LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 23: The Great Mage Who Became a Trash Hunter in Another World
Yeah, whatever.
Just because I’m a great mage doesn’t mean I’m immune to failure.
“Thank you for your cooperation. You can head back now.”
With that, I was cleared of all suspicions.
Seonwoo-yeon Hunter apologized for the trouble caused by the test results, but I nodded, indicating it was fine.
‘Thanks to you, I found out quickly.’
I genuinely felt okay.
Tears were welling up, and my cornea was getting moist, but hey, I was still fine.
“Hm…”
But then, unexpectedly, Seonwoo-yeon made a suggestion.
“Um, I can drive you home.”
“What?”
“Low-ranking Awakened individuals might feel dizzy after the test.”
I must’ve been in shock. To think I’d receive such concern from an Earthling.
“Or should we go to the hospital?”
Seonwoo-yeon carefully pulled out her car keys and asked. I responded.
“Thank you for the offer, but I’m fine.”
I offered her a slight bow and headed out.
The Awakening Test Center and Kim Gi-ryeo’s house were only about a 15-minute walk apart. I wanted to cool my head by walking for now.
Note to self: I’m the best magician of Alphauri.
‘I’m sure I’ll be able to resolve this issue someday.’
Lost in thought, I walked slowly, noticing the clear sky.
“Hmm.”
Suddenly, I stopped dead in my tracks.
A rat had been tailing me for a while.
“Do you have something left to do?”
Turning around, I saw Seonwoo-yeon.
She stood a few steps behind me, looking awkward.
*
Failed.
This was the phrase that came to Seonwoo-yeon’s mind after seeing the test results.
“Awakening Level 14. F-Class category.”
It was measured with a precise new device, so it couldn’t be wrong.
For a moment, Seonwoo-yeon couldn’t believe that number.
‘Was that Hunter really F-Class?’
Then what was the incident with the Beginner Killer? Why was I reported to Jeong Ha-seong?
‘They took all my belongings.’
Seonwoo-yeon furrowed her brow.
To be honest, not all suspicions had been cleared. What kind of era is this?
We’re living in a time where superpowers and monsters exist in modern society, so the possibility of someone using clever items to hide their Awakening Level wasn’t zero.
But that was just a possibility.
“I think you can head back now.”
According to the association’s regulations, I could no longer hold him.
Reluctantly, Seonwoo-yeon had to release Kim Gi-ryeo.
However, this man left a lingering unease even after the test ended.
‘What’s going on?’
I’d felt this since right after the exam…
Kim Gi-ryeo was acting a bit strangely.
He stood staring blankly at the wall, hands in his pockets, and had become unusually quiet.
‘Could he be feeling dizzy?’
There was only one plausible conjecture.
The side effects of the tests occasionally seen in low-ranking Awakened individuals.
If Kim Gi-ryeo was experiencing dizziness, Seonwoo-yeon felt responsible since she conducted his test.
‘What if he collapses alone on the street?’
In the end, Seonwoo-yeon made a complicated decision, half suspecting him and half worried.
She decided to accompany him until he arrived home safely.
“Do you have something left to do?”
It seemed the subject wasn’t too fond of this idea.
“I’m sorry. I’m just worried. I’ll accompany you to your building.”
Seonwoo-yeon didn’t back down.
Even as that F-Class Hunter glared at her with his signature creepy three-hundred-glance, she moved closer without wavering.
“Do as you like. Well then.”
But thankfully, there was no major friction.
Kim Gi-ryeo complied with Seonwoo-yeon’s words, just as he had when he was dragged here.
Always calm and polite responses.
He seemed so unyielding, which made him feel even colder.
‘Could he really be F-Class? If his Awakening Level was just a bit higher, he could have been a competent Hunter.’
Why am I feeling regret over this?
Seonwoo-yeon shook off her brief sentimentality and focused on the task.
Right now, the priority was to safely escort Kim Gi-ryeo home.
“Ms. Seonwoo-yeon.”
But out of nowhere.
I thought we would have a quiet walk until we reached his house, but surprisingly, the other Hunter initiated a conversation.
“Yes?”
“By the way, I wanted to ask something.”
“Go ahead.”
“You came by to my house earlier, right? How did you know I was home? It’s a weekday afternoon.”
This was a common question.
Seonwoo-yeon began her answer without much difficulty. In fact, it was kind of a self-introduction.
“It’s my Awakening skill. Officially known as [Seocher].”
“Seocher?”
“If you search for it on Pixiwiki, you can find more detailed information….”
Since there’s no Wi-Fi here, it’d be better to explain verbally.
“In short, it’s a tracking ability. I can know in real time where things or people are located.”
B-Class Hunter. Seonwoo-yeon.
This Awakened individual, with a significantly high rank as a Hunter, possessed incredibly useful skills as well.
Her [Seocher] skill could find a target even if they were at the far end of the Korean Peninsula, or even hiding in a Gate.
“Tracking criminals with my Seocher skill is my main job.”
Kim Gi-ryeo went silent upon hearing this and spoke softly after a while.
“So when we first met….”
“Yes. I confirmed you were fleeing using my skill.”
Kim Gi-ryeo fell silent again.
‘Does he feel guilty?’
Observing his reaction only strengthened my hypothesis that he might have ulterior motives.
Possessing the physical abilities to face a Beginner Killer, getting spooked by an association employee, and even managing to move the stiff Jeong Ha-seong…
Is this man really just a simple F-Class?
‘Seriously, it’s baffling.’
Seonwoo-yeon felt uneasy.
Should she suspect him or not? She kept pondering.
But then…
“Hm?”
Thud.
Kim Gi-ryeo suddenly stopped in his tracks.
As a result, Seonwoo-yeon also halted, wondering why he did so….
‘A dog? No, wait, that’s a raccoon.’
At the end of his gaze was something sprawled out in the middle of the road.
That was a wild animal’s corpse.
It looked like it had been run over by a motorcycle or a car.
“Ugh, what’s that? So disgusting.”
A student walking from the opposite alley screamed and jumped aside at the sight of the mangled carcass.
A common reaction.
Seonwoo-yeon thought the raccoon looked pitiful, but like the student, she planned to pass quietly.
“What are you doing?”
However.
Kim Gi-ryeo strode purposefully toward the corpse.
Then he bent down and picked up the creature that everyone else had ignored, murmuring softly.
“What a precious thing to just leave lying on the street… How wasteful.”
Wasteful?
‘I must have misheard that he meant “sad.”’ Seonwoo-yeon quickly corrected him and started to dissuade him.
“U, Kim Gi-ryeo Hunter, it seems to have been dead for quite a while, so if you touch it like that, for hygiene reasons….”
The dismembered corpse was grotesque and filthy.
So usually, people refrained from touching it and merely glanced at it as if avoiding filth.
But Kim Gi-ryeo took it without a care.
“What’s dirty can just be washed clean.”
His voice held no hesitation…
“Well then, I’ll be taking my leave now.”
“Eh, what?”
“If I turn down this alley, it’ll lead right to my house. I’ve arrived.”
Seonwoo-yeon stood there dazed for a moment, then belatedly nodded at his words.
Just as he said, they had long since arrived at the destination.
“B-Be careful.”
Kim Gi-ryeo went into a nearby alley with the dead mammal in his arms.
Watching his receding figure, Seonwoo-yeon quietly pondered.
‘He plans to take it and bury it.’
Someone who doesn’t turn a blind eye to a creature’s remains found on the street and instead collects it.
Kim Gi-ryeo’s action left a vivid impression on Seonwoo-yeon’s mind.
‘He has a warm side too.’
If this B-Class Hunter had a skill to read minds, the interpretation would be quite different.
In truth, the thoughts swirling in Kim Gi-ryeo’s mind were more like this:
‘What an unexpected windfall! Earth sure is great. There are biological samples lying around everywhere!’
The type of magic he was best at was related to Golems.
And in his hometown, Golem materials were broadly categorized into two types.
One was a ‘Weapon Golem’ made by assembling rocks and metals.
The other was the divine Golem material, ‘Organic Golem’ made from animal carcasses.
‘Once I complete the magic power amplifier, let’s try magic on this one first.’
In simple terms, he just picked up a perfectly usable experiment since it was being discarded.
After completing the experiment, he planned to give the remains a proper burial according to Earth’s ethics. After all, wouldn’t that be a better ending for the raccoon that was coldly fading away on the street?
Perhaps it’s even true, based on one speculation, that Kim Gi-ryeo might have a frugal personality.
*
“Did you hear the news?”
“What news?”
“I heard someone cleared the Magic Tower Guild maze last week.”
“Oh, really? Who was it?”
“I don’t know! They say it’s not anyone famous.”
“That maze was so tough even Hunter △△△ gave up on it. How did they clear it? Are they crazy?”
We live in an information-driven society today.
The production and distribution of information translate directly into monetary value.
This was no exception in the Hunter industry, so they were always sensitive to news.
New Gates, new items, new skills…
But among them, the most highly valued is information about human resources.
“Hey, Manager Kim. Did you get wind of it earlier? Apparently, some F-Class Hunter underwent a re-examination, and this is a real find.”
“Oh, yes. A user of an analysis skill came out of the woodwork.”
“Good thing we placed someone in the association.”
A small breeze began to stir in a corner of Seoul.
Though the incident where Ahn Yoon-seung was rescued from an A-Class Golem was quite localized, and the victim himself had been quiet post-interview, the ripple wasn’t significant.
Then one day.
The consequences of lying about knocking out Jeong Ha-seong.
And rumors of the first person to clear the tower’s maze began to mingle.
An F-Class Hunter who thoroughly understood the notoriously brutal trials of the Magic Tower and even grasped the weaknesses of Upper Ranking Awakened!
Who could have predicted that these rumors would develop this far?
It was a butterfly effect.
Moreover, just two days after Kim Gi-ryeo’s Awakening re-exam, he read a post online stating that Awakened individuals would have an easier time if they report their skills held to the association, leading him to comply with it.
“An F-Class Hunter who awakened an advanced analysis skill.”
Ultimately, this small rumor, previously shared only among a few, reached the ears of a certain group.
And who is this group, you ask…?
*
Clang, clang, clang.
The sound resembled the rusted garage shutter being closed.
I tried to move my body in the darkness.
But my hands and feet were bound tightly with narrow, sturdy cable ties, and the more I struggled, the more my skin scraped.
Blood flowed from my wrists.
The metallic smell tickled my nose. But this wasn’t the smell of blood.
‘Looks like there are a bunch of the same kind of chairs I’m tied to in this room. Metal chairs.’
Let me cut to the chase.
“Ugh…”
I’ve been kidnapped.
How did things end up like this?
I slowly traced back the events from before I was dragged in until now.