Chapter 517: The Other World Who Is Being Misunderstood |
Chapter 517: The Other World Who Is Being Misunderstood
Whr.
It was around the time the green organ called the [Dragon's Eye] moved. Kang Changho brought up a long story. After hearing the question of why he hadn't recognized the archmage at this time, he explained the circumstances of his reincarnation.
"For your information, I couldn't just choose the entity I wanted to board on this place."
"Hmm."
"Mana capacity or whatever. It was impossible to select a vessel by weighing such conditions in the first place."
Having broached the subject, Kang Changho released additional information. He said the first creature he ended up possessing was a bird with an entirely black body. The more specific name for that creature was a crow. However, setting aside the fact that he boarded an intellectual lifeform inferior to humans, a small problem arises if you calculate the t Kang Changho settled on Earth approximately 17 years ago.
"The timing is somewhat strange."
This question was quickly resolved with just a little contemplation. Even before [Dungeon Shock] occurred, this planet inherently always harbored the power of miracles. Therefore, it was likely that a small number of creatures possessing internal mana existed even before then. The stories of parents who suddenly lifted heavy furniture with tremendous superhuman strength when their child was pinned underneath could actually be very primitive cases of superpowers.
"But... it was fine that I managed to safely control an Earth creature, but as expected, it was hard to maintain my consciousness in that first body."
"Well, it was a crow, after all."
"Taking advantage of the fact that my soul hadn't fully settled yet, I transferred my consciousness to another corpse possessing magic power as close to me as possible."
"Hmm."
"And that corpse I found in a hurry belonged to an old man. To be honest, it felt a bit strange at first, possessing a human who had died simply because it was his time to go, but..."
To think the Engineer had survived this long by passing through other corpses.
"Still, the fortunate thing was that the performance of the revived body wasn't bad in its own way."
The other party explanation continued.
"He was from the wealthy class, so it was well-maintained for his age. Plus, in terms of intelligence, it was at a level that could be evaluated as top-tier for humanity, so it was easy to use."
"Mhm."
"For your information, the name of the previous body I used like this was Barbara Oliver."
By the way, the name that just came up was strangely familiar. Barbara. While rolling my sambagae eyes, I was trying to guess where I had heard that name before.
"Andy Oliver."
The blue-haired engineer immediately gave away the answer.
"The reason I knew about the bunker that fellow was hiding in was actually for this very reason."
"._."
"That human who stole and used PIXY's information is none other than the descendant of my second body."
Holy crap. I don't even know how many times I've been surprised just today. However, listening to the explanation he gave next, it seemed that Andy Oliver and the alien Engineer had never actually spoken to each other.
"He might be a direct descendant, but at that time, I was using the body of an old woman, and the counterpart was a hot-blooded young man."
Because their radiuses of activity were just too fundamentally different.
"Besides, as much as Barbara Oliver was a once-in-a-century genius founder, she was unilaterally envied, so I remember Andy's side avoided showing their face even more."
Wow. To think Kang Changho had been so closely connected to the PIXY corporation all this time. Did this company torture aliens when making new products? However, the moment I learned this surprising information, what popped into my head was a certain cynical joke from Earth.
With the thought of 'just maybe', I ended up asking him a question.
"Hey, by any chance, did you get involved in PIXY's technology or anything like that?"
But to the remark I brought up as a joke, the other party replied ominously.
"... Since I entered the body of a wealthy founder anyway, I just acted out of interest."
"What?"
"I might have used that company's technical prowess to create a few high-technology products..."
Dammit.
Then, does that mean the reason Earthlings were able to quickly analyze mana resources in the early days of Dungeon Shock was truly because of an extraterrestrial existence?
"They didn't torture an alien; an alien infiltrated the company from the very beginning. Earthlings, I'm sorry for recklessly blaming and doubting you all this time."
Feeling a sense of shame, I couldn't speak for a while. But seeing this, Kang Changho hastily added excuses. The conversation soon resumed smoothly.
"Ah, but I stopped doing that after less than a few months."
"Why? You said it was fun."
"Because the body I occupied quickly reached a point where it couldn't be used."
This was understandable. Earth before [Dungeon Shock] broke out in earnest was practically a wasteland for mages. Of course, thanks to that, less mana gathered in the physical body, allowing survival even with a gap in the soul's tier. However, despite this advantage, it was no different from throwing a perfectly fine human into an environment with sparse oxygen.
But entering a body suffering from old age on top of an already difficult situation, no matter how much of an Alphauna he was, it must have been hard to handle.
"From a certain point, I had no choice but to find a new home, keeping the eternal sleep of my previous body in mind."
He said while moving his reptile-like eyes. He scraped together primitive materials and made a lens that could distinguish corpses with mana. Since it was a body now living on Earth, he also utilized the characteristic information-gathering tool called the internet to check the condition of the body's owner in advance.
"The condition of the body owner?"
When I asked this, Kang Changho asked back instead.
"Lemming, what factor did you consider as the most important criterion when selecting a body up until now?"
"Well, of course, the size of magic power is important..."
"But I didn't. Until then, I mistakenly thought I was the only Alphauna on this Earth, so I wasn't particularly greedy for mana capacity."
"What?"
"But if we rule out the possibility of combat, what would a mage ultimately want?"
Blink, blink.
As I moved my eyelids in the Earthly fashion, Kang Changho naturally spoke.
"Obviously money. Money."
He was so brazen about it.
"This is a second life I've somehow obtained; if it were you, would you want to come all the way here just to perform labor again?"
"Those are arguments I can't even add anything to..."
"I absolutely didn't want to live a life of hardship. So when selecting a vessel, I made sure to investigate the deceased's wealth first."
Kang Changho proudly revealed his preference while making a circle shape with his index finger and thumb. It was the moment the image of the Chief Engineer in my head gradually shattered. But whether I reacted negatively or not, the homeowner across from me hadn't even finished his remarks.
"While I was in Barbara's body, there were times I ended up in a hospital bed, and [Dungeon Shock] also occurred, but anyway, after these twists and turns, I succeeded in obtaining a new home a few years later."
The conversation continued.
Tap, tap.
Around this time, Kang Changho tapped his own body, pointing to it.
"This large body with long hair right in front of your eyes is precisely the third body I settled in."
Hmm. But if you put it that way, another point gets caught here.
"--Wait, then what exactly happened to his parents?"
I leaned my body forward while still bound. Of course, not minding the awkward posture, I spat out the question.
"The death of Kang Changho's family was a very recent event, or if it's like this, his parents must have definitely been alive when you, the Engineer, possessed his body..."
But to this kind of answer would return to this question.
"That's right. They were alive when I transferred to this body. Coincidentally, not long after, a real mage had to step forward and handle it."
"Wh-what?"
Kang Changho nodded his head and calmly opened his mouth.
"I merely fulfilled the body owner's resentment."
Soon, a quite familiar reason popped out.
"I, as an Engineer, always loved chasing the latest technology, but in the field of etiquette and propriety, I preferred the old-fashioned ways."
"Look at you, being all romantic..."
"I really only followed the body owner's intentions, but there was a process behind the completion of such an immoral wish."
The Chief Engineer began his explanation with a calm voice. The period not long after Dungeon Shock occurred. He said that he had occupied the body of the wealthy man named Kang Changho at that time, and he felt an intense rage the moment he opened his eyes. And the reason for this intense emotion was related to the story revealed earlier at the sushi restaurant.
"There wasn't a single lie in that engagement story itself."
First, the real Kang Changho was dating someone in the medical profession, but the relationship fell apart when it met opposition from his family. But just as a certain Alphauna had revealed instead, the said fiancée died in an unexpected accident after breaking up with Kang Changho.
"The body owner seemed to think that it was his family's fault?"
"It's not exactly wrong."
The nurse would have been perfectly alive if she hadn't broken up with Kang Changho. They could have evacuated to a monster-free country together. In any case, since the probability of death would have been much lower if she had a life with a healthy and wealthy fiancé, it seemed Kang Changho at that time, and he felt an intense rage toward rejection of his girlfriend.
Moreover, Kang Changho was a human who already led a delinquent life. But suddenly, the affectionate care of a medical professional was gone. He says he couldn't quit his dissipated habits and soon died in a minor accident.
Whether it was alcohol or something else. Since the face of that nurse would have mostly come to mind whenever he enjoyed hobbies that were bad for his body, it was gradually becoming understandable that he resented his family right till before his death.
"For reference, the cause of death for this body was drug addiction."
"Oh, my."
Soon, a shocking fact was revealed. A corpse with such a cause of death usually required concurrent treatment for the addiction, making its restoration to the original state quite difficult. Simply put, it's the number one vessel that Alphauna mages would avoid. Yet, of all things, he slipped right into a body with such a cause of death.
To compare it to a martial arts novel, the mage in front of me was in a position where he must have struggled for a whopping 5 volumes' worth.
Oh, my goodness.
"But setting the bad physical condition aside, Kang Changho had harbored doubts during his lifetime, thinking, 'I wasn't born a prince or something, so why can't I even marry the person I want as I please?"
However, even in such a difficult situation, the Engineer didn't forget to show consideration for the body's owner.
"A playboy who had no restrictions in his life suddenly had what he wanted taken away from him. Perhaps that quickly developed into a wave of anger?"
The truly pale mage continued his words like that.
"So all that remained in Kang Changho's corpse was something like a thirst for revenge..."
"And?"
"The ones who thought it would be fine for the stupidly deceased corporate heir to get back up, even if he turned into a completely different monster, were of course the parties involved."
"Kang Changho's family did that?"
"Looking at the results, I have barely done anything contrary to the will of humanity."
Since humans often think of things they don't even want themselves, the measures he took might, in a way, be a problem caused by the descent of an alien lifeform that doesn't know the human heart well. For now, I listened attentively to my compatriot's words.
"Ah, right. But the guy who was the driver for this body... As for that guy, it truly wasn't my intention."
As I stayed silent, the topic of conversation soon shifted.
"I should make this clear at this point."
"What?"
"If it were you, the Archmage, you wouldn't have made such a mistake, but actually, the [Soul Transfer] performed on Earth could be called a half-failure."
"A failure?"
"It was somewhat fine when I lived as the American old man. But of all times, the spell caused a problem when I entered d Kang Changho's body."
The deep-voiced mammalian body constantly conveyed words.
"I still don't really know what caused the error. But in the process of taking over this Korean man's body... my soul was heavily damaged."
Flinch.
It was a story I couldn't just brush past without being surprised.
"Is it even more precisely, the small amount of soul matter that remained in Kang Changho's corpse ended up fused with my soul."
Oh my god. I wouldn't know since I hadn't experienced such a thing, but just hearing the story, this was definitely a phenomenon likely to cause side effects.
"So, due to this unexpected mixture, I... gained a somewhat... 'clouded ego'..."
The Engineer continued speaking.
"Clearly, there aren't matters experienced by 'me', the Alphauna, but sometimes the emotions or memories experienced by the Earthling Kang Changho are often confused as truly mine."
"Oh my."
"But it just so happened that when I was bewildered by the first appearance of this phenomenon, a certain driver noticed the problem 'it was experiencing and tried to subtly blackmail me. For monetary purposes, that is."
"What? Blackmail?"
"I easily deceived the relatives, and hilariously, even the closest parents. Paradoxically, only one driver, who was entangled through money, clearly recognized that Kang Changho had changed from before."
"Hah."
"Since it was a period when many bizarre things were happening due to [Dungeon Shock], it seems even he, a civilian, thought of various assumptions. But unfortunately, the one he nicknamed me was an Alphauna who could unconsciously awaken the body's power, so I awakened and physically put him to sleep."
"By 'putting him to sleep', are you saying you beat him unconscious?"
"At the time, I absolutely wasn't in the condition to properly compete magic."
"And then, because you're an alien, you were weak at legal responses and went to prison. The situation is obvious!"
I consciously blinked my eyes and chined in.
"But there's an even more fatal side effect besides that, and in fact, the reason I why I couldn't recognize you, an Archmage, at this time."
Thud.
At this time, the Chief Engineer placed his palm around his right eye and muttered.
"I completely lost the sixth sense that a mage possesses."
"Gasp!"
"So now I'm in a state where I can hardly signs the miracles of only by borrowing the power of this kind of cheap device... called the [Dragon's Eye]."
"What did you say?"
"Truly, no matter what you did in front of me, I couldn't grasp the structure of the spell. Moreover, as I lived with Kang Changho's body, I lost almost all the important thaumaturgical knowledge far away, so right now, there are only a few kinds of magic I can use."
To think there were such circumstances. Now I completely understood why that blue-haired body was wretchedly picking up stones in the dungeon. It seemed Kang Changho truly couldn't deal with enemies from afar. As an Archmage, I here still some parts that make me that my body."
"Uh, still, seeing that you seamlessly recover your body, you seem to remember at least the basics of magic..."
"Yeah. Since [Odontology] was my specialty, I didn't forget that one at least."
"Even if you can't remember the detailed structures, that with much, can't you just use knowledge to develop new magic tailored for Earth?"
As I lightly opened my mouth, a sudden thunderous roar fell from my conversation partner.
"Lemming. I'm sorry, but it seems you've already forgotten this important fact."
"Huh?"
"I'm an Engineer!"
Kang Changho pointed at me with his index finger and used a rare intense expression.