Chapter 405

And then, how many hours had passed?

"How's the team atmosphere these days? Has everything settled down properly?"

"Yes, yes! The hunting work itself is tough, but everyone around me is so nice that I've actually started enjoying going to work."

"Going to work... is fun...?"

Inside an apartment in the capital.

Anyway, after making a few preparations, I once again arrived in the familiar city.

South-facing windows. A white-toned interior. And deep-red household items that were only sparsely visible around the kitchen and other parts of the house.

The so-called scent of everyday life.

This house clearly belonged to Ahn Yoonsung.

And the reason we were meeting again in a place like this was simple.

"I just changed my mind!"

In fact, only a few days had passed since someone's sudden surrender of his license, and all kinds of rumors were already swirling around the internet.

Everyone had something to say about the retirement of an S-rank hunter, and that only made the commotion grow bigger.

"People were making all sorts of ridiculous guesses about why I suddenly disappeared from public view."

But if I casually showed myself in public while everyone was making such a fuss...

Even if I chose some high-end restaurant that respected its customers' privacy, it would probably still cause quite a commotion.

Exactly.

"I deliberately cut myself off from the internet to steel my resolve, and now I realize I briefly lost touch with reality."

After thinking about it for a moment, I decided to change my destination.

"I really can't turn even an Earthling into a topic of gossip. And even restaurants where we can eat separately from the crowd aren't guaranteed to be safe from reporters, so I should be careful."

No problem.

There were other ways to treat my acquaintances.

Besides, South Korea had an extremely well-developed delivery culture, so I could easily order food remotely and feed a friend that way.

"But... why did you bring all of this just to come here?"

"A housewarming gift."

"Huh, a housewarming party...?"

But.

Did I just make an alien-like verbal mistake?

"They said going into someone else's house empty-handed is rude, so this time I bought toilet paper and a few other things."

Ahn Yoonsung's eyes widened, and his reaction was strangely intense.

Only then did I realize my mistake.

"Ah, I used the wrong word."

If I was merely bringing a gift while entering someone else's house, it couldn't exactly be called a housewarming.

For a moment, that thought crossed my mind.

"How did you know?"

But just as I was about to brush it off as a slip of the tongue, I ended up saying something that would embarrass the human even more.

And then, all of a sudden—

"How did you know?"

"Y-you... how did you know I was having a housewarming?"

"Hmm?"

"Giryeo Hyung, as expected of you. You're always so knowledgeable."

Ahn Yoonsung's eyes suddenly sparkled with admiration.

Curious about what he meant, I asked him to explain in detail.

Fortunately, that was enough to get the conversation flowing again.

"Actually, I'm moving soon."

"Moving?"

"Actually, I bought a new house."

We talked briefly about the house.

"So you bought a new house... but this place is already pretty nice, isn't it?"

"Oh, strictly speaking, this is my parents' place. The house I'm signing the contract for this time will be entirely mine."

"Oh—"

"I've dreamed about living on my own ever since I was a student, Hyung."

Living alone.

Independence.

And the news that he had bought a 150-square-foot apartment outright in cash.

"Even to an alien like me, that's a pretty large place."

The conversation that followed was full of things that would have made the penniless me of the past burn with envy.

But now, I could evaluate such matters calmly.

A hunter like Ahn Yoonsung deserved to accumulate considerable wealth.

Thoughts like that naturally crossed my mind.

It wasn't just that I liked the kid and was biased toward someone close to me.

As an A-rank hunter, he was objectively top-tier talent even on a global scale.

After that, a few more pieces of information drifted through the spotless living room.

Apparently, the legal owner of this house was Ahn Yoonsung's grandmother, and because he had started working around the time they were remodeling it, he had covered part of the renovation costs himself.

I didn't pay much attention to such trivial details and instead quietly continued my own train of thought.

"Looks like you're living your life properly."

Or perhaps what I felt was pride.

Among S-rank hunters, life had thrown no shortage of storms my way.

And yet a hunter who had once been unable to defeat even a golem was now handling his own affairs with remarkable competence.

"Once he was properly taught, everything really did seem to go smoothly afterward."

Still, I couldn't be certain there were truly no problems at work.

"But have you happened to encounter any dangerous enemies at work lately?"

"There were... some dangerous enemies!"

"Oh my."

"But there's no need to worry. Our team always prioritizes safety above everything else, and we constantly update our manuals so that the same situation never happens again."

"Really?"

"Also, lately no S-rank Gates have appeared, so S-rank hunters have been entering A-rank Gates instead. It looked like the team leader was even considering dropping down another level and going directly into B-rank Gates..."

When great magic is cast upon an ecosystem, its effects become apparent very quickly.

"As expected, the food chain has been thrown into chaos."

Once the high-difficulty Gates disappeared, hunters began being pushed down one rank at a time.

Though top-tier superhumans like Ahn Yoonsung probably wouldn't be affected much.

"I do feel especially sorry for the F-ranks."

Still, it was an unavoidable change.

It was worrying for the lower-ranked F- and E-rank hunters who would gradually be pushed out of hunting grounds, and also for the various occupations that would once again be taken away by superhumans.

But we couldn't exactly summon another [Nuckelavee] just to preserve those jobs, could we?

"I did my best."

Anyway, the previous decision had practically been final.

After gathering my thoughts, I soon spoke to the human again.

"Looking at you now, Ahn Yoonsung, you've really found your place. I have no regrets."

Ah.

But the phrase 'no regrets' might sound strange if he misunderstood it.

"Just to be clear, I'm not saying this because of my health. I retired for completely different personal reasons."

I hurriedly added an explanation.

"It's just that my first acquaintance in the hunting industry is quietly doing his job well. I simply felt proud for no particular reason."

"That's far too generous a compliment."

"You're good at your job, and you're kind. When you think about it, how many people like you could there possibly be in this world? Sometimes I even wish the whole world were full of people like you."

In truth, what I really meant was something closer to, 'Thank you for not causing me any trouble.'

As I kept praising him, Ahn Yoonsung's expression gradually changed, as though some new emotion were welling up inside him.

"Thank you for saying that."

The time he had been beaten by an A-rank golem that he could now defeat with his eyes closed.

A colleague's betrayal.

And the face of a former senior at his previous workplace who had berated the team's youngest member, five years his junior, insisting that in such situations the defensive Awakened should have taken responsibility.

Judging by his distant gaze, Ahn Yoonsung seemed to be remembering roughly that sort of past.

Moreover, it seemed that the reason this alien rated him so highly had something to do with the human's own efforts as well.

"Actually, I've secretly been working hard all this time so I wouldn't become a burden to the person who taught me the basics. I didn't expect you to recognize all that effort like this..."

Ahn Yoonsung now looked almost moved to tears.

"Um, by the way, Hyung."

"Yeah."

"You just said you didn't quit because of your condition. Then... may I ask what the 'personal reasons' mentioned in the article actually were?"

"That?"

"Oh, of course, you don't have to tell me the details!"

But even though the question came from a beloved student, this topic was a little delicate.

"How am I supposed to explain that my goal was to become unemployed and spend my days lazing around doing absolutely nothing?"

Even as an alien, I couldn't completely ignore social dignity...

After thinking for a moment, I confessed only that, 'It's such a trivial reason that I'm embarrassed to explain it.'

Then I quickly wrapped up the topic and naturally shifted the conversation elsewhere.

'Hmm.'

Anyway, I'd recently returned my license.

There was no longer any reason to keep carrying around this inconvenient condition known as a tumor.

'Even if it's troublesome, I really do need to deal with it eventually.'

But once I seriously considered treating the illness, the name of a certain piece of loot slowly surfaced in my mind.

[Elixir]

For now, the existence of that item had even been confirmed through Andy Oliver's [Prophecy Book].

"Maybe that dungeon won't even appear anymore? After all, I disturbed the ecosystem recently."

Of course, even without an item, I could treat the illness myself.

But I had suddenly become curious about the structure of a potion said to cure every human disease.

So I decided to confirm whether the [Elixir] dungeon actually existed.

Only after roughly organizing that plan in my head did I return to the original conversation.

"Well, anyway, let's leave the topic of returning my Hunter license here."

But even if I stopped daydreaming, what remarkable story was there left to tell?

"I'm definitely not touching hunting work anymore. I'm sick of it."

"Yes! Hyung-nim."

"I've even trained the next generation, just in case, so I'd say I've fulfilled at least the minimum duty expected of an Awakened."

For reference, the main student in the current training program was, as everyone knew, Jeong Haeseong.

And on a smaller scale, there was Ahn Yoonsung, Seo Esther, and even Seonwoo Yeon, who had received a few tips along the way.

"From now on, Jung Haeseong can handle most of the hard work."

My work for the day was done.

I quietly celebrated being freed from an activity I'd grown completely sick of.

More precisely, I held a small celebration by treating Ahn Yoonsung to delivery food.

"By the way, this is your family's house, right? Then why aren't your parents here today either?"

"Oh, my parents went on a trip to Southeast Asia for their wedding anniversary..."

"Really? Congratulations."

"I definitely didn't plan it this way, but somehow it always turns out like this whenever you visit, Hyung-nim."

"So what?"

Clank.

I'd known for a while that Ahn Yoonsung liked Chinese food, but I hadn't expected him to enjoy a peculiar dish like jjal-jjal as well.

Even after the food arrived, I had a few more words to say to this acquaintance of mine in the universe.

"Ahn Yoonsung."

"Yes!"

"Even though I've stopped working for now, if you ever contact me because you need help, I'll come up to Seoul anytime."

"Uh, really?"

"So don't worry about being a nuisance. If something serious happens, call me."

"Call me immediately."

"Really, Hyung!"

"No matter how bothersome everything in this world is, if a close junior is in trouble, you still have to show up and back him up. At least if you're going to call yourself human."

"Heugh."

For reference, this principle applied to all of my human relationships.

In the past, whenever work and obligations stressed me out, I would make vows like, I'll never take care of this planet myself again, or I'll just leave humanity to fend for itself.

But after thinking about it alone, I realized that completely ignoring them didn't seem realistically possible.

'A lazy and carefree life has been my dream for a long time, but losing every connection I have just to avoid a single day's work seems a little excessive.'

So I emphasized it once more.

I knew very well that he was naturally cautious about safety, but dungeons were full of unexpected situations.

So if anything happened, he should ask for help immediately.

"Ki, Ki, Kim Giryeo, Hyung-nim...?"

The homeowner was moved.

Honestly, everything that followed was nothing but predictable praise, so I'll skip over it.

After finishing my greetings with my acquaintance on a positive note, the days of staying indoors and refusing to go out were finally about to begin.

'Hmm.'

A few hours after catching up with the human, I lay on the sofa in the mansion and organized my thoughts.

An epic item obtained from the [Sin Classification]?

It wasn't particularly important, so I'm only mentioning it now.

A very familiar piece of equipment called [Hydra] had dropped, so it would definitely be going straight to the auction house.

'Especially Esther. She got angrier than anyone else, using that peculiar phrase, "A duplicate appeared..."'

The number of people capable of handling a highly poisonous melee weapon was limited.

And since Jung Haeseong, who specialized in swords, already owned the [Sword of Sunset], the decision had practically made itself.

However, assuming the duplicate item I'd obtained this time sold for its full value, I would be able to solve that problem with absolute certainty.

"I'll be paying my taxes soon."

Finally.

"And if I manage the money I got this time properly, well, it should probably cover my future property taxes too."

I'm finally escaping that miserable life of debt.

I don't even understand why an Archmage like me ended up a pauper in the first place!

Haha.

I let out a brief, hollow laugh and straightened my posture.

In many ways, the situation had become rather moving.

Still, the next two or three years would probably remain somewhat busy.

I also needed to check how long the magic I'd cast on the Gisimche would last, prepare contingency plans in case my lungs—or rather, this one and only body of mine—failed, and so on.

'I wonder if Seonwoo Yeon has gotten off work by now?'

I picked up my phone.

"I'll contact them later and ask how to pay for YTube. Then I'll spend 2,000 won to watch that discounted savanna documentary..."

It was the beginning of happiness.

***

Watch the savanna documentary.

Rest.

Study magic theory.

Anyway, how many days had I already spent filling my time with personal hobbies?

Time always flies faster when you're enjoying yourself.

"Hmm?"

Now, inside the mansion that had gradually begun to feel truly lived-in, a voice echoed.

"Is it already time to turn the calendar page?"

It was the voice of a mage who had settled down near the seaside.

And just as that leisurely tone suggested, he had indeed spent the past month living an easy and carefree life—

"It hasn't just been a day or two... tomorrow's already the 6th, isn't it?"