Damn Hunter Life 122

Damn Hunter Life Chapter 122

[“Of course, this isn’t something I witnessed directly myself, but I’ve kept the testimonies from those who were around at the time and am simply relaying them to you as they were. If you feel any dizziness, nausea, or other abnormal symptoms while listening, please let me know immediately.”]

“I got it, so hurry up already.”

Park Yoon-seok’s excessive caution was starting to feel frustrating.

The prodding seemed to work, as the information I’d been waiting for finally started leaking out.

[“This was before the Stage System was fully activated as it is now, when the successors were handling all the gates that had appeared in Korea.”]

Much earlier than the original story’s timeline.

Buildings destroyed by gates, lives taken away. This was when the government had just started promoting the successors as heroes to contain the chaos.

The successors back then weren’t even newbies—they were at about the level of eggs. Yet even that was better than other countries’ situations.

[“Among the early successors, Woo Sae-geon, Ja Hyeong-woo, Myo Cho-hui, and Sa Ye-ho had all awakened. Only Gang-hyeon remained… Based on the energy flowing from him, it was estimated that Gang-hyeon’s awakening was also imminent.”]

The Gyeon Gang-hyeon of that time must have been full of optimism. He probably thought his awakening was just a bit late because he was the Dog, one of the later numbers in the Twelve Zodiac.

[“Then one day, Gang-hyeon said that if he was deployed in actual combat, he might awaken faster. Ja Hyeong-woo tried to dissuade him, but… despite that, he went into the gate together with him.”]

“Hmm… Yes. I did do that.”

Being stubborn is just like me. Maybe that’s why I possessed Gyeon Gang-hyeon’s body.

Anyway, I threw in appropriate responses here and there, giving off the impression that I sort of remembered bits and pieces. If I acted like I didn’t know anything at all, Park Yoon-seok might find it strange.

[“The gate was full of monsters, and as you know, crisis struck. Coincidentally, Gang-hyeon really did experience his awakening at that moment. They say when successors awaken, the Status Window speaks to them. Gang-hyeon also had a conversation with the Status Window.”]

On the day I awakened while chasing after Ja Hyeong-woo in the Busan gate, the Status Window had spoken to me too.

Park Yoon-seok in the video call screen checked my complexion once more before saying his next words.

[“But Gang-hyeon apparently screamed things like ‘No, I can’t do it.’ According to Ja Hyeong-woo’s testimony. Since monsters were charging at them right then, he thought Gang-hyeon had gotten scared seeing the monsters. Gang-hyeon ended up running away, leaving only Ja Hyeong-woo alone among the monsters. Fortunately, he was unharmed.”]

Park Yoon-seok closed his mouth. After a few seconds of silence, I raised my eyebrows.

“That’s it?”

[“Yes. That’s why I told you my knowledge is limited.”]

The scope of information Park Yoon-seok knew was extremely narrow. And vague.

So in the end, the only person who properly knows about that time is Ja Hyeong-woo… alone?

An anxious heartbeat arose from behind my ribs. I exhaled deeply through my nose, settling the foreign sensation.

How could I ask that bastard about it? Absolutely impossible.

In the end, I’ll have to make inferences based on this insufficient information…

‘That sneaky bastard Status Window might have snatched away the opportunity and sent someone to hell just because he got momentarily scared and said he couldn’t do it.’

It was a reasonably logical guess. I’d experienced the Status Window’s high-handed behavior and nastiness several times before.

But were the monsters really that scary? Scary enough to give up awakening in that moment? I can handle it fine now, so was he more pathetic than me?

“What about after that? He failed to awaken, I was drinking heavily… did he mention anything during that time?”

[“Hmm… there is something that comes to mind. But this is what he said when he was drunk and not thinking clearly. When Gang-hyeon was drunk, there were times when he… didn’t act like himself.”]

Manager Park Yoon-seok seemed to be euphemistically referring to the record of causing trouble in the training ground and passing out drunk, or hurling insults at students he encountered.

But he said that wasn’t like me? I’m still a troublemaker now though?

Park Yoon-seok then told me a few more words.

And after hearing those words, I frowned in confusion.

The words that Gyeon Gang-hyeon, who had gotten so drunk he couldn’t even tell that his phone conversation partner was Manager Park Yoon-seok, had babbled while crying his eyes out:

“I shouldn’t awaken. I couldn’t help it either…”

Was it an excuse that a completely wasted drunk had blurted out, unable to withstand others’ criticism? Had he beautified and distorted his own mistake?

‘But what if it’s not that? What if there was something more to the original Gyeon Gang-hyeon’s awakening?’

The point is this: No one completely knows the moment when Gyeon Gang-hyeon failed to awaken, and only Gyeon Gang-hyeon himself knows the truth.

I gained nothing and only ended up feeling disturbed for no reason.

I felt strange. I should have thought about this more, but not long after, my phone rang again, breaking my train of thought.

[Sa Ye-ho]

Especially given who was calling.

[“Hey hey hey hey. I heard our next shoot is at a water park?”]

“What, that Hero broadcast thing?”

At first I thought this bastard was talking nonsense out of nowhere. Thinking about it again, Sa Ye-ho was the only successor who communicated with the external broadcast team.

In other words, it was real.

The broadcast team was really planning a summer special resort shoot.

But we can’t leave the school, so don’t tell me they want to build a resort inside the school?

[“They already built it. In front of my house.”]

“They built a swimming pool? Are you out of your mind?”

[“They built changing rooms, an outdoor bath, and a wave pool too~”]

No way, when I went to Sa Ye-ho’s house yesterday, there was nothing like that. What kind of upheaval happened overnight?

The system must have charged an arm and a leg for it.

“Where did all the points come from?”

[“Sae-geon hyung took it from the magic stones we have to give to the association and provided the budget. This is association money.”]

“Oh really?”

Once I learned the source of the money, my anxiety rapidly subsided. I responded indifferently.

“Then you should have built more. You should have made a lazy river, diving boards, and water slides too.”

[“Budget exceeded.”]

What it means to deliver magic stones to the association is that the school members give a certain amount of magic stones to the Hunter Association and government in exchange for them accommodating the hunters’ convenience.

In principle, objects inside the gate where Hunter School is located cannot be taken outside, except for the clothes and equipment the hunters are wearing and some items in their inventory. Except for one specific function when used.

And that function is the ‘Hunter Shop Export Rights’ that the school’s owner, the Twelve Zodiac leader, possesses.

Until now, Woo Sae-geon had been delivering magic stones collected from stages to the association through this function.

“But it’s more surprising that Woo Sae-geon allowed this. Did he change when he was about to die (retire)?”

[“Hyung has been working the kids hard lately, so he’s trying to give them rest time. Even though cameras are rolling, you can lie on sun beds and stuff to relax.”]

Sa Ye-ho chattered as if he was moved, but my view is a bit different. What a cheapskate. He could just give them some rest, but he’s using broadcast filming time for it.

“You’re just filming the kids lying around and resting? Will that make for good footage?”

[“Looking at you worrying about footage, I was right to trust you. You and I can carry it.”]

And so, in the still hot late summer, all the successors gathered at ‘Ye-ho Water Park.’ It was for filming, but even Woo Sae-geon was there.

The successors’ outfits were varied. There were people like Woo Sae-geon wearing hanbok as usual, and guys like Yang Pyo who seemed to have swimwear under their regular clothes.

And Hae Mi-jun. Hae Mi-jun came dressed in a rash guard from the start, carrying a tube. Well, he’s at an age where just seeing water would excite him.

The problem was that with a face full of anticipation for water play, instead of jumping into the water right away, he was following me around.

It was troublesome because it was so obvious what he was expecting.

“Gang-hyeon hyung, are you going to swim? I’ll pull the tube for you!”

I wasn’t planning to go in. If I get wet, it’ll be obvious how skinny I am…

But when Hae Mi-jun was looking at me with sparkling eyes, I couldn’t tell him I wasn’t going in.

In the end, I patted Hae Mi-jun’s head.

“Alright. I’ll do some filming with Sa Ye-ho for the opening part first. Wait here and look around until then.”

The filming space was incredibly spacious. The swimming pool itself was quite large, plus Sa Ye-ho had opened up his house in the back. That bastard’s arboretum.

So if they put their minds to it, the ten successors could hide away alone without running into anyone else.

‘And as expected, they’re still not close enough to play in the water together casually, so more than half are doing their own thing.’

But since Sa Ye-ho and I were there, there was no need to worry about the broadcast.

The opening of the summer special <The Hero> begins with the attention-seeker and troublemaker putting their heads together to scheme about the mission they received from the broadcast team.

That mission was to go mess with each of the members except for us two, one by one.

We started with role assignments. Who would go to whom.

“I’ll take Sae-geon hyung, Cho-hui noona, Yang Pyo, and Cheon-a.”

Sa Ye-ho muttered while drawing lines in his notebook.

“Puppy can go to Seol-woon, Ha-ri, Mi-jun, and Ja Hyeong-woo.”

“Ja Hyeong-woo?”

I grimaced. Do I really have to take on Ja Hyeong-woo? I’m uncomfortable with that.

But Sa Ye-ho giggled and said:

“You’re being picky because it’s a broadcast, right?”

“No, what the… Are you crazy? People will misunderstand!”

This bastard is the one throwing around crazy talk because it’s a broadcast. I was so upset I could die, I could barely speak.

Fine, I’ll endure it because it’s a broadcast. There’ll be rumors of discord with Ja Hyeong-woo. I calmed down and moved on.