READ NOVEL ONLINE Episode 31
“7.5 million won… This is serious…”
I carefully reread the compensation claim, hand on my throbbing temple. Beside me, Hyun So-ra muttered gravely, even pausing her late dinner.
“I wonder if there’s any way to get the money…” I mumbled glumly.
Hyun So-ra glanced at me. “Um, couldn’t we ask the Sky Children’s Foundation for help?”
“If we tell them, they’d probably send some support funds… But the foundation is responsible for so many sponsored kids…”
I trailed off, but Hyun So-ra seemed to catch my meaning.
No matter how I glared at the numbers on the paper, nothing changed.
Though the zombie wave gate had ended, the damage was extensive given the hundreds of monsters that had appeared at once.
The cafeteria was quiet; all second-year students and headquarters staff had been mobilized for damage recovery.
Only five first-year students, excluding the still-unconscious Yeo Wook, were having dinner together.
“Hey. Don’t be stupid, just pass it on to Samun Electronics,” Hong Ji-sang, who’d been quietly listening, spat out disapprovingly.
“Right? 7.5 million might be a lot for us, but it’s pocket change for Samun.”
Hong Ji-sang’s eyebrows twitched in discontent as our eyes met. But there was no justifiable reason for Samun Electronics to share the ambulance compensation.
“But this compensation has nothing to do with Yeo Wook.”
“Ah, shit, you’re so frustrating. The one with money should pay. They could make that by selling just ten smartwatches. Can’t you do the math?”
This guy just doesn’t get it. As I frowned, Kang Chagyeong timidly spoke up.
“Sun-woo, I think…”
“I’m leaving first.” Lee Chan-yu cut off Chagyeong as she stood up with her tray.
Though his cheeks reddened, Chagyeong continued. “I think, even though it happened in the ambulance… we could still bring it up with Samun Electronics. You and Wook were both on the news, right? Anyway, thanks to you, Wook got exposure too… So maybe we could at least try talking to them…”
His voice diminished as he observed my serious expression. “I just thought so…” he mumbled, fiddling with his side dishes.
The cafeteria TV showed footage of the disaster site. Occasionally, Yeo Wook and I appeared driving a car with its roof open. The Samun Electronics patch on Yeo Wook’s arm was noticeable as he aimed his gun.
Would Samun Electronics accept Chagyeong’s suggestion? As I pondered, the news changed.
—The authorities are struggling with increasing illegal hunter gambling sites. Suspicions grow that active hunters are involved in operating these sites.
“Illegal hunter gambling…” I muttered, staring at the blurred gambling site on screen.
Hyun So-ra’s eyes widened as she noticed my fixed gaze. Kang Chagyeong’s mouth opened slightly.
“Sun-woo…! That path is not okay!” Hyun So-ra exclaimed, grabbing my sleeve as if trying to stop a friend from crime.
Kang Chagyeong, half-risen, had eyes trembling with confusion.
“What… It’s not like that!!” I shrieked.
Only Hong Ji-sang leisurely bit into his egg roll.
* * *
Hunto.
That was the name of the hunter gambling organized by the Gate Disaster Response Headquarters.
As the term ‘illegal’ hunter gambling suggests, government-controlled hunter gambling was legally accessible.
For some unknown reason, the S-class hunter Choi Eutteum had the nickname ‘gambling addiction therapist’.
This shallow knowledge was all I knew. Typing ‘Hunto’ into the search bar of Hyun So-ra’s borrowed laptop brought up a massive amount of information.
Hunto was structured similarly to sports betting. I heard there was much opposition when hunter gambling was first introduced, but now it had become a stable income source. More than three times the money of sports betting was changing hands.
When all monsters from an opened gate were either dead or incapacitated, the gate was considered exterminated. The system would then announce the gate’s exterminator—who contributed most to the gate’s extermination.
Predicting the exterminator before the gate closed was Hunto’s basic operating principle.
I stared at the mascot smiling brightly with a speech bubble:
[All Hunto fees are used for the Gate Disaster Response Headquarters Development Fund].
[Predict Seoul Gate Exterminator]
[Predict Gyeonggi-do Gate Exterminator] …
[Predict Gangwon-do Gate Exterminator]
The gate exterminator predictions, classified by administrative districts, were pre-set for 10 rounds, perhaps to prevent confusion. They seemed to disappear in order of occurrence.
It looked more accessible than sports betting, where you predict several game outcomes. No wonder it’s doing well.
Browsing the official Hunto site, I discovered one impressive number: the odds of 1.0 allocated to Choi Eutteum.
This meant if the prediction that Choi Eutteum would exterminate the next Gangwon-do gate was correct, you’d get back exactly the amount you bet.
In other words, betting on Choi Eutteum was meaningless. She would succeed in extermination without needing prediction.
Of course, due to overwhelming bets on Choi Eutteum, odds for other Gangwon-do hunters exceeded 10. However, those tempted by these high numbers were bound to lose.
Whether you bet on Choi Eutteum or not, the result was always unsatisfactory. Perhaps that’s why she was nicknamed ‘gambling addiction therapist’.
Since there was no space for users’ opinions on the official site, I moved to the more accessible ‘Hunter Masters’.
‘Huh? That’s strange.’
When I typed ‘Hunto’ into the cafe’s post search bar, nothing came up. As I browsed in confusion, a notice in bold red caught my eye.
[(Notice) All posts related to Hunto are strictly prohibited.]
There are too many disputes among members because of Hunto. After discussion among the administrators, we’ve agreed to immediately expel anyone who mentions Hunto, even casually.
Ah.
It made sense, given that many people lose their minds over money. If information on the official Hunto site was scant, and even the trusted cafe prohibited mentions…
I started to roughly form a plan while searching for necessary information by entering ‘Hunto’ into the world’s largest search engine.
Things might work out well and Samun Electronics might quietly pay the compensation, but considering the contract with the devil, it was better to resolve the debt on my own. Of course, this assumed success.
Hyun So-ra and Kang Chagyeong’s misunderstanding was groundless.
To be clear, I’m not aiming for illegal hunter gambling. Nor am I saying I’ll do legal Hunto. How can a minor gamble, legal or illegal?
Coincidentally, one search result showed an image for ‘Illegal Gambling Site Report Reward’. It emphasized ‘Maximum reward of 10 million won’ in typical government font.
It seemed I had secured some presence with the gods, so now it was time to make a proper contribution. Paying off the debt along the way would be nice.
Finding the address of the illegal Hunto site blurred in the news wasn’t difficult. Without much effort, a name popped up when I typed ‘Hunto unofficial site’ into the search engine.
It was ‘Play Ground’. The numerous related posts indicated this was the largest illegal site in the country.
Upon accessing it, I was greeted by colorful banners of illegal sites. The flickering ads were so eye-straining that I couldn’t help but frown.
The free board on the left side was accessible without registration. Unsurprisingly, all users seemed to have seen the news.
[Is the Play Ground owner really a hunter?]
Is it true?
┗ Nah, no evidence. Just trash reporters talking nonsense
[PlayG will never go down~]
Even the official Hunto users have all come here. Just shut up and bet on the next Seoul gate.
┗ Already all-in on Nam Hanju.
┗ The kids’ dad needs to return to work soon… It’s tough picking one of the A-ranks every time
┗┗ If the kids’ dad returns, Seoul gate betting becomes completely boring. Do you want it to end up like Gangwon-do?
The illegal site users left comments, laughing as if enjoying grand entertainment. While carefully reading, I organized the information about ‘Play Ground’ in my head.
[There’s a lot of talk about the PlayG owner]
If the police really had the ability to catch them, would they leak it to the media? They’d catch them quietly, tsk tsk
As gate closure approached, explicit curses towards hunters in the posts increased exponentially.
Most were posts of people throwing tantrums because their bet on a hunter didn’t become the exterminator.
‘These people are completely addicted to gambling.’
They seemed to spend all day focused only on Hunto, pouring their lives into it.
Unlike sports betting, gates can happen anytime, so they were glued to the illegal site even at the cost of sleep.
There seemed to be a reason why it was broadcast right after the disaster site on the news. Clicking my tongue, I focused on posts mentioning the ‘owner’.
[Stop saying nonsense about the PlayG owner being a hunter and let me tell you how to really shut down PlayG]
Scout the PlayG owner and revamp the official Hunto, I won’t do the official one until it’s revamped lol
┗ People who spend money on the official site are the biggest suckers lolololol With the brain that spends money on a site where Choi Eutteum’s odds are 1.0, well…
┗┗ For real, the max bet is only 100,000 won, and the odds are trash; What’s the advantage? Might as well just skip Hunto altogether rather than do the official one;;
Most people dismissed the suspicion that the ‘Play Ground’ operator was a hunter as baseless.
Is that really the case, I wondered, when a long narration box appeared.
「On the evening of the launch day, Tito sits silently in front of the computer with his arms crossed. On the monitor, an illegal webtoon site that has already uploaded all the captured paid content of
Judging by Tito’s attitude, illegal activities seemed rampant even in the divine realm. If I could help dismantle such sites in the human world, wouldn’t Tito like me a bit more?
I scrutinized the ad-filled internet window again. I needed more information to properly form a plan.
As I returned to the main screen, I discovered a post that hadn’t been visible just minutes ago.
“Hm?”
A puzzled groan escaped my mouth as I read the title of that post.