"No, really. I said it was a misunderstanding."
The fourth S-rank found on the rooftop—Kim Geryeo was dressed carelessly, like soone pretending to be a patient.
But the fact that the patient had thrown on his blue gown loosely over a plain white T-shirt, or that he was dragging along a pair of monotone slippers from the convenience store—none of that really mattered right now. Honestly, considering he was an alien, any kind of bizarre behavior would've seed perfectly plausible anyway.
"Is there a CCTV here? If that scene gets exposed to the public, it'll just add an assault charge to his record."
The association staff who ca rushing over looked worried, wondering things like, 'Did that elderly civilian perhaps offed him sohow?' Of course, upon seeing this, Kim Geryeo didn't seem at all more flustered himself.
"Hey. Listen to . It's a misunderstanding—"
Just as he'd been insisting all along, there was indeed a reason behind the situation. What was even more fortunate was that the alien who had actually crash-landed on this planet could, much like in the movies, speak Earth's language quite fluently. Soon after, the blond man began his explanation.
***
[1:03 PM]
The incident began with a eting at this very ti.
"Huh? Seonwoo Yeon sent a text?"
It was just past lunchti, around 1 PM. At the ti, I had received a ssage from a governnt official saying there was sothing to discuss, so I was actively waiting for my acquaintance from Earth. It just so happened that I had so business with her as well.
"I have to go check on the Beast corpses that must be lying around sowhere."
There clearly seed to be a hidden force behind the dungeon break sche that so impersonators had been plotting. As I've said many tis, I wanted to examine the bodies of the dead sorcerers to gather information—and to do that, I had to follow the rules of the organization that had collected the corpses. Naturally, soone who would be familiar with this planet's laws and procedures was most likely to be a governnt official.
"Of course, even if there's no official way to et them, I'd probably end up ssing with the bodies in secret later anyway. But for now, it's try to handle it like a gentleman."
So, after finishing my thoughts, I headed straight up the stairs. After all, wandering around the hospital only earned glares from the non-awakened.
At first, I headed to the 5th floor, where my hospital room was. I lay on the bed, killing ti on my phone. That had been the whole reason I climbed all the way back upstairs in the first place. But after a while, just sitting there browsing the internet started to make my throat feel dry, so I began thinking about grabbing a soda from the vending machine.
"Ah. I have coins in my wallet!"
The closest vending machine from here was at the rooftop garden.
"Co to think of it, the rooftop here is right next to the VIP rooms, so even the dical staff don't co up often. It's pretty convenient-"
So, jingling a few coins in my hand, I threw open a certain door—
Just as I'd been thinking, certain areas of this hospital are restricted to a limited group of users. Honestly, I'd stood there alone for hours in the morning without seeing a single person pass by. But this body of mine—jokes aside—is now undeniably that of an S5-rank Awakened. So up until now, I'd been slightly suppressing my mana, just enough to keep the civilians inside the hospital from foaming at the mouth and collapsing.
"Maybe I should stretch a little?"
Because I kept unnecessarily suppressing my increased power, I felt like I was going to die from exhaustion. For that reason, when I arrived at the rooftop garden, I briefly released the compression. This is the core of the entire incident.
"Mom!"
The truth is, there was actually a civilian on the rooftop at the ti. Soone with not even a speck of magic power—so faint that if you lost focus, you couldn't detect them even with a mage's senses. The appearance of such a person was completely unexpected.
"Huh?"
An elderly man leaning on a walker flinched in shock. It seed his body had reacted instinctively to the sudden surge of overwhelming magic power. He quickly lost his balance and was about to fall sideways.
"It's not even confird yet—wouldn't killing an Earthling already be a bit much?"
But what kind of person is this body?
It was a situation I couldn't even have dread of just a few days ago. But now, with my talents fully awakened, my body repaid all the hardship I'd endured by displaying superhuman ability. So I caught the falling old man purely on reflex and saved him without injury. All of this ant that—despite how it may have looked—there was actually a wholeso story behind the whole scene.
"It's simpler than it looks, right?"
"But the scene didn't look heartwarming at all...."
"This just looks weird because I tried to catch him in a rush. I an, co on—if I really grabbed soone with this kind of strength, their bones would obviously break."
The whole ti I was explaining, I was still holding onto the old man's gown. In response, Seonwoo Yeon gave a look full of subtle confusion—the kind you reserve for beings from outer space that defy easy understanding—and then said, "Alright, now could you let go of the civilian, please?"
"O, good heavens. What was that just now? Clearly saw the image of my late wife right before my eyes for a mont..."
"Goodbye, Grandpa- Stay healthy and live a long, happy life-"
The situation seed to be settling down for the ti being.
"Just saying in advance—I saved you, so don't go around giving weird testimonies, okay—"
But even after everything had been sorted out, soone still didn't seem to be recovering their composure. I glanced sideways at Seonwoo Yeon, who still looked unsettled, then turned and walked away.
Clang, clang, clang.
I successfully started the conversation while picking out a drink from the vending machine, just as planned.
"By the way, what's with the mood? Did sothing happen?"
"..."
"What are friends for, right? I've actually been in a pretty good mood lately thanks to so personal stuff. So if there's anything you want to say, just spill it now."
I had sowhat expected it, but to think she really ca because of that issue.
"I'm not sure how to break this kind of news to you, but..."
After hesitating for a while, Seonwoo Yeon finally revealed the truth.
"Really? I'm getting arrested for murder?"
To be precise, it could be involuntary manslaughter or... well, any number of other possibilities.
Though it's still undecided exactly what charges will be filed.
"Is my brain mistaken, or does Earth not have the concept of self-defense?"
"No, of course it exists. And in situations like this, it's pretty common for it to be acknowledged—especially to protect a dostic S-rank Hunter. But... the way things are going feels suspicious."
After hearing that, I briefly checked my phone.
"They clearly said over text it would just be a brief questioning... and yet."
Co to think of it, one of the texts I'd received during that ti was a polite request from the police asking to co in. But in contrary to my assumption that this would be a minor matter—it seed that, within the investigative agencies, there was already a prevailing opinion that I had gone too far in how I handled things.
"Hmm."
On top of that, judging by her expression, even Seonwoo Yeon didn't seem to be fully on my side...
"I get it. From other people's perspective, it might've looked like I had more than enough power to subdue the enemy—but chose to just kill them anyway."
"It honestly feels unfair. Just to be clear, I wanted to spare all these Beasts if I could. It's just that the situation didn't allow for it."
"I had just gone through reawakening—I couldn't control my strength at all. My head was pounding, and that really was doing my best!"
Still, even after regaining power as vast and deep as the ocean, the first thing I thought about was how to save people.
"Ah, I'm too kind."
"How great it would've been if they could've understood this mindset of mine?"
"I... feel kind of sorry."
"There goes that 'sorry' again."
"Of course, soone like can't represent anyone else. But still, you tried to save everyone, and because you ended up being questioned, I can't help but apologize personally..."
I stood still in front of the vending machine with my arms crossed. Of course, I wasn't exactly deep in thought.
"Seriously, they're being incredibly annoying just because I dealt with a re S-rank. Honestly, how many enemies did I sink with just one flick of my tentacles in my past life?"
In my head, I kept grumbling like this.
"Since reincarnating here, I've spent an entire year and only killed, what, four S-rank Hunters? And sohow that's enough to get scolded like this..."
And around this mont, for so reason, a flicker of an image passed through one corner of my brain—soone in a raincoat, wearing a displeased expression.
"Right. Five. If I add it all up, I guess I've taken down about five."
Anyway, I didn't believe I had done anything seriously wrong. If I hadn't acted that way inside the dungeon, there definitely would've been casualties on our side.
"Anyway, I understand."
But Earth's mammals don't know how to use magic that lets them see into soone's heart. So if I want to explain my good intentions, I'll have to talk it through with them.
"Thank you for warning in advance, and I'll handle this situation myself."
I said that to Seonwoo Yeon.
"I've been studying everyday legal codes here and there, and more importantly—I can afford to put together a legal team if needed."
"Hmm."
Just as I'd said, it seed she realized she couldn't be more helpful than a professional lawyer, and soon enough, she accepted it.
"Um, but I'm asking this just in case. If people don't recognize self-defense until the end, are you planning to take down the entire court...?"
Of course, there were still a few lingering concerns. But was there really any need to go that far?
"No. There's no way."
Violence is ideally used only when attempts at dialogue have completely failed and no other solution remains. That's why I whispered to Seonwoo Yeon in a low voice.
"I promise. I won't harm any Earthlings over sothing like this."
Now that I ntion it—the truth is, I had a certain confidence that the issue would be resolved without much trouble.
"Once I et the investigator, I'll just present the argunt I've prepared. Then they'll handle this matter as peacefully as possible."
Why drag things into a ssy fight when it could be resolved with words? After finishing my thoughts, I reassured Seonwoo Yeon once again not to worry. Then, I finally pressed the button with my index finger for the drink I'd decided on after so deliberation. The choice was an apple-flavored soda from the vending machine.
Thud.
When I looked down, I found a canned coffee in the beverage outlet.
"No, she—"
It was so out of the blue that I swore reflexively.
I definitely pressed the button correctly—so why did this disaster happen? But if I try to think positively, maybe this is just so kind of "cleansing of bad luck"? Still, the with the season just starting, how many misfortunes am I supposed to face ahead? Holding the can of coffee that popped out instead, I looked at a nearby Earthling with a sigh.
***
Several hours had passed since then. One advantage of the peninsula nation where an alien had crash-landed seed to be the impatience of its people. Of course, I had received a prior phone call inviting to appear. But even without scheduling anything, when I showed up unannounced, the investigator imdiately rushed over with a surprised, "Oh? The patient who was hospitalized is already here?" The person insisting on hearing my testimony wasn't exactly an ordinary police officer.
There was a man in an impeccably neat suit who turned out to be a police chief. And next to him stood soone from the Supre Court.
And behind them were a few more individuals—people holding the title of Chief of Security.
"How many people are coming in, exactly?"
Is this an investigation room or a conference hall?
Anyway, I ended up explaining the previous [Unauthorized Occupation Gate] incident in an environnt far more crowded than I'd expected. At first, the atmosphere wasn't bad.
"First of all, thank you for always taking the lead in protecting our country. Now, please take your ti and explain things at your own pace."
But as ti went on, just as Seonwoo Yeon had warned, a certain pressure began to creep in from their side.
"—Ah, so at that ti, the Beasts were no longer able to fully use the [Book of Destruction], correct? Since you ntioned seeing the item's effect wear off with your own eyes. Hm..."
What on earth was the reason?
"It's hard to consider a sudden act of self-defense due to feeling your life was in danger, since the counterattack ca after you'd already recovered..."
"I had no taken down the Beast there, other Hunters would have died."
"Ah, of course. We do understand and appreciate the efforts you made. But when we examine how appropriate it was from a legal standpoint... well, that's another matter."
The magic wielded by modern society's Awakened was, in a way, "free weapons." So just because soone swung a weapon first—should we declare soone innocent for retaliating with their own and killing the other person...? Such questions from so Earthlings were completely understandable. If no actions were judged too leniently here, it could potentially set a precedent that would disadvantage other, weaker individuals in the future.
"Since even among Awakened, there are differences in the skills they use and in their ranks, it must be really complicated to determine whether soone's response was excessive or not when they fight each other."
But assuming they were hesitating purely for such a "righteous" reason... sothing felt off. Why would they go out of their way to nitpick their own country's top-ranked Hunter?
"What do they gain by provoking ?"
But by this point, honestly, a lot of things were pretty obvious.
"And since this is the kind of situation where S-rank Hunter might get resentful and cause a scene, yet no one seems to be worried about the city falling apart, it's clear there's more to it."
Unfortunately, this case involved not just one, but two Hunters from powerful nations.
"They have sothing up their sleeve."
Many possibilities flashed through my mind in an instant.
"The main reasons that co to mind are national prestige, insurance, exchange of interests, or maybe just putting the awakened class in their place."
Personally, Korea is a country where aliens can live quite comfortably, but that doesn't an it's the absolute best on Earth—so it's only natural that it's influenced by other nations.
"Or maybe so country even threatened them, asking to lessen the responsibility placed on their own citizens?"
However, despite all the countless speculations that crossed my mind, I never once voiced my doubts.
whisper whisper...
Co to think of it, this was a late realization, but perhaps the real issue was that the conversation had started under these circumstances in the first place. Across the long table, the civilians huddled together on the other side began whispering among themselves.
No matter how they looked at it, they said things like how it didn't seem right for a case involving soone's death to be accepted as justifiable. But what if that Hunter ends up being seen in a negative light by the international community? It's full of subtle confusion—they just help cover this up... and so on. At a glance, their words sounded like they were looking out for soone else.
But they weren't fools. They surely knew that Awakened beings had been exchanging. So the reason they were saying things those things loud enough to be heard was probably because they were hoping to gain so advantage in a very minor negotiation they might propose later on.
"Excuse . Hunter Kim Geryeo."
I shifted my posture slightly. As my hat was then dipping deeply, I loosely tucked my hands beneath my arms, crossing them in front of . Then I lifted my gaze diagonally upward. A classic gesture of contemplation. As I suddenly felt silent and adopted an ambiguous stance, the humans in front of all imdiately began to gauge my reaction.
"Hunter-nim?"
My mouth didn't open even when my na was called.
"Everyone, I forgot to ntion this earlier, but..."
But after buying a mont to choose my words, a rather long string of thoughts soon flowed from my mouth. In truth, I had already begun to get a sense of how to resolve this situation from the mont I left the hospital. I hope that you understand this planet's culture well enough and made the right choice. I hope this can be resolved peacefully and quickly.
"If this incident is going to be a problem in Korea, then I'll just emigrate. I'm not sure if it'll be seen as political asylum, but at the very least, the neighboring country has fans of mine and plenty of people who say they'd welco ."
I calmly expressed my opinion and then returned my gaze to the empty air.
"If it cos to that, I'll just go by the alias Nakamura and join the Japanese hunter scene. Or maybe I'll change my na to Chinee and get citizenship in China. And if people later ask why I emigrated, I'll say it was because my ho country failed to acknowledge my right to self-defense. Excuse , but may I ask the nas of those in charge of this case?"
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