Chapter 83

Chapter 83: Dimension Invasion (2)

Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan.

It’s one of the three main sub-centers of Tokyo and was also called the largest sub-center at the same time, but…

Currently, not a single person had passed by— as if it was a lie that Shinjuku ward was called the largest sub-center of Tokyo.

It wasn’t surprising.

Because a gate outbreak wavelength had been detected in Shinjuku that was large enough to gather all the A-rank Japanese hunters.

All ordinary citizens were evacuated, and only the seven A-rank hunters were there waiting for the gate to occur in the center of Shinjuku.

Among them, Oozuchi Kunishi, who had just been recognized as an A-rank hunter in Japan, felt irritated.

“Why a gate in Shinjuku out of all places?”

He was one of the ten A-rank hunters in Japan, and he should’ve been in a dungeon now slaughtering monsters to clear the dungeon.

However, he was here because of the gate outbreak wavelength detected in Shinjuku.

‘For real, I realize that Japan is a weak country in terms of hunters whenever this happens.’

At the moment, the gate outbreak wavelength detected in Shinjuku, Tokyo, could be solved by one S-rank hunter.

Judging from the detected gate wavelength, the level of the gate to break out would only be A-rank.

It meant that even if the country called for a hunter, it wasn’t an agenda that needed to be dealt with by calling so many A-rank hunters.

But Japan had to call this many hunters to deal with the gate.

Not because the country is pretending to be alright, like Shinjuku had a floating population and it needed to be dealt with quickly and surely. The cause lies elsewhere.

This is because only one hunter had surpassed A-rank in Japan.

And even that one person was clearing a dungeon right now, trying to get some useful equipment.

Because of that, A-rank hunters from all over Japan, including Oozuchi Kunishi, gathered in Shinjuku.

To cope with this situation where the only S-rank hunter in Japan was absent.

As such, Oozuchi Kunishi had no choice but to be dissatisfied.

‘If it were Korea or the U.S, instead of gathering up all A-rank hunters like this, they would’ve called an S-rank hunter and dealt with it.’

As he recalled that fact again, Oozuchi Kunishi felt a sense of displeasure creeping up his body.

Perhaps the other hunters around him were no different, so lamentations also poured out from their mouths.

“Fucking hell! It’s pissing me off. Why the hell are gates breaking out so much in Japan when there aren’t enough hunters?”

“If they’re gonna shove us around like this, they need to at least give us a high pay. But they’re an awful miser.”

“Whatever, fine. Has the Japan hunter association ever done the right thing? It’s a fucked up country, you see.”

They were all like dogs to Shinjuku with poor pay.

Just by the Japanese government’s word that all hunters must obey the laws of the country.

So it was inevitable that complaints were breaking loose.

But that was also just for a while.

Whirrr!

The moment soon came when a blue rift started to appear in the middle of the streets of Shinjuku.

“This fucking son of a…! It’s a rift! Prepare for battle!”

Hunters grumbling on the street changed their spirit and prepared for battle.

Even if they were all dissatisfied with the situation, they were veteran hunters who had enough strength and gained enough combat experience to climb up to an A-rank hunter.

As such, the hunters, including Oozuchi Kunishi, quickly straightened their posture and glared at the gate but—

“…What?”

No matter how hard they stared at the blue rift, no monster came out.

Originally, at least a monster at the dungeon’s entrance should appear if a gate is freshly generated.

Even more so in the case of a high-ranked and sudden gate like this one.

But not a single monster, even an ant, was coming out of it?

“Hey, this seems a bit stra…”

It was that moment when Oozuchi Kinishi opened his mouth, he felt a deep sense of oddness.

“—Why are there so many bugs swarming around?”

A vigorous sound was heard in his ear as though speaking to Heaven and Earth from beyond the gate.

Soon, a young man in a blue martial arts uniform walked out of the gate where nothing had appeared.

The dragon pattern is engraved with gold thread on the blue martial arts uniform or the curved sword on his right waist.

And a neatly tied ponytail at his back hinted that this young man isn’t just an ordinary person.

The young man looked at Oozuchi Kunishi as though he were looking at a bug.

Then he scratched his chin with his left hand and frowned as if he couldn’t understand.

“Didn’t I ask you just now? Why are there so many bugs swarming around?”

Was it because of his absurdly arrogant tone, as if he was really talking to a bug?

The people who couldn’t even speak because they were bewildered by the fact that a person came out of the gate soon came to their senses and made dumbfounded faces.

And soon after, the hunter behind Oozuchi Kunishi frowned and shouted in an angry voice.

“…Huh? What the hell do you mean? Hey, stop blabbering nonsense and explain how you came ou—.”

And those were the last words of that hunter.

Crush!

Oozuchi Kunishi recognized the sound of something being crushed at the same time as some hot liquid was getting on his back.

It didn’t take long for him to figure out that it was the blood splattered from the crushed head of the hunter who was just talking.

Tremble…

Just like a watercolor dripping into a glass of water slowly spreading its color.

Starting from the blood-soaked back, the whole body began to tremble like an aspen leaf.

Oozuchi Kunishi immediately understood why.

Because this feeling was a familiar thing to a hunter who was thrown around in the dangerous places of the dungeon.

“…”

***

[Translator – Ramen ]

[Proofreader – DVN-L ]

***

Fear.

It was the emotion felt by the prey in front of an infinitely powerful enemy.

Usually, a prey in front of a predator like this will show a total of three behaviors.

“You son of a bitch, how dare you kill Shimura…! I won’t forgive y…!”

The first is to deny the feeling of fear and rush toward the predator.

Crush!

“No way…! I-I don’t want to die! S-Save m…!

The second is to run away from the predator, dominated by the emotion of fear.

Crush!

“…”

The third is to give up their lives because they know how powerful a predator is.

“It’s finally quiet now that there’s only one left.”

Oozuchi Kunishi was the third among them.

Now he wasn’t just trembling, but also chattering his teeth, showing extreme fear.

He couldn’t help it.

The young man who appeared before him instantly killed all the hunters behind Oozuchi Kunishi. 

Oozuchi Kunishi had never seen the young man move.

He couldn’t figure out why the hunter standing behind him had his head crushed to death.

He may have been using the sword that was on his waist, or he might have killed them through another skill.

He just then noticed the sounds of corpses falling behind his back.

Six of the seven A-rank hunters gathered in Shinjuku were all killed within a few minutes.

“Now that there’s only one bug left, I shall ask you politely, too.”

The young man smiled softly, as though he had changed his mind and showed mercy.

“Deliver this message to the challenger, Han Sungyeun.”

And so, the predator in human form, that you could never resist, demanded of Oozuchi Kunishi—

“That the Sword Dragon of the Blue Sky, Namgung Hyuk has come to avenge Baek Sunhak.”

To bring new prey.

***

After purchasing the Return Stone, I immediately took out a large number of items from my inventory.

I had to dispose of the items stolen by killing Kim Seungjun in the trial on the 10th floor.

In addition to that, It was necessary to confirm the ability of some newly acquired items.

As such, I activated the Return Stone with all the items to dispose of and items to confirm the abilities of.

And then…

In the blink of an eye, I wasn’t in the waiting room of the Tower, but in a different place.

「 You have turned to the residence of the challenger, Han Sungyeun. 」

It was none other than the studio apartment I lived in.

“I’m finally back.”

This was already the third return, so the feeling of returning wasn’t new.

I got up from the bed and smiled bitterly at the items scattered around me.

I was lost as to where to start and how to organize these as I looked at dozens of items.

“It’s gonna take some time to clean this up.”

Originally, instead of just disposing of the items, I’d have to look at the performance of the item and find out the marketplace, but—

Those were the days when I was a hunter with no affiliation, and now I’m a person that enjoys a high level of freedom in a guild while receiving all the benefits.

It meant that the time when I had to deal with everything by myself was over.

‘I guess I can contact Lee Hayeon and ask her to prepare for disposal of the items in bulk’

I looked for my smartphone in the scattered pile of items and powered it on.

And as soon as the smartphone screen turned on, I couldn’t help but be shocked.

Because—

[132 Missed calls.]

[87 Messages.]

Because the smartphone informed me that there were countless calls while I was away.

“What is this now…”

I frowned and quickly checked the person who called or texted.

And soon, I immediately figured out who was looking for me.

“Lee Hayeon?”

There were phone numbers that I couldn’t recognize, but most of them were filled with Lee Hayeon contacting me.

Moreover, it was a call that started just yesterday.

In other words, it means that something urgent enough to find me happened in that short time.

So I quickly started checking the text that Lee Hayeon had sent.

[Lee Hayeon: Sungyeun-ssi, are you still in the Tower?]

[Lee Hayeon: The Hunter Association has ordered all the challengers on the Hard difficulty to gather up.]

[Lee Hayeon: Almost all guilds are forcibly sending out challengers who have signed a contract.]

[Lee Hayeon: If you don’t gather, you may be subject to a violation of the law, so I think it’d be better for Sungyeun-ssi to come as well.]

The Hunter Association was gathering all the challengers of Hard difficulty?

It was difficult to understand, but as soon as I read the text below, I could recognize the seriousness of the situation.

[Lee Hayeon: …Please contact me as soon as possible if you come back from the Tower. It’s really urgent. ]

[Lee Hayeon: It’s something related to a challenger from another world, but the content is being kept confidential.]

[Lee Hayeon: It seems like something big happened in Shinjuku ward, Tokyo, Japan.]

Looks like an incident related to a challenger from another world has occurred.

However, the challengers of another world were the ones who mainly did floor invasion inside the Tower.

And what did they have to do with the Shinjuku ward in Tokyo, Japan?

The moment I had my doubts, I felt a ray of light passing through my head.

“Is it because the dimension shifting function has been activated?”

I recalled the message that said the system had been expanded as I arrived at the waiting room on the 11th floor.

– ‘Dimension Shifting’ is being added to the marketplace category.

-Interdimensional movement is now possible.

That was it. 

Interdimensional movement wasn’t necessarily just from Earth to another dimension.

It meant that even someone from a world such as Ares, Murim, or Callian could now come to Earth.

As soon as I speculated to that point, I immediately called Lee Hayeon without reading any further.

Thankfully, I could hear Lee Hayeon’s voice after the bell rang for a few seconds.

-…Han Sungyeun-ssi? Are you finally back?

Her voice was full of fatigue, but it also conveyed a faint sense of relief.

I answered her quickly.

“Yes. I have just returned.”

-Sigh, I don’t know where to start and how to explain this, but…

“A challenger from another world must’ve appeared in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan.”

-How did you figure that out? Even the Hunter Association said this was labeled as top secret!

“That doesn’t really matter. You can go straight to the main point.”

-…R-Right. Cutting to the chase, the Hunter Association has gathered all the Hard difficulty challengers in Korea.

“Why?”

-The Korean hunter association also decided to prepare for the incident in Shinjuku, and at the same time, the Japan Hunter Association asked the Korean side for help.

“…?”

-Currently, the challenger from another world is still staying in Shinjuku ward, Tokyo, Japan.

“Don’t tell me… Are you saying that they couldn’t kill the challenger from another world?”

-As you know, Japan is a country with weak hunters. There’s only one S-rank hunter and 40 A-rank hunters.

“…”

-But the challenger from another world who appeared in Shinjuku killed the six A rank hunters who were there in a matter of seconds, leaving only one alive.

Therefore, the Japanese side requested help from outside due to the extreme difference in power.

But there was something I couldn’t understand.

“Then why did the association assemble the challengers when you can just send a Korean S-rank hunter?”

-That’s the most important part. The challenger from another world who appeared in Shinjuku spared one A-class hunter and sent a message.

“…?”

That survivor was told to bring an unknown Korean challenger and said that he mentioned this.

Lee Hayeon took a deep breath through the phone and continued her words.

And I couldn’t help but be so shocked that my heart almost stopped upon hearing her words.

-Namgung Hyuk, The Sword Dragon of Blue Sky has come to avenge Baek Sunhak.

-Sword Dragon of Blue Sky Namgung Hyuk.

The Murim challenger whom the Iron-blooded Monarch warned me about came to Earth, not the Tower.

——