Chapter 7 - Bounty Hunt (2) (1/2)
Bounty Hunt (2)
Il-hyun looked tired as he walked through an empty alley.
If he gets lucky, he could get two or more ethers today, at once.
However, he could not find any of the four monsters yet.
Suddenly, a rat squeaked and ran out of the building next door.
It ran quickly and stopped near Il-hyun’s feet.
He lifted the rat up and put it on his hand.
“How did you go? Was there nothing in that building?” he asked it.
The little mouse nodded vigorously.
Il-hyun sighed heavily.
He was searching through the buildings and streets with his summoned mouse.
He thought that with it, he could find the monster right away.
However, there were many high-rise apartments and many locked spaces, so it took more time than he thought.
“What… Still, it’s better than going around alone,” he murmured.
He quickly placed the mouse back in his pocket when he sensed someone was approaching.
There were two men who seemed to be Awakeners, running.
He listened to their conversation as they passed by.
“Where did they find it?”
“It was stuck in the library’s underground warehouse. Ah, damn it. There are only three left now. I don’t have any work these days; I was trying to take advantage of this opportunity.”
“Ah… if you can catch even one of them, you get the bounty, and you get ether prices. Big…”
“Let’s find one before it’s too late!”
They rushed in the opposite direction.
After hearing their words, Il-hyun ran straight to the library.
A little more than ten people gathered in front of the library where Il-hyun was running to.
All were Awakeners, except for the two police officers who ran after hearing the news.
A man opened the library door and yelled, “Coming out!”
When the library front door opened, a man cried.
There were gasps from the crowd as a man and a woman in black coats dragged a monster body out.
It was an ugly monster. Blood was dripping behind it as it was dragged.
Balaks have dark scaly skins and long tails.
One of the men dragging it was swearing over the body.
“Cuck, it was eating one person.”
The man couldn’t help feeling strong hostility and resentment to a monster that ate an innocent civilian guard.
People gathered around it and buzzed with excitement and fear.
“Look at this guy!”
“It looks unique.”
“The real thing is scarier than the photos, though.”
Il-hyun blended into the crowd and evaluated the appearance of the monster.
He was surprised at himself because he didn’t feel much while looking at it.
I don’t find it scary at all. Is it because I am an Awakener?
Meanwhile, a woman came across the street from the other side.
He recognized her. It was Park So-yeon, who he met just 20 minutes ago.
She approached the man and woman who pulled out the monster.
“Where is the victim’s body?” she asked urgently.
“Uh? You are Park So-yeon, the reporter, right?” the man answered.
“Yes, that is correct. Can you bring me to the area where it was discovered?”
“Of course.”
“Let’s go.”
She didn’t notice Il-hyun in the crowd. Park So-yeon went into the building with the pair who pulled out the corpse.
Il-hyun felt interested as he watched them.
How did the man know her? Is she a well-known reporter?
He felt embarrassed that he didn’t recognize her when they met earlier.
By the way, they just left the body!
Il-hyun saw his chance.
Ether has already been extracted, and the body has just been left outside the library.
Other than ether, most of the by-products from monster corpses were useless.
Monster’s flesh could not be used for animal feed, or as edible food. It also rotted quickly and spewed strong toxics.
In addition, it was difficult to dispose of them, so they had to be processed at a specialized monster carcass facility.
Il-hyun listened as the Awakeners around him chatted.
“Damn, they caught one while I was shoveling.”
“I looked everywhere, where are they hiding? I don’t get it.”
“Well, they said that the monsters could go underground…”
Il-hyun’s lips were damp as he thought about his next move.
Finally, a body came out.
Il-hyun walked around as he waited for this chance.
After a while, the majority of the crowd left.
Making sure that no one is looking at him, he tapped his chest with his fingers.
Then the mouse in his pocket pulled its head out.
The two exchanged looks; then the mouse acted as previously told.
The rat jumped down, looked around for a moment, then ran to the body of the monster.
Fortunately, no one has seen it.
Il-hyun walked away and went to the back of a building, where he was alone.
He waited.
Soon, the mouse arrived. Il-hyun looked at it expectantly.
“Did you get it?”
The mouse nodded and opened its tiny mouth.
A tiny chunk of the monster’s flesh fell on the floor.
Il-hyun couldn’t help but smile as he saw the flesh.
“Okay, then shall we start?”
* * *
“Shhh!”
An Awakener woman jumped in surprise when she saw rats crossing the road.
The man beside him had the same reaction.
“Oh. What is that?” the frightened man faltered.
There were five rats running hard and in a line.
It was the first time the man saw anything like it.
The rats passed by, but the woman is still shuddering at the creepy sight.
“Oh, it’s gross. There are so many rats in the world these days,” she grumbled.
“How are you scared of a mouse? You’re not even scared of looking for the monster.”
“They are not the same! Rats are disgusting. By the way, you were scared too. I saw your face.”
“No, I wasn’t. I was just shocked because there shouldn’t be rats in the middle of the city,” the man denied.
“You are funny. Last time, you had the same reaction against the moth monster”, the woman laughed.
When the old story came out, the man couldn’t find a response and shut his mouth.
He couldn’t forget the feeling of looking at the dozens of moth eyes staring at him. The moth monster was bigger than a human.
At that time, it was really scary.
He hated to lose. The man thought about how to retort to the woman when he noticed something in her feet.