When I Returned to Farming, National-level Big Juniors Flock - Chapter 28



Only Krnovel

28. The firepower is different.

The National Security Agency controls the issue of Hunter’s aftereffects.

When Oh Hyeon-seong heard that, he had a question.

Choi Jeong-il spoke to him like that.

“As hunters go out into the field, their resilience gradually approaches zero. Then, when they sustain a major injury, they suffer mental and physical aftereffects. Although each hunter’s case is different, this is common sense that everyone knows from experience.”

“yes.”

Some people get noticed for their shining talents, but after just a few gates, their self-recovery powers run out and their Hunter’s lifespan ends.

The Hunter’s body, with its resilience depleted and the aftereffects exploding, falls rapidly without any chance of recovery.

However, some people, as ordinary people, take up the sword, but through hundreds of gate raids, they advance without any aftereffects and continue to climb higher.

That’s why in the past there was a saying that those who survive until the end are strong.

Han Su-yeon, Choi Jeong-il, and other juniors were also selected because they possessed top-class qualities in this area.

But even Oh Hyun-seong, who was leading those teams, felt his body creaking as he led numerous scenes, and eventually collapsed after the final battle.

“Finding out that part was the biggest research project of our lab, and we poured a lot of manpower and money into it. As a result, we discovered that the cause of all the problems was ‘turbid air.’”

“The table…?”

Oh Hyun-seong tilted his head.

If it was the monster’s aura, it was an aura that was prevalent not only at the current gate but throughout the entire Earth.

It was present in the ground we were standing on, in the crops in the fields, and even in the clear river water.

It’s just that the concentration was very faint.

Except for the restricted areas designated by the government, the residual turbidity did not cause any major problems to the human body.

Although it is said to be the main culprit in disrupting the ecosystem and producing disgustingly tasteless crops, its harmlessness has already been proven through numerous studies on humans.

“If the takgi was that much of a problem, wouldn’t all the ordinary people have been wiped out by now?”

“To be precise, the direct exposure to the turbid air at the gate is the problem. It has no relation to the general public, but it has a long-term negative effect only on hunters who enter the gate and fight monsters.”

The turbid air emitted from the gate and the turbid air remaining on Earth are on different levels.

That is why entry of the general public into gate sites above a certain level is strictly prohibited in any way.

But humans are not stupid.

The extreme level of turbidity at the gate is something we have been wary of for a long time, and we have been responding accordingly.

The fact that we started to assign ratings to all gates and hunters was originally created to determine whether the hunter’s body could withstand the turbid energy of the scene.

“Just as a 9th-rank Hunter would never be assigned to an S-rank Gate, if we just follow the current ranking system, there would be no problems with our bodies due to the turbid energy, right?”

“Unfortunately, the problem is that ‘it just looks like there’s nothing wrong’. You may not feel anything wrong at the scene, and when you come back and get tested, there seems to be nothing wrong, but even a little bit of the toxic air you were exposed to accumulates in your body. It remains in your body forever until you die, and it gradually builds up and eats away at you.”

Choi Jeong-il continued speaking.

“There is no such thing as a safe line. Even if I, a 12th-rank hunter, were to attack a D-rank gate instead of an S-rank one and return, the accumulated turbid energy would remain in my body forever.”

“for a moment…”

Oh Hyun-seong touched his forehead for a moment.

A story that is very contrary to common sense.

Then, isn’t the terrible aftereffects that remained in his body also ultimately due to the turbid air?

This means that a huge amount of accumulated turbid energy is contained within this body, having accumulated over a period of ten years.

“If that’s true, why isn’t it known to the world yet?”

“After our research institute discovered this fact, we tried to inform the world. However, the moment we were about to announce it, the government blocked it. And it wasn’t that we were trying to cover it up later; the government research institute had already released the results. They already knew everything.”

“So why are you controlling a problem that needs to be known?”

“The reason is simple. The government doesn’t want hunters to become a job that is undesirable. Rather, it wants the current trend to continue.”

“Ha… Ignorance is bliss, huh? You managed to stay still.”

“Rather than trying to set it on fire, I tried to find a direct solution first. But there was no answer. It just became more pessimistic. Until my senior showed up.”

The reason why Choi Jeong-il couldn’t bring it up was because there was no practical treatment method to deal with the problem.

There was no way to scrape out the turbid energy that had accumulated in the human body.

It was deemed theoretically impossible, and the prevailing view was that it would remain impossible for several decades to come.

All he could do was adjust the schedules of his fellow hunters as much as possible to lessen their burden.

That was also the reason why, after Joo Ji-hye got sick, she avoided the gate site as much as possible and focused on other schedules such as filming.

‘It feels like I’ve been hit in the back of the head. And on top of that, I didn’t know that these problems would all lead to one big problem.’

Oh Hyun-seong whetted his appetite.

But thanks to that, the outlines became clear.

The crops grown by the spirits did not simply heal injuries, but also neutralized the fundamental cause of the damage, the turbid energy in the body. It also explained why he had never heard the spirits’ voices before.

A strong hypothesis formed in his head.

“Senior.”

“hmm?”

“There’s one thing… I’d like to ask you.”

Choi Jeong-il said with a very serious expression.

Before I knew it, I had even put down the spoon I was holding.

“Please.”

Oh Hyun-seong let out a sly laugh.

Just by looking at his expression, you could tell how much he was worried before he started talking.

And since he seemed to know what he was going to say, he stood up and dusted himself off.

“Get up. Let’s go out and talk.”

***

“Hehehe~”

Joo Ji-hye, sitting in the yard, hummed a tune.

I’ve been just blankly staring outside for a while now, but I never get tired of the scenery outside.

I have a picky taste in movies, so I would run away if I thought it was a waste of time, but I can’t believe I’m watching something like this.

I thought that only now could I understand the feelings of my parents who sent me landscape photos.

“uh?”

At that moment, she felt a strange gaze looking at her.

I looked around and my eyes met with something small behind the kimchi storage jar.

At first I thought maybe a rat had sneaked in, but it wasn’t that big.

“Got it!”

Joo Ji-hye, who jumped out of her seat in an instant, caught the guy.

But when she saw the guy in her hand, her eyes widened.

Struggling.

“Huh? Why is there an otter in a place like this?”

You didn’t see things wrong.

A fluffy otter is caught and hanging.

The guy was flailing around in a panic, but Joo Ji-hye just stared at him blankly, as if she had been hit in the head.

“Cute… cute.”

Joo Ji-hye’s expression became hazy.

She was quite weak to cute things.

From its cute appearance to its loud crying, it drives people crazy.

“Heeeet~”

Joo Ji-hye stretched the otter’s cheeks.

The guy slapped my hand away as if he didn’t like it, but even that was cute.

Joo Ji-hye, who had rushed in without knowing it, grabbed the guy’s chubby hand tightly and then rubbed his cheek.

“Hehehe. Hello?”

Joo Ji-hye hugs the guy tightly and doesn’t let go.

The fluffy texture made me dizzy.

The more the otter struggled, the tighter she hugged him, not wanting to let him go.

“Where are you going?”

“Follow me and you’ll find out.”

At that time, Oh Hyeon-seong and Choi Jeong-il came out.

Their gaze naturally turned towards Joo Ji-hye, who was making a fuss in the middle of the yard.

“Hey… you…!”

Oh Hyun-seong looked at Joo Ji-hye in shock.

Choi Jeong-il also became contemplative.

“What are you doing now?”

“Oh, an otter suddenly came into the yard! I don’t know where it came from…”

“Get away from me! That’s not an otter, that’s Albert!”

“Huh…? Is that the spirit from back then?”

What the heck is that nonsense?

But before she could even lower her head, she felt a cold chill rise up to her chin.

Tsk tsk tsk!

In the end, she ended up frozen in place.

***

“Ughhhh…”

Joo Ji-hye, sitting on the floor, is crouching and shivering.

Next to her, who had just been rescued, small fire spirits were sitting around her, warming her body.

It was unusual for the spirits to hide their faces, but they willingly gave their warmth to Oh Hyeonseong’s request.

“Oh… Thank you…”

Joo Ji-hye trembled and spoke to the spirits.

Albert, who had made her like that, was standing on Oh Hyeon-seong’s shoulder, just as in the picture.

“Sorry, this guy’s a bit picky.”

Oh Hyun-seong said, shaking his head.

Albert, who was very picky and only showed affection to the contractor, was not even able to approach or touch Choi Jeong-il.

The only one who would allow others to touch her when she was in a good mood was Han Su-yeon, who had a natural sociability.

“… It’s my fault… I’m going to go to my room and rest.”

The fire spirits also followed her closely, perhaps because they were concerned about her.

Joo Ji-hye entered the room with a gloomy expression.

Oh Hyun-seong whetted his appetite.

Unlike normal summons, spirits were completely indistinguishable when they took on a materialized form.

Since things like detecting magic power are impossible, you can’t know unless you’ve experienced it.

But now, since I had somewhere to go with Choi Jeong-il, I moved forward for now.

“Do you have a busy schedule these days?”

“No, it’s been a bit loose lately.”

“Then stay a few more days and go.”

“No. But I’ll go up tomorrow. It’s a nuisance to stay and keep getting paid.”

Choi Jeong-il spoke sharply.

I can’t believe I was able to stop eating this food even though it was my first time eating it.

This is truly a great act of self-control.

Of course, it remains to be seen how long that can last.

“Isn’t this… a restricted area?”

“Yeah, there’s a reservoir in here. I’m going to go fishing there today.”

“Yes? Fishing?”

“You’re crazy about fishing.”

“But if it’s a reservoir within a restricted area, it must be heavily polluted, so how can you fish…”

The water environment was more vulnerable to the effects of turbidity than the land.

Because of this, the places where you can properly enjoy fishing have decreased, and above all, the taste has become terribly bad.

Unlike wild crops, which are superior to cheap factory-made ones.

In the case of seafood, it was one of the few areas where cheap factory-made was much tastier than wild-caught.

The general water situation was like that, so it was ridiculous to fish in a restricted area.

I felt that way even more when I arrived at the reservoir.

A reservoir that is clearly severely polluted at first glance.

“Even for us, if we go fishing in a place like this, it seems difficult to be found alive the next day.”

“Albern, please.”

with a splash!

Albert jumped down from Oh Hyeon-seong’s shoulder with all his might.

The creature swam swiftly through the polluted reservoir, then dove deep into the center.

A time when it would almost reach the bottom.

Woohoo!

A huge ripple appeared beneath the surface of the water.

Albern’s dominance, which is on a different level from that of the lower spirits, colors the entire reservoir.

The once muddy reservoir soon became clear and refreshing, and Choi Jeong-il opened his mouth wide in amazement.

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