Chapter 212: Ego Sword (3)
Thud. The battered wall around them was littered with wild mana. It was easy to deduce that Kim Gi-ryeo had fought with a beast. The evidence left behind was raw and unrestrained, endless layers of proof sprinkled everywhere.
But something felt off.
The survival of the blond man was strangely clean—no scratches, no wounds, not even a mark. He had faced a beast, yet his body bore only the creases of his suit from vigorous movement.
“Hmm…”
Ha-seong squinted to clear his hazy vision, willing himself to focus. After a couple of blinks, his mind too began to clear up.
Ah…
It dawned on him that he had come to this realization before. When he had banged a drum full of stuff, or when a steel hammer struck concrete, or even when he felt something that resembled the sound of feet pounding on the emergency stairs of a building.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
He had certainly heard tremendous noises while he lay unconscious. At the time, he had no strength to open his eyelids, so all he could do was accept the auditory information passively.
Looking back, those noises could only have been the sounds of S-Class hunters clashing their weapons. While he was out cold, they had fought, already proven by the various pieces of evidence around him.
Kaboom!
It made him wonder just how fiercely Kim Gi-ryeo had battled with the beast.
A cacophony of thunderous booms, one crashing before the last had even died down.
“Ha.”
In truth, what Jeong Ha-seong had heard was not the clash of powerful warriors but rather sounds that made an alien look pitiful.
Dull thuds, not the sounds of flesh being cut, only the strike of heavy weapons. Could it be that that hunter had deflected every attack from the beast…?
As a hero with closed eyes, discerning the truth was difficult.
In this way, he solidified his misunderstanding as he looked at Gi-ryeo’s back. That blond hunter was indeed an extraordinary expert.
A historic strongman who had split a Nukelabi in half in combat.
But the man crouched in the distance remained silent, merely cooling off. No visible scars could be seen, even upon second glance.
This was surely, without a doubt, his overwhelming victory.
“…!”
Then suddenly, the previously motionless man began to act.
Taking a deep breath, he slowly inflated his chest, repeating the semblance of deep breathing before finally rising from his spot.
Swoosh.
The S-Class hunter wielding the Sword of Sunset straightened his crooked tie with the other hand and strolled over, his steps a bit unsteady.
And, towards the fallen Ha-seong, he uttered words reminiscent of a past proposal.
“Can’t get up? Want me to help you?”
Despite having a hint of familiarity, Ha-seong felt an inexplicable sense of déjà vu. The reason for this flashback surfaced in seconds.
“I’m fine… really.”
He’d experienced this exact scenario before.
A fallen S-Class hunter and the gaze of an opponent looking down on him.
Kim Gi-ryeo spoke calmly, just as he did when he crushed the top-ranked hunter into the ground with a metal censer.
Honestly, back then, he merely felt that man was an enigma, but now he came to understand.
Everything is for you.
The fourth S-Class of Korea has always spoken only the truth.
Even under the harsh condition of hiding his rank due to the association’s orders, he still showed selfless actions, even though he could easily have been met with hostility.
He prevented attacks against the number one rank, was straightforward with his words…
He was dispatched to the top-ranked gate in Japan on behalf of someone who needed to protect Korea.
Or even sacrificed his own arm.
…I’ll manage to get up myself.
Ha-seong pondered deeply before pressing himself up from the ground.
Having recovered quite a bit, his muscles finally began to move as he wished.
He stood unsteadily, and seeing this, Gi-ryeo insisted they hurry out of this dungeon.
“Yes.”
A few minutes later, when they finally reached the gate connected to Korea…
“Hold on.”
Gi-ryeo suddenly came to a stop.
“Speaking of which, there’s something I want to discuss.”
At that, the country’s number one hunter waited and focused on the conversation.
“To be precise, it’s a favor. Jeong Ha-seong, can you keep this incident a secret once we get outside?”
“This incident…?”
“All of it. From start to finish. We didn’t see anything in this dungeon. We just casually explored it and bumped into each other without any findings and left the gate.”
So they were to keep silent about encountering the beast.
To be clear, Gi-ryeo had brought this up due to concern over Kang Chang-ho’s misbehavior.
Sneaking into a dungeon in the early hours to secretly hunt S-Class monsters? What if the truth came out? Maintaining their contract would not be easy.
“Ha-seong, to be honest, I saved your life today. Right? So you can grant me this much, can’t you?”
Reminding him of the favor he owed, Gi-ryeo sought silence from him.
However, this proposal carried a different meaning for Ha-seong. The hero was unaware of the contracted ties to the fourth S-Class.
If it gets out that the hunter defeated the beast…
It would surely create chaos in the world.
Gi-ryeo wanted to bury the incident to avoid drawing the attention of the international community.
Ha-seong, with some misunderstanding, nodded. After all, he too agreed to cover it up.
The spark of conflict stemmed from the beast’s unwarranted offensive.
But with three huge awakened beings entangled in the incident, if the death of the beast became public, Koreans here would find themselves stuck in long and exhausting interrogations.
By that point, whether it was justifiable or not wouldn’t matter much.
The chances of Gi-ryeo being charged with murder were not zero.
“Phew.”
Jeong Ha-seong was a rare altruist, but he wasn’t expansive enough to forgive the psychopath who had tried to kill him.
Thus, the suggestion to stay silent about the beast’s death was easily accepted.
“Understood. We’ll do it your way.”
“Thank you.”
“And to hide the fact a fight occurred here… I might need to, um, tidy myself up…”
“Right. I was just about to mention that. If it’s okay, let’s recover properly over in that corner before heading back to Korea.”
Soon, peace descended.
Ha-seong leaned against a pillar near the exit following Gi-ryeo’s lead, starting to drink from his item box, taking small swigs of high-grade recovery potion.
As he downed a few gulps, he lifted his gaze slightly.
“Um…”
He followed up with a brief question.
“But if I could ask one thing…?”
“What is it?”
“…How did you use my sword?”
At this very moment, the red equipment rested peacefully in the hands of the hunter who was looking down at him.
The main reason Ha-seong had fully come to awareness was that the flash of light from the beast’s fiery demise had been the catalyst.
Thus, he vividly recalled the scene where light burst forth from the Sword of Sunset.
But the rest of the circumstances remained a blur, so he simply had to ask.
“And what kind of ability did it have? I was out of it, but I could sense that Kim Hunter activated the sword’s function.”
To that, Gi-ryeo replied.
“Don’t know.”
Of course, that was a lie.
The identity of the legendary sword Ha-seong possessed was a magic tool based on Alphauri. So, how could he reveal the truth here?
Yay!
It’s been so long since I’ve used magic, the rust is all falling off! Master! Let’s have another go at it!
Also, if it’s not too much trouble, could you please give me a name? I don’t need anything fancy, just something simple but flashy and classic yet modern would do nicely.
Your Sword of Sunset actually had a talkative and frivolous personality.
I, an extraterrestrial being who understands the language of the ego sword, used its functions.
Even such a trivial explanation made it almost impossible for Gi-ryeo to voice.
It was, in essence, the Achilles’ heel of his soul.
“I don’t know anything either. It just burst into light when I swung the sword. I’m sorry, I’m unable to tell you the activation conditions or exact effects…”
So, Gi-ryeo had no choice but to lump together an explanation about the recent events.
However, Ha-seong’s reaction was unexpected.
—You mean, you don’t know? Well, I can figure it out by looking at it.
The people’s hero, resting against the wall, pondered quietly.
His expression hardened and his eyes serious, as if he had stumbled upon a realization.
For an earthling, to make such an inference. But Alphauri was completely outside his audible range. How could that be?
So the Sword of Sunset…
After a moment, as someone awkwardly rolled their eyes.
…It may be a sword that assesses qualifications.
Jeong Ha-seong closed his eyelids and thought calmly.
Wasn’t it called Excalibur?
In any case, like that which was stuck in a rock waiting for its destined owner.
An iron sword that could only be wielded by a chosen individual. A treasure that varied in potential depending on its user was not uncommon in the earth’s myths.
Hence, appraisers once speculated there might be some ability-based conditions to wield it.
Today it’s proven.
It seemed he was underqualified to wield that sword.
Ha-seong gargled with the light recovery potion, sporting a dejected expression.
He, who carried the Sword of Sunset for a whopping two years without awakening it, compared to Gi-ryeo, who merely borrowed it for a short while and activated its functions.
Hah.
An unimagined misunderstanding arose.
Ha-seong assumed that the change in the Sword of Sunset was due to the disparity between Kim Gi-ryeo’s power and his own.
Furthermore, he refrained from verbally elaborating on these thoughts. He just swallowed the recovery potion and proposed bittersweetly.
“Should I just give that sword to Kim Hunter?”
A shocking proposal to hand over a treasure of the same tier as the Book of Extermination for free.
Had a genuine S-Class hunter been standing here, they’d certainly bow down in gratitude, but Gi-ryeo instead displayed reluctance at Ha-seong’s offer.
“Uh, no… I really don’t need it…”
It was crafted from special metals and too heavy for him to wield, let alone to activate its effects even once without suffocating.
With an F-Class body, it was impossible to properly handle the Sword of Sunset.
Even if he planned on stealing a higher rank body in the future, there were ample reasons to refuse as an extraterrestrial.
“Are you turning it down because it feels burdensome?”
“No. I just really don’t like wielding sharp objects.”
To reject a legendary item solely due to personal preference, he was indeed not an ordinary person. Ha-seong nodded, recognizing Gi-ryeo’s uniqueness once again.
However, unlike how smoothly the number one ranking responded, Gi-ryeo began to break out in a cold sweat, chewing over the suggestion thrown out by his counterpart.
W-wait, why does this guy keep talking about swords since earlier…?
Could it be that he’s sensed that he had defeated a beast through some trick?
Or perhaps he had witnessed the pitiful scene of Gi-ryeo being unilaterally beaten by Brooklyn?
Anxious thoughts swirled.
If he suddenly offered a legendary item out of nowhere, in Gi-ryeo’s perspective, it could feel like, ‘You weakling need this to survive, don’t you?’
Did I get found out?! Am I being exposed as a loser?!
Shudder.
Yet, if the truth of rank falsification truly came to light, Ha-seong would not react so calmly.
It was a delicate scenario; if he probed too much, things might spiral out of control.
So, the only thing he could do was return the item he had messily borrowed without agreement.
Swoosh.
To return the sword to its rightful owner, Gi-ryeo reversed his grip on the handle.
Huh?! You’re throwing me away? Just a few minutes after using me?! No way! That big guy can’t even understand me! No! No! No! No! Noooo!
Despite the endless stream of protests from the transformed ego sword within the modified half-cylindrical space…
Gi-ryeo didn’t react to its wails.
This was an artificial construct.
No matter how loud it became, ultimately, it was nothing but an entity without a soul.
I’ll do my best! I’ll work hard! New Master! Please…!
The antiquated holographic AI created by Alphauri.
For just a moment, did Gi-ryeo feel a sense of nostalgia?
The blond man briefly took a closer look at the sword with surprisingly deepened eyes; then, a familiar sigil was generated from the magic circle within his palm.
Wave. White. Current.
-Keyword input confirmed. Currently in Admin Mode.-
Based on the remaining stored magic residue in the cylinder, you will set a master. Furthermore, it will automatically execute counterattacks when the master’s bodily damage exceeds 80%.
If utilized, the absorption rate of resources will increase. Would you like to activate…?
Yes.
-Confirmed-
Additionally, turn off the general conversation setting of the ego sword.
-Confirmed-
Adjustments complete.
Until now, he hesitated to use it due to numerous reasons—his native language not being available, fearing his belongings wouldn’t be his own, or him being an alien whose details might leak out.
But now, with the situation as it was, there was no need to act coy.
Gi-ryeo slightly adjusted the default settings of the legendary item.
He ensured it wouldn’t raise too many suspicions while protecting the hero as much as possible.
Later, if asked why the functions suddenly changed, I’ll just say it activated due to the beast’s influence…
Just a few words in, and he felt his magic running low once again.
Feeling his breath tightening, Gi-ryeo left one last message to the sword.
I’m sorry to have tied you to such a silent master, of all beings. But this is your role; what else can be done? So…
Talking to an item as if it were a person.
Even if it was a clumsy imitation of a living being, one might develop feelings toward it simply due to the nature of sentient beings.
Please, from now on, protect Jeong Ha-seong for a long time.
…
He’s a good soul.
After saying that, Gi-ryeo handed over the adjusted sword to Ha-seong, but just before the handle left his hand, the blade slightly trembled and responded in some way.
I didn’t quite catch that. Could you please repeat your sentence more clearly?
Well, that sounded about right for a cheap AI.
