After catching the monster ‘Diva’, a message popped up.
The system sometimes reveals stories related to monsters, equipment, or abilities, and ‘Diva’s message was one of those instances.
It clearly stated that the monster ‘Diva’ emerged due to Meuretena, which might have crossed over from the demon realm.
(Meuretena… Meuretena…)
Azraelon muttered the name a few times after hearing my story but couldn’t recall anything significant.
(That guy, he carries the title ‘The Parasite of Darkness.’)
It was only when I made my last comment that Azrael finally recalled something.
(Ah, I think I’ve heard of those insect-like beings. They always hide in places where they can’t be seen, waiting for the opportune moment… they were so insignificant that I had forgotten about them. But why are they suddenly asking about now?)
‘Well, I just happened to come across an old dungeon record…’
Sometimes, old records are found in dungeons, so I casually used that excuse.
Listening to my story, Azrael, unexpectedly indignant, made a promise.
(I see. It seems that even lowly beings act in a lowly manner. If I regain my power and return to the demon realm, I will exterminate those filthy pests.)
‘You have that kind of power in the demon realm? You can manipulate an entire species?’
I still held doubts about Azraelon’s abilities, which were sealed by Ham Eun-young’s grandmother and my companions.
In response to my skeptical reaction, Azraelon chose not to refute and promised to seek the future.
(Hmph… I need to regain my strength quickly to showcase my majesty.)
For quite a while, I had listened to various stories from this cat, and combining them all, it was clear that this cute thing had held a considerable position in the demon realm.
However, the growth rate of ‘Azra’, bound by sealing, was far slower than mine, so I didn’t have high hopes, and I was trying to create a role for him to protect the companions.
‘Anyway, stick to what you said. Make sure those Meuretena characters can’t cross over to human territories.’
(Understood. I am a proud demon who keeps the promises I’ve made.)
As I gazed at the cat’s face, thinking it was amusing how he wore a look of pride, a different message appeared.
[Even if one walks a different path, the end may not be different…]
‘Hmm…? What does that even mean?’
– The pact between ‘Seekers’ is a bond that even the deity of oaths, ‘Lenoxia’, cannot interfere with.
– Those who walk the path of the ‘King of the Undead’ have accumulated deeds with those who walk the path of the ‘King of Darkness.’
– Achievement [Two Stars Illuminating the Path] acquired!
‘O?! You can gain achievements this way?’
I hurriedly took a look at the effect of what I had earned as an achievement.
[Two Stars Illuminating the Path]
– This remarkable achievement gained through the first pact with a Seeker will greatly aid you when you are lost and wandering.
‘It seems there’s no ability that is immediately granted. But since it has the descriptor “remarkable,” it must definitely be helpful.’
What truly surprised me was that it was confirmed Azraelon was a ‘Seeker.’
As I stared at him anew, Azraelon looked away from the sky and up at me. Did he also gain an achievement like me?
(Hmph, little rookie. So that was your first pact, huh?)
‘… So it seems this isn’t your first time?’
(Hehe… of course. Well, thanks to you, I also gained an achievement…)
The cat covered its mouth with its paw and giggled like a villain hiding in the shadows.
It seemed he was quite pleased with the achievement he gained from our pact, which was different from mine.
Watching him closely, he seemed somehow elevated.
‘A pact, huh…’
Having unexpectedly acquired an achievement I hadn’t anticipated, I felt lighter in my heart and picked up the recovered Yeon-hee to return home.
* * *
“Everything’s recorded without any omissions, right?”
In a bar in a region known as ‘Rockter’s Street,’ a middle-aged man and woman were engaged in conversation.
The woman, thoroughly examining the provided documents, posed a question which the man answered with a smirk.
“I have written down everything I’ve personally seen and experienced up till today. If there’s any information newer than that, you can take one of my fingers.”
While his words contained hints about the woman’s abilities, she didn’t seem to care much.
“A golem nearly 7 meters tall and a Skeleton Knight with battle power exceeding B-rank… honestly, it’s hard to imagine just from the documents.”
She had heard about the Drake that Yeon-hee wielded from the guild members who went on a raid against the Great Beast. But the golem was completely new to her.
“I don’t know if it’s because it evolved into a Skeleton Knight or what, but it’s definitely a Skeleton Soldier who was once called a ‘Grim Reaper’… It has an oddly daunting presence that makes it hard to approach. You should probably be more wary of it than the golem or the Drake.”
Additionally, the battle power of the Skeleton Soldier, which was already a topic of conversation among the hunters, exceeded expectations significantly.
“Is it that strong?”
“Although I’m a C-rank spirit, I’ve been in this field for 15 years. You’ll realize it’s on a different level when you see it up close.”
“Hmm… that’s troublesome.”
The woman pondered momentarily, stroking her chin, then nodded toward the man.
The man coolly stood up and left, while she settled the remaining payment for her request and headed to the original source of this request.
A massive figure, she deftly navigated between buildings, reaching the rooftop of one where ‘Park Jin-gon,’ an executive of the White Knight Guild, was staring blankly at the cityscape.
“This won’t be easy.”
An A-ranked hunter known for his spear technique, Park Jin-gon frowned at the first words of Hwang Ae-jeong, with whom he had built trust over a long party.
“Let’s just wait and see.”
As he read through the materials handed to him, he nodded and stowed the documents in an extra-dimensional space.
“If you’re elected as the guild representative, we start right at the Round of 16. Just two wins and we’re in the semifinals.”
The promise that if he raised his disciple within the top four, he would grant an A-rank dungeon still held valid from Kang Yeon-su.
Park Jin-gon’s target was the dungeon of ‘Seok Ryu-hwa,’ where top-tier mana stone mines were currently being discovered among A-rank dungeons.
Though human greed knows no bounds, he was a man who understood at what point one should be satisfied.
Having long discarded the unattainable goal of becoming the strongest hunter, all he wished for was to be the owner of a dungeon that would bring solid profits.
“Just that one dungeon could easily exceed an annual net profit of one trillion won. It’d be the perfect opportunity to give that bitch Seok Ryu-hwa a good smack.”
Of course, profits would have to be shared with the guild, but even factoring that in, it would still be a highly profitable business.
While it might be hard to understand why a hunter on the brink of S-rank would be so concerned about money, the truth is that profits from dungeon exploration see a substantial downturn starting at B-rank dungeons.
If one happens to discover an artifact, it would be a different story, but that’s really in the realm of luck.
As you venture into higher-tier dungeons, the probability of obtaining runes significantly decreases, the monsters become increasingly stronger, and hunting efficiency declines, making it not particularly solid for top-tier hunters to maintain corporate-level profits consistently.
Moreover, as one enters higher dungeons, the mental strain becomes substantially greater, so the cooldown period for resting after clearing a dungeon progressively extends.
Thus, with the balance of dungeons shaken, A-rank hunters are generally trending down to B-rank dungeons.
“I can’t keep running in the field, covered in the guts and waste of those damned monsters forever.”
However, seizing this rare opportunity was a challenging feat.
His newly trained disciples had already reached a count of twenty, but facing ‘Hwa-ryeon,’ Seok Ryu-hwa’s favored disciple, was already a daunting challenge.
And with Yeon-hee from Kang Yeon-su’s line also demonstrating such growth, it was a headache.
With less than a week left until the guild representative qualification round for the scaled-down guild war, he muttered.
“Can we just close our eyes just this once…?”
“Do we really have to resort to that?”
“Who knows when that brat Jo Gi-man will pull any more stunts? If he isn’t going to leave the guild, we can’t miss this opportunity. If we carry on like this, we’ll be living off scraps. You want to soar high, don’t you?”
“………”
“And Jo Gi-man is in an uncertain situation regarding his return. If we’re going to do anything, now is the time.”
Hwang Ae-jeong raised an eyebrow at those words.
“What? Where is Representative Jo going? He was here until today.”
“That guy’s a fake. I felt it today myself; he’s probably just a clone or something. He has far too many unknown abilities.”
“Is that even possible?”
“I’m certain. That bitch Seok Ryu-hwa has already figured it out and is probably preparing another trick. We don’t need to compete fairly.”
“That’s true.”
“Sigh—send a greeting to that ‘Goblin’ guy. Tell him we’re expecting supplies.”
“…Understood. Since we’re at it, I’ll make sure to request top quality.”
At Hwang Ae-jeong’s words, Park Jin-gon nodded slightly.
“Pour in as much money as you want. This will be the biggest gamble of our lives.”
Having made his decision, Park Jin-gon looked down at the city, his expression considerably more relaxed.
* * *
“Clap, clap, clap.”
It had been three days since I started my routine of running through B-rank dungeons alone while Yeon-hee tackled C-rank dungeons with her companions.
On the first day, Yeon-hee and her companions struggled a lot, but they smoothly continued to grow without any special events afterward.
The group of ‘Rockter’ who had been gathering information no longer appeared, and while Were Crocs appeared occasionally, they didn’t show up for the boss battle like the first day.
In fact, I found myself in a somewhat tedious situation after smoothly finishing the dungeon on the first day.
To be precise, it was because of the beings that posed a threat to me; avoiding them to gather experience was decreasing my efficiency, which annoyed me.
The paladin groups that had confronted me on the first day were now stalking me persistently. Their numbers had even increased by three.
“The mark definitely pointed here?!”
The mark.
The moment I feared had been confirmed.
‘It seems I really have a mark on me. Damn Areina.’
“Search everywhere! It’s the one with the artifact!”
It appears the bounty had even gone up.
‘If they catch me, an artifact will drop? Did Areina say that?’
With vague expectations of receiving valuable rewards, it seemed ‘Areina’ was involved in elevating my status with the ‘artifact.’
However, unlike the first day, it appeared they were having trouble as well.
“Oh dear… is it a lack of faith? Since you no longer grant us revelations, where should we go…?”
Fortunately, the light deity ‘Areina,’ who had attempted to strike me down using paladins, seemed not to be intervening anymore.
However, even if I wanted to teach them a lesson, I was worried that the light deity would retaliate unexpectedly.
‘I need to get rid of this mark. Hmm…’
It was a clear mark that Areina had placed on me.
It seemed to provide information to the paladins about my approximate direction and distance.
No matter how focused I was, I couldn’t detect the mark, which left me feeling uneasy.
As someone who wanted to hunt down monsters leisurely, this was indeed quite bothersome.
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