Chapter 52: National Hero (4)
“Why, why are you apologizing...”
At this point, it was impossible to tell who had caused the accident. Jung Haseong hurriedly searched his pockets with a pale face. It was to get the recovery potion.
“Haseong-ssi! Your back!”
“Yes?”
“Monster behind you!”
However, due to the sudden scream that followed, Kiryeo’s treatment was ultimately postponed.
“Kaaaaaagh!”
The roar of the Minotaur echoed through the forest. Haseong couldn’t help but break into a cold sweat at the sight, which somehow overlapped with the reaction when someone was about to die. However, Kiryeo stopped him.
“My body will handle it, so just keep the recovery potion. Let’s focus on getting out of the gate for now.”
“Hunter Kim Kiryeo.”
“And since my eyes are still useful, I can provide assistance from the side. Can’t you protect me?”
“Ah...”
“I’m asking one more time.”
As the blond man asked politely, Haseong nodded in reply. In fact, he wasn’t even sure what he was answering right now. He was half out of his mind.
“Heeup, whoo...”
Jung Haseong took a deep breath belatedly. What followed was an S-rank one-man show that needed no further explanation.
“That’s the last one.”
Boom!
Not long after, the final boss fell. After defeating all the bosses that appeared, a familiar exit appeared before them.
Kiryeo and Haseong were worried that even this passage might suddenly disappear, so they hastily escaped through the gate. Fortunately, the feared event didn’t happen.
“Phew!”
As soon as the F-Class hunter came out, he took out his cell phone and went through the reporting process. His complexion seemed brighter, as if he was happy to have survived safely. However, Jung °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° Haseong’s face remained pale even at this moment.
“....”
His gaze was still fixed on someone’s arm.
*****
As soon as the F-Class hunter escaped through the gate, he suddenly disappeared without a trace.
“Recovery medicine? I’m fine. I can handle this much on my own.”
Having suffered such a severe burn without blaming him, Haseong felt very sorry. By now, all sorts of thoughts had crossed his mind.
At first, he thought the lazy hunter was trying to deceive the Association by lowering his rank. But... was he really just a powerless person? If that were the case, he would wish he had just protected him from the beginning. But in such a chaotic dungeon, wouldn’t sparks have flown anyway?
“Whoo...”
It would have been better if that F-Class had gotten angry and told him to take responsibility for hurting him. However, it seemed like Kiryeo really didn’t want anything. There wasn’t a single word of blame. Ironically, that was what bothered him the most.
And after clearing the gate...
The Korean Hunter Association.
“Oh my, you’ve really been through a lot! For the gate entrance to suddenly disappear like that. Don’t worry, Haseong-ssi. The Association will mobilize all resources to thoroughly investigate this matter.”
Haseong, who stopped by the Association to explain the situation, sat down on the sofa and quietly lowered his eyes.
“Are there any other problems?”
The Association manager, who saw this, carefully looked into Haseong. The manager was surprised when the S-Class hunter explained the accident that had occurred.
“So, a hunter got tangled up in your skill? And that too, an F-Class who’s practically an ordinary person?”
“Yes.”
“This could potentially lead to a bad label... If the reporters catch wind of it, it could be a big problem.”
An S-Class hunter who couldn’t control his power and harmed a fellow hunter. Isn’t this a perfect incident to tarnish the name of the nation’s hero?
“You said that hunter didn’t even talk about compensation? This is clearly going to be a laughingstock all over the place!”
“Yes?”
“This isn’t right. Let’s start by immediately taking care of the victim. What was his name again? Something like ‘Ki’?”
Jung Haseong was momentarily taken aback by the behavior of the manager, who treated the victim in such an unscrupulous manner, but he quickly agreed with the words that followed.
“After all the image we’ve built up, we can’t afford to let it all go to waste here.”
“....!”
“While it might be different for other hunters, if Haseong-ssi gets caught up in a scandal, honestly, there won’t be anyone in Korea who can sleep soundly.”
Yeah. When an S-Class has a flaw, many people become anxious. He found himself in such a position.
Haseong muttered softly, repeating the sentence he always said.
“That’s right. As expected, we must avoid anything that could cause trouble...”
And in this voice, there was a sense of indebtedness.
Haseong soon succeeded in contacting Kim Kiryeo using the Association’s contact network.
“Hello.”
Anyway, he had to come here to listen to the situation, as he was also involved in the incident.
“I heard Hunter Jung Haseong was looking for me?”
“Ah! Welcome. Please sit here.”
Kiryeo felt extremely uncomfortable in this situation. Why was he suddenly being forced to face the S-Class hunter when he was already in trouble due to his illegal entry?
‘I somehow managed to deal with what was inside the B-Class gate for now, but...’
Kim Kiryeo sat on the opposite sofa, nervously tapping his legs. He was anxious about what would be said next.
“The reason we’ve called Hunter here is none other than... Now, Haseong-ssi, please, go ahead and speak.”
But he couldn’t have imagined that the call was for this reason.
“I couldn’t tell you properly because there was no time to think at that time. However, I want to properly compensate for the burns.”
Kiryeo tilted his head for a moment.
The burns?
“Ah, that? It’s already healed by now.”
He casually lifted his arm to show it. However, Jung Haseong spoke with a serious tone.
“Even though the burn has healed... there might have been psychological damage or expenses incurred during the treatment process, right?”
“Hmm.”
“I will give you compensation.”
It didn’t feel quite right, did it?
“It’s fine. A person should have some shame. I’ve survived thanks to Jung Haseong-ssi, but what do you mean by compensation?”
Kim Kiryeo waved his hands as if he weren’t interested in the conversation. This action seemed to confuse not only Jung Haseong but also the Association staff who had prepared the meeting.
“Um... Hunter-nim. If you don’t need compensation, how about something else? Like entrance tickets to the rare gathering dungeon owned by Haseong-ssi’s guild!”
“Yes?”
“Of course. Just let us know, and we’ll prepare anything you need.”
To be honest, Kiryeo was only becoming more and more awkward.
‘What’s wrong with them?’
It wasn’t just about lingering over a mere burn. In the first place, this wasn’t really Haseong’s fault, because he was the one who had arbitrarily intervened in the magician’s battlefield.
Was there a need to appear in such a low tone to someone like an F-Class? Why?
‘That’s strange.’
Kiryeo placed his hand over his mouth and thought for a moment.
“Hunter Kim Kiryeo. If you are interested in high-rank gates... I can introduce you to a good hunter team.”
As he remained silent, the topic of conversation gradually shifted.
“You said you entered that B-Class gate yesterday out of curiosity.”
“Ah, well.”
“So, in the future, we could arrange for a professional security team to inspect the gates more safely...”
Seeing Kiryeo’s discomfort with the topic of money, Jung Haseong sweated nervously before finally bringing up another suggestion.
Rare dungeon entry.
Competent team member.
Gate transfer.
These were topics that any hunter would be interested in.
“You’re attaching security to me?”
But as soon as Kiryeo heard those words, he was rather horrified.
This was because the other person’s proposal was accepted with a different meaning.
‘Why are you suddenly so anxious that you’re letting people into the dungeon when you usually don’t? Is this b*stard trying to quietly get rid of me somewhere?’
A truly fast-developing idea!
However, there were reasons behind his misunderstanding.
‘Hiik!’
How many days has it been since he came to Earth? In just over a month since his arrival on Earth, he had experienced not only kidnappings but also daytime assassinations, terrorism, and various other incidents. This meant that there was a high level of distrust toward humans.
‘Right. These guys have been persistently pushing me to enter rare gates since earlier!’
Amidst all this, Jung Ha-seong’s attitude had suddenly changed drastically. Yesterday, he was a human who was so cold. Now, he suddenly wanted to compensate for the massive damages and even talked about transferring dungeons. It was too much for just the burns.
‘Earthlings cannot be trusted.’
So Kiryeo thought.
‘Did I get caught trying to shift the blame onto monsters inside the dungeon? No, it might have been fatal to fabricate evidence over an EX-Class gate incident.’
He might not know what exactly it was, but he must have really touched a nerve with Jung Haseong.
So now, this open-minded guy was probably trying to quietly bury him.
‘Then why did you bother to save me once? Aha, I guess there was CCTV near the gate?’
This cunning guy!
‘So you’re saying you won’t leave any evidence!’
Moreover, this absurd idea became more solid as the conversation continued.
“I don’t need money or a dungeon.”
“Yes? But...”
“It’s because I’m really fine.”
“Then can’t you at least accept the offer of security personnel?”
“What?”
“I’ve heard that Kiryeo-ssi is an appraiser, but judging from today, it seems like you’re alone...”
“Yes.”
“Or at the very least, to ensure that you don’t get hurt again...”
Jung Haseong was extremely obsessed with compensation. Normally, if someone refuses something like this, they will back down.
It was strange. Where in the world can you find something for free? But the person who was giving the money was behaving so poorly.
‘A, as expected it must be some kind of scheme. There is no way that the people of Earth would be so meaninglessly friendly!’
Kiryeo was paranoid and his hands were shaking. The water in the glass he was holding quivered finely.
“Hunter Kim Kiryeo?”
Jung Haseong briefly puzzled over the other’s actions, but it was just for a moment.
“I’ll take my leave now.”
“Yes?”
“I’ve said it multiple times already. I don’t need any compensation.”
Tak.
Kiryeo put down the cup and stood up from his seat. Then, he turned to Haseong, who was sitting there, and spoke firmly.
“Everyone makes mistakes in life. Do you know how strange it seems to be shaking over something like this?”
This was some kind of warning.
I’ve figured out your intentions, so don’t try any tricks.
Surprisingly, Jung Haseong closed his mouth tight after hearing those words.
‘I’m so scared...’
Suspicion turned into certainty. Kiryeo quickly left the room before his shirt could become a mess of cold sweat.
Bang!
Then the door closed with a loud sound due to the wind.
“Ahem, I’m not sure if it was wise to leave any room for doubt. But he shouldn’t talk nonsense later.”
“....”
“Oh, don’t worry. I’ve recorded our entire conversation. It’ll be difficult for him to stir up any strange public opinion on that end.”
The Association’s manager whispered as soon as the other person left, but there was no reply.
‘That much money and a precious dungeon.’
Jung Haseong was simply shocked that the negotiation had failed. Until now, nothing like this had ever happened. Whenever his abilities were even slightly exposed, everyone would lie down and demand compensation for the damage.
‘What made you angry?’
He briefly reflected on the situation from earlier. The ripples in the cup, along with that cold gaze. It seemed like Hunter Kim Gi-ryeo had been momentarily displeased for some unclear reason. And to top it off, he had chosen to utter such a sentence right after that moment.
– Do you know how strange it seems to be shaking over something like this?
This was his first time hearing this in his life. But why did it refuse to leave his mind?
“This is not a trivial matter.”
Jung Haseong muttered again what the other person had said.
“Do I seem strange...?”
Each time he repeated that sharp phrase from the F-Class, an inexplicable doubt crept into his mind.