My gaze grew a little uneasy. I was soone who had spoken of life on alien planets without hesitation, yet the early stages of reincarnation that Ahn Yoonseung was currently misunderstanding...that was sothing I just couldn't bring myself to ever confess. Not now, and probably not ever.
Well, anyway, from now on—don't worry about anymore...
It was then.
Huh?
Drip.
Just as I finished speaking and started to rise from the bench, I felt a sudden sensation—sothing liquid trickling from my nose.
Feels kinda like when you get a runny nose... right?
I was about to ask Ahn Yoonseung if he happened to have any tissues on him. But before I could, his shout ca first.
Nose, nosebleed!
What? Nosebleed?
It was only at this mont that the completely forgotten magic elent was revealed.
Ah, that's—
That's right. Co to think of it, before my second awakening, I was always relying on that plant for help.
Achoo.
Whaaaaa!
And soon, a familiar scene began to unfold. I gave a light cough, prompted by an itch in my throat—and just like that, I fell lucid with iron burst out from deep within my body. The risk of using the [Sacred Tree Branch], gastric bleeding. As expected from a creature nicknad the "Assassin of the Deep Sea" in magical theory, the symptoms appeared without warning—completely unforeseen.
Now, the shock to my body is greater than the defense I receive from this. It's a loss.
As a result of my second awakening, I beca able to resist the side effects by healing my body almost in real ti.
But the problem now was timing and circumstance. Just like most unfortunate events tend to be.
Hyuuung-nim! dical team! I'll go get the dics right now!
Ever since I ca to Earth, it always feels like things are finally about to go well—only for everything to turn out like this again.
I barely managed to hold on to Ahn Yoonseung, who looked like he was about to flip out from the shock, and I began calming him down all over again. That the symptoms were temporary, that my body was fine, and so on and so forth... And when it felt like he was too panicked to understand a word I was saying, I nearly ended up showing him just how resilient my cells were—physically.
***
And just like that, the storm-like mont passed.
Oh man, please save this alien. At this rate, the mage's going to grow old. Really grow old.
Anyway, that [Sacred Tree Seedling] really gave a scare just now. The Earthling I had just barely cald down started freaking out all over again, and for a mont, I worried I'd have no choice but to reveal the fact that I'm an alien.
However, that fear never turned into reality.
As expected, the kid is kind.
Perhaps the phrase 'keeping one's word' actually referred to himself. Ahn Yoonseung did not withdraw his decision to trust my claim and maintained his stance. Now, the baseless worries of Earthlings have been safely put to an end.
Good thing I managed to end this without revealing that I'm an Alphaun. No need to stress out ordinary folks by confirming the existence of extraterrestrials, right?
For a mont, a thought flashed through my mind—soone might hear this and ask, 'Then what about Seonwoo Yeon?' But that's just a trivial worry. With mountains of work ahead, I probably don't have ti to indulge in daydreams.
Let's just wrap this up and head back before the sun sets.
Just as I'd explained to Ahn Yoonseung—I was now, officially, soone with a body that functioned at an absurd level. So, to celebrate regaining my strength, I decided not to delay things any further and went ahead with the plan.
[Today's To-Do List]
[● Check the corpses of the [fake] beast pack, including Enzo.]
Extracting information from another's body through magic is the crowning jewel of organic golemancy. Of course, that could be said about many spells—but this one, in particular, was a technique I considered my personal specialty.
I already finished adapting it for Earth's systems ages ago. I just hadn't tested it on higher mammals yet, that's all!
So I decided to use that magic to sift through the beast pack's mories. The reason behind the decision was simple.
First—because I wanted payback for the nerve of soone else deliberately targeting a dungeon break that nearly massacred Seoul's citizens. And second—to ensure my own safety with greater certainty.
Just because I've gained power doesn't an I can stop being careful.
Even weak criminals, if left alone, might not co to their senses and could start scheming things that'd get on a mage's nerves again—so this was a necessary step. Honestly, this body of mine could retire from labor at any mont if I wanted. But if so peninsula nation keeps finding itself in danger like this, it's bound to get annoying.
Anyway, I won't need to threaten anyone using nationality anymore. I want to enjoy my ti in Korea while I can... If I plan ahead, maybe for about fifty years or so.
In the end, all these actions were driven by a cautious mind. I decided to keep uncovering any hidden sches that might cause harm in the future.
«Autopsy Room»
And once again, in this mont, I'm reminded—being an S-rank Hunter really is too good a position to give up.
I can easily enter such a secret place.
As you can see, if I really put my mind to it, even crucial evidence secured by governnt agencies is easy enough to get my hands on. In this alternate world called Earth, no matter how intimidating your face might look, without actual status, it's all pointless. That's why I seriously started questioning whether it was the right move to give up my notoriety and quietly retire.
H, Hunter-nim. Then I'll go ahead and open the storage now.
It was than. The person in charge of the examination room who guided the aliens to this place moved his body.
Just so you know, even though they were criminals, all three of these Hunters were foreign nationals. So aside from removing their gear, no further action was taken.
Yes.
So this is their body in a completely pure state. We've also confird there are no hidden artifacts inside. Based on our assessnt, we're confident this is truly them.
She was trying hard to explain sothing, but it didn't reach my ears.
I didn't co here to pray for the soul of the hunter I killed.
What this archmage was interested in was solely their bodies... Wait, saying it like that sounds kind of off. Anyway, while the staff wasn't looking, I placed my hand near the head of one of the corpses. Thanks to the magic circle I had concealed beneath my palm, I activated it to probe their background—
I almost found out.
Huh?
At that mont, in a dim corner of the room, information I truly didn't want to know was also revealed.
***
First attempt. Tried extracting mories from Hunter Enzo, but his lungs burst.
Huh?
The archmage wondered if this might be a problem with the spell's design, so he refined the magic for better efficiency. After about a full day of recovery—and using a handful of excuses—he returned once more to the cryo-storage facility.
No, wait.
Then ca the second attempt. That day, while investigating the short imposter who'd been Enzo's companion—my lungs burst again.
Why.
The sa physical symptoms I experienced when I sank that dungeon kept repeating themselves. So then—what does that tell ?
H, Hunter Kim Giryeo?
Doubt quickly turned into certainty. The mage living in this world under the na Kim Giryeo had already grasped the situation after just two investigations. But unwilling to admit the danger he was in, he—unlike most extraterrestrial beings—broke out in cold sweat and stubbornly pushed forward into the morgue once again.
Are you okay...?
And so, at the end of all these efforts, the final day eventually arrived.
Today marked the sixth day of investigation attempts. Kim Giryeo, fully prepared in ways Earthlings couldn't comprehend, reached out once again. But, against all hope, the sa reaction began even when examining the last imposter.
Ah, s*it.
Aaack!
Is there soone with recovery skills waiting outside? P, please bring them in imdiately. Hurry, get in here now!
Every ti he tried to extract mories from a corpse, his lungs shattered. Because of this, the mage found himself facing a problem he had never anticipated.
Kim Giryeo!
It ant that this body—still couldn't handle a vast number of spells.
Damn it, to the chain-smoking owner of this body—how'd you manage to buy cigarettes so diligently when you didn't even have money!
In a burst of frustration, I ended up blaming the forr owner of this body. But in truth, despite that outburst, the current situation wasn't entirely Kim Giryeo's fault. As had already been made clear during that one and only body-swap attempt to the gate anomaly known as the [Thornbush Forest].
Earthlings, by magical standards, were still little more than primitives. As a result, their resistance to mana was low, and they didn't always absorb those particles—the very source of sorcery—in beneficial ways. There were even negative cases, like elderly individuals who tried to awaken and ended up in a vegetative state. The risks were real and well docunted.
To sum it up, Earthlings still aren't cut out to be proper mages. And if you really think about it based on that—the one currently in the most trouble is the archmage occupying Kim Giryeo's body.
Damn it!
It seed that the human body of Kim Giryeo had already used up most of its capacity just by containing such a powerful soul. That's why even a brief mory probe was enough to make soone's lungs rupture. No matter how simple a spell might appear, most of them were complex modern magic in structure—which ant a primitive human body was all the more likely to hit its limits at that threshold.
[?? - Critical Collision Detected]
[Using magic above a certain level causes bodily rupture]
If one attempts to use high-level magic beyond a certain threshold, the imnse mana that gathers to form the miracle ends up tearing or rupturing the body.
I, this...
He was not originally a creature that cried, but he almost burst into tears for a mont.
This is a nightmare...
In his view, the threshold at which the body could withstand magical strain was far too low. But from the perspective of an Earth native, even with such risks, the power of a second awakening was already at an extraordinary level. In fact, on Earth, there has never been a single recorded case of a 'body tearing apart from excessive mana use'.
That's how much power this individual had regained. Just like in the battle with Enzo—if he set his mind to it, he could overpower even an S-rank Hunter without breaking a sweat. And if push ca to shove, he could simply choose to use a leash high-tier magic, even at the cost of bodily rupture.
Cough.
But from the perspective of an Alphaun who wielded magic as effortlessly as his own limbs, it was only natural to feel a deep sense of frustration.
Are you really planning to head ho like this, Hunter-nim? Are you sure you don't want to get treated first?
It's okay.
Oh my goodness, well no wonder those rumors about Hunter Kim's health have been circulating in the Dispatch articles lately...
I'm fine, so stop holding up and just open the door again.
Trudge, trudge.
The alien with golden hair returned after completing his investigation. After several attempts, it had finally obtained so of the information it desired, but its mind and body were already in tatters compared to the harvest.
His lungs had been torn three tis, including the recovery periods, a total of six days had passed in the anti.
What on earth is this ss?
He was so deeply shaken by what had happened that he spent most of his ti bedridden, and as a result, hadn't even been able to complete the discharge procedures. Thus, Kim Giryeo had no choice but to return to the hospital once again.
Patient—Did you run here today? Your blood pressure is a bit high.
That...
Ah, you shouldn't talk right now. Just a mont-
The disaster for the Earthlings began now.
She's the one who started talking to , so why is she telling to be quiet?
He had been full of hope, thinking that now that he had awakened beyond even S-Rank, he'd finally be able to use magic freely and extravagantly. But when the brutal reality hit, the alien archmage was struck by a profound shift in mindset.
He grew irritated, and his personality beca more fastidious.
And this is clearly a hospital. Just who the hell keeps smoking in non-designated areas for the sll of cigarettes to linger like this...
This was clearly just a temporary outburst. But hadn't he been keeping so of kind record recently?
No, that's not it. Now that I think about it, the smokers on Earth aren't actually to bla!
The mage, lying on his hospital bed in shock, glanced around his bedside.
It's this rotten world that's truly at fault—forcing people to endure by inhaling such toxic substances.
No matter the limitations, the ceiling of talent his body possessed was already on a level incomparable to ordinary Earthlings. Moreover, this alien was, at the very least, the only one on this planet to truly possess genuine mage knowledge.
Thus, in this era where hampering dungeon materials and successive research should have made things fairly manageable, he continued his evaluations in a foul mood. He didn't simply abandon the act. From the perspective of the planet's mammalian inhabitants, this was by no ans a situation that could be seen in a positive light.
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