Chapter 114

What happens when a person whose habit was evil deeds is fried in hellfire and comes out alive?

"... Fuck..."

The answer was that they did not change much.

"Fucking... Seriously, why the hell did I..."

Park Eun-gyeom's daily life had changed overnight.

A Grade 1 citizen and a B-class Hunter.

His looks were decent enough, and since his profession made his body his asset, his physique was good too.

It felt like only yesterday that he had pitied the fools who came crawling to him without knowing their place, even as he enjoyed the sweetness of it.

'But ever since I fell into that dungeon...'

The atmosphere had turned on its head.

"That person..."

"I hear he did it habitually."

"The end times, I swear."

People whispered as they looked at him.

"Hunter Park, I heard you got dragged into Black Cloak's dungeon and came back."

"... Yes, well, that's true."

"The aftereffects must be bad, so why are you out instead of getting some proper rest?"

The Hunters he knew were no different.

"Rumor's everywhere that you must be tired from the Association's requests for cooperation these days."

The B-class Hunter who said that swept a subtly uneasy and irritated glance around him.

Even if he did not know the exact reason, his expression said he knew at least that Park Eun-gyeom had been dragged to the Association and questioned over and over.

'He must be wondering if I'm still under surveillance even now.'

But that suspicion was not entirely off the mark either.

'Damn it, why am I being treated like this...!'

In reality, he was in fact under the Association's surveillance.

He simply could not understand it.

If a precious Grade 1 citizen, a capable B-class Hunter, had survived an unidentified dungeon and made it out, were they not supposed to praise and encourage him, then compensate him for the damage?

He had no idea why the gazes of the people around him were this sharp.

"Well, a Hunter... has to work."

"If I don't work, who will protect the citizens?"

"... Is that so?"

"Then do whatever you want."

The other man clicked his tongue and walked away.

"..."

It was a reaction filled with unmistakable contempt and pity.

'... What was that reaction just now? Even if he's a B-class Hunter too, isn't this too much? I already knew that bastard was territorial, but to be this blatant...'

He ground his teeth.

'A bastard who was Grade 3 until not long ago. He's so low-class I can't even associate with him.'

The sight of a country bumpkin who had lived chewing on monster meat strutting just because he Awakened well was truly horrific.

He forced himself to ignore the whispers and went looking for work.

There were plenty of people looking for B-class Hunters.

He was not someone who would collapse like this.

But.

"I'm sorry."

"... Look, I don't know what kind of rumors are spreading these days, but..."

"I'm sorry, Hunter Park Eun-gyeom."

"Our agency cannot arrange work for you."

"You're seriously acting all high and mighty because you believe those fucking rumors?"

"Hey!"

"Do you know how much money I've earned for this place!!"

"I'm sorry, please visit another agency."

At this point, he was even being ignored by some ordinary employee who was not even a Hunter.

"Ha, unbelievable."

"Watching Hunters work their asses off in this filthy little agency makes you think you're something, huh...?"

"A bastard who'd die if someone so much as tapped you is looking down on Hunters like they're a fucking joke, fuck!!"

"P-Please, calm down..."

"You think I'll let you get away with this?"

"You think I will?"

"Bullshit, you worthless little shit..."

"I'm saying I came here myself to work."

"Huh?"

"What grade are you?"

"What grade are you to act this fucking obnoxious!!"

For a moment, he felt satisfaction and exhilaration at the frightened look on the employee's face.

"Hunter Park Eun-gyeom, please leave."

"What?"

"No, you're telling me to leave?"

"Are you insane?"

"Leave."

"Now."

The agency guards stepped forward and forced him out of the building.

Since it was an agency frequented by Hunters from Grade 1 citizen backgrounds in its own way, most of the guards were C-class Hunters.

Even if his own rank was higher, it was only natural that he had no choice but to back down when pressed by a group.

"No, you, you, you crazy bastards...!!"

"Have you lost your minds?!"

"Do you not know me?!"

"Do you not know who I am!!"

"Ah, we know you well."

"We called you Hunter Park Eun-gyeom earlier, didn't we?"

One of the guards clicked his tongue and spoke.

"Aren't you the Hunter who doesn't know porters are worth anything and tosses them somewhere as monster bait, huh?"

"T-That...!!"

What the hell was wrong with that?

"... I-I'm not the only one who does that."

"Huh?"

"Am I the only one?"

"I'm not."

"Aside from me, no."

"No?"

"Hey, let's be honest."

"Do those F-ranks, those porters, look human to you?"

"Do they fucking look human to you!!"

Yes, this was the fucking rumor that had spread.

When the situation was bad, abandoning a porter in a dungeon was something everyone did in secret.

It was already irritating enough that all they did was carry luggage, and yet they had to be fed too.

It was only natural to want to throw away freeloaders like that.

After all, I was having a hard time too.

When the situation was already dangerous, it couldn't be helped that there was no room to look after a porter too.

"Of course I know that's a bad thing."

"But, huh?"

"Think about it."

"Does everyone obey the signal when they cross at a crosswalk?"

"No, they don't."

"No, I know it's bad too, so I did my own... my own...!"

"Your own?"

"What, hid it well in your own way?"

"..."

"Wow, this bastard is really properly insane."

The guard cackled at another colleague.

"Isn't he a murderer who doesn't even know he's a murderer?"

"You can say that again."

"Bastards like this are the real deal."

"Ugh, I'm sick of him."

"Even a Grade 5 citizen would have better self-awareness than this."

Rage surged up in him.

"Who are you comparing to a Grade 5 citizen...!!"

But no one listened.

"Wouldn't this be exactly why the Association is monitoring him?"

"There's never been a repeat offender like this repeat offender."

"It's hilarious that he came out looking for work when rumors have spread everywhere."

"This is the real joke."

"What, even Grade 1 citizens suffer from money problems and stuff?"

"Hey, hey, our precious Grade 1 citizen is pissed."

"Let's head back too."

"Ooh, scary."

"If he gets angry, will he give us a roundhouse kick too?"

"Like this, bam!!"

"Ah, you crazy bastard."

"Stop being so fucking funny."

"We're on the clock, cut it out."

The way they treated him like some idle amusement left him speechless.

"... What, what..."

He really wanted to cry.

In the end, he was left alone before the whispering crowd.

"..."

He did not know how many times this had already happened.

A Hunter was only trying to do Hunter work, so what had the agency employees eaten wrong that they only ever said no?

This was all because the Association had openly called him in.

"... I-I'm not being monitored, I'm being protected..."

An Association employee had definitely said that.

That it was not surveillance, but a protective measure.

That because they did not know when Black Cloak might appear again and try to harm him, they were only observing his progress.

They had begged so profusely that he not take offense.

Though his mood had been foul after being toyed with by a damn monster, he had thought well of the Association employees and accepted that protection.

It was laughable for mere civil servants to dare talk about whether they would protect a B-class Hunter or not, but he had let it all slide.

"... Black Cloak is such a fucking dangerous monster, and they, they..."

He had meant to personally inform them of the danger of Black Cloak, who was known to the world as some random little event.

"Do they know how much I went through to get out..."

That was why he had done it.

"..."

"..."

"... Is that him?"

Rookie Hunters going from agency to agency murmured.

"You know, the one who got dragged off by Black Cloak for beating his porter..."

"I heard he didn't just beat him, but was going to leave him in a dungeon entirely."

"What a crazy bastard."

Someone muttered.

"Sounds like he deserved to get dragged off by Black Cloak."

Rage surged up in him once more, and he shouted.

"What do you mean I deserved to get dragged off, you sons of bitches!!"

"N-No, we were just..."

"Do you know how dangerous that bastard Black Cloak is as a monster?"

"Huh?"

"Do you know!"

"Well..."

"He grabs perfectly fine people and turns them into wrecks...!!"

A Hunter who looked like a damn kid twisted his face.

"D-Decent person, my ass..."

"Excuse me, the rumors have already spread everywhere, okay?"

For someone frightened, he spoke in a way that was fucking hilarious.

"They say Black Cloak only takes bad people."

"Right, and they said he won't take you unless you're bad enough to commit murder or abuse."

"It's not a monster that takes you away for jaywalking, so what the hell are you talking about?"

When stupid bastards gathered in one place, there was no talking to them.

"Of course it's a scary monster to him because he's a bad bastard himself."

"Why would it be scary to people like us?"

"Well... since it's a monster, it is dangerous, but I heard it doesn't cause harm unless things are pretty extreme..."

"Did you hear that it gives you a gift if you meet it?"

"Wow, after hearing that, I kind of want to meet it too."

"Forget it."

"No matter what, it's still a dangerous monster recognized by the Association."

"In any case, we just have to be careful."

"Come on, you're being way too cautious."

"They say the gifts that monster gives are that delicious."

"Right, and I heard the effects are good too."

"They said it's practically medicine."

They were not affirming the notorious son of a bitch, but the strange urban legend currently spreading through the city.

"I heard you can miss out on Black Cloak's gift if you're unlucky."

"I'm still a little scared."

"What if I get dragged away for some sin I don't even know about..."

"It's a monster, so we should be wary, but don't worry."

"Yeah, unless your personality is as wrecked as his, you probably won't get dragged away."

"I heard Black Cloak's works are amazing."

"I want to go see them."

Black Cloak, who gave gifts to good people and punishment to bad people, was popular among the citizens.

A polite humanoid monster who did not harm people in most cases filled the city dwellers' sense of romance to the brim.

There were people who feared him, but no one hated him.

"But why is that bastard starting shit with us?"

"No idea."

"Guess we look easy..."

"This is why grade supremacists are..."

"He's disgracing all the Grade 1 citizens by himself, tsk tsk."

By contrast, there were many people who would hate a criminal recognized by the Association for no reason at all.

"Did his Hunter license not get revoked?"

"He's disgraced all Hunters himself, so where does he get that confidence..."

And so, in the end.

"..."

The person named Park Eun-gyeom was isolated.

"... You, you, you..."

The injustice of no one understanding his pain.

The rage at being treated this way for the first time in his life, and the fear hidden behind it.

The bewilderment from the humiliation he had suffered in front of countless people.

He, who had been holding back because he did not want to be dragged back into the City of Emptiness, raised his mace.

"You pieces of trash!!!"

"Aaaah!!"

"Stop him!"

"Fuck off, you sons of bitches, you, you pieces of...!!"

And that sight.

"..."

The gray city was watching.