Kim Giryeo and Jung Haseong stepped out through the gate.
Both of them looked almost as neat as they had when they entered the dungeon, without so much as a crease in their clothes. They had roughly treated their visible injuries with healing medicine, enough to make everything appear ordinary at a glance. That alone was sufficient to avoid being questioned by the guards stationed at the gate.
Haseong, whose [White Scale Armor] was the only piece of equipment that had escaped destruction, slowly walked out while using it to conceal his torn shirt.
"Oh, right."
But just as they were about to part ways with the Association staff who had seen them off,
Giryeo stopped Haseong, who was preparing to head home, and continued their conversation.
"Haseong-ah, by the way, why did you come to the dungeon at four in the morning?"
"Yes?"
"Do you still feel like you'll fall behind if you don't keep working yourself to death these days? Isn't it about time you took another break?"
Of course, the response he received was neither agreement nor denial, but rather an awkward silence.
"Are you really the one asking me that, when you got there before I did...?"
Haseong was genuinely flustered.
At the same time, he suddenly understood how other people must have viewed him all this time.
Strangely enough, he had never really noticed it until he found himself on the receiving end of the same judgment.
A hunter going around clearing dungeons in the middle of the night...
Yeah.
From an outsider's perspective, it certainly looked strange.
He really had been worried about his own health as well. But this hadn't been part of some deliberate schedule. He had simply woken up early, been unable to fall asleep again, and ended up going out.
"Hmm."
But hadn't Hunter Kim Giryeo been inside that dungeon as though it had been part of his schedule from the beginning...?
It wasn't difficult to tell that the other man had deliberately gone there for work.
The savior who had rescued him had appeared with the stale, enclosed scent peculiar to dungeons clinging to him, as though he had already been inside for several hours.
'A dungeon-clearing machine...'
Even now, in the middle of this conversation, Hunter Kim Giryeo's expression remained completely unchanged.
Haseong showed nothing outwardly, but inwardly, a chill ran down his spine.
The Beast's attack.
And then killing the enemy after the battle.
Even after experiencing such extreme events one after another, he still maintained that same composure.
Is he really human?
Of all people, perhaps no hunter suited the cold nickname of "machine" better than this man.
'...'
Haseong quietly organized his thoughts while observing the other man's reaction.
Meanwhile, the blond man in question was thinking something entirely different.
'My hands are still shaking. Ugh, that was terrifying... As soon as I get home, I need to lock the door properly, crawl into bed, and not come out.'
As this clearly demonstrated, Giryeo was actually so frightened that he didn't even have the presence of mind to manage his expression.
To be fair, killing an Earthling itself wasn't particularly significant to an archmage who had already taken many lives with his own hands.
But Brooklyn charging at him as though she meant to tear apart the [Protection] granted by the Sacred Tree.
The overwhelming magical power of an S-class hunter.
That slow approach of death, advancing exactly as she intended.
The situation had certainly been enough to terrify even an alien.
That was the real reason Giryeo had maintained such a stiff expression until now.
"...I'm sorry about what happened in the past."
"Hm?"
From a third party's perspective, however, he simply looked cold-blooded.
Haseong, who was securing the [Sunset Sword] back into its holder, lowered his gaze.
"Back when I didn't know anything, I once criticized Hunter Kim Giryeo. I said things like, 'Why can't you even fulfill a single responsibility?' and 'How can someone be so selfish?'"
"Yeah."
"Thinking back on it now, those were incredibly presumptuous things to say."
"That's..."
"Hunter Giryeo is the kind of person who goes out clearing dungeons at this hour of the morning."
Siren.
Kagoshima.
And what had happened today.
Standing beside the hunter, the people's hero carefully recalled everything Giryeo had accomplished thus far and slightly raised the corners of his mouth.
It was a complicated smile, tinged with regret.
"Do you know that thanks to you, Hunter, I've been able to live much more peacefully lately?"
Jung Haseong said this and raised his head.
The shadow that had once lingered over the young man's face was gone.
"Come to think of it, Hunter Kim's dungeon-clear records are generally pretty low. But seeing you start hunter-related work this early in the morning..."
"Huh?"
"I suppose you were usually busy carrying out other important tasks assigned by the country."
For some reason, Giryeo closed his mouth and remained silent.
"I think I understand now why you were always worried about me. Running into another hunter at dawn really makes you think."
"..."
"I sincerely hope you don't push yourself too hard, Hunter Kim."
Although Jung Haseong received no answer, he continued speaking as though that response were entirely expected.
"Anyway, thank you for saving me today. Truly. I'm always grateful."
Haseong repeatedly expressed his gratitude, saying that he had only narrowly survived thanks to Giryeo.
At the same time, however, he unconsciously began belittling his own abilities.
He had been caught off guard by the sudden attack, yes, but even after using a high-level potion, he still couldn't understand how he had ended up being defeated so completely.
At this rate, even after all the lessons he'd received to build experience, perhaps fighting alongside that person would remain impossible.
"Haha..."
As he spoke, the anxiety welling inside him made Haseong break into a cold sweat without realizing it.
His mentor, however, responded calmly.
The fire mage had not lost because he lacked skill.
The alien archmage decided to take today's incident as a lesson and personally correct the small weakness his disciple had revealed.
And some time later.
The weekend returned.
During that lesson, Giryeo proposed a different kind of training than usual.
He said he hadn't realized Haseong was so weak in fights against other people and had therefore prepared a new curriculum.
"Yes?"
The method the archmage had devised to overcome that weakness was simple.
Practice setting someone on fire.
From Giryeo's perspective, Haseong had lost because his gentle nature prevented him from harming his fellow humans.
So he proposed reducing Haseong's aversion to using his abilities on people, allowing him to gain an advantage in future fights against other Awakeners.
And naturally, the target of this training would be the body of a certain three-eyed Sambagean.
"Wait. You're saying you want me to use my abilities on you, Hunter Kim Giryeo?"
Upon hearing those words, Haseong refused with his face half-drained of color.
As always, however, his will had very little influence over the lesson.
"What, then? Next time some lunatic like the Beast charges at you, are you just going to stand there and let yourself get beaten?"
Giryeo intended to use this opportunity to make absolutely certain that Haseong learned how to protect himself.
"Excuse me, but I really don't think Hunter Kim Giryeo understands that this kind of thing isn't normal...?"
"I know."
"Yes?"
"I know that now. I'm aware of everything, and I'm still telling you to do it."
And so, unable to resist his instructor's pressure, Jung Haseong overcame his weakness through an extremely harsh method.
Seeing that the fire mage was now capable of deliberately setting another person ablaze, Giryeo gave him a satisfied compliment.
Twisted though it may have been, this too was his way of caring for his student.
***
Monday came around.
"Hmm."
While everyone else was busy heading off to work, I finished preparing an early lunch and placed the simple homemade meal on the table.
As you can probably tell from this scene, things on my end had completely returned to normal.
Since I dealt with the situation before Kang Changho woke up, I was never subjected to any questioning.
And because all traces of the battle vanished when the dungeon reset at 6:30, every concern I'd had about the aftermath disappeared without incident.
From now on, all I had to do was maintain stability and avoid getting dragged into any unnecessary trouble.
'Why does it feel like something unfortunate happens every single time I try to gain anything?'
Of course, it was disappointing that I hadn't accomplished my original objective.
But since I'd already obtained the by-product I needed, time was the only thing left.
I could think about how to acquire a new body later.
And so, I decided to stay home and continue constructing the dummy meant to deceive my contractor.
[Breaking News.]
On the eighth day of the lunar calendar.
More precisely, it was the day after the boss had been killed, and one day after Brooklyn's death.
Around then, a breaking-news alert about the clearing of [Mimic City] appeared on my phone, but to be honest, I didn't feel anything in particular.
[...Mimic City was a dungeon in which a boss monster appeared once specific traps had been cleared.]
Right.
It was only a C-grade dungeon.
If the Earthlings seriously set their minds to clearing it, there was no reason they wouldn't succeed.
The dungeon possessed a special escape mechanism called 'transfer.' Once the boss was killed, everyone inside was forcibly teleported outside.
In other words, it triggered a teleportation effect similar to the one we'd previously seen at the [White Tower] gate.
The announcer congratulated everyone on successfully clearing the gate and went on to explain various related details.
But in the end, there wasn't a single mention of the Beast's whereabouts.
'Brooklyn Morgan.'
However,
'Hmm.'
Even if things were quiet for now, there were definitely people in this world who already knew that Brooklyn was dead.
'Are they deliberately suppressing the information...?'
Because Brooklyn Morgan's body had been bound by an unidentified [Knight's Oath].
"The spell has a distinctive structure. If you pay close enough attention, you can distinguish it from an ordinary curse."
And that item included a function that notified the other party upon the contract holder's death.
The person who had entered into that firm agreement with the American S-rank hunter was the only one capable of knowing the exact moment Brooklyn died.
The gate had already reset, and the dungeon itself had now been cleared, so I doubted any physical evidence remained.
Still...
"Hmm."
I shifted my gaze and rose from my seat.
"There's nothing I can do about it."
Anyway, even if someone traced the murder back to me, it wouldn't matter much since I was planning to change bodies eventually.
I pretended to think the problem over for a moment before quickly dismissing it from my mind.
After that, I decided to eat something delicious, restore my strength, and diligently continue my research.
By the way, today's menu was doenjang-jjigae with zucchini and tofu.
Recently, I'd discovered that this body possessed at least one surprisingly useful talent.
Apparently, our Giryeo was quite good at making stew.
***
Day 1 after Brooklyn's death.
[AA New Chat Room]
[P: I checked the message.]
[Youth: Oh my god! We lost Morgan! How the hell did you manage things, you idiot! :t]
[Youth: I knew we should've stopped that stupid game a long time ago.]
[SPECTRUM: Like I knew it would end like this? We only found out recently that Morgan was the Beast. Who would've imagined that crazy woman would keep doing something like that while sleeping only two hours a day? Besides, none of you tried to stop her at first. When you heard she was going around killing Awakeners, you practically encouraged her, saying it was a good thing.]
[333: I'm concerned.]
[333: You should have put a proper leash on her from the beginning. If you'd trained her so she couldn't do anything without your permission, we wouldn't be dealing with this mess.]
[SPECTRUM: LMAD (laughing while crying emoticon)]
[SPECTRUM: If I'd forced through negotiations like that and an S-rank Hunter had snapped, I would've been the one left taking all the blame.]
[SPECTRUM: I already imposed restrictions through additional contracts so that woman couldn't touch certain individuals. I took every precaution I reasonably could from my position.]
[SPECTRUM: Anyway, someone who barely got in by throwing money around sure has a lot to say.]
[P: Calm down.]
[Youth: Friends, putting that aside, what are we supposed to do now? The deadline is almost here. Do you seriously think we can manage without Morgan?!]
[SPECTRUM: Don't worry. I still have two more.]
[Youth: But how exactly did Morgan die...]
[SPECTRUM: Before she died, surveillance confirmed that Brooklyn entered Mimic City under her own identity. Honestly, there was nothing inside capable of killing an S-rank, so someone definitely murdered her. The problem is that the damn gate-entry records are missing one critical piece of information.]
[Youth: Entry time. And exit time.]
[SPECTRUM: F***. There were too many S-rank Hunters going in and out of that place in a single night. Still, I think the most likely culprit is either China or Korea, since both had at least two people enter together.]
[Youth: That's a dangerous accusation.]
[P: What worries me even more is that there's roughly a fifty-percent chance the culprit is Korean.]
[333: Agreed.]
[SPECTRUM: Mr. P, there's no chance this incident will cause me to lose my rights, is there?]
[P: Hmm...]
[P: No.]
[SPECTRUM: Right. Then what do we do about the EX-class dungeon Brooklyn was handling?]
[P: If we leave it alone, it'll retreat on its own. The rewards from that gate are worthless anyway, so don't worry about it. Focus on your own work.]
.
And on the third day.
"Slurp."
Several days had passed since the Beast was dealt with.
[This is shocking news.]
It seemed the United States had tried to conceal the unprecedented disappearance of its most famous hunter.
But in this era, suppressing information was no easy task.
Eventually, the System Guild reached its limit and officially acknowledged that Brooklyn Morgan was missing.
While the world descended into chaos, the alien sat absentmindedly eating in one corner of his room.
Ever since discovering that his current body was unexpectedly talented at making stews, he had been experimenting with various dishes, including kimchi-jjigae and doenjang-jjigae.
"No, seriously, this is really good. Should I quit being a Hunter and open a restaurant instead?"
It was a peaceful day.
Despite having personally killed an S-rank Hunter, he was somehow continuing to live an eerily ordinary life.
However, roughly forty-eight hours later, just before the uproar surrounding Brooklyn Morgan's disappearance had fully died down, the archmage's gaze fell upon a newly posted article while he was eating.
[China, Controversy Arises Over Plans to Host an International Tournament...]
'A tournament where magic is allowed?'
Taking advantage of the ongoing turmoil, one East Asian nation drew public attention by announcing plans for a certain international event.