Chapter 508 – Childhood Friend (2)
What seemed like a confession at first glance was obviously not a confession.
“I heard it from Sihoo. I’m training with the goal of passing the hunter qualification exam in the second quarter…”
“Well, that’s right.”
When I returned from the Vatican and started training in earnest, it was the first goal I agreed upon with the guy.
It is the wood of the apostle, and it is Nabal.
First, you have to become a real hunter to do anything properly.
“What do you think, senior?”
“How do you feel?”
“After… “Do you think you can pass in the second quarter?”
“Uhm, well.”
I look at her face as she asks a question along with a vague answer.
It’s mysterious.
It seems like he’s asking because he’s worried about Sihoo.
It seems like I’m asking because something else is at stake.
Focus on the change in her expression and answer the question.
“If your goal is to pass, I don’t think it will be that difficult.”
“Ah… “Is that so?”
What is that expression?
It feels like relief, but there is also a strange mixture of regret.
Which one is real?
Let’s stimulate it a little more.
“Actually, as long as he doesn’t make any mistakes, I’m 100% sure he’ll pass. Although it is unclear what grade it will be.”
“That much… Yes?”
Jin Ha-rin asks with her eyes wide in surprise
Well.
He doesn’t know yet.
To what extent has your childhood friend’s current skills improved?
“Because I worked hard. “Right now, I don’t think I’ll bow down much compared to junior Jin.”
“… !”
I saw it.
The moment when her expression distorted for a split second and then quickly returned.
But I don’t know.
I’m sure you were offended by what I said a little while ago…, What made you feel bad?
Jin Harin draws a smile on her face as if she had never done that before.
“Good for you. “I was worried because Sihu seemed unsure of his skills every day.”
“Did you?”
“Yes… “You probably didn’t know because I don’t show it off in front of other people.”
“I see.”
That’s a bit surprising.
I thought she wouldn’t worry about that because she had such a strong will.
“Hey, senior.”
“Uh.”
“I’m a little lost in the story, but there’s something I’d like to ask you.”
“What is it?”
Jin Ha-rin looks up at me with earnest eyes.
She continues her words.
“I…, I also want to learn from my senior.”
You want to learn from me… ?
Um.
“Sorry, that might be a bit difficult.”
“Ah… ?”
I refused.
* * *
A hostage situation occurred in the middle of the city.
The culprit is a class A villain.
The hostage was the entire 15-story building.
“I’m going to kill everyone!”
Upon arriving at the scene, a villain is seen screaming from the 5th floor of the building.
Look at those eyes.
Just looking at the chill coming out, it’s because of resentment.
We go to the leader of the special forces who are confronting the villain with a complete siege around the building and ask him.
“How is the situation?”
“Not good. Bombs have been planted throughout the building. “The hostages are all tied up on the 5th and 6th floors.”
“Negotiations… “It won’t work.”
“Yes, it seems like a crime motivated by resentment.”
I think I know why I was called here.
I turn my head and read the large sign written on top of the building.
“Hanmaeum Savings Bank…”
It’s a name I’ve heard of before.
It was once infamous in the third-tier financial sector, probably.
That means…, It is likely to be a problem related to money.
“He…, Hi-Hi… ! “5, 5, 5 minutes left!”
A guy who bursts into laughter while waving his five outstretched fingers.
A barrage of flash fire pours in from reporters lined up behind the special forces.
That’s what he’s after.
My story was spread widely through reporters who came to cover this place.
Most people who want to die want to leave something behind after they leave.
“Please, Hunter. Please stop him.”
“Yes, I will do my best.”
Cross the border and head near the building.
Then, one of the commandos guarding the front asked me.
“Hey, Hunter.”
“Yes?”
“That…, The person following you… ?”
Oh, that’s right.
There was him.
“You are my assistant, so you can let me in.”
“Oh, yes.”
Only then did Yoon Si-hoo follow behind me with awkward steps.
“Hey, senior.”
“Why?”
“Shouldn’t I come in here…? ?”
The guy asked in a very nervous voice.
That is correct.
Only authorized hunters can enter these crime scenes.
It is even more absurd for a single chick who is not a hunter to enter and leave.
“In principle, yes.”
But is this a world where we live by strictly observing principles?
“Once you become an S-class hunter, you can do this at your discretion.”
“Ah…”
Just wrap around it appropriately.
He’s a kid I’ve been keeping an eye on these days, and I brought him here to give him a field trip.
“… “When I think about it, it’s not just talk, it’s the truth.”
Anyway.
If you say it like that, the association will probably like it more.
If a person is selected by an S-class hunter, it means that he or she has outstanding talent.
Rather, they will ask if there is anything they can help with.
“Come on, Sihu.”
“Yes, senior.”
I ask, pointing to the guy talking loudly on the 5th floor of the building with my arm around his shoulder.
“What do you think he did this for?”
“Uh…, I don’t know.”
“Nine times out of ten, these cases are usually crimes motivated by resentment.”
“A grudge?”
“Yes, grudge. Do you see the sign on the building over there?”
“Hanmaeum Savings Bank…”
“That place used to be a very infamous loan company. “With the money I earned like that, I am living a prosperous life like that now.”
“Ah…”
The guy shakes his head with his mouth slightly open, as if he’s realized something.
Continue speaking.
“It probably has something to do with money. It must be a grudge so great that it could take hundreds of lives hostage.”
“…”
“He must have been a victim. However, there would have been no legal way to resolve it, and that frustration would have driven one innocent victim into a perpetrator and a villain.”
Everyone has their own story.
The same goes for villains.
There is no human being who is a criminal from birth.
If you name ten villains and ask them, only one or two will become villains because they fell in love with the pleasure of crime.
The stories of the remaining eight are diverse.
Maybe it’s because of a deep grudge, for the sake of making a living, or because of someone else’s trick.
“In some ways, that guy is also a pitiful person. “The law came about because society failed to provide proper relief.”
“Okay… Yes.”
The guy nods his head with a frown.
If you listen to the stories of criminals, they are all either bizarre or bizarre.
There are times when I sympathize and think, ‘Ah, he really only had that path.’
“By the way, Sihu.”
“Yes…”
“Do we really need to know their detailed stories?”
“That…”
Yoon Si-hoo closes his mouth before answering.
He thought about it for a moment, then shook his head.
“… There’s no need to know.”
That’s the correct answer.
No matter what strange story he has, nothing changes.
He committed a serious crime, and we need to catch him.
“That’s the right answer.”
The criminal who was standing there and going crazy disappeared somewhere and then reappeared with nothing on.
Under the guy’s armpits is the head of a middle-aged man who looks to be in his 50s.
“Look everyone! You bastard! This bastard killed my parents, huh?! “What kind of money is that?”
“Uh, uh…, Please save me!”
“Shut up! “You will die right here with me.”
Hehe!”
A voice filled with bitter resentment resonates.
Did he borrow money in a hurry and choose to commit suicide after suffering from not being able to repay it on time?
When Hanmaeum Savings Bank was a third-tier financial institution, it was a time of great social confusion.
It was a time when property damage caused by monsters was frequent, so loan products were selling like hotcakes.
Thanks to this, the lending business was also very prosperous, and Hanmaeum Savings Bank was one of them.
These people charge interest rates higher than the legal maximum interest rate and are willing to engage in illegal collection to receive money.
The resentment from back then has only come back now that I am living a prosperous life.
That guy is the most radical and resentful victim among them all.
But so what.
What should I do?
“Sihoo.”
“… Yes.”
“There is only one thing I want to teach you by bringing you here.”
When you live as a hunter, you encounter all kinds of people.
Sometimes a hunter is more like a villain than a villain.
Also, sometimes you meet villains who are more human than hunters.
I don’t know if it’s because the world has gone crazy.
Then, a crisis comes.
Things like my beliefs and sense of justice are collapsing and being contaminated by something else.
The moment when you doubt your whole life.
There is only one way to prevent that crisis.
“Close your ears.”
“…”
“No matter what they say, your job is fixed. Just do that.”
The light in the eyes that were always sparkling goes out.
I was lost in thought.
You must be confused and wondering if that is true.
In the meantime, he secretly climbed up the building and used the magic power to restrain the body of the guy who kept getting angry.
“Ugh… !?”
A guy who just freezes.
“This side is over.”
All bombs were resolved.
While he was talking, the water flowing at his feet drowned out all the bombs that were detected throughout the building.
“Well, what is it? Why doesn’t it explode?”
Since the gunpowder is all wet, it has no choice but to explode.
I open my mouth to the waiting commando.
“You may enter now.”
“Yes… ? Ah, yes!”
The situation ended quickly.
In the meantime, I lightly tap on the shoulder of the guy who is lost in thought and wake him up.
“Let’s go back.”
“… Yes.”
It’s time to go training again.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
As always, training ended just before midnight.
“It was hard.”
“Sir, you’ve had a hard time too… “You did it.”
The guy who fell down every day was able to finish what he was trying to say without losing consciousness for the first time today.
That’s amazing.
I went on a field trip, so I was more relaxed than usual, but it wasn’t easy to endure.
Did the topic raised just a moment ago harden his heart even more?
“Senior.”
A sweaty, shivering guy called me and stopped me.
“I’ve been thinking about what you said earlier.”
“So?”
“I was confused at first…, I have now accepted it. To be precise, it’s because I can’t think of any other way.”
A guy who awkwardly curls the corner of his mouth.
“But I also want to help those who have been unfairly misled. If possible, before they choose the wrong path.”
“…”
“Senior said it. “The influence of an S-class hunter is sometimes higher than that of the president.”
“… “It was like that.”
“So, I will become an S-class hunter. I will use my influence to cut out the rotten parts of society. So that no more victims are unfairly driven out.”
A grand ambition that can only be dismissed as a pipe dream.
His eyes are more brilliant than ever.
“It won’t be easy.”
“But we will do it. Definitely.”
A thicker wick.
That firm belief will not change even if a knife is put to my throat.
“Work hard.”
“Yes, senior!”
The guy with his back bent down continues speaking in a loud voice.
“Please provide more guidance and assistance in the future!”
“Because I saw what you were doing.”
He answers in a nonchalant manner and turns away.
And I am amazed.
“… “I’m not qualified to become an apostle for nothing.”
I don’t know who the new person is, but I think they chose one candidate very well.
When I was about to leave the training ground like that.
I felt a familiar figure beyond the door.
I carefully twisted the door open, and sure enough.
Jin Ha-rin is standing near the door.
And with a very dark and scary expression.
“…”
Why is he doing that?
