The Hunter of the Other World Who Is Being Misunderstood – Chapter 23

Ch 23: I, the strongest Great Magician, am a trash hunter in this other world

Yeah, whatever.

Just because I was a Great Magician doesn’t mean I don’t experience failure.

“Thank you for your cooperation. I think you can go back now.”

With this, all suspicions were cleared.

Hunter Seon Uyeon apologized for the trouble after seeing the test results.

I just nodded, saying it was okay.

‘It’s a relief I found out quickly, thanks to her.’

I’m really okay.

Tears are welling up, and my corneas feel like they’re getting moist, but anyway, I’m fine.

“Hmm…”

But then.

Seon Uyeon, who was watching my reaction, made an unexpected suggestion.

“Um, I’ll escort you home.”

“Excuse me?”

“Lower-rank awakened ones can feel dizzy after the test.”

I must have been shocked a lot too. To even receive such concern from an Earthling.

“Or should we go to the hospital?”

Seon Uyeon asks carefully, taking out her car keys. I answered.

“Thank you for your words, but I’m fine.”

I bowed to Seon Uyeon and started walking.

The Awakening Examination Center and Kim Giryeo’s one-room are about a 15-minute walk away. I wanted to clear my head while walking.

Let’s not forget. I am the best magician of Alpha Uri.

‘I’ll definitely be able to solve this problem someday.’

As I was walking slowly while thinking about this and that, the clear sky caught my eye.

“Hmm.”

Soon after, I stopped in my tracks again.

Because a rat has been following me since earlier.

“Do you have something left to do?”

When I turned around, I saw Seon Uyeon.

She stood a few steps behind me with a troubled expression.

◈◈◈

Failed.

This was the sentence that Seon Uyeon thought of after seeing the test results.

“Awakening value 14. It’s in the F-rank category.”

It was measured with a precise new device, so there was no way it could be more accurate than this.

For a while, Seon Uyeon couldn’t believe the number.

‘Was that hunter really F-rank?’

Then what was the Beginner Killer incident, and why was he reported by Jeong Haseong?

‘I’m sure all his belongings were confiscated.’

Seon Uyeon frowned.

To be honest, not all suspicions were cleared yet. What kind of era is this?

Superpowers and monsters exist in today’s modern society, so there was a chance that he was using a clever item to deliberately hide his awakening value. It wasn’t impossible.

But that was just a possibility.

“I think you can go back now.”

According to the association’s regulations, they could no longer detain him.

Seon Uyeon had no choice but to release Kim Giryeo according to the rules.

However, this man leaves a lingering unease even after the test is over.

‘What is it?’

I’ve felt it since right after the test…

Kim Giryeo’s attitude was a bit strange.

He was just standing there blankly with his hands in his pockets, staring at the wall for a long time, and somehow, he suddenly became very quiet.

‘Could he be dizzy?’

There was only one thing I could think of.

A side effect of the test that lower-rank awakened ones sometimes show.

If Kim Giryeo was experiencing dizziness, Seon Uyeon thought she should take responsibility for it.

Because she had conducted his re-examination.

‘What if he collapses alone on the street?’

In the end, Seon Uyeon made a decision with a complex mix of suspicion and worry about Kim Giryeo.

To escort him until he safely arrived home.

“Do you have something left to do?”

Although the person in question didn’t seem to like it.

“I’m sorry. I was worried. I’ll just accompany you to the front of the building.”

Seon Uyeon didn’t back down.

Even when that F-rank hunter glared at her with his unique, eerie sanpaku eyes, she didn’t give in and approached him.

“Do as you please. Then.”

But fortunately, there was no major conflict.

Kim Giryeo followed Seon Uyeon’s words readily, not much different from when he was dragged here.

Always calm and polite responses.

He’s a person without any flaws. That’s why he felt even colder.

‘Is he really F-rank? If his awakening value was just a little higher, he would have become a capable hunter.’

Why am I feeling sorry about this?

Seon Uyeon returned from her brief thoughts and focused on her work.

Right now, her top priority was to safely send Hunter Kim Giryeo home.

“Seon Uyeon-ssi.”

But then.

I thought it would be silent until we arrived home, but surprisingly, the other hunter started the conversation first.

“Yes.”

“Come to think of it, there was something I wanted to ask you.”

“Please, go ahead.”

“You came to my house today, right? How did you know I was home? It’s the middle of the day on a weekday.”

It’s a question I often hear.

Seon Uyeon started to answer without difficulty. To be precise, it was no different than a self-introduction.

“It’s my awakening skill. The official name is 『Searcher』.”

“Searcher?”

“If you search on Pixy Wiki, you’ll find more detailed information, but…”

Since there’s no Wi-Fi here, it would be better to explain it verbally.

“Simply put, it’s a tracking ability. I can know the real-time location of an object or person.”

B-rank hunter. Seon Uyeon.

This awakened one, whose rank as a hunter was quite high, also possessed a very useful skill.

This 『Searcher』 skill could find a target even if they were at the end of the Korean peninsula, or even hiding in a gate.

“My main job is to track criminals with the Searcher skill.”

Kim Giryeo listened to this and remained silent, then spoke softly after a while.

“Then when we first met…”

“Yes. I confirmed you were running away with my skill.”

Kim Giryeo closes his mouth again.

‘He’s feeling guilty, isn’t he?’

Seeing this reaction, the hypothesis that he has something up his sleeve gains strength.

Physical abilities that can deal with a Beginner Killer, running away when he sees an association employee, and even making the stoic Jeong Haseong move…

Is such a person really just a simple F-rank?

‘I really can’t figure him out.’

Seon Uyeon felt uneasy.

Should she suspect him or not? She kept worrying.

But then.

“Hmm?”

Thud.

Kim Giryeo suddenly stopped in his tracks.

Thanks to that, Seon Uyeon also stopped walking. When she wondered why, she saw…

‘A dog? No, it’s a raccoon.’

There was something at the end of Kim Giryeo’s gaze.

The figure of a beast lying stretched out in the middle of the road.

That was the corpse of a wild animal.

It seemed to have been run over and killed by a motorcycle or car.

“Ugh, what is that? Disgusting.”

A student walking from the opposite alley saw the damaged corpse and was horrified, moving aside.

It’s a common reaction.

Seon Uyeon thought the raccoon was pitiful, but like that student, she was planning to quietly pass by.

“What are you doing?”

But.

Kim Giryeo walked towards the corpse.

Then, he bent down and, while picking up the animal that everyone was ignoring, he said softly.

“Such a precious thing, carelessly on the street… What a waste.”

A waste?

She must have misheard ‘unfortunate’ as ‘a waste’. Seon Uyeon briefly corrected herself and started to stop him.

“H-Hunter Kim Giryeo-nim. It seems like it’s been dead for quite a while, so if you touch it like that, it’s not hygienic…”

A corpse that has started to decompose is hideous and unclean.

So usually, people don’t touch it readily and just look at it like it’s trash and avoid it.

But Kim Giryeo hugged the corpse without any hesitation.

“Dirty things can be washed off.”

A voice without hesitation…

“Then, I’ll go in now.”

“Oh, okay?”

“If you turn into this alley, it’s right at my house. I’m here.”

Seon Uyeon was dazed for a moment, then nodded belatedly after hearing his words.

As he said, they had already arrived at their destination a long time ago.

“G-Go safely.”

Kim Giryeo then went into a nearby alley with the dead mammal.

Seon Uyeon watched his receding figure and thought quietly.

‘He’s going to take it and bury it.’

A person who doesn’t ignore the corpse of a creature they met on the street and takes it away.

Kim Giryeo’s action left a strong impression on Seon Uyeon’s mind.

‘He has a warm side too.’

If this B-rank hunter had a skill to read minds, her impression would have been quite different.

In fact, Kim Giryeo’s real thoughts were like this.

‘What luck! Earth is great. Biological samples are scattered everywhere!’

The magic that Kim Giryeo is most confident in is golem-related magic.

And in his hometown, the materials for golems were largely divided into two categories.

One was ‘weapon golems’ assembled piece by piece with rocks and metals.

The other was ‘organic golems’ using animal corpses, which were golem materials given by the gods.

‘When I complete the mana amplification agent, let’s try magic on this first.’

Simply put, he picked it up because he found a good test subject that was abandoned.

After the experiment, he planned to hold a funeral for the shell according to Earth’s ethics. Wouldn’t that be a better ending for the raccoon that was cooling down alone on the street?

Perhaps the assumption that Kim Giryeo might have a frugal personality could be true.

◈◈◈

“Did you hear the news?”

“What news?”

“I heard someone cleared the Magic Tower Guild maze last week.”

“Oh, really? Who was the clear?”

“I don’t know! They say it’s not a famous person.”

“That maze, even Hunter △△△ gave up and came out. How did they clear it? They’re crazy.”

The modern era is an information society.

The production and distribution of information are directly linked to monetary value.

This was no exception in the hunter industry, so they were always sensitive to news.

New gates, new items, new skills…

But among them, the most valuable was information about human resources.

“Hey, Section Chief Kim. You got a call earlier, right? They said an F-rank hunter had a re-examination the other day, and he’s quite something.”

“Ah, yes. I heard a user of the analysis skill appeared after a long time.”

“Anyway, it was good to have someone planted in the association.”

A small wind began to blow in a corner of Seoul.

The fact that he saved An Yunseung from the A-rank golem was a very localized incident, and the victim himself was quiet after the interview, so the impact wasn’t great…

One day.

The karma of lying about knocking out Jeong Haseong.

And the rumor that he was the first to clear the tower’s maze got mixed together.

There’s an F-rank hunter who knows the trials of the notorious Magic Tower inside and out and even understands the weaknesses of high-rank awakened ones!

Who would have known that the rumor would develop to this extent?

It was a butterfly effect.

Even Kim Giryeo, two days after his awakening re-examination.

After seeing an internet post saying that it’s easier to be active if awakened ones report their skills to the association, he went ahead and did it.

“An F-rank hunter who awakened a high-grade analysis skill.”

In the end, this small rumor that only a few people shared reached the ears of one organization.

And that organization is…

◈◈◈

Clang, clang, clang.

A sound like closing a rusty garage shutter echoed.

I tried to move my body in the darkness.

But my hands and feet were bound with thin, strong cable ties, and the more I struggled, the more my skin was rubbed raw.

Blood was flowing from my wrist.

A metallic smell tickled my nose. But this wasn’t the smell of blood.

‘It seems like there are a lot of the same iron chairs I’m tied to in the room.’

First, let me state the conclusion.

“Haa…”

I was kidnapped.

How did the situation become like this?

I slowly retraced the events that had happened from before I was dragged here until now.