Capitalist Monster Hunter - Chapter 2

Becoming a Hunter (2)

“I wish I could be a Hunter too~”

Yuseong muttered as he watched the Hunter, Kang Inhan, on TV.

He wanted to be a hunter, too. He tried to get revenge on the monster that killed his parents and live a better life.

But just wanting to be a hunter didn’t make it happen. Becoming a hunter was said to be the choice of the gods. Only if you were chosen by the gods could you go to another world, where you’d meet the fairy who would help you become stronger.

On top of that, Hunters were said to receive some kind of blessing from the gods that let them grow faster and stronger than the locals of that world. Once you became a hunter, everything was smooth sailing.

You’d be fine for life even if you were a low-ranked E-grade Hunter. Yuseong didn’t even dream of becoming like the SSS-grade Hunter, Kang Inhan; he just wanted to be a Hunter.

Ding!

His phone chimed.

“Who is it?”

The familiar name that popped up made Yuseong smile.

[Hey! When are you coming? I’m going to forget what you look like!]

It was a message from Eun Ari, his younger sister from the orphanage. Yuseong quickly tapped a reply.

[I’ll come this weekend.]

Barely a minute later, a reply popped up.

[Really? Okay, then we’ll wait for you.]

She even added a cute rabbit emoji with big, sparkling eyes.

Seeing it, Yuseong let out a small chuckle.

“Guess I do have to go now.”

The kids at the orphanage seemed pretty excited. It had been a while since he last visited, so it was only natural they were looking forward to it.

“Alright, tomorrow I’ll need to go to the market and pick up some groceries, and then head to the mall for gifts and toys.”

His weekend was shaping up to be busy, with grocery shopping early in the morning for ingredients to make food for the kids, plus a trip to buy gifts. Yuseong turned off the TV and closed his eyes.

As soon as he closed his eyes, sleep swept over him, and he quickly fell into a deep sleep.

[Hey! Are you seriously asleep right now?]

[Seriously? Are you actually sleeping?]

[How can you sleep in this situation?]

“Why is it so noisy?”

An odd voice kept buzzing in his ear, like something out of a loudspeaker.

‘Ah, those drunk college kids are at it again, being loud in the alley this late.’

Thinking it was just some rowdy college students, Yuseong reached for his blanket. But he couldn’t find it. Instead, he grabbed something hard and cold.

“What the…?”

Yawning, he rubbed his eyes and woke up.

“What the heck is this?”

The sight before him erased all his sleepiness. It was chaos.

In front of him lay dead bodies. Not just one or two but a whole pile, dressed in some kind of futuristic combat suit like something out of a movie.

“Am I dreaming?”

Thinking he might be having one of those lucid dreams, he tried pinching his arm. But he couldn’t; he was wearing the same kind of robotic suit as the dead people.

[Trickster Goddess: Finally awake, huh? How can you sleep in a situation like this?]

Some strange text appeared in front of him, like a chat window in a game. The message seemed to be from someone called the Trickster Goddess.

“Did I get kidnapped into some virtual reality game?”

Feeling dazed, Yuseong muttered to himself. Then the text on the screen is updated.

[Trickster Goddess: This isn’t a game. This is real.]

[Trickster Goddess: You’re screwed now. LOL]

What did she mean—he was “screwed”?

Yuseong shouted at the Trickster Goddess.

“Hold on! What do you mean by ‘screwed’? Can you explain what’s going on?”

[Trickster Goddess: It’s your support fairy’s fault. You’re screwed, LOL. Bye.]

Another voice, clear as a bell, interrupted his confusion.

“Um… are you Han Yuseong?”

He turned to see a tiny fairy, dressed in an emerald-green gown with hair as silver as platinum. She was adorable, like a doll, with delicate features and a mystical look to her silvery hair.

“Yes, that’s me.”

As soon as he answered, the fairy’s cheerful voice rang out again.

“I’m sorry! I’m so, so sorry!”

A strange sense of dread began to build inside him.

“Are you… a fairy, by any chance?”

“Yes, that’s right. I’m Titania, your support fairy.”

A fairy? A fairy was supposed to be a hunter’s partner. The fact that a fairy was talking to him meant he’d likely been chosen as a hunter.

“So, does this mean I’m a Hunter now?”

Yuseong asked cautiously.

“Yes, that’s correct. But…”

Titania’s voice trailed off, filled with unease.

‘This doesn’t feel right…’

Instead of excitement, a nameless dread filled him.

“Correct, but…?”

“I… I made a mistake.”

“Oh…”

It was exactly like that saying: Your worst fears always come true.

“Can you please explain what’s going on? Where exactly is this, and what mistake did you make?”

Yuseong, trying to stay calm, asked Titania for an explanation.

“Um…”

Titania hesitated, then finally spoke.

“This is a planet called Caden.”

“Caden? Where’s that? Aren’t Hunters supposed to go to places like Estel or Muhan?”

“Yes, Yuseong, you’re right… but… well….”

Titania trailed off again.

“Okay, let’s skip that part for now. What kind of mistake did you make, exactly?”

“I, um… I set the coordinates wrong and also…”

“And also?”

“I failed the transfer.”

[Trickster Goddess: Wow, this fairy is ridiculously dumb, lol.]

The Trickster Goddess started mocking Titania in the chat.

[Trickster Goddess: I’ve never seen a support fairy as dumb as yours.]

[Trickster Goddess: Someone needs to keep their fairies in check, lol.]

[Fairy King: I’m doing my best here.]

[Trickster Goddess: Sure, keep telling yourself that, lol.]

[Fairy King: No, seriously…]

Another person joined the chat—this time someone called the Fairy King.

Between Titania’s words like “mistake” and “failure” and the Trickster Goddess’s mocking comments, it was obvious something had gone really wrong.

“Can you please explain in more detail? I’m not following any of this.”

“You were originally supposed to go to Estel, Yuseong. So I set the coordinates for that, but I messed up, and you ended up on Caden.”

“And the transfer failure? What does that mean?”

“Basically, transferring is supposed to move you to another dimension. But since I messed up the coordinates, the transfer failed.”

“What exactly went wrong?”

“Well, this is actually a parallel world to the dimension where Earth exists.”

A parallel world. He’d heard of that—like in movies or comics. It’s a world similar to the one you live in but with slight differences.

“In this parallel world, there was another version of you. But, um, he’s dead now.”

“Oh….”

Apparently, the Yuseong from this world had died. Hearing that there was a version of himself here who was now dead gave him a weird feeling.

[Trickster Goddess: Don’t worry, you’ll probably join him soon, lol.]

The Trickster Goddess’s comment grated on Yuseong’s nerves, but he ignored it.

“As I said before, the reason the transfer failed was because of the other Yuseong from this parallel world. The coordinates I accidentally set matched his instead.”

“So?”

“So, the two Yuseongs from the parallel worlds—you from Earth and the one from this world—ended up merging.”

“Wait, wait! What? Are you saying I got combined with the other me from this world?”

“That’s right. Normally, when two versions of the same person merge, you’d have two consciousnesses in one body. The body would just be a shell, but the souls would be different. So, basically, two souls would exist in one body. But, coincidentally, while you two were merging, the Yuseong from this world died. He died from shock when this shuttle crashed.”

“Sigh….”

He didn’t know whether to be relieved or not. He had no idea what it’d feel like to have two souls in one body, but it probably wouldn’t be pleasant.

Just as he was thinking that, more messages popped up in the chat.

[Fairy King: Well, at least you’re lucky. Usually, when multiple souls share a body, people go insane from hearing voices and losing control over their bodies.]

Judging from the Fairy King’s words, it was indeed fortunate that the other version of his had died.

“So, there’s nothing wrong with my body, right?”

“Physically, you’re fine. The only difference is that since the two bodies merged, your physical abilities have improved, and your soul’s capacity has doubled. It’s like you’re in a body made for two souls, but you’re the only one in it. That means you’ll probably take less damage or recover quickly from attacks that target your soul or mind.”

[Trickster Goddess: That’s some serious cheating power. Time for a balance patch!]

“Cheat power, my foot… My head’s killing me.”

The Trickster Goddess kept getting under Yuseong’s skin. Was this how streamers felt when they had to deal with obnoxious viewers?

Yuseong promised himself he’d never troll a streamer again.

“So what am I supposed to do now? I heard support fairies usually help Hunters train and get stronger….”

“I’d love to help, but it’s difficult here….”

“Uh, what do you mean by that?”

“This world doesn’t have any magic or martial arts.”

“…….”

[Trickster Goddess: Told you, you’re screwed, lol.]

As annoying as her words were, the Trickster Goddess wasn’t exactly wrong.

“W-wait, are you serious? No magic or martial arts? But this is supposed to be another world!”