086. Changcheon Sword Dragon (1)
While all the challengers in the meeting room were looking at me like crazy.
“…I must have just heard it wrong, right? Mr. Seongyun?”
Lee Ha-yeon came up to me and whispered to me, even lifting her toes off the chair.
Please, she asked me to say that what I just said was misunderstood…
But unlike her, who didn’t want to fight Namgoong-hyeok, I was full of thoughts of fighting a challenger from the other world.
Namgoong-hyeok in the video was stronger than I thought, but that doesn’t mean I can’t say I’m a complete loser.
At least his limbs might be torn off a few times, but it wasn’t to the point where he would die if he were to fight in the presence of other challengers.
so-.
“It wasn’t an accidental word, it wasn’t a thoughtless word.”
I didn’t deny it any more, and conveyed my intentions firmly, even putting magic power into my voice.
Only then did Seongjin Lee, who had been staring blankly at me, open his mouth, frowning as if he had come to his senses.
“You… I remember. Mr. Han Seong-yoon.”
He immediately looked at me from the front and said he knew me.
“And the fact that he’s always in the top 3 in the final rankings.”
I didn’t tell you all the rankings of the settlement, so it must be the information Lee Seong-jin found out.
I didn’t pay much attention to why I knew the ranking.
It’s just that my ranking and name are exposed anyway. I’ve been prepared since repeating the duel with my real name in the arena.
“So what do you mean by that?”
“I don’t understand. Why is someone as powerful as you offering to help Japan?”
“Because that’s the way I can grow.”
“…yes?”
“Did you say Kim Seung-hun and Oh Chun-seok went to the Japan Hunter Association?”
“…That’s right. He said he would go even if he didn’t have to go.”
“It is in a similar context.”
After hearing what I said, Seongjin Lee narrowed his eyes and chewed his lips.
“You’re thinking of a reward from the Japan Hunter Association.”
“Even if there is a cause, if there is no reward, people will not gather.”
“Are you going all the way there just to get a skill proficiency potion?”
“It’s a skill proficiency increase potion. That seems to be the compensation paid by the Japan Hunter Association.”
“Did you say you would go even though you didn’t know? Even if you say skill proficiency increase potion, it is a potion that only raises proficiency by 10%.”
Seongjin Lee looked at me as if it was really worth risking his life for.
Even so, I couldn’t have changed my mind and said I wouldn’t go.
Apart from legitimacy, it is because Namgung-hyeok was a challenger to the other world that appeared because of me.
Even a few people, including A-class hunters, died because of it, and it was said that the city was also greatly affected.
But still, you buy yourself because the risk is high, and you step out because the reward is not much?
I couldn’t tolerate that.
and at the same time.
“If you let go of your hand for just that amount of pay, you will be weeded out someday.”
The skill proficiency increase potion was not an item that could be looked down upon so low.
Can you arbitrarily increase the proficiency of one of your skills by 10%?
It’s a little lower than the skill proficiency increase potion obtained as a common reward for the 10th floor ordeal, but…
but it wasn’t a reward that could be easily ignored, so the mind to back down disappeared.
“I finally understand why Han Seong-yoon became a ranker.”
Lee Seong-jin looked at me like that, opened and closed his mouth repeatedly, and then spoke as if he was dumbfounded.
“You… are not normal.”
At that, I smiled and replied casually.
“I have known that for a long time.”
Because I already knew that I was not normal.
***
I went straight to Incheon International Airport and soon left for Japan through the ticket Seongjin Lee cut off.
Seongjin Lee didn’t seem to want to let me go, but…
In fact, I said I’d go, but there was no way for him to forcibly ignore the request for support from the Japanese Hunter Association.
I could easily guess why he didn’t want to let me go.
‘It must be uneasy since three Korean ranker level challengers respond to Japan’s support.’
Currently, the challenger of the other world that appears in Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan is a monster among monsters.
At the time when the video of Paeng Ja-mun, who was said to be an S-class hunter in China, died helplessly.
It would be difficult in many ways to send a challenger who would not have developed properly.
‘The Korean Hunter Association must be afraid of the worst case scenario.’
worst case scenario.
That would probably be a situation where Kim Seung-hoon, Oh Chun-seok, and myself were all wiped out at once.
Among the challengers belonging to the Tower of Trials, these are those listed in the highest ranking in Korea.
In case of death, the loss to Korea would be enormous, so I would rather not have gone to the country.
However, Kim Seung-hoon and Oh Chun-seok also responded to the request for support, so how could I not respond?
Surprisingly, Lee Ha-yeon did not deny the choice I made by sticking to it until the end like Lee Seong-jin.
She let me go, saying that I made the choice and that if I believed it was the right thing, I couldn’t stop it.
Of course…
[Lee Ha-yeon: If you arrive at the Japan Hunter Association, please contact us.]
[Lee Ha-yeon: If you think it’s dangerous, you should run away right away.]
[Lee Ha-yeon: If you have the necessary items, apply to the Japan Hunter Association unconditionally. Please ask for it.]
[Lee Ha-yeon: Basically, you have to request and receive a recovery potion as a support item. Do you know?]
[Lee Ha-yeon: And…]
Aside from sending it coolly, she nags me all over the messenger.
There was a sign of anxiety in the writing, as if a child had been put into the river.
As I read the message, I turned off the screen of my smartphone while laughing.
“…I see you’re really worried about me.”
Even my mother, who had passed away a long time ago, did not act so extreme.
However, as a matter of fact, I couldn’t properly understand Lee Ha-yeon’s actions.
In fact, I only belong to the Baekeun guild on a contractual basis, and I am not a proper guild member.
The Baekeun guild side is just a dungeon supplier or an intermediary between them.
It was clear from the contract alone that they were not building a relationship beyond that.
However, Lee Ha-yeon always acted kindly, asking if there was anything she could help with.
Even when the Baek guild set conditions on me and ordered me to clear the dungeon, she always put me first.
It’s not just a contractual relationship, should I say it’s the feeling that you’re worried about yourself?
“…”
That was the problem.
That she herself is concerned about me, rather than being rolled into a give-and-take structure.
It complicated my feelings to the point that I wondered if I should change the way I treated her.
Especially since there was nothing I could do for her.
however-.
That complicated state of mind gradually faded as the plane I was on landed in Japan.
I slowly got up from my seat while listening to the sound of an announcement from the plane that was about to follow.
Now, the time has come to put an end to all sorts of thoughts and really go to the Japan Hunter Association.
***
I was just about to leave the airport when a Japanese woman approached me at the airport entrance.
“Are you the challenger Han Seong-yoon?”
Seeing her speak fluent Korean, I immediately opened my mouth.
“Are you from the Japanese Hunter Association?”
“That’s right. I’m here to meet challenger Han Seong-yoon.”
“….”
“My name is Ariechika. I wish you well.”
Surprisingly, it was quite low-key for those who said they were responsible for the Korean Hunter Association.
I thought that the mere mention of a Korean challenger in the mouth of a challenger from the other world would have gone mad.
Ariechika, who was looking at me now, was rather polite if polite, but not rude.
I definitely liked that.
“I wish you well. Mr. Arie.”
When I asked to be guided to the Japan Hunter Association right away, she immediately packed up and guided me to the car.
There wasn’t much conversation to share with each other, so I closed my eyes and waited for the Japanese Hunter Association to arrive.
“Challenger Han Seong-yoon has arrived.”
Ariechika’s voice came soon after, so I got out of the car and looked around the building.
There were exceptionally many people around here, including the airport, who hadn’t been seen until now.
Seeing that most of them had magical powers, it seemed that hunters or challengers were coming and going.
‘I guess only the hunters and challengers are busy because of the Shinjuku Ward incident?’
Due to the situation in Shinjuku Ward, ordinary people did not even come out on the streets.
I was disturbed by the sight of the end, but…
“Challenger Han Seong-yoon, please follow me. Others are waiting inside.”
Soon after following Arie Chika’s guidance, I entered the building with my head turned.
and-.
Soon, I immediately knew who the people Ariechika had been waiting for were.
It was because there were two people who had seen their faces before in the meeting room, which was the destination she had guided them to.
“It’s the first time we’ve met since the 10th floor ordeal.”
I then greeted them while sitting in the front of the seat where they were sitting.
“Mr. Kim Seung-hoon and Mr. Oh Chun-seok.”
The two looked at me blankly and then greeted each other.
“Iknow, right. I never expected to see you here.”
Oh Chun-seok spoke to me like a whisper with a stiff face.
“You arrived later than expected.”
Kim Seung-hoon said that while still wearing a black mask that did not reveal his face.
He acted as if he knew I was coming here, but he wasn’t particularly curious.
Because I also knew that Kim Seung-hoon would definitely come this far.
but-.
“Could this be all the people who gathered at the request for support from the Japanese Hunter Association?”
As soon as I looked inside the meeting room, I couldn’t hide my disappointment.
No one except for the three of them was sitting in the conference room.
“…I heard that one more challenger from America will be arriving soon.”
Kim Seung-hoon was silent for a while, then replied, but it wasn’t a very good answer.
It’s almost laughable when a situation arises where only four challengers should be seen as their strength.
Of course, it’s safe to say that each of these three, including me, has the skills of an S-class hunter.
The challenger of the other world currently staying in Shinjuku City was an opponent that it was unclear whether these three would be able to defeat it.
‘You don’t even know how strong the new challenger that arrives from the US is…’
I wondered if the soon-to-be-arrived challenger would be weaker than I thought.
But soon, lost in thought, I turned my head to the sound of the conference room door being opened.
Soon, I could see a red-haired woman sneaking through the door of the meeting room.
and-.
“…uh?”
Entering the conference room, she immediately looked at me and muttered something dumbfounded.
“…why are you coming out of here?”
At the same time, I could only look at her and smile despondently.
Who would have thought that the last American challenger to arrive would be this person?
“…That’s what I want to say.”
Catherine Bennett.
He is a strong man who used fire-related powers that he once fought in the arena.
A challenger who left a meaningful message that he would come back later just before losing the duel.
She was the last American challenger to arrive.
