- The Core
A few months ago.
Golem.
Absorbent.
When I saw things that were common in my hometown also appearing in the Solar System, this was the first thought that came to my mind.
‘Goodness, even on Earth, the influence of Alphauri had spread! I should bite my tongue and die before they catch me!’
At the time, I was physically and mentally exhausted from working overtime repeatedly. I was surprised to see a pot lid that was astonished after seeing a child. I was shocked, thinking that an Alphauri could have followed me here.
‘Hiik!’
But after calming down and thinking about it, I realized that it didn’t make any sense. How did I come to Earth in the first place? I came here using reincarnation magic. And who developed reincarnation magic? I was the first in history, wasn’t I? Well, now I’m stuck in the body of that trash Kim Kiryeo and all my dignity is gone…
Let me say it again, I was the greatest genius wizard in my hometown. But could anyone really extend their reach to this distant planet, surpassing an archmage like me?
‘No.’How could that be? As someone who was at the forefront of all magical science, I can confidently say that intergalactic travel by Alphauri was 100% impossible. They even had difficulty observing Earth due to technological limitations, and now they created something called the Gate to influence it?
Honestly, it would take them hundreds of years to do something like this.
‘Besides, the gates have been here since before my reincarnation, so the timing doesn’t add up.’
Then, who exactly is the owner of the gates? Now, there’s only one hypothesis left.
“Hmm.”
I moved my arm to take the phone out of my pocket. Then, I typed a few words into the search bar with my fingers.
[Gate Monster Encyclopedia]
What appeared in the results window were a few photos.
‘Yeah.’
Among them, a creature with blue-tinted hinge joints caught my eye. From this single photo, I was certain of the culprits who created the gate.
‘It must be those guys who are commanding this monster.’
How should I describe that group here?
Star Wanderers?
So poetic.
Nomads?
That’s terrible.
So, after much deliberation, I decided to translate them as ‘Hunger Heart Entities.’
‘Gi’ (飢) meaning hunger, and ‘Sim’ (心) meaning heart.
In other words, it means they are beings that are starving for human hearts.
And the main characteristics of these Hunger Heart Entities are… … .
Let’s summarize briefly.
The Earth is currently being parasitized by a peculiar group that drifts through space and feeds off the mental suffering of intelligent life forms. Abnormal.
‘That’s for sure.’
At first, I didn’t realize, but now I’ve noticed that these creatures use the same tactics to lure their prey. The rare items found within the gate are clearly bait used by them! Additionally, Hunger Heart Entities tend to create bait boxes based on the information from the planets they’ve visited. It seems this is why materials or creatures for Alphauri often appear in the gate.
‘I, really…’
The invaders who once targeted my homeland are now threatening this planet flowing with milk and honey. But they probably never anticipated that things would turn out this way.
‘I guess I have to live long to see this.’
Why do I know so much about these Hunger Heart Entities? And why have the invaders I encountered in Alphauri traveled all the way to this distant solar system? All answers converge to one point: they nearly faced extinction in Alphauri. More precisely… due to a certain archmage.
‘Hmph.’
I was the first magician of Alphauri. My primary role was the defense of the planet. But what would have been the result if a cosmic parasite had visited the home of such a great wizard?
To summarize concisely, that race was massacred by me. No. It’s a bit strange to say massacre. Anyway, they were the ones who crossed the border without permission.
‘I wondered where they had run off to after being so thoroughly punished by me, and it turns out they had fled all the way to this distant galaxy.’
Hunger Heart Entities.
Once you understand their true nature, the purpose of the gate becomes clearer. As I said earlier, the Hunger Heart Entities nearly faced extinction because of me.
‘They’re being careful.’
The gate is essentially a feeding straw. The Hunger Heart Entities deliberately create dungeons to keep a distance from Earth. If they were to expose their true forms carelessly, they could face the same kind of total slaughter as before.
‘Just keep sucking on that straw for the time being.’
Considering their limitations, I could probably carry out a second round of massacre if I just seized their proper bodies. As soon as I remembered, I looked at the items on the Hunter Market with my phone.
[Search term: Dragon’s Lung]
[Search results: 0]
‘Huh.’
But looking at the way things are going, it seems like a reunion with them will be in the distant future.
***
The next day at lunch, approximately a day after the iron door gate had appeared.
[Breaking news. The Labyrinth of the 13th Month in Africa, which had not yet been cleared, has ultimately ended in failure.]
I bit into a potato chip and listened to the breaking news. It wasn’t really surprising news.
‘Just as I enjoy these snacks, do the Hunger Heart Entities find the emotion of fear to be a delicious treat?’
I once did a brief research to understand their ecology. These Hunger Heart Entities are really picky eaters. It’s surprising enough that they derive energy from others’ mental activity, but they particularly prefer the suffering and fear of living beings.
‘Emotions like joy were just treated as supplementary nutrients.’
Do you know the purpose of EX-class dungeons? While they do serve to test human intelligence, their more crucial role is to analyze the emotional structure of Earth’s inhabitants. They gather information on what we love and what we cherish. They meticulously gather this information to squeeze their hosts’ minds more harshly.
‘Hmm.’
But judging from the fact that they’re trying out easy EX-level dungeons, it seems like they haven’t been on Earth for long either. Perhaps because they are subjects I’ve already studied exhaustively, I’m not particularly interested. I idly finished the remaining potato chips.
-Tiring♪
But when a curious sound like this comes up, it’s a different story.
“Is it a text?”
Tick.
I took out my nearby phone and checked the notification.
<Text message>
[Sender: Seo Esther]
[Check your bankbook. I just deposited the strategy distribution. (*∩_∩*)]
Oho.
***
‘Esther often sends me texts with strange symbols at the end, but I have no idea what they mean.’
Every time he took a step, the sound of ice breaking on the ground was heard.
‘But if I ask her out of curiosity, I’ll look like an alien…’
When he stepped outside, he found the streets had accumulated a thick layer of snow. Ice crystals were falling from the sky. Since in his hometown he mostly observed glaciers submerged in water, this phenomenon felt quite unusual.
‘Oh, it’s still snowing.’
Kim Kiryeo strode forward, watching the falling snowflakes. And there was only one reason he went out on such a cold day. He intended to spend the deposited distribution right away. It was just a matter of lacking enough money; there was always something he wanted to buy.
‘Let’s say the 3 billion I extorted from the association president is tied up as scrap value…’
He currently had about 200 million won left.
‘Should I take this opportunity to buy more items to enhance and give to Gu Seohyeong?’
He had become the fourth S-class hunter and had dramatically risen in the hunter rankings, allowing him to move about among the VIPs on his own. Now, he only had to spend money as he pleased. However, as he got closer to the Hunter Market, the atmosphere grew increasingly strange…
‘What’s this?’
Kim Kiryeo hesitated for a moment when he saw the crowd gathered at the main entrance. However, after closer inspection, it didn’t seem to be a line related to the market. They had been lingering in place without much movement for some time.
‘What day is it today?’
Kiryeo tilted his head and passed them by.
“Ah.”
But now that he was at the front, everything became clear. At the end of the mysterious crowd stood the most famous hunter in the country.
‘Jung Haseong?’
Haseong was surrounded by people, speaking about something, but Kim Kiryeo wasn’t particularly interested in the conversation. He pretended not to recognize him. Then, at that moment…
“—Hunter Kiryeo!”
To his surprise, Jung Haseong greeted Kim Kiryeo with an unusually loud and enthusiastic hello as soon as he spotted him. Kiryeo stopped in surprise at his call, but Haseong quickly approached him and said a few words with difficulty.
Did you sleep well yesterday?
Isn’t it snowing a lot today?
Did you eat?
Contrary to expectations, the questions were rather trivial.
“Yeah.”
However, a con artist like him couldn’t afford to neglect a genuine S-class hunter. He forced himself to show cooperation.
“Have you eaten?”
“Ah, yes. I ate…”
However, it was troublesome for the conversation to drag on like this. The young man with the black hair had been mumbling and hesitating about the topic he had brought up earlier.
“Why? Is there anything else you want to say?”
In the end, Kim Kiryeo, unable to hold back, urged him to get to the point. Only after hearing this did Jung Haseong address the main topic.
“Hunter Kim Kiryeo, would you be willing to join our guild?”
But hearing this first line, it felt like too much of the intermediate process had been skipped.
“What? Guild?”
“Actually, I was thinking of continuing to invite you as soon as we finished the Labyrinth of the 13th Month. But I think it would be better to make this suggestion when we meet by chance like now.”
“….”
“Since I’ve caused you trouble in the past, I feel bad about asking you to make time for me…”
Kiryeo interrupted him for a moment. There was something he needed to clarify first.
“Haseong, did you have a guild?”
Then the number one ranked Hunter quickly responded, saying that he is actually the CEO of a company called [Garion]. He explained that the company is quite different from a typical guild, as most of its staff are organized solely to support S-Class operations.
“If you come to our guild, we can really meet any conditions you have.”
Jung Haseong placed his hand on his chest as he spoke.
“Of course, we’ll make sure to give you a favorable share of the profits, Hunter.”
“So, you’re saying you want to hire me now?”
“Oh! No, not at all. I got a bit flustered and misspoke, but the guild would only be there to support you, not take a separate fee.”
What followed was a rather enthusiastic request.
“To be more precise, I would like to work with Kim Kiryeo-ssi as a team.”
However, as they know, the blonde man standing here is nothing but a pretty face with no real substance. Naturally, he doesn’t have the capability to enter the gates that S-ranks frequent. So, although Kiryeo intended to decline the offer, the sudden nature of the situation led him to give an honest response reflexively.
“I appreciate the offer, but isn’t that difficult? After all, our levels are too different…”
He paused. It was only after he had almost finished his sentence that he realized his mistake. He himself was a 4th-rank S-class hunter, meaning he was officially on a similar level to the hunter in front of him…!
‘Ugh! I unconsciously used my actual rank as a standard!’
But once something is said, it cannot be taken back. In the past, he might have used mind control to erase Haseong’s memory, but with his current F-rank abilities, he couldn’t use such powerful magic. At this point, his mind went blank. So, in his panic, Kiryeo resorted to a classic tactic.
“A, anyway, I’m busy, so I have to go!”
By brushing off the conversation and making a hasty retreat, Kiryeo avoided further discussion. So, what was the fate of the illegally registered individual who could not fully explain themselves? As expected, Kiryeo’s slip of the tongue caused an enormous stir.
【 Hunternet > Free Bulletin Board 】
[j*** : What did I really see?]
[k***** : Weren’t the two on bad terms??]
[Bl***: [Breaking News] Garion Guild Recruitment Cut for S-Class [Breaking News] Garion Guild Recruitment Cut for S-Class [Breaking News] Garion Guild Recruitment Cut for S-Class]
However, with a slightly strange flow.
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