How To Survive as a Class a Hunter

49. Former Hunter Kim Seok-hee – [1]

Kim Seok-hee chewed on his cigarette and glared at the TV.

The 9 o’clock news was on, but there was nothing particularly stimulating. He looked at the news caption.

– ‘Hunter Kim Geuk’ Incheon Recapture Project, now moving to Gyeyang-gu

The news caption wasn’t particularly shocking, but Kim Seok-hee watched it with intense eyes.

It was hard to overlook that mundane caption. To Kim Seok-hee, it looked like the United States had declared war on South Korea.

Kim Seok-hee muttered to himself without realizing it.

“So, that b*stard Kim Geuk is finally coming here…”

Soon, the TV showed the protagonists of the news.

First, there was a middle-aged woman with a nameplate in front of her that read ‘Incheon City Councilor Park Mi-hyung’…

The man sitting next to that woman particularly caught his eye.

He was a man with a more rugged physique than most bodybuilders. His shoulders were absurdly broad, and even his face on those shoulders looked fierce. He looked like a man who had beaten many people to death.

The nameplate in front of that man read:

‘Incheon City Hunter Kim Geuk’.

And the crowd gathered to hear their announcement filled the TV screen.

To Kim Seok-hee, even that was extremely annoying.

“Why are there so many people gathered there? Does it make sense for a mere city councilor to gather so many people?”

An immediate answer came to Kim Seok-hee’s question.

“Park Mi-hyung is quite popular, but Kim Geuk’s popularity is really something else.”

“What’s so special about that b*stard Kim Geuk?”

“Brother, you don’t know even though you were a former hunter? That guy’s popularity is really amazing!”

“How long has it been since I quit being a hunter? How would I know? Explain it to me.”

“That Park Mi-hyung lady has become a set menu of fries, and her popularity has skyrocketed. I heard she’s running for mayor of Incheon, and unless something major happens, she’ll definitely get elected, right? People are memorizing her name like some kind of meme… and that’s all thanks to Kim Geuk’s nonsense in every interview. I bet there are tons of fans and reporters over there right now…”

In the video, Kim Geuk shouted.

“I will clean up Gyeyang-gu just like the other areas of Incheon! I will hunt down every last trace of the monster filth that has stepped foot in this sacred Incheon! Long live Incheon!”

As the crowd in the video chanted “Long live Incheon!” Kim Seok-hee muttered curses under his breath.

“Long live Incheon, my ass… I’ll blow that b*stard Kim Geuk’s mother’s head off and kill him.”

Only then did his gang members—whom Kim Seok-hee referred to as the cigarette sellers—seem to notice their boss’s discomfort.

The gathered members began to jeer.

“Blow Kim Geuk’s mother’s head off and kill him!”

“Kill that b*stard Kim Geuk by blowing his head off!”

For a while, the room was filled with the mixed sounds of the TV’s “Long live Incheon!” slogan and the gang members shouting “Kill Kim Geuk!”

Meanwhile, Kim Seok-hee continued to scowl at the crowd gathered to see Kim Geuk on TV.

It really, really wasn’t good. If that guy was so well-known among the people, wouldn’t it cause a huge uproar if we touched him…?

After the commotion died down, one of the gang members looked at Kim Seok-hee and asked.

“So from now on, whenever that b*stard Kim Geuk comes to Gyeyang-gu, we should chase him away immediately, right? This is our territory, so we should tell him to get lost!”

To maintain his charisma as a boss, Kim Seok-hee deliberately spoke in a calm tone.

“Well, it looks like we’ll have some trouble.”

And then he thought to himself. This is going to be a real pain in the ass.

So now he had to deal with that muscle monster? Seriously, what a pain.

Once in his room, Kim Seok-hee secretly turned on his smartphone.

He searched for the two characters: Kim Geuk.

The first thing that appeared was a photo of the muscular man he had seen in the news. Along with it were countless articles and videos related to him.

The more he searched for information about him, the more he felt his brows furrowing.

Hunter Kim Geuk. Just looking at him, he had a strong physique and presence, and it seemed he played just as he looked.

Watching the video of him hunting, he realized that he was even more of a monster than his first impression suggested.

Kim Seok-hee himself had been a former hunter. So he understood just how astonishing and shocking the contents of that video were.

During his hunter days, Kim Seok-hee received an A++ rating from his debut. He was a powerful ability user with a solid reverse field, allowing him to hunt without hesitation compared to other awakened hunters. Yet, even he couldn’t butcher monsters like Kim Geuk did in the video.

To be more precise, he didn’t possess the miraculous shooting skills to take down a monster with every bullet like Kim Geuk did in the video, nor could he engage in near-miraculous hand-to-hand combat with gigantic monsters wielding close-range weapons. He hadn’t been able to win against all sorts of powerful monsters and awakened beings.

The hunting videos of Kim Geuk uploaded on YouTube had all surpassed millions of views, while his own hunting videos from his hunter days would have struggled to even reach a thousand views…

It was truly embarrassing to compare to his own hunter days, and unless Kim Geuk was cheating in those videos, he was a real monster.

Since he quit being a hunter, he had intentionally avoided industry news, so he had no idea that such a monster had emerged in the meantime. He only found out after one of his gang members warned him with a news report.

That monster is trying to invade here in Geyang-gu, in other words, into his territory. It won’t be easy to stop it.

Kim Seok-hee recited to himself to gather his resolve against becoming weak.

I am a lord. The baron of this Geyang-gu.

I must protect my territory. As the new master of this land, I must.

There is nothing I can’t do. There is nothing I won’t do now.

Haven’t I already killed a person?

He knows that even during his high school days, when he used to break shop windows at night for fun, he never imagined that such a cruel man would be his future self…

After watching the video enough, he accessed HuntWeb. After logging in with the account he used during his hunter activities, he posted a message.

Ⓐ GangStar☆ : Is it true that Incheon hunter Kim Geuk is active on this site?

As before, having an A badge on this site makes it easy to attract attention.

In an instant, someone recognized him and left a comment.

Ⓐ DumbheadYouth : Is it really Kim Seok-hee? Are you back?

Kim Seok-hee also remembered that user. He was probably the guy who was close with Seokjangsil and Kang Junchi.

Ⓐ GangStar☆ : Looks like you remember me?

Ⓐ DumbheadYouth : Of course I remember. Is your warrant lifted? Are you trying to be a hunter again?

Ⓐ GangStar☆ : No, it’s not that. Do you know Kim Geuk’s account?

Ⓐ DumbheadYouth : Why do you ask?

Ⓐ GangStar☆ : I need to contact him. Don’t ask for the exact reason, just hurry.

Ⓐ DumbheadYouth : Search for the nickname BabyBerserker

Ⓐ DumbheadYouth : You can probably find it by searching for BabyMushroom

Kim Seok-hee did as he was told.

He searched as instructed and clicked on the first post he saw.

Then, as he read the post with a serious expression, he soon realized he had been tricked and his face twisted.

What is this? Talking about triangle panties and saying an ogre proposed to him because it fell in love with him, spouting crazy nonsense.

Just like when he had to see terrible pictures if he clicked the wrong post on DC, this time too, he stupidly fell for it and ended up seeing something extremely horrible.

It’s the first time in his life that he felt this horrible after reading a post. Seokjangsil, that dumbhead b*stard?

Ⓐ GangStar☆ : Are you kidding me? I’m busy as hell and you trick me, you motherless b*stard?

Ⓐ DumbheadYouth : I told you correctly, why are you angry?

Ⓐ GangStar☆ : Do I still look like the fool who used to call you senior, senior? You might really die if you keep this up.

Ⓐ DumbheadYouth : Why are you suddenly so aggressive? And I work in Seoul, do you really think you can come to Seoul, you wanted criminal?

Ⓐ GangStar☆ : You think you can’t come?

Ⓐ ThickheadedYouth : If you want to taste my spicy stone fist, come on then lol

Ⓐ GangStar☆ : 🖕

And the comments that followed were the same.

When asked what Kim Geuk’s account was, they all conspired to leave the same comment. They all tried to bait him by telling him to search for BabyBerserker on the forum and see that horrible post, which made Kim Seok-hee frown again.

No matter how much of a criminal I am, having my hunter license revoked for killing people, still, as a former hunter who was once active on this site, do they really have to bully me this much?

After breathing heavily in anger and humiliation for a while, it took him about ten minutes to realize that his old comrades from HuntWeb were not trying to deceive him collectively.

*

Ⓐ ThickheadedYouth : BabyBerserker is in danger omg

Ⓐ BabyBerserker : Huh? BabyBerserker is in danger? Are they filming a new magical girl movie starring BabyBerserker? The director didn’t mention anything beforehand, this is so sudden!

Ⓐ ThickheadedYouth : No, Kim Geuk, you said you’re going to Gyeyang-gu this time, right? For the Incheon recapture project, to hunt wild monsters.

Ⓐ BabyBerserker : That’s right! Is there a problem?

Ⓐ ThickheadedYouth : There’s a nutcase in Gyeyang-gu. He calls himself the Baron of Gyeyang-gu, the lord of the area…

He was puzzled by the sudden message.

Another user’s message arrived.

It was a message from a user he had never seen before, but it was hard to ignore. The A badge in front of the nickname indicated that he was also an awakened one.

Ⓐ GangStar☆ : Hey, you’re Kim Geuk, right?

Ⓐ BabyBerserker : I’m not Kim Geuk, I’m BabyBerserker! Cute little BabyBerserker doesn’t know any cool guys with that name!

Ⓐ GangStar☆ : lol

Ⓐ GangStar☆ : Okay, BabyBerserker. I heard you’re coming to Gyeyang-gu soon to hunt, is that right?

Ⓐ BabyBerserker : That’s right! Cute little BabyBerserker is bravely going to defeat the bad monsters in Gyeyang Mountain and Gyeyang-gu!

Ⓐ BabyBerserker : Are you cheering for BabyBerserker’s magical girl activities too, GangStar oppa?

Ⓐ GangStar☆ : No

Ⓐ GangStar☆ : Don’t come

Ⓐ GangStar☆ : It will be troublesome. Really

Ⓐ GangStar☆ : Go somewhere else

Ⓐ BabyBerserker : ??

Ⓐ GangStar☆ : You’ve been warned