Chapter 298

August.

Generally regarded as the hottest month of the year, it is, in more technical terms, also known as the “hottest month.”

However, in this era of the Dungeon Shock, temperatures during that month had actually fallen somewhat. Whether this was due to the effects of ongoing global warming or, conversely, to the reduced consumption of fossil fuels brought about by the emergence of mana resources remained unclear.

South Korea was experiencing a cooler summer than usual this year.

Ooh~ This summer isn’t all sticky and gross. I can finally breathe. I can live.

Huh? The air conditioner’s off, so why is it still cool?

(Caption) As I Wish

Innovation in Cooling

(Subtitle) With national certification, mana stones—now safer than ever—help protect the energy of our world.

Adding “smart” to technology.

Willis’s new model wireless fan...

This was a high-rise apartment somewhere in South Korea.

A few commercials played on the television during a silly variety show, and as he listened to them while eating, a black-haired man quietly sank into thought.

‘As I thought, Hunter Kim Giryeo must be with the NIS (National Intelligence Service).’

It was, in a sense, a rather abrupt conclusion.

Sitting in the privacy of his own home, in such a quiet setting with no one around to hear him, even Jeong Ha-seong himself probably would not have expected a thought like that to occur to him.

It was 11:30 on a Monday morning.

Ever since his hospitalization, he had begun deliberately setting aside rest days for himself, sometimes even taking an entire weekday off, and today happened to be one of them.

Jung Haseong sat alone at home, eating his meal as he turned the matter over in his mind.

‘He once said that his dream used to be becoming a correctional officer...’

The misunderstanding was only deepening.

From Haseong’s point of view, the guest staying in his home still looked, no matter how he considered it, like some kind of government official.

‘Technically, the NIS is a government job too...’

Kim Giryeo had simply explained that wearing suits was a matter of personal preference.

But perhaps that habit had actually come from working as an agent.

Maybe he had initially aimed for an ordinary civil-service position, only to be reassigned after his abilities were recognized?

All sorts of suspicions began to arise.

Kim Giryeo.

Above all, his recent behavior had been far too strange.

‘Hmm.’

First of all, it made no sense for someone who claimed he had bank errands to take care of on the very first day after moving in to disappear for more than eight hours.

In fact, several days had already passed since the Tokyo expo ended.

Yet Kim Giryeo, who had only just returned from Japan, had gone out again without giving any clear explanation.

What was more, this outing was unusually long.

Apparently, he would be gone for two or three full days before returning to the house once his business was finished.

‘Considering he said he’d come back, it definitely isn’t a house-hunting trip.’

What could possibly require an S-rank Awakened with no dungeon raids scheduled to disappear for several days at a time?

‘Could it really be government work or something?’

A business trip.

The phrase briefly crossed the national hero’s mind.

The blond guest was calm and courteous by nature.

So throughout the training camp, which had already lasted well over a hundred hours, Haseong had never felt particularly uncomfortable around him.

But whenever situations like this arose, he could not help feeling intensely curious.

‘I clearly told him he could enter any room except my mother’s...’

And yet that ghost of a man barely even appeared in the living room right in front of him, much less entered the storage room where the valuables safe was kept.

Just what on earth was he thinking about all the time?

“Hmm.”

A ghost.

Come to think of it, that really was an appropriate description for someone with a secretive government-agent sort of occupation.

Jung Haseong had once found it strange to see the hunter sitting alone in the rain at a park, but by now he had rationalized even that away.

A working professional could show a relaxed side in everyday life, couldn’t they?

It would be unfair to call Kim Giryeo careless, especially when the atmosphere he gave off during lectures or inside dungeons was nothing short of overwhelming.

‘The moment there’s a monster in front of him, it’s like he becomes a completely different person.’

Perhaps Kim Giryeo seemed so relaxed in ordinary life simply because he conserved his energy for things that actually mattered.

Come to think of it, geniuses like that had always existed.

People who simply did not bother wasting effort on trivial things.

‘I’m so curious about what that Hunter is really doing... but following someone around is a crime, so I’ll just have to restrain myself...’

And so Jung Haseong continued, even today, to reinforce his misunderstanding with absolute conviction.

Kim Giryeo really must be affiliated with the National Intelligence Service.

Then what, at that very moment, was the person at the center of this misunderstanding actually doing?

***

“Gu Seohyeong!”

A few minutes later, at around 2 p.m., the sharp voice of someone who was unmistakably a former smoker rang out in flawless Korean.

“Huh?”

At the sound, a local Earth woman turned around.

She had been basking in the warm afternoon sunlight, enjoying a peaceful break, but no matter how precious the coffee slowly cooling in her hands might be, she could hardly ignore a call like that.

Wiing.

Soon, someone appeared through the automatically opening security door.

Piercing sanpaku eyes.

And even on a summer day like this, he was faithfully dressed in a suit like an office worker.

There was no mistaking who the man was.

“Oh, Kim Giryeo!”

South Korea’s fourth S-rank hunter had come to visit the enchanter for the first time in quite a while.

Originally, the enchanter’s workshop had been little more than a large empty room in one corner of the Association building, hastily cleaned up and put to use.

However, after repeated requests for improvements from several people, Gu Seohyeong had gradually come to work in a greenhouse-like space fitted with various security devices.

“How long has it been? You only ever texted me before. What brings you here in person today?”

The location itself had not changed, so finding the place was still easy.

“Kim Giryeo, how’s your summer been? As for me, there was such a long waiting list for enchantment reapplications during vacation season that I ended up spending quite a while in Kota Kinabalu.”

“Hmm.”

“But it was incredible there. Money really is the best. Who would’ve thought I’d ever get the chance to take such a long trip overseas?”

The man slipped the ID card he had shown the guard at the entrance back into his jacket pocket.

As he entered the room, he quietly listened to Gu Seohyeong’s chatter while thinking to himself.

‘Where on earth is Kota Kinabalu again...?’

In truth, this twenty-five-year-old Earthling woman had once been a classmate of the body’s original owner.

Which meant she might once have been unknowingly exposed to danger because of him.

Yet she seemed completely unaware of any of it.

That left him with mixed feelings.

Whether he met her often or hardly at all, she continued to linger somewhere in his thoughts.

At times, he even found it unsettling that someone who was essentially a stranger to him had become tangled in circumstances left behind by the former owner of this body.

“Anyway, what’s going on?”

Still, considering what he needed to accomplish today, perhaps he ought to be grateful that he happened to know her.

“I’m sorry for contacting you so suddenly.”

Before getting to the point, he opened with an unnecessary greeting.

Ssshk.

Kim Giryeo stepped farther into the workshop and began rummaging through his item box.

“Today, I came because there’s something I need to entrust to you, Seohyeong.”

“Huh?”

Talking about “work” in front of an enchanter affiliated with the Association naturally led to one conclusion.

“Oh, you’re here to leave something with me for enchanting? Are you finally planning to upgrade your gear?”

Gu Seohyeong’s voice immediately rose a pitch.

The fact that she even used the word “finally” made it obvious that she had been waiting for this day.

For any ordinary office worker, an increase in workload would be something to avoid.

But in her case, her situation was closer to that of a self-employed professional: the more enchantment commissions she received, the more money she made.

And more importantly, she had once felt slightly looked down upon by the former classmate standing in front of her.

“Hey, come on, you know how it is. You were just worried about my profits all this time, weren’t you? That’s why you never trusted me with your gear. Ugh, and now you come running to me the moment it becomes urgent—so why were you holding back before~? The world runs on school ties, regional ties, and blood ties. Why make things so difficult between us?”

Gu Seohyeong shrugged with satisfaction.

He had once complained that her skills were not all that impressive, or had otherwise found fault with them.

But in the end, even that former classmate apparently had nowhere else to turn but South Korea’s one and only Enchanter.

And that felt rather satisfying.

“What are you talking about?”

“Mhm?”

But her excitement lasted no more than a few seconds.

“I didn’t come here to ask for an enchantment.”

“...Then what?”

Rustle, rustle.

Just as Gu Seohyeong tilted her head in confusion, Kim Giryeo finally found what he had been searching for and pulled an item from his inventory.

It was a piece of fabric that looked as though someone had cut off the trailing hem of the night sky and laid it upon the earth.

Pitch-black.

And when touched by an Awakener, it gave off a faint, cool sensation.

This was—

“What is this?”

Gu Seohyeong blinked at the cloth her former classmate had produced.

To be perfectly honest, from her perspective, it was difficult to tell whether the thing was actually an item or simply some fabric bought at Dongdaemun Market.

At first glance, it was nothing more than a slightly dull piece of black cloth.

But the man who had taken it out—South Korea’s fourth S-rank Awakened—handled it as though it were a priceless treasure and began explaining himself with great care.

“It’s an artifact I bought in Japan. The name doesn’t really matter. What matters is that there’s something I want to make with it.”

Something he wanted to make.

“The hand is usually the first part of the body to touch something, right? So I want this fabric to completely cover the fingers, the back of the hand, and the palm. But make the length stop around the wrist bones so we don’t waste any material...”

Kim Giryeo spoke while pointing to the area around his wrist.

Because that was exactly the sort of item he needed right now.

In response, the twenty-five-year-old Enchanter rolled her eyes upward and sank into thought.

Something that completely covered the fingers, the back of the hand, and the palm, while ending roughly around the wrist.

Considering her old classmate’s mysterious explanation and the material he had brought, there was really only one possible answer.

Gloves.

That was it.

“From what you’re saying, it sounds like you came here to make gloves.”

Having reached that conclusion, another question immediately followed.

“Huh?”

Hunters who made clothing out of dungeon by-products with unique properties were hardly unheard of in this industry.

But Gu Seohyeong was not a fashion major.

She had no tailoring qualifications either.

Her background was in acting.

“But why would someone who wants gloves come looking for me?”

Gu Seohyeong asked the obvious question.

And then, like a sorcerer wearing the mask of an ordinary human being, he revealed the truth.

“Ah... well, I originally tried to make them myself. But even when I searched online for ‘how to make gloves,’ I couldn’t really find any proper information...”

For reference, his ability to gather information was, fittingly enough for an alien, worse than that of the average Earth middle school student.

The Alphaurian had spent an embarrassingly long time wandering through random blogs about knitting winter gloves before finally giving up and trudging over to seek help from an actual Earthling.

“When I thought about asking someone for help... out of everyone I know, you seemed like the person most likely to be good with your hands, Gu Seohyeong.”

And the Alphaurian had arrived at that conclusion largely because of knowledge from his previous life.

‘As expected, so it really is crafting or enchantment, huh?’

“Mhm?”

“I mean your awakening type.”

Just as they had discussed once before, when he prevented that Earthling from falling, [Enchant] and similar abilities were generally associated with spellcasters who specialized in imbuing objects with magic.

And such individuals were often known for exceptional dexterity.

They possessed enough concentration to engrave Chinese characters onto a grain of rice with nothing but a magnifying glass.

Like master platinum artisans, these spellcasters excelled at manipulating physical materials.

They were natural craftsmen, gifted with an innate talent for transformation.

‘My original dream was to open an accessory workshop.’

On Alphauri, enchanters commonly served as item makers as well.

If that was the case, then surely Gu Seohyeong, an Earth enchanter, would also be skilled at crafting things.

That was the logic that had brought him here.

However, Gu Seohyeong’s eyes widened in disbelief when she heard his explanation.

“Uh... Sorry, but I have no idea what you’re talking about, Giryeo.”

In a way, that was only natural.

To an Alphaurian, accessories like necklaces and fashion items like gloves might belong to roughly the same category.

To an Earthling, however, they were entirely different fields.

“Is that so?”

If he wanted gloves made, would it not be better to take the material to a craftsman who actually specialized in making them?

Gu Seohyeong was just about to turn down her old classmate’s request.

But immediately afterward, the blond man awkwardly muttered,

“As expected, you can’t do it.”

What he meant was self-reproach.

He had suddenly shown up without warning and made an unreasonable request.

Of course it had been too much to ask.

But the moment Gu Seohyeong heard those words, her expression changed dramatically.

For some reason, she interpreted them rather differently.

‘So, as expected... someone like you, who can’t even enchant properly, can’t even manage to make a pair of gloves either.’

Was it some kind of victim mentality?

Perhaps.

But then Kim Giryeo furrowed his brow and even looked at her with sympathy.

And that stirred something deep inside her.

Victory.

Anger.

Revenge.

In reality, Kim Giryeo’s expression contained nothing more than regret.

Yet even now, without realizing it, he was trampling all over the Enchanter’s pride simply by never once bringing up ‘enhancement.’

Enchant.

A skill countless people desperately coveted.

An S-rank hunter from Malaysia had even added fuel to the fire by approaching her during her vacation and asking whether he could somehow be placed on the enchantment waiting list, treating her like some sort of VIP...

....

At last, the D-rank Awakened made up her mind.

“Anyway, if it’s difficult, then never mind. Sorry for showing up so suddenly. It’s almost lunchtime, so I’ll hurry back so you can eat—”

“Give it to me.”

“Huh?”

Her voice was trembling as though she were angry.

Or was that merely his imagination?

“Give it to me.”

“Gu Seohyeong?”

“Whether it’s gloves or socks, if you have a design in mind, I’ll stay up for three days and nights starting today and make it for you. Hey, wait right there. I’m calling a craftsman I know immediately. Don’t move from that spot......”

And yet Gu Seohyeong, true to her background as a child actress, smiled brightly in complete contradiction to what she was feeling and said,

“Okay!”

The alien sensed no particular danger.

And so, with the help of a kind Earthling, he soon began creating a new magical tool.