A Public Servant Hunter Who Exploits Skill Combinations – Chapter 40
Translated by: Hanzo
Chapter 40: An Unexpected Gift (3)
Mana Perception.
A quick glance showed that there were at least a dozen hunters around.
With this many people, the area outside the building should be safe...
I stepped into the department store.
"Welcome!"
"Where can I find men's clothing?"
"You can go to the 6th floor, sir."
As I was about to take the escalator, I saw the directory sign.
B1: Food Court / Event Hall / Beauty
1F: Cosmetics / Handbags / Luxury Brands
2F: Women's Suits / Shoes
3F: Women's Fashion / Lingerie
6F: Men's Fashion / Clothing Alterations
First, I needed to exchange the clothes...
Once the gate opened, it’d be chaos, and no one would care about exchanging clothes.
I successfully exchanged both my clothes and my father's for the correct sizes.
"Oh my! You’re... aren't you...?"
A store employee seemed to recognize me.
"You're a NewTube BJ, right?"
"No, I'm not."
"I swear I've seen you online somewhere..."
I have appeared on NewTube, but I’m not a BJ.
Since I've mostly been staying at school, I thought I was more well-known by now, but it looked like there was still a long way to go.
It was only natural that many regular people didn’t recognize me.
Just because I was on an internet broadcast and appeared in the news for taking down monsters didn’t mean the whole country would know me.
Maybe only those in the field would recognize me.
I felt a bit disappointed, but it was nice not to be bothered too much.
It still felt a little awkward when people recognized me, after all.
"BJ? That's a bit much, don't you think?"
<Hahaha.>
'You think this is funny?'
<It's very amusing.>
'Not funny at all.'
<It's hilarious to me. By the way, when are you going to change my name?>
There was already a notification at the bottom of my vision asking, "Would you like to set a new name for your pet?"
I had been deliberately ignoring it.
"We'll see how you behave."
<That's not what you promised. Don't you know that a man shouldn't go back on his word?>
"Nope, don't know."
<You rascal.>
I headed to the 9th floor, where the electronics section was.
As I looked around, an employee approached me.
"How can I help you?"
"I'm here to look at TVs."
"Please follow me, I'll guide you."
Thanks to the helpful employee, I got to check out various TVs.
They were good, but compared to the ones I saw in the future...
"Do you have a specific brand or screen size in mind?"
"What's the biggest one you have?"
"...Sorry?"
"The one where you can see people's pores clearly."
After quickly making the purchase and getting ready to sign the contract, the employee looked at my name and asked,
"Sir, is your name... Jung Tae-sung?"
"Yes, it is. Why?"
"Aren't you... that hunter from TV?"
Finally, someone recognized me.
I knew at least one person would.
'See that, Snake?'
<Don't get ahead of yourself...>
Feeling a little proud, I replied,
"I’ve appeared a little, but I’m not an official hunter yet."
"Y-you’re on TV right now!"
When I turned my head to where the employee was pointing, I saw live news being broadcast.
On dozens of display TVs, footage of me hunting monsters at the Pohang factory was playing.
Vice President Jung Woo-hyun had asked if it was okay to release the footage, and I had told him to do as he pleased. Looks like he submitted it to the news.
What a coincidence—right when I came to buy a TV, it aired.
Now it just looks like I planned it for attention.
"Can I get an autograph?"
"Oh, uh... an autograph? I haven’t really prepared for that... But I can try. Where do you want it?"
"You haven't signed the contract yet..."
"......"
Damn, that was embarrassing.
<Puhahahaha, today has been quite entertaining.>
"Shut up."
After my moment of humiliation, I went down to the 3rd floor.
I wasn’t there to buy women's clothing, but because the gate was going to open there.
Today, monsters called a Raptors would appear.
They was incredibly fast, and people on the upper floors wouldn't have enough time to escape, which lead to casualties.
Fortunately, since this was a busy area, other hunters would arrive quickly.
However, fighting such a fast monster inside the building made things difficult, leading to injuries.
All I had to do was hold them off on the 3rd floor and prevent them from getting to the upper floors.
That way, the situation could be handled without major injuries.
I had also prepared something just in case.
***
It would be easier to just evacuate everyone and start the hunt.
But people wouldn’t believe me so easily.
"Should I ask the headmaster for help...?"
But if he asked how I knew the gate would open, what would I say?
I could come up with some excuse, but I didn’t really want to lie.
No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t figure out how to explain it to a fellow hunter.
'Yeah... If I can't trust someone completely, it's best to keep this to myself.'
I should've just asked someone to come with me from the start.
That would’ve been more natural.
But the ship had already sailed, and there wasn’t much time left...
I'd just pretend I came here on an errand for Mom and coincidentally discovered the gate.
That would make a better story.
This could also be a chance to redeem my earlier embarrassment.
I could say my pet knew about it, but...
As far as the public knew, pets couldn't talk, so that wouldn't work.
Once is coincidence, but twice would raise suspicion.
'I can't even say Snake told me...'
<What did I do?>
'Just one question—you're a pet, right? How can you talk?'
It responded casually,
<I'm a dragon. Why wouldn’t I be able to talk?>
'Other people’s pets can't talk, you know.'
<Those lowly creatures shouldn't be compared to me.>
'Lowly creatures?'
<If they can't talk or communicate, they're naturally inferior.>
'Wow, aren't you full of yourself.'
<Finally, you recognize my greatness.>
‘···’
Jeez, are you really not getting it? Or are you just pretending?
‘By the way, you said you were an Imugi at first, right? Are you sure you were really a dragon?’
<As I regain my power, I’m also gradually recovering my lost memories. I am definitely a dragon.>
‘A dragon, huh...’
A pet being a dragon—if that's the case, it does explain its ridiculous appetite and abilities...
<But you...>
Suddenly, Snake changed the mood and asked me.
<How do you keep showing up in places where gates open in advance?>
‘Why are you asking that all of a sudden?’
<The you that I know is just a worthless, insignificant human. How do you possess such an ability...?>
I hesitated for a moment before deciding to answer.
I figured I could trust the snake.
If it really wass a dragon... I’d have to rely on it in the future.
It even healed me.
If it weren't for it, who knows what would have happened to me.
‘It’s not an ability.’
<Then what is it?>
‘I’ve already experienced it before. That’s how I know.’
<Are you saying you've traveled back in time or something like that?>
Snake asked naturally, without any change in expression.
It wasn’t the reaction I was expecting, which was a bit disappointing.
‘Yeah, pretty much...’
<That means you must have had the ability to turn back time in the past… and you expect me to believe that?>
Damn, so you don't believe me.
‘Why not?! Why can’t you believe me?’
<You didn’t even know what mana pathways were, and you didn’t realize your own were twisted.>
Oof. That hit hard.
‘Ugh, fine. Don't believe me.’
<No, listen. You have to show me something believable to gain my trust.>
‘Haven't I already shown you by going to places where gates open?’
<What are you talking about? Just last night, three gates opened around here. Why didn't you go to those?>
I was dumbfounded by the snake’s sudden statement.
‘...What did you just say?’
<So you didn't know.>
‘Are you serious?’
<Have I ever lied to you? I don’t know who it is, but someone skillfully disrupted the energy flow when the cracks formed.>
‘Disrupted it?’
<Normally, when a gate is about to form, any hunter can sense it, right?>
‘Yeah, the higher their mana refinemnet, the sooner and farther they can detect it.’
<Someone blocked that energy from spreading.>
One person suddenly came to mind.
The strongest among the rogue hunters.
Yang Pil-jo.
He'd soon rise to fame during the upcoming war against the outlaws.
No one knew where he hunted, but he was an incredibly skilled hunter with strange artifacts and bizarre skills.
There were even rumors that he bought his power with money.
But... what if he was secretly sweeping through gates like this?
‘If there’s an artifact that can disrupt gate energy, that would explain it.’
<I know of one such item.>
Knew it. There’s definitely something.
‘What is it?’
<The Necklace of Hwanguk.>
‘Hwanguk?’
<It’s also known as the Phantom Empire. The beings who lived there had very peculiar powers.
The items they used contained traces of their power. By using them, you could vaguely harness their abilities.>
‘Vaguely? So you’ve only heard about it?’
<I may have lived for a thousand years, but this story is over ten thousand years old.>
‘Ten thousand years...?’
Before I knew it, I could faintly sense the energy of the gate forming.
As soon as I felt it, I headed to the spot I had prepared in advance.
I briefly considered lying and saying there was a bomb in the building, but that would probably just complicate things.
So the simplest and easiest solution was...
The fire alarm.
With about five minutes left.
To speed up the evacuation, I triggered the alarm.
A blaring siren rang out, and panicked people began rushing toward the emergency stairs.
Just in case, I had also brought a few smoke grenades used for fire drills, and they proved useful.
<You sure are thorough with your preparations.>
‘If I’m going to do something, I might as well do it right.’
<You complain about it being a hassle, but you still go all out...>
With the third floor emptied of people.
I stood alone, staring at the spot where the gate was forming.
No, I wasn’t alone—Snake was beside me.
How many raptors were going to come out?
***
I stood at the gate's entrance and began cutting down the monsters as they appeared.
My enhanced mana control allowed me to handle raptors with ease, even without relying on skills.
As several raptors rushed out simultaneously, I lunged to stop them from escaping to other floors.
Even though I could take them down easily, I couldn’t get them all.
Some managed to make it to the lower floors, but my job was to prevent them from going up.
As my sword sliced through a raptor, its bodily fluids splattered onto a mannequin dressed in clothes.
The blood patterns on the white fabric... actually didn’t look too bad.
“Still, I shouldn’t be doodling on other people’s clothes...”
“Grrr...”
Before I knew it, more raptors had appeared.
As their numbers grew, they started surrounding me.
“You guys don’t seem to understand the situation yet...”
Even if they all came at me together, nothing would change.
As my mana-infused sword carved a sweeping arc, the raptors hesitated and backed off.
I had expected that.
Taking a step forward—Shadow Bind!
The raptors, now immobilized, fell victim to my sword once again.
Three heads hit the ground at once.
At that moment—
One of them lunged at me from behind, jaws wide open.
I swiftly ducked and countered with a precise stab.
Then, I kicked another charging raptor.
Thud!
The raptor flew backward and crashed into the lingerie section.
As I looked at the raptor tangled in colorful undergarments, I made a snarky remark.
“I didn’t know you were into that.”
“Grrrk?”
Drooling through its sharp teeth, the raptor glared furiously at me.
It whipped its long tail, knocking items off the shelves.
A few pairs of underwear flew toward me.
“Isn't it a bit early to be giving me gifts like this?”
....
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