Chapter 209
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 209
“So that’s why you came to see me?” Sa Na-rae asked with that signature smile of his. “Because you’re worried that your way of thinking is too different from other people’s?”
“It’s not really a worry.”
“Then why are you here?”
“I just thought it would be a fun topic to chat about…”
“Wow, so much fun,” Sa Na-rae deadpanned.
“Don’t try to end the conversation already,” Gio said. He was currently visiting the Haeryeong Guild. “I came all this way. Are you really going to coldly kick out a comrade-in-arms?”
“Mmm, of course not. You know how much I adore you, Hunter Seo Gio. My place is incredibly humble, but if you want, I’d be happy to offer you a corner of my room.”
“Rather than that, why don’t we go shopping together?”
“…Shopping?” Sa Na-rae showed a flicker of interest for the first time. “Hmm, clothes? Accessories? Gear?”
“Everything.”
“Deal.”
With that, Sa Na-rae slipped out of Haeryeong, leaving behind nothing but a single note that read: ‘I’ve kidnapped Hunter Seo Gio.’ The note threw the guild into utter chaos, but neither Gio nor Sa Na-rae cared.
Sa Na-rae rented a private shopping suite.
“Tada! If we’re in here, nothing we say will leak out. And if someone ends up dead, it’ll just be me, right?”
“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that last part. Hmm, I really made the right choice coming to see you, Hunter Sa Na-rae.”
“Of course you should come to me if you want to shop. There’s no one with a better eye for clothes than me.”
“I don’t have many clothes, so I needed someone to help me. It’s a relief.”
“Huh? You don’t have many clothes?”
“Well, with portraits, all I have to do is paint them, so…”
“Oh, honestly.” Sa Na-rae, who had been pulling out a flashy suit, hung it back up. “Even if we don’t have to worry about our conversation leaking, isn’t this a bit too comfortable?”
“We already know everything about each other. What’s the point of putting on an act?”
“Your demeanor changes so suddenly. I guess the red-haired version I saw last time was this side of you.”
“Well, as you go through life, don’t you occasionally meet people whose colors change in a flash?”
“If I argue with every single thing you say, I’ll be the only one getting tired, so I’ll just let it slide for now.” Silence was golden. “I thought you were just good at pretending to be human. I didn’t realize you actually thought you were one.”
“Did you really not know?”
“Whoa, whoa, I had a rough idea. I just thought you were deeply immersed in playing the part. Or maybe you still are? Anyway, what are you trying to say? Are you upset because your friends don’t understand your true feelings?”
“I have a mouth, so I might as well say something. We already know each other’s true feelings; I just came here to look for a solution.”
“Are you seriously asking me for advice? The guy whose interpersonal relationships are a complete train wreck? You really are amazing, Hunter Seo Gio. Your depth of thought is on another level. I should learn from this.”
But it was interesting.
“Well, our kids aren’t here anyway,” Sa Na-rae muttered.
“So you really were scared because of the Haeryeong guild members last time.”
“When you point it out so bluntly, I start getting scared again that I might face retaliation. Could you at least make a simple promise that even if I get a little cheeky, you won’t take it out on my family? Oh, right, you do know that humans die if you just tap them, right?”
“I have no intention of retaliating against the Haeryeong Guild, and I am merely a human.”
“I’m really grateful for the first part, but the second part is the most novel thing I’ve heard all year.”
“The year has barely started.”
“It’s already practically spring, what are you talking about?” Sa Na-rae rested his chin on his hand. “So, our dear Hunter Seo Gio thinks his authority and divinity are no big deal? Just another personality trait, but people make too much of a fuss over it?”
“To summarize, yes.”
“I’m sorry, but it is a big deal.” What on earth was wrong with this mysterious entity? “Do you dislike being amazing?”
“I don’t dislike being ordinary, either.”
“Ah, in that sense…”
“It’s not my fault that I’m so outstanding, is it?”
“If we’re assigning blame, isn’t it actually your fault, Hunter Seo Gio?”
“Can you not read the room?”
“You promised not to bully my guild members, right? Right? Hmm, but no matter how I look at it, I can only conclude that you’re terrible at seeing yourself objectively, Hunter Seo Gio.”
Or maybe he was just refusing to.
“The truth is, you really are mind-bogglingly amazing. And humans, by nature, are bound to react differently depending on a being’s status and power. From where I’m standing, the one being unreasonable is you, Hunter Seo Gio.”
“That is also true.”
“Ah.” He understood. “So you just wanted me to shut up and play along?”
“Did you only just realize that?”
“Have mercy.”
“I’m not going to kill you.”
“Let me live in peace.”
He didn’t want to end up half-dead over a non-combat issue. However, since Gio had promised not to torment his “family,” Sa Na-rae wasn’t as terrified as before. He assessed the situation with a little more objectivity.
“But if you want to live alongside humans, it’s only right to consider their perspective to some extent. Otherwise, you’d have to alter people’s perceptions or brainwash them everywhere you go…”
“How barbaric.”
“Barbaric cleanups are a Haeryeong specialty. Anyway, I can clearly see that you truly cherish humans, Hunter Seo Gio. I’ve fully grasped the point of this situation, too.” Sa Na-rae winked. “You really just came here to play, didn’t you?”
“You understood perfectly.” Gio smiled and clapped as if to say, ‘Good job.’
Indeed, Gio hadn’t come for a serious counseling session. A fun topic to discuss with Sa Na-rae had crossed his mind, and he was bored.
“Since the conclusion has already been reached, there’s no reason for me to seriously worry about it.”
He would view his position and authority as mere “individuality,” but he could also fully understand why those around him feared or stood in awe of his power. They could just live their lives with differing perspectives forever. After all, it was absurd to expect all humans to think the same way. They had no obligation to do so, nor was it even possible. That was the long and short of it.
“To put it another way, I never thought of this as a problem big enough to require a solution.”
“If that’s how you feel, then so be it,” Sa Na-rae thought. ‘That human named Yoo Seong-un must be exhausted beyond belief. And that manager, Ju-hyeon, too.’
This terrifying mystery believed himself to be human despite understanding all of his own anomalies, while most humans could never see him that way. The friction arising from this difference in perspective was already as clear as day.
But…
“So you’re fine with it either way?”
“Because a single perspective isn’t necessarily the only correct one.”
“But there must be more than just one or two perspectives that view you as an overwhelming existence.”
“I’m a one-man army, so it’s fine.”
“So it’s ‘bark all you want, I’ll go my own way’? Well, people do tend to follow the lead of whoever starts the dance.”
“That’s a gross distortion. I never told anyone to bark.”
“Hmm, you really are strangely stubborn.”
To summarize, his stance was: “I am right, and you are right, so let’s just live like this.” It was an incredibly bizarre, broad tolerance. Accepting just about anyone, yet ultimately acting only as he pleased.
“Are you sure it won’t become a problem?”
“Isn’t that uncertainty exactly what makes it fun? Every story needs hardships and adversity to be truly exciting.”
“You have a strangely bad personality, too…”
“You flatter me.”
“Now I understand why there are rumors about you being the son of Guild Master Bisabeol.”
“My father and I do share quite a few similarities.”
“…”
Mysteries these days sure are talented liars, Sa Na-rae thought. What a scary world.
Divinities, which were living nature and fate itself, were originally terrible at lying. Since their very identity was rooted in the natural order, falsehoods were antithetical to them—though, of course, the story might be a bit different for an Evil God.
But seeing how politely Priest Kang Seo-dam treats him, he doesn’t seem like a wicked divinity either…
He was truly a unique mystery in many ways.
“Anyway, you really do a great job of playing human.”
“How many times do I have to tell you that I am human?”
“Oh, right. I hear you loud and clear: an ordinary person with a flashy personality.”
“I’ll let it slide since you’re at least pretending to play along.”
“I’m absolutely thrilled.”
“Yoo Seong-un used to be like this, but I don’t know what kind of change of heart he’s had since I last saw him—he doesn’t just blindly humor me anymore.”
“Oh…” Was he really that brave of a human? What a gutsy guy.
Sa Na-rae, impressed, asked, “How did he change?”
“Compared to before, when he’d just say, ‘Sure, if you say so~’ to whatever I said, lately it’s more like, ‘Even so, wrong is wrong’…”
“Mmm, isn’t it just that the direction of his respect has changed?”
“I do feel like he’s treating me more comfortably.”
“You already know the answer, so why ask?”
From Sa Na-rae’s perspective, it was the difference between a curator treasuring an artwork and a person treasuring a friend.
“Neither seems bad to me.”
“I agree.”
“Then what are you complaining about?”
“Well, there are perks to being blindly coddled…”
“Greedy, aren’t we?”
“Isn’t it only natural to want to enjoy every single pleasure this world has to offer?”
“It’s just that most people don’t actually try to make that a reality.”
Those who tried to realize their own absurd, impossible ideals were usually out of their minds. At least, that was the case for humans. But since “Hunter Seo Gio” wasn’t human to begin with, it made sense.
“So, are you venting to me right now?”
“I just finished.”
“Then want to look at some clothes? This place is pretty good.”
“I’d like something flashy, like a crow.”
“You mean clothes with lots of shiny things attached? Hmm, it’ll suit you well.”
“Any part that doesn’t suit me will be made up for by my face.”
“I strongly agree with that. Wonderful confidence.”
The two finished their pleasant shopping trip, chatting and laughing. On the way back, an assailant rushed at Hunter Seo Gio, whom Sa Na-rae promptly trampled and crippled. Gio then healed the man, after which they packaged him up and left him in front of a police station. But that’s a story for another time.
*
“It seems a strange rumor has started,” Ju-hyeon reported, his face pale. “That Hunter Seo Gio is a saint…”
“I believe we were the ones who started that rumor.”
“Because of that, it seems rumors have spread that eating you will grant eternal life.”
“Why on earth would that happen?”
“The rumor probably ballooned because you were personally kidnapped by a mermaid. Fortunately, in the case of Novice Priest Cha Yi-sol, the Order seems to be handling it well, but…”
Since Cha Yi-sol was also fine, Gio wasn’t particularly surprised. “Similar things happened a lot in the past, too.”
“I feel like I should know, but was that during your time as Giovanni?”
“No, during Arjio’s time…”
“…?” Ju-hyeon looked at Gio with eyes that said, Did I hear that wrong? “As Arjio? Why?”
“What’s wrong with me?”
“From what I’ve heard, he didn’t seem like the type of person who would be deified like that…?”
“Deification comes in many forms, doesn’t it?” Arjio shrugged. “Calling someone the beast of the Black Forest might sound horrifying, but in another way, it also means they are special. Since he was the most ferocious and cruel beast in the Black Forest, which was teeming with rare jewels and medicinal herbs, it made sense for rumors to spread that eating him would grant eternal life.”
“Ah, yes… in that… sense…” It sounded less like purifying oneself with the blood of a holy saint and more like hunting a beast to be used as a rare elixir. Ju-hyeon felt even more exhausted.
“I’m saying this because I’m truly worried, but could you please keep a low profile?”
“There’s no way I’ll get hurt.”
“That’s a separate issue.” Ju-hyeon simply found this entire situation unpleasant. “I don’t want you to be involved in such disgusting incidents, Gio. Even if it doesn’t cause you any visible harm, this is something that damages your dignity. The truth is, it’s hard to just stand by and watch.”
Gio smiled. “Won’t you all protect me?”
“…I don’t know if we’re capable of that, but yes.”
“And you’ll comfort me when things are hard and painful.”
“If you look like you need it…?”
“Then, as far as I can see, there’s absolutely nothing to worry about.”
“You’re too optimistic, Gio.”
“That’s why it’s easy for me to get by in life.”
And so, Gio deftly handled his friends once again.