Chapter 87. Power Struggle (2)
“Kim Gi-ryeo, what the hell are you doing?”
“If you’re someone of your caliber, you should know without needing to ask, right?”
I casually shifted my stance on the cramped platform.
“Then let me explain briefly. People tend to think that Awakened like us are extremely resilient.”
“…. ”
“But that’s not entirely true. An Awakened is quite vulnerable to internal attacks with even a slight mishap in magic control…”
“…. ”
“If you aim for the inside, it can burst much easier than expected.”
It’s fascinating.
I never thought a low-level Magic Tool could change the flow of a conversation like this.
“By the way, do you know what the criteria for the skill Enhancement Heart’s kill judgment is, Mr. Kang Chang-ho?”
Ignite.
In that moment, a magic power gathered around my ears like a blazing sun.
This was a signal that the magic could be completed immediately with a little focus from the caster.
“Honestly, I don’t know.”
“…….”
“But regardless of what the real criteria are, if you blow away someone’s brain and spine like this, I doubt anyone could judge faster.”
In short, I was threatening this S-Class Hunter.
“Kang Chang-ho, are you still going to mess with me after this?”
If things go south, I would take my own life to prevent Enhancement Heart from activating!
The S-Class, looking stunned, retorted, “You’re going to kill yourself if I try to hurt you? Do you honestly think that makes sense?”
Yet, Kang Chang-ho had to shut his mouth upon hearing the next line.
“Of course it makes sense! I can really do it!”
“…!”
Now, let’s talk practically.
If you found yourself fighting a mage of the same rank, what do you think is the most crucial factor determining the outcome?
Attributes? Quantity of knowledge?
Sadly, all of that is wrong.
Surprisingly, battles between spellcasters are often decided by momentum.
Mages are more affected by their mental state than one would expect, and if one side believes they can’t win against the other, the tide can shift drastically.
And let me make one thing clear here.
I have never lost in these momentum battles between spellcasters.
“Hey.”
Yup. Never once.
“Kang Chang-ho.”
With a suddenly assertive tone, I declared.
Using this Pyromancer Necklace, no matter what you do, I can choose to kill myself first, so think twice about your options.
“Stop with the bluffing. There’s no way that’s realistically possible…”
For the first time, Kang Chang-ho looked a bit flustered, and I couldn’t help but chuckle at his reaction.
“Bluff?”
This wasn’t just a simple momentum bluff.
Thud, thud.
As the giant spider’s footsteps echoed nearby, I stared at the sky with my arms crossed.
“Mr. Chang-ho, I’m sorry, but I have no regrets in this life.”
I murmured briefly.
“To be honest, I’ve lived enough at this point.”
“…. ”
“I’ve seen enough dirty sights (workplace), and I’ve already achieved my greatest wish (retirement).”
“What?”
“Of course, if I could live on like this, there wouldn’t be anything better.”
While the other party remained silent, I straightened up and confidently stated.
“Still, I’d rather die than be pushed around by someone like you.”
As I continued my sentence, the S-Class’s face gradually displayed a range of emotions.
Shock.
Embarrassment.
Surprise.
“Ha.”
As it reached the end, there was even a hint of admiration.
“Anyway, if you really want to steal someone else’s skill, you should patiently wait for the contract to expire.”
“….”
“Please don’t interfere unnecessarily and mess things up.”
How many people in this world do you think can assert themselves against an S-Class?
But I had no intention of bowing my head and living through ten long years to someone else.
Not a chance.
“Do you understand?”
Well, it was time to wrap up this situation.
While preparing to injure myself at any moment, I spoke in a tone close to serene.
“If you’ve understood, could you get rid of that spider lingering beside you? It’s been bugging me, and I feel like my head’s about to explode.”
Then Kang Chang-ho stared blankly across the collapsed path for a moment before suddenly bursting into laughter.
“Hahaha!”
He laughed heartily with eyes full of keen interest.
*
“…Alright. I concede.”
It seems he’s genuinely interested in my skill after all.
When I threatened to render Enhancement Heart useless, he quickly became compliant.
“I promise I won’t do this again in the future. So for now, could you just put down that necklace?”
A dramatic resolution.
Kang Chang-ho, unusually sweaty, tried to dissuade me from hurting myself.
At this point, I’m really curious about what he thinks I am—a skill owner or whatnot.
“Ugh, fine. I’m too lazy to pry. No matter how he imagines it, I’ll know how to use that magic anyway…”
Clink.
I willingly let go of the necklace.
Of course, it was a redundant action.
If it’s just a low-level Magic Tool like this, I could handle it even with my toes.
“I’m glad it was resolved through conversation.”
Kang Chang-ho seemed to have caught on to some degree. He squinted one eye and showed a peculiar reaction.
Although the previous aggression was gone, I still felt pressure because of his physique.
“Um… Mr. Kang Chang-ho, I do recognize that I bear some responsibility too.”
The self-destructive threat was a temporary measure.
If Kang Chang-ho decided to act insane and say we’d both die together, it would lead to no answer, so I appropriately backed off here.
“From your perspective, it’s definitely unsettling for a contractor to visit such places.”
“Haha.”
“Indeed, in the spirit of apology, I promise to report it whenever I plan to visit a dangerous area in the future…”
Wait.
But thinking about it, Kang Chang-ho hates me hanging around the Gate, doesn’t he?
“Uh?”
In that case, should I just quit being a Hunter altogether and try to borrow about 3 billion from him?
That plan flashed through my mind momentarily.
But that thought was discarded in just a few seconds.
Just thinking it through a bit made me realize the potential side effects.
“Suddenly asking for an amount in the billions would seem suspicious. It would be obvious I wanted to do something with it.”
This was instinctive.
For some reason, I had a strong feeling I shouldn’t let that Earthling know that my goal was just to find lungs.
My issues weren’t simply going to end with getting my lungs. I didn’t have anything significantly different to gain from hurriedly changing my life…
“It might actually be more of a hassle if I were to find a new body instead.”
Right, the body.
Next, I would need a good body to replace Kim Gi-ryeo. In other words, I’d need a corpse of at least E-Class or higher.
So, carelessly throwing away my identity as a Hunter did not seem like a wise idea.
“This job allows me to see the deaths of Awakened rather naturally.”
So, I decided I’d tackle the money issue on my own for now.
“Shall we exit the Gate for now? We’ve defeated the boss.”
“Sure.”
“Now, the items we got here will be divided 80:20, right? I recorded that phone conversation earlier.”
At this pace, it shouldn’t take long to reach my target amount anyway.
*
[Mid-Autumn, a park near Mapo-gu]
Shhhhhh.
The sound of cash being counted at the ATM filled the air.
Clunk.
As that sound ended, a few green bills popped out from the ATM.
Rustle, rustle, rustle.
I counted the bills resulting from the machine one by one with my hands, transferring them into my wallet while thinking.
“100,000 won.”
What should I buy to eat with this today?
The last seven days were a week similar to a hurricane.
I went into a gangster’s den aiming to catch the Nachalsawon, and I fought for my life with an S-Class Hunter because of it.
“Phew.”
It had truly been a breath-stealing life.
But now that was all in the past. After much effort, I had finally cleared all my scheduled tasks.
“Now, I can finally enjoy life a bit.”
Recently, I had only occasionally been joining Ahn Yoon-seung’s skill training.
Only on Thursdays, because on other days Yoon-seung had his business at the company or something.
“Probably preparing to return in earnest.”
Not that it was about the money…but seeing my first friend I made on Earth drifting away made my heart ache a bit, but such things are unavoidable.
I shook off those thoughts and took a bite of my triangle kimbap.
Ah, but where am I at eating right now?
“Gugugugugu.”
“Why are birds so common on this planet…?”
Casting a quick glance down, a familiar creature met my gaze.
That’s right. I was currently out in a park in Seoul.
“And why do these birds on this planet walk around…?”
To be precise, I was sitting on a bench, having triangle kimbap and carbonated drinks.
“Guruk, gugugugugu.”
“Hm, they’re kinda cute when you look closely.”
How peaceful and lovely this time is.
To be honest, last week had been quite the burden. I stayed up for three days straight.
“No, then why did I even bother being reborn?”
I decided to rediscover my original intent at last.
Rest. How difficult it has been to obtain this simple thing in my previous life.
“I’ll take it easy for a while.”
With a feeling of satisfaction, I enjoyed the peaceful afternoon.
And time flowed by unhurriedly.
*
Then, ten days later.
–Shhhhhh.
After a few days of rest, a sort of routine developed.
It seems I’ve gotten more used to cash than to using my debit card.
“20,000 won.”
Every morning I’d wake up, withdraw money for the day, then buy a type of triangle kimbap I hadn’t tried yet at the convenience store.
Upon reaching that same park, I’d sit on the bench I always occupied to eat.
Recently, my life had been a mere repetition of this.
Crunch.
But I genuinely liked this routine. For a soul that traveled across the cosmos, everything was still fascinating.
“Interesting.”
Clouds, birds, lush greenery.
These days, I had been deeply engrossed in exploring Earth. In a way, it was almost an alien-like hobby.
“Hmm.”
However, after lingering in the same spot for ten days, I inevitably began to memorize a few things.
For instance, the color of that pigeon’s beak you see frequently around here.
Or that woman on the rooftop.
“Still here today?”
As I tilted my head while sitting on the bench, the same scenery always appeared.
At exactly 11 o’clock, it was as if she had an appointment as she appeared on the rooftop of that building.
“The posture is the same too.”
With her curly hair in a messy bun.
Square glasses.
And always wearing that same white coat.
Having seen her face for ten solid days, I felt a bizarre sense of familiarity.
“Hm.”
As I stuffed the last bite of my triangle kimbap into my mouth, I quietly pondered.
“I wonder if she’ll be here tomorrow too?”
…Just three seconds after thinking that.
“Uh?”
A few seconds later.
The figure in the white coat suddenly rested one foot on the railing. It was all too obvious what that foreshadowed.
Clunk.
“Whoa?!”
Suddenly, someone on the rooftop attempted to jump.
A person was falling down.
“AHHH!”
Seeing that, an icy chill ran down my spine. My mind went blank.
Of course, I’m gifted enough to cast magic even in such a situation but…
Honestly, I wasn’t sure about the outcome.
Kim Gi-ryeo’s magical power was only F-Class, and the drop was too high.
Whoosh.
Right after I cast wind magic to slow her falling speed.
I hurriedly rushed across the street to check the person’s safety.
“Gasp, huff.”
Wondering where she would land…
Finally, I spotted a woman lying limp in the nearby flowerbed. And she was wearing that same white coat.
