The Hunter of the Other World Who Is Being Misunderstood – Chapter 135

Ch 135: Growth （2）

They finished their meal and continued their raid of the 『Deepest Place』.

The second floor of the dungeon only had an increase in the number of monsters, but the composition of the enemies themselves was the same, so they were able to pass through it without much difficulty.

“Aaaah!”

“Stick close, hurry!”

However, on the third floor, which they reached the next day.

In the central part of this dungeon, they faced an unprecedented crisis.

『Red Necromancer』

『Rank: A』

『Description: A named monster with dark attributes. Continuously summons ghouls with weak physical attack resistance as minions.』

This monster, with its rotten and festering flesh, cannot be defeated without a specific strategy.

It was like a ghost. No matter how many times you cut its body, it would regenerate.

“I, I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…”

“This isn’t the time to apologize. Focus!”

The strategy to defeat the Red Necromancer was to destroy the soul container hidden nearby.

But here, the newbie caused a major accident.

The soul container, which was on a high rock, fell into the deep lake after being hit by her skill.

‘I, I thought it was a fragile item, so I thought I could break it in one go.’

Splash.

The soul container sank into the bottomless water.

‘I, I shouldn’t have done that. Aaaah, I should have used binding to pull the box securely first…!’

They immediately tried to retrieve the soul container that had fallen into the lake, but this also ended in failure.

That’s why the situation had become such a mess.

“%&@#!@%~!”

The Red Necromancer’s bizarre incantation flowed from across the lake.

This was the sound of the monster creating new subordinates, and the team leader, as if disgusted, shouted.

“Maknae! Quickly climb up. Get out of the gate and call for support!”

But the monster wouldn’t even allow that.

Soon, the new ghouls summoned by the Necromancer crawled out of the wall, wriggling.

“We’re completely surrounded…”

Things had gotten terribly twisted.

They had wasted too much time trying to find the soul container that had fallen into the lake, and in the meantime, the monster had activated its skill to create subordinates four times in a row.

“Tsk, it doesn’t usually use that pattern often. Why is it acting up today of all days!”

Whoosh.

The woman with the crossbow threw a magical tool that created fire, eliminating some of the enemies.

But the numbers showed no signs of decreasing.

The retreat was already blocked by the swarming monsters. Once surrounded like this, the front and rear no longer mattered.

“Ugh!”

The formation was collapsing. The hunters were wavering.

This was a sign that the raid party was about to fall apart.

“…If…”

Whisper, whisper.

Only one Awakened One, who was acting as the tank for this team, did not lose focus and repeated a short sentence.

“What would Hyung-nim do in this situation?”

That was the signal flare.

Yunseung, as if he had finished preparing himself, shouted loudly to the team members behind him.

“Let’s break through straight ahead!”

“What did you say?”

“Ignore the monsters and run straight to the boss room. Then, kill the boss as quickly as possible and get out of the dungeon!”

Was he saying they should do a speedrun now?

The act of skipping the mobs and going straight for the boss in a blue gate.

This was called a speedrun in the industry, but in reality, it was rarely attempted.

“Crazy.”

The path to the boss was always guarded by so many guards that if they dragged them all along to the boss fight…

Unless they could end it quickly, they would be 100% wiped out.

“It’s too far to go all the way to the surface from here!”

“Yeah, we’d be exhausted before we even got there.”

“I’ll try my best to delay the mobs when we reach the boss. Hurry!”

What was needed at a time like this was quick decision-making.

The team’s representative made a quick decision.

“After I count to three, An Yunseung and I will clear the path. The rest of you, grit your teeth and run!”

One, two, three.

In response to this signal, the high-rank hunters’ awakened skills exploded.

『Mana Strike』, 『Judgment』, then again 『Mana Strike』…

And in this gap, Yunseung cast defense-type buff skills on the team members’ bodies.

‘Not the skin, but slowly from the inside. Not the skin, but slowly from the inside…!’

Stone Skin.

This was the very magic that had become several times more powerful than a normal Stone Skin after going through Kim Giryeo’s advice.

━Yunseung-a, if the skill name is Stone Skin, are you going to just apply the mana to the surface?

━Then how should I do it?

━Try using it with the feeling of filling a person’s body from the blood vessels. Now, your mana is acting as the blood.

If it were Kim Giryeo.

That’s right. He would have adjusted all the variables so that such a crisis wouldn’t have happened in the first place. But he wasn’t such a great person.

Therefore, someone like him had to put in bone-grinding effort.

“Haa.”

After taking a deep breath.

An Yunseung, with a mana-clad shield in front, charged straight ahead.

Bang! The decaying monsters were broken and torn apart by his blue mana.

Beyond that carnage, a path was opened.

◈◈◈

Wooong…

“Haha.”

An A-rank hunter dropped the crossbow she was holding and slumped down on the spot.

“Hahaha.”

It wasn’t just her that had lost strength in her legs.

Soon after, the man with the staff and the young healer also collapsed to the ground one by one.

“They cleared it.”

As you can see from the buzzing tunnel next to them, they had succeeded in their life-risking gamble.

They had killed the leader of the magical beasts and escaped from the collapsing dungeon.

“We almost crossed the Yodangang for real…”

Moreover, the most surprising thing in this process was the performance of a certain hunter.

“Hey, An Yunseung!”

“Yes?”

He had blocked the monsters that followed them all the way to the boss room for a whopping 4 minutes and 58 seconds, and even in a situation where his mana was running out, he had participated in the battle from time to time, helping with the subjugation of the boss…

Thump!

The team leader silently gave a thumbs up.

The MVP of this raid was undoubtedly An Yunseung.

No, it was almost as if that hunter had grabbed the dying party by the collar and dragged them along. That’s how great An Yunseung’s contribution was.

‘Gosh, how can a guy with only one year of experience show such skill?’

The team leader picked up the crossbow he had dropped and took a breather, when a tearful voice came from one side.

“E-everyone. I’m sorry.”

It was the newbie guild member’s voice.

“I’m really, really sorry… *sniff*, *sniff*.”

The newbie was shocked by the fact that everyone had almost been wiped out because of her one mistake and started to cry.

The team leader tried to calm her down.

Of course, she would have to address her hasty handling of the soul container later, but it wasn’t good for her to be too hurt by this incident.

She slowly approached the other person.

However, another team member next to the newbie broke the silence first.

“It’s okay.”

An Yunseung said with a bright expression.

“You don’t have to apologize at all. It’s natural for a hunter to make mistakes. What’s the big deal!”

However, even though his tone was gentle, the choice of words was somehow unsettling.

“Natural?”

She asked if he had predicted she would make a mistake because she was a newbie, but An Yunseung shook his head and corrected her.

“Actually, before I joined this Regular Team 3, I worked with many people as part of my rehabilitation. At first, I was annoyed at why they made such mistakes, but now I’ve gained enlightenment.”

The man with the piercings closed his eyes and reminisced about the past.

And then, he spoke with a confident tone.

“Hunters in this world are divided into two types. Kim Giryeo and those who are not Kim Giryeo.”

Thump. An Yunseung grabbed the newbie and muttered in a fast tone.

“Compared to Hyung-nim, it’s natural for other hunters to be clumsy. Of course, that includes me too.”

“Y-yes?”

“So don’t be discouraged! We’re not Kim Giryeo Hunter, so it’s inevitable that we make silly mistakes sometimes, right?”

“Yeees?”

“It’s easier if you just think of it as a law of nature, right?”

His focus was clearly defined, but why were his eyes so scary?

The Neo’s newbie hesitated at Yunseung’s actions, when the raid team’s leader stealthily rescued her.

And then said this.

“He’s just tired.”

“Ah.”

“He used to just smoke a cigarette for a bit at times like this, but ever since he suddenly started quitting smoking, he gets like that when he’s stressed.”

Hearing that, the newbie made a resolution on her own.

Ah, so that’s how terrible withdrawal is. I must never start smoking.

◈◈◈

Yunseung had often accompanied Kim Giryeo until now.

Anomaly Shift Gate.

Fire Bats.

Golden Land.

And so on…

He hadn’t always seen Kim Giryeo fight, but he had definitely learned one thing from him.

‘Composure.’

Kim Giryeo didn’t show great emotional fluctuations in front of magical beasts.

And not panicking was a considerable strength for a hunter.

Because they always had to fight unknown beings that breathed fire and flew in the sky.

“What would Hyung-nim do in this situation?”

An Yunseung’s rapid increase in skill was, in a way, due to this mindset.

What would Kim Giryeo do in this situation?

He would mutter this sentence whenever he was about to waver, firmly maintaining his composure.

“Wow! An A-rank red gate cleared in just 14 minutes? Guys, is this a new guild record or something…?”

An Yunseung worked tirelessly to get closer to his idol. It took a lot of practice to improve his skills to this level.

“D*mn it, this isn’t it!”

But.

The problem was that this person’s goal setting was a bit off.

“If it were Giryeo Hyung, he would have used a cleaner method when facing the boss! Why am I so stupid? I made three minor mistakes again today…!”

“Why is he like that again?”

“Leave him be.”

A certain A-rank hunter had overestimated Kim Giryeo, and the illusion in his head made him run endlessly.

It was a contradictory situation, like a stork trying to follow a crow and tearing its legs.

‘Unlike other hunters, Hyung-nim took the time to teach me, so I have to do better!’

But, looking at the results, it wasn’t such a bad thing.

Unlike that F-rank who was scamming the entire nation, at least the effort didn’t betray him.

“Everyone, go home first! I’m going to stay at the gate and practice my skills before I leave.”

“I was going to eat pork belly after this…”

“I’m sorry, seniors!”

An Yunseung was becoming a better sorcerer day by day, and as his skills improved, he naturally gained fame.

『Hello. I am Kim ○○ PD, the head of the program called ‘Hunter Review.’ I would like to offer An Yunseung A-rank Hunter an appearance on the show…』

A rising star of a large guild.

There was no one else who could raise viewership ratings as much as him.

An Yunseung, following the section chief’s advice that refusing too many broadcast offers wouldn’t look good, decided to accept a few interviews.

Of course, he made sure to follow the instructions he had received from Kim Giryeo in advance.

‘Hyung-nim told me to never reveal how he corrected my skills. Oh, and the golem’s strategy too.’

…It was a problem that he was only thorough about that part.

◈◈◈

Airport.

Giryeo, after receiving his luggage, completed the procedures and exited through the gate for arriving passengers.

He had safely returned to Korea, so now he just had to take a taxi and go home.

But since he hadn’t been able to use his phone for over 10 hours on the plane, he wondered if he should check the internet for a bit.

‘Let’s see. What’s the weather like today…’

Tap, tap.

Giryeo set his carrier down in a suitable place and accessed the portal site.

『A-rank Awakened An Yunseung Appears on ‘Hunter Review’』

『”The Secret to Strength? Learn from Kim Giryeo” Rising Star Interview』

『An Yunseung Hunter’s A-rank Gate Speedrun Clear. But he shakes his head at the MC’s praise, saying that compared to a certain hunter, he is still far from enough…』

『A Figure That Makes Even the Top 3% Look Pathetic』

Tap.

And as soon as Giryeo saw the first screen of the site, he immediately turned off the screen.

But even if he closed his eyes and opened them again, reality wouldn’t change.

While he was away at the anniversary party, Korea had become heated up by someone’s interview.

“……”

An Yunseung was an individual that the hunter industry had been paying quite a bit of attention to recently.

Even though it hadn’t been long since he had awakened, he had acquired excellent skills through hard work.

But what if such a person expressed infinite respect for someone else?

Naturally, the other person’s evaluation would also skyrocket.

Everyone was whispering about how if an A-rank was bowing so respectfully, just how amazing Kim Giryeo must be.

“No.”

Slap.

The alien… no, he placed his right palm on his forehead.

“I was just quietly minding my own business this time.”

It was hard to live quietly.