Chapter 2 – First Hour (1)

“Sick. Even if you give it a nickname, what is [Ada Bomber]?”

After the terrible entrance ceremony, I faced my friends. Friends I haven’t seen in a while seem more curious about the fact that I’ve given my nickname [Ada Bomber] Than the fact that I’ve become an awakened person. One of my friends shoveled a glass of soju into his mouth and chimed in.

“So fuck. If it were me, I would have built something really cool. There is such a thing uh? Gao Geiger. Uh?”

“Hey, isn’t that the name of a cartoon character?”

I shouted at my friend who was trying to imitate cool while posing strangely. My friend shook his head and looked at me with pitiful eyes.

“Ada is better than a bomber. Hey, what a stupid kid. It’s a bomber. Legend, really. Hey, think about it. If your nickname was GaoGaiGeo, I would have tried to shake your hand from all sides as soon as the entrance ceremony was over. Fuck you.”

“Shut up fuck. Because of that, I’ve been really suffering. Damn, why do you call people by their nicknames at the entrance ceremony? Really.”

My friends all giggled at my irritation. When I was about to die, another friend patted me on the shoulder and said,

“Hey, but it’s not that you didn’t have women because you had an ugly personality or face. Uh?”

A friend’s encouragement wasn’t much of a consolation. Adda bomber without a woman, what on earth did I, a drunkard, come up with such a nickname? I frowned and poured the soju again. Soju was too bitter today. A friend asked.

“So, what happened after that? You’re a bomber, so how are people doing?”

“You look like an asshole dog.”

I can’t put into words the feeling of being pierced with a look of contempt and absurdity that would have given me stage fright and social phobia at the same time if I had met him in elementary school. The most appropriate expression was ‘Look at me like an asshole.’ The male student in the seat next to her, asking about my condition, avoided my gaze when I returned from receiving the gift.

“Fuck.”

My friends started to laugh out loud again at my remarks. Originally, misfortune was really funny when viewed from a distance. I expressed my deep regret and complained.

“Hey, it’s a fucking mistake, so it’s a mistake. Uh? Are you not making mistakes? Bastards called friends won’t comfort you, huh? Fuck you guys.”

But girlish whining among boys was nothing more than a lamb showing weakness. Despite my petty whining, the reaction of my friends was cold and friendly.

“Who makes the mistake of putting Ada Bomber on a business card? It’s not a hopa. Oh fuck, the more I think about it, the funnier it is. Crazy bastard. Until now, I thought Jun-seok was the best idiot among us, but now I see you are the best.”

“Hey, hey. Okay. Hey, you are the best.”

Jun-seok gave a thumbs up. One of my friends, Lee Jun-seok, started broadcasting a comprehensive game saying that he dreamed of becoming a big streamer, and he had a precedent of reacting by falling while twerking from a window on the 3rd floor and getting injured for 6 weeks. Come to think of it, we all went to the hospital together and laughed heartily.

“Hey, hey. That’s not it.”

I said shaking my head. No matter how much I fell to the bottom, I was no more stupid than Jun-seok. However, Jun-seok did not miss this opportunity. He jumped up from his seat and gave me a 90-degree bow and said,

“Ah, brother! I’ll make sure to say hello here!”

Fuck. I couldn’t help but laugh at the sight. Drinking continued again. One of my other friends said.

“Hey, congratulations though. It seems like yesterday when you just thinned out to prepare for the civil service exam, but your complexion has improved and you’ve become a bit more human.”

“Therefore. When you fell, the kids worried a lot. Uh? It was a bit unexpected to join the Hunter Academy, but try to do well in the future. Even if no one calls you by your name, we will help you somehow. I’m really rooting for you to do well.”

“Thanks.”

The drinking party that started by teasing me eventually ended with a heartwarming message. Maybe I just wanted to hear this from my friends, so I didn’t know that I came out to a drinking party today. A friend at work paid for alcohol. Junseok asked.

“How much did it come out?”

“Done. Today is the day our Suhyeon entered the academy, so I shoot.”

“Wow, that’s so fucking cool.”

“Bastard, if you get the hunter’s salary, you shoot next time. Let’s get some food from Hunter too.”

“It should be.”

It seemed like he wasn’t sober yet. I knocked on the nickname again just in case. Of course, the nickname that popped up on the status window had only the sentence [Cannot be changed.]. He covered his reddened face and shook his head. When I looked to the side, my friends gathered and were staring at me. Junseok said.

“Are you going?”

“I have to go. Hey. Thanks. Still.”

“Oh, yes. See you again.”

“Be healthy.”

Waved his hand After watching my friends disappear, I was able to turn my steps. They looked back several times and smiled again.

“I’m home.”

“Are you here?”

Behind my father’s gruff voice, I heard the sound of a soccer match. My father, who never even talked to me in the first place, started talking to me like a person whose family ties had disappeared just by the mere fact that I had entered Hunter Academy. I averted my father’s eyes and nodded his head.

“Yes. I’m home.”

“Okay. What did they say at the entrance ceremony?”

“There was nothing to talk about. I just received the admission gift and listened to the explanation of this and that. Since Hunter Academy is run by the state, there is no tuition fee, and they say that they give you a monthly salary just for completing the curriculum. So I’m going to try harder.”

“Okay. Well thought out You but that, what was your nickname? I became an academy student, but for some reason they didn’t tell me once. Your mother was also curious about the nickname.”

“What about mom?”

“I’m tired so I go in first and go to sleep.”

Looking at the time, it was 1:00 in the morning. It was because I came in late. I nodded and tried to move slowly into the living room. My father said

“Why are you trying to wake a sleeping person? Okay, tell me a nickname.”

“…A bomber.”

“A bomber? There were a few hunters with names like that in the past. Okay. Sounds like a nice nickname.”

You were seriously evaluating my nickname as if you were a hunter. My father was a man who liked to evaluate everything one way or another. If he saw a football match, he had to become a professional commentator himself, and if he saw a Ssireum match, he had to become a Ssireum coach. When preparing for the civil service exam, he had to become a 9th grade civil servant.

Such a father’s personality was what caused me not to talk much with his father. Had it not been for his drunken spirits today, he would have gone in without saying a few words. Dad looked at me. I couldn’t bear to explain to you that it was not just a bomber, but an Ada bomber, so I just nodded my head.

“Yes.”

“Do you go to class right away from tomorrow? Go to bed.”

“Yes. Father.”

I threw myself on the bed without washing. Scratching his head, he thought about the future. When he closed his eyes, he said he could see the future, but he could only see darkness. Life seemed to be going well, but for some reason I was uneasy.

*****

The next morning. My class at Hunter Academy was Hunter Academy 1 – Class B. Arriving one beat late due to a hangover, as soon as I opened the door, I could confirm that the people I was talking to were silent and looking at each other.

I had such a spectacular debut yesterday, so I couldn’t help it. I quietly sat down and put my bag down. According to the schedule, today was going to have a simple time to organize a group of people who will be living together in Hunter Academy.

In short, it meant I was fucked.

Not long after I entered, a female teacher with her hair neatly tied opened the door and entered. She was wearing a tight skirt and brown stockings, and was a beauty with yellow hair and a foxy look.

“Nice to meet you. 1-B Everyone. My name is Lee Jung-ah, ‘Summer Coffee’, a B-class hunter who will be in charge of class 1-B this time.”

She introduced herself with a voice as cold as her face. At the word B-class hunter, there were people who whispered and talked to each other. Teacher Jung-a ignored them and opened her mouth.

“Today, first of all, we are going to select a partner, Jo Won, who will be with us at the academy for a year. As you know, the first year of classes at the academy will consist of one mentor, a senior academy hunter, and two members of the group. Basically, as it is a hunter life with almost no individual activities, I believe that this process of fostering a sense of cooperation is necessary.”

At the word group assignment, sighs rang out from everywhere. Basically, it was because all the people who entered the Hunter Academy were adults. In particular, there are a lot of people who wake up after college life or wake up during college life, so there were a lot of people who hated group assignments. The teacher spoke in a commanding voice, as if expecting this kind of reaction.

“Come on, everyone. It’s not a place where you can’t say you don’t want to do it. Sighing doesn’t help anything. You, as well as A-class and S-class hunters who are stronger than me, have been doing group action. It’s dangerous to be alone in the gate. You need to get used to collective action from now on. By the way, it would be too embarrassing if I told you to make a group at all, right?”

Everyone nodded their heads at Teacher Jung-a’s question. Junga said.

“So, in the first period, I will briefly introduce myself. Let’s communicate by introducing each other’s abilities and our own strengths.”

Fuck