I Have Awakened, but Mosquitoes Are My Enemies

Gate Evolution (3)

‘Is it running away?’

At first it seems to be slowly moving backwards, but then it vanishes into the fog so fast that it resembles a panther.

Junyoung throws a punch or two at it while chasing after it, but he gives up when the vampire disappears into the mist.

‘It’s no use.’

He stopped while breathing heavily.

‘What a waste. I could have levelled up a lot if I’d killed it.’

None of the Vampire’s attacks worked on Junyoung.

But Junyoung’s punch after punch dealt the creature a small but continuous damage.

At first he thought it was insignificant, but the cumulative damage must have been too much for the vampire to bear.

‘Then again, there’s no point in holding a weapon and swinging it around.’

Only his fists were effective.

Only then was he able to activate <Agile Hands> and deal damage to the creature, like when swatting mosquitoes.

‘If only my level was a little higher…’

It’s a shame, in more ways than one.

But it’s encouraging.

Even if I couldn’t kill the vampire, I was able to chase it away

‘Anyway,At least I won.’

It’s quite an achievement to confront and repel a Rank 2 monster head-on with only his bare hands.

It might be a mental victory, but it feels satisfying nonetheless.

His abilities were not detected by the equipment, so he was barely recognized as an F-rank hunter.

I wonder what Kwak Sang-woo, the head of Hunter Management would think if he had seen this.

‘Maybe he’ll acknowledge me as a C rank Hunter.’

No.

Although it’s only limited to vampires, if you can single-handedly defeat a 2-star monster, you should at least be a B rank Hunter.

‘If I do well, I might even be able to become a B rank Hunter.’

Junyoung suddenly stumbled.

‘Did I push myself too hard?’

I didn’t realise it when I was fighting, but my whole body feels tired.

【Name】 Kang Junyoung

【LEVEL】 4

【Mana】 52/200

I’ve only got about a quarter of my mana left.

I didn’t notice it until now because I didn’t have time to look at it.

Suddenly, three-quarters of his total mana was gone, leaving Junyoung confused.

‘What happened?’

Even though he had spread mana mosquito nets on the special forces members, it still wouldn’t use a tenth of his total mana.

That meant that it had been automatically used up during the fight against the 2-star vampire..

‘Do special abilities consume mana?’

When fighting against mosquitoes, there didn’t seem to be any mana consumption.

However, mosquitoes, which are tiny insects, and 2-star vampires are on a completely different level.

This means that Vampiric Immunity will consume mana when fighting against such formidable enemies.

‘I’ll have to be careful not to run out of mana.’

This is why it’s important to level up.

This will increase the maximum amount of mana as well as the power of the special abilities.

Naturally, I’ll also be able to take on stronger vampires.

‘But what a disaster.’

There’s a pool of blood nearby.

Horrible corpses that look like something straight out of a horror movie.

A shiver runs down my spine.

‘How many people have died here?’

They were People who were killed by the vampire.

From what Jun-young has seen, there are more than five bodies.

His heart swells for a moment, but it soon subsides.

The rosy fantasy fades away, replaced by the harsh reality.

‘I took being a hunter too lightly.’

This is a real battlefield.

The citizens outside the walls don’t realise the horrific war that’s being fought between humans and monsters inside the walls.

It’s not a place that I would want to come back to.

‘But now that I’ve become a Hunter, I must endure it.’

I don’t intend to avoid it just because I’m afraid.

On the contrary, the most frightening thing for him is to remain as an incompetent unemployed person.

A life ruined by his poor physique.

‘How I yearned to be a capable person.’

‘Of course, there’s no need to take unnecessary risks.’

Let’s not be too greedy.

For the time being, I’ll stick to killing easy bloodsuckers and level up as much as I can.

‘Until then, it might be best to make some money by selling mana mosquito net buffs.’

It may not make me a lot of money, but it’s safe.

There’s no such thing as easy money in the world.

‘Finally, I can see the car.’

As I head to the other side of the fog, I see familiar terrain.

The sounds of the Hunters and the Special Forces communicating with each other can be heard again.

One of them spots Jun-young staggering along and immediately rushes to his aid.

“You must be a F rank Hunter. Which side are you from?”

The Special Forces member asked as Jun-young showed him his temporary hunter licence.

“I was at the west gate, then came here through the south gate.”

“We can’t get through to the south gate right now, can you describe the situation over there?”

“It’s total annihilation.”

Junyoung briefly explained what he had seen there.

He didn’t mention that he’d confronted a 2-star vampire and chased it away.

There’s no point in saying it if no one is going to believe it anyway.

Meanwhile,the sound of special forces members and newly arrived hunters moving hastily could be heard.

“I’ll take my leave then.”

“Are you injured anywhere?”

“No, I’m just a bit tired, but otherwise I’m fine.”

“I see.”

Junyeong then safely made it outside the barrier.

Fortunately, Junyeong spotted Yujongsu’s vehicle and took off the special protective suit that he was wearing. He left it inside the car and changed into his original suit.

‘Let’s go home and get some rest.’

It’s 6pm.

It felt as though an entire day had elapsed while I was within the walls, but in reality, only a few hours had passed.

* * *

“A disaster grade 5 gate has appeared near Dumulmeori, Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi Province, making authorities nervous. Currently, with the help of hunters from the National Security Guard and hunters from various guilds, the monsters that escaped from the gate have been dealt with——.”

“The disaster grade7 gate in Children’s Grand Park at Gwangjin, Seoul, has been flooded. Fortunately, with the help of high ranked hunter hunters, including rank A hunter Kwak Hye-na, the situation has been cleared up, but the monsters that escaped during the flooding caused a number of casualties among special forces and members of the National Guard.”

“Some experts believe that the Children’s Grand Park Gate may have evolved into a disaster grade 6 gate, but Kwak Sang-woo, the head of the Hunter Management Division of the Disaster Safety Bureau of Gwangjin-gu Office, said that the situation is still being assessed, so it is not yet confirmed whether it has evolved into a grade 6 gate——-.”

Junyeong woke up from his sleep because of  the sound of the TV news that was coming from the living room.

‘Hmm?’

The current time is 8pm.

As soon as he returned home after escaping the outer wall of the Children’s Park gate, he collapsed as if all his strength had been drained away.

It’s because he’s so tired.

When his parents asked him why he was so late, he told them that he would explain it to them later, then he walked into his room and promptly collapsed in his bed.

It has become a common occurrence whenever Jun young pushes himself a little too hard, so his parents thought it was the same reason.

‘For how long did I sleep?’

It feels like I slept for over an hour.

Maybe that’s why I feel so energised.

Before awakening, even though fatigue was recovered through sleep, I didn’t experience this kind of energy.

‘My stamina has improved a lot since I reached Level 4.’

Still, I couldn’t help but collapse earlier because I pushed myself too hard.

It’s natural to feel exhausted after fighting against a 2-star vampire. Even for experienced hunters, it’s tiring to be in such a situation.

“Jun-young, are you awake? If you are,come join us for dinner.”

His mom, Lee Kyung-sun, called out to him as she heard him stirring in his room.

“Sure, let me change my clothes.”

I was still in the suit which I wore earlier, so I changed into comfortable clothes.

As he entered the living room and sat down on the sofa, his father Kang Du-seong, who had been watching TV, turned it off using the remote and looked at Junyeong with a concerned look.

“Are you feeling okay?”

“Yes, I feel much better after getting some sleep.”

“I told you not to push yourself too hard, but where did you go?”

“That’s right.”

Junyoung’s heart skipped a beat.

Now that he had got his temporary hunter licence (Class F), the time had come to tell them the truth that he had been hiding.

“Why can’t your dad know what you’re trying to do, is it because you don’t want to tell me?”

“It’s not like that, actually.”

“It’s okay. Don’t worry about it. If the interview doesn’t work out, what’s the big deal? There are plenty of other opportunities, right?”

Kang Doo-sung is trying to comfort his son, thinking that Jun-young must have gone for a job interview somewhere and got rejected.

“Yeah, Jun-young. It’s probably for the best. Since you have a weak physique it’s better to find something you can do from home. When you get tired while working you can just rest and take a nap. And when you recover a bit, you can work a little and take a break again.”

That’s what his mom, Lee Kyung-sun, said.

Jun-young was dumbfounded.

“Where in the world does such an easy job exist?”

“Well, if you look for it, you’ll find it. Nowadays, if you have a computer, you can write novels and broadcast from home.”

“Jun-young, now that we’re on the topic, why don’t you become a web novel writer?” Kang Doo-sung said.

Jun-young looked dumbfounded.

“A web novel writer?”

“Yeah. These days your Dad’s friend’s son is making good money writing web novels. I read it once, but it wasn’t anything special. Jun-young, you write pretty well too, don’t you?”

Just then, the bathroom door opened and someone interrupted.

“Yeah, you’re right. Junyeong used to be good at writing when he was younger. I recommend you to become a web novel writer.”

It was his younger brother, Kang Joon-seok.

He had just gotten out of the shower after coming home from work and was standing there in his boxers.

“You! How many times have I told you not to walk around in your underwear?”

“Hehe, it’s inside the home, what’s the big deal, Mom?”

“Come here, let me give you a spanking!”

At that, Jun-suk freaked out and fled to his room.

‘Haah’

Junyoung sighed.

He couldn’t find the right moment to tell them that he had just become a F rank Hunter.

‘Now is the time.’

It would be distracting if my brother Junseok was around, so I should tell my parents first.

How surprised would everyone be if I told them that their unemployed weak son had become a F rank hunter that they had always dreamed of?

‘End of suffering, beginning of happiness, finally the prime of my life has arrived.’

Of course, I’ve realized today that being a hunter is not as easy as it seems.

Then again, is there any job in the world that isn’t hard?

“Mom, Dad! I have something important to tell you.”

“Okay. Go ahead.”

As Junyeong spoke with a more serious tone than usual, Kang Duseong and Lee Kyung-sun looked at him, wondering what was going on.

“Oh no! Something big has happened! The disaster grade of the Children’s Park gate has been confirmed as Grade 6! There’s a breaking news article about it right now!”

As Junseok entered the room and shouted, Kang Duseong let out a long sigh.

“Even without you telling us, I saw it on the news earlier. They said it wasn’t confirmed as a grade 6 disaster, but it turned out to be, didn’t it?”

“It’s a big deal. Should we consider moving houses? If it’s a grade 6 disaster how can we live in peace here?”

Lee Kyung-sun’s face is also full of worry.

“Well, moving houses won’t make much of a difference whether it’s 7th grade or 6th grade, right? So far, there haven’t been any instances where monsters have come out from the gate’s outer walls.”

“True,But the housing prices are likely to plummet.”

If the gate’s grade increases, it makes nearby residents anxious.

It’s human nature to want to live somewhere safer.

Naturally, the housing prices would decrease as a result.

However, unless a new gate suddenly appears, a mere grade 6 evolution is unlikely to have a significant impact on housing prices.

That’s because the barriers around the existing gates are strong.

“That’s not what’s important right now.”

The fact that the Children’s Grand Park gate was evolved into grade 6 is not news to Junyoung.

He was there when that happened.

That’s not what matters now.

“I became a rank F Hunter today!”