"So that's why you came to see me?" Sa Narae asked with his trademark smile. "You're worried that you think too differently from other people?"

"I wouldn't call it a worry."

"Then why are you here?"

"I thought it would be a fun topic of conversation..."

"Wow. What fun."

"Don't try to end the conversation already."

Jio was visiting the Haeryeong guild.

"I've come all this way. Surely you don't mean to coldly turn away a comrade who fought beside you on the same battlefield?"

"Hmm, of course not. You know how fond I am of you, Hunter Seo. This place is a downright shabby dump, but if you like, I could give you a corner of my room."

"Rather than that, why don't we go shopping together?"

"... Shopping?" For the first time, Sa Narae showed interest. "Hmm. Clothes? Accessories? Equipment?"

"All of the above."

"Deal."

And so Sa Narae bolted from Haeryeong, leaving nothing but a note that read, "Kidnapping Hunter Seo Jio." The deranged message sent the guild into an uproar, but neither Jio nor Sa Narae cared.

Sa Narae booked a private shopping room.

"Ta-da! Nothing we say here will get out. And if anyone dies, it'll only be me, right?"

"I'll ignore that last part. Hmm, I really did make the right choice coming to you, Hunter Sa."

"Of course you should come to me if you want to shop. No one has a better eye for clothes."

"That's a relief. I don't own many clothes, so I needed someone to help."

"Huh? You don't?"

"Well, a portrait only needs to paint them on..."

"Oh, honestly." Sa Narae hung the flamboyant suit he'd been taking out back in its place. "Even if we don't have to worry about anyone overhearing, aren't you getting a little too comfortable?"

"What's the point of keeping up appearances when we already know everything?"

"Your whole face just changed. So this must be the redhead I saw last time."

"Surely, in the course of your life, you're bound to meet someone whose colors change at the drop of a hat?"

"Arguing every point will only wear me out, so I'll take your word for it."

Whatever the situation, keeping your mouth shut got you halfway there.

"I thought you did a pretty good imitation of a human. I didn't realize you weren't just imitating one, but actually considered yourself human."

"Did you really not know?"

"Weeell, I had some idea? I thought you were just really into playing human. Or maybe you still are? Anyway, what's your point? You're hurt because your friends don't understand how you truly feel?"

"Since I have a mouth, I might as well say something: we already know how we all feel. I simply came here to explore possible solutions."

"And you're asking me, when every relationship I've ever had has fallen apart? You really are remarkable, Hunter Seo. Your thinking is on another level. I ought to learn from you."

Still, it was intriguing.

"Well, none of my people are here, either."

"So you really were frightened last time because of your guild members."

"When you point it out that bluntly, I start getting scared of retaliation all over again, you know? Could you just give me a quick promise not to take it out on my family if I get a little cheeky? Oh, right. You do know even a light tap from you can kill a human?"

"I have no intention of retaliating against Haeryeong, and I'm merely human."

"I'm very grateful for the first half, but the second is the wildest thing I've heard all year."

"The year only just started."

"It's practically spring already. What are you talking about?"

Sa Narae rested a hand on his chin. "So, Hunter Seo, you don't think your powers or divinity or whatever are a big deal? They're just personal quirks, and people make far too much of you over something so trivial?"

"That's the gist of it."

"Sorry, but they really are a big deal."

What on earth was wrong with this unfathomable mystery?

"Do you hate being extraordinary?"

"I don't hate being ordinary, either."

"Ah, so that's what you mean..."

"It's hardly my fault I'm so exceptional, is it?"

"If we really have to assign blame, wouldn't it technically be yours?"

"Can't you read the room?"

"You promised not to hurt my guild members, remember? Right? Hmm. Still, however I look at it, I can only conclude that you're not very good at seeing yourself objectively."

Or he simply wasn't trying.

"You really are incredibly, staggeringly extraordinary. That's a fact. And humans are creatures that react differently depending on someone's position and abilities. The way I see it, you're the one being unreasonable, Hunter Seo."

"That's also true."

"Aha." He understood. "You just want me to shut up and play along?"

"You only just realized?"

"Please spare me."

"I'm not going to kill you."

"Spare me in one piece."

He didn't want to end up half-dead over something that wasn't even a fight. But since Jio had promised not to hurt his family, Sa Narae wasn't as frightened as before. He assessed the situation with a fair degree of objectivity.

"Still, if you're going to live among humans, you do need to take their perspective into account to some extent. Otherwise, your only option is to alter people's perceptions or brainwash them wherever you go..."

"How barbaric."

"Barbaric cleanup jobs are Haeryeong's specialty. Anyway, I can see that you really do care about humans. And I've finally understood the point of all this."

Sa Narae winked. "You really did just come to have fun, didn't you?"

"Exactly right." Jio smiled and clapped as if to say, "Well done."

Indeed, Jio hadn't come for a serious consultation. He'd simply found an entertaining topic to discuss with Sa Narae and brought it over because he was bored.

"There's no reason for me to seriously agonize over something I've already settled."

He would regard his position and powers as mere "personal quirks," but he could also fully understand those around him feeling awe or fear toward Seo Jio's power. They could simply go on living with their differing views for the rest of their lives.

Wasn't the idea of every human thinking alike absurd? They were under no obligation to, nor was it possible. That was what he meant.

"In other words, I never thought this was a problem serious enough to require a solution."

"If you say so, I suppose that's that."

Sa Narae thought, 'That Yu Seongun fellow must be fucking exhausted.'

The manager named Ju-hyeon, too.

This terrifying mystery understood all his own peculiarities and still believed himself human. Most humans would never be able to see him that way, so the mishaps that difference in perspective would cause were already plain as day.

But...

"So you're fine with either view?"

"There doesn't have to be only one right perspective."

"There'll be a lot more than one or two people who think you're an extraordinary being."

"I'm worth a hundred people, so that's fine."

"So it's 'Bark all you like; I'll go my own way'? Well, whoever starts dancing first will always attract people willing to keep time."

"You've twisted that rather badly. I'm not telling anyone to bark."

"Hmm. You really are stubborn in the strangest ways..."

In short: "I'm right, and so are you, so let's just live like this." It was a truly peculiar breadth of acceptance. He welcomed absolutely anyone, yet in the end, he only ever did as he pleased.

"Can you be certain it won't cause problems?"

"Isn't that uncertainty what makes it so entertaining? Every story is more exciting with a little hardship and adversity."

"And you're nasty in the strangest ways, too..."

"You flatter me."

"I can see why people say you're Guild Master Bi Sabeol's son."

"My father and I have quite a lot in common."

"..."

Mysteries these days were talented liars, too.

'What a frightening world.'

Divinities, living nature and fate itself, were ordinarily poor liars. As embodiments of the natural order, falsehood was their antithesis. Then again, an evil god would be a different matter.

'But judging by how respectfully Father Kang Seodam treats him, he doesn't seem like an evil Divinity...'

He really was a peculiar mystery in so many ways.

"Anyway, you do a really good human impression."

"How many times have I told you I'm human?"

"Yeah, sure. An ordinary person with some flashy quirks. I get it."

"Since you're at least pretending to humor this obvious fiction, I'll let you off."

"I'm thrilled to death."

"Seongun used to be like this, too. But something must have changed while we were apart, because he won't just indulge me and play along anymore."

"Oh..."

Was the man really that brave?

'He's got guts.'

Impressed, Sa Narae asked, "How has he changed?"

"He used to respond to anything I said with 'Sure, whatever you say!' These days it's more like 'Still, wrong is wrong'..."

"Hmm. Maybe he's simply showing his respect in a different way?"

"I do feel he's more at ease with me."

"You already know everything. Why ask?"

To Sa Narae, it was the difference between a Curator cherishing an artwork and a person cherishing a friend.

"Neither sounds bad to me."

"I agree."

"Then what's the complaint?"

"There were advantages to being unconditionally indulged, too..."

"Greedy, aren't you?"

"Isn't it natural to want to enjoy every pleasure the world has to offer?"

"Most people don't actually try to make that happen."

People who tried to make their own absurd utopias a reality were generally out of their minds. Humans, anyway. "Hunter Seo Jio" wasn't human to begin with, so it made sense.

"So you're venting now?"

"I just finished."

"Then shall we look at some clothes? This place is good."

"I'd like something flashy, like a crow."

"You mean something covered in shiny things? Hmm, that would suit you."

"My face will make up for anything that doesn't."

"I couldn't agree more. I love the confidence."

The two finished their shopping, bantering and having a wonderful time.

On the way back, a stranger spotted Hunter Seo Jio and charged at him. Sa Narae stomped the attacker into a cripple, after which Jio healed the assailant and left them bundled up outside a police station. But anyway, they'd had fun.

* * *

"It seems a strange rumor has started." Ju-hyeon delivered the report, his face pale. "That Hunter Seo Jio is a saint..."

"I believe we started that rumor ourselves."

"And that seems to have led to a rumor that eating you will grant eternal life."

"Why on earth would it?"

"The fact that the mermaids personally kidnapped you must have blown it out of proportion. Fortunately, the order seems to be protecting prospective priest Cha Yi-sol well..."

Hearing that Cha Yi-sol was safe too, Jio wasn't particularly alarmed.

"Similar things happened quite often in the past."

"I think I can almost see why. Was that when you were Giovanni, then?"

"No, when I was Arjio..."

"...?" Ju-hyeon looked at Jio as if wondering whether he'd misheard. "You, Arjio? Why?"

"What's wrong with me?"

"From what you've told me, you didn't sound like the sort of person who'd be deified like that...?"

"There are different kinds of deification, wouldn't you say?" Arjio shrugged.

"The beast of the Black Forest may sound horrific, but put another way, it also means I was special. I was the most ferocious, cruelest beast in a forest teeming with rare jewels and medicinal herbs. It was only natural for rumors to spread that eating me would grant eternal life."

"Ah. Right... That sort of thing..."

It sounded less like purifying oneself with a holy saint's blood and more like hunting an animal that could serve as a rare medicine. Ju-hyeon felt even more exhausted.

"I'm saying this out of genuine concern: could you please be a little more careful?"

"There's no chance of me getting hurt."

"That's a separate issue."

Ju-hyeon simply found the whole affair revolting.

"I don't want you getting dragged into something so disgusting. Even if there's no visible damage, this is an affront to your dignity. The truth is, it's hard to stand by and watch."

Jio smiled. "Won't all of you protect me?"

"... I'm not sure we're in any position to."

"And comfort me when I'm hurting or having a hard time."

"If you seem to need it...?"

"Then I don't see a problem with any of it."

"You're far too optimistic, Jio."

"It does make getting through life easier."

And so, once again, Jio got the better of his friends.

(To be continued)