Chapter 153 – In America, Part I

Translator: Khan

1.

Highway 95…

The view of the road across Nevada was always desolate. Unless people had a unique taste for the rising yellow clouds of sand, there was nothing interesting about it… and even that was no longer enjoyable.

Highway 95, which had not been managed for more than a year, was actually like a minefield. It was better to run on the broad expanse of the wasteland than on the road.

That was why Carlos Perez, an impressive-looking man with coppery skin and a mustache, was racing along through the rough wasteland, not a road, on his beloved Wrangler Jeep. In addition, that was why the monsters following Carlos’s Wrangler also ran through the wilderness.

Cuhung, Cuhung! The monsters, who were constantly screaming, looked similar to a Werewolf. But they were a little different, their physique was smaller than a Werewolf.

The Werejackal was a monster about 160 centimeters tall. However, even if it was small, it could not be ignored.

The Werejackals, with their wicked and cruel habits and clever hunting skills, were very dangerous, and even orange-eyed monsters would not easily attack a horde of red-eyed Werejackals. An ordinary human naturally could not do anything against such Werejackals.

“Fuck!” That was why Carlos swore constantly in his constantly bouncing vehicle.

“What?!” A man who changed the choice of Carlos’s words. In the distance, a man was holding out his thumb. It was a hitchhiking gesture seen often in the broad United States and could be seen at any time on the American roads.

‘Crazy!’ Of course, it was a gesture from before December 31, 2016, before the monsters appeared. It was a gesture that was never seen in the untamed land next to Highway 95, heading for Las Vegas at two PM on June 5, 2018. It was a gesture that was just not seen now. Even ghosts didn’t make it!

‘Am I looking at a phantom?’ Naturally, Carlos was in a panic. His mind was beginning to go crazy in front of a situation he had never dreamed of.

‘What do I do?’ As he was approaching the man who had made the hitchhiking gesture, Carlos had a lot of thoughts and anguish in his mind.

‘Will I stop?’ He never had so much trouble making a decision in such a short time in his life.

‘Should I just pass?’ He made a decision in the end. “Damn it!”

He stepped on the brakes he had never intended to step on and shouted loud enough to reach out of the car without opening the window. “Get on board, you crazy bastard!” The door opened with his cry, and a black-haired Asian man boarded the car.

“Fuck!” At the same time, Carlos swore and stepped on the accelerator as hard as he could.

Jeep Wrangler began to run again, making a rough sound, puffing out smoke over the wilderness, leaving behind the corpses of Werejackals with blood at the temples on the ground.

——————

2

Kukuku! Carlos, who had checked the rearview mirror in a rough-sounding lover on the dirt road, sighed after confirming that nothing coming behind him. “What are you, crazy fucker?”

The conversation began after the sigh. “Hitchhiking in this place? Are you crazy?”

“I’m sorry.”

At the apology from the man’s mouth, Carlos checked the rearview mirror again and turned to the passenger seat. Only then did Carlos see the face of the man who had driven him crazy. He was a sharp-looking Asian. That impression alone showed that he was not trying to hitchhike because he was mentally ill.

“Are you from LA?”

“I don’t have a place to live.”

“You must be a Hunter, I suppose.”

The man took off his glove instead of answering and showed him the pattern on the back of his right hand. Carlos sighed again, confirming it. It was different from the previous sigh. It sounded like a whistle.

‘It will be a threat, but it won’t be a stumbling block.’ In the age of monsters, the value of a Hunter, the only opponents of such monsters, was absolute. That was why Carlos felt a strange sense of relief for this man who he had met for the first time.

“You must be a quite good Hunter, hitchhiking here.” The man who filled his passenger seat was more likely to be a Hunter with a good ability than a common Hunter. Otherwise, he could not be in good condition working alone in the wilderness.

“Good enough to make a living.”

“So why were you hitchhiking there? You could not have done it simply because it was hard.”

“As I entered Las Vegas, I felt like I was going to get shot by someone if I went there. So I was looking for a companion.”

Carlos was sure of things. The man in the passenger seat was not a lunatic, but a much more rational man than he had thought. “That’s wise, but it was unnecessary.”

Carlos was also convinced that the man in the passenger seat knew nothing about Las Vegas. “You wouldn’t have been shot in Las Vegas just because you were alone.”

At Carlos’s words, the man did not raise any questions, and Carlos didn’t bother waiting for the man to respond.

“Mayor Dean has more common sense than any other Mayor.” For Carlos, it was something to boast of.

“At least, unlike the Mayors in other cities, he does not demand ridiculous tolls because you are an outsider, and you’re not treated like a slave.” It was the pride that would not have been funny before.

A Mayor was the most greedy, incompetent person sitting and wasting the most taxes in most countries and most cities. However, he was proud of this kind of Mayor. It was a very unusual case. In other words, the Mayor in Las Vegas was now a person with the ability and personality to be proud of.

“If we had to start the U.S. presidential elections right away, James Dean, he should be elected.”

Named for a legendary actor who was an icon of American youth culture and an icon of blue jeans in the past, James Dean was a man worthy of the name, a man worthy of the pride of the surviving citizens of Las Vegas.

“It wouldn’t have been possible if it had not been for him, for a normal human like me to drive around like this.”

In the days of monsters, James Dean was a better Hunter than anyone else. At the same time, he was also a smart man. He fought against the monsters and founded a castle that could go to war with them before anyone else, while everyone else was looking for a safe place after the appearance of the monsters.

“Do you know the story where he took Hoover Dam as a base?” The story of James Dean making Hoover Dam his base was evidence that he was brilliant and clever.

“It’s the biggest and the thickest castle in the world, a castle larger than the Great Wall of China.” Hoover Dam, which would probably remain even if mankind died, was the strongest castle in the world where monsters went wild. Furthermore, the castle was the easiest place to get drinking water, as well as a huge energy source. But when the monsters appeared, no one thought of that. Only James Dean remembered it. James Dean, who made Hoover Dam his own castle, saved Las Vegas during the world of monsters.

“Then what he showed us was… Messiah, he was himself.” Instead of asking for a price for the fact, he showed mercy. He treated the survivors as human beings. With the advent of monsters and hunters, ordinary humans were hardly seen in a world where they were merely something to exploit.

“I dare not compare him with a madman group like the Pentagon…” It was never seen in the Pentagon, which had become a new order to dominate the U.S.

“My goodness.” Of course, it wasn’t very good to speak out about it.

“What I said a little before…” Carlos’ coppery skin was white when he said something he wasn’t sure he should.

The man in the passenger seat spoke to Carlos. “I don’t like the Pentagon, either. Above all, I’m not a member of the Pentagon. I wouldn’t have hitchhiked like this if I was a member of the Pentagon.”

“It is a good thing to hear, and please don’t tell the others that I said that…”

‘I don’t know what you are talking about. What did you say?”

Carlos’s expression finally released. “Thank you.” A long sigh came out of the expression.

“So, what’s your name?” Then, as if to change the mood, Carlos asked a question that had nothing to do with the conversation so far but could not be avoided.

The man answered the question briefly. “You can call me Kim.”

“What’s your name?”

“It’s Jung-hoon.”

“Jung-hoon Kim. I heard they would call their family first in Korea, so you will be Kim Jung-hoon. Is that right?”

“You can call me Kim easily.”

“I’d like that.”

A city came into their eyes; Las Vegas, a city of tourism and gambling in the past, but now a city of freedom and equality.

Carlos, who saw the city, looked at Kim Jung-hoon with a pale smile, as if he had found some peace now.

“Kim, welcome to Las Vegas.”

————————

3.

It was a bar. Of course, as a liquor seller, the odor of all kinds of alcohol and of all kinds of people was thick. Two guests appeared at the bar.

“Carlos, you’re still alive!” Jacob, the bartender and liquor store owner, greeted Carlos with a smile. “I didn’t hear from you any news for a while, so I thought you were dead.”

“You’re pouring out curses!”

“But isn’t it better to live and hear curses, than to die and hear harps?”

“I’d rather live and hear good music, though the best thing is to live and drink a beer.”

“I agree, but who’s this next to you?”

“Kim, I met him on the way. To be exact, I saved him.”

“Oh, then he’ll pay for the drinks today.”

At the end of the conversation, Jacob and Carlos’ eyes were directed at Kim. So naturally, Kim Jung-hoon had to pay for the drinks today. They had done this before, obviously.

Eventually, Kim put his hand in his arms, took out a pocket instead of a wallet, took out a red jewel from it and threw it at Jacob.

“Order!” Jacob smiled.

“Give me a beer, Budweiser.” Carlos’s order for Jacob was an extraordinary one. It was impossible for Budweiser beer to be produced in an era where most of the infrastructure had collapsed? In fact, few of the drinks sold at Jacob’s bar were famous in the past. There was nothing but wine and vodka, and not a single beer. But Jacob was not embarrassed. He didn’t even get angry. Because he knew in the first place that what Carlos wanted wasn’t a real Budweiser beer.

“I like Budweiser.”

Jacob didn’t even have to give Carlos a Budweiser. All he had to do was put the handmade beer made by himself in a jar labeled Budweiser. In addition, Jacob, who operated a bar after the appearance of monsters, was a man who had experienced countless things. He would not be surprised at anything.

“And what about you? For your information, vodka or wine is expensive. I can only give you a cup with a red stone. That’s a small cup.”

“Coffee.”

“Hmm?” Jacob was surprised by Kim’s order. So was Carlos.

‘Coffee?’ Carlos had to think for a while what the word coffee meant.

“What does that mean, coffee?” After the agony, he made a ridiculous face.

On the other hand, Kim Jung-hoon looked at Jacob and said, “Is there no coffee, here?”

“… even if there is coffee, but it’s just the beans from almost two years ago.”

“It’s all right. I’d like a drink, please.”

Jacob shook his head with a snap. “I’ll get you when you’re in the seat.”

While Jacob went to prepare a drink and coffee, Carlos and Kim Jung-hoon took a seat.

And as soon as he took the seat, Carlos said, “You have a unique taste for coffee. Oh, no. Coffee is not a unique taste. I drank three cups of coffee every day for a long time. Yes, I did. I’m sure I used to have coffee in my mouth.”

At Carlos’ words, Kim did not answer. In addition, Kim was not even looking at Carlos. His gaze was directed at a group in a corner.

“Is there anything interesting over there?”

Carlos followed his gaze and looked at the corner. There were people there who were wearing leather jackets made of the skin of a scaly lizard, completely different from their surroundings.

‘Huck!’ As soon as he confirmed the fact, Carlos quickly turned his head to fear that his eyes might run into them. Then he warned Kim in a low voice. “It’s Hunters from the Pentagon! Don’t look them in the eye. If you touch them, you’ll be dead from summary judgment!”

The warning turned Kim’s eyes. The two shut their mouths for a moment. The silence was long.

‘I did not expect to meet the Pentagon Hunters here… If they are going to provoke a quarrel with me, what can I do? Damn it!’ Carlos’s anxious mind revolved around the conversation he had had with Kim in his jeep car before coming to Las Vegas shortly before.

Is that why? As soon as a waitress put a beer in the bottle of Budweiser and the coffee in the cup of Budweiser, Carlos grabbed the bottle and put it in his mouth. He began to gulp down his beer, as if to swallow the anxiety that had choked his throat.

“Chuh!” The effect of the beer was certain. His blocked neck was pierced, and the coolness filled his chest.

“Yes, I live for this taste.” Carlos’s closed mouth opened.

On the other hand, Kim held a glass of beer hot with coffee and put the coffee in his mouth. He closed his eyes and mouth for a while. He listened to the voices of Hunters from the Pentagon who were secretly talking in the corner.

“So the date?”

“A week from now, in Death Valley. On the day the Vegas Rangers go on a blue-grade monster hunt.”

“We will get rid of Mayor Dean there.”

At the voice, Kim Jung-hoon, who had coffee in his mouth, smiled faintly.

Carlos asked him a question, “Why did you come here?”

Kim answered the question. “I’m looking for a man.”

Carlos flinched unknowingly at his changed expression, at the horrifying smile at the end of the reply.

‘Finally, I’ve found the starting point.’