[A certain god is cheering you on.]
[Number of viewers: 3]
"...."
Choi Kahng-Sik didn't even know where to begin on why he was able to see the so-called conversations between gods quite literally out of the blue, never mind how much stronger his body had become. Well, it wasn't as if there were easy-to-understand stat values as one would find in a video game to help him out, after all.
He could only vaguely feel the change that he had indeed become physically stronger.
And he became even more convinced of this fact as the messages continued to inundate him soon after he defeated the Any-Won.
The reason for his sudden power-up could be...
'Is it because the number of viewers increased?'
The 'viewers'.
What a familiar word for Choi Kahng-Sik.
One of the things he took care of every single day while working as the 'manager' of the MS Yu Il-Ahm, was to manage the viewership and the audience rating. Well, the thing was, that b*stard of a Hunter only knew how to hunt and fool around with girls, and pretty much nothing else.
Then, it suddenly dawned on him.
"Where's my camera?"
Choi Kahng-Sik hurriedly went to look for the means of his livelihood that he had to discard in the bush not too long ago.
Professional cameras, equipped with all sorts of functions designed to facilitate live streaming, were luxury items that cost more than some bachelor flats, so he couldn't afford to lose it.
"Whew!"
Fortunately for him, the camera was unscathed.
However, even though it was a minor thing, there was still a problem he didn't quite expect.
'It's been broadcasting everything?! Even now?'
Choi Kahng-Sik was grandly surprised by this revelation and quickly accessed the built-in monitor attached to the camera to check out the channel's chatroom.
And sure enough, it had been broadcasting everything.
┖ Hul-qui?? A Cameraman defeated a monster. (◐0◐);;
┖ Hey, mister, Are you perhaps Superman 3? (TL: I don't get the reference either, so no explanation from me....)
┖ As a regular civilian like him, I must reflect on myself... OTL
┖ Mister Cameraman is tougher than Mister MS. ㅋㅋ
The comments from the audience were piling up at a ridiculous rate.
The number of viewers also had tripled, too. Most likely, the influx came from word of mouth quickly spreading from the viewers who got excited by the shocking turn of events.
Choi Kahng-Sik felt a bit lost for a moment. He might have worked a long time behind a camera but lacked experience being in front of one.
Still, he wasn't that worried.
After all, he'd been around this field for a long enough time to pick up on a few things. (TL note at the end)
He took a deep breath and spoke up.
"Everyone, did you see everything that just happened?"
┖ Oh, yeah. ㅇㅇ
┖ From beginning right till the end.
┖ The guy above me nearly peed himself. ^^
Choi Kahng-Sik responded appropriately to the comments and got to ask a few questions himself. Thanks to that, he also got to learn a handful of useful information rather easily.
'Whew-woo! I guess I'll be fine now.'
Thanks to a few morally-upstanding viewers reporting this incident, he learned that a rescue team should be arriving soon.
As for the MS Yu Il-Ahm... Well, after he escaped alone to Seoul, he tried to weasel his way out of potential trouble, only to get arrested on the spot instead.
Too bad for him, the whole crime was being streamed live, after all!
Even he failed to consider the possibility that the camera was still functioning as advertised.
And so, it seemed that everything was working out well.
However...
┖ What happened to the pretty girl? ㅠ.ㅜ
┖ Yeah, her. Right, go check her out, dude.
┖ Don't you have to mosaic-censor the whole thing? ;;
┖ Hey, you, shut up! She could still be alive!!
Choi Kahng-Sik could only spit out a sigh from the audience pressuring him.
'If I tell them that I don't really care, I'll probably get swept up in some sort of controversy, right?'
[A certain god is agreeing with you while flipping popcorn.]
[A certain impatient god is unimpressed.]
[Another god is urging you to go save the woman.]
'...I never asked you guys, though?'
Choi Kahng-Sik scratched the back of his head and began manipulating the camera. And then, the audience's point of view was blocked out in mosaic.
┖ Seriously? A mosaic censorship?! Get rid of it while I'm being nice here.
┖ Do you even know what a real MS is supposed to do?!
┖ Mister Cameraman! That's not how you're supposed to do a live stream!
┖ ㅉㅉ He really doesn't know how to do a proper live stream, man!
A handful of viewers were throwing a bit of tantrum, but Choi Kahng-Sik decisively ignored them all.
His reason?
"This broadcast is rated G for the whole family."
'Crazy b*stards. You think a dead body is some kinda joke?'
Well, the moonlit strip show was definitely no longer on the broadcast schedule, that's for sure. But then again, the MS Yu Il-Ahm planned that silly stunt all by himself after getting scared by the sudden drop in the audience numbers, so there.
More importantly, though - the hunt had failed during the stream.
Now normally, he wouldn't even get the chance to shoot anything in mosaic. Because the Hunter and Cameraman should have already been killed by the monster at this point.
So, a Cameraman bringing down a monster and surviving in the process could legitimately be referred to as a miracle.
A very, very, special situation indeed!
"She should be around here, somewhere..."
Choi Kahng-Sik slowly walked in the direction where the pretty girl flew off to after getting kicked by the Any-Won.
Ttuk.
And then, he stopped.
'Hmm. Are her wounds internal?'
He found the girl lying in the bushes. There was a trace of blood around her lips, but other than that, he could hardly find any signs of external trauma.
But still, she was definitely the girl abandoned by Yu Il-Ahm.
[A certain god is swallowing his saliva.]
[A certain impatient god is getting interested]
[Another god is getting nervous.]
Choi Kahng-Sik's eyes narrowed to a slit. Because the gods were unexpectedly fired up, that's why.
It was almost as if...
'Isn't this like, they are expecting something big to go 'pop', no...?'
*SFX for a car's engine sound*
With an excellent timing, the rescue vehicle, which also doubled as an ambulance, came to a stop right in front of him. In order to not stimulate other monsters, they drove around with the sirens firmly turned off.
The emergency rescue crew poured out from the vehicle.
And, as an added bonus...
*SFX for a car's door flinging open*
"AIGOO!! You foolish girl!! Didn't I tell you to stop hanging around with a bad crowd before?!"
An older woman, who was probably the mother of the pretty girl, rushed out after flinging the ambulance's door open.
She was a beautiful woman, making it easy for anyone to guess where the pretty girl's looks came from.
She tried to run to her prone daughter but was swiftly restrained by rescue crew as they moved in to catch her shoulders.
"Ma'am, it's dangerous here."
"Please follow our instructions to the letter from now on."
"The victim's autopsy will happen first, ma'am."
Like reading from a prepared script, the rescue crew spoke in turn, one at a time. It was as if they knew that the situation would end up like this.
'Hah... I knew something like this would happen.'
'This is why I can't stand people with money.'
'I wanna finish this quickly and take a break...'
"You, you people! Let go! You better let me go, or else!!"
The woman raged on like a wildfire, but the rescue crew didn't budge. It was already an exceptional privilege for her tag along in the first place.
"Hoo-woo..."
Choi Kahng-Sik spat out another lengthy groan while witnessing that scene.
'I guess everything will be fine now.'
Since the rescue team had come, he only needed to return to Seoul safe and sound.
"Mister Choi Kahng-Sik, correct?"
The man who must be the captain of the rescue team spoke to him.
"Yes, I am."
"Pleasure to meet you. I was so surprised to hear that a civilian managed to bring down an Any-Won all alone... You might not realise it yourself yet, but you've managed to pull off something incredible."
"Is that so? Ha, haha..."
Choi Kahng-Sik scratched the back of his head as his cheeks reddened slightly.
'It's a bit troublesome to say that the gods helped me, though.'
On the other hand, it was also quite unamusing to say that he managed to defeat a monster with only his bare hands, without any superpowers whatsoever.
Would this state of mind be comparable to what a cheating athlete might feel when his doping went undiscovered after his victory?
So, the youth decided to answer as modestly as possible.
"I just got lucky."
A truly stock answer that religiously adhered to the commonly-accepted etiquette, in other words!
Choi Kahng-Sik had already measured the weight of his conscience and that of keeping a secret and praised himself for coming up with this perfect answer.
"You got lucky, huh..."
"I was able to win because the monster remained realistic."
After all, the b*stard had to eat and sh*t, too.
"Really? Ahaha!!"
The captain remained confused only for a brief moment or two, before bursting out in a boisterous laughter, having figured it all out. His face said that he could already pretty much tell what happened during this hunt that started off as a broadcasting mishap.
In the meantime, the rest of the rescue crew kept themselves quite busy.
They confirmed the condition of the monster first of all.
"As expected, it's still alive."
"Well, if you don't get its Core, it ain't gonna die that easily."
"Before it regenerates, we should administer anaesthesia..."
"Hurry up with the Core extraction!"
They prioritized killing the monster that got its head utterly pulverised by a particularly brave civilian.
*SFX for machines being switched on and buzzing noisily*
Then, they got to work to separate the Any-Won's head from its body via several deadly-looking pieces of equipment. Several electrically-powered buzzsaws began digging into the flesh and spine of the one-star monster, all for the single purpose of extracting the 'Core'.
It was an internal organ that differentiated monsters from regular animals. It was also thought to be the origin of the monsters' unbelievable level of strength and vitality. A monster that had lost their Core would wither and die soon after.
Wouldn't it be somewhat of a big deal if the supposedly dead monster was suddenly 'resurrected' and went on a rampage? So, they were extracting the Core first and foremost.
Any-Won's Core was hidden inside its big head. That was why the rescue crew was diligently separating that part of its body away from the rest of its, uh, body.
Securing the remains of the victim would come next.
"Sobs. How can you people claim to be human while acting like this?!"
Large teardrops dangling in her eyes, Miss Madam could only shout from a distance while unable to get near the rescue crew busy doing their jobs.
Although her anger continued to burn fiercely at losing her daughter, she still couldn't go past the fear of the bloodied huge monkey monster suddenly waking up.
Was that all, though?
*SFX for buzzsaws spinning noisily*
*SFX for bones being cut*
One would need a substantially steely heart to continue looking on at the sight - and the sound - of a monster's neck being cut open with a scary buzzsaw.
Did that woman find that completely unsatisfactory?
The Madam's gaze soon shifted towards Choi Kahng-Sik's direction.
"My child is dead because of you! Bring her back! Bring her back to me, now!"
Well, the sparks of her fury had finally landed in his lap, so to speak.
"...I shall acknowledge that I too have an indirect responsibility in this matter. Thus, I shall cooperate fully so the man who dragged your daughter to this place and abandoned her, Yu Il-Ahm, is judged by the full might of the law."
Choi Kahng-Sik replied to her as politely as humanly possible.
All because...
┖ Mister Cameraman. 'Sorry, couldn't protect her'. Keke
┖ Auntie. He's a salaryman, so what do you want from him now?
┖ Will you look at these sh*tty commenters. Auntie! Cheer up!
┖ Why are you all acting like this? She could still be alive, you know. ㅠ
….Because, the camera was still on.
Choi Kahng-Sik deliberated for a while regarding whether to stop streaming or not. But, in the end, he chose not to press the off button.
'This is definitely an opportunity for me.'
As someone who wasn't a skilled Hunter or an MS, just when would he be able to attract this much attention to himself? Besides, he really wanted to capture the final moments of the first monster he defeated on video.
So, he took a step forward.
"Let me help."
"What? Hold up! That camera..."
"It's alright."
"No, it's not alright with us... Huh?"
The eyes of the rescue crew members opened wide from pure astonishment.
Because the youth suddenly said he'd help and proceeded to pick up the heavy machinery with one hand. On top of that, while holding the bulky, heavy camera in the other hand, to boot??
One of the rescue crew members muttered in a daze.
"You're pretty strong, aren't you..."
Choi Kahng-Sik shrugged his shoulders and replied matter-of-factly.
"A Cameraman who rolled around in this field for at least five years without a rest should be able to do this much."
"Is, Is that right?"
Wouldn't Cameramen actually be stronger than some of the Hunters in that case?
The rescue crew members were thinking of such stupid things, but then...
"Kkyahck?!"
They all heard the scream of the Madam coming from a little ways away.
Shortly afterwards, she crumpled to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut right next to her daughter. She didn't look like she had suffered any visible wounds at all.
However, it seemed like she wasn't going to get up any time soon.
┖ Why did that auntie plop down on the ground now? (⊙ω⊙)?
┖ She probably fainted from the shock after seeing her daughter's appearance.
┖ So, the mosaic censorship was the correct call?
┖ Mister Cameraman and his unbelievable pricognition!
┖ "Pri" X "Pre" O ^^
'Aaah, so that's what it was.'
Choi Kahng-Sik finally noticed the truth.
[A certain god is saddened by the missed opportunity.]
[A certain impatient god is laughing his head off.]
[Another god is blessing the soon-to-be dearly departed.]
The reason why he found the messages of the gods so suspicious...
< [Chapter 1] Cameraman (3) > Fin.
(TL: In the raw, the line was actually a Korean proverb about a stray dog learning how to recite Korean words by staying near a school for a few years. I replaced it.)