I was Mistaken for a Noble Hunter Chapter 105

Training (4)

 

“…Are you certain? That person really understands benevolence and propriety?”

Cheon Hajin asked his disciple once more.

The disciple might have misunderstood something.

“Yes, Master. It’s already a fairly well-known fact. He was like that even when he was a low-rank hunter, and now that he’s reached B-rank, several guilds are keeping an eye on him.”

“Hm…”

Seeing him speak so confidently, it seemed to be true.

‘Well… people can have their own particular hobbies.’

Working out is a healthy hobby.

Cheon Hajin knew that.

However, both he and a few others had seen Kang Hoopung’s version of “working out.”

That couldn’t really be called exercise.

It was closer to self-torture… something extremely strange and peculiar.

Since he had even seen that young man smiling while training alongside Kang Hoopung, it was natural for Cheon Hajin to form a strange preconception.

‘Still, if he can keep up with that rough fellow Kang Hoopung, he should be able to endure my training as well.’

If he were someone who understood benevolence and propriety, he could be taught.

No… he might even be accepted as a direct disciple.

There were many hunters nowadays with good skills, but those with pure character were extremely rare.

That was simply the nature of a capitalist, merit-based world… but to Cheon Hajin, it was unfortunate.

And now, such a talent had appeared.

‘It was a good thing I gave him my business card back then.’

He hoped the young man would contact him soon.

 

***

 

Ding!

 

[A mission has been assigned.]

[Mission: You have arrived at the ruins of a ruined world. Though the world has fallen, hope remains. A shattered divine relic exists somewhere nearby. Find the relic and place it on the central altar.]

[Time Limit: 48 hours.]

[If you fail to activate the altar within the time limit, a severe penalty will occur.]

 

As soon as Kang Ian and Hong Dasom entered the gate, the message appeared.

“It’s a mission-type gate.”

“They say from B-rank onward, these types are much more common.”

From F-rank to C-rank, most gates were the standard type, where you defeated monsters and the boss to obtain a crystal.

That was Type A.

However, from B-rank onward, mission-type gates became the majority, and even those were divided into several types.

Like when they rescued Hong Dasom and Ryusei before, there were hunting types where you defeated monsters, search types like this, where you had to find something, and hybrid types combining both.

“A search-type mission to find a divine relic… This is my first time doing one in practice.”

“Same here. Search types didn’t appear at all up to C-rank gates. Shall we start moving?”

“Yes.”

The place they were in was the ruins of a completely collapsed castle.

It felt eerie, and only the altar at the center remained somewhat intact.

‘Nothing really worth taking.’

There didn’t seem to be anything useful.

Kang Ian searched around for the so-called divine relic.

But after wandering for several hours, he realized something.

‘Hm. This is hopeless…’

It was the site of a collapsed castle… naturally enormous.

He didn’t even know how big the relic was, but if it was small, it would be like finding a needle in a desert.

It didn’t emit any special energy either.

They had to search purely by sight and touch.

On top of that, the time limit was 48 hours.

If they failed to find it in time, the mission would fail, and the hunters inside the gate would lose their lives.

‘I might have to use the escape scroll for the first time…’

He even began to worry about that.

At that moment…

“I found it!”

“!?”

From afar, Hong Dasom’s voice carried through the vibrating air.

Kang Ian kicked off the ground and shot toward her.

They had split up to search in different directions, and Hong Dasom was standing still with her eyes closed among the rubble.

She wasn’t holding anything.

“You found it?”

“Yes. It’s buried underground.”

She pointed at the ground.

Wind swirled around her, scraping away the earth, revealing a broken statue beneath.

‘What the hell… how do you even find something like this?’

The statue was so small it would have been hard to find even above ground.

Since it was buried, it was natural that someone like Kang Ian… who relied on brute strength, couldn’t find it.

On the other hand, Hong Dasom was a hunter who broadly controlled the wind.

There was a reason she had drawn attention right after awakening.

Her abilities weren’t limited to combat… they could be used for support and auxiliary tasks as well.

Truthfully, Kang Ian hadn’t expected her to be of much help.

After obtaining sword energy, he thought that no matter what monster appeared, he wouldn’t need her assistance.

‘They say from B-rank onward you have to form a party… I can see why now.’

He understood why people said that.

Of course, Kang Ian simply thought he should buy a search-type skill with nobility next time.

Click

As soon as the statue was placed, the altar activated and emitted light.

“Phew. That was solved thanks to you, Hunter Hong Dasom.”

“No, not at all. I practically forced my way into joining, so I’m just glad I could help.”

Hong Dasom smiled brightly, satisfied that she had contributed.

Ding!

 

[The altar has been activated within 48 hours, so no monster will be summoned.]

[Mission Success!]

 

“Wow. If we hadn’t activated it in time, a super-strong monster like the one from the gate I was trapped in would’ve appeared, right? That was close, huh?”

“Ah, yes. What a shame… no, what a waste… no, well… anyway. Yeah.”

Kang Ian spoke, unable to hide his regretful expression.

‘If we failed, a boss monster would’ve appeared? Then they should’ve said that from the start!’

If that were the case, he would’ve intentionally failed.

A boss monster from a failed B-rank mission would’ve yielded a large amount of evil souls.

Soon after, rewards fell from the sky.

One crystal and one skill stone.

Researcher Lee Naeun’s results were correct.

It truly was possible to predict what could be obtained inside a gate.

The two took the results and exited the gate.

 

***

 

The rewards obtained from clearing the gate: one crystal and one skill stone.

When they handed them to Lee Naeun, she jumped with joy.

“As expected, my research wasn’t wrong!”

The theory had been solid; all that remained was testing… and the result matched perfectly.

For a researcher, this was a moment of exhilaration.

“At this rate, I should head back right away. I need to adjust the margin of error, diversify the internal result charts… there’s a mountain of work to do. You two can head back from here. I’ll transfer the payment to the account listed in the contract.”

She fired off her words rapidly and was about to rush off.

Kang Ian stopped her.

“Researcher.”

“Yes?”

“About the thing you gave me as a gift before.”

She had been slightly annoyed at being stopped when she was in a hurry, but when Kang Ian pulled out the wave detector, her face brightened.

“You… still have that?”

“Of course. It was a gift from you. I always carry it with me.”

“……”

Lee Naeun made a strange expression.

It was an item that could detect special waves from inside gates.

It wasn’t part of any corporate assignment… it had been a personal project.

But the result had been a complete failure.

In the end, she abandoned it and moved on to profitable research.

Still, she couldn’t help but feel attached to the failed product.

She had given it to Kang Ian as a gift, and seeing him carry it around moved her.

“There’s just a slight problem.”

“A problem?”

“Since I deal with rough situations, it seems something went wrong. Sometimes it activates on its own or shows strange screens.”

The detector had been malfunctioning at times, causing several false alarms.

Since Lee Naeun didn’t know it could detect sources of evil, Kang Ian explained vaguely.

“Yes. I’ll fix it for you.”

Lee Naeun readily agreed.

 

***

 

Fixing the wave detector wasn’t difficult.

It took less than 30 minutes.

“Due to repeated impacts, the internal circuitry got slightly misaligned. That’s why errors occurred sometimes.”

Lee Naeun thanked him for always carrying her gift and even replaced its materials with something more durable.

“Though honestly, it’s still just a pretty piece of junk…”

“Junk? Not at all! This is an excellent invention!”

“…Thank you. If you ever need my help again, feel free to ask.”

“You too, Researcher!”

After a warm farewell, Kang Ian and Hong Dasom headed back to Seoul.

“Hunter Hong Dasom, will you rest once you get home?”

“Hmm… I think I’ll train a bit.”

“Oh. Training is good.”

“I want to become as strong as you, Hunter Kang Ian. So… how can I do that?”

“That’s simple.”

Kang Ian’s eyes sparkled.

“You just need to work out!”

A gym addict… often called a gym rat, tends to attribute everything to working out.

Mental state shaken? Working out fixes it.

Body feeling unwell? Working out improves it.

Injured and tired? Working out heals it.

They believed in the all-powerful theory of exercise.

Kang Hoopung was practically a fanatic of that belief, and Kang Ian had come to believe it as well after spending time with him.

Not quite a fanatic… but he found it fairly reasonable.

“Then… after I change clothes at home, shall we work out together?”

“Hmm… my sister did tell me to be careful…”

After thinking for a moment, Hong Dasom nodded.

“Yes. Okay. I’ll try it with you.”

“Excellent choice!”

Kang Ian gave a thumbs-up.

Newbies were always welcome.

The driver dropped Hong Dasom off at her house first, then headed to Kang Ian’s home.

Kang Ian was smiling brightly, excited at the thought of working out with a newbie.

“Hello, Hunter Kang Ian.”

“?”

Several people blocked his path.

Foreigners who appeared to be Westerners.

And beside them stood Manager Jeon Jaewon from the Association, looking uneasy.

“Manager?”

“I apologize for coming so suddenly. Could we speak for a moment…?”

Manager Jeon spoke with a pleading expression.

‘Why does his face look like that?’

He even seemed pitiful somehow.

“Well… talking isn’t hard, but what is this about?”

“That is…”

Just as Manager Jeon was about to speak, one of the Westerners beside him spoke in fluent Korean.

“May we explain on our side?”

“Go ahead.”

“Thank you. We are Russian hunters. We have accompanied an honored guest to Korea today.”

He gestured to one side.

A refined middle-aged man smiled and offered his hand to Kang Ian.

“Hello. I am Dmitry Medvederev.”

He spoke in slightly awkward Korean.