'A hospital? Suddenly like this?'
As I was about to ask what was going on, the phone hung up with the sound of urgent footsteps.
I tried again two or three times, but to no avail.
– Connected to voicemail after the beep sound because the connection was not established….
The call was disconnected due to repeated comments. Anxiety crept up in a corner of his chest.
First time. Why did Team Leader Choi, who was always calm, show such a sense of urgency?
'if?'
no. Let's not skip it already.
Now is the time to move, not think.
'Ilsan Hospital. I said it was Ilsan Hospital.'
I packed my things and left the locker room.
Upon my appearance, the newcomers who were waiting outside turned their heads.
Kim Jin-soo, who was talking excitedly in the center, jumped up from his seat.
"Ah senior. Are you leaving right now?"
"no. I have an urgent matter."
It just went well. Two hours until the next raid. Fortunately, the gate is nearby, so the distance is not far.
"Mr. Kim Jin-soo."
"yes."
"For the next two hours, Kim Jin-soo is the temporary team leader."
"Yes?"
"Take the others to the next gate. Don't ever start a raid until I come."
I patted Kim Jin-soo on the shoulder, who nodded with a bewildered face, and left the building.
He got into a taxi waiting for a customer, told him where he was going, and started calling right away.
Take it, please take it.'
Tururu. Tururu.
The longer the ringing tone, the more anxious it got.
It was the time when the signal got longer and I hung up and called again.
Click.
– Uh son
– What are you brother?
– You be quiet. Don't touch your phone while eating.
– Seriously, what your mom is holding right now is a brick, not a cell phone.
– This bitch!
"Whoa"
Thank goodness. It wasn't.
The voices of my family members over the receiver relieved my
tension
.
If Choi
didn't answer the phone, the person who would have the most accurate understanding of the situation would be Deacon Kim,
but someone's face suddenly passed in front of his eyes.
'Uncle Kkeokjeong.'
My expectation was correct.
What was waiting for me when I called the stored number was not Lim Kkeok-jeong's grim voice, but a cold mechanical sound.
– After the beep sound as the power was turned off.
In front of the hospital, Song Song-i, who had been contacted in advance, arrived with a nervous face. It was waiting for me.
"Are you here?"
"Tell me as you go."
As I passed through the revolving door, the distinctive smell of the hospital lingered in my nose.
From civilians to Hunter Hospital officials, I walked through the crowds of people.
A few people who recognized my face took out their cell phones and started taking pictures.
"Hey . Hey. Look over there."
"This is Jin Tae-kyung."
"Jin Tae-gyeong?
"Wow, the real thing is awesome."
I suppressed the rising stress and
whispered to Song Songi as I passed the people who were parting like the Red Sea.
"What happened?"
"I don't know the details either…"
"Only what I know."
she bit her lip.
"I think you've been having a lot of trouble lately."
"worry?"
"The situation is like that. The guild is growing day by day, and newcomers with good abilities are coming in…
"Okay, I know what it is like."
Lim Kkeok-jeong is the original member of the Pyeonghwa Guild since its inception, but he is also the only D-class Hunter among us.
As the Peace With Me Guild received media attention, gossip related to it also flowed out.
There were even malicious comments saying that it was the only hole in the Peace Guild and telling them to leave without thinking about taking the bus.
It was Lim Kkeok-jeong who laughed while dissuading us from getting angry.
But…
"Whoa."
My chest was stuffy. Because of the thought that I couldn't pay more attention to the person who was close to me on the subject that I promised to take care of myself.
"so? What happened after the raid yesterday?"
"I think we got into a fight while drinking alone."
"continue."
"I heard that you fought while drunk… You were seriously injured."
In an instant, my heart sank.
People who don't know are low-level hunters and whatnot, but Lim Kkeok-jeong is a D-class hunter with 20 years of experience.
Even if 10 ordinary men attacked him, they could not defeat him.
"The opponents were hunters."
Song Songi nodded slightly.
"How injured are you? Are you serious?"
"First of all, the treatment is over, but…"
Songsong-i, who was speechless and hesitant, stopped.
A sign that read [Special Treatment Ward] waved above her head.
Healers, not doctors. It also means slander.
"It would be better to see it for yourself."
With a murmur like a sigh, Song Song-yi opened the door to the hospital room.
Smell
the smell of medicine, and three people wandering around the bed came into view.
Team leader Choi and Deacon Kim. A middle-aged woman presumed to be Lim Kkeok-jeong's wife
. Feeling the thumping, I approached the bed.
"… Mister?" Instead of an
answer
, I heard faint breathing. Lim Kkeok-jeong, wearing an oxygen mask, was lying on a white sheet.
And…
His hairy arms, which had hugged me tightly as a habit, were snipped off below the elbow.
The silence It was a long time.
Even after I left the hospital room and went up to the roof, I couldn't figure out what to say first. I
listened to Team Manager Choi and Deacon Kim tell me the circumstances of the incident, and finally opened my mouth.
"Where are those bastards now?"
Everyone in this room knows who I am referring to.
Team leader
Choi , who had pursed his lips, silently
shook his head.
44 Yes, all three fled the scene."
"What about the CCTV? Your face must have been taken because you drank at the store."
"I've already been to the investigative agency. The results have come out."
These days, CCTV is like a camera. If their faces were properly filmed, it would only be a matter of time before they were caught.
Hunters and Awakeners are easy to catch as their numbers are small
. !"
"They said it was unknown."
"yes?"
What did I just hear wrong? Looking at him with a puzzled look, Team Leader Choi continued with a sigh.
"Identification unknown. They say they are not Awoken or Hunters that exist in Korea."
"…..Are you Korean-Chinese? Chinese or Japanese?"
"No. According to eyewitness testimony, the suspects are Korean. Shibi also walked that way first."
"Then what the hell is this…"
Deacon Kim, who had been listening to Team Manager Choi and me silently, suddenly opened his mouth.
"There is a possibility that it is a Black Hunter."
Black
Hunter
?
It was the first time I heard a term, so I said something.
I rubbed my throbbing temples.
"Isn't that just an unregistered person?"
In modern society, the Awakener is a powerful shield that blocks the gate, and at the same time a sword that must be handled with care. Even the lowest level hunters had powers that far exceeded those of average humans.
Because of this, the Awoken were always under strict management.
Even if he has no intention of becoming a Hunter, his name is included in the list of Awoken.
Excluded from the list is after death.
Non-registered was a word referring to an awakened person who did not register with the association within the specified period.
Oh, sometimes it's called differently.
madman.'
There was a reason why non-registered people were treated like crazy people.
This is because if you do not voluntarily report within one month of awakening, you will become an inmate, not an awakened person.
He is put on probation and thrown away in an awakened prison without a shot, and an electronic anklet is given as a free gift after he is released from prison.
So, is there anyone willing to gamble with their lives?
"Are there still crazy people like that these days?"
"It has always been, and it still is.
So, isn't that why crime continues to happen?"
"That's why the guys who attacked Kkeokjeong were unregistered. Then how do we find them… Butler Kim cut off his words gently.
"I am the Black Hunter."
"yes. So, I am unregistered."
"different."
Butler Kim continued while stroking his well-groomed beard.
"Hunter Jin Tae-kyung. What do you think is the biggest difference between Awakeners and Hunters?"
random question. It feels like spinning around in the same place. If it wasn't for Deacon Kim, he might have said something.
I answered, suppressing my boiling heart.
"It is training. Just like having a gun doesn't make you a hunter."
"Unregistered and Black Hunters are in the same context."
"So what you just said…"
Butler Kim nodded.
"That's right. An unregistered person who received systematic training like a hunter. That is the Black Hunter."
I was dazed for a moment. It's a very easy concept once you know it, but I've never thought of it like that before.
That would be too.
"How is that possible?"
An unregistered person is a felon. Where to get weapons and who to receive systematic training from?
"Are you raising black hunters in a criminal organization or something like that?"
"Criminal organization??…. Half right, half wrong."
"sure?"
The next moment, a short answer came out of Team Leader Choi's mouth:
"Guild."
"…yes?"
"Money gathers where there are people.
When money accumulates, there are bound to be conflicts. Do you think the current guild exists purely to protect the world from monsters inside the gate, Tae-kyung?"
I couldn't answer.
I didn't become a Hunter to protect the world.
Cataclysm is a thing of the past. When people say Hunter, they don't think of a noble sense of duty or sacrifice anymore.
They envy their money and fame. Those who grew up watching it become hunters.
The collection of those hunters is a guild.
"Do you know the domestic business rankings? From 1st to 10th. On the surface, they are all private companies, but in reality they are puppets of a huge guild. Overseas It's not much different, is it?"
Team leader Choi's cold smile bewitched me.
Only then did I manage to get out of the shock and open my mouth,
"Is that all true?"
"You asked me that question before.
Why did you leave the Ares Guild?"
Team leader Choi didn't speak, but it was enough to understand the meaning.
All of them are shit in a poop. To them, the Black Hunter is like a dagger hidden in their sleeves. No one knows about its existence
. Maybe,
as the back of my head tingled, an unanswered question came to my mind:
"Okay. Let's say that's all."
As I took a deep breath, my head cooled.
"But why did those Black Hunters bother Mr. Kkeokjeong?
This far to keep us in check, who are far below us…"
"Mr. Taekyung."
Team leader Choi cut off his words and licked his parched lips.
The eyes are strange. A gaze like looking at a fledgling.
It feels like going back to the day I just became a Hunter.
"You are naive."
Before he could say anything, his words continued.
"This is a place full of monsters. Throw away your clumsy common sense that can erase at least one guild that annoys you."
A cold word pierced my heart.