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Episode 284. Release (3)
“No matter how much I think about it, I think it was my mistake to catch that person.”
“……!”
“Well, since I live in a world where nothing is certain, of course I still have the suspicion in a corner of my heart that someone might be a monster.”
“that…….”
“If you shoot a beast that imitates a human so perfectly, it’s easy to feel guilty about it. Do you know what I mean?”
Kang Chang-ho turns around while saying the sentence.
“And this is hardly an apology for a misunderstanding, you know.”
He brought the remaining papers that he had left on the drawer next to the sickbed into my hands.
The surface is rough.
Brown like soil.
thick.
This is a substance that Kim Ki-ryeo had seen before.
In the Earth’s hunter industry, it was a document-style artifact called [Knight’s Oath].
+
Contract Contents
1. Kim Ki-ryeo transfers all rights to his body to Kang Chang-ho on the year he turns 34 (as of 20XX-01-01 (GMT+9) 00:00), and Kang Chang-ho agrees not to use the transferred rights for anything other than exercising his desire for improvement.
+
Of course, the effect has already been applied, so it is just ordinary parchment paper.
Kang Chang-ho shows the artifact he was keeping as a party to the promise.
-Tsk tsk.
Moreover, by tearing up the original in front of the only person concerned, he made his intentions visible.
“The promise ends here.”
Kang Chang-ho has officially given up using [Improvement].
“What?”
“Not just for the next ten years, but for the rest of your life. I will never again target Hunter Kim Ki-ryeo as a sacrifice.”
“…….”
“Now that the price I was supposed to pay is gone, of course there is no longer any obligation for S-class personnel to follow you around and protect you.”
You’re not dissatisfied, are you?
“Your superpowers have recovered a lot anyway.”
A patient in a hospital bed blankly stares at Kang Chang-ho as he speaks.
The man wearing Kim Ki-ryeo’s skin immediately cried out in disbelief.
“No, wait. Are you really saying you’re going to give up that contract so easily?”
How could you not be surprised when someone’s attitude completely changed in just a few hours?
But contrary to the great wizard’s thoughts, Kang Chang-ho had already foreseen this situation a long time ago.
In fact, the contract they entered into was structured so that full performance could be postponed indefinitely.
“…I was originally going to let you live if I felt like it.”
After waiting for a moment, a somewhat blunt tone came out of Kang Chang-ho’s mouth.
“As you can see if you look closely at the [Knight’s Oath], there is no mention of how long the acquired rights must be used.”
“….”
“If I decide, ‘I will use my spirit of improvement in four days,’ that alone will extend the life of the sacrifice.”
The large hunter shrugs his shoulders and continues his calm explanation.
“These were provisions that were designed with all sorts of situations in mind from the beginning.”
“her.”
“But the hunter who signed the contract is performing rare tricks every day……”
Knock knock.
Kang Chang-ho says this as he throws the pieces of parchment he had disassembled into the trash can in the hospital room.
“Actually, before I got suspicious because of [Justitia], I was actually going to let her live for a few years for free just to make a fuss.”
The man who always had a smiling face had an unusually calm expression.
“But now that’s enough. I’m just tired of it all.”
“….”
“Strange fun only lasts for a day or two. How many more years can I keep watch over this ugly person who always covers my body with blood?”
He shook his head and then showed this behavior.
“I am.”
He turned his gaze with his characteristic vertical pupils and looked at the pine trees outside the window for a moment.
“I want to live my life seeing only good things.”
An ordinary idea that somehow doesn’t match the eerie dragon’s eyes.
“So, for the sake of this wind, I must get rid of that person named Kim Ki-ryeo from my sight.”
“ah.”
“I’m sorry for repeating myself. Anyway, to get to the point, I’m just going to give up on the fact that I’m such a kind and generous person.”
“I, really.”
“Since I recently found a replacement anyway, I guess there’s no need to worry about [improvement] anymore….”
Kang Chang-ho once again firmly declared that he would break the contract.
‘What’s wrong?’
But the alien found this situation nothing but a surprise.
In fact, I was so proud of the strategy book I read in my previous life that I ended up getting hurt.
——————
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‘Could it be because of that?’
A mistake that I thought was stupid ended up saving my life.
Looking back, the various lies that this side had uttered with confidence in victory, combined with the changes in the dungeon design, had instantly transformed into something else.
All the words that were said with the intention of teasing the enemy caught in the trap were forcibly packaged with meaning due to the slander that pierced the heart.
“So. So I hid the fact that the contract was invalid…?”
Muddy.
I asked cautiously, worried that the other person might change again amidst this good fortune.
But even a quick poke brought back a very solid answer.
“Didn’t I just say that the contract was terminated?”
“…!”
“Then of course, I won’t ask you to take any responsibility for the [Knight’s Oath] you made back then. In a society governed by law, who would ask for a penalty after breaking a promise?”
Kang Chang-ho turned his eyes towards the patient again.
“Also, the surveillance you were so sick of will be stopped starting today.”
“uh?”
“It’s such an annoying form. Honestly, I can’t promise you that you’ll completely turn away from that magical shaking.”
“Magic power?”
“I’ll try my best to ignore that too.”
It was a neat ending.
“So I’m warning you, don’t ever interfere in my life again. If you do, I’ll kill you for real.”
It may seem a bit too neat, though.
“Let’s just live without worrying about each other. Okay?”
“Just a moment. Oh, then. Lastly, I will make you the skill stone that I mentioned before…….”
“Okay. I’m telling you now, but I’ve already used up my skill stones to their max.”
“yes?”
“What, Hunter Kim? You didn’t know that the number of skill stone techniques that an Awakened can obtain is limited to 20?”
“…Ah, ah, no. Of course, I knew that.”
“hmm.”
“But I just, I felt like it was clear that we were on the same side now, so I wanted to help. Right? How about we exchange information about the Gate Monster?”
“no.”
“No, what.”
“I don’t know how you knew, but unless you’re that monster yourself, you can’t possibly have more information than me.”
“yes?”
“If we take each other’s money, one side will suffer. Besides, I don’t really want to be that active in taking down the gates…”
“yes?”
“The problem is that there were suspicious people in Korea. Jumping into something dangerous because you’re bored is no different from jumping into boiling water because you’re cold, Hunter Kim.”
The conversation flowed for a while.
The S-class Awakened one, who was leaning against the locker near the hospital bed, finally nodded quietly and spoke.
“Anyway, do you agree to break the contract?”
To this, Kim Ki-ryeo answers quickly.
If the lifespan restriction is lifted, that’s what I’m hoping for.
“all right.”
That was the moment.
The third S-class hunter from Korea suddenly asked a new question as soon as he heard the patient’s answer, as if he still had not fully satisfied his curiosity.
“Oh, by the way, I didn’t ask this. Since when was it?”
“yes?”
“I was wondering when you first became aware of your physical condition.”
Honestly, if you can come out so calmly after seeing the diagnosis, it’s obvious that the symptoms must have been there before.
But this time, the conversation went in a direction that Kang Chang-ho had not expected.
‘I originally wanted to explain that the diagnosis had nothing to do with actual lifespan, even if it meant revealing again that I was an alien… … .’
Anyway, it seems like the other party has already decided to spare the sacrifice, so is there any need to attract the attention of pleasure seekers and create a new problem in this positive flow?
“hmm.”
This is not Alphauri.
Therefore, he cannot hastily create an outline of his life that can fool Earthlings. The great wizard answered.
“The first time I thought it might be possible was when I was about 21.”
To be exact, I told the truth as much as possible.
“And then, not long after that. I woke up on a winter day after being bitten by a dog-shaped monster. That was the moment when I became certain. When I coughed, blood kept coming out of my phlegm.”
He, in his sickbed, couldn’t really sympathize with why Kang Chang-ho was curious about such information, but he thought that silence would be detrimental to the peace he had worked so hard to find, so he simply answered the question about the body owner’s real experience.
“hmm?”
But as soon as Kang Chang-ho heard this, he opened his eyes wide in surprise.
“It wasn’t even a year ago, but four whole years ago? Then why didn’t you get a thorough examination right then?”
If the abnormality in the lungs was noticed before awakening, why was the timing of treatment so long missed?
This behavior may seem somewhat foolish to a third party.
Kang Chang-ho was difficult to understand.
“I wish I had gotten a detailed examination… but unfortunately the conditions weren’t right.”
“What conditions?”
But as with all life, there were circumstances.
“I didn’t have any money.”
In some ways, it’s so obvious.
Now, it feels like it’s almost boring.
“Really.”
“…….”
“I was finally free from money after I became a superpowered person. When I was living day to day, I had to pay 10,000 won for medical expenses, but I couldn’t help it because I had to drink only water without any side dishes.”
“…….”
“Even if you felt strange, didn’t you think about going to the hospital right away? Well, anyway.”
A soul in the shell of Kim Ki-ryeo relayed the story while tracing back memories.
At first, the symptoms were so mild that I thought I was just coughing because of the strong cigarette smoke.
He also said that he postponed work because he thought that he could not possibly be seriously ill at such a young age, and this led to his troubles.
“By the time I became certain, I had already awakened, so I think there was no answer even if I calculated it on my own. That’s right. I just remembered that now.”
He briefly describes the life of the real owner of this three-letter name, Kim Ki-ryeo.
“hmm.”
Unless you happen to be lucky enough to be born into a family of steel industry tycoons, where in the world is it rare to find a young person without money?
The wizard of the binary star system thought that there was nothing particularly unusual about the circumstances he had conveyed.
But what did the man with blue hair think after hearing the story?
After quite a long silence, he finally spoke his last words.
“Kim Ki-ryeo.”
Kang Chang-ho made an unexpected suggestion.
“I have something to promise you separately from breaking the contract.”
My shoulders naturally hunched as I suffered for four seasons because of that promise.
However, the next sentence that Kang Chang-ho blurted out was not so bad for an alien.
“I plan to help Hunter Kim Ki-ryeo in the future, ‘just once, when he needs it, in any kind of work.'”
Why all of a sudden?
“Of course, within the scope of my power. If I start asking for elixirs out of the blue or talking nonsense, you’ll probably block my calls, right?”
I sincerely did not understand what he was trying to say, so I asked him back.
Unpaid labor? Why on earth would you make such a good deal here?
But the answer I got back was meaningless.
“just.”
It was just because I felt like doing it.
“This time, in addition to torturing you, I also owe you a debt.”
“Debt?”
“You got shot and fell in the dungeon instead of me. Your head probably wasn’t hurt. Have you forgotten about this already?”
“…….”
“To be honest, I’m not the type of person who can’t live without debt, but there are days like today when I want to settle accounts.”
Indecisive S-class. If you think about it, there is no other expression more frightening than this.
‘No, what the heck is an elixir… … .’
Kim Ki-ryeo couldn’t understand any of the words that came out in the conversation and just mumbled the same thing to himself.
But now that Kang Chang-ho had said everything he wanted to say, he calmly prepared to leave the hospital room as if he had nothing else to do.
I was about to present the documents when I grabbed my car keys and wallet, which I had taken out along with them.
-Rust.
I never thought this long-standing bad relationship would end like this.
“wait a minute.”
That was when.
The blonde awakener belatedly called out to the mammal who was about to leave the sickroom.
There are a lot of complicated conversations going on, but I don’t feel like the truth has faded a bit.
If we look closely, didn’t Kang Chang-ho change his mind because he felt sorry for his contractor?
‘Even I, a soul of inertia, can understand that much.’
Of course, that wasn’t what the parties intended at all.
In any case, it was clear that Kang Chang-ho ultimately came to that conclusion because he thought Kim Ki-ryeo had sacrificed herself in his place.
Moreover, the medical certificate obtained by pestering the doctor also seems to have had some influence on this situation.
thus.
“By the way, have you ever been told that you have a lot of sympathy?”
I asked a question to the back of the head of the person I was trying to convince.
It was a sentence that really popped out of curiosity, as I never thought the contractor would have such a true nature.
Have you ever heard in your life that you are sympathetic?
Whoosh.
The mammal turns its head when it hears that.
Within a moment, Kang Chang-ho slightly raised his arched eyebrows.
On the one hand, it seems like he’s searching through his memories to see if he’s ever experienced something like that in the past.
On the one hand, an expression that seemed to roll its eyes in curiosity and say, ‘Wow, there are people who ask such things in the world,’ flashed across his face.
But whatever it is, the result is the same.
-Knock, knock!
Kang Chang-ho simply ignored the patient’s words and left the hospital room.
‘The great magician said that mammals cannot sprout… … .’
Wow.
When the customer’s magic starts to fade.
I lay down on the bed and leaned back.
Well, it wasn’t a particularly meaningful question anyway, so what if it gets ignored?
In the end, what matters is that the weak survived. Because of this Earthling’s choice, the wizards finally made up their minds.
‘Breaking the contract… … . Yeah. Can’t help it.’
The previous plan to kill Kang Chang-ho and use him as a body to swap with was also scrapped.
It was a refreshing ending.
***
… No, to be exact, it should have ended like this, on a more relaxed note.
-Thump, thump.
It was a few minutes later.
“Kang Chang-ho!”
As Kang Chang-ho takes the elevator down to the first floor of the VIP ward at Seoul Neo Hospital, someone suddenly rushes in front of him.
Red sword on black hair.
At least, it is an appearance that modern Koreans cannot help but recognize.
On the first floor of the hospital was Jeong Ha-seong.
Moreover, he was not alone, and the lobby, which should normally be filled with civilians, was filled with police officers.
“ah.”
Only then did Kang Chang-ho seem to remember something and check his cell phone.
─I’ll be at the hospital on Daeheung-ro for a while, so if you want to talk more, come over here.
The last phone call, which was roughly composed of such content, was actually a conversation with Jeong Ha-seong.
“It hasn’t been that long since we last spoke and you’ve already arrived…….”
“Please follow me quietly out of the building immediately. Do not resist. Thanks to the assistance of the Neo Sisters Foundation, most of the floors have already been evacuated. I warn you, if you make things worse from now on, it will be irreversible!”
The national hero’s attitude was as cold as the bitter cold.
He was holding a veil sword that he could just reach for.
Anyway, what kind of gruesome sight is this in the sacred medical field where only scalpels should be used?
“hmm.”
But in contrast, Kang Chang-ho was quite calm.
Because he had anticipated this situation from the moment he emerged from his shelter surrounded by barriers.
“No, this is the first time I’ve seen a hunter turn a political leaflet upside down to cover up his own issues! Hey! What kind of reverse thinking was that anyway?”
Soon after, the appearance of a new S-class Hunter is observed from a nearby location.
Kang Chang-ho turned his head and confirmed that Esther had left.
“If there’s a problem with Hunter Kim Ki-ryeo, let’s take care of it. Whether it’s the law or the law itself!”
The leader of the Matap Guild, who had established himself on high ground, shouted repeatedly.
He said that trying to divert attention by threatening the newspaper editor-in-chief would no longer work.
“hmm…….”
But for Kang Chang-ho, public opinion was not the issue at the moment.
Didn’t this person commit a comprehensive crime, including a building attack and aggravated arrest and detention, within the past 24 hours, that would take more than three lines to write down in a document?
‘Even if the fight on the beach was one thing, it’s a bit much for everything from the weekend to be investigated as well.’
Kang Chang-ho put his hand on his chin and thought belatedly.
But the worries didn’t last long.
He already had options in mind as a solution.
“First, everyone calm down.”
Kang Chang-ho raised both his hands toward the sky so that his palms were visible.
It’s a sign of surrender.
And as he did this he shouted:
“sorry!”
The tone was more confident than I had imagined.
“Of course, if a person commits a crime, he or she should be arrested. Yes. I’m sorry. Stop giving money to the media right now and I’ll go to the police station right now.”
“?!”
“And I will acknowledge all the violence I inflicted on Hunter Jeong Ha-seong and do my best to compensate you, so please know that.”
It’s surprising that an ex-convict who has been hiding so thoroughly until now is suddenly acting so obediently.
Isn’t the change in attitude a bit too much to simply try to meet the criteria for a reduced sentence through embroidery?
“Hey! The Awakened Police Officer back there. Why aren’t you coming over here? We need to handcuff that criminal quickly.”
But it was too early to panic.
When I think about what happened afterwards, this really wasn’t anything.
.
.
.
A few hours later.
“Patient, please pull your body to the back of the bed for a moment. I will bring up the plate for you.”
“Oh, yes.”
Morning time at the hospital.
The service in the VIP ward was almost heavenly.
The room was spacious. The temperature and humidity were perfect. Plus, when it was mealtime, they would automatically bring me a meal with perfect nutritional balance, so Kim Ki-ryeo was already a little more comfortable in the hospital room that was already paid for in advance.
‘Oh, the hospital food here is served in such a dazzling array of dishes.’
According to the advertising pamphlet placed nearby, the food in this ward is prepared by a chef who used to be from a five-star hotel. Isn’t it okay to at least try the food before you go?
In a properly seasoned braised mackerel dish.
Seasonal vegetables.
If you ordered it at a hotel, you would have easily paid 50,000 won for the beautifully colored soybean paste stew.
I swallowed my saliva at the sight of the delicious-looking side dishes.
‘I have to eat while watching TV.’
Besides, this is why money is good.
This room even had a high-end smart monitor installed on the wall.
The blond man manipulated the remote control and turned on the news as usual.
But the screen turns on and after a few seconds.
“…….”
Around the time when some sub*itles started flowing at the bottom of the YTV channel.
The man was unable to put a single spoonful of rice he had been eating into his mouth and soon froze in place.