Ch.25If You Want to Live, Then Live

I wanted to be loved.

I wanted attention.

I hoped to be acknowledged, and since I was terrible at studying, I chose sports instead.

Specifically, Kyokushin Karate, a famous martial art from the East.

If I won a gold medal, would my mother, whose face I’d never seen, come back?

Would my father, who only drank and told me to get lost, finally look at me?

My “Kyokushin” was a solid wall built solely to chase after such “hope.”

Whether seeking “love,” becoming an object of “admiration,” or valuing “honor,” everyone trains for their precious things, but nothing is more precious than “family.”

So I endured and kept winning.

But in the end, my dream never came true.

“Dad…”

“……”

The national team qualification I earned through recommendation was naturally revoked after I became crippled in the military.

And when I finally returned home, what I found was my father’s corpse, collapsed among liquor bottles, dead from alcohol.

Cause of death: solitary death.

Because I focused only on training in Kyokushin to receive praise and recognition, I rarely came home, which was the cause.

After sending my father, reduced to ashes, to heaven, before confining myself to a small studio apartment, I suddenly thought:

If I were to have another life—

—if there was someone I could be beside and help, I would help them, whatever they might be.

“Da… ddy…”

“……”

“Should… I… not… have… been… born…?”

It’s raining.

As if understanding the baby monster’s heart, the sky began to pour down an endless torrent.

Was it because it was looking up at me while getting soaked in the rain? The baby monster seemed to ask with a face that looked like it was crying.

Seeing that expression—infinitely painful, lonely, and unaware of its own reason for existence—I didn’t answer.

Instead, as someone who had been alone, I knelt down and embraced the solitary monster tightly, as if to say absolutely not.

“Kruk kruk.”

‘Of course not.’

“Can… I… live…?”

“Krrruruk.”

‘What do you want to do?’

The baby monster, now slightly separated from my embrace, faced me with a truly crying face.

Its trembling lips formed the words ‘I should die.’

But it couldn’t bring itself to say those words aloud.

Because it wanted to live.

Because even if the whole world was its enemy, it now had one sanctuary that would definitely take its side.

Because it wanted to live with me.

So even though it knew what it was about to say would be a burden…

“I… I… I! Want… to… live!”

The baby monster answered with a sob.

“Kruk.”

‘Then live. I’ll raise you somehow.’

I answered, pulling the baby monster back into my arms.

It was obviously a promise I couldn’t keep.

Capturing a monster, let alone raising one, when I wasn’t even a Beast Hunter.

It was a statement that could potentially turn all of humanity against me.

But I couldn’t ignore it.

I couldn’t ignore the feeling of suffering from one’s very existence because I had already experienced it in this world… no, I had already experienced it and gone through hell because of it.

I don’t like hypocrisy.

If I could save someone with my own hands, I would gladly step into that hell.

“Are you finished talking?”

“Kruk.”

‘Yes.’

I had sworn to myself just before confining myself to that room.

The Hunter with red hair standing before me.

People had called her Lee Jin-ah, hadn’t they?

Anyway, she began walking toward me, and I too, after giving the baby monster one final pat, began walking toward her.

And soon we stopped, facing each other at a distance of about one meter.

“Nice to meet you, Monster of Jamsil. I should introduce myself first, right?”

“……”

“Hehe. I am Lee Jin-ah, the branch director of the Korean branch of the Hunter Association, currently Korea’s only permanent National Authority-Level Hunter.”

“…!!”

Despite being humanoid, she greeted me with the formality of a gentleman while facing a monster.

But what surprised me wasn’t her behavior.

‘This woman is the Korean branch director…?’

Let me state this clearly.

I had never seen this woman in the game before.

The branch director position is essentially a main character role, not just an extra.

The Korean Hunter branch director I knew was some muscular old man.

‘Who on earth is this person…?’

The original story had changed.

Since when?

Could it be that the “Smiling Monster Incident” at Busan Port that I resolved 10 years ago caused some strange butterfly effect?

Or was some DLC added to the original story after I was possessed?

I was confused.

But even in this situation, one thing was certain.

“Monster of Jamsil. I thought you were a monster capable of communication. And seeing that you’re listening to me rather than attacking immediately, my assumption seems somewhat correct.”

“……”

This woman is dangerous.

I had no confirmation, but my senses and instincts as a veteran player were telling me to keep away from this woman.

“Monster of Jamsil. Return what’s mine. Then I won’t harm you, who seems friendly toward humans.”

“Kruk?”

‘What’s yours?’

I reflexively asked back, even knowing we couldn’t communicate verbally.

But could she read my expression?

Lee Jin-ah, seemingly understanding what I meant, smiled and nodded toward something behind me.

“That baby monster behind you is a life form I created through genetic combination.”

“…!”

“For the sake of ‘humanity.’ It was born with great difficulty from the lower body of the entity named Angel that you killed 10 years ago.”

I had guessed it was born in a laboratory.

But I never expected its creator to be the branch director of the Association.

“That baby monster has infinite potential within it. And I can bring out everything from that baby monster.”

“Kruk…”

“The fact that I, a national representative Hunter, become stronger by obtaining that baby monster means that this country’s power also becomes formidable. Do you understand what I mean?”

It wasn’t… completely wrong.

The branch director position in each country, except for the US headquarters, was the face representing that country’s Hunters.

The Hunter representing our country now was Lee Jin-ah standing before me.

And if Lee Jin-ah became stronger by taking the baby monster, however that might work, Korea’s status would rise accordingly.

“Show me that you’re on humanity’s… no, Korea’s side, Monster of Jamsil.”

Lee Jin-ah said, showing me her palm.

It was a gesture asking me to return what was hers.

“Da… ddy…”

“……”

I want a happy ending for this world.

I wanted to bring perfect peace to this “Hunter’s Blood” world that I had never seen despite playing for thousands of hours.

And to do that, it would make sense to hand over the baby monster to Korea’s branch director.

But I refused.

“Kruk.”

“Why…?”

Since we couldn’t communicate verbally, I instead walked a little to the side, completely blocking the baby monster from Lee Jin-ah’s view.

Understanding my intention, the smile disappeared from her face for the first time.

“You… aren’t on humanity’s side?”

“……”

Of course I am.

I am on humanity’s side.

If there was someone I could save with my power, I wanted to save even one more person.

I hoped there wouldn’t be anyone like me who had locked themselves in a room long ago because no one offered help no matter how much they wanted it.

That’s why I wanted to reach out, and among those I wanted to save was the ‘baby monster’ behind me.

Above all else.

“Kruruk!”

I roared, pointing at Lee Jin-ah who had been continuously ‘lying’ since earlier.

“Kruk kruk!”

“……Hmm.”

In “Hunter’s Blood,” there were five ability stats.

Strength, representing power.

Endurance, representing defense.

Agility, representing speed.

Magic Power, for releasing mysterious forces.

And ‘Skill,’ which extremely enhances precise techniques or the five senses.

Since facing Lee Jin-ah, I had felt an inexplicable, anxious energy pricking my skin.

And when she started talking about the baby monster, I realized why I felt so uncomfortable around this woman.

She was mixing clever ‘lies’ between truths.

“Could it be… that my true intentions have been exposed?”

Nod.

Since we couldn’t communicate verbally, I nodded instead.

Lee Jin-ah then returned to her smiling face and shrugged, revealing her true intentions.

“Yes, that’s right. Actually, rather than for the country, I wanted that baby monster to become stronger myself. But is that a problem?”

Lee Jin-ah’s empty eyes glared at me as she continued.

“It’s just that my greed is a bit more involved. This is beneficial for Korea… no, for all of humanity. Only I can save them. Only I can change things, only I know how to end this terrible world.”

Are we in the same position in that sense?

No, we’re not.

The way to end this terrible world.

Someone who knows that wouldn’t have such a crazed look in their eyes.

So I took a step toward Lee Jin-ah, as if telling her to back off.

“Hmm…”

When I moved, she quickly calmed down and made a disappointed expression.

“Negotiation failed?”

To her question

“Kruk.”

‘Yes.’

I answered immediately.

A moment later, with Lee Jin-ah’s sigh, the shadow at her feet began to spread widely.

Then, before summoning those things from the shadow, Lee Jin-ah said:

“Come to think of it, I told you one more lie.”

“…?”

“Just now, I called myself Korea’s representative Hunter, right? I’m sorry, but my level is not that of an underdeveloped country that only occupies half of this tiny peninsula.”

The level of National Authority-Level Hunters varied dramatically depending on which country bestowed that title, not by global standards.

Just as each country’s level is divided into underdeveloped, developing, and developed.

And the place that sent Lee Jin-ah to Korea, as if demoting her for being an uncontrollable National Authority-Level figure, was the only country in the world where a Hunter ‘headquarters’ was established.

The United States of America, ranked first in the world for Hunter power.

Drrrrrrr.

Two beings revealed themselves from her spreading shadow.

Just by their appearance, not just Gangnam but all of Seoul began to shake.

Eventually, the baby monster watching from a distance sat down in fear, teeth chattering, at the presence of these revealed beings.

“Mo-mo-monster…! Da-da-daddy…!”

I swallowed hard as I examined the two ‘monsters’ before me.

First, on the left was a humanoid monster with an enormous body, about 5 meters tall, with a fat form.

Dressed in something resembling a Western military uniform, it held a liquor bottle in one hand while swaying its body rhythmically.

And on its face, where one should look, it wore something like a strange chicken mask without a beak.

I looked at it and then turned to the right.

There stood a ‘knight’ constantly emitting brilliant blue magical power, turning only its surroundings blue.

Its eyes were closed, and it had neat black hair.

It was about the same height as me in human form, wearing armor that looked like it was sprouting raven feathers.

It held a rapier in one hand and a saber in the other—a monster that at first glance looked just like a human.

But of course, I wasn’t surprised merely by their appearance.

‘These guys…!’

Why?

How?

How could such things emerge from a single human’s shadow?

The memory of fighting Angel 10 years ago vividly resurfaces. My fists clench and I start to feel tense.

And for good reason—these two before me.

The energy emanating from them was undoubtedly on a National Disaster-Level scale.