Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Kim Kiryeo watched as Jeong Haseong trained his pyromancer skills and couldn't help but feel proud.

Sure he was scamming the guy out of 3 billion every month, 6 if you counted the fact the S-rank also paid the taxes related to the transfer, and he wasn't teaching him the true extent of his knowledge of magic but that didn't dimish the feeling of accomplishment he got from watching someone improve under his tutulage.

Although the emotion could also be explained as the alien making himself a skilled bodyguard who wasn't planning on killing him unlike Kang Changho.

Nevertheless when the session was coming to an end and Kim Kiryeo closed the distance to congratulate the S-rank on the improvements the other was making he sensed the tell tale mana fluctuations of a gate appearing.

Unfortunately with his F-rank reflexes the best he could do was sense the gate appearing and make another step while preparing to speak before both of them were already inside it.

"This is! " Jeong Haseong exclaimed while looking around he then took out his analyser to scan the gate.

[ Ex-rank ] The machine showed.

Kim Kiryeo was looking at his surroundings in the meanwhile.

They appeared to be in some kind of opulent room, filled with gold decorations and a lot of toys. There was a door leading to who knows where on the other side and the ex-Archmage could feel a presence of a F-rank monster from beyond it.

The door opened and both of them turned their heads towards the direction. The F-rank monster who opened the door looked like a human child, they were wearing normal clothes and clutching a bunny plushie that was about the size of their torso.

"A civilian? " Jeong Haseong muttered in bewilderment.

"It's not, it's a F-rank monster" Kim Kiryeo corrected the other hunter.

The explanation didn't completely dause the suspicion of the other however so he added a point "There was only one entrance and we were the only ones caught in it, how could a civilian get here? Besides you can scam it with the analyser"

"I guess you're right, but an intelligent monster who mimics humans? " He stared at said mimic, which was only standing there and not doing anything.

The Alien figured the A.I was simply waiting for them to engage with the creature to activate it so he focused back on his student.

"Have you heard of the dungeon with intelligent monsters that looked like fairies? It was called the Fairy Kingdom" He asked.

"Yes, is it something similar? " The S-rank replied.

Kim Kiryeo nodded in response before turning to the mimic and walking towards it, the other hunter following close behind.

The S-rank then pointed at the monsters with his analyser and further confirmed that the mimic wasn't human at all before pocketing it into his item box.

"Hello" Kim Kiryeo said and that seemed to be the activation code the cheap A.I was waiting for as it immediately perked up.

"Hi! Are you here to play with Mimi?" It asked in perfect Korean.

"Do you know how to leave this place?" Kim Kiryeo didn't bother with answering the question, instead proposing one of his own.

"Leave this place? You can but only after you play with me! " The A.I replied and made a toothy smile.

"And what would this play be? " Jeong Haseong frowned and asked stepping to be beside the fake S-rank.

"Hide and Seek! Tag! Board Games! You're gonna play a lot before resting and then leaving! " The A.I calling itself Mimi replied, jumping up and down in false excitement.

Kim Kiryeo, the alien inhabiting a human body who didn't bother learning anything about earth childrearing, didn't recognise any of these games but hid it to cover up his actual identity and glanced at the other hunter who was also staring at him.

"I think we should listen " The S-rank said unprompted.

"I agree" Kim Kiryeo replied, knowing that this concept-type gate would only let them go if they fulfilled its conditions.

"Yay! " Mimi clapped and jumped around before stopping and pointing at Kim Kiryeo. "You're gonna be the seeker! Close your eyes and count to 60! "

It then proceed to clasp the hand of the S-rank hunter and drag him outside the room before turning around and exclaiming "No cheating!".

Jeong Haseong for his part took it in stride while also observing the monster, not letting his guard down.

The Alien meanwhile closed his eyes and began counting to 60. He might not know what Hide and Seek was but he could extrapolate from the information told to him.

Chapter Text

Kim Kiryeo counted to 60 while thinking about what this gate could possibly want. 

It was clearly a Concept-Type so the Gisimche who made this food box must want to eat a peculiar emotion.

After thinking for a moment the alien came to the conclusion that it must be happiness.

After all, that's what playing games makes you feel.

Then he focused on the mana of his student and realised that he was hiding extremely close to where Kim Kiryeo currently was. Another moment of concentration revealed that Mimi was together with him.

Hiding together isn't very efficient, the alien thought.

Nonetheless he wasn't going to go to them after the timer ran out because he didn't want to find out if his exceptional mana sense would count as ‘cheating'.

Although sensing Jeong Haseong’s mana was something that even an ordinary person could do.

After finishing counting he made his way out of the room and observed his surroundings. Finding the inside of the food box to be quite unique. If he was ever interested in European palaces and churches he would have realised that the Gisimche who built this food box had shamelessly copied those designs and mashed them together, covering any discrepancies with gold lining.

He passed the room where Jeong Haseong was hiding together with Mimi because the designated time hadn't passed yet.

Although he realised he might have to check it out sooner rather than later when he found out little hiding places this gate actually had.It bigger than his 5 pyong apartment but it had less furniture than it, meaning there was no way to hide in the hall.

And the rooms that weren't occupied by his fellow hunter and Mimi were mostly empty as well, with a closet the size of two adult men being there at most.

The Gisimche really cheaped out on this food box…The Alien couldn't help but think.

With resignation he made his way back to the room that had the two hiders and opened it. The inside looked empty, except for a giant bed.

A giggle vibrated through the room, it came from the underside of the bed. Where the magical signatures of Jeong Haseong and the monster were.

With confident steps Kim Kiryeo went and bend down beside the bed, finding the Number 1 Hunter squeezed under it in a truly compromising position.

The cheap A.I was also there.

“I found you,” Kim Kiryeo told the monster.

“You did!” The A.I nodded and crawled out from under the bed with ease.

Jeong Haseong also crawled from under the bed, although in a much more undignified fashion.

He stood up after and dusted himself off, which the alien found odd as he was perfectly clean.

“Now let's play tag! “ The child mimic chirped out “I'm the tagger! I’ll give you 15 seconds to run away, okay?”

The Alphaurian didn't hesitate to run away together with the other hunter upon hearing that, even if he didn't know exactly what tag was.

The alien noticed that the true S-rank next to him was deliberately slowing himself down to his pace.

“Why are you running so slow?” Jeong Haseong asked.

A sense of panic swelled up inside the alien at the critically aimed question from the number 1 korean hunter.

“If we ran too fast couldn't it be categorised as cheating?” How could it possibly be considered cheating if it's our natural speed! This explanation doesn't make sense!

“I see!” The S-rank nodded, believing the answer without second thought.

This mammal really is extremely gullible…The Alien couldn't help but think.

Not a second after did Kim Kiryeo sense the monster moving from its previous spot. It immediately started running in their reaction, sensing the beacon of mana that is Jeong Haseong.

“After a while let's pretend to be exhausted so that the monster could catch us, that way we will get out faster” Kim Kiryeo said this because his stamina level is that of an F-rank, no, even lower considering his lung situation.

“Got it!” Jeong Haseong once again didn't doubt the Alphaurian.

After a while, or rather the moment the F-rank became exhausted, they further slowed down till the mimic caught up and caught them.

Another giggle came out of the monster's lips as it ran circles around the two hunters. It didn't seem to be tired at all from running after two fully grown adults.

“Now let's play monopoly!” It exclaimed after finishing running a circle.

“This Gate has monopoly…?” Jeong Haseong mumbled out, puzzled about how a gate could have access to human games.

Kim Kiryeo on the other hand didn't even know what this “monopoly” was.

“Let's go!” The mimic called out once and then began running somewhere.

Kim Kiryeo didn't appreciate that at all, for he wasn't given the time to rest after running but he sucked it up to not give himself away and walked after the A.I.

Jeong Haseong naturally followed his mentor's example and also walked, even though he wasn't tired at all.

Mimi upon seeing that they weren't running after it, slowed down to match their pace.

During the walk the Alphaurian considered asking the S-rank for an explanation on what “monopoly” was but stopped himself for he didn't want to appear as an alien.

When they finally stopped walking they found themselves at the room where they first appeared inside the gate.

The mimic sprinted towards a chest and pulled out a rectangular, colorful box on which “Monopoly” was written.

“You are gonna be the treasurer and a player!” It pointed at Jeong Haseong who only nodded in response.

The A.I prepared the game and sat next to the board, followed by Kim Kiryeo and Jeong Haseong.

The S-rank took out 500 monopoly dollars and handed them to each of them then they began playing.

Thankfully Kim Kiryeo wasn't going first so he could see what others were doing and copy it.

Why doesn't the A.I explain the rules? Did the Gisimche who made this food box expect everybody to know them? The Alien grumbled to himself inside his head.

After a few rounds, in which Kim Kiryeo proved his exceptional luck, Jeong Haseong went bankrupt.

“You're out! Third place! “ The mimic giggled out.

The game continued and the winner was decided after 4 rounds upon which the monster suffered from one bad roll after another.

“I’m filing for bankruptcy…” The monster sadly muttered out before brightening up.

“You played with Mimi! Yay! I'm so happy! “ It jumped up and down.

The exit of the gate appeared inside the room, at the place where the previous exit stood.

“Bye bye!” Mimi waved at them.

“Goodbye” Jeong Haseong returned the wave.

Kim Kiryeo didn't bother because with that as it wasn't an intelligent being with a soul.

The two hunters didn't waste any time and returned to Earth.

The Gate spat them out exactly where it abducted them.

“We need to report this to the association” Jeong Haseong spoke and Kim Kiryeo nodded in response.

I'm certain that Gisimche wanted to eat happiness but neither of us was happy inside the gate, what bad design Kim Kiryeo ridiculed the other species of alien in his head.