Auto Hunting

Director Jang Jin-wook woke up with a headache.

He got up and looked around.

“Ugh!”

The last thing he remembered was two unidentified men who had entered the injection room. Questions about why and what they had come for immediately flooded his head. However, the scene before him was much different than he expected.

There were no traces of the two men.

There were no signs of violence anywhere in the injection room.

“You’re awake,” Yoo-seong said calmly as he looked at the confused Jang Jin-wook.

In addition to the rather strange scene, the injection room appeared to have been tidied up. The energy cell containers that had been injected into Yoo-seong were piled up in one corner. Jang Jin-wook was not lying on the floor but on a medical cot.

“What happened? Where are the two men?” Jang Jin-wook asked.

“Sent away,” Yoo-seong answered.

“What?”

Instead of answering, Yoo-seong pointed to the door of the injection room. Director Jang Jin-wook turned in the door’s direction.

It was slightly open.

People were busily coming and going. None of them were from the hospital.

They were agents of the Special Defense Agency in their black suits and uniforms.

“It looks like someone from China did not want me to undergo the procedure. Shortly after they struck you and tried to attack me, the Special Defense Agency agents arrived.”

“I see,” Jang Jin-wook answered as he tried to wrap his head around the situation.

Yoo-seong’s version of the story was slightly different from the truth.

The Director nodded. He had his doubts, but he felt more than relieved that they had not been hurt.

“I am lucky you were with me,” he said.

Director Jang Jin-wook viewed diagnosing Yoo-seong as a monumental achievement.

Thus, he’d instructed everyone in the hospital to leave the hallway surrounding the injection room. If Yoo-seong had been harmed due to this, his conscience would not have been able to endure the blame.

As his surprise and confusion died down, Jang Jin-wook started to remember the procedure he had been doing right before he passed out.

Over twenty energy cells had been emptied, but Yoo-seong’s core had not stretched at all.

“I, uh, have something to say about the results of the procedure.”

“I know. I have a rough idea about it too. I felt a lot of CE entering my body inside the injector, and yet there was no change to my core at all.”

Director Jang nodded with a somber face.

“Could you please try measuring my CE again?” asked Yoo-seong.

“What?”

“I have a feeling that my core is stretched right now. It may be because of my mood, but please measure it for me.”

It must have been because of his mood, but Director Jang Jin-wook had witnessed the unchanging figures. How could he say no?

How could he tell Yoo-seong that it would not change anything?

He sighed indistinctly and placed the pad on Yoo-seong once more.

“Huh?”

Something had changed. This time, he sighed in disbelief.

“This…”

Director Jang Jin-wook just managed to stop himself from fainting once again.

“Twenty-four thousand… CE…”

It had nearly doubled. He hurriedly turned to the energy cells on the floor.

Considering the number of used cells and assuming that the Yoo-seong’s absorption rate was at 100%, the amount of CE was definitely correct.

“Well… Then…”

‘Did he really absorb all the energy cells with 100% efficiency? Was there a mistake made in the previous measurement?’

No, the Director was sure that everything had been done correctly. And if so, wasn’t this an unprecedented record?

Director Jang Jin-wook’s heart was beating fast. His face was flushed as he turned toward Yoo-seong.

However, before he could say anything…

“Please keep the records confidential,” Yoo-seong said while getting dressed. “Thank you for your hard work, and I understand that something special has happened to me. But I do not want anyone else to know about this.”

‘Of course, I have to. If that is what the patient wants for himself,’ Director Jang Jin-wook thought.

Tuk-!

Yoo-seong’s palm touched Jang Jin-wook’s shoulder.

“Thank you and sorry. What happened earlier was all because of me.”

Then he left.

In the hallway, it was almost as if martial law had fallen.

There was tape blocking entry all over the place. The Special Defense Agency’s agents were interrogating the hospital staff. When Yoo-seong stepped into the hallway, everyone looked his way even if they had not heard him.

“Mr. Oh Yoo-seong.”

It was a young man that Yoo-seong had seen occasionally, an influential person among the field employees who was sometimes referred to as “Team Leader Park” by Yang Chang-guk and reported directly to him.

“The director contacted me…”

“If I am the reason you’re here, I am telling you there is no need.”

Team Leader Park had heard all about what happened when the intruders were being led out of the injection chamber. They had become completely unaware of their surroundings.

“Did you hear about Yang Chang-guk? He needs to get some sleep,” Yoo-seong recommended.

“I agree,” said Team Leader Park.

“Well, of course, it’s not a matter of whether you’ll listen just because I or anyone else said it,” Yoo-seong said as he finally touched on the project.

“That…” Team Leader Park looked carefully at Yoo-seong. “How did you defeat them?” he asked.

“Do I need to tell you that? Is there a problem?”

“Oh, no. There is no problem. We have secured the intruders by filling in the restraint. But the surveillance personnel said that the two of them are showing signs of mental instability. Of course, since you are the victim, we’re the ones responsible for you.”

“You need to know in order to make sure they’re responsible? Did I do something unusual to them?” Yoo-seong asked.

Team Leader Park closed his mouth and bowed his head. Was it too much to ask Oh Yoo-seong directly?

“Don’t worry.” Of course, Yoo-seong did not have the slightest intention of getting him in trouble. “I assure you. I have done nothing to tamper with their mental or physical health. They are fine. Maybe they were just a little out of it.”

“But who are they?” asked Team Leader Park.

“Chinese hunters. They were proud of themselves.”

“Ha, well…”

Of course, that was not the only thing. What Ho Il-cheon and Liang Yong had lost was several times bigger than what they would have lost in the future.

They were now inside Yoo-seong’s core.

Yoo-seong could feel it clearly, even before the second measurement.

‘24,000 CE.’

It was about twice as high as it had been. Though, even at that, considering that Yoo-seong’s previous CE was only in the early 10,000s, it still wasn’t a high figure.

Besides, the CE that had caused Yoo-seong’s core to expand was composed of Liang Yong and Ho Il-cheon’s CE combined.

It must have amounted to hundreds of thousands, only to be compressed into tens of thousands in Yoo-seong’s core.

‘It’s something even I cannot answer,’ Yoo-seong thought.

Perhaps the exact principle would only be revealed when experts such as Director Jang Jin-wook had studied it thoroughly.

However, Yoo-seong had no time for that. Someday, he would need to know about it.

‘But there are a few things I can guess.’

The CE extracted from the monster couldn’t expand his core. But perhaps the monster was not the main point.

‘The quality of the CE could be important.’

In any case, Yoo-seong’s core wasn’t normal, given that it could instantly recover deactivated CE. In that sense, doubling its maximum capacity was more than a simple power-up. At some point, it made sense that there were restrictions in doing so.

Even if it were just CE from a veteran hunter, it would not affect his core.

‘If quality isn’t important…’

Perhaps he actually had to extract it from people.

Through the abdomen, through direct contact with his core, using the phenomenon of draining the CE.

“Mr. Yoo-seong? Are you okay?”

Team Leader Park’s voice brought Yoo-seong back to his senses.

Yoo-seong had been having a flashback of his earlier ‘hunting.’ He remembered Ho Il-cheon and Liang Yong’s faces.

They had the look of people who had lost something more important than their lives, faces that knew the same pain as Sung-wook.

“Oh, yes. I’ve been thinking for a while.”

However, what Yoo-seong felt was not guilt. If he had been the Yoo-seong of the past, it would not have been possible. Apart from a determined attitude, agitation and second-guessing about what he did were always in his heart, and he would always suppress it.

However, now, there wasn’t any.

The two Chinese intruders were humans who deserved to be hunted according to Yoo-seong’s standards. Once a hunter fulfilled his role, there was no room for guilt or other emotions to interfere.

Guilt was not for hunting.

Guilt was not for monsters.

Rather, what Yoo-seong felt was joy.

Of course, it was not because he had brought agony to his enemies.

It was because of the change he had brought upon himself. The reason was far from the suffering of the prey. He had merely eliminated things that were not essential to his hunting.

He was admiring his new ‘feature’ that allowed him to take the blade more freely.

After a while, Yoo-seong bowed his head at Team Leader Park and left the hallway. Yoo-seong walked around the hospital, knowing exactly where he wanted to go.

Before long, Yoo-seong found his prey.

“Ah!”

It was Han Jae-gyu, who trembled at the sight of Yoo-seong’s eyes. Han Jae-gyu had nothing left to do at the hospital. Yet, he’d stayed to meet Yoo-seong for a reason.

He was aware of what he had done and wanted to make it right.

However, when he met Yoo-seong’s eyes, it was as if everything he had intended to do vanished.

Gulp-!

Yoo-seong approached him first.

“Didn’t you say you were Han Jae-gyu?”

“Yeah? Yes, yes! That’s right.”

He was astonished to hear Yoo-seong remember his name.

“What were you telling me earlier?”

‘I’m screwed,’ was all Han Jae-gyu could think.

For Han Jae-gyu, Yoo-seong was a man who had made him lose his composure. Of course, anyone could see that Han Jae-gyu’s previous actions were cheeky. If Yoo-seong was to try and get back at him…

“Can you repeat it?”

Han Jae-gyu had no way to counter him.

“Sorry, I’m sorry. I… at that time…”

Han Jae-gyu was barely able to finish his sentences.

“You talked about your grandfather,” Yoo-seong said.

“I know it’s not right. It was a cowardly act. After hours of self-reflection…”

“What?” Yoo-seong tilted his head. “What are you talking about?”

“What?”

Han Jae-gyu stared at the smiling Yoo-seong for a moment.

“You wanted an appointment, right? Didn’t you say that your grandfather asked for one?”

“Uh…”

Han Jae-gyu was unsure of what to say.

“Thinking about it, I don’t really have a schedule. If it’s for the Hankwang Group’s president, I can give you for a few hours.”

Yoo-seong’s hands tapped on Han Jae-gyu’s back as if they had been friends for a long time.

“If it’s okay, would you please contact my grandfather?”

Feeling his overwhelming presence, Han Jae-gyu looked at Yoo-seong with trembling eyes. He had no idea what his intentions were, probably because Han Jae-gyu already saw himself as an underdog.

“Right now.”

Yoo-seong immediately went on the next hunt.

…

“Your grandson will soon arrive with Oh Yoo-seong. He’s getting ready to park in an underground parking lot…”

“Look at that. Didn’t I tell you?” President Han Kwang-ho said.

He sat on the table and picked up a heated towel. President Han Kwan-ho then looked at Joo Hwan Jin, his bodyguard.

“He’s a young man to beat; in terms of age, he’s very similar to Hwan Jae-gyu.”

Not even the chairman had expected the turn of events. He had not expected to have dinner with Oh Yoo-seong the very same day. After showing off at the whole country like that, he’d thought he would have difficulty even setting an appointment.

‘He’s much easier to coax than I thought,’ President Han Kwang-ho thought.

At least, that’s what he surmised.

President Han listened quietly.

Hankwang Group operated the top floor room of the hotel.

Then he heard two steps in the hallway.

It must have been his grandson and Oh Yoo-seong.

Beep-!

Just before the door opened, President Han Kwang-ho was already practicing what he wanted to say.

“Welcome. It was nice to…”

However, in less than a second, it turned out that the words President Han Kwang-ho had decided on were all in vain.

Yoo-seong attacked first. As soon as he entered the room…

“What, what?!”

It was something President Han had never imagined.