How To Survive as a Class a Hunter

34. Daehan Awakening Alliance Kim Geuk – [1]

“Breaking news. The expected path of Behemoth is projected to be towards Seoul…”

I still can’t believe it whenever I see news like this. The word ‘Behemoth’ appearing on the news?

Originally a monster from the Bible, in the 21st century, it was just a monster name that appeared in RPGs. Such a fantastical word is being mentioned in the serious voice of a well-dressed news anchor. It feels like I’ve been sucked into a game world.

“…Around 4 PM, Hunter Kang Joon-chi arrived in Seoul. It is known that the monsters inside the gate change their path upon detecting the presence of awakened individuals outside the gate.

Indeed, it is reported that the movement of Behemoth and the following monster horde inside the gate stopped as soon as Hunter Kang Joon-chi arrived in Seoul. The military will continue to do its best to monitor Behemoth’s path by entering the gate whenever an opportunity arises…”

I was watching the news in the car without any particular thought.

Baek Dambi, who was sitting in the passenger seat next to me, spoke.

“Thank you.”

I turned my gaze to Baek Dambi. My round girl was also looking at me.

“Thank you for what?”

“For letting me report that Behemoth was heading towards Seoul. My name was also listed as the top contributor…”

When the two of us entered the gate that day, Baek Dambi discovered the giant monster Behemoth moving in one direction and reported it through the association.

At that time, I just agreed with her words, saying they were all true, and left the detailed report and testimony to her.

So this time, she also received attention from people, and it seemed that this event was very overwhelming for her, who had always wanted an opportunity to make a contribution as an awakened hunter.

In fact, even if I wanted to testify proactively, I wouldn’t have been able to.

“I was so distracted at that time that I couldn’t properly see Behemoth or anything.”

Baek Dambi awkwardly laughed at my words.

“You have to say something that makes sense. How could you not see that huge thing moving?”

Baek Dambi thought I had intentionally given her the opportunity to testify about the giant monster.

Well, it couldn’t be helped. At that time, I couldn’t say that I was so overwhelmed by the hallucinations and anger that I couldn’t observe whether Behemoth or a golden hamster was moving.

“Once again, thank you.”

Then Baek Dambi closed her mouth, and silence flowed in the car.

It was awkward. Feeling a sense of obligation to say something, I opened my mouth after a while.

“It’s a bit out of the blue, but do you know about Huntweb?”

Baek Dambi looked at me again.

“Huntingweb?”

“No, Huntweb.”

“What is it? I’ve never heard of it. Is it a matchmaking site?”

At Baek Dambi’s indifferent answer, I thought. This woman is indeed at the level of being called the Ice Princess for her shamelessness.

“It’s a site where hunters gather to chat or post information. There are many active hunters among the users, so there’s a lot of useful information. But it’s better if you don’t go to that site. The users there are really bad.”

“Well, that’s just how the internet is.”

“That’s true, but Huntweb is especially bad. I’ve had a lot of frustrating experiences on that site. There’s this crazy guy on there who calls himself Cyber Magneto, and he seems to be a huge X-Men fan. The first post I saw on that site was him arguing that all non-awakened people should be sent to gas chambers.”

“That’s a ridiculous person…”

Baek Dambi’s detailed expression was hidden behind her sunglasses, making it hard to read her properly.

In the impulse to confiscate those sunglasses, I said,

“He’s beyond ridiculous, he’s a real piece of work! Once, I complained that awakened people don’t get banned even if they break the site rules, and that it’s unfair. Cyber Magneto, that lunatic, got offended and told me to hang myself with my mom. I was so hurt that I teared up a bit.”

“Hmm, you don’t seem like the type to get hurt by insults on the internet, Mr. Kim Geuk.”

“Well, the thing is, my mom really did die. I’m not exactly a filial son, but when someone insults a deceased person, it makes my hands and feet tremble.”

I repeatedly warned her not to even look at such a vile site where a deranged user like that could continue to be active for years without getting banned. Our Cyber Magneto only responded with a reluctant “Yes…”

Then, after a long while, she finally said,

“It’s an old story, so it feels awkward to comfort you now, but don’t take such words to heart too much, and stay strong.”

“Uh, how did you know it was an old story? Did I mention it?”

“You were speaking so calmly…”

The vehicle stopped. As I got out of the car, Naito, who had arrived earlier on his bike, smiled and said,

“Good hunting today as well. Long live Incheon!”

I tried hard to suppress the urge to frown. I nodded expressionlessly.

“Long live Incheon.”

The hunt that day lasted longer than usual, until 5:48 PM, and we successfully eradicated the monsters lurking in Manwolsan.

This meant that our operation area would now move to another place, specifically around the Incheon Awakened Facility.

And it also meant that the eyes of the residents around there would be focused on me and that facility.

*

After the hunt, I worked out that day as well, repeatedly trained with Seong Moon-young to react to bullets, and even after finishing all the training, I didn’t go home.

Before parting ways, Seong Moon-young asked,

“Are you going there again today? To disrupt the protest?”

“Yeah.”

“This monster doesn’t get tired after moving all day long…”

“Tired or not, I have to do what needs to be done.”

While Seong Moon-young praised me with a thumbs-up, I repeatedly teleported. Now that my teleportation range had significantly increased, teleporting instead of walking had become quite manageable.

Before long, I reached my destination.

After enduring the dizziness, I looked at the Awakened Facility and its surroundings. And I frowned at the scene that came into view.

Today, Ms. Park Mi-hyung and the nearby residents were in a standoff again.

I was about to approach the residents when I suddenly saw the placards they were holding.

I blinked at the words written on them.

“Oppose the maintenance of facilities that violate the rights of the Awakened!”

“The Awakened want to live freely!”

What is this? Why are they suddenly talking about human rights?

Just in case, I looked at the protesters holding the placards, and they were definitely the residents I remembered from around here. The ones who wanted to move the freezer to another area. But why?

“Did they change their strategy?”

When I approached and asked, Ms. Park Mi-hyung opened her eyes wide and sighed.

“This person really, keeps coming even though I told you not to… Yes. It seems they changed their strategy.”

“Why?”

“Because Mr. Kim Geuk is obviously protecting the ice ability users. They are pretending to care for them while trying to remove the facility.”

I looked again at the placards with phrases about the rights of the Awakened.

“But aren’t those claims correct?”

“What?”

“That the facility is a violation of human rights. I know because I was active in the Korean Awakening Alliance, but all the ice ability users don’t want to live there.”

Maybe it’s because the military manages the facility for the Awakened, but the unique suffocating atmosphere of the military is also present in that facility.

The people living in that facility are not free to enter and exit. Every time they go out, they are forced to write their destination and expected return time on a situation board.

There’s even a curfew, so the iron gate closes firmly at 9 PM, blocking entry and exit. Even though the accommodation is free, everyone refuses to stay there for no reason.

Even Mr. Sa Mo, a notorious user of Huntweb who once insulted me, hated living in that facility so much that he left for another world.

After seeing that illusion, my perspective on the facility changed. It suddenly became uncomfortable to look at.

Meanwhile, Ms. Park Mi-hyung spoke with a complicated expression.

“That’s true, but still, such a facility needs to exist. It’s a necessary evil.”

“The freezer?”

“Yes. It’s obviously wrong to confine people and restrict their freedom like that… but if we remove the facility, where will the people living there go?”

Ms. Park Mi-hyung continued, pointing to herself.

“Look at me. I have money and some social status, but I can’t even buy an apartment, so I’m living in a villa I originally intended to rent out. It’s even harder for ordinary people. They can’t even live in crumbling multi-family houses, let alone apartments.”

“The country wants all the ice ability users to live in such facilities. It’s easier to manage that way.”

“That’s right. So even if a landlord wants to rent to an ice ability user, the country won’t leave them alone. They harass the landlord until they surrender.

They keep asking for reports on the surrounding situation, send officials to nag about why emergency elevators and emergency supplies aren’t prepared despite the high risk of monster appearances, and make it so annoying that the landlord eventually drives them out.”

It wasn’t exactly the first time I heard it, but it wasn’t easy to listen to. Could it be because of that hallucination I saw?

Ms. Park Mi-hyung raised her voice as if she was getting angry while talking.

“I know it’s dangerous in many ways if ice ability users are scattered in various places, but still, if they were forcibly gathered in one place, they should at least improve the facilities! Look at Incheon, they found some apartments that look like they were built during King Gojong’s flight to the Russian legation and put up a sign saying it’s a new shelter. Are they kidding?”

“Now that you’re a city council member, can’t you do something about it?”

Ms. Park Mi-hyung shook her head at my question.

“What can I do as a city council member? It’s impossible. Even if I were the mayor of Incheon, I couldn’t get more budget to improve facilities that residents hate. Some people even say we should be grateful that ice ability users aren’t all killed like in India.”

Come to think of it, even when I was active in the Korean Awakening Alliance, I don’t remember achieving anything for them. I don’t remember passersby responding positively when we protested for the persecuted awakeners.

In zombie movies, aren’t the civic groups that advocate for zombie rights depicted as foolish people who bring about unnecessary crises rather than thoughtful individuals?

The way people looked at me when I was doing human rights activities for awakeners was just like that. I still remember the frowns and contemptuous glances from passersby. That’s why my self-esteem was constantly eroded during that time.

Well, thinking about it, it’s not surprising. The ratio of awakeners to ordinary people is about 1/2000. This is much less than the 5% of the total population that is disabled.

And in a situation where facilities for the disabled are not improved, there’s no way people would pay attention to the rights of the much fewer awakeners.

As long as awakeners are a minority, they can’t exert meaningful political power whether they vote or protest.

If someone talks about the rights of awakeners, they would only hear sarcastic remarks about why we should take care of awakeners who earn hundreds of billions.

In this democratic system, there’s nothing we can do.

In this ugly system where the majority of the dregs take all the rights just because they are numerous, people like me, the awakeners, can’t change anything.

How can we overcome this terrible situation?

We need to return to a much older and much more righteous system than democracy, that is, monarchy.

It would be good to introduce a sophisticated feudal system.

Awakeners like me should take positions as counts or dukes and take care of the weak non-awakened people.

I even know someone who could be crowned king. Kang…

Anyway, when you’re stressed, you end up having all sorts of strange delusions. Damn it.

I shook off the strange thoughts that had taken over my mind and approached the protesters.

As I kept staring at them, unable to withstand my silent pressure, they left, and the awakener detention facility finally regained peace.

Ms. Park Mi-hyung nagged at me as she looked at me.

“You worked too hard today, don’t come tomorrow, okay? I know Mr. Kim Geuk works really hard every day, but why do you keep doing this, making it burdensome…”

With that, my day finally ended. When I returned home through teleportation, it was hard to endure the dizziness that came over me.

I was lying down, trying to wash up and sleep somehow.

A phone call came in.

It was a familiar number. An official from Incheon City Hall who usually took care of me. What could it be at this late hour?

Despite being tired, I picked up my phone.

“What brings you here at this hour?”

“I’m sorry for the late hour, but can you come over now? It’s urgent!”

I couldn’t tell what it was about, but since a government official was calling, I thought I should go.

I quickly got up, abandoning my attempt to sleep.

*