Chapter 53: Tired Heart
After leaving the Association.
The first thing I did was call Ahn Yoon-seung Hunter.
“Hyung! What’s up?”
“Uh, it’s nothing much. Let’s just grab a bite to eat.”
The next stop was a restaurant.
Since it was an ambiguous time that wasn’t quite dinner yet, there weren’t many people around.
“You like pork, right? Eat up…”
“Huh! Thank you!”
Now that I had a bribe ready, it was time to bring up the topic.
Casually.
I slid a well-grilled meat dish over to Yoon-seung while subtly hinting.
“By the way, Yoon Seung-ah.”
“Yes!”
“I’ve been having some worries lately.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Out of nowhere, it seems like I’m about to be killed by Jeong Ha-seong?”
Clang!
Upon hearing that, Ahn Yoon-seung dropped his chopsticks.
I quietly handed him a new pair from the utensil holder and continued.
“Just hear me out. I’m not dead yet.”
My tone was calm, but honestly, I was about to lose it.
Who would have thought that a meeting in an EX-Class Gate would develop like this?
To think someone would bury a person in a mysterious gate like that. Jeong Ha-seong really crossed the line.
What have I done!
“I barely tried to frame a little, shift some monster aggro, and now I’m just making efficient use of the gate rewards that Jeong Ha-seong worked his butt off for.”
Oh. Is the reason sufficient?
“Well, anyway.”
Back to the main point.
“I need advice. You’re a top Hunter, right? Do you know anything about Jeong Ha-seong?”
“Suddenly saying that…”
“I just want to work things out smoothly.”
Ahn Yoon-seung stared blankly for a moment before he managed to speak.
“I can’t really imagine it. It’s not like he’s just any Hunter… it’s Jeong Ha-seong?”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve never even spoken to him. He’s pretty dry as a person. In a way, he’s similar to you, Hyung.”
Hmm. He cleared his throat for a moment.
“Rather than fighting personally, he just gets passionate about gate strategy sometimes.”
Yoon-seung mumbled to himself before cautiously saying.
“Could there be a misunderstanding between you two?”
“Hm.”
“It doesn’t make sense for Jeong Ha-seong to be angry enough to kill someone, and it doesn’t make sense that a polite person like you would make a huge enemy…”
Finally, the objective perspective kicks in.
After hearing those words, my brain finally rebooted.
“Maybe?”
Now that I think about it calmly, perhaps I misunderstood Jeong Ha-seong’s offer?
“Was I overly sensitive due to my distrust of humans?”
I snapped back to reality.
And slowly accepted that all my worries were baseless misconceptions.
“Thinking about it now, you’re right. I mean, the number one in South Korea wouldn’t waste emotions on an F-Class like me.”
Then Ahn Yoon-seung chuckled lightly.
Ha ha ha.
“Well, Hyung. You really don’t need to worry about that moving forward.”
As I deftly handled my chopsticks, I glanced up to watch Yoon-seung.
“You know, Jeong Ha-seong wouldn’t rashly pick a fight either.”
“What?”
“Remember the incident in Baek-ui Maze? Something happened then that made him wary of you, right?”
I quietly focused on his words.
“That’s how it is when Hunters fight. People are different from monsters since they often hide their abilities.”
“Oh!”
Yoon-seung shrugged, as if it were obvious.
“Awakened ones are hiding something… If the opponent thinks that way, they won’t easily get into conflict.”
Sounds pretty plausible.
Come to think of it, the park incident in the past occurred because the assassin mistook the target for a strong person and a fight broke out.
“Right…”
Beeep.
And at that moment, Kim Gi-ryeo’s phone chimed.
“What’s that? A text?”
“Uh, yeah. Let me reply real quick.”
I noticed Ahn Yoon-seung staring at me without saying a word.
“Why? Curious?”
“Ah, no. It’s just…”
“It’s nothing much anyway.”
He then shared the text messages willingly.
(7 days ago)
[Mr. Gi-ryeo, if you haven’t eaten, want to grab lunch today? I know a great place for traditional Korean food!]
[Sorry, I’m busy with a police investigation right now…]
(4 days ago)
[Hello! It’s getting chilly now, isn’t it? ^^ I suddenly thought of you, so I reached out. Have you eaten?]
[I just had something.]
(1 minute ago)
[Kim Gi-ryeo Hunter! What are you doing today~~? You’re not saying you already had dinner at this hour, right? Hehehe.]
[Yes, I’m having pork ribs with a friend right now.]
“It’s just a casual check-in. They’ve been texting me often these days.”
I showed him the phone screen and casually focused back on my meal, but for some reason, Ahn Yoon-seung was sweating bullets.
“The sender is… Seo Esther saved as?”
What does that even mean?
*
As summer was winding down.
Recently, the Hunter society in Korea was experiencing a bit of a cold.
“There are even more gates now.”
This follow-up to the appearance of another EX-Class Dungeon.
The frequency and difficulty of gate occurrences skyrocketed nationwide.
“Is another A-Class coming? Which guilds can handle it?”
“Both Neo Sisters and the Korean Magic Tower have already dispatched their main teams to tackle it.”
“Ugh, then it seems there’s really only that Hunter left.”
But whatever country this was.
Korea is a nation that boasts many S-Class Hunters compared to its small landmass. Thus, they could handle this situation to a certain extent.
“Contact the number one!”
In other words, it means some Hunter is active.
Ding!
Then, a man covered in blood pulled out his phone from his pocket.
“A-Class Gate?”
Jeong Ha-seong muttered with a weary expression.
Having just finished a gate and now being told to deploy again.
“Driver, start the car.”
“Uh, Chief. You’re covered in blood…”
But he quietly headed to the next destination.
Hunting monsters.
That was what Hunters did; it was their job.
“After all, blood will spill again, so we might as well go.”
Thus, Jeong Ha-seong’s fatigue piled on.
The next day.
Jeong Ha-seong downed a health recovery potion he obtained from the auction house.
This was a mere 40 hours since he had last slept.
Meanwhile, while the S-Class Hunter was being worn down like this…
What was the alien Great Mage doing?
“Whew!”
The story returns.
This was a studio in Mapo-gu where Kim Gi-ryeo lived.
Standing there with a satisfied face, the blond man shouted.
“Finally done.”
It’s nothing compared to the struggles of some Hunter, but Kim Gi-ryeo had also been busy for several hours.
He needed to fix the significant deficiencies in this body as soon as possible.
“Let’s check if the modification worked.”
Today’s achievement was as follows.
[1.2.2 Changes]
● Signal blocking when pain exceeds the threshold
It’s a pretty lengthy sentence. So, to put it simply…
“Perfect!”
From today onwards, Kim Gi-ryeo acquired ‘Pain Resistance.’
If he were to eliminate all pain, that would create problems, so he added a mechanism that nullifies pain only when it exceeds a certain level.
“I’m getting pretty close to my former self.”
Now, pain was no longer to be feared!
In fact, he had recognized the necessity of this modification long ago but had postponed it out of laziness.
But then…
Because of Jeong Ha-seong, he realized he needed to get his act together.
If he kept putting it off, he might just die from shock one day.
“I shouldn’t have wanted to learn what the ‘active burning’ feels like. I really didn’t want to collect data on this.”
Gi-ryeo wiped the sweat off his forehead. Probably from focusing for a long time, he felt quite fatigued.
“Ha, should I rest now? Since I’ve saved some money, trying out delivery food wouldn’t be a bad idea…”
But then.
Suddenly, his keen senses picked up something passing by.
As if a dark, giant wave were rolling in towards him.
“Oh.”
By the time he recognized the flow of magic, it was already too late.
Suddenly, a deafening explosion echoed through the studio.
Kaboom—!!
Rumble…
Beeep, beep, beep…
Kim Gi-ryeo froze and stared ahead.
What in the world is happening?
‘The sound came from way too close!’
Fortunately, the room seemed fine, but an indescribable sense of anxiety began to rise.
Gi-ryeo quickly slipped on some slippers and dashed out into the corridor.
What greeted him first was…
“Huh.”
A building.
The building was flying away.
“Huh huh.”
Gi-ryeo chuckled, gazing at the bombarded right side of the building as if it were a joke.
Steel frames and shattered concrete were visible. Only his 304 room was undamaged while the entire line next to it had collapsed.
“Damn it…”
There were more than a few residents who came out at the sound.
Then a booming voice echoed through the corridor.
Before the unstable building collapses, everyone should leave immediately. Run away.
Everyone was shouting that.
“What kind of hellish planet is this?”
In late August.
The beginning of a Dungeon Break terror that would cause countless victims had begun.
*
Evacuating wasn’t difficult.
After all, it’s not like I had many valuable items.
“Let’s just take the magic tools.”
I carefully hugged the sleep-inducing incense burner and headed out.
Along with recovery potions, a protective bracelet, and a reflection mirror, but all were compact.
“Hm.”
But the problem was where to take shelter now.
“What’s going on? Why is my phone not working?”
My first thought was to ask Ahn Yoon-seung for help, but my cellphone was acting up.
Chatter…
“The calls won’t go through.”
“Are they all on the line or something?”
“What do we do…”
Listening to those pedestrians, it seemed I wasn’t the only one experiencing this inconvenience.
‘Shall I just follow where the people are fleeing?’
There was no time to dawdle.
Whatever mishap happened, monsters were rampaging through the streets at this very moment.
“Aaaaaahhh!”
“Run away!”
“Is there no Awakened here?”
Screams rang out from flying pterodactyl-like monsters or people.
Debris, blood, smoke everywhere.
As monsters appeared, the peaceful modern scene turned into an utter war zone in the blink of an eye.
Everyone was too occupied to worry about anyone else, just trying to escape.
In such chaos, I dashed forward without thinking.
Thanks to that, I could barely find a shelter.
It seemed Earthlings used subway stations as air raid shelters during emergencies.
‘Everyone is gathering at the subway.’
But…
‘Whoa!’
The subway station I arrived at was already packed with citizens escaping.
Moreover, they had Hunter blocking the entrance, saying they could no longer take in more people.
“Damn it!”
I would be really grateful if my stupid brain could recall Earth’s evacuation tips right about now.
Unfortunately, I had no idea how to approach it.
‘If I stay here any longer, I’ll be trampled to death.’
I had no choice but to think of another option.
Stopping in place and sharpening my senses, I felt various mana flows.
The mana from the Awakened within their bodies.
The external magic rising from the ground.
And the movements of gate creatures.
‘In the end, it looks like I have no choice but to run alone.’
I took a deep breath and began to move.
Originally, I had planned to travel to monster-free zones until the situation calmed down.
“Hm?”
But after regaining some composure, a better idea popped into my head.
“Over there… is that person?”
Soon, I arrived at a quiet alley.
I turned my head north in the calm street.
While the situation was hard to see clearly, I was certain upon sensing magic.
Behind that building was Jeong Ha-seong.
“An S-Class Hunter who appeared right in front of me amidst a monster frenzy.”
During such a chaotic time, I felt a twinge of guilt about bothering someone so busy, but for an alien on the brink of death, conscience is unnecessary.
Well, besides, sticking to Kim Gi-ryeo’s body was a form of parasitism, anyway…
“I’m quite good at being a parasite.”
With my eyes sparkling, I chased after Jeong Ha-seong’s aura.
