Chapter 283. 解消 (2)
‘And it’s not just being alive, but I’ve been moved to a city hospital?’
Stumble, stumble.
Placing my palm over the hole in my chest, I checked my condition again.
Of course, the result was the same.
This second-hand body, with a total magic power of only F-Class, had fully recovered in form.
Except for the fact that the clothing on my skin had turned into patient attire, there wasn’t much difference from when I left home.
How could this happen?
‘Wasn’t this supposed to be a VIP ward? There is a barrier, but if it’s such a simple defensive one, then all my coordinates would be completely exposed to [Seocher].’
I stood there dumbfounded for a moment.
Yet, as I was rolling my eyes, working to grasp the situation, the doctor by my bedside began to speak more shockingly.
“And Hunter Kang Chang-ho is currently waiting in the café…”
“What?”
“T-This VIP ward has a shared space nearby.”
The bespectacled doctor, with a pale complexion, continued hesitantly.
“The hunter requested to be called as soon as Mr. Kim Gi-ryeo wakes up, but if you’re uncomfortable with any personal exposure, our medical team will do our best to handle the situation this one time.”
I felt thankful for their courage to say so, but…
“I don’t know.”
No matter how many times I thought about it, the situation felt utterly absurd.
So, pretending to think it over, I decided to just talk with the man himself, telling the doctor to simply bring Kang Chang-ho over.
Hearing that, the bespectacled medical professional flinched in surprise and hurriedly made a phone call.
*
Inside the premium hospital room, warmly lit by 3,000K indirect lighting.
From outside, an Earthling appears.
The top-tier Korean hunter with exotic looks.
It was Kang Chang-ho.
As this S-Class Awakened entered through the hospital room door, he held a communication device to his ear and spoke with someone unknown.
“—Yeah. I’ll be at the hospital on Daehung Road for a while. If you want to talk more, come to the first floor…”
A little later.
The visitor finished his call in a rush and stuffed his phone into his pocket.
Then, slowly approaching the bedside, he said:
“I’m late.”
At first, I thought he meant it was late for him, but his next words flipped that assumption.
“Honestly, I thought you would wake up sooner.”
Was he reprimanding me for waking up so late?
He was complaining to someone who had just regained consciousness for about three minutes.
However, the blond man sitting by the bedside immediately thought it might be understandable.
‘Is it dawn already…?’
By my calculations, I had woken up around 10 PM in Kang Chang-ho’s underground room.
Therefore, it would have been about midnight when they were caught at the EX-Class Gate. But now, the sky outside was turning bright blue.
Kim Gi-ryeo.
Now, there was someone who would rather not be called anything other than that as he gazed intently out the window.
While pondering what question to ask first for an efficient conversation, he realized that there were too many inconceivable parts to this selfish mage who had the Alphauri’s water running through him.
As the extraterrestrial struggled to make sense of the situation, the ringleader of the third kidnapping case opened his mouth.
“Were you wondering why you didn’t end up dead when you had such a perfect opportunity?”
Leaning his hefty body to the side, he almost forced his eye level to meet mine.
One hand tucked into his pocket, he shot me a sidelong glance.
But this threatening attitude was brief.
Kang Chang-ho soon straightened up and began the conversation.
“Yeah. I wanted to use [Enhancement Heart]. The place was a convenient EX-Class Gate for body disposal. With the guy who landed a heavy blow right in front of me, I would’ve thought about killing you a thousand or ten thousand times…”
His tone was entirely like usual.
“I would have wanted to do that. But people tend to think differently after experiencing a shocking incident.”
“You say it’s changed.”
“I feel like I won’t be able to sleep until I clear up my curiosity right now. So for the sake of my health, I should verify the fraud’s claims.”
Crackle.
While speaking, Kang Chang-ho pulled out some documents along with his wallet from his right pocket.
The contents displayed on the unfolded white A4 paper were extremely familiar to the blond counterpart.
The diagnosis report for the lung of Korea’s Fourth S-Class.
Just a few minutes ago, a highly educated person from Earth had held the exact same paper and explained it separately.
“Although other results like biopsy haven’t come in yet, the doctor’s opinion suggests this tumor is unlikely to be benign, and the stage seems pretty advanced as well?”
Kang Chang-ho also pulled out images taken by a computer-assisted tomography machine.
Honestly, from an extraterrestrial’s point of view, I wondered what was so significant about that incomprehensible picture that so much information could be elicited.
But what really mattered in this situation wasn’t that.
‘So the owner of the Enhancement Heart has figured out the flaw in this body.’
As the fake S-Class on the hospital bed squinted and pondered, the Awakened with blue hair waved around the documents before casually placing them atop a nearby drawer.
It was a simple action, but for the other party, it was entirely nerve-wracking.
After finishing the conversation with the doctor, I took a moment to search online and found out that the average survival rate for general cancer patients had frighteningly risen to 88% thanks to advances in medicine and the discovery of dungeon materials.
Anyway, whether it was 80% or 90%, what did that matter?
Kang Chang-ho had an option to achieve a 100% probability of killing a target right now.
For someone treated as a living skill stone, the S-Class hunter’s sudden change to attack was a genuine concern worth being wary of.
“A hunter gets sick.”
But…
“This was the reason, huh.”
At that moment.
The extraterrestrial hiding within human skin found himself experiencing a dialogue flow he had never anticipated.
“So you accepted your fate of dying ten years from now because of this reason?”
I couldn’t immediately interpret what he meant by his claim and rolled my eyes.
Yet, the true S-Class hunter didn’t wait for the faltering extraterrestrial’s reply.
Later on.
Kang Chang-ho sat on the guardian chair beside the bed, continuing his conversation.
Furthermore, his voice took on a strangely assured tone.
“A lot makes sense now.”
Let’s break down the explanation.
♣ Why was Kim Gi-ryeo so easily accepting of a ten-year deal?
Well, it was suggested by various portal sites that the five-year survival rate for patients with awakened tumors was at a terribly miserable state.
Assuming the contracting party didn’t perceive the ten-year period as a loss, it could be interpreted all ways.
—Wait a moment, let me ask one thing. What if I developed a serious illness before I turn 34?
Reflecting back, I recalled that the Fourth S-Class had vaguely mentioned relevant matters at the time of contracting.
Assuming Kang Chang-ho knew that Kim Gi-ryeo was an esper suffering from a debilitating disease and even recognized it himself, he further thought about this.
To his surprise.
The puzzling behaviors from the contracting party he had found baffling became precisely explained.
♣ The case of the Blueshell.
Normally, a strong person shouldn’t care less about such minor enhancement items.
However, if the one obtaining the Blueshell were a patient experiencing continual pain, they might well be driven to try anything in a desperate attempt.
While it was suspicious to go to the black market and buy additional items, when viewed against the backdrop of some urgent circumstances, it might be deduced that they opted for the inefficient reassessment.
‘Now that I think about it, they indeed didn’t try to obtain any more Blueshells after that.’
Furthermore.
♣ Kagoshima Dragon Gate.
Nest of the Grass.
In the past, pretending to be F-Class and even expressing that they were sick, the individual showed a keen interest whenever dragons were involved, leading to a moment where I wondered if they had lost their mind.
But surprisingly.
Unintentionally, Kang Chang-ho had the opportunity to see with his own eyes the penetrated lung of Kim Gi-ryeo, since he had been pierced.
While the size of the appendage looked a bit different, I could distinctly identify it as the form belonged to one having the same type of artifact.
‘Dragon’s Lung.’
The organ of a monster.
Though it has recently skyrocketed in value with the discovery of new uses, it was once treated like it wasn’t even worth a potion.
The dragon’s lung had been historically traded at the price of at least 2 billion won.
2 billion. An amount that could only leave ordinary people’s jaws dropped.
But why did that worthless artifact, which doesn’t even add a single dot of magic, consistently maintain its market value?
‘……’
Dragon’s lung.
It was an item persistently sought after by elderly individuals, either because their lung functions were deteriorating or wealthy individuals who had taken a special interest in lung health.
Normal respiratory patients would have infinitely better treatment options for the same amount of money, so there was no need for them to seek out this item.
Whereas in the hunter industry…
It was mostly filled with a young demographic, making it hard to find cases like Kim Gi-ryeo, thus stabilizing the market for monster lungs over a period.
“When it’s time for a person to die, things change.”
The thin chair for nurses placed in the ward was somewhat uncomfortable for a heavy-set man.
So Kang Chang-ho quickly stood up and readjusted his position.
With his arms crossed, he looked down at me, continuing the conversation.
“Is that why you changed as well?”
The subsequent sentences omitted a lot, yet the overall tone was coherent.
What had begun since the Baek-ui Maze, all the discrepancies so far, and the peculiar nerve he had which didn’t shift even in the face of the mighty S-Class Hunter.
Could this sudden change in courage come about because of these few words on the diagnosis he got in the hospital?
“Even if it was at the risk of a life-threatening situation that would typically trigger adrenaline…”
Even the shamans don’t know their death date.
If an ordinary person realizes the length of their life at a young age, they could become such an eccentric.
Kang Chang-ho mumbled while briefly moving the muscles in his face.
His lips were mostly curled upwards, but it wasn’t easy to see it as a genuinely sincere smile with one side slightly asymmetrical.
“I feel uncomfortable.”
A few seconds later, he could support the mood of his expression.
“These days, your actions have gotten quite annoying. Now I feel uneasy just observing you.”
Has the Third S-Class hunter ever said something this direct before?
Such thoughts arose as Kang Chang-ho’s attitude was indeed unusual.
In general, he seemed genuinely displeased.
And the reason the typically genial Earthling suddenly expressed hostility was, without a doubt, the incident within the EX-Class.
“Anyway, Kim Gi-ryeo, I have something I’m curious about.”
Soon enough, Kang Chang-ho explained.
“Why did you choose ‘blue’ in the last dungeon room?”
“….”
“You didn’t think someone would even applaud your actions, did you?”
“….”
“Did you think sacrificing yourself would make you look noble?”
“….”
“But I’m sorry, but on my end, it just feels pitiful… Besides, seeing others’ organs so suddenly makes my stomach turn, and now I can’t even handle a cup of coffee.”
What kind of disturbingly ridiculous behavior was that in front of people?
Kang Chang-ho said this, tilting his head to one side. He hadn’t blinked once while staring at me intently.
However, his fierce expression quickly faded away.
The eye of the dragon eventually glanced out the window. Another owner of the monster’s organ quietly expressed his opinion.
“I’m sorry, but regardless of my mood, your choice in the dungeon has affirmed my misjudgment.”
“Misjudgment?”
“This is a bit of a secret, but those who spread gates in this world…”
Like animals starving for humanity’s agony.
“No matter what anyone imagines, ‘we’ detest humans beyond imagination…”
When facing crossroads that weigh the welfare of inferior beings against their own safety, these heartless entities wouldn’t sacrifice even a shred of flesh, even if it was a lie.
Kang Chang-ho recalled the peculiar nature of gate creators and thought inwardly.
Seonwoo-yeon, who took [Justitia] with her, had returned without suffering any notable harm.
Additionally, when the studio was on the verge of collapse, she had urged the neighboring residents to evacuate.
Most of those preceding actions could be interpreted as Kim Gi-ryeo luring a suspect to mislead them.
“…….”
Reflecting further, it was indeed challenging to disregard the serious injury sustained so severely that his lung had been pierced.
Especially since the incident had occurred in the gates’ home ground, it further pressed that idea.
This was someone who had collapsed while attempting to protect a fellow hunter, and there weren’t even any opponents watching.
‘How would he gain anything by caring for others in such a way?’
Was it even plausible for someone presumed to be a monster, or a malicious entity from a parallel world, to be in such a precarious situation?
Kang Chang-ho finished speaking, encapsulating his thoughts on the gate creator. He fell into a lengthy silence.
And when several noises from daily life drifted by in the hospital corridor, he finally spoke.
“Let’s drop it for now.”
