Chapter 9
“Yes. Then first… Hunter-nim—”
“I’m not a hunter.”
“Hmm.”
The rookie hunter fell silent with a troubled expression.
In the subway, filled with an icy stillness, I absentmindedly whistled.
Wow, I’m really good at whistling today. Usually, it just sounds like wind.
“It seems a very powerful hunter came through here. The Garuda squadron of the Greedy King is usually quite resistant to elemental attacks, but to be turned to ashes like this… Even Senior Sunwoo wouldn’t be able to do that.”
“Really? The young lady awakened that strongly?”
“Yes. You know monsters are generally tougher and more durable than humans, right? The Garuda squadron we faced has strong elemental resistances and tough outer shells. It’s hard to even damage them with ordinary firepower. To reduce them to ashes like this, the hunter must be at least S-rank.”
At the mention of an S-rank hunter, everyone’s eyes changed.
At first, they thought I was just a lucky newbie awakened hunter, but now they looked at me like I was a celebrity.
“That’s great, young lady! Did you hear that, mister? S-rank! There are less than ten S-rank hunters in our country!”
“Um, sir, I said I didn’t awaken…”
“Miss, after registering as a hunter, why not join my sister’s guild? It’s a famous guild, and if I say you saved my life, they’ll treat you well. No, since you’re S-rank, they’ll be eager to have you!”
Huh…? Such a sudden recruitment?
I turned my head to avoid the auntie gripping my hand tightly and shining her eyes.
If it’s the Natural Dream auntie’s guild, is that Saheon? Saheon is a famous guild.
A super big guild under the Five Great Guilds including Saebyeok.
“How about it? My sister will definitely like you. And above all, if you join her guild, I’ll be able to see you often.”
The auntie smiled brightly without a trace of ulterior motive.
It was a pure smile of someone genuinely happy to see the person they owe their life to.
“Um, if you haven’t decided where to go yet, how about our guild? We’re a great guild and we can treat you well. My brother would surely like you.”
Following the sudden recruitment proposal from the auntie, the rookie hunter also made a guild invitation.
Wait, the Saebyeok guild?
Isn’t that the guild with that annoying guy? The guy who stubbornly clings to me every time we meet?
And although the auntie said she was the younger sister of the Saheon guild leader and made the offer, what relationship do they have with the Saebyeok guild leader to make such recruitment offers?
And why would that brother like me?
I thought about it and one suspicion arose.
I rummaged through my hoodie pocket and took out a cheap strawberry candy.
I handed it to a child from the new country who was grabbing my pants and then voiced my suspicion.
But first, let me say this.
“First of all, I am not a hunter.”
“Yes, you said that already.”
“And I don’t understand why you’re trying to recruit me to the Saebyeok guild. You were promoting your sister’s guild, but I’m not a hunter.”
I spoke firmly and bluntly. I looked like a Transformer.
Or a Jo—no, a Tomax and friends.
Or maybe Robocar Poli.
Anyway, somewhere between robot and machine.
The rookie hunter looked embarrassed at my attitude.
Good job, soldier Chulbyeokbu’s Woo Yeonhee. You did well. For you, I allow watching three episodes of drama instead of today’s study.
I praised my brain for handling this difficult situation wisely and excellently.
The protagonist of the drama I’m currently watching, Love’s Dungeon Road, always puts up a steel wall whenever she enters a dungeon.
Yeah, who goes to a sacred dungeon for romance? A government hunter should be rescuing citizens, not fooling around! Tsk.
But since it gave me a big insight, your sins are forgiven.
Above all, my mom loves that drama so much that I couldn’t do anything about it.
Of course, if I wanted, I could end that drama.
I could call the broadcasting station disguised, say, “Yeah, this is Finger Technique. That drama Love’s Dungeon Road is full of fiction. Do you want me to sue if you keep making dramas like that?” and then it would be canceled for sure.
But my image would be ruined as well.
There are already dozens of memes like [FingerKing_eating_CapriSun_in_the_dungeon.jpg], [FingerPrince_playing_SpiderMan_in_the_dungeon.jpg], and [FingerTechnique_playing_pool_with_monsters.jpg].
Since I’m globally famous, just a quick internet search will find tons of Finger Technique meme collections.
So if I did something like that, there would be another weird story added:
[FingerKing_calls_broadcast_station_and_gets_drama_canceled_incident].
That would send Finger Technique’s image to space.
After I looted a convenience store inside the monster wave, signs saying [Convenience store raided by Finger Technique] appeared.
Same with other places.
[PC bang wrecked by Finger Technique], [Monster billiards at Finger Technique’s pool hall], [Amusement park visited by Finger Technique]…
“That might be rude of me to say, but the guild leader of our guild is my brother. He emphasizes recruiting talent so much, maybe I got influenced too. You might not know, but Saebyeok guild only accepts B-rank or higher high-ranked hunters.”
The rookie hunter smiled awkwardly and tried to promote their guild.
No, that’s boasting. That they got B-rank immediately after awakening?
The Saebyeok guild’s crazy leader is so famous that no hunter doesn’t know him.
Especially, that guy was very interested in the mysterious Finger Technique. Whenever Finger Technique appeared, he made a huge fuss chasing after him.
Finger Technique’s raided convenience store?
That guy bought it.
Finger Technique’s wrecked PC bang?
He bought that too.
Finger Technique’s visited amusement park?
Of course, he bought that as well.
Especially, the amusement park had a terrible event called “Free amusement park entry for one month if you join Finger Technique to Saebyeok guild.”
The Saebyeok guild leader’s obsession with Finger Technique didn’t stop there.
That guy bought everything touched by Finger Technique and made a Finger Technique museum.
I remember secretly visiting that museum when it was built.
That crazy guy collected all the Capri Sun trash I threw in the dungeon and made my mask shape out of it.
I almost gave it a hectopascal kick then.
Saebyeok guild. Yeah, a great guild. A very great guild…
I sat down and chanted prayers to regain peace of mind.
Before the war started, my family’s religion was Buddhism.
But after the war, I lost faith. What if the gods here are kings over there?
What if the Buddha who died long ago is actually alive?
Thinking that my tragic life might just be a StarCraft match between gods of different dimensions made me just cry.
We mere humans know nothing and can only pray it’s not true.
“Whoa, miss, what’s wrong? Did I overwhelm you? Sorry, I must have put too much pressure on you since you denied being a hunter. Really, I’m sorry.”
“Are you okay? Sorry, I probably spoke too suddenly. You just awakened, so reality must feel unreal. But you’ll adjust soon. I was like you a week ago. Would you like to go outside? I can help you with anything.”
The child who rolled the candy in his mouth next to me laughed softly while I chanted prayers with closed eyes.
Hearing a child laugh inside a wave, I thought my days might be numbered.
Eventually, I was forced to stand up by the auntie and rookie hunter while chanting prayers.
Then we all went outside the station, and I refused their help to register as a hunter and went back home.
At home, I was scolded by my mom while crying after drinking a bowl of water. The outing ban was a bonus.
That was definitely it. That was really the end.
[Headline on portal site]
[S-rank awakened (presumed) appears at Hapjeong Station wave. Saebyeok guild hunter says, “To turn the Garuda squadron to ashes requires at least S-rank.”]
There were other similar strange articles. The whole country was stirred by the appearance of a new S-rank hunter.
What is this, a dream? A hidden camera?
I stared stupidly at my phone screen and pulled my cheek.
It hurt so much. More than the Mamamuster hit yesterday.
Something was definitely going wrong.
