Chapter 435

A retirement with no explanation.

On top of that, the private lessons worth six billion won a month had ended long ago, and so on.

Come to think of it, with so many things tangled together, there hadn't been any reason to exchange personal messages with the other party for quite some time.

But now, a rare situation had arisen.

'The only update I'd naturally heard... was that this person went to Switzerland to deal with [Hydra]. I only learned about the trip to the U.S. afterward.'

Tuk, tuk.

Annoyed by the gray hairs that had grown back, Jung Haseong absentmindedly fiddled with his hair.

After hesitating for a moment, he decided to answer the incoming call.

"H-hello?"

For no particular reason, his voice cracked slightly on the very first word.

"Awakened Kim Giryeo...?"

But without any major problem, he greeted him as usual, and soon a voice answered from the other end.

– Haseong-ah.

"Yes!"

– Y-yeah, it's been a while since we talked. Since you answered the phone, I guess you're not inside a dungeon right now. What have you been up to?

"I'm off today. Off."

– Ah~ You're off. You didn't go to work.

He sounded ordinary.

As Jung Haseong had thought before, Korea's fourth S-rank Awakened had a strangely down-to-earth quality whenever they spoke over the phone.

He talked casually, with an air of 'everything is such a hassle,' almost like an older guy from the neighborhood.

And yet he always managed to slip in things like, 'Have you eaten?', which sometimes made him seem more like a respected elder or a teacher you'd met somewhere.

'Every comparison I make makes him sound older, but honestly, his voice does have the weight of someone older, so it can't be helped.'

But if the conversation continued like this, things were about to take a different turn.

– Then where exactly are you right now? If you didn't go to work, are you at home?

"Yes?"

– Are you home now?

"No, no. I just went out for a bit today because I had something to take care of."

– Where did you go?

"The general hospital next to △△ Road. And just so you don't worry, I'm not here because I'm sick."

– Can I meet you there?

"Yes?"

– Actually, there's something I wanted to talk to you about. I called because I wanted to set up a meeting.

For some reason, halfway through the call, Kim Giryeo suddenly said he wanted to meet in person.

'He must've just come back from overseas... What's this? Isn't he tired from the time difference?'

Jung Haseong honestly felt uneasy about the proposal he'd just received.

The thing was, if he met Kim Giryeo face-to-face, the man wouldn't feel like some laid-back neighborhood guy anymore, but more like a formidable veteran...

Well, of course that impression played a part, but still.

"Ah, a... meeting? Uh..."

It had only been a short while since the failed reappearance of the Elixir.

Naturally, his emotions were still unsettled.

More precisely, Jung Haseong secretly felt guilty toward the cancer patient he'd been avoiding, which made it difficult for him to face Kim Giryeo.

But he couldn't understand why—

And, on top of that, why did they have to meet in a place like this?

***

South Korea.

Seoul.

A general hospital in the bustling city.

"I had a rough idea as soon as you said you'd be here. So, Hunter Jung Haseong, you came today to visit your mother?"

A short while later, Jung Haseong found himself standing in the open lobby of a certain hospital.

At the same time, he sank into a brief moment of self-reproach.

'Is it because I've done nothing but hunt all my life? How can someone's social skills be this bad...?'

What follows is a brief flashback.

– Why? Is it inconvenient to meet at the hospital? Do you already have plans or something?

– Ah, no. It's not... it's not like that.

– Then... can I see you for a moment or not?

– Y-you can...

Tak.

To explain first, the national hero rarely had ordinary conversations with other people because of the nature of his profession.

So today, he stumbled over his words—

and before he knew it, the appointment had been made.

'If I'd just said no, that would've been the end of it. Why did I have to make things like this?'

The black-haired man covered his face with one hand.

Still, blaming his own lack of social skills wasn't the whole story.

There were other reasons to blame himself.

Kim Giryeo gave off an aura like a drill instructor.

Honestly, how many people could answer his call without automatically turning into yes-men?

....

For now, Jung Haseong ran through various arguments in his mind, but none of them offered any real comfort.

Eventually, he lifted his head.

"Is this the room where your mother is staying?"

Standing opposite him was the S-rank Awakened he hadn't seen in quite some time.

In other words, Kim Giryeo looked at him and asked.

"Yes."

There seemed to be a few slight differences compared to the last time he'd seen him...

But truthfully, Jung Haseong was just as bad at noticing changes in the appearance of his fellow countrymen.

Especially when the person in question wasn't some dungeon prey, he was even worse at spotting subtle differences.

The hero never even thought to consider changes in weight and simply answered plainly.

"I deliberately cleared my schedule today so I could see my mother."

Now that the subject had come up, though, he once again wondered why Kim Giryeo had insisted on meeting him in person today.

"Hmm."

Glance.

The blond esper rose slightly onto his toes and peered farther down the corridor.

As always, the fourth S-rank was dressed in a suit today, surveying the hospital facilities.

The white walls gave off a subtle sense of luxury.

Transparent materials had been used so the medical staff could keep the area under constant observation, while the small, narrow windows in the doors still preserved at least a minimal degree of privacy.

And so on.

'Mom...'

Inside the room they were looking at, someone lay quietly.

It was a room filled with sunlight.

A large respirator covered the patient's mouth, making it difficult to read much from her expression.

"By the way, I heard things were pretty chaotic here yesterday because of the Elixir Dungeon?"

At that moment, Jung Haseong, who had been craning his neck like a meerkat, immediately straightened up at the words of the person beside him.

"Yes?"

He hadn't expected that at all.

Of all things, the first subject Kim Giryeo brought up was that ridiculous incident involving the monster misidentification.

'Ever since I answered the phone, I had a feeling... Could it be that he rushed back just to scold the hunters who got involved in that absurd misunderstanding?'

A few seconds later, the flustered Jung Haseong hurriedly began to explain.

"Oh, I'm sorry!"

His first words were a blunt apology.

"As for misidentifying the monster, I have a hundred things I want to say, but none of them feel sufficient. We should've checked it properly, but... we were foolish."

"Hmm?"

"And getting so carried away over a rare treasure that I raised my voice at other hunters... considering how much Hunter Kim Giryeo has contributed to maintaining stability in the industry, I really shouldn't have behaved that way."

Hmm.

Wait a minute.

"I-I really shouldn't have acted so childishly."

Once he paused, the national hero's long apology spilled out across the corridor.

At the very least, the listener's occasional interjections kept it from going on even longer.

"Jung Haseong."

At that moment, the black-haired Earthling fell silent, his expression full of frustration.

"My stern expression seems to have caused another misunderstanding... I didn't bring that up because I wanted to scold anyone."

The strange pause in the conversation was filled by the disciplined Awakened.

The superhuman, who always kept his hair a bright color and had rather peculiar tastes, spoke in a dry, measured tone.

"I was just bringing up something that happened recently and naturally making a little small talk."

"S-small talk?"

"You know, acknowledging something that happened yesterday and building rapport that way. Apparently, that's one of the basics of human relationships."

"Rapport?"

"Is that not something you're supposed to say when you've already met each other plenty of times? Well, whatever."

Ssshk.

In the middle of the conversation, someone shifted his piercing, fish-like gaze into empty space.

"Let me make one thing clear in advance. I don't think this was some stupid mistake."

Jung Haseong focused on Kim Giryeo for a moment.

"It was something anyone could've gotten wrong unless they were an expert."

"Hmm..."

"For example, among the insects here, there are the Blue Morpho butterfly and the Pale Blue Morpho butterfly."

"When you say here, do you mean Korea?"

"O-of course."

"Yes."

"Anyway, I've looked at photographs of those butterflies side by side, but no matter how much time passed, I just couldn't tell the difference between them."

"Ah, so they're butterflies that look very similar... I see."

"Even tiny creatures are classified into separate species based on subtle differences. So imagine a monster deliberately mimicking something from an entirely different order, like the one that appeared yesterday. Naturally, that's enough to give anyone a headache."

The retired man in the suit went on at length for a while.

In short, he said he fully understood how the mistake had happened this time and reassured Jung Haseong that there was absolutely no reason to blame himself.

"But it's also true that I was careless, isn't it?"

And yet, somehow, only seconds after receiving such reassuring advice, things had already taken another turn.

"I was sure I'd studied the Elixir monster thoroughly, but I still missed details I should've noticed if I'd just looked a little more carefully."

"That could be true."

"A-Awakened Kim... you managed to identify it immediately just from a single photo sent from a distance."

Around the moment when the nation's hero began putting himself down, the foreigner standing to one side of the corridor made an unusual gesture.

"No, I told you not to be pessimistic."

He waved both hands through the air with his palms fully open, a gesture roughly meaning for the other person to stop.

"And you really don't need to apologize over the whole Elixir matter. If something like that appears, it's only natural that no one would be able to just laugh it off."

No matter how alien a creature might be, as long as it possessed intelligence, it could at least understand something that basic.

"Besides, Jung Haseong, you had personal circumstances of your own."

The blond esper trailed off and shifted his gaze down the corridor.

Through his eyes, the familiar scene came into view once again.

A respirator covered her face, and there she lay—

a middle-aged Earthling sleeping silently without saying a word.

"Is she hospitalized because of [Magic Addiction]?"

The lean-looking Awakened asked as if confirming something.

Jung Haseong gave a small nod.

"Yeah."

"Mhm."

"I've known about it from various articles until now. I just never came to see her in person before today."

That was only natural.

After all, most people rarely had a reason to meet the family of someone else in the industry during their lifetime. ℯℯ𝑙.

'Unless there's some major event or special occasion...'

Jung Haseong felt slightly uneasy as he looked at the guest standing before him, dressed entirely in black from head to toe.

However, the other person didn't seem to notice his gaze at all.

"Would you mind if I went inside for a moment?"

Kim Giryeo pointed toward the private hospital room in front of him as he finally spoke.

In other words, he was asking permission to take a closer look at Haseong's family member.

The problem was that Korea's fourth S-rank Hunter was the kind of Awakened whose mere presence generated tension.

And this uncomfortable man still kept circling around without getting to the actual point.

"Uh, um."

Feeling the weight of the situation, Haseong couldn't help revealing his honest thoughts.

"Of course, it's fine for you to go in and see her. But..."

"Yeah."

"If possible, I'd like to take care of your business first. Excuse me, but may I ask why you came here today?"

In other words, he urged the guest to get to the point, deciding it would be better to face the matter head-on.

"Because of the Elixir."

But what kind of unimaginable answer was that?

"Yes?"

"Do you know why the first thing I felt when I heard that an Elixir Monster had appeared in South Korea was suspicion?"

"Because you noticed something different about its appearance?"

"Actually, the real Elixir dungeon appeared overseas at around the same time. Looking back on it, maybe it was arranged that way deliberately so humans would confuse the two and start fighting among themselves, but still..."

"Wait a moment. Then could it be..."

"Yeah. And as you've probably guessed, I managed to obtain the item while I was overseas. Yesterday, while I was sitting there analyzing its composition, you suddenly came to mind."

"..."

"Come to think of it, there's only one person around me who has a sick family member. At least for now."

Kim Giryeo.

The blond figure was still staring toward the hospital room.

His hands, for lack of a better comparison, were shoved deep into his pockets, as if to keep them from drifting around like ocean currents.

To an ordinary Korean observer, it was hardly a polite posture.

Yet from that slightly crooked stance, Kim Giryeo made a statement carrying a solemnity that bordered on sacred.

"So here's the thing. Right now, I'm actually thinking about whether I should give you this [Elixir]."

"..."

"Since I've already obtained it, why not use it for something worthwhile?"

The statement was so absurd that Jung Haseong's brain nearly rejected it on the spot.

Perhaps that was why.

Instead of focusing on the part about 'giving him the potion,' Jung Haseong immediately latched onto another detail first.

"Wait a moment. When you say you obtained the Elixir overseas, do you mean you actually entered a dungeon and hunted the monsters yourself?"

"That..."

"So you entered a dungeon without permission or a license?"

One of the S-rank Hunters, who had seemingly been about to answer matter-of-factly, suddenly stopped mid-sentence.

"No, well... I didn't actually go inside... I got it through another route somehow... I bought it. I bought it."

With a face that could sit at a poker table without revealing the slightest thing, the retiree was remarkably skilled at hiding the truth.

At that moment, Jung Haseong stared directly at him, completely convinced that the other man was lying.

"You don't believe me?"

"Yes."

"You're smart."

"Yes."

Then it was already too late to fool him.

"All right. I'll be honest. The truth is, I did clear the dungeon and personally obtained it."

"Hmm."

"But it's really fine. The issue has already been settled with the local authorities, and I'll be renewing my hunting license very soon."

"Huh? Yes?"

"I'm returning to the industry soon. So don't go around spreading stories about me entering a dungeon and creating unnecessary trouble."

At that moment, Kim Giryeo made up his mind.

Having already tangled himself in too many lies and deceptions, he decided that from now on, he would try to be a little more honest with the humans he interacted with regularly.

That was why he had even mentioned the matter of his license, intending to explain the full story behind canceling his retirement.

"Hunter-nim, you're coming back?"

The national hero's expression changed instantly.

'Ah, what is this now...?'

At first, the human looked startled.

Then came surprise.

Jung Haseong quickly covered his mouth in shock, as though he'd suddenly realized something on his own.

For reference, the black-haired young man's face had turned so pale that a bluish tint spread across his skin.

All of it happened in barely three seconds.