No. 117
Wasn’t it obvious?
Everyone loved witnessing hunters at work. The more vivid the footage, the more dramatic the situations that unfolded, the more it drew their audience in.
-What is this?
-It looks like a livestream.
The caption that went with it was simple.
‘They need a lot of attention and help,’ it said.
The streaming had just begun, without prior notice. People had no idea what it was about, but they soon found themselves watching it.
-Ruins? The buildings were thoroughly smashed…
Soon, the viewers realized what they were watching.
-Isn’t that Japan?
-Really?! With that much damage to civilian areas…
Despite the limited view of a single action cam, the tragic scene was brought to people worldwide. Yoo-seong’s hands could be seen steadily digging through the rubble.
He seemed to be making a passage. Then…
-A person!
-Was he trapped?!
-Whoa, he just saved a person’s life!
The first survivor came out of the passage Yoo-seong had dug, followed by two more people, one after the other.
The comments section was silent for a while. The viewers didn’t know how to react as they watched the scene, watched the recovery of a fellow human from beneath the rubble…
They could hear Yoo-seong’s heavy breathing in the video as he continuously cleared debris. Without realizing it, the viewers’ breathing began to sync up with his. Everyone was silently cheering him on.
‘Go further.’
‘Save more people.’
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"}) They found their eyes glued to the screen with a desperate hope for their fellow human beings.
-Whoa!
-He did it!
Whenever an individual got rescued, everyone felt as if it was their own family member who had been saved.
Soon the viewers realized… the scene was in Tokyo.
This wasn’t Oh Yoo-seong’s job. People from Japan started to comment with a different tone.
-How can I volunteer to join him?
-Anyone leaving nearby?
-Anyone who would want to meet up and go there?
Even viewers from different countries wanted to take action.
-Shouldn’t we raise donations for this? I want to help in my little way, too.
-I want to send them blankets. Anyone living nearby?
Even if they hadn’t planned to when they logged in to their social networking accounts, people began to feel invested in what was happening in Tokyo.
Everyone wanted to know what had happened. The Japanese media were describing it as an unfortunate operation failure. Now, those watching felt that answer was not enough.
-Why can’t I see other hunters nearby?
-If everyone was wiped out, who caught the beast?
-They’re hiding something from us…
-A lot of hunters backed out before the operation started?
As they watched an exhausted Oh Yoo-seong continue to dig through the rubble, the questions in their minds burned harder.
-Why did the hunters leave Tokyo?
-The Disaster Management Administration doesn’t seem to have the situation under control.
Questions continued to pile up in everyone’s minds. Then someone appeared on their screens.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"}) It was Hashima and his crew. The camera was capturing everything.
People all over the world heard what Hashima said.
-The chairman…
-He told hunters to capture Oh Yoo-seong?
Millions of viewers were now hearing lines that were only meant for Yoo-seong’s ears. Hashima had no way of knowing.
He and his team, too, had been exhausted by the last few hours of searching for Yoo-seong. He couldn’t have predicted the impact of what he said.
Hashima’s eyes widened as hordes of rescuers and paramedics began to surround them.
Just as Oh Yoo-seong couldn’t touch the hunters, they wouldn’t be able to touch Yoo-seong with all these civilians around.
Moreover, these civilians… They were furious at Hashima and his crew.
“You guys are Japanese! Why weren’t you here first?!”
“He used his abilities without permission to save people…”
“If that makes him a criminal… he’s still better than you!”
A brawny rescuer raised his voice in front of Hashima. The man was from the Special Defense Force, and his sense of his mission was as huge as his body.
“Where were you when the buildings collapsed?” he yelled at the hunters. “You don’t even have dust on your clothes! Where did you go? What had you so busy?”
Some of the hunters looked down with shame upon hearing the man’s words.
“While you guys are cornering this man, people are dying beneath us! Not this time! Roll up your sleeves instead of talking bullshit!”
“Damn it,” Hashima growled. “I can’t listen to this anymore.”
Hashima shook his gloved arm in the air. Suddenly, the bulky rescuer stopped talking. His eyes dilated.
“Hey, hey!” A colleague grabbed Hashima’s arm.
If he hadn’t, the rescuer’s head would have burst into pieces.
“Are you insane?!” Hashima’s colleague screamed at him. “He’s a civilian!”
“He interfered with the execution of public affairs,” Hashima stated matter-of-factly. Then he looked around.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"}) “I will lead the paramedics and rescuers here. We can settle this later.”
Hashima gestured towards Yoo-seong. “Secure that person.”
“Yes!” his crew exclaimed.
“Don’t worry. No one will be harmed,” Hashima said as he raised his hand to hold Yoo-seong down.
However…
“What?!” Hashima’s eyes widened.
His arm wouldn’t move. Something invisible was pulling it down.
Yoo-seong felt Hashima struggle against the thread.
“If you keep this up, you will regret it all your life,” Yoo-seong warned.
Hashima snorted dismissively, but he was shocked by the ridiculous strength of the web.
“You seem to be mistaken.” Yoo-seong scratched his nose. “I’m not here to fight. That’s the only reason I haven’t beaten you up. Whether there are civilians around us or not, I could smash you if I wanted.”
“What did you say?” Hashima raised his voice.
“I’m here to save people,” Yoo-seong said firmly.
Hashima wanted to laugh, but he felt something. The mood seemed to have changed. It felt like numerous eyes were on him, their gazes bearing down on him.
Beep-!
Hashima’s terminal rang. It was a call from Kodama. However, Hashima couldn’t even look at his phone right now.
“But after you put hands on that rescue worker… now, I’m very angry,” Yoo-seong continued. “Countless people are watching us right now. I believe they would understand,” he added.
Goosebumps sprung up on Hashima’s back.
‘Countless people?’ he thought as his eyes searched frantically.
Then he noticed it. It was hardly visible because the suit it was attached to was ragged. However, the action cam’s lens was pointed at him.
Hashima felt a sinister intuition.
It was too late. Countless people had just watched him use Tech on the man.
Suddenly…
Swish-!
“Arrgh!” Hashima felt himself being dragged.
Yoo-seong pulled the spider web, lifting Hashima’s feet off the ground.
However, Hashima was not an easy opponent. With his strength, he spun and brought his feet back down safely.
The moment he landed, though, Yoo-seong was already right in front of him.
‘Explosive Acceleration.’
Yoo-seong must have charged at him the moment the thread was pulled. Hashima brought his arms up. It was too late to avoid the attack.
The only thing he could do right now was to concentrate his Aura on his arms to try and offset the damage. However…
-He’s scared!
-Garbage.
-Isn’t he a top-tier hunter?
-He has no balls.
-An embarrassment to Japanese hunters.
Countless messages of scorn popped up on social media as people watched Hashima raise his arms. However, the next instant, they would understand why he’d done it.
Kapang-!
Hashima wasn’t deluded.
Yoo-seong’s fist, reinforced with steel Aura, broke through his defense in an instant. Hashima’s body spun several times in the air.
His deputy watched their leader getting helplessly beaten and screamed in desperation.
“Catch him!”
In his agitated mind, he failed to consider the weakness of their Tech in this situation. While it was more efficient than Psy and could of ways, a set-up time was almost always required, about two to four seconds on average.
With Yoo-seong’s Parasitic Bees firmly planted in place, they didn’t have that luxury.
Quazzik-!
Quazzik-!
All at once, their feet sunk into the ground as the Parasitic Bees burst through the rubble.
Auto-Hunt did not miss the gap.
Taang-!
With Explosive Acceleration, Yoo-seong was upon them like magic.
Pagak-!
Pagak-!
One at a time.
His blows weren’t powerful enough to kill them. He had just enough Aura to smash their faces.
The police officers in civilian clothes started to panic as they watched Yoo-seong deal with the hunters.
They didn’t know what to do. They were just ordinary citizens, after all.
With rescuers and paramedics all around, they couldn’t even use their guns.
“Watch out!” hunter crew members warned each other.
“Stop it! If a civilian gets hurt…”
Pagak-!
Pagak-!
Yoo-seong wasn’t worried about that. Auto-Hunt had already picked out the best route to deal with his enemies.
Pagak-!
It was a simple yet powerful punch that would ensure no innocent was harmed.
The action cam footage would be his lawyer. The millions watching him online were his witnesses. Yoo-seong had not touched the general public.
Finally…
“Woo!”
No hunter was left standing. Even the police officers, who weren’t hurt, were now frozen where they stood.
Yoo-seong began walking towards Hashima’s unconscious body. Then he muttered to himself as he dragged it outside the site.
“This feels wrong,” he said to himself. “But it doesn’t matter. We need to begin the rescue as soon as possible. They were interfering with the work.”
Paramedics and rescuers around him nodded in agreement and helped him take the unconscious hunters out of the rescue site.
Then Yoo-seong faced the camera. For the first time in hours of streaming, the viewers saw Yoo-seong’s face. He had a swollen black eye, and his face was stained with blood and dirt.
-What? What is he saying now?
-Hang in there. I will translate the message for you guys.
-For those who can speak Korean, translate it for them, please.
Everyone who was watching the broadcast eventually understood what Yoo-seong said.
“If we lose a life, or if someone gets injured because of their interference… we cannot bring those lives back.”
“Hunters,” Yoo-seong gestured towards the unconscious Hashima, “must not act like big babies.”
Everyone held their breath and waited for his next words.
“Whoever it was, whoever told these hunters to sabotage this rescue, if you try to disturb me or the others before it’s all over, I will do exactly the same to you as I did to them.”
Then Yoo-seong placed the camera back on his suit.
“So please,” he said solemnly, “if more people come to this place, I hope that it will be to help.”
And then he turned back toward the collapsed rubble.
With Auto-Hunt leading him, he continued to rescue citizens buried and trapped in basements. The viewers watched his hands dig through rubble again in that repetitive manner.
As he did, everyone knew.
No matter who came, no one could stop Yoo-seong.
It didn’t matter if he was in Japan. He was a person who transcended nationalities and countries.
***
Dawn came.
Yoo-seong came out of the passage carrying a woman with a serious leg injury.
He handed over the weeping and grateful woman to the paramedics. Then he heard everyone behind him hold their breath.
He turned reflexively and saw a face he was not expecting to see.
Yukio Murata.
The Japanese Prime Minister.
