I was Mistaken for a Noble Hunter Chapter 88

Purification (8)

 

‘Tch. I can’t believe she took care of all of them.’

Kang Ian clicked his tongue inwardly in disappointment.

Judging by the villains scattered around, none of them looked salvageable.

Her sniping had already been one-shot, one-kill, and it seemed her close combat skills were excellent as well.

Of course, it was a relief that Lim Gayeon was safe, but… still, wouldn’t it have been nice if she had left a few?

Then he, who had rushed over like mad, could’ve finished them off and gained more Nobility…

“By the way, are you alright? What about over there?”

“I took care of everything.”

Kang Ian nodded, looking slightly tired.

In truth, that hadn’t been easy either.

As expected of a villain boss, Choi Daehyun was strong.

In his werewolf form, he pressed in relentlessly, with strength, stamina, and speed all well balanced.

On top of that, once Lim Gayeon’s interference disappeared, the other members joined in and attacked Kang Ian as well.

Even for Kang Ian, enduring all of that wasn’t easy.

In the end, he did win, but…

‘My greaves, shoulder guards, and mace got destroyed.’

Two pieces from the Twilight Series he had been using well, along with the Mace of Frost Strike, were destroyed.

That showed just how troublesome Choi Daehyun’s attacks had been.

Thankfully, since he was wearing a monster ceramic suit underneath his armor, he didn’t suffer any injuries.

 

***

 

‘He already took care of all of them?’

Meanwhile, Lim Gayeon was shocked at Kang Ian’s words.

She had already handled most of them, but in villain organizations, the leader is always the strongest.

And he took that guy down alone?

“Let’s go. We should confirm what happened and find the kidnapped people.”

“Yes. I’ll take the lead.”

Kang Ian spoke with a determined expression.

It was unfortunate he couldn’t monopolize the villains, but rescuing the hostages was something he absolutely had to do.

 

***

 

Nearly a month had passed since Nakao Ryusei came to Korea.

During that time, his Korean skills improved significantly through diligent study.

“Korean food. Very delicious! Sundae gukbap. My favorite food!”

Taking a spoonful of sundae soup, Ryusei gave a thumbs up.

“Haha. What was that supposed to be?”

Sitting across from him, Hong Dasom laughed while covering her mouth.

Ryusei is Japan’s top C-rank hunter and one of the most promising talents in the world.

Hong Dasom, once famous as Korea’s genius hunter, though recently somewhat overshadowed by Kang Ian.

The two had coincidentally cleared a gate together.

Recognizing each other’s abilities, they began working together from then on.

When skilled hunters team up, 1+1 doesn’t become 2… it becomes 3 or even 4.

Today, they had cleared another gate together and were now eating gukbap.

Ryusei’s daily life was quite simple.

Going through gates with Hong Dasom and working out with Kang Hoopung during his free time.

He had never found life as enjoyable and satisfying as it was these days.

“I think the synergy between us is really good. What do you think?”

“I think so too.”

“So… shall we try something a bit more difficult?”

Hong Dasom asked, her eyes sparkling.

As she leaned in slightly, Ryusei’s ears turned faintly red.

“C-Cough. What kind of request do you want to take?”

“Try telling the Association we want to clear a gate that’s failed at least once.”

Hong Dasom remembered clearing a failed gate with Kang Ian before.

It wasn’t necessarily more dangerous, but compared to clearing random gates, it gave a stronger sense of accomplishment.

‘With Ryusei, we should be able to do it.’

Both were top-tier among C-rank hunters.

Moreover, Ryusei, an attacker, and Hong Dasom, a wind-type mage, had excellent synergy.

“Sounds good.”

Ryusei, a man who didn’t know fear, nodded immediately.

He also liked going through gates with her.

After finishing their meal, the two went to the Association.

“Uh… a gate that has failed at least once…”

“Yes. You have one, right?”

“We do, but…”

The staff member looked troubled.

The Association, which manages all gates, assigns newly formed gates to various guilds.

The problem arises when a gate clear fails.

If time passes and the gate isn’t cleared… and worse, the entrance opens…

That’s a disaster.

It means the hunters inside have died, and the gate is marked as failed.

Such failures happen more often than expected.

Even among gates of the same rank, difficult types or challenging missions can lead to failure.

The entry rights to failed gates return to the Association, which then carefully assigns them to selected hunters.

“Do you think we’re lacking?”

“No, that’s not it…”

“Then why are you hesitating?”

“……”

The staff member couldn’t answer and fidgeted.

Instead, his gaze briefly shifted to Ryusei.

‘Is there a problem with Ryusei?’

Having worked together for weeks, Hong Dasom knew his skills were top-tier.

His personality was fine too.

Was it because he was Japanese? Did they not want to assign domestic gates to a Japanese hunter?

‘That doesn’t seem likely.’

As she kept staring, the staff member let out a small sigh.

“He’s Ryusei, the Japanese hunter, right?”

“Yes. So that’s why it’s not allowed?”

“It’s not because he’s Japanese. That part doesn’t matter much. The issue is that he’s Japan’s top prospect and officially visiting Korea with people from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”

Giving him general gate access was fine.

In fact, he had already been clearing domestic gates for nearly a month.

But this time, the problem was that it was a gate that had already failed once.

What if he died inside?

Of course, they would warn him of the risks beforehand and have him sign a waiver—but he was still Japan’s top prospect.

If something happened, it would likely cause diplomatic friction with Japan.

“Ah…”

Hearing that, Hong Dasom understood.

Given that reasoning, it couldn’t be helped.

Still, she couldn’t hide her disappointment… it showed on her face.

So Ryusei stepped forward.

“It’s okay. We can do it!”

He even puffed his nose as he spoke.

“B-But…”

“The gate. It’s easy. I guarantee we can clear it in one hour.”

Ryusei raised one finger.

At that point, the staff had no choice.

“…Alright. I’ll contact my superiors first.”

Two hours later,

Hong Dasom and Ryusei were assigned a gate and allowed to enter.

 

***

 

“Huff… huff…”

“……”

In the darkness, Several people were confined in a small, cage-like space.

The area was cramped, filthy, and their appearances were dirty from not being able to wash.

If ordinary people were placed in such a place, they would scream and beg to be let out.

But despite their numbers, aside from heavy breathing, it was silent.

From experience, they knew.

If they made a fuss, someone outside would come in.

And then they would be beaten… something close to torture.

Even someone slow to learn would become quiet after going through that a few times.

Though they had been kidnapped and, judging by the situation, were likely victims of human trafficking, they remained silent.

Just to avoid being beaten again.

Creak

Then the door opened.

Light from outside poured in.

The people quickly shut their eyes.

After being accustomed to darkness, sudden light was painful.

They began trembling even more.

If a member came in, violence would begin.

‘Is someone… going to be dragged out again?’

No one who had been taken out ever returned.

Most likely dead.

Even so, they could only tremble in fear, breathing heavily without making a sound.

Step, step

Someone approached inside the abandoned warehouse.

Crash!

With a loud noise, the cage was shattered.

The people instinctively opened their eyes.

This was completely different from what they had experienced before.

Normally, there would be curses and mocking laughter…

What they saw was a man in a suit holding a shield.

The blade protruding from the shield had destroyed the cage.

Then he threw the shield, breaking the other cages one by one.

“I’m here to rescue you. Let’s go.”

“Ah…”

Standing against the light, Kang Ian spoke.

They say that people who are rescued after being stranded in snowy mountains never forget one thing… the appearance of the rescue dog that saved them.

The people here were the same.

Kang Ian broke the cages, shattered the handcuffs binding them, and led them outside.

That image was deeply etched into their minds.

 

***

 

The site where Kang Ian had defeated the All Wars villains had turned into a complete mess.

The battle had dragged on rather than ending cleanly, as he struggled against the combined attacks of Boss Choi Daehyun and his subordinates.

So much of his equipment… including weapons, had been destroyed that it spoke for itself.

Lim Gayeon, having confirmed the villains were dealt with, immediately contacted Shim Junseok.

With the villains eliminated, the remaining task was rescuing the kidnapped people.

That wasn’t something the two of them could handle alone, so additional manpower was needed.

Shim Junseok had already prepared everything in advance and immediately sent people over.

Wee-woo, wee-woo

Watching the victims being transported in ambulances, Kang Ian felt anger for the first time in a while.

‘I should’ve killed them more painfully.’

He had taken down the All Wars members, but they shouldn’t have been allowed to die so easily.

They should have felt more pain before dying… enough to regret their actions.

Kang Ian blamed himself for taking this too lightly.

He had come thinking he might just gain some Nobility, but ended up facing something like this.

So he immediately changed his approach.

He sincerely comforted the victims, calmed their hearts, and mourned with them.

During this process, he didn’t care about Nobility at all.

Even though notifications rang in his ears and messages appeared, he deliberately looked away.

He spoke warm words to each rescued person and even helped them onto the ambulances.

Click! Click! Click!

Meanwhile, reporters continuously snapped photos of Kang Ian.

Whenever such a commotion occurred, reporters were always the first to notice and rush over.

From the moment Shim Junseok contacted the police, hospitals, and ambulances, reporters had already caught on and gathered.

Lim Gayeon disliked media exposure and quickly avoided it.

As a result, Kang Ian stood alone before the reporters.

“Hunter Kang Ian! You’ve just taken down a villain organization and rescued civilians… how do you feel right now?”

“I regret that I couldn’t get here sooner.”

Kang Ian answered one reporter’s question.

He truly meant it.

Not because of Nobility… but because he couldn’t save more people.

Click! Click!

His somber expression conveyed deep sincerity to anyone watching.

And that image was captured perfectly on camera.