Chapter 329. From Today, I'm an Overpowered Hunter in Another World (3)
Separated from the group, Jung Haseong stood in a nearby parking tower, lost in thought. Until now, he had only thought that the blonde hunter was sowhat unusual. But without giving any clear clues, now—out of nowhere—this kind of shocking personal revelation?
"Ugh..."
To Jung Haseong, it all felt like a bolt from the blue. No matter how calm his usual nature was, being caught off guard left him feeling several tis more confused than usual.
Hyung-nim! Co to think of it, right before you collapsed, you clearly told us to bring this person... So I didn't forget—I jumped into action and tracked down their contact info...
Of course, his situation was still better than that of a certain shaved-head Awakener who had to endure a one-man test of staying conscious.
"Whoa."
Jung Haseong got into his car, which he had parked in the parking tower. After that, he paused for a mont to collect himself. Before long, the national hero's train of thought arrived at the sa topic as that of the Korean Magic Tower's Guildmaster.
'As expected, it really does seem like there's no solution... other than an Elixir.'
If so, then what exactly is the true nature of this dungeon liquid that's been ntioned from ti to ti?
[Today's Gate! Industry Quiz: Does a 'cure-all' really exist? Yes or No!]
Like a legend born for those too lazy to take care of themselves—a miraculous redy that heals the body just by being eaten or drunk.
To go into more detail, Elixir was originally the na of a potion said to grant immortality in the dieval era. But in modern tis, the aning of the word shifted slightly within the hunting industry. Now, it was commonly used by hunters to refer to a substance that could cure all physical ailnts and injuries.
And that wasn't all. There were even cases where people had supposedly experienced those outrageous healing effects firsthand—further fueling belief in the existence of Elixirs.
'Co to think of it, is that awakened person still healthy?'
To explain the modern concept of the Elixir, we have to go back a few years. About seven years ago from now—that is, around the ti when the Dungeon Shock had just begun.
At the ti, a rural village in Sweden had once been surrounded by a horde of monsters. During the evacuation, a young man sohow awakened to mana and used his newfound powers to handle the monster wave. At the sa ti, the newly awakened hunter reportedly obtained a strangely shaped piece of loot as a result of the large-scale hunt—sothing oddly shaped, with an opening far too wide and unusual to be comfortably drunk from by a human mouth.
'A bottle shaped like that, filled with an unknown liquid...'
But the young man who obtained that liquid said he had an inexplicable instinct at the ti. So, following the thought that crossed his mind, he gave the liquid to a sick family mber—and miraculously, an elderly person on the verge of death got up from their sickbed, full of life.
"-_-"
Surprisingly, this was a usage report about the so-called "cure-all" that could be found in foreign news. It was a testimony hard to believe at first glance. But even more startling were the developnts shown afterward by Hans, the Swede who claid to have actually drunk the magical potion.
"Yeah, just as I thought. A quick search and it pops right up."
Haseong looked down at his phone.
'The elderly Awakener from Sweden... He was already over seventy during the early days of the Dungeon Shock, so he must be nearing eighty by now.'
Hans Johanson, the legendary figure behind the cure-all myth, is now 78 years old and is famous for holding the record as the world's oldest Hunter. During the early days of the Dungeon Shock, he was afflicted with a then-unnad illness—magic addiction—that weakened him rapidly day by day... Just before his son defeated the horde of monsters, Hans was completely paralyzed, unable to move a single finger. Yet after drinking just one potion, he transford back into a Hunter.
'People in that age group usually can't withstand the shock of awakening and end up in a vegetative state.'
Anyway, what unbelievable luck.
'Is this the most recent article?'
At this point, it truly seed believable that an item capable of healing a person with just a single sip could exist. That one example from a Swedish household was just that compelling.
It had completely cured magic addiction—a condition that, even to this day, remains without a known cure...
Overseas, a program's film crew even conducted a health check-up for the oldest awakened individual. The results of this check-up revealed an unprecedented rejuvenation. Hans Johanson's body had beco so healthy that he could no longer be seen as being in his 70s.
A physical age reversed by at least twenty years. And as if that weren't enough, he went on to beco the world's first elderly Awakener.
Jung Haseong, prompted by the mory resurfacing after a long ti, searched for the article about the Swedish n again. In the image results, he easily found a photo of two n smiling happily, arms around each other's shoulders.
"-_-"
Seeing the prominently featured photo of the father and son together stirred up complicated emotions.
Tuk.
In any case, if what that family has consistently claid is true—that sowhere among the countless dungeon creatures, there really was one carrying a magical potion—then treating the condition afflicting Korea's S-rank might not be entirely impossible...
'Forget a cure-all—for now, there hasn't even been another reported case of the monster that dropped that loot.'
Nothing in this world ever cos easy.
Jung Haseong lowered his head. Just as he'd been thinking monts ago, the [Elixir]—a subject of worldwide interest—had yet to be rediscovered in any form.
'At best, it's just the occasional appearance of a high-grade new healing potion that causes so misunderstanding...'
Hans, the suspected user of the cure-all potion, gave additional testimony. Just seeing the potion once would captivate a person's every interest, and touching it would bring an inexplicable certainty that "the mont I drink this, it will bring to perfect health." So he warned never to be fooled by counterfeit versions circulating in the market.
However, as the truth of so kind ca to light, Jung Haseong began to think this.
'At this point, I'd even be okay with it being a scam; I just want to see even the shadow of that elixir.'
He ant it. If a potion that could magically cure any illness truly existed, then honestly—he might just be able to fulfill his deepest wish because of it.
"-_-"
But daydreaming alone out on the street wasn't likely to an anything in the end.
[Auction House Search]
[Item Na: Elixir]
[Result: 0 Items]
Though he was desperate to help a Hunter he personally knew, there was truly nothing he could do as long as the universal cure's existence remained unconfird. What's more—
'Even if I sohow did manage to find that potion... I...'
Jung Haseong turned his head away from the screen, his expression stiff. Before long, the smartphone display dimd, fading to black as the screen's auto-sleep tir kicked in. With his eyes closed, he resolved firmly not to entertain any more pointless thoughts. But despite his resolve, his unruly mind refused to listen—new worries ca flooding in one after another.
'Kim Giryeo is the patient.'
It was terrible.
'And not just any patient—he was in critical condition. I was the one who only didn't know until now.'
What was the point of dwelling on sothing that had already happened? This was the kind of unproductive ruminating that only more petty personality and. And yet, even knowing that, the number one ranked hunter couldn't help himself to stop thinking.
'Just how on earth...'
Especially since, unlike other hunters, he had even shared a house with that awakened one.
'Do I have knots for eyes instead of actual ones?'
A wave of self-bla washes over him.
'I shouldn't have made assumptions just because we're both S-rank...'
Jung Haseong's expression grew serious. Objectively speaking, it was nearly impossible to look at an S-rank awakened person—soone standing at the pinnacle of human evolution—and imdiately suspect they were ill. Still, the man behind the wheel tended to lack self-confidence. That's why he so easily slipped into self-deprecation.
'How could I see soone every single day and still not notice a thing?'
Besides, though he'd misinterpreted things at the ti, if he took a mont to reflect carefully, there really had been puzzle pieces scattered throughout their daily lives—pieces that connected to the present. So then, what if he looked back on those past events while knowing now that a certain hunter was, in fact, a cancer patient? Haseong, now free to break free from his self-critical mindset, began to recall the past.
Hunter Jung Haseong... The fact that soone like you is putting in so much effort just to work with soone like , I'm honestly really grateful for it.
The first thing that ca to mind was a conversation they'd had over a al. Words soone had said—words he had unconsciously shouted back in the hospital room.
But if, one day, I told you I might not be able to keep that promise...
The nu was probably sothing like budaejjigae. Well, let's just skip over that part.
That day, an S-rank hunter had clearly spoken in a serious tone. He said he'd been thinking about it for a while—and asked if it might be okay to cancel the official team schedule they had planned long ago. But when Jung Haseong pressed him to explain the exact reason for such a decision, Kim Giryeo quickly changed the subject.
'He brushed it off, saying sothing like he was just tired lately and misspoke—that there was no need to worry about the promise...'
The problem, however, was that the blond hunter had taken back his decision to retire in just three seconds. So at the ti, Jung Haseong had listened to everything the other said—and simply thought.
'Is he just making up excuses because he doesn't want to work with anymore?'
In truth, he hadn't been entirely wrong. After a certain Korean's reputation had solidified thanks to the Ice Palace raid, the "alien" had hastily pretended to be sick—trying to cover up the scam he had pulled.
However, in the middle of their conversation, the problematic S-rank pyromancer suddenly split a piece of restaurant furniture clean in half. Startled by the display, the alien magician imdiately withdrew all his excuses. To Jung Haseong, this reaction ca across as deeply unsettling—an action that didn't quite add up.
"Kough...!"
But now, with soone's hereditary illness coming to light belatedly, the situation had taken a far stranger turn—and quickly at that.
But now, with the late revelation of soone's family dical history, the situation grew even more complicated...
'He only said he was a bit tired and thought about resting! He never said it was cancer!'
Could it be that Kim Giryeo, the S-rank hunter, was already too sick to keep working back then?
But since soone was worrying excessively...
He might have changed his story out of concern that it would interfere with other hunters' work...
'I can't believe it.'
If that were true, it would explain all the unease he had felt over ti. Haseong reinterpreted Kim Giryeo's past behavior. Of course, it was far from reality, and the further thoughts that followed were just as distorted.
'This, and that... and even back then, it all was because he was already in poor health!'
This is the nature of the mind. Normally, it functions perfectly well, but just the passing of ti can suddenly make us see the lid of the pot differently—a testant to the fragile, flawed side of human nature.
'But can people really die from that kind of illness? I've heard that for Awakened ones, treating underlying conditions is even harder. Still, there are plenty of good dicines these days, right?'
Jung Haseong desperately tries to hold onto hope—but it doesn't co easily.
Because of the overwhelming self-reproach that he had repeatedly seen soone in serious crisis right before his eyes yet failed to notice the signs, he couldn't break free from the chain of negative thoughts. So Jung Haseong kept coming back to these assumptions.
[S.S]
Let's see. It seems that things are asured in kilograms after all...
Based on the suspicions he had from before.
Information. Combat power. Judgnt.
'Even if I say anything about that brilliant disguise ability he had when he lived as an F-rank hunter, it'd just be talking to deaf ears.'
In addition, it could be said that he had proven it in [Labyrinth of the 12th Month]... including ntal power.
'He's definitely not ordinary.'
In his estimation, Korea's fourth S-rank was an over-powered individual, one who was far more than rely a jack of all trades. And he judged that an ordinary person, who had gone through a typical, unremarkable education and entered a few twenties, would generally find it difficult to possess such diverse talents.
'Honestly, this sounds like a stretch... but that thing he said about dreaming of working a uniford job—what if it was n't just talk? What if he originally wanted to be an ordinary civil servant, but got scouted by that departnt after catching the governnt's eye... and that dream fell through because of it?'
Jung Haseong still strongly suspected that soone's background was tied to a governnt agency... In fact, this suspicion only solidified further with the newly revealed information about the illness.
"Yeah. That's what happened!"
South Korea's number one-ranked hunter—how many years had it been since his awakening, just this year alone? And yet, during the height of disaster activity, a hunter no one had ever encountered before suddenly appeared, flaunting top-tier skills. On top of that, after the blond hunter formally revealed his identity, even his few dungeon entry records ended up being completely exposed to the world. Therefore—
Logically speaking....'
To put it bluntly, Kim Giryeo couldn't have developed amnesia through normal ans.
Why? Because there isn't a single dungeon in the country dangerous enough to cause a head injury to an S-rank hunter.
In the past, Jung Haseong had lived up to his nickna, "Machine," by clearing high-difficulty gates with fail. And whatever dangers remained were consistently handled by the country's No. 2 hunter in much the sa way.
'It doesn't make sense...'
At least within the scope of what he knew, there were no high-difficulty gates left uncleared in South Korea. Of course, if soone claid to have been injured in a special dungeon—like the [White Labyrinth], which was notoriously hard to detect and whose exits vanished quickly—that would be a different story. But really, what were the odds of an S-rank individual being quietly abducted by an S-rank dungeon while just walking down the street? Was that probability even higher than getting struck by lightning?
"-_-"
In any case, Jung Haseong believed that if a major figure like an S-rank got injured in battle, there should at least be an article about it. But until Kim Giryeo fully revealed himself, not even the smallest rumor had circulated. Despite being that powerful. It was as if so massive organization had fundantally locked any leaks of information.
"-_-"
All of this was, in truth, a series of contradictions born from soone fundantally lying. But the listener had believed the fraud without question. And so, the so-called "ordinary person" ranked #1 inevitably arrived at the wrong conclusion.
'As expected, could it be that Kim Giryeo really is a National Intelligence Service agent...?'
And maybe he's already sick from protecting the country.
'So this is the extent of the sacrifices made by national agencies... sothing I had taken for granted all this ti.'
It was at that mont. Overwheld with frustration, Haseong instinctively recalled a certain phrase.
'Of course, it must have been all choices for the sake of this country. But still, making the hunters suffer until they're sick.'
He didn't even know the internal personnel structure of that place. But, Jung Haseong really hated the command center that was supposedly in the National Intelligence Service. And to make things worse, he rembered just how often Korea's fourth S-rank hunter had shown unusual tolerance to pain. In movies, don't highly trained agents usually appear by the type—the one who still secrets even under torture?
'There really is no such thing as basic human decency, is there!'
Soon, his speculation reached this point. Before he even realized it, a sense of rage toward an inhumane governnt institution had begun to take root in the young man's heart.
?
And at that mont, sowhere in South Korea, a real National Intelligence Service administrator nad Mr. Yoon suddenly felt a strange sense of injustice—but it was not the kind of thing anyone else could possibly understand.
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