The Hunter of the Other World Who Is Being Misunderstood – Chapter 17

Ch 17: Atonement on the Grill （2）

The composed voice of Jeong Haseong echoes from the speaker.

━My phone camera is broken, so video call is difficult.

If it’s difficult, there’s nothing we can do.

I gestured to An Yunseung to eat first and focused on the call.

“It’s okay. Forget what I said earlier. But, the reason you contacted me is…”

Jeong Haseong knows the whole truth, so he must see me, who covered for Kang Changho with a pointless lie, as a thorn in his side.

I was wondering how to convey my sincere apology.

━I have a question about what happened yesterday. Did you really put me to sleep?

Somehow, the nuance is strange.

━To be honest, my consciousness was cut off so suddenly that I don’t remember the events before and after.

D*mn it.

━I think it was probably Kang Changho Hunter who did it, but I’m not sure.

I gradually broke into a cold sweat as the call continued.

After listening to the explanation carefully…

Jeong Haseong remembers feeling a tingling sensation at the back of his head and turning around.

The problem is, the scene he saw when he turned around was Kang Changho, who was wiping his mouth clean and looking at the person next to him for no reason.

And the appearance of a certain hunter who didn’t show any change in expression even though such an incident had occurred.

‘Hey, you bastard! This isn’t right!’

This S-rank had confusion in his memory.

And in the midst of all this, a ridiculous report broke out, so he contacted me to confirm.

‘This is a big problem.’

My hands tremble involuntarily as my prediction is way off.

It’s quite different to argue with someone who knows the whole story and to lie to someone who has confusion in their memory.

‘If this goes on, he’ll really think I attacked him, won’t he?’

Should I just tell Jeong Haseong the truth? That I was threatened?

But I hesitated to open my mouth.

‘What am I supposed to believe about this guy?’

I belatedly searched it up.

The reason why Jeong Haseong is called a national hero is not because he is incredibly righteous, but simply because he has an overwhelming number of gate clears.

‘They said he’s an Earthling who’s only interested in clearing gates, so much so that he’s called a dungeon-clearing machine.’

And would this workaholic… spend time protecting an F-rank like me?

Can he even win against Kang Changho in the first place?

“……..”

A storm rages in my head.

I hesitated for a moment before opening my mouth with difficulty.

“It’s true that I knocked you out.”

Life is…

It might be better to avoid one crazy person than to meet one good person.

“I’m really sorry, Haseong-ssi.”

Still, Jeong Haseong wouldn’t kill a person, would he?

“But please listen to my story for a moment!”

After sincerely apologizing, I added an explanation faster than light.

“It’s not like I did it with bad intentions. It’s a long story, but you were offering your blood in my place back then, right? Yes?”

━…….

“And when I looked, the room didn’t seem to be ending. Your face was pale. I thought you were going to die.”

It was an excuse I had prepared to use in such a situation.

“I thought you were overdoing it, so I tried to stop you for a moment, and that’s how it happened. I was going to be the sacrifice in your place while you were sleeping.”

It’s a lie I made to avoid incurring Jeong Haseong’s wrath at all costs.

Who would get angry if I said it was all for your health?

━Are you kidding me?

He’s getting angry.

━You knocked someone down by force and that’s what you’re saying? It would have been a problem that could have been solved through conversation.

“Ah, that’s because… I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to persuade you in a short amount of time… that, what was it? Because of the monster wave…”

To cover a lie, a bigger lie is needed.

I spat out a new excuse and waited for an answer. Unfortunately, Jeong Haseong seemed to be getting angrier.

━Did Kang Changho silence you? What’s the problem? Money? Threat? How did you, an F-rank, manage to…

Yeah, it would be strange even if you thought about it. But what can I do? My life is at stake.

“I have nothing to say but that I’m really sorry.”

Let’s just endure until I get my magic back. After that, I’ll execute Kang Changho and reveal the truth.

“Ah, Jeong Haseong-ssi. So, I had something to give you as a token of my apology.”

I finished explaining the situation and immediately brought up the compensation.

The bracelet that was the gate clear reward.

I had inadvertently taken it out, and although I hadn’t looked at it closely yet, it was definitely a mado-gu.

“I want to transfer the item, so where should I meet you…”

A sincere apology and appropriate compensation.

There is no more perfect response than this. I acted as if I would go and give him the bracelet right away.

━Don’t be ridiculous.

But the answer that followed was cold.

━So you’re trying to smooth things over with just one item? Your actions are truly vile.

“Excuse me?”

━You knocked someone out inside the gate, so your intentions are obvious. You were originally planning to sacrifice me to escape safely, weren’t you?

“No, I wasn’t.”

━Come to think of it, Kang Changho Hunter knew you. I’m suddenly starting to suspect that you were in cahoots from the beginning?

Sharp words poured out.

I was flustered and gave a one-dimensional rebuttal.

“You’re mistaken.”

I completely misinterpreted the Earthling called Jeong Haseong.

Now that I see it, this person is surprisingly easily provoked and not calm…

━Are you really an F-rank hunter?

He’s a bit scary.

I swallowed hard at the cold, subdued voice of the other party.

“No, I really have my reasons…”

━That’s enough. It’s just a waste of time to dwell on the past.

Jeong Haseong didn’t even give me a chance to make excuses.

━I’ll be watching you from now on.

Click.

With these words, the call ended. I stared blankly at the silent phone before slowly putting it in my pocket.

A long silence flowed.

“Sorry. Was the call long? Don’t mind it and eat quickly.”

But I can’t keep my mouth shut forever.

I awkwardly offered food to An Yunseung across from me.

“Yunseung-a?”

But his reaction is a bit strange.

An Yunseung was staring at me with his mouth open, not even realizing that the spoon in his hand was about to fall.

“Ah! Yes. I, I should. Haha…”

Only after his name was called did he start eating his meal in a fluster.

‘Did he get a little shocked by what happened yesterday? He’s spacing out.’

Well, but it’s not like I have time to take care of other Earthlings right now.

I picked up the chopsticks that were neatly placed and fell into thought again.

‘Hmm.’

If getting my magic back is delayed, there’s a possibility that I’ll get beaten up by Jeong Haseong.

◈◈◈

Meanwhile.

At a hospital owned by a large corporation.

Jeong Haseong, who was lying in a VIP room, puts down the phone that had just ended the call.

And he picked up the A4 paper that was placed on the bed.

It was a collection of articles that had been posted this morning.

“The guild took immediate action, so all the articles have been taken down now. So, you don’t need to worry…”

The secretary standing next to him tried to dissuade him, saying not to look at the comments.

Jeong Haseong ignored him and scanned the words written on the paper.

『（Breaking News） Jeong Haseong ‘Unconscious’… “Not Caused by Monster”』

『The recent large-scale disappearance incident was caused by an EX-rank gate… （Omitted） …The returned S-rank hunter Jeong Haseong was transferred to the hospital unconscious. A certain hunter who came out with Jeong Haseong revealed that “there was friction during the gate raid”…….』

┕So he was knocked out by another hunter?? lol National hero my a*s, he’s just a nationalistic hunter

┕Let’s not miss the point. Honestly, you can’t criticize Jeong Haseong based on his skills.

┕Just. Look. At. The. Mosaic. He. Looks. Like. Trash. A. Non-citizen. Targeted. A. Precious. Young. Man. Of. South. Korea!

┕Why does our country always cover the faces of the perpetrators…

┕I hope Jeong Haseong Hunter recovers soon.

The most famous hunter in Korea.

Jeong Haseong.

He had never appeared disheveled in front of reporters before.

In order to appear perfect to the public, he would hide his injuries, tidy his clothes, and then give interviews.

But one day, Jeong Haseong came out of the gate in such a state that he couldn’t even do the bare minimum of tidying up, completely out of it.

Moreover, the one who knocked him out was a hunter he had never heard of.

What could be more shocking news than this?

If his position is shaken, the country’s economic situation will also fluctuate.

Jeong Haseong was a hunter who represented a country to such an extent.

Therefore, the guild and the government cooperated to hurriedly control the articles, but isn’t the internet a bit fast these days?

┕So who knocked out Jeong Haseong in the end??

The water has already been spilled.

They belatedly explained that the previous articles were misreports, but correction reports usually don’t attract attention.

“Hoo….”

His image has been damaged.

Now that it’s been revealed that S-rank hunters aren’t invincible, the citizens will be uneasy.

The citizens…

Jeong Haseong’s upright expression momentarily frowned.

Seeing this, the secretary swallowed hard and hurriedly said.

“Ah! As you instructed, I’ve looked up the hunter’s personal information. He’s really an F-rank.”

“Is that so?”

“Personally, I think that, as many people are saying, Kang Changho Hunter is the one who caused this situation.”

There’s no way that a historical hero who greatly contributed to stabilizing gate damage in Korea would be defeated by a mere F-rank.

It’s an opinion based on common sense.

“I thought so for a moment, but there’s something that bothers me.”

“Yes?”

However, Jeong Haseong did not seem to agree with the secretary’s words.

“If that hunter was really just an F-rank, Kang Changho wouldn’t have let him live.”

“…!”

“To make a deal or threaten an F-rank to take the blame instead? Usually, there’s no need to go that far. They would just kill everyone.”

Besides…

Even if it’s true that Kang Changho Hunter was involved.

Kim Giryeo at the time was in a position to see all the situations.

But the last expression of Kim Giryeo that he remembers didn’t feel like a witness to a violent incident.

‘That look he gave me as I was falling…’

A lifeless gaze as if he was looking at a fallen object, not a person.

Come to think of it, that hunter treated the Rank 1 hunter like any random person from the start.

He didn’t care at all even after hearing the name Jeong Haseong.

He was just indifferent to all situations. Could it be that it’s because the S-rank hunter wasn’t that great of a presence to him?

“……..”

A sudden chill runs down his spine.

After awakening, has he ever met someone who gave him such a sense of incongruity?

“He’s definitely not an ordinary F-rank.”

Right.

I should have noticed it from the fact that Kang Changho remembered his name in the first place.

“I think we shouldn’t be careless. Now that I think about it, introducing himself as an F-rank and pretending to be weak might be a kind of trick…”

Kang Changho Hunter only shows interest in those who are above a certain level of strength.

“It seems highly likely that his rank has been manipulated. Secretary, please contact the Association immediately.”

Haseong said with conviction.

“I must request a re-examination of Kim Giryeo Hunter’s awakening power.”

The Rank 1 of Korea has reported to the Association with his name on the line.

However, Kim Giryeo had no way of knowing this, so he was just leisurely spending his lunch time.