Hunters with abilities that transcended ordinary people were double-edged swords in society.
They served as weapons against monsters that could not be subdued with human weapons, but there were also many cases of abuse of that power.
The only force that managed and controlled such hunters. It was neither the government nor the people, but the âHunter Associationâ.
Recently, however, the status of the association was getting weaker everyday.
âHave you heard from Hunter Shin Siwoo yet?â
Even if the sky fell, there would be a hole which you could rise through. Daeyoon, the president of the Hunter Association, was anxious because he could not get the solution in front of him.
âNo, President. Iâve been trying to call himâŠâ
In response to Gwanghyunâs answer, Daeyoon pressed his temple with his fingers. He really, desperately wanted Siwoo.
Of the hundreds of thousands of Korean hunters, there were only six S-Class hunters. In other words, it meant that he was a rare talent who was born at a terribly low probability of 0.001%.
If Siwoo became a hunter belonging to the association, they would have their first S-Class hunter.
âItâs for balance.â
Daeyoon was sure.
Currently, 4 out of 6 S-Class hunters had their own personal guilds. While those four guilds were increasing their strength with every passing day, it became dangerous for the associationâs position and prestige to decline more than it already had. If it did, it would be no different from a warning that an era of lawless hunters was approaching.
In other words, they needed to quickly recruit an influential hunter to join the association! The current members of the association were at their limit.
âBut will he really leave the Wolf Guild and join the association?â
âDonât you know that Shin Siwoo is not on good terms with the Wolf Guild?â
âBut blood is thicker than water, isnât it?â
âThere is no tree that doesnât fall after ten hits. Try to stay in touch first.â
Shin Siwoo. While he was a member of the Wolf Guild, he established a subsidiary called âSilver Moonâ and claimed the title of CEO for himself.
Silver Moon was not a guild, but a hunter management company. One might think of it as a stepping stone before becoming the next guild leader, but Daeyoon had a foreboding feeling that it would not be the only one.
âWellâŠâ
Meanwhile, Gwanghyun scratched his cheek as if he were in trouble. Daeyoon, the president of the association, had never officially talked to Siwoo yet, so he could still say that.
Siwoo had a talent for freezing people with his smiling face. Gwanghyun was convinced that Siwooâs persistence would most likely be stronger and harder than his ice shields.
Gwanghyun was not confident enough to break through that ice shield. Rather than contacting him, it was more comfortable to visit the master of the Corps Guild, known as the âgeeky otakuâ.
âOh, come to think of it.â
Gwanghyun suddenly raised his head as if he had remembered.
âDidnât I tell you last time? The Princess of Dark FlareâŠâ
âAre you still talking about that? Arenât you ashamed as an adult to be swayed by stories like these childrenâs jokes?â
The Princess of Dark Flare was an urban legend amongst hunters.
There were many other urban legends that were similar. There was the âBat Manâ who would suck the blood of hunters, the âBlack Reaperâ where the souls of dead hunters gathered and wandered through cracks, and many others.
âHey, you were the type of person who would wear a dog on the back of your hand back in the days of the Red Mask*.â
tl/n: *an urban legend and itâs more or less explained in the next dialog. itâs originated in japan and the korean version is just a variation of it. you can google it as âred masked womanâ or âkuchisake-onnaâ if you want to know more.
ââŠI wouldnât do that.â
âThen? How would you respond to the question âAm I pretty?â If you said no, your throat would be slit, and if you said yes, she would cut your mouth to look like her. Were you even able to go to school if you were this scared?â
âDonât make fun of me.â
âIâm saying this because a member of the association believes in an urban legend. If you understand, donât let me down anymore.â
They say you shouldnât judge people by their looks, but Daeyoon was as conservative as his appearance. The current association existed because that conservative tendency was favoured by the government. Yes, that was true, butâŠ
âI donât know her identity, but Hunter Shin definitely said that he couldnât even beat her himself.â
âTsk tsk. Thatâs just because the young Hunter Shin is humble.â
âNo, he seemed to mean it.â
âThatâs enough. It wouldâve been more productive to make at least one more call to Shin Siwoo during this useless conversation.â
âNo, Iâm seriousâŠâ
âGet out.â
Gwanghyun, who had been kicked out, stood in front of the slammed door and touched his heart in sorrow.
âHa. Should I really quit my job?ââ
It was exactly his 201st urge to resign.
Usually, in the case of such an inflexible person, they would never believe what people said until they saw it with their own two eyes.
So, there was only one way.
Gwanghyun tightened his tie as if he had made up his mind.
âTeam Leader, are you leaving work already?â
âDonât look for me for a while.â
âWhat? Um, okayâŠ?â
Gwanghyun grabbed his bag and got in the elevator without looking back.
âIâll never come back until you need me!â
Gwanghyun pressed the âcloseâ button with his index finger, engulfed in anger.
***
A week had passed since Eunha had escaped the gate.
Click, click.
It was a quiet room. Eunha, with a very serious face, raised her index fingers and tapped the keyboard.
<BOOGLE Search Bar> âWolf Guildâ
Information related to the Wolf Guild poured through the white screen. Eunha slowly scrolled down and read the information one by one in her head.
Siwoo brought a laptop in consideration of Eunha. Since connecting to Wi-Fi was difficult for Eunha, he had set up all of the settings in the end. Thanks to this, Eunha was able to easily find information about modern times even in her room.
âHmm.â
Eunha, who was browsing the internet, gently stroked her chin. It was true that the Wolf Guild seemed to be the largest guild in Korea. However, its fame seemed to have become a double-edged sword.
[Content] If it werenât for the Wolf Guild, would Korea have become a hunter powerhouse? I know that there are conspiracy theories, and there are obviously problems with sticking to a coercive system. But, as a result, donât a number of S-Class gate clean-ups make less money than Wolfâs??
[Comments] 122
â>âĄâĄ: no hahahaha iâm defending it lol, honestly, itâs because s-class gates are the best way to get money
â>ă :: thatâs true, right?
â>âĄâĄ: iâm not interested in hunters or guilds, but i know wolf guildâs the most famous. honestly, the wolf guild is way better in terms of recognition.
â>âĄâĄ: itâs the same reason that so many popular celebrities have so many antiâs. itâs such a big place so there are so many rumors.
â>âĄâĄ: isnât the wolf guild leader about to retire? since wolf has done a lot, which guild will be the next batter?
As Eunha scrolled down further, she suddenly heard someone knocking on the door.
âSunbae, itâs me.â
It was Siwooâs voice. Eunha closed her laptop and opened the door. Siwoo, who entered the room, began to arrange something on the table.
âThese are the minimum things that Sunbae will need to live in modern times. Keep it.â
<Lee Yura, a graduate of the 126th class of the Pocheon Hunter Training Center>
<Mobile Phone Activation Service Guide â Customer Lee Yura>
<Lee Yuraâs Savings Account>
Account Number: XXX-XXXXX-XXX
ââ Bank Co., Ltd. May 19, 2031
Creating a temporary identity was not a task for the Wolf Guild. So of course, Siwoo himself did not do these cumbersome tasks.
â⊠Lee Yura?â
Eunha, who was checking the items listed, muttered in confusion.
âYes. Of course, itâs just an alias.â
Forgery of documents. It was a method used secretly by hunters who lived in hiding.
âItâs because you didnât want to reveal that you were a first-generation hunter. And, I donât even know your real name yet.â
Siwoo, who had spoken up to that point, glanced at Eunha.
âYou still donât want to tell me, do you?â
ââŠâ
Eunha had tried to say her own name, but her throat would choke up.
âIf not now, I hope youâll tell me someday.â
In front of Eunhaâs silence, Siwoo turned his gaze away without asking any further questions.
âFirst of all, Sunbae will need to learn a little bit about modern times.â
Siwoo opened the bag he had brought. A myriad of books poured over the table.
<101 Common Sense Essentials of Modern People>
<A New Wave of Evolutionary Theory! Hunters, Who Are They? >
<Now Youâre Dr. Hunter âȘ>
<Fun Gate Exploration with Doraemon Book 1>
e/n: our tl didnât explain but in case u donât know, doraemon is a character in a manga.
âYou want me to read this?â
âYes. I was told to only choose books that were easy to read, but is there a problem?â
ââŠâ
Eunha shook her head with a trembling face. Yes, it must have been prepared with thoughtfulness, and it would be absurd to tell him that he should put it down and let it go.
âBack in Sunbaeâs days, that is, around the end of the 90s, the boundary between the awakened and soldiers was not clear.â
âThatâs right.â
Eunha glanced over the books in front of her and nodded her head.
âThere, look at page ten. Unlike in the past, where military service was forced regardless of oneâs will, today, there is freedom of choice.â
As Siwoo had said, in the past, every Awakened had to become a hunter. This was because they were the only ones who could kill monsters, since they were human but had non-human powers.
Under the name of âHunterâ, they were sent into gates with a golden dog tag around their necks. Just like how Eunha and Yijun were.
Many hunters and ordinary people alike had died. An immeasurable amount of blood had covered the earth, and mankind gradually began to adapt to the changes.
âAnd in the late 2000s, the world started to recognize working as a hunter as a profession.â
People praised the hunters, cheered for their work, and raved about the results they produced.
Yes. At some point, hunters became both the saviors and entertainers of mankind.
In particular, it was the âS-Class huntersââa special rank among hunters that drew attention from all over the world. There were only six in Korea.
âOne of them is me.â
Siwoo said in a calm tone. He was neither bragging nor being modest. It was in a polite tone, as if describing an established fact.
He was definitely strong. Eunha was able to nod because she had fought with him for a while.
[The divine beast âCat Wandering in Darknessâ says that the S-Class hunter should freeze to death! It says that if Unnie hadnât lost her mind, it bet you wouldnât have been more than roast meat.]
⊠The catâs dislike of Siwoo was not an illusion.
Not knowing that the cat was poignantly gossiping about him, Siwoo continued to speak steadfastly.
âSunbae is an S-Class hunter like me⊠No, youâre a first-generation hunter with superior skills. When it becomes known that such a talented person has been recruited, Wolf will be a topic of discussion even more than now.â
âYou need that kind of popularity.â
Eunha, who was reading <Now Youâre Dr. HunterâȘ> , said.
Siwoo smiled softly.
Eunha couldnât figure out what the meaning of that smile was, but it probably didnât mean anything negative.
âBut, there is a problem.â
âWhat? If you are not satisfied with the terms of the contract, you may revise it according to your wishes.â
âNo, not that.â
Eunha hesitated for a moment.
Her contract with the cat had restrictions. Because of those restrictions, Eunha had lost her name.
âTo explain the loss of my name, Iâll have to explain the contract with the cat.â
Problems arose there too. There were two restrictions. Eunha couldnât tell her name or talk about the cat.
Eunha, who was deeply absorbed in her thoughts, slowly moved her lips.
âItâs a little difficult to reveal that Iâm a first-generation hunter. So firstly, I want to keep the story about the Unknown Gate a secret.â
At Eunhaâs words, Siwoo tilted his head. But after a while, Siwoo nodded as if he understood and opened his mouth.
â⊠I see. Considering your past when you were forcibly conscripted and used as a living weapon, you must be tired of your hunter life now.â
â⊠Huh?â
Eunha raised her head. Siwoo had a slightly sad expression for some reason.
âAfter this contract is over, it sounds like you want to get away from the world and live a quiet life.â
Siwoo understood enough. It was because he was also tired of the hunter world.
âEven if you donât announce that you are a first-generation hunter, your skills will still be a topic of discussion. There are many ways.â
Siwoo, who had spoken up to that point, rose from his seat. He put on the coat he had taken off and glanced at Eunha.
âFirst of all, the easiest way is to prove your skill.â