Chapter : 16
[Data Transmission Begins]
[Data Transmission Time ─ Ari / Fifteen, Past]
[Transmission Start]
Inside Ari’s personal residence, the television was broadcasting the news.
[Today, South Korea’s monster eradication rate has set a new record. Once again, Ari Hunter is credited as the primary contributor to this achievement.]
[In the Cheonan Gate Break incident that occurred today, Ari Hunter achieved a 98% eradication rate and successfully saved 1,000 citizens of Cheonan.]
[As a result, the authorities announced they would raise Ari Hunter’s ranking, making her the only minor in the registered Awakened list to enter the top 5 rankings.]
[Some have expressed concerns about giving such excessive power to a 15-year-old Hunter, but the Hunter Headquarters dismissed these negative opinions, stating that Ari had long been underestimated because of her age.]
[The upcoming ranking adjustment will…]
Beep.
Ari turned off the television in her room.
At fifteen years old by Korean age, she was a teenager in the midst of puberty. The once young 9-year-old was long gone. Ari’s expression was emotionless and cold.
Team Leader Kim swallowed nervously in front of her. Wasn’t puberty supposed to be a stormy time?
In a way, the Hunter standing before him was a teenager going through that period.
She didn’t attend school. The Hunter Headquarters had offered to send her a homeschooling teacher, but Ari had scared them away, causing them to flee.
Ari spent all her time fighting monsters. As a result, her face and hands were never free from scars.
Since discovering Ari’s Awakening and bringing her to the Headquarters, Team Leader Kim had earned two ranks.
Although he had known Ari since she was a child, the more he saw her, the more unfamiliar and frightening she became.
He could have laughed and said, “You’re afraid of a fifteen-year-old?” but the girl before him was no ordinary fifteen-year-old.
“A fifteen-year-old teenager stronger than a nuclear weapon—that’s the problem.”
The girl standing before him was such a powerful weapon that, with a single mistake, she could destroy an entire country.
Team Leader Kim tried not to show his nervousness as he spoke.
“Thanks to you, Hunter, the Cheonan incident was safely suppressed without any casualties.”
The girl shook her short hair and replied.
“Is there anything else?”
“No, there is nothing else.”
Normally, she would be pleased to hear that there was nothing more to handle, but Ari’s expression hardened instead.
“Bring me anything. I’ll take anything. I don’t mind if it’s trivial. Of course, bigger things are better.”
Team Leader Kim’s lips seemed to be drying out.
This attitude was burdensome.
Ari didn’t discriminate in her work. From international incidents to trivial tasks that low-ranking Hunters should handle, she handled them all by herself.
There were always accidents and incidents, and with a shortage of Hunters, her assistance was appreciated. But this was excessive and strange.
Ari’s eyes, deprived of sleep, were bloodshot. She had used her magic excessively, so her once-glowing hair was always dry and brittle. Most importantly, her body, including her hands, was covered in injuries.
Several attempts to heal her had failed, as the high-level healers declared that they couldn’t handle her condition.
Yet the media was portraying Ari as a legendary hero or someone with incredible sacrifice.
But Team Leader Kim knew very well why Ari was so focused on her work.
This adolescent girl was clearly protesting.
She wanted to make the world regret abandoning her, to make her father regret discarding her.
The target of this was her father, the one who had abandoned her. Of course, she always denied it.
Now, Team Leader Kim was truly worried about the news he was about to deliver.
He had no idea how Ari would react to the news.
Team Leader Kim swallowed hard and spoke.
“…It’s about your father.”
The hand she had been shaking her hair with froze.
Just the word “father” made the air in the room heavy. It wasn’t a metaphor. The air was actually heavy due to the intense magic surrounding her.
At the same time, the oxygen grew thinner. Team Leader Kim was glad he had sent away the others who had wanted to follow him. If they had stayed, they wouldn’t have been able to endure the atmosphere.
“Did you find him?”
“Well…”
“From your reaction, I guess you did. Please tell me this isn’t about some scumbag trying to pretend to be my father and make a movie.”
“No, we’ve done a DNA test and confirmed it. We’ve definitely found him.”
“Then why do you look so gloomy?”
Ari dropped onto the sofa and spoke.
“Did you find out he was a spy from another country or something? Or are you worried I’ll kill him because I’m mad? Don’t worry. I won’t do that.”
She gave a self-deprecating smile and added.
“I’m not a kid anymore.”
But despite her words, Ari was clearly a fifteen-year-old girl.
“No. Your father…”
Her lips became dry. Team Leader Kim prayed desperately. He hoped this news wouldn’t turn into a disaster.
Finally, he opened his mouth.
“He passed away.”
The funeral hall was strictly off-limits. This was due to strict orders to keep the matter confidential.
But there are always gaps in human affairs.
The reporters had already arrived, causing a commotion at the entrance. Though Hunter Headquarters agents were blocking their entry, the situation was already serious.
It was chaos like never before.
“I’ve told you repeatedly to leave.”
“Team Leader Kim, what’s going on? This is our job. This is our job!”
“This isn’t a matter of job!”
“Enough. Your words won’t work. So when is she coming?”
Team Leader Kim sighed. They weren’t listening at all.
After all, wasn’t this about “that Hunter”?
No matter how great she was, she was still a 15-year-old middle school girl. And now, that girl’s long-sought father had passed away.
This was the kind of gossip that was too enticing to ignore.
“Maybe this incident will significantly change the situation in the South Korean Hunter community.”
As predictions like that circulated, the reporters’ excitement was already overheated.
Finally, a black car arrived in front of the funeral hall. It was a black sedan owned by the Headquarters.
“She’s here!”
A reporter, sensing the arrival, shouted. They all rushed toward the car, eager not to miss anything.
Flashes burst against the tinted windows, preventing them from seeing inside.
The car door opened, and the girl stepped out.
“Hunter, how do you feel about this incident—!”
The reporter’s voice was cut off, and the flash bursts stopped.
Ari’s black eyes were silently seething with anger. Her aura was fierce and intimidating.
The reporter’s hand shook with fear.
Ari said nothing. She didn’t even glance at the reporters.
She simply glared at the funeral hall.
The reporters turned pale. A few of the weaker ones were trembling.
‘Told you to go quietly!’
Team Leader Kim sighed and stepped in to mediate.
“Move aside!”
He forcibly pushed away the reporters, who were frozen in place. Finally, the crowd parted slowly.
Step by step.
Black t-shirt, black pants, black coat.
Ari passed through the crowd dressed entirely in black.
As she entered the funeral hall, the inside was eerily quiet, a stark contrast to the chaos outside.
The name on the memorial tablet read, The Late Kang Young-taek.
The funeral hall was small and shabby.
Since there was no money for a funeral under Kang Young-taek’s name, the Headquarters had hastily arranged it with their budget.
Ari walked into the hall without taking off her shoes. There wasn’t a single ant in sight.
The memorial photo was of Kang Young-taek in his thirties, smiling brightly. That smile was so pure it gave her chills.
“Hah.”
Ari let out a sigh of disbelief.
He had been an alcoholic. A poor man living on social welfare, he would buy alcohol with the money he got.
He would shout at civil servants to buy him alcohol, order taxi drivers to run errands, and when he ran out of money, he would extort it from anyone.
He had been a scumbag of a scumbag.
On the day he abandoned her, he had killed her mother while drunk. And when his young daughter witnessed it, he threw her into a dungeon and left.
Before dying, he confessed this to a volunteer, making him a perfect example of trash.
If he had known that his daughter was the Hunter causing a stir in the media, he would have probably come to the Headquarters to extort money from them.
But it seemed he didn’t know. He had lost both his sight and hearing when he abandoned her that day.
Ari stared at the memorial photo with clenched lips, her eyes burning with fury.
Shatter—. Crash—!
No one tried to stop her as she caused a commotion. No one cared even when she desecrated the memorial.
It was both cathartic and disgusting.
Broken glass scattered on the ground.
Crunch—!
Ari stepped on the shards of glass without hesitation and turned to leave.
“Son of a bitch.”
He truly was a son of a bitch.
