When asked the question of whether he was crazy or not, Yu Il-Ahm burst out in a fit of raucous laughter.
"Hahahaha! As expected of my manager! I knew you'd avoid it just fine. Choi Kahng-Sik, you worked hard for me until now, so please work hard right till the end. I will never forget these three years we've been working together."
"You...!"
Still lying prone to the ground, Choi Kahng-Sik glared angrily as Yu Il-Ahm ran past him. Because the former Cameraman had finally realized what that guy was trying to do here.
'He wants to use me as bait?!'
Climbing into the driver's seat of the truck, the MS shouted out.
"Hey, Choi Kahng-Sik! Think about it. Rather than a common luggage carrier such as yourself, isn't it better for this country and the whole world for a Hunter to survive, instead? So, don't be too p*ssed off, bro."
"You think that's a good excuse?!"
Thud!
There was no longer room to chat idly. The one-star ranked monster Any-Won was already right by his side before he even realised it, and was getting ready to stomp him.
'D*mn it!'
Choi Kahng-Sik had no intention of dying like the pretty girl, so he rolled his body again and avoided the monster's foot.
ROAR!!
The monster roared after wasting its energy and glared at the puny human.
*SFX for a truck's ignition coming to life*
In the meantime, the MS Yu Il-Ahm started the truck and quickly made his escape. He even left behind the rapidly-cooling corpse of the pretty girl, a person whom he had bodily fun with only a few hours prior.
The figurative sparks of anger jumped out from the eyes of Choi Kahng-Sik.
"Yu Il-Ahm!! You just wash your neck and wait for me!"
"Sure thing! If you manage to survive, then why not! Ahaha!"
The laughter filled with ridicule got further and further away.
Feeling beyond p*ssed off now, cusses instinctively jumped out of Choi Kahng-Sik's mouth.
"Son of a...."
A god was always watching over him?
What a nice sounding pile of horse manure that was. No, there were only those people who watched the bloody battles between the Hunters and the monsters from safety, behind their screens, via the many MS channels one could find on the net. That was all.
There was no such thing as a god.
[A certain god is perplexed by you.]
[Number of viewers: 1]
"...Mm? A god?"
A suspicious message suddenly appeared right in front of Choi Kahng-Sik's eyes. He turned his head left and right, but the message followed his sight around as if it was stuck to his cornea or some such.
'Is this a hologram...?'
He quickly scanned his surroundings, but couldn't see any equipment capable of projecting such things nearby.
Was this really an unfunny prank played on him by a third party?
He would've probably thought that these messages were some kind of a sick joke were it not for the fact that, one, the contents of these messages were in a strange language he'd never even heard of, and two, they were directly planted into his brain.
[A certain god is saying hello.]
'Oh, uh, yes. Hello to you too... Wait a minute! A god? Is this the God that I know?'
There was no time to ask any in-depth questions, though.
ROAR!!
Because the giant fist of the monster was flying in his direction.
"Kkeuhk!"
Choi Kahng-Sik barely avoided the attack by falling and rolling on the ground again.
He had to lug around that heavy camera almost every day of his life, so his stamina already exceeded that of a normal person.
But, even then...
'That was too d*mn close!'
Even then, it was not as good as a Hunter capable of flinging superpowers around all day long.
He was able to somehow avoid the monster's attacks once or twice, but as he had to concentrate extremely hard, the exhaustion came to visit him doubly quickly as well.
Swish!!
The sound generated from the wind as the monster's fist brushed past his side was as sharp as the edges of a blade. All the hair on his body stood up on their ends, and his senses were pricked awake in an instant.
But still, everything became dull soon after.
It was the danger signal that his mental energy had finally reached its limit.
There was no time left now.
"What am I supp..."
ROAR!!
"....."
His opponent was a monster. It was one of the apex predators that caused humanity, armed with advanced scientific knowledge and a nuclear arsenal, to fall to the bottom of the food chain in a matter of days.
Choi Kahng-Sik made a cool-headed judgement.
'I'll die at this rate.'
A human would never be able to run faster than a monster.
If one were unable to escape, the remaining choices were to either fight or beg for one's life. But, monsters would never spare humans.
So, that left him with only one option - to fight.
[A certain god is preparing popcorn.]
[Number of viewers: 1]
'This isn't even something like your local cinema, so what's up with popcorn? Is this an evil god who loves watching humans desperately struggle before they get eaten?'
If so, what a peculiar taste in entertainment!
[A certain god is cheering you on.]
"Cheer me on, my a*s!!"
Choi Kahng-Sik continued to run while cussing out at the message.
'I need a weapon if I want to fight here.'
It is impossible for normal humans to hurt a monster with their bare hands when even firearms couldn't do much.
The very first weapon Choi Kahng-Sik thought of was a tent that the MS Yu Il-Ahm brought along for tonight's strip show. An item he took great care to bring along while thinking that he'd get to enjoy the romantic evening together with the now-dead pretty girl.
The whole thing, including the carrier bag, was left abandoned and uninstalled on the plain.
A rope, metal spikes, tent fabric, waterproof cloth, wires, steel rods, a multi-purpose camping shovel...
Choi Kahng-Sik grabbed the tent bag while running and slung it over his right shoulder. Although heavier than the camera, it wasn't bad enough to hinder his movements.
Then, he turned around, towards the direction of the ugly monkey-like monster.
ROAR!!
The Any-Won roared out as if it was responding to him. As if the monster found the human not running away as it expected, only to put up a fight instead, a bit ridiculous. The creature looked down on him in contempt.
*SFX for the bag's zippers being ripped open*
Choi Kahng-Sik ripped the bag wide open. Then he threw one of the steel rods at the monster's face and shouted out.
"Hey, over here!"
"Keureureu....?"
The monster flinched a little. The Any-Won's gaze shifted from the human to the steel rod. It stopped trying to kick the human and instead, swatted the foreign object away with its hand.
'My chance!'
Choi Kahng-Sik did not miss that opening.
He held the straps of the bag that was packed full of heavy tent parts with both of his hands and swung it around as if he was competing in the sport of shot put.
Using the centrifugal force, he aimed at the monster's family jewels!
Slam!
"Uwaahiiiik?!"
The Any-Won unexpectedly folded its knees and began staggering around. It was like it was surprised by this human's resistance, who should have been nothing but some prey to the monster.
Hell, it even knelt down on the ground on both knees while supporting its upper torso with a hand.
However, Choi Kahng-Sik's expression did not brighten one bit.
'As expected, I can't do it.'
If this kind of crude attacks worked and killed monsters, mankind wouldn't have been forced into the desperate defensive battles they were fighting now.
He quickly moved to the back of the monster, which was its blind spot. He judged this place to be safer than out in front of it.
And then, he ended up unintentionally finding 'that' place.
"Is that...?"
Well, there was a 'hole'.
When eating something through one's mouth, it was only natural for the waste to be expelled from the other end. Even the monsters that seemed to defy the laws of physics were no exception to this.
Humans would sometimes gracefully call this hole...
'….An as*hole.'
Choi Kahng-Sik's eyes narrowed to a slit.
The monster would stand back up in around five seconds, maybe less. He was not in a position to care about his methods now.
"....."
With a hardened expression, he wordlessly pulled out another steel rod from the bag. He thrust the rod forward, as if it was a bamboo spear, with everything he had.
Stab.
….At the hole that was puckering up noticeably and so defenceless-ly.
"@#F#%$?!?!"
The Any-Won was busy searching around for the human that had disappeared from its sight, but then, it issued a rather odd but loud scream. It was the fault of a weird thing digging deep into its body!
Perhaps inevitably, the 'contents' trapped in there poured out.
*SFX for.... oh, come on, do I have to....? Ok, fine. It's the sound of sh*t falling on the ground.*
Human fingers, bones, bits of clothing, even accessories...
They were the remains of humans devoured by the monster not too long ago.
"Woo-heuph!"
Choi Kahng-Sik instantly became nauseous. However, he still didn't stay his hand. Because he knew that he'd end up exactly like those remains if he stopped here.
Being showered by the mixture of sh*t and blood, he continued to shove the rod as hard as he could.
And eventually...
Plop!!
He succeeded in ramming the entire rod inside the monster's bumhole.
"Kuohohung?!"
Thud.
The monster fell forward while not knowing what to do; meanwhile, the giant a*s of the monster began quaking rather suspiciously.
[A certain god has covered his eyes.]
"K, k, keu, ohhhh..."
The Any-Won lost all the confident swagger it had possessed and began trembling like a lone leaf against the stormy winds. It couldn't even stand up on its own two feet and could only crawl on all fours.
Glare.
Then, the monster glared at the hateful human and swung its fist. The Any-Won's fist was much faster now that it had recognized the human being in front as an enemy rather than prey.
[A certain god is praying for you.]
"You think I'm gonna die here...?!"
Choi Kahng-Sik cried out as if he was trying to flip a finger at these suspicious messages that were getting on his nerves a bit. Figurative sparks of determination shot out from his eyes.
'I already know that I don't have any talent! I know that!'
The cruel, inconsiderate fate that didn't grant him a superpower.
If he was blessed with a power similar to MS Yu Il-Ahm, who could fling around fireballs as if it was nothing, then he'd have burned this monkey monster into ash by now.
Unfortunately, they were all 'what ifs' and nothing else.
ROAR!!
"Fine! You, me, let's do this!"
Choi Kahng-Sik's eyes were filling up with determination.
He had to rely on his physical strength to do the job.
He had been steadily improving his physical strength, and continuously saved up in order to buy weapons that could deal with various superpowers.
He also never neglected to study, not even for a second. He studied weaknesses and habits of monsters, and carefully observed various videos of Hunters killing monsters.
He adhered to a strict self-discipline.
And he certainly didn't put in all that effort just to die at the hands of this ugly monkey!
'My dear son.'
'My oppa is the best!'
'A god is always watching you.'
The spectres of the past he couldn't shake off even after ten years had passed by in an instant.
And the enemy he had to...
"The Bul-Raid...."
He could not falter here, not before he killed that monster.
Choi Kahng-Sik barely avoided the monster's fist, and managed to pull out the tent fabric from the bag then held it in his arms. He carried the now-lighter bag with his mouth.
"Here I come...!"
He rushed forward while forcing his wildly beating heart to pump more blood - towards the head of the Any-Won still crouching forward.
ROAR!!
The monster swung its arm around in reflex.
Choi Kahng-Sik remained calm against that huge arm swinging about in the air and opened his arms.
Flap!
The folded tent fabric stretched out.
"Khouwo?!"
The young man avoided the surprised monster's haphazard swing of its arm and pulled out the wires from the bag still held in his mouth.
*SFX for something flying in the air*
He then threw the whole thing past the neck of the monster just like he was throwing it over a tree or something. From here onwards, it was a battle of patience.
This battle would be decided by who reacted quicker.
To be tied up, or to escape the bind.
Tighten.
The Any-Won managed to shake loose the tent fabric wrapped around its arms and looked around to find the despicable human, only to be surprised by 'something' wrapped around its neck.
"Kuwoar?!"
"Go to hell, you b*stard!!"
Choi Kahng-Sik jumped up on top of the monster's back. He cried out in a threatening manner, stepped on the back of the monster's head, got into position, and began pulling on the wire, hard.
As if he was pulling on the reins of a horse!
ROAR!!
The Any-Won had never been threatened to this degree by a prey since it was born, and so, it fell into utter confusion now.
It tried to get rid of the wire with its hands, but its thick fingers meant grabbing it wasn't possible. And the hateful human who climbed on its back was out of reach as well.
So, what else was left?
"Keuhk?!"
It was to roll on the ground!
However, this also proved to be impractical, because of the pain from the steel rod still stuck up its bottom, as well as the burns on its back caused by the flame-based superpower.
And so, the fierce battle of endurance between a monster and a human commenced.
┖ Hul. Is this Hunter for real?
┖ Holy sh*t! Without superpowers, and with his bare hands?
┖ ㄴㄴ He's just a Cameraman.
┖ I can't watch this anymore, or I might suffer a heart-attack. ㅠㅠ
Completely oblivious to the fact that the discarded camera hiding inside the bush was still working and broadcasting the event, Choi Kahng-Sik searched inside the bag clutched in his teeth with his left hand, while holding the wire with his right.
He was trying to find another usable weapon.
[A certain god is anxiously watching on.]
"Argh, seriously now! If you're so worried, why don't you stop watching and help me out here then! ...Mm?"
As he bitterly complained, his hand latched onto something.
'The multi-purpose shovel...?'
He remembered it. It was packed in there so one could dig a trench around the tent in the rainy season or flatten the ground where the tent might go up.
He could also see a hammer and metal spikes next to the shovel, but if he let go of the wires held by his right hand, he'd fall right off the head of the Any-Won, so he couldn't use those.
His dilemma didn't last long.
He held the shovel tightly and slammed its pointy tip down, hard.
Slam!
[A certain god is so surprised, he spills his popcorn.]
'I'll finish this, no matter what!'
As if the monster's head was like a hardened, frozen soil in the middle of the freezing winter, the shovel didn't want to dig in. If so, all he had to do was to take one more shot.
Choi Kahng-Sik lifted the shovel up high.
ROOOAR!!
Sensing the imminent threat to its life, Any-Won began rolling around on the ground even more violently. And whenever a chance presented itself, the monster desperately tried to catch him.
Choi Kahng-Sik's stamina was also reaching the rock bottom. He knew that the end was nigh.
'Bet everything!'
His right hand let go of the wire and grabbed the shovel.
"Haahp!!"
The youth placed his entire body weight and stabbed forward with that flimsy shovel at the huge head of the monster.
Break!!
Something broke at that moment, and he felt the shovel dig in real deep.
The huge hand that came this close to grabbing the insolent prey prancing on top of the head suddenly went limp, and then...
"K, keureureuk..."
Any-Won's huge frame stopped moving.
"No, not yet."
One should not take the freakish vitality of a monster lightly. No, it simply suffered a temporary concussion as its brain was damaged.
So, Choi Kahng-Sik didn't rest and continued to shovel.
*SFX for continuous digging sounds*
As if he was digging a grave, he dug out and made a complete mess of the monster's brain.
He continued to dig and only stopped when the Any-Won's bloody head was completely tattered. Satisfied now, he fell from the monster.
He took a couple of faltering steps before laying down on the grass.
He was completely spent.
"Ha, haha, ha... I can't believe this...."
Even though he was incredibly tired, a foolish smile didn't want to leave the heavily-panting youth's lips.
To think, a completely powerless regular person managed to kill a monster all by himself.
His tenacity? Techniques? Luck?
This had nothing to do with some power of unyielding spirit often mentioned in some manga and whatnot.
He hadn't noticed in the middle of the battle itself, but now that it was over, he seemed a bit different from his usual self after he carefully thought about his actions.
'I suddenly got stronger.'
Without such a dramatic change taking place, he'd never have won today.
He couldn't understand how.....
[A certain god is satisfied.]
[A certain god is beckoning at a friend.]
[Number of viewers: 1]
A friend to a god...?
It was pretty much an obvious thing, wasn't it - a god's friend would be another god, no?
[A certain impatient god takes a peek at you.]
[Another god is greeting at you.]
[Number of viewers: 3]
'...There is more than one god, huh.'
Was this a culture shock? Or, was it more apt to call it a religious shock, instead?
After this 'certain' god called two of his friends, the number of messages suddenly shot up. Their greetings covered up the entirety of his vision to the point where he felt dizzy.
[A certain god is handing out popcorns.]
[A certain impatient god is not impressed.]
[Another god is praising popcorn for its delicious taste.]
[A certain god is feeling very proud.]
...If this was all there to it, Choi Kahng-Sik would've been supremely annoyed, rather than surprised as he was now.
'Well, that's surprising. It's a pretty big scoop, isn't it?'
However, the youth chose to accept his fate rather than get p*ssed off.
Although, he still wasn't blessed with something cool like a superpower, though.
"..."
He took a glance at the monster he killed.
This wasn't that stupid dream of becoming a Hunter with superpowers that had been sitting at the back of his mind for the last ten years.
But, he did get stronger.
And it was the result of the gods watching him hunt the monster.
'Almost exactly like the MS audiences.'
There would never be another opportunity like this one, ever again. While furrowing his brows, Choi Kahng-Sik made up his mind.
If he could become stronger, he'd do anything!
[A certain god is introducing the MC.] (TL: Not that MC, but "emcee", as in the master of the ceremony.)
[A certain impatient god says you're ugly.]
[Another god is eating popcorn while giggling at you.]
"....Surely, I can do this, right?"
His confidence evaporated a little bit, just then.
< Chapter 3: Cameraman (2) > Fin.