Chapter 4 ….
Neighborhood Patrol (3)
Choi-yeon retrieved the wire embedded in the leg of the pillar.
How strong must it have been for this to happen?
He hadn’t realized it at the moment, reacting instinctively, but the snake’s strength seemed to be greater than expected.
The trainer’s words naturally floated into his mind.
“Blow it away and leave, huh…”
Looking at the line scratched into the concrete pillar, Choi-yeon couldn’t help but nod. It was hard to deny.
If he hadn’t shot the wire in time, if the tip had been just a little loose, he might have been sent flying for quite a distance.
Thinking that,
“Ugh….”
His left arm, which had blocked the snake’s tail, started to ache. It even tingled as if paralyzed by a sedative.
He carefully rotated his left arm a couple of times. It moved well. Too well, in fact.
At this rate, he probably couldn’t take sick leave.
“Thanks, Choi-yeon.”
“I owe you my life.”
Voices came from behind.
These were the men whose bodies had actually been paralyzed, not just a matter of perception like Choi-yeon’s.
When Choi-yeon, gathering the wires, looked back, the injured men limped toward him, having only roughly treated their wounds. Their fingers and arms moved in repeated gestures as if testing their recovery.
“Hoo….”
Choi-yeon exhaled deeply.
He realized why he was thanking the man who had attacked him and caused his injuries. He had suspected it all along.
Among the local operators near Seonhwa-dong, there was no one unaware of Choi-yeon’s patrols under the guise of finishing work on time.
Yet this person had appeared on that street at that exact time. That meant he had ulterior motives—probably thinking it better to have a failed deal than to be exposed.
In other words…
“It wasn’t just because he’s a high-paying client that he was polite, huh?”
“Hmm….”
“……”
The men glanced at each other.
Their eyes spoke in silent agreement, and the conclusion came quickly. They had dragged Choi-yeon, a Dongdae hunter, into this for convenience. Hiding information would only backfire.
As they were about to speak, Choi-yeon asked first:
“What kind of person are you?”
“Honestly, we only know rumors.”
“Rumors…?”
Choi-yeon tilted his head.
Among the rumors he had encountered as a Dongdae hunter, there was no mention of a trainer with a giant snake as a partner. Nor a rumor about a trainer involved in illegal monster trades.
“It’s natural that you don’t know. He normally operates in the underground world of Gangwon Province.”
“Gangwon Province? Makes sense I wouldn’t know.”
Choi-yeon didn’t usually care about rumors outside Daejeon, and there was no way he would know about rumors in Gangwon, nearly 100 km from Seonhwa-dong. Especially in the criminal underworld.
“And apparently, he raised not just snakes but other monsters too.”
“Other monsters?”
“According to rumors. Not confirmed.”
“……”
Could it really just be rumors?
He had just seen the snake transform in front of him. Choi-yeon couldn’t be sure that he hadn’t raised other monsters. The men probably felt the same, which is why they had been so nervous around the trainer.
“What did the Gangwon Provincial Office do? Didn’t they arrest him?”
“Ah… apparently, he never caused direct harm to the province. If anything, he got rid of troublemakers in the area…”
“So they let him be? Does that make sense?”
“Why not? If you didn’t dismantle the Nu-byeok gang, then you….”
The man’s words trailed off. His companion glared at him with such intensity it seemed like he was shouting, “You crazy idiot! Why would you say that now!”
Realizing his mistake, the man cautiously looked at Choi-yeon, offering a weak, awkward smile.
“…Well, we’re incompetent Dongdae, after all?”
Choi-yeon stared at the men.
His squint barely revealed his eyes, and a faint smile appeared on his lips. Familiar as ever, yet not quite the same.
If they genuinely thought that, he would naturally respond with his best effort.
—that seemed to say so.
He gestured with both hands as if emphasizing he wasn’t four hands but two.
“Ah, that was just to lure the trainer! We knew exactly what was going on!”
“Right! We brought you because Seonhwa-dong is competent. If we thought you were really incompetent, would we have brought you here? Over there, um….”
“Munhwa-dong!”
“Yes, Munhwa-dong! That’s where! Right…!”
“……”
Despite the men’s chatter, Choi-yeon remained silent.
Gulp…
The men swallowed nervously, uncomfortable with the silence.
After a few seconds, Choi-yeon suddenly asked:
“Any other rumors?”
“Huh? Ah, uh…! That’s all our chief told us.”
“If you’re curious, why not ask Chief Dongdae when you get back? He might know.”
“That might work.”
Choi-yeon immediately agreed. The chief tended to pay attention to various rumors.
“Alright. Then, shall we all head to Seonhwa-dong?”
“Huh…? Do we have to go too?”
“You weren’t planning to?”
Choi-yeon pointed beyond the men, toward the stacked steel cages.
Despite the earlier skirmish, the monsters hadn’t woken up. The sleeping incense he had made must have been quite effective.
“Did you get permission from the management office to move them?”
“…No.”
“From the district or city office?”
“Nope….”
“So you intended to illegally trade smuggled monsters. And you got caught by me, a Dongdae hunter.”
“Yep.”
“But you weren’t planning to go to Seonhwa-dong?”
“……”
The men looked at each other, and quickly concluded that this incident wouldn’t send them to jail.
They spread their arms and smiled at Choi-yeon.
“Of course we were going too!”
“Shall we put on the handcuffs ourselves?”
“No. If you put them on, who moves the monsters?”
“Ah, right!”
“Wait a moment. We’ll load them soon!”
They ran and loaded the steel cages onto their backs. It took less than a minute to finish and return to Choi-yeon.
Choi-yeon sent a message to Chief Kim Jae-sang that he was returning to Dongdae. He avoided calling, thinking his brother Choi Hee-seok might be tracking the trainer.
Bzz!
A notification came immediately. A message from Chief Kim.
Could it be that his brother already caught the trainer?
Expectantly, he checked the message:
[Chief: Congratulations on failing to leave work ]
Completely unexpected.
…Maybe I should just leave work entirely.
A weasel, a raccoon, and a marten watched Choi-yeon.
They tilted their small heads repeatedly, their tails swinging in the opposite direction each time—tails equipped with blades and explosives.
“Here you go.”
An iced Americano was placed in front of Choi-yeon. The café owner, Kwak Hye-won of the Seonhwa Animal Café, sat across from him.
“It’s on the house.”
“Ah, thank you, ma’am.”
He bowed slightly and looked at the monsters.
They no longer showed the wildness they had exhibited before.
“They’re completely different from a week ago, right?”
“Thanks to you, they’ve been under care. I really appreciate it.”
Choi-yeon bowed in gratitude. Without her help, dealing with these monsters, evidence of illegal trade, would have been a huge problem.
“So calm… Truly, a nationally certified monster tamer makes a difference.”
“Nationally certified…? It’s just a university degree, but calling it that makes it sound impressive.”
“It’s impressive.”
Choi-yeon nodded sincerely.
“…Do they usually tilt their heads like that?”
“Excuse me? What do you mean?”
“Look, they keep tilting their heads.”
“Ah, it’s not a habit. They’re just curious.”
“Curious? About what?”
He realized suddenly: the ones tilting their heads were looking at him.
“They must think you can see them even with your eyes closed,” explained Kwak Hye-won.
It was an unexpectedly awkward truth. Choi-yeon’s lips twisted in mild dissatisfaction.
“No bad intentions…!” Kwak Hye-won added hastily, though it didn’t help.
Choi-yeon sipped the iced Americano instead.
“Ah! By the way, what happened to the trainer who tried to illegally trade these kids?”
“Trainer…?”
“I don’t think I asked last time. Ah, if it’s inconvenient, don’t answer.”
Choi-yeon knew she was deflecting politely.
“Well, since you’re involved, it’s okay to tell you. Just be careful not to let it leak elsewhere.”
“Of course!”
“We didn’t catch him.”
“Oh? Hunter Choi Hee-seok missed him?”
“Technically, the guys from Chungbuk missed him. If my brother had kept searching, he would have caught him.”
Kwak Hye-won tilted her head. The timing coincided with the monsters tilting theirs as well.
Choi-yeon explained:
“The trainer hid in Guryongsan to evade my brother.”
“Guryongsan? That’s in Cheongju. You chased him that far?”
“Yes, well beyond the jurisdiction. But we couldn’t just let him go because of jurisdiction issues.”
“Ah, I see.”
“Still, the problem remained. My brother could only search for the two days allowed by Cheongju City.”
“Ahh….”
She sighed. Even as a non-hunter, she understood how hard it would be to find someone hiding deliberately in the mountains. Especially one experienced with wild monsters.
After two days, when Choi Hee-seok withdrew from Guryongsan, the trainer had likely escaped past Cheongju’s hunters.
“…He wasn’t causing trouble in our area anyway.”
Unlike her sigh, Choi-yeon seemed unbothered and finished his iced Americano in one gulp, strawless. Kwak Hye-won immediately understood why.
“Are you leaving?”
“Yes. I’d like to savor some leisure, but it’s been 40 minutes since leaving Dongdae. If I stay longer, Chief will nag.”
“Ahh.”
“The coffee was good. Thank you.”
“Glad to hear it.”
After a brief farewell, Choi-yeon returned to Seonhwa Community Center.
A small box was on the rooftop near the Dongdae office door. No sender’s name, only recipient’s name and address.
“……”
Crinkle, crinkle.
Choi-yeon tore off the tape. Normally, if the sender was unknown, he would check the contents before opening. But he didn’t need to—he already knew who it was.
Inside were a message card and a securely fixed glass bottle. The fanged-shaped bottle contained about 50 mL of clear liquid.
The message card revealed its contents:
[See you next time.]
[P.S. Choi-yeon, it’s made from the paralytic you applied on the dagger and your partner’s poison.]
[Be careful not to let it touch your skin when applying.]
“Ha….”
Choi-yeon let out a chuckle-like sigh. He looked at the card, scratched his neck, organized the box, and entered Dongdae.
