Chapter 340

Even if he was a useless totem, it was probably better to leave him alone for the time being.

At least, from a Korean point of view.

Besides, whatever else could be said about it, that had still been an apology. He had gone down on his knees and offered what might reasonably be called his best attempt at remorse.

‘At least, that’s what he claimed.’

So what would I gain by continuing to pick a fight?

‘Even if I brainwashed him into begging for forgiveness, it wouldn’t be entertaining. There’s absolutely nothing to gain from it.’

It was the sort of conclusion that would probably leave a bad taste in Gisimche’s mouth, but Kang Changho was right about one thing.

A person’s heart was not something that could easily be won with money or violence.

Even if one somehow forced such intangible feelings into existence through crude external means, what emerged would amount to little more than shallow, fleeting sentiment.

Therefore—

‘Yeah. He’s right. A person’s true feelings aren’t something another person can simply take by force.’

At this point, there was no choice.

It was time to change the plan.

‘But what if all I want is the outside of the person?!’

At last, enlightenment struck me.

For the moment, at least, making Kang Changho sincerely repent was impossible.

‘I haven’t cracked his skull open to check, but there has to be something wrong with Kang Changho’s frontal lobe. How else could he maintain that damned stubbornness?’

The man looked like the sort who would simply shrug even if he were tortured or robbed on the spot.

Watching him spout absurdities without so much as a tremor in his gaze convinced me of that.

So I immediately devised another wicked plan.

‘And here I was worried because this body starts cracking apart whenever I use even a little advanced magic. What perfect timing!’

Come to think of it, I had never tested transferring myself into the body of an S-rank Hunter.

The plan taking shape in my head went something like this.

Despite appearances, Kang Changho’s emotional system was not completely psychopathic.

There were times when he genuinely became angry.

And the clearest example was what had happened by the sea in Incheon.

More precisely—

The betrayal of expectations.

‘If a plan prepared ten years in advance suddenly collapsed, even he must have been angry.’

I searched my memory for the incident that had provoked the strongest reaction from Kang Changho.

For now, I would pretend I had forgotten the past and forgiven him.

Then, far in the future—

What would happen if I stabbed that mammal in the back?

‘Someone that rich has probably already planned out exactly how he wants to spend his retirement, hasn’t he?’

Imagine it.

Just as an ordinary person was peacefully approaching the end of his life, an alien suddenly appeared and declared, “You sinned in the past and your repentance was far too shallow. So now it’s time for punishment,” before cutting his life slightly shorter than expected.

Once I finished imagining it, I became certain.

No matter who Kang Changho was, something like that would deal him a serious blow.

‘If I hold this grudge for fifty years and then take revenge, there’s no way an Earthling could predict it, right?’

Besides, I had not exactly been innocent myself when it came to exploiting the [Knight’s Oath].

Being the only one getting angry and constantly applying pressure was starting to exhaust even me.

But something as minor as this?

That sounded like excellent stress relief for an Archmage.

Killing an elderly mammal near the end of his natural life was hardly some monumental act of evil!

‘Hmm.’

......

Was it?

‘Still, I do need a backup body. Just in case.’

From the perspective of an alien being like me, necessity ultimately had to take precedence over conscience.

In its own way, this was my Alphaut-style version of forgiveness.

Originally, I had considered hanging that selfish bastard up in the middle of a public square.

Compared with that, if one knee touching the floor could reduce my revenge to this extent, it was mercy by any reasonable standard.

“You can get up now.”

“Yeah.”

Now, then.

‘It’s almost time to leave the hospital.’

First, I gestured for Kang Changho to stand.

‘You primitive creature. The Archmage has just decided to use your body as insurance, so you had better take excellent care of it from now on.’

I wondered whether, by the time I came to claim his corpse, he would truly still feel no sincere remorse.

‘If he quits smoking, starts following a Mediterranean diet, exercises faithfully three times a week... then the moment he confidently puts down the deposit on some senior residence, that’ll be when I take my revenge. I’ll go there, kill him, and turn him into a spare golem.’

Heh heh heh.

After venting the last remnants of my resentment in my head, I wrapped things up by setting the final schedule that needed to be arranged.

Then I left.

I gave Kang Changho detailed instructions about what he would need to assist with from that point onward.

I also checked once more that he had the correct bank account number for the compensation that had finally been settled over the destroyed building.

***

It was a surprisingly moderate conclusion.

“......”

No, wait.

Could this really be considered a good ending?

From one person’s perspective, the Awakened he had once severely oppressed had suddenly returned in a state that comfortably exceeded the average S-rank.

‘Oh my. So that increase in awakening level I had only theorized about was actually possible.’

A question surfaced in someone’s mind.

‘And someone who was already that strong managed to break through his growth limit—then came back after defeating three Beasts in a one-versus-three battle?’

Of course, the negative train of thought stopped there.

‘Well... I suppose all sorts of things happen in life.’

What good would come from dwelling on past violence?

Korea’s third S-rank Hunter, Kang Changho, simply decided to be grateful for the generosity of his former contractor.

Kim Giryeo had merely faltered for a time because of illness.

Even before this, he had already possessed strength worthy of an S-rank assessment.

And now his power seemed to have surpassed even that.

Yet despite all of this, he had taken no revenge.

If the matter could truly be settled with nothing more than Kang Changho kneeling once, then it was obvious Kim Giryeo had never had anything to do with the creation of that gate in the first place.

Kang Changho gathered his thoughts while standing in a familiar room.

An almost completely empty living room with only a single piece of furniture.

A large painting hung alone against a white wall.

This was Kang Changho’s residence, a place Kim Giryeo had visited before.

Beyond the broad glass windows lay a swimming pool, and not a speck of dust could be seen on the wooden furniture.

Proof that he spent considerable time here.

Tak, tak, tak.

Kang Changho changed into indoor slippers and headed toward the mansion’s second living room.

“...?”

Then, in the passage leading into the next room, someone suddenly appeared and bowed.

“...I?”

The figure was a gray-haired middle-aged man.

“......”

Dressed in a suit, he looked equally capable of being a chauffeur or an office employee.

A moment later, the man made a small gesture.

He held a phone in one hand and raised the screen toward Kang Changho, showing him the text displayed there.

Welcome!

The message on the screen more or less indicated that he had received word of Kang Changho’s arrival and had been waiting for him.

“Yeah.”

Despite the warm welcome, Kang Changho’s response was dry.

He ignored the man waiting inside and continued walking.

The S-rank Hunter’s destination was the kitchen attached to the second living room.

Zzzzzzzzt.

Ommmmmm.

The moment Kang Changho entered the familiar kitchen, he activated the coffee machine.

As the beans began grinding inside, a brief thought crossed his mind.

‘Kim Giryeo is the one who broke through the limit.’

Even beneath the loud mechanical noise, the man’s thoughts remained perfectly clear.

‘And setting aside that story about his defensive skill being permanently active... is his basic water attribute really strong enough to drown every monster in the area to death?’

Since [Improvement] inherited the exact quality of the stolen skill, if the human skill stone he had once marked through a contract happened to possess extraordinary potential—

Then logically speaking, this sort of reaction from an [Improvement] holder was only natural.

“Ah... If I’d known things would turn out like this, I should’ve just killed him while I had the chance.”

Ddeudeu.

Standing before the growling coffee machine, the man waiting for his drink began speaking aloud.

“I never thought that guy would turn out to be this competent.”

“...?”

“And after rejecting every opportunity handed to him, now he’s even gone so far as to declare that he’s breaking the contract himself.”

His eyes widened slightly, his lips parting.

For a moment, his expression almost resembled the regret that a certain green alien had long hoped to see.

“Oh my god.”

Of course, the sentiment was hardly sincere.

Kang Changho gave a theatrical sigh, then immediately returned his attention to his actual objective.

He held out a cup and waited.

Only after roughly a minute, once the coffee had finished brewing, did he finally turn around.

His gaze met that of the visitor who had followed him into the kitchen.

“...?”

“...?”

However, contrary to the basic rules of conversation, both men remained silent for some time.

Heh.

The oppressive silence was broken by none other than the S-rank Hunter.

Kang Changho let out a dry, incredulous chuckle.

Only after the sound faded did he finally begin making small talk.

“By the way, there’s something I wanted to ask.”

The scent of the espresso in his hand slowly spread through the kitchen.

“Kim Giryeo doesn’t seem particularly interested in staying alive. A reporter close to him told me that the moment he cleared the dungeon, he collapsed while coughing up blood.”

“...?”

“No, seriously. His body starts breaking down whenever he overexerts himself, and yet he was still planning to use his power again.”

“...?”

“He said something about needing to meet the people who brought the Beasts into Korea.”

“...?”

“Well, judging from everything he’s done so far, his intentions are obvious enough. He’s probably trying to defuse the bomb himself so no one else in this industry gets hurt because of it.”

Kang Changho took a sip of his coffee, white crema still floating on the surface, and added,

“Admirable.”

He was smiling.

But true to his nature, the smile was not entirely approving.

“Still, if an Awakener of that caliber pushed himself too far for other people and unexpectedly died, that would be troublesome.”

[Improvement] only activated when its user personally defeated a powerful opponent.

From that point of view, it was hardly difficult to understand why someone might view the self-sacrifice of a valuable industry professional in an unfavorable light.

“What a waste.”

Then a plan slipped from his mouth.

“...Should I use this opportunity to sneak a little surveillance in with the [Dragon’s Eye] again?”

After all, they had only exchanged words.

There was no binding force behind that agreement.

And before long, the conversation had begun drifting in the exact opposite direction from what had been discussed in the hospital room.

Kang Changho knew that if he merely avoided direct physical contact around the other person’s ankle, there would be no sound of skin being touched.

Which meant there was effectively no way for the target to notice that the [Dragon’s Eye] was watching them.

So even if he tracked someone without permission, detection would be nearly impossible.

‘An Awakener who probably won’t live very long anyway. In that case, wouldn’t it be better to let someone who actually needs him make use of him...?’

Should he continue the surveillance in secret from now on?

Worse still—

If a situation like the [Six-Legged Corridor] happened again, with someone hovering on the brink of death, would he have to rush in like a hyena fighting over scraps?

“Well, as expected, I probably shouldn’t.”

That was as far as the fantasy went.

Had everything he had said until now been nothing more than a joke?

The mansion’s owner changed his attitude in an instant.

And yet, the man listening to him looked at least twenty years older.

By appearances alone, he was unmistakably Kang Changho’s elder.

Strangely, however, Kang Changho had spoken informally to him from beginning to end.

“Oh, right.”

Before anyone could stop to question it, the next words were already flowing out.

There were still too many unresolved matters to waste time on something like that.

Like leftover junk files remaining after a program had been uninstalled, traces of old contracts continued to linger.

Still, there was hope.

Once he completed this final request, he would finally be able to sever those troublesome connections once and for all.

“Anyway, as you probably gathered from the conversation, that Kim Giryeo guy still has something to deal with next concerning the Beast incident. So make preparations for illegal entry in advance.”

“...?”

“The final destination is the United States. We’ll need transportation to get there.”

Kang Changho finished the rest of his coffee.

After issuing all the necessary instructions, he turned the [Dragon’s Eye] toward the window.

Like the garden of any wealthy estate, the grounds outside were covered in greenery.

Only now did he notice that the leaves on the trees had already begun shifting toward dark red.

Kang Changho personally disliked September.

But most Koreans welcomed the arrival of autumn.

Compared with the oppressive heat and sweat-soaked days of summer, the weather at this time of year was far more pleasant.

“Get everything I just mentioned ready as quickly as possible.”

“...?”

“By the way, it’s already autumn. Now that I think about it, the weather’s cooled down quite a bit, so working should be easier for you for a while too.”

Tuk.

Kang Changho placed the empty coffee cup in the sink.

Then, as he approached the hallway, he lightly tapped the person who had been standing there.

The same man who had silently listened to the entire conversation until now.

“You can cover something like this with thick, long pants now, right?”

Moreover, the place Kang Changho touched was near the other man’s ankle.

Strangely, a faint tick-tick sound came from where his foot made contact.

It was not the sound of skin against skin.

It was closer to the noise one might °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° hear after tapping something made of plastic.

“Would you get angry if I did this?”

Immediately afterward, Kang Changho addressed the man who looked at least twenty years his senior.

The listener cautiously shook his head.

At that, the S-rank Hunter smiled.

“That’s a relief. If you’d said yes, I was just about to rip your tongue out.”

Those were his last words on the matter.

“Anyway, you’re always quick on the uptake. You really do know how to survive in society...”

Leaving behind something that vaguely resembled a compliment, Kang Changho clasped his hands behind his back and disappeared down the hallway.

And so he never saw the pitiful sight of the servant behind him, desperately swallowing back his tears.