“Bones are gonna have holes. This guy.”
Jang Yu-chan, nodding vigorously as he met my gaze. It seems like a praise worth giving.
– “His magical capabilities are beyond what I heard, but more than that, I’m just surprised he held off against a female knight with that level of skill for over 50 rounds. How can a monster just rely on swordsmanship?”
– “I think I’m more surprised now than when I saw the Great Beast. So… as per your instructions earlier, shall we move towards our side…?”
– “What more is there to say? Report to the upper side immediately and draft a proposal as soon as you get the confirmation.”
– “Understood.”
‘…… Are they really going to propose to the White Knight Guild? Well, let’s leave it to them. If it goes well, we’ll get a free pass out.’
After all the duels ended, Yeon-hee and the companions naturally gathered where Noh Ha-yoon was.
Noh Ha-yoon, who had cheered me on excitedly while I was dueling, seemed to get shy again as we approached, not standing up from her slumped position.
“Wow~ The only loser in our party today is you, Noh Ha-yoon!”
“Shut up… I didn’t even fight…!”
“It hasn’t even been 24 hours since you told me to trust you~~”
Bae Joo-ah teased Ha-yoon as if she had a date to catch.
“But you did well…”
“Ugh… I don’t know! It’s embarrassing. Go away!”
“You came here because you were embarrassed, yet you keep telling me to go away.”
“Joo-ah, you really… just wait.”
“Okay.”
Watching Joo-ah’s grin spread widely, Yeon-hee also chipped in.
“Are you feeling alright?”
“I’m, I’m fine, so just go away.”
“Your opponent was really strong, plus they used items, so it’s not like you failed, Ha-yoon.”
“I know… I know. Just leave me alone…”
From my experience, you shouldn’t leave someone who mutters such things alone.
Everyone seemed to share the same sentiment, as the companions didn’t drift away from their spots.
The Vision Guild members, looking at Noh Ha-yoon, shrugged their shoulders as if it couldn’t be helped while gradually inching closer to Yeon-hee, trying to build rapport.
Moreover, there were those slinking up to prod my body.
“Lee Yeon-hee Hunter, this guy isn’t going to bite if I touch him, right?”
“What? Ah, he doesn’t bite… don’t worry.”
‘Am I a dog…’
“Wow- There’s fire within the armor! I’ve never seen something like this before!”
“Insane… taking the design into account, this is the best I’ve seen among monsters.”
“Don’t touch it too much. It might suddenly go bang!”
“Really? Joo-ah, have you seen something different?”
“Hehe… My connection with Il-wol dates back to the Lizard Swamps.”
While our side was relishing the victory, Ilseom was still reeling from the shock.
– “We just got beaten by one person…”
– “This doesn’t make sense… even if we took the B-rank advancement test right now, we’d probably pass… Is this even real?”
‘Is it something to brag about, saying you came to catch C-rank folks with the strength to go up A-rank…’
The kids under Hyeon Woo-seok must have been colored by him, as I wasn’t even amused by their mindless chatter.
I shifted my gaze to the woman receiving treatment from the healers in the corner.
‘Kwon Hyun-a looks fine. After all, I didn’t hit that hard.’
Was it because we fought with swords, or was it because she corrected my flaws in swordsmanship?
‘Maybe my sudden surge of murderous intent led me to overdo my strength.’
I turned my head to look at the place that had caught my senses since I first arrived here.
‘So it’s over there.’
At the far end of the duel area, there was an iron door locked with magic, and that must be the hidden dungeon managed by Ilseom.
Interestingly, it seemed like such doors were detected throughout this mountain where Ilseom was stationed.
‘So there are multiple entrances? Hmm… interesting.’
As my companions noticed me staring intently at that spot, they began to gaze at it with curiosity.
“I feel some foreign energy beyond that door. That has to be the dungeon managed by Ilseom.”
Baek Ah-rin spoke confidently.
“So… when are we going to try that? Not anytime soon, right?”
Joo-ah asked with concern from our party’s highest level, Yeon-hee.
“My level is 75 now, but wouldn’t it be better to level up to at least 80 before going in?”
“75?! Wow- You reached 75 just a few days after going from C-rank?”
“That was really fast.”
“It’s not like I did anything, it’s because of Il-wol…”
“That fight with the Great Beast must’ve been a huge factor, right?”
“Y-Yeah! I think I leveled up about 5 levels from that… but more than that, I’d like to get some information about that dungeon. I wonder if that’s possible.”
“Those guys don’t seem like they’d give anything easily, judging by how they’re acting now. Probably it’ll be like, ‘Go in there and die once.’”
“Ugh…”
“If only we knew the general grade of the dungeon?”
“I know. If they said it’s A-rank without a doubt, we’d have to put it off for later.”
As Joo-ah mentioned, Ilseom wouldn’t readily give away any information. If it’s a dungeon with extremely high difficulty, that would be a trap in itself. Challenging it wouldn’t be easy.
‘Please let them give us entrance tickets without any fuss. By the way, Yeon-hee is still only level 75? It must be because of the experience buff she got from the job change that I’m leveling up faster.’
I expected to level up from today’s duel, but I remained stuck at 79. The dreaded 9-tier.
‘Sigh… I planned to challenge that residue of chaos today if I hit 80.’
As I thought it was regrettable, a message suddenly popped up.
– “On your way to the King of the Undead, you will occasionally receive small tasks.”
– Quest: Successfully initiate a duel with [Hypocritical Knight] ‘Hyeon Woo-seok’ within an hour.
– Reward: ‘Killbard’ recipe, slight increase in Lee Yeon-hee’s reputation.
‘Huh…? What’s this? A quest with a time limit that doesn’t aim for a kill?’
It was a rather bizarre quest.
Forget about the time limit; just successfully initiating a duel grants a reward? Is that all it takes?
‘Could it be the System thinks I absolutely can’t beat Hyeon Woo-seok?’
While it was a bit of a blow to my pride, when I thought about it rationally, it made sense.
Hyeon Woo-seok is much stronger than the residue of chaos.
And beyond strength, many people think I’m moving because of Yeon-hee’s will in this situation.
If I were to self-destruct and kill Hyeon Woo-seok, Yeon-hee may become a target for Ilseom. I absolutely cannot let that happen.
‘Even if losing in the duel means losing life points, I can’t let that happen.’
I nodded and thought about the reward.
‘Is the recipe for this poison a reward?’
I recalled the ‘Killbard’ potion hidden in my interspatial pouch and calculated the situations ahead.
‘First, I provoke him… will the provocation even work? If it does, it should be as juvenile as possible since he has a childish mentality, right?’
There was no explanation on the failure of the quest.
Sometimes, failing a quest results in massive penalties, but it seems like failing this wouldn’t lead to such things.
‘Yeon-hee’s reputation… I’m not sure what good it’ll bring, but who knows? There might be other positive effects.’
Of course, I had no idea how far the butterfly effect of this action would go.
However, since Ilseom was defeated today, as long as we cooperated well with Vision, who seems to hold a favorable view towards us, the possibilities of this incident spreading externally were slim. Of course, I would need Noh Ha-yoon’s help as well.
‘Alright… let’s give it a try. This potion is definitely worth investigating.’
Just then, Hyeon Woo-seok was walking towards us with empty, soulless eyes, as if he had lost all spirit.
Behind him, the knights who had lost to us today were following ineffectively.
At the very back, I could see Kwon Hyun-a.
As she stumbled forward, supported by someone, her neck seemed to have turned a shade of blue due to bruising.
‘Please tell me… they’re not seriously going to kill them just because they lost to us today?’
Somehow, I found myself treating Hyeon Woo-seok as a villain.
Seeing him behave so irrationally, it seemed like he always had the potential to do so.
Of course, Hyeon Woo-seok probably wouldn’t even realize he’s acting strange. He might just think he failed to prepare adequately and that’s why he lost.
‘He’s dealing with swords all his life, so it’s no wonder he’s odd. That must be how he gets hooked on a woman like Heo Min-sol.’
Instead, someone like Hyeon Yi-hwan, who actively engages in outings, seemed to be what this guy needed right now.
As all the Ilseom guild members approached, rather than feeling tense, I became somewhat curious about how they would behave.
“Haah…”
Hyeon Woo-seok let out a deep sigh.
But rather than speaking a word, he clamped his mouth shut, and a woman in horn-rimmed glasses beside him began to speak.
“Everyone did well today. Honestly… discussing past unpleasant events would contribute nothing to either side, and I believe you will agree. Therefore, I won’t mention what happened before.”
“?”
“We didn’t want bitterness to persist due to a small misunderstanding, so we wanted to conclude it through healthy means like today’s duels. It seems that our wish has been successfully fulfilled.”
“??”
I was listening to what our side thought was a curious explanation, but questions only piled up.
‘What on earth is this nonsense? Are they really speaking Korean? Nothing makes sense.’
Somehow, I felt a sense of déjà vu, reminding me of the evasive language politicians use when trying to dodge responsibility.
Eventually, unable to hold on any longer, Vision’s A-rank Hunter Jang Yu-chan stepped forward.
“No, wait- hold on. Glasses, glasses!”
“Yes?”
Seeing the woman answer with a dazed expression, Jang Yu-chan turned to Hyeon Woo-seok, clearly frustrated.
“Hey, Hyeon. What the hell is this nonsense? You guys started everything with your stalking, and it was us who made this proposal first! You lured us into this ridiculous confined space and tried to toy with us using items, and now you’re babbling this nonsense without even an apology?”
“…”
‘Looks like they have nothing to say.’
As Hyeon Woo-seok remained silent, another knight next to him flared up.
“What? Nonsense! That’s going too far!”
“Why don’t you shut up, petty little punk? Before I tear your mouth apart, remember that I’m saying this nicely!”
“Do you forget where you are?”
“Huh? What the hell are these guys doing here? Where did the Ilseom I knew go, and why is there now a third-rate bunch?”
“What did you say?!”
Apparently, Jang Yu-chan found this situation tedious and began lightly muttering a spell.
“Himafruhrsha-”
“Ugh…?!”
‘Oh…’
As Jang Yu-chan erupted with fury and unleashed his magic, white snowflakes rapidly accumulated on the body of the man spewing nonsense until he transformed into a giant snowman.
“Ugh- ugh-!”
The snowman stumbled, eventually flopping down onto the ground.
‘Even a carrot lodged in its nose…’
“Yikes…! Eek…”
Watching him flounder, unable to speak, was quite the spectacle.
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