Chapter 343. To Do List (2)
"What are you looking at?"
He must be busy enough just driving, so why does he keep stealing glances my way? And why does his face look so unsettled and uneasy? This ti, I really have no clue what's going on.
So, I stayed silent for a while.
"The rearview mirror..."
Kang Changho looked like he was about to say sothing—but stopped himself. Given his personality, it was unusual. For a mammal who normally never holds back from asking important questions, falling silent like that ant sothing.
"Then I guess it wasn't anything important after all."
In just a few seconds, a whirlwind of thoughts and judgnts flashed through my mind.
Burrrr.
Kang Changho's vague and ambiguous reactions continued for quite a while after that. Still, even in monts like these, the plan was moving along smoothly—so there was no need to worry. Thanks to that native of this planet, we had already cleared the biggest hurdle: illegally entering the country without a hitch.
"You're asking to choose between a boat and a plane for the route?"
"Yeah."
"And on top of that, you've had a smuggling boat of your own since way back?"
"Technically, it's registered under soone else's na, though."
"No wonder you're always short on cash, spending money on things like that all the ti..."
I briefly recalled the past.
Kang Changho said he also knew how to enter illegally through neighboring regions like Canada and xico. What's more, this information was uncovered by an alien archmage using magic—aning he was already aware that this Oliver guy had stolen the [Book of Destruction].
Kang Changho had actually suspected the federal governnt's Book of Destruction was swapped quite a while ago, but since he was a foreigner, he didn't think it was his concern and kept quiet. He also said Oliver probably never imagined using that to target Korea.
A sudden question arose.
"But no matter how hard I searched, I couldn't uncover those secrets. How does Kang Changho always manage to get his hands on such deep, insider information?"
Thud.
Just as the car bounced over a bump in the unpaved road, I took a mont to enjoy the open view unique to pickup trucks—then, driven by a sudden wave of curiosity, I asked.
"So, Hunter Kang Changho—where exactly does your information source co from?"
The driver replied.
"An outsourcing agency."
Outsourcing... it basically ant he had delegated the work to soone else. Or at least, that's what it sounded like.
"So he wasn't personally digging around behind people's backs after all."
To think that all the impressive intel he'd shown so far had actually co from soone else.
"Well, an S-rank hunter isn't exactly so random person you find lying around on the street. Maybe I'm the only one he personally stalked because my ti was valuable. Ah, seriously—what am I supposed to do with a guy like that?"
I rested my elbow on the passenger window fra and thought for a long ti.
Then, I spoke. I said there wouldn't be anyone who wouldn't covet such a capable informant, one who could even dig up the secrets of a great rich person. So, I asked if I could also be introduced to that agency's servant.
"What?"
But this ti, the proceedings were rather dull.
"Yeah."
Kang Changho accepted the offer too easily.
"Well, I doubt we'll get any honest news about things like elixir reappearances anyway. But aside from occasionally keeping quiet to demand a premium, they're actually a pretty reliable outfit."
Ignoring those unnecessary details for now, I blinked my thick eyelids—enhanced by the item's effect that created double eyelids—and waited quietly for a mont.
"Oh."
Then, after a brief pause, he began to explain.
Kang Changho's thod for employing informants was as follows. First, you run a specific program, bought on the black market or made like a USB, on your computer. Then, your computer's OS—what's that?—changes to a form that can access the dark web. It's worth noting that even if you successfully enter the dark web, to find workers who can properly handle all sorts of dangerous tasks, you still need to know privately shared links.
"Huh..."
Kang Changho added that he could provide the links and passcodes. Therefore, all that was needed was to prepare for paynt, noting that the platform primarily deals in virtual currency, so one should keep their e-wallet full. However, he cautioned that even virtual currency can be easily traced if investigative agencies are determined. Thus, in case an entrusted request goes wrong, it's better to deposit the currencies into a Mix service.
"Huh. What is this? A high-level magic incantation or sothing?"
Oh my goodness. A human suddenly started spouting alien language. Well, I guess it's only natural, considering this is the solar system.
Anyway, to sum it up, I couldn't understand a whopping 95% of the sentence he just said.
"I'm pretty sure the incantation for teor magic was simpler than that."
I barely knew enough about Earth to tremble in front of a simple kiosk—So how in the world am I supposed to go through such a complicated and terrifying process like that?
"W, w, well, once this mission's over, there probably won't be any big reason to need an investigator anyway."
This was an unavoidable choice. After a brief mont of hesitation, I made my decision. It would be best not to even consider using the informant thod that Kang Changho had explained in the first place.
"After all, once I finish a few things, I'll retire imdiately. So it's okay if I don't know!"
And then, trying to hide my lack of common sense, I hurriedly took so action.
"Hunter Kim Giryeo. Did you understand everything?"
Fortunately, the other person was easily fooled.
"Well, soone like you who loves to use their head probably wouldn't have trouble understanding sothing like this. I'll send you the link that connects to the errand agency later, so just keep that in mind."
"-_-"
"Personally, it saddens a bit to see a decent young man from Korea poking around shady sites like that. But then again, how you choose to live your life isn't really any of my business, so I'll drop it."
"-_-"
"Oh dear, has the representative of the Land of Courtesy in the East stopped responding now?"
I nodded curtly once and then fell silent. As a bonus, I silently averted my gaze to hide my trembling pupils.Kang Changho muttered sothing to himself for a while before also falling into silence. That marked the mont when our lengthy conversation ca to a halt.
"When are we finally going to arrive at the place where Oliver was supposedly hiding?"
But the boredom in my chest lasted only a mont. Being an alien creature, I naturally still know almost nothing about Earth's geography. So I couldn't even na the plains laid out right in front of . But as I watched the ever-changing scenery of this world through the car window,
a sudden feeling welled up inside .
"It's so vast."
Even though, in terms of surface area, this planet is much smaller than Alphauri.
"The last ti I ca to the GateStar guild's party, I was surprised by how different the buildings looked. But here, it's all natural scenery. Amazing. I didn't expect such a big difference within the sa country..."
It seed that ever since I gained magical power, even the breadth of my heart had expanded.
Otherwise, there's no way I'd be looking at this dusty, windblown land in the western countryside with such contentnt. At first, I was only looking out the window to avoid eye contact, but as ti passed, sohow, I began to genuinely enjoy sightseeing around the outskirts of Arica.
"Ha."
Although it seed that the person next to felt differently. A sigh finally escaped from beside .
I didn't really want to find common ground in a place like this... But when I turned my head, I saw Kang Changho in the driver's seat, looking like he absolutely hated this outing.
"To be honest, it was like that every day for , back when I was in my pri, you brat."
But really, what's the point of complaining—it's not like anything in life changes because of it.
"If I'd known it would be like this, maybe I should've brought one more person along."
"Who would that be? Soone with the [Searcher] skill? You said before that it's hard to find talent like that willing to co all the way overseas and get involved in shady stuff. Most people with the [Searcher] skill already have their own offices or have been specially recruited by governnt agencies..."
"No, no. Not that."
"Then?"
"I just ant soone to carry luggage... or handle long-distance driving like this."
The conversation drifted for a mont.
"Not soone with the [Searcher] skill, just a worker I usually use—soone who knows how to keep their mouth shut."
Kang Changho adjusted the steering wheel and continued.
"But if I think about it from your perspective, Hunter Kim, I guess it's still better that I'm one handling the errands."
An S-rank Hunter saying it was better for him to handle the chores—I couldn't help but wonder what kind of logic led to that conclusion. But before I could voice any questions, he went ahead and explained in detail on his own.
"Recently, the worker I hired isn't that great at driving."
Kang Changho added a bit more to that. No matter how well a car is made, the ride quality ultimately depends on the driver. He said he didn't realize it before, but apparently, if soone with bad driving habits takes the wheel, even perfectly fine city passengers can end up getting motion sickness.
"If I had known it'd turn out like this, I wouldn't have beaten that guy up. Co to think of it, there was this one fellow who was really good at driving... What a sha."
"Who exactly are you talking about?"
"The driver who used to pick up back in the day."
These were nothing more than idle chatter.
Beep.
It's a relief we could kill ti with even this kind of small talk. Seriously though, how far have we been driving since we left the airport?
"Well, we've arrived."
It's the inevitable result of primitive limitations. Every transportation artifact on Earth cos with its own flaws. Sothing like the [White Bird] flies at high altitude, so it's guaranteed to be picked up by national air defense radars. As for the [Shroud of the Underworld], its jump range is relatively short—barely enough to cross even a single city like Seoul from end to end. Not to ntion the added hassle of needing to pre-set the destination coordinates.
So...
"This is the dwelling the beast leaders enter and never co out of."
We finally arrived here using the simple thod known as driving.
"Once it goes in there, there's no way of knowing when it'll co out—or where it'll go next—so in the end, an assault was the only option left."
For reference, I had already marked the destination coordinates in a phone app. But this part is actually kind of surprising.
"Oho."
Honestly, I doubted there'd be anything in a desolate wasteland like this. But eventually, Kang Changho proved that his investigation had been correct.
What the—this isn't natural? So it was just sothing so artificially covered from above?
When he forcefully dug up the seemingly barren land where only a few tufts of grass grew, a door—presumably an entrance—was uncovered at a specific set of coordinates. I looked at the tal door that had erged from the ground and said:
"If it's like this, then I suppose it's not a place people co and go from often."
"From what I've been told, supplies only ca and went once every few months at most."
He turned to .
"But like I said before, I have absolutely no idea what the internal structure will be like once we go inside."
"Yes, yes."
"The only thing I checked was that Andy Oliver was holed up here."
Kang Changho warned.
"Just like I attached in the docunts I gave you—he's been issuing orders online to various high-ranking Awakeners. In other words, he's well-connected."
"Yes."
"Anyway, moving hunters with just a few finger taps from underground like this... hasn't the world gotten so convenient?"
"That's right."
"But up until now, he's been hiding comfortably through the internet like that. If he suddenly realizes soone's tracking him... there's no telling how he'll react."
"Will he try to run away?"
"Honestly, I think there's a high chance he'll end up like a cornered rat."
In short, the enemy will show their teeth.
"The only things I can guarantee are that the guy's holed up in here, and that there's only one entrance. Now, if it turns out there's an awakened one inside who can move people like so kind of trafficking ring... well, I'll be honest—I've got no answer for that. In that case, we'll just have to let the target slip. What else can we do?"
Ddddink.
South Korea's third S-rank Hunter. In the middle of the conversation, he casually used his strength to force open the door embedded in the ground. What was revealed beneath was a long staircase descending deep underground. At the bottom of the stairs stood a circular door, fitted with a complex locking chanism—sothing that looked straight out of a sci-fi movie set in the future.
"And on top of that, since you even made a wish, I wanted to overlook most of your actions as much as possible..."
"Hmm?"
"Before we go in, there's just one thing I want to ask. Hunter Kim Giryeo—if you encounter a high-ranking Awakener in there, are you planning to kill them?"
Anyway, the sudden ntion of that phrase made my expression change.
"Y, yes?"
The freckled expression layered over my face briefly twisted into a look of distaste. It was the suddenness of the question that made hesitate. Of course, Kang Changho's tone was serious enough that it was clear he hadn't brought it up without reason.
"I know that back when we faced the Beasts, having the [Book of Destruction] made things urgent enough to act that up. But if possible, this ti I'd prefer it if you kept S-rank killer side under wraps."
"Why?"
"If the number of top-tier Awakeners goes down, then my chances of being sent into a gate go up, don't they?"
"What?"
"If a major power like this collapses and things get chaotic even in our country, who's going to help handle the gates? You, who don't even have that many years left to live? That's exactly why I also avoid ssing with other S-ranks unless I really have to."
What a noble reason, really. Without even feeling the need to shake my head, I eventually stepped forward.
But just then, as I descended the stairs an appearance that no one would recognize—
"Hmm?"
"Huh?"
It seed that the first entrance connecting the surface and the underground had been the boundary.
"I could tell sothing was set up, but it was so poorly done that I didn't pay it much attention."
It was only after descending the stairs that I realized there was a magical effect in place here. The spell was a form of concealnt—specifically, one that masked spatial energy. This underground residence had been sealed in a way that prevented the powers of those inside from leaking out. But as luck would have it, both of us possessed a heightened ability to perceive magic.
"-_-"
"-_-"
Kang Changho and I simultaneously registered the sa information. Inside that round-shaped door was a swarm of high-ranking Awakeners—so many, it was like a colony of ants.
"With this much, we could lead a few without anyone noticing, right?"
"Right."
We paused our movents, and soon lighthearted jokes slipped out from a certain spot—reflexive remarks born from sheer disbelief.
User Comments
0 comments from readers