EP 20 – Hunter Academy (1)
I saw the world through a large airport glass wall.
It rained.
The world seems to have changed, but it hasn’t. I don’t know if I’m the only one who feels that way, but at least that’s what I get when I watch the pouring rain.
“Minister?”
“Ahh. Let’s go.”
“yes. Arrived in 13 minutes. They also said they were sorry for the delay.”
“What about the weather…”
As in every year in Korea, the rainy season is approaching. The cloudy sky at this time was still the same. It’s just that the things that live under it have changed a bit.
He stands up with the sponsored high-quality cane. Sitting on a bench at Jeju Airport, I walked out to the runway under the umbrella provided by the aide.
I looked at my watch and it was around 5 in the morning. Originally, the flight was supposed to arrive yesterday evening, but due to weather issues, it only arrived.
On the runway, there were a lot of people besides me waiting for the plane. The people in the first row were basically people who were treated with the vice-minister-level or higher in the Republic of Korea.
I was also in the middle of the first row.
And looked up at the sky.
like that.
The morning rain is falling softly.
Far away, guests from Europe were appearing in the hazy water mist.
* * *
Lewin Schmidtseva.
An 18-year-old Alpine girl. To be precise, it is the daughter of a cheese shop across from Stance Station. And he was also a hunter representing Switzerland.
how did this happen
Because she was a young and pretty telekinesis who was active from the beginning of the crisis, the Swiss government used it as a signboard model for recruitment advertisements, but the fact that she was Noah Lumière’s closest aide was the biggest reason why she became a representative of Switzerland.
The name Noah Lumière meant that in Europe.
Hope.
And Lewin didn’t like it.
It wasn’t that he was jealous of Lumiere.
just. It is nothing more than dissatisfaction with the rulers who create hope and hide behind it.
“Why do we even have to do politics?”
This is irrational. Lewin scowled at Lumière, who stood by the window and looked down at the sea.
“Don’t you think Rumi-eun is like that? Why do we have to wander around leaving the diplomats alone? Don’t you have time to catch monsters?”
Lumiere replied.
“It cannot be left to diplomats.”
“no. I know that.”
The horrific consequences of leaving politics to EU diplomats were obvious. The result will be that only the rats who hide behind the walls made of the flesh of psychics are called the stomachs.
In the end, the interests of European Hunters had to be taken care of by themselves, and in the end, Hunters were engaged in diplomacy and politics.
And Lewin wasn’t bothered by it.
“If we had saved people at a time like this, how many people would have lived?”
The cause of the situation was obvious.
“Why don’t politicians help us…?”
“Because Hunter took power in each city.”
“……still!”
The central government collapsed, and the Hunters defended the city and took the positions of politicians, and the politicians who felt a crisis only rejected Hunter.
So, in the end, everyone is only faithful to their own circumstances.
And in this kind of interest, good and evil don’t matter.
“……still.”
So, the little girl in Switzerland is just sad for a world where there is no distinction between good and evil.
Lumière smiled compassionately at this and beckoned to the still young child.
“Lewin? Is this your first time in Korea?”
“……”
“Come here.”
Lewin turned to Lumiere like a puppy to his master. Lumiere gently stroked Lewin’s hair and sat him by the window.
A grudge leaked through Lewin’s protruding lips as he peered through the window.
“…I can’t see anything.”
“The time has come to arrive…”
Lumière smiled as if it was okay to look forward to it.
“This is the reason I like Korea the most.”
at that time.
The dark clouds in the early morning sky were lifted.
and
“……ah.”
Lewin lost his soul as if possessed by something.
A scene that she lost one day and no longer remembers, the image she longed for terribly, unfolded before her eyes.
Huge buildings soaring into the sky radiated dazzling light, and numerous vehicles and people flowed through the gap as a river of light.
The splendid civilization that has now been lost, the image that has faded from memory even in less than a year,
The city of light in the hazy water mist,
Finally, in front of the young Hunter, he showed his nostalgic appearance.
The dawn, which had begun to rise over the horizon, gently swept down the city as if blessing it.
*
“Aww-hey! Cliad to Landing! Enter the center line!”
“Come on! Come on!”
Airport staff with guide rods parked the plane using familiar jargon. Then, handsomely dressed soldiers lined up and inspected in front of the plane.
About 500 reserve hunters to administer stimulants and about 100 other personnel including reporters and escorts came to Korea.
We decided to treat this visit as a state visit. This is the greatest courtesy Korea can have.
They shoot 21 salutes, perform cultural performances at luncheons, and all government officials listed in the manual even go out to greet them. In fact, the president also leaves.
However, since there was no one in power over there who was elected by election, Yang Pan-seok decided to keep his seat in the underground bunker. Other than that, it was no different from a state visit.
Of course, this was not a useless ceremony.
First of all, since I overtook the prime minister and came out as Korea’s representative, it is basic to conclude who the most powerful of Korea are, and to show the world that Korea is a country that is still strong enough to lead a cultural life by showing a grand cultural event. served as
And most importantly, 21 rounds of salute are usually used as a rite for supplying the head of state. In other words, the Republic of Korea is announcing that Noah Lumière is considered a head of state.
Then it will be able to solidify Noah Lumière’s position within the EU. The EU’s high-ranking people may be a bit skeptical, but what can we say about how we treat Europeans?
Diplomacy was such a headache.
of course.
I’m doing this because I have something to come back to.
The plane door opened, and she appeared.
Noah Lumière was dressed in a stylish navy blue coat reminiscent of a military uniform. In fact, it had medals attached to it, so it was no different than a military uniform.
However, the blonde hair, stylishly swept to one side, made the uniform look like a dress. With a soft halo, she smiled broadly and walked over to me.
“Ministre Han!”
“Nice to meet you. Lumière Executor.”
We shook hands warmly with the sound of camera shutters in the background. It was raining early in the morning, but it was light enough to walk without an umbrella, so it was not a big problem.
and.
In an instant, Lumiere’s hair brushed against my cheek.
side – !
Bijou Baiser.
It is a Western-style greeting, also known as a volkiss. France also helped.
She put her cheek to my cheek, made a small noise, and then hit the other cheek as well.
side.
A short sound rang in my ear.
It wasn’t a direct kiss, it was just a sound greeting.
It was a slightly strange culture for Koreans, but what about it? In the past, Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong-un did it too. Of course, he didn’t make a sound.
Anyway, this was an agreed upon greeting. It’s s*xual harassment if you hit me suddenly. So I already knew she was going to kiss me.
but-
“…..Welcome to Korea.”
“C’est un plaisir pour moi. Ministre.”
It seems that it is unavoidable that I am a little confused.
*
Originally, it was normal to go to the Blue House guesthouse, but if you go there now, you have to eat with monsters, not the president.
However, if you go to the code-named Blue House, you have to eat in a 200-meter underground bunker, and because of the location exposure, you have to put an eye patch on these people in a round trip. Journalists were basically banned from entering.
So, I chose Lotte Hotel Jeju.
It is a 5 star hotel.
After the singers whose names you can tell just by hearing their names have finished their performances in a sophisticated and splendidly set up banquet hall, and after giving a roughly plausible speech.
Hunters and reserve hunters were sitting at numerous tables. And on every table there was a fancy banquet.
Considering that it was a large group of over 800 people, it was a considerable expense, but it was not the time to save money as it was to be shown in front of others.
Because it was also reported by the American media.
Anyway.
It wasn’t just foreigners who were sitting here. There were at least two Koreans at every table. One is an interpreter and the other is a Korean hunter.
It was the moment when the best hunters of the Apgujeong faction and the Dongdaemun faction exchanged with foreign hunters for the first time. Of course, it also served as a response force in case of emergency, but there is no sign of that.
When I see the atmosphere of the meal, I get a rough feeling.
Lumiere, who was sitting next to me, bowed her head.
“…I’m embarrassed.”
“it’s okay. Don’t say things like that.”
“No, me, those yangbans are really…”
“It’s good to eat well. haha!”
Hunters are basically tough yangbans. Most of the jobs that risk their lives are like that. Soldiers, miners, heavy industry workers, etc.
Since such people only ate battle food for a year, how much did they miss a proper meal? Most of the hunters were hesitant to eat.
And it goes without saying that people feel better when they are full. After the meal, the atmosphere was very friendly.
In particular, the table between the escorts from Europe and the Korean escorts was very lively. Usually a few glasses are floating around.
The conversation continued so lively that the interpreters’ tongues hurt.
An old man poked his forearm and said to a foreigner. His face was in a state of drunkenness because he had been drinking some medicine.
“I slapped Mogaji, a monster the size of a later one, why didn’t his forearm go dent?”
“Surprisingly, the bones of large tumors were weak. It’s a problem because it has strong regenerative power.”
“But those, Sibels and flying monsters. oh Are you just like a bat?”
“Some people are like that and some aren’t. Our aerial team is roughly divided into four types…”
Dr. Hwaran Cheon and foreign scholars sat around and talked about chaos. All of these were written in English.
“Every time I heard it only with her voice, I didn’t know that she would be this beautiful.”
“You’re welcome. Dr. Mikhail, right? The study of the chip molecule was an impressive read.”
“Ah, it’s just an application based on the mutation theory I got from the Pentagon. So, in the end, it started with the theory that Dr. Cheon made. Even my American friends said they really want to come…”
In addition, Yeo Do-yeon broke the table while wrestling with someone, so I had a difference in my shin, and there were times when we saw each other’s boy soldiers and there were bitter laughs, but there was another place that got the most attention.
“Wow-!”
“Incredible double!”
“What the…!”
A roar of cheers mixed with whistling could be heard from somewhere. People sitting at nearby tables even flocked to watch.
As I walked around the table, greeting guests as if they were welcoming guests at the wedding hall, I looked around in surprise.
Seol Jin-woon, surrounded by the crowd, was emitting a black energy that reached the ceiling of the banquet hall.
Seol Jinwoon, whose ears were red from embarrassment, bowed his head, and a fork was in his hand.
“……”
Seeing the sword spewing out with a fork made even me faint a little. So what about other people?
In the end, the hunters who had been playing with their fingers and toilet paper on their swords were scattered around at the earnest request of the hotel staff.
Of course, as the hunters got excited and started getting along, Lumiere’s expression rotted away like a mother who threw her baby out on the water.
“……Oh yeah. my.”
It is unavoidable to have a natural smile after a long time.
*
Even flowers at the Memorial Hall, public inquiries, exchanges between generals and technology demonstrations. After a day full of busy schedules.
The sun was setting over the horizon.
It is a night in Jeju Island.
Street lamps lined up along the beach road to draw a line.
Lumiere and I were walking along the ray of light.
From far away the seagulls were returning to their nests, and mineships slowly roamed the dark horizon,
Lumiere suddenly raised her head and looked upwards. A beautiful Korean word came out of her mouth.
“You did a great job today.”
“I do not know. If Chinese guests come tomorrow, they will do the same thing. No, wait.”
It’s a surprise.
“……When did you learn Korean?”
“I do not know. On the plane in your spare time?”
She smiled softly and looked up at the sky.
“People who will receive stimulants are all Hunters.”
“……Yes?”
“I’m not a superman, though.”
“……ah.”
Lumiere continued explaining slowly.
“Non-Awakened Hunters who have been active since the beginning of the incident. People who catch monsters with guns. People who have been fighting monsters since the days when magic stones were not enough. We call them vigilantes.”
“…They are wonderful people. Aren’t they the ones who fought to protect people?”
“Yes. There are some people I owe my life to. As many of them suffered that much, everyone will love Korea. Probably.”
She raised her hand with hazy eyes.
“…the thing I missed the most was this.”
Her finger was pointing at a yellow street lamp.
“When night falls, the world becomes gloomy. I could only hear the cries of the monsters in the dark.”
“……”
“It’s the moment when you feel the collapse of society the most. When you close your eyes in fear in the dark.”
Lumiere suddenly stopped walking.
She looked at me with sad eyes.
“But I am used to it.”
Her bitter smile caught my eye.
“The days of wandering Africa in Doctors Without Borders. When you lay down on the dirt floor listening to gunshots from afar. It felt no different than it was back then.”
“……Is that so?”
“One other thing. I had to feel that feeling in the mansion I used to live in, not the dirt floor. And that was the scariest thing. So……”
She pondered for a moment.
“…The collapse of daily life and the disintegration of society may have been scarier than the monster.”
“Somehow, you seem to speak Korean better than me.”
“It is worth the effort. In fact, it was difficult to distinguish between honorifics, so I memorized only respectful words.”
“Are you good at memorizing?”
“Hmm! I’m a doctor too.”
while having a brief chat. Lumiere smiled softly and continued speaking.
“Anyway, everyone will love Korea. It’s a place that always reminds me of the past…”
“…How is the situation in Europe?”
“I don’t have enough room to at least turn on the streetlights. Even the safest flies.”
After saying that, she turned the subject off.
“Anyway, everyone likes this international army formation. Feeling like Overwatch? Did you say that I am Mercy?”
“What is it?”
“…don’t you know Overwatch? Are you Korean?”
“I do not know. I’m not really interested in watches…”
She smiled and shook her head.
at that time.
“uh…!”
Lumiere grabbed my collar.
She pulled me tight.
and-
“Bordel…!”
As Lumiere, who was wrapped around me, waved a big hand, a force field made of light embraced us.
His magical power fluctuated, and Lumiere’s halo began to flash dazzlingly.
She shouted harshly, clad in brilliance.
“Who’s There!”
I blinked my eyes.
Just a few meters ahead under the streetlight.
Suddenly, a man stood still.