Chapter 274
‘It’s a hospital. Suddenly like this?’
Just 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 a beep because there is no connection… … .
The phone 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 and go 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 climbed 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 is it, brother?
– You be quiet. Don’t touch your phone while eating.
– Seriously, what mom is holding right now is a brick, not a cell phone.
– This bitch!
“Whoa”
thank god. It wasn’t.
The tension was relieved at the voices of family members over the receiver.
I was puzzled and asked my mother what was going on, and hung up the phone.
‘Then it’s a guild problem.’
what happened to whom?
If Team Leader Choi doesn’t answer the phone, the person who will most accurately grasp the situation is Deacon Kim.
But suddenly, someone’s face passed in front of my eyes. The number of words he spoke much less and his expression that looked heavy.
‘Uncle Kkeokjeong.’
The prediction was right.
What was waiting for me when I dialed the stored number was not Lim Kkeok-jeong’s gruff voice, but a cold mechanical sound.
– Power off after beep sound.
In front of the hospital where I arrived as if flying, Song Songi, who had been contacted in advance, was waiting for me with an anxious face.
“I’m here?”
“Tell me as you go.”
As I passed through the revolving door, the peculiar smell of the hospital filled my nose.
From civilians to hunters and hospital officials. I walked through the crowd of people.
Some 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-kyung? Sibeol seat?”
“Wow, the real thing is awesome.”
I held back the rising stress.
I whispered to Song Songi as I passed the people who parted 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 skills are coming in… …
“Okay, I know what it is.”
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 bad comments saying that it was the only hole in the Peace Guild, and telling them not to think about taking the bus and leaving.
It was Lim Kkeok-jeong who laughed while dissuading us from getting angry.
however… … .
“Whoa.”
My chest was stuffy. Because of the thought that I couldn’t pay more attention to the person 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 he fought while drunk… … You are very hurt.”
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, the treatment was over, but… … “
The steps of Song Song-i, who was hesitant and unable to speak, stopped.
A sign reading [Special Care Unit] waved above her head.
A therapist, not a doctor. It is a place where so-called healers heal. It also means that it is serious.
“You’d better see for yourself.”
With a murmur like a sigh, Song Song-yi opened the door to the hospital room.
drooling.
Three people pacing around the bed came into view with the smell of nasty medicine.
Choi and Deacon Kim. A middle-aged woman who is presumed to be Lim Kkeok-jeong’s wife.
I felt my heart pounding as I approached the bed.
“… … mister?”
new baby. color.
Instead of an answer, a faint sound of breathing came. Lim Kkeok-jeong, wearing an oxygen mask, was lying on a white sheet.
and… … .
His hairy arms, which had hugged me tight as usual, were snipped off below the elbow.
The silence was long.
Even after I left the hospital room and went up to the roof, I didn’t know what to say first.
After quietly listening to the circumstances of the incident from Team Leader Choi and Deacon Kim, he finally opened his mouth.
“Those bastards, where are you now?”
Everyone here knows who I am referring to.
Team leader Choi, who had pursed his lips, shook his head wordlessly.
no way?
“Did you not catch it?”
44 Yes. All three fled the scene.”
“What about CCTV? My face must have been taken because I drank it at the store.”
“I have already been to the investigative agency. The results came out.”
These days CCTV is like a camera. If their faces were properly photographed, it would be only a matter of time before we caught them.
Hunters and Awakeners are easy to catch as their numbers are small.
“That’s all right. Those bastards right now…!”
“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 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 silently listening to me and Team Leader Choi, suddenly opened his mouth.
“It could be the Black Hunter.”
Black Hunter?
The language is dirty. Butler Kim continued in a low voice.
“Not all Awoken are registered with the Authority and Association.”
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 Awoken are both a powerful shield that blocks the gate and a sword that must be handled with care. Even the lowest level hunters have powers that far exceed 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, and sometimes they are 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.
It is probation and nabal, and it is thrown away in an awakened person prison without a shot, and an electronic anklet is given as a free gift after release.
So, is there anyone willing to gamble with their lives?
“Are there still crazy people like that these days?”
“It always was, and it still is.
Isn’t that why crime continues to happen?”
“So, those guys who attacked Mr.
“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. I feel like I’m 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’s what a Black Hunter is.”
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 piles up, there are bound to be disputes. Do you think the current guild exists purely to protect the world from monsters inside the gate, Tae-kyung?”
I couldn’t answer.
Even if it was just me, I didn’t become a hunter to protect the world.
Cataclysm is a thing of the past. When people talk of hunters, they no longer think of a noble sense of duty or sacrifice.
Those who envy their money and fame, and grow 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 giant guild. Isn’t it very different overseas?”
Team leader Choi possessed a cold smile.
Only then, having barely escaped the shock, I opened my mouth.
“Is that, is that all true?”
“You asked me that question before.
Why did you leave the Ares Guild?”
Team leader Choi did not speak, but it was enough to understand the meaning.
It’s all poop in a poop. To them, the Black Hunter is like a dagger hidden in their sleeves. no one knows its existence
No, you can pretend not to know even if you know.
As the back of my head tingled, a question that had not yet been resolved came to my mind.
“great. Let’s say that’s all.”
As I took a deep breath, my head cooled.
“But why did those black hunters bother Mr. Kkeokjeong?
To keep us in check, who are far below us… … .”
“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. He could erase at least one annoying human and one guild. Throw away your clumsy common sense.”
A cold word pierced my heart.
