The Hunter of the Other World Who Is Being Misunderstood – Chapter 31

Ch 31: Novice Hunter （2）

There are those kinds of people sometimes.

Hunters who give up on facing dangerous and ferocious magical beasts and turn their eyes toward easier prey.

In the industry’s jargon, they were called ‘frogs.’

If something is smaller than them, even if it’s of the same kind, they open their mouths wide and devour it…

“Should we go with that gate after all? There aren’t any CCTVs at the entrance.”

“Yeah. Let’s do that.”

“I’ll lure Kim Giryeo.”

Isn’t that a perfect title to call them? Frogs.

“I wish there was more to take than just the bracelet, but he’s dressed like a beggar, so I don’t have high hopes.”

These frogs mainly targeted low-rank awakened ones and committed crimes.

Novice hunters, not yet accustomed to gates, tend to overinvest in protective gear to save their lives.

Even if they scraped together loans to buy equipment, they’re still just fledgling hunters anyway.

In front of veterans, it is often useless.

“What does it matter? Just selling that bracelet will let us live comfortably for a while.”

Moreover, the more malicious part is that they don’t just aim for extortion.

“Anyway, it’s our first job in three weeks, so let’s prepare properly.”

Those who have decided to hunt their fellow humans would not have a normal way of thinking.

A high percentage of the hunter world’s cannibals were pleasure killers.

Kim Giryeo happened to catch the eyes of these hunters.

“Let’s see. It’ll be a big problem if the bracelet’s ability activates, so first we need a stun item…”

Jaehyun, already excited, was muttering and making plans.

Watching Jaehyun, the team leader suddenly became curious.

“Hey, Jaehyun, didn’t you say you teamed up with that hunter before?”

“Huh? Y-yes.”

“What kind of guy was he? Is there anything else to watch out for?”

At that, the man who received the question couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

Watch out for?

“Puhahaha! Don’t even mention it. That guy, last year, he tucked his tail and ran away from an F-rank gate, you know? He’s the weakest hunter I know!”

◈◈◈

The next day.

‘Seeing Jaehyun makes me feel like something is about to come to mind.’

Ding♪

Amidst the complex feelings, a text message arrival tone rings.

I unlocked my cell phone and replied to the message.

“Oh my! You were here so early?”

Soon after, familiar faces arrived.

It was the hunter team I met yesterday.

“You’re really going to pay us the same as yesterday, right?”

“Oh, of course. I’ve brought crisp, new bills. Haha.”

Well then, now that everyone’s here, we should start working soon.

Following their guidance, I arrived at a gate.

Between buildings.

An F-rank blue gate that appeared at the corner of a narrow alley. This was today’s workplace.

‘They said there are two bosses here, right?’

Generally, gates disappear when the boss is defeated.

But there was a small rule to this phenomenon. That is, if there are living people inside, the gate collapse does not occur.

‘When I have time, I want to properly investigate the gates too.’

I was looking at the Earth’s artifacts with curiosity, but soon came to my senses.

I can satisfy my curiosity later, I need to focus on work first.

‘If I can earn this much just by doing porter work, there’s no need to rip off the kind An Yunseung.’

With a happy heart, I adjusted my backpack and headed into the gate.

Unlike the cowardly Kim Giryeo, I followed behind the sturdy hunters.

Forward, and forward again.

“Is it just me? Isn’t this the path we came from earlier?”

As we went on without thinking, our group reached a dead end.

It seems that because of the cave structure, there are many forks in the road, and we lost our way.

“Look. The monster corpse we caught earlier is still there. I think we took the wrong path.”

“……..”

“Does anyone have a pathfinding skill?”

I asked a short question and looked around.

The inside of the cave was winding and reddish, making it feel like we had entered the esophagus of a living beast.

“Giryeo-ssi, you don’t need that. We came the right way.”

“Huh?”

But at that moment.

The D-rank hunter who was leading suddenly stopped walking, turned to me, and started to smile slyly.

“No, it’s a dead end, how can you say we came the right way…”

Immediately following that was the sound of something shattering.

And the pungent smell of vinegar.

“Ack!”

Clang! Soon after, a glass bottle someone threw hit my head and shattered without effect.

Thanks to that, I ended up getting doused in a strange potion without knowing why.

“Cough, cough!”

“Don’t worry too much. It’ll all be over when you wake up after a good sleep.”

I couldn’t understand.

We are the same hunters, so why are you attacking me?

Do Earthlings have a fetish for assaulting their own kind?

“Wow, hyung-nim. That bastard is holding up well?”

“He’s just a nobody. This stun potion will end an F-rank in 5 seconds.”

But these people seem to be mistaken about something.

I just didn’t like the strong smell of this potion. It’s not like I’m struggling to resist drowsiness or fainting.

“…It feels like 5 seconds have passed?”

“Huh?”

A few seconds later.

They also started to stiffen their expressions, realizing something was wrong.

‘Where did they get such an inferior magical tool!’

I basically have perfect resistance to stun magic.

I quickly regained my senses. The first thing I did was this.

“F*ck!”

“Hey, hey, hey! He’s running away. Catch him!”

“They said that bastard couldn’t run!”

When something feels strange, running away is the best option.

I gritted my teeth and sprinted with all my might.

I had long since thrown away the backpack I had been carrying. But despite this effort, I was soon to be restrained…

“Kkyaak!”

Whirr, a blue vine that popped out from somewhere fiercely grabbed my leg. If it’s a sorcerer who manipulates plants, it must be him.

“Kim Jaehyun, what the h*ll are you doing!”

In an instant, my vision is turned upside down.

I was hung in the air by the skill Jaehyun used.

“No, you were limping around last year, how did you fix it?”

“Is that what’s important now? Why are you doing this to me!”

“Ha, d*mn it. What should I do?”

Looking at that face full of arrogance, it seems like something went wrong with their plan.

“Why isn’t he fainting?”

“I don’t know. Even if I shake him, I can only see the bracelet.”

“Hey, let him down for now. Just in case.”

Now, to make matters worse, even the D-rank hunter joined in.

The team leader, whom I thought was reliable, gave an order with a cold, calm face.

“You F-rank bastard. Listen to me carefully from now on. If you try to run away again, I’ll pull out your teeth one by one and kill you.”

I knew the saying about being betrayed by the axe you trust, but I never thought the day would come when I’d be directly threatened by an axe.

“L-let’s talk. Let’s talk it out.”

I glanced at the axe blade hanging over my uvula and raised both hands high.

D*mn it.

‘What, when I raise my hands, the Earthlings’ gazes follow too. What are they looking at?’

And it was at this moment that the general situation began to become clear.

‘Could it be…….’

Their gazes have been fixed on my wrist since a while ago, which is suspicious.

“Are you doing this because of the bracelet?”

As expected. When I said those words, they flinched as if they had been caught off guard.

That’s right. I’m being robbed right now.

‘So that’s why they tried to knock me out. To not use up the usage count of this item…!’

But now that it’s come to this, the bracelet’s ability isn’t anything special.

Two damage defenses. It’s a common effect.

“Yeah. It’s an item that blocks any attack without limit, wouldn’t you be tempted?”

The problem is that this magical tool can even block an attack from an S-rank monster if you’re lucky.

‘This is crazy.’

A piece of equipment I had for self-defense ended up causing danger. What kind of situation is this!

‘In Earth, even low-grade magical tools like this become targets for robbery…!’

Honestly, handing over the bracelet itself wasn’t difficult.

I just got it by luck, so I didn’t have much attachment to the item.

If it seemed like giving the equipment would solve the problem, I would have done it without hesitation.

‘Ughhh.’

But looking at the situation. It seemed too late to negotiate.

‘These bastards, they never intended to let me live from the start.’

Why else would they lure a victim so deep into a gate like this?

They plan to kill me and close the gate. Then, when the dungeon disappears, the corpse will naturally be destroyed as evidence.

“Hey! Kim Giryeo, take off that bracelet and hand it over here!”

“Do you think I’m crazy to give it to you? Don’t move! Before I use up both of the two charges!”

Feeling a threat to my life, I shouted loudly and threatened them. That’s right. Of course, they wouldn’t be able to move a finger.

‘If they touch me even a little, it could be counted as an attack!’

The limit of this magical tool is only two uses.

After using them all, it returns to being a simple accessory.

My gaze briefly scanned the blue magic stone decoration that indicated the remaining effect count of the bracelet and then turned back to the front.

“Hey, Kim Jaehyun. We can’t do anything to each other like this, so can’t you just let me go?”

“What?”

“If you let me live, I’ll keep today a secret. Anyway, I’m not seriously hurt right now. What charges would I use to report you?”

As the stalemate continued, I started to persuade them to escape from this place.

But it didn’t have much effect.

“You’re talking nonsense. Who doesn’t know that if you get out, you’ll immediately go around telling everyone!”

‘Was it obvious?’

Ignoring the team leader who was getting angry, I quietly wracked my brain. Originally, I was planning to find an opportunity to run away again.

But…

“Agh, whatever. Things got messed up just because a stun didn’t work. Hey, Jaehyun.”

“What is it?”

“We have to give up this time.”

The D-rank hunter suddenly withdrew the axe blade that was aimed at my neck and sighed, and I briefly thought that I was finally being freed from this situation.

That was until I got punched by him.

“An F-rank acting all high and mighty with an item. It’s so annoying! Seriously!”

Thud!

The brutal sound of a human fist colliding with a face bone echoed through the cave.

The D-rank, having reached the end of his patience, finally attacked me. Then, huffing and puffing, he said this.

“Hey, try it. Try using it, you bastard. The moment that item’s charges are used up is your death day!”

What followed was a merciless beating.

The D-rank swung his fist as if he was venting his anger, hitting my shoulders and abdomen, and each time, a bone broke.

‘Ouch!’

I’m going to get beaten to death at this rate.

“Wait a minute! I-I’ll give it to you! I understand. I’ll give you the item, so stop for now!”

There’s no other choice.

I shouted urgently. Then the D-rank hunter stopped his actions and caught his breath.

“You should have done that from the start!”

“Yeah. A beating is the best medicine.”

Is this the reality of an F-rank?

Submitting to violence, being ridiculed, it’s sad to be powerless.

“Hoo…”

It seems my skin was torn when I hit my head earlier, I tried to ignore the blood flowing from my forehead and fumbled for the bracelet.

If I hand this over, everything will be over.

‘Maybe even my life…!’

It was at that moment.

Suddenly, from beyond the cave, the sound of footsteps, tap tap tap tap, began to flow in.

“Running sounds?”

Jaehyun and his team members all turned their heads at once.

“Who came in here without permission?”

There’s no way someone would trespass into a worthless F-rank gate.

But what appeared next was truly someone no one expected.

“What is that?”

“An Yunseung? That An Yunseung?”

A-rank hunter An Yunseung.

How did that person get here?

“Gi, Giryeo hyung? What is this…”

Yunseung, who came running, was looking at us with a surprised face, and as soon as I made eye contact with him, I shouted.

“Help me!”

Come to think of it, I forgot about it.

『（Text Message）』

『Yunseung-a, you know about today’s appointment, right? F-rank gates don’t take much time, so just wait in front.』

『Yes!』

『I’ll look at your skills again as soon as I finish work.』

『Thank you so much, hyung.』

『You’re welcome, Giryeo.』

I had two appointments today.