Auto Hunting

Seo-jin stood still, simply watching him. He wasn’t thinking of going after him.

His body trembled as he realized that his problems had compounded. All the Master had asked was for them to bring Oh Yoo-seong to him by whatever means necessary.

In doing so, they had angered Yoo-seong and resorted to violence. Moreso, the person whom they challenged, had defeated them.

Yoo-seong insulted their Master, and it was because Seo-jin had failed to carry out his responsibility.

“Master, I don’t know what to say,” he said as he trembled.

“You don’t have to say anything.”

The voice flowing from the smartphone sounded indifferent.

“You think I’m angry? You’re mistaken.”

Seo-Jin was shocked by his Master’s words. Had his Master forgiven him so easily? By the Master’s standards, he and Chu-yeop should have been expelled from the practice.

“Well, thanks to you, I had a front seat view. I was very impressed. It was fun.”

That shocked Chu Seo-jin more.

Had the Master just used the ‘f’ word? In the over thirty years he had served the Master, he doubted he had ever heard him say ‘fun.’

The Master then ended the call.

…

It was a thrilling time for the industry.

-The Special Defense Agency announced six new hunting policies…-

-Finally: ‘Dive’ permitted with regulation… –

-The explorations have begun again… Who were the selected ‘5 people’? –

-Ranked 1 Hunter Lee Jae-hak Press Conference…-

The news was the second biggest thing since the appearance of the Shantigas.

Everyone had been expecting to see what moves the industry would make. The times were changing. It wasn’t just a matter of cracks and beasts.

The current hunters were far better than the previous ones because of improved technology for CE injections, equipment, Aura, Psy, and Tech techniques.

It had been about a week since the event where Park Kang-Han had shown off in support of the Defense Bureau Director. His performance had been so outstanding that he had silenced the other hunters who had been against him.

Yoo Jae-gon, the new team leader of TeamAwl, gathered his team members and raised his voice. They were by the bus near the barrier line.

In the distance, there was a thunder-class rift, two levels lower than the storm.

“The rift progression hasn’t been steady though it has already started,” Yoo Jae-gon started. He had just returned from the United States after completing the rookie exchange training program.

He had been overseas for five years. He had returned equipped not only with training expertise, but also practical achievements.

Upon his return, he was overwhelmed with proposals, but he politely refused and chose to take over an upper-middle ranked team, Awl.

In his philosophy, a snake’s head was better than a dragon’s tail. Besides, that snake would soon become a dragon because of his performance.

“The problem isn’t talent. It’s a matter of the quality of the skills developed through training. Sadly, in the case of past seniors, we have to start from scratch. None of them are giving us anything. But can we inherit the legacy of these seniors, like that Park Kang-Han?”

The team members of Awl were raptly listening to Jae-gon Yoo.

Most of them were young and energetic hunters. They were engrossed with Yoo Jae-gon’s words.

He pulled out a suit from a bag at his feet. It was equipment from America.

“Anyway, this is the Bugbear Suit. It has the flexibility to resist sudden temperature changes and abnormal conditions. There is no need to change equipment every time to suit different situations,” he shouted.

He was conscious of the attention he and his teammates were getting. It was the era of self-PR. One could see it just by looking at Park Kang-han.

Despite showing up just a few times, his reputation preceded him through word of mouth.

As Yoo Jae-gon expected, questions started to come in one by one.

“I heard that it isn’t made from a monster’s corpse, but with pure American technology,” a lady said.

“How much does it cost?” a guy asked.

Yoo Jae-gon raised his arms to calm them down while he prepared to answer them in pride.

“I can’t tell you that, but…”

“Hey, I’m sorry,” someone said, raising his hand.

He was reading a book, leaning against a black case that seemed to contain his equipment.

His voice was quite polite and calm. He had arrived before the other hunters on the scene, so they hadn’t noticed his presence.

“Could you lower your voice a little bit?” he asked.

Every hunter stared at him in shock.

It was only then that Yoo Jae-gon realized that his voice had been too loud.

There was still a long time before the crack would open.

Some hunters were relaxing or preparing themselves. His voice was quite distracting.

“If you have to be noisy, you can move over there.”

“Right. Don’t bother. I won’t be very loud,” Jae-gon said in apology.

“You can go inside the bus over there and read if you have to,” a lady said.

She didn’t appreciate the strange man dampening the atmosphere with his remark.

“Besides, don’t you have any earphones or something?” another hunter said.

The hunters were in Yoo Jae-gon’s support. He smiled.

The young man who was reading the book was silent for a moment. He nodded a few times; then, he fixed his attention back on the book.

Yoo Jae-gon then noticed the book title.

‘Encyclopedia?’

It was an introductory textbook that hunters used while they prepared to earn their licenses. It also contained simple topics like scholarly theories and a simple ecological report of the other world.

Since he had gotten a license, he didn’t need to read such a boring book.

Considering that the strange man would be a part of the operation, it was also clear that he wasn’t a beginner. Was he reading the book as a hobby or because he was a beginner?

The young man was reading it with a serious expression as if it was a Bible. Yoo Jae-gon stopped paying attention to the young man. There was no problem.

And the man was alone. He had no cover for him. Everyone’s attention was on what Yoo Jae-gon was saying.

“I’m very nervous. Leader,” a younger man spoke up.

“Do not worry. You will do well,” Jea-Gon said.

Soon, it was time to go to the crack.

Initially, it was for one to three teams composed of gold-level Hunters, including team leader Yoo Jae-gon. However, a week ago, the policy changed.

Even with small cracks, the number of personnel and, as a result, a large number of gold-level teams participated.

There had to be at least three platinum-grade hunters in the past, irrespective of the number of gold-level hunters.

Now, the number had been reduced.

One Top 20 ranker could now supervise the operation to replace the three platinum hunters. Everyone wondered who the ranker was going to be. Some hoped it would be Lee Jae-hak.

“I would like Park Kang-han to come,” a female hunter said. She was still new to the job.

No one knew Park Kang-Han’s face, though many of them consider him as their idol.

They hoped to rise as fast as he did.

“Anyone can come,” Yoo Jae-gon said with authority. “But I bet that, even if Park Kang-han comes, he will not do better than our team. right?”

The team members nodded confidently. They were with all the latest equipment Jae-Gon had brought from the United States, and they had been trained to use them.

Besides, their teamwork and the rich experience of some of them was enough to make them invincible.

-The appearance of a crack is imminent. Personnel in each waiting area, please board the bus.-

The pre-briefing had begun,

First, the team with the equipment started boarding the bus. Even if they didn’t say anything, they all subconsciously reserved the best seat for Jae-gon.

Soon, they were all aboard.

“Is everyone on board?” Jae-gon asked as he looked around. There was a seat left.

“Wait,” a voice came from outside just as the doors slid shut. “Sorry, it took a while to put my gear on.”

The driver pressed a button, and the doors slid open again. The owner of the voice entered the bus.

“Thank you. Driver,” he said with an awkward smile.

Some people swallowed when they saw him. Half a year had passed since the license exam, and not many people remembered Yoo-seong’s face.

However, a few remembered the Queen Ant he had killed. They were the ones gawking.

Their eyes ran over his Matte Gray armor, and they rubbed their eyes to ensure they weren’t hallucinating.

When they were done, they looked again.

It was him.

There was a blank platinum seal on one arm. On the other, there were sparkling platinum wings.

19.

The engraved numbers made it very clear who the owner was. Now, everyone was staring. They couldn’t understand why he was with them on the bus.

He could own a car and hire a driver. He didn’t need to ride the bus.

Yoo-seong knew they were staring at him, but he quietly went towards the seat that was left. His account balance was ten digits, but it was still too much of a luxury for him to own a car.

Suddenly, a young man stood up.

“Sir, you can have my seat. It’s close to the window,” he said.

He wasn’t the only one to stand up. He was just the first.

“Thank you. Don’t bother,” Yoo-seong said as he placed a palm on the man’s shoulder.

He didn’t press down with force, but the weight of his muscles pushed the man back on the seat.

Soon, the bus zoomed off.

The seats were tightly packed. There was just enough space so that no one had to sit on the floor or stand.

Yoo-seong pulled his phone from his bag lazily. As he looked at the screen, his expression changed to that of seriousness.

People watched his face, wondering at the sudden change.

Yoo-seong looked around him to see everyone watching him.

“Aren’t you guys following the briefing?” He asked with a frown.

At that, everyone pulled out their cell phones.

Once they read the briefing, they looked out the window with worried faces.

Suddenly, they all wished they could retreat.