Becoming a Hunter (2)
“How fortunate I’ll be if I can become a Hunter~”
Yoo-sung muttered while looking at Hunter Gang-Inhan on TV.
Yoo-sung wanted to be a Hunter. He wanted to get revenge on the monsters that killed his parents and have a better life.
However, being a Hunter wasn’t a choice he could make. It is said that one has to be chosen by a God in order to become a Hunter. After getting chosen by a God, the Hunter will go to a different world and meet an Angel that will help the Hunter get stronger.
Also, Hunters get something like God’s blessing, which allows them to grow faster and stronger than normal people. So getting chosen by a God meant your life ahead will be smooth sailing.
Even an E-class Hunter, which is known to be the weakest among the Hunters, can earn money good enough for living. Yoo-sung didn’t want to be an SSS-class Hunter like Gang-Inhan, he just wanted to be a Hunter.
Katalk!*
*Message sound.
Just then, Yoo-sung’s phone made a sound.
“Who is it?”
There was a familiar name on the phone screen.
[Oppa! When are you going to come? It’s been ages!]
It was Eun-ah who he grew up with in the nursery school. After checking the message, Yunsung typed on the keyboard.
[Going this weekend.]
The response came not even one minute after sending the message.
[Really? Ok. I’ll be waiting with the others.]
Eun-ah sent along with the response an emote of a rabbit with fluffy ears.
Yoo-sung chuckled after looking at the emote.
“I guess I’ll have to go.”
It looks like the kids at nursery school were expecting a lot. It’s been a while since he visited there, so it made sense for them to act that way.
“I’ll go to the market tomorrow to buy some food, and then some gifts and toys from the mall.”
He had to go to the market and the mall to buy something for the kids at the nursery school. It seems like it will be a busy weekend.
As soon as Yoo-sung shut his eyes, he fell asleep straight away.
***
[Hey! Heyyy! Are you really asleep right now?]
[Are you for real?]
[How can you be sleeping in this situation?]
“Why is it so loud…”
There was a strange voice ringing in his ear. It sounded like a robotic voice.
“Damn, those college students are at it again. They do this every morning.”
As Yoo-sung thought it was just some drunk college students, he reached out to pull his blanket towards him. But, he couldn’t feel the blanket. Instead, he felt something cold and hard.
“What is this…”
Yoo-sung rubbed his eyes and woke up from his sleep.
“What kind of shenanigan is this?”
After looking at what was in front of his eyes, his sleepiness immediately went away.
It was chaos.
There was a dead body in front of his eyes. But, it wasn’t just one or two corpses. There were multiple dead bodies wearing robotic suits as if it were a movie.
“Am I dreaming right now?”
Yoo-sung thought this was some kind of lucid dream he had heard about, so he tried to pinch his arm. But, he couldn’t pinch his arm. He was also wearing the same suit as the other dead bodies.
[Goddess of Mischief: Hey! You finally woke up. Will you still be sleepy in this situation?]
Yoo-sung saw strange letters in front of his eyes. It looked like a chat similar to one you would see in a game. On that chat, someone named Goddess of Mischief seemed to have typed something.
“Did I get kidnapped into a virtual reality world?”
Yoo-sung, with his mind still confused, mumbled to himself. Then, there was something newly typed on the chat.
[Goddess of Mischief: This is not a game~ This is reality~]
[Goddess of Mischief: You are doomed lol]
And that someone was saying that he’s doomed out of nowhere?
After looking at Goddess of Mischief’s chat message, Yoo-sung decided to ask.
“Wait! What do you mean I’m doomed? Explain it to me!”
[Goddess of Mischief: You are doomed because of your support angel. Good luck!]
In the chaos, a shrill voice like that of an oriole* came out.
PR/N: A bird that creates high, whistling sounds.
“Uhmm… Are you Mr. Han Yoo-sung?”
When he turned his head, the little Angel showed herself. She has silver hair that shined white gold and wore an emerald colored dress. She was tiny with a cute face. The white gold-like hair gave off a cute and mystical feeling.
“That’s right.”
As Yoo-sung answered, the shrill high-pitched voice was heard again.
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m really sorry!”
An unknown feeling of anxiety started to bud inside his chest.
“Are…you an Angel?”
“Yes, that is right. My name is Titania. I am your support angel.”
Angel? To Hunters, Angels were like their partner. If an Angel talked to them, it meant that they were selected as a Hunter.
“Does that mean that I became a Hunter?” Yoo-sung asked carefully.
“Yes, that is right. But…” Titania answered, muttering. Her voice was full of anxiety.
“This doesn’t feel right…”
Suddenly, he felt something didn’t feel right. It was an ominous feeling. This strange feeling of dread was bigger than the happiness he felt when he knew he became a Hunter.
“And…?”
“I accidentally made a mistake.”
“Ah…”
Why do anxious thoughts always become real?
“Can you first explain what’s happening? Where am I? And what mistake did you make?” Yoo-sung calmly demanded Titania for an explanation.
“Ehhh…”
Titania lingered for a while, then opened her mouth.
“This is a planet called Caden.”
“Caden? Where is that? Don’t all Hunters go to Estelle or Muhuan?”
“You are correct, but… It’s that… It’s that…” Titania muttered again.
“Okay, then what kind of mistake did you make?”
“I put in the wrong coordinate and…”
“And?”
“The transportation failed.”
[Goddess of Mischief: This angel is really stupid lol]
Goddess of Mischief typed in the chat as if she was laughing.
[Goddess of Mischief: I never knew I’d live a day to see a dumbass angel like yours.]
[Goddess of Mischief: They didn’t even take care of the angels properly lmao]
[King of Angels: I did train her properly.]
[Goddess of Mischief: Don’t say bullshit.]
[King of Angels: I’m saying the truth…]
A new person appeared in the chat. This time, there was someone named King of Angels.
After hearing words such as mistake and fail from Titania and looking at Goddess of Mischief’s chat message, Yoo-sung was sure something was wrong.
“Can you explain it in detail? I really don’t get what’s happening.”
“It was originally decided that you’ll go to Estelle. So I put in the coordinate to send you to Estelle, but I made a mistake and sent you to Caden instead.”
“And what about the failure of transportation?”
“The transportation just means moving you to a different dimension, but since I put in the wrong coordinate, the transportation failed.”
“What exactly failed?”
“This is a parallel universe where it has an Earth.”
Parallel universe. He has heard of it somewhere. It is a word that would come out often in movies and comics. Parallel universe is a universe that existed in a similar timeline, but with minor differences.
“In the parallel universe, there was another you living here. But now, he’s dead.”
“Ah…”
Unfortunately, the Yoo-sung of the parallel universe seemed to have died. It felt weird hearing about the death of the other him from the parallel universe.
[Goddess of Mischief: You don’t have to worry. It seems like you are going to follow him soon lol]
Goddess of Mischief kept on trying to get under Yoo-sung’s skin, but he just ignored her.
“I said it, right? That the transportation failed. The reason the transportation failed is because there was a parallel universe with you in it. The coordinate I mistakenly put in was you in the parallel universe.”
“So?”
“Parallel universe’s Yoo-sung and Earth’s Yoo-sung. As the both of you were coordinated together, the body became one.”
“W-wait a minute! What’s that? So I’m mixed with the other me from the parallel universe?”
“That’s right. Under normal circumstances, if the two of you combine, there will be two consciousness in one body. The body is just an outside cover, but the spirit is different. So there are two spirits in one body. However—-fortunately—while the both of you were combining, the parallel universe’s Yoo-sung died. He died from the shock when this airplane crashed.”
“Haah…”
‘I don’t know if this is something to be relieved of. I don’t even know how it would be like to have two spirits in one body, but I don’t think it will be comfortable.’
As Yoo-sung was thinking that, the chat popped up again.
[King of Angels: That’s fortunate. Normally, if there are two spirits in one body, that person will go insane. The reason for that is because the person will hear weird noises and can’t move their body like they want.]
After hearing what King of Angels said, Yoo-sung felt lucky that the parallel universe’s Yoo-sung had died.
“So, there’s nothing wrong with my body, right?”
“There is nothing physically wrong with you. If there is something different, it is your physical power increasing and your spirit bowl* doubling in size after your body combined with your other self from the parallel universe. It means that you have only one spirit in a spirit bowl with the size of two. You will take less damage from mind-altering attacks and be able to recover faster.”
T/N: Basically, it is a “bowl” inside the human that contains their spirit.
[Goddess of Mischief: What an overpowered thing. Gotta nerf this!]
“What are you talking about? What OP? My head hurts so much right now.”
Goddess of Mischief kept on trying to annoy him. He wondered if this is what streamers felt while looking at the troll comments.
Yoo-sung promised to never leave a troll comment on streamers.
“Then, what am I supposed to do? I heard that the Angel could help with the Hunter’s training for them to get stronger…”
“I really want to help you, but it’s hard to do it here…”
“What? What do you mean it’s hard?”
“In this universe, there isn’t any magic or martial arts.”
“…..”
[Goddess of Mischief: Didn’t I tell you? I said that you are doomed lol]
Goddess of Mischief was talking rudely, but what she said wasn’t wrong either.
“A-are you for real? There isn’t any magic and martial arts? Even though it’s a different universe?”
“This universe doesn’t have any of that. It doesn’t have the source, like mana or chi, so there can’t be any magic or martial arts.”
The final shot from Titania was made. Yoo-sung’s body started to tremble.