The Hunter of the Other World Who Is Being Misunderstood - Chapter 70:

“Ugh…”

When I stepped outside, there was a groan in the crushed front seat. My heart skipped a beat for a moment. However, within seconds, I realized it was just needless worry.

—Crack!

Soon after that, Seonwoo Yeon escaped safely by tearing off the front door, which was distorted and couldn’t be opened.

“What on earth fell?”

The B-Class hunter who came out immediately asked the question. However, I couldn’t provide a clear answer either.

“I don’t know.”

That’s a creature I’ve never seen before.

“Piyong! Piyooo~!”

We carefully looked at the monster crouching on top of the car. A bird with a fat body and brilliant multi-colored feathers. It wasn’t difficult to identify.

“Oh, this is C-Class”

Fortunately, the association staff knew about the monster.

“Seeing only one wandering around, it must have come from a nearby gate.”

After saying this, Seonwoo Yeon immediately took action. She began hunting down the monster sitting on the roof of the car.

‘I had forgotten for a moment that Seonwoo Yeon was a B-class awakened person. With that level of magical power, you won’t get hurt in ordinary situations.’

Creatures on Earth have a tendency to use magic at 0, so their natural mana amount determines the outcome. In other words, a fight between B-Class and C-Class is as obvious as fire.

‘Phew.’

Whoosh.

When Seonwoo Yeon sent the monster flying off the road to minimize casualties, I calmly gathered my belongings in the back seat, assuming that the Earthling would handle the situation skillfully enough to win.

Let’s see. My belongings shouldn’t have been significantly damaged.

“Are you done already?”

After retrieving the green tea gift set, Seonwoo Yeon quickly returned to the car. I greeted the approaching awakener warmly.

But this person’s expression seems somewhat blank for some reason.

‘Heuk!’

I tilted my head in discomfort and belatedly realized the problem. Wait a moment, that B-Class hunter… her right hand is completely covered in blood.

“Fingers!”

I exclaimed in surprise as I looked at the trembling fingers of the association employee. Of course, Seonwoo Yeon herself was also surprised. She spoke with a pale face.

“Um, well, you see. I didn’t expect the monster to use long-distance attacks. It was shooting feathers. I thought it wouldn’t be a big deal because it was a C-Class, so I let my guard down…”

No matter how strong the awakened person’s body is, there is no way that a finger cut so deeply will heal on its own.

“Do you need treatment? Do you have any healing potions?”

“I don’t have any. Even if I did, it would be a waste to use them here.”

“Then what should we do?”

“We’ll have to go to the hospital. I’m not sure if there’s a healer on duty on Sundays, but…”

After a short conversation, we headed to the nearest emergency room.

***

How many minutes have passed since then?

Soon, we arrived at the hospital emergency room. I looked down at the woman lying on the bed. Then Seonwoo Yeon let out a deep sigh.

“That C-Class monster. It seems like it had been causing trouble even before meeting us.”

In the meantime, I noticed Seonwoo Yeon’s bandaged hand.

“Thanks to you, more than one person was brought in.”

“Really?”

“Yes. So, because they need to attend to other emergency patients first, your turn has been postponed…”

When I heard that, I was briefly filled with pity.

Poor hunters. Unless they’re pretty good at controlling their magic, they can’t go to a regular doctor because they’ll break other people’s needles. In the end, we have to rely on the healing awakeners, but they don’t have enough manpower, so we have to wait all day.

‘Tsk tsk.’

I felt sorry for Seonwoo Yeon and then said a few words.

“Aren’t you thirsty? Would you like me to buy you some water?”

“Yes?”

“If there’s anything you want to eat, let me know. There was a convenience store in front of it.”

At this, Seonwoo Yeon opens her eyes wide.

“I, it’s okay. Please don’t worry about it. Hunter-nim, you should go home first. I’m already grateful that you came all the way here with me…”

However, despite hearing the other person’s words, I couldn’t seem to put my feet down. Because I have responsibility here too.

‘If I wasn’t distracted by the green tea set.’

If someone with magical detection abilities had given good advice, Seonwoo Yeon’s index finger would have been safe. I feel a shallow sense of guilt.

“I’ll just see you getting treated.”

“You might have to wait a long time…”

“It’s okay.”

I took my wallet out of my pocket and asked the question again.

“Anyway, I’m going to the convenience store. Do you need anything?”

Then Seonwoo Yeon muttered in a daze.

“Um, t, then, just barley tea…?”

It doesn’t seem like tea water will be much of an energy source, but well, if she gets hungry, she’ll figure something out later.

“No, wait. I think I should go get it myself…”

“Seonwoo Yeon-ssi should stay here. You never know when the healer might call.”

I left the emergency room, leaving the association staff behind.

***

Ddrang, ddrang.

After buying all the necessary items, I headed straight back to where Seonwoo Yeon was.

‘Huh?’

However, meeting this hunter changes the situation. His presence is too significant to ignore.

‘Jung Haseong?’

On the way to the emergency room, I unexpectedly encountered the top-ranked hunter. A figure with tousled hair and an ash-colored coat, just as always. For some reason, he feels more haggard than last time.

“Hello…”

I was about to greet him as usual but hurriedly swallowed my breath.

‘Oh! I had decided to act tough in front of him, right?’

Honestly, it’s a bit of a pity, but that hunter needs to be discouraged…!

“Hey, Jung Haseong!”

Eh, I don’t know. I just started speaking informally out of the blue to stick with the concept from before.

“What are you doing at the hospital?”

“….!”

“You never come when someone tells you to take a break.”

Judging from the fact that no fists came, the suppression was a success. I glanced at Jung Haseong, sweating profusely. It was then that I noticed a medical receipt in the opponent’s hand.

Medical receipt?

‘Huh? I wonder if you really came here to get treatment?’

I couldn’t hide my joy. After all, it’s safer to have a potential bomb like Jung Haseong in the hospital, where it might explode at any moment.

“Haseong-ah, don’t tell me… you actually went to get treatment like I suggested last time?”

When I pointed out the medical receipt and said this, Haseong hastily hid the document. It seems like I hit the nail on the head.

“You really made a good decision! That’s right. When you’re sick, you should come to the hospital.”

“….”

“Oh, by the way, how about taking advantage of this and getting some rest by being hospitalized for a while since you’ve been pushing yourself too hard lately?”

I barely managed to contain my grin and subtly suggested hospitalization. The plan was to isolate this S-class person for a while, pretending to be concerned about his health. But it seems like my sinister intentions may have been exposed.

‘Ack.’

Otherwise, Jung Haseong wouldn’t make such a scary face…

I saw Haseong with a straight face and hurriedly closed my mouth.

***

-Aren’t you obsessed with the gate all day long, and are you abusing your body without even thinking about it? I think that’s a disease.

Kim Kiryeo.

How many weeks have passed since the conflict with that mysterious awakened person? Jung Haseong had actually headed straight to the nearby psychiatric clinic right after the end of that conversation.

By taking Kiryeo’s advice?

Of course, that’s not the reason.

‘Talking nonsense about a subject he knows nothing about.’

Haseong’s only intention was to prove that he was perfectly fine. If all the tests at the hospital came back negative, then automatically Kim Kiryeo would be proven wrong. He wanted to shut the mouth of the brazen impostor.

However…

“Hunter Jung Haseong. In my opinion…”

However, when he finally visited the specialist, he received a shocking diagnosis.

High anxiety levels.

Obsessive thinking.

In the first place, not being an Alphauri, he was avoiding meals and sleep every time, so how could this be considered a normal state?  The doctor gently explained the condition to the patient, but in the end, there was only one conclusion.

I was in a state where I really needed counseling.

‘Are they forcing me to get treatment because of money?’

Haseong disobeyed the first diagnosis.  So, recently, he has been visiting various hospitals to get opinions from different doctors.

An S-Class hunter is a position that attracts as much attention as a famous celebrity, so such behavior will naturally lead to speculative reports such as health abnormalities and other things. However, the current Haseong was mentally exhausted from consecutive overwork and self-destructive behavior, leaving him with no mental capacity to anticipate such a natural course of events.

‘This can’t be…’

So, what will be the conclusion of this visit?

To cut to the chase, despite seeing every doctor available, Haseong didn’t get what he wanted. Modern systematic psychiatry has always presented him with the same concerns.

Now, he has to admit it.

The path he was heading towards wasn’t the right direction after all.

‘But if I take a break from work… Then what happens? Isn’t that wrong…? Is this really a bad idea?’

But in the midst of this, he met the person who harshly told him to go to the hospital, so how complicated must his feelings be?

“Hey, Jung Haseong!”

“….!”

On the way out after receiving the final diagnosis, Haseong was startled by a voice calling his name without hesitation. And without realizing it, he quietly listened to what Kiryeo said.

“How about taking advantage of this and getting some rest by being hospitalized for a while since you’ve been pushing yourself too hard lately?”

As soon as the word hospitalization came out, Haseong reacted negatively.

“If I do something like that, it’ll cause a big fuss.”

“Huh?”

“Just because I reduced my workload for a few days due to my medical appointments, do you know what kind of rumors are already circulating?”

What a waste. 

Don’t you think about the people who will die? It’s selfish.

Now that you’ve earned enough money, are you saying you’re going to give up the dungeon?

Jung Haseong recited one after another the Internet comments he had seen.

However, Kiryeo’s reaction was unexpected.

“So what? That’s how the internet is, isn’t it?”

“Yes?”

“Because they can’t see each other’s faces, people just say whatever they want. But in reality, they wouldn’t dare say a word in front of you.”

“But that’s just because they can’t speak their minds; deep down…”

Kiryeo abruptly interrupted Jung Haseong’s words and scolded him.

“Deep down what? Were you seriously planning to worry about everyone else’s inner thoughts as well?”

“Uhm.”

“No, this is crazy…”

The choice of words was rough, but if he looked closely, there was nothing wrong with it.

“If you worry about every little thing, you won’t live long. You need to know when to ignore things.”

Jung Haseong was unable to refute the comment and was left speechless. And in that moment, forgetting about putting on airs, Kiyeo started giving sincere advice.

“Haseong-ah, you’re a person too. A human being.”

This well-intentioned sentence became an unexpected source of trouble.

“What’s so special about awakening? You’re just like any other citizen on the street. Don’t burden yourself too much.”

You’re just like everyone else….

That single word seemed so funny to an S-Class hunter.

“Do you really think so?”

Jung Haseong lowered his head and muttered. To this, Kiryeo readily responded.

“Hmm.”

Of course, if he had known that an S-Class Hunter would come out like this, he would have given a more cautious response.

“You’re funny. Is awakening not a big deal? Look here. We’re always carrying a bomb around compared to ordinary people, but do you think society will treat us the same?”

Jung Haseong hardened his complexion and created a flame in his hand. In an instant, intense heat filled the space between them.

“If I want to, I can destroy this hospital at any time. Even if we get shot, awakeners like us will be fine.”

“Hey…”

“From the perspective of civilians, we’re no different from monsters! But imagine if we stop pretending to protect them!”

Haseong threatened the opponent by pointing out the flame he had created.

“Back then, we really were treated like monsters.”

“…”

“See! Hunter Kim Kiryeo. Wouldn’t you be scared if you saw a big fire like this right now? Now!”

Regardless of what triggered it, it wasn’t a normal conversation. However, Kim Kiryeo’s response to this action wasn’t easy. No, it was more like adding fuel to the fire.

– Whoosh.

“W, wait a minute!”

Because Kim Kiryeo looked Haseong straight in the eye and put his hand into the fire pit.

“What are you doing now…!”

Tsssh.

A dreadful sound echoed. Haseong was startled and quickly stopped the skill. However, Kiryeo’s hands were already covered in burns.

“Why did you turn off the fire?”

“….!”

“Didn’t you want to check whether I was afraid of your abilities or not?”

Burning his own flesh just to prove that. Without hesitation too! He can’t believe it.

Jung Haseong was completely intimidated when he saw this. It’s natural. After all, it was an action Kim Kiryeo had suggested in the first place.

‘I, I don’t know why he suddenly started the fire, but anyway, if I get caught here, it’s over!’

If it is revealed that he is a weakling, that S-class person will have no hesitation in killing him. Kim Kiryeo basically thought that way, so he did his best to survive.

“Don’t fuss over such trivial strength, Jung Haseong.”

He intended to break the opponent’s spirit.