The Way of Life for a Terminal S-Class Hunter - C15
$15
It was peacefully eerie. Two or three people in the class were making a fuss about awakening and becoming hunters, but it was a world that had little to do with us.
With our college entrance exams finished, we just had to enjoy our daily lives. It was sometimes painful that I was the only one who liked Seo-heon. But fortunately, he didn’t date anyone and treated me like I was the most precious thing. That’s how I had been able to endure until now.
Still, I should confess. I’ll bring a nice bouquet to the graduation ceremony, congratulate him, and buy something Seo-heon likes with the money I’ve saved. Even if he rejects me, Seo-heon is kind, so he’d probably try to remain friends, right?
It might sound carefree to others, but anyone who knew the relationship between Seo-heon and me would understand. After subtly asking, I was certain he had no aversion to homosexuality, so I thought it was worth a try.
“Let’s go home.”
School ended early. I frowned at the rough hand grabbing my arm to lift me up. It wasn’t that I was upset, but because I felt pain.
“Ah, it hurts. Seo-heon, have you been working out lately? You seem to have gotten much stronger.”
“Sorry, did it hurt? I guess I couldn’t control my strength after working out a bit at home.”
Seo-heon explaining like that seemed somewhat disgruntled.
Was he upset about being caught working out?
“Let me join you.”
Unlike before, Seo-heon didn’t say “sure.” I felt a bit uneasy about that.
***
We were together during the trip home too. It was natural in a way, since we lived next door.
“Woo-hyun, your hand.”
After roughly saying goodbye to our friends and left alone, Seo-heon held out his hand.
“Why? Want to shake hands or something?”
I held out my hand with round eyes, and Seo-heon smiled, narrowing his eyes.
“The other one.”
I obediently gave him my other hand as instructed. Then Seo-heon interlaced our fingers. The ticklish feeling between my fingers made the corners of my mouth lift slightly.
“I wish I could turn twenty soon.”
But something felt strange. When was the last time I held hands with Seo-heon so affectionately like this? It seems like we haven’t held hands like this recently, at least.
Once I felt the dissonance, this whole space started to feel strange. It felt like I had entered a space where I shouldn’t be. Even the act of moving my arms and legs felt incredibly awkward.
“Why are you so out of it today, Woo-hyun?”
Seo-heon was calling me, but I couldn’t quite regain my sense of reality.
[Is it too monotonous?]
A strange voice echoed in my head.
What is this?
My insides churned violently, and I felt dizzy. The ground rippled like an abstract painting, and after a ringing in my ears, the sound of sirens followed.
“Fire trucks?”
Large fire trucks were passing by Seo-heon and me, speeding away quickly.
“Did a fire break out somewhere?”
These days, there are many hunters prepared for such disasters, but if they needed to bring fire trucks, it must be a really big fire. It meant they needed all the help they could get.
“Seems so.”
The dizziness subsided as if the pain from just moments ago had been a lie.
“I hope not many people got hurt. I’m worried.”
We were still holding hands as we passed through the chaotic streets and arrived in front of our homes.
“Are all those people?”
The scene in front of our houses, after passing through the crowded alley, was even more chaotic. A huge crowd had gathered in front of Seo-heon’s house and mine. Some were neighborhood people, and some were unfamiliar faces.
“Wait here for a moment. Something must have happened.”
Seo-heon left me standing there and headed towards the crowd. As I stood there in a daze as if dreaming, the person who caught my eye was my uncle who lived in a distant area. What could have brought him all the way here? His unsteady pacing reflected my anxious mood. I had a feeling something was wrong.
“Oh my, what has happened!”
My uncle, spotting me, rushed over frantically. He grabbed my arm, at a loss for what to do. A reasonable guess flashed through my mind that the misfortune of others I had spoken of so nonchalantly until just now might have come right to my doorstep.
“No way!”
I didn’t want to believe it was true.
“Mom… Dad… Nothing happened to them, right? Please say something.”
My uncle, equally panicked, had no words in response.
“No… No.”
With trembling hands, I took out my phone and opened the internet browser. Without needing to search further, an article about the fire was on the main news page.
I can’t make out the letters.
The letters were shaking so much that I couldn’t read them at all. I pressed play on the video and brought it close to my face. In the video, a factory had turned into a sea of flames. I dropped my phone. From the fallen phone, a voice was explaining that the fire that started in the factory was spreading to the mountains.
“This can’t be happening.”
It was the factory where my parents worked. I felt a burning pain. I couldn’t tell if this was real pain or if it was happening in my imagination.
“Woo-hyun!”
Seo-heon, who had returned at some point, caught me as I staggered.
“Your body is too hot right now.”
The color of my eyes reflected in his was red. As Seo-heon said, my body felt as if it was burning up.
“You…”
My consciousness was hazy, but my body felt as painful as if I was being burned alive.
[Ability has awakened. Selecting your first skill.]
I vaguely saw the status window I had only heard about, but I didn’t have the capacity to pay attention to such things.
“Seo-heon, I’m in so much pain.”
If only this pain could be in place of my parents trapped in the burning building.
And if I collapse like this, Seo-heon will be shocked too. Since Seo-heon’s father is the company president, he must be there. Seo-heon must be struggling just like me.
With that thought, I lost consciousness.
***
“Your ability has awakened. Due to it being a fire-based ability, it’s accompanied by severe heat and pain…”
The man’s voice, heard faintly, was full of concern. He seemed to be a doctor.
Who is he talking to?
I wanted to know what was going on, but my eyelids were heavy. My consciousness was clear, but my whole body felt pinned to the bed as if paralyzed.
“So if he gets a sedative for awakeners, he’ll be fine by today, right?”
“Yes, but…”
It was Seo-heon’s voice that pulled my fading consciousness back. I mustered all my strength to move my fingers. The restraint pressing down on my whole body released in an instant.
Through my slightly opened eyes, I could see a white ceiling.
“Emergency patient coming in!”
“Triage the critical patients first!”
As my hearing fully returned, my first impression was that it was noisier than a marketplace. Seeing people in gowns moving around and lined-up beds, it was clearly an emergency room.
However, it was chaotic on a different level compared to the emergency room I had visited once in elementary school. It was only natural that patients were flooding in, given the major fire at the largest company’s factory in the area.
“Are you awake?”
Seo-heon spoke to me, but my mouth remained tightly shut. The surrounding noise was pounding in my ears, leaving me unable to respond. My hearing grew increasingly sensitive, making everything around me feel like a mass of noise.
[The fire at Sewoon Enterprise, which boasted the largest factory in our country, is not being easily contained. So far, there are 32 confirmed deaths, 160 injuries, and 100 missing.]
[Breaking news. The cause of the fire has reportedly been found through the last video sent from the factory.]
The sound from the TV beyond the curtain was the clearest. I got up, ignoring Seo-heon trying to stop me, and opened the curtain.
All stimuli approached slowly, making me feel like I was walking underwater. It was ridiculous to feel like I was in water when my body felt as if it was on fire.
[Mr. A, who appeared on the CCTV, is the security team leader who has worked for this company for 10 years.]
The news briefly showed a reporter before switching to CCTV footage. A man moving with somewhat awkward gestures was being zoomed in on.
“Dad?”
The video quality wasn’t good, so generally, it would be difficult to identify who the person in the video was at a glance. But not for me. The familiar silhouette, the tie I had seen just this morning. It was definitely Dad.
[Dad, your tie looks too old-fashioned today.]
[Really? Your mom gave it to me as a gift.]
[Looking again, it seems fine.]
How could I not recognize my dad who would carefully handle the gifted tie even though it wasn’t his taste? My parents had been working at the same company for over 20 years, yet they would shyly hold hands every morning as they left for work. Even on days when they had arguments.
That’s why the video on TV felt even more out of place.
[Mr. A suddenly ran to an area with explosion risk and sent a signal that something was wrong. And when people gathered, he used a fire skill as if he had been waiting.]
That couldn’t be. Dad hadn’t awakened any abilities, and he was the kind of person who “couldn’t hurt a fly” as they say. But no matter how much I denied it, the implausible words continued to flow through the broadcast.
[And not long after, an explosion occurred. The CCTV footage connected to the central system ends here.]
The video switched to a static screen with the explosion and then ended.
[Based on this CCTV footage, the police are focusing their investigation on arson by a fire ability user.]