Kiryeo was imagining his end with a tense face, and then a voice came from the other end.

“Hello.”

A sentence that was not much different from his choice.

Similar pitch. Similar pace. But perhaps because of the difference in his natural vocal cords, the other person’s voice felt completely different from mine. With immense awakening power and a beautiful voice.

If only someone with so much could also possess boundless understanding.

***

“I apologize for the comments I made during the last interview. You must have been surprised by what I said on TV, and I’d like to take this opportunity to apologize.”

Huh?

“I suppose I misunderstood you back then, Kim Kiryeo-ssi…. I honestly had no idea that you were hiding your awakening level on the orders of the Association President.”

Huh?

“But saying all this now is probably just an excuse. At the time… I only heard that the Hunter was S-Class and felt a sense of betrayal. If you were that strong, why didn’t you help me before I got worn out? It was those twisted feelings…”

Huh?

What is this? Did his earlier prayer actually work? It’s been about five minutes since being trapped in this isolated prison, and Kim Kiryeo is now experiencing an unexpected conversation. It’s no wonder, since Jung Haseong immediately bowed his head and expressed his apologies as soon as they were alone…!

‘W, was that why he did the interview where he criticized me?’

The black-haired S-Class, seeing Kim Kiryeo who had captured the Inevitable Malice, experienced a variety of emotions.

At first, there was the joy of seeing the monster captured. Next came the expectation that Kim Kiryeo was finally becoming active. Finally, there was the sense of betrayal upon discovering that he was actually the hidden fourth S-rank.

How angry would he have been if the man who had advised him not to overdo it and treated him was actually an S-class pretending to be an F-class?

‘Well, if another S-class had shared the work, he wouldn’t have had to work so hard…’

That’s why Jung Haseong had declared his intention to expose Kim Kiryeo’s disguise. But as the subsequent situation showed…

“I’m sorry.”

Jung Haseong apologized politely, saying that he didn’t know that you would have such circumstances. It seems this Earthling is firmly believing the flimsy excuse provided by the Association President…

‘I’m alive!’

Thank goodness.

If the excuses made by the association president hadn’t worked, this side would have been reduced to ashes by the S-class fire.

“Forget it. Why are you bringing that up?”

Kim Kiryeo shamelessly accepted the apology, which made Jung Haseong’s expression lighten a bit. Such a look without any hostility—could this really be the same person who had threatened to kill him for interfering with his work?

‘W, what is it? It feels like the venom has disappeared.’

Kiryeo was taken aback for a moment by Jung Haseong’s gentle attitude, but he didn’t think about it for long. The other person was a hunter who had returned after resting for several months.

So this is a situation that is completely understandable.

‘This guy, looks like he must have completely forgotten about me hitting him on the back after resting in such a pleasant place.’

Anyway, having overcome the huge obstacle of discord with Jung Haseong, there was nothing else to fear. They immediately set about devising a way to escape the trap.

-Clang, clang.

“It seems like the coordinates aren’t far from where we were earlier…”

“I’ll try to melt the iron bars.”

“Don’t do it. Stay still.”

Since this was an EX-rank dungeon, even the traps resembled a kind of puzzle game, as if testing the intelligence of living beings. A mysterious prison with several hints and various elements laid out before them.

‘Are numbers the keyword again?’

Jung Haseong tilted his head as he looked at the structure in the center of the room. It was a round bucket with an open top, somewhat resembling a water pail used for drawing water from a well…

[3.5]

There was a number written on that low structure. Apart from that, no other peculiarities could be found, making the situation truly perplexing. But it’s fine. Here, there is a great magician who can instantly grasp the structure of magic tools.

A sharp-eyed magician like him could skip the middle process and arrive at the right answer.

“Aha.”

Kiryeo pulled something from his coat pocket. It was a small desiccant that was commonly found in new clothes.

“Desiccant?”

Whoosh.

Kiryeo threw the discarded item onto the device. Then, the bright red letters written on the pillar began to move and form a different shape.

[3.49]

The number had changed due to his actions just now.

“What did you do?”

“Operation check. It’s a weight-related puzzle.”

“Ah…!”

“Let’s see. Judging from the changed numbers, it seems like it’s in kilograms.”

After hearing this, Jung Haseong also seemed to have a sense of how he could escape prison.

“Will the bars open if we reach 3.5kg?”

Kiryeo glanced at his words with a dark gaze.

“You have to get it exactly to the last two decimal places. If you exceed the weight, there will likely be an immediate penalty.”

“Penalty?”

A short explanation followed.

“This room… It looks empty on the outside, but there are weapons hidden inside the walls.”

“….!”

“So be careful. And definitely don’t use any awakening skills. The trap will activate in the same way if you do.”

Tuk, tuk.

Kim Kiryeo tapped on the mottled prison walls. Moreover, the problem wasn’t just exceeding 3.5 kg; reaching that number in the first place was difficult.

“Among the items we’re currently holding, there’s nothing that fits the weight exactly…”

If they were to sacrifice all the clothes they were wearing, would they manage to reach about 2 kg? But what about the next step? A short while later, Jung Haseong tried to take out a potion to make up for the missing weight, but…

“Ugh?”

The S-class’s expression hardened after a while.

‘It looks like the item box won’t open.’

Most of his belongings were trapped in the box.

“Why all of a sudden…!”

“There’s a strong spatial transfer effect around here, so even the item box is affected. You’ll need to get outside to release it.”

Skills are prohibited.

Item boxes are prohibited.

There are also separate restrictions, so this must be a really difficult prison.

“Huh.”

Still, there doesn’t seem to be any need to be that gloomy.

“Hey, even if the item box had worked, it wouldn’t have touched your stuff.”

“Yes?”

“If it’s stuff you have, it must be top-quality. How could it be used in such a place? Break it up into small pieces, divide it… Oh, that’s enough.”

There must be a more efficient way.

‘What should I do? Should I use magic even if it means taking a penalty?’

At that moment, an idea flashed through Kim Kiryeo’s mind as he was considering how to solve the trap.

“Ah! That’ll work.”

“Yes?”

And to implement the method he came up with, he needed a sharp object, something more precise than the blunt [Screaming Stake].

“Jung Haseong.”

The blond hunter immediately lowered his gaze to his opponent’s waist.

“Can you help me for a moment?”

There was a red longsword hanging there that the hero always carried.

***

Meanwhile,

Outside the prison.

“As expected, this won’t do!”

Currently, Esther and Seonwoo Yeon were on the verge of losing their minds. To think that two S-ranks would disappear again. With no suitable way to track the missing people, they had been waiting in the hall to avoid falling into new traps… But now, they couldn’t just wait any longer. The missing people had been gone for a whole 30 minutes.

‘Something strange! Even without considering his S-rank status, Kim Kiryeo is a capable appraiser who has passed our guild’s trials!’

Overwhelmed by anxiety, Esther and Seonwoo Yeon couldn’t sit still any longer. From now on, they decided to search every iron door, regardless of whether it led to success or failure, in their quest to find their missing teammates.

-Kieeek, Clank!

But at that moment, something unexpected happened. One of the eight iron doors connected to the hall suddenly opened.

“Huh?”

Soon after, two hunters emerged from the opened iron door. One was the well-known number one ranked hunter from Korea, and the other was the fourth S-rank hunter who had also been trapped in the same trap.

“Kiryeo-ssi!”

“Oh my.”

The blonde man showed the key in his hand with a sound.

“Sorry for being late.”

At first glance, Kim Kiryeo seemed to have not changed at all since he first fell into the trap. He maintained an immaculate appearance, with every button of his long coat fastened and not a speck of dust on it.

“By the way, after breaking out of the trap, I found this key hanging inside the door…”

Why is it? The people in the hall could hardly focus on the conversation.

“Hey?”

The reason was that behind the F-Class hunter stood Jung Haseong, whose face had turned pale.

“Hunter Jung Haseong! Are you okay?”

“Ki, Kiryeo-ssi, what kind of trap were you caught in? Was it very dangerous?”

As they asked with worried expressions, Kim Kiryeo readily began to explain. The trap he was caught in was a puzzle requiring a specific weight to be filled into a certain device, with the target weight being around 3 kg. Besides that, there were various other details.

“No, then why is Haseong in that condition?”

Until now, the previous sentences don’t explain why Haseong is in such a bad state. So, Esther asked for further explanation.

“Oh, that.”

Kim Kiryeo opened his mouth as if it wasn’t a big deal.

“I had a hard time persuading him inside. Even though I told him I’d help us get out of the trap, he wouldn’t cooperate at all…”

“Yes?”

“Skills don’t work. Item boxes don’t work. So how are we supposed to reach 3.5 kg with just our bare hands?”

He said in a flat tone.

“I just suggested a way to go out quickly.”

How to go out quickly?

“But people always carry mass.”

When Esther heard this sentence, she still hadn’t grasped the full context.

“Anyway, I’ll match the weight with my body, so why all the fuss?”

But if the explanation is so long, no matter how dull people are, they will notice.

“What did you weigh?”

“My body.”

“….”

“Specifically, the right arm.”

In the brief silence, Esther and Seonwoo Yeon understood the implication of the words and their expressions hardened, while Kim Kiryeo continued in a nonchalant tone.

“However, since it was difficult to prepare alone, I had just asked Jung Haseong to do that part for a moment.”

“….”

“That hunter, well, he’s used to handling swords frequently.”

Furthermore, hearing this, it became even clearer what had shocked the national hero.

“What on earth did you do to Jung Haseong?!”

Esther shouted in shock, but the other person showed no change in expression. He truly believed that there was nothing wrong with his strategy.

‘Why are they making such a fuss? The arm will heal if we use a potion. These primitive people really don’t understand cost-benefit calculations.’

Flinch!

As Kiryeo casually turned his head, Haseong flinched noticeably. Seeing this, the F-rank hunter immediately took action. He stepped forward towards Haseong and extended his hand to show it.

“Hey, Jung Haseong.”

The blond man then said, looking frustrated.

“Look. My arm is fine, right? So, please stop getting angry and take a look now.”

“….”

“We didn’t have a choice just now. Honestly, if we had stayed like that, we would have starved to death or been stabbed by the weapon on the wall.”

However, at that moment, as he examined Haseong’s face in front of him, a different side suddenly became apparent.

“Huh? What’s this? I thought you were angry because you were raising your voice earlier…….”

Sssk.

Kiryeo bent his upper body and stared at the Earthling. Then he came to a conclusion.

“Are you, by any chance… anxious right now?”

How could a creature at the top of the food chain on this planet be anxious?

“Why?”

I adjusted the weight. I took care of the recovery myself, so that the S-class didn’t suffer any damage.

Kiryeo asked with a face that truly couldn’t understand. But no answer came. The other hunter remained silently still, like a mouse suffocated by a snake. Jung Haseong, having faced the alien’s bizarre behavior directly, was quite frightened.

“I’m sorry. Please give me a moment to calm down…”

In other words, an unintended threat had been made to the magician by the archmage.