Chapter 436

It was around the moment when Kim Giryeo hesitantly came to a stop.

"A-as expected, you still think we're hopeless after seeing the way we work?"

"Huh?"

"We keep making mistakes because we're incompetent, and whenever something rare appears, like last time, we tear into each other as if we're trying to kill one another... well, from an outsider's perspective, the current state of our industry must look like a complete mess."

So in the end, it was inevitable that this kind of conversation would come up.

Someone pressed his lips together at the thought.

"It must've been so frustrating that even someone who'd already retired felt compelled to come back."

"Jung Haseong."

"I'm sorry. In the end, all of this... it's all because I was thoughtless and unworthy..."

The alien repeatedly shook his head in disagreement throughout the exchange, but Jung Haseong refused to accept it.

Once the other person had ignored his intentions, there were hardly any options left.

"Here we go again with the overthinking."

Anyway, trading a hundred more words right now wouldn't make any difference.

Tuk.

Kim Giryeo grabbed the fluttering white fabric in front of him.

"H-huh?"

Then, after firmly taking hold of the human, he did nothing particularly remarkable.

He simply walked into the hospital room at an ordinary pace, his footsteps making dull clumping sounds.

"Haseong-ah, I guess you haven't really realized this because you've lived such a proper life until now."

The top-ranked fighter was being physically dragged along.

If anyone had seen it, it would've been quite a shocking sight.

"Gasp! He's not even a superhuman with enhanced strength... so what's with that monstrous power...?"

Drmk.

Upon entering the hospital room, Kim Giryeo followed proper etiquette and closed the door behind them first.

Only after doing so did the blond man continue.

"Anyway, no matter where you go, people in this world generally don't pay that much attention to the society around them."

"Y-yes?"

"I'm choosing to return to such a difficult job. How could that possibly be a decision I made just because I was disappointed in the industry's standards?"

"T-that..."

"Just so you know, this happened because I messed up while practicing Fire on my own. The other hunters have nothing to do with it."

Everything coming from the fourth S-rank's mouth was the truth.

Even afterward, Kim Giryeo continued with positive reassurance.

"I have absolutely no complaints about the public safety you've maintained as the top-ranked hunter."

Before getting to the main point, he was simply untangling the misunderstanding so the conversation wouldn't become any more complicated.

"Then let's stop wasting time. Like you said, let's finally deal with the main reason we came all the way to Seoul."

The first thing he noticed after stepping inside was the distinctive medicinal smell common to hospitals.

As he subconsciously analyzed the different notes lingering in the air, a certain scene entered his vision.

There, beside a window where thin curtains filtered the sunlight, someone was lying down.

"Mom."

A woman whose prematurely graying hair could easily make her look elderly.

The native of this planet lying in the hospital bed was a family member who shared the nation's hero's genetic makeup.

"Hair dye is usually toxic, so we had no choice but to leave the gray hair as it was... but I never imagined I'd end up bringing someone from the industry into this hospital room."

Moreover, the patient before him was suffering from a new illness that had emerged in modern society—

a rare case of what was known as magic addiction.

"Hmm."

Looking at the incidence rate by age group, cases were almost nonexistent among people in their teens and twenties.

It was a new kind of illness whose prevalence rose sharply among those aged fifty and older.

And yet, despite being a rare condition that not everyone experienced—unlike awakening—why did it have to happen to our family of all people?

Jung Haseong once again found himself revisiting the same question he'd asked hundreds of times before.

"As expected, it seems waking her through ordinary means will be difficult..."

Only then did the blond guest finally speak.

"Actually, I've been in and out of major hospitals myself, and I've seen patients with [Magic Addiction] a few times, but I... hmm?"

Whoosh.

The alien finally stopped speaking and turned around.

"By the way, why have you been standing so far away?"

The guest asked in a puzzled tone.

And there was a simple reason the man in the suit had suddenly changed the subject.

For some reason, the family member of the [Magic Addiction] patient was pressed against the wall, maintaining an unusually large distance.

"Jung Haseong. There's something I need to talk to you about, so come a little closer."

Yet even after he said that, the only response he got was a reluctant murmur.

"...power."

"What?"

Jung Haseong muttered something under his breath.

It was so faint that even with heightened hearing, it was difficult to catch.

Kim Giryeo furrowed his brow and asked him to repeat it.

Then, raising his voice, the national hero said something no one would've expected.

"I'm afraid my magic power... might have a bad effect on her."

[Magic Addiction], in short, was a disease caused by mana.

And S-rank Awakened, by their very nature, were beings who carried vastly more of that mysterious energy than ordinary people.

"I usually visited her from outside the room."

The black-haired young man spoke with his head lowered, forcing the words out.

However, the gloomy mood that was about to settle over the room was fortunately broken soon afterward—

by the other visitor.

"What kind of ridiculous nonsense is that?"

"Nonsense?"

"Did your school teach you that all hemoglobin sticks to magnets just because pure iron does?"

"Ah."

"Of course they share a similar origin to some extent, but the mana inside living beings and the mana in the air are obviously different... vastly different."

Rustle, rustle.

As he spoke, Kim Giryeo gestured for him to come closer.

"And [Magic Addiction] is definitely influenced by the natural environment, so you don't need to worry about that."

To think that this biological power, which used to knock even a perfectly healthy man in his twenties unconscious when he lost control of his emotions, had no effect on that terrible disease.

"Really?"

Hesitantly.

A moment later, the S-rank hunter reacted.

Jung Haseong relaxed his stiff posture and awkwardly leaned forward, reducing the distance between them.

There was no scientific evidence proving any connection between Awakened and magic addiction.

So deep down, even he had suspected that this was nothing more than a baseless fear...

"Was it really... okay?"

Jung Haseong still held back, speaking with cautious restraint.

"Why are you so nervous in front of someone who's going to wake up anyway? What, were you planning to avoid your mother even after she regained consciousness?" ℴℴ𝘮

But was this a dream or reality?

Ssslvk.

Kim Giryeo then pulled out a subspace artifact—

one that unlicensed hunters weren't allowed to use.

In other words, he had just openly revealed the existence of his [Item Box].

"Jung Haseong. I literally told you ten seconds ago that I brought an Elixir back from overseas."

Of course, that was true.

But no matter how much he turned the story over in his mind, it only filled him with doubts.

"Uh, well... then let me ask in advance. Was the amount of Elixir you obtained enough for two adults to split?"

The man with heavy eyelids turned his gaze away.

"No way."

"Then why would you offer to give something like that to someone else?"

The expression Jung Haseong showed next was one of pure disbelief.

"No, this really isn't something you should bring up so casually."

"Let me ask you one thing. Haseong, what exactly has been bothering you all this time... that you've been muttering and asking the same things over and over?"

"Well, I suppose if it's you, Hunter Kim, then maybe you really could make that kind of choice. But according to the logic in my head, this is impossible. It's completely absurd."

"Absurd?"

"Am I somehow stronger than you? Or better at the job?"

"Well, you're a little better at the job, yes."

At that point, before discussing the transfer of the Elixir any further, Kim Giryeo revealed the most important piece of information.

"Haseong. Just so you know in advance, I don't need a cure-all like this anymore."

"Haha, seriously..."

"If it were something I could use, obviously I would've swallowed it myself and never even made this offer. But why are you laughing like that in the middle of such an important explanation?"

But the national hero reacted negatively.

"I'm just... curious now."

After a moment, the pale-faced, black-haired Awakened asked a question.

"Why, out of everyone, did you choose to say this to me? I just... want to understand the reason, at least."

"You want me to explain it in a way that makes more sense?"

"Being told something like this out of nowhere is actually painful for me."

I'll give you the miracle medicine you've always wanted!

Of course, it was the kind of situation anyone might dream about.

But from an Earthling's perspective, it wasn't something that could be accepted so easily.

"This is kind of confusing."

The alien tilted his head.

Still, the Alpha wasn't completely incapable of understanding the other person's feelings.

The black-haired hero had spent several years alone after the Dungeon Shock.

At a young age, South Korea's top-ranked hunter had ended up taking on the role of protecting everyone else.

Moreover, even over something as small as hiring a caregiver, he hadn't been able to rely on his family for more than a thousand days.

And yet now, if someone suddenly appeared and offered to solve this impossibly difficult ordeal for him...

"Do you think I'd just obediently accept it?"

The black-haired Earthling frowned, looking genuinely aggrieved.

"Honestly, I have no idea how I'm supposed to answer this."

"Is that so?"

"The truth is, I'm not really acting all that logically either, which makes it even more of a problem."

But what exactly was this expression?

"Haseong-ah, have you ever raised any animals or plants in your life?"

"Yes?"

"Other than humans."

The national hero stood there dumbfounded.

Tuk, tuk.

Kim Giryeo took long strides toward the hospital bed.

At the same time, he looked at the patient as though satisfying his curiosity and said:

"I don't know about you, Haseong, but I've never raised anything purely as a pet."

More precisely, that meant he'd never kept so much as a potted plant or a dog.

"I never cared about that kind of thing in the first place. I always thought, what's so interesting about taking responsibility for a species less intelligent than me?"

"Well, there are naturally all kinds of opinions in the world. I understand."

"What—?"

"I'm concerned about bugs."

Pause.

Jung Haseong couldn't hide his surprise at those unexpected words.

"Insignificant. Tiny. And on top of that, their reproductive ability is perfectly fine, so there's no danger of extinction. Why would I ever bother with pests like that...?"

"Bugs?"

"And it wasn't even like I was carefully raising a particular insect in a glass enclosure. I just suddenly became fond of some bugs I happened to find wandering around by the roadside."

"-_-"

"Logically speaking, losing two or three ants shouldn't affect an adult's entire life. So why did something like this happen to me?"

"Um... excuse me, but I don't really understand what you're saying. What exactly is the point of that story?"

"I see the people of this world as insects."

At around that point, the national hero's admiration abruptly stopped.

"It's only a metaphor, of course. I mean that's how little interest I've had in people. Honestly, I've spent every day looking down on all of you."

Tak.

"So stop interpreting me as some noble, righteous person."

"Is... that so?"

"But there's no need to be too shocked. Like I just said, I've changed my mind recently."

Kim Giryeo rested one arm against the nearby bed rail.

"From my experience, it feels strangely unpleasant when neighbors who seemed as insignificant as ants get hurt."

"-_-"

"And even watching an ant I'd been observing run off with a crumb of food somehow makes me feel a little happy too."

"-_-"

"So... lately, while working as a hunter, I've wanted to look after the acquaintances I've made in Korea, in my own way."

"If I live happily too, would that make you feel better, Kim Giryeo-ssi?"

"If I couldn't even do this much of what I wanted, then I might as well never have been born into this world."

Kleeek.

"Ultimately, that's why I'm trying to give you the Elixir."

The alien openly confessed to living entirely according to his own lone-wolf logic.

"By the way, my own family situation is complicated, so I honestly don't know—but if this patient recovers, will that really make you genuinely happy?"

But before Jung Haseong could even respond, another absurd remark slipped out.

"Are parents really that important in your life? I mean, you're already an adult. You don't exactly need their support anymore."

Was that even a valid argument?

'Psychopath...'

At that moment, the S-rank superhuman—with no formal psychiatric training whatsoever—suddenly arrived at a firm conclusion.

'This is absolutely a psychopath.'

For reference, that conclusion was actually incorrect.

But from the perspective of Earth resident J, the entire conversation strongly seemed to point in that direction.

After all, the young man with Sambagean eyes had done far more than one or two things that could easily be misunderstood.

'A cold-blooded person who can't properly understand others and treats other lives like trash... I-I've seen people like this on TV plenty of times.'

Jung Haseong fell into thought for a moment.

Still, even if the person in front of him really was a cold-blooded individual who had learned human emotions mechanically, there was one thing he had to address first.

"Of course I'd be happy if my mother woke up."

"Right."