The Hunter of the Other World Who Is Being Misunderstood Chapter 278 - Value Is Something That Can Exist And Also Not

Crack.

Hmm... but wait a second. I get the feeling this isn't really the ti for to be daydreaming.

'Don't tell that Earthling is planning to activate [Improvent] right here?'

At first, I thought he'd just check briefly and be done with it. But even as ti passed, Kang Changho still wouldn't release the respiratory system.

'So that wasn't it.'

But just as a surge of anxious doubt rose in my chest and I was on the verge of brain damage, the mammal side stopped on its own. My neck was free again.

'Kaagh.'

'That's strange...'

Kang Changho muttered to himself as if he didn't understand what he was doing, but why should I correct the facts when he was being beaten unilaterally?

'I expected that if you interfered with skill use this much, at least the [Judgnt] attached to Justitia would activate.'

'Ahem.'

'The scales haven't tipped again. The [Judgnt] function remains completely silent. So does that an Hunter Kim Gryeo is genuinely answering only with the pure truth...?'

Tuk.

Kang Changho put the magical tool he was holding down on the floor. And while he placed his hand on his chin, lost in thought, I barely gathered myself after the physical pressure had damaged the back of my head and imdiately tried to start a new conversation.

'It's beco clear. He's not certain either.'

To put it again, the most important thing right now is to make it clear that this side is not a Gisimche.

'Pushing soone this far out not actually breaking their cervical spine to kill them... Kang Changho himself is still uncertain about what the truth really is. If I can just convince him that I'm of the sa kind, the whole situation might change!'

I cleared my throat and said.

I don't know what you're trying to verify with all this, but even if I can handle Justitia's [Judgnt], I don't have any grain and innate active skills, so there's absolutely nothing else I can do. Besides, I've said it multiple tis—this side isn't connected to the Dungeon Shock at all; in fact, we're modern humans who have suffered heavily from that disaster.

I'm not so governnt agent like the rumors floating around the internet say. I'm just an ordinary 25-year-old citizen from Mapo District. So why are you attaching such grand accusations to and all that?

'Please don't do this. We're on the sa side.'

Blood started flowing again from where the blue nail had been stuck. With the wound from the recent friction still on my neck, I did my best to explain to the aggressor. After all, this side is absolutely not connected to the Gate disaster. I asked him not to misunderstand and to, for now, consider as a human. Because of the small hole in my neck, a hoarse, pitiful-sounding voice ca out unintentionally as a bonus.

'...Is it because I deceived you last ti that you're so annoyed? So, have you really... decided to kill now?'

But strangely, the muscles in his face showed not the slightest change from usual.

Furrowing the brows sharply into an 'S' shape, or shedding clear fluids from bloodshot eyes—on Earth, there are many ways to evoke human sympathy.

But without using any of those extra expressions, I simply continued my argunt in a dry, straightforward manner. Looking back, the acting strategy I used before didn't seem to get a very good response from a certain association employee.

'Co to think of it, this is sothing I instinctively noticed while talking with Earthlings. Seonwoo Yeon seed to empathize more with what I said than with my facial expressions. Even when I tried moving my facial muscles, the employee just teased their neck and opened their eyes wide instead.'

No matter how naturally I tried to smile, the blonde body so easily created a sense of unease. Having lived a long life, albeit sowhat reluctantly, I—the archmage—had co to notice certain rules.

I suspect that the current identity of 'Kim Gryeo' has beco publicly fixed as soone with a very stoic deanor. So if I suddenly act out of character, it would only raise more suspicion. For these reasons, I sealed off the use of facial expressions and relied solely on words to make my move.

'I'm sorry.'

My pride is a little hurt, but I can't help but apologize with my mouth to overco a desperate crisis.

'Looking back, I truly did deceive you... I—I think I was thoughtless... I want to repent, I'll make a skill stone for Hunter Kang. No matter what, considering a deal is better than murder, isn't it...?'

A skill stone, huh. Upon hearing my words, Kang Changho raised one eyebrow slightly. After a brief pause, a response ca from his direction—half-expected, half-predictable.

'Admitting your own mistake like that makes you seem so mature—I almost want to learn from you myself. But pardon for interrupting your repentance, Hunter Kim, where do you always get that kind of information from?'

'...You an skill stone crafting?'

'Mhm.'

'Well... when you explore dungeons... you co across all sorts of things. Whether you like it or not, you end up gathering information.'

'Dungeons?'

'Y, yes.'

'You didn't have any notable dungeon records in the system until last sumr, though?'

He brought up a hunter's system records so naturally, despite not being an Association employee himself. But I'd anticipated this kind of back-and-forth well in advance. Even without Seonwoo Yeon's testimony, it had already been proven through past stalking behavior—that this S-rank man has had fairly free access to governnt data for quite so ti.

'...That's obviously because I forgot to report it on my end.'

Consciously manipulating my vocal cords, I forced words out. As a consequence of straining my injured throat, a subtle, lingering discomfort just below the pain threshold continuously arose there. The voice of the altered body, changed by various injuries, now felt sadly inadequate.

But now is not the ti to fuss over the quality of my voice. Without flinching, I continued my explanation. I gave my own reasoning for why this body barely has any registered dungeon records.

'Hmm. Ahem! Anyway, hunters explore dungeons... it's not a bad thing. As long as they don't harm others like those who commit theft cris, is there really any need to report every single move to the authorities?'

'Hmm.'

'If you heard about my attitude toward the organization when the inevitable Malice appeared, you'd probably naturally understand why I avoided proper awakening registration...'

'Oh, you an during Chairman Go's ti?'

'I'm not an anarchist, though.'

Wait a minute. That person who ignored the Association's orders so much that their hunter ranking dropped to around 1,000—you're saying you're not actually an anarchist?

'So was it just simple rebelliousness that caused their ranking to fall that low?'

I widened my eyes slightly and glanced at him for a mont. Though I was in the middle of spinning a false excuse, this genuine reaction slipped out. Seeing this, Kang Changho respected a light shrug and a smiling face, but that casual atmosphere didn't last long.

'As I said just now, I might co off as soone easily misunderstood, but in reality, I'm not that antisocial a person, so don't push too hard. Anyway, I've listened carefully to your views, Hunter Kim.'

'_ _'

'But if you look at it that way, wouldn't it just raise more questions? Even if you were hostile to the Association, there are many inconsistencies.'

'What...are you talking about?'

'A rat who was marked as F-rank for being hostile to the Association and lived in hiding. Moreover, soone who, after being seriously injured once, lived without any hope of recovery.'

Why did you co forward and hunt down the inevitable Malice?

It's not just the Imogi War that's strange. A patient who was willing to endure the risk of softening their body just to escape the pain even on a vent dragon raid. When a dungeon break like the Thornbush Forest occurs, they're the first to head out to the site. Kang Changho points out that the actions of the fourth S-rank are full of contradictions and can't be simply dismissed as just a sense of justice.

During the conversation, it was ntioned that if soone's guts were smashed in the battle with sothing, it would make sense to pretend to be F-rank and keep a low profile. But given the trauma and PTSD, it seed strange—almost inappropriate—that they showed excessive interest in abnormal phenona.

In the process of repairing the greatest flaw of the reincarnated being—the [lungs]—I left behind too many clues.

'I'm dood.'

Instead of answering the Earthling's question, I started speaking with this topic.

'And what about, you Kang Changho?'

I answered the question with a question.

'I have plenty of questions myself. Listening to all this, it feels like you're seeing not just as a simple con artist, but as so kind of monster...'

'_ _'

'If [Improvent] isn't the reason, then you should just kill the dangerous seed in front of you right now. What exactly... are you trusting, torturing like this... I isn't this very situation proof that I'm innocent?'

'_ _'

'Besides, what was the reason for dragging Seonwoo Yeon-ssi into this? Is it because among the association staff, she had so had acquaintance with ? Sending an employee all the way to the suspected monster's room just for that?'

How could soone who does sothing like this be on the good side? What followed was the blonde figure twisting the corners of his mouth, stained with the scent of iron, to express disbelief—the new shell of the archmage. Like the old saying on Earth, "The thief wields the club," he felt guilty, so I fired back in a sharp tone. The purpose was to buy ti to sohow co up with an excuse by questioning the other person.

'Seeing that Justitia is here... it seems like while I was unconscious, you went to et that association employee again.'

Although every sentence was packed with the intent to change the subject, honestly, as it went on, the topic I truly wanted to know about ca up.

'Is that B-rank awakener still safe?'

I asked about Seonwoo Yeon's safety and fell silent for a faint cold sweat trickled down my temple, which had been dry and tight. After a few seconds, the person involved in the third kidnapping incident began to answer.

'You sure have a lot of questions.'

At first, hearing those words, I thought he was going to ignore all my questions. I felt uneasy. But fortunately, the conversation soon continued smoothly.

'Do I look like I'm hesitating just because I'm not using [Improvent] right now?'

Maybe he was just being sarcastic.

'Whether this Hunter nad Kim Gryeo is human or a monster—that's not why I'm staying still right now.'

'Ugh.'

'The reason I haven't turned that body of yours into a blue pinchusion and am letting you run your mouth like this... is simply because I've got a lot of questions I want to ask.'

'Eugh.'

No matter how consistently I insist that I'm not a monster, it's not working.

As the sentence was flowing, Kang Changho struck the blue spike near my Adam's apple with his fist. I lowered my head at an angle with a stern expression. But Kang Changho paid no mind and spoke with a seemingly generous attitude.

'By the way, the Agency employee is doing just fine, so don't worry. I just had soone run an errand to get Justitia back. That person's whole role in the first place was to stay alive—so why would I go out of my way to harm them now...?'

'Role?'

'Are you curious about that this ti?'

But maybe I should've realized sothing was wrong from the mont that mammal started acting all generous.

'Yeah. As long as you give a proper answer to my question first, I can tell you about Seonwoo Yeon's well-being all I you want—as part of a fair exchange.'

And then, Kang Changho brought up sothing about an information exchange and asked this question.

'By any chance, do you know how a gate is created?'

Was Korea's third S-rank hunter always deeply interested in that otherworldly space? After that, a series of similar questions poured out one after another in the dark room.

Dungeon.

Skills.

Items. And monsters.

Even without being a scholar, anyone living in the age of dungeon shock would naturally be curious about these topics.

However, all the statents that Kang Changho rattled off were based on the assumption that the cause of the gate incident lay right before him. So even when questions perfectly understanding the principles were posed in between, smooth answers sohow remained difficult.

'I don't know anything...'

So, at the end of the conversation, this claim was consistent.

'You don't know anything?'

'I don't know.'

Clank.

A sharp tallic sound ca from sowhere. Kang Changho picked up a spare blue nail he had left on a nearby workbench and said,

'The reaction is exactly what I expected. But if you keep acting like that even though you speak Korean fluently, you'll regret it sooner rather than later.'

That Earthling revealed a sowhat shocking truth with a dry smile.

'Haha. Actually, all the friends I t before also played dumb like that—and ended up dead.'

So soone's friendship had long since turned into a pitiful tragedy!

Wait a mont. But sothing feels off. Because I...

'I didn't have any friends in Alphauin...?'

How can you kill a being that doesn't even exist in the first place?

Cold sweat flowed as if hearing an eerie tale. My carotid artery felt strangled, and a nail seed driven into my neck—even the archmage's body had dulled my judgnt, causing a brief sense of unease. But when I thought it over again with cold reason, I soon realized that the word "friends," as Kang Changho used it, didn't an such a close relationship—it more likely referred roughly to a type of group or species...

Author's Thoughts: Hi, from now on, I will update this novel 3 chapters/week. Thank you for all your support so far:)