The Hunter from Another World Who Is Being Misunderstood
Click.
The association president had only turned the metal door handle halfway when he suddenly felt his heart sink.
It was an unmistakable sensation—one that made ordinary people instinctively shrink back in fear.
“The magical power of an S-class hunter?”
The thought barely had time to cross his mind.
The next instant, the conference-room door swung open from the opposite side, revealing the figure standing beyond it.
“Urk!”
Creeeak.
A pair of green eyes, reptilian in appearance, slowly tracked the association president’s movements.
The person standing in the doorway was none other than Kang Changho, an S-rank Awakened hunter.
“H-Hunter Kang Changho?”
The president was momentarily flustered by the sudden appearance of yet another S-class hunter.
Then Kim Giryeo’s voice came from behind him.
“Ah, President. Just so you know, he’ll be accompanying us on this expedition as well.”
“What did you say?”
“That was one of my conditions for participating in the raid from the beginning. I thought I should let you know.”
That obstinate troublemaker, who refused even to obey the Hunter Association’s orders, had suddenly decided to travel to Japan?
“W-what... What in the world is that man’s true identity?”
The association president’s suspicions only deepened.
Why had Kim Giryeo answered the summons?
Why had Kang Changho appeared at the association?
He could make sense of none of it.
There was, however, one thing of which he was now certain.
The fourth S-class hunter was no ordinary person.
***
A dragon raid.
Broadly speaking, I possessed two options that could be used in combat.
The first was the unique-grade weapon, [Scream Stake].
The second was the wide-area stun item, [Surprise Box].
Unfortunately, each of these weapons had a flaw that made it unsuitable for hunting dragons.
Since the [Scream Stake] was a dagger, its attack range was extremely short. If I tried to close the distance, I would probably be struck by the enemy and die before I could use it.
There were also limits to using it as though it were a poisoned throwing knife.
Then what about the [Surprise Box]?
I did not particularly want to use that either.
After all, it rendered everyone unconscious except for me.
‘If the hunters who are supposed to kill the dragon collapse, there’s nothing I can accomplish alone...’
No.
These tools were not even epic-grade. They were merely unique-grade items, so there was a good chance they would not affect an S-rank creature in the first place.
In any case, neither the defensive ring enhanced by Gu Seohyeong nor the roughly three billion won hidden in my bank account would be of any use against a dragon.
Nothing I had accumulated thus far was powerful enough to confront such a creature.
Therefore, I decided to employ a new method for this S-rank hunt.
“Hmm.”
I had no immediate use for them, so I had simply left them lying in a corner of the room.
In truth, however, these were rewards I had acquired during the operation to arrest Su Yehwi.
[Infinite Power Core × 5]
Five cores, each worth hundreds of millions of won.
I had seized them from the hideout where Su Yehwi had been concealed.
More precisely, I had discreetly taken the contents of the mind-control mage’s item box.
Well, the great archmage had personally eliminated the villains on behalf of the nation.
Surely compensation of this degree was only natural.
‘Come to think of it, Esther said she planned to sell the recovered items to support the victims of the Rakshasa Temple... But I never actually agreed to that. I’ll leave her share alone and let her decide what to do with it.’
A large collection of magical power sources.
I had originally brought them home to maintain the barrier surrounding my studio apartment, but my plans had changed.
I now intended to use the [Infinite Power Cores] recovered from Su Yehwi’s hideout to construct a trap capable of capturing the dragon.
‘With five Infinite Power Cores, catching a mere lizard will be effortless!’
Now that I had devised a way to contribute to the dragon hunt, only a few minor matters remained to be resolved.
A few minutes later.
Korea Hunter Association.
“Kim Giryeo.”
I rose from my seat while arranging the documents the association had provided.
“Are you truly planning to enter an S-class gate?”
The association employees had already left the quiet conference room.
Only two Awakened individuals remained.
One was me, standing beside the table.
The other was the stalker leaning against the door.
Kang Changho stood with his arms crossed, looking down at me.
He tilted his head slightly as he continued questioning me.
“You would actually risk your life to enter a place like that?”
“Is it truly so dangerous?”
“This isn’t like an ordinary A-rank hunter facing an A-rank monster. An S-rank boss in particular... It’s powerful enough to make you think the balance of the world itself has been broken.”
Then the Gaimche must have made a serious error when adjusting the difficulty last time.
I listened to Kang Changho’s explanation with considerable interest, but a small question soon occurred to me.
“I’ve been wondering about this for a while, but Hunter Kang Changho seems remarkably familiar with the strength of S-class monsters.”
“Hmm.”
“You were in Hawaii, weren’t you?”
The answer was not difficult to obtain.
Kang Changho readily explained, saying it was hardly a secret.
“Yeah. I was there when the S-class dungeon break occurred in America.”
“I see.”
“It wasn’t for anything official like this. I was there for personal reasons.”
He must have been enjoying an overseas vacation.
The wealthy truly lived differently.
“But do you know what I saw there?”
“What?”
“An S-rank hunter who had been doing quite well in the United States had his torso blown apart by a single roar from a [Nuckelavee].”
“...”
“He was struck at close range, but after witnessing that, I lost any desire to challenge the boss recklessly.”
Ugh.
After hearing such a vivid account, I suddenly became frightened.
If the creature had torn one of America’s highest-ranking hunters in half, its power must have been extraordinary.
“Should I call the association president right now and tell him I’m no longer going to Japan?”
However, Kang Changho was describing the Hawaiian dungeon break from four years earlier.
The gate I intended to enter was in Japan and would most likely have been adjusted to a lower level of difficulty.
After organizing my thoughts, I addressed the contractor who had signed the Knight’s Oath with me.
“But as I explained earlier, I’m not planning to defeat the S-class monster myself.”
“...”
“I’ll be extremely careful. Could you please accompany me? Naturally, if the situation feels wrong, I’ll leave immediately. I won’t even approach the front line.”
It was somewhat dangerous, but this was an exceptionally valuable opportunity.
Dungeons inhabited by dragons were rare to begin with.
If such a gate appeared overseas, its rewards were usually as inaccessible to foreigners as a pie floating in the sky.
‘Dragons are so valuable that every country prioritizes sending in its own hunters. A situation like Japan’s, where they’re actively requesting foreign assistance, is exceedingly rare.’
I cautiously observed Kang Changho’s expression.
“All right.”
But what was this?
I had not even begun flattering him, yet he agreed immediately.
“If you’re that confident, I suppose I can allow you to go. Besides, as we already discussed, my accompaniment is one of the conditions.”
“...”
“And you once said something similar before.”
Something similar?
“You said that you couldn’t enter an S-class gate ‘right now.’”
I apologize, but even the most brilliant mage cannot remember every statement he has ever made.
I could not recall whether I had actually said such a thing.
At that moment, perhaps because I remained silent, Kang Changho straightened from his relaxed posture and looked directly at me.
“Kim Giryeo, may I ask you something?”
It was not as though I could stop him.
“You said that before, and now you don’t seem nervous about going to Japan. You behave as though you’ve already experienced an S-class gate.”
“...”
“Have you defeated any other S-class monsters besides the inevitable Malice?”
What an unnecessary misunderstanding.
I denied Kang Changho’s baseless assumption.
There was no reason to lie in a situation like this.
“No.”
However, the S-class hunter merely shifted his gaze and remained silent.
For some reason, he did not immediately accept my answer.
It also seemed there was a particular reason for his hesitation.
“Let me ask a different question.”
“Yes?”
“The truth is, the Nuckelavee could have annihilated every hunter in the United States.”
“...”
“It was that powerful.”
“...”
“But then, without warning, an unidentified hunter appeared and mercilessly cut the creature down. For the record, that mysterious hunter disappeared quietly after completing the raid.”
Step. Step.
Kang Changho approached me and looked me over from head to toe, as though confirming something.
“If that hunter hadn’t appeared, the Nuckelavee would probably still be alive in Hawaii.”
I asked out of pure curiosity.
“What are you trying to say?”
The S-class hunter answered slowly.
“Oh, nothing in particular. It’s simply that the hunter who defeated the Nuckelavee was wearing a dark, beast-like mask at the time.”
“A mask?”
“They were also covered from head to toe in black leather, including their clothes and shoes. In the end, no one could even determine whether the hunter was male or female.”
Kang Changho gestured around his eyes as he continued.
At the time of the Hawaiian dungeon break, he had not yet acquired the Dragon’s Eye.
Consequently, he had been unable to distinguish individuals by their magical energy.
“But looking back now, there is one thing I remember clearly.”
Rustle.
Kang Changho lightly placed a hand on my shoulder.
“Right.”
It was as though he were measuring me.
“Now that I think about it, that hunter had exactly this kind of build.”
Kang Changho then murmured quietly.
To summarize, was he suspecting that I had been the hunter who killed the Nuckelavee?
It was an interesting theory.
Unfortunately, it was impossible.
I was grateful that everyone had been so thoroughly deceived, but the body I currently occupied was, in truth, nothing more than that of a lowly F-rank.
“That was merely a coincidence.”
When I answered with complete confidence, Kang Changho fell silent for a moment.
Eventually, he stepped aside.
“All right. Then make sure you prepare properly for departure.”
“Yes.”
“I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of abilities you reveal.”
“You understand that no matter what you see, you’ll have to wait until ten years have passed, correct?”
After I left the conference room, Kang Changho called out from behind me.
There was no need to respond.
“It’s nine years now.”
***
A large crowd had gathered at the Japanese airport.
An unprecedented S-class gate had appeared in Japan.
While numerous countries ignored requests for assistance out of fear that they might lose their own hunters, one nation had finally announced its willingness to cooperate in the dungeon raid.
“They’re here!”
Click, click, click, click.
The moment the arrival gate opened, countless cameras began flashing at once.
I followed the flickering lights with my eyes and stepped forward.
“They really came...”
“The Korean rankers!”
Two of South Korea’s highest-ranking hunters—the backbone of the nation—had arrived.
As Kang Changho and I emerged, brief cheers erupted throughout the airport.
At first, many people had reacted skeptically to the announcement that South Korea would send hunters.
The internet had been filled with mocking and dismissive comments.
[Isn’t there some kind of sinister scheme behind this?]
[I doubt they intend to help us properly.]
[Would hunters from that country even be useful in the first place?]
However, those criticisms had largely vanished after a single declaration from me.
—I do not intend to accept any compensation from Japan if the boss monster is not defeated.
I had carefully repackaged the ordinary terms of my contract and presented myself as the ideal S-rank hunter the public wished to see.
In reality, the only contribution I could make inside an S-rank gate was restraining a single boss monster.
If I failed even at that, not receiving payment would be the least of my concerns.
“Wow!”
“Welcome to Japan!”
But to those unaware of the truth, my declaration must have sounded like an impressive display of confidence.
“Welcome.”
Once the storm of camera flashes subsided, someone approached us.
His hair was neatly combed, and his expression was somewhat severe.
He was one of Japan’s S-rank hunters and the leader of the nation’s representative guild, ‘Imaban.’
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Korea’s S-class hunters. My name is Moritake Ito.”
I lightly shook the hand Ito extended toward me.