I was Mistaken for a Noble Hunter Chapter 99

Promotion (7)

 

This was the first time he had seen an A-rank hunter fight seriously in person.

There was no denying it.

‘There’s quite a gap between us.’

No matter how much Kang Ian was called a soaring prodigy, the wall of an A-rank hunter was high.

Even if he fought while constantly coating his sword with his ultimate technique, sword aura, it was doubtful he could match Hong Dayeon.

‘I shouldn’t approach this like I’m competing with Hong Dayeon.’

If he did, he would just end up failing.

So he slightly changed his strategy.

“Hunter Hong Dayeon. I’ll support you.”

“Huh?”

Tap

Fwoosh!

Hong Dayeon looked at him as if asking what he meant, but instead of answering, Kang Ian showed her through action.

He cast the Blessing of Judgement Flame buff on her.

“Oh…”

As a faint flame flickered in her hand, Hong Dayeon let out a small exclamation.

‘He was already fighting well… and he’s a buffer too?’

She only knew him as the person who saved her younger sister… she hadn’t looked into his abilities in detail, so this surprised her quite a bit.

To have both combat power and support ability.

“Thank you.”

In truth, she didn’t need a buff to deal with monsters of this level, but she still expressed her thanks.

“It’s nothing.”

Kang Ian smiled faintly.

From that moment, Hong Dayeon resumed fighting.

Perhaps because they were sisters, her abilities were somewhat similar to Hong Dasom’s.

If Dasom was a mage who controlled wind, Dayeon used wind to linger around her body and link it into her attacks.

The moment she threw a punch, blades of wind around her spread out like an area attack.

The same happened with her kicks.

KWAANG!

A massive area of monsters was shredded.

A one-woman army.

And the wind was also used defensively.

At times, attacks came from blind spots, but the wind swirling around her blocked them.

In that opening, her spinning kick crushed a monster’s head.

“Wow… that’s incredible.”

And Kang Ian watched the scene as if applauding, full of admiration.

Ding!

 

[You contributed to defeating evil.]

[Soul of Evil +2]

 

 Ding!

 

[You contributed to defeating evil.]

[Soul of Evil +3]

…

 

Souls of evil poured in.

His mind became more at ease.

Only then could he widen his previously narrow perspective.

‘Yeah. Why compete? It’s a world where we all live together.’

A person shouldn’t be too narrow-minded.

Kang Ian began to see Hong Dayeon in a positive light.

She definitely fought well, and there was much to learn from her.

As a close-combat fighter, her physical abilities were outstanding.

Her use of strength, bursts of speed, and balance were all exceptional.

‘Should I ask if she likes working out?’

It felt like it would be nice to train together sometime.

With that level of physical ability, even his usual workout partners, Kang Hoopung and Ryusei, would surely like her.

‘Come to think of it, it’s been a while since we all trained together.’

His mind became so relaxed that even such trivial thoughts came up.

Because of that, he began to look for other targets.

“I’ll provide buff support.”

“Huh? Ah… thank you!”

Ding!

 

[You contributed to defeating evil.]

[Soul of Evil +2]

 

[Blessing of Judgement Flame] could be applied to up to four people at once.

He moved around, finding the hunters who fought best and buffing them.

At the same time, he used [Shout of Suppression] intermittently, and for those fighting undead-type monsters, he cast [Guidance of Xeros].

And it didn’t stop there.

“Oh no! That’s dangerous! Watch your back!”

Ding!

 

[You saved an ally in danger.]

[Nobility +33]

…

 

When focused on the battle in front of them, hunters could miss attacks coming from behind.

Kang Ian ran around, quickly helping any hunter he saw in such situations.

“Th-thank you.”

“It’s nothing. Always stay careful. You only have one life.”

“Y-yes…!”

They couldn’t talk long due to the battlefield… but just from their eyes, it was clear.

They were already deeply grateful, almost to the point of being captivated by Kang Ian.

And behind them, reporters were watching.

Click click

While it was difficult to enter the DMZ itself where the Black Gate incident was happening, reporters were spread out around the nearby area.

From higher ground, they zoomed in with cameras and filmed the hunters.

“Wow. That’s Hunter Kang Ian, right? I heard he’s really kind. Lives up to the reputation.”

“Other hunters are all obsessed with claiming achievements so their guilds can get priority entry, but he’s different from the way he acts.”

Entry into the Black Gate was granted first to the guild that achieved the greatest contribution.

Naturally, Hong Dayeon’s ‘Silver Eagle’ guild would be first… so everyone else had to compete for second place.

Since the government had promised additional rewards for this Black Gate, they absolutely had to accumulate high contributions for their guild’s future benefits.

Tax reductions, priority in gate bids, access to rare items.

There were many benefits the government could offer, so the hunters acted with the mindset that they couldn’t afford to give anything up.

But Kang Ian was different.

Without being greedy, he supported other hunters and saved them from danger… showing the most humane side.

“Now I see why articles about Hunter Kang Ian get so many views.”

“Even just watching him makes me feel warm. I can’t not write an article about this.”

Of course, the main article would be about Hong Dayeon, but they couldn’t miss Kang Ian either.

The reporters quickly began drafting their articles.

‘M-my Hunter Kang Ian…!’

Watching that, Shin Sorim felt a deep sense of regret inside.

She had been following Kang Ian almost like his exclusive reporter… but this time, that wasn’t possible.

Kang Ian, exposed to everyone.

It felt like sharing a lover with others, leaving her uncomfortable.

Still, she couldn’t fall behind.

Even though she had stayed up all night, Shin Sorim continued taking photos of Kang Ian while frantically writing a new article.

 

***

 

Although Kang Ian diligently “leached” by buffing others, it didn’t mean he was slacking.

If anything, he worked even harder.

The quest objective was to defeat 300 monsters from the Black Gate.

But instead of being satisfied with that, he personally wanted to kill over 500.

He had earned plenty of Nobility from the Jeonju gate rampage… so now he wanted to fill up on Souls of Evil here.

There was no shortage of monsters.

To Kang Ian, this place was practically a feast.

Crunch!

Killing monsters himself yielded far more than what he gained through buffing.

Of course, with strong hunters like Hong Dayeon present, the gains from buffing were still significant…

‘Still, I should do it myself.’

Kang Ian moved ahead of everyone else, throwing himself into the fight without hesitation.

And that looked good to the other hunters.

‘Instead of hanging back like typical buffers, he’s stepping forward like that?’

‘He saved me earlier, and now he’s already over there hunting again… he’s really busy.’

Helping others while hunting even harder… any fellow hunter couldn’t help but admire that.

Especially Hong Dayeon.

She couldn’t fully focus on the battle, constantly glancing toward Kang Ian.

It wasn’t just because he saved her younger sister.

He was truly a proper hunter, the kind she hadn’t seen in a long time.

She even wanted to enter a gate with him someday.

Ding!

[You have fulfilled part of the quest conditions.]

In the end, after defeating 300 monsters, Kang Ian continued until late evening and successfully reached 500 kills.

 

***

 

In the deep darkness, an incomprehensible chant echoed ominously.

“Master. The hunter you mentioned has arrived near the ritual site.”

One of the servants of evil approached their master, who was in the middle of conducting the ritual.

“Really? That guy’s here?”

“Yes. We confirmed the list of deployed hunters, and photos taken by on-site reporters have also surfaced. It’s certain.”

“I see…”

A man whose face was half-hidden beneath a robe, only the corners of his mouth visible.

He grinned.

“Heh heh… screams will soon echo.”

“It seems so. They’ve let their guard down.”

Black Gates appeared quite frequently around the world.

Even in Korea alone, they showed up two or three times a year.

As a result, much data had been accumulated about them.

That Black Gates would pour out monsters for dozens of hours… and then stop.

Accordingly, countermeasures had been developed.

Hold off the monster waves, and when the gate stops, take a short rest, then enter according to priority and clear it.

But the Black Gate that appeared in Korea’s DMZ was different.

It was a gate they had created for a ritual.

The true summoning was only just beginning.

A monster that would appear while the hunters were off guard and turn Korea into a sea of fire!

“Good. Good. Now let’s just wait.”

 

***

 

‘Hmm…’

Late at night,

Kang Ian was wandering alone near the Black Gate.

The other hunters had gone to rest after the prolonged, intense battle.

They should have been keeping watch in case something happened… but there wasn’t a single person doing so.

Strange, even if no more monsters were coming out of the Black Gate.

‘Being a necromancer is useful in situations like this, too.’

Instead of people, the non-living were standing guard.

The skeleton soldiers summoned by Lee Chaewon were working while humans rested.

But Kang Ian couldn’t leave easily.

The reason was simple.

 

[Quest Objectives]

[Defeat 300 demons from the Black Gate: 300/300 (Success!)]

[Defeat the partially descended evil: 0/1 (In Progress)]

 

He hadn’t completed the quest yet.

‘I thought it would appear near the end, so I kept waiting… but in the end, only normal mobs showed up.’

He had been quite flustered then.

So, when would this “partially descended evil” appear?

When it did, Kang Ian had to find and deal with it before anyone else.

If someone else took it, it would mean quest failure.

That’s why, even while everyone else was resting, he wandered around the Black Gate, uneasy.

Of course, it might just end up being wasted time…

Rumble

“?”

That was the moment.

A strange sound echoed, and suddenly something protruded from inside the Black Gate.

A massive arm.

Beyond it, a head with two horns became visible.

It was the form of a demon.

The moment Kang Ian saw it, he realized this was the “evil” mentioned in the quest.

Grrrrr!

As it opened its mouth, a cry that seemed to squeeze the heart rang out.

“Be quiet!”

Kang Ian instinctively shouted while glancing behind him, then raised his sword aura.

If Hong Dayeon came and killed it, that would be a disaster.

There was too much riding on this quest, damn it!

Stab!

With a sword glowing in a bluish light, he pierced the creature’s head.

…Did he kill it?