'On Earth, do they just call anyone of the sa species a "friend?"'
Still, my curiosity remained the sa.
'Oh, right. He still thinks I'm so kind of Gisimche or sothing.'
Why did the parasitic entities of that universe trigger a [possession] event eight years after the Dungeon Shock? Or is the other party mistaking sothing that's not even a Gisimche for the creator of the Gates? Or could it be sothing else entirely...?
"Hmm."
The questions were endless, but there was no clear way to resolve them.
"Even if I threaten you, your expression doesn't change at all."
And unfortunately, this sense of frustration was shared by Kang Changho as well. The conversation continued for a short while longer. But when he failed to extract any aningful information even from that brief small talk, he reluctantly moved things on to the next phase.
"Looking at things like this, it might actually be more convincing to say you were a governnt official after all."
He started his untily act of manipulation.
***
About five minutes had passed since then.
'Even if a possessed Gisimche is weakened, it's hard to kill without the proper strategy. No, co to think of it—if he's been torturing a possessed body like this and it's still alive, then this bastard Kang Changho is pretty impressive too.'
Although I was peacefully developing my thoughts in my head, in reality, there were about 3 more blue nails stuck in my body. There hadn't been any conversation in the anti, but judging from the situation, it seed like Kang Changho had taken these additional asures simply to keep a potential threat under control.
'Phew.'
But never mind the fact that I'd suddenly been pierced with tal for now. The real question was—what the hell was I supposed to do from here?
"...Hunter Kang."
My speech ca out half-slurred, distorted by the nails embedded in .
"But... Hunter-nim... how are you still alive after eting the Gate creators...?"
I even went so far as to correct the terminology for Gisimche in an effort to communicate with the Earthling. But the response I got in return was utterly devastating.
"If I thought you'd obediently answer all my questions, don't you think I'd be the one sitting over there instead? Would I really be standing here in front of the workbench like this?"
"..."
"What I said earlier was just out of frustration — those monsters can't even make a single proper gate, so I ntioned it in a fit of irritation. Don't read too much into it."
Still, I earnestly answered all his questions, but even after hearing all those responses, Kang Changho didn't change his attitude in the end.
Apologizing wouldn't work. Trying to evoke sympathy was pointless. At one point, I even begged Kang Changho to let go, arguing that instead of this, we should be cooperating to actually find the real gate creators.
But when Kang Changho heard that, he replied that if you weren't a monster but just an ordinary person, he had even less reason to consider you a comrade. At this point, all I could feel was sheer disbelief.
'I'm starting to get angry.'
Honestly, I wanted nothing more than to rip Kang Changho apart with my bare hands. But realistically, that was impossible. In terms of magical power, the gap between us was like that between a raw egg and a boulder.
If we were both high-ranking mages, maybe things would've been different. But with an F-rank's worth of mana reserves, overcoming such an overwhelming power gap was nearly impossible. I couldn't even kill a B-rank at will—that's why I had to resort to bluffing with a falsified reading on the scale in front of Seonwoo Yeon, just to keep up appearances.
'Damn it.'
Besides, it's too much to blindly expect help from the outside... Just the fact that Kang Changho succeeded in the kidnapping makes the skipped steps pretty obvious.
Before I was locked in the basent, Jung Haseong was tackling the gate under governnt orders, and Seo Esther was at the Korean Wizard Tower. But needless to say, they predicted Kang Changho's claws would reach out to Seonwoo Yeon, so they diverted the curse sorcerer's gaze toward her—and that ruined everything.
The response was slow in many ways. It only took about seven minutes for the studio apartnt to collapse, so how could Esther, who was in Guro-gu, possibly get to the far end of Mapo-gu in that ti? Unless she was using a specific transportation item called [White Bird] that accelerates quickly, but at that ti, the sky was chaotic with heavy rain and wind, so flying magic tools probably couldn't have helped much anyway.
'Now that I look at it, Kang Changho even calculated the weather.'
If you know one thing, you know ten. Would a person who prepared the kidnapping so thoroughly really have no plan for being tracked?
'Ha.'
I feel drained. I sat there, stewing in the rising irritation, and gave it a mont of thought. If I couldn't count on any outside help, then maybe... maybe I should just give up. Let my pride go out intact before he broke down any further. The idea of a dignified death didn't sound so bad.
If Korea's fourth 5-rank hunter were to die after leaving nothing but a text to Esther saying, "Kang Changho ca to see ,"—Then that kidnapper would find it near impossible to operate normally in Korea ever again.
"Hmm."
But then again, what's the point of revenge after death? The so-called ergency escape function embedded in this body—technically labeled as a "soul separation"—is really just a glorified self-destruct button. And honestly... that doesn't feel quite right either, does it?
"Uhm?"
Just as all sorts of thoughts were starting to flood in.
Tuk, tuk.
I lowered my head under the restraints of the magical tool. With sharpened senses, I had detected a disturbance.
'This is...'
Even that blue-haired superpowered being—an S-rank hunter, born with the ability to wield mana, and even equipped with the extra sensory organ known as the Dragon's Eye—didn't seem to have noticed it.
'Gate?'
The birth of sothing. I focused all my senses and observed the floor. Unlike before, now that I had obtained the Dragon's lungs, a clear flow erged within my heightened senses—far more distinct than during the incident on the top floor of the Korean Wizard Tower.
'That's right.'
Moreover, considering the situation my body is currently in, what an incredibly tily coincidence this is.
"Hey, Kim..."
It was around the ti the other person was about to call soone's na after a long while. I also opened my mouth. But what burst out from my mouth was not a sound, but liquid.
"...!"
This ant that the kidnapping victim suddenly vomited blood so much that it flowed down his throat.
"What are you doing?"
A slow-moving flow of magical energy, similar to what happened during the White Labyrinth incident, was rising from beneath the ground. The mont I realized this, I instinctively switched off my pain immunity system as if grabbing for a lifeline. Then, it felt like my insides were being stabbed with a scorching hot blade, burning fiercely.
"Blood's flowing."
As you could roughly tell from the symptoms, I was artificially inflicting a wound resembling the revenge of so sea creature. The side effect of the spy coral had nothing to do with the end of the [Guardian] effect. This internal bleeding was not a result of a natural ti limit or any actual item effect.
Looking back, my life has been nothing but a series of misfortunes. Having gone through such absurdity in my past life, I'd think things would go better this ti. But right after reincarnation, I got trapped in an F-rank body. I was targeted by primitive sorcerers and got kidnapped three tis.
"Are you perhaps thinking of biting your tongue to die?"
But finally—my chance had co. How can a person be unlucky all their life? As if to prove that even misfortune must eventually balance out, a once-in-a-lifeti opportunity had finally landed in my lap. So I vomited blood toward the ground, perfectly mimicking the side effects of the Sacred Tree.
This act, at the very least, is my way of sending them a ssage: The prey you seek is right here.
"...?"
Right here on this land lies the delicious nourishnt of living beings—their hearts. If I lure them sincerely like this, the Gisimche adjusting the trap's position might just respond.
"From the inside...?"
As the captured alien showed strange symptoms, Kang Changho approached nearby. He grabbed the upper jaw of the prey as if tearing it open and checked inside the mouth. But when bleeding started from deep within the digestive tract, a mont of puzzlent flickered in Kang Changho's voice.
But that was only for a mont.
"...!?"
Soon, a new prey trap was completed. And that trap began to reach out precisely in the direction of the creature it had detected.
***
...When I opened my eyes again, what was in front of was a familiar white space.
'It's done.'
The traps used by the alien invaders don't consu unnecessary inorganic materials.
'An EX-rank, huh.'
During the transfer into this space, the kidnapped victim naturally broke free from the restraints. I lightly loosened the arms that had been stiffened from being bound by the magical tool and looked around.
'Not A-rank, not S-rank either. In this kind of EX-rank, my strategy will inevitably be faster. Since he got caught up in it too, from now on, I just have to escape ahead of Kang Changho!'
At first, that's exactly what I thought. But the mont my eyes finished adapting and properly took in the surroundings—
"...!"
The visual organs on Kim Giryeo's face read the stone monunt reflected on one side of the room. By this ti, the entire plan had already been completely revised.
"Wait, no. This isn't about running away..."
This was in the very distant past.
'Alright then. You b*stard Kang Changho, this ti I'll kill you with the gate gimmick!'
Because I had already experienced a box exactly the sa as this one.
Author's Thoughts Hi, from now on, I will update this novel 3 chapters/week. Thank you for all your support so far:)
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