Chapter 118

On the afternoon of the twenty-eighth.

【Gampo Port】

Tap, tap.

The blond man stepped out of the taxi and leisurely surveyed his surroundings.

Sea bass, snow crab, flatfish.

There was no need to search far. The street was lined with restaurants and shops selling all kinds of seafood.

‘I’m hungry. I should eat something first.’

Kim Kiryeo headed towards a nearby raw-fish restaurant.

But why had a Hunter from Seoul suddenly travelled all the way to such a remote place?

“I’ll have the monkfish stew, please.”

There was, in fact, an unavoidable reason.

After his recent remark about the “difference in their levels” had left his relationship with Haseong in an awkward state, Kim Kiryeo had decided to ignore any dungeon breaks that occurred from that point onwards.

‘This isn’t something I can fix by dismissing it as a slip of the tongue. It’s only a matter of time before Jung Haseong gets angry with me anyway...!’

The country’s top-ranked Hunter placed an excessive amount of importance on fulfilling his duties.

Meanwhile, Kim Kiryeo possessed nowhere near the power expected of someone with his status.

Wasn’t conflict between them inevitable sooner or later?

That was why Kiryeo had no choice but to leave.

Because Gates preferred locations with an abundance of prey, traps appeared more frequently in densely populated areas such as the capital. Naturally, that also meant more accidents.

‘The concentration of high-risk Gates is especially overwhelming. In fact, roughly thirty-two percent of all A-class Gates appear in Seoul.’

An S-rank dungeon break was also far more likely to occur in the capital.

Therefore, Kiryeo had travelled to this distant city so that, should anything happen, he would have an excuse for being unable to help because he was too far away.

It was a remarkably unconvincing reason for a trip.

“Here’s your monkfish stew. Enjoy your meal.”

“Thank you.”

‘The ocean!’

Since he had already come this far, Kim Kiryeo intended to use the opportunity to explore Earth’s seas.

‘I’m looking forward to it.’

Still, it would be a shame to head straight for the water without looking around first.

According to what he had found online, the area surrounding the port contained quite a few tourist attractions.

‘Should I explore the land before visiting the sea?’

Kiryeo finished his meal with a satisfied expression.

At last, it was time to enjoy the cultural experiences he had always dreamed of.

Oh, right.

He suddenly remembered that he had forgotten to tell Kang Changho about leaving the area.

‘Will that be all right?’

That stalker would probably track his location anyway.

Well...

Even if it wasn’t all right, their last conversation had made things awkward enough that calling him first felt uncomfortable.

‘Come to think of it, Kang Changho hasn’t contacted me at all since then.’

Kim Kiryeo tried to ignore the unease creeping into his thoughts.

He was the fourth S-rank Hunter. Surely nothing serious could happen to him.

As long as he didn’t want to get hurt, he wouldn’t recklessly charge into danger.

No, he absolutely must not do that...

***

Soon afterwards, I began visiting the nearby attractions I had found online.

My first stop was the Mural Alley.

‘I still don’t understand what is supposed to be enjoyable about wandering through ordinary streets, but at least I learned something about Earth’s culture!’

Next, I visited the lighthouse that one blogger had praised enthusiastically.

It was a type of structure that did not exist in my homeland, so seeing it in person was rather interesting.

‘Now that I think about it, how do Earthlings keep their ships afloat? Do they truly not use magic?’

The third place I encountered was an enormous cocoon coated in colour.

Oh?

The way its outer surface writhed made it look almost alive.

How had they constructed such an impressive landmark—

“...”

Wait.

Had this appeared among the tourist attractions I searched for?

‘Of course not.’

Only after examining it more carefully did I realise that the object before me was not a local landmark at all.

It was the site of a disaster.

Even in a place where people lived, dungeon breaks could not be avoided entirely.

‘What in the world is this?’

The mysterious structure I had encountered on my way towards the beach was so loosely woven that its interior remained clearly visible.

For the moment, I decided against approaching it carelessly.

Its surface did not appear to be made from thread.

Rather, it felt as though some kind of animal flesh had been stretched into thin strands.

‘No. It doesn’t merely resemble living tissue. It actually is living tissue!’

Thump.

Thump.

I frowned as I stared at the enormous pulsating cocoon.

‘Hmm?’

That was when it happened.

Murmur, murmur.

The sound of people talking came from somewhere nearby.

I followed the voices and discovered two men engaged in conversation.

“Was the Hunter the only one who made it out alive?”

“H-Ha... Yes. Only me. I barely managed to escape...”

“This is a serious problem.”

Judging from the familiar identification tag, the taller man appeared to be an employee of the association.

I listened discreetly and gathered several useful pieces of information.

‘Oh?’

Apparently, the red cocoon had been formed as the result of a C-rank Gate break.

“How did this happen? It was supposed to be a D-rank Gate. But when we ran it through the analyser, it came back as C-rank. Why?”

“W-We’re still trying to determine the cause...”

“What about our team leader? Hngh... I should have brought the team leader out, no matter what...!”

It also seemed that the body of a D-rank Awakener caught in the disaster remained inside.

‘A corpse?’

Then an idea flashed through my mind.

‘The corpse of a D-rank Awakener who died only moments ago?’

Interesting.

I had been planning to replace my current body with a better one.

Naturally, that plan required a new vessel.

A D-rank Awakener’s body ought to be more than adequate for the initial experiments involving my magic.

“Hunter, let’s return to the association for now. It’s too dangerous here.”

“B-But can we really leave it like this? What if someone passing by approaches without realising what it is?”

“Don’t worry. We’ve already called for reinforcements. The area will be sealed off shortly.”

I watched them leave and made my decision.

‘Perhaps I should take a quick look and confirm the condition of the dead Hunter they mentioned.’

In a country where cremation was common, opportunities to acquire an intact corpse were rare.

‘It would be wise to secure a replacement body in advance.’

I smiled as I looked towards the entrance of the writhing nest.

Stealing a corpse might have been a crime horrifying enough to scandalise Earthlings.

But what sense of morality could they possibly expect from an Alphauri?

A shell from which the soul had already departed held no meaning.

Surely it was better for a great wizard to make use of it than to leave it to decay.

***

I entered the cocoon at last.

Humming quietly, I surveyed the scarlet interior.

Just as I had heard, monsters were roaming throughout the nest.

One creature possessed a narrow body and thin arms, resembling a pigeon walking upright on two legs.

It was probably the C-class monster responsible for creating the flesh cocoon.

“Kiik!”

Honestly, there was no need to fear it.

I already possessed a means of defending myself against C-rank attacks.

Clang!

As expected, the creature’s thin arms bounced harmlessly off the item Gu Seohyeong had enhanced.

“This is the power of having connections!”

Hahaha.

With my safety assured, I advanced quickly.

Ignoring the monster screeching beside me, I walked through pools of blood.

After some time, I finally found the dead Hunter the men outside had been discussing.

A woman with sky-blue hair hung limply in the middle of the passage.

“Hm. A female body. I wasn’t expecting that.”

Still, she appeared suitable enough to serve as a vessel.

I decided to retrieve the corpse immediately.

But then I discovered that I was not the only creature interested in the Hunter’s body.

“Grrrrrr...”

The monster had thick blue fur and spindly arms resembling those of a gnat.

At first glance, it did not seem particularly different from the other creatures I had encountered.

What distinguished it was the weapon clenched in its hands.

Unlike the rest, this creature possessed intelligence.

It was undoubtedly the sole leader of the nest.

“Ghaaaaaah!”

Upon noticing me, the monster opened its jaws and released a piercing shriek.

I ignored it and continued focusing on retrieving the corpse.

“Oh, what a fortunate discovery. Seen up close, the body is almost completely undamaged.”

Urgh.

I lifted the nameless D-class Hunter into my arms and stood.

“Ah!”

And at that moment—

Whoosh!

The boss hurled its spear directly at me.

Naturally, the projectile struck the protective barrier generated by my enhanced ring and failed to reach my body.

Yes.

That much had gone exactly as expected.

The real problem began afterwards.

Crack!

An ominous sound rang out, and the shield surrounding me vanished in an instant.

“Huh?”

Only then did I understand.

Gu Seohyeong’s enhancement had never been permanent.

The primitive magic of Earth possessed absurdly low limits, both in duration and in the amount of damage it could withstand.

“...Did the enchantment disappear?”

The attack had exhausted the magic surrounding the ring all at once.

Which meant that, at that very moment, I was...

“Why now?”

Facing a C-rank boss with no proper means of defence.

I did not waste time thinking.

The instant I sensed the enchantment fading, I dropped the corpse and ran forwards.

“My luck is unbelievable!”

Unfortunately, the monster’s reaction speed was equally impressive.

The moment its first attack was blocked, it summoned another weapon from thin air and immediately prepared to throw again.

“Kwak!”

Whoosh—thud!

Bones shattered.

Flesh tore.

The monster’s spear pierced straight through my body.

The blood spraying from the wound merely added to the pools already covering the floor of the cocoon.

.

.

.

And yet...

The apparent life-or-death crisis was resolved with surprising ease.

[Surprise Box!]

[Grade: Unique]

[Description: Inflicts a powerful [Stun] effect over the surrounding area.]

Because during my last visit to the market, I had purchased a new magical item.

“Damn it! I nearly died!”

Originally, I had gone there to buy an item for Gu Seohyeong to enhance.

But while looking through the shops, this particular object had caught my attention.

[Surprise Box!]

It was a magical tool capable of inflicting a status effect with a ninety-five percent chance of stunning even B-rank monsters.

According to the shop assistant, the effect did not distinguish between enemies and the owner, which made the item far more difficult to use than one might expect.

‘That would only be a concern for an inferior wizard.’

This was another situation in which my unique trait proved invaluable.

Because low-level stun magic had no effect on me, I could use [Surprise Box!] far more effectively than an ordinary Hunter.

For example, I could stun only my opponent while remaining upright myself.

“Urgh...!”

In any case, I should not have underestimated it merely because it was C-rank.

To avoid repeating the same mistake, I dealt with the aftermath thoroughly.

While the boss remained unconscious, I burned its heart and stopped its breathing so that it could not awaken during my escape.

“Hrrk!”

Without the Pyromancer’s Necklace, even an attack this simple would have been impossible.

Truly, no matter how many times I considered it, Kim Kiryeo was a worthless Awakener with no potential whatsoever.

Still, it did not matter.

Only a few days remained before I would be free of this wretched existence.

‘Now that I’ve finished what I came here to do, it’s time to leave!’

With the boss dead, I lifted the fallen Hunter’s body once more and headed towards the exit.

Unlike when I entered, I carefully avoided the remaining monsters.

Yes.

As long as I escaped safely, a D-rank body would finally be mine.

Click!

But the moment I stepped out of the cocoon, a familiar sound reached my ears.

Click.

Click.

‘A camera shutter?’

At the end of my stiffly turning gaze stood a crowd that had not been there before.

“Hrk!”

“Oh my.”

“That’s...”

A murmur swept through them.

Association employees.

A woman holding a camera.

An elderly man.

And several other non-Awakened civilians.

I had no idea why they were all gathered there.

But one thing was certain.

‘Hmm. How many years in prison does theft carry under this country’s laws?’

I had just been caught stealing in broad daylight.