I was Mistaken for a Noble Hunter Chapter 59

Light and Darkness (4)

 

A wave detector.

Even the researcher, Lee Naeun, didn’t know exactly what kind of wavelength it detected.

All she had done was identify a single special wavelength coming from inside the Gate.

They had tried researching what it was, but eventually abandoned the study.

After that, she gave the wave detector to Kang Ian as a “gift.”

“The special wavelength I discovered. I’ll just call it Theta Wave for now. If you get near it, the detector will go off. It’ll start beeping.”

When she explained how to use it, Lee Na-eun said that while shrugging her shoulders.

“That’s all. To be honest, we detected Theta Waves in this Gate, but nowhere else. There’s about a 10% chance the machine is malfunctioning. So don’t take it too seriously… just think of it as a gift to celebrate us exchanging contact info.”

She had completely abandoned this research now anyway.

Since the device would have been discarded regardless, she gave it to Kang Ian as a present.

However, from Kang Ian’s perspective, the thoughts he had were completely different.

This wasn’t detecting some mysterious wavelength called Theta Wave… it was detecting the source of evil.

And he felt sorry that he had no choice but to lie to her.

‘I’ll definitely repay this kindness someday.’

Whatever form it took, he had no intention of forgetting it.

Kang Ian didn’t want to live shamelessly.

Anyway.

Kang Ian’s eyes gleamed as he looked around.

‘The source of evil is somewhere nearby.’

The first time he saw the source of evil was during Lee Naeun’s request.

It had taken the form of a small black stone.

By breaking it, he had received 200 points each of Evil Soul and Nobility.

Two hundred Evil Soul points didn’t feel like that much anymore.

You could obtain that much by killing a few C-rank monsters.

However, Nobility was quite difficult to obtain, so that amount couldn’t be ignored.

Clatter, clatter.

At that moment, the sound of bones colliding was heard.

People’s gazes instantly turned in one direction.

There stood a monster made entirely of bones… a Skeleton Soldier.

It was a C-rank, carrying a large bone shield and a bone sword.

Just the fact that it wielded weapons drastically increased a monster’s difficulty.

Because it meant you had to fight a battle involving weapon techniques.

“Ah, what the hell.”

However, Kang Hoopung let out a sigh of disappointment when he saw the creature.

“I thought we found a Skeleton Tiger right away. Why did some trash like that show up?”

Then he strode forward and threw a punch.

A fist shot forward.

KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA!

From the pressure of the wind alone, the surrounding dirt and trees were shattered and scattered.

The Skeleton Soldier caught in it was smashed to pieces between the mountains.

Kang Ian was dumbfounded.

‘…Anyone seeing that would think it’s an F-rank monster instead of a C-rank.’

Honestly, in front of Kang Ho-pung, they were all the same.

“Let’s keep going up.”

“Ah, wait a moment.”

Kang Ian examined the remains of the shattered Skeleton Soldier.

The first thing he saw was a mana stone.

When you break the core of a Gate, you obtain a crystal stone.

And there are also extremely rare skill stones.

Usually, those two are the main rewards of a Gate.

There are also special items or skills you can obtain by completing missions, but that was beside the point for now.

However, all monsters contain a mana stone inside their bodies like this.

The energy inside them is far inferior to crystal stones, so they’re not worth much money.

Mana stones from low-rank Gates are usually worth only a few thousand to tens of thousands of won.

However, since this was a C-rank Skeleton Soldier, it would probably exceed 50,000 won.

Kang Ian carefully put it into his pocket.

‘Gotta earn money. It’s not often that money pops out when you dig the ground.’

Because of the newly bought apartment, his loan amounted to 7 billion won.

He had to work hard and pay off his debt.

Of course, this was only something he was doing on the side.

His real goal was to find the source of evil.

The wave detector only told him that it was somewhere nearby… it didn’t reveal the exact location.

He wondered if it might be inside the Skeleton Soldier’s body, so he checked carefully while retrieving the mana stone.

But there was nothing.

Kang Ian returned to the group.

“We’ll divide this equally later when we settle things outside.”

“Ah, forget it. Just take it all, little brother.”

However, Kang Hoopung waved his hand dismissively.

“But…”

“Just keep it. You guys agree, right?”

“Yeah. I think Hunter Kang Ian should take it.”

“I agree as well.”

Song Sangmin and Oh Youngjun nodded.

They were looking at Kang Ian with quite favorable eyes.

‘Heh. Not treating even a single mana stone carelessly… he’s different from youngsters these days.’

‘Seriously, the more I see him, the more impressive he is.’

Hunters these days earn some money and grow arrogant.

Unless it’s a very high-rank monster, they can’t even be bothered to retrieve mana stones.

On the other hand, Kang Ian showed none of that behavior.

A buffer was already treated like nobility… yet he still behaved like that.

Older people naturally liked diligent young men like him.

Kang Hoopung signaled to his friends with his eyes.

‘Hey! Didn’t I say I’d bring a really good rookie? I was right, wasn’t I?’

‘Yeah. For once, you did something right.’

‘Even a muscle pig can be useful sometimes. What a rare sight.’

Song Sangmin and Oh Youngjun replied with their eyes as well.

Without realizing it, Kang Ian was steadily gaining their favor.

After that, Kang Ian kept searching around diligently.

To be honest, when it came to fighting monsters, Kang Ian had nothing to do.

He only applied buffs.

Kang Hoopung alone moved around, and with just a few punches, any monster was destroyed.

Instead, Kang Ian moved around busily.

He collected the monsters’ mana stones and also wandered around under the pretense of scouting.

Oh Youngjun grew curious about why Kang Ian kept moving around and asked him.

Kang Ian shrugged and answered.

“Didn’t you say you were looking for a Skeleton Tiger, President Oh? I thought I might find some traces nearby, so I looked around.”

Of course, that was somewhat exaggerated.

About 5% of it was looking for a Skeleton Tiger.

The remaining 95% was searching for the source of evil.

“……”

However, upon hearing Kang Ian’s words, Oh Youngjun’s eyebrows twitched greatly.

Oh Youngjun was a middle-aged man who looked cold at first glance.

In reality, he was indeed a rather cold person with excellent business sense.

But Kang Ian’s actions moved his heart.

He had already liked Kang Ian’s talent, skill, and character.

But now he was going this far, even though it wasn’t his own job!

‘He’s exactly the kind of talent our company needs.’

Whether a small business or a large corporation, every CEO wants the same thing.

An employee who treats the company like their own.

But such workers are hard to find.

Yet the Kang Ian standing before him was exactly that kind of person.

So, Oh Youngjun decided to show Kang Ian some goodwill.

“Hunter Kang Ian.”

“Yes?”

“Do you know why I’m wearing a suit even in a place like this?”

“?”

Kang Ian tilted his head at the sudden question.

“Try touching it. This isn’t an ordinary suit. It’s made from textiles extracted from monster by-products.”

At those words, Kang Ian lightly grabbed the hem of the clothing.

The moment he touched it, he could tell the difference.

Because of his awakened strength, he often felt that even a little force could easily tear ordinary cloth.

That was why he normally kept a limiter on his physical ability.

Every awakened person did that to some degree.

But this suit was different.

It was unbelievably tough.

It felt like he would have to use his full strength to damage it.

Seeing Kang Ian’s surprised expression, Oh Youngjun smiled slightly.

“Can you feel the difference?”

“…Yes. How did you make something like this? It feels like armor hunters wear…”

“Heh. We invested an enormous amount of money to develop it.”

If it became commercialized, it would be a huge success.

Even Kang Ian, who didn’t know much about this field, immediately thought that.

‘They’d rake in money.’

Ever since taking on a loan, Kang Ian had become much more conscious about money.

So that thought came to mind first.

“However, there are still many aspects that need improvement. The reason we’re searching for a Skeleton Tiger is that if we grind its bones and add them as material, the defense should increase further. Then it might completely replace armor.”

“If this is released, will it be supplied to all hunters?”

“That won’t be easy. Between the materials and the development cost, and since every suit has to be made entirely by hand, the price won’t be low.”

For the CEO of a company like YJ Company to say something wasn’t cheap…

“Uh… how much is it?”

“Well… roughly this much.”

Oh Youngjun held up one finger.

What did that mean?

“At the very least, it’ll probably be priced in the 10-billion-won range. But we’ll have to see when the time comes.”

“……”

Kang Ian swallowed hard.

It felt more shocking than facing any monster.

Ten billion won.

That was more expensive than the apartment Kang Ian had bought.

And even that apartment couldn’t really be considered his yet.

10% belonged to him.

The remaining 90% belonged to the bank.

“H-haha. I see.”

Kang Ian quickly let go of Oh Youngjun’s clothes.

He even stepped back slightly.

If he accidentally damaged it, it would be a disaster.

“Once we capture a Skeleton Tiger and reinforce the materials, I’m planning to make a sample. Would it be alright if I gave it to you as a gift, Hunter Kang Ian?”

“Pardon? To me?”

“Yes. Consider it a gift so we can get along well.”

“……”

Kang Ian’s mouth fell open.

A gift worth over 10 billion won?

‘Do company chairmen normally have such big generosity?’

“Well… I’m really grateful, but I’m not sure if I should accept something that valuable…”

“If it feels burdensome, then perhaps when the product officially launches, you could appear once as an advertising model.”

“I’m lacking as a model, but… I’d be happy to!”

“That’s good enough.”

Oh Youngjun nodded coolly.

It was time to move again, so he began walking forward.

Kang Ian looked at his back.

It looked as wide as the back of a giant.

YJ Company.

From now on, he would devote his loyalty to them!

 

***   

 

Incheon International Airport.

Two men appeared.

They were expressionless to the point of being frightening.

No… rather than expressionless, desperate would be a more fitting word.

“Is this Korea?”

“It’s my first time coming here in person.”

They had come here under the orders of their ‘Master.’

To meet the culprit who ruined the Hunter Forum incident…

Hunter Kang Ian.

“Where does he live?”

“They say a place called Gyeonggi Province. Apparently, he lives in a very small house.”

“Are you sure? I heard he’s quite an impressive hunter. A small house?”

“That information was obtained three days ago. He probably hasn’t moved in that time.”

“Hm. Good. Let’s move.”

The two men started walking.

 

***

 

At the same time, near the summit area of Yebongsan, where Kang Ian was wandering around…

A message appeared before his eyes.

Ding!

 

[A quest has appeared.]

[Quest: Threat of Evil.]

– Content:

The servants of evil have set foot upon this land.

Punish those vile ones who dare target the Knight of Valhalla.

[Would you like to accept the quest?]

[Y/N]

 

“…What is this?”

Kang Ian tilted his head in confusion at the sudden quest.