The Hunter of the Other World Who Is Being Misunderstood Chapter 290. World Artifact Expo (3)

Huh?

“The Hunter from the U.S. was the winner?”

To think that the one who obtained [Triaina] at the IHT was none other than Enzo Chiano.

“That’s strange. China had no intention of letting the first-place prize go to a foreigner.”

Giryeo was montarily puzzled. Because the tournant arena he rembered was filled with hidden tricks. There were magic stones inside that could be destroyed anyti to raise the external magical energy concentration—if you knew the exact location. Moreover, the environntal conditions clearly favored certain hunters.

“In other words, the whole setup was rigged.”

The Archmage had naturally assud that Zuhan would have won. And according to Seonwoo Yeon’s account, Enzo had indeed been pushed back quite a bit in the early stages of the match... Of course, the tide of the battle had apparently flipped in an instant—during the brief mont the viewer got distracted doing the dishes.

“Hmm.”

“There were definitely a lot of stories and rumors going around about Hunter Enzo Chiano’s victory, if I rember correctly.”

But then again, does any of it really matter? Whether it’s the Triaina or Enzo, in the end, to an outside observer, they’re all topics hardly worth paying attention to.

“I guess I must have been mistaken.”

Finally, the ice cream was ready. Seonwoo Yeon took the finished cone and handed it to Giryeo.

“Enjoy your ice cream.”

That ans, from now on, all that’s left is to enjoy the event like any other visitor—ice-cold treat in hand.

It was at that mont. Without even tasting his treat, Giryeo turned to the civil servant and asked her a question.

“By the way, I was too caught up to ask earlier, but how was last week?”

“Yes?”

“I heard the scale was confiscated. So that ans you t Kang Changho during that process. Are you really okay?”

The conversation flowed for a mont.

“The person who ca to retrieve the item was soone else, though.”

“Who?”

“It was just soone a bit older... I’m not really sure, but anyway, that person video-called Kang Changho and let know he was acting as his representative.”

“I never even thought of doing sothing like that.”

“Anyway, I handed over the scale, but if he hadn’t kept their promise... I’m not sure how things would’ve turned out on your end.”

For reference, at the ti, all available personnel who were supposed to protect Seonwoo Yeon had been redirected to the building collapse site in Mapo District.

“Did that person who ca to retrieve the item really just leave quietly once you handed over the scales?”

“To be exact... Hunter Kang’s side was curious about what kind of conversation we had.”

“Hmm.”

“But when I dodged the question, they didn’t press further. It felt like they never really expected a clear answer from the start.”

“You an you dodged the question?”

“I hid it well.”

Seonwoo Yeon spoke calmly.

“I kept the secret. Because the Hunter asked to.”

For the listener, it was an unexpected reason. The association employee before him spoke freely without much thought, letting heartfelt words flow naturally. Seonwoo Yeon simply focused on how she kept silent because the Hunter had asked to her. Even in this unconscious conversation, she didn’t consider the terrifying curse behind it.

“Why are you looking at like that?”

That was Seonwoo Yeon. This public official’s greatest strength—and also her weakness—was her steadfastness. Assuming a certain level of mutual trust had already been built, she had always had a tendency, to take people’s words at face value.

Sotis it was a bit extre.

[As paynt, please give tea leaves.

He didn’t ask for money.

So then, I guess I should give tea leaves instead of money.]

[This is a secret. So don’t go telling anyone.]

No matter how many tis you see it, it’s still like a machine. If given a precise proposition, it guards it like its own life, even at a loss. Given certain traits, the promise made with Seonwoo Yeon is bound to be kept for a long ti.

“...”

Kim Giryeo seed lost in thought for a mont, then soon spoke.

“Anyway, as long as you’re in one piece, that’s what matters.”

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to look around on my own from now on. Anyway, thanks to my friend, I managed to get a return ticket just fine.”

“That’s...”

“If I don’t show up at the airport on the last day, just worry about it then, for a little while.”

He quickly ate a snack after seeing the sign that said to eat inside the store. Didn’t his teeth hurt?

“Wait a minute!”

Just as the man in the suit was tidying up the trash and about to head outside, Seonwoo Yeon, now finally free, called out to stop him.

“Yes?”

But if he had known this was the reason, he would’ve just ignored it.

“The cost of the ice cream, Hunter. It was about 5,000 won in Korean currency, so you can just transfer it to later via internet banking.”

“Has the governnt been delaying public servants’ salaries recently, by any chance?”

That was their last conversation on the first day. It felt so hollow.

.

.

.

.

“lol. What happened?”

“Whew.”

“That Korean guy didn’t blow up Haneda Airport, right? Huh? And where’s Ito? Is he dead?”

anwhile, entrance to the upper exhibition hall of Building A.

“Calm down. Your guild master just went to greet a mber of the National Assembly visiting the expo hall.”

In a staff-only corridor with few people around, a group of Hunters is gathered, talking amongst themselves.

“And luckily, the airport built with the hard-earned taxes of the entire nation is safe too.”

“Really?”

“Mr. Kim Giryeo’s deanor was very calm.”

The one mainly leading the conversation was Yamazaka Iori, an S-rank hunter with wind attributes.

“Considering what you guys did, it wouldn’t be surprising if he caused a scene at any ti. Still, the guy’s really quite the gentleman, isn’t he?”

If the current situation is rely the other party hiding a dagger behind a smile, then what are you going to do? Is it really appropriate to carelessly speak ill of Imabari and sneer like that, when a legendary-class item was involved?

“You don’t have to go that far. You know exactly what situation we’re in.”

“That’s exactly why I’m criticizing you.”

The shorter man shrugged his shoulders in response. However, their argunt didn’t last long. Despite the words exchanged, Iori’s side had no intention of completely turning their backs on their fellow countryman.

“No matter how much you hate , make sure you give that Korean a proper apology.”

“Ha...”

“Last ti, the person left the country first, so all we could do was bow our heads in front of a monitor.”

“Definitely.”

“If he’s co all the way to Tokyo, the least you can do is see each other face to face. I’ll do my best to act as a buffer between you two, so please try to clear things up this ti.”

Iori continued.

“The dostic situation is really unstable. With just this level of increase in awakened individuals, it’s dangerous... If things go wrong, we might actually have to ask Korea for help again.”

They idly passed the ti, chatting about such oddity specific topics. The main event of the expo would take place on the second day, so naturally, there wasn’t much to worry about today.

“Iori, by the way—did you manage to get the item sorted out safely?”

A mber of the Imabari guild, sitting against the corridor wall, asked, Iori responded to the question.

“The item? Oh—ah, you an the artifact?”

“Mhm.”

“If you an that, I have put it in the storage since dawn.”

Tokyo used one of the most secure item vaults in the world. Its underground storage offered greater safety than even keeping items constantly on hand inside an S-rank hunter’s item box.

“An auction for [Triaina], huh.”

He had never thought he’d end up brokering the sale of sothing like this in his lifeti.

“By the way, that hunter Enzo is quite the peculiar one, too.”

Before the 3rd Tokyo Expo was held, a hunter living in the United States had imdiately registered his possession as an item for sale after seeing the announcent for the event in Japan.

“If I sell my items to all the hunters in the world, I’ll get a much higher price? Naha, that’s great!”

But sohow, it was a strange behavior.

[I don’t need this kind of thing anyway! Since I received it, I was going to sell it and use it to pay for alcohol, so let’s just hand it over.]

Why did he fight so fiercely in the tournant if it was sothing he was going to discard so lightly?

During the last IHT (International Hunter Tournant), most of the spectators had actually predicted Zhuhan’s victory. Even putting aside his status as China’s representative hunter, Zhuhan was objectively a powerful ranger—easily within the top 0.01% of hunters worldwide.

And yet, despite all his ho-ground advantages, Zhuhan ultimately lost. The outco was so unexpected that so Japanese netizens even joked—perhaps half-seriously—that China might punish Zhuhan with forced labor or sothing equally harsh for damaging national pride.

“In a way, that victory single-handedly boosted the United States’ declining prestige back to the top.”

To win the duel despite all those adverse conditions...

“He’s a total monster.”

Ever since Brooklyn went missing, and after nurous incidents, a certain Arican nad Enzo had effectively beco the top-figure in the hunter world. That ant the prowess he demonstrated in the tournant was so formidable, I had shaken the world.

But for so reason, I didn’t find this phenonon particularly welco.

“I liked Brooklyn Morgan much better.”

He was said to have suppressed an awakened faction that launched an unjust coup and indiscriminately massacred civilians in his own country. In any case, the world’s number-one ranked hunter had achieved so many feats beneficial to humanity that “angel” beca his nickna. Brooklyn was a figure worthy of respect.

However, the new figure who had risen to the top of the industry was, in stark contrast, completely lacking in dignity.

“Hmm.”

The state of affairs is regrettable in many ways, but it seems that now is not the ti to worry about such things.

“There’s Kim Giryeo in Tokyo right now.”

Hunter Iori refocused his attention on the present situation once more.

“Anyway, shall we get going?”

Just a few minutes ago, four of Japan’s S-rank hunters had resolved to offer a face-to-face apology in hopes of nding relations with the person involved. In response to their question—whether it would be alright to pay him a brief visit—the Korean hunter replied like this.

“Sure. But since you’re taking up my ti anyway, at least let have a look at the item. I ca to Tokyo because of the photo in that article, you know.

To think he had left the country just because of a promotional photo for the World Artifact Expo.

“Isn’t that fortunate?”

So that ans Kim Giryeo didn’t co because of the compensation issue! A forr colleague from Imabari, who had once worked closely with him, spoke up with a cheerful tone. But Iori only stiffened further, whispering in a low voice:

“What does he even like? That answer is exactly why I’m so nervous right now.”

“Huh?”

“There are three S-rank hunters in our country who once tried to kill him. And yet, Kim Giryeo ca here almost completely alone this ti.”

“...”

“Then, what happened during the Dragon Raid would naturally be interpreted as not even the slightest bit of stress for him, right?”

As if saying that past confrontations could be repeated at any ti without concern, his attitude was refreshingly nonchalant. Reading into this context, Iori spoke seriously, warning them to be extrely cautious. At that, the companion walking beside him covered their mouth in shock.

Well, now that he thinks about it, the fact that that Korean man ca to Tokyo is really a terrifying display of confidence.

“Oh my god. Just how confident must he be in his own abilities...?”

That was the mont.

“Step, step, step.

The sudden sound of footsteps echoed through the corridor connecting Halls A and B of the expo center. Normally, the approach of an awakened individual could be sensed by detecting their mana. However, the man who appeared in the hall anyway now rendered such ans of perception completely useless.

Like a crawling snake, or a silently gliding owl—a new-generation predator that gives no warning to its prey.

“Hi, Hunter Kim Giryeo.”

The dyed-haired hunter from across the sea soon ca to a halt in front of them. Then, through PIXY’s device, the opponent delivered a voice so stiff it could only be a translated one.

“Hello.

They had only just exchanged greetings, and yet the tension was already suffocating. In the end, as always, everything in this world boiled down to wealth. Looking back, what kind of reckless determination had driven them to try and take down such a terrifying person last ti...?

***

“Wow, the kid beside him has gathered so seriously good gear in the anti. I was okay with just Iori, but seeing all four lined up like that—it’s intimidating because of their magical power.”

Hmm.

“Well, still, I’m basically broke now without even a single Legendary item, so they probably won’t bother picking a fight with , right?”

As expected, I really shouldn’t have co to Tokyo.

“You’re not... going to attack , are you, my friends from Earth?”

About 45 minutes after arriving at the Artifact Expo, I received a ssage from a Japanese hunter nad Iori and made my way to the promised location—Hall A of the Tokyo venue. There, I ca face to face again with four top-ranked awakened individuals, led by Ito.

However, as soon as I saw that stubborn-looking Earthling face, I felt regret.

“If a fight breaks out, I’m as good as dead...”

The four Japanese S-rank hunters gathered before once again offered a sincere apology for the events during the Dragon Raid. However, from the perspective of the weaker party, their apology felt like a venomous snake bowing before a frog—sothing that was hard to take as a genuine relief.

“Uh... that’s enough of that. Just show the item already, please.”

They kept bringing up things that were already in the past, which only made feel uneasy for no reason. So I tried to steer the conversation elsewhere sohow—and strangely enough, as soon as Hunter Iori heard that, he almost overreacted and hurriedly began to lead the way towards the storage room of one that item had been featured in the online article.

“If it’s the item from the photo you showed us, Mr. Kim Giryeo, then this should be it. We had it set up for an early exhibition before even the event officially began.”

The room we arrived in was a dimly lit exhibition hall, where only the transparent object placed at the center was illuminated by a separate light. The item was enclosed in a display case, but the mont I saw it in person, I could be certain of its identity—it was exactly the artifact I had been seeking.

“As expected, that’s exactly what it is!”

But no matter how good my appraisal abilities are, there’s no way I could receive divine inspiration about the item’s na—so let’s check it just to be sure.

I bought this device before leaving the country, so I’m not sure if it will work properly overseas.”