Chapter 123: Siren (3)
After conquering the gate.
Kim Gi-ryeo emerged through the created exit.
Huff~
As expected, once the Siren was neutralized, the difficulty of the Mermaid’s Cove dropped drastically.
The mermen that appeared sporadically were sluggish in their movements, so compared to the Siren, they weren’t much of a threat.
‘Ugh, my body aches…’
With a Hunter possessing resistance to statuses halting the Siren, the team members hunted down the remaining mermen to close the Gate.
They had gained high work efficiency through this division of roles.
As evidence, Kim Gi-ryeo’s team had already handled five instances of [Mermaid’s Cove].
‘Should I get myself an Item Box?’
Of course, it wouldn’t be true to say this process was without hardship…
But this much was bearable.
Every time a merman popped out, he’d busily pretend to be inspecting the dead Siren for no good reason.
Today, he had come in wearing his favorite suit and didn’t want to get it stained with blood, and so on.
He had no shortage of ways to duck out of combat.
‘Anyway, this means I’ve achieved the closure of five A-Class Gates.’
Gi-ryeo stretched confidently, celebrating the completion of his goal.
“Hunter-nim! How are you!”
But then, suddenly, he heard someone calling him nearby.
Turning his head, he saw a camera crew and a young reporter standing there.
The broadcasting station had come to cover the news.
“Excuse me, but could we do a brief interview?”
For a moment, he wondered why these people had come all the way here…
‘Ah.’
Thinking back, it made sense that people would be drawn to the news since gates that no one could clear had suddenly closed one after another.
“If it’s just a moment, that’s fine.”
“Yes! Thank you very much!”
The questions that followed were as expected.
The reporter asked how he dealt with the pesky Siren, to which Gi-ryeo replied.
He pulled out the answer he had prepared.
“Well, that’s because I’m an S-Class Hunter.”
“Pardon?”
“I have a high Awakening Level, so I’m relatively less affected by the Siren. Other S-Class Hunters would be similar, I believe.”
An SSS-Class shameless person…!
How on earth could a person be this brazen?
Gi-ryeo began weaving lies without even moistening his lips, and what made it particularly malicious was the skillful mixing in of some truths with his statements.
“Moreover, both Esther and I are completely immune to the Siren’s song… But I’ll keep this part brief.”
Esther is also immune?
The reporter wanted a more detailed explanation, but Kim Gi-ryeo declined.
He didn’t want to attract the Curse Mage’s ire by spilling other people’s secrets.
“Just know that Esther can do this too.”
Gi-ryeo said this and added a few sentences.
“However, I’m not sure if this is a very important story? After all, I’m going to handle all the remaining Mermaid’s Coves anyway.”
“Pardon?”
He was declaring that he would be taking care of all 15 newly emerged Siren dungeons!
The reporters’ eyes widened in surprise.
But Gi-ryeo didn’t stop. He needed to make sure this part was clear.
“Esther Hunter is managing her guild, so she must have many other duties.”
“…!”
“So, I think it’s best that I handle this situation while she takes a break.”
This was a kind of check.
He had avoided being demoted for closing five A-Class Gates, but he needed to keep defending his ranking until someone appeared who sold Dragon’s Lungs.
‘Gotta take advantage right now!’
He declared outright to the broadcasting station that Esther shouldn’t interfere, all to monopolize his achievements.
But outwardly, he was pretending to worry about her overwork…
“It’s January after all. The Magic Tower representative should rest during the holidays too.”
Well, this probably wouldn’t be a big problem.
“I see. Thank you for agreeing to the interview.”
“Yes.”
In that moment.
The reporter from YTV, after talking with him, realized that contrary to how that hunter looked, he was quite polite.
However, the scenery that followed made her completely forget that first impression.
“Oh, everyone is coming out now.”
Indeed, new hunters appeared from the nearby exit.
Kang Chang-ho and Ahn Yoon-seung.
When verifying the gate entry records, who would have thought this nonsensical combination was real?
“Hey, young one. Hurry and get that on camera!”
“Yes, yes!”
They busily captured the scene before them with their camera.
Thus, the team members who conquered Mermaid’s Cove were all featured in an article together.
*
Dragging his feet.
Thump.
In the spacious representative’s office.
A woman lay limply on a luxurious sofa placed in the center of the room.
With elegantly curled hair dyed a hue of purple.
Whose feature could this be? The one sprawled here is none other than Esther of the Magic Tower.
“Ugh…”
Esther began muttering while lying on the sofa.
The duties as a representative of the Korean Magic Tower Guild.
The punishment of awakened criminals.
The tasks befitting an S-Class Hunter.
Why does her single body have to shoulder so many responsibilities?
“I guess social life isn’t for me.”
She slumped her body and complained.
“Ugh, I want to quit it all.”
But the response that came back was cold.
Her secretary appeared to be used to this sort of day-to-day hassle. Now, she didn’t even bother to respond.
“Damn January!”
The cataclysm. It was always something, right?
Every time January rolled around, new monsters appeared en masse, making both scholars and hunters frantic and busy.
“Secretary, could you brew me some strong coffee…?”
“Yes, yes.”
Esther sent off the request with a weak voice and sat straight up on the sofa.
Sniff.
One silver lining during this time was.
The requests for conquering the Mermaid’s Cove, which was the most troublesome issue during this year’s cataclysm, had quieted down…
“Oh, speaking of which, I haven’t heard anything.”
In fact, the Hunter Association had been cautious recently.
During the last incident with the 13th Month’s Maze.
Korea confirmed that three S-Class Awakened had disappeared all at once.
The association seemed to have changed regulations since that incident, being quite reluctant to summon S-Class hunters these days.
Even with the world in an uproar due to the Siren, they were still saving the last resort of calling for S-Class.
“Representative, here’s your coffee.”
“Thanks.”
But amidst all this, the Association unexpectedly ended up getting help from an unexpected person.
To be precise… from ‘people.’
“Oh, by the way, Representative, did you see the news from earlier?”
“Huh?”
“I heard a colleague from the industry mentioned you on the broadcast.”
“Really?”
Slurp.
Esther sipped her coffee and turned on the TV.
Then, following her secretary’s testimony, she checked the recorded YTV channel.
What a surprise, standing there was a hunter with a rather familiar appearance.
“Is that Gi-ryeo?”
A man with distinctively droopy eyes and severe strabismus.
Esther pointed at the figure on the screen and said.
“If I’m not mistaken, this should be his first official interview, right?”
But she never anticipated he would make such a statement.
– Esther Hunter is managing the guild… (excerpt)… So, I think it’s best that I handle this situation while she takes a break…
Are you suggesting that you’ll take care of the Siren while I… relax during the holidays?
What professional wouldn’t be thrilled by such a proposal?
“Oh my…!”
Thump.
Esther gasped, covering her mouth and momentarily lost in emotion.
But immediately after.
Upon seeing the flowing subtitles below, her flushed cheeks quickly sank in realization.
[(Breaking News) Kim Gi-ryeo S-Class. Along with Kang Chang-ho and Ahn Yoon-seung, set out to conquer Mermaid’s Cove…]
“What, what? Kang Chang-ho?”
As the hidden team composition was revealed, she stood up with a shocked expression.
“And one of them is a Neo Sisters guild member?!”
Right. Come to think of it, Ahn Yoon-seung and Kim Gi-ryeo had known each other for a while!
Thanks to past events, Esther had a bits of information.
But for the public, this configuration was pure chaos.
【 Hunternet > Free Board 】
[1: What even is this team composition?]
[s*: Kang Hunter? Dungeon conquest?]
[z*: Why is Ahn Yoon-seung here???]
And then four days later.
Thursday returned.
“Congratulations on completely closing Mermaid’s Cove~! Wow, you all worked hard, Hunters!”
“Haha, thank you.”
Ahn Yoon-seung finally agreed to do an interview commemorating the conquest of all the Mermaid’s Coves.
“So what kind of relationship do you have with Gi-ryeo Hyung?”
At that moment.
Ahn Yoon-seung, responding to a video creator’s question, said this:
“Um, to me, he’s like a teacher!”
“A teacher?”
“Actually, I’ve learned a lot about being a Hunter from him since a long time ago. Well, it’s thanks to him guiding me, someone so lacking, that I’m even who I am now. If I were to count the things I’m grateful for, it’s truly endless…”
That unknown Hunter turned out to be an A-Class mentor!
“Hey, Yoon-seung! Can we talk for a moment?”
Having predicted that this might annoy him, Gi-ryeo quickly tried to shush Ahn Yoon-seung, but…
It was already a moment too late.
The important information had spread like wildfire by now.
“Kim Gi-ryeo is Ahn Yoon-seung’s role model?”
What, how could even Jeong Ha-seong, who had withdrawn from the internet to only read paper newspapers, know of this?
“…Looks like he really is an awakening-type.”
In the end, the actions Kim Gi-ryeo started for the sake of ranking points had an enormous ripple effect.
*
No one can predict what lies ahead.
[●LIVE News: Real-time Chat]
[Honestly, I was already a big fan after the last incident, but now that he wiped out the Siren, I can’t feel more secure!]
[LOL]
[But seriously, why did Kang Chang-ho show up all of a sudden?]
[Curious~]
[Ahn Yoon-seung Hunter didn’t even know about that.]
Now, finding posts criticizing the fourth S-Class was harder than ever.
‘All compliments, huh?’
Kim Gi-ryeo’s evaluations surged as the cleanup of the dead D-Class and the feat of defeating the Siren overlapped.
[‘Kim Gi-ryeo Country’]
[Mr. Kim Gi-ryeo, you are more than qualified to join the Two You No Club.]
[(Seonhan Daily) Korea’s new dark horse]
“When asked to mention someone they respect, children usually say their dad, Admiral Yi Sun-sin, or King Sejong, but I quietly said ‘Kim Gi-ryeo.’”
Teacher: “Who is that, child? A historical figure?”
That’s the kind of thing they said.
‘The internet has so many neologisms, sometimes it’s hard to understand.’
Shortly after, Gi-ryeo began to feel the changed public sentiment.
Unlike genuine S-Class, he didn’t carry the burden of magic pressure, making him more accessible to ordinary people.
“Hey, you’re Kim Gi-ryeo Hunter, right? Wow, amazing!”
These days, passing pedestrians often greeted him.
“You’re handsome!”
Hearing such unfamiliar words was strange.
‘Suddenly?’
Humanity is truly peculiar.
Here, people had a tendency to lift the appearance of those with outstanding abilities, but honestly, it was a culture that was hard for Alphauri to relate to.
For him, appearance and ability had no direct correlation.
‘Am I not getting it because I’m an alien?’
Still, good things are good things. Let’s just brush off the little details.
Kim Gi-ryeo waved at the Earthlings before him.
The students cracked up, fascinated by seeing an Awakened, and went on their way.
This was the shift in atmosphere that he sensed.
However, just as he was gaining a good reputation in this rising tide…
One day, a lengthy post about Kim Gi-ryeo appeared on a community site.
– I live each day like it’s hell.
Beginning with lines like that, this post was filled with content that could only have been written by someone who experienced the incident, along with several photos adding to its credibility.
[Title: Reporting on the School Violence I Experienced from Kim Gi-ryeo Hunter.]
The past of an S-Class had been exposed.
