[P: By the way, how many types of functions did Hunter Haseong's legendary item have, I wonder?]
They, who existed only online, were ultimately incapable of recognizing the mistake they had made. Even a syndicate that handled information from all over the world could not uncover secrets that had co from beyond the universe.
Aliens—they were, taphorically speaking, outsiders beyond a distant fence. As long as no one knew the truth—that the soul of a marine creature had co to dwell in the body of a Korean—the mammals confined to this small planet were bound to remain victims of a profound imbalance of information.
[P: This is just a guess, but the book is primarily a dium for knowledge transfer, while the sword is a perfect weapon. So perhaps the Sword of Sunset might actually possess far more destructive power than the Book of Destruction.]
[Youth: Friend, sorry, but does soone else's country's artifact really matter right now? We're totally **ed here.]
[P: Should I turn off the profanity filter for you?]
[Youth: Sigh...]
[Youth: Forget it. I'm just going to go AFK for a while. I'm sick and tired of hearing about Korean hunters—I don't even want to listen anymore. Got it? Don't ssage for a while.]
Now, at all tis, they finally think Kim Giryeo is weak. They had no idea, but this current turn of events had beco an opportunity for soone. Specifically, it ended up supporting the schedule that a certain magician was about to carry out. Although in so ways, you could call it a small rcy.
Then I guess it's about ti to wrap up the preparations for departure!
The new goal of a certain mage was none other than eting them. Misunderstandings arise in human relations hips, perhaps the most ideal way to resolve them is through a direct eting—facing each other and setting the record straight.
***
So ti later. A clear weekday afternoon.
Vrmmmm.
The sound of an engine starting echoes across the dry, open field.
'Oh. That's a pretty big car—hardly ever seen one like that in Korea.'
As the thought that just popped into my head clearly showed.
I am currently in the United States.
One of the world's most well-known developed countries. To suddenly set foot in a place like this—
'Hmm.'
Compared to the ti I first ca to the U.S. as Seo Esther's escort, this return visit had definitely been filled with far more hardships.
'They say stowing away on a ship would be more comfortable for the body. Did I foolishly choose a faster route for nothing?'
First, I had to secretly hide in the cargo hold of a passenger plane arranged by the broker. Then, I barely endured the long journey by relying on an oxygen mask.
'For the record, a non-Awakened person with no mana would freeze to death as soon as the plane reaches high altitude due to subzero temperatures. This is definitely not sothing ordinary people should ever try to imitate...'
On top of that, by the ti the plane reached its destination, I had to avoid airport security checkpoints—using stealth items and terrain-ignoring movent tools like the [Shroud of the Netherworld], one after another. Avoiding people's eyes took an incredible amount of effort and money. And the place I finally arrived at, after borrowing every bit of magic and trickery I could muster, was other than that.
'Surely, this doesn't look like a place where mammals would live together.'
An undeveloped area in the western United States.
However, unfortunately, the journey for and a certain companion didn't end here. Teleportation-type magic is extrely rare on Earth, after all.
'Among mammals, it does seem that there are occasional cases where they can use that kind of magic. But even then, a small mistake in handling it can lead to disaster, so there are few surviving sorcerers—and it's even rarer for such spells to appear in the form of items.'
There was really no other choice. For various reasons, we had to travel a long distance by vehicle from this point on.
'Of course, I do know teleportation magic, but spatial interference spells are known to consu a lot of mana, so I can't exactly fire them off carelessly...'
But in a situation like this, so might start to wonder. Why did I, an archmage, choose to co to the United States of all places? The truth is, there was a shocking reason behind it.
After reviewing my mories and cross-checking with the Earth-side investigators, it turned out that the ultimate mastermind behind the beasts was none other than a very famous 'mana resource company' in this world.
'Apparently, they originally used to make online gas...'
[PIXY]
There are probably few people on this planet who don't recognize that na. Even an Alphauri wandering the streets could rember the company na PIXY.
Magic power detector. Artifact type analyzer. And even high-grade translators, among others.
They had their na printed on items that were used frequently by everyone—hunters and civilians alike. Honestly, there was no way that company na wouldn't beco widely known. Given how deeply involved they were in the lives of Earthlings, the company PIXY was also famous for raking in astronomical amounts of money.
But why would a massive international corporation, enjoying such an era of overwhelming prosperity, take an interest in sothing like urban terrorism?
'Ha, I should've known when I first heard those rumors about them torturing aliens. A company like PIXY, with such disturbing talk going around—it was rotten at its core from the very beginning!'
Anyway, gathering all the investigation results so far, the final decision-maker who sent Enzo Chiano to Korea was Andy Oliver, a shareholder of PIXY Corporation.
'For now, the face I saw during the corpse mory investigation was exactly the sa as the photo on the driver's license of so mammal that Kang Changho brought back.'
But the reason soone like him—who isn't even a chairman or CEO, just a partial shareholder—is being treated as a de facto representative of the company is because...
At this point, a conversation I had before leaving the country briefly ca to mind.
Andy Oliver? Oh, that guy's the only son of PIXY's founder.ISo after his mother passed away from old age, he inherited her shares and even ran the company himself for a while.Aha.I think it was around the ti they started cooperating with the federal governnt. Anyway, like many other Arican companies, they eventually brought in a professional CEO, and Andy Oliver himself stepped into the background.Why?I heard it was because he was being compared too much to the previous president...What comparison?Barbara Oliver, the founder, was pretty popular across the U.S. when she was alive. But after reinvestigating things in light of the beast incident, it turns out Andy Oliver stepping down was just for show.He just stopped appearing on the surface. In reality, he was still the core of PIXY Corporation all along.
~
Besides, the Oliver family was known from the beginning to be more developers than businessn. Most of the core technologies that laid the foundation for the company were actually created under their leadership. To put it simply, in this day and age, he's the one who could most easily exploit PIXY's technology—and because of that, he inevitably had overwhelming access to gate-related information.
Well, to sum it up roughly. Of course, the heir of that mana resource company seed to have plenty of issues even before this. This part was uncovered by a certain grand mage who delved into Enzo's mories. Andy Oliver was actually the person responsible for swapping his country's [Book of Destruction] with a fake.
'Then... was the U.S. governnt actually an innocent victim, unfairly manipulated by a private entity?'
Because of this hidden truth, things nearly went terribly wrong. If I had used [Justitia] to interrogate high-ranking officials from the opposing governnt, they all would've co out innocent.
'Of course, the president of the Spectrum Guild—Enzo's official affiliation—couldn't avoid arrest, since he was aware that the Book of Destruction had been handed over.'
In addition, the company PIXY had secretly committed nurous other offenses behind the scenes. One of the most notable examples was the violation of personal data protection laws.
'Collecting data indiscriminately from all kinds of analyzers under the pretext of serving the public, then secretly hiding the important information stored on their servers—that's what they did.'
Rumors had been circulating even before all this—that PIXY Corporation and the International Gate Alliance were secretly spying on hunters' data. So why hasn't this blown up into a major scandal yet? It's because they've done a good job hiding their cris? Or maybe... they've been just as good at covering up the leaks themselves.
'Hmm.'
Anyway, that was as far as my idle thoughts went.
~Tuk.
I finished reminiscing and finally boarded the vehicle in front of . The one that had been waiting for all this ti was a pickup truck—sothing clearly suited for transporting furniture or large cargo. But the mont I got in, the man in the driver's seat left a sigh and began to complain.
“—But seriously, Kim Giryeo. Do you really have to drag along for this kind of thing? We've already got two S-rankings, which makes it okay easier for us to get caught, you know.”
That was Kang Changho's words. To add, it was nothing more than grumbling—no real reason to respond either way.
“He's complaining even though the problem's already been handled perfectly.”
Now that I think about it, why is the life of a super-powered individual so exhausting? Just as he said—on Earth, if an S-rank moves around carelessly, it becos headline news. And right around this ti, a certain rumor had begun to spread in Korea. Two S-rank Korean hunters had suddenly launched an assault on a high-level gate near Masan!
Of course, it was a lie. A blatantly obvious cover story, really. Honestly, if a hunter enters a gate that soone else has already secured, they're seen as a 'stealer'—or worse, a frog (a hunter who preys on other humans). So the odds of our fabricated alibi being exposed seed low. Especially since Kang Changho had already stationed hired guards at the fake gate. There really wasn't much to worry about.
‘Co to think of it, these damn gates really do get used for all sorts of shady business.’
I fastened my seatbelt, quietly reflecting on the dangers of the gates.
“Haa.”
And then it happened.
~Brrrrr.
Just as the engine finished warming up and the pickup truck was about to start moving, my companion in the driver's seat seed to find the upcoming journey a bit too dull. He suddenly spoke again.
“You're not exactly a patient awaiting hospice care. Running low on adrenaline? Sohow, our hunter here always steps up personally to the tough and annoying jobs everyone else avoids.”
“Yes?”
“And on top of that, you always drag into it right before things get ssy.”
“Oh, so that was another curse directed at .”
“Didn't you promise to stop ddling in my life from now on? So why are you being so inconsiderate lately?!”
Tuk.
Kang Changho tapped the top of the steering wheel with one hand.
“Seriously, it's like having soone blowing up balloons and setting off fireworks right next to every day.”
The comparison was so uniquely Earth-style that I didn't understand it at first. Still, judging by the tone and atmosphere, it was clear enough—the driver wasn't exactly in a good mood.
‘An S-rank, daring to show attitude in front of an archmage...’
With nothing but pure curiosity, I began to silently stare at the driver's seat—my face completely expressionless. Naturally, Kang Changho, being an S-rank hunter, noticed the gaze almost imdiately. And the mont our eyes t, it seed like a thought popped into his head—
because what he said next ca out without the slightest hesitation.
“You know what? With that blank look on your face—you, Hunter Kim Giryeo, look exactly twice as much like a serial killer as usual.”
Ah. To properly explain that last comnt, I should probably ntion this part first.
‘First of all, I managed to leave and re-enter the country in secret.’
Both Kang Changho and I were among the world's top-tier Awakened—our faces already far too well known to the public.
‘Considering what I'm about to do to that PIXY shareholder, it's probably best to keep my movents completely under the radar.’
We had already altered our appearances in advance.
[Vampire's Mirror]
To be precise, we used an item by that na. Compared to Enzo's group's [Doppelgänger's Jealousy], it's a lower-tier artifact—any significant damage or even a DNA test would imdiately expose your true identity. However, if the goal is simple deception, it's one of the most efficient disguises you can get.
My thoughts wandered for a mont. Anyway, the aning behind Kang Changho's words was simple. Today, I didn't look like my usual self—because I was in disguise. But if any Earthlings were to spot in this form... Well, how they'd feel about it—that's a whole different question.
‘A serial killer, huh? That's strange. So this disguise looks even scarier than Kim Giryeo's real face?’
Sandy-colored hair with an ambiguous, muted tone. A hairstyle just short enough to reveal the forehead. And if we're looking for additional standout features—piercing blue eyes and deep-set double eyelids, among others.
This was more or less the appearance layered over my real one. Unfortunately, it didn't escape the usual chronic issues to be blunt—this disguise also had the sambaagen eyes phenonon. But perhaps due to the original mammal it was copied from being naturally soft-featured, the upper eyelids drooped slightly downward, and the gaze had a kind of vague, dazed quality to it.
‘This seems way more harmless than my original face. No, actually... I almost look stupid.’
For a mont, I was genuinely puzzled. Why would Kang Changho describe this kind of expression the way he did?
‘Well, to be honest, it doesn't feel at all different from Kim Giryeo's real face. At most, just the color... that's about it. Two eyes, one nose, one mouth—all the sa. Anyway, I picked a sample with a similar bone structure so I could move comfortably—that's why.’
I awkwardly pulled the rearview mirror toward from the center of the front seats and took another look at my current appearance. Since I was imitating a Westerner's look for activities in the U.S., it was natural that even the outer skin showed so subtle differences.
‘Are these freckles? Or maybe age spots? There are marks on the bridge of the nose that took like soone sprayed mist and it stuck.’
In the end, to an alien creature like , they all looked more or less the sa. Still, this appearance gave off a far more unremarkable vibe than Kim Giryeo's usual look, which ant it was well-suited for stealth missions—a reassuring conclusion, at least. So I spent a while intently examining the mirror, carefully reassessing the state of my disguise.
“_ _”
But at that mont—I suddenly felt soone's gaze. Instinctively turning my head in response, I caught the man in the driver's seat staring straight at .
For reference, that brown-haired Westerner was none other than Kang Changho in disguise. He had taken on an older appearance for the cover, and while driving, he kept glancing sideways—casting suspicious looks at , as if I were so kind of weirdo, just for checking the mirror.
Author's Thoughts
Hi, from now on, I will update this novel 3 chapters/week. Thank you for all your support so far:)
Tom
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