#67
Ha-seong’s eyes gleamed alertly. Do-hyeok focused on the part Ha-seong was pointing to with his hand. The area Ha-seong pointed to with his finger was around the perpetrator’s neck. The paused video showed the moment when, while constantly confronting Kang Seong-hyeon and dodging his attacks here and there, just once, the upper part of the cloak came slightly loose and disheveled. And through that gap, something glittering caught the eye.
“…A necklace?”
Do-hyeok zoomed in with his finger to look more closely. The video quality wasn’t extremely clear, but he could roughly see the shape of the necklace. It was a silver feather-shaped necklace that certainly looked distinctive.
“You’ve seen this before?”
“Yeah.”
“Where?”
“In a documentary.”
Then Do-hyeok furrowed his brow deeply. By documentary, did he mean a TV program? When Do-hyeok asked for further explanation, Ha-seong told him about a middle-aged man who appeared earlier while watching the documentary with Dal-pyeong.
At that time, Dal-pyeong had definitely spoken with conviction that the man was a soldier and mentioned the necklace as evidence. Unable to overcome his curiosity after watching the TV program, Ha-seong had searched for that documentary episode on an internet video site and watched the broadcast again. Then, in a scene that was shown just in passing, the man was indeed wearing a silver necklace just as Dal-pyeong had said.
“Wait a moment.”
Ha-seong jumped up and went to the living room. Without hesitation, he brought Do-hyeok’s laptop that had been placed on the table, brought up that documentary video, and showed him the relevant scene.
“…They look identical.”
“Right?”
Do-hyeok compared the man’s necklace on the laptop with the perpetrator’s necklace in the phone video. The shape, material, and color were all similar. At this point, it was safe to say they were definitely the same thing. Ha-seong was also surprised. He had no idea that the information he learned earlier would be used so immediately, especially as a clue in an important case.
“Unless the guy who kills hunters without a care is insane, there’s no way he’d openly appear on a broadcast…”
“Right. Plus, the uncle who appeared on this broadcast has a completely different build from the perpetrator.”
The middle-aged man in the documentary was small and thin. The perpetrator was much bigger than Ha-seong, so he was definitely around Do-hyeok’s height. But the man on the broadcast looked shorter than even Ha-seong.
Moreover, as Do-hyeok said, there was no way a murderer who killed hunters would casually appear on a broadcast showing everyday life like that. That would be like advertising “please come catch me.”
“I also learned this because of grandfather Dal-pyeong, but this necklace was supposedly worn by soldiers, specifically special forces.”
Soldiers, and special forces. Do-hyeok also seemed flustered by the unexpected story.
“Do you know anything about soldiers?”
Ha-seong naturally didn’t know. He didn’t even know that this world had a military system, and if he hadn’t heard Dal-pyeong’s words today, he probably would never have known for his entire life. In the previous world, there was no separate military system. Hunters were soldiers and soldiers were hunters.
In a society that worked countless hunters, those two concepts weren’t deliberately separated and the systems weren’t divided either. That was also why he was surprised when he first came to this South Korea. The hunters here didn’t have the feeling of being soldiers who protected the country and were loyal to the nation at all. So he thought there was no such concept from the beginning, but hearing Dal-pyeong’s story, it didn’t seem to be quite like that.
“Before entering the Great Hunter Era, there were both the military and soldiers. When hunters were just beginning to emerge in this society, the system wasn’t established yet, so back then the military took the lead in protecting the country.”
The Great Hunter Era. People called the current society that. A society where hunters and guilds were abundant and they were at the center. Hunters throw themselves to block when dungeons break out. And people were enthusiastic about such hunters. Now it had become a society where it was unimaginable without them. It was hard to imagine that there had been soldiers.
“But as awakened hunters emerged and they formed groups and acted systematically, military organizations naturally disappeared. That’s all I know.”
Things like the military and soldiers were stories from before Do-hyeok was even born, so what he knew was also all just information he had heard.
Even searching the internet didn’t yield much information. Whether it was because so much time had passed, or because they no longer remained in this society, there was surprisingly little information and stories that had moved away from people’s interest.
“Hyung, you said you heard that from grandfather earlier, right?”
“Yeah. That’s right.”
Do-hyeok pondered for a moment and then got up from his seat.
“Where are you going?”
“Let’s ask someone who knows directly. It seems like we’ve gotten a proper clue.”
Do-hyeok left the room with those words.
* * *
“So the reason you bastards called me in the middle of the night is this?”
Dal-pyeong looked back and forth between the faces of the two people sitting across from him with a sullen expression.
In the darkly settled night, Do-hyeok, Ha-seong, and Dal-pyeong gathered around the living room table. Do-hyeok had said that when Dal-pyeong was working, he absolutely wouldn’t come out no matter who called him, that he was the type who wouldn’t come out even if the house next door caught fire, but seeing that he came out, he must have coincidentally been resting at the time.
“It’s just past 9 o’clock, so it’s not the middle of the night.”
Do-hyeok replied bluntly.
“You brat, for an old man like me, 9 o’clock is the middle of the night. Try being my age.”
Do-hyeok glared at Dal-pyeong with eyes that said ‘is that something a person who travels all over Africa and lives in the high-altitude Jirisan should say?’ It seemed like the fight between grandson and grandfather would drag on if left alone, so Ha-seong stepped forward first.
“I’m sorry for calling you while you were resting. But it’s an important matter. Please tell us if you know anything.”
“I don’t know why young folks are asking about outdated stories…”
Dal-pyeong briefly stared at the laptop screen Ha-seong had turned on. The documentary screen they had seen earlier was displayed there.
“Let me first tell you a story you’d probably be curious about – soldiers and hunters didn’t get along well. To be precise, the soldiers unilaterally disliked the hunters.”
Dal-pyeong’s gaze lingered in the air for a moment. He slowly recalled what the situation was like in those days long ago.
“A very long time ago, soldiers were the only guardians in this society. But at some point, awakened ones called hunters appeared.”
Military organizations had existed for a long time, so they maintained their solidity. When the existence called hunters had just emerged and confusion came to society, it was also the soldiers who stepped forward. Even at that time, hunters were also those who existed within the boundary protected by soldiers.
“But before long, the situation was reversed.”
As those called awakened ones learned to use unique skills and their numbers gradually increased, and very strong hunters appeared one after another, the atmosphere of society gradually changed. The country began creating laws and systems for hunters, and hunters formed organizations to create guilds.
Guilds were no different from saviors to people suffering from dungeons, and their position grew day by day. Moreover, influenced by neighboring powerful countries that had entered the hunter era one step earlier, the state that recognized that hunters meant national power began to treat hunters even more favorably.
“Are you saying it was a fight over rice bowls?”
When Do-hyeok asked, Dal-pyeong nodded.
“As the Management Bureau was created in earnest and even among soldiers, all those who awakened went over to become hunters, the military system was truly on the trend of disappearing.”
“But what do you mean that soldiers disliked hunters?”
The system of a country changes and transforms easily. When something new emerges, there are things that disappear to match it – this was in some ways a natural order. But did the soldiers not accept that process? Ha-seong was a bit curious.
“Well, what’s so special about a rice bowl fight? They naturally disliked those who were cutting off all their livelihoods. As hunters’ positions grew, many military organizations were disbanded. People were only enthusiastic about hunters, so there was no way they would understand the hardships of those who became unemployed overnight. Moreover, the country’s response was also a bit of a mess.”
As military organizations shrank and were disbanded, the country didn’t provide them with any alternative measures. Even though they had protected the country and stepped forward to protect citizens before hunters emerged, the country didn’t provide any compensation or treatment.
“But the soldiers didn’t just sit still either. There was one special forces unit that was considered elite within the military, and I remember that unit resisted dissolution until the end and held out. The state of the country back then was terrible.”
They somehow made known to society the soldiers’ achievements and the suffering they were currently experiencing, demanding attention, proper treatment, and support for the path they would live in the future. But the government, distracted by hunters emerging and rising at a rapid pace, didn’t even think of looking after them.
“Then even that unit was disbanded and eventually the military system completely disappeared from this country.”
It was a story that was somewhat heavy and made one think a lot. It meant that this world didn’t remember the things that disappeared as new things emerged.
Ha-seong fell into thought silently. He felt like he could understand their feelings just a little bit. A life where nothing came back despite working hard with pride. Ha-seong had also experienced that. Do-hyeok stared at Ha-seong’s deeply sunken face for a moment and then turned his head away.
“So what is this necklace?”
“Ah, this.”
Dal-pyeong looked at the screen once more and nodded as if it was definitely correct.
“I told you earlier, right? That there was a special forces unit that resisted dissolution until the end.”
In a way, they were no different from those who resisted disappearing until the very end.
“The necklace symbolizing that special forces unit is exactly this. This feather shape.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Of course, you brat. What do you take me for? I may be old, but I’m not yet at an age where I’m forgetful like that. From what I remember, the name of that unit was ‘Goshawk.'”
Dal-pyeong pointed to the necklace made in the image of the goshawk’s brave feathers. Where his finger pointed, the silver feather shape was sparkling brightly.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
