Chapter 526. Invite (6) |
Chapter 526. Invite (6)
I'll have to revise the schedule I set earlier. It seemed I would have to find a way to transfer the channel house membership to someone else, write my will, and only then focus on making the staff. However, I didn't have much of a complaint even if the weapon production was delayed like this.
‘The materials are almost all gathered anyway.’
It was a moment where anticipation outweighed the annoyance of a delayed schedule. A magic tool in the form of a long pole that frequently changes its appearance. Stated this way, it almost seemed to be modeled after an Alphaurin, but in any case, I hoped the staff would be completed soon.
***
Two days have passed since then. A certain civil servant, who had consumed precious annual leave for an acquaintance, worked faithfully throughout Friday. And today, twenty-four hours later, since the weekend had finally returned, he had taken out his blankets to wash them himself.
—Ding-dong.
Her peaceful time ended there.
‘Did he use some kind of magic again? He arrived quickly.’
[Me: I was so shocked at the house earlier today that I couldn't say anything. I'm sorry, but is Hunter Kang Changho... the same as you, Hunter Kim Giryeo?]
[Hunter Kim Giryeo: Ah, yes!]
[Hunter Kim Giryeo: But it's a plain fact that his personality is strange, so there's no need to be close to him in the future. Just stay comfortable for now, and I'll explain more to you later.]
She was supposed to hear that "explanation" mentioned in the text message now.
"Welcome."
"Yes!"
The public always seemed to want to see that incredible S-rank hunter at least once. In truth, since the opponent was a mage who could truly use teleportation, meeting Kim Giryeo himself was unexpectedly easy.
"Then, from now on, I'll share a bit of the information I've newly acquired with you."
"Yes."
"I thought you might have been a bit confused by our last meeting, Seonwoo Yeon-ssi."
However, the words that followed felt even more difficult. Regrettably, Seonwoo Yeon only got to hear very fragmentary information.
"....At any rate, to make one thing clear, yes. That's right. There are currently two Alphaurins on Earth."
"So your hometown was still safe, Kim Giryeo-ssi."
"To put it bluntly, I wouldn't say it's 'safe' exactly, I'm sorry, but I haven't quite got a feel for how much of the truth I should reveal to you."
"Are you afraid I'll be investigated somewhere?"
"It's not that, but I'm worried you'll suffer from stress by knowing things you don't need to."
Tap, tap, tap.
Kim Giryeo, who was now sitting at the dining table conversing, tapped the table in frustration.
"Dammit. I didn't think I'd live to understand the feelings of someone like Kang Changho."
According to the explanation, it seemed Kim Giryeo's throat felt tight because there were so few matters he could reveal to an Earthling at the moment. A few phenomena caused by the [Soul Analysis] made even a genuine mage's heart tremble. One couldn't just bluntly tell everything to a short-lived creature who should be faithful to their own life.
"Sigh."
However, even in this situation, a portion of the matters had to be shared with Seonwoo Yeon to prepare for possible emergencies.
"Anyway."
So, after deep consideration, Kim Giryeo began to move his vocal cords again.
"Regarding the Gate creators I've identified this time... that is to say, the «Main Enemy of the World» known as Earth."
"Yes."
This was the process through which a specific matter became clear on a small table that seemed meant for only two or three people at most. The attack on the cradle of life called Earth was not a religious judgment.
"Seonwoo Yeon-ssi. First of all, those who wield the Gates have intelligence."
"Somehow, I often felt that tendency..."
"However, aside from that, all they possess is malice. No entity has been discovered yet that considers humanity a precious form of life."
"So they despise us."
"For your information, my looking down on you all is nothing compared to that, so never look favorably upon the masters of the [Dungeon Shock]."
Kim Giryeo continued the conversation, choosing a tone heavy with warning.
"Well, their personalities are bad, and it's said that those races occasionally show themselves directly on this land."
"_"
"Naturally, this is an eyewitness account delivered vividly."
"That's..."
"Hmm, but the characteristics of their manifestation that I'm about to explain are a bit peculiar."
The blond man placed his hand on his chin.
"For starters, our enemies are extremely weak 'when they are wearing a human mask.'"
What followed was a fact that Seonwoo Yeon found somewhat unexpected. However, it was information that Kim Giryeo and Kang Changho now understood to some extent. If [Soul Analysis] was not performed beforehand, using the skin of another planet became very cumbersome, and even this blue otherworld called Earth had a distinct ego...
‘Among the Alphaurins 3,000 years in the future, was there no one as full of bravado as Kang Changho, nor anyone who came up with the same idea as me?’
Judging by the circumstances, it seemed the enemy had no cases of new soul escapes despite the passage of time. Therefore, far from finding and blooming the talents possessed by an Earthling's body, problems would arise as soon as they entered a mammalian body.
"Does that mean they might act strangely, like in a horror movie?"
"There's a high possibility they won't go as far as walking on all fours, but they'll creak when they walk... The Gate creators can't yet operate a new body as smoothly as I can."
Seonwoo Yeon retraced the alien's words during the gaps in the conversation. Then, the image of the enemy was brought to mind more and more concretely.
"Furthermore, since they even forcibly transplanted organs from another star. If they are being excluded by Earth's mana at every moment, then naturally, controlling the body would be difficult—"
"Mmm."
"Ah! By the way, did you have a question about 'that term' I just used?"
What was this sudden derailment?
"First of all, I'm sorry for using the wrong term."
"Mmm?"
"Come to think of it, I've heard that Earth's scientific community only recognizes suns as 'stars'? But from my perspective as an Alphaurin, conversely, rather than the sun, Earth and Alphauri feel like special stars."
"_"
"In a mage's eyes, such things generally feel like they are twinkling brightly, so Alphaurins actually call life-habitable planets stars in addition to suns."
Earthlings get astronomical terms wrong all the time too. Thinking that, Seonwoo Yeon immediately corrected the topic of conversation.
"Ah, Hunter Kim Giryeo. I'm sorry, but I didn't pause because of the word 'star'."
"Yes?"
"Our planet's mana... normally excludes aliens? Anyway, you said that just now."
"Ah Ahhh."
Clap.
Kim Giryeo belatedly brought out the correct answer.
"Yes. Well, that's just as I expressed earlier. Surprisingly, Earth's core has a tendency overprotection, automatically intercepting souls from other stars."
"Yes."
"So it reacted hostly even to brain and heart cells stained with an Alphaurin's soul. But whether this is a defense system that unconditionally kills alien life forms...?"
"Are you saying you don't know?"
"I'm not sure what the result would be if an alien life form was attached to a meteorite and fell. I think I'll have to see more of the reality to be certain."
His head was beginning to ache, but this was all because the people known as Alphaurins had grown abnormally. A century ago, where so-called Lost Technology had occurred on a massive scale. In the binary star system, countless acts of altruism had died, and useful technologies had piled up over those corpses, along with all sorts of mediocre talents...
In any case, it was a world where few things remained intact.
Therefore, while they had created the incredible passages called Gates over the past 3,000 years, at other times, they could be so incompetent that one would instinctively wonder, 'Why can't they do something this easy?'
‘Their abilities are unpredictable.’
Listening to the story that had come out now, at the very least, they were in a state where they couldn't fight properly in human form. However, that was because other problems had arisen.
"So if they've made up their minds to fight, they'll probably appear in a different form."
"A different form."
"Specifically... they transform into Beta-star people."
"Huh?"
For reference, this was also a fact learned because the person who had newly become Kim Giryeo's colleague handed over observed data.
Beta-star people.
A hard and somewhat dwarfish creature with an asymmetrical body. However, this expression "diminutive" was just how the Alphauri locals perceived it.
"Their height is 3 meters by Earth's standards."
The reality was this.
"But unlike true Beta-star people, the bodies they chose have undergone a bit of modernization."
"You mean they've been modified from their natural state?"
"The shells they use now supposedly have two legs and one hand on the right side, and two arms on the left side."
"That's bizarre..."
Grey and opaque. In fact, it was a body that was not very aesthetically pleasing even to an Alphaurin. However, in order to withstand the special pressure of Earth, that shape was the best among the choices, so there was no other option.
‘Since there was such a story in the brain of the corpse that Kang Changho stole.’
Someone rolled their sambaegan eyes.
"So, Seonwoo Yeon-ssi, if you see a monster with a severely asymmetrical body and a cuticle like limestone, run away immediately."
"Mmm."
Kim Giryeo looked like he had more he wanted to say, but for some reason, he didn't hastily bring out the sentences after this.
"But Giryeo-ssi. By any chance, when they are in human form... is there no other way for me to distinguish them?"
Then, while silence had fallen—
"Yes?"
"If the enemy is not skilled at body control. Couldn't they hide their identity by not moving or by not speaking recklessly?"
At this moment. The blond man sitting in the chair reacted instantly.
"Oh- that was a pretty good question just now..."
He had the look of a scholar who had discovered a fresh sprout.
"I'll show you the solution to that myself in the near future."
"What do you mean, yourself?"
"You wouldn't have known because it was on silent mode, but my phone that was face-down on the table lit up for a moment earlier."
"Ah!"
"And checking it now, it's a contact telling me to come to work. A massive Red Gate has appeared in Gangwon-do."
It wasn't a Dungeon Break, and if it was something like that, it truly couldn't be helped. It felt like her question hadn't been resolved, but at the words that an incident had occurred, Seonwoo Yeon sent the guest away immediately.
.
.
.
But even though it had only been a few hours since they spoke, to entrust "this kind" of item to a quick delivery courier for delivery.
"Are you Seonwoo Yeon-ssi of the Korean Hunter Association?"
"Yes. That's me."
"Then please sign here to confirm receipt yourself—"
It was a matter of about 38 hours later. What on earth did he do over that weekend that passed in the blink of an eye? As soon as it became a weekday, the alien named Kim Giryeo sent a certain package to Seonwoo Yeon.
—Rustle.
The identity of the item in the box was an analyzer.
‘It's just that alien person told me over the phone. He really sent this by delivery.’
But more accurately, this was a model similar to the one secretly used by Hunter Enzo, who impersonated the name of [Beast]. It could even remotely measure a human's awakening level.
‘By the way, even the large awakening level measurement device at our headquarters cost an enormous amount of taxes. Then what on earth is the price of such a subminiature device?’
Moreover, it meant that by filming a person with this, one could distinguish between alien creatures and natives...
—If an ERROR display pops up when you film with this, that target is in a state where their power is suppressed or they are wearing many items that hide their rank!
Seonwoo Yeon repeated the information the alien had personally taught her.
‘Since on the outside it looks no different from a mass-produced analyzer, I should carry this around for the time being.’
Now that the minimum preparations were made. Since today was a weekday, it was time to return to the work site.