How To Survive as a Class a Hunter

29. The Stragglers – [3]

I made the tearful Seong Mun-yeong keep shooting.

And I tried to catch or dodge the flying bullets with my hands, but it didn’t go well. In the last attempt, I only ended up losing a finger joint when I put my finger in front of the bullet.

“Ah, damn it, really!”

Seong Mun-yeong complained of pain more than I did, even though I had lost a finger joint. Seeing him scream in pain made me laugh.

In the end, Seong Mun-yeong declared he couldn’t do it anymore, so my training had to end earlier than planned.

About an hour after Seong Mun-yeong ran away saying he was going to exercise, I met him again at the academy gym, and he had a shocked expression on his face.

“Why are you at the academy again?”

“I came to exercise. Did you think I came to play Dungeon Fighter?”

“You’re going to exercise with a finger missing? It looks like it’s only half healed. Are you crazy…?”

Ignoring his panic, I went about my business. I started strength training with the help of Mr. Yang, who now receives a separate fee from me. I repeatedly lifted a barbell that even four ordinary people couldn’t lift…

“Wow, this is really tough…”

The number of onlookers watching me or filming videos on their phones had quadrupled compared to a few months ago.

I had been promoting this academy diligently, and the fact that I came here to exercise every day even while working as a full-time hunter had spread. Despite the increased tuition fees, the number of students had increased tenfold.

The headmaster had told me in an excited voice that the number of students had increased so much that they now had to schedule separate morning and afternoon classes.

During a break from my exhausting workout, Sung Moon-young handed me a bottle of water, which I drank down in one gulp. After I finished, Sung Moon-young spoke to me.

“Hyung, aren’t you already strong enough to take down spirits and dimensional beings on your own? Especially that dimensional being that appeared when the big gate opened last time. Even veteran A-rank hunters couldn’t handle it, but you did. If you hadn’t, no one would have been able to.”

“Your praise from that rude mouth of yours sounds pretty good. Keep going.”

“No, I’m not trying to praise you… Didn’t you say your s*xual function seemed to have returned after you caught the fire spirit last time?”

“Yeah. The hospital said that while I might not be able to produce offspring due to something akin to azoospermia, I could still enjoy myself. So?”

“Then why don’t you spend time with a woman if you have the time? At this point, you seem to have maxed out as an A-rank hunter. Why do you keep training like a masochist?”

I couldn’t understand what nonsense he was spouting.

“I’m not maxed out yet.”

I chased a few goblins, and one of them picked something up and pointed an assault rifle at me!

They say a lot of guns were lost when the reservists went on a monster extermination mission and many went missing, right? It seems the goblins kept one of those guns like a treasure.

Ah, I thought I was dead, but then a huge wall appeared in front of me, blocking my way.

Of course, it wasn’t a real wall, it was Mr. Kim Geuk. His back is unbelievably wide. Anyway, Mr. Kim Geuk teleported in front of me, and the bullet hit his forearm (······)

I still can’t believe I’m alive.

I want to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Kim Geuk again. Long live Incheon!

5myJesus: How did he assess the situation and take the bullet for you? That’s insane.

Ⓐ syberMagneto: Does it make sense for an awakened one to take a bullet for a non-awakened trash? Since you’re Japanese, either commit seppuku right now or prove you’re actually an awakened one. Choose one, you disgusting b*stard.

Anonymous: Why is BabyMushroom such a macho man in real life?

There were already several comments. I added a few lines myself.

Ⓐ BabyBerserker: The long-awaited BabyMushroom has appeared♡!♡!

Anyway, it’s a good thing BabyMushroom knows how to use phase-change magic! As soon as he sensed the uncle’s danger, he used berserker magic to protect the knight uncle!

Then he was in pain and almost cried, but Ice Princess Baek Dambi used ice magic to make BabyMushroom not hurt! Thanks to that, good BabyMushroom can get a present from Santa Claus again this time!

Everyone should pat BabyMushroom first, but then praise Ice Princess too! Promise with BabyMushroom with a pinky swear♡!!

Ⓐ syberMagneto: I’ve told you before, please stop······.

I was reading the comments and reactions. Sung Moon-young muttered as if he was fed up.

“Why do you do this······”

I looked up and met his eyes. He looked confused and asked,

“Do you usually write in BabyMushroom’s tone with such a stern and solemn expression?”

“What does my face look like now?”

“You look so angry that it’s scary to talk to you. This is ridiculous······”

Do I really look like that now?

I was definitely in a bad mood. I knew why.

I thought as I read the post written by Naito-san.

Why didn’t he upload the video?

If the video of me protecting him with a self-sacrificing spirit had been attached to the post, it would have been better. The reactions would have been better, and I could have watched my heroic act over and over again.

I remember there was a cameraman on the scene, but there was no video of me protecting him. Just in case, I checked his YouTube channel, and of course, today’s video wasn’t uploaded.

Why does Naito-san keep doing these little annoying things? I frowned and focused on my workout again.

A phone call came in. It was from someone I knew.

“Mr. Kim Geuk? Do you have time?”

“Uh, Ms. Choi Se-hee? I’m doing well. What brings you here?”

“The councilman is in a difficult situation right now. We’ve already reported it to the police, but just in case, I thought I’d let you know too…”

I immediately asked for the location.

Then I teleported to the place she mentioned.

*

The place that came into view after teleporting was familiar.

A shabby low-rise apartment complex. The area around the complex was surrounded by high, thick, and sturdy walls like a fortress. Several guard posts were installed around the walls, and soldiers with rifles, not security guards, were stationed on top of the posts.

At the entrance of the complex, it was written: ‘Incheon Awakener New Shelter’. Of course, no one calls it that.

This place is an awakener detention facility, commonly known as the ‘Freezer’.

It’s a place I know well, having frequently visited during my human rights activism days with the Korean Awakener Association.

Although it’s not a facility that only houses ice awakeners, there’s a reason it’s called the Freezer. It’s because the facility is usually filled with ice awakeners.

As is widely known now, weak and vulnerable awakeners like ice awakeners are always the primary targets for monsters inside the gates.

So, gates frequently open near ice awakeners, and places where many ice awakeners live?

They become dangerous areas that soldiers have to guard as gate cluster regions.

For this reason, such awakener detention facilities are representative hate facilities in the area. It’s said that this facility houses not only Incheon’s ice awakeners but also Seoul’s ice awakeners?

Looking around, the phenomenon commonly seen in front of hate facilities was happening here too.

That is, protests against the hate facility.

“Remove the Freezer from Incheon! Remove Seoul’s ice blocks from Incheon!”

“We want to live well too!”

“Oppose storing Seoul’s ice in Incheon!”

Opposite the people shouting all sorts of slogans was Ms. Park Mi-hyung. Also, Ms. Choi Se-hee, who had been with her since the Korean Awakener Association days, was fidgeting nervously next to her. I approached them and spoke.

“What on earth is going on?”

The protesters surrounding the two women flinched. They all scattered to the sides, making way for me.

It was no wonder, as I am now a famous person too. Recognizing me, everyone stared with wide eyes, and one rather immature-looking man shouted.

“Park Mi-hyung’s ultimate weapon! They said he was brainwashed, and it’s true…”

I stared at him blankly, dumbfounded, and the man hesitated and stepped back.

Even a sense of awe appeared in the man’s gaze towards me. Why?

Thinking about it, my body was probably still covered in the blood that had surged during training earlier. I hadn’t wiped it off, thinking I’d shower and clean it all off at once after exercising.

Seeing me covered in blood, with even my fingers cut off, the protesters began to move away from me.

Ms. Park Mi-hyung also turned to look at me. She seemed startled too.

“Why did you come? I heard you got shot today… Oh my, a real patient has arrived!”

“A bullet is nothing. I’ll be fine after a night’s sleep, so don’t worry about it.”

“No, whether you recover tomorrow or not, it’s not right to receive help from someone who just escaped death today! And you’re in worse shape than I thought. Why did you come? Did Choi Se-hee call you?”

“No? A friend just told me about the situation, so I came. Anyway, what’s going on?”

At my question, Ms. Park Mi-hyung clicked her tongue, stopping her fuss.

“It’s obvious. They’re telling us to move this hateful facility, like a freezer, somewhere else.”

It wasn’t particularly surprising. I’d seen this situation many times while doing human rights work.

There was something strange, though.

“There haven’t been any protests here, even if it’s somewhere else, right?”

It was one of the billion pieces of evidence that Incheon citizens were superior in character to people from other regions, but Ms. Park Mi-hyung denied it.

“That’s because, whether there’s a hateful facility here or not, the land prices were already devastated, so there was no point in protesting. But recently, Incheon’s land prices have been recovering, haven’t they? Not to blame anyone, but thanks to someone…

Even here, they say the land prices are expected to rise? So people have gathered because they think that facility will hinder the rising land prices.”

Again, emphasizing that she wasn’t blaming Mr. Kim Geuk, Ms. Park Mi-hyung explained the situation.

It wasn’t hard to understand.

After Manwolsan, our operation area was around here. That meant the land prices in this area would rise too. So the land and building owners, who had given up, finally gathered to protect their land prices.

I looked at the protesters. I wanted to shout at them, ‘If you do this, we’ll exclude this area from the operation zone,’ but I held back.

“If you do this, it makes me uncomfortable. We’re all trying to save the area together, but seeing such strange repercussions makes me feel depressed.”

As I spoke calmly, the protesters’ eyes turned to me. One of them hesitated and then shouted.

“Why are you feeling depressed? What does moving the freezer have to do with you?”

Instead of a long explanation, I took out a business card from my wallet and handed it over.

“Do you know the Korean Awakening Alliance? It’s disbanded now, but until recently, it worked for the oppressed Awakeners in society. I was involved for quite a while too…”

“Why did you do such activities if you’re not an ice ability user?”

“My younger sister is an ice ability user. Even one of my colleagues.”

As I answered the questions, the other person’s face grew more troubled, and their voice lowered.

“Oh… Does your sister also stay in such a facility?”

“No? She’s in prison. They sent her to prison, claiming she killed four people without any evidence, just because she’s an Awakener. I was so angry that I did human rights work until I became a hunter.”

“Still, wouldn’t your sister dislike having such a facility in Incheon? Neighbors might pressure her to live in such a place because there’s a facility nearby. That would be terrible…”

“Who knows? My sister and I don’t get along well. She might be happy to live away from me, even in such a facility. First, she needs to be released so I can ask her where she wants to live. Thinking about the last time I visited her makes me want to cry…”

Then I looked at the other person with a melancholy face.

And already filled with embarrassment, he couldn’t meet my eyes for a while, mumbling, “Well, uh, well…” and finally said this.

“So, um… I’m sorry…”