Chapter 389: Don't Live a Life of Sin (2)
For reference, the outdoor area she was approaching was in the midst of such chaos.
"Please! Teach !"
"Oh my, what's this? Where on earth did this person learn Korean so quickly?"
The person, an Impressionist of Impressionists with black tattoos densely covering everything from the knuckles up to the neck, was clinging desperately to soone's pant leg, begging.
"Looking at those tattoos, it's obvious. The one kneeling is that S-Rank Hunter with the fire attribute."
Seonwoo Yeon's concern beca reality. Kim Giryeo had actually been struggling with the troubleso situation of receiving sparring requests from all over the world even before his phone went dead. Even after moving to Seoul, his circumstances showed little improvent.
"Well, considering that Jung Haseong perfected such a groundbreaking technique, it's no wonder people are going crazy over it."
By the ti the young man, Kim Giryeo, who had been stopped at the Association's main gate, was lost in thought, the remaining S-rank hunters present finally spoke up.
"Hunter Kim, I apologize."
When he turned his head, he spotted Jung Haseong. Since Haseong was wearing a patient gown, it was easy to tell that he had briefly stepped out of his hospital room.
"The fact that things have co to this is entirely my fault."
"That's right, you brat."
It seed likely that he had co to handle the situation after realizing that an industry colleague had suddenly found themselves in a difficult spot. Whether the awakened individual, Jung Haseong, would actually be of any help in the circumstances was, in fact, still uncertain.
"I got carried away with my excitent and mispoke, but I never imagined that one interview would cause such a huge stir..."
The black-haired awakened individual explained his position in a few words, and then directed a shocking statent at the foreigner on the floor.
"But I must apologize to soone who even ca all the way to Korea, yet honestly... how busy is Hunter Kim that you're making such an unrealistic request for a whole year?"
"Hmm."
"Moreover, showing up to see Hunter Kim like this is, in many ways, completely improper procedure."
A man in a suit gave a small nod at this point.
"At the very least, you should have tried defeating first before bringing this up."
But right after that sentence, the man who had been nodding along instantly stopped.
"J, Jung Haseong?"
"Anyway, before Hunter Kim's skills, you and I are nothing but insects. And that's sothing no amount of effort can really change. But still—no matter how tough things look, isn't it basic courtesy to at least et the minimum standard before making demands?"
The situation grew even more complicated. The device seed to have failed to translate a curse word in the middle, leaving the foreigner with a dazed expression for a mont. Still, even though the language was different, the mood being conveyed was clear enough to understand.
"What does 'insect' an?"
A subtle tension developed between the French hunter and .
"Ah, right. Cases like that have been so rare lately that I'd almost forgotten. Co to think of it, Jung Haseong was also classified as one of the hopeless ones..."
Esther was lost in thought as she walked, when her eyes suddenly t with soone else's.
"!?"
Even amidst the chaotic surroundings, Kim Giryeo sensed the sorcerer's approach with his usual sharpness. The man, flaunting his dyed hair as always, shouted the mont his eyes t Esther's.
"Ah, right! What was I thinking? It's coffee ti."
"Huh?"
"As you know, every office worker in Korea needs a cup of coffee after a al... I Hello, Director Esther!"
"Uh, H, hello..."
"Since we've run into each other, would you mind buying a Magic Tower coffee? Actually, I have sothing personal I'd like to discuss with you."
He said a lot, but in the end, the Alphaurin's true intention was simple.
"Giryeo-ssi, you an you have sothing personal to say to ?"
Sensing that the place was about to turn into complete chaos, Kim Giryeo spoke a line that implied he wanted to be quietly rescued. At that, Esther blinked her eyes a few tis in silence. But her hesitation didn't last long.
"Hm. Well, alright then!"
After all, she had co here with her own thanks to convey. And besides—while others brought enough gifts to fill a private jet and still failed to buy even a fraction of his ti, he alone was asking her to share a private teati with him. Honestly, there was no reason to feel offended by such a proposal. On the contrary, she couldn't help but feel a low, sly sense of superiority.
Therefore...
"I already had my after-lunch coffee, but thanks to awakening, I can handle a few more cups now."
Esther readily accepted Kim Giryeo's proposal. Now that they had made plans and left together, whatever hair-pulling fight the two remaining S-ranks might get into at the scene was no longer any of their concern.
***
Anyway, she never thought they'd end up facing each other so suddenly.
"Would you like your coffee cold or hot?"
"Are there ever days when there isn't any coffee?"
"Yes?"
"Just kidding. I'll take it hot, please."
It was a sight he hadn't seen in a long while. Afterward, Kim Giryeo found himself seated across from his counterpart in a rather familiar reception room. The faint scent of Alphaurin adhesive always lingered in the air, perhaps a reflection of the host's peculiar taste. To Earthlings, however, it would co across as nothing more than a pleasant fruity fragrance...
"Anyway, since Hunter Esther hardly weighs anything, there was really no need for you to thank just for carrying you."
"Oh my."
"Then, I'd like to share what I've prepared to say."
At that mont, the blond man took sothing out of the ssenger bag he had been carrying.
Tuk.
What soon landed on the desk was a stack of A4-sized docunts. The holes were too frayed for it to have been punched with a proper machine. To make matters more peculiar, the pages were bound together with a thin yet sturdy string of unknown origin. No matter how you looked at it, what lay before their eyes was a handmade "book."
"What is this?"
"Normally, I'm not this clumsy with my hands, but since it's my first ti making this kind of book, it turned out a little...
"Wait a minute. A book?"
"Well, this is actually a textbook I made for you."
Before she could even question a particular word, Kim Giryeo explained first.
"Before I say anything else, let be clear—I'm seriously planning to retire officially soon."
Retirent, huh. Up to this point, his ideas sounded fairly reasonable.
"Except for the occasional excessive blood circulation, I'll say it again, I'll say it again—I'm perfectly healthy. So even if I stop hunting, I could still spare so ti to teach soone. That's my choice. Up to this point, you are following in ."
But when a statent like this cos out, the credibility of everything that follows is bound to decline.
'No matter how careful they were to keep it from leaking to the public, as a fellow Korean S-rank, I know full well what happened during the Island Fall...'
But since it had been a long ti since they'd t, it felt a bit off to start a conflict already. Esther fell into a brief mont of thought. To be honest, there were more than a few points she could have nitpicked, but she decided to stay silent for the mont, wanting to hear the man's story in full.
'By the way, what on earth is he talking about with the textbook?'
However, the next remark from him was surprisingly materialistic.
"Oh, right. Hunter Esther, just so you know, even though it looks like this, the contents inside are actually quite valuable. Please handle it carefully from now on."
He was asserting the value of knowledge with such confidence. Honestly, Kim Giryeo no longer needed to rush to dip into S-rank hunter's wallet—but still, in this capitalist society, the more money you have, the better, right?
Kim Giryeo had previously ntioned sothing specific to the guild master of the Korean Magic Tower.
[If that know-how proves effective, I'll, of course, contact the Magic Tower imdiately...]
More precisely, he promised to first teach Jung Haseong the thod of controlling abilities, and then, in the next step, to select Esther and pass on the knowledge to her separately. Moreover, a major crisis arose this year with 40 billion won in unpaid taxes, which made him even more fixated on that schedule.
'When I suddenly got into debt, I frantically tried to get money by going after Esther's pocket...'
However, Kim Giryeo finally obtained a unique-tier item during the recent India gate expedition. This made him relatively free from financial concerns, but since he already had materials prepared for the ti when money was urgently needed, he used this as an excuse to bring up his current proposal.
'At the ti, Esther was so stubborn about refusing on-site lectures that I ended up trying it in a half-persistent, clingy way.'
Text-based dium? If you're so worried about soone else's stamina, why not at least have them follow along on their own by looking at this? Kim Giryeo decided to try passing on the basics of the curse mage's training in an unconventional way.
'I'm curious whether a primitive like this could actually grow properly in this format.'
From an Alphaurin perspective, it didn't matter which path you took as long as the result was good. Besides, from the viewpoint of soone studying a discipline, failure wasn't necessarily such a bad thing anyway.
'Shall I throw it out there for now, and gather so data while I'm at it?'
The blonde alien handed over the docunt and made the proposal again.
"What's written here are my personal tips on mana managent. Now, before you take the docunts, please sign a contract with first."
"..."
"As stated in this contract, due to fairness issues with Hunter Jung Haseong, I can't provide this for free... You just need to pay in installnts, exactly the sa as what Jung Haseong paid."
Now that money wasn't urgently needed, receiving it as a pension was a good situation for the alien—60 billion won per month, including gift taxes. Of course, for Jung Haseong, who earned his own money, this was an amount that even earning added his saved pocket money. But since he was born into a wealthy family and was the sole owner running such a massive guild, it was unreasonable to think he would find 60 billion burdenso. After all, this was the very essence of magical studies that had even turned Jung Haseong into a fire incarnation.
'Isn't this asking too much?'
But then...
For so reason, no answer ca from the other side. Kim Giryeo, wearing a distinctly Earth-like look of puzzlent, felt a brief mont of tension.
"Why aren't you saying anything?"
After several more seconds of silence, he was finally able to hear the other person's voice.
"Giryeo-ssi."
"Yes."
"But there's sothing I'm curious about."
"Yes. Well, go ahead."
"Earlier, you harshly kicked the other Awakened in front of the association's main gate, so why are you so stubbornly trying to teach separately like this?"
Honestly, it was a question Kim Giryeo had never imagined.
"By the way, don't ntion things like lacking living expenses anymore. These few docunts could fetch an astronomical value if you really wanted."
"Hmm."
"You know this fact, and I know it too, Kim Giryeo-ssi."
"Of course."
"Then why is it that you make this knowledge so easily available to and Jung Haseong?"
But for Esther, this was a perfectly natural question. As just ntioned, Kim Giryeo had always responded coldly whenever overseas hunters requested his guidance.
'It can't be...'
Why had that Awakened in their mid-twenties started showing favoritism at this point? Even though he had thrown himself into crises in faraway countries, he usually appeared more fair than anyone else.
'Could it be that Hunter Kim Giryeo...?'
It was around the ti an inexplicable silence filled the room of the Korean Magic Tower. At that mont, Esther, who had been standing with her arms crossed, suddenly ca up with a completely unexpected suspicion.
'Could it really be the National Intelligence Service?'
Exactly. What had been as Jung Haseong's suspicion—and then faded after the person himself denied it—suddenly resurfaced.
'Son of a—! What if he's turning against his own people, even though he's supposed to be a patriot of the Republic of Korea?'
This is insane. After a mont, a light cold sweat began to form at the back of her neck. But the thoughts running through her head were far too dangerous to voice, even as a few. Esther fussed with her perfectly fine outfit, trying to gauge the situation, when, around this mont, Kim Giryeo began acting in a very suspicious way.
"If you ask why I'm only telling this to Jung Haseong and you... well, that's... um..."
For so reason, instead of answering directly, he awkwardly fell silent, making her suspicion all the stronger.
"..."
He must be an agent... So that Kim guy really is the legendary special operative. No wonder he looked far older than his age. Could it be that even the numbers on his resident ID were fake?
It was around the ti Esther averted her gaze at the unfamiliar reaction. Kim Giryeo, wearing an ambiguous expression, took a long mont to choose his words.
"How... am I supposed to explain this?"
In fact, he had his own circumstances, so a period of deep contemplation soon began.
'Looking back and evaluating it now, it seems that the goal of strengthening South Korea's defenses has been almost perfectly achieved.'
Thanks to the top-ranked hunter growing beyond expectations, there's now enough for retirent security. So why had he gone much suddenly shot at this point? In this S-rank hunter-tailored tutoring had originally started as a sche to fleece high-inco earners. In other words, a secret he couldn't spill to anyone from the start. On top of that, there was a ti when his finances had genuinely collapsed, and he had created this book with the thought that he might have to extort money, even forcibly.
'Of all the reasons I can rember, there isn't a single sentence that would preserve the Archmage's dignity.'
If he went into a long-winded explanation here, it would only expose his embarrassing F-rank days. With that in mind, Kim Giryeo ended up giving a rather half-hearted explanation.
"Well, I'm just doing this to keep a promise."
"..."
"There's sothing I said in front of a hunter awakened to the curse attribute. How could I just go back on what I said back then?"
A thought crossed his mind to simply reveal that he was a worker from an incredibly distant and problematic place. But the alien with the last na Kim barely managed to suppress his rising urge, and spoke.
"But, Hunter Esther, don't you get tired of having these endless, unsolvable exchanges with ?"
"Yes?"
"Anyway, the reason we clash in our opinions is fundantally because of that. My tumor."
"Y, yeah. I guess so..."
"But I actually know a way to improve this. In that case, why not take this chance to borrow [Justitia]?"
Until now, he hadn't dared to even ntion the item's na, not wanting to waste money. But now, he felt he could no longer put it off.
"Wait a minute. [Justitia]?"
"I'm sorry for getting annoyed last ti. But on second thought, I still think that's the best way to resolve things."
"Ugh..."
"If Hunter Esther borrows that, I'll respond imdiately to any health-related issues."
"That..."
"Moreover, by sharing this know-how with you, we can also prove that my intentions are by no ans malicious."
Kim Giryeo spoke with a strong tone to convey confidence. But at that mont, the woman sitting directly across from him suddenly stiffened her expression.
"Uh, sorry, but [Justitia] can't be borrowed anymore."
Esther imdiately went on to explain. According to her, [Justitia] had recently co under review for usage approval by the Human Rights Commission, and the reason this process was initiated was none other than the recent political and business scandal she had been involved in...
"Is that so?"
"To be honest, I don't really see any other reason besides that."
This damned world—nothing ever goes right. The blonde man was at a loss for words as his ambitious plan to borrow
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