Creator’s Favoritism

I tried pressing all the buttons on my wristwatch, but the “Baby Shark” song refused to stop easily. It wasn’t until the catchy children’s tune finished playing in its entirety that the watch finally fell silent.

“Ahem.”

I cleared my throat awkwardly, and Yeo Wook grinned beside me, clearly amused by my earlier predicament.

「Tito dynamically depicts ‘Lee Chan-yu’s’ movement as she severs the final head of the monster. He repeatedly refines the drawing of ‘Lee Chan-yu’s’ proud nose as she scans for any remaining monsters.」  

It seemed the Ahyeon-dong gate situation had been somewhat contained. Not long after, a luxury foreign car glided up from the opposite direction.

“Kids!”

The driver’s window lowered, revealing Sung Kyung-min, who gestured for us to get in the car. Not wanting to sit next to Yeo Wook, I quickly claimed the passenger seat, relishing the plush comfort.

“Hunter, about the gate just now…” Yeo Wook asked in a serious tone while I marveled at the luxury of the passenger seat. Sung Kyung-min, checking him through the rearview mirror, replied:

“Ah. We’re actually heading there now. Don’t worry. Fortunately, hunters were on site, so it seems they wrapped things up without any civilian casualties.”

Although we were currently assigned to the Gangnam branch, it appeared we were providing support all the way to Ahyeon-dong, which belonged to the Gangbuk branch. 

This was likely due to the considerable size of the gate that had just opened.

Sung Kyung-min skillfully steered with his left hand while tapping the navigation screen with his right. 

Perhaps because it was an expensive car, the cornering felt particularly smooth.

I used to have a driver’s license before I… well, before I took my own life. 

I gazed at the steering wheel with a vaguely wistful expression, the memory leaving a bittersweet taste.

“This is the scene in Ahyeon-dong, Seodaemun-gu, where a gate disaster occurred today at 1:48 PM.”

After tapping a few times, Sung Kyung-min activated a special news broadcast about the ongoing gate disaster.

The camera panned across several stores with shattered display windows and sidewalks cracked like cookies, before capturing Lee Chan-yu swinging her whip and darting about nimbly.

The monster, resembling a pterodactyl with three heads, boasted a total of six wings attached to its body.

Every time Lee Chan-yu, enveloped in a blue aura, effortlessly tore through the monster’s wings, the creature desperately crawled along the ground, its limbs flailing as if trying to escape. It almost looked pitiful.

The screen switched again to show the lead hunter from the Gangbuk branch who had been dispatched to Seodaemun-gu.

Seoul, with its large population and many important facilities, has the highest number of hunters per capita, and typically, two hunters work as a pair in the field.

The hunter with the higher gate response ability becomes the lead hunter, while the one with the lower ability becomes the sub-hunter.

Sung Kyung-min, currently at the wheel, is also a sub-hunter belonging to the Gangnam branch. I heard he’s partnered with Nam Han-ju, the lead hunter who saved me during the Yeouido gate incident.

The hunter on screen, facing the camera directly, began to speak. A caption below read 

[Ji Yu-min (31) / Gangbuk Branch], 

with several broadcast station microphones thrust in front of her.

“Fortunately, right after we began our response, Haniyeong students who were doing practical training nearby, along with the hunter educating them, joined us.”

A male reporter asked about the type and scale of the gate, and Ji Yu-min turned her head.

“It was an open-type gate, and the monsters that emerged were one C+ grade monster and five D- grade monsters. They were all eliminated within 20 minutes.”

“What about civilian casualties…” Another reporter hurriedly asked. Ji Yu-min answered without waiting for the reporter to finish.

“Thanks to swift evacuations, I believe there were no casualties. For details, please check with the Gate Disaster Response Headquarters.”

As she briefly summarized the circumstances of the gate’s occurrence, the background was filled with the noisy shutter sounds of photojournalists taking multiple shots.

「Tito is absorbed in drawing the attractive drooping eye corners of the lead hunter ‘Ji Yu-min’, who will be used as an extra. It’s Tito’s principle to design characters as well as possible, even if they’re just extras.」

After reading the narration box, I sank into the passenger seat. Say what you will, but this god was certainly diligent about their main job.

The news anchor meticulously recounted Lee Chan-yu’s exploits. Sung Kyung-min stuck his face out of the car window to check the line of cars trailing behind us.

Then, without hesitation, he reached for the dashboard. As soon as he flipped a switch in the corner, a whining siren rang out.

I looked up at the ceiling in confusion. Judging by where the sound was coming from, it seemed they had installed a separate siren on the car’s roof.

“This is a gate disaster rescue vehicle. Please make way for swift gate reconstruction. This is a gate disaster rescue vehicle.”

Sung Kyung-min grabbed a car microphone I didn’t even know existed and repeated the same announcement several times.

The cars on the road slowly began to make way. Some people lowered their windows and stared at us curiously.

The gate had appeared near a large apartment complex in Ahyeon-dong. Fortunately, it seemed to have opened in a quiet area near the main entrance, not inside the complex itself.

There was an endless stream of residents moving to shelters until the situation was fully resolved. Sung Kyung-min parked the car in front of the site, where police lines had been haphazardly set up as a temporary measure.

As soon as we got out of the car, we were hit by a repulsive stench. Turning my head to find the source, I saw a large, pitch-black truck. Smoke was billowing from the ventilation ducts installed on top of the truck’s cargo area.

Inside the wide-open doors of the truck, an incinerator the size of a well was visible. Every time the flames flickered, the surrounding air shimmered intensely.

Soon, a wheelbarrow full of dismembered monster bodies rolled into the truck.

Immediately, the same repulsive smell thickened, mingling with black smoke.

At that moment, as if wondering what was going on, Nemo peeked its head out of the front pocket of my combat uniform.

“Hey, just stay inside…”

Thinking this probably wasn’t a good sight for it to see, I whispered quietly while pressing down on Nemo’s head. However, its squishy body easily slipped past my fingers.

Just then, a charred leg bone of a monster fell off with a loud noise. Nemo’s eyes widened as it witnessed the scene.

The slime, which had hurriedly hidden back in the pocket, trembled violently, sending vibrations through my chest.

A person wearing a snow-white protective suit from head to toe poked at the monster corpses turning to ashes with a stick. Jet-black powder fluttered into the air, riding the heat.

“It’s protocol to incinerate monster corpses on-site. We don’t know what transformations might occur during transport. Other monsters could even pop out from inside the corpses,” Sung Kyung-min explained, pointing at the incineration truck. Then, turning his body, he looked at the commercial building where armed soldiers were entering one after another and continued his explanation.

“And we have to search every building that was within the gate’s area of influence. There could be survivors or remaining monsters.”

Both the people cutting up the monsters and those burning them wore clothes with the ‘Gate Disaster Response Headquarters’ logo on the back. It seemed even these minor tasks were part of the hunters’ responsibilities.

As I listened to his explanation, I looked around, trying to find where Kang Chagyeong and Lee Chan-yu were.

Just then, an incongruously bright light burst near the complex entrance, where press vehicles and crowds had gathered.

I was about to take a step, thinking I should at least show my face when suddenly—

“What are you doing?”

Sung Kyung-min stood in front of me, holding out two daggers. He then jerked his chin toward the bloody scene where monsters were being dismembered.

“We have to work. It’s not even 3 o’clock yet.”

* * *

Lacking experience, we had to put in tremendous effort even for tasks that other hunters carried out effortlessly.

Endlessly chopping up monster corpses, rummaging through their innards to check for hidden offspring, throwing the pieces into the incinerator…

Even Yeo Wook’s face, which always maintained a smile, had lost all traces of amusement. It was even more frustrating that none of this hard work would appear in a single panel of the webtoon.

“Whoa! It’s 6 o’clock! Baby shark, doo doo doo doo doo doo~”

The shark song played from my wrist as I wiped my blood-covered hands on the front of my combat uniform. The practical training class ended precisely at 6 PM.

As darkness fell, Yeo Wook and I stumbled around looking for Sung Kyung-min, both of us resembling beggars. We found him chatting with Ji Yu-min, a takeout coffee cup in his hand.

“Hunter, we… need to go back to school…”

My voice sounded weary even to my own ears. Upon seeing our sorry state, some color drained from Sung Kyung-min’s cheeks.

Ji Yu-min quietly laughed as she took a sip from her cup.

“Kyung-min, when did you say you got your car?”

“…I’ll be back after I drop these kids off.”

“Just get another one. Give up.”

Leaving Ji Yu-min’s teasing shout behind, Sung Kyung-min pressed his car key. A cheerful beep indicated that the car doors had unlocked.

I just wanted to lie down and rest my exhausted body, which felt like salted cabbage. As we rushed zombie-like toward the car, Sung Kyung-min hurriedly blocked our way, holding a large garbage bag.

“Your combat uniforms look dirty. Let’s just throw them away. It’d be better to get new ones from school.”

The soiled combat uniforms reeked of burnt flesh, putrid odors, and blood. Yeo Wook and I exchanged a “whatever happens, happens” look and hastily took off our combat uniform tops.

On this early March evening, with intense lingering winter chills, we were left wearing only thin t-shirts after removing our thick combat jackets.

Just when we thought we might finally get some rest, Sung Kyung-min lowered all four car windows as soon as he got in.

“Guys… let’s keep the windows open. You can handle it, right?”

Come on… what are you doing?

As the car picked up speed, icy wind rushed in through the open windows. Looking back at the rear seat, I saw Yeo Wook huddled up, his tall frame shivering intensely.

I shot a silent glare at Sung Kyung-min, sitting next to me, but he stubbornly kept his eyes on the road ahead. His slightly stiff face betrayed a hint of guilt.

I didn’t think he was that kind of person, really.