The Hunter of the Other World Who Is Being Misunderstood – Chapter 35

Ch 35: Terrorism （2）

Since we’ve secured a promise of cooperation, there’s no need to hide the details any longer.

Seon Uyeon began to explain the overview of the incident slowly.

◈◈◈

After leaving the restaurant.

“There are terrorists.”

The first words thrown out were these.

“In Korea?”

“Yes. In Korea.”

The man reacted as if it was the first time he’d heard of it.

It’s only natural since it hasn’t been reported in the media yet.

“But their methods are a bit unusual. They’re not trying to commit terrorism with bombs or anything like that.”

“Then what are they using…?”

“Monsters.”

Seon Uyeon stood with her arms crossed and spoke seriously.

“Recently, there have been signs that someone is causing artificial dungeon breaks.”

“What?”

“In other words, what we need to catch is this dungeon break terrorist.”

A phenomenon where unknown creatures from beyond the gate are released into the streets.

Why was this called a dungeon break?

The reason lay in the nature of the gate.

The passages that hold another world inside, called ‘normal gates’ or ‘blue gates,’ had a rule like a time bomb.

“An artificial dungeon break…?”

Usually, it’s 7 to 10 days.

If the scale is small, it’s 3 to 5 days.

If a blue gate is left unattended without being raided for the above amount of time, the entrance is destroyed.

Like a supernova, *bang*! It explodes, the dungeon disappears, and all the monsters inside are simultaneously poured out into the city.

That’s why it was called a ‘dungeon break.’

Furthermore, this phenomenon became the catalyst for humanity’s desperate efforts to develop technology to explore gates.

“How is such a thing possible?”

But now, someone has appeared who is causing this terrifying accident at will.

Seon Uyeon frowned at Kim Giryeo’s question. And she shook her head.

“We don’t know either. We have to find out from now on.”

Anyway, since it’s a terror related to gates, we’re going to investigate the gates.

Kim Giryeo understands the situation without difficulty. However, a small question remained in this process.

“Wait, if a dungeon break occurs, the existing gate disappears, right? Then there wouldn’t be anything to investigate?”

That question was quickly resolved by Seon Uyeon, though.

“That’s why I said that the criminals left traces.”

“Yes?”

“The gate didn’t disappear.”

Moist air surrounded them.

However, Seon Uyeon uttered a drier sentence than ever.

“Recently, there was a dungeon break incident in the outskirts where a large number of fire-attribute monsters appeared, but their originating dungeon still remains.”

“….”

“And that too… in an empty state.”

This was the identity of the place Seon Uyeon wanted to request an investigation of.

◈◈◈

Terrorists, human trafficking rings, fellow hunter killers.

Isn’t it true that Korea is the most dangerous place, except for the lack of a gang?

‘Should I run away to a foreign country?’

I bit my nails in anxiety, killing time.

Today is that day.

The day to help Seon Uyeon with her work.

“Giryeo Hunter? You’re already here?”

“I took a taxi.”

As the appointed time arrived, an Association employee appeared right on time.

As soon as I saw Seon Uyeon’s face, I pointed to the back. To the brightly shining blue passage beyond the police line.

“So, are we entering now?”

“Yes. Then you can go in with the person in charge over there.”

“What about Seon Uyeon-ssi?”

“I’m going to wait outside the gate. I’m a searcher, after all. I’m not an awakened one suitable for protection.”

“……Hmm.”

The gate that became the subject of the investigation was a B-rank gate near Seoul where a lava zone appears.

If it were a weak awakened one like Kim Giryeo, they would die just from the breath of a B-rank monster, but fortunately, there was nothing dangerous now.

‘It really is empty inside.’

Well, as I heard beforehand, there wasn’t a single monster.

The boss was definitely said to have been killed by the dungeon break suppression team, but how is the gate still remaining without collapsing?

‘Even though there wasn’t even a living person inside.’

This is a good opportunity.

I’ve been quite interested in Earth’s gates since before, so I decided to conduct the investigation with all my heart.

And a few hours later.

As a result of suffering and sweating profusely in the lava zone. I managed to achieve some results.

“Hoo…….”

“Did you find something?”

After completing the investigation, I left the stuffy dungeon air behind and came outside.

Then, Seon Uyeon, who had been waiting outside, greeted me, and I told her this sentence first.

“I have some bad news.”

“What is it?”

“It seems like it will be difficult to know who the culprit is.”

Hearing these words, Seon Uyeon… began to glare at me as if I were some kind of bug.

No, I really don’t know, so what do you want me to do?

“There aren’t any clues left that could identify them, and there aren’t any traces of manipulation inside the dungeon either.”

Was it a problem that I ordered kalguksu and steamed dumplings last time?

Well, it’s understandable to be angry if I can’t pay for my food.

A cold air flowed from Seon Uyeon’s face.

Even after seeing that, I pretended not to be scared and slowly continued to speak.

“But I did find one strange thing.”

“What is it?”

“This gate here, you see.”

Tap tap.

When I pointed at the blue passage in front of me, Seon Uyeon’s attention focused.

“It’s like a passage that a sorcerer… no, an awakened one forced open? So, what I want to say is, it’s a fake exit.”

“Fake?”

“It’s too unstable.”

At the same time, Seon Uyeon’s eyes widened, but I continued to speak without paying attention.

“First of all, it’ll be too long to explain everything, so let’s summarize it roughly. That terrorist.”

Woo-oong. Even at this moment, the blue passage was making a strange sound, illuminating the space.

“They know how to create new entrances and exits in dungeons.”

“…!”

“Of course, they would also have a way to close the original passage. Because this one was switched out.”

It’s amazing that they can manipulate the gate, which is an unknown space, to this extent.

However, even though I found out this information, I couldn’t boast about it carelessly.

“Increase or decrease the passage? Why did the culprit do that?”

“Well, no matter how I look at it, it has nothing to do with the dungeon break.”

As a result of a thorough analysis of the gate.

I was able to come up with a few ways to intentionally cause a dungeon break.

That’s why I could say it with even more conviction.

The number of passages has nothing to do with dungeon breaks.

“Hmm.”

Besides, even if they messed with the passage, which was just standing still…….

“Seon Uyeon-ssi. You said that the ‘strange’ dungeon breaks didn’t happen just this once, right?”

“Ah, yes.”

Seon Uyeon soon explained.

She said that there were three dungeons that suddenly burst this year, even though there was plenty of time left.

If so, that means there are at least three suspected previous offenses.

“They didn’t leave any evidence in the past crimes, but this time they openly created an empty gate like this to attract attention?”

What’s the intention?

“Giryeo Hunter, is it possible that the previous incidents and this incident are not the work of the same person?”

A plausible argument was made, but this was just speculation.

‘Are the magicians of Earth doing various experiments out of curiosity? It’s a plausible story. All sorcerers grow up like that.’

Hmm.

This damn mana is the problem after all.

If I had more mana, I could use various investigation methods.

For example, brainwash all the humans in this area and make them tell the truth…….

‘But now I can’t even use confession magic, and a portable lighter is stronger than my fireball.’

Aish, d*mn it.

It’s so inconvenient to be reborn as a bottom-tier hunter.

“As of now, there’s no way to know.”

Anyway, the investigation is over with this.

I pointed at the gate with the police line and gave Seon Uyeon a brief warning.

I don’t know what kind of daring terrorist did this, but anyway, their skills weren’t that great.

“Oh, and Seon Uyeon-ssi. You shouldn’t go inside this gate from now on.”

“Yes?”

“I told you earlier. The fake passage is unstable.”

“That means…….”

“The exit will probably disappear before the day is over.”

No one knows what will happen to the dungeon that was forcibly holding on due to the artificial passage someone created, once it loses its exit.

If I hadn’t come early, innocent police officers might have been trapped in another world.

Seon Uyeon seemed to realize this, as her face turned pale for a moment, and she muttered in a quiet voice.

“Thank you so much for your cooperation.”

Thanks to that, I was able to get some beef today.

But this was my last achievement.

Because not long after, that empty gate disappeared from the world.

“Giryeo Hunter, I’m sorry to contact you late at night. Your prediction was correct. The entrance… it disappeared.”

We lost the only clue to chase the culprit.

Moreover, from this day on, the terrorist incidents also stopped completely…….

It was inevitable that the subsequent investigation would become sluggish.

The period I promised to help Seon Uyeon with her work was two weeks.

However, as time passed, the number of days I didn’t even receive a call from her gradually increased.

◈◈◈

『I regret to inform you of the unfortunate news. The police searched the park where missing person A was last seen on the 9th, but in the end…….』

『This is a breaking news report. Another victim of the recent serial missing persons case in Eunpyeong-gu…….』

『Police, “Established a special investigation headquarters… will do our best to search for the missing.”』

Meaningless days passed.

“The world is so dangerous~”

I slumped down, having nothing to do.

When was it that I was busily running around the scene with the long-haired hunter, and why did I suddenly end up like this?

Well, it’s because there’s no more place to use my appraisal ability.

Since the investigation went up in the air after the gate disappeared.

Thanks to that, I have time to fiddle with my cell phone like this.

“These days, everyone is only talking about this story.”

I stared blankly at the news video on the screen and thought.

In fact, during this period when Seon Uyeon was chasing the terrorists, another major incident had occurred in Korea.

They said that as many as seven citizens residing in Eunpyeong-gu, who were not related to each other, had gone missing?

‘Did they kidnap them from somewhere again?’

The possibility of kidnapping briefly came to mind, but the probability was low.

The victims had two things in common.

That their actual residence was in Eunpyeong-gu, and that they were non-awakened ones.

‘Who would kidnap ordinary people without mana…?’

It was around the time I was engulfed in doubt alone.

━Ding♩ Ddiriring♩♬

The new ringtone I had set up in advance rang in the one-room.

At the same time, the news I was watching automatically stopped.

It seems like I got a call.

『Seon Uyeon 』

I pressed the receive button without hesitation.

“Yes, this is Kim Giryeo.”

What followed was a normal call.

“Yes, yes.”

It wasn’t particularly long either. Seon Uyeon always only conveyed the necessary information briefly.

“Yeah~ I understand.”

Click.

After the call ended. I stared at the turned-off cell phone screen and muttered.

“No, d*mn it. I thought I was just curious about the situation while watching the news, but I didn’t say I wanted to solve the case myself.”

I have some bad news.

As the investigation into the missing persons case in Eunpyeong-gu has begun in earnest, Seon Uyeon, who has a searcher skill, has been urgently selected as an investigator.

In other words, I, who have a contract condition of ‘helping Seon Uyeon with her work for two weeks’, have also been dragged into this.