Chapter 1: The Compass of Life
<strong>TL: SHW</strong>
2022.
“There are children here!”
The experiences of childhood usuallyst a lifetime.
For the first time, loud noises were heard in the usually quietb. The sound of things breaking and shouting echoed from the end of the corridor.
ng!
The ss window that was blocking the way shattered into pieces.
“Kids, are you okay?”
A man appeared, pushing through the shattered ss window.
“It’s okay now. You cane out.”
Following the man, other Hunters entered theb. Every time the Hunters nced at the researchers, the researchers trembled, unable to make a sound.
The man picked me up, who was at the very front. Near the window, theb directory sprawled in a pathetic posture. The man stepped firmly on theb director’s hand as he passed.
Theb director, who had aways red at us and even raised his hand at times, couldn’t utter a single groan and watched the man carefully.
To me, that came as some kind of revtion.
Looking at the once proudb directornow trembling in fear!
“Mister.”
“Hmm? Are you hurt anywhere? Just hold on a bit.”
“No, it’s not that…. Mister, you’re a Hunter, right?”
“Hmm.”
“How can I be strong like you?”
“Oh, do you want to be a Hunter?”
The man answered earnestly.
“Then you need to go through an Awakening first, don’t you?”
At that moment, another Hunter passing by overheard the man.
“Hey! Don’t say weird things to the kid!”
“Weird things! Ahem. Awakening is important, but you can think about thatter. For now, let’s just think about going home.”
The man roughly patted my head.
Holding me, the man walked out. It had been a long time since I saw the outside of theb. Several ambnces were parked, and children like me, rescued by the Hunters, wereing out of theb.
“Hey, what’s your name?”
Before handing me over to the paramedic, the man called my name.
After a brief hesitation, I answered.
“Number 12.”
“What?”
As an eleven-year-old, I thought answering this way would make the man angry, and I wasn’t wrong.
The man, who had seated me in the ambnce, saw the researchers being handcuffed and led out.
“Hunter Hong!”
Then, before anyone could stop him, he charged at the researchers. Honestly, I couldn’t see clearly. When I opened my eyes, the man was kicking theb director.
“Argh!”
“You bastards!”
“P-Please, spare me!”
That’s right.
Power. It’s power.
Absolute power that no one could challenge!
“Hunter Hong! What do you think you’re doing!”
At that moment, a clear, ringing voice hit the back of the man’s head.
The man, who had been kicking and punching the director, shrank his shoulders. He turned around with an awkward smile.
“Oh my, Inspector. What brings you here…?”
“What do you mean, Hunter Hong! Didn’t you do thisst time too? You can’t keep doing this!”
A woman in a jet-ck suit red at him. The man’s shoulders shrank even more.
“Let go of him right now!”
“Well….”
“Well?”
“It’s just….”
“What then?”
“Uh….”
With an embarrassed face, the man let go of his hand. Theb director, who had fallen to the ground, couldn’t even wipe the blood dripping from his nose and crawled backward.
The woman sighed with a displeased face.
“Thank you for your help, but you’re making it difficult for us too. Please, be more careful!”
“Well, uh, it’s not something that can be solved by me being careful….”
“You have no intention of being careful, do you!”
“Ahem.”
The man scratched his head and watched the woman’s expression. It ovepped with the image of theb director who had been watching the man’s mood earlier.
Isn’t it surprising?
I could understand why theb director was careful around the man.
After all, human lives are important to themselves. When someone who can end your life with a flick of their finger is right in front of you, even breathing carefully bes a must. It was like that in theb.
But the woman didn’t seem to be a Hunter. She was much smaller than him, so what made this man act so submissively towards her?
“Who is that person?”
I asked the paramedic taking my temperature.
“Hmm? Who?”
“Over there, thedy in the suit.”
“The Inspector? She came to oversee this operation….”
The paramedic briefly cleared his throat.
“She’s here to help the Hunters do their job well. To check if there’s anything missed….”
“Is she like theb director?”
“Theb director? Well, maybe simr…. Are you hurt anywhere?”
“No.”
I answered calmly.
“Where are we going now?”
“Well, um….”
“The doctor will check if you have any injuries.”
The woman in the suit, who had been scolding the man, approached me and spoke. The man stood behind her, looking very subdued.
The woman smiled brightly.
“Then you’ll be able to see your mom and dad too.”
Her words didn’t mean much to me. But the other children in the ambnce cheered at her words. Ignoring their cheers, I asked the woman.
“Are you the boss of that man?”
Isn’t that why he was being scolded so submissively?
The woman quietly smiled.
“I’m not the boss, but I’m the one who scolds him if he does something wrong.”
“Isn’t that being the boss? Theb director always scolds other researchers. We didn’t like him either.”
“…I’ll definitely scold that bad man for you.”
“You look weak though…. You’re not a Hunter, are you?”
“Yeah. I’m not a Hunter. So, I am weak too. But what you see isn’t everything. There are many ways to scold bad people without being like this man.”
“How?”
“Well…. Like by sending them to prison so they can’te out for the rest of their lives?”
“Like us?”
The woman silently patted my head. Unlike the rough hands of the Hunter, hers were incredibly soft.
I asked the woman again.
“Then how can I be someone like you?”
“Huh?”
“To scold theb director, don’t I need to be someone like you?”
“Well. You probably need to study hard.”
“Study?”
“To be like me, you need to pass the national exam held by the country. Even after passing, you need to work hard to be someone important.”
“An exam held by the country….”
It was onlyter that I could understand what the woman had said.
The overwhelming power wielded by Hunters. And another invisible but clear power that could scold and control such Hunters without hesitation.
It was the moment when the direction of my life was decided.