LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 4 - Became the Top Priority Monster to Recruit
Chapter 4: Became the Top Priority Monster to Recruit
After rescuing the helicopter, an inexplicable fatigue washed over me.
So when I returned to my human form:
“Kid? Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Uh, well…”
“Where are your parents? Why are you here alone?”
“We found another lost child here! Requesting support!”
The agents seemed unusually tall.
I originally stood at 184cm, so this didn’t make any sense. Just then, I noticed a shard of glass from a collapsed skyscraper and turned my head towards it.
Reflected in the glass was my appearance from elementary school.
“I’m… younger?”
I had turned into a small, cute boy.
What on earth had happened?
“Um, excuse me…”
“Hmm?”
“Could you tell me what year it is?”
“…What?”
Maybe this wasn’t just a simple game possession.
Swallowing my thoughts, I asked the intelligent-looking woman closest to me.
“It’s 2014, kid. Do you really not remember anything?”
“2014…?”
“…! Medic! Or at least a corpsman! This child’s condition is a bit strange!”
**Hunters Blood** was released in 2024.
But if it was 2014, that meant it was really the time when I was in elementary school.
“This, this can’t be…”
“Kid! Kid!”
“Corpsman! Hurry, hurry!”
Was it because I had relaxed momentarily from the confusion?
I lost consciousness, now in my younger self’s body.
***
The next place I opened my eyes was none other than a hospital room.
An unfamiliar ceiling.
And a more unfamiliar view of half-ruined Jamsil through the window below.
“Are you okay? Do you hurt anywhere?”
“No…”
“So… do you still not remember anything? Like your parents or friends?”
“I’m sorry. I don’t remember anything.”
As always, I gave a vague answer to the nurse’s daily question.
“I see…”
“Yes… I’m sorry…”
“Oh, no! Shin-woo, it’s not your fault! I’m sure you’ll recover with time! Until then, just rest well, okay?”
“Yes.”
The nurse did her best to comfort me as if soothing a child.
But even though my body was small, my brain remained intact!
Being a 20-year-old adult in mind, I could roughly predict the future.
“Seeing how particularly sad she looks today, it seems I’ll be sent to an orphanage soon.”
Suddenly thrown into another world similar to reality, I decided to feign ‘amnesia’ to hide my identity.
Even if there were no records of my resident registration or birth report, no one would question someone suffering from amnesia about such details.
The fact that I had reverted to an elementary school age only doubled the effect.
Pretending to be asleep, I had eavesdropped on the nurses’ conversations. The sympathy they showed towards me was proof of my plan’s success.
“Shin-woo, the Hunter Association even took a DNA sample to find his family, but it turns out he wasn’t even registered at birth.”
“Oh my goodness! What are we going to do?”
“Exactly… Those terrible people. If they had a child, they should have raised him properly!”
“So Shin-woo was a young homeless child wandering near Jamsil even before he got amnesia.”
“Yes… That’s right.”
My first identity after being possessed in **Hunters Blood** wasn’t a monster hunter or a hidden powerhouse, but an unregistered young homeless child in Jamsil.
“Well… This could be good, right?”
Thanks to this, I was headed straight to the orphanage after being discharged from the hospital.
At least this was better than being exposed as a human-shaped monster and getting internationally wanted.
“Yes, this is the best option.”
The setting of **Hunters Blood** was the same as the game’s release date, 2024.
There were still ten tumultuous years left. As long as I stayed in Korea until then, it wouldn’t matter where I lived.
I decided to leave my worries to my ‘future self.’
Click.
Just as I was about to lie down on the soft hospital bed for a nap, not knowing when I might get to use it again, a voice interrupted.
“Is there a boy named Han Shin-woo here?”
It was when the nurse who had been comforting me was about to leave the room.
A woman entered the room just in time.
Seeing her in a uniform-like suit with a commander’s cap and her radiant blonde hair, the nurse collapsed in shock.
“Nurse?”
“Oh my gosh… Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!”
“…?”
“Miss Rowling, right? I’m such a huge fan!”
“Oh, is that so? I’m honored to be recognized.”
“Could you please sign an autograph later?”
“Yes, of course. I’ll do it when I leave the room.”
The woman, as courteous as a gentleman, helped the nurse who had fallen to her knees back up.
At first, I tilted my head, wondering who she was.
“Ah, could it be…?”
The commanding hunter who led the hunters and soldiers when I transformed into a monster.
I hadn’t seen her well due to the crowd, but now that she was right in front of me, I recognized her.
“…Wait a minute, why is she here?”
For a commanding hunter to personally come here.
The title itself suggested that a commanding hunter held a very high position in the association or military. Comparable to a corps commander in the army.
Moreover, she was the most respected hunter among ordinary citizens due to her commander-like image. Just like the nurse’s reaction a moment ago.
But for such a high-profile figure, comparable to a top celebrity and the highest-ranking military officer, to personally come for an orphan like me with no parents?
It was suspicious beyond belief.
Something felt like it was about to happen, and I swallowed nervously.
“Could it be that my identity has been discovered?”
As I stood there, tense with anticipation,
“Mom…”
“Yes, Sophia. This is the boy you saw in the report. How do you feel?”
From behind the commander hunter’s ceremonial coat emerged a girl with the same radiant blonde hair as her mother.
The girl’s big, bright blue eyes met mine before she quickly hid behind her mother like a frightened hamster. It was endearing.
“Do you still dislike him?”
The commander hunter and her daughter. What an odd combination.
Relieved that my identity seemed to be safe, I still had no idea what these two intended to do.
“Um, excuse me…”
“Yes?”
Just as I extended my hand to speak, hoping to end this quickly so I could rest, the girl, Sophia, darted out from behind her mother’s coat. She clasped my hand with both of hers.
“…?”
What was she doing?
Was she trying to shake hands?
As she nervously fiddled with my hand, her blue eyes sparkled.
“I… don’t dislike him…!”
“What?”
“Mom! I don’t dislike this human… I mean, this boy!”
“Really? Are you sure, dear?”
With rosy cheeks, Sophia turned to her mother, who then rushed over to embrace both Sophia and me.
“Thank goodness! Really, thank goodness!”
“Yes, yes!”
“Um, excuse me?”
It was our first meeting, and I was already caught between this mother-daughter duo, completely bewildered.
Realizing my confusion, the mother released her hold.
But Sophia…
“Mom! I want him!”
I wasn’t a toy.
Even if her mother had wealth and social standing, what would happen to me…
“Wait, I’m an orphan. Am I available for purchase?”
“Mom! Let’s take him home! Please! Please!”
Could the setting of **Hunters Blood**’s world involve human trafficking?
“Mom! Please! I’ll feed him and take care of him, I promise. I’ll take good care of him!”
As Sophia pleaded, treating me like a pet, I was getting chills.
“Sophia! You’re scaring Shin-woo! Apologize.”
“Wah. S-sorry…”
“Uh, it’s okay.”
Luckily, it seemed that human trafficking was illegal in this world’s Korea as well.
But then, why had that girl said such a thing?
“You must be very confused.”
“Well, yes…”
“Sorry about that. But please understand, my daughter has never interacted with people before.”
“…What?”
Sophia, who was now sniffling after receiving a light, affectionate scolding from her mother, was explained further.
“My daughter was born with the talents of a Beast Hunter… how should I explain it? In simple terms, she instinctively dislikes anyone other than her blood-related parents.”
“Oh…!”
Only then did I understand Sophia’s actions from earlier.
“Of course, that makes sense for a Beast Hunter.”
Beast Hunters.
They were the only ones among Hunters and all of humanity who could tame monsters.
Despite the highly coveted ability, they were born with a cursed handicap.
That was an inherent ‘hatred of humans.’
The game’s title screen even warned players about this drawback when creating a Beast Hunter character.
“That’s why when you created a Beast Hunter character, your affinity started at -100.”
Communication with people was impossible, and this applied even to interactions between Beast Hunters.
Even the tamed monsters were bound by a hierarchical relationship, not by affection like pets.
As they grew, they showed the highest performance among Hunter professions, but also accumulated debuffs such as depression, mental exhaustion, affection deficiency, and suicidal tendencies.
It was a profession where, if you let your guard down even a bit, you could end up committing suicide rather than being killed by enemies.
That was the Beast Hunter as I knew it.
Yet, despite having the talents of a Beast Hunter, this girl liked me?
“Could it be the effect of my monster transformation?”
Thinking about it, I was half-monster.
Unlike ordinary monsters, I could talk, interact, and be carried around comfortably outside of battles.
“Huh?”
I realized that, to Beast Hunters, I might be the perfect monster to tame.
“Am I kind of awesome?”
I had found an unexpected advantage.
Meanwhile,
“So we came to adopt you into our home.”
Her mother revealed their true intentions.
Simply put, they wanted me to be her daughter’s only friend, someone she could stick with for life.
“This is actually great.”
Being adopted into the family of a Commander Hunter, who possessed wealth, fame, and power, was a far better life than I had before… no, it was definitely better than my original life where I lived alone in a tiny villa.
And in ten years, when the main story would unfold, being an ‘adopted child of a Hunter family’ would be far more advantageous than being a ‘parentless orphan.’
I was ready to accept immediately.
But then, a thought struck me.
“Uh, what happens if I refuse?”
I was the only boy who could talk to a girl born with the talents of a Beast Hunter. If I refused the adoption…
“Well… then you’d be sent to an orphanage until your real parents are found.”
That sounded surprisingly normal.
After all, what would a Hunter who saved people do to a child who simply refused an offer?
“But recently, there are no vacancies in orphanages in Korea…”
“??”
As she smiled, she continued.
“So if you’re not adopted into our family, Shin-woo, you’ll be sent to an orphanage in Venezuela or Suriname.”
Smiling as she said something so horrifying, I immediately responded.
“Nice to meet you! I’ll be in your care!”
“Hoho, sure. Let’s get along.”
I chose adoption without hesitation.