Chapter 92

Chapter 92: A longing (2)

Two days had passed since I was admitted to the hospital.

I was told to take an absolute rest, as I had prevented the incident that caused a stir, not only in Japan but also around the world, but I couldn’t do so.

Politicians, including the Japanese prime minister, visited me to say thanks in the hospital, which was understandable.

However…

The real problem was the phone calls ringing on the smartphone and journalists rushing to the hospital ever since.

My smartphone buzzed non-stop as people I didn’t even know contacted me repeatedly.

The journalists who set up a camp outside were gathering near the window to take a picture of me at least once and pointed their cameras as though they were stalking me.

Of course, I immediately covered the window with a curtain to avoid getting pictured, but…

“I can’t even head out of the hospital like this…”

Should I say that the merit of resting in the hospital had disappeared?

I put on slippers and dragged my feet to the rooftop of the hospital, under the radar.

Since I was always in the hospital room, I felt suffocated if I didn’t breathe the outside air like this.

Perhaps because of the chilly weather, there was no one on the hospital’s rooftop except one patient.

But the problem was that the patient was a person that I knew.

The man wearing a black mask and on crutches was a challenger I had seen many times.

“Kim Seunghoon-ssi.”‘

“…”

“It’s me. Han Sungyeun.”

“Ah, the Ghost Blade is here.”

Kim Seunghoon looked at me and soon said so with a giggle.

“…Ghost Blade? Now, what’s that?”

“It’s a nickname they’re addressing you as in Korea and Japan these days, but it looks like you don’t seem to know.”

“…Ghost Blade, This is my first time hearing it.”

“Well, You probably didn’t have the time to find it out since you were busy with the politicians and the Japanese prime minister paying a visit to you.”

As though telling me I did well, Kim Seunghoon took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and handed me a cigarette.

“Would you like to have one?”

“No, I don’t smoke or drink, you see.”

In the past, there was a time when I stopped drinking alcohol or smoking cigarettes, as well as food that wasn’t good for my body to increase my physical ability.

‘Of course, no matter how hard I tried at that time, there was no change in ability in the end, though.’

Because of the habits of those days, I tried not to consume alcohol, cigarettes, or anything else bad for my body.

“So you take good care of your body, huh. I wish you could do that in battle, too.”

“It’s harder than I thought.”

“No matter how strong the body of a hunter and good regenerative power is, there are limits.”

“…”

“No matter what skill you have, if overdoing becomes your habit, you’ll eventually die.”

“You’re saying the same thing as Katheryn.”

“If you see people overdoing themselves around you, you’ll also end up saying the same thing.”

I mean, when I was fighting Namgung Hyuk, I felt that I’d die quickly if I overdid it like that.

I almost died several times in that one battle, so it must be shocking to others.

“Well, seeing that you’re still in good shape, it seems that you barely didn’t cross that one line, though.”

While saying so, he soon took off the black mask with one hand and placed it on the railing.

There was a crack that looks like a spider’s web on the mask as it received the first strike of Namgung Hyuk directly, but…

I smirked at Kim Seunghoon’s face, which I saw for the first time.

Should I say he looked like a handsome middle-aged man with an impression of cheerfulness?

‘I guess I understand why he’s covering his face with a mask.’

To think that he has outstanding looks, as well as the highest level of skill among hunters?

He’s getting less attention because he’s covering his face like this, but if he goes around without the mask, it’ll attract the attention of people around him, either good or bad.

“…Why are you staring at me like that? Is there something wrong?”

Of course, Kim Seunghoon didn’t seem to be reading what I was thinking, though.

“I was just surprised that you look pretty fine after getting struck in the face by Namgung Hyuk.”

“Ah, that… Although it looks like this, this mask is a good item, you see.”

“I see.”

“Of course, it’s almost destroyed, so I think it needs to be repaired, but… well. It should be fine. I got quite a few repair items anyway.”

After finishing his sentence, Kim Seunghoon lit the cigarette in his mouth with a lighter.

The movement was awkward as it was quite cumbersome to move with only one hand with crutches on.

“…You seem to have been quite injured in this battle as well, Kim Seunghoon-ssi.”

“I can’t help it. Since we had to fight such a monster. Honestly, Namgung Hyuk was on a whole different level from other challengers of the Murim dimension.”

“…”

“At least none of the challengers from the Murim dimension I’ve seen could do ridiculous things like Namgung Hyuk.”

“Definitely.”

Since I was told that Namgung Hyuk is a challenger who had reached the 20th floor of the Tower and, at the same time, had a far greater strength than the challengers on the 20th floor.

Although we couldn’t actually win, sending him back to the Murim dimension was almost like a miracle.

As though Kim Seunghoon was vaguely aware of that fact, he had a calm look although we couldn’t take him down.

And after standing for a while in silence, Kim Seunghoon put out his cigarette and opened his mouth.

“…So, what are your plans from now on?”

“I wonder. Actually, I don’t really have a clear goal yet.”

“…”

“Perhaps I’ll return to the tower soon.”

“Sounds pretty dull. You don’t plan to take a break even a little bit when you’ve just experienced a near-death crisis?”

“Well, I’m fine now, after all. By the way, what are your plans from now on, Kim Seunghoon-ssi?”

“Unfortunately, we have the same idea. After recovering from my leg injury, I’ll return to the Tower immediately.”

I giggled and changed the topic.

“Do you know anything about Katheryn or Oh Choongsuk-ssi?”

At those words, Kim Seunghoon narrowed his eyes and said.

“Regarding that woman, I don’t know a single thing since we never really had a proper conversation, and Oh Choonsuk… yeah, it seems like he’ll only focus on growth for a while in the dungeon of the guild that I run.”

The guild he runs…?

“…I mean, you had a guild that you run?”

I just thought of Kim Seunghoon as a high-ranked hunter…

But seeing that he also runs a guild separately, he seemed to be a really high-ranked hunter to run a guild.

Then, Kim Seunghoon nodded his head as though he understood my question properly and continued his words.

“Ah, come to think of it, I didn’t tell you who I was.”

Kim Seunghoon introduced himself really casually.

“I’m the S-rank hunter in Korea, Lightning King.”

Soon after hearing his introduction, I couldn’t help but be terribly surprised.

***

[Translator – Ramen ]

[Proofreader – DVN-L ]

Lightning King.

Among the 30 or so S-rank hunters in Korea, that title belonged to a different league.

Although he’s a hunter who acted without revealing his identity, the fame of the Lighting King was spread regardless of whether to a hunter or a civilian.

It was understandable.

Unlike the hunters who only cry for their rights, the Lightning King destroyed the disaster-like gates that appeared by himself.

It couldn’t be helped for him to be famous as he destroyed the gates at a speed that even other S-rank hunters couldn’t match, and always kept his identity hidden.

Currently, the hunter named Lightning King was no different from a hero of Korea.

However…

‘To think that Kim Seunghoon was the Lightning King.’

After coming back to the hospital room from the rooftop, I feigned a smile as I looked at the business card in my hand.

-You may contact me if anything comes up that you need to get in touch for.

The business card I was holding was none other than Lightning King, Kim Seunghoon’s, contact information.

-I’ll be honest. You can consider it as a scout. You may contact me for personal matters or something that isn’t.

“A scout, huh.”

As a matter of fact, the guild of the Lightning King was nothing more than an exclusive guild composed of a small number of elites.

Enough to call it a guild created solely for Lightning King’s sake to act.

It’d most likely be great in many ways if I joined the guild of the Lightning King.

But…

‘I guess I don’t have to decide hastily.’

The contract with White Silver was ongoing, and I wasn’t feeling much dissatisfaction.

So I decided to think about this matter later, and I started checking the equipment in the corner of the hospital room.

The Japanese Hunter Association immediately repaired the Vampire Count’s Old Tailcoat, which was damaged in the fierce battle with Namgung Hyuk.

There was almost no damage to the Heavenly Blood Demonic Sword to begin with, and I didn’t have much to worry about the rest of the items.

The real problem wasn’t the items here but a large number of miscellaneous items in the studio apartment.

“I came here to dispose of all of them, but… I guess I have no choice but to return.”

Currently, I had returned to Earth using the lowest grade return stone.

In other words, I’d have to return to the Tower today, which was the third day.

Now that there were only a few hours left until my return, I was determined to enjoy the relaxation on Earth as much as possible.

Ah, of course, there’s also the option of using the return stone right away as soon as I returned to the Tower, but…

I didn’t want to return to the Earth to the point where I’d purchase the return stone right away.

‘Wandering around the dungeon and filling the souls wouldn’t be a bad option.’

However, I currently longed for growth so much that even that time felt like a waste.

I knew better than anyone else that the only thing that could satisfy this longing was the Trial of the Tower.

And therefore, I thought of returning to the Tower immediately, taking the Trial, and growing through the reward for clearing the Trial.

I laid on the hospital bed with all my equipment equipped and turned on my smartphone.

I started surfing the web, ignoring my smartphone screen covered with missed calls and unread messages.

This was because I was bothered by the fact that Kim Seunghoon told me that Korea and Japan were using the title of Ghost Blade towards me.

And…

「Are all challengers this insanely strong?」 

Soon I could see why Korea and Japan started calling me Ghost Blade.

Scenes of me fighting Namgung Hyuk were all over the internet.

Then I thought for a moment if there was anyone who could film this scene, and…

Soon I found out where the source was, through the captured video or photo angle.

‘Ah, it was filmed from the helicopter.’

I figured it out right away when I looked at the angle as though taken by zooming in from above.

I was wondering who in the world would come to the battlefield and shoot that scene.

The Japanese Hunter Association published an article along with the filmed content, which seemed to have a huge impact.

Most of the articles related to me had nothing but similar content.

「Who the hell is this hunter and why is he so good at fighting?」 

「The other challengers don’t stand a chance and are knocked out, but he’s the only one who’s fighting well. 」 

「Hard carried by himself DD: As a matter of fact, isn’t he the only one who settled the case this time?」 

「Does anyone know about this hunter named Han Sungyeun? Who the hell is this person?」 

「Usually, when a bigshot like him makes a debut, even their debut will be published in an article, but Hunter Han Sungyeun has no record at all. Fuck.」 

Half of the articles were about asking who the hell was Hunter Han Sungyeun and why he’s so good at fighting.

When I looked at the comments, most of the comments were actually the same as the posts.

ㄴI think I know who that person is. There was a player-only gym called Baekryeon, and he only did training for 7 years.

ㄴRight. Cap. He never went to a dungeon because he was training for 7 years, and never obtained a license with Hunter exam. Is that what you’re trying to say?

ㄴNo cap, dude… He’s a non-talented player, and was neglected even in the gym. I heard that he had been training for 7 years, but he couldn’t raise a single stat.

ㄴDoes it make sense to you that a talentless bastard who has been training for 7 years and can’t even raise a single stat is now competing one-on-one against a monster that can easily slice dozens of buildings?

Surprisingly, people on the internet guessed my identity, and my identity was almost revealed, but…

Most of the reactions from people were about how an incompetent guy who couldn’t raise any of his stats properly couldn’t become as strong as me.

‘Actually, I’m also surprised that I’ve become this strong.’

I didn’t deny it.

「He’s indeed a Ghost Blade judging from the way he fights. He really fights like a ghost.」 

「Does an average person think of falling from the sky to ram a target with the risk of being crushed?」

「He’s really damn good at fighting. We gotta admit if he’s called Ghost Blade, he’s this much for real, Lol」 

「Ah, it’s said that they couldn’t film a video around the end of the fight with Namgung Hyuk. That’s the biggest bummer.」 

「One hell of a GOAT battle happened in Japan. Why couldn’t they capture it on camera?」 

Looking at the articles written about me, it seems that the Japanese Hunter Association couldn’t leave a video of the latter part of the battle.

‘Well, I couldn’t handle it either when Namgung Hyuk went wild after his restrictions were lifted, so…’

To be honest, I thought I might die too when he cut down dozens of buildings with one slash.

Just by surviving on that battlefield and bringing this video, I felt that the Japanese Hunter Association was quite courageous.

“Other than that, I’m well-known to people now.”

Ghost Blade, huh…

I honestly thought it might be a title that challengers from the Murim dimension would use.

But soon, I was able to let out a grin as I pondered that title.

It wasn’t necessarily a bad feeling, but I felt I wasn’t good enough to use the title of Ghost Blade.

“Shouldn’t I be stronger than this if I’m going to be called a Ghost of the sword?”

Therefore—

「Time over.」 

「Returning to Tower of Trials.」 

Now was the time for me to become strong to suit the reputation I had built up.

——