DTW 22

Chapter : 22

“First, put the guns down and let’s talk. Are there any other comrades with you? Even though troll hunting is usually done with a small team, I’ve never seen anyone do it alone.”

“They’ll be here soon.”
“I hope you don’t think we’re just being unreasonable. This is dangerous work for us too. You know what I mean, right? If you’re a troll hunter, you know how tough this is…”

In truth, this was his first time, and Kim Chang-sik had basically been carried along by Su-hyeon, so he didn’t really know how tough it was—but he nodded without showing anything, keeping a stern, taciturn expression. Just by looking at him, he seemed like a veteran troll hunter.

“That’s why we can’t just let a caught troll go. You should understand our position too. At least…”

“What are you doing?”

Su-hyeon emerged from the bushes. Having just chased down and dealt with a runaway crocodile-bird, he was baffled to see uninvited guests waiting there.

“Well… it’s just that… these guys claim they have rights over this troll.”
“??”
“Hey, say that again.”

The hunters stared at Su-hyeon, who had appeared out of nowhere. He didn’t look like much. On first glance, it seemed Kim Chang-sik was the leader, and Su-hyeon was his subordinate.

“Is this guy part of your team?”
“I said explain it.”
“Fine. I’ll explain again. We’re troll hunters. We’ve been tracking trolls for weeks and finally found one—but it ran away. I was furious, but we chased it to the end. Then we come here, and you’re bleeding it. You caught it, sure, but don’t we have rights too?”

As he spoke, the hunters carefully watched the expressions of Kim Chang-sik and Su-hyeon. Kim Chang-sik’s expression didn’t change at all.

‘They look tough. Did we mess up?’
‘No need to be scared. We have numbers on our side. That seems to be all they’ve got.’

Kim Chang-sik’s calm, unflinching demeanor gave the hunters an intimidating impression. But in reality, he had completely emptied his mind, thinking this was Su-hyeon’s decision to make.

‘I just do as I’m told.’

Having been Su-hyeon’s subordinate for a few days, Kim Chang-sik had fully adapted to his role.

“What should we do?”
“We’re not asking for everything. Let’s negotiate. At least…”

Su-hyeon sighed. It was the kind of sigh that said, “There’s no choice.” Inside, the hunters cheered quietly.

‘It worked!’

“Isn’t it hot and humid enough without wasting time on such nonsense? For something so obvious.”
“Oh, really? S-sorry.”

Kim Chang-sik assumed Su-hyeon’s comment was because the hunters didn’t know the customs.

‘So hunters share the loot in this way. Makes sense, considering they fight monsters in harsh conditions.’

Bang!

“?!”

No one noticed Su-hyeon had drawn his pistol until the sharp shot rang out. In a flash, he shot the hunter in front of him right in the head.

“Wha—”

The second hunter didn’t even get a chance to leave a final word. The moment he managed to say “wha—,” Su-hyeon’s next bullet blew his head apart.

“You bastard!”

The third hunter, aiming to shoot, realized his body wouldn’t move and panicked. He wanted to say he surrendered, but his mouth wouldn’t move.

‘????’

He felt Su-hyeon’s gun slowly turn toward him. The hunter realized he was seeing hallucinations in the face of death.

Thunk!

The moment the bullet hit the target, the telekinetic hold on him released. Su-hyeon calmly holstered his gun. In less than a second, three shots—all accurate. The speed was terrifying.

“Wha… wha… wha…”
“From now on, if anyone talks nonsense like that, just shoot. Don’t waste time on them.”

Su-hyeon spoke as if shooing away street vendors.

“Is it really okay to shoot?!”
“What? You’ve never shot anyone before?”
“No, it’s not that. Legally!”
“What? But… no one’s watching. Just leave them. The monsters will handle it.”

Su-hyeon’s casual tone made Kim Chang-sik wonder if he was overreacting. But no—this was exactly a situation where overreacting was justified.

“Hey, wait. Explain. I don’t get it. Why did you shoot them?”
“?”

Su-hyeon glanced at Kim Chang-sik as if saying, “Here comes someone who knows nothing, being a nuisance again.” Kim Chang-sik felt embarrassed.

“I admit I don’t know everything, but I really don’t know why you shot them!”
“Look at them. They’re just hunters who got addicted to hunting other hunters.”

Not all hunters hunted only monsters. Some got a taste for hunting humans instead.

It made sense. The nearest city with law enforcement was far away. Out here in the completely untamed lands, they wouldn’t be caught for anything. And hunting humans was easier than hunting monsters.

Catching a troll could take life-threatening effort, but catching a human who had a troll’s blood? Easy. And they also got the human’s equipment.

“Of course, some don’t take the equipment.”
“Why not?”
“Because it could get traced back in the city.”

“…!”

Kim Chang-sik felt a cold chill run down his spine. If Su-hyeon had returned late, they could have been in danger. Even just lowering the gun could have triggered a counterattack.

“Proper hunters don’t even start a conversation like that. There’s too much risk of misunderstanding. Only inexperienced or low-quality hunters approach like that. From the looks of them, they’re not newbies—they just thought they could pick on a senior and approached.”

“Damn bastards…”

Only now did Kim Chang-sik fully grasp the situation, and he turned toward the bodies left behind, muttering curses.

“So if a troll runs and others catch it, should we just step back?”
“That hardly ever happens. Trolls rarely run. They only flee when near death. At that point, they’re almost incapacitated.”

This could only happen if their regeneration couldn’t function, or if they’d been pummeled too much.

So Su-hyeon immediately noticed their lie—they were clearly trying to approach and steal blood. If they got any, great. If not, they’d ambush. And they wouldn’t back off just because blood was offered—they’d stalk for any remaining blood.

If they’d been warned of his identity, he might have avoided a fight. Hunters like these target easy prey, not those who know their identity completely.

But Su-hyeon didn’t do that.

He already had to deal with monsters on Cameron Planet and didn’t want to carry troublesome followers behind him.

Once he realized this, he drew his gun and took out all three. They’d been overconfident due to numbers—but for Su-hyeon, eliminating them was as effortless as breathing.

“If this gets out, what happens?”
“Legally, it’s self-defense. If we had looted them, we’d have taken the equipment. And actions in untamed lands rarely result in legal punishment—no evidence remains. Their bodies will disappear in less than a day.”

“……”

“Let’s move. We may need to start heading back soon. No troll in sight, just these annoying bastards…”

Kim Chang-sik silently vowed again—never to disobey Su-hyeon in an emergency, no matter what.

“By the way, have you ever gone further in here?”
“Yes.”
“Really?!”

Even just the Calcutta Jungle was largely untamed. Kim Chang-sik thought:

‘What on earth did their parents do?’

“Is it more dangerous further in?”
“Eh? No. Cameron Planet isn’t a dungeon. Going further doesn’t automatically mean more danger.”
“Ah… I see.”

“If it were more dangerous the deeper you go, humanity wouldn’t have even attempted to explore. Though there are certainly areas more dangerous than the Calcutta Jungle.”

“Where have you been?”
“Hmm…”

There were too many, and more than half were classified. Su-hyeon just recalled the area around them.

“How far have we come? Quite a distance. A bit further east, and we’ll reach the Ames Plains. I’ve been there a few times too.”
“Oh. What’s there?”
“Well…”
“You don’t know everything either.”
“If I did, why would I still be here?”

The Ames Plains weren’t as dangerous as the Calcutta Jungle. Fewer monsters appeared, and the open plains reduced the risk of ambush.

That’s why Su-hyeon rarely had reason to go there—he always intervened in the hardest areas. Only passing through would bring him to safer places like Ames Plains.

“What’s there? No rare monsters?”
“Not rare monsters, but rich resources. Several companies operate there.”
“Interesting. Isn’t it easier to work there than somewhere like Calcutta?”
“There’s already heavy competition. Even with resources, locating them is usually tough. Plus…”

Su-hyeon’s words trailed off. He had noticed something.

“A troll.”
“Huh? Where?”
“Over there… you won’t see it.”
“Damn. I need an enhancement surgery too. Can’t survive by eyesight alone.”

It wasn’t vision—it was focus and experience—but Kim Chang-sik didn’t realize that.

“Are we going to chase it?”
“Of course. It doesn’t come by every day.”