The Hunter of the Other World Who Is Being Misunderstood - Chapter 45:

CCTV, on-site inspection technology, DNA. The era has come when it is difficult for criminals to make a living, thanks to the advancement of science. A society has emerged where the so-called ‘loopholes in behavior’ cannot be created.

But then one day, something called the Gate appeared in the world, and after that, many things changed. A concept that arose with otherworldly monsters—awakening abilities. This development created a hole in the safety net that humanity had built over a long period.

“Ugh. I’m tired. I’ve been going all out since dawn to catch that scum serial killer.”

At the Korea Magic Tower headquarters, in the representative office, a hunter sitting on the top floor of a tall building stretched out her arms.

“If you’ve become an awakened person, you should quietly hunt monsters. Why bother and make a fuss by disturbing peaceful civilians?”

Esther’s complaints continued for a while.

Today’s society is a sea of instability and chaos because of the power of awakening, leading to many extraordinary events. Among them, crimes committed by high-level awakened individuals are particularly challenging to deal with.

The investigative agency faces a severe shortage of personnel, making it difficult even to find B-class hunters. Therefore, the process of arrest is challenging for now. Even if the perpetrator is successfully caught, there is a shortage of institutions to both punish and rehabilitate them..

In simpler terms, Korea is already in a state where several cases of A-class awakened criminals escaping have occurred.

Although the death penalty is somehow possible by using an item, how many years has it been since this country’s death penalty system became insignificant?

“CEO, are you still writing the report?”

“Mhm, there were a few things missing from the text I sent yesterday.”

As a result, the government entered into some kind of agreement with an S-class hunter. Until the system stabilizes, S-class hunters are being employed to discreetly subdue heinous criminals from the shadows. Surprisingly, even Esther herself accepted this willingly.

“The perception of awakened people cannot be worsened beyond this point. If that happens, advertising proposals will abruptly stop.”

“Hahaha.”

“Ah, these serial killers are quickly tarnishing their image.”

Of course, even though she says this, Esther’s biggest goal is to protect citizens. She has always been a righteous person who detests wrongdoers and stands on the side of the weak. The only issue is that, after grasping the hilt of her sword, her tendencies became quite extreme.

“I need to get some rest.”

Esther leaned back on the sofa and turned on Y-Tube on her tablet. Then, this news appears at the top.

[Watch out for ‘Invisible Person’… Rapid increase in theft damages at department stores and similar locations.]

“The Invisible Man?”

She obviously turned it on to rest, but for some reason she felt more tired.

‘What is this again?’

Esther listened to the announcer’s voice for a moment. After listening closely, it seems like some hidden awakened person has been stealing these days. It was such a common criminal that it was not her place to step forward, but Esther couldn’t hide her displeasure.

‘Is the awakened person the culprit again?’

Moreover, it’s a troublesome crime. Who would have imagined that an invisible man would appear in modern society?

‘Phew.’

Esther, feeling like her head was throbbing, turned off the news. It needs to be resolved quickly, but….

***

Meanwhile, at the same time.

[Based on the list of stolen items, the police estimate that the perpetrator is an adult male. 

The affected △△ department store, having suffered damages, later decided to install magic detectors at the location.

However, small business owners are rolling their feet as they have no suitable coping strategies in the situation.]

The announcer’s clear voice spreads throughout Kim Kiryeo’s studio

“Slurp.”

I stopped listening to the news and focused on eating. Because in the midst of this, instant ramen is being cooked.

[…We have an expert here. Hello, Professor ○○○. What are your thoughts on this invisible man case?]

[Ah… The criminal is very meticulous. Because no DNA was detected at the scene. Didn’t he plan the crime a long time ago?]

[So what kind of technology is needed to catch this invisible man? Perhaps we might need a hunter specializing in analysis.] 

[That is a bit difficult. Analysis skills are important for ‘recognizing’ the target first, so they are not really suitable for detecting stealth.]

[You are saying that hiring additional appraisers is of little use.]

[Yes. So, in order to prevent this kind of theft…]

After I finished eating, I turned off my phone and got up straight away.

‘If I do this wrong, won’t it be late? Tsk, if I knew it would be like this, should I have just starved?’

I did the dishes, brushed my teeth, and changed my clothes. I arrived at a fountain near the Hunter’s Association. After waiting for about five minutes, a friendly face approached me.

“Hyung-nim! Heup, you came out first! How dare I make you wait! I really committed a mortal sin…”

“Oh, yeah. Calm down.”

What day is today? This is good news. Finally, the huge appraisal fee was deposited.

‘Puahaha! I can’t believe I got 10 million won just for appraising a crappy sword!’

A substantial sum of money that I’ve never touched has entered my bank account. What’s the point of hoarding it? Am I going to take the money with me when I die? That’s not it.

‘Of course I have to spend money!’

Get caught up in the gate terror attack. Being kidnapped.

I’m speaking from experience after going through all sorts of hardships since coming to this planet, but what I need most right now are magic tools.

‘First of all, I must be alive to do anything.’

It didn’t matter if I was criticized for an item. This is the only way left for a scrappy person who was reincarnated as an F-Class…

“The road is very neatly done. Is that big building all a shopping center?”

From now on, I’m going to explore a place called Hunter Market. However, as I’m not familiar with Earth’s culture, I had requested help from Ahn Yoonseung in advance.

“Yes! They handle all items from the 5th floor above ground to the 2nd floor below ground. The auction house is across the street.”

And this, I don’t know if it’s just my feelings, but somehow, it seemed like Ahn Yoonseung was becoming kinder as time went on.

Guiding through the shopping center. Honestly, isn’t this a bit bothersome? But why do you accept it with a smile?

‘I probably saved him from an item that was almost broken. Now we really don’t owe each other anything.’

There were some strange parts, but I decided to just move on.

‘That’s right. It seems like he’s just a pushover.’

When he says he will be willingly taken advantage of, there is no reason to refuse.

“By the way, this is the first time I’ve met someone who has never used Hunter Market. I guess you just came to Korea?”

“Y, yeah, so I’m still adjusting to the time difference.”

Casually making excuses, I entered the building entrance. Then, the spacious view of the shopping mall caught my eye.

‘It seems even Kim Kiryeo has never been to the market. I don’t recall anything specific about the memories of the body’s owner.’

Why are all the stores so large? Let’s see, the first floor seems to sell relatively low-value monster artifacts.

“From the second floor, you have to show your hunter ID to enter?”

“That’s because they sell weapons in earnest. And the 5th floor is the VIP floor, and I have access to it.”

“Oh~”

There are definitely a lot of interesting items.

Coat made of reptile monster’s skin. Lamp that never goes out. Medicine that turns you into a small person.

‘What principle was it made by?’

If I had a lot of money, I would buy them all for research purposes! The soul of the magician cries. I swallowed my sadness and carefully chose survival items.

[Ice Bomb]

[Effect: A powerful bomb that freezes nearby enemies.]

Yeah. It has to be at this level to be useful as a weapon. Great, so the price is…

“Heuph!”

In the midst of shopping, the lemonade Ahn Yoonseung bought splashes into the air.

“Heuk! Did you want to buy it?”

As this side is frozen, Yoonseung hastily brings tissues and wipes the clothes, but I still couldn’t take my eyes off the product catalog.

Selling this kind of effect at this price?

‘Isn’t it a complete thief-like attitude!’

The price of disposable ice magic exceeds my bank account balance. I couldn’t believe it was real, so I moved to the next floor of the shopping center, but the result was the same.

[Black Mamba]

[Effect: When an attack hits, the opponent is poisoned.]

This too!

[Shield Capsule]

[Effect: When the capsule is broken, a disposable protective shield is created. Defense strength limited to B-Class or lower.]

This too!

[Advanced Mana Potion]

[Effect: Recovers magic power when you drink it.]

No, clear water that restores mana by the size of a fingernail at this price?

‘There’s nothing I can buy!’

This… Is it hyperinflation or something that I vaguely saw on the internet? The prices of magic tools on Earth were truly beyond imagination.

“Wow, you have great insight! Just the extremely expensive ones…”

In a way, what Ahn Yoonseung said is correct.

This was a problem caused by having high eyesight. Considering my hometown’s advanced status in magic, it would only make sense for my sentiment to align with high-quality items.

“Huh? Don’t you like the potion?”

Once again, I left the store in a nonchalant manner.

Yoonseung-ah, It’s not that I don’t like it, but I can’t buy it because I don’t have money.

“This level of potion, even our guild members have decided to use determinedly, but it seems quite insufficient for someone like you, as expected, Hyung-nim!”

That’s not it, it’s that the balance is not enough…

“Whoo.”

If I had known things would turn out like this, I would’ve just stayed home instead of wasting my energy. Sitting on a chair in the hallway, I stared blankly at the wall. I feel weak.

“Let’s rest for a moment.”

“Ah! I understand. Hyung-nim! If you’re hungry, I can prepare you something…!”

“You sit down too.”

“Yes.”

When the commission fee was just deposited, it felt like being a chaebol. But now, actually realizing that there’s nothing I can afford to buy, some kind of emptiness washes over me.

Look, if you’ve received such a shock, even an empty wall would seem shaky. Now, even my eyes are becoming strange…

‘Huh?’

As I was chewing on the straw of the lemonade I had just finished drinking, I felt something strange and stopped.

‘What is it?’

A flow of magical power stirs in front of the weapon shop. I knew right away that it was a distortion caused by light magic.

This shopping center is overflowing with awakened people, but nobody could discover that?

“Hmm.”

Looking at Ahn Yoonseung’s nonchalant attitude, it seems like that’s considered a rather advanced stealth technique here.

‘What on earth are you doing?’

I became curious about the identity of the magician. I narrowed my eyes and focused on his magic power. Then, the distortion gradually cleared, and the outline of the awakened person began to be felt.

An adult male who appears to be in his 20s or 30s. He is holding a large bag in his hand, and sticking out of the bag is the leather coat item that I saw on the first floor earlier.

“….”

I’ve seen this a lot somewhere.

“Yoonseung-ah, did you see the news today?”

“What news”

“The invisible thief.”

“Ah! I saw it on social media.”

Even if he’s a petty thief, a magician is still a magician. Attacking with an F-class physique would likely result in getting thoroughly beaten. So I gave up on arresting that criminal.

‘I’ won’t do that.

“I think I’ve found the invisible man now… as expected, it would be a good idea to catch it, right?”

“Yes?”

“Yoonseung-ah, would you like to try using a range skill in front of the equipment store over there?”

Oh, and now that I think about it, there is a really fun game on Earth.

“Fighting.”

“Yes?”

It’s Pok*mon or something.