Ch.74We’ll Protect You!

This time, it was truly dangerous.

Cheran almost died.

‘Originally, at this point in the story, Cheran was already gone…’

First with Princess Kurumi and now this—am I no longer receiving the benefits of possession due to the butterfly effect I’ve caused?

I felt like I couldn’t keep up with the constantly changing story.

‘…Well, that makes sense.’

Thinking about it, these were all incidents directly related to “Hunters.”

It seemed that being just a Hunter Meister had its limitations when it came to accessing certain information.

‘Should I become a Hunter myself? …But how? It’s not like I can openly undergo Kaijufication.’

Even if I were drafted into the military instead of becoming a Hunter, that would only be for about 18 months.

And as a regular soldier rather than an officer, my movements would clearly be restricted.

…Well, I could use the “daddy card” if needed.

‘But that would be like openly advertising my movements…’

Is this really the limit of what I can do right now?

As I was thinking this—

“Why so serious?”

“Sophia…”

“Sigh. Let me guess, you’re thinking ‘everyone’s unhappy because of me’ or something like that, right?”

She pinched my cheek as I was absentmindedly eating at home.

When I turned to look, Sophia was staring at me with a sullen expression.

“No, it’s just… if I were a little stronger, I could have saved more people. It keeps bothering me…”

“Oh come on! What do you mean you couldn’t do it? You’re doing plenty! How many people survived the Jamsil monster because of you?”

“That’s right! Brother, you’re doing great!”

Even Lia had emerged from the shadows to encourage me.

But despite their words, I still couldn’t shake this unsettling feeling.

‘If only I had a key position in the Hunter Association… then I would have known about Lee Heejeong’s suspicious behavior or Princess Kurumi’s background much earlier.’

Being just a regular person with knowledge of the original story wasn’t enough.

At first, I thought being a Hunter Meister would be sufficient, but clearly, I needed at least a professional Hunter position.

‘If I could just get that, I could make some satisfying developments happen…!’

The problem was that I didn’t have the necessary abilities.

“Ahem!”

Just then—

“It’s already been a week since the Hongdae incident, hasn’t it?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I guess so…”

“So I was thinking, Shinwoo and all of us seem pretty down.”

Sophia shifted her focus to the TV news we were watching, while looking at my dejected state.

The scene showed Hongdae Street, where the fires had been extinguished and recovery was underway.

Although it was over, just seeing those images still made me clench my fists in anger.

However, it seemed I had too many such emotions right now.

“Let’s go replenish our equipment.”

“Equipment?”

“Sis, what equipment?”

“Exactly what I said. E-quip-ment. With proper equipment, we can handle future incidents like Hongdae more flexibly.”

“Equipment…”

Equipment shopping.

Sophia was suggesting we go out together to get some “gear power.”

Equipment could certainly compensate for my weaknesses as a human.

“Alright then. Let’s head to the workshop…”

With that thought, I was about to head to my usual workplace.

But!

“Stop! Not the workshop!”

“Huh?”

“Who uses outdated workshops these days? Those places only sell mass-produced items!”

“Hey, mass-produced…”

That hit a particularly painful spot for me as a Hunter Meister.

What a fact bomb to drop at this timing.

Well, as Sophia said, the Hunter Association’s workshop was like a basic shop in a game, selling only the most fundamental equipment.

If she didn’t want to go there, then…

“We’re going to the ‘department store’!”

“Department store? Are you planning to buy equipment there?”

“Yes. And I’m going to buy some clothes for Lia too.”

“The department store sounds fun!”

In “Hunter’s Blood,” special equipment could be obtained from specific shopping districts.

She was talking about going to a large department store at least on the level of “Hongdae Street,” which was currently inaccessible.

“Won’t buying equipment at a department store be pretty expensive…?”

“It’s fine! I have plenty of money!”

A B-rank Hunter from America with money to burn.

And just a modestly earning low-level Hunter Meister from the Korean Hunter Association.

“I’ll buy everything for you too, Shinwoo! Just stay by my side like a trophy husband!”

“No, even so, that’s a bit…”

Sophia said she only needed my “body” there, but feeling guilty, I decided to “prepare” myself today.

Prepare to burn my wallet completely!

But at this point, we still had no idea.

We were just heading to the department store to take a break and relax.

“Sir! How can you try to scam someone just because they’re a foreigner!”

“Ms. Riverine! Please calm down!”

An unexpected encounter.

And also.

“…Have we met somewhere before?”

“What?! No, um? Ah, no! I, that! Huh?! What?! No!!”

“…??”

No one could have predicted these unexpected encounters at this point.

***

The Korean Hunter Association had been busy in many ways recently.

In the branch director’s office on the top floor, where only very famous people had been visiting lately.

Perhaps the news of the destruction of the USFK base had attracted another pest.

A key figure from China visiting Korea, supposedly to offer condolences.

“As an elder brother, I couldn’t just stand by when my younger sibling was struggling.”

“Haha, that’s very kind of you.”

“It’s nothing. This is all part of a great nation’s generosity.”

A woman in a white cheongsam was drinking tea with Lee Jin-ah.

She seemed to enjoy the Korean sujeonggwa, lapping it up with her cat-like tongue several times before stretching contentedly. She was the National Authority-Level Hunter of the People’s Republic of China.

“Mmm~! Korean sujeonggwa is really delicious. We’ve tried making something similar in China, but it just doesn’t compare to the authentic taste!”

“You’re too kind with your praise.”

Due to her Hunter occupation characteristics, she had animal ears on her head since birth.

“Xiaoling,” with her voluminous orange hair, swept it back once before lowering her arm and continuing to lap up the sujeonggwa like a cat.

“This is why I love Korea. The relationship between our countries is so close, unlike with those Japanese next door. Don’t you agree, Korean Branch Director?”

“Haha. Yes, of course.”

Lee Jin-ah maintained her professional Hunter’s unwavering smile.

‘I should pack some more sujeonggwa for her on her way out.’

Meanwhile.

“Ah, that was good!”

By the time Xiaoling had finished her sujeonggwa.

Jin-ah began to feel tense.

After all, China’s National Authority-Level Hunter, ranked 3rd in the world in Hunter power, wouldn’t visit the Korean Hunter branch just for tourism.

Then.

“Ahem! Director, we’re close, right?”

“…Pardon?”

“Ahem! I mean, not just you and me personally, but the relationship between China and Korea.”

Xiaoling suddenly cleared her throat and began speaking with feigned familiarity.

Though Jin-ah didn’t yet know why she was acting this way, she needed to discover her true intentions, so she decided to play along.

“Ah, yes… we are close, I suppose…”

“Ahem! Exactly, right? We’ve been neighbors for nearly 3,000 years. How many relationships like ours can you find around the world? Korea and China are like Guan Yu and Zhang Fei from the Three Kingdoms—truly close brothers.”

“Yeees…”

Xiaoling was pleased with Jin-ah’s agreeable responses.

She cleared her throat again with a “Ahem!” and continued with a serious expression, trying to create a solemn atmosphere.

“The thing is, China is very concerned about Korea! I heard a major street in your country was destroyed by a monster attack!”

“Ah. You mean the Hongdae incident? It seems it’s quite well-known in China.”

“Of course! There were many Chinese-Korean merchants doing business in Hongdae. Plus, the Hunter equipment sold in Hongdae was all top quality.”

“I see.”

Come to think of it, over half the foreign visitors to Hongdae were Chinese nationals.

Followed by Japanese, Americans, and so on—there were even graphs ranking visitor nationalities.

‘…Is she here because they can’t import equipment anymore?’

Of course, China’s Hunter market was incomparably larger than Korea’s, so someone unfamiliar with the situation might wonder why China would bother importing equipment from Korea.

But having a large territory meant having more scammers.

The quality reputation of mainland Chinese equipment was so terrible that even Hunter branch workshops had detected numerous defective mass-produced items in the past.

“Are you here about special equipment production?”

“Huh?!”

“I understand. China’s specially commissioned equipment tends to be of terrible quality compared to mass-produced items.”

“Ah, well…”

“That’s why B-rank Hunters and above often commission workshops in Korea or Japan, right? I know Hongdae Street was considered a holy site for Chinese professional Hunters.”

So she’s here about equipment.

Jin-ah was confident in this conclusion and asked accordingly.

But as if that was far from the main reason:

“W-well, that’s part of it… but how could I, as an elder sibling, keep pressuring you for equipment when my younger sibling is struggling?”

“Then what exactly…?”

“Ahem! Let me get straight to the point without beating around the bush!”

Afraid she might never get to her point if she kept trailing off.

“Here!”

Xiaoling placed a piece of paper on the desk in front of Jin-ah.

It was a contract.

“I heard that Korea has suffered great damage not only to its own country but also to the American forces stationed here!”

“Yes, and…?”

“So, for our ailing younger sibling, with 3,000 years of friendship! We, China, your elder brother nation, have come to help.”

Jin-ah, looking at the contract that had been produced, lost her composure in front of another person for the first time.

“Historically speaking, before those American bastards came along, it was China that protected peace on the Korean peninsula.”

“……”

“Ahem! So, we’d like to legally station Chinese Hunters in Korea. Something like ‘Chinese Forces in Korea’!”

“……”

“We’ve already asked the Korean government, and there are political parties that support our proposal. Of course, we’ll only charge about 50 billion, half of what the Americans charge. What do you think, little sibling? Isn’t that a good offer?”

“……”

“It’s an opportunity to use Chinese Hunters! And they all speak Korean well, so they definitely won’t cause any problems!”

“……”