The shattered walls. Mana scattered wildly in every direction. It wasn't difficult to deduce that Kim Giryeo had fought the Beast. If one were to list all the evidence, the traces they had left behind were painfully obvious.
But something was strange.
The blind man who had survived looked remarkably unscathed. He had fought the Beast—such a monstrous creature—and yet not a single scratch remained on his body. The only imperfection to be found on this seemingly impregnable hunter was perhaps the wrinkles in his suit, left by the intensity of his movements.
"..."
Haseong rubbed his eyes, trying to clear his blurred vision. After blinking several times, his mind gradually sharpened.
"Ah..."
Haseong quickly realized that this was not the first time he had regained consciousness.
It had been like the sensation of striking a drum stuffed full of objects. Or the sound of a metal hammer smashing into concrete. Or even vibrations resembling footsteps echoing through a building's emergency stairwell.
Clank, clank, clank.
He had definitely heard a succession of loud noises while lying unconscious. At the time, he had been too weak even to open his eyes, so all he could do was passively take in the sounds around him.
But thinking back on it now, those noises must have been the clash of S-rank weapons.
They had fought while he was unconscious, and the evidence scattered throughout the dungeon proved it beyond doubt.
Clank!
Then just how fierce had Kim Giryeo's battle with the Beast been?
Before the echoes of one impact had even fully faded, another explosive burst of destruction had immediately followed.
"Whoo."
In truth, what Jung Haseong had heard was not the clash of two evenly matched powerhouses, but the sound of an alien being beaten so mercilessly that one might almost have pitied him.
"Since I didn't hear flesh being cut, only the dull impacts of weapons... does that mean Hunter Kim managed to block every one of the Beast's attacks...?"
For the hero, who had spent most of the battle with his eyes closed, there was no way to grasp the truth.
And so, as Haseong stared at Giryeo's back, his misunderstanding only deepened.
That blind hunter truly was a master who had reached an extraordinary realm.
He had fought an unprecedented powerhouse—the very monster that had cleaved the Nuckelavee in half.
And yet the man kneeling some distance away remained silent, seemingly cooling down after the battle. Even on closer inspection, there was not a single visible wound on him.
Without a doubt, it had been an overwhelming victory.
"..."
But then, at that moment, the man who had remained completely still finally moved.
He drew in a deep breath, his chest slowly expanding, then repeated the motion as though practicing how to breathe deeply. Soon [N O V E L I G H T] afterward, he rose to his feet.
Srmmg.
Holding the [Sunset Sword], the S-rank hunter adjusted his crooked tie with his free hand and slowly walked toward Haseong.
Then, looking down at the fallen man, he spoke words eerily similar to something he had once said before.
"Can't you get up? Do you want me to help you?"
Although someone else had been on the receiving end of those words the last time, Haseong couldn't shake the strange sense of familiarity as he watched Giryeo.
Within seconds, the reason surfaced in his mind.
"I'm... fine."
He had seen this exact scene before.
A fallen S-rank hunter, defeated and miserable.
And the gaze of the man standing over such a hero.
Kim Giryeo had spoken in that same calm tone when he had slammed Korea's number-one-ranked hunter into the ground with a metal object.
Back then, Giryeo had seemed like some incomprehensible monster whose motives were impossible to understand.
But now, after everything that had happened, Haseong finally understood.
It was all for you.
Korea's fourth S-rank had always spoken the truth.
Even under the unfavorable circumstances of having to conceal his rank on the Association's orders—even at the obvious risk of earning the hostility of others—he had consistently acted selflessly.
He had stopped the number one hunter from destroying himself, never holding back his blunt words.
He had gone to Japan's highest-ranking gate in place of someone who needed to remain in Korea and protect the country.
And his arm...
His arm...
"...I can get up on my own."
Lost in complicated thoughts, Haseong planted his palms against the ground and pushed himself upright.
His recovery seemed to have progressed enough for his muscles to finally obey him again. He staggered, but after some difficulty, managed to stand.
Seeing this, Giryeo spoke.
Just in case something else happened, they needed to leave quickly.
He urged Haseong to get out of the dungeon as soon as possible.
"Yes."
And several minutes later, when they finally reached the gate connected to Korea...
"Wait a minute."
Giryeo abruptly stopped.
"Come to think of it, there's something I need to tell you."
At those words, the country's number-one hunter also came to a halt and gave him his full attention.
"To be precise, it's a favor. Jung Haseong, could you keep what happened here a secret once we get outside?"
"What happened here... you mean...?"
"Everything, from start to finish. We didn't see anything in this dungeon. Let's just say we happened to run into each other while surveying the place, then left the gate without finding anything."
So he wanted Haseong to keep even their encounter with the Beast itself a secret.
For the record, Kim Giryeo had brought this up because he was worried about Kang Changho's misconduct.
A human Skill Stone sneaking into a dungeon at dawn?
And then getting into a fight with an overseas S-rank inside?
If the truth came out, maintaining the contract would not be easy.
"Haseong-ah, to be honest, I'm the one who saved your life this time, aren't I? Hm? So you can at least do this much for me, right?"
Giryeo reminded Haseong that he had saved his life and asked the witness to keep quiet.
However, his request took on an entirely different meaning in Haseong's mind.
The hero knew nothing about the contract imposed on Korea's fourth S-rank, so naturally, he interpreted Giryeo's intentions quite differently.
'Well, if it became known that he was the hunter who killed the Beast...'
The world would be thrown into chaos.
Kim Giryeo must be trying to bury the incident so he wouldn't attract international attention.
With that particular misunderstanding firmly in mind, Haseong nodded.
In any case, he agreed that concealing the incident was probably for the best.
The battle had unquestionably begun with the Beast's unprovoked attack. However, with no fewer than three S-rank Awakeners involved, the Beast's death would inevitably drag the Koreans present into a long and exhausting investigation.
Whether their actions had been justified or not might hardly matter.
There was even a genuine possibility that Kim Giryeo could be held accountable for murder.
"Whoo."
Haseong was an unusually altruistic person, but even his compassion did not extend far enough to protect a psychopath who had tried to kill him.
So he accepted Giryeo's suggestion that they remain silent about the Beast's death without much hesitation.
"Understood. I'll do as you say."
"Thank you."
"And if we're going to hide the fact that there was a fight here... I think we should, uh, make ourselves look a little more presentable..."
"Yeah. I was just about to say the same thing. If you're okay with it, let's take some time to recover here before heading back to Korea."
A brief period of peace followed.
Taking Giryeo's lead, Haseong leaned against a pillar near the exit and took a sip from the high-level recovery potion remaining in his item box.
After drinking several more mouthfuls, he quietly raised his head.
"Excuse me..."
What followed was a brief question.
"There's one thing I'd like to ask..."
"What?"
"...How exactly did you use my sword?"
Even now, the crimson weapon rested quietly in the hands of the hunter standing before him.
The mysterious flash of light that had burned the Beast to death had apparently acted as a stimulus strong enough to rouse Haseong's fading consciousness. Because of that, he could clearly remember seeing the [Sunset Sword] erupt in brilliant light.
Most of the other details, however, remained a mystery.
That was why he had to ask.
"And what kind of ability was that? I was barely conscious, but I could somehow tell that Hunter Kim had activated one of the sword's functions."
Giryeo answered.
"I don't know."
Of course, it was a lie.
The legendary weapon possessed by the hero was a magical tool based on Alphaurin technology.
How could he possibly reveal the truth here?
[Yahoo~!]
[It's been so long since I used magic! I can feel all the rust falling right off! Master! Let's have another fight!]
[And if it isn't too much to ask, could you give me a name while you're at it? I don't ask for much—just something simple yet dazzling, classic yet modern.]
Your [Sunset Sword] is actually an ego sword with an incredibly chatty and frivolous personality.
And I was able to use its abilities because I'm an extraterrestrial who understands its native language.
It would have taken only a few sentences to explain.
Yet a certain man could never bring himself to say them.
After all, this was the Achilles' heel of his very existence.
"I don't know anything either. I was just swinging the sword around, and then the light suddenly burst out. Sorry, but I have no idea what the activation conditions are or what the exact effect is..."
And so Giryeo had no choice but to offer a vague explanation.
The other man's reaction, however, was unexpected.
'—He says he doesn't know. But I... I could tell just by looking.'
Leaning against the wall as he rested, the hero among heroes quietly sank into thought.
His expression hardened.
His gaze grew serious, as though he had just realized something important.
A mere Earthling had sensed something?
But Alphaurin was completely beyond the range of human hearing.
How?
"As expected, the Sunset Sword is..."
A moment later, just as someone awkwardly shifted his gaze aside—
"...It must be a sword that chooses its wielder."
Jung Haseong closed his eyes and calmly considered the matter.
Was it called Excalibur?
In any case, it was something like a sword embedded in a rock, waiting for its rightful owner.
A steel blade that could not be wielded by anyone except the one destined to possess it.
Even in Earth's legends, treasures whose potential changed depending on their wielder were hardly uncommon. Because of that, appraisers had once speculated that the [Sunset Sword] might require certain qualifications before its true abilities could be used.
"It's been proven today."
I must not have been qualified to wield that sword.
Haseong swirled the recovery potion in his mouth, an empty look crossing his face.
For two full years, he had carried the [Sunset Sword] without ever awakening its power.
Yet Kim Giryeo had borrowed it for only a few moments and had immediately managed to activate its abilities.
It seemed that he truly wasn't capable of properly wielding the sword after all.
"Haa."
It was a misunderstanding so extreme that even the alien involved could never have imagined it.
Haseong had concluded that the change in the [Sunset Sword] was the result of the difference in strength between himself and Kim Giryeo.
And he didn't even bother explaining his thoughts aloud.
He merely swallowed the recovery potion and, with a bitter expression, made a suggestion.
"That sword. Should I just give it to Hunter Kim?"
It was an astonishing proposal.
He had just offered, completely free of charge, a treasure on the same level as the [Grimoire of Annihilation].
If a genuine S-class hunter had been standing there, they might have accepted the offer without a second thought.
Giryeo, however, reacted with obvious reluctance.
"Uh, no... I don't need it..."
The special metal was so heavy that merely wielding the thing nearly suffocated him, while activating its effect even once could leave him on the verge of being unable to breathe.
Why would someone trapped in an F-rank body willingly carry around such a deadly weapon?
Even if he intended to acquire a higher-grade body someday, Giryeo had more than enough reasons to refuse it.
"Are you refusing because you'd feel burdened by accepting it?"
"No. It's just that I honestly don't particularly like using blades."
To reject a legendary weapon simply because it wasn't the kind of weapon he preferred...
He really was no ordinary person.
Haseong nodded, once again acknowledging Giryeo's extraordinary nature.
Yet despite the top-ranked hunter's calm acceptance of that answer, Giryeo himself was beginning to break out in a cold sweat as he thought over Haseong's proposal.
'But why does this guy keep trying to give me the sword...?'
Had he realized that Giryeo had defeated the Beast through some kind of trick?
Or had he somehow witnessed the pathetic sight of Giryeo being beaten one-sidedly by Brooklyn without even being able to lift a finger?
He was growing nervous.
If someone suddenly offered him a Legendary weapon without any explanation, then from Giryeo's perspective it sounded almost as terrible as saying:
"Someone as weak as you needs something like this just to survive, don't you?"
'Did I get caught after all? Did he figure out that I'm a complete weakling?'
Flutter.
But if his fake rank had truly been exposed, there was no way Jung Haseong—the victim of that deception—would be acting this calmly.
And if Giryeo started asking questions now and accidentally dug his own grave, the situation could spiral out of control.
For the moment, the only thing he could do was quietly return the item he had borrowed and used without permission.
Srrmk.
Giryeo took hold of the weapon's hilt in a reverse grip and prepared to return it to its rightful owner.
[H-Huh? Are you throwing me away? You're abandoning me after only a few minutes? No way! That stubborn blockhead doesn't even understand what I'm saying! No, no, no, no, noooo—!]
Even now, the Ego Sword's words poured endlessly into his modified semicircular canal.
Giryeo, however, showed no reaction to its cries.
After all, it was merely an artifact.
No matter how loudly it screamed, what it produced was not truly sound.
[I'll do better! I'll work hard! New Master! Please, at least for the sake of my amazing voice...!]
An ancient AI created by Alphauri.
As Giryeo looked at it, perhaps a faint sense of nostalgia stirred within him.
A subtle, almost inexplicable change entered the blond man's gaze as he studied the sword for a moment.
Then, from the magic circle on his palm, words in his familiar native language emerged.
[Wave. White. Current.]
[-Keywords confirmed. Administrator mode activated.-]
[Set the owner based on the residual mana traces stored in the cylinder. Additionally, from this point onward, execute automatic counterattacks whenever the owner's physical damage exceeds 80%.]
[-Activating this function will increase resource consumption. Do you still wish to proceed.-]
[Yes.]
[-Confirmed.-]
[Additionally, set the Ego Sword's general conversation mode to OFF.]
[-Confirmed.-]
[Adjustment complete.]
[-Returning to default mode.-]
Giryeo had hesitated to use the sword for several reasons.
His damaged lungs made speaking the language difficult.
The sword did not belong to him.
And there was also the possibility that tampering with it might awaken some dangerous default setting associated with the Beast.
But now that things had come this far, there was no longer any reason to hesitate.
He quietly altered the legendary item's default settings.
Only slightly.
Just enough that its rightful owner wouldn't find the change too suspicious, while still ensuring that the sword would protect the hero when necessary.
'If he asks later why its functions suddenly changed, I'll just tell him they probably awakened under the Beast's influence.'
Only a few words, and his mana had already been drained again.
Giryeo felt his lungs tighten as he conveyed one final message to the sword.
[I'm sorry for making you stay with such a quiet master when you're the type who loves to talk. But this is your role, so what can I do? So...]
Talking to an object as though it were a person.
Even if it was only a machine awkwardly imitating a living being, perhaps developing affection for such things was a trait shared by all sentient life.
[Please, from now on, protect Jung Haseong for a long, long time.]
[...]
[He has a good soul.]
With those words, Giryeo handed the newly adjusted sword back to Haseong.
Just before the hilt reached his hands, the blade gave a faint shudder, as though responding to what had been said.
[I did not understand correctly. Please repeat the sentence accurately.]
That's right.
That's what cheap AI does.