Chapter 416

"I just said I'd correct it, didn't I? So why do you keep going on about it?"

The blond man seemed to be expressing his frustration along those lines. By Earth standards, there were few people as highly educated as he was, yet because the other party kept acting like a lunatic at every opportunity, she no longer had the energy to point that out.

Yeah. So this is what it means to be an alien.

When she was a child, she used to watch science-fiction movies and imagine all sorts of things about extraterrestrials...

Unlike in the movies, they didn't bother learning English or anything like that. Instead, this alien was making absurd remarks... in Korean, of all languages.

Seonwoo Yeon quietly lowered her head.

To be honest, if she were to confess it now, she had once felt slightly disappointed to learn that Alphaurins had nothing to do with flying saucers.

Yet as she quietly observed the cosmic traveler inhabiting Kim Giryeo's body, she sometimes felt relieved that reality had turned out differently from her imagination.

Well, I suppose this type is much better than aliens who fire ray guns and try to conquer humanity.

Conquering humanity.

Conquering humanity.

But as she turned the phrase over in her mind, a strange worry began creeping in.

Wait, no. Come to think of it... could an invasion of Earth actually happen?

Swish.

A sea breeze blew past.

Without bothering to fix her tousled hair, Seonwoo Yeon sank into thought.

For now, she decided to list, one by one, the things the man named Kim Giryeo had experienced since awakening.

Human trafficking.

Assault.

Deception.

She decided she could probably stop there.

Huh?

Honestly, just counting the incidents that came immediately to mind, it was difficult to give this planet a high rating.

At this level of hostility, it was practically grounds for a lawsuit.

And recently, because of the outrageous greed of humans, even the alien's friend had died.

Could this really be considered all right?

Anyone could see this was the kind of situation where a person couldn't possibly remain calm, right?

Rattle rattle rattle.

Seonwoo Yeon's fingertips began trembling faintly.

Of course, the evening wind by the sea was cold, but more than that, her uneasiness had grown so intense that she could no longer keep still.

That person possesses techniques far beyond anything we call 'abilities,' doesn't he?

He's retired in both his previous life and this one, but who would dare call that wizard a 'retired' creature?

A moment later, she spoke, feeling as though she had to take the initiative and shoulder the responsibility herself.

"Excuse me..."

She tried to phrase her advice as objectively as possible, hoping to prevent the alien from making some catastrophic decision.

"Kim Giryeo, you know..."

"Yes, yes."

"I feel like we really need to talk about this seriously, so I'm going to say it."

"Yes?"

"From now on, you must genuinely and completely refrain from taking personal revenge."

Ssshk.

His expression remained blank, but Kim Giryeo, who now seemed considerably calmer, turned his head.

As he looked out at the sea again, he listened closely.

"To be honest, I haven't been very fair until now. After all, I had my own connection with Hunter Ahn Yoonseung..."

"Yeah."

"Honestly, I was so troubled that for a while I unconsciously found myself supporting what you did, Kim Giryeo. No, it was almost... cathartic."

"I understand."

The phenomenon of unconsciously adopting a posture similar to someone nearby.

Now that she thought about it, there was definitely some technical term for this kind of thing...

What was it again?

_-

The human crossed her arms, mirroring the Alphaurin.

Then, still standing that way, she slowly continued.

"But looking back at how Kim Giryeo got involved in the investigation, there were simply far too many problems."

"Hmm."

"The more I think about it, the more it crossed the line. In the end, I think it's fair to say the outcome was something that simply couldn't be tolerated."

There was sincerity in her voice, along with reproach and an unmistakable trace of fear.

For reference, Seonwoo Yeon did not consider herself particularly special.

She knew very well that if she provoked Kim Giryeo too much, she might end up meeting a fate similar to those criminals known as [Beasts].

"You were wrong this time."

Yet despite that, Seonwoo Yeon carefully continued her argument, determined to prevent an even greater problem from arising.

"Did I really do something wrong? Even though the legal penalties were so lenient?"

"If you think the law is too weak, the best thing you can do is pay more attention to politics."

_-

"At least, from the perspective of an ordinary citizen, that's how it works."

_-

"Of course, I don't trust every politician I've voted for either. But still, leaving punishment entirely up to individual judgment would obviously be even less reliable, wouldn't it?"

"I see."

"If morality were such a simple concept that anyone could define it alone, there wouldn't be debates about it in the first place."

But was that really an appropriate response to everything she had just said?

Kim Giryeo, who had been quietly listening to Seonwoo Yeon, gave an unexpected reply.

"I'm in trouble again."

Only a few seconds had passed since he'd been warned about his phrasing, and now, after a slight delay, he was being scolded for his questionable ethics as well.

Kim Giryeo seemed to find the situation somewhat absurd.

He let out a faint sound that was almost a chuckle and slowly slumped in an exaggeratedly sulky manner.

Judging by the way even his eyebrows moved to form an expression, it was obvious he was only half serious.

"No, uh... you didn't have to get that discouraged. I-I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings or anything. I just—I—"

It was around the time the civil servant began feeling awkward at the sight of someone pretending to cry.

"I know."

"Yes?"

The spirit from the oceanic planet suddenly fell silent.

The expressionless young man straightened his posture and immediately continued.

"I already understand the logic Hunter Seonwoo Yeon has been using to give me all this advice."

"What?"

So, does that mean he's promising not to invade Earth while firing laser guns everywhere?

"P-phew."

"Do you have to look so obviously relieved?"

Feeling somewhat defeated after observing his acquaintance's reaction, the Archmage immediately continued.

"But anyway, there's really no need to worry about that. The truth is, the plan I've been working on lately is completely opposite to what you're concerned about..."

"Yes?"

"First of all, I'm fully aware that not everyone on Earth is bad, you know?"

"Hmm."

"The very reason I fell into despair in the first place was because of what happened to Yoonseung. Well, I suppose that's only natural."

"Yes."

"Even though things like that happened, the guilty are only a tiny minority... In the end, most people in this world are simply ordinary."

How could someone who had abandoned his own homeland run wild on a planet like this?

"I was never given the right to rule this society."

The blond man quickly finished his self-reflection.

Then, after spending all this time shut away at home, he finally voiced the thought that had been forming inside him.

"On the contrary, this incident made me realize that Earthlings meant more to me than I'd thought."

She knew very well just how unpleasant that realization had been for him.

After all, he'd lamented that he should've gone as far as placing a tracking spell on Ahn Yoonseung.

Was any further explanation really necessary?

"I suppose I really have grown quite fond of you humans."

Now it was certain.

Something that had always hovered around him like invisible oxygen had finally revealed its true identity as affection.

Honestly, it wasn't as though he'd put that much effort into socializing or forming any real sense of camaraderie.

So when had it happened?

Or perhaps there hadn't been one specific moment at all.

Maybe it was simply that the natives of Earth themselves were so absurdly pure that his attention had naturally been drawn to them.

"Oh, right. Seonwoo Yeon-ssi. Actually, high-difficulty gates have been appearing quite frequently lately."

"Oh, yes. That's true."

"That's because I administered something like a preventive injection in advance. But even though I've made the dungeons easier this way, if people keep hunting, eventually they'll still get hurt, right?"

"Who?"

"Hunters like Jung Hasaong and Seo Esther... so many of them..."

But just as that brief moment of contemplation passed, another unexpected topic suddenly emerged.

"Besides, for lower-ranked Awakened like Gu Seohyeong, monsters are especially dangerous."

Although he'd taken a somewhat roundabout path to get there, what Kim Giryeo really wanted to say was actually quite simple.

"Seonwoo Yeon-ssi, what do you think was the true, fundamental cause of Ahn Yoonseung's death?"

There was no point in locking himself away and brooding over the past forever.

It was time to start making concrete plans for the future.

"The fundamental cause..."

"You've spent this whole time reassuring me that it wasn't my fault. So, since I've already been granted a sort of pardon, why don't I come up with a new excuse?"

"What?"

"I believe the [Birth of the Gates] is what ruined this world."

At Kim Giryeo's words, Seonwoo Yeon's eyes widened.

But before the conversation could progress any further, the blond man, having seized the initiative, continued.

"I'm not usually the type to give compliments, but the more I learn about this planet you live on, the more I realize that it's truly an impressive place."

How had he suddenly started praising another world so highly?

"What surprised me most was the level of its culture. Who would've thought that even as far back as the Joseon era, people were carrying out scientific autopsies so thoroughly?"

"Ah."

"Even in situations where appealing to mana couldn't provide an answer, they kept searching for another method, failing tens of thousands of times in the process... Seeing that, honestly, humans aren't fools to be underestimated."

"E-except for you, nobody normally underestimates our intelligence."

"Of course, when it comes specifically to the field of magic, this place isn't even worth the dirt under my homeland's toenails!"

His voice suddenly rose, as though to emphasize the statement.

However, it seemed to be nothing more than a small device intended to draw the listener's attention.

"Anyway, the science of this world is a fascinating kind of mystery to me."

Kim Giryeo quickly returned to his usual tone.

"Even in places where magic is strictly forbidden and not a trace of mana exists, this world has techniques capable of determining both the cause of death and the assailant from a single corpse."

The danger posed by monsters.

The unsafe workplace that hunters were forced to endure.

His admiration for human technology.

And so on.

For reference, there was only one reason Kim Giryeo had begun weaving together such a complicated explanation.

"But then, one day, a Gate completely shattered the elegant safety system humanity had built."

_-

"Especially in a small country like Korea, if the Dungeon Shock had never happened, no one would've dared commit murder so easily."

Ever since the appearance of the Gates, violent crime between humans on Earth had increased twentyfold.

Even if someone had accidentally split open the ground while drilling for oil, even if that accident had somehow exposed the world to an immense amount of magical energy, Earth had never been meant to suffer a "shock" on this scale.

In the end, the true problem was that an entity from the cosmos known as a Kishimche had recklessly interfered.

To put it simply.

Monsters.

Dungeons.

And, of course, items and the like.

Because all of those concepts had appeared far too suddenly, they had created an excessive amount of chaos.

"Yes. As long as that remains in this world, we won't be able to feel safe moving forward..."

Gate.

Gate.

A brief murmur escaped him.

Kim Giryeo muttered something almost inaudibly, then belatedly turned toward the human beside him.

"Seonwoo Yeon-ssi."

"Y-yes."

"First, on behalf of those with supernatural powers, could you answer one question for me?"

It sounded as though it might become a heavy burden, but the man quickly added that it was only a simple survey.

Thanks to that, the conversation continued smoothly.

"What do you think would happen if I completely erased the Gates and restored this world as closely as possible to its original state?"

"I'd love that. I'm completely in favor."

The response was slightly different from what he had expected.

He had assumed she would at least take some time to think about it.

But the lucky Rank 8 civil servant, who had secured the position of a predator in this society, made her choice immediately.

"First of all, losing my parents on the day of the Dungeon Shock was a huge trauma for me."

"Hmm."

"Actually, I'm only one ordinary individual. In situations like this, I'd prefer to answer as objectively as possible using statistics."

"Statistics?"

"In the country where I live, the emergence of artifacts allowed only a tiny fraction of people to survive, while the total population had long since dropped enough for its leading digit to change."

Seonwoo Yeon answered that she was completely in favor of magic disappearing.

But even after finishing the survey, there was still something she wanted to add.

"But what you just mentioned..."

The primitive shaman tilted her head slightly in uncertainty.

"To put it metaphorically, in my previous life, I was a soldier riding in a tank."

What kind of nonsense is that?

"And here, I'm a young man in a luxury sports car."

Seonwoo Yeon listened carefully.

"Wait. Can you try imagining a sports car in your head?"

"Yes."

"Now, let's say I'm inside that vehicle and I come across a roadside tree I don't like."

"Y-yes?"

"If I drove the sports car at full speed and crashed into the tree, do you think the tree might get uprooted?"

For a while, a seemingly pointless conversation followed.

"It could snap or be ripped out. You sometimes see things like that on the news when drunk drivers crash."

But she still wondered why he was asking this.

"I see. So physically speaking, it's theoretically possible?"

"Yes, yes."

"But if you crashed into a tree at full speed, could the driver really come out of it completely unharmed?"