Chapter 369. Ido's Leather
Moreover, by checking the stats of the hunters who got caught up in this dungeon, one could truly gasp just how difficult that otherworld was.
‘Looking at their activity records… this is practically one of the early Awakening mbers from the Dungeon Shock era.’
Because the S-rank hunter who got caught up in Türkiye’s EX-grade dungeon was a person who had graduated second in their class from a top university—hardly soone who could be called lacking in intelligence.
By the way, how did such a rare talent end up in the vanguard? After digging further through online communities, new information finally caught the alien’s eye.
‘Hmm.’
The problematic, unidentified EX-rank gate had appeared right in front of an elentary school in Türkiye. Anyone could see this was a placent that urgently needed to be dealt with. Blocking the passage completely, like stacking up a retaining wall, was honestly a bit tricky. After all, a gate had to remain accessible for hunters to enter. But if the authorities left the gap open, and a curious child happened to touch the passage, it would be disastrous.
‘Just as people feared, it seems that a child of around ten years old has already been caught up in the situation.’
So a hunter who happened to be at the free ti took responsibility and imdiately attempted the raid. For reference, the S-rank hunter’s intervention occurred before the elentary school student could be swallowed by the dungeon.
There are a lot of children passing nearby, so it’s dangerous. Even if the gate is less affected by raw power, I can’t just avoid it entirely. Even as an S-rank hunter, I’ll need to steady continue the EX-rank raid.
But this dutiful superhuman, who voiced such concerns, was currently in a situation so precarious that even the alien found their survival uncertain.
‘At this level, that’s basically the top 0.1% among mammals.’
After being sucked into a gate with no way back out, there’s been no news for a full 52 hours.
‘Top of the class academically, unmatched in combat strength as an S-rank hunter—yet even such an ideal candidate has failed the raid?’
Earth had recently seen an overall trend of expanding otherworldly dungeons. Yet, EX-class gates still did not usually take long to clear. Of course, this realm, too, carried its own share of deadly traps hidden beneath the average.
If nearly three full days passed without any word, then it was about ti to seriously consider the possibility that the hunter had perished.
‘Hmm.’
However, as ti went on, the situation in Türkiye went from bad to worse. With an S-rank hunter now virtually missing, the governnt scrambled as if flas were licking at its heels, hastily organizing a rescue team.
This gate might create a “happy” situation to lure people in?
Moreover, in Türkiye, there just so happened to be a trendous treasure hunter team with a record of 1,000 successful EX-rank gate raids.
I’d welco them a hundred tis more than the traps that stab and kill people.
So they sent the next raiding party with hope, but…
‘Judging from the articles that just ca out, that doesn’t seem to have gone well either.’
Well, as you can see. Even this legendary EX-rank raid party had long since been caught in the clutches of the gate. It ant that, in a foreign country, an unprecedented situation had occurred where none of the elite hunters who had been deployed returned.
‘Ono.’
It was a story from a distant country he had never visited, but even so, the gravity of the situation was palpable, enough to be felt in his very skin.
‘So that’s why the SOS report showed up in the online news I’m reading? Because the situation is this serious?’
However, contrary to what Kim Giryeo thought, the truth was that there was another background hidden behind their call for help.
‘Hmm?’
[Sunday Morning Daily]
[Parents of a Turkish S-class hunter liquidate all their tangible assets and place an advertisent in a newspaper.]
To be precise, the content of this post the aliens had just discovered was the focus.
[They offered 120 million lira as a reward, requesting the world to save their family. This amounts to approximately 5 billion Korean won.]
An article soon appeared in a certain daily dia outlet. It’s honestly not uncommon for families affected by a dungeon to try every possible ans to resolve the situation. However, this report contained even more astonishing details: the governnt itself had allowed extraordinary self-rescue asures, such as posting a reward with the newspaper and distributing translated appeals to various countries.
‘The Turkish authorities have stated that they will not stop searching for the S-rank hunter no matter how long it takes, but for now, it’s true that they can’t act recklessly. So they’re even allowing the couple’s unilateral publicity until the hunter is properly rescued through international negotiations…?’
Then, in any case, this ans the restrictions on the superhuman’s entry are going to be lifted, doesn’t it?
“Oho.”
The alien, who had been idly fiddling with their phone while sitting in the empty living room, suddenly stood up.
“A reward worth 5 billion won?”
At least a minimum wage is guaranteed no matter how badly one performs in a gate raid. Any normal S-rank hunter might not know how to react upon seeing such a payout.
But at that mont, Kim Giryeo thought. From the perspective of a debtor with hundreds of billions in back taxes, what reason would there be not to step into a situation like this?
***
This happened a few hours later.
‘5 billion won!’
The archmage Kim Giryeo arrived at the Hunter Association.
‘Even accounting for the inco tax, this isn’t a bad deal. Nowadays, it’s rare to make that much money from a single dungeon run—unless the items drop exceptionally well.’
Because a Turkish couple declared that they would imdiately pay 5 billion won to anyone who could bring their child back—even if only as a corpse.
‘Moreover, if I can get a deploynt fee from the Turkish governnt on top of that wealthy couple’s reward… it could be quite lucrative.’
Hehe.
Kim Giryeo sat on a sofa in the corner of the room and briefly calculated the expenses it would take to travel overseas.
Tak.
For reference, and to reiterate, this was the reception room of the Korean Hunter Association. However, it was not located in Seoul. He decided to depart after seeing the Turkish couple’s request on an online news site, but in order to conduct hunting activities overseas, he first had to report to the dostic association.
Therefore, he went to the regional branch of the association near his new ho. Without hesitation, he summoned the high-ranking official there and had just finished explaining the situation.
‘By the way, how many minutes does the official who heard my story spend in the restroom?’
But sohow, it started to feel like the work was moving slowly. Just as the barley tea the unknown official had handed him in a paper cup was cooling, the alien’s phone, tucked in his pocket, suddenly began to ring.
Bzzt, bzzzt, bzzzt.
Reacting to the vibration, he pulled out the device—and on the screen, a very familiar na appeared.
[Jung Haseong]
This Earthling is… almost top-tier in rarely sending personal ssages. Even to acquaintances, the young man is usually reticent—so what on earth could have prompted him to reach out?
“Hello?”
A few seconds later, the Alphaurin bluntly spoke his first words. Then he paused to listen to what the other person had to say—and, as expected, the caller began the conversation with the sa old, predictable words.
Hunter, are you planning to go to a dungeon overseas?
Without even exchanging greetings, the conversation dove straight into the main point. Hearing this, Kim Giryeo tilted his head slightly, even though no one was watching. It had been roughly five minutes since he’d finished consulting the association staff about his departure. Yet now, hearing the topic he had just shared over the receiver, he couldn’t help but wonder how word traveled so fast.
‘Does this damned association have no such thing as confidentiality?’
But just as he was about to make a casual remark, Jung Haseong on the speaker, clearly tense for anyone to notice, imdiately began explaining.
N, no. I think there’s been so misunderstanding. I, I only happened to co across this by chance, and I never targeted you, Hunter Kim, to obtain this information.
“Is that so?”
By the way, Hunter Kim, I assu you voluntarily ca to the association. As for , I was directly contacted by the Turkish couple who were recently in the news…
“Oh.”
I only recently beca aware that a special EX-rank appeared in that country, so on my end, I was planning to first obtain dungeon information through the association.
“But?”
But during that process, the person who expressed willingness to be dispatched to Turkey suddenly appeared, so the official told I didn’t need to decide whether to go or not.
“Could that be ?”
It was only after that that I realized this matter involved Hunter Kim. Just now, I negotiated with the officer at your branch and expressed the intention that, for a short while, the parties scheduled for dispatch could talk among themselves.
Anyway, on paper there’s no difference in rank, and his physical age is even higher—so why is he acting so scared?
I… I thought it would be much quicker and simpler to speak directly rather than going through the official process in the middle, so I tried to sort things out in advance. But if this ssage has caused any discomfort, I sincerely apologize.
After so thought, Kim Giryeo finally ford his first sentence.
“There’s nothing to apologize for.”
It would have been fortunate if it ended with just that one remark, but the extraterrestrial mage eventually voiced his curiosity. It was Kim Giryeo who said, “I get why you contacted in the first place, but what do we have to talk about that you felt the need to contact personally?”
Ah, that’s.
Jung Haseong replied in his characteristically timid voice.
Just to let you know in advance, I was originally planning to decline the dispatch request.
Kim Giryeo fully understood that decision. The S-rank hunter in Turkey still hadn’t made it out. Naturally, no hunter from any country would dare to challenge that gate recklessly.
However, upon hearing that Hunter Kim would step in, I changed my mind.
It was at that mont, Kim Giryeo guessed what should co around this timing—the words he had heard until they were burned into his ears. The EX-rank gate that appeared in Turkey is extrely dangerous. Especially since you have a lung condition, you shouldn’t attempt it. Well, roughly speaking, that was why his dungeon explorations as an alien creature were always opposed.
However, the words that Jung Haseong actually spoke were surprisingly far from that topic. Since repeating the previous conversation would be unproductive, instead of trying to cancel the dispatch itself, Jung Haseong made his point in this manner.
Could I possibly go to Turkey with you?
For now. From Jung Ha-seong’s perspective, Hunter Kim Giryeo was in a condition where it wouldn’t be surprising if he were receiving hospice care. Yet, a human rumored to be seriously ill was heading toward a den of monsters that created happiness without the slightest hesitation…
‘Honestly, I have a bad feeling. Regardless of whether he clears it or not, the very fact that he’s going into that kind of dungeon feels unsettling.’
The nation’s hero felt a suspicion no one could have imagined. So he suggested they try clearing it together, a simple confirmation.
‘If you’re heading abroad without any confidence in clearing the labyrinth, no matter how much people around you protect you, you’ll never drag a companion into such a senseless gate, right?’
Kim Giryeo was—as Jung Haseong saw him—a responsible hunter. So the nation hero pretended that if an industry peer tried to follow him into a dungeon with uncertain odds of success, Giryeo would refuse, out of concern for their safety.
“What? You’re saying that the two of us—ranking number one and —should simultaneously enter a foreign dungeon where an S-rank hunter has gone missing?”
For now, yes. That’s right.
And just as Kim Giryeo spoke negatively, even bringing up the nation’s head of state, Jung Haseong felt a strong sense of “as expected.” Yet, within just a few seconds, his emotions shifted.
However, Haseong, if you really want to do it… well…
His voice was a bit hesitant, but Kim Giryeo continued the conversation in a tone that sohow suggested it might just be possible.
Huh? Are you saying that I’m allowed to co along to the dungeon in Turkey?
Jung Haseong asked several questions in a surprised tone. At the sa ti, the sentences that followed cleared up many of the hero’s lingering doubts.
You can’t possibly know what would happen if two S-rank hunters went in and sothing went wrong.
“Of course.”
So, Hunter Kim Giryeo, do you happen to know the secret to conquering that labyrinth?
“It’s not perfect, but there are a few tricks that naturally give confidence.”
It wasn’t that he had any ulterior motive—he simply decided to go on the mission because he had the ability to breach a nest that seed impregnable!
Jung Haseong’s voice brightened noticeably as he confird sothing. But no matter how brilliant the thod, from the alien’s perspective, the Earthling Jung Haseong accompanying him wasn’t exactly welco. Traveling with a native mammal ant he had to be extrely careful about how he used his magic—and at the sa ti, he had to watch over his companion’s safety every single second inside the dungeon.
‘He’s an acquaintance I know by face, so at the very least, I can’t just leave him to get hurt or worse.’
But if soone were to ask why he so readily accepted the request, even though it was such a troubleso matter…
‘Co to think of it, the ti has just about co.’
Kim Giryeo reaches a conclusion after a brief thought. For a rigid sorcerer-scholar, it was a surprisingly well-considered judgnt.
‘It’s about ti I kept that boast I’ve been putting off. Since he says it’s his wish to team up with , I can at least grant the request of such a selfless soul once, can’t I?’
But it’s hard to call these thoughts unusual. After all, ever since Kim Giryeo had gained the power befitting his official S-rank status, he had thought to himself that teaming up with soone wouldn’t be impossible anyway.
‘Co to think of it, when was the first ti I told Jung Haseong I’d team up with him? Uh… last winter…?’
This world had returned two things to the Archmage, his power and the duty to report to work. So, since he had to head into the dungeon anyway, Kim Giryeo figured he might as well save a poor fraud victim while he was at it, and readily accepted the other’s request.
‘If it’s been since last winter, then I guess it really was a little more severe than I thought.’
A choice befitting the top 0.01% of consciences in Alphauri. What’s more, Kim Giryeo was even planning to keep taking along for a while after this expedition—but just then, another question from the Earthling slipped in.
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