Chapter : 18
Troll Hunters (4)
“Really? From the way you act, it seems like the opposite…”
“I went out of my way to bring a customer… should we go somewhere else?”
“I’m joking. Just joking. But it seems like you actually know quite a lot about Cameron Planet. Are you a second-generation there?”
The gun shop owner was quick to catch on. Suhyun looked at him with surprise and nodded.
“Then that explains it. Otherwise, how would you know so much?”
“I used to follow my parents into uncharted lands often when I was young,” Suhyun explained.
“What?! You did something that insane?!”
‘Maybe I should have told a different lie…’
The excuse Suhyun had thrown out was clearly bothering him. Ignoring it, Suhyun went to look for other equipment.
“First, let’s get a blood pouch. There are dozens of ways to hunt trolls, but no hunt skips the blood pouch.”
“Blood pouch?”
“It’s equipment for storing troll blood.”
“Here, you take this one, senior.”
“Why me?!”
“Then will you pick the rest of the equipment?”
“Fine. Damn it.”
What Suhyun handed Kim Chang-sik, at first glance resembling a leather pouch, actually had a long, complex name—low-temperature storage device—but no one called it that. Everyone simply called it a blood pouch.
Troll blood spoiled easily if exposed to room temperature. A blood pouch was essential for maintaining the blood’s quality when harvesting it.
“To draw blood easily, you need a support, a knife, a wire…”
Suhyun grabbed whatever was handy and threw it to Kim Chang-sik. Chang-sik, taking each item as it came, suddenly exclaimed as if he’d realized something.
“Don’t tell me you brought me along because you need a pack mule?!”
Suhyun didn’t answer.
“Let’s look at some smoke bombs too. We probably won’t need them for troll hunting, but just in case… Do you have smoke bombs from Persus Corp? Types 3 and 5.”
“So you really do have experience hunting trolls!”
“Then don’t lie about the price. Just sell it.”
“I never lied! That catalog earlier was actually a popular package,” the owner said.
Kim Chang-sik, standing idly with the equipment, looked around out of boredom. He felt a bit tricked but didn’t feel like arguing with Suhyun.
There’s a saying: skill overwhelms. That was exactly the case with Suhyun. His knowledge and decisiveness on Cameron Planet made Kim Chang-sik naturally follow him. Even treating him almost like a subordinate didn’t stir much objection.
What did it matter if he was treated like a pack mule? On the battlefield, this person would save his life, and if the hunt succeeded, they’d make a fortune. This level of treatment—more like a servant than a mule—was bearable.
“What about poison? Paralytic types might be useful, right?”
Both the owner and Suhyun looked at Kim Chang-sik as if he were hopeless. Feeling the gaze, Chang-sik flinched.
“Why now?”
“If you use poison to catch trolls, you have to throw away half the blood.”
“Ah…!”
“It might make them easier to catch, but hunters who sell the blood rarely use poison.”
Kim Chang-sik blushed and nodded. Suhyun, having found most of what he needed, skimmed through the poison list. A wise troll hunter always prepared for other monsters, even while hunting trolls. On Cameron Planet, you never knew what might jump out.
‘Nothing useful here…’
“Do you have any poisons from Taiyo Corp?”
“What?! Are you crazy? Who are you planning to hunt with that?”
“Never mind if not.”
The owner jumped at Suhyun’s question. Seeing that, Kim Chang-sik asked quietly:
“What’s that?”
“It’s a highly effective poison, but extremely dangerous, so it’s banned. Almost all Taiyo Corp poisons are prohibited.”
Because it was such a dangerous place, regulations like this were surprisingly strict. Selling the wrong thing could get the shop shut down immediately.
‘I wanted at least one poison… I’ll have to check the black market later.’
Suhyun believed more weapons were always better. He wouldn’t hunt in the black market for now, but he’d get them when the opportunity arose.
“Never mind, we’re done here. Let’s move.”
They prepared and returned to the Calcutta jungle. Since it was just the two of them rather than a team, Kim Chang-sik’s face showed tension.
“There are probably dozens of ways to hunt trolls. I don’t know them all, and I don’t need to. Any method works as long as we catch them.”
“So? Which method are we using?”
“The classic, old-fashioned method.”
“?”
Suhyun pulled a shovel from his equipment and tossed it to Kim Chang-sik.
“Dig the ground.”
“….”
A few minutes later, Kim Chang-sik was digging. He wouldn’t have done this if it weren’t for Suhyun. There was something about Suhyun’s words that made them hard to refuse—an odd persuasiveness.
“I’m still the senior… aren’t I?”
“I’m not just standing around either. I’ll set traps elsewhere too. And senior, normally in hunts, everyone splits their share of the kill. Want to settle ours now instead of 50:50?”
“No, just dig.”
Kim Chang-sik became like a gentle lamb. Suhyun chose the equipment and knew the hunt best. Apart from carrying the pack, he had no room to argue.
“Is this enough?”
“Good digging. There was a path earlier; dig that too.”
“Ugh, I’m good at digging, but this is too much! Do we really need so many traps?”
“We don’t plan to catch just one. One trap per troll works, but we want to catch as many as possible.”
‘He doesn’t look greedy, but he really is.’
Kim Chang-sik grumbled as he grabbed the shovel again.
“All done! How many have you dug?”
“I’m on my second one.”
“?!”
Kim Chang-sik looked up in disbelief. There was a pit Suhyun had already dug.
‘Am I slower than him?’
People could obsess over trivial things. As a soldier, Kim Chang-sik had more experience than Suhyun in general, but in digging, Suhyun was faster. Knowledge of Cameron Planet aside, when it came to digging, Suhyun outpaced him.
“This is impossible. Do you have other equipment? A different shovel?”
“Can’t you see the one I’m holding?”
Kim Chang-sik stared, incredulous. Suhyun looked at him with disdain.
“Just dig. Why worry about speed?”
“It’s a matter of pride! I can’t let him dig faster than me.”
“Then want a competition?”
A spark lit in Kim Chang-sik’s eyes. He wouldn’t back down.
“Fine! If I win, you carry the pack back.”
“And if I win?”
“Oh? If you win?”
Kim Chang-sik paused, not expecting Suhyun to win.
“Do you want anything?”
“Not really. Just do as I say.”
“…Fine.”
It felt humiliating. Kim Chang-sik nodded.
“Then start!”
“This is ridiculous…”
“Camouflage properly. Trolls may seem stupid, but they’re actually cunning.”
Kim Chang-sik, looking exhausted, worked on the traps. The difference in skill was overwhelming—Suhyun’s victory was absolute. He had never seen anyone dig like this. He was a human excavator.
“Why did you insist on a competition for no reason…”
To be fair, Suhyun even sealed his psychic powers while digging. Still, the difference with Kim Chang-sik was enormous. It was simply a matter of experience. Chang-sik’s peaceful military life on Earth could not compare to Suhyun’s brutal experience on Cameron Planet.
“Is this enough?”
“Well done. Let’s get up now.”
They hid the equipment and climbed a tree. Once camouflaged, Kim Chang-sik asked:
“Do these traps really work? I’ve never heard of hunting like this.”
“These traps are hard to use unless you know trolls inside out. Otherwise, you catch the wrong monsters or nothing at all.”
“You know?”
“Of course. I already checked. This is a troll habitat.”
“How? How did you check?”
“I looked at their droppings.”
“….”
Kim Chang-sik couldn’t believe Suhyun had managed that while walking here. He was astonished again.
“The trolls hunt elsewhere, then return to eat. Hunting grounds and habitats differ. Novices track the troll, but experienced hunters wait in the habitat first.”
“So trolls come around here?”
“Yes.”
Kim Chang-sik swallowed nervously.
“Don’t we look underarmed? You didn’t even assemble the sniper rifle.”
“This isn’t for fighting trolls. And the traps are enough. Once caught, finishing them is easy.”
“How? Trolls are tougher than hell crocodiles. Bullets won’t do much…”
“You’ll see.”
If anyone else said that, he’d be uneasy, but coming from Suhyun, he trusted it.
Thunk!
“One caught. Let’s go.”
Suhyun lightly jumped down and ran to the sound. The troll’s screams made it easy to locate.
There were no additional devices in the pit trap. It was hard to injure a troll with ordinary means anyway.
Suhyun was confident he could kill the troll immediately. Even before his powers grew strong, he hunted trolls alone, so now it was trivial.
-KRRAAAANG!
The troll struggled in rage, trying to escape. The trap was perfectly sized; it couldn’t get out, only thrashing.
