Chapter 404. I'm Going to Retire (Third Try) (3)
Not long after Esther's remark about wanting to live worrying only about trivial things, a few days passed. On TV, the long-awaited results finally appeared.
[Here's today's weather report: Currently, a nationwide heavy snow advisory is in effect across South Korea.
Additionally, signs of a high-level Red Gate occurrence have been observed in the Gyeonggi area.
Residents in the affected regions are advised to take note of this and exercise extra caution, especially when going outdoors.]
I got up from my seat in the middle of watching the morning news. By the way—though I'm only saying this now—what I did back in [Castle of Sloth] was signal manipulation. For example, the inhabitants of this planet are said to experience false hunger in certain situations because their brains get confused. Now, imagine constructing a twisted staircase that can't be walked on. Even the malicious entities that frequently drive a Gate's phase underground could hardly be immune to such misperceptions.
'After all, even they are living beings—animals that digest food, aren't they?'
The aning was that, at their core, Gisimche weren't necessarily more advanced than Earthlings. That's why I decided to manipulate the safety centers of these cosmic bugs and began a certain line of research. To be precise, it was about developing a technique to send them a signal reading, 'The intruder who entered this Gate has just died a pointless death.'
When put into a full sentence like this, it feels too long and cumberso. So, to make it clearer, let's summarize the new magic:
[A 5-rank hunter has died in this dungeon.]
[A 5-rank hunter has died in this dungeon.]
[A 5-rank hunter has died in this dungeon.]
[You made the food box so difficult that a rare host collapsed?]
The last [Castle of Pride] ended with all this false information left unresolved. If the Gisimche had possessed proper intelligence, they surely wouldn't have missed the anomaly that occurred in even a single gate.
'Hmm.'
I've probably ntioned a hundred tis by now that the gate creators are idiots.
'No matter how remarkable a virus's traits are, you can't really say it's smarter than a human—and the Gisimche felt pretty much the sa way...'
In short, Gisimche are likely to trust statistics faithfully. So, with a bit of anticipation, I cast a new spell to lower the gate's difficulty.
'It's been a while since I've tried sothing experintal.'
But what, after all, are the results of all the research soaked in the Archmage's blood and sweat?
[Additional news regarding the gate disaster: According to the final report from the Arctic Research Facility, no 5-rank gates occurred on Earth today.]
It was pretty good. As seen on the smartphone screen that hadn't gone into standby, a string of good news kept coming in.
[In response, citizens of each country, grateful for the week of peace, held their own festivals.
(Street pedestrian interview)
Of course, so voices expressed concern that this might be a bad on, like the calm before a storm, but fortunately, no abnormal phenona have been observed so far...]
'Oh--'
In a world where mages were common, there would have been no reason to go this far.
'To think I actually succeeded in casting a spell I'd only ever imagined theoretically... my, my, what a damn talent.'
Having already toppled the [Sin Classification], I indulged in a few seconds of pride.
An 85% reduction. Of course, if such results were to persist on a yearly basis, then a whole new set of concerns would erge.
'The magical effect is stronger than expected.'
In short, it was a situation where the Gisimche bowed on their own, as if to say, 'Did we go a bit too far?' Still, even if 5-rank gates truly vanished, it wouldn't cause major problems in this world. Above all, the unparalleled powerhouses known as 5-rank hunters wouldn't starve.
'After all, in this modern age, starvations were rare to begin with.'
The overall difficulty of the Gate decreased. The occurrence of special anomalies plumted.
It surely wouldn't leave the hunting industry unaffected, but with survival chances significantly higher, most Earthlings would likely welco the current trend.
'If only we could live worrying about just these trivial things, how nice would that be?'
It was a mont when soone's small wish was, at least in part, fulfilled. So now, it seems it's ti for to start shaping my own wish as well.
[Contact List]
[Hunter Association President (Shin OO)]
Now that I had successfully lowered the dungeon's danger level, the next obvious task was.
"_."
Clank.
I picked up the smartphone that had been resting on the glass table.
"Ah, hello? President Shin of the Hunter Association?"
Then, I relayed a few sentences to the person on the other end of the call.
***
[Seonhan Daily]
[Page 1]
[Shocking Retirent of an S-Rank Hunter]
[Main text:
The declaration made by the S-Rank Hunter, published on the 14th, has caused a huge stir both online and offline.
Rumors have circulated suggesting that the "personal reasons" ntioned by the interviewee might be related to long-standing condition issues...
(omitted)
anwhile, according to confirmation from the dostic Hunter Association, the hunter in question has officially submitted a request to return their hunting license.]
[HunterNet]
[pp***: Wait, he just cleared [Sin Classification] not long ago—why is he suddenly retiring??]
[c10**: The whole site's gone crazy ㅠㅠ]
[Q3***: They say leave while people are applauding, but seriously, what are you doing leaving now, Hyung. ㅠㅠ]
About 24 hours later, just as expected, the hunter-only anonymous forum was buzzing with activity.
Drt.
I picked a few posts from the top of the forum and read them, then eventually set my phone down comfortably on my lap.
"What a ss."
As anyone can tell from all the commotion, about 24 hours ago I dropped a bombshell myself.
"It's none of my business anyway."
So what if I stirred up public opinion just this once? I leaned back, doing my best to ignore humanity's reactions.
[The Inevitable Malice]. More precisely, it all started with that one [Beginner Killer], and it had already been thousands of hours since I began my life as a hunter.
'Even a rough estimate easily surpasses the tens of thousands.'
I'm completely fed up with labor! Feeling fulfilled by a job or social status only lasts a day or two. Back on my ho planet, I worked myself to the bone, so exhausted in body and mind that I practically forced myself into an out-of-body state. But how much longer does this weary archmage have to keep influencing society? Honestly, it's a miracle I've even managed to work a few extra months until now.
'With a soul from an old geezer who's lived this long, let rest already! You damn bastards!'
So yesterday, I was just keeping up with the plans that had been delayed for one reason or another. Honestly, it wasn't exactly a big enough event to cause such a fuss...
'The original plan was to hold a grand press conference, but I didn't know how to get the journalists here, so I scaled that part down a bit.'
For reference, the retirent of an S-rank couldn't be welcod structurally by the state. However, since they really had no way to stop it, everything was quickly approved.
'If I return my Hunter's license, I won't be able to touch even a single escaping magical beast, just like during the [Beginner Killer] incident. But still, showcasing my superpower abilities—or whatever you call it—isn't actually prohibited, so...'
Sssk.
I continued my thoughts, almost lying down on the sofa.
'As long as I can dodge the work obligations—like dealing with all those breaks as ordered by the Association!'
Oh, and one more thing: for a high-ranking hunter like to completely wash my hands of the job, I did have to satisfy certain legal conditions.
'If I need to enter a dungeon for research, I'll just get by using an invisibility spell...'
That part was roughly dealt with using the sa condition I'd been diagnosed with at the hospital before. Honestly, I didn't expect it to work this well. The association president, after seeing the doctor's note, practically lost his mind in shock.
'Could it be that not removing the tumor quickly actually worked to my advantage?'
Lately, I've been running into one blessing in-disguise after another. And with acquaintances like Jung Haseong or Seon Esther, people I've already been connected with, I even made sure to hamr the news of my retirent into them well in advance.
'Let's see.'
Tuk.
I picked up the smartphone on my stomach. As expected, the device was silent, without a single alert.
'After all, I had made my retirent intentions endlessly clear myself, so there was no need to double-check.'
With that, all problems were resolved. Finally, finally, finally. I had completed that damned task called retirent. From now on, all that was left was for , the Archmage, to live my life without worrying about humans.
'For now, setting aside the remaining lessons with Esther...'
At that mont, a twinge of worry surfaced. More precisely, it was the question: 'Will I be able to live well without paying attention to the aliens from now on?' But the thought of it, so deep it left a handprint on my nose, was pointless.
'Ah.'
A fitting example soon ca to mind. Sitting quietly and thinking it over, I realized I had already a 'case' that was close to a perfect success.
'Ahn Yoonseung.'
Co to think of it, in the early days of relocating to Earth, there was no I saw as often as that human. At first, even an F-rank washed-up magician would have been a concern—soone so weak that they couldn't even fend off a glem or defeat a single boss-stealing bandit. Their way of using skills was primitive and utterly chaotic. Yet today, that very college student had grown into soone reliable, holding their ground with confidence. Ahn Yoonseung had beco, without anyone else needing to look out for him, a truly perfect success story.
'Since it just ca to mind, I might as well get in touch.'
But still, it feels a bit disappointing that I haven't received a single text, even though the news of my retirent ca out...
Tik, tik, tik.
It was around the mont I manipulated my phone to place a call to a certain number.
"Hey, Yoonseung-ah. Can you talk now?"
From this call, which began with a casual greeting, I was able to glean a few pieces of information.
"How's your hunting work these days? Still doing as well as before?"
For context, Ahn Yoonseung had already heard about the retirent plan from previous conversations. However, even after the report about the license return was published, he hadn't reached much—because he trusted that 'if it's you, there must be a reason for everything,' as he later explained himself.
'What is this?'
As ti went on, that young man exuded an almost devotional aura. And yet, Ahn Yoonseung was clearly not a religious person.
'The atmosphere's unintentionally beco... sacred. Maybe I should just steer the conversation elsewhere for now.'
Sssk.
Holding the phone in my hand, I exchanged a few pleasantries before eventually setting up a plan. In truth, the idea of treating acquaintances to celebrate the huge sum of money I'd ever spend, there are only about three people left who deserve a token of my gratitude. Of course, Ahn Yoonseung and Gu Seohyeong's schedules just never lined up until now.
For reference, the high-priced Enchanter Nari was still overseas for training purposes. So, I finally looked up train tickets to Seoul, just to et Ahn Yoonseung, whose schedule was finally free.
'Today, I'll use Ahn Yoonseung to go to a restaurant that requires at least two people.'
Soone might ask if it's worth taking a train just for a single al. But now, I could easily afford this kind of aningless waste of ti.
Really, truly, absolutely. From today onward, I'm officially unemployed.
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