[Oh-Racle](TL: A pun on "oracle". The "Oh" is a Hanja word for "crow.")
A 'friendly' monster that predicts the future like an oracle. Its predictions are even more accurate than the very best of what modern technology can offer.
It looks like a crow with two heads. If the right head caws, then it means good fortune. If the left head caws, then it's an ill omen.
The poaching of this creature is strictly prohibited.
There were two types of monsters in this world.
And they were monsters that were deemed as not as dangerous, and those that were deemed exceedingly dangerous.
The meaning of the 'not as dangerous' didn't imply that they were weaklings. No, it simply meant that these monsters didn't try to attack humans first, or seemingly had no interest, to begin with, thus making them relatively non-threatening.
Of course, monsters like that were incredibly rare.
However, there was one such monster that resembled a two-headed crow.
"Caw! Caw! Cawww!"
The large crow cawed out loudly atop its nest, built on the roof of a certain hospital. And when humans heard that call, they all reflexively looked up at the creature as if they had been rehearsing this move for a while.
And then, they lightly patted their chest in relief.
'What a relief, it was the right head.'
'The right head means good fortune! This area will be safe today.'
'Whew! I thought I might get a heart attack.'
The two-star monster, Oh-Racle.
It was the so-called 'good' monster that went about informing every one of the fortunes of the area where it nested.
That call was as if this bird was welcoming a certain person to the hospital.
"....So noisy, and it's still early morning, too...."
Of course, not everyone was happy to hear that loud caw.
A young man, completely wrapped in bandages from his head to toe, was lying on top of the hospital bed, a deep frown etched on his face.
It wasn't because he was in pain, though.
[A certain god is feeling rather bored.]
[A certain impatient god is suggesting that you should get discharged immediately.]
[Another god has fallen asleep.]
[A different god is full of dissatisfaction.]
'….Don't you guys have any sympathy for the wounded?!'
Dozens of messages flooded into his view as soon as he opened his eyes. Such a thing always happened in the mornings, but, it was way worse now after he was admitted to the hospital.
I'm bored! Bored! BORED!
That was basically what those messages were saying.
"And you guys aren't even children..."
"Oh my!! Mister Choi Kahng-Sik, you've woken up! How are you feeling?"
A pretty nurse was checking up on his intravenous drips before realising that he was awake now. She smiled invitingly while greeting him with her eyes. It seemed way too bright for a professional smile.
Choi Kahng-Sik raised his upper torso and sat up.
"Mm... It's not too bad, I guess?"
He still had all his ten fingers and toes. He was almost completely unscathed. As he sat on the bed, he couldn't actually believe that he came out of that encounter perfectly fine and not as a cripple.
The nurse spoke as she checked his temperature.
"Wow. Your recovery rate is truly amazing, you know? You've been in a coma for two days straight since you were brought in, and that really made me scared, you see."
[A certain god is cackling lewdly.]
[A certain impatient god is giving his blessing to the spring of your youth.]
[Another god is waiting in anticipation.]
"....I'm feeling fine now."
"Ah! That's right. There was a gentleman who wished to be contacted as soon as you've woken up. What should I do?"
"Is he a reporter?"
"I'm not really sure...."
"In that case, please don't. I don't have any family members who'd worry about me. And I'll broadcast my condition on my own time, so it'll be fine."
Choi Kahng-Sik coldly drew the line.
'Even if I meet him, he's probably not a good person, anyway.'
The Cameraman busily chasing around Monster Streamers were constantly exposed to danger. And as they didn't have any superpowers to protect themselves, they suffered a high mortality rate. Choi Kahng-Sik's been a Cameraman for over five years. So, it'd be a lie to say he hadn't met a single accident on the job until now.
Indeed, he got injured and had to stay in hospitals countless times. However, during all those times, not once did he entertain a guest coming to check up on him nor receive a phone call wishing him a speedy recovery.
"Do you know where my camera is?"
"Over there, in the second closet...."
"Thank you."
"...."
"Was there something else?"
"That is... No, nothing at all. Please, don't worry about a thing and rest."
The nurse seemed to have a few more things percolating in her mind judging from how her lips continued to quiver, but in the end, she exited from his hospital room without saying anything else.
'...Did someone pay her off or something? Oh well. Not that I care.'
Choi Kahng-Sik quickly retrieved his camera. He pulled out the adaptor built into the device and hooked it up to a power outlet next to the bed. Then, pressed the power 'on' button.
"Whew! It's not broken. Good."
He rejoiced like a person who just heard that his lover was still alive and would make a full recovery.
[A certain god is kicking away the thoughts of romance.]
[Another god is fallen into a contemplation of what ifs.]
Choi Kahng-Sik browsed through articles floating in the web for a while. During the last two days of his stay in the hospital, quite a few things seemed to have happened.
He only cared about one thing, though.
'In the end, it got away, huh.'
He felt so empty that a bitter chuckle leaked out of his mouth.
The Bul-Raid escaped to the north, towards Manchuria. Not only that, it did so after killing hundreds of Monster Streamers who held roughly the same idea as Hahn Joh-Seop, too.
….The five-star ranked monster, Bul-Raid.
Its infamy once more proved itself.
Even after it lost any desire to fight and ran away, humanity still couldn't do anything to it. As a matter of fact, it was an incredible feat for Choi Kahng-Sik to fight that creature one on one and managed to chase it away as he did.
'No. In the end, I would have probably lost, too.'
Sure, Hahn Joh-Seop butted in at the crucial moment and made a mess of things, but because of the Bul-Raid's incredible healing rate, Choi Kahng-Sik's defeat was a foregone conclusion.
The information told to the layman was false.
All that battle data provided by various countries, showing how they were able to chase away the Bul-Raid, all those were nothing more than bullsh*t designed solely to boost the national pride.
'Yeah, that rate of recovery... that was insane.'
Not to forget, his shovel that managed to strike the chin of such a monster was quite amazing, too.
"....Mm? Wait a minute. Where's my shovel?"
…..He had completely forgotten about it until now.
Since he had his camera, he could make his living off broadcasting. But, he'd be lying dead in the Gimpo Airport if it weren't for the divine shovel gifted to him by 'a certain god'.
To think, he had forgotten all about that wonderfully reliable friend until now!!
[A certain god is feeling lonely.]
'Sorry, sorry. My bad. Dear god, can you at least tell me where it is right now?'
[A certain god is sulking.]
[Another god is consoling the certain god while lightly patting on the shoulder.]
"Holy cow...."
The faith towards the gods building inside him all thanks to that amazing shovel dissipated in an instant.
For now, having nothing much else to do, Choi Kahng-Sik decided to commence broadcasting.
"Hello, everyone. It's your MS Cameraman speaking. Yes, indeed, I really thought I'd die back then, but... Aigoo!! I didn't expect to receive donations as soon as I started the broadcast! Thank you very much. I'll use it as my hospital fee."
….Well, for a donation sent in for his hospital stay, there were one too many zeroes, though.
Even today, he had started his streaming without a warning. But the viewers were like sniffer dogs, and they instantly flocked to his channel.
That wasn't the only change, though.
┖ English, plz. T^T.
┖ Hi. :-)
┖ I'm so proud of you! ^3^ (TL: these lines were written in English in the raw.)
'Hul? Why are there so many foreigners in my channel?'
On the second day of his career as an MS, he did spot a couple of foreign languages in the chatroom window, but they weren't as explosive in number as of now.
The old saying went that, you had to clap your hands first to make a sound; the overseas viewers couldn't leave comments behind after being pushed aside by the Koreans and the language barrier they couldn't overcome. All they could do was to quietly watch on from the side until now. However, they decided to cooperate with each other and entered the chat en masse, thereby ensuring that they would be heard.
┖ Huh, this MS has already entered the global stage, eh. ;;
┖ As expected of humanity's best Hunter! ^0^b
┖ Will he be communicating with aliens by this time next year? @[email protected]
┖ Sniff! I've got a fear of foreigners, too.... ㅠㅠ
'Oh? There's a pretty keen observer among the viewers, no?'
Well, he was in communication with the gods, after all. Who knew what he'd be talking to next year? He couldn't even begin to imagine it.
He laid back down on the bed like a good patient he was and spoke to the camera.
"Welcome to my channel! I'm the MS Cameraman. Kehuem. That's the extent of my English, so forgive me. I'm sure you're curious about many things. If I put it in the simplest terms, what happened was the result of my obsession for getting revenge." (TL: the first two lines were written in English in the raw.)
Choi Kahng-Sik proceeded to explain what happened to him in the past.
The attack of the Bul-Raid on Seoul ten years ago, the death of his family to the monster...
He didn't put on an expression of sadness that the main character from a tragedy might have. He wasn't planning to buy their sympathy. Well, he wasn't the only person out there who lost his loved ones to a monster, after all.
That was why, he only told them what needed to be said, and nothing more.
"I'm not someone special. I'm just a guy among many who'd been sharpening the blades of vengeance against the Bul-Raid. I'm just a weakling. Just because the monster's blades increased by one and became two, I almost ended up dying, you know?"
┖ D*mn it! I recalled the mug of Hahn Joh-Seop again! ㅠ
┖ Hahn-Joh.... that d*mn fool...
┖ Keuk! The sweet potato got stuck in my throat! >0<
Choi Kahng-Sik empathised the point that, even though he was a regular human, he never forgot to work hard every day of his life.
"Even if you are not an Esper, don't despair. It may sound like I'm talking nonsense, but the truth is, there are things only a powerless guy like me can see."
┖ Yeah, you're the pride of us regular civilians! ^-^
┖ Mister MS, you gotta keep surviving as long as you can, ok? :-)
┖ My girlfriend says I gotta learn from him, What should I do now? ㅠㅠ
┖ Just go die. ㅗ
┖ Yeah, just die already.
He decided to keep the god's divine support as top secret for now. He figured that, if he revealed the existence of the miraculous divine help from above, which did kinda sound like superpowers in a way, his hard-earned fame would fly away in an instant.
[A certain god is asking you if you have any conscience.]
[Another god is criticising you.]
'No, wait. It's not hard work, but haaaaaard work, is that it?'
If humans could defeat monsters through nothing but thoughts of revenge and determination, then they would've regained control of the planet by now.
It was then.
"Haha! You can't claim that you're an ordinary man, no?"
"....Hey man. Look here."
Unfortunately, a doctor ended up ruining the moment.
< Chapter 14: The Monster Association (1) > Fin.