hah."
Panting heavily, Cha Su-ho backed away. Taking down this many was impossible—he needed to escape while he could. Just as he turned to run...
Thud—!
A dull impact rang out, and Cha Su-ho clutched his stomach, tumbling to the ground.
"This guy's fun."
Kim Hak-jun had been watching Cha Su-ho battle the monsters from the start, alongside Tao.
He prodded Cha Su-ho with his shoe, frowning.
"No way, right? Using electrical energy? And he's a Helper? What a freak."
A Helper wielding a Hunter's ability? He'd never heard of such a thing.
And Cha Su-ho faced the monsters without hesitation, like a seasoned Hunter who'd fought them his whole life.
It only pissed Kim Hak-jun off more.
Cha Su-ho had rubbed him the wrong way from the beginning. Staring him straight in the eye and talking back, unlike the other Helpers who trembled and knew their place.
Rage boiled over. Kim Hak-jun scanned Cha Su-ho up and down, his gaze settling on his calf.
"This is no fun."
He shifted his foot to Cha Su-ho's calf and stomped down hard.
"Keurk!"
A groan escaped as bones snapped. Agonizing pain surged through him in an instant. As Cha Su-ho writhed on the ground, choking on the pain, another crack echoed—another bone breaking. Kim Hak-jun looked down at the twisted calf.
"You'd look better crawling around."
Tao spoke up as Kim Hak-jun laughed mockingly.
"Just toss him in."
Kim Hak-jun glanced sideways. The monsters, now recovered, seemed even more frenzied than before.
"They'll chew him bones and all."
"Helpers getting eaten by monsters mid-Clean? Happens all the time."
"The Center Director's gonna flip. Losing an A-grade Helper."
Snickering, Kim Hak-jun looked down at Cha Su-ho at his feet.
Letting him live felt wrong. These "initiation rituals" were how he broke in Helpers—they always quaked before him and obeyed.
But then this variable, Cha Su-ho, showed up. If he survived?
Word would spread among the Helpers. One dared to defy Kim Hak-jun. They'd get restless.
He couldn't allow that. Helpers existed only to serve Hunters.
"That's why I told you not to get cocky. Helpers need periodic education, the dumb bastards."
Cha Su-ho forced his eyes open through the pain and glared at Kim Hak-jun.
"...You don't deserve to be a Hunter."
"What'd you say, you punk?"
Cha Su-ho knew how much Helpers sacrificed for Hunters, even if they were dismissed as mere F-grades.
They threw themselves into the field, defenseless, for the Hunters' sake.
Kim Hak-jun's talk of "educating" them was too much to bear.
He clenched his fist tighter to endure the pain, nails digging into his palm—nothing compared to his shattered legs.
Suppressing a groan, Cha Su-ho spoke.
"Education... is what you need."
"...What?"
"Trash Hunters like you... guk."
A dull thud—Kim Hak-jun's shoe toe smashed into Cha Su-ho's face. His eyes blazed with madness as he kicked relentlessly.
Thud, thud—.
The impacts didn't stop. Tao tried to intervene as Cha Su-ho's face grew bloodied, but Kim Hak-jun wouldn't relent.
"What? Say it again, you arrogant prick!!"
"You'll kill him, Kim Hak-jun! Stop it."
"Fuck off, I don't care."
"You'll get disciplined! If a monster kills him, fine—but if we do, it's not! If he actually dies, it's not just discipline...!"
"You think they'll throw an S-grade Hunter in jail over one lousy Helper?! Remember, we're S-grades."
It was cold, cruel. The ranking system granted absolute power—even to cover up filthiest deeds.
"And this is the Evil Zone."
A sinister smile spread across Kim Hak-jun's face.
"A Helper vanishing without a trace mid-Clean? Totally plausible. Even if I did it, just toss him to the monsters and done."
He leaned down close to Cha Su-ho's faintly breathing face. His dilated pupils reflected Cha Su-ho's bloodied features.
"No body, perfect crime, right?"
Thud—!
With the final blow, Cha Su-ho's eyes closed. He heard Kim Hak-jun and Tao muttering, but even that faded.
Beep—.
Tinnitus rang in his ears. The deathly pain dulled.
Cha Su-ho's consciousness sank deep. As it plummeted endlessly into total darkness, Jin Seong-hyeok's voice rang out.
"Cha Su-ho!"
His eyes snapped open.
"Jin, Jin Seong-hyeok?"
Standing alone in pitch blackness, the man looking down at him was none other than Jin Seong-hyeok.
"How are you...!"
"This is your subconscious."
"My... subconscious?"
"Yeah. You lost consciousness and ended up here."
Cha Su-ho tried to sit up, but his body wouldn't move.
"...My body won't budge..."
"It's linked to your physical one. Yours is on the brink of death."
"On the brink?!"
Jin Seong-hyeok nodded, glancing upward.
"And those rotten Hunter scum are about to feed your body to the monsters."
A sigh full of despair escaped Cha Su-ho.
"Ha, so I'm dying now? Well, I always knew it'd end someday..."
He'd been thrilled to rise from F-grade to A-grade Helper. Finally, he could work the field like a proper Helper.
But not dying to a monster—just slaughtered by trash Hunters?
He still had so much he wanted to do. He didn't want to die. Regret choked him.
A-grade at last, with so much left unfinished. Pretending nonchalance despite his heart, he spoke.
"At least before I go, with Jin Seong-hyeok..."
"Cha Su-ho."
Jin Seong-hyeok grinned.
"You're not dying."
"...Huh?"
"Explanations later. For now, lend me your body."
Lend his body?
Before Cha Su-ho could ask, Jin Seong-hyeok turned.
"Leave it to me and rest. When I get back, you'll take over again."
"Wait, Jin Seong-hyeok! Hold on! Where are you—!"
Jin Seong-hyeok grinned wickedly.
"To beat the shit out of those trash Hunters."