Chapter 9: It cant be like this

Go Jaewan received leave that afternoon and got a chance to rest outside the restricted area.

It was a reward for having hunted the most monsters in the raid earlier that day.

Although he felt sick to his stomach when the hated officers compared him and Seo Youngchul, urging him to hunt more monsters, he didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to take a break.

So he went out.

Though there weren’t many places to have fun, considering the ridiculously expensive food prices in the restricted area, he had the mana stones he earned by risking his life, so his pockets weren’t entirely empty.

“Damn it, seriously.”

He thought about escaping countless times a day.

If he could, he would have escaped to America long ago.

But outside the gate, he was just a powerless civilian, with no means to escape from an area guarded by a military unit.

Walking to the American territory, far away and without a wyvern, would be suicidal.

Walking through monster-infested zones outside the stronghold with just a day’s worth of food and water was no different from committing suicide.

Muttering to himself about how long he had to endure this shitty life, he headed towards a meat restaurant where the owner’s mother’s death was questionable, considering they charged 50,000 won for 100 grams of pork belly.

“Move! Get out of the way!”

Jaewan witnessed a man being urgently carried on a stretcher.

A familiar face, drenched in sweat and in a terrible state.

“Youngchul?”

It was Seo Youngchul.

The problem was that his arm was limp, and anyone could see he wasn’t in a normal state.

“What happened to him?”

“He collapsed during punishment training!”

“What kind of training did he receive?”

“That crazy woman made him run around the parade ground with a full 40kg gear! Damn it. This guy can’t die…”

One of the officers, who was hastily carrying the stretcher, saw Go Jaewan and quickly closed his mouth.

Go Jaewan rushed over.

“Why is Youngchul like this? What happened to him?”

“Step back! He needs to be taken to the hospital!”

“No, damn it! What kind of punishment training was it that he ended up like this? Youngchul! Hey! Seo Youngchul!!”

An officer pushed Jaewan away as he tried to get closer, yelling.

“I told you to move! Get back to the gate! We’ll take care of him!”

“Youngchul!!! Youngchul!….”

Before Jaewan could do anything, the officers dragged him away.

He tried to follow them, but the military police who were watching grabbed him.

“Didn’t you hear? Go back!”

“But, Youngchul!! What the hell happened to him!! Hey! You bastards!! What kind of punishment training was it that he ended up like this!!!”

Jaewan struggled, but in the real world, without mana, he was just an ordinary person.

Three sturdy military police officers dragged him away, and he had no choice but to be forcefully thrown back into the gate.

“What’s going on? Weren’t you on leave, hyung?”

“Why are you back so soon…?”

“Youngchul was carried away.”

At Jaewan’s words, the atmosphere among the hunters changed.

“Youngchul? Why?”

“Wasn’t he undergoing disciplinary training? Why was he carried away?”

Jaewan shook his head in response to the barrage of questions.

“I don’t know! Damn it! But his face was flushed, he was sweating like crazy… He looked seriously ill.”

“What the hell is going on here? What is this?”

As the hunters gathered and their murmuring grew louder, the watching officers approached.

“What’s going on? Jaewan, why are you back so soon?”

At the officer’s appearance, the atmosphere among the hunters turned cold.

Hated bastards.

But touching these bastards, even hurting them, meant the food supply would be cut off.

As repeatedly stated, without a wyvern, getting to the American territory from inside the gate was too far, and escaping to the American territory outside the gate was impossible.

The conclusion was that these low-level bastards couldn’t be touched.

Jaewan suppressed his anger and worry and approached the officer.

“I saw Youngchul being carried away. Can you find out what happened?”

“Seo Youngchul? That guy? Why?”

“…How would I know? He’s not mentally stable, and I’m curious why he was carried away.”

The officer seemed to think for a moment at Go Jaewan’s words, then turned around and walked out of the gate.

He didn’t return for a long time.

In the meantime, the hunters gathered together and started whispering to each other.

“Why the hell is Youngchul being carried away?”

“Wasn’t he supposed to go to the training camp for disciplinary action?”

“Did Go Jaewan really see it right?”

“Ah! I’m serious!! Do you think I’m lying?! Damn it!!”

Go Jaewan smoked his cigarette harshly.

“It’s already outrageous that they dragged in a troublesome guy like Seo Youngchul! Damn it! How did they treat a guy with PTSD that he’s being carried away?!”

Seo Youngchul.

To those who had lived as hunters during his active service, Seo Youngchul was more than just a comrade.

Despite suffering from severe mental illness after losing comrades, he didn’t abandon his duty and tried to endure it somehow.

He felt fear of death more intensely than others, yet he gripped his weapon and charged at the front.

Therefore, those who had served with Seo Youngchul had a special affection for him.

But now, that guy had collapsed and was carried away.

Why?

What happened?

Is he okay?

Even if he got hurt, they would have treated him properly, right?

The hunters waited and waited.

And three hours later, the officer who had gone outside the gate returned.

“They said he collapsed due to heat illness. So don’t worry too much.”

Outside, Go Jaewan and the hunters would have had no choice but to believe those words.

But this was inside the gate.

A world where mana exists, and monsters wield powers that defy common sense and physical laws.

Highly trained physical abilities.

The average level 800 monsters with sharp senses that could detect and avoid attacks flying from behind using their intuition skills sensed something.

The position of his eyebrows.

The tone of his voice.

And the peculiar atmosphere emanating from the officer’s body.

“Lies.”

“It’s the truth. So go back and do your jobs! Ugh!!”

Go Jaewan shot out like a bullet, grabbed the officer by the neck, and lifted him into the air.

The tremendous strength that could support the weight of an adult male with one hand startled the other officers, who tried to rush in, but other hunters surrounded Go Jaewan with their weapons first.

“Go Jaewan! Are you crazy!! Put him down!!”

“Don’t bullshit me, you bastard. Do you think I can’t read your mood? It smells fishy, you bastard. What happened to Seo Youngchul? What happened?! Why was he carried away?!”

“Fine. I am extending your service by one year! From now on, your meals will be limited! …Aaaargh!!!”

The officer’s finger twisted in a bizarre direction.

Go Jaewan, who had lost his sanity, broke the officer’s finger.

“Answer properly. Properly!!! What happened to Seo Youngchul?!!”

“You son of a… bastard…”

“Fine. Don’t talk. There are still nine fingers left.”

“Wait a minute!… Aaaaargh!!!!!”

Another finger of the officer broke.

The other officers shouted threats.

They would starve him.

Extend his service.

Give him a life sentence the moment he leaves the gate, and so on.

But these threats, which had been uttered too often, had lost their effectiveness.

And crucially, Go Jaewan, who had lost his mind, didn’t even hear the officers’ shouts.

“Talk, you bastard!! Talk!!!!!!”

The officer flailed and pounded Go Jaewan’s body, but the punches from a low-level Awakened did nothing to the high-level hunter with immense stamina and durability.

Eventually, unable to withstand the pain of his broken fingers, the officer spilled the truth.

“He’s dead!!!”

Go Jaewan stopped.

The officers who were shouting also stopped.

The hunters holding weapons in a standoff also stopped.

Everyone froze.

“Why? Why is Youngchul dead? No, you said he just received disciplinary action.”

“I don’t know the details!!! I heard he died! He was transported to the hospital, but I heard he died peeing black urine! So, please stop now!!”

Go Jaewan’s strength drained from his hands.

The officer with broken fingers urgently squeezed between the other officers.

Go Jaewan sat down on the floor and let out a hollow laugh.

“Dead? Fuck? The bastard who endured three years with PTSD only to be dragged back here and die during punishment? What the hell is going on? Why is this happening? Who, why? How could they? Seo Youngchul was in bad shape. He was so mentally unstable that he couldn’t sleep or eat properly, his body was a mess. The officer giving the punishment didn’t know that?”

“One of the officers there gave the punishment. And he died. That’s all I know.”

Go Jaewan started laughing again as he sat on the floor.

His anger had reached a point where he could only laugh.

It all felt like a goddamn comedy.

“If someone died fighting a monster during a raid, it would be sad but understandable. But a non-combat loss? Something that could’ve been prevented? This is ridiculous. Why… why…”

Another officer emerged, pushing aside the officer groaning with broken fingers.

He shouted to the hunters, desperately trying to contain his fear.

“It was an unfortunate accident! But nothing has changed! Everyone, return to your positions and start your personal maintenance! We won’t punish anyone further for this incident due to the state of agitation! So stop resisting and follow orders!!”

Follow orders.

Go Jaewan stood up.

He grabbed his primary weapon, a staff.

A massive ball of electricity formed in his hand.

“I’ll just kill you all, you fuckers. Even if I die trying, I’ll escape to America. This fucking Korea. What did we do wrong? Why are we treated like this? You bastards!!!”

Go Jaewan was crying.

“We shouldn’t be treated like this!!! We’re protecting the country, but this is how you treat us!!! Why are you doing this!!! Why!!!”

The tense atmosphere suggested an imminent shower of magic, arrows, and cold steel.

The officer’s lips curled into a sneer.

“Go ahead. Try to kill us all and escape to the American territory.”

“You know it’s over 100km away, right? There are tons of monster nests along the way. No matter how high-level you hunters are, can you handle all the monsters you’ll encounter? With only a day’s worth of food and water?”

“Do you have wyverns? Dragons? Do you think you can walk all the way there? You’d die in droves on the way.”

There was nothing to say.

The magic, arrows, and weapons raised in anger were slowly lowered.

Seeing his words taking effect, the officer finally took a deep breath, appearing relieved.

“It was an unfortunate accident! The state will compensate! So fulfill your duties!! Show the loyalty expected of soldiers of the Republic of Korea!! Accidents happen! Overcoming them is the mark of a true soldier!”

The officer pointed to the living quarters set up in the outpost.

“Go back. Reorganize and prepare for tomorrow’s rift raid…”

The officer’s words trailed off.

He looked up at the sky.

The other officers followed his gaze.

Go Jaewan, who had been sobbing, also looked up.

The hunters, who had been dropping their weapons out of humiliation, frustration, and despair, all looked up.

Something was descending from the sky.

“Been waiting, you bastards!!”

A familiar voice.

A legendary hunter with ten years of extended service, known to anyone who had lived as a hunter in the outpost, Lee Younghak, was coming down, grinning, riding wyvern and two more following.