episode_0053

Dozens of people were sitting on chairs in a dark building.

“Hwaam….”

A woman crossed the crowd of people sitting and yawning boredom and climbed onto the podium.

The woman on the podium operated the remote control and displayed a photo on the screen.

“Ugh.”

The expressions of people who saw the photo posted by the woman were crumpled.

The photo the woman posted was that of a middle-aged man.

A photo of a middle-aged man lying in a hospital bed after being brutally assaulted.

“Hmm.”

As people paid attention to the photo, the woman cleared her throat and opened her mouth.

“This person was unilaterally assaulted by a D-class hunter in the bathroom of a bar.”

The woman who was so upset continued to speak.

“They say he was originally a talented coach who led a school’s baseball team. I am also faithful to my family. However, it is said that due to the aftermath of this assault, he was fired from school and was on the verge of divorcing his wife.”

“Like that.”

“Tsk tsk.”

People each click their tongues in disappointment at the woman’s remarks, which are a mix of truth and lies.

“But do you know what’s funny? It is said that the D-class hunter who caused the assault was not only sent to the punishment unit, but was pardoned without even paying the proper penalty.”

“What?”

“Class A or S, or at least class D, not class B?”

“Huh, really.”

The woman pauses for a moment to encourage people to express their individual feelings.

“It turns out that there was an S-class hunter behind that D-class hunter. In this way, S-class hunters wield omnipotent power in our society.”

People make bitter expressions at the woman’s next words.

“But it is also true that the world will not be destroyed thanks to the S-class hunters…”

A woman quickly responds to someone’s comment.

“Yes, I admit that. But is that really fair for them to enjoy extralegal rights?”

“That’s….”

“Rather, if you have something stronger than others, wouldn’t it be right to practice noblesse oblige and become an example for others?”

Someone cautiously raises their hand as the woman speaks.

“Well…, but S-class hunters are already practicing the most dangerous work…”

In response to someone’s rebuttal, the woman jerks her head in the direction from where the voice was heard.

“That’s just them taking on a duty that other S-class awakeners have avoided. I don’t think you can give such a privilege just because you have fulfilled your duty.”

The woman’s eyes glowed with confidence as she looked around while speaking passionately.

“We will fix this world. We will create a society where justice prevails and where there will no longer be victims like this man.”

With those words, the woman ended her speech.

“That’s right! That’s right!”

The people gathered in the building responded by clapping, starting with the wind catcher.

***

Natalia was moving with the team to subdue the highest level portal.

“Wait.”

While crossing the forest while keeping an eye on the surroundings, the expert hunter in charge of the front line stopped.

When the scout hunter stopped walking, Natalia and other team members hid themselves in one order.

“What’s going on?”

After everyone hides in the pit beneath the huge rock, Natalia asks the scout hunter.

“There is a poisonous spider ahead.”

“Poisonous spider?”

As soon as the name Venomous Spider came out of the scout hunter’s mouth, the expressions on the team members’ faces hardened.

A poisonous spider is a spider that is born with one of a total of 17 deadly poisons.

Antidotes have already been developed for 16 of the 17 deadly poisons, so they are not that threatening.

However, for the last poison, an antidote has not yet been developed.

So hunters were reluctant to deal with poisonous spiders.

Since it was one of 17 types and the number of individuals born with it was extremely small, the probability was low, but if you were unlucky, you could still go straight to the goal.

‘Still, I’m glad that the S-class hunter who came with me this time was Natalia.’

Among them, a veteran hunter who had participated in many subjugations with Natalia thought this to herself.

Under normal circumstances, they would just look at each other and eventually draw lots to select the person who would slay the poisonous spider.

The poisonous spider itself was a monster that even a B-class hunter could catch alone as long as there was an antidote.

‘But with Natalia, there’s no need to do that.’

Natalia hated that process.

Not only did I have to draw lots to deal with the poisonous spiders, but I also found it tiresome to worry about the difficulties I encountered while subjugating them.

So, he always tackled the situation head-first with the strong durability and transcendental physicality unique to an S-class hunter, and then resolved the situation through improvisation.

It’s not just because I’m confident in my skills.

The same was true when faced with problems of probability such as poisonous spiders. If the odds were low, she would calmly throw herself forward as if Lady Luck would protect her.

Someone saw that appearance and commented that it was the confidence of an S-class hunter.

However, in the eyes of the veteran hunter who often worked with Natalia, mayflies seemed to overlap.

When you become an S-class hunter, you have a lot to lose. Therefore, S-class hunters act more cautiously at the portal than the bottom D-class hunters.

But Natalia was different. She acted as if there was no tomorrow, as if she wouldn’t be surprised if she suddenly disappeared like a mirage one day.

He never took anything seriously and was never attached to anything. Nothing had meaning to her.

Instead of giving meaning to something, Natalia was the ultimate nihilist who focused only on the present moment and lived dependent on immediate peripheral pleasure.

‘So this time, you’ll figure out if it’s bothersome and you’ll do it yourself.’

The veteran hunter thought so.

‘hmm?’

I quickly realized something was different this time.

Even though the battle of wits had begun and Natalia’s body was starting to get itchy, she did not move.

Instead, he crossed his arms and opened his mouth with a bored expression.

“But why are you hesitating if you’re going to draw lots anyway?”

“Ah….”

“If we’re going to do it, let’s do it quickly.”

“Is that so…?”

The temperament of not being able to endure hesitation and carrying the gun still remained. However, compared to before, the extremeness of taking risks has decreased.

‘Mr. Ha, will we end up going by drawing lots? ‘Why is that guy acting like that all of a sudden?’

The veteran hunter grumbled internally at Natalia’s change and participated in the lottery.

The lottery was over quickly and the poisonous spider was soon dealt with.

Fortunately, it was an entity possessing a poison for which an antidote had been developed.

***

Starting from the encounter with the poisonous spider, the veteran hunter became concerned about Natalia, who had changed without her knowledge.

‘It has changed as expected. ‘What kind of change of heart occurred?’

Natalia’s attitude toward attacking the portal was more cautious than before.

Instead of rushing in head first because it was annoying, I began to look at the other person’s characteristics and think about a minimum plan.

In addition, he seemed to feel fear whenever he met a difficult opponent.

It was refreshing to see Natalia, who had acted as if she was somehow detached from life and death, fear death and struggle with it like everyone else.

And the change was surprisingly not bad, even for veteran hunters.

First of all, Natalia’s attitude became similar to other S-class hunters, so it was easy to keep up.

In addition, when the team leader started thinking, the team members became safer and took fewer risks.

The veteran hunter felt satisfied with the smooth progress of the subjugation, rather than the heart-pounding subjugation like before.

But at the same time, my curiosity about what kind of change of heart had occurred amplified further.

“Thank you all for your hard work.”

“Settlement fee as always….”

“Ah, it’s finally over.”

“Who would you like to go have a drink with?”

So, even after the subjugation was over and the situation became as noisy as a market, her eyes were watching Natalia.

Natalia was on the phone with someone. The distance was far and the surroundings were noisy, so I couldn’t tell what they were talking about.

Not long after, Natalia, who was holding her phone to her ear, smiled and turned her head somewhere.

Where she turned her head, a boy was walking.

Natalia and the boy’s eyes meet each other and they put their phones away.

The two people stand facing each other and talk for a while.

And after a while, they started moving together in the same direction.

As she moved, Natalia naturally pulled the other person to her side and wrapped her hands around her waist.

Seeing that, the veteran hunter’s eyes widened slightly.

‘Oh, I see. That person finally has something to lose.’

The veteran hunter was immediately convinced.

The sight of Natalia leaving with a boy was different from before.

Before, it seemed like a flame that wouldn’t be surprising if it burned like crazy and then went out in an instant.

The current Natalia felt like a human being who had finally managed to get her feet on the ground and live.