The Hunter of the Other World Who Is Being Misunderstood Chapter 297

Episode 297. Fact (2)

It’s morning.

The third day of the Tokyo Artifact Fair dawned safely.

There was a bit of chaos in the middle though.

Thanks to the unintended activities of the Awakened Ones, the initial response was effective and the highlight auction seemed to have proceeded without a hitch.

That’s why everyone was able to celebrate the last day of the event like today.

‘There’s still a lot of time until the flight, but I guess I should eat. Let’s get moving.’

It would have been nice to have seen the auction site as well, but that would have been okay too.

As you can see, as soon as he saw the starting bid, he gave up the competition at the speed of light and instead took a good look at other parts of the event venue.

I soon waited for departure empty-handed.

‘Let’s stop by the ice cream shop one more time before we go. They have a few flavors that aren’t available in Korea.’

Originally, I was planning to run away as soon as I succeeded in stealing some black fabric… … .

‘Hmm.’

Since the plan has already failed, is there any point in returning home early?

The act of changing the reserved tickets and running away in a panic as soon as the incident occurred created a sense of discomfort.

So, I tried my best to hide my suspicious feelings and forced myself to enjoy sightseeing until the third day.

‘… By the way, these people here. They won’t even take a statement from me, who was actually there.’

If I think about it carefully, there is something that makes me a little uneasy.

‘Is the investigative culture different here in a foreign country?’

No matter how cautious I am, there is no action from the other side, so at this point in time, just before departure, there is no sign of tension.

In front of the ice cream shop inside the event venue, which we arrived at soon after.

I held the cash I borrowed from Seonwooyeon in one hand, raised my phone to my face, and checked the screen.

‘hmm.’

First of all, I decided not to cancel the reservation emails that formally expressed the meaning of ‘please save me’ until I safely entered Korea.

‘Let’s see. Seon Woo-yeon’s number.’

I exited the mail app and went into the phone call screen.

But at this moment.

Suddenly, I got a call from outside.

‘Iorine?’

On the first day, the number of the Japanese hunter I had saved after seeing his business card appeared on the screen.

“Huh? Hello?”

And the content of the phone call that followed was… … .

‘You want to suddenly meet me at Building A so I can release the controls?’

what.

Are you planning on publicly beheading him if you get caught cheating on the first day?

At that moment, I thought that way, but Iori’s explanation that followed was not like that at all.

Instead, the great engineer wanted me to tell him a very interesting story.

therefore.

“Yes, I understand. Then, in 10 minutes, in Building A……”

Anyway, there are Korean government officials at this event who you can’t mess with, so it’ll be okay, right?

After thinking about it for a moment, I obediently accepted Iori’s request and moved to the courtesy building.

But soon inside the exhibition hall.

“hmm?”

I encountered an S-class hunter waiting there.

It was an unexpected face.

The one who made the call was Iori, but the one who was actually waiting was Moritake.

Moreover, the adult man who always had a serious expression on his face suddenly smiled broadly and started telling me this.

“Hunter Kim Ki-ryeo. The negotiation went well!”

It was disconcerting, but at the same time good news.

I heard the negotiation went well.

“This is the [Fragment of Midnight] that was on display here. After talking to the Technology Agency, we finally got permission to export it overseas!”

This is better news than you can imagine.

If I act rashly here, I will look overly happy. So I held my facial muscles as tightly as possible and changed the subject for no reason.

“By the way, where is Iori-san? I received a call from him.”

“Ah, Iori Yamasaka, you mean. That ranker is actually not at the venue right now because he had to check with the police or something due to the incident that happened in Building A.”

“hmm.”

“But that’s not important. For now, our negotiations regarding [Fragments of the Midnight] with Japan have definitely ended.”

The explanation from the Japanese representative hunter that followed is as follows.

Moritake continued to pray to the country, the real owner of [Fragments of the Midnight], throughout the event.

In response, the Japanese Magic Technology Agency proposed that if the Imabari Guild were to help the national research project as an S-ranker, they would allow it.

Japan’s top three hunters have immediately approved this.

Why?

Those three were all involved in past dragon raids.

‘For a selfish intellectual, you’re good at apologizing.’

Well, it’s true that if you’ve gotten to Legendary, you should know how to do it.

I glanced at my opponent’s item box and then fixed my expression again.

“I, I, I. But unfortunately……”

What immediately stood out was Ito’s somewhat timid attitude.

“Just one thing. There is a condition.”

“hmm?”

“The government has declared that it cannot give this away for free.”

After listening to the overview carefully.

I wonder if the Japanese government has any research that it absolutely must do regarding this epic level.

They say that even if they hand me the fragments of the night, they plan to buy used copies of the same item overseas in the future.

But the price of these epic-grade used items that were traded in the past is so high.

“[It would cost an astronomical amount of money to bring in a new [Fragment of the Midnight]. Even if it were to come up for sale, it is said that it would be difficult to get this much budget allocated from the political world. Besides, the competition with the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology is fierce these days….”

It’s long one way or another.

In summary, Moritake’s words were as follows.

“It may sound like an outrageous price, but the Technology Office says that this is the minimum amount required to transfer the epic to the Hunter.”

“Tell me.”

“We cut, cut, cut… The price we were offered was 10.2 billion yen.”

But coincidentally, when I calculated this in Korean Won, I got a price that was roughly familiar.

‘It’s similar to the 100 billion won in my bank account.’

When I offered 200-300 billion won on the first day of the event, they didn’t even pretend to listen.

‘That’s why the original price was like this. Well, unlike [Twin Guardian Angels], this item shows a protection method that has never been seen before.’

After coming to some kind of understanding, I took out my phone for a moment.

When I calculated the Japanese yen and South Korean yen at the current exchange rate, after sending 10.8 billion yen including transaction taxes such as value-added tax, I ended up with about 2 billion won left in my account.

Huge numbers.

Assuming that the fees for sending money overseas on this planet aren’t too steep, it doesn’t seem like a bad deal…

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. It was definitely not our intention. The government just set the price and that’s how it came to be.”

“That’s amazing.”

“The Technology Office has conveyed that transfers below this point will be extremely difficult.”

Moritake.

To put it somewhat rudely, a long man like a dry toothpick is sweating profusely.

He kept looking this way, wondering what was so scary about an F-class with no magic power.

“Besides, the biggest problem is that our Imabari Guild currently has no cash. I know it sounds really rude, but Hunter Kim Ki-ryeo. Actually, we were preparing compensation for the Kagoshima incident that happened a while ago… no, distribution money… “

“yes.”

“We are really using up all the funds we have and running the company on debt for now. So, it is realistically difficult for us, Imabari, to pay the transfer fee proposed by the Technology Agency.”

But from my perspective, I am just happy about the current proposal.

So basically, doesn’t this mean that if you pay money, they’ll hand you the entire black fabric?

‘Actually, considering the actual function of that fabric, a price of 100 billion is actually an underestimate. Now that I think about it, looking at the auction results, [Triaina] almost went for a low price.’

I soon decided.

Yeah, good.

I’ll buy you some fabric.

Ito opened his eyes wide in surprise as if he was surprised because he said that without even thinking for a second, but he immediately went ahead with the transaction.

“Ah, I understand! Then I will contact the venue manager right away to remove the decoration barrier.”

I’ve gotten everything I wanted. From now on, it’d be a waste of time to waste any more time here.

‘I was halfway giving up, but I really got this.’

I’m excited.

In this way, I was able to return home feeling proud, having achieved the initial purpose of coming to Tokyo.

If I had known I would have this much money left over, I would have just paid for the most expensive seat on the plane.

Well, I was curious about the other ranks anyway, so I guess I’ll be satisfied with satisfying my curiosity.

***

A few hours later again.

Event venue in Tokyo.

“What about Mr. Kim Ki-ryeo?”

“I went back. To Korea.”

Now, the restoration work on Building A has been completed.

The final event of the fair, the Ijewa Show, has now ended and visitors are disappearing from the city like an ebb tide.

“Without a hitch……”

Because of the mother terror.

It’s no longer an event where such expressions are used.

“I heard that the goal of the third expo was to end without any problems, but it seems like it was a spectacular failure.”

“hmm.”

“But does it really matter? After all, the success or failure of an exhibition like this doesn’t have any influence on the people in the hunter industry.”

An S-class Awakener named Moritake chooses a crest.

The person he is currently talking to is a new generation of swordsman who founded a guild (yamasaka) with the same pronunciation as his last name.

Iori, a competitor in the hunter industry who became CEO at a much younger age than Moritake and who also led the company to a frightening upward trend, threw out a topic of conversation in place of Moritake who had fallen silent.

“Do you really think this event has nothing to do with us?”

The awakened one looked quite serious at the moment.

“hmm?”

As a Japanese person, it’s definitely a shame that Tokyo is being put on the map.

However, thinking about it again, I don’t think this event being a mess is something to be so depressed about… … ?

“Why are you speaking so seriously?”

As Moritake spoke in a series of judgments, his conversation partner lightly gestured for him to come over for a moment.

And Iori went into a square where the surveillance cameras couldn’t reach and wrote and erased these words on my cell phone.

【Notepad】

[I went outside the event venue after the auction was over. Because the items went to the buyer and there was nothing left to guard.]

[Right?]

[But at that time, I went out and met with the police… and the detective agency that had assigned the job to me in advance, and we gathered information.]

A detective agency.

‘Isn’t that a place where they investigate adultery or missing persons? …?’

When a certain word flashes across the screen of a cell phone, the person looking at it opens their eyes wide.

But Iori continued typing on the keyboard with a blank expression.

[After investigating, it turns out that this incident was backed by anti-Japanese factions.]

Anti-heresy.

A name mainly used in Japan as the name of a faction of anti-Awakeners.

The archipelago’s representative hunter frowned at the mention of that word.

People who hate things that are different from themselves have always existed, regardless of time or place. However, it is true that it is unpleasant when you become the target of that contempt.

“Them again?”

But it seemed like this artifact rampage incident was heavily intertwined with that polarizing group from the beginning.

“How on earth?”

When his former coworker showed interest, Iori explained.

[You’ll be surprised when you hear that. The National Party member who was loitering around on the other side of the venue might also be from there.]

The starting point is a section of the Supreme Court.

Japan – and most OECD countries, of course – strictly regulates possession of any item with more than the power of a handgun by law.

This regulation is usually done by the general public who are not aware of it.

Additionally, it was particularly harsh on those who were not in special occupations such as the police.

It was a situation where not only smuggling but even picking up items that were left on the street during the Red Gate process could result in punishment.

However, public opinion against this artifact regulation has recently grown stronger in the United States, Japan, and other places.

This is why there was a surge of suspicious items on the first day of the event.

[After investigating, I found that there was a stooge of that cult among the hired security guards.]

This terrorist attack was the result of a group of people trying to manipulate public opinion because they were dissatisfied with the fact that dungeon items were exclusive to hunters.

The main argument of the non-awakened forces is similar wherever you go.

Just now, the guy next door awakened to E-class and started making fire.

If you look at the fighting power of the Awakened, aren’t they comparable to a single pistol even with their bare hands?

But why can’t ordinary people use items as weapons?

‘There was another indiscriminate killing incident in Shibuya at the end of last year… … .’

If things continue this way, when a superpowered person decides to commit murder, he or she will die without being able to resist.

Therefore, some citizens have been hoping for the lifting of artifact regulations for self-defense, and this claim, combined with the anti-Sect’s contempt for the Awakened, has caused an incident.

[It seems like the whole thing was a fabrication, that the security company was chosen to be in charge of the exhibition. Not only that, but the younger brother of the president, who has the most experience in the company, is a member of that faction.]

When Japanese guards affected by epic artifacts harm visitors.

They tried to quietly lower the level of regulation by taking advantage of the enormous criticism from the international community that followed.

‘The picture itself is plausible.’

surely.

If there had been fatal casualties, Japanese law would no longer be able to invoke the pretext of ‘protection’.

Since even superpowered people handle items so dangerously, it’s obvious that public opinion will boil over as to what’s the point of leaving it up to them alone to manage it.

“Was that so……”

Moritake’s expression hardened as he realized the facts revealed through the background investigation.

But it’s not like the Awakened wanted to monopolize the items and ended up monopolizing them.

Do those who want weapons but aren’t anti-fans really want the dungeon’s mysteries to be indiscriminately released into the market?

“under.”

It was around the time when I had a lot of thoughts.

“I’m so pissed.”

Next to me, Iori turns off his phone and speaks.

“I understand that you want to protect yourself in these chaotic times. The news always says that the Awakened destroyed the road or something. They exaggerate the bad parts, so of course everyone is anxious.”

“Iori.”

“But isn’t this just too much? How can someone be so greedy as to kill an unaware spectator in order to obtain magic?”

He now expressed his despair by covering his face with both hands.

“Every time I realize that we are a nation of such factions, I want to emigrate…….”

If this is true, it’s a big problem.

“Anyway, why should I want to avoid those guys? I love Tokyo, and I’m going to live here for the rest of my life.”

Fortunately, however, this awakened person seems to have a lot of affection for his homeland. The conversation that followed was filled with reassuring stories.

“That, that’s what happened? I thought you, Iori, would really defect if the time came because you only listen to Korean songs all the time……”

“What does a song have to do with nationality? K-POP is good in its own way, but of course, living is different.”

“Uh huh.”

“But if I were to receive a scout from overseas, I think the country they would really consider first would be South Korea.”

“Why?”

“I felt it for sure through this incident.”

Because in that country, there are proper hunters.

“Even though I’m an S-ranker, I still think safety first.”

Iori mutters as he puts his phone back in his pocket.

As the withdrawal from Building A was almost complete, it seemed like he was also thinking of leaving with the staff around him.

“If it weren’t for Mr. Kim Ki-ryeo, this incident would have spread to an unimaginable extent.”

“that’s right.”

“If the situation hadn’t been prevented in advance, Japan would probably have been criticized by all sorts of media outlets, with the Awakened themselves all grouped together… “

But around this time.

“ah.”

Iori suddenly stopped and brought up a new topic.

Because a familiar-looking exhibition stand was just demolished right before my eyes.

“Oh, by the way. Now that I think about it, I just remembered something. Did you finish your negotiations with Hunter Kim Ki-ryeo?”

“bargaining?”

“[Fragments of the Midnight] thing. Even though Imabari tried to haggle down the price, I remember it being quite large in scale.”

To this, Moritake replied:

Don’t worry.

The Korean concluded the deal without much objection.

“iced coffee…….”

Because the opponent spent a whopping 100 billion won.

In these circumstances, his payment came across as one thing.

“As expected of an S-class person, he doesn’t have much attachment to money.”

“That’s true.”

“At this point, even if we had prepared 100 billion won, we probably wouldn’t have been that happy.”

Judging from the fact that they wanted an epic-level item that was already used, it seems like Korea is also trying to analyze [Fragments of the Night] and study the skill nullification mechanism.

And Kim Ki-ryeo is a very considerate man, so he might want to donate it to his country.

They chatted for a while, trying to figure out why the other person had bought the item.

“Wait a minute. But if we pay the entire 100 billion we sent as research materials, Mr. Kim Ki-ryeo will end up in debt?”

Towards the end, a sentence like this also flowed.

“debt?”

“These are dividends earned overseas. Unlike the sales proceeds from items that are usually deducted in advance, they are usually taxed separately in the following year.”

“Ah, taxes.”

“I’m not sure about the ratio since the laws are different from Japan’s, but if we take this unit, it’s roughly around 20 billion… No, Mr. Kim Ki-ryeo is even a guild member, so 40 billion won will be collected in taxes, right?”

They soon dropped the subject in a lighter tone.

“Iori. It’s okay. Hunter Kim Ki-ryeo probably made those calculations and made the deal anyway.”

“I guess so?”

“The opponent is a man who not only noticed the commotion in the other building, but also took perfect action in a matter of seconds. But there’s no way such a quick-witted person wouldn’t have considered the minus.”

“but.”

Aren’t the most useless things in the world to worry about successful celebrities and high-level awakened people?

“Besides, if you are a top-level Awakened person, the amount of money you have saved up will be enormous.”

“Now that I hear it, it seems my worries were for nothing.”

That is absolutely correct.

Now is the time to worry about what to do with the hatred for the Awakened that is rampant within this archipelago, rather than the taxes of outsiders who have flown in on airplanes.

The two Japanese people inside the venue nodded as they thought so.

Soon, we all started walking slowly back to our seats.