Chapter 233: Is It Not? (2)
I have no idea where this story came from during a meal.
But anyway, Jeong Ha-seong had previously mentioned that he started reducing his internet usage and began to absorb information through analog media for stress management.
So, he might be completely oblivious to the current situation.
【 Hunternet *
Singapore Chinatown.
A figure in a familiar outfit appears on a motorcycle.
Did the taste of their ancestors, known as the Baek-ui Min-jok, somehow leave a mark in their genes? An Awakened wearing a spotless white outer garment.
Korea’s Jeong Ha-seong.
[The Cloak of the Underworld], or [Hayangsae], etc.
The artifacts used for transportation usually had many restrictions in terms of usage frequency or distance.
But modern hunters often had to make urgent deployments to catch enemies located in complex pathways.
Thus, it wasn’t bizarre for hunters to have a motorbike license.
Rumble… clink!
The young man with black hair finally shuts off the motorcycle and enters a nearby restaurant alley.
After walking a while, he sees the blue light of a passage to another world.
As he waits a moment, the East Asian person he had brought along suddenly opens their mouth…
[Finally, I will recheck the grade and any abnormal mutations. Please enter once the examination is complete.]
[Yes.]
A conversation through the PIXY translator.
Immediately, a Singaporean clad in safety gear checked the inside of the dungeon.
As soon as the procedure was completed, Jeong Ha-seong walked into the deeply blue passage as if he had been waiting for it.
He had come to assist with the handling of a specific gate at the government’s request.
[Ice Palace].
For Singapore, which maintains a hot and humid climate year-round, this foreign realm represents a truly harsh environment.
If it were just the ordinary cold of winter, it might be bearable.
But the snowstorm in that dungeon was so powerful it could freeze a person solid in an instant.
Now, at the time of the nightmarish Ice Palace’s reappearance, did the Nest of the Grass appear in Korea serve as some sort of trigger?
This East Asian land, originally famous for its dragon nests, was once again inundated with reptiles from another realm.
However, this was hardly an advantage for the Singaporeans.
Dragons are monsters that combine the size of a mammoth with the cruelty of an orca.
Thus, it was naturally a labor-intensive and highly dangerous foe to deal with.
[What should we do?]
[We have no available personnel left.]
Singapore is a country without a single S-Class hunter.
Yet due to the sudden appearance of dragon nests, those A-Class hunters, who were relatively high in number, found themselves in a manpower crisis.
Which would cause more damage to the nation, dragons or frost monsters?
The Singaporean government ultimately decided to gather upper-tier Awakened individuals on a large scale to prioritize the hunt for dragons.
However, this method would avoid the worst-case scenario, but ultimately they couldn’t escape the explosion of the high-grade gate in between dragon hunts. In other words, the attacks from the frost monsters were unavoidable.
‘But I can’t just tell B-Class hunters to risk their lives to catch A-Class ones…’
A situation tangled with the simultaneous appearance of difficult enemies.
But at last, amidst the confusion related to manpower in Singapore, a helping hand had finally come.
Curiously, in this world, there existed magical phrases that could calm people’s anxieties just by hearing them.
-But at that moment, the plane Jeong Ha-seong was on arrived at the airport.
A result of longstanding diplomacy.
South Korea accepted the emergency relief request from Singapore as a friendly nation.
And they dispatched their representative hunter, Jeong Ha-seong, to resolve the situation.
.
.
.
Up to this point was the flow of events over the past two days.
“I love you! Korea!”
Wowwwww!
To put it bluntly.
That 27-year-old Korean had completed the association’s directive exceedingly well.
To be precise, he had taken on the conquest of the Ice Palace, which Singapore’s hunters could not approach.
This help was not a pro bono service, and adequate compensation was promised naturally to both the individual sent and the state.
However, Jeong Ha-seong’s action of rushing over as soon as he heard the offer was touching, aside from the trivial realistic issues.
Thus, the expression of the overseas fans who gathered to watch the interview looked like they might propose any moment now.
The gaze of the assistant secretary at Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs standing beside him was no different.
[Thank you for your great help!]
[Please say a few words!]
Click click click.
Ha-seong began a light press conference, commemorating the safe handling of the disaster, as usual.
In the front row were familiar faces of correspondents who came along from Korea.
Now, instead of reciting the stiff announcement stating that several gates had emerged near the city but had been cleared within 48 hours of conquest, he unexpectedly began…
“Umm….”
It was rare.
What flowed from the hero’s lips next was quite different from the usual dry announcements.
“30 minutes and 16 seconds.”
He straightened his posture and began a peculiar declaration.
“The recorded result of 30 minutes and 16 seconds is the average time I spent conquering one unit of Ice Palace this time, and I hope this is good news for Korea’s Mr. Kim Gi-ryeo Hunter.”
“Huh?”
Reporters started to look shocked at Ha-seong’s statement.
There were two reasons for their reactions.
First, the time.
The record of 30 minutes and 16 seconds was six times shorter than the new record achieved earlier this year for the Ice Palace.
Six times is easy to say, but how could a world record break by such a huge margin overnight?
No matter how much they struggled, the previous attempts at conquering the Ice Palace rarely exceeded three hours.
Moreover, the Korean in front of them was known as a soloing expert, famous for not having a separate team.
‘Impossible!’
As a person in the same industry, such words naturally slipped out.
If such a significant reduction in time had occurred, it was highly likely that he opted for a ‘speedrun’ by just slaying the boss and fleeing…
But the Ice Palace had a structure as complicated as a maze made of mirrors, and one had to defeat the gatekeepers hidden throughout to open the door to the next room.
It wasn’t a dungeon one could bypass normal monsters with.
But what exactly did Jeong Ha-seong do within to achieve such results?
‘Could it be…’
‘Still, it’s something to consider due to the fire attribute…’
‘Did he melt it?’
‘Did he melt down all those solid ice walls and charge through?’
The atmosphere was buzzing.
This wasn’t the end.
Ha-seong brought up the hunter’s name he had mentioned at the end of his speech and added…
For now, knowing that whatever he did would seem inadequate in that person’s eyes,
He still had to give it his all. Because…
“My goal this year is to be recognized as the best hunter in South Korea by you all.”
Ha-seong was standing on the platform, revealing rare changes of expression.
Looking resolute, like someone who has made a decision.
“And, as that person says, one can improve their lacking skills, but personally, I’m also worried that the opportunity itself might vanish while I dawdle…”
“What’s that?”
“In fact, Mr. Kim Gi-ryeo Hunter said that if he sees my progress, he might formally team up with me in about three months. So today, I tried to create a meaningful boast, even if just a little, to report back as a sort of mid-term assessment.”
Thud.
At that moment, the interpreter silently gasped, almost revealing his shock through his expression.
“Anyway, this discussion went on for too long. I’ll start to wrap things up.”
Ha-seong’s remarkable interview ended in a calm tone.
“I will continue to work hard every day to reach the levels I aim for. I hope to bring you good news regarding the team afterward.”
The misfortune that had been passing beneath the land was finally revealing its contours.
*
Clang clang.
Today is Thursday.
We finished our usual morning class without issue and arrived at the restaurant we had reserved for lunch.
But as I watched Jeong Ha-seong place metal chopsticks in front of me, I thought…
‘Is he crazy?’
That humble-looking hunter had indeed pulled off a significant stunt.
A few hours ago, an interview aired on YTV, and it had already dazzled the world media, starting from America.
Moreover, this is essentially a declaration of war.
The reason Jeong Ha-seong broke the Ice Palace record by such a large margin was to prove that he was quite “capable” of a psychic.
‘Damn! Just as we were making excuses for our skills, the other side is rushing to counteract!’
If the same achievements repeat in the Ice Palace, the monster in front of me will soon possess compelling logical grounds.
As someone who personally trained him, I can affirm that if Jeong Ha-seong is left to his own devices, he would soon be regarded as the top hunter in the world.
Especially now that Brooklyn Morgan, who had held the edge in magic power, had passed away, it became even clearer.
But if a hunter with such a significant impact, especially one who might continue to break dungeon conquest records, gets critiqued just for not being adequate…
‘From then on, I’ll just be treated as the crazy guy!’
A blocked exit.
However, Jeong Ha-seong wasn’t like the numerous Alphauri, having a gloomy nature, and it didn’t seem like he planned this whole interview out.
Even now, with a face that seemed overly kind, he’s controlling the heat of the budae jjigae.
So, it was merely…
“Ha.”
Really just panic that his chosen collaborator might soon be filled with other hunters in his place.
“Mr. Kim Hunter, is something wrong?”
“No…”
“Are you perhaps upset because I announced the team promise?”
Bubble bubble.
Just as the budae jjigae in the center began to boil.
The young hero examined my expression with eyes devoid of malice.
“But when Hunter Esther came to question me earlier, she didn’t say anything about this leak.”
“True.”
“I’m sorry. I just mentioned it without much thought…”
I couldn’t hear what he was saying.
Because of this recent Singapore interview, some otherworldly being suddenly found themselves ablaze with tentacles.
If Jeong Ha-seong continued breaking records like this, public opinion would gradually turn against him.
We couldn’t use the lack of ability as an excuse any longer.
Crap, then how could I possibly back out of the team promise with Jeong Ha-seong…?
‘Got it.’
But just then.
A nefarious scheme flashed through my mind.
“Hey.”
I executed the sudden idea without a moment’s hesitation.
Thinking back, aside from the dangerous method of pointing out the opponent’s strength, there still remained one very gentle and peaceful solution.
“Jeong Ha-seong Hunter. Personally, I really appreciate how hard you’re working with someone like me for this collaboration.”
“Haha.”
“But you know, if one day I think I might not be able to keep that promise, would you be very saddened?”
He stiffened up.
Upon hearing this statement, Jeong Ha-seong stopped stirring the stew and looked straight at me.
“Well, instead of being saddened, I’m just curious.”
“…”
“I’m sorry, but is my talent really that insufficient? No matter how much time is given, do you not see the possibility of me meeting your standards?”
To this, I shook my head.
“No. You’re misunderstanding; the reason isn’t because of you.”
And continuing, I touched a painful spot on my upper lung that used to cause chronic pain in the past.
“To be honest, I’ve started to seriously consider retirement lately.”
“Retirement?”
What good would it do to go around in circles now? Thankfully, in this world, there is an intuitive and powerful excuse.
If a troublemaker suddenly declares retirement, it’s most likely that reason they bring up.
“Just due to health issues and such…”
I cleared my dry throat for no reason.
If someone said they were unwell, surely this kind-hearted young man called the national hero wouldn’t dare force someone to work with no heart or pity, right?
Ahem.
He wouldn’t.
At least, from what I’ve observed of Jeong Ha-seong’s character so far.
“Of course, don’t worry about the team issue itself. Even if I retire, before that, I plan to pass on some know-how to Hunter Seo Esther, so you can wait and still work with some other S-Class hunters.”
I continued the conversation excitedly, mentioning a certain Curse Mage’s name.
The Guild Master of Garion has been searching for companions capable of enduring his fire for a long time, as could be seen in the company’s hiring conditions.
So whether the name is Kim or Seo, Ha-seong would probably think it was enough to find a reliable partner.
‘Oh.’
Just as I was contemplating this.
I suddenly halted, feeling someone’s fluctuating magic energy.
Boom!
Suddenly, a thunderous sound entered the restaurant.
An S-Class hunter had reflexively slammed the table down, causing it to collapse from the center.
