The alien wearing a human body thought to himself.
‘I think we can win.’
Given the current situation, with the full support of an S-rank curse, it shouldn’t take Jung Haseong long to overpower the opponent standing before him.
Tuk.
But the moment a certain sensation brushed against his skin, Kim Giryeo’s expression immediately stiffened.
Tuk, tuk...
A faint, dull tap, like something chilled in a freezer lightly striking a person’s arm.
Such an insignificant sensation.
Water.
It was a drop of water.
Tuk, tuk, tuk...
Whoosh...
Soon, the sky began pouring water down as though a massive tank had sprung countless holes.
This was something Giryeo truly hadn’t expected.
He had noticed the thick clouds hanging overhead, giving off a damp and oppressive atmosphere, but apparently they had finally manifested as a summer downpour.
The archmage, an alien unfamiliar with atmospheric phenomena, stared blankly at the sky as it spat cold water down upon him.
‘Oh my...’
At this rate, the situation was about to change drastically.
A downpour.
The surrounding humidity shot upward, while the temperature dropped.
Most importantly, the constant supply of moisture made rain an almost natural disaster for fire mages.
After all, how could it possibly be easy to start a fire in water?
‘That’s why fire mages were so rare in my homeland...’
From this moment onward, Jung Haseong would have to expend more than twice his usual mana just to cast a spell.
Naturally, the rainwater would also cause considerable interference when he tried to establish the coordinates for his magic.
‘I’m screwed.’
No matter how much he had studied or trained, Giryeo’s disciple was, by nature, a hopelessly clumsy mage.
And now, of all things, this unexpected variable had appeared.
‘Huuh.’
Within the span of three seconds, Kim Giryeo let out a deep sigh and ran a brief simulation through his mind.
More specifically, he imagined what would happen if Jung Haseong and Kang Changho resumed their fight in this environment.
As expected, the result was not good.
Jung Haseong still possessed one fundamental weakness—one that, most likely, could never be corrected.
So how could Giryeo recklessly assume that his disciple would be able to defeat that man?
‘It’s raining.’
While Jung Haseong watched for an opportunity to recover, his expression tense, the man with dragon-like eyes looked down at the increasingly soaked ground and spoke first.
“Come to think of it, I forgot to check the weather forecast for Incheon.”
“-_-”
“Representative Seo, and even Jung Haseong... They’re both incredibly powerful people, yet they’re willing to go so far as to commit crimes just to protect you. Honestly, until just a moment ago, I was pretty jealous of Hunter Giryeo’s connections, you know?”
“Crime?”
“But at least the sky seems to be on my side. Oh, and the crime I was talking about was assault.”
Kim Giryeo cast a wary glance at Kang Changho as the man continued speaking.
The enormous figure before him could behave amicably one moment, only to suddenly change his attitude and seize the initiative the next.
‘What if he suddenly charges at Haseong again while talking normally like this...?’
Kang Changho would never pass up such a rare opportunity.
A battle in a torrential downpour—even one lasting only three minutes—would be deadly for a fire mage.
Having reached that conclusion, Kim Giryeo swallowed dryly.
However—
“Anyway, shall we call it a day here?”
The words that came out of Kang Changho’s mouth next were completely unexpected.
“Because it’s raining.”
Whoosh.
No one answered.
The sound of rain filled the empty silence between them.
“Why is everyone so surprised? What, did you think I’d lose all sense of judgment and keep fighting in a situation like this?”
“Kang Changho.”
“It’s only a shower. It won’t last long. And more importantly, I’m badly outnumbered.”
Kang Changho raised his burned arm and wiped the rainwater trickling down his face.
Then he gave a quiet chuckle.
“Even I can’t win three-on-one against S-rankers.”
“-_-”
“Since it’s raining anyway, let’s stop wasting time and wrap up this pointless business. Jung Haseong! Don’t you think this is much better?”
Only moments ago, he had been charging at the younger hunter as though intending to crush his skull.
And now he was suddenly raising the white flag?
Jung Haseong apparently couldn’t understand it either, judging from the way his brow furrowed.
But whether black-haired or blond, neither man found it easy to speak.
“Hmm. Looks like your magic still hasn’t settled down.”
“-_-”
“So what are you going to do? If we keep fighting like this, one of you will probably lose a leg or two before anyone can claim victory. Is that really something that benefits our dear Jung Haseong?”
Korea’s third S-rank hunter widened his eyes with what seemed like genuine incomprehension.
“Besides, you can’t kill people.”
“That’s...?”
“So what exactly are you going to accomplish by clinging to me here? Hey, Hunter Jung. Suppression only works when you’re overwhelmingly stronger than the other person to begin with...”
“-_-”
“Oh. Wait. Did that dyed-hair guy solve that problem for you too?”
What followed was a vicious remark aimed directly at Jung Haseong’s weakest point.
“Did Kim Giryeo teach you how to casually kill someone in broad daylight and still sleep soundly afterward? That’s bad. Now I’ll have to start carrying my wallet whenever I run away too.”
He was referring to an incident that had briefly surfaced in the media.
Kang Changho continued speaking calmly, almost as though he were making a light joke.
But the listener reacted immediately.
Swoosh.
Jung Haseong clenched his fists so hard that his fingers flushed red.
He held his breath, and his chin began trembling uncontrollably.
The surge of negative emotion caused his magic to destabilize.
Giryeo didn’t know the details of the incident, but that didn’t stop him from cutting off any further questioning with a sharp reprimand.
“You crazy b*stard, can’t you shut your damn mouth?”
But the voice that answered him was calm and almost refreshing.
“Kim Giryeo. This really isn’t the time for you to be worrying about someone else, is it?”
Tuk, tuk—tuk...
The relentless rain continued pouring down.
Unlike the pyromancers, Kang Changho seemed completely unbothered by water.
Without hesitation, he pointed through the rain toward someone, the corners of his lips curling into a smirk.
“Let’s wait and see.”
What came next was an old, worn-out phrase that hardly seemed threatening anymore.
Just wait and see.
It was the sort of thing some insignificant street thug might spit out after being beaten senseless by someone stronger.
And yet, for some reason, the words carried a completely different weight this time.
“Let’s take our time and see what kind of consequences this brings later.”
Perhaps it was because the man threatening them still hadn’t lost his smile, even with blood dripping from one eye.
“And you, Jung Haseong. Stop glaring at people already.”
Sssk.
Kang Changho turned his back on the awakened individuals openly displaying hostility toward him and walked in another direction.
He went to retrieve the belongings he had left nearby.
“I may have spoken a little harshly without realizing it, because people who had nothing to do with this kept interfering. But actually, I’m the person here who cares about you more than anyone else.”
“F*ck! What did you say?”
“I didn’t know you could curse too. Well, anyway... I meant what I said, so keep it in mind. Even now, I’m doing my best to save you.”
After packing his belongings into a polyester Boston bag, Kang Changho turned back toward them.
The bewilderment that had appeared in his eyes earlier was gone, but another emotion still lingered there.
Doubt.
Suspicion.
Discomfort.
And perhaps...
“Today, it was me. Next time, it’ll be you.”
Kang Changho pointed an index finger toward Jung Haseong as he finished speaking.
“Come to think of it, there’s no rule saying a hunter who hid his rank from the entire country would only lie to one person.”
Those were the last words his opponent left behind.
Soon afterward, Kang Changho quickly disappeared from the area in the vehicle he had arrived in.
Jung Haseong seemed to want to stop him.
But from the flow of mana around Kang Changho, it was clear that even after turning his back, he was still prepared to shatter the potion if his enemy tried to recover.
Only after Kang Changho had completely left did the black-haired awakener finally drink it.
“The situation has gotten complicated.”
Naturally, whatever the convicted assailant did next was a serious concern for Giryeo as well.
But with the downpour still coming down relentlessly, and with Jung Haseong still suffering damage to both his liver and brain, the odds of defeating the enhancement-type sorcerer were not particularly high.
Understanding that they had no choice but to let Kang Changho go for now, Giryeo approached Haseong.
He watched the younger hunter’s body begin to heal and sank into thought.
‘What am I supposed to do from now on?’
For the moment, he planned to contact Esther immediately and begin putting countermeasures in place.
But what if Kang Changho managed to evade the Searchers?
With Su Yehwi, they had been fortunate that Esther happened to be an Awakener unaffected by his brainwashing.
This time, however, there would be no such one-sided hunt.
There was even a possibility that the other side would launch a public-opinion campaign first, preventing Giryeo’s side from imposing any kind of private punishment in the first place.
‘Kang Changho already has a history of quietly burying troublesome incidents through the media. There’s no way someone like him doesn’t have a plan.’
Then what on earth should he do?
For the time being, perhaps he could secure his safety by using Jung Haseong as a kind of bodyguard.
Judging from his expression, Jung Haseong already seemed to harbor considerable discomfort toward Kang Changho.
If Giryeo prodded him from the side just a little, it probably wouldn’t be difficult to make him keep fighting in Giryeo’s place...
The archmage had already identified the primitive caster’s emotional tendencies and was beginning to devise a sly plan to exploit them.
“Hunter Kim Giryeo...”
But only a few seconds later, all of the alien’s wicked schemes and ambitions collapsed into nothing.
“But... are you okay?”
It was because Jung Haseong, whose hands had still not fully healed and whose breathing carried the strained discomfort of someone suffering from pneumothorax, had spoken those words first.
“Earlier... you said something about not being in good condition. That you couldn’t use your strength...? Something like that...”
Kim Giryeo stiffened for a moment when his weakness was brought up.
But Jung Haseong showed no interest in Giryeo’s rank or strength.
Even if Giryeo revealed right here that he was actually an F-rank hunter, Jung Haseong would never become enraged by the deception the way Kang Changho had.
That much was something even the archmage—who had never once pried into the hero’s mind—could say with certainty.
Why?
“As I thought... You said you were sick before. At the budaejigae restaurant, you said you wanted to retire because of health problems. That was true... wasn’t it?”
“What?”
“Are you really okay?”
For a moment, Kim Giryeo didn’t answer the hero’s question.
Instead, another thought crossed his mind.
He was a fugitive who had spent his entire life on a planet called Alphaurt.
He had been tormented by its selfish culture until the day he moved to another world, and yet even here, he still couldn’t rid himself of those old habits.
Logically speaking, the best strategy was obvious.
He should use the number-one-ranked individual to his advantage without caring about anyone else’s well-being.
‘I may not be able to die in water, but...’
What a repulsive thought.
Crude.
Shameful.
For some reason, the idea of continuing to live like this...
didn’t appeal to him at all.
The blond hunter paused, as though recalling some forgotten sentence, and then spoke.
“It’s okay, Jung Haseong. I’ll take care of everything and finish this quickly. So stop saying unnecessary things and drink more of your medicine.”
It wasn’t a lie.
At that moment, a new and definite solution had already taken shape in Giryeo’s mind.
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