Chapter 494. Financial Difficulties (5) |
Chapter 494. Financial Difficulties (5)
"There's a proper precedent this time!"
Back in the year of the Dungeon Shock, there had actually been news about a farmer coming out with a plow and beating a monster to death.
"Forget about [Poison Butterflies]—at the F-rank level, they said there were hardly any aggressive beasts besides mountain goats that just screamed a lot."
Furthermore, being a local who had been relatively less affected by the Shock incident, he quickly misjudged the gap between himself and the enemy.
"Then something like that king mole just sitting there—I can just soccer-kick it and be done with it."
Since the monster had completely blocked the road anyway, he steeled himself even more just to move to where the part-time workers were gathered.
"Uh—oh, it moved. Let's kick it before it gets any closer!"
After briefly facing off against the monster, the gatherer decided to try attacking it.
But the obvious reality that appeared at this point was the weakness of the mammalian species. The legs of untrained humans could not produce power like a baseball bat. There was a reason weapons were called weapons, and conversely, a human without tools was physically so weak they were practically at the bottom of the food chain.
"Argh!"
The human kicked the monster. But as soon as he took action, an immense pain surged through his shin. He never imagined his bone would throb as if he had collided with all his might against a stone pagoda standing still at a tourist site.
"Why is its body so hard!"
The harvester swallowed a scream, unable to breathe properly. Fortunately, the monster did not seem to recognize that blow as an "attack."
—Wriggle...
The furry, sweet-potato-like monster stood there blankly in place. But even if that kick hadn't been judged as an attack, 99.9 percent of creatures inside gates were truly like this.
"Huh?"
The inhabitant of the other world, which had looked dark and cute, changed its posture. It smacked its lips, and as soon as it discovered the long-standing enemy etched into its fake flesh, it immediately bared its aggression.
—Screeeech.
Originally, its face had been so dark you couldn't even tell where its mouth was. But when it spread its jaws wide as if tearing itself apart and exposed its bright red teeth, the gatherer instantly recognized the location of its facial features. Of course, it wasn't particularly useful information.
"Aaaaaagh!"
Its mouth split open long like a ghost's, and as its face opened vertically, a mass of saw-like teeth filled the interior.
"Eugh!"
A civilian with no immunity to the supernatural phenomena of the other world shuddered, his entire body trembling. For the record, the only weakness of that monster was speed. The pharmaceutical company that hired him had taught them this weakness as a requirement to reduce the probability of accidents as much as possible.
—Snap!
There was no such thing as calm judgment in the face of chaos. Reflexively stepping backward, the gatherer in his thirties caught his foot on the surrounding vines, and his body weighing over eighty kilograms tilted sharply to one side.
—Whoosh.
This was a steep path that even the veteran foreman avoided climbing recklessly. And yet, he was falling from such a height without warning. As a dizzy sensation rose from deep in his chest, the gatherer squeezed his eyes shut, unable to even scream properly.
—Splash—
But what followed was not the accidental death of the 30-year-old man. A cold, squishy, and somewhat damp sensation was all that was born. Since there was no feeling of pain even as time passed, the gatherer first opened his eyelids again with a dazed face.
"Water...?"
What he saw was a gigantic water balloon fully supporting his body. He realized that transparent water had somehow appeared and gently caught him.
When he hurriedly darted his wide-open eyes around, a shadow he hadn't seen before appeared above the trees.
—Tak.
Come to think of it, at this site, among the workers who had come dressed in T-shirts and thin pants for comfortable fieldwork, there had been one eccentric man who finished off his casual outfit with expensive leather shoes.
"That's why I thought he was just someone full of vanity at first..."
Those men's shoes now appeared right in front of his eyes. At the tip of the steep tree above, a single person stood with a shoe planted there, calmly looking down below. His face wasn't visible because his bent upper body cast a shadow over it.
"_."
But his hair was unmistakably blond.
"Why am I suddenly getting a déjà vu in a situation like this?"
The gatherer was still out of it since he had just finished his fall. So he just blinked his eyes without being able to say anything. The blond side watched the ground for a few seconds and then began a new action.
—Swoosh.
The opponent jumped lightly from the high ground. However, the mage in the form of a foreigner caused water fountains to rise beneath his feet at intervals to float his body. In other words, there was no damage from acceleration.
Tap.
After landing safely, the mage spoke his first words.
"Are you all right?"
Despite saying that, the mage was simultaneously thinking of the word 'idiot.'
"—F*ck, didn't I tell him not to go into the zone where monsters are?
He wanted to leave him there and forget about it, but if a serious accident happened in a field an S-rank had infiltrated under a fake identity, he would definitely be criticized later.
Back in the early days of migrating to Earth, the First Archmage of Alphauri had clearly treated the name 'Kim Giryeo' as separate from his true given name. He had lived ignoring all public opinion, thinking he could replace this human shell at any time, but wasn't constant change both the strength and weakness of living beings?
"_."
To put it simply, the archmage had grown deeply attached to the new name he had been using. When the name Kim Giryeo was criticized, his chest genuinely ached for no reason. Even so, he could still permanently separate his Earth identity from his true nature. But after being subjected to criticism for several weeks due to Kang Changho's scheme—
"I'm human (a person) too!"
Now, the alien truly hated being in situations where he was cursed at. It was a natural progression.
'So stop being unpleasant, and I want the natives to treat me nicely for no reason now. I even made an effort to come out to work today! They should all give a thumbs-up and say the Great Archmage is the best, and bring out something delicious as praise...'
But since he couldn't exactly voice such reckless demands out loud, the disguised mage stopped his childish thoughts and looked at the Earthling again.
"You."
By the way, it suddenly occurred to him: when was the last time he saved someone and heard the word 'thank you' first?
"Were you an awakened—no, a real psychic? And you joined a gathering part-time job like this?"
On Earth, there were quite a number of awakened people born with water-element skills. Of course, they were far fewer than fire-element awakeners, but compared to complex magic like spatial jumps or mind control, this was much easier to be born with. Thus, the gatherer in his thirties didn't focus on the water itself, but on the fact that someone else had used a "superpower."
"So what if I'm awakened?"
Kim Giryeo suddenly reacted in a loud voice.
"I have an official—legitimate—hunter license!"
"Ah. Ahh."
"And I've properly obtained a visa that allows me to use superpowers in South Korea!"
The shamelessness continued.
"I'm currently preparing to marry a Korean, so I was just working lightly at a gate-related site to get used to things."
This backstory had been prepared in advance with Andy Oliver's advice. None of it was normal documentation, but fearing his identity might be investigated, the mage rattled off his excuses immediately.
"There's nothing strange at all. I don't have anything to feel guilty about."
The alien, who in fact had many such issues, moved his mouth quickly.
"So don't say anything unnecessary and just get up."
"I—I wasn't planning to tattle anywhere about you being awakened..."
"Really?"
"I just found it interesting and made a comment."
As it turned out, most things in life really did come down to nerve. The alien's sloppy improvisation worked surprisingly well.
"Ah, anyway, I get it! I won't emphasize the fact that you're awakened again. It's not important anyway."
"For reference, I'm F-rank by international mana measurement standards."
"Why do you keep giving me unnecessary personal information...?"
The gatherer in his thirties had no interest in his coworker's background.
Then, soon enough, an unexpected truth came to light.
"Mister Foreigner, there's no need to be so guarded. I'm not the type to point fingers at awakeners and treat them like freaks in the first place."
Tap, tap.
His back was a little wet, but the man in his thirties stood up without a single broken bone and continued speaking.
"The tactile paving on sidewalks, wheelchair ramps—honesty, we do need those things right now in our own lives?"
"Hmm."
"But disabilities can happen to anyone later. So I've always paid my taxes gladly, like buying insurance."
"Taxes...?"
"And with that mindset, how could I point fingers at superhumans and call them monsters or something?"
"You could."
"Then you'll get it all back someday. In an era where anyone can awaken, rejecting superpowers doesn't benefit you at all!"
The gatherer spoke passionately, adding this assertion as well.
"So I never oppress awakeners. Got it?"
"Of course."
"Then put your mind at ease."
Seeing the archmage's attitude, the civilian in his thirties formed a mild misunderstanding. The archmage had only been frantically making excuses out of fear his fake identity would be exposed, but the man interpreted it instead as, "That psychic must have been through a lot, so he overreacted."
"_."
Well, to be fair, Kim Giryeo really had been through a lot because he was a mage.
"I took care of the F-rank monster from above, so let's go back to the worksite."
"Yes."
Glance. Anyway, the situation was settled. The 30-year-old gatherer and the new employee decided to return quickly to where the group was.
"Thank you, really."
On top of that, this gathering wasn't shameless enough to throw a tantrum even after having his life saved.
"And this has been bothering me, but... when you suggested changing restroom spots earlier, and I spoke so harshly—I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry."
Then what was this reaction?
—Slide.
The foreign-faced man smiled softly at that moment. Even when people complimented him on how they ate soup, or when he'd help them settle settlement payments for gathered items, he'd shown no change in expression. Yet now, the corners of his mouth lifted.
"Did he forgive me because I apologized?"
And so the civilian whose life had been saved returned the smile naturally.
"I'd been sulking on my own for no reason, but now that I actually talk to this foreign guy, he's pretty straightforward and nice."
Since they had shared friendly expressions like this, he thought there would be nothing to worry about in the future.
.
.
.
"Ah! Damn it, that crazy foreigner!"
It was exactly 24 hours later. A certain 30-year-old gatherer working in the countryside had been swelling with anticipation until this morning. Today, when he went to work, he would at least get that 'newbie.'
Furthermore, since he was a peer rarely seen in this industry, he would try to build some friendship while eating together during lunch. Since the prejudice he had held ignoring all public opinion, thinking he could have been helped finally sincerely accept the foreigner's appearance.
So how could the other person possibly act like this?
[[Gyeong Pharmaceutical] Group Chat]
[Foreman: Anyone. Is there anyone who can contact that young guy?]
The more I look at it, the more it seems like he's the one who tipped off the media.]
[Me: He left this chat room too.]
The spread of safety insensitivity that had been carried out under the leadership of a specific pharmaceutical company, the gathering industry was directly exposed to a nationwide list as major news on the internet. Furthermore, they say news reporters are already snooping around the site.
—Smile.
The smile Kim Giryeo had shown at the scene had actually carried this meaning.
—He doesn't point fingers at mages, and he knows how to feel ashamed of his own actions. This one is quite a conscious mammal.
Up to that point, there really had been satisfaction and forgiveness in it.
—But setting that aside, he had clearly realized how dangerous the absence of safety managers was. Even if the entire industry exploded, this site's practices had to be reported.
Well, that was that. The alien was particularly inflexible in front of the law, so the results came out quickly.
"He smiled and treated us kindly, then blew up the entire job the very next day!"
Kim Giryeo submitted his resignation letter and the report documents at the same time to the relevant authorities. As a result, the gathering industry was directly exposed to a nationwide inspection. With safety rules no longer able to be violated casually, companies cut back on head labor.
"Wasn't that foreigner even a little regretful about such a sweet job?"
The gatherers were dissatisfied about losing their immediate daily wages. However, in the bigger picture, it prevented worker fatalities that would have occurred in the near future.
"Ah—now I'll have to find another part-time job again for a while. What a pain."
Of course, the gatherers themselves weren't unaware of those benefits. With work canceled, the man in his thirties gave up on everything for the day and went home.
—Thud.
After that, he just leaned crookedly against the mattress laid on the floor and picked up his phone.
"I'll have to look for a new job after eating lunch later."
Since the schedule changed and he had to rest the whole day, it couldn't be helped. He naturally immersed himself in exploring the video platform.
Swipe, swipe.
Then, as he skimmed through various short clips—
"Hm?"
A particular afterimage caught the gatherer's eye.
[LIVE 🔴 Cultural Heritage in Crisis... Emergency Deployment of S-Rank Hunter at Dungeon Break Site]
Taken word by word, it was ordinary news. But something about the thumbnail image bothered him. The gatherer tapped into the news to get more information.
'It seems a Gate owned by a poorly managed private company exploded near a cultural asset. But because it happened to be a fire-attribute monster net, they called a strong Hunter in a hurry.'
But then, what was this? Ordinarily, he would have thought something predictable had happened and quickly turned off such a video. But the gatherer couldn't take his eyes off the real-time report that unfolded.
—Thud.
Soon, this kind of scene filled the phone screen.