Is this Hunter for Real Chapter 18: Chapter 18: The Monster Association (5)

"I can't accept it! A guy who's been lugging a camera around for me defeated the Bul-Raid?! Hah!! Fine. It was a live broadcast, so I can't 'not' believe it. But that was all thanks to that shovel of yours, wasn't it?!"

Yu Il-Ahm pointed at the shovel and shouted out triumphantly.

Maybe because his voice was unusually loud?

'….Well, this is turning into an interesting situation.'

'Fight, you two, and go to jail or something!'

'It was all due to that shovel?'

….The attention of everyone walking in the Monster Association's garden focused on where Choi Kahng-Sik was. They alternated their gazes between two young men and immediately figured out what was going on here.

That the two sworn enemies have run into each other on a lone bridge, so to speak.

"So what?"

Regardless of what others were thinking, Choi Kahng-Sik remained taciturn.

"What did you say?!"

"Hey, Yu Il-Ahm. Did you so bravely jump in front of me just to say those dumb things? I can interpret this situation as you wanting to die today, yeah?"

As the corners of Choi Kahng-Sik's lips arched up, his aura seemed to change to something much more sinister.

"D-don't make me laugh!"

Goosebumps of fear broke out all over Yu Il-Ahm's body.

'This is dangerous!'

He knew he made a horrible mistake of running up here to confront this guy, all thanks to his blood rushing to his head just now. This young man standing before him wasn't the same person as the one lugging a camera around for him in the past. Not anymore.

Indeed, he was the guy who beat back the Bul-Raid!

Yu Il-Ahm saw the rebroadcast of that footage.

The camera had been discarded in a hurry and thus it could not capture the battle perfectly. But what it did capture was enough to confirm this one thing.

Choi Kahng-Sik was strong. Really strong.

"So, did you wash your neck?"

Choi Kahng-Sik asked, while lightly swinging around the shovel.

"D-don't you dare come closer!! You, you take one more step, and I'll have to defend myself from you!"

Yu Il-Ahm freaked out and threw out a warning.

Choi Kahng-Sik simply smirked.

"Hey, Yu Il-Ahm. I don't think you have any right to say that to me."

"T-that's all water under the bridge!! I, I paid all the fines related to my suspended sentence! Besides, I'm not allowed to broadcast anything for the next five years! Plus, I'm being forced to marry a woman I haven't even met... D*mn it!!"

"....Huh. I'm also one of the victims, so how come I haven't heard any of this?"

He hadn't even received any appropriate compensation yet, too.

"How should I know?! Whatever, I'm no longer guilty of anything. I'm innocent now!"

….He shouldn't have said those things during a live broadcast, though.

┖ A mind of a trash is sure different from the rest of us, no? 0.0

┖ XX It's over because you paid off the law? Just great. ㅋㅋㅋ

┖ Did he really pay off the court? Suspended sentence?! The d*mn judge lost his f*cking mind. ;;

┖ Oh, so the trash was actually a gold spoon. ㅡ.,ㅡ^

Thanks to Yu Il-Ahm's needless confession, many people working in the country's criminal justice system were about to lose their jobs, but he was not in the correct frame of mind to worry about them. Especially not, when he was feeling an immediate danger to his life at this very second.

"Hey, Yu Il-Ahm. You hate me, right?"

Choi Kahng-Sik put the camera down on a wooden bench found in the garden, making sure it captured everything well, and asked Yu Il-Ahm.

"Of course! If it weren't for you, I...."

….The truth about him abandoning the pretty girl and attacking the Cameraman would've been buried in the darkness. And he wouldn't have to worry about people questioning his humanity, or getting swept up in an attempted murder investigation.

That wasn't even the end to his misery!

'I, I have to get married, too!'

The thing was, Yu Il-Ahm ran away from home so he could freely study the profound depths of the, uh, 'yin and yang' of a man and woman's physical relationship. However, as the price for receiving the help of his family this time, he could no longer delay this arranged marriage anymore.

Criticised by everyone, degraded as a trash, and finally, even forced into marriage...

In any case, Choi Kahng-Sik was his sworn enemy.

"Is that so? Well then. Why don't we fight bare-handed like real men? How about it?"

And such a sworn enemy made an unexpected suggestion.

"What?"

"My shovel, and your Core. We put down our dangerous weapons, and by using our fists, we resolve this once and for all. It's safe and fair, right?"

Choi Kahng-Sik put the shovel down first.

┖ That's right!! This MS is a real man! ㅋㅋㅋ

┖ Hey, trash? You refuse this, then you better chop off your junior, okay? ^^

┖ If both parties agree, then even violence becomes a legitimate tool of the law! GOOD! ㅋㅋㅋ

The response of the audience members was overwhelmingly positive. Of course, if Choi Kahng-Sik got beaten up black and blue by Yu Il-Ahm here, now that would've been one huge comedy, though.

But Choi Kahng-Sik wasn't too worried about that happening.

'The shovel's only for show, isn't it.'

Indeed, Choi Kahng-Sik's real weapon was none other than gods watching him from somewhere.

'Hey, dear gods? I'll be in your care.'

[A certain god is questioning your morals.]

[A certain impatient god is praising you.]

[A different god is forming an evil smile.]

[Number of viewers: 12]

Meanwhile, Yu Il-Ahm's expression was frozen stiff. If he removed the monster's Core in his possession, then he wouldn't be able to use his fire-based attacks, after all.

He was definitely not what you'd call a fitness freak. No, he only maintained the level barely sufficient enough to satisfy his lady friends, that was all.

He had not one speck of confidence of beating Choi Kahng-Sik with his bare fists. None at all.

So, Yu Il-Ahm began shouting out like a madman.

"You dumb musclebrain!! What do you mean, it's fair?! Hah! If you think it's unfair, why don't you use superpowers, too?! Ah?! Ohhh! Why don't I do that, then?!"

"....Hey, have you lost your mind, saying those things?"

"T-that's right! Fair?! Hah! Don't you dare compare my powers to your measly shovel! Superpowers aren't weapons in the first place!! Yeah, it's a talent that you're born with!! So? Whatcha gonna do now? Choi Kahng-Sik, if you insist on fighting me, then I'll accept you!!"

┖ Wait. Didn't that trash say he's going to get married?

┖ The husband-to-be of the trash, I feel for you. ㅠ

┖ Why? Cuz only the ladies are getting married? ㅋㅋㅋ

┖ Nono. Cuz only the guys are getting married. ^0^

Choi Kahng-Sik didn't even try to waste time and replied confidently.

"Fine! I won't use my weapon then."

"You won't? Choi Kahng-Sik, you better be careful of what you say! People will think I'm bullying you or something! So, why don't you use your superpower, then? Like me? Keh, kek!!"

"Oh, sure thing."

And so...

A powerless normal man VS. an Esper.

A nonsensical duel was about to begin.

*SFX for flames erupting twice.*

As soon as the battle commenced, two flames immediately lit up on Yu Il-Ahm's hands. He had seen how quick Choi Kahng-Sik could be through the footage, so he got ready immediately.

He would not be caught with his pants down today!

'I can't lose here! Never!'

He knew he had acted like a petulant child about the rules and all that. He wasn't a dummy, after all. That was also precisely the reason why he insisted on rules favouring him since he wasn't an idiot who'd willingly jump into a fight he'd surely lose.

If he were to become a laughing stock either way, then he might as well, become a winning laughing stock!

Yu Il-Ahm loudly declared to the rest of the world.

"Choi Kahng-Sik!! I'll make sure that you'll never stand in front of a camera ever again!!"

With that declaration, the two burning balls of flames flew towards their target.

'He is truly an idiot.'

While thinking like so, Choi Kahng-Sik ran in the straight line towards the way-too confident Yu Il-Ahm. He wasn't even remotely scared of the incoming balls of flames.

Swish.

He then tilted slightly to the side and evaded the first ball of flames. His hair got singed just a little, but such a thing didn't even qualify as taking damage.

'And the next one is way too obvious.'

The second ball of flames flew in a beat later, but he didn't even bother to take a look at it.

*SFX for flames getting further away*

The ball of the flames flew past Choi Kahng-Sik all on its own.

Did Yu Il-Ahm, sometimes referred to as the Flaming Sniper, miss because he was drunk or didn't aim properly?

Nope. He certainly didn't make a mistake just then.

Only that, his opponent today was really a bad match-up for himself. That was all.

When Choi Kahng-Sik dodged the first ball of flames, he did so while considering the flight path of the second one, too.

And so, this was the result.

Yu Il-Ahm's flames began burning the guiltless garden of the Monster Association instead.

┖ XXX He can even dodge flames, too. =0=;;;

┖ Well, the existence of this MS itself is a superpower, isn't it? ㅋㅋㅋ

┖ I peed myself. Somebody, gimme a new pair of undies. Please? ㅠ

The viewers were understandably freaked out. However, they were misunderstanding something.

And that was...

'It's been three years. Three!'

That was the amount of time Choi Kahng-Sik followed around the MS Yu Il-Ahm as a Cameraman. Because of that, he could tell what this Esper was thinking about and how he'd attack next.

Of course, those alone would've been insufficient to win this duel. His physical body wouldn't be able to keep up, after all!

[A certain god is cheering you on.]

[A certain impatient god is calling for violence.]

[Another god has discarded the sweet potatoes.]

[Number of viewers: 12]

Indeed, the gods had made up for his lacking reflexes.

'I won't lose with this!'

Choi Kahng-Sik evaded the flames and closed the distance in the blink of an eye. And his fierce glare met Yu Il-Ahm's gaze right in front of the latter man's nose.

"Hiiiick?!"

Yu Il-Ahm was in the middle of readying the next fireball and, in the end, was caught with his pants down. His face visibly paled.

"Clench your teeth."

"Wwait!! Wa.... Ugeh?!"

A fist as hard as forged steel slammed into the slender chin of the handsome former MS.

Issuing a fairly clean impact noise, he was flung away like a piece of discarded trash.

Plop.

….And then, landed splendidly on the ground, face first.

'...Oops! Didn't he say he was about to get married? I ended up ruining the face of this husband-to-be a little too much... Oh well, who cares, right?'

He reaped what he sowed, that's what this was.

Choi Kahng-Sik almost got burned beyond recovery just now. One could say that he held back a lot since Yu Il-Ahm only suffered a broken jaw.

"If you ask me for the cost of your plastic surgery implants, then I'll really kill you."

"....."

No reply came from the slack jaw of Yu Il-Ahm. He was too dazed like a vegetable to reply, with his soul already abandoning him.

'I, I, I....'

….He still lost even after using his superpower against a guy he looked down on. He couldn't think of one single excuse or a reason for this defeat.

Was it because he was just a weakling? Compared to Choi Kahng-Sik?

The mental shock hurt far more than the pain coming from his jaw.

It was a similar story for other Hunters watching from the sidelines.

"The Flaming Sniper lost?!"

"It can't be?!"

"A regular guy defeated an Esper...."

"Maybe, they made a deal before fighting or something?"

Even though they saw the whole thing with their own eyes, they still couldn't believe it. They all clearly witnessed a supposedly-powerless regular person evade a pair of dangerous balls of flames and blow the Esper's jaw away with his fist.

This did not make one lick of logical sense!!

'Who cares if you believe it or not?'

Choi Kahng-Sik simply shrugged his shoulders.

"Dear viewers? I'd like to end today's broadcast here. Yes? Oh, you mean, his neck? Eiii~! He's about to get married, so I shouldn't do that. The bride will rejoic.... Ahem, I mean, the bride will get sad if I do that, you know? Ah! And Thumbelinnim? I'll mail your prize tomorrow, so... Huh?!"

┖ Yet another event happening in the broadcast?! ㅋㅋㅋ

┖ He can't pass a single day without causing an incident, no? ^0^b

┖ ㄷㄷ Stop surprising me!

Choi Kahng-Sik was saying goodbye to the camera lens, but his body suddenly staggered out of balance. Because, his right shoulder became heavy, totally out of the blue, that was why.

He quickly looked at his shoulder and threw out a question.

"What the?! Hey, you, what is this?"

"Caw!"

'….Ahh, sure, thanks for that all-explaining answer.'

"No, wait a minute! Really, what is this?!"

"Caw, caw, caaaaw~."

"......"

< Chapter 18: The Monster Association (5) > Fin.

Chapter end