How To Survive as a Class a Hunter

14. Incheon Hunter Kim Geuk – [2]

“The situation is already dire with a shortage of awakened hunters. They’re willing to pay big money to hire someone like me, a former convict, as an awakened person. Who cares if I did Ilbe, s*xual harassment, or school violence? As long as I catch monsters well, that’s all that matters.”

It seemed Park Mihyung was troubled by my words. Her voice was weak as she gave advice.

“Yeah, well, Kim Geuk, you probably know more about industry-related information. But please, be careful with your words, okay? My heart was pounding while watching.”

I laughed and said I understood, then ended the call.

Anyway, this lady is the only one who cares about me, I thought with satisfaction, when another call came in.

Who is it this time? It was the head of the academy. Was he going to blame me for the interview too?

No, he wasn’t. When I answered the call, he was full of praise.

“Kim Geuk, how can I thank you? You mentioned our academy directly in the interview, I was so moved I almost cried.”

The call continued with gratitude and praise for me, without a single criticism of my interview.

It seems the head of the academy is also familiar with the industry. He clearly knows what will be a problem and what won’t.

Well, that’s the hunter industry for you.

*

The contract offers I received were also made public in the media.

In the international market, the value of awakened people is skyrocketing. Whenever the offers I received were made public, people were jealous or envious, but no one found it absurd.

Everyone knows that even if they pay tens of billions a month to an awakened person like me, it’s much cheaper than endlessly launching missiles that cost billions or tens of billions each.

In the end, the contract offers I received increased little by little every day, and the internet articles about me were layered with the jealousy of various non-awakened people, and finally, the day came.

On the day I decided where to sign the contract, I grandly called in the reporters.

It wasn’t me, but the association that arranged the event. The reason was that boasting about which awakened person signed a contract with which region had a positive effect on the land prices of that region.

Even at this press conference, the president of the association, who personally attended, spoke to me as if we were close.

“I heard you received an offer of 150 billion won for 2 years from Seoul? Chongqing? Anyway, it was a higher amount than the first offer from China, with various conveniences included. Congratulations. Wow, except for that b*stard Kang Joon-chi, it’s a rookie record, right?”

“After that, China called for a higher amount. China definitely has a lot of money.”

“But you’re not going to China, right?”

“I’m not going to China.”

“Oh, you shouldn’t! Patriotism…”

“It’s absolutely not for patriotic reasons. I’ve heard that Korea, China, and Japan all harass awakened people a lot, but China is the worst.”

“So if Japan had called for as much as China, would you have gone to Japan?”

“No? I’m going to sign a contract domestically.”

The president frowned at me, but I didn’t care. All the hunters know that this guy is like a half-public official planted by the government. It’s also known that what he decides in the name of the association is practically the will of the government.

Besides this foolish president, there were several people who greeted me.

“Congratulations on the rookie record! From now on, we’ll see you in Seoul, right?”

They all mentioned ‘150 billion won for 2 years in Seoul’ and congratulated me. They said that if the contract I signed as a first-year rookie was this good, how great would the next contract be after showing some results.

I just laughed it off because it was too much to act humble every time.

But, Seoul? Nonsense.

From the beginning, the place I intended to sign a contract with was decided. All other contract offers were just stepping stones to sign a better contract with that place.

So when it was time to announce, I declared like this.

“I’ve decided on Incheon.”

“Could you please say that again?”

“I’m going to sign a contract with Incheon. 52.5 billion won for 1 year, they called generously? I felt how high the expectations of Incheon citizens are for me, and I promise here that I will never betray those expectations…”

I continued to say that I was honored to protect the spiritual capital of Korea, that I would continue the glory of the great Incheon, and so on, and the reporters, though looking bewildered, didn’t forget to press the camera shutters.

In the flashing camera lights aimed at me, I recalled the hallucination from before.

The me who went through that unpleasant experience… In other words, the me in the hallucination also signed a contract with Incheon. 29 billion won for 1 year. Unlike now, Incheon called for a particularly high amount in the hallucination, and it was said to be the result of the efforts of Park Mi-hyung, a city councilor of Incheon.

Thanks to that, the me in the hallucination was able to sign a decent contract and save face among the awakened hunters.

Moreover, to the me in the hallucination, who was suffering from the delusion that the whole of Korea hated him, the fact that Incheon offered such good conditions felt like a kind of salvation. It felt like Incheon was the only place that accepted him, whom all Koreans shunned.

So it seemed that the me in the hallucination had come to harbor loyalty to Incheon, which he already had affection for…

Is the current me signing a contract with Incheon to continue the grace from that time?

Even if it wasn’t to repay a grand favor, could it be that I chose Incheon over other better conditions because my affection for Incheon grew after experiencing the hallucinations?

So, is my current decision and the pride swirling inside me for Incheon a result of the hallucinations?

I don’t know.

But I have no regrets. Even if other places offered better conditions, I could always renew with better terms after a year anyway…

On the other hand, my decision seemed truly difficult for the reporters to understand. An additional interview was conducted at their request.

The interview went as follows.

Q. Is there a reason you chose Incheon?

– There are two reasons. First, as I mentioned earlier, Councilor Park Mi-hyung of Incheon City has supported me in many ways, and she personally suggested that I sign a contract with Incheon if possible. I decided to follow her suggestion.

Q. You said there are two reasons, what’s the other one?

– Even if an Incheon person sells the country, they shouldn’t abandon Incheon.

Q. No matter what, you shouldn’t sell the country, right?

– It’s fine. Any more questions?

Q. I understand that you consider Incheon very important. However, there are many places besides Incheon that need capable awakeners, and many of them offered far superior contract terms. Is there a special reason you chose Incheon over all those offers?

– Other places weren’t worth considering. It’s only natural that the life of one Incheon person is more valuable than the lives of ten thousand Seoul people.

Q. It sounds like you’re saying people outside of Incheon don’t have human rights.

– It’s stranger for non-Incheon people to have human rights. How could it be a coincidence that the “In” in Incheon and the “In” in human rights sound the same?

I think that was a truly brilliant answer, even though I said it myself.

The interview, which continued with several more questions and answers, ended with a joke.

Q. Did Councilor Park Mi-hyung brainwash you? If so, please wave a carrot for help when you get the chance.

A. As far as I know, Councilor Park Mi-hyung is not a mind control ability user but an ice ability user (the formal term for so-called ice ability users). Besides, an awakener’s superpower doesn’t work on another awakener, so why say such things?

I intentionally mentioned Councilor Park Mi-hyung several times during the interview. They say it’s not bad for a politician to get their name known, so I tried my best to get her name mentioned in the article.

Hmm, I’m such a loyal person. Although it seemed Councilor Park Mi-hyung didn’t appreciate that fact.

“Mr. Kim Geuk, did you hit any reporters during the interview? Or did you grab any reporter by the collar and curse at them?”

Councilor Park Mi-hyung’s voice, who called me right away, was again filled with anxiety. I answered calmly to reassure her.

“I didn’t hit anyone, and I didn’t curse. Why?”

“Looking at the interview, it seemed beyond malicious editing. Haven’t you read the articles yet?”

“I saw them. They were properly published without distortion.”

It took quite some time to clear up this misunderstanding.

*