The Otherworldly Magic Swordsman Who Disciplines the Hunter World Chapter 57

Julian, who had been lost in thought in the passenger seat about how to score some jellies, reacted belatedly. He asked back as if making sure he’d heard correctly.

“An uninhabited island? Why are we going to an uninhabited island?”

Not just any island, but specifically an uninhabited one? For what purpose? Julian, growing suspicious, suddenly gasped—hic.

“Surely you aren’t going to leave me abandoned there and come back alone, right?”

When he was chatting with the ladies in the breakroom, stories like that just happened to be flowing from the television.

Someone had gone camping on an island and met a stray dog there. It was a heartwarming segment about how they couldn’t bear to leave the dog—who loved people so much—behind, so they brought it back and were now raising it.

The ladies watching that anecdote had clicked their tongues. They remarked on how cruel a person must be to go all the way to an island just to abandon a dog they’d been raising.

Of course, he wasn’t a dog, and Gong Siyoung wasn’t his owner, but abandonment was still possible if one set their mind to it. It was even more suspicious since they were heading to a place where no people lived.

Naturally, whether there were people or not, Julian didn’t have the confidence to hack it alone. Surely he wasn’t going to leave a frail inhabitant of another world truly by himself?

Should he have just kept his mouth shut if he knew this would happen? A sliver of regret brushed past him, wondering if he shouldn’t have offered to follow along.

“What on earth are you talking about? Why would I abandon you?”

“Well, I saw on television that people go to islands and leave dogs behind.”

Gong Siyoung gave a hollow laugh at the excuse that wasn’t quite an excuse. He shook his head—slowly.

“If possible, don’t watch television at all. If you must watch, watch educational broadcasts. Don’t watch provocative shows and learn strange things.”

The car, hugging the first lane, tilted slightly. As they merged onto the highway, the speed gradually increased.

“We’re going to the uninhabited island because there’s someone we need to meet there. You heard talk about Hunter Kim Myungja too.”

“The name sounds familiar, but…”

Gong Siyoung and Gong Sijin seemed to have mentioned that name, but perhaps because he hadn’t paid much attention, he couldn’t remember well.

Julian, who had been tilting his head repeatedly, suddenly sensed something odd.

“But you said it’s an uninhabited island? If there’s a person there, it’s not uninhabited.”

“It’s true Hunter Kim Myungja is there, but no one lives there. Officially, it is classified as uninhabited.”

It was a fairly large island for an uninhabited one, but no one lived on it. Furthermore, to make landfall, one had to personally arrange a boat to go in.

Entering and leaving were both difficult. That was why Hunter Kim Myungja had settled there. Her reason was that she wanted to avoid encountering people at any cost.

“Hunter Kim Myungja is the most famous person among the first-generation hunters. Her guild, ‘Myeongja Circle,’ is so well-known that there’s no one who hasn’t heard of it. She herself was very active across the board, and because her skills are so unique, her name is widely known.”

Gong Siyoung had also encountered her a few times. Even back then, Kim Myungja, whose hair was already graying, was particularly fond of Gong Siyoung, who was the youngest among the hunters. It was because she, too, had lost her entire family to a dungeon overflow.

Saying the little one was suffering, she used to cast buffs on him without charge whenever they met. Even thinking about it now, it was an exceptional gesture.

It was a time when rumors circulated that you would absolutely never die if you received Hunter Kim Myungja’s buff. Instead of hunters standing in line with bundles of cash, she had cast buffs on the young Gong Siyoung, who had nothing.

Then and now, Hunter Kim Myungja was a person far removed from ordinary.

“What kind of skills are they that make her unique?”

To Julian, who had an understanding of skills only on a level similar to magic, it was a confusing story.

Even if magic was unique, it was still magic in the end. It was the same even for high-circle magic. It might be rare to see, but it wasn’t particularly “unique.” Unless one created a completely new form of magic, everything was more or less the same.

“Hunter Kim Myungja is someone who makes everything possible except for the impossible. She is the kind of person who, by simply engraving ‘you shall not die’ upon someone who doesn’t want to die, can make them truly immortal.”

Kim Myungja’s innate skill was ‘Blessing.’ She realized every action where a possibility remained open.

She made chickens fly in the sky, cured incurable diseases, and allowed F-class hunters to become S-class.

There was a duration limit, but that alone was reason enough to call it a blessing. In a way, it was only natural that everyone knew Kim Myungja’s name.

Because of that, her name never failed to come up whenever the Return Stone was mentioned. If a miracle was needed, only she could make it a reality.

Applying a buff to the Return Stone and pulling everyone out of a terrible tragedy—it was almost the only way.

Even after hearing the explanation, Julian still had a puzzled face. Deciding that further talk would be difficult for him to understand properly, Gong Siyoung changed the subject. When he said Julian would know once he got there, Julian stopped asking.

“An island…”

The scenery should be nice. He muttered as he opened the car window. A strong wind rushed in—whoosh. He brushed back his fluttering hair and leaned his head against the window.

What kind of place would an uninhabited island be, where a hunter who grants blessings resides? While wondering about the unknown island that defied imagination, the car sped along diligently.

“Oh, it’s raining.”

Water droplets plopped through the gap in the car window—drip. He quickly closed it. Along with a wind that looked ominous even to the eye, a torrential downpour began in an instant.

Pitter-patter, thick raindrops hammered the car. Julian turned his head to look at the driver’s seat.

“Didn’t you say we were taking a boat?”

“We have to.”

Unless we’re going to fly, we have to go by boat. At the nonchalant answer, Julian scratched his head. He looked up at the sky filled with dark clouds.

Will it be okay? he wondered, but figured it would be fine since Siyoung was so confident.

∞ ∞ ∞

“The weather is rotten.”

The captain, wearing a black raincoat, muttered gloomily. Julian was slightly confused as to whether the man’s complexion was naturally dark or if it was just particularly dark today.

His voice was half-buried by the rain hitting like hailstones.

“Then we can’t go today? The boat won’t sail?”

“Do you know where you end up if you set sail on a day like today?”

Rumble, boom! Thunder and lightning struck. Startled, Julian began to hiccup—hic.

“Where, hic, where do we go?”

“The Dragon Palace.”

If you go there, you can never come back. At the blunt reply, Julian hiccuped again. He poked the side of Gong Siyoung, who was standing next to him.

“Where is the Dragon Palace? Is it a place you can go to while still alive?”

“…Just a moment. I’ll go make a call.”

Gong Siyoung rubbed his forehead. He took an umbrella and his phone and stepped out of the shop. The moment the door closed—click—lightning struck again outside.

The gloomy-looking captain took off his raincoat and hung it on the wall. Julian stared blankly at the dripping moisture before subtly approaching him.

“But Captain, hic, do you usually go to that island often?”

“Never go.”

Fumbling for something, the captain handed him a cup. Water poured out—glug, glug—from a water bottle that appeared from a corner.

“There’s nothing there, and the rumors are bad. Everyone in this neighborhood stopped going there a long time ago. I’m only doing this because Mr. Gong Sijin specifically asked.”

“Why? Because you’re well-acquainted?”

As he sipped the water—slurp—a sweetness spread throughout his mouth. Julian’s eyes went wide.

“This isn’t water? What is this?”

“Gorosoe sap. It’s delicious.”

The captain emptied a cup and poured more water. While Julian took another glass and sipped it, his hiccups stopped.

Just then, Gong Siyoung returned. Even though he had used an umbrella, more than half of his body was soaked.

“Because Mr. Gong Sijin is the savior of my life. He saved me inside a dungeon, so I lived.”

The answer to the previous question flowed out belatedly. Gong Siyoung arched an eyebrow as if asking what he was talking about. Julian quickly held out the cup to him.

“Want to drink this? They say it’s Gorosoe sap.”

“I’m fine. More importantly, Captain, would it be difficult for the boat to sail even late today? I don’t mind if it’s night.”

The captain fumbled for the television remote.

“I mind. Today is a bust. The boat can’t sail.”

He pointed at the television. A weather forecast flowed across the screen with poor picture quality. The words ‘Strong Wind Advisory’ and ‘Localized Heavy Rain’ were the first to catch the eye.

“Then what do we do now?”

They had to take a boat to get to the island, and they had to go to the island to meet Hunter Kim Myungja. Julian gulped down the sap—slurp.

“When is the earliest we can leave?”

“Who knows. If the weather clears quickly, we’ll probably leave at dawn tomorrow.”

According to the weather forecast, tomorrow was clear. Gong Siyoung checked the outside with a troubled face.

Going back now would be a waste of time. If the boat was sailing at dawn tomorrow, it was better to just hang around here.

“Is there a place to sleep around here by any chance?”

“There is.”

“Then let’s rest there today and leave at dawn tomorrow. Is that okay?”

“That’s fine.”

Hardly had the words left his mouth when the captain fumbled back into the raincoat hanging on the wall. Having finished his preparations to head out, he looked at the two of them. Catching the look that asked why they weren’t following, they hurried to pick up their umbrellas.

After walking for about five minutes like that, a dark building appeared.

“It’s a guest house; I’ll only take 20,000 won for one night. But there’s nothing to eat.”

Gong Siyoung muttered as if surprised anew.

“The lodging fee is cheaper than the gummy jellies.”

The captain, who hadn’t heard that, inserted a key into the closed door.

With a clunking sound, the door swung wide open. When they felt along the wall and turned on the light, a normal-looking studio apartment appeared.