Chapter 113

Kiryeo had been imagining his own death, his face tense, when a voice came from the other end.

“Hello.”

The greeting was not so different from the one he himself would have chosen.

The pitch was similar. So was the cadence. And yet, perhaps because their natural voices were different, the other man sounded nothing like him. His voice was beautiful, carrying the unmistakable force of immense awakened power.

If only someone blessed with so much could also possess boundless understanding.

***

“I apologize for what I said during the last interview. You must have been taken aback by my comments on television, and I’d like to use this opportunity to apologize properly.”

What?

“I suppose I misunderstood you at the time, Kim Kiryeo-ssi... I truly had no idea that you were concealing your awakening rank under the Association President’s orders.”

What?

“But anything I say now will probably sound like an excuse. Back then... all I knew was that you were an S-Class Hunter, and I felt betrayed. If you were that powerful, why hadn’t you helped me before I became completely exhausted? Those thoughts became twisted into resentment...”

What?

What was happening?

Had his earlier prayer actually worked?

They had been trapped in this isolated prison for barely five minutes, yet Kim Kiryeo now found himself in the middle of an entirely unexpected conversation. It was hardly surprising that he was confused. The moment they were alone, Jung Haseong had bowed his head and offered a sincere apology.

‘W-Was that why he criticized me during the interview?’

When Jung Haseong saw that Kim Kiryeo had captured the Inevitable Malice, he had experienced a complicated succession of emotions.

First came relief and joy at seeing the monster subdued. Then came the expectation that Kim Kiryeo would finally begin taking an active role. And finally, there was the sense of betrayal that followed the revelation that he was, in fact, the hidden fourth S-Class Hunter.

How furious must Jung Haseong have been to discover that the man who had warned him not to overwork himself—and had even treated his injuries—was supposedly an S-Class pretending to be an F-Class?

‘Well, if another S-Class had shared the burden, he wouldn’t have been driven so hard...’

That was why Jung Haseong had announced his intention to expose Kim Kiryeo’s disguise.

But, as subsequent events had shown...

“I’m sorry.”

Jung Haseong apologized with perfect courtesy, explaining that he had never imagined there were circumstances beyond Kiryeo’s control.

Apparently, this Earthling had accepted the flimsy excuse concocted by the ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) Association President without question.

‘I’m alive!’

Thank goodness.

Had the Association President’s explanation failed, Kiryeo might already have been reduced to ash by an S-Class flame.

“Forget it. Why bring that up now?”

‘W-What is this? All the hostility is gone.’

For a moment, Kiryeo was bewildered by Jung Haseong’s unexpectedly gentle demeanor. He did not dwell on it for long, however. The man had only recently returned after several months of rest.

Under those circumstances, the change was entirely understandable.

‘He must have spent so long relaxing somewhere pleasant that he completely forgot I struck him in the back.’

In any case, now that the greatest obstacle—the discord between him and Jung Haseong—had disappeared, Kiryeo had nothing left to fear.

The two immediately began searching for a way out of the trap.

Clang. Clang.

“It doesn’t seem as though the coordinates are far from where we were before...”

“I’ll try melting the bars.”

“Don’t. Stay still.”

This was an EX-rank dungeon. Even its traps resembled elaborate puzzle games, as though they had been designed to test the intelligence of whatever creatures entered them.

Before the two Hunters stood a mysterious prison filled with scattered clues and unfamiliar mechanisms.

‘Are numbers the key again?’

Jung Haseong tilted his head as he examined the structure in the center of the room.

It was a round container with an open top, somewhat like a bucket used to draw water from a well.

[3.5]

A number glowed on the side of the low structure.

Aside from that inscription, there was nothing remarkable about it, which only made the situation more perplexing.

But that was no problem.

After all, a great magician capable of instantly discerning the structure of magical devices was standing right there.

A sharp-eyed magician like him had no need to struggle through every intermediate step. He could simply leap straight to the answer.

“Aha.”

Kiryeo reached into his coat pocket and pulled something out.

It was a small packet of desiccant, the kind commonly found inside newly purchased clothing.

“Desiccant?”

Whoosh.

Kiryeo tossed the useless packet into the device.

At once, the bright red digits displayed on its surface shifted into a new arrangement.

[3.49]

The number had changed.

“What did you do?”

“I was checking how it works. It’s a weight-based puzzle.”

“Ah...!”

“Let’s see. Judging by the change in the number, the unit must be kilograms.”

At that, Jung Haseong also seemed to understand how they might escape the prison.

“Will the bars open once we reach 3.5 kilograms?”

Kiryeo gave him a dark look.

“It has to be exact, down to the second decimal place. If we exceed the required weight, there will probably be an immediate penalty.”

“A penalty?”

Kiryeo gave him a brief explanation.

“This room may look empty, but there are weapons concealed inside the walls.”

“...!”

“So be careful. And whatever you do, don’t use an awakening skill. That will trigger the trap as well.”

Tap. Tap.

Kim Kiryeo rapped his fingers against the mottled prison wall.

The danger of exceeding 3.5 kilograms was not their only problem. Simply reaching the required weight would be difficult enough.

“Nothing we currently have weighs exactly the right amount...”

Even if they sacrificed every piece of clothing they were wearing, would they manage to gather two kilograms?

And what would they use for the rest?

A moment later, Jung Haseong tried to retrieve a potion to make up the missing weight, but—

“What?”

The S-Class Hunter’s expression stiffened.

‘The item box won’t open.’

Most of his belongings were sealed inside it.

“Why now...?”

“There’s a powerful spatial-transfer effect surrounding this place. It’s interfering with the item box as well. You’ll have to leave this area before you can access it again.”

Skills were prohibited.

Item boxes were inaccessible.

And there were additional restrictions on top of that.

This truly was a high-difficulty prison.

“Hah...”

Even so, there was no reason for Jung Haseong to look quite so dejected.

“Hey. Even if your item box worked, I wouldn’t let you use anything from it.”

“What?”

“Anything you carry is bound to be top quality. How could we waste it in a place like this? We’d have to break it into pieces, divide it up... No. Forget it.”

There had to be a more efficient solution.

‘What should I do? Use magic and accept the penalty?’

As Kim Kiryeo considered possible ways to overcome the trap, an idea suddenly flashed through his mind.

“Ah! That should work.”

“What?”

To put his plan into action, however, he would need something sharp—something far more precise than the blunt [Screaming Stake].

“Jung Haseong.”

The Hunter immediately lowered his gaze toward Kiryeo’s waist.

“Could you help me for a moment?”

At Jung Haseong’s side hung the red longsword the national hero always carried.

***

Meanwhile, outside the prison—

“As I thought, we can’t keep doing nothing!”

Esther and Seonwoo Yeon were rapidly approaching the limits of their sanity.

Two S-Class Hunters had vanished yet again.

With no reliable method of tracking the missing pair, they had remained in the hall, unwilling to risk stumbling into another trap. But they could no longer simply stand there and wait.

The others had been gone for thirty full minutes.

‘Something is wrong! Even setting aside his supposed S-Class rank, Kim Kiryeo is a capable appraiser who passed our guild’s trials!’

Overcome with anxiety, Esther and Seonwoo Yeon could no longer remain still.

They decided to search behind every iron door, regardless of whether opening one led to success or disaster, until they found their missing companions.

Creeeak—clank!

At that moment, however, something unexpected happened.

One of the eight iron doors connected to the hall suddenly swung open.

“Huh?”

A moment later, two Hunters emerged through it.

One was Korea’s famous number-one-ranked Hunter.

The other was the fourth S-Class Hunter, who had apparently been caught in the same trap.

“Kiryeo-ssi!”

“Oh my.”

Kim Kiryeo held up the key in his hand.

“Sorry we took so long.”

At first glance, he appeared entirely unchanged from the moment he had disappeared.

He was immaculate. Every button on his long coat remained fastened, and not so much as a speck of dust marred his clothing.

“By the way, once we escaped the trap, I found this key hanging on the inside of the door...”

For some reason, however, the people in the hall could hardly concentrate on what he was saying.

“Hello?”

Behind the F-Class Hunter stood Jung Haseong.

His face had gone deathly pale.

“Hunter Jung Haseong! Are you all right?”

“K-Kiryeo-ssi, what kind of trap were you caught in? Was it dangerous?”

Faced with their worried expressions, Kim Kiryeo readily explained.

The trap had required them to place a precise weight into a particular device. The target had been approximately three kilograms. There had also been several additional restrictions and dangers.

“No, then why does Haseong look like that?”

Nothing Kiryeo had said explained Jung Haseong’s condition.

Esther demanded a proper answer.

“Oh, that.”

Kim Kiryeo opened his mouth as though the matter were of no importance.

“It was difficult to persuade him in there. I told him I had a way to get us out, but he refused to cooperate...”

“What?”

“We couldn’t use skills. We couldn’t access our item boxes. So how else were we supposed to reach exactly 3.5 kilograms with nothing but what we had on us?”

His voice remained perfectly flat.

“I merely suggested the quickest way out.”

The quickest way out?

“People always carry a certain amount of mass.”

Even after hearing that, Esther still failed to understand the full implication.

“I said I would use my own body to make up the missing weight, so I don’t understand why he made such a fuss.”

But once an explanation became that detailed, even the slowest listener would eventually grasp its meaning.

“What did you put on the scale?”

“My body.”

“...”

“To be precise, my right arm.”

Silence fell.

Esther and Seonwoo Yeon finally understood what he meant, and their expressions froze.

Kim Kiryeo continued in the same unconcerned tone.

“Since it would have been difficult to prepare it by myself, I only asked Jung Haseong to handle that part for a moment.”

“...”

“He is accustomed to using a sword, after all.”

That clarification made the reason for the national hero’s condition painfully obvious.

“What in the world did you do to Jung Haseong?!”

Esther shouted in horror.

Kiryeo’s expression did not change.

He genuinely believed there had been nothing wrong with his strategy.

‘Why are they making such a commotion? An arm can be restored with a potion. These primitive creatures truly have no understanding of cost-benefit calculations.’

Flinch!

When Kiryeo casually turned his head, Jung Haseong visibly recoiled.

Seeing that reaction, the F-Class Hunter immediately stepped toward him and held out his hand.

“Hey, Jung Haseong.”

He spoke with obvious frustration.

“Look. My arm is perfectly fine, isn’t it? So stop being angry and look at it properly.”

“...”

“We had no other choice. If we had stayed in there, we might have starved to death—or been skewered by the weapons hidden in the walls.”

But as Kiryeo studied Jung Haseong’s face from up close, he suddenly noticed something else.

“Hm? What is this? I thought you were angry because you raised your voice earlier...”

Rustle.

Kiryeo leaned forward and stared directly at the Earthling.

Then he reached a conclusion.

“Are you, perhaps... frightened right now?”

How could a creature standing at the very top of this planet’s food chain possibly be frightened?

“Why?”

Kiryeo had adjusted the weight.

He had taken care of the recovery himself.

The S-Class Hunter had not suffered so much as a scratch.

Kiryeo stared at him in genuine incomprehension.

But Jung Haseong gave no answer.

He remained utterly still, like a mouse trapped beneath the gaze of a snake.

Having witnessed the alien’s grotesque behavior firsthand, Jung Haseong was deeply shaken.

“I’m sorry. Please give me a moment to collect myself...”

In other words, the archmage had unintentionally terrified the Hunter.