Chapter 30 (1/2)

30

JUNE

Yoo-seong’s breathing was labored as he jogged around the park.

It had been several weeks after the hunting. His arms and ribs had naturally healed.

When he finished running, he did a final stretch and went to the drinking fountain. He then poured water on his neck.

“There you are,” someone said from behind him.

He turned to see two women in sportswear. They seemed to be students living in the residences nearby.

They looked so young; he felt awkward to be around them. He was sure they were freshmen.

“You’re a hunter, right?” one of the girls asked.

“Yes,” he said.

“Wow!” the girls gushed.

It had been easy for them to guess. He had run around the park at tremendous speed for over an hour.

“Would you like this?” One of the girls offered a can of ionized beverage that seemed to have just been pulled from a vending machine.

The girls smiled at each other as Yoo-seong received it from them.

“Thank you,” he told them.

“Can I ask you something?” the first girl said.

“Of course,” Yoo-seong said with a smile, doing his best to keep a distance.

“Have you ever caught a monster yourself?”

“Yeah, what’s your ranking?” the other girl asked.

“Hey! Excuse me, I asked first,” the first girl said, becoming angry.

Yoo-seong waved his hand in the air.

“It’s only been three months since I received my license. I haven’t had that much experience yet.

Technically, it was true.

“Really?” the girls asked, frowning a bit. They were evidently disappointed.

It was a general perception that Hunters, who had just begun, were low rankers.

“Then… have you ever actually seen Park Kang-han?” the first girl asked.

“Yeah, I have,” he said.

“Wow!” the girls said together, covering their mouths.

“How does he look? Is he handsome? Tall?”

“He’s just normal,” Yoo-seong said.

“What do you mean ‘just normal’?” one of the girls said, frowning.

“He’s just plain. He looks like every other person,” Yoo-seong said.

It sounded harsh, but the girls were too caught up in the name of Park Kang-Han to notice.

Even the people who were around who had heard the name began to pay attention. Yoo-seong crumpled the can of beverage he had finished.

“Thank you for the drink,” he said. With his head down, he left.

A month has passed since the hunt.

It was still too early for the things that had transpired to be forgotten, but it was enough time for things to calm down.

However, the name of Park Kang-Han refused to go down the drain.

Rather, it was even getting more popular. The reason for it was simple.

Yoon Kang-Cheol’s words in the newsroom months ago were still being re-broadcasted.

…

“Then, let’s watch the video again. This is the actual hunting footage from QR Corporation.”

The screen changed with the lady anchor’s prompt. It was a video of Team 1 on the site as they skillfully captured Shantigas pouring out of the rift.

However, that wasn’t the focus of the replay.

“Can you see him? That is Park Kang-han, the hunter who is running up the building wall with Shin Yoo-hee,” Yoon Kang-cheol said, pointing to the image.

The camera zoomed on the figure. In the subtitle, the man was marked as Park Kang-Han.

“Then, can it be said that this hunter, together with Shin Yoo-Hee, contributed greatly to blocking the rift?” The anchor asked.

“Of course,” Yoon Kang-cheol said.

“It is important to remember the Maruchan teams who gave their lives to stop the rift. But if it weren’t for Park Kang-han, closing the rift would have been much delayed. At the time, there were no hunters on the scene with the equipment and skills to access the rift.”

Although the Yoo-seong’s appearance was revealed without consent, his identity was concealed by his helmet, and so, it couldn’t be classified as defamation.

“Then the damage is…” The anchor began, but she was interrupted.

“The damage could have been much bigger. Although it does not appear in this video, according to Shin Yoo-hee, Park Kang-han’s contribution was even greater even inside the crack. He protected Shin Yoo-hee, who was charging the pulse breaker, till she finished,” Yoon said.

The figure of Yoo-seong and Shin Yoon-hee appeared on the screen at that point.

It was the scene where he threw a rope at a pole and used it as a bridge.

It was the footage that had trended for a long time on the internet.

“This is true,” the anchor said in admiration.

It looked like a scene from a movie.

“On the other hand, there are suspicions about Park Kang-han’s ranking.”

“What do you mean by suspicion?” Kang-cheol asked.

“While his personal history is not available, official records show that Park Kang-han moved from a silver seal to a platinum seal. Isn’t that a huge upgrade for a ranker?”

“How is that weird?” Kang-cheol asked the anchor to clarify.

“Do you know that he now places 19th on domestic rankings? It means that someone who had been among the Top 20 had dropped and that he surpassed other platinum hunters who were waiting to fill that position.”

She stopped there. She was careful of the fans of the hunter who had dropped. There was no precedent for what had happened.

“Well, everyone knows that the ranking is sometimes carried out with relativity,” Kang-cheol said in defense.

“The level of danger one faces during hunting, the number of people saved, and so on. Come on, everyone. Let’s think about it together. I want to ask those who file an objection. If it wasn’t for Park Kang-han, what would have happened to our friends and families?”

Yoon Kang-Cheol asked calmly.

The anchor seemed rattled for a second, but she regained her bearings.

“The death of a civilian is more severe than the death of a hundred hunters. If the closing of the rift has been delayed further…”

“Well… In that case-“