Chapter 455

The Hunter of the Other World Who Is Being Misunderstood

Chapter 455

Chapter 455. Infiltration (2)

The brief pause was just a little joke to lighten the mood. Of course, I’ll follow your instructions to the letter. My master!

I feel like I unnecessarily typed in an Earth language.

It’s somewhat of an unreliable prototype overall. But since there’s no tool I can actually use for now, I carefully left the tawny golem in Korea and immediately set about making a plan.

'In plain terms, it’s also the period when the guild’s shutters were down, so maybe it’s for the best.'

Today, I had to visit a place much farther than Japan. So using just the [Teleportation] spell to reach the destination would require a bit more mana than I had.

'Hmm.'

It was truly just a ‘tiny’ bit short. After all, Japan had been reached and returned from through sheer force using long-distance spatial movement. Just that alone showed how much effort had gone into it all this time.

'Hmm.'

It was truly just a 'tiny' bit short. After all, Japan had been reached and returned from through sheer force using long-distance spatial movement. Just that alone showed how much effort had gone into it all this time.

'should have removed the tumor earlier. I just let go of the cells that weren't doing their job, and surprisingly, breathing feels so much easier...'

As my magic gradually returned, everything began to fall into place effortlessly. Sure, there were still plenty of ways for me to grow stronger, but for dealing with Earthlings, my current power was more than enough. So, I decided to put off any further enhancements for now.

What came next was an official overseas assignment. I didn't enter my target country right from the start. I passed through the city of Hanoi first, and then crossed the border using spatial teleportation—a method that was, honestly, nothing short of a classic illegal-entry tactic.

'Back in Alphauri, this is something I couldn't have even dreamed of.'

The energy source used to maintain barriers on this planet is limited, so it couldn't be helped.

The larger a country's territory, the more its defense budget ends up draining away to guard its vast borders...

'I've heard that places like the Hexagon or the Pentagon put up barriers even if it means swallowing astronomical costs.'

Anyway, people who can use spatial teleportation are extremely rare, and it'd be a loss for a country to go bankrupt trying to catch just a few slippery escapees. So once again, I was able to step onto another nation's soil comfortably, without any real obstacles

'The scenery is...'

But when I arrived at the coordinates the Japan resident had given me, an unimaginable scene unfolded before my eyes.

'How gruesome.'

An outdated building with a roof that had fallen into disrepair. Wild animal droppings. The corpse of a gate monster. And various other things.

'People shooting disaster films wouldn't even need to spend money building a studio.'

This was one of those "abandoned zones" you often come across on Earth. The number of hunters was always limited, while—at least from what it felt like—gates had been appearing endlessly ever since the Dungeon Shock era.

'Regions with small populations don't tend to spawn high-grade monsters, but that doesn't mean the city is guaranteed to be safe.'

For reference, a feeding box left unattended in a wasteland naturally sees its output decrease. Considering that it was a trap designed to harvest suffering, this was only natural.

'Right, I mean, what kind of fisherman would cast a net where all the fish are already dead?'

So humanity would deliberately abandon land that had no agricultural value and held too few people, concentrating infrastructure into specific regions instead. Of course, in a communist country, where populations could be evenly distributed across cities, this method of management would have been adopted even more frequently.

'In contrast, Korea has a small land area and a high population density, so there haven't been any similar cases.'

Crumble

In contrast, Korea has a small land area and a high population density, so there haven't been any similar cases.

Crumble

I slipped into the collapsed city and steadied my breathing.

Sssshk...

Something had been making a crawling sound for a while now...

Well, for now, I decided to ignore such trivial things.

'If I follow the open road from here, I'll reach the state-run hospital.'

The sights were brief.

'But I'm an illegal entrant who'll be arrested the moment a local spots me. So I'll go the opposite way.'

Honestly, there was no need for me to personally run into that nurse the Fifth S-rank mentioned. I already knew the place the artificial-awakening broker ultimately directed people to.

'If they know the shortcuts that avoid CCTV, and can even smuggle an awakened person out past the borders of such

Honestly, there was no need for me to personally run into that nurse the Fifth S-rank mentioned. I already knew the place the artificial-awakening broker ultimately directed people to.

'If they know the shortcuts that avoid CCTV, and can even smuggle an awakened person out past the borders of such a heavily guarded country... then it's safe to assume that group is either a resistance organization or working hand-in-hand with the state.'

At the outskirts of a certain Asian country, where the scars of the Dungeon Shock still remain, this was the scene that lay before me.

In front of me was red. Then blue. And then again red, blue, red, blue—or, on rare occasions, white.

'As expected, it is an abandoned gate.'

All those countless monster nests came into view. According to the testimony of Japan's newest S-rank hunter, some civilians had brazenly occupied one of those many gates and were carrying out unauthorized medical procedures there. But until I reached that underground clinic, I couldn't afford to let my guard down.

Kaaaaaaaah...!

Of course, the problem wasn't those fake dinosaur-looking things spilling out of the Red Gate. The real issue was that plenty of functioning CCTV cameras were still scattered throughout the ruined city. So I took the shortcut the fifth S-rank had told me about and moved while keeping myself hidden.

First, look for a shantytown nearby.

It would've been great if I could teleport directly into the gate in one go. But teleporting into a space that has already been separated from the world is an issue that even an Archmage has to think very, very carefully about.

'It's not that I can't do it... it's just a pain to calculate it all.'

A fleeting thought crosses my mind.

They cleared away the webs so people could just barely pass through. If you find a clean passage on the first floor, stick to that route.

Riding a hunk of scrap metal floating in the sky. Now forced to walk hunched over through streets plastered with protein-like webs. In a situation like this, it was only natural for complaints to start bubbling up in my head.

'I'm already busy enough dealing with the Gisimche—so why am I always the one going through this kind of crap?'

A question that even I couldn't help but nod along to.

I'm already busy enough dealing with the Oisimehe... So why am I always the one going through this kind of crap.

A question that even I couldn't help but nod along to.

'Phew. Well, at least there's a chance that kid's involved this time. And with that guy... I guess there's no helping it since I never fully settled my debt with him back during [Beast]...'

Still, there was no change in plan.

'Those damn troublesome bastards.'

With my magic power overflowing, I can even shake humans with hypnosis now, making investigations quick and easy.

Step

Step.

But there was one thing I was worried about...

Tak.

I stopped in the middle of the passage and examined a nearby building. The windows were clogged with dust and had lost most of their function, but from some parts of the glass, I could still make out something like this.

Freckles. Those tiny spots that are occasionally seen on mammals.

'Am I overdoing it?'

As you can tell from this look, I ended up using my old disguise method again. No matter how many human faces I study, I still can't clearly categorize them... If I tried creating a brand-new face on my own, there was a high chance it would slip straight into uncanny valley territory, so I resorted to this approach. But honestly, the more I think about it, the more I realize just how many problems this method can cause.

"Hmm."

America. Korea. And following Japan, now it's in a republic notorious for its tight security where a certain foreigner has appeared...

Moreover, whenever this face shows up, violence and bloodshed usually follow at the scene. In other words, if everything that this Archmage had done in disguise ever came to light all at once, by human standards, it would inevitably be utterly terrifying.

'That's going to cause a huge controversy.'

But well... Surely, such a disaster wouldn't actually happen, right?

'Hmm.'

As long as I clean up the evidence properly, there'll be nothing today to muddy the waters of Korea's hunter industry. With that conviction, I continued on my way.

'Finally, I've arrived.'

At the end of the wall, barely more than a rabbit hole, I encountered none other than a single Blue Gate.

'There's a chance the enemy's already been caught or has fled, but let's go in and at least scrape together whatever scraps of information we can.'

But just as I'd discovered my destination...

Tak, tak, tak, tak.

A guest appeared.

It had eight legs. And, like I used to see in my younger days, it had more than two eyes.

'It's something like a giant tarantula. Anyway, these psychic beings really lack creativity, comparable to mine.'

This was the moment that immediately explained why I had been hearing something crawling all this time. What appeared from the ceiling was a monster native to the nearby Blue Gate. For reference, the creature's proper name is [Ant-Envious Spider].

'Looks like I really did come to the right place.'

A zone that had gone through the cycle of a gate forming and collapsing far too many times. No wonder the hungry parasitic entities of the universe finally seemed to have lost their minds—or whatever was left of them.

'I heard that inside, the structure is like a tangled maze of countless ant tunnels.'

rasitic entities of the universe finally seemed to have lost their minds—or whatever was left of them.

'I heard that inside, the structure is like a tangled maze of countless ant tunnels.'

The dungeon I was about to enter could even be considered an imitation of the [Mimic City].

'Since the Gisimche are giving away the land for free, mammals of all nationalities just keep claiming space.'

And, of course, it shared the biggest flaw of [Mimic City]: the problem of criminals using it as a hideout.

'Let's go in for now.'

I checked to make sure my disguise was properly in place on my face and moved forward. As I entered the Blue Gate, rumored to house an illegal clinic, the first thing I saw was this scene. A small cave that looked as if a single chamber had been taken straight from an ant's nest.

Kiiiek.

Moreover, the spider-like monsters that appeared there didn't approach humans recklessly.

'It's a cave, so why the heck are there thorny vines all of a sudden?'

Of course, it wasn't because they recognized the stature of an Archmage. It was simply that I had hidden my mana so thoroughly that the spiders couldn't decide, "Is that prey or not...?" and thus didn't rush in.

'Hmm?'

But just as I began exploring, I immediately withdrew the [Hypnosis] spell I'd been sharply preparing, ready to activate at any moment. Then, I examined in surprise the flow of thoughts that suddenly flashed through my mind.

'This gate, inside.'

This place had a peculiarity, aside from the fact that it had dozens of entrances.

'What a mess.'

Passing through a barren cave with not a drop of water, as I ventured deeper inside, a sudden burst of bright light poured out.

'And it still seems to be mixing with other spaces? What on earth did the losers in this dungeon corner do to the feeding boxes?'

red out.

'And it still seems to be mixing with other spaces? What on earth did the losers in this dungeon corner do to the feeding boxes?'

This dungeon's core was dominated by a white space, as if milk had been poured and spread throughout.

***

"Japan."

Early in the morning. Actually, it was less like milk and more like voices flowing through a space filled with the cold light of a mortuary lamp.

"I heard Japan is a conservative country."

"...."

"But since they provide S-rank hunters to their own country, the response isn't as bad as I expected."

The person who had just started speaking was an elderly human. Though aging had caused their eyelids to sag, partially obscuring their vision, the eyes beneath still shone brightly—a distinct feature of their face.

“There may be strong backlash for a while due to side effects popping up everywhere. But as long as we clearly demonstrate the potential of ‘artificial awakening’...”

“A pharmaceutical company.”

“Exactly as you said. By borrowing the name of a pharmaceutical company, we might later rake in astronomical sums with a more stabilized catalyst.”

“....”

“Come to think of it, there’s no word in this world that simplifies the principle of action as much as money does.”

“It sounds a bit like an excuse.”

“Where exactly in this does it sound like an excuse, Sir?”

The person leading the conversation then moved their hand. The hand that picked up what looked like a dropper was covered in jewelry. A natural ruby ring that could fetch at least twenty million won even if sold secondhand. A guard ring encrusted with diamonds, and more.

Where exactly in this does it sound like an excuse, Sir.

The person leading the conversation then moved their hand. The hand that picked up what looked like a dropper was covered in jewelry. A natural ruby ring that could fetch at least twenty million won even if sold secondhand. A guard ring encrusted with diamonds, and more.

But the bracelet beneath them wasn’t made by humans. The entity that created the gate seemed like an elder who couldn’t keep up with trends. Even now, in the dungeon, designs that would have been favored only in the medieval era still appeared frequently.

“Anyway, I still think the next base should be in a cooler country.”

The elderly man, adorned with dangling artifacts, gazed at a table set off in the distance.

“I won’t be able to move until the awakening side-effect waves subside. Ugh, to think I have to wait endlessly again at this stage of my short remaining life...”

The old man spoke consecutively within the white zone.

“You’re lucky to be young.”

But the man who heard this didn’t respond. He remained silent for a long time, holding an empty flask before him. Someone staring intently at the markings on the glassware had a gaze roughly resembling that of a reptile.

But the man who heard this didn't respond. He remained silent for a long time, holding an empty flask before him. Someone staring intently at the markings on the glassware had a gaze roughly resembling that of a reptile.

Author's Thoughts

Hi, from now on, I will update this novel 3 chapters/week. Thank you for all your support so far:)