Chapter 390

But they couldn't remain silent forever. Prioritizing efficiency, the true mage was the first to change the subject.

"Anyway, are you going to use the textbook I made?"

"Oh, yes, yes. Of course."

"Then please sign here. I couldn't find a copy of [Knight's Oath], so I got one of a slightly lower grade. Still, if either of us breaks the promise, we'll both be notified."

"The main condition is just to keep it a secret?"

"If word gets out that I know these techniques, a dozen more S-Ranks like the ones we saw at the main gate earlier will show up."

"Okay. I understand."

It didn't take long for their agreement to be finalized. Setting aside the fact that he had even brought up [Justitia] to demonstrate confidence in his physical condition.

"Above all, I was wondering how I'd ever make time for lessons when it's so difficult to get away from work..."

Good.

The idea of improving her fundamentals this way sounded quite appealing to a busy modern person.

"Oh, and just so you know, learning through writing alone might not work very well. If you really get stuck, I'll guide you personally. But there are absolutely no refunds."

At that moment, Kim Giryeo voiced his concerns, but from the Earthling's perspective, the chances of success actually seemed quite high.

"Anyway, this world has books on meditation and weight training. Why shouldn't it be possible to train skills through writing?"

The contract was finalized more smoothly than expected.

"Ah."

And at that very moment, the coffee he had asked a subordinate to prepare arrived in the room.

Click.

While Esther reviewed the contract, Kim Giryeo briefly wondered whether he should knock over the coffee cup. But as he kept his thoughts occupied, a perfectly suitable phrase suddenly came to mind.

"Hunter Esther, earlier you asked why I'm sharing this know-how only with you."

"Hmm?"

It wasn't entirely far from the truth.

There had been a perfectly good reason to conceal all the ugly parts, yet for some reason he hadn't thought of it earlier. Setting that aside, Kim Giryeo continued.

"I think the reason I'm sharing these techniques first with the country's number one and number two Hunters is precisely because of that."

"Because of...?"

"Just as you've done until now, I hope you'll continue protecting the people of this country—including me after I retire..."

"..."

"And if you're going to do that kind of work, being even a little stronger can only help. Unfortunately, there aren't any other Hunters besides you two whose character has already been proven..."

That should sound reasonably convincing.

Of course, buried beneath those words were thoughts like, 'If I hadn't already put in the effort to make that book, I might have pretended to forget the promise I made to you,' and, 'Is there any reason besides laziness for me not to take on more disciples?'

But Kim Giryeo smoothly skipped over all of that and returned his attention to the coffee.

"..."

And just as the Alphaurin finally attempted to spill the liquid as though by accident—

He had explained his reason for sharing the information by saying that people who cared about the country should become stronger and continue exerting a positive influence on South Korea.

Clatter-clatter.

Somehow, the woman who had been drinking her coffee in an awkward posture finally began to think.

'Damn. So there really was an Awakened agent.'

To think that the reason he had refused even the billions a country like the United States could offer and continued acting on his own was something so simple.

'That's right. Our country didn't abolish its intelligence agency just because of the dungeon shock. Naturally, there would've been agents still working somewhere perfectly normally.'

It was almost impossible not to misunderstand.

'But when I asked Grandfather, he said the current president doesn't know Kim Giryeo... Then is this some kind of top-level secret? Or could it be that he didn't begin operating only under the current administration...?'

Even the normally realistic leader of a major guild had now fallen deep into a quagmire of misunderstanding.

Moreover, the mere fact that an ordinary man in his twenties possessed information far beyond anyone else was bound to raise serious questions.

Just as Jung Haseong had once been deceived by the same line of reasoning, Esther too had fallen into the misconception that 'this has to be the answer for everything to make sense.'

"I..."

For reference, before awakening, Seo Esther had been nothing more than an ordinary shut-in. At the same time, she had been deeply interested in popular culture.

Soon, she cautiously voiced a question born from a long-standing curiosity.

"B... but, could I ask one more quick question?"

"Yes."

"Agents... when they're secretly operating overseas, do they really disguise themselves with silicone masks that look like human skin, like in the movies?"

"Haha."

"These days, they'd probably mostly use items. Well, artifacts would be detected pretty quickly because of their mana..."

"What's that... No, seriously, what on earth are you suddenly talking about?"

Huh?

Wasn't this some kind of Earth-style joke?

By the time Kim Giryeo began to question it, he was already a step too late.

When he hurriedly tried to verify the facts afterward, he discovered that Jung Haseong and Esther had merely received emergency treatment at the hospital. In reality, they hadn't even spent half a day together in the same room.

"So you didn't hear it from Hunter Jung Haseong... No, now that I think about it, he passed out halfway through, didn't he?"

"Yes!"

"Why did I just assume all the lies had already been explained? Was I out of my mind because of those 128 missed calls...?"

Before the situation could get any worse, Kim Giryeo decided to correct the nonsense he had spouted.

But even after he finally began seriously explaining himself, Esther suddenly asked, "Then could you tell me how meals are handled inside secret government agencies?" leaving the alien utterly bewildered.

***

Alien.

Special agent.

Alien special agent.

Special agent alien.

No matter how I rearranged the words, they formed a phrase I didn't even want to say aloud.

After all, it wasn't as though I'd ever admitted to those suspicions myself just because I was desperate for money...

'Esther somehow accepted the explanation. I also sent Jung Haseong a message, albeit a little late. I wonder if he received it properly?'

Anyway, it wasn't long after that painful conversation.

"Hmm."

I finally finished everything I had to do and returned home.

As for all the inquiries about sparring matches, I could simply ignore them.

By now, I had even mastered the art of quietly escaping immediate chaos by turning on airplane mode or do-not-disturb.

'My job already takes me into dungeons—places where communication doesn't work—all the time anyway. I should've started using this sooner.'

The foreign mammals who kept insisting that they wanted me to hit them hadn't followed me this far.

Presumably, even they weren't insane enough to break into my house.

And so I enjoyed a rare moment of leisure in my own domain, purchased with money I had earned precisely so people wouldn't bother me.

Slurp.

Ah, for reference, that was the sound of drinking from a glass.

I hadn't mentioned it before, but the swimming pool construction I'd already paid for had recently been completed without issue.

'Refreshing.'

The place I was in right now was the private swimming pool in the backyard of my mansion.

Yes.

A swimming pool!

At long last, I had gotten my hands on that Earth-made structure I had dreamed of for so long.

What's more, thanks to obtaining a valuable unique-tier item, I had managed to escape the crisis of tax delinquency.

Today, I could simply spend the entire day soaking in the water...

But...

'Still, I should finish this drink and get in soon. My experiments are falling behind.'

Of course, the subject currently occupying my thoughts wasn't the soul.

My abilities were still far too limited to pursue such a high-level investigation.

Earth's environment.

Its climate.

The detailed classifications of its organisms.

And, most importantly, the structure of the body I currently inhabited.

Things like that.

At this point, there wasn't much meaning in studying everything personally.

If someone asked who understood Earthlings best in this world, there was only one obvious answer.

'For now, I'll rely on books written by Earth's scholars.'

Speaking of books reminded me...

I successfully sold my handmade book to Esther—

No.

That wasn't it.

It was fortunate that, as befitting a noble Archmage, I had kept the promise I made.

If Esther's lessons proceeded smoothly, I would have enough not only to cover my taxes but also to pay my living expenses for quite some time.

'My only hobby is watching the news. Maybe it's about time I replaced the OLED TV.'

That's right.

It wasn't as though I could take this money into the afterlife.

From now on, I might as well spend it wisely and live comfortably.

I kicked at the water a few times with my feet, then quietly climbed out of the pool.

'Swimming outdoors in cold water when it's still winter... If it weren't for this tall fence, the whole neighborhood would've started saying I was insane—'

There are two kinds of gold in this universe that should always be cherished.

One is ordinary 24-karat gold.

The other is the present—the golden moment of now.

***

"Hmm."

A few days later.

'Now that I think about it, if the human tailbone is a vestige of evolution, does that mean it could disappear completely without causing any problems?'

Today was Tuesday.

'Was there really a tail here in the first place? Still, I probably shouldn't recklessly remove it, since it seems to help distribute body weight while sitting...'

And yet, on a day perfectly suited to going to work, I found myself sitting in a dimly lit room.

After all, I'd already gotten a fair amount of work done during the early and middle stages of the [Great Cataclysm].

Now I could spend my days leisurely without worrying about society criticizing me.

'In the end, I suppose I should keep the tailbone. Still, for some reason, just hearing that it's an underdeveloped evolutionary remnant makes me want to remove it...'

I found small pleasures in everyday life.

Around this time of year, street vendors began appearing all over town.

Fish-shaped pastries and hot fish cakes—foods completely familiar to Earthlings—were still seasonal experiences I had only encountered a handful of times.

Lately, I had once again been enjoying Earth's various cultures while repeatedly reminding myself what a wonderful planet this was.

But no matter how little sleep I needed thanks to modifying this body, there was no real reason for me to wander around outside late at night.

'I haven't upgraded my night vision yet, either.'

Still, I spent far more time researching various things than simply going out for fun.

[Tiring]

It happened while I was passing the time, leafing through books from Earth.

[Task Reminder: Dungeon 1]

My phone lit up with the message.

I had left myself a short reminder in case I forgot.

It meant that the activation date recorded on the scroll I had confiscated from Andy Oliver was approaching.

'Ah, right. This is when the artifact predicted that this year's special gate would appear.'

This wasn't something I'd written on my calendar for anyone else to see, but the dungeon scheduled to appear today possessed the following characteristic.

[Upon defeating the boss, epic-tier or higher loot is guaranteed 100%]

Moreover, the scroll didn't even specify the dungeon's exact difficulty.

'In that case, even an F-Rank dungeon could turn into a sudden treasure trove.'

But judging by my indifferent reaction after checking the alarm, the coveted gate was going to appear in some distant foreign country.

So the chances of any Korean actually getting involved were quite low...

I had told them to keep an eye on that guilty pixie-like American in case he caused any trouble, but honestly, under these conditions, it seemed unlikely that any wealthy person would risk their life over it.

The conditions surrounding this gate were far too unimpressive to stir an Archmage into action.

So I merely passed along the information and, without taking any particular measures, returned my attention to the research I'd been conducting.

.

.

.

However, only a few hours later—

'It hasn't even been that long since I thought nothing would go wrong...'

Tik.

I came upstairs from the mansion's basement, where I had been reading, and picked up my phone.

'Is that a failure report from that guy, Andy-whatever?'

An unwelcome message had arrived on this Earth-style electronic device.

According to the foreign worker I had positioned in advance, no illegal claimants appeared to be targeting today's troublesome gate.

And yet, the dungeon itself had appeared at a difficulty level far too low to casually ignore.

[Andy: What you asked me to do was monitor the situation so the artifact's information would not be misused.

Our contract contains no guarantee that I must clear any gate.

Furthermore, since I am no longer permitted to use information from the scroll for personal gain, I am effectively prohibited from attempting an exclusive raid.

Therefore, would it be acceptable for me to transfer authority over this gate back to the jurisdiction it originally belongs to?]

Even if the contract prohibited selfish motives, he could simply bypass the restriction by donating whatever items he obtained from the raid afterward.

So why on earth had that pixie bastard suddenly started bowing his head and trembling like that?

'What kind of dungeon appeared? There wasn't anything particularly noteworthy written on the scroll.'

I ordered him to send me the classified information.

Before the response delay permitted by the contract had even fully elapsed, the other party quickly prepared another translation and sent it over.

Let's see.

For now, neither the spawn location nor the dungeon's basic structure seemed to differ at all from the item's [Prophecy]...

'Should I take a closer look?'

Before long, the first special gate foretold in advance for the year revealed itself.

This case followed a pattern similar to the chain-letter urban legends said to have been popular on Earth back in the '90s.

In other words, it all began in the United States.

An endless black field.

A solitary fortress surrounded by jet-black walls.

And beyond it, a passage into another world where several beasts had been discovered, each possessing enough crushing strength to tear a human being apart alive.

This time, however, the newly appeared monster nest wasn't in England.

On top of that, the gate's measured mana level was only around the lower end of A-Rank.

In other words, it was weak.

'That might sound unpleasant to ordinary people like Seonwoo Yeon, but frankly, isn't a feeding box of that level something any country can handle these days?'

But that complacent assumption was quickly shattered.

The foreigners who secretly attempted the first raid tasted bitter failure one after another.

The reason was that this particular gate exploited one of the chronic weaknesses of primitive sorcerers.

[Additionally: "That dungeon unleashes powerful mental attacks, so be careful."]

It was the kind of feeding box that made one wonder whether it was truly A-Rank or something closer to EX-Rank—a dungeon that demanded far more from Hunters than mere physical strength.

That was the situation in summary.

"Hmm."

Still, reducing the whole thing to the phrase "mental attack" was far too simplistic...

The abnormal condition first reported inside that gate was peculiar in several ways.

Normally, brainwashing inflicted by monsters would only make its victims somewhat drowsy or disoriented.

And the logic behind that was simple.

If prey became sluggish, it was easier to devour.

However, in the case of this prophesied gate, those afflicted by its abnormal condition displayed a reaction unlike anything previously seen.

[Status Ailment: Aggression]

'So it changes a person's very temperament to the point where you'd actually have to call it that?'

To think it could suddenly make ordinary humans so violently hostile.

Well, as long as it wasn't the same trick some cult leader had once used, mind-control magic was already known to be capable of producing all kinds of effects.

"Oh."

But the hired Hunters who returned from the gate reportedly suffered symptoms far beyond anything humanity had expected.

It wasn't called "Aggression" for nothing.

Every one of them abruptly developed an extremely violent and hostile disposition.

'So once you're inside the gate, some inexplicable rage wells up and makes you waste your strength on unnecessarily weak enemies—is that it?'

One foreign Hunter who escaped from the problematic space reportedly continued suffering from the effect afterward, lashing out indiscriminately at everyone around him until he had to be physically restrained.

Andy Oliver complained at length about the mess they had to clean up, but I decided to ignore that part for now.

"Good grief. A gate that mass-produces foreign versions of Kang Changho."

Fortunately, once the affected Hunters left the gate, their condition improved quickly.

After drinking a few potions to remove the status ailment and resting at home, the raiders eventually returned to their original personalities.

"Then isn't there really nothing to worry about? It's not permanent, and the drawback is more ordinary than I expected."

However, the unfortunate thing to remember at this point was that the gates capable of turning people into violent criminals had still not been cleared.