How to Live as a Fencing Genius Hunter - Chapter 2

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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How a Fencing Genius Lives as a Hunter
Chapter 2
Awakener Jung Jae-ha (1)
I started rehabilitation training the next day.
“I’ll believe in miracles.”
The medical officer said so and studied all manner of rehabilitation theory.
A month passed.
Step.
“You did it! You did it!”
“Congratulations!”
“It actually works.”
“Congratulations!”
I succeeded in taking a single step while bearing my weight on the walker.
“Anything special today?”
“Jung walked today!”
“What?”
The guards and inmates who knew me erupted in cheers.
“Kill someone like that and then desperately cling to life to save yourself.”
“You should have reported it first. The fact that you tried to handle something like that by swinging a sword yourself — isn’t that grounds to strip a national representative’s status?”
There was plenty of snide commentary, but I paid it no mind.
I could only hope.
I hoped that one day when I went home, tattooed thugs would show up to beat my family and me to a pulp.
Three months passed.
“Huff, hah.”
I succeeded in taking a step with crutches.
The thought that someday I might grip a sword again made my hands tremble.
“Put on Fencing.”
“Sir?”
“Turn it on. There’s a tournament, right? Sports channels still broadcast here, don’t they?”
For the first time since being shot that day, I searched for Fencing footage.
“Yes, yes!”
“Right away.”
“You want to watch Fencing?”
My cellmates looked genuinely startled before hurriedly grabbing the remote.
[Breaking News! “The Sky Has Torn!”]
[A rift of light appears above northern Seoul, otherworldly creatures emerging.]
“Huh?”
But the Fencing match didn’t appear.
“What the hell is that?”
“Isn’t that a Gate?”
“A Gate? What kind of nerd nonsense is that?”
The tournament didn’t come on either.
[“Police and fire authorities have immediately cordoned off nearby roads and are conducting civilian evacuation.”]
[“Experts are urging an emergency government investigation, saying ‘this cannot be explained as a natural phenomenon.'”]
It didn’t seem like an ordinary situation.
“Eh. The military will handle it, right? These are otherworldly creatures, aren’t they? One bullet and it’s all over, isn’t it?”
Of course the inmates remained unconcerned.
They burst out laughing as if they’d heard something amusing amid the tedium.
“Right. Even I, who was called the greatest swordsman in the land, took one bullet and dropped. Why would these creatures be any different?”
I felt the same way.
[Entire Armored Division Annihilated, Evacuation Order for Paju]
[Seoul Defense Abandoned!?]
It remained that way until Martial Law was declared a few days later and residents from the northern Gyeonggi region were evacuated.
[Breaking News! Government Announces Capital Relocation]
[Ten Million Refugees in Seoul Metropolitan Area, Rationing System Implemented]
[Superpowers Emerging? Awakener Hunters!]
And over the course of several months, as the government abandoned Seoul, ten million refugees flooded the Seoul Metropolitan Area, and the Rationing System was finally put into effect.
[Food Shortage, Inmates with Sentences Under Three Years Released]
[Otherworldly Creatures Named ‘Monsters’]
[Monster Byproducts, ‘Monster Stones’?]
[Samjung Group, Monster Stones Converted to Electricity!?]
[Hunter Ban Hae-jin Successfully Seals S-Rank Gate]
“This nation’s going to hell, isn’t it?”
None of us found it amusing.
In the chaos, contact with Chae-ha cut off entirely.
I thought I’d go mad from the worry.
I tried to escape, dragging my broken leg, and got caught.
“I understand. I’m losing my mind over my family too.”
…….
“But with that leg, you can’t swim—you won’t even leave this island. Let’s say you somehow did. Then what? Walk to Seoul? Don’t you know what state the nation’s in right now?”
…….
“I won’t have seen anything. Just stop thinking and focus on rehabilitation. Right now, this place is the safest you’ll get.”
The warden sent me back to the infirmary.
In the end, my life didn’t change.
That Gate and the Monsters appeared across the Seoul Metropolitan Area, and this was a prison on Southern Island.
“Excellent work, absolutely excellent!”

A year passed.
Now I could walk with just one crutch instead of two.
[Korean Military Successfully Defends Pyeongtaek]
[Hunter Ban Hae-jin Establishes Private PMC ‘Guild’]
[Government Crackdown on Awakener Gangs]
[Skyrocketing Inflation! Where Is the Common People’s Economy Headed]
News came that the front line, which had pushed down to Sejong, had pulled back slightly.
Chae-ha’s letters began arriving again, sporadically.
“Put strength into it! Straighten your back!”
Two years passed.
Now I could walk with a cane instead of crutches.
[Presidential Inauguration Memorial Address]
[Samjung Pharmaceutical Develops ‘Awakening Agent’]
[Synthetic Awakeners’ Mortality Rate Skyrockets]
[Top Ten Guilds Launch Major Recruitment Drive for Non-Awakener Staff]
News broke that a pharmaceutical subsidiary of the conglomerate that had once sponsored me had developed a drug called the Awakening Agent.
[Brother, I got a job.]
Around then, I received a letter saying Chae-ha had been hired at Sambyeol Guild.
I’d worried she might face hardship, so it was a genuine relief.
“Slowly, slowly now.”
Three years passed.
With just a cane, I could walk almost indistinguishably from an ordinary person.
[Korea’s ‘Guild’, a Model for the World]
[Samjung Pharmaceutical Prepares ‘Awakening Agent 2.0’]
[Common People’s Economy at Its Worst!]
The outside world seemed to be growing gradually accustomed to Gates, Monsters, and Hunters.
Then, several months later, one day.
Tap, tap, tap.
When I walked to the infirmary with my cane.
“I’ve been reassigned starting tomorrow. It looks like I’ll be heading to a military hospital.”
The medical officer Kim said this to me.
“I’m truly happy I get to leave having seen you walk again.”
I closed my eyes once and opened them.
“It’s thanks to you, sir. If I’m able to hold a sword again, the first medal I win will be dedicated to you.”
“That’s only because you’ve given your absolute best, Jung.”
He too closed his eyes once and opened them.
“There’s something I wanted to tell you today.”
“Yes.”
“Do you know about a drug called the Awakening Agent?”
“I saw it on the news. It’s the drug that lets anyone become an Awakener and gain superhuman physical abilities, isn’t it?”
“You might be able to receive that drug.”
“What? I thought it was extremely expensive and people were desperate to get their hands on it.”
I couldn’t believe my ears.
The medical officer began his explanation.
“The side effects were actually severe even with version 1.0, but the country’s situation was so dire that we released it immediately…….”
Monster Stones were desperately needed for economic recovery, but once people learned how dangerous Hunter work truly was, they became reluctant to pursue it.
With both the Awakening Agent itself and Hunter work carrying such risks, the number of volunteers plummeted.
With everyone struggling, the public opinion on feeding criminals with tax money had soured, so paroles had become less frequent.
“……So we’re conducting clinical trials for 2.0, and if you successfully awaken, you can substitute your incarceration with Hunter work. Would you be willing to participate?”
“How severe are the side effects that people refuse to take it?”
“Your nerves burn out. Some become complete invalids, and in severe cases, death is instantaneous.”
“And if it succeeds?”
“As you know, all physical abilities increase dramatically.”
I listened to the medical officer’s explanation.
“They say the nerves cannot withstand the shock of physical transformation that occurs at the moment of awakening. But you were an athlete, weren’t you? Your nervous system must be far more developed than most people’s, so your chances of awakening successfully should be quite high.”
“I suppose so.”
I closed my eyes once more, then opened them.
I’d known the truth all along.
Rehabilitation was progressing well, but only in the realm of daily life activities.
Four years had passed, and I still couldn’t run.
Recovery to the point of competing again was, practically speaking, impossible.
But if all physical abilities could increase dramatically…….
Some things are as important as life itself, even if they may not be more important than life.
“I’ll do it. Let me try being a Hunter.”
If I could live wielding a blade freely as I once did, I could gamble a hundred times over.
If I could return to Chae-ha’s side, I could stake my life a thousand times.
* * *
The procedure moved forward in a flash.
A week later, employees from the Awakener Association arrived at the prison along with researchers from Samjung Pharmaceutical and officials from the Ministry of Justice.
Tap, tap, tap.
“I hope it goes well.”
“Sir. Do you really have to do this? My friend who hunts outside says an awful lot of people die.”
“If you’re going to do it, make sure you succeed. Weren’t you an Olympic gold medalist? With that skill plus awakening, you’ll be absolutely unstoppable.”
As I crossed the corridor leaning on my cane, many guards and inmates called out words of encouragement.
“You bastard! Melt away and die like the weakling you are!”
“Getting out so quick. You did ten years, didn’t you? Must be nice?”
“You’re not being released. This is just Alternative Service. If you go around swinging a blade recklessly out there, a single shot might not be enough to stop you. Do you understand?”
I gave no attention to those hurling jeers and insults.
“Are you ready?”
“Yes. I’m ready.”
I lay on the medical bed and extended my forearm.
A Samjung employee opened a briefcase and withdrew a syringe containing a softly glowing blue liquid.
Whoosh!
The needle pierced my forearm.
“Ack!”
A burning liquid flowed into my body,
“Grraaaagh!”
My spine arched like a bow.
It felt as though my entire body was being pierced by Fencing blades.
Crack, crackle, crackle-crack!
My limbs bent in unnatural directions.
My muscles swelled from within.
My right leg burned as though on fire.
To put it another way, it was pain that could still be described in comparisons.
“Nnngh!”
I gritted my teeth and endured.
Crack!
My right leg straightened completely.
“Ah.”
In that moment, the pain vanished entirely.
A ringing remained in my ears, but this much could be called manageable.
No—it wasn’t just manageable. My body felt brimming with strength.
“–, –!”
“—!”
Staff from the Awakener Association and Samjung Pharmaceutical shouted over one another.
I tried to push myself up with one hand against the bed.
Bang!
“What?!”
And then I flew straight across to the opposite wall, crashed into it, and fell.
Crunch.
Concrete fragments from the prison wall rained down on me.
Spider-webbed cracks radiated outward from where I’d hit.
This is insane.
I stared at it in a daze.
If there’d been a staff member in that path, it would have been catastrophic.
“……Jung Jae-ha!”
The guards, Samjung staff, and Awakener Association representatives all raised both hands, making calming gestures.
I pushed myself up very, very slowly—the same deliberate way I’d taken my first step during rehabilitation.
I nearly shot forward like a cannonball again from miscalculating the force, but somehow I managed another step.
After two or three more steps, I began to get a feel for how to control my strength.
“Ah, haha, haha!”
Laughter burst out of me.
It sounded like crying too.
Five years. It had been five years.
Five years since I’d walked unassisted.
This surge of excitement was impossible to contain.
I threw that damned cane away and hurled myself toward the infirmary door.
“Jung Jae-ha!”
“Catch him!”
“No. Let him go. How long has he wanted to run?”
I couldn’t hear anyone anymore.
A long hallway stretched before my eyes.
I stamped the ground with a Lunge.
Bang!
My body shot forward in a low arc.
“Huh?”
When I looked back, the concrete floor was gouged in the shape of my footprint, and scraps of my torn shoe lay scattered.
I must have traveled at least thirty meters in that single move.
“Ha, haha!”
As someone who’d once been an elite athlete among elites, I understood better than anyone how impossible this was.
As far as I knew, the Olympic long jump record hadn’t even reached nine meters.
I’d just surpassed the record that humanity’s finest had achieved through years of specialization—with a single casual forward step.
Power coursed through my entire body.

Tap-tap, tap-a-tap-tap!
I began rapid footwork, as if trying to make up for three years of steps I couldn’t take.
I tried quick advances and retreats, mixed diagonal steps with attacking patterns, moving fluidly in three dimensions.
In the middle of repeating this.
“Huh?”
Stagger.
Strength drained from my right leg again.
“Jung Jae-ha!?”
“Jung Jae-ha!”
I tumbled awkwardly to the floor.
What in the world was happening?
* * *
“The awakening itself was successful. However…….”
“However?”
“The neural activation in your right leg is significantly lower than in your left. It appears that if you maintain that kind of ultra-high-speed movement for more than five minutes, the neurons enter an overheated state and motor signals shut down.”
I was carried back to the infirmary.
Samjung Pharmaceutical’s research team immediately conducted a detailed examination.
“Wasn’t it stated that all previous injuries and disabilities would be recovered and overall physical ability would improve?”
“I wouldn’t say it didn’t happen. You’re still exhibiting significantly enhanced physical capabilities by normal human standards right now.”
The world had collapsed around him once more.
“Think of it this way: the Awakening Agent’s effects are multiplicative. It multiplies all your existing strength, endurance, and reflexes by a factor of ten.”
“I see.”
“The problem is that your right leg has suffered significant nerve damage. Even though everything’s been multiplied by ten, the balance between your legs no longer matches.”
……
“Where you once had five and fifty, you now have fifty and five hundred. The ratio stays the same, but the absolute gap has only grown wider.”
He nearly vomited where he stood.
Yet at the same time, a strange sense of relief washed over him.
If he hadn’t gritted his teeth and pushed through those rehabilitation exercises, things would have been far worse.
By that logic, instead of the current fifty and five hundred, he could have ended up with point-five and five hundred—utterly helpless, unable to do anything at all.
“That said, these numbers do suggest real recovery is possible. Your regenerative capacity has improved dramatically. If things continue as they are, your legs should achieve balance within ten years.”
“Ten years?”
“Of course, there are faster methods available. Fortunately, there’s plenty of precedent for this.”
“What is it?”
“Hunt Monsters.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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