A five-pyeong monthly rental—old and drafty—and this was his only residence?
Haseong fell silent for a moment at the words of his fellow S-ranker. After a brief pause, the conversation resumed.
"Then, when you don't have work, you always rest here... in this room?"
At that, Giryeo looked at him as if wondering why he was asking such an obvious question. With a perfectly nonchalant expression, he pointed toward the navy-blue blanket lying nearby. On top of it was the familiar smartphone, connected to a white charging cable.
It was a lifestyle summed up in remarkably simple terms.
Of course, it wasn't as though there were only one or two people in Korea who spent their days lying on a blanket and fiddling with their phones.
"An S-rank Hunter?"
Where did all the tutoring fees I paid you disappear to, if you're living like this?
The question naturally rose to the back of his throat.
However, Haseong managed to swallow it back, setting aside his still-hot green tea.
Despite being younger than him, the man across from him was effectively his teacher. Naturally, that inspired a certain amount of hesitation. On top of that, there was simply something about Kim Giryeo that made him difficult to deal with.
"It's not polite to pry into someone's private life."
Haseong smoothly changed the subject.
"Then I'll send the items to this address."
At that moment, Giryeo rose from his seat once more and began rummaging around for some snacks to offer his guests.
Inside the cupboard, he caught sight of a glowing blue object that looked distinctly out of place in the shabby one-room apartment.
"I think I know why Jung Haseong's magic power suddenly became unstable."
It was the infinite power core.
Sparkle-
The indomitable device that had once been capable of handling everything from petty thieves to dangerous beasts had gradually exhausted its power.
Still, there appeared to have been a slight error somewhere in the calculations. Its rate of energy depletion was more ambiguous than expected.
If used sparingly, it might last until autumn.
"Still, it's about time I moved somewhere else."
Contrary to what Earthlings might normally worry about, the alien felt no hesitation whatsoever at the thought of moving into something resembling a mansion.
Click.
After finishing his little fantasy about where he might live next, Giryeo found a suitable snack and brought it over on a tray.
However, the awakened members of Garion hurriedly waved their hands.
"I'm grateful for the tea, but you really don't need to give us snacks too..."
"T, that's right."
"We must have interrupted you while you were resting. We'll just finish this and leave soon."
Giryeo was not particularly introverted, but with guests present, he had to refrain from doing anything that might make him seem alien.
So if they wanted to leave quickly, that posed no problem.
He merely nodded at their words and sat back down cross-legged.
However, after a short while, the leader of the Garion Guild glanced around subtly and, unusually for him, initiated the conversation.
"Hunter Kim."
Although Giryeo himself was already thinking of moving, that intention existed only inside his own nervous system.
As far as an outsider could tell, the simple reality was that Korea's fourth S-rank Hunter was living in a place that did not remotely match his income level.
Looking around the tiny room—a space that could probably be taken in almost entirely within a 200-degree field of vision—a sudden curiosity arose in Haseong.
"By the way, Hunter, what do you do when you're not working?"
"Hm?"
"Hobbies... I'm asking about your hobbies right now..."
Was that too personal?
Haseong often lived under the weight of constant self-censorship, even outside the late-night hours.
He couldn't help worrying that the question he had just asked might have offended the other man.
But Giryeo answered without the slightest hesitation, his voice unexpectedly bright as he revealed his interests.
"Hobbies?"
In his previous life, he had been an archmage who had mastered a single discipline to its absolute peak.
Now, as an alien who had crossed vast interstellar distances and found himself mingling with unfamiliar mammals, his interests had naturally changed.
Taking those circumstances into account, the sort of leisure activity the blond man tended to pursue ultimately converged on one thing.
Acquiring information.
Whether in his homeland or here, the concepts most commonly used to transmit knowledge were sound and text.
"Maybe that?"
Whoosh.
Giryeo turned his head toward one side of the room.
At the end of his gaze, several books had been stacked together.
Ever since realizing that the internet contained a great deal of inaccurate information, the alien had gradually begun relying more heavily on educational books.
He was still unaware that his borrowing history was recorded in the library's database, but his naturally cautious disposition—already more pronounced than average—made him carefully choose books borrowed from public institutions.
Put simply, he avoided subjects that might make it too obvious that he was an alien.
This kind of information was something Earth's natives were often curious about themselves, so there was little danger in looking into it.
"Reading... is your hobby?"
"Well, for now. Most of what I read is for learning rather than entertainment, so I'm not sure whether it really counts as a hobby."
If he began telling unnecessary lies even during casual conversation, the day would come much sooner when he could no longer keep track of his own words.
That was why Giryeo preferred to maintain a clean, honest approach whenever possible, avoiding false statements he might later fail to remember.
"... Then let me ask you one more thing. What do you usually do on your phone?"
"Well, I mostly read digital newspapers or watch YouTube..."
"Oh, YTube! Back when I was a student, I always had it playing beside me whenever I ate. It's definitely convenient. Old variety shows get edited down and uploaded there too."
"Uh... well, sorry, but I don't really watch variety shows or dramas, so I wouldn't know."
"Uhm?"
"I use YTube to watch live news broadcasts. Occasionally, I'll watch an interview if a friend appears, but generally speaking, I don't watch entertainment videos like that."
As the conversation continued, however, the hero's expression gradually stiffened.
"You use a video streaming app... solely to check the news?"
Had that been a slip by Earth standards?
This time, Giryeo began worrying over the minor details.
Jung Haseong, wearing a serious expression, asked whether there was any particular reason behind that habit.
But to answer honestly, Giryeo would have had to say:
"Actually, I'm a semi-transparent intelligent life form from a gigantic ocean planet where one year lasts 640 days. Because of that, I have difficulty independently judging the truthfulness of the information you people share. So, out of caution, I avoid content intended purely for entertainment and focus instead on more reliable sources such as news and books."
"...That's not something I can answer, is it?"
"Impossible."
Giryeo tried to brush the situation off with a shrug.
However, even then, his skin maintained the same neutral, expressionless appearance, and the atmosphere instantly grew awkward.
"Then even if famous animal videos show up through the algorithm, Hunter Kim doesn't watch them..."
At four in the morning, he went out to [N O V E L I G H T] investigate [Mimic City].
Before clashing with Chairman Go Byeongdo, he had apparently been secretly taking on missions while concealing his rank.
And when he rested, all he did was read law books and watch the news?
There were all kinds of preferences in the world.
Surely there were people who genuinely found comfort in learning.
It was wrong to distance oneself from someone simply because their way of resting differed from your own.
Yet why?
Even though all of those thoughts surfaced vividly in his mind, Haseong kept thinking the same thing.
'I can't leave him like this.'
'Come to think of it...'
In a sense, that anxiety stemmed from his own upbringing.
Jung Haseong had once been known throughout his neighborhood as a genius who had entered veterinary school largely through his own efforts, without relying heavily on private education.
The secret had been his unwavering diligence.
With nothing else he cared to immerse himself in, he often spent endless hours glued to his desk.
Most adults who saw him like that would say,
"His parents must be so lucky."
And many would add that if their own children showed even a fraction of his dedication, they would never have to worry about their future.
It was strange.
For some reason, however, his mother often scolded that picture-perfect model student.
"Son-- wake up!"
"Mom... I'm reading a book right now..."
"-- You finished all your homework and review for this week, right? Haseong, the things you experience at your age stay with you for the rest of your life. Isn't it a shame to spend such a beautiful age buried in paper?"
Every weekend, she would nag at her child, who was forever buried in books, and force him outside into the sunlight.
Their family was not wealthy, so they never went anywhere extravagant.
But in spring, they went to see flowers.
In summer, they went to look at the water.
And in autumn, they gathered fallen leaves from the trees on the hill behind their home and made bookmarks out of them, keeping them all the way through winter.
"-- Hurry up and listen to your mom. If you keep sitting at that desk all the time, you'll wear yourself out!"
During his teenage years, Haseong had never understood why his mother went so far as to interfere with his studies.
Sometimes, her constant nagging became so irritating that he wished she would simply stop.
But now, at this moment, Haseong finally understood how she must have felt.
And that was why, completely out of nowhere, he blurted out:
"W, wouldn't it be better if you went out for a walk or something?"
There was nothing else he could do.
From their conversation, Haseong had realized that Kim Giryeo was living a surprisingly difficult and exhausting life.
As far as he knew, the only thing that might help someone with such pathological single-mindedness was something as trivial as getting out for a while.
"For example, somewhere like the sea!"
Back when he had been drowning in grief after losing all his friends to Dungeon Shock, his guardian had taken the drastic measure of bringing him on a trip to Busan.
Because of that trip, he had encountered a kraken, leading to the astonishing incident in which he awakened as Korea's first S-rank Hunter.
But that was another story.
"Sea?"
For Jung Haseong, the memory of that time remained a remarkably pleasant one.
The quiet sight of waiting for the sunrise beyond the rippling waves.
The cold morning breeze.
The two of them warming their hands together.
In many ways, the national hero had endured countless hardships by using the memory of that day as something to stand on whenever times became difficult.
And now, here he was, faced with someone from the same industry who, for some incomprehensible reason, restrained his desires to an almost unnatural degree.
"Ah, t, that..."
What was I thinking, saying something like that?
The black-haired fire wizard was startled by his own words. His eyes widened, and he swallowed nervously.
But the response he received was even more shocking.
"Is that so?"
The blond man suddenly began gathering his things with astonishing enthusiasm.
***
Three hours after their brief tea time.
The West Sea.
"Kkuruk kkuruk."
"Oh..."
What is this?
It feels like the background changed in the blink of an eye...
Ssssk.
Korea's number one Hunter, Jung Haseong, raised one arm and lightly rubbed his eyes.
The scenery in front of him remained unchanged.
A short distance away, Kim Giryeo was happily watching the seagulls.
And just moments ago, one of those monotone creatures had snatched the shrimp-flavored snack straight out of his hand.
Kkuruk-!
Tak.
The long-bodied bird, now carrying the factory-made flour snack in its beak, flew away.
Kim Giryeo, in a manner surprisingly careless for an S-rank Hunter, tilted his head back and watched the seagull rise into the sky.
At that moment, Jung Haseong fell deep into thought.
"Why didn't he refuse even once and just come straight to the beach? No, more importantly, how could someone decide to go to Incheon that quickly?"
How could he possibly know?
The blond man's body was, in fact, occupied by the soul of an aquatic creature.
Naturally, Kim Giryeo had been personally interested in Earth's oceans for quite some time.
Unfortunately, luck had never been on his side.
His first attempt to see the sea at Gampo Port had ended with him getting caught up with the military and dragged into a massive incident.
Afterward, circumstances had repeatedly prevented him from trying again.
And although he currently had two research topics that would occupy him in the future—
@ Producing magical tools capable of proposing the cancellation of the contract related to Improvement.
@ Planning a method to awaken Kim Giryeo's potential.
—it wasn't as though he was so overwhelmed that he couldn't spare a little time.
Since the subject had come up anyway, he had no objection to finally seeing the ocean, something he'd wanted to do for a long time.
"Maybe it's because he appreciated having his suggestion accepted? Jung Haseong even drove me all the way here."
Most of this planet was covered in vast oceans.
Yet in his previous life, he had rarely had opportunities to see the place where the surface of that water met the atmosphere.
Giryeo set aside his interest in living creatures and focused once again on observing the sea.
However, because he still fundamentally identified himself as an aquatic organism, the sight of so much water abruptly filled him with the urge to dive in.
'I didn't bring any clothes to change into... and besides, there are people watching nearby. It'd be a little much to casually use a drying spell too.'
Giryeo glanced uncertainly back and forth between the sea and his clothes.
And at that moment, one of the 'watchful eyes' standing beside him carefully began to speak.
"Um... this just suddenly occurred to me, but, Hunter Kim Giryeo, do you perhaps..."