How To Survive as a Class a Hunter

3. Kim Geuk, the Academy Student – [1]

About four years ago, Korea almost collapsed.

The situation is unavoidable. When monsters attack residential areas, turning most of the city into slums, and man-eating spirits paralyze maritime transport, no country can remain unaffected.

The increase in nationalistic TV shows is not simply because people need something to indulge in.

The fact that Korea is better off than other countries, meaning that when Korea was almost ruined, many other countries were completely ruined, seems to make Koreans very happy and proud.

It would have been better if Korea had been completely ruined too.

It’s so frustrating.

*

Looking around, there are only civil servant academies or hunter academies.

There are a few clothing stores and nail shops, but they are all closed, with their lights off. All the restaurants have their shutters down, and only one convenience store remains, selling only rice and ramen. It’s hard to believe that this place is Incheon, the spiritual capital of Korea. Damn it.

I entered the most shabby hunter academy.

A young woman was sitting at the reception desk. When I approached, she flinched, seemingly scared of my size. Cute girl.

“Are you here to register for the academy?”

The woman forced a smile, but I didn’t smile back and asked.

“Yes. How much is it per month?”

The woman explained that the tuition fee would be decided after a consultation and said she would call the director.

After a while, a man who seemed to be the director came and acted friendly.

“Are you a bodybuilder? You have an amazing physique! Have you been preparing to become a hunter for a long time? Did you serve in the military?”

“No.”

“Then you will need additional training for shooting… You haven’t awakened, have you?”

“I have awakened.”

When I answered briefly, the director seemed surprised. He looked at me with wide eyes and asked, puzzled.

“Are you an awakened one?”

“Why? Don’t you accept awakened ones?”

“No, it’s just that there aren’t many awakened ones among the students. Uh, just a moment. Please write down your abilities specifically on this application form…”

I did as he asked, and the director squinted at the application form I filled out.

“Body enhancement and teleportation? You’re not joking, are you…”

“I don’t have much time.”

Even though I was annoyed, the director didn’t seem displeased. He adjusted his glasses, looked back and forth between me and the paper, and turned on his smartphone.

“Your name?”

“Kim Geuk.”

At my answer, the director seemed to type on his smartphone. Then he muttered while looking at the smartphone screen.

“That’s right. I searched on Naver and found your face. Oh, you were a UFC fighter? You had 2 wins in 2 matches, then you awakened once, and while you were active in the Korean Awakening Alliance, you awakened again?”

“Is all that on the internet?”

“It is. Anyway, you were quite an impressive person. So… is there a reason you want to attend this academy? Were you referred by someone?”

“I just thought it looked cheap here.”

I answered like that, wondering if I had been a bit rude, but the director didn’t seem to mind this time either.

“Ah, right. It is cheap here. So, are you really going to register?”

I asked back if I would have come to register as a joke, and the director seemed satisfied with my answer but also looked uneasy.

I couldn’t understand why he kept acting like that. Are there few awakened students? Is it difficult to teach them? Are awakened people reluctant to be accepted as students?

“So, how much is the tuition fee?”

I asked grumpily, and an unexpected answer came back.

“For awakened people like Mr. Kim Geuk, the tuition fee is free. The cost of textbooks and gym use is also free. The academy also covers the shooting range fee and ammunition cost. If you consistently attend, we even support meal and transportation expenses.”

I blinked for a moment and asked.

“Why?”

“We want to use the fact that we debuted awakened hunters like you in our academy advertisements. Also, we need to take care of the careers of our instructors and the connections of our students. If you just agree to let us use your name and portrait rights…”

It was an unexpected privilege. I couldn’t think of a reason to refuse, so I agreed, and the director smiled.

And the next moment, I was startled and froze.

The director suddenly stood up and grabbed my hands tightly with both of his.

What is this guy doing? Before I could push him away, the director spoke.

“Thank you. Really, thank you for coming. I guess my luck is finally turning. I had a good dream, and now such an esteemed guest has come…”

*

The embarrassing moment didn’t end there.

“Instructors! Everyone, come here for a moment. Do you see this dignified person? We need to take special care of him from now on. This person, you know?”

The academy instructor, who was introduced to me by the director, stared at me blankly for a while and then suddenly offered a handshake, which caught me off guard.

And when the class started, even though it didn’t seem like the students were particularly friendly with each other, the instructor insisted on introducing me to everyone.

“Everyone, look at this person. This is Mr. Kim Geuk. You all need to get close to him. This person, you know…”

When it was explained that I was a UFC fighter, the students just went “Oh” and were impressed for a moment.

But when it was explained that I was an awakened person with two abilities, namely physical enhancement and teleportation, the students, who had been listening blankly until then, all exclaimed in unison.

“Wow.”

“So jealous, damn…”

This reaction was quite refreshing. It seemed that being an awakened person was considered much more impressive than being a martial artist.

And so, with everyone’s eyes focused on me, the class began.

It was shooting time. There was a shooting range near the academy, so everyone shot with live ammunition.

An instructor stuck close to me. He adjusted the zeroing for me and handed me a gun, but when I didn’t understand any of the shooting instructions, he looked puzzled.

“Is this your first time shooting a gun?”

“Yes, well.”

“Are you too tall to be accepted into the military? Didn’t you shoot in boot camp?”

“I did go to boot camp.”

“Well, it was so long ago that you probably don’t remember.”

I decided not to mention that I had assaulted a drill instructor on the first day of boot camp and hadn’t fired a single shot. As I got older, I realized it wasn’t something to brag about.

Meanwhile, the instructor didn’t show any signs of annoyance or irritation, even though he had to explain everything from the beginning. He just patiently told me what to do and how to do it, and then asked me to try shooting.

I shot as instructed. Every shot hit the mark, and the instructor clicked his tongue in amazement.

“Ah, it’s strange that you’re hitting so well for the first time. I see, you’re a physically enhanced person. Your strength is so great that the recoil doesn’t matter. You should practice with a gun specifically for enhanced individuals… Wait a moment. I’ll get one for you by the end of this week.”

While the instructor was talking to me, a nearby student interrupted.

“Are you going to borrow a hunter rifle, instructor? Isn’t that a heavy weapon, not just a rifle?”

“If I give the police officers a little something, they might lend it to me…”

“But you can’t just borrow any rifle, right? They vary greatly in weight, from 17kg to 22kg. We need to test his physical abilities first…”

The instructor and the students were discussing the gun I would use. The attention I was receiving was overwhelming and embarrassing.

And to my continued embarrassment, this excessive kindness continued.

All the other students, who seemed to have completed their military service, were reloading and changing magazines on their own, while I was struggling alone. Then? Not only the instructor but also the student next to me helped me without a single complaint. I couldn’t tell if I was at a hunter academy or a kindergarten.

What puzzled me was the interest and kindness of the students.

I could understand the instructor paying attention to me because the director had instructed him to. But the students? It was hard to understand.

Even looking in the bathroom mirror, I knew I didn’t have a face that people would approach first, so why?

Really, I couldn’t count how many students talked to me during breaks.

After quietly sitting through a criminal law lecture, another student approached me in a friendly manner.

“Hey? You don’t have to pay much attention to the criminal law class.”

“I’m broke, so if I don’t pass right away, I’ll starve.”

“You’ll pass even if you don’t attend this class. Don’t you know that the hunter written test is much easier than the driver’s license written test? If you just choose the answers that seem morally right, you’ll pass.”

“Is it that easy?”

“Yes. The hunter exam itself is very easy. The country is always short of hunters to hunt monsters, so they pass anyone with all their limbs intact.”

“Then why attend the academy?”

“Since it’s difficult after becoming a hunter… You attend the academy to avoid getting cursed and killed while living as a hunter. But criminal law? You don’t need it before or after becoming a hunter. It’s true. It’s really useless.”

“If it’s a class you don’t need to take, why is it on the course list?”

“Just for show.”

“The teacher said this class is very important.”

“They’re insisting because they don’t want to get fired. The criminal law instructor used to teach criminal law at a public official academy, but these days, police officers aren’t popular at all, right? No students came to take the class, so they got fired from the public official academy. If they get fired here too, they’ll starve to death, so they’re working really hard to keep their job. Just ignore it. Do you think that glasses-wearing guy has ever worked as a hunter or knows the industry well? They know less than I do. It’s true.”

“Do you know the hunter industry well?”

“Rather than knowing it well, I’m a bit of an expert? Something like that. I run a hunter community.”

“Hunter community? On the internet?”

“Huntweb, don’t you know?”

The student insisted that I must join that community, claiming that it’s better to get information about the industry and various details from the current hunters on that site than asking the academy instructors.

And then they said, “Since you’re an awakened one, make sure to get your awakened certification and wear the badge!” but I had no idea what they meant.

After attending a few more classes, the day at the hunter academy ended.