MNP Ch3

Bang-

The bullet that cut through the air grazed a hunter’s shoulder. The hunter staggered but regained balance, erratically turning the bike’s head to make aiming difficult as he fled. He was clearly aiming for the head…. Another bullet flew and hit the sand next to the bike’s wheel, kicking up a cloud. The semi-automatic made it hard to aim due to the vibration. Of course, this was because Seokha’s skills varied greatly from day to day. Instead, Barn’s quick shot aimed for a hunter’s neck. One bike crashed into a sand pit. One of the unconscious traders also rolled in the sand.

“At this rate, he’s going to kill an innocent person…”

Watching Barn’s antics, Seokha took aim again. He pulled the trigger towards a bike that had gone quite far. The bullet that grazed the hunter’s head disappeared. The distance had become considerable for Barn to shoot. As Seokha focused again and was about to pull the trigger, a jeep suddenly entered his scope.

“Barn!”

Seokha and Barn froze at the captain’s thunderous voice. The bike swerved sharply to avoid the jeep that cut in front to block its path. The captain’s gun, emerging from the window, split the hunter’s head. The captain violently opened the jeep door and got out. Then he pulled back the cloth wrapped around the person slumped over the now sputtering bike.

“It’s her! My daughter!”

The captain, grabbing his own child by the collar and stuffing her into the jeep, approached Barn like a demon. Seokha, lowering his aimed gun, let out a sigh of relief. Being far away, he was thankful not to be there. The captain’s aura was enough to make one instinctively clasp their hands.

“Who told you to act alone! If I hadn’t come because of the gunshots, we might have lost them all!”

“No, no. They looked like they were about to run… So…”

“Don’t be hasty. And you! Why are you just standing there like it’s none of your business!”

Seokha smiled awkwardly as he met the captain’s eyes. He needed to hurry down to get scolded less. Just as Seokha was about to step down the sand dune quickly, Barn suddenly shouted.

“Seokha, behind you…!”

“Huh?”

When he turned around at the urgent cry, Seokha faced a pitch-black gas mask. The gas mask he had only seen through the telescope was surprisingly close. Two of them, in fact. Before he could think to dodge, his waist was grabbed.

“Ugh!”

His body was lifted slightly and pressed against the hunter’s side. The rifle he was holding fell onto the sand dune. The arm gripping his waist was unusually strong. Seokha tried to remove the hand while sweating coldly, but it was futile. As the hunter sitting on the back of the bike took out a syringe and stuck the needle in his neck, the last thing Seokha heard was Barn’s voice before his eyelids heavily closed.

“Seokha-!”

***

Seokha blinked several times due to his blurry vision. The vibrations transmitted throughout his body and the occasional violent shaking all around made him feel like he was going to be sick. He wondered why his body felt uncomfortable, only to realize his arms were tied behind his back. Seokha shifted his body. His left arm was too numb. After lying straight, he turned to his right side and came face to face with a gas mask. Reflexively, he closed his eyes. Perhaps it looked like he was pretending to sleep unintentionally, as a small laugh erupted from inside the gas mask. Seokha slowly opened his eyes.

“Hey! Did it come off?”

The hunter sitting in front shouted. Another voice came through the thick cloth. Apparently, they had switched to a truck. Would the recovery team be chasing me? Seokha slightly regretted readily helping Barn’s rash action in the past.

“Ah. I feel like I can breathe now.”

The hunter took off his gas mask and threw it aside. He was a young man with very messy hair. The hunter’s blue eyes came close. Seokha pulled his head back. They looked like the sky on a clear day, or perhaps like the sea he had never seen before.

“Why are you recoiling? You’re hurting my feelings.”

“Move your face away.”

Seokha, seeing blue eyes for the first time in his life, finally noticed the hunter’s face right in front of him. He thought he was an adult because of his large build, but his face looked quite young. He was more of a boy than a man.

“It’s my first time seeing an Alma. It was tough to catch you… But I caught you.”

He definitely seemed… young. The hunter spoke with his chin slightly raised, as if boasting to the innocent victim he had captured.

Seokha chose silence, thinking nothing good would come from cursing. After briefly looking around the truck covered with cloth, he asked without expecting an answer:

“Where are we?”

“Here? Um… where was it again.”

Unexpectedly, the hunter rustled around and pulled out a map from his pocket. It was a map so folded that the creases wouldn’t even smooth out properly. Here is…. After studying the map for a while, the hunter gave an answer.

“The ‘Primordial Desert’.”

“Ah, shit…”

“What did you say?”

“Nothing.”

Seokha closed his eyes tightly and opened them again. He wondered how long he had been unconscious, to have come so far already. As far as he knew, the ‘Primordial Desert’ was at the entrance of the desert, not far from reaching the marketplace. It would take some time to reorganize the recovery team and come after them.

Swallowing a sigh, Seokha briefly scanned the hunter looking down at him. The hunter, who had been sitting up, suddenly bent his upper body towards Seokha with an “Oh.” The round blue eyes were burdensome.

“Hey, but you speak ‘Nute language’?”

Even more than I expected… This time, Seokha didn’t swallow but let out a sigh.

Seokha wanted to arrive at the marketplace as soon as possible. He wanted to get out of the truck as quickly as he could. The young hunter, realizing that Seokha could communicate, started rambling about things that didn’t need to be discussed. Unable to check the time, he estimated that at least two hours had passed.

“I heard Almas were so strangely shaped that they were hard to look at, but seeing you, that doesn’t seem to be the case. Almas are immediately moved to facilities, so you wouldn’t believe how many guys hang around the marketplace just to see an Alma.”

In two hours, Seokha learned that the hunter had not been doing this job for long, that he wanted to earn money to buy a house near the marketplace, along with several small future plans. He was a guy with no manners or consideration for the victim he was going to sell. Seokha fidgeted.

“Ah, I see… But my arms are really hurting.”

Can you loosen them a bit?

After listening to this much, surely he could at least untie his arms. Seokha clenched and unclenched his numb fists.

“That’s not possible.”

“That’s too much.”

The mouth that had been chattering uselessly firmly refused. When he turned to lie down, the hunter grabbed his arm and turned him back, complaining about being ignored, so he had to keep supporting his body weight on his right arm. Seokha spoke with rare irritation in his voice.

“Then tie them in front. I can’t escape from here anyway.”

“Hmm…”

The hunter annoyingly pondered. “Well, alright.”

The hunter approached on his knees and stretched out his arm. Seokha, suddenly faced with someone else’s crotch, groaned and closed his eyes. He should have turned over or something… Unable to move due to the tight grip on his arm and the untying of the rope, he remained motionless.

“Is that better now?”

“Ugh…”

His shoulders, fixed in place for a long time, made a cracking sound as they rotated. The hands tied on his stomach were released. He felt a bit better. As he slowly moved his stiff arms, Seokha discovered one mistake the hunter had made. It seemed clear that he hadn’t been hunting for long.

“Now… about three hours left, I guess.”

The hunter lifted the cloth slightly to look outside. Red earth was visible. The desert had ended, and as they got out of the jeep, the revolver he had tucked securely inside his clothes pressed against his forearm. Perhaps he could return before the recovery team arrived. Inwardly rejoicing at the hunter’s inexperience, Seokha waited for his one chance.

“But you’re more docile than I expected?”

The hunter turned to look at Seokha, who was lying there helplessly. Having slept enough and with the tension gone, he was now stroking his hollow stomach, feeling hungry.

“It’s not like I can do anything anyway.”

“That’s true.”

Suddenly, the hunter exclaimed, “Ah! Are you waiting for recovery?”

Seokha, who hadn’t responded to the hunter’s words, sat up with a jerk. Leaning his back against the bag that was sprawled out, he felt nauseous. It was the first time in his life he had been in a car for so long.

“They say they can’t follow this far.”

The hunter examined the crumpled map again. That may be so. But I think I might be able to handle just one of you. While the hunter was studying the map, Seokha slipped his hand inside his clothes. Though his posture might look ridiculous with both hands tied, the hunter in front of him was too busy looking at the map.

“What are you doing?”

At that moment, Seokha’s gaze met the blue eyes. He had grabbed the handle, but the revolver was caught in the folds of his clothes and wouldn’t come out, hidden just one layer below.

“…I’m hungry.”

The hunter’s brow furrowed as he stared at Seokha. …I should have said I was just itchy. The hunter stood up. Looking up from his seated position, Seokha saw that his build was large enough to fill the entire truck. Unable to avoid the direct gaze, Seokha froze. The hunter leaned down and reached out to Seokha.

A hand large enough to cover Seokha’s entire face approached. And then it grabbed the bag Seokha was leaning against.

“You should have said so.”

Surprisingly… Although his expression didn’t show it, cold sweat seeped from the hand holding the revolver. And for a moment, he wondered. How could I possibly handle this guy? He’s built just like a Nute…