Chapter 379

Even when he brought up entertainment or mentioned things related to shopping, the reaction was always the same.

“If you’re wondering why I always wear luxury clothes while showing no interest in other luxury goods...”

“...”

“I explained this before, didn’t I? Suits are basically work clothes for me. But recently...”

“Yes.”

“There’s someone called Seo Yohan, or something like that. Anyway, the family of the Magic Tower’s Guild Master runs a boutique. They happened to be selling items there, so I bought some clothes, and somehow my wardrobe ended up like this.”

“I see.”

“In the end, it’s just habit. Was there something wrong with how I was dressed?”

And even after such a long conversation, his responses remained consistently indifferent.

“No. Not at all.”

A man in his twenties with no desire for watches, cars, sports, luxury goods, or entertainment.

But the individual known as Kim Giryeo had already displayed several peculiar traits.

In the Labyrinth of the 13th Month, he had bypassed traps in ways no one else could even attempt. Yet when faced with a terrified Rank 1 Hunter, instead of scolding him for cowardice or showing impatience, he had simply remained as composed as ever...

“In fact, even now, that scene still shows up in my nightmares sometimes.”

This was not merely a matter of praising a fellow Hunter for his patience.

What Jung Haseong found truly significant was that the other man seemed genuinely deficient in something resembling “empathy.”

Kim Giryeo remained indifferent in situations that would naturally shock an ordinary person.

And whenever someone expressed concern over his injuries, he would even look at them as though wondering, What are they doing?

“...”

As a social creature, Jung Haseong was capable of analyzing how he himself had been treated up until now.

There were certain conclusions no normal person could ever reach simply by observing someone from the outside.

And yet, no matter how intelligent he was, an ordinary Earthling would never arrive at the truth.

‘What’s going on? Why did Jung Haseong suddenly go quiet? Did I accidentally reveal I’m an alien during that conversation?’

The homeowner sitting on the sofa was, quite literally, an alien straight out of a movie.

And not just any alien, either.

At one point, he had even possessed the most stereotypical appearance imaginable—green slime and a single eye.

No sane person could possibly imagine such an absurd truth.

Unfortunately, Jung Haseong happened to be exactly that sort of sane person.

‘Someone with extremely low empathy who obsessively pursues a dangerous, thrill-seeking profession like being a Hunter.’

In the end, Korea’s Rank 1 Hunter finished constructing his theory along a completely false trail.

‘And yet, he constantly does good deeds.’

Come to think of it, Jung Haseong could not remember ever seeing Kim Giryeo wear an expression of genuine happiness while rescuing civilians.

In other words, this was more or less the image Kim Giryeo projected to most inhabitants of Earth.

‘Hunter Kim Giryeo... could there actually be something wrong with his emotions?’

Rather than being a highly trained operative, perhaps the blond Hunter simply possessed an innately abnormal temperament.

For a moment, words like “psychopath” passed through Jung Haseong’s mind.

‘I’ve heard that even someone born with an antisocial disposition can mechanically learn morality if they receive proper correction from a young age.’

Of course, on a planet where people said, “Leave medicine to the pharmacist,” there was no reason to expect an amateur diagnosis to be accurate.

If there truly were some defect in the regions of the brain responsible for regulating emotion, most people would display behavioral patterns rather different from Kim Giryeo’s.

But Jung Haseong did not know enough about the subject to recognize those distinctions.

‘Anyway, Hunter Kim Giryeo seems to know almost nothing about ordinary happiness. Even the dungeon itself confirmed that much.’

Ignorance was this mammal’s only crime.

‘This won’t be easy.’

Jung Haseong looked at the homeowner with an oddly sympathetic gaze.

The alien, however, showed nothing but cold indifference, without so much as a trace of pity or emotion.

‘What was the formula for that memory-erasing spell again? If he starts cornering me with questions about being some kind of space monster, I may have to use it on him.’

And so the two remained silent for a while.

Nothing particularly unusual happened in the living room after that.

“Then I’ve bothered you enough on a day when you should be resting. I’ll take my leave.”

Contrary to the alien’s concerns, Jung Haseong stood up immediately after the brief question-and-answer session.

‘That guy... why does the way he’s walking out the front door with such a determined look on his face feel so ominous?’

It was now the end of December.

In other words, the new year was just around the corner.

***

The busy season had arrived.

Those cursed Oisimche.

Despite being creatures ruled by appetite, they possessed an oddly diligent streak.

At fixed intervals, they created new demonic beasts and released them onto the Earth’s surface.

And if one of those creatures proved particularly efficient at extracting suffering, its nest would even be expanded.

“They really are diligent when it comes to maintenance.”

In every sense of the word, they were excellent harvesters.

The so-called [Great Cataclysm] was nothing more than a wave concealing that intention.

“Hmm.”

On Alphauri, I was the First Archmage.

On Earth, I possess the unprecedented power of an SS-rank Hunter.

And yet here I am, living like an unemployed man.

“If my past self could see me now, he’d probably laugh and ask what I’m so dissatisfied about when I’ve finally gotten exactly the sort of life I always wanted.”

Lazing around...

I buried myself deep in the living room sofa and wasted time.

Even so, my eyes remained fixed on the screen of an electronic device.

[Dungeon Search]

[Result Range: A Limited]

January.

January.

January.

[Notification] Y-Tube Live Broadcast [Breaking News]: The Cataclysm Confirmed, Yet Another New Monster Discovered...]

This month truly was a season capable of simultaneously provoking the tempers of both debt collectors and scholars.

But why was I, a magnificent SS-rank elite Awakener, rotting away in my room instead of going out hunting?

“No work!”

Never in my life had I imagined myself saying something like that.

But as the current situation made painfully clear, the start of a new month had once again subjected me to merciless “consideration.”

And the cause was, of course, none other than the lung-shredding spectacle during the disposal of Heavenly Palace Island.

I stepped in with the purest of intentions, and this is how they repay me?

No matter how many times I tried to persuade them that I was perfectly fine, there was little chance anyone would believe me after witnessing something so shocking with their own eyes.

To continue from the moment when Korea’s Rank 1 Hunter visited this mansion—

After that, Jung Haseong began taking extreme measures.

‘I should’ve realized it the moment he suddenly pulled out that car magazine! I really should’ve said something half-convincing back then.’

Damn it.

Every single day, they send someone over—come to think of it, I heard Garlon temporarily respected their staff’s wishes—just to make me undergo that primitive Earth-style treatment...

And Jung Haseong’s kindness did not end with merely checking whether I was alive or dead.

From time to time, the top-ranked young man would come in person and make bizarre suggestions like these.

“Here you go, Hunter. This is what’s called a laptop.”

“What am I supposed to do with it?”

“There are strategy games on this that even Awakeners like us can enjoy regardless of reaction speed.”

“What is the meaning of this? Are you mocking me?”

“You said you’ve barely ever played games, right? Then maybe you’ll find something you like among these.”

Every time Jung Haseong came over, he brought another piece of Earth culture with him.

Apparently, dismissing something simply because it looked boring from the outset was different from actually experiencing the culture firsthand.

First, it was a gaming console.

Next came sporting equipment, like a ball and glove for playing catch.

After that, there were so many other things that listing them all would be difficult.

Is this kind of behavior normal on Earth?

Still, it was not difficult to guess what had triggered Jung Haseong’s bizarre behavior.

“No, I mean, logically... is there really anyone in the world who has no happy memories at all?”

That absurd misunderstanding born in the Türkiye EX-rank Gate...

Apparently, seeing the alien cough up blood had only caused it to sprout further.

From an ignorant human’s perspective, it was somewhat understandable why Jung Haseong had become so concerned.

Objectively speaking, it was true that I appeared a little... unusual for an Awakener.

Exhausting.

But even in a situation like this, I could hardly just obediently play along.

“Dungeon alert!”

With a sudden jolt—

The sound rang out from my phone, and I immediately sprang up from the sofa.

“There’s a golem too. A new type of golem—ah, that one. It’s definitely the one that rolls around with molten gold packed inside its pipes.”

...

...

...

But, well...

To be perfectly honest, I would have been a fool not to see this coming.

“Oh my, Hunter Jung Haseong.”

The voice of a smoker emerged from beneath the idol’s skin.

“How did you get here before me when this is Andong?”

“...”

“Ah. I really do need to buy myself a car soon.”

Standing in front of the newly appeared Golem Gate, I immediately began firing off every taunt I could think of at the humans I spotted.

I even found myself slipping into polite speech, something I almost never used.

“Ah, it’s Jung Haseong again. Again—”

That streak-haired young man had been blocking every dungeon I tried to enter for days.

“Hunter... Kim Giryeo.”

The weak hero now had dark circles beneath his eyes and a gloomy complexion.

Again, today was already the middle of January, right in the midst of the [Great Cataclysm].

Ordinarily, however, the arrival of January alone would not have produced such a shocking state.

New types of monsters did appear frequently during this period, but fundamentally speaking, the total number of dungeons did not increase.

Since Jung Haseong was a Hunter who had accumulated an enormous amount of experience, he would normally have been able to get through this season purely by relying on the so-called “instinct” he had developed over years of practice.

And yet the Jung Haseong standing before me looked completely exhausted.

So what could possibly be the reason?

“Enough. Stop getting in my way.”

“This dungeon was reserved by our company first. There is absolutely no procedural issue.”

“What do you mean there’s no issue? You’re sweeping through dungeons one after another like some automated macro.”

Reflexively, he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

“Are you really going to make me say something harsh?”

But when I began interrogating him, the other party instead adopted an unexpectedly firm stance.

“Am I really the one at fault here?”

Fine.

Let’s hear what he has to say.

“You even refused when I offered you money. You rejected the solution you yourself suggested first, Hunter.”

“I didn’t refuse. You said you don’t have the cash right now, and that you’d have to sell your equipment to scrape together hundreds of billions.”

“Yes.”

“And besides, if you’re going to cover the money for me, that means you’ll have to work more instead. I just don’t like that.”

“Yes...”

“I have more than enough strength now anyway. I simply want to earn my own living with my own hands. That’s honestly how I feel.”

“...”

Those were, without question, perfectly reasonable words.

A conversation that had begun in the calm tone of civilized adults quickly escalated into a heated argument.

“Then let me ask you this instead. What exactly is wrong with what we’re doing?”

“Hmm?”

“Hunter Seo Esther and I are doing this purely because we want to help.”

“No, that’s...”

“I didn’t say anything at the time because I didn’t want to overstep, but after everything that happened to you on the ship, why are you already back at work? Wouldn’t it be fine to rest for a month or so?”

Of course it wouldn’t.

Tax payment season begins in February.

And this was still January.

But just as I was about to reveal that perfectly reasonable truth, Jung Haseong cut me off with a sharp outburst.

With an expression full of pent-up frustration, he began unloading everything he had been thinking all this time.

“Hunter, every time you appear, you look completely exhausted! Your face is pale and hollow!”

No.

Kim Giryeo just naturally has prominent cheekbones...

“And your skin isn’t exactly fair to begin with, but if you look closely, there’s no color or vitality in it at all.”

Of course there isn’t.

He’s a corpse.

“Even when you try to act like you’re fine, just looking at you—”

“I see.”

Each time he spoke, rebuttals instinctively rose to my lips.

I suppose that last remark reflected the inner slump I felt whenever I started working again.

Just the ordinary fatigue of any office worker.

And yet Jung Haseong looked so genuinely shocked and distressed that I could not even bring myself to argue properly.

“I’ve never seen anyone as remarkable as Hunter Kim Giryeo in this line of work.”

A sudden compliment?

“I truly respect you.”

“Hmm.”

“If someone like you doesn’t stand at the center of this industry and support it, everything feels unstable. And it’s not just me. Most people feel the same way now.”

“Do they really?”

“So, no matter how slim the chances are, I hope you won’t give up on treatment.”

A heartfelt plea.

“In a world where superhumans exist, miracles can happen too, right?”

If I were an ordinary sorcerer, I might have wiped away tears and listened to the plea of this primitive creature.

“I want to make money.”

Unfortunately, circumstances did not permit such sentimentality.

February was already right around the corner.

The deadlines were tight enough to drive a person insane as it was.

And the thought that [Garlon] was about to snatch away a Golem dungeon that practically laid golden eggs right in front of me sent a chill down my spine.

And that was not even considering the most primitive desire of all—

Accumulating wealth.

“This... isn’t right.”

The more I thought about it, the more irritated I became by the simple fact that someone dared to obstruct my actions.

If I truly wanted to, this whole situation could be resolved in a month or two simply by forcibly silencing that S-rank backbone enough times.

The only reason I avoided that option was because I did not want to harm a human.

In other words—

This was a matter of “pride.”

But Jung Haseong and Seo Esther kept trying to lighten my burden.

They blocked me.

They pleaded.

Then blocked me again.

Then pleaded again.

Over and over.

An endless cascade of consideration.

Their intentions were admirable.

The problem was that I genuinely had no idea where to begin correcting their misunderstanding anymore.

Perhaps this situation had already become irreversible the moment those heart E-x-try results were revealed.

“Hunter Kim?”

“...”

Swish.

I opened my eyes wide and stared briefly into empty space.

At that moment, my mammalian hand instinctively swept back my golden bangs.

And with that small movement, I sank deep into thought.

“Okay.”

Come to think of it...

“Do I even have any obligation to make Earthlings understand me...?”

The hand gripping my hair tightly enough to expose my forehead began to tremble violently.

It was the twisted anger characteristic of an Alphauri beginning to surface.

It was one thing for seizure notices to be slapped onto everything because I could not cover hundreds of billions in unpaid debt.

I had even done my best to tell them the truth.

And yet these humans still refused to believe me.

Honestly, it was starting to make me a little angry.

And frustrated too.

So, after tens of thousands of considerations...