Chapter 181. Back Alley
Not only did Kim Gi-ryeo kill the boss monster that the organizers had hidden away, but he also snuck out the trump card A-Class Hunter.
“Lord…”
The Dark Merchant suddenly lost his foothold on everything.
He was sweating cold and looked a bit unwell.
Thanks to the suspect acting like a sick chicken, the detectives were able to carry out their work smoothly.
It was an unexpected conclusion.
*
Saturday returned.
It had been 7 days since the incident at the black market.
Seonwoo-yeon went out for the weekend for the first time in a while, but her mind was still full of work-related issues.
“Hoo.”
What happened to Kim Gi-ryeo afterward?
Seonwoo-yeon had many questions she wanted to ask him. She had heard that there was actually an A-Class Hunter in that black market, did he know about it or not?
What about the disappearance of the A-Class? Was it something he did?
Was the exit he escaped from opened by him? Or what did he do once he got out?
She had countless doubts, but no way to resolve them.
For the past 7 days, Seonwoo-yeon had tried to contact him, but all she got from the speaker was that Kim Gi-ryeo’s phone was turned off.
“Customer! Come here and try just one dumpling! This is a new product from Ottogi that all the young folks love~”
“Ah.”
“It’s freshly made!”
She was the owner of the Seocher skill.
If she wanted, she could chase after the person right now.
But Seonwoo-yeon didn’t turn her thoughts into action.
Abuse of office. Invasion of privacy.
Even if she weren’t a public official, her personality would have naturally avoided this kind of behavior.
“It’s delicious. One bag, please.”
“Yes!”
In the end, she hit a wall of procedure.
They had discovered that Kim Gi-ryeo was at the black market, but there was no evidence that he bought anything.
Should they start with an interrogation since they attempted a backdoor deal?
That was impossible.
While other crime scenes like gambling dens or drug transaction spots could be presumed guilty just because they were there…
Unfortunately, there was still no provision for attempted offenses related to dungeon items in the law.
Hence, the police couldn’t arrest or interrogate him. Because the law said so.
If they wanted to detain him, they should have at least prevented him from escaping the scene.
By now, the testimony of the arrested Blueshell merchant also couldn’t be taken seriously.
“Thank you~ Enjoy your meal!”
Seonwoo-yeon threw the frozen food into her shopping basket with a helpless sigh.
At that moment, she suddenly recalled something a hunter had said.
-…Without a warrant?
Such a presumptuous remark.
That man must have known from the start that things would turn out like this, hence his boldness.
He was an S-Class after all. What could a mere association employee do if he intended to escape?
Even if they had successfully shut down the black market.
Anyhow, it seemed Kim Gi-ryeo had safely left the scene.
‘Today, I’ll go home and make dumpling soup…’
Hoo.
Seonwoo-yeon stepped out of the mart, deeply sighing. She had finished her shopping and was ready to go home and rest.
But then—
While waiting at the crosswalk for the signal to change, she spotted a familiar silhouette.
Neatly dressed in a suit, with a strikingly colorful dyed hair.
‘Kim Gi-ryeo Hunter.’
It was the man.
The S-Class, who had appeared from the alley across the street, stopped to check something like a notebook…
–Blink.
Just then, the signal turned green.
Seonwoo-yeon quickly moved her feet along with the green light and soon caught up to him.
She never expected to bump into him so by chance.
“Mr. Gi-ryeo.”
As his name was called, the blond man looked up.
It was as if he didn’t notice the association employee approaching, looking surprisingly stunned, followed by an unbelievably shameless act.
Nod.
Thanks to someone, his mind was all in a jumble. How could he greet her so normally?
“You look healthier than I expected.”
“Yeah?”
“I was worried since you haven’t answered any calls, thought something might have happened to you.”
To which Gi-ryeo replied.
“…You called? Uh, I’m sorry. Actually, my phone broke recently.”
“Ah.”
“I dropped it on the floor, and suddenly the screen went blank.”
“Your phone?”
“But it’s such an old model, they said finding repair parts would be hard…”
His phone had already been in the service center for a week.
After that, Gi-ryeo apologized and bowed his head again, seemingly surprised that the association would try to contact him during that time.
“No, if your phone is that old, just take this opportunity to buy a new one. Just swap the SIM card.”
Seonwoo-yeon thought Gi-ryeo was making excuses, but his response was unassuming.
“I didn’t buy it, so I can’t just change it casually.”
The S-Class Hunter stood upright, looking down at her.
A calm atmosphere. His expression was almost like a cold-blooded person.
She had many questions she wanted to ask him, but now facing him, she wondered if it would even matter.
That icy hunter seemed like he wouldn’t budge under any scrutiny.
Even if she made him sit down and talk for three days and nights, it would be clear that she wouldn’t get to the bottom of his soul.
“By the way, Seonwoo-yeon. Why did you try to contact me?”
Gi-ryeo asked following up with a question.
“Well… Did you have something to ask? Like why I was there last Saturday.”
In fact, she had been quite concerned about being caught entering the black market as a public official.
He had already settled on a suitable excuse in preparation for any future reports, but Seonwoo-yeon didn’t seem to have any curiosity about that.
“I accidentally entered a dungeon. Chasing a bad criminal.”
Gi-ryeo knew she would have enough awareness to see through that. Anyway, such topics were too vague to confirm the truth now.
“Other than that, I do have something else I want to ask.”
The Earth-based sorceress spoke cautiously.
“After the incident, I thought it through personally, and it just seems strange no matter how I look at it.”
“What part?”
“Blueshell is supposed to be less effective the higher the hunter’s rank, right?”
The blond man thought, ‘Well, that’s true.’
As she said, Blueshell had dramatic effects only up to about the E-Class.
By its nature, it quickly exposed someone’s vulnerabilities.
However, Seonwoo-yeon wasn’t making this remark because she noticed a secret of some F-Class.
“But you buying that means…”
Blueshell, this blue fruit, had another effect.
“Could it be for pain relief?”
Gi-ryeo, who was subtly avoiding eye contact, abruptly turned to her startled by her unexpected statement.
“I checked the records in the association’s archive. It mentioned that Blueshell was like a new type of aspirin when first discovered.”
“….”
“Both you and I don’t find regular painkillers effective anymore. Once your awakening level rises, usually the effectiveness of regular meds declines too.”
“….”
“So, at one time, Blueshell was almost used as a specialized painkiller for high-ranking Awakened.”
Her grip on the shopping basket tightened.
“It’s been strange for a long time. In fact, even much longer.”
This thought didn’t come to her overnight.
It all began last winter.
The hunter named Kim Gi-ryeo had fallen into a trap in the 13th Month’s Maze, and in the process of escaping, he committed some truly shocking acts.
Until now, she had only feared his choices, but thinking back on it now…
‘What if he was someone who wouldn’t feel pain even after doing such things?’
If he had some means to endure bodily harm, the events in the 13th Month’s Maze would finally start to make sense.
So Seonwoo-yeon asked based on what had happened thus far.
“When exactly did you start using Blueshell?”
This was a substance so potent one could hardly notice being hit.
“How could a person use such a dangerous thing…?”
Soon, Seonwoo-yeon’s expression turned dark.
“Mr. Gi-ryeo, you watch the news, right? Then you must also know how a high-ranking Hunter who abused that stuff ended up dead, no?”
Tears began to well in her eyes.
After contemplating alone for the past 7 days, her mind had solidified into a distorted prejudice.
“And perhaps this might be an overthought, but…”
“Go ahead.”
“Could it be connected? You said in the past that you felt washed up. So now, are you injured somewhere and genuinely feeling pain?”
Oh ho.
‘Indeed, that’s a bit excessive.’
Gi-ryeo was amazed when he heard Seonwoo-yeon’s brilliant misunderstanding.
Taking Blueshell due to past injuries…?
He even found it interesting, considering the unexpected turn this had taken.
But really, such a misunderstanding in 21st-century Korea… that was a bit much.
Judges in this country were absolutely not lenient regarding issues like Blueshell.
“Hmm.”
After clearing his throat with a dry cough, Gi-ryeo calmly began explaining.
“First, I understand what you’re trying to say. However, there’s a serious misunderstanding…”
“Misunderstanding?”
“I have never even laid lips on Blueshell.”
And he had quite objective evidence to back this up.
“No, but surely you already know this bit, right? I was in a detention center last week. Someone reported me as a drug offender!”
The blond man raised his voice, seemingly incredulous.
“How many hairs did they rip from my head there?”
“Ah.”
“By the way, the test results were all negative.”
Since Kim Gi-ryeo was walking around confidently like this, he surely hadn’t been found with Blueshell at his place either.
Seonwoo-yeon then conveyed her voice in a whisper.
“…I’m sorry. I really did this out of genuine concern for you.”
As expected, it was a B-Class Hunter from the association who had reported him as a suspected Blueshell user.
But this wasn’t because she was some bloodless hardliner; it was simply an act born from sincere worry.
If a friend were addicted to Blueshell, it would have been right to help them quit and offer rehabilitation as soon as possible.
To Seonwoo-yeon, that was her good intention.
“Hey, nowadays there are good potions. Why would I suffer so much to use Blueshell as a painkiller?”
“I thought maybe, if you became addicted from misusing it during the initial Dungeon Shock, you might still be seeking it…”
The man who had been snapping at her fell silent for a moment.
Well, she had expected he wouldn’t stay silent, and in fact, he had obtained grounds to assert his innocence due to this very process.
‘Honestly, I was going to push that painkiller theory if Kang Chang-ho questioned me about Blueshell, but not in front of this public official.’
After finishing his judgment, Gi-ryeo continued speaking.
“Anyway, let’s reiterate, last time was a misunderstanding.”
His tone was even.
“I didn’t engage in any Blueshell transactions. I was just gathering some information.”
“That’s…”
“Really, did it sound to your ears like I said I wanted to buy something from that merchant?”
What followed was a subtly provocation-laced tone.
The truth is, that’s how people are. If their mind is even slightly distracted, they can forget even what happened just yesterday.
How can everyone live with absolute trust in their own memories?
When a strong pressure like ‘Do you have 100% certainty?’ is posed, anyone might hesitate a little.
Thus, Seonwoo-yeon also began to doubt her own experiences.
“Well then, if it’s unrelated to Blueshell, that’s a relief, but…”
She soon softened her attitude.
To be honest, Gi-ryeo was a High-Ranking Hunter. There was no reason for him to covet such shabby wares from the market.
All that remained was the assumption that he must have been there for some other reason.
Collapse of a human trafficking ring. Tracking brainwashed Awakened.
And the actions he took wrapping around an investigator in trouble at the black market.
‘Could it be that there was a different intention this time as well?’
This was her blunder.
There were too many good aspects about the character Kim Gi-ryeo to gnaw at relentlessly. Thus, the straightforward Seonwoo-yeon also displayed a touch of flexibility in front of him.
If she knew what soul was hidden within that shell, she would never have acted like this.
“By the way, Seonwoo-yeon, you must be on your way back from grocery shopping.”
The non-Earth mage finally opened his mouth.
“Did you buy dumplings?”
“Ah, yes.”
“I wonder if they melted while we were talking. Then hurry home. I’ll be leaving now.”
Saying this, Gi-ryeo smoothly turned to leave.
After distancing himself from Seonwoo-yeon, he took out a notebook from his pocket and finally finished his tasks for the day by jotting down a little note.
[Other Records]
1 – X
2 – X
3 – O (Exchangeable)
4 – △ (Danger. Prohibited)
By the way, Alphauri tend to believe that lies are more often the fault of the one deceived.
Their innate logical circuitry was simply that way.
