Chapter 405. Daily Life
And then, how many hours passed again?
"How's the team atmosphere these days? Has everything settled in properly?"
"Yes, yes! The hunting work itself is tough, but everyone around is so great that I've actually started to enjoy going to work now."
"Going to work... fun...?"
Inside an apartnt in the capital. Anyway, after a bit of preparation, I arrived once again in the familiar city.
Facing south. White-toned interior. And household items in deep red, barely noticeable in the kitchen and other areas.
The so-called scent of everyday life—this house clearly belonged to Ahn Yoonsung. And the reason we were eting again in a place like this was simple.
"I just changed my mind!"
In fact, only a few days had passed since soone's sudden license resignation, and all sorts of rumors were swirling online. Everyone was chiming in about the retirent of an S-rank hunter, which only made the hype grow bigger.
"People were making all sorts of ridiculous guesses about why I went off the grid."
But if I were to show up casually in public while all this buzz is going on... even if I picked a high-end restaurant that respects its patrons' privacy, it would still cause quite a commotion.
Exactly.
"I deliberately cut myself off from the internet to steel my mind, and now I realize I've lost touch with reality for a mont."
After a brief mont of consideration, I decided to change my destination.
"I really can't make even an Earthling into a topic of gossip. And even restaurants where we can eat separately from the crowd won't necessarily be safe from news coverage, so I need to be careful."
No problem—I can treat my acquaintances in other ways. Besides, South Korea has a highly developed delivery service, so I could easily get food remotely to feed a friend.
"But... why did you bring all this just to co here?"
"A housewarming gift."
"Huh, a housewarming party...?"
But.
Did I just make a verbal slip like an alien?
"They said that going into soone else's house without permission is a hassle, so this ti I just bought toilet paper and a few other things."
Ahn Yoonsung's eyes went wide, and he reacted strangely. Only then did I realize my mistake.
"Ah, I used the wrong word."
Then bringing a gift and entering soone else's house can't really be called housewarming.
For a mont, that thought crossed his mind.
"How did you know?"
But just as I was about to brush it off as a slip of the tongue, I ended up saying sothing that would embarrass a human even more.
And then suddenly, "How did you know?" ca out?
"Y, you... how did you know I was doing housewarming?"
"Hmm?"
"Giryoo Hyung, as expected of you. You're always so knowledgeable."
Ahn Yoonsung's eyes suddenly lit up with respect.
I was curious about what he ant, so I asked him to explain in detail. Fortunately, that got the conversation going again.
"Actually, I'm moving soon."
"Moving?"
"Actually, I bought a new house."
We chatted briefly about the house.
"So you bought a new house... but this one's already pretty nice, isn't it?"
"Oh, strictly speaking, this is my parents' place. The house I'm signing the contract for this ti is going to be my own."
"Oh-"
"I've been dreaming about living on my own since I was a student, Hyung."
Living alone. Independence. And the news of purchasing a 150-square-foot apartnt in cash.
"Even for an alien like , that's a pretty big unit."
The conversation that followed was full of things that, back when I was broke, would have made envious. But now, I could evaluate such deals dispassionately. A hunter like Ahn Yoonsung deserved to amass considerable wealth. Sentences like that naturally floated through my mind.
It's not just that he's a good kid and biased toward his own; as an A-rank hunter, he's honestly top-tier talent even on a global scale.
After that, a few more bits of information popped up over the spotless living room. Apparently, the official owner of the house was Ahn Yoonsung's grandmother, and he had covered so of the remodeling costs when he happened to start working at that ti. I didn't pay much attention to such trivial chatter and instead kept my thoughts to myself.
"Looks like you're living a proper life."
Or perhaps it was a feeling of pride? Among S-rank hunters, life had thrown no shortage of storms, yet a hunter who once couldn't even take down a golem was now handling their own affairs with remarkable competence.
"Once properly taught, it seems everything has been smooth sailing ever since."
But it was still unclear whether there were truly no problems at work.
"But, by any chance, have you encountered any dangerous enemies at work recently?"
"There were... so dangerous enemies!"
"Oh my."
"But there's no need to worry. Our team always prioritizes safety above all, and we constantly improve our manuals so that the sa situation never happens again."
"Really?"
"Moreover, lately no S-rank gates have appeared, so S-rank people are going into A-rank ones. It seed like the team leader was even considering lowering the rank further and going straight into a B-rank gate..."
When great magic is cast on the ecosystem, its effects quickly beco apparent.
"As expected, the food chain has beco a ss."
When the high-difficulty gates were eliminated, hunters were gradually pushed down one rank at a ti. Top-tier superhuman like Ahn Yoonsung probably wouldn't be affected much, though.
"I especially feel a bit sorry for the F-ranks."
Well, still, it was an unavoidable shift. It's equally concerning for the lower F- to E-rank hunters pushed out of the hunting grounds, and for the various jobs that would again be taken away by those superhumans. But there's no way we could face [Nuckelavee] just to create those jobs, right?
"I did my best."
Anyway, the previous judgnt had been almost a final decision... He gathered his thoughts and soon spoke to the human.
"Looking closely, Ahn Yoonsung, you've really found your place, and I have no regrets."
Ah. But the expression 'no regrets' might sound a bit odd if taken the wrong way
"Just to clarify, this isn't praising him for health reasons. I retired in the first place for completely different personal reasons."
I hurriedly added an explanation.
"It's just that my first acquaintance in the hunting industry quietly does their job well. I just felt proud for no particular reason."
"That's an overly generous complint."
"You're good at your job, and you're kind. When you think about it, where else in this world is there soone like you? Sotis I even wish the whole world were full of people like you."
In truth, what I really ant was sothing like, 'Thank you for not bothering .' As I started praising him like this, Ahn Yoonsung's expression gradually changed, as if he was feeling a new kind of emotion.
"Thank you for saying that."
The ti he was beaten by an A-class golem that could now be defeated with his eyes closed... A colleague's betrayal. And the face of a forr senior at my previous workplace who scolded the team's youngest mber—five years his junior—saying that, in such situations, the defensive awakened should have taken responsibility, and so on.
Judging by it, Ahn Yoonsung seed to be recalling roughly that kind of past beyond his most gaze. Moreover, it seed that the reason the alien gave such a good evaluation also had sothing to do with the human's own efforts.
"Actually, I've secretly been putting in effort all this ti so as not to be a burden to the person who taught the basics. I didn't expect you to recognize my hard work like this..."
Ahn Yoonsung now wore an expression almost close to being moved.
"Um, by the way, Hyung."
"Yeah."
"You just said you didn't quit because of your condition. Then, would it be possible to know what the personal reason ntioned in the article was?"
"That?"
"Oh, of course, you don't have to go into detail, though!"
But even though it was a question from a beloved student, this topic was a bit delicate.
"How should I bring up that my goal was to laze around and do nothing as an unemployed person?"
Even though he's an alien, I couldn't completely disregard social respect... After a brief mont of thought, I admitted the truth, saying, 'It's really a trivial reason, so I'm embarrassed to explain.' Then, after quickly closing the topic, I naturally brought up another subject
'Hmm.'
Anyway, I've recently returned my license. There's no need to keep carrying around this uncomfortable trait called a tumor.
'Even if it's a hassle, I really have to deal with this soday.'
But when it ca to actually treating the illness, the na of a certain loot slowly flashed through my mind.
[Elixir]
For now, the existence of that item has even been confird through Andy Oliver's [Prophecy Book].
"Maybe that dungeon won't even appear? After all, I recently disturbed the ecosystem."
Of course, I could have treated the illness myself even without an item. But I suddenly beca curious about the structure of a potion said to cure all human diseases. So, I decided to check the existence of the [Elixir] dungeon. It wasn't until I had roughly organized my plan in my head that I returned to the original conversation.
"Well, anyway, let's leave the topic of returning the hunter license for now."
But even if I stopped fantasizing, what remarkable story would co of it?
"I'm definitely not going to touch hunting work anymore. I'm fed up with it."
"Yes! Hyung-nim."
"I've even trained the next generation just in case, so at least this much fulfills the basic duty of an awakened."
"For reference, the main student in the current training program, as everyone knows, is Jeong Haeseong. And if we go to a smaller scale, there's Ahn Yoonsung, Seo Esther, and even Seonwoo Yeon, who received a few tips along the way."
"From now on, Jung Haeseong will handle most of the hardships."
Work is done for the day. I quietly celebrated being freed from an activity I had grown completely tired of. To be precise, I held a small celebration by giving Ahn Yoonsung so delivery food for free.
"By the way, this is your family's house, right? Then why aren't your parents around today either?"
"Oh, my parents went on a trip to Southeast Asia for their wedding anniversary..."
"Really? Congratulations."
"I definitely didn't an it, but sohow, this is how things turn out whenever you visit, Hyung-nim."
"So what?"
Clank.
I had noticed for a while that Ahn Yoonsung liked Chinese food, but I never expected him to also enjoy a peculiar dish like jjal-jjal. Even after the food delivery arrived, I passed on a few words to my acquaintance in the universe
"Ahn Yoonsung."
"Yes!"
"Even though I've stopped my activities for now, if you contact for help, I'll co up to Seoul anyti."
"Uh, really?"
"So don't worry about being a bother—just call whenever sothing serious happens."
"Call right away."
"Really, Hyung!"
"No matter how botherso everything in the world is, if a close junior is in trouble, you still have to co through with backup, at least as a human being."
"Heugh."
For reference, this principle applies to all my human relationships. In the past, I used to be stressed by work and vows, I'll never directly take care of this planet, or I'll just let humanity fend for itself. But after thinking it over alone, I realized that ignoring sothing them honestly didn't seem practically possible
'A lazy, carefree life has been a long-ti dream of mine, but losing all my connections just because of a single day of work feels a bit much.'
So I emphasized it again. I know well that you have a personality that works safety, but a dungeon is full of unexpected events, so ask for help anyti
"Ki, Ki, Kim Giryeo, Hyung-nim...?"
The hoowner was moved. Honestly, what followed was nothing but predictable praise, so I'll skip over it.
Having finished greetings with my acquaintances on a good note, the day of staying in—refusing to go out—was about to begin.
'Hmm.'
A few hours after catching up with the human, I lay on the sofa in the mansion, organizing my thoughts.
An epic item obtained from the [Sin Classification]? It wasn't really important, so I'm only revealing it now: a very familiar tool called [Hydra] dropped, so it's definitely heading to the auction house.
'Especially Esther got angrier than anyone else, using the peculiar expression, 'A duplicate appeared...'
The number of people who can handle a highly poisonous lee weapon is limited. Since Jung Haeseong, who is good with swords, owns the [Sword of Sunset], the decision was already made. However, assuming the duplicate item I obtained this ti sells for its full value, I could solve that problem with 100% certainty.
"I'll be paying my taxes soon."
Finally,
"Moreover, if I manage the money I obtained this ti, well, it will probably cover future property taxes perfectly too."
I'm finally escaping the miserable life of being in debt.
I don't even know why an archmage like was a pauper in the first place!
Haha.
I let out a brief, hollow laugh and straightened my posture. In many ways, the situation had turned touching, but the next two to three years would still be sowhat busy.
I also need to check how long the magic cast on the Gistimice lasts, plan for contingencies if my lungs—or this sole body of mine—fail, and so on.
'I wonder if Seonwoo Yeon has left work by now?'
I picked up my phone.
"I'll contact them later to ask how to pay YTube. And then I'll pay 2,000 won to watch the discounted Savanna docuntary..."
It was the beginning of happiness.
***
Watch the Savanna docuntary. Rest. Study magic theory.
Anyway, how many days had he already spent filling my ti with personal hobbies? Ti always flies the faster you enjoy it.
"Hmm?"
Now, in the mansion that had co to carry a sense of lived-in comfort, a voice echoed.
"Is it already ti to turn the calendar page?"
It was the voice of a mage who had settled near the seaside. And as the leisurely tone suggested, he had indeed spent the past month living an easy, carefree life—
"It's not just a day or two that's passed—tomorrow's already the 6th, isn't it?"
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