Chapter 140. Kagoshima Dragon Raid (3)

"I'm truly delighted to be collaborating with people from Korea like this."

"Thank you for the warm welcome."

As I readily accepted his greeting, Ito curled his lips into a smile and continued his warm welcome.

Was your journey here difficult? Are you satisfied with Japan's airport?

After that, to said a few more polite words and guided us politely.

Our destination was a lodging in Kagoshima Prefecture—an esteemed royal hotel with a breathtaking view of the seaside.

***

Thud!

Upon arriving at the hotel, Kang Changho and I met the remaining S-rank hunters of Japan.

However, right from the first meeting, something seemed off. Kang Changho, who stood at about 190 cm, bumped into the doorframe as he entered the room. The hunter on the opposite side froze mid-greeting and exclaimed in surprise.

"H, H, Hello...! But are you alright?"

When an S-rank hunter collides with concrete, it's usually the latter that breaks, so there doesn't seem to be much need to worry.

"Hello, I'm Kim Giryeo."

I confirmed that the doorframe was fine and then extended my hand for a handshake to the person in front of me. By the way, all the hunters in this room have monstrous awakening values.

From the right, S-rank, S-rank, A-rank, S-rank... A team of 10 people consisting of at least A-class or higher. This was the group of dragon hunters that Japan had prepared.

'A-ranks are mostly support types, like buffers or healers.'

I glanced at the hunters gathered around me. Then I heard a bright voice from the other side.

"By the way, I'm truly moved that the Korean hunters have come to help. Thank you for your cooperation in the raid."

"Well."

"As expected from the country of Jung Haseong, Korean hunters have a sense of justice!"

Ah, right. Come to think of it, I only found out after arriving, but surprisingly, Jung Haseong is quite famous in Japan.

"I'm a fan of Jung Haseong~"

"Really? Then you must be disappointed that someone like me came instead of Haseong."

"Heuk! No, no! That's not what I meant at all!"

The hunter, who had introduced himself as Iori, widened his eyes and quickly continued speaking.

"Besides, come to think of it, it's actually a good thing Haseong didn't come! If he had, things would've gotten unnecessarily noisy."

And there was one particular reason behind his negative reaction. Coincidentally, Japan's top-ranked hunter was also a fire-attribute awakener, just like ours.

"This planet has the most fire attribute, so it's not impossible."

As you know, Jeong Ha-seong is a natural pyromancer with a magical power of 1.5 times that of an S-rank average. But it's not just that his magic is powerful. Haseong was once called a Dungeon-Clearing Machine due to his obsession with gate raids, and he built up achievements that were truly beyond human.

"Was that person who greeted us at the airport a Japanese pyromancer?"

Thanks to that, a certain hunter is often compared to Jung Haseong. Because of some crazy workaholic, the unlucky second place is facing unwanted hardships, or so they say.

"Hunter Kim, just in case you don't know, please avoid mentioning Jung Haseong in front of our guild leader."

"Yes. I understand..."

I nodded at the Japanese hunter's advice. They say even tigers come when you call them. Immediately after, the Imabari guild leader entered the room we were in.

"I apologize for being late. I've called in the rest of the team as well."

Under Ito's guidance, four more Japanese hunters entered. These were all the participants for the upcoming dragon raid. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

The reason all the raiders had gathered in one place...

"Thank you all for gathering. As mentioned earlier, please sign the document here."

The knight's oath was soon pushed out. I decided to finalize the terms of the reward before entering the gate. It wouldn't be good if they received help and they later tried to back out of the agreement.

Contract Contents

1. Upon completion of the raid, Kim Giryeo will select one item from the loot dropped by the monsters at the so-called [Kagoshima Gate] and receive it.

2. In order to accurately identify the dropped items, participants of the raid must disclose the rewards they have obtained to Kim Giryeo.

(This must be done within 3 days after the boss's death.)

I will take one item from the dungeon's drops.

"If by some stroke of luck, the dragon's heart drops, I'll be in a tough spot~"

"Akada, stop joking around with important guests."

Right. Normally, they would think I'm after the dragon's heart. But the item I'm aiming for is something entirely different.

'Lung.'

A discarded, useless part with no special function. What I needed was solely that.

"If I get something like a dragon's eye after going through such a small chance, I'd really want to throw everything away."

I unintentionally glanced at the spot where Kang Changho was, but quickly turned my head back to face forward.

"Revealing all the items acquired from the dungeon..."

Although the Japanese side may not be completely satisfied with all the terms, they won't be able to refuse this.

3. If Kim Giryeo fails to 'completely block' the boss monster's actions, the contract is terminated.

3-1. The following is about the criteria for complete blocking... [omitted]

Because, on this side, the conditions for failure were clearly outlined as well.

"Completely block the boss?"

"What is that S-rank's ability attribute?"

"I don't know."

If the helper can't pay for the meal, the contract is invalid. I believed that with just this clause, I had given them enough confidence.

"I think it's a reasonable condition."

"Me too."

"If you think of it as borrowing help from an S-class, it's actually cheaper. It doesn't cost money, right?"

The Japanese hunters paused for a moment, then began signing one by one. Normally, they would have pondered it more deeply, but given the current situation where Japan was on the brink of collapse, they had no choice.

"You're not even going into battle directly, just offering support from behind and taking tips?"

Of course, there were some voices of dissatisfaction, but this was something that would resolve itself naturally.

"Hey, think about it. No matter how many dragons are in that dungeon, it's not like the Dragon's Eye or Dragon's Heart will drop easily, right?"

"T, that's true..."

"Besides, even if it actually drops, if it's true that I can incapacitate an S-rank boss, that's the least I should pay. After all, during the Hawaii incident, the Nuckelavee was the biggest problem."

At this point, anyone would have figured out what was beneficial.

"Okay, it's done."

A moment later, I looked down at the knight's oath signed by all the raiders. Now that the rewards were secured, all that was left was to focus on strategizing the dragon hunt.

"The contract is over, so would you like to have a meal first and listen to our raid plan?"

I accepted Ito's offer.

***

"Korean rankers are arrogant."

At the hotel restaurant, amidst the moderate bustle, Japanese words flowed in a small voice from a table far away from Giryeo's table.

"Since the moment he appeared at the airport until now, his expression hasn't changed at all."

"Really?"

"Are those guys not scared at all, even though they're about to enter an S-rank gate?"

The Japanese man's expression was calm, but his tone was sharp. He wasn't trying to show hostility, but since he was terrified out of his mind while the other person remained unbothered, it stirred up a bit of irritation.

"Hmm."

Upon hearing her words, S-rank hunter Iori turned around. The top-ranked hunters from Korea were still calmly eating. They certainly looked too relaxed for people about to enter a life-or-death situation...

"Maybe it's because they're not directly participating in the battle?"

"That's what I wanted to say!"

Tsk.

The member of the Imabari guild put down his bowl irritably.

"If you're going to help, help properly. Why are you only taking on a support role? And you're saying we'll handle everything except for the main boss monsters?"

"Speak quietly. Your voice will get picked up by the translator."

"At first, I was happy that an S-rank from another country was coming, but this is just for show. It's so petty!"

The A-rank hunter grumbled and added a few more words.

"I wish it had been Jung Haseong instead."

However, even hunter Iori couldn't easily deny this statement.

"That's true..."

The hunter industry in Japan had a significantly different atmosphere compared to Korea. First, all four S-rank hunters were part of the same guild.

Harmony and cooperation. The S-rank hunters here, although their efficiency may be slightly lower, chose to wear equipment that defends against each other's elemental attributes and somehow coordinate their actions with their teammates. As a result, the Imabari guild possesses a significant amount of high-performance fire resistance equipment.

"We can withstand Ito's abilities, so if Hunter Jung Ha-seong had come, the synergy would definitely have been better."

Isn't our Imabari the best when it comes to the skill of collaborating with the best? Iori thought this to himself as he licked his lips. He felt a slight regret for not having had the chance to team up with Korea's number one.

"By the way, did those Koreans not bring any resistance equipment?"

"They said it's fine since they'll both be staying out of the frontlines."

"Seriously, it's so annoying. Those shady guys. I hope they end up getting nothing but some useless junk from the dungeon rewards."

But at that moment, no one knew. What kind of trouble the hunter with the Sambagean eyes would bring to this raid.

***

A little later.

"_"

"_"

The elite hunters from Japan and the dispatched team from Korea stepped into the S-rank gate.

However, the goal this time wasn't to clear the gate. They were simply aligning their formation before the real hunt began.

"Huh?"

The hunters from the archipelago decided to show their hunting style by practicing on a single dragon lingering near the entrance.

At that moment, the Korean dispatched hunter spoke up. He said he wanted to test if his skills would work well. And the result of that was exactly this scene.

Kwaaagh!

Grrr...

A monstrous creature, as grand in scale as a black tidal wave, roared before them. However, unlike the absolute appearance depicted in the myth, the being was miserably bound with thick light threads all over its body.

Sseup.

The dragon then puffed out its lungs. It exhaled and spit out a powerful venom from its mouth.

People, beasts, plants. The vicious poison emanated from the dragon, capable of bringing all beings to death. However, even the dragon's breath, which contained powerful magical power, couldn't break the threads that bound it. On the contrary, the reptile's body was torn apart in return for its struggles, and blood poured out.

Kaaa! Krrr...

It was truly a gruesome end. The hunters gathered at the gate fell into silence as they gazed at the reptile, which had died from excessive blood loss, its eyes rolled back in its head.

"It's going well."

The one who broke this mood was a blond man.

'I only practiced briefly, and one core's power was gone.'

Ugh! The [Infinite Power Core] was originally an item unsuitable for hunting.

If mana potions are like hamburgers, the core is like gasoline. It's not something meant for people, but a material that can supply power to a specific magic spell with a fixed range.

'If I could use Fireball with this magic core, it'd be just like Jung Haseong by now.'

But when something reaches its limit, a path usually appears. The core's lack of mobility became a trivial issue in the face of the great wizard's skill. He used this magic source to build a magic that could suppress even dragons.

'T, this skill... Could it be [Binding]?'

What he demonstrated was a low-level binding spell. Here, it's referred to as [Binding].

'On Earth, the higher your magic power, the more binding power you have. It's not that strange for an S-class hunter to be like this, right?'

Unlike the awakened ones here, he, a true magician, had the ability to manually adjust the intensity of his binding skill. However, Giryeo merely nodded and kept quiet. Once it became clear that the others had to activate their powers with their own bodies, while he could entrust even that to the core, it wouldn't just end with envy.

"Hmm."

Of course, this wasn't something that could be used recklessly for other reasons as well. Since one of the cores in his possession was destroyed in the demonstration just now, it won't be able to do anything.

"Anyway, I've shown you my abilities, so I'll leave the rest to you. If you protect me until the end of the dungeon, I'll bind the boss in the same way. I'll make sure to shut its mouth too. It won't be able to do anything."

In any case, it was the height of inefficiency. At this point, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it [Binding but Bankblock Smashing]...

Giryeo quietly finished his thoughts.

But for some reason, there was no answer from the other side.

"That's binding?"

"Like a fool..."

"Why is a Hunter that ranked 9th in Korea?"

A murmur.

The Japanese hunters suddenly whispered among themselves with serious expressions.

"Ito-san, come to think of it, I heard somewhere that this person doesn't belong to any guild?"

And then, the air around them began to stir due to a single word spoken by someone in the group.

"He doesn't have a guild?"

"He doesn't belong to a guild?"

"Yes. From what I've checked, that person is completely a freelancer."

"Huh?"

"What?"