Chapter 403. I'm Going to Retire (Third Try) (2)
When I ntioned a specific plan, Seonwoo Yeon looked a little surprised. But rather than talking more about the retire nt press conference, I brought up the imdiate inconvenience first.
"But you know what?"
"Yes?"
"Seonwoo Yeon, you sacrificed your ti today to co all the way here, right? Judging that weekends would be mor e fun with an alien than alone."
"Well... that's true, but..."
After a brief introduction, the Earthling's expression quickly turned uneasy.
"Could it be that you're starting to think of as, well... an acquaintance, Seonwoo Yeon-ssi?"
"Of course."
"Oh, too."
Before she could get any more uncomfortable, I quickly brought up a specific topic.
"Then, since we're officially acquaintances now, shall we start speaking informally to each other from now on?"
Speaking in the shortest sentences possible, I'd been itching to make that suggestion for so long.
"After all, we're the sa age, anyway."
"How did you know my age?"
"I saw your information in the official docunts when the [Fairy Kingdom] appeared."
I rarely forget information that seems useful.
"Anyway, then... can we start speaking informally now?"
So I made full use of that trait to steer the conversation, and before long, a quiet reply ca from the other side.
"Uh... no. You can't."
"Aha."
A brief silence fell.
"So I can't."
Sohow, it felt like I'd had a similar conversation before. And it was just around the mont that sense of déjà vu hit .
"Oh, wait a mont, I think I might have said sothing that's easy to misunderstand."
Beside , the black-haired Earthling quickly corrected herself. She had absolutely no intention of rejecting an alien. I n fact, she was adequately comfortable with this connection and genuinely wanted to treat like a friend.
"I'm a public official, so if I speak informally to a hunter in public, I'll get complaints."
"What did I just hear?"
That's about it.
"Since I'm out today, maybe I should pick up a new notebook at the convenience store."
Next, she suggested that while she couldn't speak informally, I could feel free to do so. But if I did, every single word I said would probably carry the weight of a public official's effort.
"Let's just throw away the discussion we just had..."
"I'm sorry."
"Yes. Well, at least feel free to express your apologies to your heart's content..."
I have no use for conversations that add weight to my mind. So, that's that.
"I'm hungry, so let's just eat already."
"That's right. But about the script you ntioned earlier..."
"That's not sothing that needs to be written today."
After that, I quickly took care of treating my guest using a delivery app. For the record, the nu was chosen accordin g to the visitor's request.
"This at restaurant is one I'm ordering from for the first ti since moving here, but thankfully, it's delicious."
"To be honest, it's hard to make yukhoe bibimbap taste bad."
But just as Seonwoo Yeon and I had finished our al.
Tiring.
Sowhere, the sound of a phone notification rang out.
[Seo Esther 11]
For reference, that public official was simply diligent in her work. She hadn't managed her connections to the point of collecting the personal numbers of 5-rank individuals.
"Excuse , but I'm just going to check a ssage quickly."
I read a ssage that had arrived on my personal device. It was an electronic letter from Seo Esther, beginning with th e unfamiliar salutation "Teacher." Happily, it was filled entirely with matters concerning money.
"Wow."
"What ssage?"
"They say the Guild Master of the Korean Magic Tower Guild just transferred 3 billion won?"
3 billion won. The long-awaited settlent for the new tutoring fees.
"That's right! Now that I think about it, she said she'd transfer this as soon as the busy work was roughly finished."
A grin slowly tugged at the corners of my mouth. After deducting all the gift taxes, a whopping 3 billion won remained. With this, I could pay at the installnt hunting taxes for this month and still have a share left over—and on top of th e, the distribution for the epic items hadn't even been taken yet. What a windfall this was.
"Smiling isn't really a bad expression anyway. Might as well not hold back and just show it."
"Hunter Kim Giryeo."
But it wasn't just a matter of gulping down the money and relaxing—of course, there were duties that ca with being a teacher.
"Hunter Kim Giryeo."
"Yes?"
"You look much more human when you smile, after all."
"Really?"
"I've thought this since the first ti we t, but you, Hunter, have so little expression that it was often a bit frightenin g."
At the bottom of the ssage on my phone, there was an additional note from the Guild Master of the Korean Magic T ower. I skimd through the words, which were practically a request, and at the sa ti, I crafted a casual-soundin g reply to Seonwoo Yeon's comnt.
"Thank you for the kind words."
True, even if I had no intention of interacting with the primitives, constantly giving off a creepy vibe didn't seem good at all. It was only after hearing Seonwoo Yeon's opinion that I began to seriously consider controlling my expression. B ut the Earth native hadn't finished speaking yet.
"Ah, Hunter Kim Giryeo. But you shouldn't smile too often either—if you go around grinning for no reason, it'll just look like you've lost your mind, so please keep that in mind."
"Now you're even trying to regulate the frequency...?"
In life, moderation is always the hardest thing. As I thought about the problem of controlling my expressions, I couldn't help but feel a mix of emotions. Still, no matter how daunting the task might seem, once I beca unemployed, I figure d I could at least make up for everything with ti.
***
Another day passed. I decided that, when the ti ca for my retirent press conference, I would rely on the help of the native, Seon woo Yeon. And with that, we brought the eting to a close.
However, contrary to that bold resolve to prepare the interview script in advance, barely fourteen hours later I found myself having to go out again...
"Well, at least this isn't sothing soone else forced on —it's a ss I brought on myself, so that makes it a little better."
It suddenly ca to mind—sothing I'd stumbled across while web surfing recently. The [Korean Magic Tower], one of South Korea's massive guilds. On the surface, it was just an ordinary nationwide hunting conglorate, steadily exp anding its branches. But according to one chilling rumor, when soone plotted the locations of their newly complete d headquarters on a map, the points ford nothing less than a six-pointed star.
"No, wait—it's literally verifiable on the map. So maybe I shouldn't even be calling this a baseless rumor."
Anyway, from the founding of the company to its day-to-day operations, Esther seed to have etched her solid indiv iduality into every corner she touched.
And right now was a mont when her stubbornness and sense of artistry had proven imnsely helpful. To put it bri efly, that nation was dotted with countless branches of the Magic Tower. So, if I so wished, I could even et a new di sciple right near my own estate.
"It was originally supposed to be a shared space for all the guild mbers, but if the Guild Master shows up, the situati on could turn out very differently..."
Esther and I ended up eting again in the basent gym of a certain province.
"Co to think of it, going out often actually feels better than when I was holed up doing research, though?"
Before long, what ca into view was the everyday sight of the young woman in her twenties—who had texted the Ar chmage—pacing about.
[Seo Esther...But, Giryeo-ssi, the part on page 5 of the book you wrote—no matter how hard I try, I just can't pull it of f. Could you maybe help with just that section separately? w_w]
I recalled the email she had sent. Although capitalism was the foundation of it all, if a teacher and student ended up in eating so hastily, then there could only be one topic of conversation. Esther had run into a roadblock while self-studyin g magiology and had sent an urgent signal.
"What did I even write on page 5...? I can't rember that much..."
Before our very first in-person lesson, a slight problem had cropped up—but I decided I'd just work it out through con versation.
"First, let's take a look at page 1—the basics you've been practicing on your own so far."
To reminisce properly would be difficult—after all, the company owner before was far too busy. So I decided to cu t to the chase and stick only to the subject of instruction.
"Huh?"
But here's where a surprising fact ca to light. Esther had already made considerable progress on her own.
"No, what? She actually managed to pull that off just by reading the text?"
Even in [Sin Classification], it hadn't felt nearly this refined. Yet this curse-wielder, who had learned sorcery solely thr ough books, had seen her ability to handle mana skyrocket in just a few days. If I compared the students I'd taught so far, then in terms of sheer capacity—the raw vessel for mana—it was Jung Haseong who possessed the talent. But Es ther's strength lay elsewhere: she had a knack for embodying the full range of traits one would expect from a true ma gician.
"Truly, that's the kind of brilliance worthy of an 5-rank!"
To elaborate further, Esther had often been exposed to fantastical settings in gas since childhood. Naturally, this re duced her sense of resistance toward the supernatural—so it was only inevitable that she'd prove adept at handling m agic.
"There's a real difference between a human who awakened overnight with a sound mind, and a mutant who had alread y imagined in advance how they'd wield magic if they ever gained it."
This was knowledge I'd recalled from the very first ti I visited that guild called the Korean Magic Tower. As expecte d, for being called a magician, a vivid imagination could only ever be an asset.
"The results are much better than I expected."
I checked Esther's dazzling achievent and praised her without holding back.
"With skills like this, what exactly did you get stuck on? Was it the skill's phase alignnt?"
"Yes, that's right. The part about closing my eyes and hitting the back of my head with magic—I just don't get what pri nciple that's supposed to work on."
"Ah~"
After that, Esther's training went on without a hitch—surprisingly so. All I did was give a few verbal examples on th e side, yet she handled the next stages of sorcery with ease, displaying an ability that was nothing short of remarkabl e.
"Each disciple shows a completely different pattern... this whole business might actually be starting to get fun."
Above all, I was glad that the workday I'd braced myself for looked like it would end quickly.
"But no matter how enjoyable the lessons are, I'll quit them soon. A bigger concern is which new TV to buy at the elect ronics mart."
But just when things had been going so well.
"Hmm?"
I noticed sothing strange about the primitive shaman of Earth. Her training results were undeniably excellent. And I had given her plenty of praise, without dismissing her efforts in the slightest. Yet for so reason, Esther had looked displeased all morning. For so aliens, a blank expression was only natural, but in her case, simply not smiling was e nough to make everyone beneath her feel on edge.
"Sothing about her seems different from the usual..."
Then could it be that Esther had sothing unpleasant happen to her separately?
"Alright. Ti to show off the primitive-human analysis skills I've been honing."
I casually asked Esther if she had any troubles weighing on her.
"Huh? Oh, no. Nothing you could really call a trouble... it's just... nothing important..."
Esther hesitated at her lips for a mont, then cautiously began to speak.
"I just read sothing that annoyed this morning."
"Could you explain it in detail?"
"Well, you see... I turned on the internet, and there was all this praise about that 'Kang Changho.'"
Kang Changho. It's a na that pops up all the ti.
"Anyway, I've really hated this kind of tone ever since back then!"
It seems that clearing [Castle of Sloth] had earned him a good reputation... Normally he might just lounge around, but i n a crisis like this, that 5-rank truly was the ultimate hidden card. And then there were other things as well. Esther, refe rring to the online comnts she had seen, gradually grew even angrier.
"When Jung Haseong gets into controversy, people go, 'I knew he'd be like that soday.' But if soone like Kang C hangho does well even once, they call it an 'unexpected side' and start seeing him differently!"
"Watch your blood pressure."
"Refusing a summons? I won't even say anything about that. But Kang Changho is a convicted fan of Choi Jin—so wh y doesn't everyone keep condemning him to the very end?"
However, her remarks didn't stop there. She went on to rant that Kang Changho was surely evading taxes, yet still us ed Korea's clean roads, which made him all the more detestable in her eyes.
"I paid hundreds of billions... if he really is a tax evader, that bastard should be arrested imdiately..."
Her argunts were certainly understandable. But since so points diverged from my perspective, I slowly began to explain them to Esther.
"That's why you're a curse attribute."
"Even as ti passes, my emotions don't fade, and I'm especially the type who can't really trust the word 'repentanc e.'"
The core of a curse wasn't the spell itself; it could also be said to lie in the fuel used to cast it.
"And since the topic ca up, there's sothing I'd like to tell you in advance..."
"What is it?"
However, I'm not entirely sure if it's okay to reveal even this truth.
"Actually, I'm not really the right teacher for you."
As I just ntioned, [Curses] are especially dependent on personal temperant—a so-called 'talent-based' type of magic.
"Honestly, curses aren't a skill that gets any easier just because soone teaches you."
Therefore, nine-tenths of what is going to teach Esther would be basic mana fundantals. This lesson was struct ured in such a way that dramatic growth, like Jung Haseong's [Incarnation], was simply impossible. That's why I had t o ask her understanding beforehand.
"It's okay. I completely understand!"
The head of the Korean Magic Tower readily accepted the limitations without hesitation.
"Besides, in RPGs, once you reach the endga—when your equipnt is practically perfect—even a tiny upgrade be cos difficult. Yet you, Giryeo-ssi, are teaching secrets that could let grow by several stages."
"You really seem to love gas."
"Are you getting better?"
"What are you suddenly getting better at?"
"Hahaha."
Esther continued, her expression much improved.
"Anyway, I don't have any desire to beco stronger overnight."
"Yes."
"The only thing I'm worried about is the dungeon difficulty. Even in [Sin Classification], and lately, it seems like more d angerous monsters have been appearing..."
Hmm.
"Today, there were a few articles about industry colleagues or sothing. Really, wouldn't it be nice if all we had to do was live worrying about trivial things like this every day?"
Of course, I long for such a trivial peace.
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