Damn Hunter Life Chapter 21
If the results Choi Jung-do discovers show that Gyeon Gang-hyeon is still non-awakened, then it’s just maintaining status quo.
But if he turns out to be awakened, then Woo Sae-geon has one more task on his hands.
‘I’ll have to turn that mad dog into a hunting dog, even if I have to hang him upside down.’
Even if he’s a scoundrel, he needs to be shaped into something useful for stage conquest.
If he’s a successor, he could probably hide his awakening level if he put his mind to it. However, conversely, since Choi Jung-do is a regular hunter weaker than successors, there was one method he could use to detect the opponent’s awakening.
“……I understand. I’ll give it a try.”
Choi Jung-do’s method was as follows:
He just needs to make skin contact with Gyeon Gang-hyeon, whether it’s his arm or anywhere else. Choi Jung-do was an earth attribute hunter. If Gang-hyeon had awakened, he’d feel a tingling sensation the moment their skin touched since they’d have the same attribute. It’s the same reason why Woo Sae-geon absolutely never touches regular hunters – he says their flinching and blushing faces give him the creeps.
And so, timing his departure to match the afternoon hours when Gyeon Gang-hyeon would be going in and out of the training grounds, Choi Jung-do paced around in front of Gang-hyeon’s residence. And he reminded himself of his mission more solemnly than ever before.
Touch him! He must touch Gyeon Gang-hyeon!
* * *
I just turned a street corner and ended up in some ridiculous trouble.
“Ah!”
I crashed my forehead into some guy’s chest and fell spectacularly. Since I fell backward and plopped down on my butt, this was like a traffic accident level collision.
My body was already precariously maintaining its health, so even small impacts were fatal. My tailbone sent shooting pains up my spine, and while I was grimacing, a hand extended toward me.
“I’m sorry. Would you like to grab my hand and get up?”
I looked up at the gentle, deep voice.
A guy around my age with a genuinely apologetic expression was extending his hand with the sun behind him.
The man I couldn’t identify even thinking back to the original work had a harmless expression. He seemed to have no ulterior motives, and it looked like it would be fine to take his hand and stand up.
“No thanks.”
But would I do that? I struggled to get up on my own.
No matter how pathetically unhealthy I look, what’s with taking another guy’s hand? Not even his arm. How disgusting.
And I have to be suspicious of anyone who treats me kindly. Unless they’re crazy, who would be nice to the delinquent Gyeon Gang-hyeon inside Hunter School?
Well, except for Hae Mi-jun.
Despite having his kindness rejected, the man showed no signs of wounded pride. Even more suspicious. The flustered-looking man kept fidgeting his hands in front of me.
“Are you really alright?”
“Do I look alright?”
“No. Shall I help you get home?”
“Not necessary. Pay me back in points for medical bills and clothing costs. You know my name, right?”
The damage is severe when you only wear simple clothes like this. Looking at my back, anyone could tell I was someone who’d fallen on their butt on dirt ground.
“Move.”
I faithfully continued my delinquent act today. Even though I was making a nasty-tempered expression, the other party wasn’t easy to deal with.
“Well, I’m a fan.”
If that guy was trying to get my attention, he was quite skilled at it. At this completely out-of-the-blue statement, I looked back at the man.
Ah, is this how Jin Seol-woon felt? When I said I was his fan?
To think I’d experience this kind of role reversal.
“I fell for you after seeing your interview. Could you shake hands with me just once?”
When the man extended his hand for the second time, a strange feeling crept over me.
Why is he fidgeting around like someone desperate to touch me?
“What’s your name?”
“Choi Jung-do.”
Choi Jung-do, Choi Jung-do… I still don’t think I heard that name in the original work. Either he’s too much of an extra for me to remember, or he really never appeared.
“Get lost.”
After quite sincerely barking at him, I left the man behind and went into the bathroom inside the building.
It was fortunate that I’d developed the habit of carrying spare simple clothes after the Ha Gwon-yeong incident last time.
Even when I came out after changing, the man was still standing in the same spot.
‘Is he following me?’
If so, I have my methods too. I went around to the back of the building, and the moment I disappeared from his sight, I activated my one and only skill.
[<Boundary Between Life and Death (Water Attribute)> skill activates.]
I watched Choi Jung-do for a while as an invisible person, and since he still wouldn’t leave, I just left too. I got his name, so that’s enough.
I’m walking around at this time as if I’m going to sword classes, but actually there are officially no classes today. Strictly speaking, it’s a holiday.
—
<Notification Text>
Today is the regular filming day for the successor interview project ‘The Hero.’
Students are asked to spend their holiday keeping in mind the precautions in the attached notice.
—
No matter how many times I hear this program name, I can’t get used to it.
That show is a regular group interview with the Twelve Zodiac successors. It was a broadcast in a format similar to a talk show.
Since I sniped the broadcasting station last time, many programs got swept away, so this is the biggest program among the few remaining official broadcasts.
……Even Woo Sae-geon couldn’t get this one withdrawn.
When the government directly recommends appearances, what more can a young man who’s only 24 years old refuse, even if he’s the eldest of the Twelve Zodiac?
I turned on my phone to check the preview content of this interview that would have appeared in various news articles.
<Ja Hyeong-woo Condition Controversy… What’s Really Behind Stage 26?>
As expected, the biggest topic would be clarifying the controversy about the original protagonist’s physical condition.
And next, an issue big enough to cover up the controversy about the Twelve Zodiac’s only healer until now.
<The Youngest’s Moving Debut, Hae Mi-jun’s First Interview!>
I lowered my head and had a good laugh for a while. First, the preview narration was funny too.
‘Hae Mi-jun is probably frozen stiff.’
Since Hae Mi-jun unusually didn’t call me first, I called him first. I told him congratulations, and to answer questions well and work hard.
Sure enough, he was trembling with nerves.
[“H-hyung… will I be able to speak well?”]
“Don’t worry, man. Just don’t do it like me. Easy, right?”
Since I kept giggling, Hae Mi-jun, who had been hesitating, eventually giggled along with me too.
Such a high-maintenance guy. I put up with him because he listens to me well.
Thinking about Hae Mi-jun for a moment, I soon felt complicated again.
In the original work, Hae Mi-jun can’t appear on this broadcast at all. He just exists in the shadows, the same as me.
‘Then now that the original work has changed, am I the only successor who wasn’t invited to the interview?’
The campus, emptied of students, somehow felt desolate.
No, this isn’t the time to be standing around dazed. I walked diligently and reached the scenic hill I’d spotted some time ago.
It was a prime spot with the shade of a big tree and a view down to all the regular hunter buildings, but surprisingly it was a place students didn’t know about well.
‘When else would a delinquent like me get to enjoy the breeze if not at times like this?’
Today it’s hill climbing instead of working out. I barely made it up, half-dead. I plopped down in the shade of the tree and felt the gentle breeze.
How much time passed like that?
I, who had been getting slightly drowsy, came to my senses at the sound of someone coming up from below the hill.
“……”
An awkward silence flowed for a moment.
The wind that ruffled through my hair on top of the hill went down coolly and swayed Ja Hyeong-woo’s long tied hair.
‘Why is Ja Hyeong-woo coming here?’
This wasn’t a place particularly mentioned in the original work. It’s not related to interviews either.
%Fed up with interviews, he escaped to another place.
Ah, I think I saw this kind of brief sentence.
So did he escape? Like me…
With one knee bent as if climbing the hill, Ja Hyeong-woo stares intently at me. That unreadable gaze was quite mysterious and unfamiliar.
“What are you looking at? What about the interview?”
So I shot back even more defiantly.
“……Don’t you have anything else to say besides that?”
What am I supposed to say to him?
When I just stared blankly, not understanding, Ja Hyeong-woo turned his body first. It was a motion as if being with me was worthless.
Originally that guy should be nagging me or something.
Is he angry? But the only thing Ja Hyeong-woo had to be angry about was my provocation.
‘Well, that’s going well. He needs to get angry to steel his heart and train hard. Korea’s safety depends on that guy.’
‘But is it okay to be this hated by the original protagonist?’
After thinking about it to some extent, I gave up. The spring weather was really nice. The fields were also lush and green, making my heart feel generous. It had been a while since I felt leisurely. I soon dozed off again.
And woke up again. Another head appeared below the hill.
What, was this actually a hot place that only I didn’t know about?
This time, the guy saw me but climbed the hill without hesitation, stretching his long legs stride by stride. When Jin Seol-woon finally came to look down at me, I spoke first.
“How did you escape too?”
“It’s break time.”
Jin Seol-woon, who answered expressionlessly, readily sat down next to me. It was unexpected, but I didn’t bother telling him to leave.
“Did you meet Ja Hyeong-woo-ssi?”
How did he know? Did he see?
After thinking for a moment, I realized there was a clue in what I’d just said.
If you look closely, this guy is quick-witted. Is this what top idol experience gets you?
“What did you do when you met?”
I don’t know why Jin Seol-woon is curious about that, but there wasn’t really anything to answer.
“What would we do?”
“I see.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
