The Hunter of the Other World Who Is Being Misunderstood – Chapter 56

Ch 56: I Shouldn’t Have Done That

‘Hiiiik! What is this all about!’

Of course, his inner thoughts were different from his outward appearance.

Gulp.

Giryeo secretly swallowed hard. If he hadn’t immediately bowed his head in apology, what would have happened to him by now?

“Jeong Haseong-ssi. Please calm down.”

He hurriedly raised both hands, palms facing outward. A clear expression of surrender.

“I was really wrong. I came here today to apologize.”

But even after hearing those words, Jeong Haseong did not put away his weapon.

“If apologizing was enough to be forgiven, there would be no law in this world.”

That’s true, but…

Giryeo’s eyes darted around busily. He had to somehow appease this S-rank’s anger.

So, he poured all his effort into explaining the situation, but…

“Um, you know, I absolutely didn’t mean it in a bad way. At the time, I was genuinely worried about your health…”

“How can I believe those words?”

“Huh?”

“You made someone lose consciousness out of the blue. In my eyes, you’re no different from that suicide bomber.”

“Haseong-ssi.”

“Tell me honestly. Wasn’t there some other intention?”

Jeong Haseong questioned every sentence with sarcasm. It was frustrating.

“Intention? That’s what I want to ask. What exactly is your purpose, Haseong-ssi?”

So, instead of apologizing, Giryeo asked a fundamental question.

“Why are you always so impatient?”

“….”

“I looked it up online. You break the gate clear record every year. It may look good on the surface, but isn’t that just another way of saying you don’t sleep and just keep running around dungeons?”

Jeong Haseong was silent.

“Besides, you just hand over the items you get from the gates to the country like a pushover. It doesn’t seem like you’re getting much benefit from it.”

“….”

“Then, you should at least rest when you’re sick. Why are you so obsessed with hunting monsters?”

But it seemed he couldn’t ignore even this question. Jeong Haseong eventually answered naturally.

“It’s a duty, something I have to do.”

“Something you have to do?”

“I went to a school built with taxes, and I live by walking on roads paved with taxes. Shouldn’t I do at least this much for the country?”

That’s an admirable mindset.

But whether one can sympathize with those words is another matter.

“You’re acting like that just out of a sense of duty?”

Giryeo tilted his head as if he couldn’t understand.

In fact, this series of questions was a test to figure out Jeong Haseong’s preferences.

If he knew why he worked so hard, he thought it would help him apologize.

‘How can a person not have any personal desires? What kind of bribe should I offer in this case?’

Giryeo was facing a difficult situation. And that wasn’t the only problem.

“Kim Giryeo Hunter. Why have you been changing the subject since earlier?”

“Uh.”

“Now that I see it, you don’t seem to be very sorry either.”

A new crisis had arrived.

A face without emotion isn’t always interpreted in a positive way.

Jeong Haseong thought this F-rank was not at all remorseful about yesterday’s incident.

“Ah, no. Of course, I’m sorry. I just had something on my mind.”

“Something on your mind?”

“It’s good to serve the country, but usually people don’t go that far.”

“….”

“Besides, it’s not like anything big would change if Jeong Haseong-ssi took a day off, so there’s no need to push yourself so hard…”

Jeong Haseong was dumbfounded as soon as he heard those words.

“Huh!”

Once he had been disliked, it seemed that no matter what the other person said, it would only be seen in a negative light.

“Ah, so you’re saying, it’s not like Korea would collapse without you. Why are you making such a fuss.”

“Yes?”

“Why don’t you say the same thing in front of the families of the victims who died because I didn’t deploy yesterday!”

“No.”

“To think that a person like you was given an awakening ability.”

The tone of voice gradually became louder.

“Kim Giryeo Hunter. Let’s see how long you can remain so relaxed. Do you think this will end with a simple assault charge?”

“…!”

“I guarantee you, a person like you will never be able to work as a hunter again!”

This was a threat to reveal his crimes in detail and completely strip him of his hunter qualifications.

It was a statement that he would show him the consequences through legal means.

But at this moment.

‘What did he say?’

The F-rank standing in front of him began to interpret this sentence in a completely different way.

‘He’s going to somehow make it so I can’t work as a hunter… Could it be? By killing me…?’

Jeong Haseong was currently in a bad mood.

Because of that, his mana was raging fiercely, and to Giryeo, this was no different from visible killing intent.

‘He’s planning to get rid of me so I can never enter the industry!’

Hiiiik!

I knew it from the moment he started swinging a sword as a greeting!

Giryeo’s face turned pale as he shut his mouth.

And at this moment, do you know what Jeong Haseong happened to be thinking?

‘That hunter is a thorough criminal who can even deceive the new awakening test. He might suddenly run away, so I need to restrain him beforehand.’

One step.

Two steps.

Jeong Haseong was closing the distance.

Giryeo froze in place, overwhelmed by immense fear.

‘I’m going to be killed!’

Just as their misunderstandings were escalating.

A voice flashed through Giryeo’s mind like a revolving lantern.

━That’s how hunters fight each other.

━People are different from monsters, so they often hide their abilities.

━If the other person thinks that the awakened one is hiding something… then a conflict won’t easily arise.

That’s right.

Come to think of it, A-rank hunter An Yunseung gave me this advice a while ago.

Giryeo mulled over the past conversation several times.

Then, he saw a way out.

‘Could it be…?’

Could he avoid a fight if he pretended to have a hidden trump card here?

This was within 0.2 seconds.

What would happen if he bluffed enough to make the S-rank hesitate?

This was within 0.3 seconds.

But what on earth should he say to deceive the other person?

This was within 0.7 seconds.

He frantically pondered for less than a second.

“Because of you, because of what you did, do you even know how many people died yesterday…!”

And this pondering was concluded because of the resentment that Jeong Haseong unleashed.

The S-rank hunter was pouring out his emotions without hesitation to the suspicious awakened one who had knocked him out.

Anger, injustice, hatred.

Giryeo, who was facing this head-on, shouted loudly out of his survival instinct.

“──Get a grip, Haseong-a!”

Just as everyone held their breath at the resounding voice.

The next words followed.

A major mistake that would define his future life.

“You’re a nobody!”

It was the starting point of his bluff.

◈◈◈

There’s no more powerful reversal than when a person who was always polite and respectful suddenly changes their attitude.

Jeong Haseong flinched.

But Kim Giryeo didn’t stop his outburst.

“Even if you were careless, you’re still a low-level hunter who got ambushed by a mere F-rank. What makes you think you’re so special?!”

It was a sharp cry like a frost blade.

“Yeah. Haseong-a. It’s not like Korea is going to collapse without you.”

“…!”

“A guy who knows that so well shouldn’t be getting angry at someone like me!”

Sigh.

He puffed up his chest and took a deep breath. His eyes were venomous.

“Besides, even if the country really did collapse, how is that your responsibility? Huh?”

“Wh-what.”

“Stop being so dramatic!”

But, wait a minute?

At first, he was just desperately trying to put down Jeong Haseong’s skills to survive.

But surprisingly, this criticism was working well. Jeong Haseong was stiff and not doing anything.

‘Oh!’

Now’s the time.

Giryeo rode the wave and spouted a lot of words that would raise suspicion.

“Should I tell you something for sure? You, you bastard. Did you get carried away because people are calling you a hero or whatever?”

“….”

“In my eyes, you’re just an ordinary 20-year-old. Even if you’re awakened, you’re still just a powerless individual.”

“….”

“Besides, you got defeated so easily by me, and now what? You’re saying the lives of the people are in your hands?”

Giryeo lowered his voice, pointing at the other person with his index finger.

“Can’t you tell right from wrong now?”

This should be enough to act tough!

From now on, he had to use a mix of carrots and sticks. If he only criticized, it might provoke him even more.

“Haseong-a, do you know that you look very unstable usually?”

He slowly threw out the bait.

“You’re obsessed with gates all day, and you don’t care about pushing your body too hard. In my eyes, that’s a disease.”

How gentle his tone was.

This way, he could appeal to him about his health concerns and, if necessary, actually put Haseong in the hospital.

Then, at least there wouldn’t be a fight while he was being treated.

“To be honest, I think you need professional treatment.”

Giryeo hid his sinister intentions and gently recommended.

“You’re a high-rank awakened one, so medicine might not work well, but at least go for counseling.”

“….”

“Huh? It’s not like you’re going to work as a hunter for just a day or two.”

It was an absurd situation, where he had been scolding him thoroughly and now was pretending to care.

“You should rest a bit too.”

Nevertheless, Giryeo spoke shamelessly.

And he glanced at Jeong Haseong’s mood with his eyes slightly open.

“Huh?”

But wait a minute.

This guy, instead of getting in a better mood.

‘D-did, did, did I go too far?’

He was so busy squeezing out a bluff that he hadn’t noticed until now.

The S-rank had been staring at him with his jaw clenched so hard his veins were popping out of his neck.

‘It seems like he’s just getting angrier…’

Giryeo trembled in fear when he saw Haseong’s serious face.

◈◈◈

A low-level hunter who got ambushed by an F-rank.

A guy with no skills.

Get a grip.

The harsh words poured out.

Hearing this, he felt an urge to argue back right away. But why?

Jeong Haseong was strangely speechless.

━Haseong-a, do you know that you look very unstable usually?

Looking back, it had been a while since he had received such harsh treatment.

Honestly, who would dare to speak harshly in front of an S-rank awakened one?

His workaholic attitude.

His habit of not caring for his body.

All this time, everyone had only praised him as a true hero.

‘I’m a nobody?’

So, until just now, he had firmly believed that he was doing well.

‘I.’

Actually.

He was a hero, but he wasn’t the right kind of person to be a hero.

His nature was not strong, so he easily stumbled over even small feelings of guilt.

He needed help.

But there was no one to help him.

Especially after his only family member, his mother, collapsed due to mana addiction.

━You’re obsessed with gates all day, and you don’t care about pushing your body too hard.

Simply because the S-rank was scary.

Blinded by the profits that the S-rank made.

Or because they would be safe if he sacrificed himself.

The people he had met so far had not pointed out his obsession for various reasons.

Rather, they were pushing the number 1 to enter even more gates.

‘Even Esther, who is also an S-rank, recognized me.’

But now, you’re saying I’m not in a normal state? No, you’re saying I even look like a crazy person?

━In my eyes, that’s a disease.

You’re wrong. I’m contributing to this society. Unlike you lazybones.

Normally, he would have already said those words filled with pride.

But somehow, his throat was tight, and no sound came out.

He couldn’t argue at all.

“Ah…….”

And, as he continued like this, he suddenly realized.

“It’s not like you’re going to work as a hunter for just a day or two.”

Perhaps these rude criticisms were actually the words he had wanted to hear all along.

“You should rest a bit too.”

Not the praise of being a hero.

In fact, I, this sharp criticism that you’re nothing special, so stop being dramatic…