The Hunter of the Other World Who Is Being Misunderstood – Chapter 64

Ch 64: Contract Prequel

The morning after the kidnapping incident was resolved.

♬~ ♩♪~♪

Seon Uyeon moved her hand to the ringing bell sound from her pocket.

“Hello?”

As she answered the phone, a familiar voice flowed from the other end of the receiver.

━I’m calling because there was a missed call.

It was Kim Giryeo’s voice.

By the way, a missed call. Seon Uyeon pondered for a moment, then recalled what had happened before.

Ah, right, I had briefly called this person while talking with An Yunseung.

“Ah, that call.”

━What was the reason you contacted me?

“It wasn’t anything special. I’m sorry for bothering you with this.”

Seon Uyeon apologized politely, then suddenly voiced a thought that came to mind.

“But, I think I called you about two days ago, did you go into a gate or something?”

It was too long a time to just say that the phone ran out of battery.

━No. I was kidnapped for a bit.

But the answer that followed was shocking.

Kidnapped. It was not a word that would come up in an everyday conversation.

“Huh? What did you say?”

━I said I was kidnapped. But I’m fine now. I just got all my belongings back.

“No, please tell me more details. Where were you kidnapped to?”

Seon Uyeon was startled and urged him to explain, but the victim himself didn’t seem very interested in the topic.

━It’s already over…

“Still!”

━Nacha Temple.

“Yes?”

━The den of those terrorists you told me about. I was held captive there and came out.

The Nacha Temple had targeted Kim Giryeo. There were a mountain of questions she wanted to ask, but Seon Uyeon prioritized this one.

“A-are you okay?”

Then, a sound of wind blowing came from the microphone on the other end of the receiver.

Was the other person laughing? Or sighing?

━My body is fine.

Only after hearing his confirmation did Seon Uyeon feel a little relieved. But then.

━Anyway, it’s a relief that it wasn’t urgent, so I’ll hang up now.

“Huh? Wait.”

━I’m busy today, so it will be hard to reach me. If you have something to say, please leave a message.

Click.

The other person hung up the phone.

Seon Uyeon stared blankly at the black phone screen and murmured softly.

“What the heck just happened…?”

There were still many things she was curious about.

But she couldn’t hold onto someone who was busy and ask a lot of questions.

Seon Uyeon had no choice but to find another way.

She was close with many police officers, so it wasn’t difficult to get information about what Kim Giryeo had mentioned.

“Hello? Detective Cha, this is Seon Uyeon. I’m calling because I have a question to ask.”

But she didn’t know that the result of that incident would be like this.

“…It was destroyed?”

Soon after, news came from the police.

━Yes, yes. I’ll just tell you since the article will be out soon anyway.

The pseudo-religion Nacha Temple. A high-ranking member of that organization was urgently arrested last night.

But the circumstances leading up to the arrest were quite a spectacle.

The Nacha Temple was operated in a way that was close to a point organization, so they were good at cutting off their tails, making it very difficult to track their whereabouts.

For some reason, Kang Changho had attacked the hideout of such a Great Teacher.

So when they asked Kang Changho how he knew about the place, he said he only went there to save Kim Giryeo.

On the other hand, Kim Giryeo claimed that he was a kidnapping victim and didn’t know anything…

“Huh.”

The testimony of the brainwashing officer who survived here is important.

That man, who worked as a supplier of followers for the Nacha Temple, had a fit when Kim Giryeo’s name was mentioned during the interrogation.

“He was trembling?”

━It was a complete mess. He was yelling that he was a demon wearing human skin.

“Isn’t that a bit strange? Why would he be so afraid of someone he tortured?”

━According to them, it was all a scheme by that F-rank. They said he deliberately got caught to infiltrate the cult.

“….”

━Puhaha, but does that even make sense? Honestly, who in their right mind would know when they’re going to be kidnapped?

“….”

━Anyway, they’re just making excuses. The victim was also horrified, saying what nonsense that was.

Seon Uyeon dropped the phone from her hand.

━Hunter Seon Uyeon?

A scene from a summer night flashed through her mind.

Under the dim moonlight. An awakened one with a neat appearance, looking down at others while wearing handcuffs.

“Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule.”

━Oh, it’s nothing. You’ve helped me so much, Hunter Seon Uyeon.

Click.

Seon Uyeon hurriedly ended the call.

“Hunter Kim Giryeo, could it be that…”

Her tense face was reflected in the turned-off screen.

◈◈◈

Around 11 a.m.

A cafe near Sindorim Station.

“Please make the vanilla latte without coffee.”

“Yes?”

“And add an iced Americano as well.”

For an Alpha Uri Native, a coffee shop is not a welcome place.

But this time, there was no choice.

If I went to a place like a restaurant with that human, I would get indigestion right away.

“So, why did you suddenly ask to meet?”

Clack.

At the same time as placing the drinks down, a short question flowed out.

I raised my gaze and looked at the opposite side.

There, the S-rank hunter of Korea, Kang Changho, was sitting imposingly.

A physique so large that the cafe’s sofa looked uncomfortable, and hair with a bluish-purple tint.

There was a time when I wondered why his hair color was so unusual.

Earthlings sometimes have their body hair change to a cold color due to awakening side effects.

‘Hmm.’

Enough of the reality escape.

“First of all, thank you for coming out like this. The reason I called Hunter Kang Changho is…”

I spoke with difficulty. Kang Changho was watching me with his arms crossed.

“I wanted to say thank you.”

“Huh?”

But he was also surprised that I would start with these words. He widened his eyes.

“I was so busy with the police investigation and everything, so I couldn’t properly thank you yesterday. Thank you so much.”

“Ah.”

Now, this is the main point.

“Um, well… I’m grateful that you saved me, but… you were watching me, weren’t you? Could you please stop doing that?”

I said seriously.

Kang Changho also realized that I was sure of it when he saw this attitude, so he didn’t make any lame excuses.

“I don’t want to?”

But isn’t it a bit much to come out so confidently? You bastard.

“You don’t want to?”

“Why are you like that? You received help, didn’t you?”

“Are you serious? If you keep acting like this…”

“If I keep acting like this, what? Are you going to report me?”

Hmm.

The S-rank hunter took a sip of his coffee and continued to speak leisurely.

“Go ahead. I’m a male awakened one in his 20s, and I’ve been stalked for a while now. Go tell the police that.”

I wonder how they would react?

Kang Changho drew a soft arc with the corner of his lips. It was a confident expression.

“This is why I like Korea. The law doesn’t do its job.”

“Huh…”

“If you have a lot of money, there’s no better country to live in.”

Hearing those words, annoyance suddenly flared up inside me.

It was already unfair to be reincarnated as an F-rank, but to not be able to catch even one of these alien stalkers.

So, I couldn’t hold back and brought up what I had been thinking about.

“You’re a 『Enhancement Skill』 holder, aren’t you?”

From the moment I discovered that skill on Pixy Wiki, I had been thinking about it.

『Enhancement Skill』

『Description: Kills the strong and steals their skills.』

“Otherwise, there’s no way to explain your actions.”

“Is that so?”

“I don’t know how a trash like me caught your eye, but anyway, you’ve been hanging around me with the intention of making me a sacrifice for your Enhancement Skill.”

“Hmm.”

“The reason you haven’t killed me yet is just because you’re not sure whether I belong to the ‘strong’ category, which is a condition for the Enhancement Skill.”

The S-rank hunter with the blue hair remained silent for a long time after the word Enhancement Skill came out.

And after a long time, his first words were.

“Yeah.”

A cool admission.

“You’re pretty much right.”

Kang Changho really was a 『Enhancement Skill』 holder.

My spine tingled.

‘I didn’t really want to know!’

I shouldn’t have even tried to probe if I knew it would be this scary.

Kang Changho himself confirmed it. He said that he had targeted me for skill plundering.

‘Ugh.’

Moreover, that wasn’t the only terrible thing.

“Since the Enhancement Skill has been revealed, should I tell you about that too?”

Soon after, the other party began to make a strange remark.

“Actually, I’ve had an offer I’ve wanted to make to you for a while now.”

“An offer?”

“In this Dungeon Shock era, it won’t be a bad condition. If this deal is successful, not only will you not have to worry about living expenses, but your safety will be guaranteed for life.”

Guarantee of life and safety.

It was certainly an attractive phrase, but the problem was the price that would follow.

“Kim Giryeo, how old are you now?”

“I’m 24 years old.”

“You’re younger than I thought?”

Kang Changho suddenly asked my age in the middle of the conversation, and then uttered the next sentence.

“Then, to be blunt.”

The condition of the deal he presented was just one thing.

“Hunter Kim Giryeo, would you perhaps die in my hands at the age of 34?”

“…!”

“If you promise me that, I’ll let you live like a noble while you’re alive.”

As soon as I heard those words, cold sweat poured down my face.

It’s been several months since I escaped from my hellish home planet.

I was just about to enjoy my new life, but what? Die in just 10 years?

“Mr. Kang Changho, how old are you this year?”

“31.”

“Then, please think about it yourself. Would you want to die in three years? 34 is such a young age!”

I naturally refused.

Frankly, I thought it was ridiculous. But the other party seemed to have a different perspective.

“Is it really worth getting up and leaving like that?”

Kang Changho said calmly as he looked up at me, who was getting ready to leave.

“From my point of view, 10 years is a long time to wait, and hunters have short life expectancies anyway.”

“Life expectancy?”

“Even those A-ranks die if they get the wrong monster compatibility. Are you going to work your butt off in this industry to save up for retirement?”

“….”

“Who knows what will happen in the future?”

“Huh.”

“Instead, isn’t it better to live while enjoying everything in your youth? I’ll give you 50 million won per month as a basic support.”

“….”

“Plus, a house and a car, anything you want.”

Kang Changho expressed his thoughts without changing his expression.

“I guarantee that there will be a line of other bottom-tier hunters who would gladly accept this deal.”

Bottom-tier hunters.

Oh, you brought it up at the right time.

“Hunter Kang Changho, you’re forgetting something…”

I stopped trying to leave and sat back down on the sofa.

“The condition for using the Enhancement Skill is to kill the ‘strong’, right?”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t know the exact criteria, but there’s no way an F-rank would fall into the category of the strong.”

“That’s right.”

“Then it’s settled. I’m a real F-rank! Don’t get the wrong idea. You won’t get anything by killing me.”

I expressed my unfairness.

But Kang Changho’s reaction was subtle.

He just rested his chin on one hand and rolled his eyes with a listless expression.

“Then how did you conquer the Golden Land? The cult members at the police station were saying that you were the awakened one who killed Greed, and that’s why they caught you.”

I quickly answered this question as well.

It was pure luck that I caught Greed, and I was just guilty of slipping on the ice.

That was the truth without a single lie.

“Hahaha.”

As soon as the S-rank hunter heard about the gate conquering process, he laughed out loud.

“You slipped and the boss died.”

“If you don’t believe me, ask the other awakened ones in the Golden Land…”

“So you’re going to come out like this.”

Kang Changho looked at me for a long time with a smile on his face, and then finally spoke.

“Then how are you holding up now?”

“Yes?”

“Take a look around.”

Around?

I turned my gaze. Only then was I able to understand what the other person was saying.

“Ah.”

The customers who were sitting sparsely were silently unconscious.

Moreover, even the cashier who was far away from here was frozen with a pale blue face.

That means.

“I’ve been slowly increasing the intensity since a while ago, but to think you’d be fine until this point.”

Kang Changho had been constantly emitting mana throughout the conversation.

And it was so gradual that even a Great Magician wouldn’t notice.

D*mn it.

Back home, even a newborn baby could leak this much mana, so I was unconsciously used to it and… !

“You’ve suddenly become quiet?”

Click.

The S-rank hunter leaned his arm on the table and asked casually.

“What is your real awakening rank anyway?”

Frankly speaking, the answer itself wasn’t difficult. But I had to refine the sentence a bit before that.

‘You damn bastard! I’m an F-rank, an F-rank. How many times do I have to say that I’m a bottom-tier trash!’

If I said it like that, the situation would only worsen.