The oldest Hunter currently active, Park Jin-Chang.
One could probably tell that Park Jin-Chang was not involved with the world of Monster Streamers from the way his voice displayed his contempt for the profession. Indeed, he was purely a Hunter. No side jobs.
His skill level was only about so-so. However, he had one distinct advantage over the others that made him hard to ignore.
He was from the so-called old generation.
Park Jin-Chang personally experienced the sudden emergence of monsters to this world. He participated in the initial battles, too. That was perhaps the reason why he understood the threats of the monsters better than anyone else here.
Whenever he had time, Park Jin-Chang went around warning the newer generation of Hunters to be wary of the dangers these monsters posed. Eventually, those who thought he was just an old geezer nagging people to death had no choice but to relent.
And soon, this old man was labelled as the voice of conscience, the teacher of morals, of the Korean Hunters.
Yep, he was that kind of a man.
"....And what could be the problem, old man?"
"The problem? You fool! Do you not know that the only reason why you were able to live so carefree was that every one of these Hunters has done what they can to protect this land? But, what were you saying just now? You hunted alone? A passing stray mutt would laugh his a*s off at you!"
Park Jin-Chang came out swinging and angrily reprimanded Choi Kahng-Sik. The older man was motivated by the desire to open the eyes of this newbie who obviously didn't know anything.
'And I heard he was able to beat back the Bul-Raid....'
This always had been an issue with young, talented Hunters. They all thought they were the best in the world and were too full of confidence, nay, arrogance.
And then, they would get swallowed up by the reckless bravado, thus endangering themselves and everyone around them.
It was all too regretab....
"Haha!! Ahahaha!!"
Choi Kahng-Sik nearly toppled over as he guffawed his head off.
"....Are you that passing stray mutt, eh?"
"Well, how can I not laugh? The day my family was murdered by the Bul-Raid, not one Hunter showed up to help, you see? And when I was left alone and destitute, the government and your Association didn't even lift a finger to help."
"But, but, that's not...."
"Do you know what they said as an excuse to me back then?"
"....."
"They said, there was no loot to be found, so they couldn't financially support me! But of course. Every single one of you ran away with your tails firmly stuck between your legs as soon as a Bul-Raid showed up, after all! The only form of support you people provided me with was the bombs dropped on top of my and the Bul-Raid's head. That's all."
Choi Kahng-Sik began growling like an untamed beast.
The Bul-Raid grew stronger the more enemies it faced. So, how could mankind beat back such an absurdly strong monster until now?
Quite simple, actually.
By relying on landing one decisively powerful blow!
The military fired missiles at the monster. That was it. A missile would possess far more destructive power than swords and superpowers, at least during the moment of impact.
So, a thorough bombardment was the only method of beating back the Bul-Raid until now.
….That was what the Monster Association told everyone, anyways. Actually, they knew the truth but didn't tell anyone - no modern weaponry could even scratch that monster's Core.
The only method of killing it was to fight it up close in one on one battle.
┖ Mister MS? Please remain in Korea. ㅠ
┖ Who'll protect us when the Bul-Raid shows up again? ;;
┖ Welcome to Japan! ^.^/
┖ Is it the issue with money? Let me throw some donation cash at you. Mkay?
Up until now, people believed that the only method of driving away the Bul-Raid was to bombard the hell out of it with missiles. Because the government and the Monster Association blocked the flow of information to make sure the masses would buy that story wholesale.
But now, the story had changed.
The MS Cameraman.
He stood up to the monster some said was the most powerful within the five-star rankings, all alone.
Having displayed the potential of humanity, his channel had garnered the attention of the entire world.
The accumulated knowledge, years of experience, and finally, the secret to success...
All of these were much more valuable than a few hundred missiles that would eventually run out.
He was too blinding to look at right at this moment.
"I've never received a single bit of help from you people until now."
"I get that, you fool."
"If you understand, then...."
"Even then, we can't do what you want."
"....Mister Park Jin-Chang."
"Even this old man knows that the Monster Association is in the wrong this time. However, because you never received any support from us, you wish to keep the cycle going? Wouldn't those who lost their loved ones and their children end up having the same thought process as you?"
"..."
Choi Kahng-Sik closed his mouth after Park Jin-Chang pointed this out.
'This old fart... I don't like him.'
Keep the cycle continuing?
What a laughable notion that was.
He was cheated out of what was rightfully his. What this old man said was not very different to criticising an employee for demanding his monthly salary when the company was going through some rough waters.
However, this 'company' called the Monster Association was definitely not going through any rough waters. No, it was more like an avaricious swine that swallowed up everything it desired and returned nothing in the process.
"Old man, I see that you're still deeply misunderstanding about something."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm a regular civilian. In other words, I'm not a Hunter. I don't have any superpowers to blow monsters away like you people. So, what kind of demands are you making from me here?"
"But, the Bul-Raid....."
"That's because you people don't have any guts."
[A certain god is busy searching for your missing conscience.]
[Another god is praying for your dead conscience.]
Choi Kahng-Sik turned away from Park Jin-Chang, then spoke to the heavily-sweating nervous wreck of his former self, the deputy.
"....For my loot, I'll take this shovel and one horn of a Buff-Palrog. However, I warn you. You try something as stupid as sending someone else's shovel to a lab without my consent, then you people better prepare yourselves."
"W-what?! That, that, but how?"
The deputy began panicking even more. He finally spotted the shovel, that was why.
'How come the Hae Mo-Su is here?!'
The 'Hae Mo-Su.'
The name of a man who was an important part of Korea's history as the founder of the nation Buyeo, and the father of the king who founded the nation of Goguryeo. (TL note at the end)
The Korean branch of the Monster Association gave this historically significant name to the shovel that struck the chin of the five-star ranked monster.
"H-how can you have that.....?"
The deputy simply could not understand it. After all, the divine artifact that should be safely stored in the laboratory was currently leaning against its owner's shoulder.
Choi Kahng-Sik didn't even flinch and continued on.
"Is there a problem? This shovel belonged to me in the first place. Do you have a problem with me holding what's rightfully mine?"
"N-no. Not at all."
The deputy hurriedly denied it while shaking both hands in the air. Even he could tell that, once people heard the news of the Association stealing stuff from Hunters, the trust in the organisation would fall to rock bottom.
There was no way this deputy could deal with something like that. However, seeing that d*mn section chief hadn't shown himself even now...
The deputy let out a soft sigh.
'They.... gave up, huh.'
The situation the Monster Association hoped to achieve looked nothing like this. The truth was, this thing about 'compensation towards the families of the dead' was just an excuse!
They were thinking of using the compensation and negotiating for the ownership of the Hae Mo-Su. But, if Choi Kahng-Sik was unwilling to deal, then they were planning to drag things as much as possible, probably to next millennium if need be.
….Indeed, they were planning such a cheap tactic.
Unfortunately, things had gone sideways from the word go.
They no longer possessed the Hae Mo-Su as the leverage in the negotiation, to begin with!!
[A certain god is lying on the floor like a puddle from all that waiting.]
[A certain impatient god is also slumping to the floor in dejection.]
'Hey, hey! We're almost there, so wait for a bit longer, okay?! Stop testing my faith in you guys.'
In any case, the situation was resolving pretty quickly.
"....Guts, don't have the guts...."
Park Jin-Chang stepped away after finding himself unable to respond to the accusation of Hunters being gutless when compared to normal, powerless people.
Now that the man who was the centre of their offense was making his exit, other Hunters could no longer linger around and began inching away in haste as well.
Choi Kahng-Sik's stream went off without a hitch. That was only from his perspective, though.
┖ That's right. They are worthless, worse than us civilians. ㅋㅋㅋ
┖ Take away their conceit and the local Hunters are nothing but a bunch of withered corpses.
┖ Sons of b*tches. Why don't you drown yourselves in a pool of water or something?
The evaluation of the Hunters had fallen to the very bottom in less than a few minutes. In the blink of an eye, they were labelled as a bunch of tax thieves who were even more worthless than regular civilians with no superpowers.
It was then.
*SFX for overly cheerful ringtone of a phone*
Suddenly, a smartphone's ringtone that clearly didn't know how to read the mood rang out.
The deputy was in the midst of saying goodbyes, but when he heard the sound, his expression crumpled. That ringtone was supposed to go off only when a certain someone was calling him.
The deputy looked around his vicinity.
'Why is the section chief doing this to me....?'
Was the chief spying on him from somewhere, wanting to confirm whether the trusty deputy was doing a good job or not? After dumping this hot mess on his lap, too? Nine times out of ten, the chief probably wanted to give him new orders.
If he didn't answer here, who knows what might happen to him later on?
"Hello, it's... Yes, sir! S, sir!"
Having abruptly received new instructions, the deputy ran as if his life was on the line.
"Mister Choi Kahng-Sik!! Please, wait for a moment! Wait for me!!!"
The young man was already halfway across the huge garden located in front of the Monster Association building. The deputy cried out to him, but it was unknown whether his voice got to the intended target.
"Heok! Stop pushing me!"
"H-he's coming!"
The MS Cameraman's large strides didn't slow down at all.
Whenever he pointed the camera at, the path ahead of him opened up as if it was the staff of Moses. Like the light of a firefly hiding from the sunlight, the crowd parted to make way.
'Oh, my god....'
The deputy could only look on at this sight and gasp out in shock.
What that young man had taken from the Association today wasn't money, but something else even more valuable.
The deputy still did his job and diligently caught up to Choi Kahng-Sik.
"What is it you want now?!"
"The section chief wish to speak to you, sir. Would you mind waiting for him here? He said he'll bring the finest quality Buff-Palrog horn along as well...."
"I can't wait for long."
"Thank you! Thank you! Trust me, you really don't have to wait for long!"
'Argh, and I'm in a hurry, too!'
Choi Kahng-Sik's expression became discontent quickly.
Well, the messages of the gods, filled to the brim with their complaints, were blocking his entire vision and he couldn't even tell where he was going, after all.
His sight was affected by Chaos! The gods' dumb messages were filling his view up like the countless stars in the night sky.
"Them and their stupid adventure....."
All of this was the fault of that hospital director. Because he said some absurd tale of going on a grand adventure to find the creatures from the myths and legends, the interests of these gods had been unnecessarily stimulated.
Just what could the mental age of these gods be if they fell this easily to some salesman talk?
[A certain god is happy to hear that he's very young.]
[Another god is wondering about the other god's sensibilities.]
….Aaaand, they were implying that they were normal.
Choi Kahng-Sik inwardly prayed that this section chief would arrive as quickly as possible. Because...
"Choi Kahng-Sik?! You son of a b*tch!!"
….Because, he might end up running into another weird as*hole if he stayed here any longer.
A guy whom he was very familiar with was running towards him like an enraged bull.
Seeing who it was, an expression of surprise formed on Choi Kahng-Sik's face.
"Wait, isn't that Yu Il-Ahm?"
Indeed, that was the MS who used to employ him.
Choi Kahng-Sik promised to cut off that guy's neck if they ever met again, but then, had forgotten all about it.
The thing was, Choi Kahng-Sik stopped caring about him after seeing the news footage of the pretty girl's father, who was supposedly a powerful figure in the business community, grabbing the collars of Yu Il-Ahm and proceeding to shake the b*stard around.
'I thought he'd be stuck inside a jail, or at least, inside a courthouse, though?'
Didn't he look perfectly fine for some reason?
┖ Guillotine!! Get the guillotine ready!! ㅇCㅇ/ (TL note at the end)
┖ The original trash showed up!
┖ The 2nd trash, Hahn Joh-Seop just buried his head in the sand!
┖ That b*stard! You washed your neck and waited for us! ^^
After seeing such a hot response coming from the viewers, Choi Kahng-Sik had to revise his evaluation of the man in his mind.
That man named Yu Il-Ahm, could he be...
'….Did he come into this world for the sake of my broadcasts?'
[A certain impatient god is showing a deep interest.]
[A certain god is getting popcorns ready.]
Hell, even the messages terrorising him calmed down and disappeared altogether. Meaning, even the gods were agreeing with him on this one.
….They were agreeing that this fool was definitely a very good stepping stone for him.
< Chapter 17: The Monster Association (4) > Fin.
(TL: Hae Mo-Su "해모수" was the name of the founder of the nation of Buyeo. He was also the father of Jumong, the founder of Goguryeo as well. Wikipedia has fairly okay description on both characters, so take a look if you're interested.)
(TL: In this part, it did not say "guillotine" in the raw, but I had to change it. In the raw, the author wrote "dog straw cutter" (개 작두) which is a really, really obscure reference to an old Taiwanese TV series, Justice Pao. In it, the officer of the court, Bao Zheng, an actual historical figure, used three different types of "straw cutters" to execute criminals - one shaped like a dog's head for peasants, one with a tiger's head for nobles, and one with a dragon's head for royalties.)