Chapter 244 - Chapter 244 (1/2)

Side Story 1

1. I am an employee of the Hunter's Association.

When you're taking a stroll on a street, ask this question to any student you run into. Ask them what kind of job they would like to have in the future.

A hundred times out of a hundred, you'd get one of these three answers.

One, a famous Hunter; two, a staff member of a major Guild; and three, an employee of the Hunter's Association.

If a kid you talked to was a bit slow in the head, he or she would end up wasting each day wishing to become a famous Hunter.

A kid smarter than the above example would want to get a job in a major Guild that paid you according to one's abilities.

The smartest cookies of the lot would choose to become an employee of the Hunter's Association, where one would still get paid as much as the large Guilds while being treated as a quasi-government official which lessened the danger of getting unceremoniously fired from the job.

Me? I was a smart cookie.

A very smart one, to boot.

And perhaps that was why when I announced my intentions to join the Hunter's Association, both Mom and Dad were saddened somewhat, which was a bit different than how other parents would have reacted.

Dad wanted me to become a prosecutor, and Mom preferred to see me become a doctor. Of course, as the only son in the family, it wasn't as if I didn't know my parents' wishes of seeing me follow after their career choices.

However, I too had my own dream. And that dream played a big part in me choosing to become an employee of the Hunter's Association.

- Why do you wish to become a member of the Hunter's Association?

Those words were thrown my way by none other than the Chairman of the Association, Goh Gun-Hui, as I sat in the interview room with a stiff-as-rock face.

I was busy scolding myself for messing up almost all of the questions asked by the interviewers because of how nervous I had been. But, when I heard that question piercing into my brain and waking me up in an instant….

The light shining in my eyes changed.

At least, I remembered replying to that question with a determined look flashing up on my face.

- Even now, Hunter-nims are risking their lives to protect innocent civilians in many parts of our nation. In that case.... Where are those people who risk their lives for the sake of Hunter-nims?

My voice rose up while saying that I wanted to become a member of the Association and stand on the side of those people that protected Hunters.

Was I mistaken back then when the still-nervous me heard the soft gasps of "Wow" coming from my side and to my front?

But, one thing's for sure – I distinctly remembered seeing a nearly-imperceptible smile on the face of Association Chairman Goh Gun-Hui as the corners of his lips arched up slightly.

That was how I became an employee of the Hunter's Association, a job that others would certainly die for. Putting my parents' slightly lonely farewells behind me, I set off from the hometown that I grew to love and came to Seoul, where the HQ of South Korea's Association was located.

I felt totally over-the-moon because I'd successfully taken my first step in fulfilling my dream of becoming a member of the Association that protected Hunters.

I even had this vague expectation clouding my mind, wondering if everything was going the way I wanted them to.

Unfortunately for me, though, my beautiful image regarding the Association was shattered into a million little pieces on the first day of work. My thoughts of something still remaining that only I could do for the sake of Hunters was completely wrong.

It had already been over nine years since the Awakened, Gates, and monsters began appearing in this world.

The society had already entered a period of stability after experiencing many failures as well as countless trials and errors. And as a newbie member of the Association who had taken his first baby-steps in said society, there was not a snowball's chance in hell that I could have my say in it.

Since my initial goal was to help Hunters out, I was assigned to the 'Support' department accordingly, but what waited for me there were all sorts of unrewarding miscellaneous tasks.

And that was me being kind here. In reality, it was no different than taking care of the mess left behind by the Hunters affiliated with the Association.

- What's this? I heard that Hunters in the area next to ours get a cup of coffee or snacks before going on raids, so how come we don't get any?

- There's this thing I urgently need to take care of, so can you give me an advance on this month's wages?

- If I participate in today's raid, there's no one to bring my child home, so can you do me this favour for me, please?

Indeed, it was always something like this.

Even if it was low-ranked Gates worth not much money, someone still had to deal with it. But, the number of Hunters were limited, so their needs and wants had to be met no matter what.

In an unlucky chance that someone lodged a claim against Hunters, a pretty awful day would wait for me, but if the Hunter with a claim against him suddenly decided to leave the Association, then….

As I ran around all over the place trying to put out all these fires, I grew disillusioned at the reality that was just too different from my imagination, and as I become more and more fatigued, I also became used to my situation, as well.

And so... on a certain day.

As I was listlessly spending time, a phone call came at my way.

Ringggg…. Ringggg….

I spat out a long, long sigh while looking at the phone ringing off the hook, and wondered just which dear Hunter-nim was calling me this diligently to lay out his or her complaints. I reached out and picked up the receiver.

As soon as the plastic touched my ear, a seriously agitated voice exploded forth from the speaker.

- "I told you people never to send Mister Seong to my location, yet why didn't you listen to my requests?!"

I had no idea what this guy was talking about, but first things first – which was to apologise.

"I'm terribly sorry, Hunter-nim. There must've been an error during the formation of the raid team. Can you please tell me what happened in detail?"

- "What the heck, my man. Forget about details or whatnot. I told you my team don't want to be responsible for a corpse, you know? You keep pushing this weak guy who gets injured from falling over on our team claiming that he's still a Hunter. How do you expect us to take care of the aftermath if something happens?! You guys do this again, and I'm just gonna quit right there and then, got that?!"

The call was one-sidedly cut off there.

I put the receiver down while repeatedly recalling the spelling of the word 'patience' in my head, and then, began collecting data on the Hunter the person on the phone spoke about before any sort of claims could be lodged.

Just like how varied the reasons were for demanding one's raid party member to be changed – such as disagreement over the leader's decision, they didn't like each other, or didn't fight as well as one hoped, etc – such requests were made quite often so I never really paid much attention to the specifics until now.

But then...

'Mister Seong…. Mister Seong…. His name is Jin-Woo, right?'

I saw the record of Hunter Seong Jin-Woo and soon realised that something had gone really wrong here.

'Huh....??'

His rank was only 'E'. As for the amount of magical energy he possessed, it was right at the bottom of the rank E, too.

'Hey, his magic energy emission is no different from a regular person's, isn't it??'

As expected, his record was full of all the instances where he ended up getting injured.

"Oh, my god."

I closed his file in stunned amazement, my heart wildly pounding away.

This... This was definitely wrong.

If I pretended that I didn't see his story and move on here, he'd really die not too long from now.

It was at this point when I recalled the declaration I made back in the interview room.

Hunters risked their lives for the regular citizens, but who risked their lives for the sake of these Hunters?

My head nodded all by itself.

For the first time ever since I started working for the Hunter's Association during this past year or so, I finally found what I needed to do.

***

The first thing I did was to seek out a senior officer.

Unfortunately, neither my immediate superior officer, or the officer above him, or even the person above that guy, wanted to get involved in a matter that could potentially prove to be too much trouble for what it's worth.

Eventually, I had to seek out the Chief of the 'Support' Department.

"Sir, this is a matter concerning a person's life. It's not going to get solved by itself when we continue avoiding reality like this."

Chief was forming an expression of a deeply concerned man after seeing the junior agent suddenly transform from a well-behaved kid who worked hard without complaints to the current me.

However, I didn't stop voicing the things that needed to be said out loud.

"What if that Hunter dies during a raid, sir? What will we say to his surviving family members then?"

"Uh-huh, you shouldn't say anything so unlucky...."

"That's how much Hunter Seong Jin-Woo's life is in danger, sir. Please, take a look. This is his hospital admittance record. It's already a miracle that he managed to survive until now."