Chapter 1: On 31 December 2016, At a Supermarket (1)
1.
Kim Tae-hoon, in his line of work, had seen many deaths.
He had killed many people, and had received many death threats, many at the same time.
But in the midst of such a horrifying life, Kim Tae-Hoon learned a few things.
A method to leave the victim with no dignity, and a method to leave the victim with a sense of worth, he definitely learned of the two.
Of course, Kim Tae-Hoon thought, there was no way could use what he learned in everyday life.
“Huu······!”
Until he saw a green skinned dwarf monster in the first floor of a supermarket in the car accessories corner of the store.
Until the dwarf monster suddenly decided to attack him.
Until he killed the monster that had attacked him using the methods he had learned in his line of work.
‘That’s insane.’
This is how the story of the hunter Kim Tae-Hoon begins.
2.
Kim Tae-Hoon.
This year, by 2016 standards, he would turn 29 after a day, and on the 31st of December, for no particular reason, he had visited the market located next to Bucheon City Hall.
‘Cleaner fluid······.’
It was to purchase cleaning fluid.
It really wasn’t much of a reason, in fact, that’s the reason why most people were there at the supermarket. n.o.body goes to a supermarket to buy something awesome.
So naturally, Kim Tae-Hoon was looking here and there in the car accessories corner.
But all of a sudden, ‘Gge-eh-eh’! Someone let out a shriek, ‘Euhahk’! Someone screamed and ‘Kwa-gwa-gw.a.n.g’! Loud booms went off one after another.
Reacting to the noises, Kim Tae-Hoon turned around, it greeted him.
‘Dwarf?’
With a height of about 140 centimeters, it was a short monster with green skin.
With skinny limbs and a protruding stomach, its appearance was reminiscent of a starving child from a third world country.
But that did nothing to bring it any sympathy.
Its teeth looked more savage than that of a dog’s, its eyes were like solid lumps of rotten blood, blazing with a red light, and no matter how you saw it, it was a monster.
Ggi-eh-eh!
Without a thought, the monster ran towards Kim Tae-Hoon while letting out a shriek.
To such a creature, Kim Tae-Hoon did not feel even the slightest sympathy.
Hwiik!
The monster who had thrown his body towards Kim Tae-Hoon was met with a spinning back kick.
The green monster fell onto the floor, and while it was screaming, Kim Tae-Hoon opened the cap of the cleaner fluid and shoved it into the monster’s mouth.
Ggulung-Ggulung!
Stepping on the monster’s chest to prevent it from struggling, the cleaner fluid streamed into the monster’s stomach and lungs.
“Huu!”
‘That’s insane.’
And that’s how it began.
Seeing the light in the monster’s eyes fade, Kim Tae-Hoon took a look around at his surroundings.
Ku-Goong! Ku-Oong! Koong!
He heard the rumbling of shelves falling like dominoes.
Gyaak!
He also heard a woman scream.
Ggi-eh-eh! Ggii!
Judging by the shriek, he judged that it came from a green monster.
And accompanying the sounds, they entered his vision.
‘Good G.o.d .’
The sight of a dozen green dwarf monsters hunting customers in the supermarket suddenly appeared.
“Ahk, save me!”
“It’s a monster! Monster!”
“Euheuh, help me, please help me······.”
Seeing this absurd scene before him, Kim Tae-Hoon couldn’t help but be taken aback.
He had seen humans hunt humans, but he had never seen monsters hunt humans.
“f.u.c.k!”
Kim Tae-Hoon snapped out of his reverie. In the sports corner of the supermarket, a youth in a Yankees baseball cap and baseball jumper was fending off three green monsters with a baseball bat.
“f.u.c.k off! f.u.c.k off you a.s.sholes!”
The voice was rough, but to Kim Tae-Hoon, it was the sound of a fight.
‘This is not the time to be standing around.’
“Huu!”
Kim Tae-Hoon took a short breath, then searched his surroundings..
‘For now······ I’ll survive.’
Something entered Kim Tae-Hoon’s gaze, and without any hesitation, he headed straight towards what he heard. [TN: He saw something, grabbed it, and headed towards the swearing]
December 31, 2016 at 4:11 PM, this is how it all started on the last day of 2016.
3.
“d.a.m.n it!”
Voom!
“d.a.m.n!”
Hoong!
“f.u.c.k off! f.u.c.k off you monster a.s.sholes!”
Voom!
Bang Hyun-Wook.
He had a height of 183 centimeters and weighed 90 kilograms.
Judging from his figure, you could tell that he had a strong physique, but with every swing, he let out a swear.
“Waah!”
Boh-oong!
It was not the wisest thing to do.
Bang Hyun-Wook knew that it was a bad habit that he had developed, but with each swing curses flew out.
And because of that habit, he had tasted the swing of a coach, a former professional baseball player who had recorded 77 home runs during his career, with his a.s.s.
When that happened in his second year of high school, that habit of his faded away.
“Hey you f.u.c.ks, f.u.c.k off!”
Boong!
But now that habit had surfaced again.
The reason is very simple.
“Ahk, d.a.m.n it!”
Bang Hyun-Wook became fl.u.s.tered.
“f.u.c.k, where the f.u.c.k did these f.u.c.king monsters crawl out from? No, what the f.u.c.k is this? Seriously, what the h.e.l.l!”
He could only swallow his confusion, but it had still jumped out of his mouth when he talked to himself.
“Heoeok, Heoeok!”
With stifled breath, Bang Hyun-Wook felt as though the floodgates of his throat were about to burst.
Since every swing had his full strength behind it, him puking would be an inevitable outcome.
The reason is that Bang Hyun-Wook was the kind of guy who would run seven laps around a track but say that he ran ten. Furthermore, he had laid his hands on something an athlete never would: a cigarette.
“f.u.c.k······.”
‘Should’ve been more disciplined about not smoking······.’
At this moment, Bang Hyun-Wook began to feel bitter regrets about how lazy he had been.
At that same time, although Bang Hyun-Wook was at an age where he could be considered to be wet behind the ears, he still had a hunch. [TN: He’s naive, but even he could tell that smoking and being lazy could may as well be the reason for his downfall]
Right now what he regretted was what most people commonly regretted before death.
‘d.a.m.n it, am I going to die here?’
There was no way he could survive against these monsters in front of him by himself.
Looking at this man in his early thirties who was screaming and biting at the necks of the monsters, one could not help but think that he was in a bad way.
“Hey, get your senses together!”
It wasn’t the cries of the monsters, but a cry without pity.
“Huh?”
Startled, Bang Hyun-Wook turned around and looked in the direction of that voice.
The same was true of the green dwarfish monsters.
Ggee?
Ggeeh?
GgeeGgee!
The three monsters turned their heads at the same time towards the direction of the sound.
Among them, only two of them had line of sight of the hero who had yelled.
The reason for why one monster did not is simple. The bottom of a frying pan that was still in its packaging flew towards the face of one of the monsters.
Ggang!
The frying pan slammed into the monster’s face.
Ggeek!
Without having the chance to exclaim anything, the monster sported a pair of bleeding nostrils and fell backwards, teeth flying out of its face.
Koong!
The the man that just appeared did not stop there.
The man extended his left arm towards one of the monsters that saw him.
Chi-ee-ee-ee-eek!
Holding a spray in his left hand, the man sprayed the monster’s eyes and its surroundings, blackening it.
Ggeeeeeeeh!
In response to the attack that fell outside of the monster’s expectations, it began to swing its arm through the air.
Koong!
Then it fell down in exhaustion.
Two of the three monsters were left disabled, so naturally the last one felt nervous.
Gee-ee-ee-ee-ee!
The remaining monster, no longer holding the numerical advantage, put up its guard, letting out loud cries towards the man that had just arrived.
But only for a moment.
“Chyeuh!”
It was Bang Hyun-Wook, who had been dealing with the monsters until now.
Hoong!
Bang Hyun-Wook moved as soon as he heard the other party’s shout. The bat in Bang Hyun-Wook’s hand once again flew through the air.
Bbak!
This time, the monster’s temple was precisely smashed in.
The monster did not even scream after getting hit.
The body just crumpled, hitting the ground with a thump. On the floor, it only spasmed.
Dark green blobs flowed out of the monster’s nostrils and eyes.
“Euh Ahhhhh!”
At the same, a strange sound came out of Bang Hyun-Wook’s mouth.
He felt chills but also a sense of bliss. On the cusp of death, he was able to kill the monster that was threatening his life, so a sense of relief washed over him.
“This punk! Trying to kill me? Ha, f.u.c.k you, look who killed who!”
On the other hand, the man that had arrived did not act like Bang Hyun-Wook did.
Ggeee······.
He looked at two of the monsters that were sprawled on the floor– the very first one to have hit the floor and the one that had been hit by the pan that was starting to come to its senses. He grabbed the black spray paint in his left hand and sprayed the two monsters.
Chheeek!
The spray paint gathered on its face, creating a layer thick enough where it started dripping off its face.
Ggeeh, Ggeeeh!
The monster, faced with such an unfamiliar attack, screamed while struggling against it.
However, the now blind monsters’ flailing arms were no threat.
The man stomped on the monsters’ throats.
Bbujik!
The bones in their necks gave off a sickening crunch.
Bbagak!
He vigorously stomped a few more times.
Under the continuous stomping, the monsters soon ceased to make any more noise.
“There.”
The man beckoned to Bang Hyun-Wook and pointed to the only monster left with his finger.
“Yes?”
Bang Hyun-Wook was puzzled for moment.
But just for a moment
“Yes!”
Bang Hyun-Wook realized the other party’s intent, and began to crazily hit the remaining monster.
Bbuuk!
As though he was. .h.i.t with an axe, the remaining green monster screamed under the relentless a.s.sault before finally succ.u.mbing.
And like that, the three monsters were in a situation where they could not fight back.
“Your name is?”
That’s how their first conversation began.
“Bang Hyun-Wook. My name is Bang Hyun-Wook. My age is······.”
“I am Kim Tae-Hoon. If you want to follow me, you must unconditionally listen to my commands.”
At that moment, Bang Hyun-Wook felt troubled.
‘Unconditionally? Follow?’
Again, it was only for that moment.
Kuwoong, Gyaaak, Save me!
Hearing all kinds of wild noises reverberating in Bang Hyun-Wook eardrum, all of the worries in his eyes melted away.
“I’ll follow you.”
“Grab your baseball gap, gloves, and bags then follow me.”
Kyaaaa!
The fierce and monstrous cries that rang out did not allow for them anymore room.