I was Mistaken for a Noble Hunter Chapter 69

Fame (6)

 

Kang Ian came running in a hurry toward the path where Go Chanwoo was, and ended up taking everything for himself.

Worried that Go Chanwoo might try to jump back in, Kang Ian ultimately handled all the monsters alone until the very end.

At the end of the path, he smashed the crystal orb and the same ghost-type monster with his mace.

Ding!

 

[You have defeated evil.]

[Evil Soul +44]

 

It felt like a speed run, and he was quite satisfied.

Since Go Chanwoo hadn’t progressed very far, there was plenty for Kang Ian to take.

Afterward, he gauged the time.

He wanted to go somewhere else as well.

‘This is a bit awkward.’

Three others had entered with him:

Team Leader Lee Jigwang, Go Chanwoo, and Sung Soohyuk.

Among them, there was no need to go help Team Leader Lee Jigwang.

He would have finished everything on his own before Kang Ian even got there.

However, if he went to Sung Soohyuk’s side now, he might still be able to “get a spoon in” belatedly.

Ding!

 

[You contributed to defeating evil.]

[Evil Soul +1]

 

The +1 Evil Souls that had been coming in since earlier.

Thanks to the buff he had cast on his teammates, he was receiving a small share whenever they hunted monsters.

This was fairly profitable too… but not enough to satisfy Kang Ian.

“Good work, Hunter Kang Ian.”

“Let’s save the greetings for later and get moving.”

“Pardon? To where?”

“To where Hunter Sung Soohyuk went.”

“?”

Go Chanwoo was dumbfounded.

‘Wait… we’re going to another path from here?’

Even the first path they cleared together, Kang Ian had basically done everything alone.

After that, he finished his own assigned path, came to help Go Chanwoo…

And now he was saying they’d go to Sung Soohyuk’s side too?

“Rather than resting after finishing our side here, wouldn’t it be better to help elsewhere, finish quickly, and then all rest together? Don’t you think?”

Kang Ian quickly added.

Would they think he was overdoing it…?

But contrary to his concern, Go Chanwoo looked at him with admiration.

‘Ha… seriously…’

At this point, did Kang Ian not even realize that he and Sung Soohyuk had been subtly wary and competitive toward him?

How could someone act like that?

The two returned to the central hall, then headed toward the path Sung Soohyuk had taken.

“Hunter Go Chanwoo, you can rest in the central hall.”

“No, I’ll go with you, of course!”

“…Tch.”

“? What did you just say? I didn’t quite catch that…”

“It’s nothing.”

Kang Ian shook his head and picked up the pace.

Ding!

 

[You contributed to defeating evil.]

[Evil Soul +1]

 

The message kept ringing at regular intervals.

He didn’t know if it was from Sung Soohyuk’s side or Team Leader Lee Jigwang’s… but monsters were being killed too quickly.

At this rate, he might not even get a chance to “get a spoon in.”

Finally…

‘Got it!’

The two reached the end of the path.

Sung Soohyuk was staring at a ghost-type monster in the form of black mist that had just begun to form.

“W-what!?”

He was startled when he suddenly saw Go Chanwoo and Kang Ian running toward him from behind.

He had never imagined the two would come here.

“We came to help.”

“Pardon? To help me?”

“Yes!”

As he said that, Kang Ian stepped forward with his shield.

Since his position was tank, Sung Soohyuk instinctively stepped aside.

It was how he had been trained.

At the same time, he looked at Go Chanwoo with a bewildered expression.

“No… what’s going on? Why are you here?”

“We completely misjudged Hunter Kang Ian.”

“Huh?”

“He’s someone truly worthy of respect.”

Go Chanwoo spoke frankly.

“He finished his side early and came to help me. Then came all the way here.”

“What? Then he cleared two paths and came here? I haven’t even finished one yet.”

“Yeah. Honestly, his skill is on a completely different level from ours. And his character is even more incomparable. I’m ashamed of myself. It’s embarrassing that I even felt jealous of someone like him.”

Sung Soohyuk felt awkward hearing Go Chanwoo speak so calmly.

Just before entering the gate, he had been full of competitive spirit… what changed him so suddenly?

Crunch!

Meanwhile, Kang Ian was smashing the summoned ghost’s head.

‘Ah, this is great!’

Since the two were talking, he could naturally monopolize everything.

He hurried to finish it before they could interfere.

Having fought it twice already, the third time was even easier.

Before the creature could do anything, it was torn apart by Kang Ian.

Ding!

 

[You have defeated evil.]

[Evil Soul +46]

 

Sweet.

Ding!

 

[You have destroyed all Lich’s Orbs.]

[The Ancient Lich’s subordinate will appear shortly.]

 

The message appeared as the orb shattered.

It seemed Team Leader Lee Jigwang had finished his side as well.

Kang Ian’s eyes gleamed.

Everything so far had only been appetizers.

To truly “squeeze everything out of the gate,” he had to defeat the boss monster.

“Shall we head back?”

“Uh… y-yes.”

Sung Soohyuk nodded blankly.

He couldn’t believe that while he was talking briefly with Go Chanwoo, the monster had already been killed.

But regardless of Sung Soohyuk’s confusion, Kang Ian’s focus was elsewhere.

When they returned to the center, Team Leader Lee Jigwang was waiting.

“Oh? Why are the three of you coming together?”

They had split up separately, but now returned together… he tilted his head in confusion.

“Ah, well, you see…”

Go Chanwoo explained what had happened.

That Kang Ian had finished his own side, then came to help both him and Sung Soohyuk.

He also mentioned that Kang Ian had always taken the lead.

However, the way Go Chanwoo told it made it sound like Kang Ian had pushed himself for the sake of the team.

‘Wow… it sounds like that when you put it that way.’

Kang Ian felt slightly embarrassed listening.

He had just wanted to collect more Evil Souls…

“I see. Thank you for helping my team members, Hunter Kang Ian.”

Team Leader Lee Jigwang bowed slightly.

“It’s nothing. We all entered together. I simply did what I had to do.”

Kang Ian replied while managing his expression.

Lee Jigwang smiled faintly.

The reason he had specifically requested Kang Ian to join them was to show his team members, Go Chanwoo and Sung Soohyuk, a higher level.

Someone who could shatter their arrogant belief that they were the best.

That person was Kang Ian.

‘Looks like the effect is certain.’

Judging by their expressions, their eyes were completely different from before.

Kang Ian had done exactly what he hoped.

That alone made bringing him into the gate worthwhile.

Satisfied with the results, Lee Jigwang smiled.

At that moment…

Ding!

[The Ancient Lich’s subordinate awakens.]

A message appeared, and cracks spread across the ground.

Part of the floor collapsed, and a grotesque hand rose from the gap.

Boom! Boom!

“Grr… grrr…”

What emerged was a monstrous creature that looked like dozens of zombies fused into one.

[Enraged Zombie Giant]

A Zombie Giant.

A D-rank zombie-type monster… much stronger than normal zombies but slower, making it manageable.

However, the one before them was clearly far stronger and even seemed faster than a normal Zombie Giant.

On top of that, it was a boss monster, so it would have additional buffs.

“Khrrr… khrr…”

Steam-like breath escaped from the many mouths covering its body.

“That one… don’t think of it as a normal C-rank monster. It’ll be much stronger.”

Team Leader Lee Jigwang, who had stepped back, warned them.

‘I was planning to stay out of it, but I may have to step in.’

As a B-rank hunter, he had intended to minimize his involvement so the others could gain experience.

But if necessary, he would have to act.

At that moment…

“Haaahp!”

Kang Ian shouted and charged toward the boss at tremendous speed.

Boom!

He leapt toward its head and struck with his mace… its head caved in with a dull crunch.

The giant body staggered.

And then, Kang Ian’s hunt began.

 

***

 

Tap tap tap

Clack clack

Shin Sorim of ViewersTV was in battle mode.

She was passionately writing an article.

An interview with Kang Ian.

Thanks to getting close with the orphanage teachers, she had secured an exclusive interview.

She was organizing it now.

“Um… Reporter Shin.”

“What?”

The bald news director spoke, but she didn’t even take her eyes off the monitor as she typed.

In the past, he would have immediately lashed out like an old-school boss.

But now, things were different.

“Ahem. Well… there’s something you should know.”

“What is it?”

She was currently the ace of ViewersTV.

Her article about Kang Ian had achieved the highest views of the month… and was on track for the highest of the quarter.

At this rate, it might become the best article of the year.

The company’s CEO had personally come multiple times to praise her.

Given the situation, even the director had to tread carefully around her.

“A notice just came out from the Hunter Association. There’s a list of guilds and hunters who entered new gates. And Kang Ian is on it.”

“Kang Ian?”

Only then did Shin Sorim stop typing.

When she looked at him, the director quickly continued.

“It looks like he entered a C-rank gate with the Ohseong Guild.”

“Location?”

“Dongtan.”

“I’m heading out!”

She jumped to her feet.

She was already writing an article from his exclusive interview, but more sources were always better.

And this time, it wasn’t just anywhere… he entered with the Ohseong Guild.

‘A joint raid between a top-tier major guild and Kang Ian. This is guaranteed news.’

That was why the director had told her.

“Reporter Shin. Use this for the taxi.”

He handed her a card.

A corporate card.

Even that stingy, bald octopus of a director was giving her this.

‘Kang Ian really is a lucky charm!’

“Thank you!”

With a grin, Shin Sorim grabbed the card and ran out.

Since the notice had gone up, other reporters were probably already heading to the Dongtan gate.

After all, among rising hunters, no one was as talked about as Kang Ian.

And sure enough…

As expected.

Nearly 20 reporters had already gathered in front of the gate in Dongtan.

“Excuse me, sorry.”

Shin Sorim slipped in among them.

She barely managed to secure a decent spot.

Now she just had to wait until the raid was completed.

As she stood still, she overheard other reporters chatting nearby.

“What do you think this time?”

“Hmm. Maybe it’ll be hard for Kang Ian to stand out this time.”

“Yeah, probably.”

“He’s with the Ohseong Guild.”

Though only two reporters spoke, others nearby nodded in agreement.

Kang Ian had shown outstanding performance so far… but this time might be different.

He was with one of the country’s top major guilds.

Team Leader Lee Jigwang was there, and the other members were all promising talents.

Even Kang Ian wouldn’t be able to dominate among people like that.

“Those Ohseong rookies… their personalities were kind of… you know?”

“A bit blunt.”

“Come on, let’s be honest. They were kind of rude. And arrogant.”

“Well, yeah. But why?”

“After the raid, let’s focus on them. Might get some interesting material.”

“If they say something like ‘Kang Ian wasn’t much, just like us’… that’d be great.”

“Heh. With their personalities, that’s possible.”

As they chatted…

Woooong!

The gate began to vibrate.

A sign that it had been cleared.

The reporters’ eyes lit up as they prepared questions.

Soon after, the hunters emerged from the gate.

The reporters rushed toward Go Chanwoo and Sung Soohyuk…

“?”

“??”

But they hesitated.

Something was off about the two.

Go Chanwoo and Sung Soohyuk stood there blankly, as if they had witnessed something unbelievable… staring at Kang Ian as if entranced.