Chapter 186 – The Chosen Ones (11) & Epilogue

The last raid was violent . The 300 man raid . An uncountable number of enemies poured out to in conjunction to the number of participants . The last raid took place in the Hunter’s Hall . The Hunter’s Hall was essentially infinite in size, filled with innumerable white pillars, but there wasn’t a spot that was free from bloodshed .

The corpses of monsters formed a mountain, but the hunters too suffered losses in the process . But in spite of this, the surviving hunters did not lose hope . It was because Master Hunter K Sungjin and Sungjin’s nine person Chosen Ones worked together perfectly to massacre the monsters .
“I’m going . Edward, Serin, attack both sides of the pillar . ”

Edward’s magic and Serin’s arrows were fired towards the pillar at his command . The Dark elf Swordsman Calian rapidly hid behind the structure, but Sungjin already had jumped on the pillar and his sword scored a hit on Calian’s head .
“Agh”

Calian collapsed where he was without even being able to let out a sound . But then

“Kraaagh!”
A large red dragon breathed fire towards Sungjin . There was no time to dodge it . Sungjin was about to use Fire resistance on his Ring of Chimera when

“Glacier of the Arctic!”

Hildebrandt appeared suddenly and stood before Sungjin . An intense wave of heat hit them, but it did not last long .

“Haiya!”
Franz and Hiroaki sliced apart the Dragon’s neck . But there was no time to take a breather .
“Ssssss”

Beyond the pillar appeared a dozen heads of the Hydra .
“Damn it, there’s no end to them”
Beltran complained even as he stood before the Hydra .
“Look here you dumb heads!”
Beltran taunted the Hydra to capture its attention which allowed Mahadas to close the distance and destroy a head .

It was then

“Hahahaha! Burn!”
The voice of a crazed Magician was heard from somewhere . Sungjin forgot his name but he remembered the magician from the Magician’s Ivory Tower . Sungjin was about to take out Artemio .

“Incinerate everything in your…ugh…Kek”

Nada cut the magician’s throat before he could even finish the incantation . Sungjin wanted to tell her ‘Nice’ but

“Bash you all!” “Burn you all!”
In the pillar behind, the two headed Ogre Pach and Cho’roch appeared so he had no time .
Sungjin moved towards them when he heard someone chanting a spell .
“Tense muscles, brittle bones, weakness”
It was in a middle of an all out battle so hearing a spell ought to be met with caution . But that voice was a familiar one . It was the deep and heavy voice of Mustafa . Pach and Cho’roch who were slowed was no match for Sungjin . They were cut down the middle with a single strike of his .
“Haa…”

Sungjin was trying to get a breather but he couldn’t do that . Monsters endlessly poured out between the pillars .
‘Damn it! Is the future I saw yesterday even real?’
Sungjin continued to swing his swords even as he thought about it . It was because this was the best thing he could be doing right now . And after the chaos of battle continued for a while, the hunters heard the Operator’s voice from the cube .

[Chapter 21 Cleared!]
With the voice, the corpses of monsters and dead hunters which filled the Hunter’s Hall all disappeared .

The remaining hunters shouted in joy .
“It’s done!”
“We won!”
“It’s over!”

The hunters shouted in happiness . Sungjin also gripped his fist . But at that moment, all the armor on the body, weapons in hand, and rings worn all vanished .
‘Ah…’
Sungjin had no time to react . And the hunters were surprised for a moment .

[Congratulations . ]
[Humanity has overcome 21 Ordeals and have proven their worth . ]
[With this Humanity will again be exempt from God’s judgement for another ten thousand years . ]
No one paid any attention to the Operator by this point . It was because the raids were over . They were too busy with cheering .

“Yeah!”
“We did it!!!”

They were too busy with celebrating . Meanwhile, Sungjin carefully checked his vest . The ‘Small Cube’ given by the dragon was still there .
‘…so this is what it’s for…’
A grin slowly formed on Sungjin’s face . The Operator continued to speak .

[Those who did not make an attempt and those slain during the raids]
[Will have their memories erased and be sent off to Humanity’s home planet, the Earth . ]
[But the hunters who are listening right now]
[the Hunters who successfully completed the raid can choose to keep or erase their memories . ]
The hunters who were cheering fell quiet after the announcement .

[Please decide within 1 minute if the memories are to be erased or kept . ]
[In the case no decision was made, it will default to erasing the memory before being sent back . ]
The hunters looked among themselves . They were suddenly told to make a choice and they were having difficulty with deciding which fork in the road they would like to take . The hunters around Sungjin, especially the nine Chosen Ones stared at each other .
Hildebrandt was the first to speak

“For me… I think erasing would be for the best . If I return with these memories… my wife and daughter will surely notice a change in me . ”
Beltran also chose to erase his memory .
“…I would like to erase my memories as well . I thought I saw it all as a Policeman… . But the things here are all beyond my imagination . I don’t want to continue having nightmares after going back . ”

On the other hand, the monk Mahadas decided to take his memories along with him .
“These experiences were a great lesson for me . I have become stronger because of them . It would be unwise to lose them . ”
Hiroaki was the same

“Me too! My swordsmanship improved a great deal because of the raids . I will return with them . ”
Edward crossed his arms and gave a simple reply .
“I’ll take mine . It had been strange, yet quite an experience . ”
Sungjin’s answer was predetermined .
“I will keep my memories . ”

And almost right after Serin answered
“Me too… I’ll keep my memories . ”
Rather than making a choice, Franz looked a bit disappointed .
“But… if they all lose their memories… Heroic saviors of the world…”
Nada also seemed disappointed by it, she bit her lower lip for a moment .
“Haa… me too… I was looking forward to quitting my job…”

Mustafa remained quiet and was looking around at the other hunters . Between them Franz finally made a fist and made a decision .

“Oh well… why does it matter if people forget… I was one of the Heroes who saved our species . I don’t want to lose the satisfaction of seeing it through to the end . I’ll keep my memories . ”
Nada also made a decision .

“Hmm…for me… I have to return to working in an office… These memories… I probably won’t need them . No thanks for me . ”
Just when it looked like everything was decided, Mustafa answered
“I’ll keep mine . ”
Once the hunters were about done, the Operator announced
[Then once everyone is returned back to the Earth, memories of each of the hunters will be set according to their choices . ]
[Returning to Earth in 5 minutes . ]

The hunters and Sungjin all began their last goodbyes .
“Stay well . ”
“It was nice working with you all . ”
“Everyone here is a hero . For real . ”

Each of them approached Sungjin and gave their farewells . Beltran went first .
“You were truly a hero . I will lose my memories but… losing memory of you is most regrettable . ”
“Beltran ssi is also a hero . I hope that you can stay a hero and protect others . Good working with you . ”
Mahadas came with his his palms pressed over his chest .
“It was a great meeting between us, Kei . I do not know if the threads of fate will continue after this but… if we cross the paths once more, it will be a very welcoming meeting . ”

“Me too, sir . ”
Nada wordlessly approached Sungjin and without a word she gave him a deep kiss .
“We don’t have much time left so this is all I can do . If we had more time I could have given you something better . ”
Sungjin’s face grew bright red . For a moment Sungjin felt someone stare at him . It was Serin who was standing a bit away .
‘Uh…’

Sungjin was stuck in surprise when Hiroaki butted in and said,
“Sensei, I’ll come and visit you someday . Where do you live in Korea?”
“Ah… Seoul . ”
It was then that Franz butted in as well .
“Where in Seoul? If I run a part time job to buy an airplane ticket…”
But instead of finishing what he was saying he remembered something greatly important .
“Wait . . hold on… now that I think of it, none of us knows Kei nim’s real name . Master Hunter K . What is your name? Are you going to keep it a secret until the end?”

“Ah…”
Sungjin opened and closed his mouth a few times . Thinking back, the second the Raids started, he had been hiding his name because he didn’t want to grow close to people who might die . But now that the raids were over, he had no reason to continue hiding it . Mustafa also asked the same .

“That’s right Master Hunter K . We still do not know your name . Would you not please tell us your name since this is the last?”
Sungjin felt a bit strange . Mustafa had always been quiet . ‘Previous final 10’ or now, he had never asked information about anyone else . Sungjin hesitated for a moment before he finally decided to open his mouth .
“My name is Sungjin . Sungjin Kang . If we ever meet in the real world, please search for me with this name . ”
The hunters who heard his name repeated it among themselves to help remember .

Then, the Operator began a countdown .
[You will return to Earth in 1 minute . 60, 59, 58…]
Sungjin looked around with only a minute left . It was because there was one more person with whom he had not exchanged a farewell . Sungjin walked up to Edward who was standing with his arms crossed a bit away . Sungjin offered his hand to Edward first . Edward wordlessly stared at Sungjin’s empty hand and finally grasped it for a shake .

“It was all thanks to you,” said Sungjin .

Edward stared at him with a strange look, but Sungjin just grinned . He finished shaking his hand and turned away when he felt someone’s stare . Serin was looking at him with her eyes narrowed . Sungjin was about to say to her when she spoke up first .

“I’ll be waiting at ‘28 Sapience’ in Cheongdam Dong(1) until you come . ”
Sungjin didn’t add any more words and just gave a short answer .
“Ok . ”

With only 10 seconds remaining, the hunters hugged and shook each others’ hands and bid farewell . And then finally, finally, they were teleported . To Earth . To home .

*
Seoul . Gangnam Station . Middle of rainy season in June . The sound of rain blanketed the land . Countless pedestrians walked on the sidewalk with umbrellas on hand as a radio played in the background .

“There was a shocking announcement from the British National Academy of Sciences . On May 12th, that is to say about a month ago, they made an announcement that the International Atomic clock has sped up by roughly 3 seconds . This event is being treated as a great mystery by the Academy . So, in order to understand this announcement, we have invited an expert on the topic; Professor Soongwan Hong . Welcome to the show Professor Hong . ”

“Thanks for having me . ”

“In my perspective, it’s not out of the ordinary for a clock to be off by 3 seconds . So what is the significance of the International Atomic Clock having sped up by 3 seconds? Could you please explain to us?”

“The International Atomic Clock uses Cesium Atomic clocks . The seconds are determined by measuring vibrations of Cesium . It is a ultra high precision clock that takes roughly 3 thousand years to speed up by 1 second . But last month, this Cesium clocks were observed to suddenly and uniformly be off by 3 seconds . This phenomena is unexplainable by current science…”

As the radio continued,the pedestrians were walking and chatting with their lovers, friends, or family as they passed by . It didn’t look like anyone was listening to the radio, but the radio continued regardless .

“Next, the world news . Abu Ali Mustafa who is famous for being an owner of a Football team (2) in England’s premier league has arrived in Korea last night at around 9 pm . Mustafa ssi is famous for being an Heir to a Royal family with a personal wealth of more than 300 Trillion won (250 billion dollars) and overseas purchase of not just a football club but Electronics Company etc and has recently caught the Korean Media’s attention . Ever since he came to visit Korea, his background has become a hot topic . ”

“There were many theories on why he might have come to Korea . Shopping around for electronics companies or buyout of an industrial site were some of the theories out there, but the suddenness in his visitation has sparked a theory that he’s here for his personal hobby . ”

“Personal hobby?”

“Yes, since a month ago, Mustafa had started going around the world and donating extremely high value presents to people he’s never met .

“By high value…”

“Along with real estate and car, it would amount to 100 billion Won (84 million dollars) .

“A hundred billion?!”

“Yes . ”

“Wait, he’s gifting people he’s never met something that’s worth hundreds of billions of won?

“Yes . and because of it it has become world news as ‘Billionaire’s Don’t Ask Lottery . Until now, the lucky winners are Barcelona’s Nada ssi, Hamburg’s Hildebrandt ssi, New York’s Beltran ssi . Each time he had visited Spain, Germany and America for seemingly no reason . So the theory is that he had come to visit Korea to do something similar, that a lucky person has been chosen from Korea . ”

“Listeners to the show may think this is a little immature of me but… I hope that’s me . ”

“Me too . ”

“Hahaha!”

A refreshing laughter was played through the radio, but the sound of it was buried by the many cars that filled up Gangnam Avenue . And even now there were no one listening to the radio .

“Finally we have Entertainment News . Archery Gold Medalist CF Queen, Voted number 1 Korean sports star Serin Han is currently head over heels in love . According to the celebrity insider report from Dispatch (4), she is in love with an ordinary man who is currently unidentified . Since 5 years ago when she won the gold medal and until now, there were no news of her being in a relationship, so many men had romantic…”

But then for the first time, someone walking on the sidewalk on Gangnam Avenue heard the radio and commented .
“Uh… wait . Hey… will you be okay?”
“It’s okay, Oppa . Why, is being in a relationship against the law?”
“Hmm”

They were having a conversation like the many couples walking along the Avenue .
“Oh by the way, let’s go to the Zoo tomorrow . ”
“The Zoo?”
The lady replied in a shocked voice . Because the umbrella they were sharing were still dropping thick droplets of rain water . But the man did not seem to care .

“Yes, the Zoo . I feels like it’d be great to go there when the rain stops tomorrow .
“But… I checked the weather forecast just now and it said that it will be rainy all week…”
“Weather Forecast? But they’re often wrong . ”
“Aay, still . How will you know they won’t be wrong, Oppa?”

She looked up at the sky . The sky was full of dark rain clouds . She reached out past the shadow of the umbrella to feel the rain .
“Look, Oppa . When it’s like this… do you really think tomorrow’s weather will be clear?”
The man’s gaze followed the hand of his girlfriend toward the sky . But he grinned and replied confidently .

“It will be clear tomorrow . For sure . ”

Master Hunter K -End-

(1) Dong is the Korea equivalent to ‘Neighborhood’ . Cheongdam Dong is the wealthiest neighborhood in Korea .
(2) Soccer is the true football
(3) remember, ssi is kr equivalent to jp san .
(4) for those of you checking my translation to raw, the original name used by the author is an intentional misspelling of a real thing in Korea, to avoid copyright issues .