Chapter 507. What's With You |
'Still, this is better than the secluded fourth floor of that old building Kim Giryeo used to rent.'
The third S-rank hunter had dealt with all the Awakened dispatched from overseas and immediately come up to Seoul. However, contrary to his expectations, the guild representative's room he arrived at was a familiar sight.
A small chair.
A secondhand desk.
A bleak interior without a single proper potted plant.
Honestly, between the sign design he just saw outside and the integration of these elements, it was always glaringly obvious that the guild master had pinched pennies. Frugality and S-rank hunters. Until now, he had thought those were two terms that could never be used in the same sentence.
"You're here?"
"Yeah."
At any rate, Kang Chang-ho was able to face the representative with ease, thanks to his sharp intuition and abilities related to the [Dragon's Eye], without even having to look for a building map. Upon entering that familiar room, a man whose look like it had been dyed with cheap chemicals greeted him coldly.
On top of that, the first things he heard upon arrival were these sarcastic sentences, making him want to turn around and walk out already. Having arrived at the [Kim Giryeo Guild], Kang Changho sat in a nearby chair for the conversation that was about to begin.
Under his large frame, the shabby chair creaked. But that much was expected.
"Anyway, did you go somewhere this morning?"
Thud.
To match the guest's action of sitting in the chair, the man who was already in the representative's office naturally added a word.
"You chose a rather ambiguous meeting time."
"Ambiguous?"
"Since no articles about you leaving the country popped up, it was certain you were in the Republic of Korea, but when you suddenly text me to meet in three and a half hours, from my perspective, I have to wonder if you had other business to attend to..."
Kim Giryeo wanted to hide the fact that he had been tracking the dangerous elements' locations.
That was why he brought out such a roundabout explanation, but the moment Kang Changho heard this, he opened his mouth candidly.
"Right. Actually, I stopped by a dungeon this morning."
With that next line, it was the blond man who fell silent.
"Because there was someone I had to catch there."
A person. Not a monster, but specifically a person. Upon hearing the guest's sentence, Kim Giryeo merely rolled his sambaegan eyes. It was a sign of bewilderment. But this awkward atmosphere lasted only a moment. Fortunately, Kang Changho immediately began a supplementary explanation.
"To be more precise, I'm late because I was cleaning up a thug who was targeting a famous Korean S-rank."
Thud!
He didn't drag out the conversation. The man with bluish-purple hair pulled out a rolled-up bundle of documents from the fanny pack he often carried. It was a document that objectively expressed, in its own way, that a faction targeting Korea's fourth S-rank hunter had emerged.
Kim Giryeo took it and read. If so, the person Kang Changho said he had 'cleaned up' must have been an assassin involved with such a dangerous group. And the one who benefited from this process was none other than the alien S-rank.
"Of course, besides dealing with the pests, I set the appointment late on my own to organize my thoughts..."
"_"
"If that inconvenience wasted your time, Hunter Kim Giryeo, then that's regrettable."
Kim Giryeo was still engrossed in reading the documents. However, the guest on the second-hand market chair didn't seem to expect the guild master to be a good listener anyway, as he continued speaking.
"But anyway. Why on earth did you leave all those missed calls?"
Only then did those sambaegan eyes shift toward the guest.
"I'm asking why you were looking for me and calling me like that in the first place. Inside the dungeon, I even told you that I should stay out of your way and never be a nuisance again."
"Did that mean you would avoid me entirely?"
The S-rank sounded faintly puzzled, as if asking whether it wasn't natural to find each other uncomfortable.
"He's not wrong..."
Kim Giryeo closed his mouth ambiguously. Certainly, there was nothing to be happy about in meeting such an epitome of arrogance. However, he had just managed to perfectly settle the hierarchy with his opponent. If he threw his S-rank network into the trash now, wouldn't the Archmage be the only one losing out in the end?
"Hmm."
Heh.
Since he has completely broken his spirit, he shall make him work as cruelly as a serf bound by the duty of corvée. Honestly, he had a mountain of desire to say such prickly things, but the alien eventually chose a more euphemistic expression.
"The technique I showed you before the transparent fish was, in fact, a simple gesture of trust."
"Trust... you say?"
"Hunter Kang Changho, you were the one who first said we needed to build trust in our relationship."
"_"
"But when I thought about it on my own, I felt, 'Ah, Hunter Kang's words certainly make sense! In that case, let me take the initiative and reveal a secret...' and that's why I acted."
"_"
"If I gave you information first like this, I thought it was now Kang Changho's turn to give something back."
Kim Giryeo explained that the reason he had been looking for him was simply due to the logic of 'give and take.' Honestly, at this point, he thought the opponent would have realized the existence of an alien lifeform to some extent.
However, conversely, even if the opponent misunderstood what he saw in the dungeon as a special skill that borrowed the power of a monster, it wouldn't be a problem at all. Kim Giryeo didn't explain the events that occurred within the Great Dungeon in detail; he simply focused on his own purpose.
"For example, explaining how you possess an exceptional skill like [Super Regeneration]."
"_"
"You said it yourself, Hunter Kang Chang-ho--that you might tell me such stories once we got closer..."
As the conversation progressed, the topic turned slightly toward personal interests. In fact, Kim Giryeo was still surprised by the transcendental regenerative ability the opponent had once shown.
"Regeneration, huh."
Kang Changho clasped his hands together. In this state, he remained silent for a while, moving his fingertips several times. Even at a glance, he was in a human state that looked uncomfortable about something.
'Is this b*stard cooking rice? Why the long pause?'
The impatient Alphaursh was on the verge of reacting negatively to such slow behavior. But fortunately, Kang Changho was faster to open his mouth.
"To be honest, revealing information about myself to someone like you feels uncomfortable."
"Someone like me?"
Korea's third S-rank revealed a concern.
"Even when I heard the news that you killed the [Sadist] and prevented the apartment collapse, I didn't think you would be at this level. I suppose there's almost no information to be gleaned from things like CCTV footage after all..."
However, he had already spent too much time thinking to just shut his mouth now. A short sigh followed. After muttering that, Kang Changho immediately returned to the previous topic.
"But since you're curious again, I suppose I can't stay silent."
The person in question really began to explain what Kim Giryeo had been curious about.
"First off, to be clear..."
"Yes."
"The regenerative ability and physical enhancement ability I possess are both things I was born with naturally."
Unbelievable. Both were innate abilities. Though his gaze was still full of lingering concerns. Regardless, Kang Changho spoke without a hitch.
"The other techniques I said I filled with skill stones are, literally, just powers obtained through commercially available artifacts."
"Really?"
"There isn't a single piece of information there that would be helpful to you."
Just as he said, they were truly meaningless declarations. If most of Kang Chang-ho's great abilities stemmed from his nature, they couldn't be used for the purpose of increasing the Archmage's own proficiency anyway.
'It wasn't that he encountered some miraculous opportunity inside a gate, but that they were wild, natural skills?'
For record, the result of the lie detection was, naturally, the truth. Kim Giryeo felt disappointed as he set down the white bundle of papers. But at that very moment, Kang Changho belatedly added an important postscript.
"However, if it's help other than information, I can give you as much as you want."
"Hmm?"
"Other than this, isn't there any work that personally requires an S-rank hunter?"
Work that requires manpower? Of course, it's not like there isn't any. But this was the moment the Awakened, who had been shrouded in mystery, had finally opened his mouth. Therefore, Kim Giryeo wanted to use this opportunity to resolve his curiosities first.
"It's a good offer. But I'm sorry, Hunter Kang Changho is someone who makes things difficult for others too often..."
A new question followed.
"I don't think I'll be seeking help easily from a superpower with this kind of personality."
"What?"
"You said it in the dungeon then. That you couldn't use the skill because you were currently in an [improvement] contract with another Awakened."
"_"
"But I'm asking this out of a lingering unease. Is the person in a contract with you... was it a Chinese person? Anyway, is that person also in a state where their lifespan is limited due to being blackmailed, like I was in the past?"
If some poor hunter somewhere on Earth was being treated as pitifully as the F-rank Archmage had been, Kim Giryeo was willing to rescue them.
'If you answer yes right now, Kang Chang-ho, I'm truly opening your skull right here.'
A somewhat brutal rescue method was intended, but well, anyway. The blonde man watched the guest intently with that intention, but unfortunately, the expected answer did not return.
Shake.Kang Changho shook his head.
"It's not like that."
He also looked unusually bewildered. Since the slaying of the boss in the form of a transparent fish, Kang Changho's ability to hide his expression had dropped noticeably.
"That Chinese person is someone who has a reason for the contract to be placed that you would understand upon hearing it."
"Does that mean it was a life that deserved to die?"
"Ah... well... that is true... anyway, could the broad-minded Hunter Kim Giryeo just sort of overlook the [improvement] part?"
"Well."
"Let's talk about something more productive than that."
The guest changed the subject.
"Like the document you just saw, lately there are many who have a negative interest in your abilities."
"Hmm."
"But, if it's alright with you. Shall I go around and clean those guys up for you this time?"
"What?"
"And from now on, if you need to share information, don't bother trying to find me; just leave a text. Then I'll investigate as much related data as you want and hand it over."
Kim Giryeo's eyes shifted slightly.
"Hunter Kim Giryeo. That... actually... what I said before about using the dark web in the US was a lie."
Kim Giryeo cut into the conversation for a moment to ask something he was curious about. In that case, was there some kind of lie regarding the recent Red Gate incident when he said he was late because he was sleeping?
However, Kang Chang-ho added that he had been sleeping then—to be more precise, he had gone under thinking others would naturally clean up the situation, but when he woke up, Seoul was still in chaos, so he had deployed. And he quickly returned to the original subject.
"..Of course, I sometimes hire people from those places, but more often than not, I found out core information by running around on my own."
"_"
"So really, it'll be better to cooperate with me than with just any informant. Just ask for anything."
By this point, the sambaegan eyes narrowed even further, to the point where one would think he was scowling.
'Ah, what is this.'
It was truly suspicious. Judging by the mana information, the man in front of him was definitely that 3rd S-rank. But why had he become so noticeably favorable?
'Creepy.'
Kim Giryeo didn't hide his uneasy expression.