It was a clear morning.
The moment I got out of bed, the whole world seemed brighter than usual, and even the air felt unusually refreshing.
And this wasn't just a matter of mood.
Kim Giryeo's lungs had been severely damaged ever since I reincarnated into this body. Because of that, every breath came with a dull ache in my chest.
It wasn't as though the problem had been insignificant. I simply hadn't mentioned it until now.
On particularly bad days, I had even coughed up blood.
"Hwaam."
But those minor inconveniences were now a thing of the past!
The Dragon's Lungs—or, more precisely, the biologically enhanced tissue reinforced by magical alveoli—had completely eliminated those old problems.
My lung capacity had increased dramatically, and my overall physical performance had improved along with it.
Good.
Everything was good.
Now that I'd finally regained the health I'd been longing for, shouldn't I start with the thing I'd wanted to do most?
Whoosh.
This was a historic first cast.
I opened my palm and activated the magic I'd used countless times in my previous life.
A sophisticated sequence of formulas, utterly incomparable to the primitive magic practiced by Earthlings.
In Alphauri, Archmages were the ones who created new miracles.
And they didn't stop there.
They took the formulas developed by previous generations of magicians, refined them over and over again, and stripped away every trace of inefficiency until only the most streamlined and elegant form remained.
This freezing spell was one such example.
I had personally modified and perfected it through that very process.
It could freeze matter faster than the blink of an eye while consuming only half the mana required by the original formula.
There was not a single wasted movement in its execution.
Among those who worked in the same field, it had often been praised for its beauty.
And now, the spell was complete.
At this point, it was no longer merely a technique.
It was the culture of an intelligent species, elevated to the level of art.
Just how much effort and dedication had gone into bringing it this far?
"It's done."
Ssssk.
A chill gathered above my apricot-colored palm.
What appeared there was a perfectly round sphere of ice, roughly ten centimeters in diameter.
Water and frost had been generated from empty space in an instant and shaped into a stable form.
And the cost of this miracle?
An amount of mana no greater than what could fit beneath a fingernail.
"That's it. That's it!"
I could finally cast even basic magic casually again!
After confirming that the spell worked properly, I immediately moved on to the next test.
Whoosh.
I picked up a bottle of water that had been lying in one corner of the room and cast the same spell on it.
With nothing more than a rough adjustment based on intuition, the lukewarm water instantly became as cold as though it had been sitting in a refrigerator for six hours.
What a convenient technique.
Magic that manipulated temperature had an enormous effect on quality of life.
In the middle of summer, I could cool my body instantly with a single breath.
In winter, I no longer had to fear the icy drafts that seeped through the cracks of this old house.
The magic I used was the pinnacle of an entire planet's civilization.
When it came to providing everyday comfort, it far surpassed the technology of this world.
And here, in this alternate world called Earth, there was another advantage to living this way.
The energy cost was free!
No matter how much external mana I drew in, it cost me absolutely nothing.
Hahaha!
"Legal tax evasion... Just hearing those words together makes me excited."
I swallowed my laughter and rubbed my dry palms together.
As I'd already discovered, Earth and Alphauri differed in countless environmental factors.
If I tried using the exact formulas I'd developed in my previous life, there was a high chance the spells simply wouldn't activate here.
Still, every time some minor inconvenience made daily life miserable, I'd promised myself that once I fixed my lungs, I would absolutely use those spells again.
So in the meantime, I had recalculated the formulas.
And as a result, even the simplest spells that came to mind could now be cast immediately.
For example, 「Clean」.
I wonder if Earthlings even know what that is?
Ah—
「Clean」 is a complex spell that combines several different magical attributes at low intensity in order to remove foreign substances from the body.
In other words, it cleans you.
Honestly, until now, I had nearly died from the sheer annoyance of having to rely on this world's inferior cleaning methods.
"Well, at least that's solved now."
Whoo.
I drew in a deep breath, filling my newly restored lungs to their fullest.
While I was lost in thought, the clock had already reached one in the afternoon.
Which meant I should probably be hungry by now.
Time to replenish my nutrients.
Click.
A kitchen cabinet suddenly swung open.
The small pot inside was yanked into the air by an invisible force and shot across the room.
A moment later, it was filled with clean water.
Bubbling.
Even though the pot hadn't touched any heat source, the surface of the water began to boil on its own.
Low-level telekinesis.
Low-level water magic.
Low-level fire magic.
One after another, I confirmed that the spells were functioning properly.
Before, I would have exhausted all my mana just by lifting the pot.
But now that my lungs had been restored, I could comfortably sustain magic for the three minutes it took to cook ramen.
It felt as though I had become a completely different person.
The sheer operating capacity of this body had changed dramatically.
Filled with joy, I sat down at the table with the freshly cooked ramen in front of me.
"_ _"
About ten minutes later.
After finishing my meal, I finally regained my composure.
For a moment, the excitement of obtaining the Dragon's Lungs had gotten the better of me.
But now that I thought about it, every spell I'd cast earlier had been nothing more than trivial magic with no real destructive power.
Still, that was only natural.
Kim Giryeo was an F-class Hunter.
In other words, the total amount of mana this body could hold was pitifully small.
A truly pathetic Awakened.
No matter how skilled a great wizard might be at conserving resources, there were obvious limits.
I was still unbelievably weak.
Far weaker than I had ever imagined I could become.
There were far more things I couldn't do than things I could.
"Hmm."
But there was no point drowning in negative thoughts.
Especially not on a day like today.
Let's think positively.
I'd already overcome the greatest obstacle by acquiring the [Dragon's Lung].
Now all that remained was obtaining the body of another Awakened as the final ingredient.
Of course, there was no need to aim for a high rank immediately.
Something like a D-rank would be enough to start with.
With my abilities, I could gradually work my way upward from there.
"Once the exchange is completed safely, I'll place this body in the tomb I saw before..."
Come to think of it...
Had I become attached to this body without realizing it?
When I thought about abandoning Kim Giryeo's identity, I couldn't help feeling a faint sense of regret.
After all, just how much time, effort, and money had I poured into keeping this useless body alive?
Even now, I was still feeding it nutrients at regular intervals and carefully maintaining it.
At this point, wasn't it only natural to become attached to something I'd spent so much effort preserving?
And when I thought about the life the original owner had lived, there was a certain sadness mixed in as well.
"Anyway, you're useless and weak. So instead of becoming a corpse, why don't you just live a long life?"
I quietly muttered those words to someone who was no longer there, then rose from my seat.
Now that I thought about it, I'd run out of food at home.
I'd have to go outside today.
***
Tak, tak, tak.
Footsteps echoed down the quiet street.
A silver sedan sat rusting between two buildings, its paint faded around the edges.
Nearby, an SUV gleamed beneath the sunlight, freshly washed and polished.
A foreign car bearing a familiar circular emblem was parked among them.
This was the main road of a small residential neighborhood, lined with various cars parked illegally along the curb.
Among the pedestrians walking down the street, a small, lightly built figure raised her head and spoke.
"Dad."
At the sound of his daughter's voice, the man beside her looked down with a faint smile.
"Dad, you know—"
"Yeah?"
"Some kids at school said an S-rank Hunter lives around here. Is that true?"
For reference, the place the little Earthling had just pointed toward was an old multifamily housing district lined with faded red-brick buildings.
The street was filled with one-room rentals ranging from five to ten pyeong.
Normally, even a D-rank Hunter wouldn't bother looking at housing like this.
Still, the man vaguely remembered hearing rumors that some top-tier Hunter lived somewhere nearby.
"Oh. Oh, maybe that's true."
At his answer, the child's eyes widened.
"Why?"
"Hmm?"
"Hunters make a lot of money, don't they? So why does that person live here?"
"I don't know."
"Mom always says that if we ever hit it big in a dungeon, the first thing we'll do is move somewhere safer."
"That's because she's thinking about our daughter. I heard that place has really good security, so it's nice."
"Then does that Hunter live here because he doesn't have a daughter?"
"I think he's unmarried. Uh... anyway, Dad doesn't really know either."
Seriously, why were children curious about such strange things?
Once the topic of the S-rank Hunter had passed, the father quickly took his daughter's hand and spoke.
"By the way, sweetheart. You shouldn't point at other people's houses like that. How would you feel if someone said bad things about our house?"
"I didn't say anything bad."
"When Dad was little, I was poor and lived in a rooftop room. Was that a bad thing? Of course not. Every household has its own circumstances."
"Mhm."
"So just remember that this place and that place are both precious homes to someone. Okay? There's nothing strange about living here."
In truth, even as he said it, he still couldn't help wondering why a Hunter like Kim Giryeo would choose to live in such a shabby one-room apartment.
S-rank Hunters were distant figures to ordinary people.
They were beings who spent their time fighting terrifying monsters that most civilians would never even see.
The truly powerful Awakened—especially A-ranks and above—were usually too occupied dealing with monsters of their own caliber to appear in front of ordinary citizens.
That was how people had always thought of them.
Kiiik!
Suddenly, the cry of a bird rang out.
It was far too loud to belong to some ordinary bulbul or magpie.
The father and daughter absentmindedly looked up at the sky.
A huge winged shadow swept over their heads.
A broad white eye with a tiny pupil no larger than a grain of rice.
Red feathers scattered through the air.
And a sharp beak capable of bursting human flesh as easily as puncturing a balloon.
"Kyaaaah!"
"Heuk!"
A monster!
The father immediately realized what it was and swallowed hard.
A giant bird was circling above them, its body hunched strangely like a human child.
He couldn't even identify what species it was.
But at that size, it posed a lethal threat whether it possessed magic or not.
"D-Dad..."
"Shh!"
He pulled his daughter tightly into his arms and held his breath.
Despite his quick reaction, the monster eventually noticed them.
It twisted halfway around in the air and hovered above the ordinary father and child.
Whoosh. Whoosh.
The moment stretched suffocatingly.
The mysterious giant bird beat its wings several times, gauging the position of its prey.
Then it lowered its long neck.
It was the movement the monster always made before diving in for a kill.
"Heuk...!"
If they somehow moved forward at the exact moment the creature charged, perhaps there was the slightest possibility of surviving.
But faced with a monstrous beast several times larger than a human, their bodies simply froze.
Rustle.
Then, from the opposite end of the alley, came the sound of plastic rubbing against plastic.
Normally, such a faint sound would have vanished beneath the ordinary noise of the city.
But today, it reached their ears with bizarre clarity.
"Huh? What's that?"
The terrified father and daughter turned toward the figure emerging from the alley.
Blond hair.
A white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up.
And in one hand, a white plastic bag from a nearby discount store.
"A Beginner Killer?"
Korea's fourth S-rank Hunter.
Kim Giryeo.
The young man across the street casually raised the hand that wasn't carrying the bag.
Then, with a simple motion, he traced a short line through the air with his index finger, from bottom to top.
That was all.
"Keeek!"
And yet, following that tiny gesture, a final shriek rang out from the sky.
Wheeeee...
Boom!
The enormous bird monster crashed to the ground directly in front of the father and daughter.
Crack, crack.
Its long neck had been twisted around twice.
The creature had died instantly.
The moment Kim Giryeo spotted the monster, he had simply snapped its neck using telekinesis.
"Is this neighborhood some kind of nesting ground for Beginner Killers?"
This was the true significance of an Archmage who had finally repaired his lungs.
Giryeo casually rummaged through the fallen monster's corpse.
After confirming that it didn't contain a magic stone, he pulled out his phone.
"Yes, yes. Hello. Is this the Association's customer service center? I'd like to report something for disposal. There's one right in front of my house. No idea where it crawled out from..."
The call was brief.
Then the blond man continued on his way.
Tak, tak, tak.
The S-class Hunter gave the father and daughter, who were still standing there in stunned silence, a slight nod before walking off without another word.
Right after his reincarnation, a Beginner Killer had once made him fear for his life.
Now, dealing with the same kind of monster was as effortless as pressing an elevator button.
It was truly remarkable progress.
"_ _"
Only after the sound of his footsteps had faded into the distance did the child finally speak from her father's arms.
"Dad. I want to move here."
"Let's go home and tell Mom."
Unfortunately, for exactly the same reason, rent prices throughout the neighborhood—everywhere except the home of a certain S-rank Hunter—soon skyrocketed.
Their dream was shattered almost immediately.
He had just taught his daughter that the value of a house could never determine the value of a person.
But...
Did that mean the reverse was possible?