The First Hunter

Chapter 37. A Hunter from a Foreign Country, Part III

Translator: Khan

Editor: RED

6.

‘If they have monster stones, they can buy drugs, buy people, and kill people.’

It was around the time when the bottle was raised on the table where Kim Tae-hoon sat, when the atmosphere of the place where it was like a devil’s den, which was so terrible and beyond the clutter and even evil, began to change.

“This is the strongest one in our store.”

One by one.

Every time the bottles filling Kim’s table increased by one, the atmosphere around him changed. Those who were drunk and fallen were dragged away by one or two people, and the people who had sex violently enough to look cruel began to disappear one by one.

The seats of those who disappeared were filled with new guests. The guests had a shrewd force and sharp eyes that did not fit the bar.

Thump! The climax of all this was a sound heard from the iron door that warded the underground bar as soon as Kim had five bottles on the table. With the sound of the iron door closing firmly, there was no longer a cluttered atmosphere anywhere in the bar.

A man appeared at the table of Kim, where he was sitting alone.

“Zainichi.”

The man who spoke in an unfriendly manner was wearing a kimono and a Japanese blade on his left hip. The two factors were sufficient to discern the fact that he was a Samurai, a third-class citizen, and an Awakener, Nakagawa Genji.

It was no trouble to identify that this was a bar managed by the Yakuza under his protection.

Anyway, he had suddenly appeared, and he was smiling in front of Kim.

“I was thinking about how to kill you, but you came into the tiger’s den by yourself.”

The smile was a hearty smile. Nakagawa Genji was rather grateful, happy to see Kim at this moment. It was like a big tiger now trapped in a trap that a hunter threw away for being useless.

“It’s funny how the world works. When it’s bad, it’s bad luck, and if it’s lucky, it’s always good.”

He was so happy that he was dumbfounded. Moreover, when Nakagawa Genji came here in one step, the stage was already set. The Yakuza who ran this bar understood the mind of Nakagawa Genji and set the stage early where they could remove a person without noise or rumors. He felt like he was the main character of the finest surprise party. It was why Nakagawa Genji was willing to give consideration to Kim Tae-hoon.

“You didn’t drink all the bottles after ordering, did you? Would you like me to wait until you have a drink, which will be your last drink in the world?”

Of course, the consideration did not last long.

“Drink it when I show my respect, because this may be the first and last time I’ve ever given this kind of consideration to a Zainichi.” The patience and empathy of Nakagawa Genji were not so great.

“I have never liked the Zainichi. They are not only ruining a country, Japan, but they are a crude, uncivilized people who commit crimes. Josenjin is a dirty blood-stained land, and they must be barbaric and uncivilized, right?”

A laugh came out from around at Nakagawa Genji’s question.

Kim did not react much to the atmosphere, which was really a nightmare. He did not drink or give a glance at Nakagawa Genji. It was because there was still time left.

“Anyway, the moment I step on the land of Joseon, I will kill all the men and cut off all the limbs of the girls and make them sex slaves-”

Beep! And the time that remained was gone.

“What is it?”

Beep, beep! Kim’s wristwatch began to spit out an alarm, and Nakagawa Genji, surprised by the sound, took alert.

Click! Click!

Those around him also immediately pulled the guns out of their waistbands and pointed them at Kim. Of course, it didn’t take long to realize that the sound was a watch alarm, because Kim pressed his watch and turned off the alarm.

Some made disbelieving expressions, some of them were full of anger. Nakagawa Genji was the latter. The fact that he was surprised by the clock alarm melted away his small consideration at once.

“You Zainichi bastard!” It was the moment he was about to express his anger.

Swish! The arrow that was silent in Kim’s waist started floating.

Swish! The arrow was moving surprisingly fast, fast enough to be invisible.

Thunk! At the same time, it was surprisingly powerful. It easily penetrated from temple to temple, a piece of flesh between the bones the length of handspan.

Thud! It was the sound of bodies beginning to fall on the floor that announced that the flight of the arrow was over.

‘Huh?’ Nakagawa Genji has stiffened up where he stood. It was because his thinking stopped at this situation that could not be understood by common sense at all. Of course, he realized the most important thing immediately.

‘Dangerous!’

It was not possible for him to get the position of a Samurai with just luck, as only those who had excellent ability and skill qualified.

He recognized the desperate crisis he was in, and he dropped his hand to his waist to cut down the crisis into a single stroke. He wanted to pull out the sword in his waistband.

Tsreung! And the Sword was pulled out by itself.

Huck! The Sword that was drawn out was caught by Kim, now facing Nakagawa Genji.

A sudden feeling of helplessness rose up in front of the absurd things that had happened in a short time. No, at this moment, his ability to detect danger realized that any ability to sense danger or act was completely futile.

So, he was scared stiff, and Kim just looked at the man who was now the color of a corpse.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t kill you right now. If I kill you right here, the fact will be delivered through the Shikigami [Japanese ghosts] to Musashi.”

Along with the words, Kim threw something golden in his palm toward the mouth of Nakagawa Genji.

“You fucking bastard – Eup!” It was sticky, and it sealed his mouth at once.

Kim got up. It was the first time since he had entered this bar. But it was not just Kim who got up. The bottles on Kim’s table also began to emerge.

Clank! The bottles exploded and sprinkled alcohol all over the place.

Ptui! Kim spat on the scattered alcohol.

Fwoosh! The strong liquor ignited as if it were trying to prove how strong it was. The bluish flames reflected off his black Eyes.

7.

The Kyushu region was like the blind end of Japan, and the Kitakyushu area, which was the beginning of the Kyushu region, was always overflowing with accidents.

“It’s completely collapsed.”

It was not unusual for a building outside the city to collapse overnight.

“What do you want me to do?”

“What?”

However, some of those who had just been dispatched to Kitakyushu City did not know that. Of course, it was not special either.

“The building has collapsed…”

“So what do you expect me to do?”

“Yes?”

“What do you want me to do when the building collapses?”

It was natural for a new recruit to know nothing, and it was the role of the senior to teach them

“Well…”

“Do you have any equipment to clean up the building or something important inside? Enough to put all your manpower in here right now, huh?”

“Oh, no, uh, no.”

That was what it was now. The senior made it clear to the new recruits the reality of Kitakyushu, and even Kyushu.

It was not easy to remove the wreckage of the collapsed building and rescue people before the monsters appeared, and in the present age, it was wise to leave this building as a grave.

“Do you get a bonus for cleaning this up?”

And doing this would be of little help to the survivors.

“… No, I don’t get a bonus.”

“What should we do then?”

In front of such a senior’s instruction, the new recruit learned a lesson that he could not forget even if he wanted to forget.

“I’ll just deal with it as an accident.”

“Yeah, just make it happen. Write a report. The building is down, and no victims.”

“I understand.”

So, the report was written on the spot.

8.

Hiyoshi, the branch manager of the Kyushu region, was currently in charge of Kitakyushu City. It was not unusual for him to be in charge of the Kyushu region, where the role of the Imperial Hunting Unit in a monster-filled land was more important than ever.

Of course, the branch manager of the Kyushu Hiyoshi received a significant amount of reports every day. The monsters were everywhere, and accidents were common when there were so many people of the worst character.

However, he wasn’t the type to read his reports carefully.

“I’m sorry, it’s such a noisy place.” All he did was read the title and stamp his seal on the bill as soon as he saw it.

It was still the case. He was not particularly interested in the report of [The collapse of an outer building of the city, No Victims].

His only interest was directed at the man standing in front of him.

“Was there any matter?”

At the question of Kim, Hiyoshi approved the report and read the title again. “Fire destroyed a building. No victims.”

Kim calmly answered at the words of Hiyoshi. “It’s not a big deal.”

“Yes, it’s not a big deal.” At the moment of speaking out the words ‘Not a big deal,’ Hiyoshi no longer had the report in mind. “It’s not important.”

Instead, Hiyoshi had a monster, a giant snake with a white body, in his mind.

“What do you think? Can you do that?”

“You mean the White Snake?”

“Is there anything else besides that important thing right now?”

The White Snake was a huge snake, a yellow-grade monster; it was a scary monster. However, just because it was the only yellow grade, Hiyoshi did not give his keen attention to it. That way, his attention should be directed to an Eight-tailed Fox, a dark blue-grade monster on Mount Aso.

The reason to get the attention of Hiyoshi wasn’t the grade of the monster.

“The Eyes of the White Snake is more valuable than a green monster’s ability.”

======

The Eyes of the White Snake is the ability obtained when someone eats the crystal of the White Snake.

The Eyes of the White Snake can give someone better eyes than a hawk.

In addition, an ability to improve the five senses, such as the Eyes of the White Snake, is treated as much more valuable than other abilities. The reason is that the Awakeners are superhumans.

No matter how good they are, they can’t function properly if they are deaf. Conversely, if they lack the ability, they can demonstrate their ability at 120 percent if they have five excellent senses. Therefore, the value of the Eyes of the White Snake that gives human visions to transcend is equal to a crystal of a green-grade monster, or it has more value, depending on the situation.

======

In addition, the crystal of the White Snake was not an object they needed to send on to the home country.

‘My assessment is going up recently, and if I clear Fukuoka City, I can go to Tokyo by using the Eyes of the White Snake as a bribe.’

A bribe.

Even if Hiyoshi just paid valuable goods like the Eyes of the White Snake to his home country, there would be nothing for him. On the other hand, the reality was that someone was more likely to intercept and eat it during transportation. Of course, Hiyoshi did not even report on the White Snake, so few people even knew about it.

To be precise, it seemed to belong to the Samurai Nakagawa Genji so far. In the position of Hiyoshi, it was an object that could not be taken even if he was willing to take it, until this man appeared before him.

“So can you hunt the White Snake?”

Until Kim appeared, Hiyoshi was suppressing his greed for the White Snake. But now that Kim appeared, he could no longer suppress his greed.

“I can’t give you a definite answer.”

That was about it. Kim showed a great ability to make Hiyoshi burst into the greed that he had formerly suppressed well. Kim’s monster hunting ability had been excellent enough to be considered outstanding among those he had seen.

“Can’t you make it more clear?”

“I’ve never seen a monster called a White Snake, and a yellow-grade is not something I am certain I can kill with just my confidence.”

So, at this moment, Hiyoshi nodded rather than urging him at the words of Kim. “Finding it is a priority.”

He did not have any complaints or questions about this.

“Do you need anything?”

“If someone is an able man like me, I’ll go with him. But if he is not, I’d better go alone.”

“I suppose so, when are you going to leave?”

“I don’t have to stay here long, so I’ll move right away.”

At the response of Kim, Hiyoshi smiled. ‘I can’t believe a sword I can throw away any time is so useful.’ Of course, there was no consideration or worry for Kim in the smile.

It was the same with Kim. ‘There’s no reason to give him the White Snake.’

8.

A city that had been ruined.

Now, a giant snake with a pure white body appeared in the street, where it was hard to find even bones, let alone a dead body.

Chyureup, Chyureup!

The color of its skin, as well as the tongue that came out through the gaps in the tight mouth, was shining white. The only other color on the snake’s body were the yellow eyes that clung to both sides of its inverted triangle head.

It was a pale-yellow eye, well matched for the white body, but it was not a beautiful eye. Rather, instead of beauty, it was horrifying and bizarre instead of the beautiful. It was the shape of the yellow eyes. The circle in the circle, the circle in it again… The shape of the circles overlapping in that way reminded him of a camera lens.

Even its eyes were moving like camera lenses. As it looked into the distance, the pupils of the White Snake began to move like camera lenses. The White Snake scanned its territory with its own eyes.

Chyureup! Then it could see that a mile away, a deer was moving in the mountains, avoiding the predator’s eyes.

Kyaa! At the same time as the White Snake found the deer, it opened its mouth and shrieked out its fear. That was the end of the hunt. A deer had no power to endure the fear of a monster.

Thud! The deer fell on the spot, its heart still, and the White Snake moved to eat, not hunt, to appease its hungry stomach.

Swish! It was about that time that a Sword fell down like a lightning bolt. When the White Snake was all relaxed and its mind was filled with the pleasure of eating, a Sword, falling like a lightning bolt, penetrated deep into the back of its neck, between the head and the body.

Thunk! The Sword penetrated the White Snake’s body and stuck into the ground.

Swish! Then a second lightning bolt came. This thunderstorm was from the left, not at the head of the White Snake. A Sword, like a missile, struck the left of the White Snake and passed through and out the right side.

Two attacks were enough to take the light out of the pupils of the yellow eyes.

Thump! The White Snake fell to the ground as it was.

A man stepped toward the White Snake. Clump! A man, who reminded them of ghosts rather than people, stood in front of the White Snake.

Whizz! At the same time, the Sword that had passed through the White Snake flew toward the man. The man snatched it from the air, and he began to cut through the skin of the White Snake from the starting point of the wound in its body.

Red blood spouted like a fountain from the white body of the White Snake, staining the pure whiteness bright scarlet. What the two Swords pierced and cut were not just blood vessels, but an organ filled with blood. It was definitely the heart of the White Snake!

‘Here you are.’ The man could see the heart of the White Snake, and the yellow jewel that had stuck to the heart, through the gap of the open skin. The man changed the color of his eyes.

==[The Crystal of a White Snake]

– Mana increases when ingested.

– Mana Resistance increases when ingested.

– You can acquire [The Eyes of the White Snake], the power of the White Snake, when ingested.]==

The man could see the value of the yellow crystal of the White Snake with his black Eyes. He didn’t hesitate. The man reached out his hand to strip the jewel from the White Snake and put it into his mouth immediately, still covered with blood.

Gulp! He swallowed it. At that moment, his Eyes began to turn into something like the Eyes of the White Snake. The black Eyes began to change like camera lenses, and at the same time, they began to see things in detail far away. He smiled despite himself.

‘I get an income from an unexpected place.’ With his new Eyes, the man looked at Mount Aso, which was dimly visible in the distance.

‘If I kill the Eight-tailed Fox on Mount Aso, then it’s… Jeju Island, Korea.’ There was no sign of a smile on his lips then.