Chapter 115

Esther had encountered similar phenomena before, so she was not particularly surprised.

For Jung Haseong, however, the sight was profoundly shocking.

It was not as though only a faint trace of magic had brushed past him. Esther had fully unleashed her ability in order to stop the monsters swarming them from every direction.

‘For me, that would be like standing directly inside a fire...!’

No matter how carefully the caster adjusted the strength of the spell, was it truly possible to remain completely unaffected after taking a curse head-on?

‘How did he do it?’

Had Korea’s highest-ranked Hunter possessed a proper understanding of magical theory, he might have arrived at the correct conclusion.

Kim Kiryeo was a man with such monstrous mental fortitude that he could endure the pain of severing his own arm. Naturally, he would also be capable of resisting a curse that attacked the mind.

Earth, however, had yet to understand curses properly.

Because curse magic produced distinctive physical symptoms—suppuration, coughing up blood, and other visible injuries—it could not easily be categorized as a purely mental attack. As a result, curses had ultimately been classified alongside status ailments such as poisoning.

‘No way.’

That incomplete knowledge led Jung Haseong to the wrong conclusion.

‘Could Kim Kiryeo be an Awakener with defenses so powerful that he can withstand the ability of another S-Class?’

He began to suspect that the blond man was a mage with extraordinarily high defensive capabilities.

‘Hmm.’

Defense.

Now that he thought about it, Kim Kiryeo’s defenses had always been strange.

It had long been obvious that he was not truly F-Class, and yet his body had appeared absurdly fragile—so weak that even a few stray sparks could leave him burned.

‘Thinking back to what happened at the hospital...’

Later, however, Jung Haseong had learned that Awakeners could deliberately place themselves in such a condition.

For instance, by equipping an artifact that consumed excessive amounts of mana, such as the [Cursed Sword], an Awakener could maintain a state of mana exhaustion. Special weakening effects and similar debuffs could also be used to suppress one’s abilities.

By manipulating such conditions skillfully, it was entirely possible to dismantle one’s own defensive system on purpose.

‘It’s similar to the methods used to conceal one’s level during an awakening test.’

Could the frailty he had witnessed before have been the result of Kim Kiryeo deliberately lowering his defenses?

The thought briefly crossed Jung Haseong’s mind.

Of course, he had no solid evidence.

“Huh?”

Yet who could have expected that something resembling evidence would appear so quickly?

“Haseong-ssi! Look at this!”

A few seconds later, a black cloud began gathering among the fallen swarm of insects.

From within it emerged an enormous mass of twisted scrap metal.

Kiiieek—krrrreeek!

At last, the final enemy of the gate had appeared.

“Destroy it completely with the [Sunset Sword]!”

Jung Haseong took a single step.

The ground shattered beneath him as though struck by lightning.

His blade moved so quickly that it seemed to vanish into the darkness. At the same time, a tremendous surge of mana erupted around it, roaring like living flame.

Boom!

S-Class Hunters stood at the forefront of human evolution. Their physical abilities far exceeded ordinary human limits.

Even a massive, cumbersome body of solid metal could be split apart within seconds.

Boom!

At last, the steel creature collapsed.

But as it fell, fragments of its disintegrating body scattered wildly across the chamber.

“Hyup!”

Seonwoo Yeon had little experience clearing gates.

Unable to remain calm, she squeezed her eyes shut.

Yet no matter how long she waited, none of the fragments struck her.

After all, the most heroic Hunter in Korea was standing nearby.

“Are you all right?”

Clang!

Jung Haseong swiftly deflected every shard flying toward the Association employee.

Seonwoo Yeon opened her mouth to thank him.

“Th-Thank—”

Kang!

What was that sound?

“Hmm?”

“Huh?”

Haseong and Seonwoo Yeon turned their heads at the same time.

A huge piece of metal was spinning across the floor beside a man.

“...”

Kim Kiryeo touched the side of his head with a blank expression.

The falling fragment had struck him directly.

“Ouch.”

And yet...

He was still standing.

He was unharmed.

‘Thank you, Gu Seohyeong-ssi. Thank you, Gu Seohyeong-ssi. Thank you, Gu Seohyeong-ssi. Thank you, Gu Seohyeong-ssi.’

The reinforced ring had barely prevented the blow from killing him.

Internally, the F-Class Hunter was trembling with terror. His head had come within a hair’s breadth of being crushed.

None of that distress showed on his face.

And so the scene only deepened Jung Haseong’s misunderstanding.

‘No. Has he really been suppressing his defenses this entire time...?!’

Normally, if someone’s defenses suddenly improved, the obvious assumption would be that they had acquired new equipment.

This case, however, was different.

The man with the sanpaku eyes had just been officially recognized as Korea’s fourth S-Class Hunter.

‘Right. This level of defense would be perfectly normal for an S-Class!’

In other words, he was a top-tier Awakener whose rank had been formally certified by the Association.

‘Isn’t that insane? Even if he had to pretend to be F-Class, how could an Awakener risk his life by deliberately lowering his magical defenses...?’

No matter how perceptive Jung Haseong was, it never occurred to him that Kim Kiryeo might be a fraud who had manipulated his awakening results.

Logically speaking, who would be insane enough to attempt something like that?

From their perspective, there was no choice but to believe that the man truly was S-Class.

‘So Hunter Kim really is powerful enough to endure being caught in another S-Class Hunter’s ability?’

In the end, Jung Haseong mistook the man before him for an Awakener with exceptional defensive strength.

Once that false conviction took root, every earlier incident seemed to support it.

‘Huh?’

A sudden chill ran down Jung Haseong’s spine.

Come to think of it, when they had first divided into teams, the man in the black suit had gone out of his way to avoid partnering with Seonwoo Yeon.

Now that he reconsidered it, wasn’t that rather strange?

‘They seemed close enough to call each other by name. So why did he ignore her when she was suffering under the pressure of the magic?’

The train of thought running through Jung Haseong’s mind soon left the tracks of truth entirely.

‘Could it be that he deliberately chose someone of the same rank because he knew he would remain safe even if he were caught in an S-Class ability?’

Seen from that perspective, the conversation they had shared at the beginning of the dungeon could also be interpreted in an entirely different way.

—Wouldn’t it be best to pair the staff member with the highest-ranked Hunter?

—What?

—Jung Haseong has the most experience clearing gates among us. He should therefore be the most capable of handling unexpected situations.

Jung Haseong was stunned as he recalled Kim Kiryeo’s argument.

‘That suggestion wasn’t made for the staff member’s sake.’

Before the dungeon’s true difficulty had been revealed, S-Class Hunters would naturally have hesitated to use their full abilities in close proximity to one another.

And yet Kim Kiryeo had deliberately chosen Esther as his partner.

In doing so, he had reduced the likelihood that Jung Haseong would be exposed to her curse.

In other words, Kiryeo’s team arrangement had been a sophisticated strategy intended to keep the two S-Class Hunters apart—excluding himself from the calculation.

If that were true, then who had actually been the object of his consideration?

‘The S-Class Hunters...’

Too many events now connected too neatly for Jung Haseong to dismiss the conclusion forming in his mind.

His behavior while posing as F-Class.

The Association President’s press conference.

The results of the third awakening test.

And his actions during the August terrorist attack, when he had handed out recovery potions worth millions without hesitation.

“Look over there. There’s a door.”

“After putting us through this much trouble, this gate ought to have enough conscience to let us leave now.”

“Seonwoo Yeon-ssi, can you stand?”

In Jung Haseong’s eyes, Kim Kiryeo was someone capable of making profoundly selfless choices.

Of course, even now, the horrors of the prison trap continued to haunt him.

—It’s someone else’s arm anyway. Hurry up.

Even that cruel strategy had probably been a form of consideration.

—Don’t resent it too much. I’m doing this so you can get out of here.

However distorted his way of expressing it might be, Kim Kiryeo had always acted for the young hero’s benefit.

***

Several hours later.

‘I survived.’

Was this why people on this planet said, “No pain, no gain”?

Thanks to the heroic efforts of the S-Class Hunters, I had escaped the gate alive.

At last, I had returned safely to my second home planet—the world to which I had somehow grown deeply attached.

‘If it hadn’t been for the enchantment, that piece of metal would have killed me. I should make sure to thank Gu Seohyeong properly today...’

Overall, the dungeon raid had been a success.

After we defeated the iron boss, a reward chamber opened. Inside it stood an enormous greatsword, so heavy that even a low-ranking Hunter would have struggled to lift it.

‘The curse mage dislikes close combat. Jung Haseong already owns a legendary-grade sword. And Seonwoo Yeon... well, she practically has to be carried around, so she doesn’t count.’

After a brief discussion, we decided to sell the unique-grade item and divide the proceeds.

Moreover, because of my supposed S-Class status, I received a generous share.

Heh heh.

Those foolish mammals.

They genuinely believed I was S-Class simply because I had entered the gate alongside them.

‘Oh my... Making money has become remarkably easy lately.’

For a moment, I marveled at my own good fortune.

Unfortunately, I could not display my delight openly.

There were far too many eyes around me.

‘Hmm.’

When I turned my head, I found myself looking across a luxurious reception room.

“How are you feeling?”

“Ah, Guild Master. Thank you for asking. I’m feeling much better now.”

“There’s no need to thank me. This is the least I can do. Since you’re already here, make sure you rest properly, Yeonie.”

We were currently inside the headquarters of the Korean Magic Tower Guild.

And the person lying on the reclining sofa before us was none other than Seonwoo Yeon.

The moment the gate had closed, the Guild Master of the Magic Tower had taken responsibility for the Association employee and personally arranged for her treatment.

“Then I’ll go and take care of the remaining matters. You are absolutely not to do anything else today. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Guild Master.”