Chapter 373. The Idol's Leather (5)
'Sohow, I'm getting a headache...'
Co to think of it, the very first press conference was held around this ti of year. I briefly recalled the events that took place right after the [Inevitable Malice] hunt and pinched the bridge of my nose. But now, many things were different back then.
"Hunter Kim Giryeo! Please say a few words!"
"Could you perhaps look this way and pose? A pose?"
"Now then, Hunter. Please co this way. Speaking of which, I really enjoyed watching the local reports about your great work in Turkey. Oh my goodness. It seems like we should be giving you a few more awards, doesn't it? Haha."
All the reporters in front of him had bright expressions. Their gaze no longer contained negative expectation, jealousy, curiosity, or anything similar.
"Thank you for your contribution to the dostic Red Gate Rush incident!"
The humans of Earth offer genuine praise to the ability user who saved countless lives. After all, once their work is done, even reporters return to being ordinary citizens of the city. The applause directed at could not simply be a lie.
"Hmm."
Right after that, I received a comndation from the mayor. Then, sowhat awkwardly, I turned my body eastward for the photo shoot.
But around the ti soone who looked like the host held a microphone up to .
"Hunter Kim Giryeo! Do you have any words you'd like to share with the public as a commoration?"
Originally, at this mont, I was thinking of putting on airs and saying, "I only did what I had to do as a hunter."
Click, click, click.
But as I quietly watched the lights bursting from the Earthlings, an unexpected thought ca to .
"The original owner of this body."
In other words, the real Kim Giryeo.
'If only he had lived, wouldn't he have enjoyed this honor himself?'
Now that I think about it, the talents of this corpse must have played at least so part in regaining my strength.
Kim Giryeo, a Korean man in his twenties, would most likely have surpassed S-rank had he simply survived. As the years went by, his body would have grown increasingly attuned to mana.
By the ti he reached his thirties, even the slightest trigger might have released the restraints on his body. Thus, I began to indulge in an even stronger assumption.
"-_-"
I pressed my borrowed lips firmly shut as I thought.
Even after painstakingly paying off the entire debt of 40 billion, I truly believed that if the real Kim Giryeo were to say just a single word, I could hand over all the results I had built up to him.
And I ant it.
Of course, all of this would only be possible under the assumption that a criminal with the capacity to withstand my soul appeared. If the magical conditions aligned just right, I was prepared to return this body to him at any ti and start over from the bottom. I truly ant that I was more than willing.
But since Kim Giryeo was already dead and gone, well...
Click, click, click, click.
It was around the ti the cara strobes began flashing like crazy that I felt my mood sink sharply.
"Huh?"
No matter how I think about it, this kind of honor feels like it belongs sowhere else. Co to think of it, how did an alien who rely stole a decaying body end up standing in a place like this?
"Hunter Kim Giryeo?"
Maybe it's because the words I heard during the pigeon-control experint still linger so vividly. These days, I often find myself having sentintal thoughts like this. I want to return the place to that pitiful soul, but since it doesn't seem I like things will go the way I wish, my heart has grown restless and uneasy.
"Hunter Kim Giryeo!"
"Hunter?"
"Ugh!"
"J, just one word...!"
The interview request pushed toward soon t with refusal. I couldn't bring myself to finish a sentence and quickly stepped down from the platform. Since I suddenly acted that way with a stern face, people naturally caused a commotion—but I had no ti to pay any attention to them.
'This wasn't sothing to be happy about just because I made money.'
Now I even feel ashad of the arrogance I've shown so far. After all, if I can't even fulfill the one wish I truly desire, then what on earth makes an Archmage?
'Looks like I still have a long way to go.'
It seems I really must et this person called Kim Giryeo at least once, since reality is far from forgiving, a new goal quickly took shape in my mind.
Once I earn enough money—more precisely, once I finish paying off all the debt—I'll resu all the postponed research right away and start looking for so kind of way.
But no matter how many tis I think it over, this matter doesn't seem like it will be easily resolved. So, carrying this vague and muddled feeling, I trudged out of the hall. All the while, my exterior remained wrapped in the skin of an idol, warmly welcod by countless people.
"Haa."
When I stepped outside, sleet was falling from the dark sky.
"It's snowing again."
Oh, right. Since the topic of research has co up, I might as well ntion this.
"-_-"
When I think about it, aside from my research into death, honesty, there are still many things I need to figure out.
'Because Earth was a planet that possessed that kind of uniqueness.'
At that mont, what flickered through my mind were things like moonlight, or an abandoned building reeking of mustiness.
Now that I admit it, despite having lived such a long ti, there's still so much I don't know. In hindsight, it's only natural when you compare the lifespan of a single being to the age of an entire planet. Besides, we Alphaurins never even had the leisure to be distracted by the vast concept of the universe—we were always too busy refining what was right before us, this so-called magical science.
'Co to think of it, maybe I ended up on an unnecessarily special planet.'
In my past life, I may have stood at the pinnacle of magical science, but even then it was impossible to hold every matter of the world in the palm of my hand. At any rate, to emphasize once more, I resolved to deepen my research on spirits, all while keeping in mind the body's owner who died in vain. And alongside that, I would also pursue the acquisition of various other knowledge.
At my age, I truly ca to realize just how lacking I still was in learning.
But setting aside the question of what the deceased themselves might think about resurrection,
once I actually resolved to pursue the research, I couldn't help but feel a bit of concern.
'To be honest, even if I were to spend thousands upon thousands of years, there's no guarantee of success anywhere.'
Even though I was the first Alphaurian to succeed in planetary teleportation, the idea of gathering up a soul that has air easily scattered still seed impossible no matter how I looked at it.
First of all, the creatures of this world... to put it taphorically, they are like debtors who have borrowed their essential elents from the universe.
'Funny how I'm using this kind of expression when I was a debtor of 40 billion.'
Just as mana, strictly speaking, doesn't actually belong to the mage.
Our civilization. Our bodies. Our souls.
The things that living beings take pride in all originate from nature. And when a creature's lifespan ends, the ecosystem naturally reclaims what it once lent out. For example, even if one borrowed molecules for sixty years, at death all that is required is to pay back a modest interest equal to the weight gained during growth—a deal so favorable that nothing could surpass it. At least, that's how it looks from the perspective of us living beings.
And yet, research that dares to defy nature—a force so generous to its debtors...
'Besides, generosity usually cos from having power or surplus to spare.'
The structure of life is far more elegant and intricate than anyone could have anticipated. This was the conclusion I reached back when I first began studying souls.
'From the start, the fact that we could create sothing so imnse on our own was already an excessive display of power.'
Therefore, this goal of returning the body to its original owner, deep down, was already dood to fail. Yet, I didn't abandon the plan.
'...Ah, whatever. Anyway, it'll probably be fine.'
For a long ti, that was, after all, my weapon as an Alphaurin.
'I've lived so long that I thought I'd never feel passion again. But there are still things I'm curious about, so in a way, that's actually a relief.'
Setting aside my regrets for the kind spirit, there's no harm in pursuing the research purely out of curiosity.
Afterwards, as soon as I stepped out of the building, I headed straight for a nearby dungeon.
"Research, and yet a dungeon?" you might ask. Well, to pursue what you truly want, you often have to take care of the unpleasant tasks along the way.
'Even so, a crisis of defaulting on 40 billion won in taxes is a bit much to handle...'
Especially in a capitalist society, it's hard to ignore the problem of debt.
Before diving into research, I decided to clear away every obstacle. About twelve hours later, I finally set out in earnest to earn money.
Even more so, together with Jung Haseong.
Pardon? You're saying you called out of the blue to say... that you want to... actually work together as a team for the ti being...?
Having a Primitive Mage around cuts my pay in half, but what can I do?
'If I'm short on money, then I'll just double the work.'
Maybe it's because I've been thinking a lot about the kind person who owned this body recently. I guess I've been influenced sohow. For so reason, I couldn't bring myself to just ignore the victims of the scam. So, now that I had so leeway in strength, I decided to go ahead and settle the compensation properly, even if it ant taking a loss...
.
.
.
The dramatic collaboration between Korea's #1 ranked hunter and the #1 ranked (having dropped recently) was achieved sohow. How could the industry possibly stay quiet about news like this?
A few days later, the alien being wearing the skin of the idol Kim Giryeo lived up to its old bravado. It ant that he had tackled A-rank gates across the country, accompanied by his companion, Haseong.
What did you say? After just handling the urgent ones in Seoul, he's going down to Jeju and starting to clear out all the empty gates nationwide?
For reference, the invitation to the large-scale hunting plan had also been sent to an S-rank nad Seo Esther. As the leader leading a massive guild, she was constrained by a lack of ti. Above all, her schedule was already packed for the end of the year. Thus, the #1 and #11 ranked hunters continued their work as a very simple two-person team.
"--"
During this process, a subtle change beca noticeable. Sohow, the blonde man grew increasingly skilled at controlling his abilities over ti. To be precise, he began displaying crude spells in a manner befitting a "Primitive Mage," which was due to his consistent imitation of the exemplary Jung Haseong.
"--"
It was fine that he had truly brought his power level up to match that of genuine S-ranks. The problem, however, was that the dyed-hair man strangely couldn't let go of his obsession with money.
Wait, wait! Stop. Why would you burn that? The legs of this monster are literally solid gold!Then should we call the disassembly specialists?That's fine. I'll do it myself.Ah...
He picked up even the most trivial items with care. He fretted over sothing as minor as a commission. If a foreigner who didn't know Kim Giryeo had witnessed this, they would have called him a miser.
But the Alphaurin was accompanied by Jung Haseong. Because preconceptions existed in his mind, most of his eccentricities had to be frad in a certain way. And, moreover, in a fairly positive light.
As expected of a veteran Awakened, displaying such authority. Of course, classifying the value of monsters is one of the most fundantal skills a hunter should possess.
It was a situation where his respect had grown unintentionally. However, since Jung Haseong had even gone to a regular university, when Kim Giryeo repeatedly revealed his obsession with money, he, too, briefly had a certain thought.
He even thought that perhaps the other person might truly be penniless.
Why?
Of course, even if you look globally, there are no cases of an S-rank being impoverished... Thinking about the reasons alone only leads to more confusion.
As Jung Haseong continued the raids with Kim Giryeo, he found himself positively influenced. Originally, he had intended to seize all weakened human prey, coming along with that goal in mind. But as ti went on, the hero realized that his judgnt had been overly protective. True to Kim Giryeo's claim that he had recovered his body, Korea's fourth S-rank displayed overwhelming power in various dungeons.
User Comments
0 comments from readers