Chapter 402

Logically, it should have been nothing more than an absurd rumor, but for some reason, today it sounded surprisingly plausible.

“Th-... about that Hunter...”

Kang Changho shifted the phone to his other hand. Since he wasn’t speaking to anyone face-to-face anyway, he continued without letting any emotion show on his face.

“Most likely, it’s a misunderstanding. His reputation ever since the [Inevitable Malice] incident has certainly been suspicious, but when you meet him in person, he doesn’t exactly give off the impression of someone working for the government, does he?”

As their conversation continued, the scenery outside the taxi window quietly changed.

“The story you heard is probably just some nonsense that got distorted somewhere along the way.”

“I suppose so.”

“Let’s not take it too seriously.”

Perhaps because it had been so long since he had last ridden in one, the back seat of an ordinary taxi felt even more cramped than usual. With that mundane thought, Kang Changho shifted his posture slightly.

“Even if that Hunter turned out to be a spy from another country, it’s not really something I need to concern myself with.”

At those words, the person on the other end of the call grew uneasy as well.

“Mr. Kang Changho, with that kind of personality, how did you even manage to take on the [Sloth Castle] raid?”

In other words, what the man in the back seat had just said could be interpreted like this: as Korea’s top-tier S-rank, he was openly declaring that even if a major incident occurred in the country, he would not get involved unless he personally felt like it.

“I’m not interested in manpower that can’t be controlled with money.”

Kang Changho did not stop there and repeated his position several more times.

“After all, he’s a superhuman I can’t use however I please. In that case, even if I waste my time paying attention to him, I’d only be the one losing out.”

Kang Changho rolled his [Dragon’s Eye] and pictured the face of a certain Awakener.

At present, Korea’s last S-rank.

A water-attribute superhuman.

That blond man had recently displayed terrifying strength, and the more one became entangled with him, the more strangely exhausting the entire affair seemed to become. Either way, he was an irregular existence Kang Changho would rather keep at a distance.

“By the way, who would have thought an entirely new gate would appear just to lecture lazy people with the words, ‘Don’t live a life of sin?’”

Thus, Kang Changho gradually changed the subject, intending to wrap up the conversation.

“That dungeon’s phrase is pretty funny when you think about it.”

“Really?”

“How could doing nothing possibly be such a serious sin? Still, selling your country’s secrets for a few bucks—now that kind of treacherous act would at least make you feel like you’d actually committed a sin.”

“Is that remark perhaps aimed at me?”

Judging from the circumstances, their relationship appeared to be one in which Kang Changho had unilaterally purchased information from the other party.

But he did not seem particularly attached to maintaining the connection, because he ended the call quickly.

A person obsessed with money was, as he had just said, useful in one way or another.

Still, once you had manipulated someone to a certain extent, the whole situation inevitably became dull.

And then everything felt boring and tedious again...

“That’s exactly the kind of situation where the phrase ‘contrary for the sake of being contrary’ fits perfectly.”

It was truly a paradox of abundance.

The blue-haired man eventually turned off his phone completely and sat in silence, waiting only for the taxi to reach its destination.

Outside the window, the cityscape still stretched endlessly beneath shades of gray.

Seoul.

If this place truly collapsed one day, then that would be the time to move away.

“...”

Not yet.

There was no need for that yet.

Nor was it the time when he wanted to leave.

***

The first conclusion of the Sin Classification incident.

How many hours had passed since then?

“Hello, viewers. This is YTV, bringing you today’s morning news live.”

A new sun had already risen over the blue seas of South Korea.

Yet even though the date had changed, there was still no sign of the next fortress dungeon appearing.

“After all, the boss Kang Changho defeated didn’t issue any notice about the next fortress either.”

The trap that had been testing humanity’s very nature had finally vanished without a trace.

As a result, broadcasting stations around the world delivered news of victory.

Of course, there were always people who complained, asking why an emergency disaster alert had been sent if the problem was going to be resolved so quickly, or why people had been forced to evacuate for no reason.

But such ugly complaints were never something Hunters were expected to deal with in the first place.

“Working in a profession that lives off the nation’s salary certainly isn’t easy, I suppose...”

Since we had managed to overcome at least one crisis for the first time in a while, I thought it was only right to rest.

After several days of emergency alerts, all-night research, business trips to the Castle of Pride, and everything else, I sank into a hot bath and let the steaming water wash away the fatigue that had accumulated throughout my body.

Back in my Alphauri days, the idea of deliberately boiling myself alive in hot water like this was something I could never have imagined.

But after living as an Earthling for some time, I was slowly starting to understand.

Playing in the cold water of a swimming pool and bathing in water heated to around 40°C were entirely different cultural experiences.

‘Primitive as it is, this does feel good. Could this be why humanity never bothered to develop a bathing machine?’

At this point, I could hardly continue mocking them as inferior simply because they did not know the ‘Clean’ spell.

And since I had now relieved my stress in the Earthling way as well, I had intended to gather my strength and begin handling the remaining tasks today.

“Hmm?”

It was around this point that my plans started to go slightly off course.

I had finally completed a spell for the Gisimche.

Since an incantation does not wear out no matter how many times it is used, my original plan had been to keep this magical remedy on hand and make a circuit through the remaining dungeons.

More precisely, I had intended to attack the still-unsealed [Sin Classification] dungeons in reverse order.

‘I didn’t see this coming.’

But when I contacted them to arrange my departure schedule, an unexpected reply came back.

‘I’ve been rejected by everyone.’

Foreigners were denied entry to every Sin Classification dungeon, including the one themed around Wrath.

There was no need to dig into the details.

With the other side making their intentions this obvious, it was not difficult to predict what they planned to do from here.

‘They’re going to have their own Hunters clear them.’

Well.

Come to think of it, South Korea’s victory broadcast would already have revealed the secret behind the speedrun.

They now knew the strategy.

If a country had the right personnel, there was no need to hire foreign mercenaries.

‘Besides, I was the one who rejected Britain’s request in the first place. Throwing a fit now because they won’t let me in would only make me look ridiculous.’

It was a rather anticlimactic conclusion.

In the end, every Sin Classification dungeon was cleared independently under the authority of each respective country.

‘Still, if something goes wrong after they send all their S-ranks inside, that’ll be the end of it. Everyone certainly has nerves of steel. Or are they actually planning to rely on the “stab the vital point” method...?’

After entertaining that fleeting, ridiculous thought, I turned my head and looked out the window.

‘It looks cold outside.’

I had been convinced I could monopolize the rewards from the other [Sin Classification] dungeons, but that hope had now completely vanished.

Yet even after losing the epic items I had already mentally counted as mine, I was not particularly shaken.

It was fine.

After all, riding inside a 180-ton chunk of scrap metal—a plane—was already troublesome enough.

And I had managed to clear at least one Sin Classification dungeon on my own.

‘My wonderful teammates even promised me a 33.3% share of the dungeon rewards!’

To be honest, all I had done during the raid was drain seawater, yet the rewards were dazzling.

Just thinking about the Hunter payment that would soon arrive after taxes made my mouth water, and my brain filled with happiness hormones.

‘Heh heh.’

Of course, it was somewhat disappointing that I would no longer be able to administer the potion for the Gisimche.

‘There’s nothing I can do about it.’

For the time being, I decided to calmly observe the outcome of at least the Castle of Pride dungeon.

With that conclusion, I finished revising my plans.

“Hmm.”

The overseas work I had earmarked had disappeared...

But on the other hand, all of my incoming payment had already been secured.

So what should I do now?

‘Oh, come to think of it, the weekend is coming up soon, isn’t it?’

Recently, I had discovered a way to spend money like a Korean.

I was not sure whether primitive people in other regions followed the same custom, but in the country where Kim Giryeo was born, people seemed to have a culture of sharing delicious food whenever something good happened.

‘By the way, if you’re wondering how I figured that out, it was by thoroughly analyzing the new term ‘promotion treat’ that I found on the internet...’

No wonder I had always instinctively wanted to do the same thing whenever I earned money.

‘Of course, the small fragments of memory remaining in this brain probably played a part as well.’

Anyway, I decided to follow the local custom and celebrate my share of the epic items.

But since my stingy nature still refused to die, I was careful about choosing whom I would treat in the first place.

.

.

.

Ding-dong, ding-dong.

“Oh, here she comes.”

“Seonwoo Yeon-ssi!”

It happened 24 hours later.

A familiar figure arrived at the quiet winter beach.

Jet-black hair like ebony.

A cheap padded jacket that looked at least three years out of fashion.

And so on.

The Earth creature, dressed in such plain clothing, greeted me immediately.

“Hello.”

She had already helped me greatly up to this point, and she would likely continue to be of tremendous assistance in establishing myself on this planet.

If I were going to show generosity toward anyone, surely someone like her would be the obvious choice.

“Good to see you. It’s nothing special—I just thought I’d invite you out today and treat you to a meal, Seonwoo Yeon.”

“A meal?”

“Yes. A meal.”

“Excuse me, but may I ask exactly what kind of restaurant we’re going to?”

At that moment, Seonwoo Yeon suddenly began paying attention to the most trivial details.

So I answered without thinking much of it.

“A Korean beef restaurant!”

“Ah.”

“There really isn’t a better menu when you want to give someone a proper treat.”

But I had never expected the conversation to take this turn.

“Oh, I’m sorry, but you really shouldn’t buy me such expensive food.”

“Why?”

“There’s something in this world called the Anti-Graft Act, you know.”

“Oh, right. Damn it.”

“I’m a public official affiliated with the Hunter Association, and I’m not allowed to accept gifts worth more than 60,000 won from Hunters or petitioners who are closely connected to my duties...”

“My body only remembered that just now.”

Incidentally, the restaurant I had selected for today cost a staggering 170,000 won per person.

I quietly glanced at her, then cautiously spoke.

“Then... perhaps we could just eat the Korean beef quietly and keep it between ourselves...?”

“Would that be alright?”

But as expected, Seonwoo Yeon was still Seonwoo Yeon.

“Oh my, I’m too scared even to joke about it.”

A principled rule-follower who immediately grew uncomfortable at even the slightest suggestion of wrongdoing.

She calmly insisted that we could simply pay for our own meals.

But if things went that way, it would create a minor problem for me.

“Ah, this really makes me feel like trash.”

“Trash?”

“Actually, I had a personal favor I wanted to ask you today. That’s why I deliberately chose an expensive restaurant, mixing in a little bit of bribery.”

“That’s just corruption itself.”

Seonwoo Yeon replied in a completely matter-of-fact tone.

“But as expected, it’s fine.”

“What?”

“Even if you don’t buy me anything, I’ll still help you, Kim Giryeo-ssi.”

“Why?”

“Well...”

What followed was a completely unexpected answer.

“Anyway, I’m bored, so...”

“What did you say?”

Seeing how visibly shocked I was, Seonwoo Yeon looked slightly embarrassed and began explaining with some difficulty.

The planet she lived on had gone through the Dungeon Shock, leaving countless people wandering after losing their families and those close to them.

Because she did not have many friends to spend time with, she often passed her weekends doing volunteer work and similar activities.

“So meeting these strange beings called aliens in the middle of all that, aside from being creepy, is honestly pretty interesting!”

Tuk.

I cut in while listening to her explanation.

“Wait a minute—what exactly did you mean by the part where you said it was creepy?”

At that, the Earth mammal broke out in a faint cold sweat.

“Well... suddenly finding out that there’s an intelligent life form somewhere in the universe that resembles humanity gives me a somewhat unpleasant feeling...”

“I was the one who was truly shocked when I first saw an Earthling. You were creepy.”

In many ways, it was absurd.

And yet, as we exchanged these frivolous remarks, I finally began to feel that I had truly returned to everyday life.

“They said even the Hunters whose mental health deteriorated because of the [Sin Classification] have now fully recovered without any problems.”

So that was that.

I quickly organized my thoughts again, recalling the legal limits Seonwoo Yeon had mentioned.

“Anyway, shall we start by eating?”

“Ah.”

“I can take the Korean beef I reserved earlier to go and eat it myself, then treat you, Seonwoo Yeon, to something else.”

A primitive mage trembling with anxiety at someone’s insistence on buying food.

But to be completely honest, there was absolutely no reason to fear what was coming next.

“Kim Giryeo-ssi, what exactly have you been laying all this elaborate groundwork for? What are you trying to ask me?”

Eventually, a voice emerged from her Earth-style vocal cords in the same calm tone as always.

“Writing the script for my retirement press conference.”

“Yes?”

“To be precise, I’d like an ordinary person beside me to revise it so that no strange expressions slip through.”