I’ll Retire After Saving the World - Chapter 1
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Chapter 1 – Life’s Compass
Year 2022.
“Here are the children!”
Childhood experiences often last a lifetime.
For the first time, the usually silent lab echoed with a loud noise. From the end of the hallway came the sounds of things breaking and people shouting.
Crash!
The glass window blocking the way shattered into pieces.
“Kids, are you alright?”
A man appeared, pushing aside the broken glass.
“It’s safe now. You can come out.”
Following the man, other hunters entered the lab. The researchers were too frightened to make a sound under the hunters’ intimidating gazes.
The man who was at the front picked me up. The director of the lab lay sprawled near the window in a disgraceful position. The man stepped on the director’s hand as he passed by.
The director, who had always glared at us and pretended to raise his hand threateningly, now whimpered without a sound, watching the man carefully.
To me, it was like a revelation.
Look at the director, who always acted so high and mighty, now crawling!
“Mister.”
“Hmm? Are you hurt anywhere? Just hold on a little longer.”
“No, that’s not it… You’re a hunter, right?”
“Hmm.”
“How can I become strong like you?”
“Oh, do you want to be a hunter?”
The man answered sincerely.
“Then you need to awaken first, don’t you think?”
Another hunter passing by overheard the man’s words.
“Hey! Don’t say weird things to the kid!”
“Weird things? Hmm. Awakening is important, but you can think about that later. For now, let’s focus on going home.”
The man roughly patted my director.
He carried me outside. It had been a long time since I saw the outside of the lab.
Several ambulances were parked, and children like me, who had been rescued by the hunters, were coming out of the lab.
“Kid, what’s your name?”
Before handing me over to the paramedics, the man asked for my name.
I thought for a moment before answering.
“Number 12.”
“What?”
Eleven-year-old me thought that answer would make the man angry, and I wasn’t wrong.
The man, after sitting me in the ambulance, noticed the researchers being led out in handcuffs.
“Hunter Hong!”
Before anyone could stop him, he lunged at the researchers. Honestly, I couldn’t see properly. When I blinked, he was kicking the director of the lab.
“Arghhh!”
“You bastards!”
“Please, spare us!”
Yeah.
Power.
Power is what matters.
Absolute power that no one can defy!
“Hunter Hong! What are you doing!”
At that moment, a sharp voice struck the back of the man’s director.
The man, who had been kicking the lab director and throwing punches, suddenly hunched his shoulders. He turned around, forcing an awkward smile.
“Oh, Inspector! What brings you here…?”
“What do you mean, Hunter Hong! Didn’t you do this last time too? You can’t behave like this!”
A woman in a pitch-black suit glared at him, making his shoulders shrink even more.
“Let go, now!”
“But…”
“But?”
“It’s just that…”
“Then?”
“Um…”
Looking sheepish, the man finally released his grip. The lab director, who had fallen to the floor, couldn’t even wipe the blood dripping from his nose and crawled away backward.
The woman sighed in disapproval.
“I appreciate your help, but this puts us in a difficult position. Please be more careful!”
“Well, hmm. It’s not something I can control just by being careful…”
“You have no intention of being careful, do you!”
“Ahem.”
Scratching his director, the man watched the woman nervously. It was the same look the lab director had earlier when he watched the man.
Isn’t it surprising?
I could understand the lab director being afraid of the man.
In the end, self-preservation is what matters most to people.
When someone who could kill you with a flick of their finger stands before you, you even become cautious about breathing. It was like that inside the lab.
But this woman didn’t seem to be a hunter. Why was the man, who was much larger than her, so anxious around her?
“Who is that woman?”
I asked the paramedic who was taking my temperature.
“Hmm? Who?”
“The lady in the suit over there.”
“The Inspector? She’s here to manage this operation…”
The paramedic cleared his throat briefly.
“She came to ensure the hunters do their job well. To check if anything was missed…”
“Is she like the lab director?”
“The lab director? Well, maybe similar… Are you hurt anywhere?”
“No.”
I answered quietly.
“Where are we going now?”
“Uh, probably…”
“The doctor will check if you’re hurt.”
The woman who had been scolding the man approached me and said.
Behind her stood the man, looking very subdued.
She smiled warmly.
“Then you’ll be able to see your mom and dad too.”
It wasn’t much comfort to me. But the other kids in the ambulance cheered at her words. Ignoring their cheers, I asked the woman.
“Are you that man’s boss?”
Because he had been standing there, taking the scolding.
She smiled quietly.
“I’m not his boss, but I do scold him if he does something wrong.”
“Isn’t that the same as being the boss? The lab director always scolded the other researchers. We didn’t like him either.”
“…I’ll make sure to punish that bad man.”
“You look weak… You’re not even a hunter, are you?”
“No, I’m not a hunter. So I’m not strong. But appearances aren’t everything. There are many ways to punish bad people without hitting them like this man does.”
“How?”
“Well… Maybe by sending them to prison so they can never get out?”
“Like us?”
The woman gently patted my director, her touch soft and comforting, unlike the rough hands of the hunter.
I asked her again.
“Then how can I become someone like you?”
“Sorry?”
“To punish the lab director, don’t I need to be like you?”
“Well, you’d need to study hard.”
“Study?”
“To be like me, you have to pass a test that the government gives. Even after passing, you have to work hard to become someone important.”
“A test from the government…”
It wasn’t until later that I fully understood what she meant.
The overwhelming power that hunters wield.
And the invisible yet distinctly present power that can reprimand and control those hunters without fear.
It was the moment that determined the direction of my life.
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