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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Scrap-Grade Helper (1)
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"Useless bastard, don't get in the way and get lost."
"You're the only F-grade Helper in the whole world, aren't you? Might as well demote to civilian. Why does the Center keep a scrap-grade like you around when you can't even go on missions?"
"Hey, hey. Even a mutt's gotta guard the house."
Cha Su-ho walked past the Helpers hurling their mocking barbs at him, utterly unfazed by now.
Humanity was divided into three categories: Hunters, Helpers, and Civilians.
About 80% of humanity were Civilians—ordinary folks living normal lives without any special abilities.
Then there were 11%: Hunters. Superhumans who wielded transcendent powers to slay mutated monsters and fight for humanity's survival. They were hailed as heroes by all.
Hunters possessed immense combat prowess, making them indispensable for monster extermination. But there was a catch: the more they used their power, the greater the risk of mental breakdown from overload.
That was where the remaining 9% came in—Helpers.
Helpers could purify the residual power buildup in a Hunter's body with their unique ability, Clean, preventing overload. They were absolutely vital to Hunters.
And among them, Cha Su-ho was a Helper.
The lowest of the low—from A-grade down to F-grade, he was the sole F-grade Helper in the entire world.
Because of that, he'd been abandoned at an orphanage right after birth. Even there, they abused him for being F-grade. Before joining the Center, and even after, Su-ho had lived a life where no one treated him like a person, all because of that label.
Why did he have to endure this wretched existence just for being F-grade? Rage boiled within him. That's why he wanted to become a Civilian. Better that than be mocked as an F-grade no different from a Civilian, unable to go into the field—a true scrap-grade Helper.
Su-ho had begged the Center Director multiple times to let him live as a Civilian, but the answer was always 'no.' He couldn't even get an audience with the Director—his secretaries insisted that even an F-grade had the Clean ability to stabilize Hunters, so he couldn't mix with Civilians.
SS-grade or S-grade Hunters, or even A-grade Helpers, might have the freedom to roam unbound by nations. But not Su-ho.
On a national level, Hunters and Helpers were valuable assets. The government kept even F-grades tied to the Center, betting they'd be useful someday.
Swallowing his bitter resentment, Su-ho turned back toward his desk when—
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Emergency. Red 2 Alert Issued. All Hunters and Helpers in the Center must proceed immediately to Sector 33.
The emergency summons blared from speakers installed throughout the Center. The faces of the Helpers who'd been mocking Su-ho drained of color.
"Red 2? That's mutated monsters, right?"
"As if it'd just be mutated ones. Every damn monster under the sun will crawl out. We drew the short straw. Fuck."
The World Hunter & Helper Association classified crises into six levels: Green 1 and 2, Yellow 1 and 2, Red 1 and 2.
The number indicated the threat: 1 for regular monsters, 2 for the far deadlier mutated monsters.
Green was manageable by B- to D-grade Hunters. Yellow required A- or S-grade Hunters. Red demanded full mobilization across all Hunter grades—an extreme difficulty.
And this was Red 2. Extreme difficulty with mutated monsters. You might not come back alive. Still, they had to go—to buy time until higher-grade Hunters arrived.
"Last Red 2, the team that went out got completely wiped. Don't go dying pointless deaths, everyone. And you, Cha Su-ho."
Cold eyes glinted from between narrowed lids, fixing on Su-ho.
"Just like the others said, stay home like the mutt you are. If you wanna earn your keep, at least iron my clothes properly. Got it?"
Kang Hong-seok, Helper Team Leader of Asia Branch Center 1. B-grade Helper. Known as Team Leader Kang, he utterly despised Su-ho. To him, Su-ho was a parasite sucking up salary without providing any help.
Su-ho knew exactly how the Team Leader saw him. It stung, but it was true, so he forced out a reply.
"Understood."
As Su-ho turned away, Team Leader Kang's mutter reached his ears.
"Useless bastard. How the hell did trash like this end up on my team?"
Su-ho ground his teeth. He wanted to deny it, but the harsh reality only deepened his misery.
"Everyone, grab your gear and move out!"
No sooner had Team Leader Kang spoken than the Helpers scrambled toward the teleport zone for Sector 33. Su-ho watched their retreating backs with naked envy for a long moment.
Soon, the office emptied out. Only then could Su-ho slump into his corner desk. He immediately snatched up the radio on his desk.
Just in case. Maybe they'd call for him this time. It had never happened before, not once.
By now, they'd all teleported to Sector 33, supporting Hunters against mutated monsters. Su-ho, who'd never been to the field, could only imagine it in his mind.
When he'd first joined the Center, he'd been thrilled at the thought of one day going out himself.
Every night, he'd pored over the Helper manual, picturing himself Cleansing a Hunter amid the hellish battlefield.
Waiting for the day his dream would come true.
But for an F-grade Helper like Su-ho, it was all just a pipe dream.
All he could do was guard the house like the mutt they called him.
Su-ho's gaze dropped to the floor. It was a wretched moment.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
A few hours after all the Helpers had deployed—
-Zzzt... Sector 33... zzt.Here... zzt. Sector 33... request... zzt. Support requested... zzt.
A garbled voice mixed with static crackled from the radio in Su-ho's hand for the first time.
Su-ho bolted upright, piecing together the fragmented words.
"Here... Sector 33... support requested? They're asking for backup?"
Excitement flushed Su-ho's face as he gripped the radio. His chance to go to the field had finally come.
The field he'd only dreamed of!
No time to think. Following the manual he'd memorized hundreds of times, Su-ho moved on instinct. He grabbed the self-treatment kit and the bag of drugs to maximize Clean efficiency for Hunters, then bolted like mad for the teleport zone.
He couldn't be late—not even a second—or risk hearing over the radio that they no longer needed support.
Dashing down the empty hallway to the basement teleport zone, he saw flashes of blue light.
Su-ho had never deployed before, so it was his first time seeing it. Swallowing hard, he stepped toward the glowing blue rings.
Whirr, whirr.
Three intangible blue rings spun and intersected with a hum. Passing through them led to a square machine for scanning Helper IDs. Step in, scan, and you'd teleport straight to the field.
Without hesitation, Su-ho entered the whirring rings and pulled out his Helper ID.
He lifted his head with grim resolve.
"Let's go, Cha Su-ho."
Beep.
A mechanical voice responded as he scanned it.
Cha Su-ho, Helper. Teleporting to Sector 33.
It happened in an instant. The intersecting blue rings sped up until they blurred into invisibility.
His stomach churned like a tiny boat in massive waves. He dry-heaved and collapsed to the floor.
"Everything's spinning. This is what Helpers ride every time?"
His body floated and dropped in zero gravity, over and over. Just before blacking out, the machine halted.
Cha Su-ho, Helper. Arrived at Sector 33.
At the announcement, Su-ho stumbled out of the teleport zone. Staggering into the field, he slowly raised his head.
Relief at escaping the godawful ride mixed with thrilled anticipation for his first field deployment. But the moment he saw the scene, despair washed over his face.
He'd seen it countless times in manuals, photos, videos: grotesque, hideous monsters; Hunters and Helpers dying in mangled heaps.
Back then, he'd thought they showed the goriest, most shocking ones just to instill caution.
But the reality was worse.
Far worse.
The location seemed to be a mountainside, but the green slopes were drenched in dark red blood. Severed arms and legs in Helper and Hunter uniforms tangled with nameless weeds.
"What... the hell..."
Su-ho trailed off, speechless at the carnage. Then he spotted something at his feet.
The back of a person's head, jaw torn clean off, slammed into the dirt.
"Urk!!"
It looked like they'd been ambushed right after teleporting. Or maybe while fleeing.
A gust of wind carried a stench that made Su-ho clamp his nose. A foul odor he'd never smelled before. Tracing it, his eyes fell on a black mass.
Its body resembled a water buffalo, head like a sheep's. Easily three or four times the size of a burly man's frame, the grotesque creature lay motionless—dead.
Something writhed in its gaping wounds, spilling out with blood. The wriggling things began devouring the corpse in seconds.
A mutated monster. Soon, those larvae would finish the body, seek a new one, grow larger, shed their husk, and emerge as new monsters.
Horrified, Su-ho instinctively stepped back.
"Urp..."
His teleported-upset stomach gave out completely at the visceral sight. He vomited up bile.
Once emptied, terror crashed over him.
Run. Now. He knew instinctively—this wasn't a place for him.
As he turned back toward the teleport zone, a voice crackled from the radio still in his hand.
-Zzzt. This is... Center 1.
Su-ho froze, eyes snapping to the radio.
Five Hunters, two Helpers, zzt. Engaged in heavy combat at 11-29.
His expression hardened at the voice.
Helpers short. Any Helper or Hunter hearing this—support requested, zzt.
It was Team Leader Kang—the same man who'd always loathed him.