The Protagonists Are Murdered by Me-Chapter 1: ‘100 million.’
‘100 million.’
On a desk laid a banknote.
It was my severance pay and life insurance.
100 million.
It was ridiculous.
It was better to die of cancer than to be given this amount.
“The Guild Master would like to express his regret over your retirement.”
“That’s it? Why didn’t he put in a little more money then?”
“I’m sorry, but that’s not my jurisdiction.”
But I knew.
I’m only worth 100 million won to them.
A veteran hunter who had survived for 15 years fighting monsters on the front line.
But without superpowers I was at best a F-Rank hunter whose position in the guild was about the same as a disposable chopstick used a little longer.
Three years after my debut as a hunter I joined the guild and was with them for 12 years since its establishment to its current position, but now I can see that all of it was only worth 100 million.
I understand.
I worked harder than anyone else, but the world wants a person of value rather than just a hard worker.
Since I was just a chopstick without value I guess it was a proper end for a chopstick…
Even now I had never seen this woman before who came to hand over 100 million won.
It’s like a servant of a servant.
Well, this is better for me.
“Then, I hope you live well for the rest of your life.”
Looking at the back of the receding woman I leaned my back against the bed in the hospital room.
‘Haha. Damn it.’
An incurable illness.
There’s something strange in my heart that can’t be seen, and doctors don’t know what it is either.
I was quite calm when the doctor told me my chance of living past this year was slim.
15 years.
I’m the longest F-Rank hunter, right?
Considering that the average activity time of incompetent hunters were about one to two years, I’ve lived longer than expected.
As such, hunters, who did not know when they would die, had a hard time qualifying for insurance.
And if they did die the insurance money would go to their family.
But, I don’t have a family.
That’s why the life insurance money came to me, who’s about to die.
There’s no one to complain to, so 100 million is 100 million.
The families of F-Rank hunters, who either died or retired in the past, had received at least a few billion.
Should I have died a little sooner?
[Breaking news: The death of the 109th A-Rank hunter Yoo Jiwon of Korea.]
News of the death of an A-Rank hunter which was reported a few days ago is still flashing on TV.
I heard that hundreds of billions of dollars went to Yoo Jiwon’s family.
If he dies, 100 million or 100 billion won would go nowhere anyways, but he couldn’t help but feel bad.
I’ve lived for a long time.
That’s what he thought.
‘Fuck…’
I couldn’t even shed a tear in this terrible situation.
I wouldn’t have felt this way if my body was left for dead on the battlefield to a monster.
It wasn’t because of honor, but the idea that I’d rather die to a monster than this miserable death dominated my head.
I wanted to complain.
I wanted to run to the guild master right away and ask him if he was just going to throw me to the wayside like this.
However, I knew the guild master of “Lost Day” was cold-blooded, and would probably keep quiet until I died and then sort things out.
My time is limited, today and tomorrow.
But, even if there was no time limit a regular hunter alone couldn’t fight against a big company.
I leaned my head on the bed and sighed.
‘100 million. First time I’ve come across this amount of money. I’m going to buy something delicious tomorrow…’
The procedure to discharge was not difficult.
Take a lot of painkillers, press the button on the bracelet if you’re sick, and if you die the sensor will react and the hospital will take care of the rest.
As the world changed due to the appearance of monsters 30 years ago it was not uncommon to discharge patients who were dying like me.
There were not enough rooms in the hospital, and no one could stop a hunter, who was on the verge of death, from quietly ending their life outside the hospital.
Thirty years later everything has changed, but the system of that time still remained.
A five-story old villa.
I live in a collapsed building built more than 50 years ago.
If there’s one problem it’s that there is no elevator.
‘Damn it…’
Half a year ago something unknown began to constrict me and I couldn’t do anything intensive.
A little rough activity would shock me and cause me to faint.
I was living with a bomb in my heart.
In other words, in a five-story villa I would have to rest dozens of times on the stairs to get to my home on the fourth floor.
‘Now even spending money properly is difficult because of my physical health.’
However, I’m stuck at home, so I’m going to eat a lot of delivery food I’ve never tried.
Originally, my last supper would not be that luxurious.
Ring, Ring!!
I barely got home and was resting my head against the couch when my smartphone rang.
[Ryu Jinsu: Seodam]
[Ryu Jinsu: I heard you were discharged]
[Taylor Nine: What????Really?]
[Ryu Jinsu: Why didn’t you call me?]
‘Huh. How did he know?’
The group chat room, which has a total of seven people, is a kind of pledge that we all made 15 years ago to walk the path of hunters.
We all debuted at the same time, but now that a long time has passed, everyone is on a different path.
Some became world-class superstars, some became S-rank hunters, and others became masters of a great guild.
On the other hand, I was still just a hunter at the bottom of F-Rank as everyone surpassed me.
I didn’t like this group chat very much, and was in a terrible mood.
I thought about asking for help, but it’s probably impossible.
I haven’t been in touch with them for a long time, but wondered if they could shake Lost Day.
Originally, I rarely chatted here, but I thought I’d say at least one word since it’ll be the last time, so I pressed reply.
[Yoo Seodam: They say there’s no problem]
[Taylor Nine: You should have told me that first, you punk]
[Taylor Nine: I’m free, so I’ll come visit you in Korea since I haven’t gone there in a long time]
[Taylor Nine: Leave the door open]
I laughed as I vaguely recalled her beautiful silvery short hair.
I told them the news of my discharge, but I’ve always been reluctant to reveal my heart, so very few people knew.
Still, the last consolation was that many of my old colleagues and hunters who somehow heard the news visited and contacted me again.
Soon there was a pile of flowers and gifts in the hospital room when I went back to pack my things.
The relationships that I made over the years weren’t in vain.
I should go through all of this.
Though, I’m just a supporting character, and not a tragic hero who dies with an incurable disease.
After throwing my phone away I checked the mail that came while I was away.
Most of them were monthly rentals, water bills, smartphone charges, and game settlements, but there were a few things that stood out.
‘Hunter’s Association Invitation? What’s this?’
What the hell…To a F-Rank hunter like me?
It was a reasonable thought when I read the title of the mail.
They have invited various veteran hunters with at least 10 years of experience to discuss the Hunter industry.
It was extremely rare for hunters to survive for more than 10 years.
Honestly, if you exclude me, you could count on one hand how many there are.
‘I don’t have any fond memories of this place…’
I can’t even go anyway.
An incompetent hunter who has survived for more than 10 years is about to die.
Leaving it folded and checking the remaining mails I saw a white envelope among the most recent ones.
It was made of a very unusual material. I wonder if I’ve ever touched this kind of soft paper in my life.
‘Is it a new material?’
There was no sender attached.
It is just a plain letter with the words ‘To: Yoo Seodam’ beautifully written.
I slowly opened the envelope, and found a sheet of paper inside.
An odd sentence appeared.
[Do you want life?]
At this time.
I must have been possessed.
I thought I was going crazy.
Otherwise how could it suddenly appear.
Nodding my head to the strange sentence that suddenly appeared.
The words faded, and I saw another sentence.
[Do you want to continue living?]
The words faded again.
[If you could live a long life, would you like to live a better life than now?]
[Aren’t you tired of a life without talent, ability, strength, money, or lifespan?]
‘…So what am I supposed to do?’
The words faded again.
[If you could hunt with your own hands the heroes who made you enter the path of a loser and take their talent.]
[Would you do it?]
Take from someone else and make it mine.
It was a logic that might have only been used in the ‘law of the jungle’ era, but somehow I smiled, and nodded in a dejected way.
‘Of course I would, fuck, am I in a position to compromise?’
Yes.
A translucent hologram appeared before my eyes.
[Your Remaining Life: 10 Days 21 hours 39 minutes 23 seconds]
It was none other than my remaining life.
The hologram showed that I had at least 10 days left to live.
Only
<If so, sign the contract.>
<The contract is for you to ‘hunt protagonists.’>
Really? Before giving it much doubt.
My body is dying in the first place.
He was never a superstitious person, but unconsciously he wanted to grasp on this last strand of hope.
For that reason.
There is no one who wouldn’t agree here.
<The contract has been signed.>
