Evolution Theory of the Hunter

Evolution Theory of the Hunter (ETH)
Volume 1 Chapter 18

"Hey maybe you should calm down a bit. You might get hurt."

"Shut your d.a.m.n mouth!"

Lee Hansol opened his arms and grabbed me.

Chop!

"Keuk!"

I made a small chop to his adam’s apple. He started backing up while coughing up a storm. What I wanted…no…what I needed were attacks I could practice dodging. If someone decided to lay hands on me, I had no choice but to fight back to keep them back at bay.

Woos.h.!.+

A branch flew at my head. Yeah. Something like this. This was good.

But. Where did they get this?

After dodging the branch, I grabbed a foot that was flying towards me and flung it (and the boy attached to the other end) away. He seemed to float in the air for a few seconds before cras.h.i.+ng to the ground.

"Did he just throw Jongpal?"

"s.h.i.+t. Is he a hunter?"

After seeing me toss a grown person into the air with just one hand, the kids started to get a little nervous.

"Like h.e.l.l he is! He doesn’t even have any equipment on him so what does it matter?"

Lee hansol yelled out. Maybe it was because of the coughing but his voice sounded hoa.r.s.e and scratchy.

"Just kick all their a.s.ses!"

Jung Sooah was shaking her fist as she yelled out to me. I ignored her and took a step closer to the group of kids.

They all took a step back.

"I’m a bit disappointed. I thought you guys would be able to put up more of a fight than this."

I said this in Lee Hansol’s direction. I even made a snorting noise to goad him. Since he had a nasty temper and seemed like the leader of the pack, I figured if I egged him on just right …everyone else would follow his lead.

I guess my acting wasn’t too shabby because boy did he turn red.

"You b.a.s.t.a.r.d. You’re so dead. s.h.i.+t."

He pulled out a knife from an inside pocket. It was a folding knife with a serrated blade. Maybe I should have worn a protective best.

"Everyone attack!"

"s.h.i.+t. But what if.."

"Just do what I say!"

Pop!

Smas.h.!.+

After he yelled out, Lee Hansol pulled out a beer bottle from his backpack and broke it on a nearby boulder. Looks like these punks were here to drink out in the middle of the day.

"Aren’t you guys underage?"

"Old lady. If you’re going to keep being loud and annoying you should just get lost."

Smack!

The boy who just said that got a tennisball right in the face and fell back. He probably broke his nose.

"Who’s an old lady?"

She yelled out as she rolled another tennis ball in her hand. I could hear Lee Hansol grinding his teeth in anger. It wasn’t going the way he planned at all.

"Kill them both!"

"Ahhhh!"

The knife, broken beer bottle, and branch all came at me. Now this was a different attack from simple flurries of fists. These attacks were aiming for any part of my body that was most vulnerable.

"SunbehOppa!"

Smack!

The one brandis.h.i.+ng the broken beer bottle at the very front collapsed after being smacked right on the forehead with a tennis ball. The same happened to the second guy. And behind him was Lee Hansol with his knife.

Whoos.h.!.+

I shrugged so the blade would miss me. I grabbed him by the back of his neck and threw him.

The branch hit me in the back. Alright. I’ll give you guys that one.

But when another broken bottle came right where my face was, I grabbed the offending arm and twisted it.

Crack!

"Ahh! s.h.i.+t!"

"This b.a.s.t.a.r.d!"

I then stepped on one foot with my left, brought my right knee up, took his face in both hands and smashed it into my knee. He spun like a top a few times before falling over.

Smack!

Still another one dropped to the floor from Jung Sooah’s tennis b.a.l.l.s.

There were two more left to go. Lee Hansol, who had gotten back up after being tossed, and the one holding the branch.

As I rubbed my neck and walked towards them,, the branch boy dropped what he was holding and ran away.

"Dont. Don’t come any closer!"

Lee Hansol yelled out as he tried to stab at me with

"Hey you. If you’re a student, shouldn’t you be studying instead of running around doing this s.h.i.+t? Where did you pick up all these bad habits from?"

"What? s.h.i.+t. What the h.e.l.l are you talking about right now when we’re in the middle of a fight?"

"Ok fine. So then what’ll it be? Do you want to keep holding onto that and get the c.r.a.p beaten out of you? Or do you want to drop it and get the c.r.a.p beaten out of you?"

"Stop talking and come at me! You b.a.s.t.a.r.d! s.h.i.+t s.h.i.+t! You stupid b.a.s.t.a.r.d! I’m going to kill you!"

"You should read some books. Do you even have more than 100 words in your vocabulary?"

"Ahhhh!"

I guess he finally snapped.

I just kicked at his leg as he ran at me.

Snap!

There was a huge sound before he twirled in the air. Oops. Looks like I used way more force than I intended to. I could see his leg was twisted in a weird angle (probably broken) and his head would probably hit the ground first.

The ground was concrete. If he falls at that speed headfirst, his neck would probably snap. Best case scenario he would be paralyzed…worst case scenario he would be dead.

I wanted to keep it from happening, but my leg was still in the air from the momentum of the kick and I wouldn’t make it in time. I wouldn’t be able to grab him safely.

Right before his head slammed into the ground.

The whole world seemed to slow down.

Pop!

The same time I heard a pop sound, Lee Hansol’s body flew back.

I saw him tumbling a few times before he finally stopped after rolling into a vending machine.

"..Hoo."

I raised my chin and made a sigh of relief. Right before his head met with the unforgiving concrete, I completed my kick full-circle and used the same leg to kick back into his stomach.

It would probably hurt like h.e.l.l but. I guess a stomach rupture is better than being dead.

The ambulance came with the police and took away all the injured kids. It was broad daylight so there were quite a few witnesses who could vouch for us. The police had, at first, aimed their guns at me but later apologized after finding out what had happened.

This is why witnesses are so important.

"Even though they were students, since there were 10 of them and were using weapons, this will be filed as self defense. But since there were quite a few injured, we will still need you to come with us. We need to take a statement from you."

"That’s fine."

I made a deep sigh and followed them to the station. This was my first time in a cop car but it was quite comfortable.

As soon as we stepped into the station, everyone looked our way.

"Oh. Is he the one who fought 10 to 1?"

A middle aged man in civilian clothes said as if amused. It looks like the news had already spread. As they were taking my statement down, Jung Sooah remained quiet next to me the entire time. I thought she would be loud and make a fuss so I was thankful for that.

The police asked.

"Girlfriend?"

"Is that what it looks like?"

Before I could say anything, Jung Sooah poked her head forward and asked. The police made an uncomfortable cough before looking back at me.

"She’s someone helping me to train."

"It looks like your occupation is a porter. So what do you mean by training? You had a bunch of tennis b.a.l.l.s with you."

"Reflex training. Throwing and dodging."

When I made a throwing motion, he nodded his head as if he understood and continued going through his doc.u.ments. Then he slit his eyes and asked.

"Hm. It looks like there’s a record of you having gone to a dungeon? Did you go there as a hunter?"

"Yes. I luckily came by some hunter grade equipment…"

"Wait a second. Mr. Kyeongwee! Can you come here for a minute!"

The officer called for someone and continued looking through my doc.u.ments again. It was a general rule that hunters received additional punishment if they injured a civilian.

Of course, since it was already agreed that I fought in self defense, I wasn’t too worried.

"Did you by any chance have any weapon of any kind on you?"

Mr. Kyeongwee asked.

"No. I was bare handed. The only thing that could have been a weapon are those tennis b.a.l.l.s."

"Hm…I guess it just concerns me that the injuries are so severe."

"Wasn’t this self defense?"

Sooah asked. It was then.

"Who the h.e.l.l is it! What b.a.s.t.a.r.d beat the s.h.i.+t out of my son!"

Someone had started barking at the top of his lungs the moment he stepped into the station. It was a forty something looking man dressed in a suit, and he was acting as if he owned the place. He finally spied me and slowly walked toward me.

"Was it you! You s.h.i.+t! You dare cripple my son?"

And he finished it off with a slap aimed at my face.

Woosh.

"You s.h.i.+t. How dare you dodge it!"

"Please calm down Hansol’s father. At least take a seat…"

The cops who had followed quickly behind tried to placate the man. It looks like this man is Hansol’s dad. I wondered where he got his bad temper from. Now I know.