The First Hunter

Chapter 10. Power Enhancement, Part I

Translator: Khan

Editor: RED

1.

Kim Tae-hoon drank his coffee and kept his mouth shut.

The coffee was quite hot, so he wanted to spit it out or swallow it. But he put up with the heat until it melted his frozen mind.

The smell of coffee released Kim Tae-hoon’s frozen mind. Only then did Kim Tae-hoon start thinking.

‘It is a type of foresight. What I dreamt of is a foresight of my death.’

He knew one thing clear at this moment. What he saw was not a mistake or fantasy, but a crisis that would come to a man named Kim Tae-hoon someday.

After his mind cleared, Kim Tae-hoon began to analyze the things he saw in his dream.

‘I looked at Jang Sung-hoon’s face, and it is not in the very distant future.’

The most important thing was time.

The only clue to gauge the timing was Jang Sung-hoon’s age, which he could guess through his face.

The Jang Sung-hoon in his dreams seemed to be in his mid-twenties.

Jang Sung-hoon was now in his early twenties, so this was not to far away. But it was not in the immediate future.

‘Three to five years.’

It would be as early as three years, or as late as five years.

The next important clue was the name, Lim Hyun-joon.

‘Commander-in-Chief Lim Hyun-joon. That means Colonel Lim Hyun-joon now.’

Colonel Lim Hyun-joon.

Kim Tae-hoon knew that he was a tactician and an ambitious person.

He was also a man on the elite course in the Defense Ministry. Not only did he produce good results as an officer, but he also had good political sense, and he was an influential person in the next generation of the military.

He was an influential person of the next generation, but it was impossible for him to become the Commander-in-Chief, the peak of the army, a general, even if he was given ten years to advance.

‘He’s the Commander-in-Chief…’

Of course, the world was already beyond the ordinary. Moreover, he had learned what the consequences would be.

What he needed to do now is to guess the processes that ended up with the results he had seen.

‘In the future, the military seems to be operating normally.’

One, having a Commander-in-Chief meant that the military system was operating. It meant that society was not in complete anarchy.

‘The fact that Lim Hyun-joon became the top leader of the army, and it is so organized… means that he survived and made a remarkable contribution.’

Two, the fact that the Commander-in-Chief of such an army was Colonel Lim Hyun-joon meant that he had played a decisive role in reforming the military.

It would not have been something simple. It would have been at the level of saving the country, in fact, a level of achievement that had created a new military.

‘Right now he is in the 8th Division.’

Colonel Lim Hyun-joon’s current affiliation was the 8th Mechanized Infantry Division.

It was called the “Roly Poly” unit, and it had powerful weapons, excellent means of transportation, and tanks, unlike the general infantry divisions.

‘He considered the emergence of monsters as an opportunity, not a crisis.’

Colonel Lim had the ability to set up such remarkable achievements by commanding the firepower and troops under his influence.

‘I think the 8th Division is the best place to be in, in the present situation.’

The 8th Division was located in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province.

The front line was close, but they were not facing the North Korean army directly. That was why it was advantageous.

Even if the front line encountered monsters, they could not lead their troops to the rear immediately, because they did not know what the North Korean army would do. At the same time, it is not easy to get resupplied.

Compared to them, the 8th Division could go up to the front line, or it can head down to the rear.

‘I have to go to Pocheon, too.’

In other words, Pocheon, where the 8th Division was located, was not safe at present, but it was highly likely that the military was playing a role there, at the very minimum.

He should go to Pocheon and contact Colonel Lim Hyun-joon. Since he had learned the man would become such an important figure, he could not treat him as a chicken or a cow.

His thinking on Colonel Lim Hyun-joon got to that point. But there was more important information.

‘Weapons.’

In his dream, that Kim Tae-hoon had prepared various kinds of weapons ahead of the battle with the dragon.

They couldn’t possibly be normal weapons. They would be items made from monsters and high-grade relics.

Of course, he had to reconstruct the appearance of those weapons, because their appearance would play a crucial role in guessing their identity.

‘I also handled the weapons freely with my telekinesis.’

The sense of handling the weapon with the telekinesis was important!

Right now, his skill at using his telekinesis was not so good. That’s why he didn’t do much with his A-rank telekinesis right now.

Telekinesis was a force. Some are very easy, some are very difficult.

It wasn’t that everything was done just by imagining it.

Even if you think of a picture in your mind, you need natural talent and skill to draw a picture from your mind on paper.

The Kim Tae-hoon in his dream was very skilled at his telekinesis. He made various kinds of weapons hover around him like they were alive.

‘If I had looked closely at my stats, I would have been clearer on what to do.’

Anyway, he had to achieve the skill of using weapons with telekinesis he had seen in his dreams. That was the minimum condition for survival until then.

Nevertheless, that Kim Tae-hoon failed to survive.

‘There are fucking bastards.’

The Jang Sung-hoon in his dream said that there was no reason for Kim Tae-hoon to die. Nevertheless, because of the bastards, he faced death.

‘There is a group, and they will try to get rid of me.’

He did not know its name, identity, or number, but it meant that he was up against an organization that wanted his death in the future.

‘The reason they are trying to get rid of me is that I’m interfering with their interests.’

They wanted him dead because his actions interfered with their interests. What those interests were was simple.

What Kim Tae-hoon wanted in the future is to survive, he would remain a hunter for survival.

But someone did not want that. It meant that they either wanted the monsters to remain, or they did not want him to kill them.

Kim Tae-hoon did not have much doubt about this part. Even if the world was about to end, there would be someone who would look for their own benefits in it.

Those who were capable of such things would come out.

No, rather, those who wanted to build a new order in a world where the order has collapsed due to the emergence of monsters would be overflowing in number.

In addition, the new order they wanted to build would be entirely favorable to them.

‘It would be rather strange not to have such people, so I will have to keep that in mind.’

More importantly, that Kim Tae-hoon was predicted to die, and he was surprised.

‘He was willing to face death to save Jang Sung-hoon… and only Jang Sung-hoon remained with him.’

It was a fact that Kim Tae-hoon, who had no purpose other than to survive, died for others!

When Kim Tae-hoon reached that point in his thinking, he finally swallowed his coffee.

The sound changed the gaze of the crowd looking at Kim Tae-hoon. They waited for him to speak.

As they expected, he did indeed speak.

“I don’t know who got it, but that was the worst coffee ever.”

2.

Kim Tae-hoon told them what he had dreamed about, everything he remembered.

He told them his opinion that Pocheon was now expected to be a safe area, and that he should find some way to contact it.

He told them without hesitation that he would be killed by a dragon a few years from now.

When the story was over, everyone’s expression was harder than when Kim Tae-hoon fell asleep.

With a firm expression, Bang Hyun-wook carefully asked the question, “So, am I also dead in the future?”

It was a ridiculous question, but a serious one.

How could it not be serious asking someone who had gained knowledge of the future about his destiny, since he had no promise he would see the morning?

“I can’t say you died, because you didn’t show up in my dream. Maybe you were working somewhere else, maybe you broke up with me for a reason, or you could have betrayed me.”

“Betrayal, I don’t think about it ever…” Bang Hyun-wook shook his head, even as the words Ahn Sun-mi gave passed through his mind at that moment.

What would Kim Tae-hoon think of his thoughts, while he dreamed of his crisis?

Would he consider it a childish idea, would he accept it as a young man’s heroism, or would he think that it was the spirit of insubordination of a rebel who repeatedly disobeys?

‘Big brother will not let me off just because it is me.’

Obviously, no matter what kind of thing Kim Tae-hoon looked at, he would not change his mind. As Ahn Sun-mi said, Kim Tae-hoon did not need survivors who just wanted his help.

He would not change his mind. To be changed, those who were not Kim Tae-hoon must change!

“You stopped talking, were you really going to betray me?”

“No, I don’t mean… it’s not betrayal, but I thought something like that. If you didn’t wake up like this, I’d have to take your place, and then the survivors…” Bang Hyun-wook drew a long breath, to gather some strength to speak.

“Big brother, can we accept an application for the Clan?”

At the words of Bang Hyun-wook, Kim Tae-hoon, who had just taken a sip, looked at him softly.

Bang Hyun-wook just swallowed silently.

“Are you asking if we will accept applicants from the survivors?” Kim Tae-hoon asked at last.

“Yes.”

“Why does the Mac Clan need to accept additional applicants?”

“Then we can kill more monsters, can’t we? We can get them more stable. And we don’t need just need combat agents. I need someone to cook, someone to move things…”

“Can you give us a solid reason for our Clan to recruit applicants?”

“That’s…” Bang Hyun-wook shut his mouth.

He suggested it because he thought it was a compromise solution, but Kim Tae-hoon seemed to have no intention of doing so.

However, Kim Tae-hoon was actually seriously considering Bang Hyun-wook’s proposal. If it had not been really worth considering, he would not have asked Bang Hyun-wook the question itself.

He would have given final notice either to leave the Clan quietly, or said nothing, or to choose between them.

‘He didn’t think of it alone, and someone gave him a clue about what I want.’

He had already been thinking of something similar. It was not an option, but a necessity to increase the numbers of the Mac Clan.

In a world where social infrastructure had collapsed, human resources were the most valuable ones.

Fighting alone was not enough to do anything.

Just looking at what the Mac Clan should do right now, there were a lot of things to do, such as monster slaughter, monster-based item production, etc., all starting with monster hunting.

The same was true of battle.

When battles are repeated, victims pile up. If you don’t replace them, it will be fatal.

Above all, Kim Tae-hoon had a chance, thanks to the Golden Glass of Napoleon.

‘If I go this way unchanging, the end is my death. If I want to live, I had a very valuable opportunity to know that I need to change.’

“We need gunmen,” he said.

“Most of the surviving adult men will have military experience, and if they are from the artillery or tanker corps, that would be very helpful. We also need drivers,” Lieutenant Kim spoke up, supporting Bang Hyun-wook’s opinion.

‘We cannot ignore the survivors like this.’ It was also why she agreed with Bang Hyun-wook’s idea. ‘We can’t move with this force alone.’

At the same time, for the commander’s sake, she felt that they were at their limit with the current troops.

Kim Tae-hoon got up in the opinion of the two.

“Jang Sung-hoon, find three cars with the keys and bring them here.”

“What kind of cars do you want?”

“Two SUV’s and a truck.”

Jang Sung-hoon nodded and immediately moved out to search for the cars.

“Lieutenant Kim Soo-ji, gather ten undissected Sabretooth Wolves and a knife for slaughtering them, after collecting the monster stones.”

“I understand.” Lieutenant Kim Soo-ji saluted and called for soldiers immediately.

Kim Tae-hoon’s eyes naturally turned to Bang. “Bang Hyun-wook.”

“Yes, big brother?”

“You have to set your answers in your mind, including your priorities, ahead of time,” he advised. “There’s no time for this conversation in a really desperate moment.”

Bang Hyun-wook nodded silently.

“Then, Bang Hyun-wook, go to your unrequited love and tell them that we will start testing for applicants who want to join the Mac Clan.”