Chapter 489. Financial Difficulties |
"I used to think this to myself back then. That a hunter who didn't have much time left to live was just causing all that chaos in search of one last rush of adrenaline at the end of his life..."
"I'm not lacking hormones in my body, you know."
"Then what is it that you're lacking?"
"-_-"
"Why don't you say it yourself? Tell me in your own words whether digging into gate information like this is just simple curiosity, or if there's some shady motive behind it."
He was staring directly at the archmage's magic power with his own eyes.
"I really, absolutely have no strange intentions."
Even while aware of the [Dragon's Eye] function, I said it calmly. After all, my lie-detection ability was far superior to that kind of observation anyway.
"It's just... people naturally want to eliminate dangers like gates whenever possible..."
"It might sound like an exaggerated way to put it, but in truth, my recent personal hope has been to restore the peace that existed before the dungeon shock."
"Hmm?"
"Anyway, there are no bad intentions here."
If the creature reacted negatively to that, it would only confirm that it was an enemy of humanity. After all, hunters dreaming of resolving the gate phenomenon were more numerous than a truckload in this world. So I remained silent for a moment, tossing out a fairly ordinary statement that didn't particularly make me look like an alien.
"Peace."
If I'd known I'd get such a pathetic response, I shouldn't have bothered catching my breath—I should have just fired off a spell instead.
"Peace?"
Kang Changho laughed. The massive mammal usually kept a smile on his face all the time, so the act itself wasn't particularly unusual.
"He's opening his mouth wide like that. Is he crazy?"
Kang Changho let out a big laugh, then spoke.
"I didn't expect you to wish for something like that. But what should I do? My way of thinking is completely opposite to yours."
To think his intentions were the complete opposite.
"Whether the world becomes dangerous because of the dungeon shock or not, in the end, that's not something an individual needs to worry about all that much."
The mammal sitting in the chair continued speaking with a smirk.
"If a disaster were to hit the world, I think it's better to just leave it be."
"What did you say?"
"Why should an individual get involved in something like this in the first place? It's a hassle, isn't it?"
"Huh."
"You should seriously think about it yourself later. Honestly, the chances of the world suddenly collapsing in our generation are low, and even if one person moves around busily, it won't really change the flow. There's no need to make things unnecessarily difficult for yourself."
"My goodness."
Kang Changho said this as he showed something on the 7-inch tablet PC he often carried around. What he eventually raised was a single graph.
"No matter how much the dungeon difficulty rises, if the human population drops to the bottom, monster generation is restrained—that's what this statistic shows."
But even with this, it's hard to feel completely at ease. How could Kang Changho laugh off the possibility of destruction, which exists at a fairly high probability, so casually?
"...And even if the dungeon difficulty keeps rising and the entire world becomes a monster lair, I can survive anyway."
Soon the reason came out.
"Information, power... I've already gathered enough of both."
"So Hunter Kang Changho appeared at all those sites purely for his own survival."
The exotic features with the pronounced red bridge of his nose frowned slightly as he heard the question. More precisely, a small crease formed on the skin just above Kang Changho's nose.
"What's so bad about that? And what's so strange that you have to ask so many detailed questions?"
Indeed, as he said, Kang Changho was the very person who carried out the politician's detention to sabotage me. So these answers didn't really feel out of place at all.
"To be honest, when I looked at you, somehow who is normally kind to ordinary people, you actually seemed like the extreme of abnormality."
"-_-"
"It's only natural that other people's lives aren't something one should worry about. So how is it that you spend all your precious time on things like eliminating gates... or whatever..."
Kang Changho looked like he almost burst out laughing, which was rare. He quickly covered his mouth with his fist to calm himself.
"Anyway, if you said that just to pretend you're not a fellow monster, then Hunter Kim Giryeo, you're operating on a very high level."
I'm just absolutely thrilled that he keeps acting like he's mocking me.
"It's not too late. Maybe I should just go back to the convenience store and grab another spring notebook."
Judging from the conversation so far, Kang Chang-ho didn't actually look like the formidable cosmic being I'd been worried about. Moreover, there was actually other evidence about his true nature. What he had shown back in the ant nest—that [Super Regeneration] magic.
As an archmage, I could already analyze the full structure of a spell that had been executed, and the finiteness and complexity of the [Super Regeneration] spell he had used in the past went far beyond what I could have imagined. It wasn't sloppy enough to be something that could be easily faked.
"Honestly, for a skilled magician, pretending not to be capable of magic is even harder."
So for the moment, I assumed the other party was nothing more than a mere mammal—
"So in conclusion, is it just a simple pest?"
But the real problem with him was something else entirely. His personality was absolutely terrible. If that mage were truly 100% a native, there'd be no way to mess with him recklessly.
"Maybe I should change my mind even now and just create an S-rank spare body."
Instead of voicing that thought, I continued the conversation with a different remark.
"For now... thank you for answering my questions so sincerely."
"Uh, yeah."
"But it wasn't as helpful as I expected, and after all, arranging kidnappings is too serious a crime. You should probably turn yourself in and go to jail even now—"
Surprisingly, the guest had hardly lied at all. This was, conversely, a sincere statement offered as a form of thanks. But if he were the type to accept a surrender so easily, he wouldn't have had a criminal record in the first place. Kang Changho shifted his seated position slightly as he added, "It's not fun going there twice, anyway."
The words that followed were confident.
"My nature's a bit like that, sure, but even someone like me plans to live as smoothly as possible from now on."
No—shameless might be the more accurate word.
"Still, the way you acted like a gentleman despite all kinds of humiliation was genuinely impressive."
"-_-"
"So, if you ever need an S-rank for that precious 'public safety' of yours, I'll lend a hand once in a while!"
"_3"
"Wasn't that why you came all the way to the airport, Hunter Kim Giryeo?"
But what on earth was this proposal just now?
"After all, we've realized that through various incidents, we're each holding far too much information about the other."
"Y-yeah..."
"I've changed my mind. Let's just break that non-aggression pact that didn't even have any penalties. And since I want to interact again with fellow S-ranks, Hunter Kim Giryeo, feel free to contact me anytime."
"That's not necessary."
I bluntly expressed my refusal.It was because I couldn't read his intentions, but Kang Changho added.
"Are you refusing because you think this proposal benefits only you?"
"A little."
"But in reality, of course, I have my own reasons for bringing it up."
I wasn't at all interested, though.
"I'm curious about the secret behind the exceptional abilities you often show."
"-_-"
"And you, on the other hand, probably want to know the source of my regeneration. If we're going to be honest with each other, at the very least, we need to build some 'trust' first."
Kang Changho argued that once sufficient trust was established, he might share more information. But I thought to my self as I faced this awakened one right in front of me.
"Honestly, I could just skip all that, turn him into a corpse, and read his memories during the investigation."
On top of that, using this method would even let me find out how his personality ended up like that in the first place, so in terms of sheer information, there'd be no shortage at all.
"At this point, I'm starting to get curious about what kind of upbringing that man had. Was it a problem with his parents, or is it just this guy who happened to have such a rotten personality?"
I kept my mouth shut and spent some time thinking only dangerously illegal thoughts.
"No—what are you even hesitating over? I'm saying I'll help you become an S-rank awakened if you just ask."
"-_-"
"To be honest, up until now I thought of you as some sickly nobody, Kim Giryeo. But now that I've properly confirmed your strength, and hearing about your so-called future dream, it sounded interesting enough that I felt like helping out."
"And the point is that you want us to work together from time to time and build some connection?"
"It's partly about building a connection... In the distant future, I wouldn't really care if the world went to ruin, but if I want to enjoy myself quietly for now, I still need to ensure domestic safety, don't I?...And as I've said several times, this also carries the intent of apologizing for the public-opinion manipulation over the past few days, so it's complicated in many ways."
But the other party had come forward like this, suddenly claiming he was willing to pay the price for his sins. I couldn't casually kill someone who was trying to atone. And as I mulled over the proposal, more and more things about it gave me pause, so I soon ended up giving a vague answer.
"I'll think about it."
The reason I'd sought out Kang Changho was actually quite complicated.
"He's the kind of entity who could cause who knows what kind of disaster if he goes beyond what can be controlled. It might be better to just nod along for now and keep him under observation for a while."
When I ended the conversation with a noncommittal answer like that, Kang Changho complained briefly.
Seeing as you're still running wild despite being a patient who developed a tumor before awakening, you've clearly moved far beyond the realm of 'normal.' To think that you, Kim Giryeo, are the one suspecting someone else... I thought you'd at least get angry and snap back at me or something."
"So what, you want me to act normal and just head straight to the ICU?"
Kang Changho spent quite a while explaining the reasons behind his suspicions, and then added.
"Oh! Come to think of it, aren't you officially the head of a hunting company now?"
Not exactly a very comfortable topic of conversation.
"So how about this—why don't I just join your guild completely?"
Kang Changho's voice flowed out without pause.
"In that case, you, as the guild master, could request cooperation with a bit more justification—"
"-_-"
"Besides, even if I'm not actively hunting, just the fact that there are two S-ranks already greatly increases your company's influence."
"-_-"
"And this works out perfectly. I originally intended to help for free because I felt bad about spreading that slanderous article, but if you don't want to just take without giving, all you have to do is pay me property as your employee."
"-_-"
"What do you think?"
This was right around the time the guild topic came up.
"Kim Giryeo?"
The moment I heard his new proposal, my expression visibly darkened. Seeing this gloomy face, Kang Changho immediately added another comment.
"Ah... I see. I'd forgotten until now that this guild has Choi Jin, an A-ranker."
"-_-"
"Does that friend usually talk badly about me? But I clearly apologized for my mistake before, and I even paid the settlement properly, so I thought I'd been forgiven."
Aside from his record with the driver, Kang Changho had also once assaulted Hunter Choi Jin unilaterally. Mentioning this, he seemed to understand the situation and nodded. But the truth was, my continued silence had another reason.
"My guild is... well, it's been deep in the red for so long now that I didn't hire an S-rank even if I squeezed every last cent out of the place..."
My expression grew darker by the moment.
"Even just taking out the proper insurance for an S-rank employee would bankrupt the company immediately..."
Of course, signs that the guild was going under had been there for a while, so it wasn't exactly surprising. With my eyes sunk deep in thought, I lingered over my words for a while. Once I'd gathered my composure somewhat, I hurriedly conveyed my decision to the man in front of me.
"Joining the guild... is not possible."
"Hmm. As expected."
As I'd just said, the truth was that because of Choi Jin, I couldn't possibly let Kang Chang ho in—this was a decision I had to make.