Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Ting-!

Finally, the last pin came out.

The Giant Horned Ogre, now free, raised its head and let out a joyful roar.

“Kwaaaaah!”

And its first target was, unsurprisingly, Shim Young-jin.

Freed from its chains, the Giant Horned Ogre leisurely hunted the tiny human who couldn’t even reach its waist.

‘Damn it, a man’s got pride. This is all or nothing!’

Running away like this would gain him nothing.

Since hunting the Giant Horned Ogre wasn’t the plan to begin with, avoiding it should be manageable somehow.

Just hold out, hold out, and when the examiner arrives, you can stab him in the back.

Surely the examiner wouldn’t have carelessly released a Giant Horned Ogre into the field without a plan, so it should be manageable. You can even score points from the examiner with just a minor wound, not murder or serious injury.

In short.

‘When the Giant Horn Ogre’s aggro is drawn to the examiner, I attack the examiner and immediately run away!’

For now, Shim Young-jin retreated into the forest.

Even someone with keen senses wouldn’t easily find him once he vanished from sight.

However, in his attempt to use the environment to his advantage, he focused solely on hiding and overlooked one crucial thing.

Bang-!

Whoosh-!

The giant horn ogre’s fist sent branches swaying wildly.

A tremendous blast of wind pressure.

“Gah!”

And hiding in the forest proved to be a colossal mistake.

Leaves falling thick and fast obstructed his vision.

Not only that, tangled grass and tree roots protruding from the ground hindered movement.

‘Where should I run?’

They say when a person panics, they can’t see or hear anything.

That was exactly how it felt now.

My mind went blank in the face of the unexpected situation.

And I ended up making the one choice I shouldn’t have.

‘First, to an open area.’

I made the foolish mistake of returning to the open field.

The giant horned ogre, which had been standing still, thought this was some kind of windfall.

“Kra-ra-rak!”

The Giant Horn Ogre swung its fist toward Shim Young-jin before he could react.

But why do misfortunes always come in threes?

Just as Shim Young-jin narrowly dodged the fist and landed, his foot slipped.

And then, the iron chain being dragged by the Giant Horned Ogre’s fist bounced off a rock embedded in the ground.

CRASH-.

The chain-spiked heart soared high.

The tip of the chain plummeting from the sky met the edge of Shim Young-jin’s line of sight.

“Fuck, please spare me!”

Swoosh-.

Thud!

***

‘Is he dead?’

His eyes tightly shut.

Clamped shut so tightly his optic nerves seemed visible.

And when he finally opened his tightly shut eyes, the sky was dark.

The sky, which should have been bright, was obscured by something.

“Ahhh, eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Someone is here.

Speaking in a slurred tone, they stand before Shim Young-jin.

Shockingly, someone was clenching the tip of a massive sword between their teeth!

“Haah… I’m alive!”

Shim Young-jin breathed a sigh of relief.

He’d been anxious that this might make headlines in the newspapers.

His uncle wouldn’t let it slide, but what good would that do after he was already dead or crippled?

“Ah! Oh my goodness!”

“Huh?”

BANG!

“Hey! Get out of here, quick!”

“Yes!”

The examiner who came to rescue Shim Young-jin spat the word “Shim” right next to him in irritation.

Only then did Shim Young-jin understand and scrambled away on all fours.

“Tsk tsk, what a waste, such a waste.”

The examiner clicked his tongue, glaring at the Giant Horned Ogre.

He kept hesitating, delaying his attack.

“Giant Horned Ogre, what should I do with you? Huh? Killing you seems wasteful, but letting you go would harm the other examinees. Some worthless dog caused this mess by acting like a pest.”

Zzzzt-.

Shim Young-jin flinched when the examiner looked his way.

His spine slowly grew damp.

His eyes filled with terror at the realization that a human could emit such energy.

“Oh dear, I’m sorry. When I brought you here, I thought I’d raise you well for a long, long time. Go to a good place.”

Pop-.

In an instant, the test tube’s figure vanished.

“Huh?”

When Shim Young-jin saw the test tube again, he realized all his plans had fallen apart.

Thud-.

Thud-thud-.

The test tube held the giant horned ogre’s head upside down in its mouth. Blood dripped onto the floor, running down the creature’s blue cheeks, its gleaming eyes, and its shiny hair.

“Spit.”

Thud-.

The examiner spat, and the giant horned ogre’s torso collapsed.

‘No way. What about my score?’

Shim Young-jin’s big mistake was never imagining the examiner could overwhelm the Giant Horned Ogre.

How strong must one be to overpower a Giant Horned Ogre?

Only his uncle came to mind as someone capable of that.

In the end, it was over before he could even lift a finger.

“Aaargh!”

Shim Young-jin screamed at the top of his lungs, tearing at his hair.

The examiner frowned, glancing at Shim Young-jin before turning his head deeper into the forest.

But soon, he looked back at Shim Young-jin and snapped his fingers.

“Damn, you’re noisy. Hey, you little brat, come here.”

“Yes!”

Shim Young-jin, who had been wailing, instantly jumps up and dashes off briskly.

Even when his mother—no, his uncle—called him, he had never run this fast.

And then the punishment began.

“Now, get down on your stomach.”

“Huh… Get down!”

“Straight.”

“Straight!”

“Get down. Roll left, roll right.”

“Get down! Roll left, roll right!”

…….

***

For nearly an hour, we kept going down and standing up.

Sweat poured down like rain, and only when I was covered in mud did the brutal punishment finally end.

“Kid, you’ve got some grit, huh?”

“Yes, sir!”

Shim Young-jin answered loudly.

He knew if he didn’t, he’d be made to do it again.

“You won’t mess around anymore, right?”

“Yes! I absolutely won’t!”

He answered obediently.

But inside, he was thinking something else entirely.

‘Bastard, who the hell does he think he is?’

At first, the overwhelming force gripping his entire body filled him with terror, making him obey the examiner’s orders without question.

But the more he did it, the more it felt strange.

He was a test-taker, so why was he being subjected to this punishment?

Besides, fear or no fear, his body was exhausted, and he started to get angry.

Shim Young-jin had immense pride.

He jumped up and confronted the examiner.

But.

‘Is that cheerful expression and that devilish face really coming from the same person?’

Sadly, his bold defiance only earned him harsher punishment.

He was scolded so harshly he couldn’t utter a sound, then made to roll left and right, squat jumps, and even arm-stretching jumps were added.

Even someone like Shim Young-jin couldn’t keep his pride intact forever.

“Come to think of it, I’m late introducing myself, aren’t I?”

The examiner rummaged through his coat pocket as he spoke.

‘He sure speaks quickly.’

Shim Young-jin was flabbergasted, but he pretended not to be and answered loudly.

“Not at all! May I ask your name?”

“Hahaha, kid… I like that. My name is Kang Young-chan.”

Kang Young-chan thrusts out his name tag.

It was an ID card exclusive to the extermination force, different from a hunter’s license.

Shim Young-jin stared at it silently, then stammered upon seeing a single character written there.

“Eh… Eh… S?”

No matter how he looked at it, the ‘S’ was clearly written.

Knowing what ‘S-class’ meant, Shim Young-jin could only go pale.

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

Kang Young-chan, saying S-class was no big deal.

Who in the world could say that about an S-rank?

Unless they were that person themselves.

Once, Shim Young-jin had asked Song Deok-hoon, an A-rank.

‘What happens if my uncle fights an S-rank?’

‘Well, it depends on who it is, but it might be worth a shot.’

Song Deok-hoon meant it would be possible only if he used all his strength and the opponent held back.

But Shim Young-jin, failing to grasp the true meaning, came to believe that although his uncle was A-rank, he wasn’t far off from S-rank and could soon reach that level himself.

However, there is a huge difference between A-grade and S-grade.

It’s not like the difference between a child and an adult.

It’s a much greater gap—like the difference between a Paleolithic man wielding a hand axe to hunt animals and a modern human launching rockets to explore the moon.

‘This is ridiculous. Why is an S-rank here?’

S-Class aren’t just strong individuals.

They are those capable of bringing change to the world. They are grouped into the category of S above A.

In historical terms, each one is equivalent to a nuclear missile.

‘But why haven’t I seen them before?’

There are a total of three S-rank Hunters in our country.

Compared to other nations, this is not a small number.

The US has 7, Japan has 4, Russia has 3, China has 6, and the European Union has 9.

Even places like India, Canada, and Brazil each have at least one S-Class Hunter.

However, these are only the numbers publicly known.

It’s obvious that there are hidden S-Class Hunters.

And one of them is Kang Young-chan.

“Why, you don’t believe me?”

Kang Young-chan said with a sly smile.

“No! I believe you!”

“I don’t think you do.”

“I swear! You showed me your ID, and I saw everything with my own eyes. How could I not believe you?”

“Heh. Just kidding. What are you gonna do if you don’t believe me?”

“Yes…”

Shim Young-jin replied in a defeated voice.

Then he stared straight at Kang Young-chan.

“Why? Is there a problem?”

“No. I was just wondering why you weren’t leaving….”

The situation with the Giant Horned Ogre was over.

As an examiner, he had safely rescued the examinee, and the examinee must continue with the exam.

Besides, examiners aren’t matched 1:1 with examinees; one examiner has to manage multiple examinees.

Then why.

Why isn’t Kang Young-chan leaving here?

“Huh? Where are you going?”

“I have to take my exam now. Are you going to stay here?”

“Yeah. I will. To watch over you.”

“Huh? Why?”

“Why is Japanese. Don’t worry about it. Just do what you need to do.”

Then Kang Young-chan climbed up a nearby tree.

Shim Young-jin looked up and saw Kang Young-chan grinning.

‘I’m screwed. I failed this test.’

Shim Young-jin grabbed his head again.