Chapter 200: A Difference in Class
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 200: A Difference in Class
4
“…R-Really an S, SS-rank hunter?”
My eyes met Shin Tae-hee’s, his face pale as a sheet.
Even after seeing the Hunter ID I’d given him, he looked back and forth between me and the card, as if he couldn’t believe it.
But what could he do? It was reality.
“Thankfully, it seems you know a thing or two about SS-rank hunters.”
“…Of course. It’s already a famous story among hunters. The one who played the biggest role in the recent dimensional gate incident in the US…”
As he spoke, he seemed to recall that he was the one who had brought up the US incident earlier, and his expression turned momentarily dumbfounded.
No matter how handsome you are, an expression like that ruins it.
After staring blankly for a moment, he looked at my Hunter ID again and asked, “So the Red Kirin is really you, Mr. Ha-chan?”
“Yes, wait, the Red… what?”
For a moment, I doubted my own ears.
“The Red Kirin. That’s what you’re called among hunters.”
“…Like how Seo-ho is called the Snow Mountain Wolf or something?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
My mouth hung open for a moment before I covered my face in embarrassment.
I should have just kept it a secret.
I don’t know why hunters are so desperate to give people weird nicknames.
Do they think it sounds cool or something?
I mean, just hearing ‘Diamond Mountain Tiger, Geumgangho Gye Du-sik’ is enough to send shivers down your spine.
But now that it was happening to me, it was so embarrassing I couldn’t even lift my head.
I’ll have to visit the Hunter Management Bureau next time. To tell them to get rid of that stupid title immediately.
“Right. Let’s put that aside for now, Mr. Tae-hee.”
Hearing my call, Shin Tae-hee flinched.
His reaction showed he had no idea how to treat me, the person he’d thought was a civilian just moments ago, who had suddenly turned out to be an SS-rank hunter.
‘It seems the rumors about me have already spread far and wide among hunters.’
I knew that, which is why I tried my best to hide it this time too. I paid it no mind and spoke.
“First, let’s resolve this situation. There’s no need to delay any further.”
Even if Si-ho handled the dimensional gate, this wouldn’t be over until we dealt with the returnee.
“I’ll continue to take the lead, if that’s alright with you.”
“Y-Yes.”
Not only had he seen my Hunter ID with his own eyes, but he’d also just witnessed me dealing with the vines directly.
Because of that, he couldn’t deny the fact that I was an SS-rank hunter, and he stood there frozen, squeaking out his reply.
“Ah, and about me being Si-ho’s boyfriend.”
I looked at him and said jokingly, “You believe me now, don’t you?”
At my joke, his face turned deathly pale.
I was an SS-rank hunter whose reputation was already widespread.
My abilities were already proven, so when I asked if that made me a good match for Si-ho, Shin Tae-hee could do nothing but nod his head vigorously.
With that, he probably won’t be hitting on Si-ho anymore.
Satisfied, I started heading down the stairs.
“I’ve located the returnee.”
Tae-hee stared at me with a dumbfounded expression.
“Wh-When did you do that?”
“My hands touched the vines earlier, right? I sent an electric current through them to find the organism they were connected to.”
Living beings have their own unique electrical signals.
No matter how assimilated she was with Aklima, the fact that the returnee was human didn’t change.
Thanks to that, I had pinpointed her location and looked up at the sky.
“I thought she’d be on the ground since she’s plant-based, but that assumption was wrong.”
Following my gaze, Tae-hee also looked up and saw the slowly setting sun.
Against the sunset, a faint crack was visible in the sky.
As if something was hidden there.
Since she’s assimilated with Aklima, a plant-type dimensional entity, is she photosynthesizing or something?
She was stuck up there in the sky pretty well.
“Should we take care of her right away?”
Tae-hee noticed it too and asked, but I just gave him a look that said, What are you talking about?
“She may be acting aggressively, but she’s still a person.”
“What? But—”
“We need to assess the situation. Being assimilated with Aklima could also mean she’s being controlled against her will.”
Saying that, I drew Thunderbolt.
“But we’ll definitely need to subdue her by force.”
At the same time, a bullet of Brain Thunder began to form in my palm.
Seeing it, his eyes widened in shock.
The Brain Thunder gathering in my hand was a power far beyond his comprehension.
I’m not exactly a nice guy myself.
Liking someone is a natural thing, so I won’t just throw a tantrum like a child, but…
‘I’ll take this chance to completely crush his spirit.’
Grit—
I’ll make it so he can’t even think about having feelings for Si-ho.
With that thought, the energy of the Brain Thunder in my palm began to gather more intensely than usual.
Crackle!
“Ugh?!”
Startled by a sudden spark, Shin Tae-hee collapsed to the ground.
Meanwhile, my Brain Thunder bullet continued to emit sparks in all directions, radiating an ominous aura.
“Haa, you idiot.”
Baeksan sighed and shook his head at the sight, but there are times when a man has to show his strength.
Just then, the sky seemed to waver.
It seemed the returnee had sensed the power of my Brain Thunder and was panicking.
“You know what’ll happen if you shoot that thing straight, right?”
Baeksan’s voice rang out once more.
I might have lost my temper a little, but I’m not an idiot.
I knew that firing this would obliterate the returnee, so I raised Thunderbolt.
“Who are you calling an idiot?”
“You are an idiot.”
Oh, was I?
Thinking I’d learned something new, I moved to load the Brain Thunder bullet.
At that moment, the surrounding jungle stirred.
Starting with that stir, the jungle clinging to the walls and floor shot up toward the sky.
‘Did she give up on fighting back from the start?’
Did she realize that trying to counter my aura output would just get her blown away?
I gave a bitter smile as I watched the jungle gather as if to form a defense.
“That’s a bad call.”
In that instant, a blue aura seeped into the Brain Thunder bullet.
The memories accumulated in my body from all my past battles knew exactly how to respond in this moment.
Click-clack—
The plants gathering in the sky to form something like a shield was quite a spectacle.
The shield of plants swarmed tenaciously, as if sparing even a moment to escape was a waste, and filled the sky.
I’m glad she gave up on running.
If she had, I would’ve had to fire toward the city, which I couldn’t do.
But she didn’t know what I was thinking.
The world, as seen through a returnee’s eyes, is always brutal.
The strong are those who survive, and they show no mercy.
So she concluded it would be faster for me to eliminate her than to worry about civilian casualties, and didn’t even consider fleeing toward the city.
People live based on what they’ve learned.
I’ve seen glimpses of that through the returnees who grew up in other worlds.
“I’m sorry.”
So I offered an apology to the returnee.
“This is going to hurt a bit.”
With Thunderbolt aimed at the sky, I finally pulled the trigger.
KRA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KOOM!
A roaring red bolt of lightning shot upward, devouring the atmosphere.
At the same time, streaks of blue light scattered around the red lightning, granting it new power.
Dimension Break.
The power that shatters everything related to dimensions—the ultimate counter to dimensional entities—was imbued in that light.
Finally, the lightning collided with the shield of plants in the sky.
KWAAAAAAAANG!
But the outcome was already decided.
The moment the lightning, imbued with my power, made contact, the shield made of the dimensional entity Aklima could not withstand it.
Cracks spread from the point of impact across the entire shield.
Crack, cra-cra-cra-crack!
Dimensional entities cannot defeat me.
My power, which had devoured even an Evil God, shattered the shield made of Aklima and soared into the sky once more.
The clouds above swirled and scattered.
Amidst the fragments of Aklima scattering from the impact, another crack appeared in the sky.
The output of the Brain Thunder had revealed the returnee who had been hiding.
Her appearance was reminiscent of a dryad from legend.
Her lower body was made of wood, and her skin had a pale green tint.
Her hair was two-toned, half colored like leaves and the other half a normal black.
From that, I could guess she was of Korean descent.
Still, she wasn’t fully assimilated with Aklima, looking more human than dimensional entity.
“Keuk!”
I could hear her cry out in pain, likely from the aftershock of the Brain Thunder.
The lingering sparks in the air prevented her from moving her body freely.
Snap!
Just then, the vines holding her in the sky began to snap.
The broken vines meant she was falling, and she plummeted downwards in an instant.
“Baeksan!”
There was no need for me to step in.
Heuksan, who had been standing on the rooftop, had already kicked off the ground and was leaping into the sky.
Soaring into the air in an instant, Heuksan caught the woman and quickly landed back on the ground.
The returnee in Heuksan’s arms was limp; it seemed Heuksan had knocked her out on the way down.
“Hoo.”
As I let out a sigh of relief, feeling that the situation was finally resolved, I could sense the Aklima jungle slowly being sucked away somewhere.
It looked like Si-ho was doing something on her end.
At this rate, the streets should be cleared up soon.
While I was feeling relieved, Heuksan casually slung the woman over her shoulder and glanced at me.
Meeting her gaze, I walked over and checked on her.
“You’re not hurt, are you?”
“…Who’s worrying about whom?”
“Of course, I’m worried about you. Even if you’re Baeksan, you never know what might happen.”
Returnees aren’t invincible.
The only person I was ever certain would never get hurt was Ahyu.
Of course, I have no intention of letting Ahyu get hurt, either.
So when I asked with genuine concern, Heuksan made a small ‘Ugh’ sound and turned her head away with a displeased expression.
“I don’t need that, okay? Save it for your ‘older sister’.”
“I’m always worried about Seol-hyang.”
For some reason, Heuksan’s face scrunched up even more.
She turned away bluntly.
“Whatever. I’m taking her to the World Returnee Association.”
“Ah, thanks for your hard work. I’m counting on you.”
This returnee showed a rather hostile side, so we’ll need to talk to her after she’s calmed down a bit.
So, watching Heuksan about to transport the returnee, I waved her off.
After that, I turned back to Tae-hee.
Our eyes met, and he flinched before quickly looking away.
It seemed his spirit was completely broken after I showed him the clear difference in our power levels.
“Mr. Tae-hee.”
“Y-Yes?”
When I called him, Tae-hee quickly looked up.
I smiled at him.
“It goes without saying, but please keep this incident a secret.”
This was a warning.
A warning that he would have to bear the consequences if he told anyone about what happened.
Hearing my warning, Tae-hee nodded, his face pale as a sheet.
“And please take good care of our Si-ho and Ji-eun.”
“Yes, I’ll take responsibility for helping them with their school life.”
Seeing him like this, I was pretty sure he wouldn’t be hitting on Si-ho anymore.
No matter how blinded by love he was, he wouldn’t want to get on the bad side of an SS-rank hunter.
And with that, the little incident came to an end.
