Hunt: Showdown 1896 – Sage of Joseon

Sage of Joseon is a downloadable content pack for Hunt: Showdown 1896, Crytek’s extraction shooter. It contains one Hunter, Roaming Sage, along with two weapon variants, two consumable variants, an avatar and a profile frame. The weapons are Cold Patience, a version of the Uppercut pistol decorated with plum blossoms in mother of pearl, and Yecheon’s Treasure, a Hunting Bow. The consumables are Tiger’s Fury, a Dynamite Stick, and Winged Purity, a Waxed Dynamite Stick painted with cranes.

The Hunter is Cho Byeong-hak, a seonbi, meaning a respected scholar and arbiter of social law in Korea’s Joseon period. According to his backstory he was born to a wealthy family in Jeolla province and educated in politics, sociology, ethics, literature and battlefield tactics. He spent part of his youth in Yecheon, a region known for its archers, where he trained in martial arts and archery. At court he pushed for reforms and clashed with his superiors, preferring to spend his time among the poor in the city.

He joined a diplomatic mission to the United States and, while in the Capitol, overheard a conversation between a delegate and a military official about a strange contagion. Rather than return to Joseon, he travelled south to investigate and encountered the Corruption at the centre of the game’s setting. He wears a mask and a gat, a traditional Korean hat, as a marker of his credentials. His stated aim is to heal or at least understand the Corruption, which he believes may have appeared before in history and poses a threat beyond any single kingdom.