How To Survive as a Class a Hunter

26. B-Class Hunter Naito-san – [3]

We were passing through various neighborhoods. As I spread out my mental net to search, I frowned.

“There are a bunch of Deathclaws in the sewer too.”

“In the sewer?”

I relayed information about the number of monsters, the location of the sewer they were hiding in, and the three nearby manholes.

One of the hunters grinned.

“This time it might be easier? We can split into teams and wait in front of the manholes you mentioned, then concentrate our firepower.”

“Isn’t there a possibility they might break through the ceiling instead of coming out of the manholes?”

“I don’t think so? Cutting through the wall and pushing it is one thing, but if they cut through the ceiling, concrete and dirt would fall down, making it difficult. Plus, the ceiling is quite thick, so it would take them some time to break through.”

So, we split into three large teams to exterminate them.

First, the team I was in, and the team Baek Dambi was in (I sent her to another team, judging that her guiding the Deathclaw’s attack from the front would help the hunters survive, and she didn’t seem to mind being used that way).

Lastly, the team led by Naito-san…

I looked at the entrance of the sewer in front of me. I transmitted the movements of the monsters beyond to everyone via radio.

“Two are heading towards Baek Dambi’s side… Three are heading towards Naito’s side, so be prepared…”

After relaying all the information to the other teams, I narrowed the range of my mental net. I had to prepare for the monsters that would come out ahead.

And the moment three Deathclaws popped out, I and the other hunters simultaneously fired and took them down.

“Good!”

We took down the monsters on our side without anyone getting hurt. What about the other teams?

As I spread out my mental net, I saw that Baek Dambi’s team had also safely dealt with their share of monsters.

I was about to check on Naito-san’s side.

The radio blared.

“Help! It’s Naito-san’s side, help!”

I quickly extended my mental net and asked urgently.

“How many?”

“Two… I could only kill one! One of them didn’t die even after being shot!”

From the explanation, it was a barrier creature. A monster I had to deal with.

I immediately teleported to the location, but there was no barrier creature around. All I saw were one hunter bleeding profusely from the neck and two hunters groaning from limb injuries.

Barrier creature, where are the barrier creature and the monsters?

In the distance, I heard the sound of an engine. Even music was blaring loudly.

I turned my head towards the sound and saw them.

Two Deathclaws were chasing a biker.

And today, there was only one hunter who came on a bike.

Naito-san.

I saw the Japanese man on the silver bike, firing a shotgun at the monsters chasing him. Ah, now there was only one. One of them, about to pounce on Naito-san, was killed by his shotgun.

But the barrier creature was still chasing him. While focusing on teleporting, I watched what was happening.

As the barrier creature closed the distance and was about to leap, I saw Naito-san tilt his bike and body simultaneously. It was an impossible move without observing the monster’s detailed movements and predicting what would happen next.

Naito-san narrowly avoided the barrier creature and turned his bike sharply. Even while making a sharp turn in another direction, his upper body remained facing backward.

Naito-san kept firing his shotgun at the barrier creature chasing him. He must know that such bullets wouldn’t work, so why?

It must be to keep the monster chasing him. He was probably using the gunshots to intimidate it, saying, “I’m still attacking you, so don’t go after the others, keep following me even if it’s hard to catch me.” If the barrier creature rampaged among the other hunters, they would all die.

There couldn’t be any other intention. Even in this life-and-death situation, I could tell from his eyes, which were firmly focused on the monster. The music blaring from the bike was also to lure the monster.

Meanwhile, both the barrier creature and Naito-san were moving at an incredible speed. It was hard to calculate where to teleport to get close…

After some time, I managed to succeed.

Finally, I teleported next to them. The barrier creature was running right in front of me. As I was about to pull the trigger of my hunter rifle towards its side, I made eye contact with Naito-san, who was pulling the trigger of his shotgun.

Surprisingly, in that split second, Naito-san’s eyes scanned me and the barrier creature alternately. I had never seen such dynamic vision even during my martial arts days.

Then, five gunshots.

Five rounds from my hunter rifle’s machine gun tore the barrier creature to pieces.

“Ah!”

Only then did Naito-san lower his shotgun, look at me again, and smile with relief.

Life returned to his eyes. It was an emotion that finally appeared in his eyes, which seemed impossibly calm even while playing a console game on easy mode.

“You came right away, even though it’s been less than a minute since I called? Teleportation is really great! It’s like having an awakened hunter with amazing specs practically in multiple places at once…”

Was this guy joking, or was he flattering me?

It seemed to be neither. He genuinely looked relieved.

So, until just now, he had been that calm even while tense. Despite being a non-awakened trash…

“Are you hurt?”

“Thanks to you!”

After that, we quickly took care of the aftermath.

I teleported the two injured and one dead to the hospital and then returned to the scene.

The smell of blood immediately filled my nose. The yard was a pool of blood from a hunter whose neck was half-severed. Although I had moved them to the hospital, just looking at the size of that blood pool made it hard to expect survival.

“Yes, we have cleared another group. This time there was a force field creature mixed in. Do we get more money for that…?”

I was frozen by the fact that there was a fatality, but the other hunters didn’t seem to be affected.

“Wow, a force field creature appeared, and only one person died. I should buy a lottery ticket.”

From their expressions, it was hard to tell whose team the deceased belonged to.

Everyone looked calm, with just the right amount of solemnity and nonchalance.

That day, we hunted 59 Deathclaws and an unknown monster (nothing special, just like how new species are often discovered in the Amazon jungle, new monsters often pop out of the gate).

It seemed like an incredibly impressive hunting achievement to have done in just one day.

To prove that, we even appeared on the news that day.

“The regional recovery project in Incheon has had a smooth start. Through an operation that lasted seven hours, a total of sixty monsters were killed, completely clearing two districts (······)

Compared to the last Eagle Operation, where ten thousand reservists were mobilized, eighteen went missing, and five died, only to kill one monster, this is incomparable······”

It really feels like the world has changed.

The fact that there were fatalities and injuries on the first day of the operation felt like a terribly unlucky start to me, but the news described it as a ‘remarkably smooth start.’

It seems the world has changed this much while I was leisurely engaging in human rights activities.

“The hunter Kim Geuk, who led this project, also achieved remarkable······”

*

After finishing my workout, I took a shower and logged onto HuntWeb.

I was about to write a post in a pretty tone but decided against it. Writing something on the day a fatality occurred in an operation I led felt like an insult to the deceased.

Instead of writing, I decided to read.

I searched for Naito-san on HuntWeb.

As expected of a famous person, there were countless posts about him.

Thus, I was able to learn quite a lot about Naito-san.

I learned that he was not only famous as a streamer but also as an amazingly skilled hunter, and that it was his incredible skills that made him famous as a streamer.

Additionally, he had another nickname on the internet besides Naito-san.

‘B-grade Hunter.’

There is no such thing as a B-grade in hunter rankings. There are only A-grade, which means awakened, and S-grade, which means super transcendental level.

So, this was a title given only to Naito-san. Although he couldn’t perform the role of an A-rank hunter who bombards high-powered force fields and other powerful monsters due to his non-awakened status, it meant he was just one rank below.

Contrary to the negative connotation that comes to mind with ‘B-rank,’ it was a title purely given to praise him.

A nickname given on the internet not for mockery? It’s really a rare case. How impressive must his skills have been…

With narrowed eyes, I continued clicking the mouse.

A system notification popped up, indicating a message had arrived.

It was a message from him.

Ⓑ GoodHunter: I am reaching out to apologize.

After finding the comment you mentioned, I can see why you would be upset about the insult to your team member. It was a thoughtless comment at the time, and I was both careless and rude. Given how well Baek Dambi performed beyond her role when we met in person, she certainly didn’t deserve such an insult from me.

I also apologize for the presumptuous post about your criminal record, etc.

The problematic comment and post have already been deleted. No matter how many times I apologize, it won’t be enough, but I apologize again.

Normally, I should apologize directly to Baek Dambi, but to do so, I would have to inform her about the defamatory post on the internet, which might make her feel uncomfortable. I am hesitant to apologize directly just to ease my mind. I will think about it carefully.

And Kim Geuk? Your skills today were indeed as great as I had heard! Thank you deeply for helping in the emergency!

I hope we can greet each other with smiles when we meet again. Please rest well!

They say Japanese people don’t apologize often, but it seems that’s not always the case. It’s been a while since I’ve seen such a well-crafted apology.

After reading his message, I immediately turned off the computer.

Then I thought about what happened today and about that Japanese guy.

He certainly matched the image of a ‘veteran non-awakened hunter’ that I originally had.

However, I still don’t think I’ll ever like him.

*