The Hunter of the Other World Who Is Being Misunderstood Chapter 331

anwhile, on a clear afternoon around the sa ti, at a police station in the city.

"Huh--"

Things had seed calm for a while, but seriously--has this country ever had a peaceful period since the ti of Dan gun? While soone was peacefully choosing their lunch nu, a national law enforcent agency naturally faced a state of ergency. The reappearance of beasts--an unprecedented crisis--had erupted just recently. The re existence of gates was already a headache, but awakened beings kept causing incidents as if they were just an added bonus. From the police perspective, it was absolutely maddening.

"Phew!"

But from the start, this person had taken the job to do exactly this kind of work. One police officer assigned to the case found it difficult to settle at his desk. Placing his hands on the laptop keyboard, he spoke as gently as possible.

"Alright, we're done with your personal information. Now, please try to describe in as much detail as possible what you witnessed inside the dungeon."

What's the point of intimidating people who aren't even suspects?

"Yes."

But despite starting off on a good note, the statents that followed quickly left the investigator flustered.

"So, what you're saying is..."

"What we saw back then was..."

"So in the end, you're curious about how we managed to take down three Beasts, right? Honestly, it's easy to explain."

The real issue was that every single witness ntioned the sa na.

"Giryeo-ssi did it."

"It was Hunter Kim Giryeo."

"If I rember correctly, that was the mont Kim Giryeo stepped in--"

The officer recording the incident suddenly stopped writing and held his head in frustration. After staring at the ceiling for a long mont to calm down, he asked again.

"So what you're saying is this, right? To sum it up--right from the beginning, the fourth S-rank Hunter led the strongest looking one in there--Enzo Chiano, was it?--away from the group. Then, from a distance, he practically beat the culprit half to death all on his own, before rejoining his team much later."

"Yes."

"Putting all the witness statents together, that Enzo Chiano guy was even carrying legendary gear inside the dungeon, wasn't he?"

"That's right."

The introduction is absurd from the start. Let's set aside the appearance of an Arican hunter for a mont. But this was an incident involving that legendary--just hearing the na sends shivers down your spine--modern weapon. And yet, one exceptional hunter was able to handle all threats?

"Crazy."

No matter how preposterous the story might seem, there's nothing else to go on right now. The investigator compiled testimonies from Seo Esther, Jung Haseong, and an association employee. The resulting sequence of events for the case was as follows.

"To put it simply, Kim Giryeo singlehandedly neutralized all the foreign S-ranks."

And he did it alone, no less! Apparently, he hadn't originally planned to play such an active role, but once the [Book of Destruction] activated and all the dostic hunters were taken out in an instant, he jumped into action without hesitation... or so the witnesses claid. As the investigator took notes, his mind grew increasingly muddled. What he couldn't wrap his head around even more was the lack of expected casualties during that whole ordeal.

It didn't make sense that a single ability user fought against three hunters of the sa rank. Even if Kim Giryeo had been outside didn't even seem to be due to external injuries.

"Hmm..."

Additionally, while listening to the person's testimony, one more strange detail ca to light. Although Esther couldn't see the situation clearly at the ti because her vision was blocked by her own hair, she recalled that at one point during the fight, Enzo's attack was concentrated in a single direction--and when Kim Giryeo was hit by it, he was slamd into a wall and remained silent for a while.

"If I were to only tell you, investigator, I was so surprised that it woke up from almost fainting."

However, Kim Giryeo, who had collapsed, soon slowly got back up on his own. Imdiately after, Esther said she experienced a sense of discomfort unlike anything she had ever felt before--even as an S-rank hunter--and then, in the blink of an eye, the entire situation was over. For reference, both Esther and Jung Haseong still hadn't fully grasped what exactly they had felt at the ti. But once the testimony of a woman in her twenties was added to the report...

"I'm not lying--I'm telling you honestly. That's really how it was."

"Really?"

"Detective, my awakening level is about average within the B-rank--so, how are you feeling right now?"

"Well... no, wait. Then, could it be?"

"Yes, that's right. What you're feeling right now is the pressure we felt from Hunter Kim Giryeo."

It's completely absurd.

"No, just how high is Jung Haseong's innate Awakening level?"

According to Seonwoo Yeon, the sensation felt by the dungeon raiders at that ti was simply pressure caused by differences in rank levels.

"No way. What is that even supposed to an?"

The investigator paused his fingers on the keyboard. He tried to maintain as objective an attitude as possible, but the more he listened, the more astonishing the story beca. If he were to write down what those few witnesses were saying, wouldn't it all basically co down to this?

A hunter who terrified S-rank hunters, overpowered and killed fellow S-ranks, and even cleared an entire dungeon single-handedly--the fact that such an extraordinary hunter exists in South Korea.

"On top of that, why was he the only one who ended up hospitalized? I just can't make sense of any of this."

His head is about to explode. Unanswered questions keep piling up one after another. Honestly, the best way to solve this would be to hear the explanation directly from Kim Giryeo...But the well-known awakened hunter with dyed hair is still lying in the hospital room, much to everyone's concern. For humanitarian reasons, summoning him right now is impossible. So the police continued questioning, holding back their mounting curiosity.

"Ahem. Understood. Then let's wrap it up here for today. If anything else cos up during the investigation, we'll contact you again at this number."

"Aah, yes."

This was the end of the first basic investigation.

"Phew--I can finally live a little."

As the high-ranking hunters summoned for testimony vacated the room, the atmosphere within the precinct imdiately grew lighter. Now that the outline of the incident inside the dungeon had been heard, it was ti to deal with the real headache.

"That's right. Hey! By the way, did you get the results of the corpses that were brought up?"

"Ah, yes. We just got a call from the forensics departnt."

Three Beasts had unlawfully occupied a dostic dungeon--a situation serious enough to break into a cold sweat just from the few words that described it. But beyond that, an even more shocking truth ca to light.

"Seriously, I just don't get it. Why would people like that suddenly show up here out of nowhere?"

From beneath those thick bone masks erged top-tier Awakeners from multiple countries. The investigators confird the identities of the three criminals whose bodies had been recovered from outside the dungeon. After thoroughly removing and inspecting all their clothing and equipnt, they were able to definitively prove that the leader of the group had indeed been a well-known Hunter from the United States.

"Huh."

To think such a big shot would appear. Enzo Ciano. This person, in crude terms, had a personality overflowing with "showmanship." Thanks to this, even with the flaw of alcoholism, he was globally recognized as having a large fanbase. Furthermore, after Brooklyn Morgan went missing, a large guild called Spectrum even pushed him as their next face.

"This investigation is clearly going to be a nightmare from the start."

Why would soone like that co all the way here just to cause chaos?

"And on top of that, he was carrying the [Book of Destruction], which should be national property."

The investigator absently fumbled through the gum on his desk, deep in thought. But no matter how long he stalled for ti, he couldn't co to a conclusion on his own. This was a case far beyond anyone's imagination in terms of sheer scale.

"Hmm."

If it were just a matter of so celebrity S-rank psychic getting involved, that would be one thing. But this was a situation where a Western national treasure--one that should've been under tight security--had been leaked.

Was this ever even sothing anyone could clean up in the first place?

"If you think about it logically, the U.S. will probably try to deny any involvent no matter what..."

At that mont, yet another worry rose in his mind. It was a concern about a certain awakened individual--one who had been consistently ntioned across all the witness testimonies.

"But now that I think about it, sothing's strange. Kim Giryeo... According to the results of the fourth assessnt conducted by the Association, his awakening level was clearly lower than that of Seo Esther."

Wasn't self-defense always a tricky thing to judge in the first place? One officer thought to himself. From his personal perspective, he actually found so rit in how strict Korean law tends to be when it cos to ruling on self-defense. But if that sa strict law were to be applied to soone who seed to have transcended even the standards of S-rank...

"A hunter who single-handedly killed three illegally-entered S-rank Awakened individuals from abroad..."

What would their reaction be then? Could the situation end up getting worse than it is now?

Roughly speaking, these were the kinds of concerns and worries that unconsciously crossed the investigator's mind...

***

Before long, that worry would beco reality.

"Yes?"

Just two hours later. Annex Building, 1st Floor, Korea Hunter Association.

"Wait, so... what you just told --is that really confird? Not just under discussion, but actually finalized?"

"That's what I heard. Seonwoo Yeon was so curious about it that she kept asking around and finally got the info to pass along."

It was a sluggish ti of day when she normally would've been preparing fax paperwork to send to another governnt departnt. But the awakened one with the compound surna was visibly pale and trembling slightly with nerves. She had just received a bolt-from-the-blue piece of news from a colleague within her own agency.

"Three foreign awakeners died, and they've decided to formally indict Kim Giryeo?"

After giving her testimony in the morning, Seonwoo Yeon happened to hear the news--and her expression darkened. Thanks to Kim Giryeo's reawakening, lives have been saved... So by default, she stood on the side of those defending his actions.

"That's strange. When I went to give my statent at the police station, the atmosphere seed fine. Even when they heard Hunter Kim Giryeo's na, they didn't seem like they were looking to pick a fight or anything...?"

Co to think of it, with three people dead, it's only natural that things wouldn't be quietly swept under the rug.

But there were a few things that bothered Seonwoo Yeon. At first, the investigative agency had seed ready to press the U.S. over the [Book of Destruction] incident--but they had subtly shifted where the power lay.

Regardless of who initiated the violence inside the dungeon, they had concluded that murder was the most serious issue--and so, they claid they needed to determine whether Kim Giryeo's actions inside the dungeon were justified or not.

"What happens if they end up concluding that sothing was wrong with how he handled things during that process?"

She was soone who firmly believed that no individual should be above the law. So in a way, she could understand why Kim Giryeo was being formally charged. But the problem lay in the identity of the suspect himself.

"Why are you so surprised? I was originally this strong."

She still forgets this sotis, but a certain S-rank hunter revealed that he was an extraterrestrial being from a star cluster with unknown na.

"To use an analogy, it's like I'm the protagonist of a martial arts novel who had their ridians cleared yesterday, and now I can finally start living life properly from today."

From what she heard, it seed a sudden change had recently co over him. Yet, to abruptly interrogate an alien--a truly foreign being--who also seed to be a bit of an eccentric in their own ho, with Earth customs...

"I've got nothing but a bad feeling that things are going to get worse."

Seonwoo Yeon felt a montary chill. Looking back, the alien who had risen from the sickbed had made so strange claims regarding the issue of self-defense. She was worried that her acquaintance (who likely didn't know the laws of this planet very well) might inadvertently create additional charges. So, even going as far as using a precious half-day leave from work, she headed straight to the hospital right after lunch.

"Anyway, from what I heard, Hunter Kim Giryeo isn't currently at high risk of fleeing, so the police have already made a regular request for him to appear. Then it should be alright to give him a heads-up in advance, right...?"

Getting permission to visit the hospital was simple. Maybe that man also had so business to attend to, because when Seonwoo Yeon asked through ssenger, he said it was just perfect timing and didn't refuse.

"This is the first ti I've seen it. So this is what the hospital VIP ward looks like."

The [Searcher] skill, learned cheaply thanks to an item obtained in the dungeon--it really cos in handy at tis like this.

"Upstairs."

Having clearly received permission, Seonwoo Yeon didn't hesitate to track down the alien. And by the ti she reached the familiar rooftop garden through this process, she ca face-to-face--without much trouble--with the person she'd been looking for.

Kiiek.

Anyway, just looking at the outer appearance always made think he looked quite plausible. Who on earth would look at that man and think of so unidentified extraterrestrial creature?

"As expected, he's here."

He wasn't drooling green sli like the aliens you see in various dia. Nor did he have an upside-down teardrop-shaped head. He was just a Korean young man with a common appearance you'd easily find sowhere in an ordinary neighborhood.

"Hmm."

Seonwoo Yeon soon approached the S-rank she had found. But right from the start, an unbelievable sight unfolded before her. When she first entered, the flowerbed had hidden it from view, so she hadn't noticed. But as she got closer, it beca clear that the person was already eting with soone. Moreover, the man with a fierce expression--like a rigidly stiffened viper--was gripping the other person's hospital gown tightly with both hands.

"What..."

To put it more precisely, it was a scene where the righteous hero of the new era--famous for having saved countless Koreans--was caught grabbing an elderly patient by the collar.

"Huh?"

Kim Giryeo spotted her at that exact mont. Perhaps he hadn't expected to receive a visitor under such circumstances--though his face remained expressionless, his deanor betrayed a hint of fluster as he opened his palms.

"Hello. I don't know what you're thinking right now, but just to explain in advance--it's a misunderstanding."

Who was that elderly patient? And just what on earth had happened between the two of them until now?