The Hunter of the Other World Who Is Being Misunderstood – Chapter 138

Ch 138: Kagoshima Dragon Raid （1）

A community site in Japan.

{I think Korea has too many S-ranks.}

A netizen with a listless face put their hands on the keyboard and typed.

{Is there something flowing in the groundwater?}

{That can’t be true.}

{They’re a surveillance state, so they find Awakened Ones right away in Korea.}

Recently, Korea has been in an uproar every day due to the appearance of their fourth S-rank.

But from the perspective of a neighboring country, this isn’t something to just celebrate.

{They caught up.}

Because of the birth of that fourth S-rank, Japan now has the same number of S-rank hunters as Korea.

{Their populations are twice as different. But why is the number of S-ranks the same?}

{It seems like only Japan is lacking S-ranks.}

{We are an advanced country in gate management. This part is excellent, so we don’t need to worry about the rest.}

Even if they don’t have any particular ill feelings toward Korea, it’s true that they feel negative when a neighboring country tries to break their records.

【Breaking News】

However, the troublesome things didn’t end there.

One day, a new problem arose in this island nation.

“This is a gate report. As a result of sending an investigation team to the dungeon that appeared in Kagoshima Prefecture, it has been revealed that the gate is S-rank…”

The appearance of an S-rank dungeon, which hadn’t appeared for a while since the Hawaii raid four years ago!

{An S-rank appeared www}

{That’s not what I meant by asking for an S-rank}

{That’s dangerous.}

The news inevitably caused considerable confusion among the Japanese people.

◈◈◈

『Hey, that S-rank isn’t a big deal, why is everyone making such a fuss?』

Some people might think this.

If an S-rank appears, can’t you just catch it?

Especially since Korea successfully handled the Unfulfilled Malignancy incident that occurred recently, they didn’t have much of a sense of crisis about S-ranks.

There were people who just thought a rare dungeon had appeared and moved on.

『What year were you born? Are you saying that because you’re an elementary school student?』

However, the situation was very different in Japan.

The Unfulfilled Malignancy was a magical beast that barely managed to reach S-rank through artificial means.

In short, it was an existence with the strength of an S-rank ‘common monster.’

“That giant snake that turned Seoul into a wasteland was just a mob?”

The S-rank dungeon break that happened four years ago.

Due to that incident, the United States lost half of their top-tier hunters.

It was because the S-ranks were slaughtered by the boss that came out of the dungeon, 『Nukelabi』.

So, in this situation, who would willingly try to help Japan?

The United States was still actively scouting foreign hunters due to the damage they suffered back then.

Besides, even if we don’t use the United States as an example, no country wanted their own S-rank hunters to die.

『Japan, “International help is desperately needed”… Desperate request for support』

Therefore, it was, in a way, a natural course of events that Japan’s request was ignored.

“Ahem.”

An S-rank gate.

Looking at the precedent of Hawaii, S-rank monsters had an enormous impact.

Perhaps even neighboring Korea could be harmed.

So, if it’s a dungeon that’s going to burst anyway, wouldn’t it be better to cooperate with Japan and reduce the risk in advance, but…

“Prevention is the best, isn’t it?”

Unlike the political world’s intentions, this wasn’t an easy task.

【Free Bulletin Board】

· If we help them, they’ll wipe their mouths clean later! Why should we help Japan, what’s so pretty about them!

· Serves them right~

· Everyone. Please save me. The Korean. S-rank hunter. Kang Changho. assaulted me and covered up the evidence with recovery potions. The police. also. took bribes, and completely sided with the hunter. What should I. do?

┕ Wow, this person’s comment history is legendary, they’re always cursing hunters.

┕ Seems like an attention seeker.

Leaving aside the anti-Japanese sentiment of some people in the country.

First of all, it’s questionable whether the S-rank hunters will even go to that gate.

“You saw what happened in Hawaii. S-rank magical beasts are monsters that can kill even the top-tier Awakened Ones in an instant, so will there really be any hunters who will willingly step up for this?”

“Cough, cough.”

“Jeong Haseong isn’t the same as he used to be these days. He’s not someone who will do everything just because the higher-ups tell him to.”

The Korean Hunter Association’s worries grew deeper every day.

Of course, even while this was happening, Japan was already in a state of emergency.

◈◈◈

The so-called Kagoshima Gate.

The internal mana measurement result is S-rank.

According to the explorer’s investigation, there was a dragon in that dungeon.

The discovered dragon is a new species, so it’s still unknown what kind of attacks it will use, but considering that there are poison swamps all over the dungeon, it’s highly likely that the opponent is a Poison Dragon.

However, even though it had been three days since the dungeon appeared, Japan couldn’t even start to take action.

Even a powerful country like the United States suffered such great losses.

Since there was no guarantee that they, with only four S-ranks, would succeed in the raid.

“Hmm.”

But, in fact, I was looking at this incident from a slightly different perspective.

“Let’s see.”

First of all.

The Gishimche are a race that surprisingly has low intelligence. To the point where sometimes it’s hard to communicate smoothly.

But they’re not so stupid that they’d destroy the house they live in.

As parasites usually do, they only absorb enough energy so that the host planet doesn’t break down.

‘If the S-rank hunters died abnormally in the dungeon break in Hawaii four years ago…’

I tapped the armrest of the chair and pondered.

‘The Gishimche must have adjusted the difficulty. The S-rank dungeon in Japan will definitely be weaker than the last one.’

It would be a problem if the top-tier Awakened Ones completely destroyed the dungeons, preventing humanity from suffering any more, but it’s also not what they want if too many hunters die and the food chain collapses, right?

After all, it’s not like more mental energy is generated just because a strong being dies.

In the end, adjusting the difficulty is essential for the sake of the ecosystem’s balance.

Besides, the gate that appeared this time happens to have a poison attribute in its internal environment.

Fortunately, I recently gained strong poison resistance. Even if I inhale vaporized poison, I won’t die easily.

Then the answer is clear.

“Huuu.”

After much deliberation, I decided to participate in this S-rank gate raid.

‘I can’t stay like this.’

This is another plan I had in mind.

If the Dragon’s Lung doesn’t come out as a regular item for sale, I had to start looking for other options.

‘I thought if I declared myself an S-rank hunter, I wouldn’t get into any trouble…!’

As expected.

As the healing of my lung was delayed, annoying incidents started to happen around me.

The backlash from thoughtlessly starting things with the intention of just changing my body was gradually catching up to me.

So now I have to get the organ urgently, even if I have to catch a dragon myself.

Rather than staying still like this, running around myself would at least increase the possibility of obtaining the 『Dragon’s Lung』.

‘It’s a desperate struggle, like grasping at straws.’

Of course, since I’m a trash Awakened One with mana like dust, a full-on battle against a dragon is impossible.

“Dragon hunting, huh.”

I have my own role to play.

That’s how the world is. Even insignificant insects are ultimately necessary beings in the ecosystem when viewed as a whole.

◈◈◈

Monday morning.

The Japanese side made a huge solicitation to the Korean government.

And there was only one reason why they would offer a sum of money equivalent to a national budget.

“They’re asking us to dispatch an S-rank hunter.”

Chairman Go Byeongdo believed that there was nothing that couldn’t be done with money.

But after experiencing this, he personally realized that there were truly some values that couldn’t be bought with money.

“Oh, this is troublesome.”

S-rank hunters. Are they truly beings that cannot be replaced by anything?

“Have you sent out the meeting notices to the S-rank hunters?”

“Yes, Chairman.”

“Any replies?”

“No one has replied yet…”

But even though he felt their value, it wasn’t like he suddenly saw Kim Giryeo or Kang Changho in a good light.

Because he still held the same thoughts.

‘To think that an era would come where the fate of a nation is decided by superpowers.’

Hunters only fulfill their value when they listen to the words of the mountain owner.

But how can society trust and accept a hunter who runs wild with a gun in their hand?

‘It’s the end times. The end times.’

An S-rank hunter who doesn’t listen to orders is just a troublesome ticking time bomb.

As much as they are an irreplaceable force, they are also arrogant beings who run wild at the slightest provocation, even with all the benefits they are given.

Go Byeongdo walked down the hallway without shaking off his prejudiced view of high-rank Awakened Ones.

“Chairman! We just received a reply from one of the S-rank hunters.”

But then.

Before he could even reach the chairman’s office, an employee delivered good news.

“Ah, I’m sorry. After checking with the secretary’s office again, it’s not a reply… they’re already in the conference room, it seems?”

The Association had called the top-tier hunters to prepare for the gate that appeared in Kagoshima.

But someone already arrived here 15 minutes after receiving the message?

“I’ll go down right away, so tell the staff to hand over the data first.”

“Yes.”

It must be Jeong Haseong.

The chairman was sure of the identity of the hunter who had responded to the call.

That S-rank had a diligent personality, and also had the strongest tendency to serve the country.

Go Byeongdo boarded the elevator, thinking of a young man with a righteous impression.

‘Yes, after all, the only one I can trust is that friend, Haseong.’

But what was going on?

The conference room he arrived at soon after.

When he turned the doorknob and entered the room, an unimaginable figure appeared across the table.

“Huh?”

Dull, blonde hair.

Dry skin.

And even a gaze that didn’t have a single emotion, making it exceptionally sharp.

“……”

The man with a cold expression, who was checking the documents, greeted the chairman.

“Hello.”

Kim Giryeo. This was the identity of the hunter who had responded to the call.

No, what on earth happened…

◈◈◈

Come to think of it, he’s always been like this.

“Haa.”

The 13th Month Labyrinth.

Mermaid Pass.

Strangely enough, Kim Giryeo had been fulfilling his duties as a hunter too perfectly.

Contrary to his initial declaration that he would ignore the Association’s words, that S-rank had, in fact, been the first to appear whenever a difficult incident occurred.

‘Is he a split personality? What is he?’

Thanks to that, the chairman’s head was about to explode with complexity.

But the person across from him didn’t care about this and just spoke.

“Yes. I understand. I will go to the Kagoshima Gate as a representative.”

“What?!”

“Why are you so surprised? You just asked me to go.”

Flap.

Giryeo continued the conversation while skimming through the documents the Association had handed over.

“But there’s a condition.”

The hunter’s proposal was this.

In fact, he could attempt a powerful binding that could restrain the dragon that appeared in Kagoshima.

Honestly, he was uncomfortable with revealing his full power in another country, so he would only be subtly assisting Japan from behind with this skill.

‘A support role?’

But the following statement made even the indifferent chairman’s eyes widen.

“I plan to 100% neutralize the dungeon’s boss with that skill. It’s possible.”

“Huh…?”

“So, I’d like the Association to convey this to Japan in advance.”

“C-Convey?”

“Excluding the basic distribution fee, the additional compensation that I must receive.”

Thud, roll.

Giryeo threw a familiar object onto the table. A thick parchment with mana imbued in it.

‘『Knight’s Oath』!’

Isn’t this a device for an absolute promise?

The chairman had a bad memory of this object, so his hand froze without him realizing it. But he had to check the contents written here.

“Once the raid is complete, you will be transferred one item of your choice from the items that came from the magical beast…?”

Giryeo nodded.

“Whether it’s a common monster or a boss, it includes all dragons that appear in that S-rank gate.”

Hearing that, the first thing that came to mind was organ-type items.

Eyes and hearts.

These processed items, which appear in the form of items rather than being harvested from corpses, are known as the best rewards that can be obtained by killing a dragon.

‘I heard the probability of them appearing is low.’

But, if it’s possible to reliably stop an S-rank boss as Kim Giryeo said…

‘Still, it’s cheap for the price of saving the country!’

Honestly, he would be willing to hand over even a Dragon’s Heart.

Of course, the Japanese Hunter Association’s judgment wouldn’t be much different.

“Ah, I understand. W-We’ll talk to them about that.”

Go Byeongdo cleared his throat and organized the documents.

It was a shocking situation.

He never imagined that a top-tier hunter would so readily agree to go to Kagoshima.

‘I don’t know what his ulterior motive is, but accepting it is beneficial. After all, it was difficult to get the 1st and 2nd rankers to get involved in another country’s affairs because of national security issues.’

How would Japan react if they were told that they would send their precious S-rank?

The chairman got up from his seat in a daze.

Now that the hunter to be dispatched was decided, he had to contact Japan quickly.