That Earthling's misunderstanding had now been identified. And as if to further confirm the alien's suspicions, the kidnapper himself brought up the subject first.
"By the way, I'm surprised."
Kang Changho began explaining, drawing on his own experience.
"The ones I've seen so far... you people? Hmm, yeah. What I mean is, you usually don't behave like this. You're always too busy trying to kill every human you come across."
First of all, judging from how casually he referred to them as "you people," it seemed he hadn't even bothered giving those creatures a proper name in his mind.
"So you released all those monsters into the world, and now you're pretending you're here to save people...?"
As the conversation continued, the truth became clearer.
Kang Changho had been complaining about the Gates from the very beginning. Given the context, wasn't the answer obvious?
He had mistaken me for the creator of that cosmic straw.
"Oh my."
Moreover, there was a high probability that Kang Changho had encountered the Gisimche while they were in their [Possession] state and learned of their existence that way.
After all, if he'd encountered them in their natural state—or after they had fully descended—there was no conceivable way he would still be alive.
"The Gisimche inhabiting human minds try to kill the nearby natives of the planet at every opportunity, so if Kang Changho really encountered their Possession forms firsthand, it makes sense that he'd develop such an extreme aversion to those alien bugs."
My body was starting to go numb, so I shifted my hips slightly.
But that tiny movement caused the ribbon-like magical tool to react, instantly tightening until it completely sealed the gap between the chair and the lower half of my body.
Thanks to that, my position became even more uncomfortable.
Kang Changho, however, still hadn't finished speaking.
Therefore...
"Giving up on escaping and repeatedly ringing the doorbells was certainly interesting, but sorry. That alone isn't enough to clear Kim Giryeo of suspicion."
Putting aside the discomfort of my position, I concentrated on listening.
"There are too many other suspicious points."
There were, in fact, so many similarities between the Gisimche and me that mistaking one for the other wasn't particularly difficult.
"Hmm."
Honestly, it was something I'd never once considered from my own perspective.
But as I quietly listened to Kang Changho's argument, it somehow began to sound disturbingly plausible.
① Almost absolute immunity to mental magic. (Impossible to attack unless the magic is at the Alphauri level.)
First, as a member of a species that hijacked other people's bodies, I possessed an extraordinary ability to preserve my own consciousness.
② Extremely sensitive perception of magical power.
In this world, it was true that the stronger a Hunter became, the sharper this ability tended to grow.
But it was undeniably strange for one person alone to consistently detect all sorts of things that everyone else completely overlooked.
So, Kang Changho apparently thought it would be more reasonable to interpret those phenomena as side effects of some monster possessing magical abilities extraordinary enough to create Gates.
Gisimche.
They might have been somewhat less advanced than modern Alphauri, but as a species, their evolutionary level was unquestionably far higher than that of humans.
"Their adaptation to mana and their ability to manipulate it are on an entirely different level from the mammals living here."
Thus, the Gisimche did indeed possess several distinct advantages, just as Kang Changho had described.
Unfortunately, many of those characteristics happened to overlap almost perfectly with those of an archmage's spirit possessing the body of a penniless man living in a one-room apartment.
And that was exactly where things had gone wrong.
"From his perspective, I suppose it does make sense."
Gisimche.
Of all things, Gisimche.
To think that someone like me would one day be mistaken for those insect-like creatures.
An overwhelming sense of disgust surged through me, like a modern human being told that he looked just like an ape at the zoo.
But I suppressed it and concentrated on gathering information.
The kidnapper still wasn't finished.
"And for the record, the reason I chose a Gate as my surprise gift was to test just how far your perception of mana extends."
"..."
"But the result went far beyond anything I'd expected. I mean, come on—even before the dungeon crack had properly opened, you jumped up inside your room because you'd already sensed it. Isn't that a little excessive?"
In short, someone's excessive competence had become the source of all this trouble.
"You have talent that literally surpasses human understanding. Hmm. I'm jealous."
Kang Changho shifted his stance slightly as he uttered that ambiguous compliment.
Then, hooking the thumb of one hand into his pants pocket, he continued.
"Besides, I even obtained separate testimony related to this matter..."
I never expected such a bombshell to emerge from such a calm tone.
"Wait. Testimony?"
Cough.
A dry cough escaped me.
Fortunately, since I'd already coughed up the hardened phlegm lodged in my throat earlier, nothing else came out this time.
"Yeah. Testimony."
The words that followed were every bit as shocking.
"I actually met our Hunter Kim Giryeo's mother not long ago."
"Cough."
"And the lady I met said something along these lines. Her son had recently started talking in a completely unfamiliar way, as though he'd suddenly become a different person... or something like that."
Lee Hwayoung suddenly barged into the situation.
Amid this whirlpool of disasters, the original family of the body's owner—whom I'd been doing my best to forget—had resurfaced.
After that, Kang Changho continued rambling honestly enough, saying things like, where else could you possibly find more convincing evidence?
But I was too distracted to pay proper attention, and half of it simply passed me by.
"Surely a parent wouldn't fail to notice if their own child had changed, would they?"
No, damn it.
She didn't even recognize me properly the last time we met...
A sudden sense of injustice welled up inside me.
How had I managed to get cornered yet again because of the family of the body's owner I'd been trying so hard to forget?
"So... that person gave you that kind of testimony...?"
I asked, completely dumbfounded.
"Oh dear. Even if she isn't your real mother, if you're going to live under Kim Giryeo's identity, shouldn't you at least be a little more careful about how you refer to the lady?"
Kang Changho lightly admonished me for calling Kim Giryeo's family member "that person," though he didn't seem particularly serious about it.
A moment later, his expression softened again, as though it didn't really matter.
"Anyway, to answer your question—yes. I'll say it again. I personally obtained that testimony from her, and I even made a clear recording of the conversation."
The explanation that followed was simple enough to summarize.
That genetic carrier named Lee Hwayoung had ultimately ignored the alien's final warning.
She had tried to approach the media in exchange for money, and somewhere in that process, she apparently ended up meeting Kang Changho.
"So if you, Kim Giryeo, take even one step out of here, I can immediately release articles related to this, including the audio recordings. So don't try anything reckless..."
Just as the kidnapper began issuing his threat, as though he'd been waiting for precisely the right moment—
my thoughts instantly veered elsewhere.
'I respected the body's owner's wishes and gave her a chance!'
Why was it that whenever I showed mercy, nine times out of ten it came back as betrayal?
'How dare she.'
Anger surged through me the instant I heard that she'd broken her promise.
The only thought circling my mind was that Hwayoung had crossed the line.
As time passed, the anger gradually subsided.
But by then, another kind of motivation had begun rising in its place.
'Damn it.'
I had been kidnapped without preparing any proper countermeasures.
My chances of survival were practically at rock bottom.
Even so, I once again began desperately plotting my escape.
Now that someone who had ignored the Archmage's warning was still alive, I couldn't simply die here without accomplishing anything.
My pride wouldn't allow it.
The plan changed.
Originally, I'd intended to end everything by taking my own life and thereby crushing my opponent's ambitions.
But now, I decided that I had to survive somehow and return.
If only to keep the promise I'd firmly made to Lee Hwayoung.
"These inferior, primitive bastards... Anyway, I'll make sure I get revenge on every last one of them somehow."
As long as I made it back to Seoul somehow, that was enough.
Ambition or revenge—it didn't matter.
As long as it gave me a reason to keep moving forward and stay alive, that was enough.
"How am I supposed to stop that lunatic kidnapper?"
My thoughts raced.
And eventually, I spoke.
"Wait..."
After reaching a conclusion in the limited time available to me, I realized that the first thing I needed to do here was prove that I wasn't a Gisimche.
This was urgent.
Despite appearances, Kang Changho rarely traveled abroad and was, in fact, enough of a patriot to actively operate the underground market within South Korea.
Alien or not, by now I knew at least that much about him.
The reason that primitive sorcerer specializing in enhancement was opposing me so fiercely was probably less because of the ten-year-contract scam and more because of his theory that I was possessed by a Gisimche.
"Wait... Hunter Kang."
I began to explain.
"I, I have something I'd like to explain...."
"You're speaking formally."
"Hunter, you're currently under a very serious... misunderstanding...."
"With that nail stuck in your throat, even breathing must be difficult. Why not keep it short? You had no trouble speaking informally to me by yourself back at the beach."
Sigh.
That bastard deserved to be torn limb from limb.
He really should have let it go quietly when the Archmage had humbled himself first.
"Krrk... cough. Th, that time... I must've been out of my mind or something."
I suppressed the urge to curse and stated my case as calmly and clearly as possible.
"I really don't know what state of mind I was in... when I said something like that."
"You don't know?"
"But please, just listen to this one thing... I swear it isn't true! I have absolutely nothing to do with that Gate, or with anything like it... absolutely nothing."
Every vibration of my vocal cords made it feel as though the nail lodged in my throat were digging even deeper.
Still, I didn't hesitate to finish what I had to say.
"I know what those things 'you're talking about are, Hunter Kang!"
If even Justitia would immediately judge this explanation to be true, then perhaps—
just perhaps—
this Earthling could be persuaded.
"What?"
"Something that seemed to be targeting human bodies... and possibly creating Gates... I've encountered something like that before too."
My torn, cracked vocal cords produced a metallic rasp.
With that half-distorted voice, I spoke nothing but the truth.
"But saying that I'm the same as them... our behavior is completely different, isn't it?"
I appealed to my innocence by pointing out the single most obvious characteristic of a possessed Gisimche.
"They... speak awkwardly, don't they? Even if they can somehow control their bodies, communication—at least verbal communication in Korean—is extremely difficult for them."
At that, Kang Changho reacted.
The S-rank Hunter, who had been about to turn away, stopped and fixed his gaze on me again.
When our eyes met, I caught a trace of surprise in his expression.
Then he rolled his dragon-like eyes upward and said,
"Definitely."
So he'd noticed that too.
"In every case I've seen so far, they couldn't properly utter even a single word of Korean, much less actually speak the language."
"...I"
"Besides, unlike a certain someone, they moved so strangely that it was hard to believe they were still inside human bodies."
"Aah! So you knew that all along...?"
My joy lasted only a moment.
The instant my voice brightened, Kang Changho immediately countered.
"But even so, I'm not sure my previous experiences are enough to prove your innocence."
There were still far too many unresolved questions to simply let the matter go.
"Kim Giryeo, how do you explain nullifying the effects of a top-tier contract item?"
At last, that question came.
Anyway, this was exactly why dealing with someone too competent was so exhausting.
Why the hell was I suffering this much just because of that one ability?
"That's..."
I closed my eyes and took a moment to choose my words carefully.
If someone with a proper understanding of magic had consistently observed the actions of a certain archmage, they would eventually have noticed the intentions hidden behind that person's past behavior.
In fact, I'd been subtly laying the groundwork for this explanation all along.
'During the Dragon Raid, I even displayed somewhat excessive power—enough to restrain several Japanese S-rank Hunters at once. Besides, since I used that magic constantly in my previous life as well, it has overwhelmingly greater utility as a mana attribute anyway...'
Kim Giryeo's primary talent was supposedly 'Psychokinesis.'
Just thinking about how much effort I'd poured into establishing that claim...
But the problem was always the order in which things were revealed.
My immunity to the contract's effects had already been exposed.
'There's nothing to gain from simply claiming I'm a psychokinesis mage now.'
From this point onward, I had to discard the old plan and find another way to persuade the other party.
And after following that line of reasoning, a new excuse soon occurred to me.
"...That's probably my awakening attribute!"
I decided to use an element I had never revealed before.
Only now, at this very moment, would I finally establish Kim Giryeo's publicly known abilities.
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