I Became a Hunter with the Heavenly Slaughter Star Trait. - Chapter 54

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 54

 

Episode 54

 

“No way, something like that happened?!”

 

When I told Kang Min-a about what happened the day before,

 

-Bang!!!

 

Kang Min-a flew into a rage.

 

She doesn’t seem like the type, but

 

she’s sharp as a blade when it comes to things like this.

 

Is this the official spirit?

 

“You should have contacted me right away!”

 

“I’m not an elementary school student…”

 

“Still! GR Guild is really terrible!”

 

“Well, I gave them plenty of warning.”

 

It was a spicy warning like kimchi fried rice.

 

I wonder if Kim Je-sik delivered it properly?

 

“If they contact you again, please let me know for sure.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“I absolutely won’t let them get away with…”

 

“But, Min-a.”

 

“Yes?”

 

I pointed to the person standing behind Kang Min-a with an awkward expression.

 

“Weren’t you going to introduce me to that person?”

 

“Oh, right!!”

 

The sharp official demeanor disappeared somewhere,

 

and Kang Min-a quickly returned to her slightly unreliable appearance.

 

“Sorry, Ha-rim!”

 

Huh?

 

Ha-rim?

 

“It’s fine.”

 

A middle-aged man answered in a gloomy tone.

 

“Hunter, this is Baek Ha-rim…”

 

“You’re really player Baek Ha-rim?”

 

I looked back and forth between Baek Ha-rim and Kang Min-a with a shocked expression.

 

No way, he’s way too different from the Baek Ha-rim I knew!

 

“Of, of course!”

 

Kang Min-a looked flustered.

 

“Whoa…”

 

However.

 

Dark circles under his eyes.

 

Hollow eyes.

 

Disheveled hair,

 

and a carelessly grown beard.

 

Even a depressed expression!

 

That wasn’t the ‘national representative’ Baek Ha-rim from my memory.

 

The Baek Ha-rim I knew was!

 

Confident!

 

Self-assured!

 

Smiling coolly!

 

That kind of national representative!

 

He swept all kinds of sportswear advertisements,

 

and was the epitome of healthy beauty.

 

That national representative Baek Ha-rim

 

is this depressed middle-aged man?!

 

“I have changed quite a bit.”

 

As if this reaction wasn’t his first,

 

Baek Ha-rim answered calmly.

 

“Hunter work is very different from sports.”

 

A person changed like this from doing Hunter work?!

 

“I’m, I’m sorry. I was just so surprised…”

 

“It’s fine.”

 

“I was a fan, player Baek Ha-rim…”

 

Any South Korean citizen would be the same.

 

Baek Ha-rim, South Korea’s pride who swept all the awards at World Championships, Olympics, and more.

 

‘To young me, he was an idol itself.’

 

Whenever he competed, it was a gold medal,

 

so what citizen wouldn’t be a fan?

 

Of course, after Babel Tower appeared,

 

interest in sports has greatly diminished worldwide now…

 

“I, I’m Lee Tae-pyeong.”

 

“Nice to meet you. I heard you’re very skilled…”

 

“Oh, no. I’m only at the 30th Floor.”

 

“That’s similar.”

 

Baek Ha-rim said as he shook the hand I offered.

 

“Except that I’m in my fifth year now, and Tae-pyeong, you’re not even in your first year yet.”

 

Is, is this a compliment?

 

“Please take care of me from now on, Tae-pyeong.”

 

“I should be the one asking you to take care of me, player Baek Ha-rim…”

 

“You can drop the ‘player’ title. I’m not one anymore.”

 

Oops, my mistake.

 

“Yes, Ha-rim.”

 

Wow.

 

I never thought I’d be working with a national representative,

 

and an Olympic gold medalist at that.

 

The feeling when I heard about it from Kang Min-a

 

is different from meeting him in person.

 

No.

 

He really is quite different.

 

His previous bright and cheerful appearance is nowhere to be found,

 

and he looks more like a depression patient instead.

 

‘Is it because of the Tower…?’

 

But still, even so.

 

Can a person change this much in five years?

 

Baek Ha-rim listened to various explanations from Kang Min-a.

 

I glanced at him from time to time,

 

but I couldn’t find any trace of the national representative Baek Ha-rim I knew.

 

“Then, shall we have you officially join starting next week?”

 

“Yes. Understood.”

 

Baek Ha-rim left his seat, still looking depressed.

 

At my words,

 

“Sigh….”

 

Kang Min-a lets out a deep sigh.

 

“You seem to know something about it?”

 

“Not in detail, but yes.”

 

“What is it?”

 

Kang Min-a hesitated for a moment, then opened her mouth.

 

“You know he quit his guild and returned to the Management Bureau this time, right?”

 

“Yes. You told me about it then.”

 

“That guild was GR Guild.”

 

“GR?”

 

I had no idea.

 

Well,

 

after he became a Hunter, news about Baek Ha-rim completely stopped.

 

Though he was outstanding as an archery athlete,

 

he probably wasn’t outstanding as a Hunter.

 

“If he didn’t quit due to skill issues, then what on earth….”

 

At my muttering, Kang Min-a lowers her voice to answer.

 

“I heard there were financial problems.”

 

“What?!”

 

“Shh!”

 

“Don’t tell me, cryptocurrency…?”

 

“No!”

 

“Then, gambling…?”

 

“I said no!”

 

Kang Min-a waves her hands dismissively.

 

Cryptocurrency, gambling.

 

If it’s not these, then what could it be?

 

Hunters rarely have ‘financial problems.’

 

If you’re with the Management Bureau, going through the Tower just once or twice a year is enough to make a living.

 

You can’t exactly shower in caviar or anything like that.

 

But anyway, you can live comfortably enough.

 

What the Management Bureau promotes is ‘stability.’

 

And what guilds promote is ‘money.’

 

But,

 

Baek Ha-rim, who was with a guild, had ‘money’ problems?

 

“It’s not cryptocurrency, not gambling, so what is it then?”

 

“Well, you see….”

 

Kang Min-a looked around briefly, then continued.

 

“GR Guild has quite a notorious reputation for exploiting Hunters.”

 

“Hunter exploitation?”

 

A black company, something like that?

 

But GR Group is a major corporation.

 

Such a place exploiting Hunters?

 

“You know that GR Group quickly formed a guild in the early days after Babel Tower appeared, right?”

 

“Yes. That’s why it’s one of our country’s top 5 guilds, isn’t it?”

 

GR Group absorbed awakened individuals quickly, as if they knew Babel Tower would appear.

 

Among them, they particularly focused on recruiting awakened individuals from the sports world with outstanding abilities,

 

and Baek Ha-rim was one of those caught in that net.

 

“Why didn’t he contract with the Management Bureau instead….”

 

“In the early days of Babel Tower’s appearance, the Management Bureau wasn’t like it is now.”

 

The current Management Bureau was created by hastily reorganizing one of the government departments.

 

Naturally, they were also in chaos at first.

 

It was a time when they approached the Babel Tower issue conservatively,

 

so the privileges naturally given to Hunters didn’t exist back then.

 

Because of that, it seems there were far more Hunters who contracted with guilds rather than the Management Bureau in the early days.

 

As it became clear that magic stones and other Tower byproducts had various uses,

 

strange guilds also sprouted up like mushrooms after rain….

 

But isn’t GR Guild different from those random guilds?

 

“It might be even more malicious.”

 

Kang Min-a speaks cynically, which doesn’t suit her.

 

“Since laws weren’t properly established at the time, there were many people who exploited this.”

 

“Don’t tell me….”

 

“Yes. GR Guild was particularly outstanding among them.”

 

Though not well known to the public,

 

it seems GR Guild made various unfair contracts with awakened individuals.

 

It was a time when everyone didn’t really know what the Tower was, what awakening was.

 

So they readily accepted contract periods of 10 years, 20 years, and such.

 

The signing bonus GR Guild offered might have been a large amount at the time,

 

but considering the value and danger of Tower byproducts,

 

it was basically just minimum wage level.

 

So….

 

“That’s also why Baek Ha-rim joined the Management Bureau as soon as his contract ended.”

 

“Wait, is it possible to actually go into debt while living as a Hunter?”

 

He’s not a crypto addict,

 

not a gambling addict either?!

 

“There could be various reasons.”

 

The most basic one is treatment costs for injuries sustained inside the Tower.

 

I know this well.

 

Kang Da-gyeong also lost her arm and kept going through the Tower to get it back.

 

The next most common reason for accumulating debt

 

was item rental fees or Tower byproduct extortion.

 

Extorting money under the pretext of lending items,

 

or having it contractually stated that Tower byproducts go to the guild.

 

In such cases, it was safe to say nothing remained in the Hunter’s hands.

 

Now it’s hard to find such unfair contracts.

 

But in the case of early awakened individuals,

 

they repeatedly fell victim because they didn’t know how profitable Tower byproducts could be.

 

‘Was Baek Ha-rim the same….’

 

Since he only did sports, he might have been weak in such matters.

 

“So that’s why GR Guild doesn’t have any major Hunters?”

 

“That’s probably it. Since they don’t bring them in with the intention of nurturing them.”

 

Kang Min-a clicks her tongue in disapproval.

 

“If Baek Ha-rim had received proper management from the beginning, he might be tackling the 50th floors without difficulty by now….”

 

Now he’s in the 30th floors.

 

And it’s been several years at that level, they said.

 

Somehow it leaves a bitter taste.

 

“Well, it would be better to ask Baek Ha-rim himself about the deeper circumstances.”

 

Kang Min-a holds back her words.

 

Anything beyond this is personal business, I suppose.

 

True.

 

Rather than digging around behind the scenes like this,

 

it would be better to have a drink and talk with the person directly.

 

Especially

 

if I want to run the team well going forward.

 

* * *

 

A week has passed.

 

Today is the day Baek Ha-rim is supposed to join.

 

After introducing him to Cha Ye-rin and Ujeongmin,

 

I’m planning to take a light look around the 30th Floor.

 

And then,

 

‘We should have a team dinner.’

 

Preferably with beef!

 

“Hello.”

 

Just like when we first met,

 

Baek Ha-rim appeared looking gloomy.

 

“Hello.”

 

Though he’s the same age as me,

 

Cha Ye-rin also didn’t recognize Baek Ha-rim, and

 

“Ah, hello…”

 

Ujeongmin, who doesn’t know who Baek Ha-rim is in the first place.

 

“This is Hunter Baek Ha-rim.”

 

“W-wait. Baek Ha-rim?”

 

As soon as she heard the name, Cha Ye-rin showed the exact same reaction as me.

 

Her mouth fell wide open as she stared at Baek Ha-rim, then quickly bowed her head.

 

“I’m sorry!”

 

“…It’s fine. I’m used to it.”

 

Baek Ha-rim really does seem used to it.

 

No, maybe it’s more like he’s given up.

 

“Are you really player Baek Ha-rim?”

 

Cha Ye-rin whispered her question.

 

I nodded, then said,

 

“This doesn’t seem like the right timing to ask for an autograph, does it?”

 

“Probably not…”

 

Player Baek Ha-rim’s autograph!

 

I want one!

 

Setting aside my disappointment,

 

I started the briefing.

 

Even though everyone has been around the 30th Floor multiple times,

 

coordinating as a team is a different story.

 

“Baek Ha-rim is a support-type mage. In our team, he’ll move together with Ju-min…”

 

That’s right.

 

Baek Ha-rim isn’t a powerful dealer-type mage,

 

but a support-type mage.

 

His role is to provide ranged damage while supporting.

 

It’s a position that can be ambiguous,

 

which is probably why he’s still stuck in the 30s despite being a 10-year veteran Hunter.

 

Well,

 

it doesn’t matter.

 

I can handle the damage dealing anyway.

 

Just good support would be more than enough.

 

“Shall we go then?”

 

After finishing the brief briefing,

 

we entered Babel Tower.

 

-Swoosh!

 

Except for Ujeongmin who’s still awkward with it,

 

everyone landed safely.

 

-Grrrrr…

 

The Skeletons that now feel almost welcoming.

 

“Ye-rin, please take your position.”

 

“Yes!”

 

“You too, Ju-min.”

 

“Yes!”

 

-Swish.

 

Even without being instructed, Baek Ha-rim moved to stand next to Ujeongmin first.

 

As expected of a veteran, I guess?

 

He found his position perfectly.

 

“Please take care of us.”

 

I spoke quietly so only Baek Ha-rim could hear, then smiled.

 

“…”

 

Having no idea in his wildest dreams

 

what was about to unfold.

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