"Anyway, what's the point of coming without warning?"
Lee Hwayoung rolled her eyes in bewildernt. Honestly, she thought that hunter had been too busy with his own matters lately to pay any attention to her.
Besides, the man before her was definitely her own son. Oddly enough, the longer she stared at him, the more uneasy and repulsed she felt. Particularly, the way he kept saying "Mom, Mom" grated on her nerves. But she couldn't put her finger on exactly why this feeling was so disturbing.
"Sa..."
Lee Hwayoung took a deep breath. Then, tightening her throat, she suddenly shouted loudly in the silence.
"Please save ! Please save ! Everyone in the neighborhood, please call the police. Kim Giryeo is killing soone!"
From the perspective of soone who's been caught, it was an act that required imnse courage.
"Save !"
But sohow, the sound didn't co back. It was 7 p.m. now, so the residents should still be awake. Strangely, the entire villa was silent. It wasn't just a matter of neighbors being indifferent; rather, when she finally ca to her senses, she realized that the whole place was unnaturally quiet.
The noise of the nearby barbecue restaurant's ventilation fan. The occasional sound of a delivery motorcycle's exhaust.
"Huh?"
Despite usually complaining about it, nothing ever got fixed. And now, the noise from the young man living downstairs has suddenly stopped?
"It's like magic, isn't it?"
At that mont, a chill ran from the back of her neck all the way down to her toes.
"This is why being born in the generation after the Dungeon Shock is a blessing, Mom. When else in our lives will we experience such amazing magic like this?"
"_ _"
"They say it's quite troubleso to build a soundproof room using science. But this doesn't require long construction ti at all."
A soundproof room. So that's how it happened.
"Actually, old technology and new technology each have their pros and cons, but sohow, I always feel this kind of approach is better."
Hwayoung barely grasped it. It seed that the hunter was using sothing called 'magic power' that had half-turned this world upside down.
[The Infinite Power Core], [the Pyromancer's Necklace]—items used by Awakeners are usually expensive and co with many restrictions on possession, so ordinary citizens rarely get to see them.
"Are you crazy? You used supernatural powers just to stop from calling the police? An Awakener, on soone like —an ordinary person?"
She didn't want to experience the changing world like this. For the first ti, here and now, Hwayoung regretted being born in the modern era, not in the Joseon Dynasty.
"Hmm."
And it wasn't only her perspective that shifted. The hunter, who had been grasping at clouds right before her eyes, soon changed his stance as well.
"But anyway, soundproofing or whatever aside, I ca today to keep a promise I made a while ago..."
"_ _"
"Mom, didn't you say you were planning to go to Kang Changho around sumr and spread so articles about ?"
At that mont, a past conversation flashed through her mind. Hwayoung rembered most of what the dyed hunter had said. Perhaps because of that, her expression instantly stiffened, and soon she spoke with urgency.
"Don't do that... Let's just talk for a bit first."
"Talk?"
"I'll, I'll give you money. This isn't about that thing from before, right? I'll pay it all back. Even if I have to borrow, I'll give you everything I have—please, just wait a little longer, okay?"
"It's a little late."
"It's okay if the bank is closed! With mobile apps, you can do all your banking these days. If not, I'll contact soone I know and borrow the money for you."
Though her hands were tied, her posture was one of earnest pleading.
"That doesn't an it's too late..."
However, despite her efforts, the outco was not favorable.
One hunter was suppressing their magic power to the extre in order to hide their presence. Because of this, Kim Giryeo wasn't currently radiating any noticeable energy, but pacing around soone else's living room wearing black dress shoes quickly beca a clear source of discomfort.
"Anyone can see that this ans the timing is way too late."
The mage continued the conversation in that manner.
"If it were you, would you want to die tomorrow for 100 billion won?"
Of course, for those who have nothing, ti can sotis be cheaper than gold. Still, Giryeo's side shifted their stance casually and began to explain.
"I've thought about this for a long ti. In a capitalist society like this, money is the sa as ti."
He said sothing about how they're resources no different from the relationship between 1 liter and 1000 grams or sothing like that. The man, speaking in words hard to understand, scanned the living room with tired eyes.
"So, in truth, economic criminals are much like those who stab people with knives."
"Ugh..."
"Let's say soone scams a young adult out of about 10 million won. Wouldn't that be no different from recklessly stealing that person's youth?"
"_ _"
"To earn that money back, you have to work hard and save every penny. So who compensates for the lost years in between?"
Sentences flowed out of his mouth without pause.
"Besides, when things get really desperate, there are cases where people die because they don't even have 100,000 won."
Because there are rarely opportunities to chat with family except at tis like this.
"Hmm."
Kim Giryeo rambled on for a while, then fell silent. From the point of his second awakening onward, this had beco a noticeable trait of his—expressiveness.
Now that there was no longer a need to struggle to hide his weaknesses, he had recently begun to show his true nature more openly. The reason his close acquaintances didn't notice much difference was because of his facial expressions. As an alien being, he had never been very fond of using facial expressions to convey emotions.
"It's hard to take, but if I leave it natural, my true feelings show."
All this ti, he had struggled just to blend into human society. Now that he had gained considerable power, since his reawakening, Giryeo had beco an even more indifferent person. He reduced the frequency of expressing emotions through facial expressions because he considered them pointless.
"_ _"
Although he had grown quite accustod to Earth by now, ironically, he stopped disguising himself because he realized the risk of being suspected. Therefore, even in monts when deep contemplation began, he didn't furrow a single brow.
"I, that, son..."
The hunter's change could only inspire fear in the locals. Feeling the sudden chill, Hwayoung quickly opened her mouth again.
"Think carefully. Did I ever hit you or do anything wrong? Well, sure, I did ss up badly once before!"
"_ _"
"But I never abused you. I would never do that! There are so many worse things in this world—do you really have to catch and kill ?"
But what exactly is the intention behind this next sentence?
"I'm not going to kill you, though!"
"Huh?"
The young man in the suit says.
"I'm late saying this, but I've actually changed my mind a bit. I recently heard sothing good from a friend."
For the record, there aren't many people he would clearly call friends. At most, there's Ahn Yoonseung and Seonwoo Yeon, the person ntioned in this sentence.
"—I heard that people here sotis change for the better as ti goes by?"
The sentence sounded a bit strange to so. However, Hwayoung's son didn't give anyone a chance to question it.
"Besides, after giving it a lot of thought, I realized there was quite a bit of room for leniency from the start."
At that mont, Kim Giryeo rolled his eyes.
"But there's sothing I really want to ask at this point."
He leveled his gaze to et the other person's eyes for a serious conversation.
"Do things like maternal or paternal love really exist here?"
It was a question beyond imagination. To suddenly hear such words—could this be so kind of sarcasm only the younger generation would understand?
"It's just that where I lived, things like that didn't really exist."
"_ _"
"Maybe it's because they have lots of offspring at once, or perhaps it's due to extended lifespans."
"_ _"
"Anyway, they can live for over a thousand years. Besides, in a regi that actually taxes you for having kids, who would recklessly bring about the next generation?"
"_ _"
"So the parents where I lived genuinely believed in saying, 'Be grateful just for being born.'"
The more conversation went on, the more sothing felt off.
"But when you go online here, strangely, many people say you're too cold-hearted. Or they're shocked, asking how a mother could lack maternal love..."
"What?"
"Of course, as a son, I was critical for a mont too. But stepping back, it's actually harder to understand them."
"_ _"
"The truly important gene is yourself. So why do people here rush to protect their offspring first when there's a car accident?"
The man in front of her didn't seem to be speaking figuratively.
"Besides, ever since I learned about the childbirth process, it's beco even more of a mystery."
A fake blonde soon spoke up.
"Do you really think love can grow from pain?"
Fortunately, the overall atmosphere wasn't bad. The other person soon explained with a very positive attitude.
"In the sa vein, I fully understand parents who don't feel attachnt to their children. I don't think maternal love is a given—it can be a disadvantage for survival."
Then, at that mont, the hoowner who had been quietly listening to the conversation suddenly spoke up.
"Th, then why are you acting like this toward ?"
He kept saying that it's possible for a person not to protect their child, yet here he was, holding captive the older generation that didn't take care of him.
"Are you asking that because you don't know?"
But as soon as the question was asked, the other person raised their voice.
"You're the one who stifled our Giryeo out of 30 million won!"
By now, with tens of billions of won piled up in his bank account, it was truly an absurd reason.
"This is obviously revenge over money. I understand, but this part is completely separate."
Moreover, with this much tension built up, it was now certain. The man in front of her casually called out the na 'Giryeo' as if referring to a stranger. So Hwayoung finally voiced the thought she had been holding inside.
"You... No way, you're not Kim Giryeo, are you...?"
Even then, she thought she recognized him.
"What? Then who are you? And my, my son? Where is my son?"
But this was a topic he had no real words for.
"Anyway, I am grateful that you gave birth to . That 'I' am living like this? Of course, you deserve much credit for that."
"But in a verdict, emotions must be set aside. So let's judge this rationally..."
Drk.
The man who had been sitting there stood up.
"Considering the fact that there was an accomplice who abandoned the son together, and that due to ongoing financial hardship, they were vulnerable to temptation."
"Wait a minute!"
"I'll lower the sentence considerably to 24 years."
"Listen. Wait, wait."
"Because that's how much ti Kim Giryeo has spent alone."
Now that she looked closely, the blonde psychic had bare hands with no gloves, and an unpleasantly intricate tattoo covered her palm. Overwheld by the sudden terror, Hwayoung blurted out without thinking.
"This isn't fair! Like you said, if I had money, I wouldn't have done this. If I weren't poor, I wouldn't have committed any cris!"
From her perspective, this was clear proof of "guilt without money," making her situation all the more unfair. But as soon as the man clad in Kim Giryeo's leather heard her words, he didn't just slightly raise his eyebrows?
"Is that so? Good to hear. This is a secret, but honestly, I've been curious about that myself."
Oh. With that brief exclamation, he finally got the touch he'd been putting off.
"If you were truly the kind of person to make such a choice, then the next 24 years wouldn't be a nightmare."
***
...A few days have passed since then.
[Hospital Room]
A nursing hospital in Seoul. This place is usually for elderly people weakened by age. However, today, a rare young patient appeared.
"Is that true?"
"I saw you checking in at the front desk earlier. Too dressed sharp in a suit, just like on TV."
"So, is that patient Hunter Kim Giryeo mother?"
A famous hunter from Korea had personally co all the way here for his family's hospitalization. But today, the atmosphere in the ward felt unusually tense.
"Hey, mother? What are you talking about? Is everyone so busy they don't even watch the news? Kim Giryeo grew up in an orphanage."
"Heuk."
"That person abandoned her own child when he was young."
It's unfortunate that she's ill, of course, but that doesn't an they can completely excuse the path she's taken in life.
"Besides, I saw this in an article sowhere. Recently, a restaurant coworker she worked with brought up a claim about the statutory share of inheritance. Curious if she could get a piece of Kim Giryeo's inheritance too, she asked about it with keen eyes."
"Wow. Really?"
"Yeah. Reporters are amazing. The restaurant interview has already been all over the place anyway."
The hospital staff chatted while hanging laundry on the rooftop.
"tsk tsk. But anyway, it seems she was lucky with her child. Just when she had a stroke, her son showed up at the house..."
"Soone living alone almost got into serious trouble."
"They say Kim Giryeo found her collapsed on the floor, unable to even close the door. And since he has plenty of money, he's been able to afford expensive caregivers and hospital treatnt. Still, she's his birth mother."
"Oh my."
"It's especially touching since he's about the sa age as my own child. How can Hunter Kim Giryeo be so kind?"
"He's such a devoted son. Such a devoted son."
Would they know the dreams the new patient is experiencing?
The fact that soone's prayer to live without working has co true will likely remain a secret for a lifeti.
"Since it's confird to be working properly, let's use this magic the sa way when it's ti to punish Andy Oliver later."
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