Chapter 227: ?
7 Hours Later.
A Studio in Seoul. It’s the bright, sunny afternoon of a scorching day.
I was fiddling with my mobile phone while chasing after the sound of summer cicadas coming through the window.
By the way, this is after I had cleaned up all the mess from that abandoned building.
In other words, it’s been 7 hours since I experienced that failure.
“Huff.”
I hadn’t slept a wink, busy erasing the DNA of that thief scattered everywhere and restoring my hidden properties back into my bank account. My head was already spinning.
“Sigh, right. Just hang in there. This isn’t the time for me to rest…”
I splashed my face with cold water to wash off some fatigue and pondered.
First of all, the outcome of the body exchange technique that took place in that abandoned building can be summed up in one sentence.
“The Great Mage’s soul cannot reside in the body of a C-Class Hunter. The body and soul specifications do not match, causing the body to shatter.”
But upon reflection, there’s nothing stranger than this result.
“Huh.”
I mean, I had used Kim Gi-ryeo’s body perfectly fine for several months!
A blond man with three hundred eyes.
Though the Awakening Test results showed only F-class, a disposal-grade, this peculiar vessel had successfully endured the ranking of my soul.
And now a C-Class Hunter.
One that is classified as a mid-range Awakened here, having its body destroyed due to a difference in level?
“Hmm…”
I absentmindedly covered my mouth while pondering.
Suddenly, a powerful hypothesis emerged in my mind.
If the assumption I just thought of is true, then yesterday’s failure isn’t something to regret.
Rather, it could be a cause for celebration. But a hypothesis only holds weight when there’s evidence to support it.
‘Evidence to support it.’
As I stood still, contemplating, I couldn’t help but lament.
“Ah-ha.”
It hit me hard.
I actually had a means to prove the hypothesis that had just flashed in my mind…
“Damn it.”
Then should I confirm it with the very person involved, now that it’s come to mind?
Tap Tap Tap.
I turned on my mobile phone and dialed someone’s number.
After a few rings, the familiar silence came in.
-….
There’s a peculiar silence maintained until the caller speaks.
“Hello, Hunter Kang Chang-ho.”
The voice on the other end belonged to South Korea’s Third S-Class Hunter, Kang Chang-ho.
“Sorry for contacting you out of the blue. Is it a good time to talk?”
– Speak.
“It’s nothing much, I just suddenly became curious about something.”
– Curious about what?
“It’s about our contract…”
I had been in a situation where my life was threatened by the hulking S-Class Hunter but had never really dug deep into the cause of it.
After all, I possessed magic knowledge of a different level.
Thus theoretically, I could use all kinds of magic that exist on Earth.
It was just the lack of magic power that left this body in a state where it had many skills influenced by the driver.
‘So, that’s why I thought whatever Kang Chang-ho, the owner of [Enhancement Heart], wanted didn’t matter.’
But after experiencing the early morning corpse explosion incident…
Now doubts began to arise. Was the subject I had been ignoring truly a trivial factor?
“Hrum.”
I cleared my throat lightly, preparing to speak.
“Anyhow, what I wanted to ask was… Hunter Kang. What was the exact name of the skill you wanted to take using [Enhancement Heart]?”
-….
“I’d like you to clarify that now.”
Kang Chang-ho responded.
– That’s quite a sudden question, huh?
Clang.
At the same time, a sound of utensils being put down echoed through the speaker.
10 AM. A bit late for breakfast. Were they having brunch?
– You were after something with [Enhancement Heart]? I thought you’d known the answer already. After all, you hadn’t really asked about it until now.
I fell silent for a moment.
– But now you suddenly ask about that skill? Why would you want to hear the name from someone else…?
He continued because I wasn’t answering. He seemed to realize something and exhaled deeply.
– Oh.
Our conversation progressed.
– Well, I had a hunch, but… Do you not know if you own the skill?
I moved the phone from my right hand to my left and lightly shook my head.
“I don’t not know, I just got a bit confused about some aspects. But the way you’re saying it suggests we’re thinking of the same skill.”
-….
“Can I ask one more thing?”
– Go ahead.
“To be honest, what I’m really curious about is this. Hunter Kang, you figured out the skill I have with just your naked eyes, right?”
Yes. [Dragon’s Eye].
I had previously only focused on the lungs, neglecting other organs.
When observing Kim Gi-ryeo’s corpse with the specific item [Dragon’s Eye], there was always a distinctive phenomenon that appeared.
A mysterious shimmer.
Up until now, I had suspected it was due to differences in souls, but thinking it over, that was incredibly naive.
“What was the reason the phenomenon of magic appearing to flicker reminded you of a specific skill?”
I gripped my phone tightly and posed the question.
But Kang Chang-ho didn’t answer promptly. He just let out a dry swallow as if contemplating something.
– Hmm.
After pondering, Kang Chang-ho finally spoke.
– I don’t really feel like wanting to tell you… If I do, you’ll clearly realize your worth.
“Is that so?”
– But seeing how things are, you seem to be half convinced already, and since we have a contract anyway, I suppose it doesn’t really matter.
The other party took a sip from what seemed to be an icy drink and started to explain.
– Do you know Choi Jin?
“Eh?”
– She’s not a Hunter active in Seoul. A mid-ranking Awakened, around the 3rd or 4th in the ranking. Short hair…
“Oh, yes. I know her.”
– Then you probably know that she carries [Dragon’s Heart].
Why is the name of a Dragon Slayer suddenly coming up here?
– Anyway, listen well.
Before I could express my confusion, the other party added more details.
– In my lifetime, I’ve seen magic flickering in only two scenarios.
One was when awakening abilities were sealed with an item like [Twisted Rabbit’s Foot].
Especially the more you restrict the awakening level, the more it flickers like boiling water.
But a few years back, a new case was discovered.
I heard that a new artifact called [Dragon’s Heart] dropped in Singapore, and I went to see the Awakened who swallowed it.
Choi Jin…
That Hunter didn’t instantly go from B to A class.
It took about 8 hours for [Dragon’s Heart] to settle properly in her body.
When she came back to Korea for the first awakening retest, she measured in the top 50% of B class. The second retest showed top 3% in B class.
And finally, when the changes stopped, it measured at the current top 20% in A class.
Clunk.
It sounded like Kang Chang-ho placed his drink back on the table, and familiar noises flowed from the cheap speaker of a low-end smartphone.
– I’ve been watching all the processes from afar. When changes occurred within Choi Jin’s body… That flickering was definitely evident then.
With this many premises, drawing a conclusion should be easy.
– I think that’s enough explanation for now. Can I hang up now?
A moment later.
The call ends.
I couldn’t wait for the brief moment when the mobile screen turned off before reaching for the coat rack beside me.
*
Chatter.
Various noises clashed against the shiny white walls inside.
Sounds of people walking.
The clattering of equipment.
And the chatting of staff inside the quiet desk.
This was the Hunter Association Awakening Test Reception, a space that handled complaints about all matters related to using PIXY’s Magic Detection Device, including disputes over grades.
However, since awakenings are inherently rare occurrences, they had quite a bit of time to slack off compared to other desks…
“Huh!”
At that moment.
One seated employee suddenly stood up with a startled expression.
The others, who had been engrossed in conversation, glanced up one by one and held their breath.
Tap Tap Tap.
Soon, the sound of heels approaching, evoking a certain tension in the air, echoed.
“Ah, hello. Kim Gi-ryeo…”
Swish.
But what do you know.
The blond man who had approached quickly and nonchalantly grabbed a numbered ticket that was nearby.
At first glance, it seemed like a ridiculous but perfectly ordinary behavior for a customer.
“P-Please come this way! What can we help you with?”
However, realizing he was the only one waiting, the man started making a shocking declaration.
“I’d like to use the latest model of the awakening tester in the association. Please call the person in charge.”
“E-Excuse me?”
Thunk.
Immediately after, the man handed a wad of blue bills over to the desk.
“Right now.”
He was paying all at once for the expensive retest fee, which amounted to 3,460,000 won, without any support subsidy.
Feeling the pressure from the stack of cash handed over, the employees jumped up in a hurry to guide him.
And soon after, Gi-ryeo stood in front of a familiar-looking device…
.
.
.
“Um, if you have any sensitive electronic devices that are susceptible to mobile phone or mana particles, please hand them over here beforehand. Ah! Yes, just lie down with your head on this side.”
The heart-type magic tool obtained by Choi Jin.
And the Awakened with the power sealed in a state of anomaly.
These two cases spoken of by the third S-Class Hunter had one common feature.
‘It happened only when the Awakening Level was fluctuating continuously…’
In other words, the moment someone’s internal magic undergoes a change, the flickering appears in the Dragon’s Eye.
But because of the nature of the soul, this side is immune to most anomalies. Moreover, it had never even come close to any magic-enhancing equipment, aside from the already stabilized Blueshell case.
Then why…
Why did Kim Gi-ryeo’s magic seem ‘unstable’?
Viiiiiing…
At last, PIXY’s new tester powered up.
Thud.
As the familiar sound flowed, the nervous male employee nearby trembled and said, “Please wait a moment until it’s printed.”
An S-Class Hunter in Korea had been eager to receive the results in tangible form before even stepping into this space.
“Here, here’s the results.”
After a brief wait, an employee returned from the next room with the fourth test values printed out.
The stern-looking man stood up and glanced through the document.
“……”
“Is-is there a problem?”
F-Class.
The level of magic power was in the top 60%.
The results seemed to reflect the re-exam value from the second examination, which Seonwoo-yeon had joined.
The employee conducting this retest sneaked a glance at the paper Kim Gi-ryeo was holding and thought, the newly acquired measurement device couldn’t have malfunctioned already. The reason such a low value appeared was likely due to this Hunter in front of him using an artifact or curse to manipulate their awakening level.
After all, Kim Gi-ryeo had performed remarkably in various break situations.
There’s no way he really possessed such a tiny amount of magic.
“Hmm.”
However, contrary to what the association staff had hoped, the truth was that this Hunter hadn’t cheated during this examination.
He had purposely removed the auxiliary device he always used.
Stripped off the coating of the Divine Tree Sapling that could have influenced the measuring process, and pulled out all the Blueshell substances circulating in his veins.
He had set himself up in a natural state, no different from right after reincarnation.
“Hmmm…”
Tilting his head slightly down while looking at the document, the blond man soon cocked his head to the side.
=【PIXY MDE 07/03】======
Level: F
Aw: 15.97
Apparent Hardness: 0.1
——————==
Oh dear.
It seems that the Great Mage’s reincarnation magic really hasn’t failed.
