– What were you doing before you finally showed up?!
The hunters that came in response to the disaster alert were in a position to help with a situation that should have been resolved on Ilseom. Therefore, their feelings towards Hyeon Il-hwan, who revealed himself late, weren’t exactly positive.
– Well, you came just in time. I was considering whether to stack my achievements or not, but I could stick around a bit longer to observe the situation.
The presence of a pivotal hunter is crucial in a large-scale battle, and there’s no need to elaborate on that.
“Huuh— tell me about the damages.”
As soon as Hyeon Il-hwan returned, he asked Do-yeon about the damage situation. Do-yeon shook her head while answering.
“Our guild has no fatalities, but we have around seventy injured. However, among the hunters who came to support us, seven have died.”
“Dammit… It’s going to be noisy for a while again. How on earth did seven end up dead?”
“It seems they fell victim to Frizkana’s magic, but I can’t provide details…”
“Right, we need to get organized first.”
Once Hyeon Il-hwan joined, the winds of battle began to blow towards the hunters once more.
– For sure… that guy is quite the guy. The sword feels like a part of my body.
– Must be the son of that father.
Each time Hyeon Il-hwan swung his sword, monsters fell like autumn leaves.
Do-yeon watching Hyeon Il-hwan from behind realized that he moved much more lightly than before.
‘There’s still room for growth… You’re undoubtedly a talent that will surpass the “Sword Master”.’
Seeing the prowess of the one she vowed to follow made Do-yeon smile involuntarily.
When Hyeon Il-hwan joined, the dungeon break was settled within just an hour, but surprisingly, the gate, even after losing its red color, didn’t disappear.
“Is it over? Are no more monsters coming out?”
In response to Bae Joo-ah’s question, Yeon-hee replied.
“I believe once a gate has burst, it can’t revert back. If it doesn’t disappear… then monsters will keep coming out of that gate. Of course, the scale won’t be as massive as today, but we’ll definitely need heavy security at the entrance.”
Yeon-hee felt relieved inside.
It meant they’d still be able to gather monsters from which they could obtain Killbard materials.
However, she wasn’t feeling good at all.
She was just upset that the connection with Il-wol had been cut off.
‘In the end, Il-wol threw himself into the fray. From the looks of it, he must have wiped out all the Crystalrides with the gate stabilized.’
Yeon-hee was dissatisfied with the fact that Il-wol’s self-destruction cycle was getting shorter and thought she’d have to have a serious talk with him when he returned.
(Master… Il-wol should be fine.)
Ran tapped Yeon-hee’s shoulder, sensing her furrowed brow.
“Yeah… But still, I’m grateful. Thanks to you, I could take out the most dangerous asymbiotic species. How did you think of infusing the wind’s aura into Il-wol’s flame shot? Our Ran is a genius, huh?”
Yeon-hee hugged Ran, who had grown large enough to fill her arms, and rubbed her cheek against her.
(I-I just did what I was supposed to do!)
Seeing Ran’s white body blushing red made Yeon-hee feel a bit better. After gathering the loot with her companions, they left the scene immediately.
And from this incident, she made a firm resolution.
‘To help Il-wol operate more freely… I have to develop my abilities in that direction.’
Il-wol had already grown too big to fit with the “White Alliance.”
Up until now, Il-wol accompanied them under the pretext of protecting the party members, but with the party situation being competitive even in a C-rank dungeon, delaying any further was no longer an option.
‘What do I need to do to completely lift the restraints that can’t separate him from me… Il-wol said a method would come soon, but I can’t just sit around. Hmm… I guess I should attempt today’s quest first.’
Yeon-hee thought about challenging the Cursed Giant Tribe to build her strength. She believed that by continuously knocking on what seemed to be an impossible barrier, she would gain the desired abilities.
With the “White Alliance” exiting, hunters from other guilds also trickled away like a receding tide.
What remained on the scene were only the major hunters of A-rank and above, including Park Jin-gon.
“Park Jin-gon! It’s been a while.”
“It has indeed, Hunter Hyeon Il-hwan. I heard you haven’t been out much lately, but it seems you had a schedule for today.”
Park Jin-gon openly chastised Hyeon Il-hwan, who joined late, in front of the gathered crowd.
For a moment, Hyeon Il-hwan’s eyes twitched, but as he saw the fifty-odd hunters nodding in agreement, he eventually answered in resignation.
“I had some unavoidable circumstances. I’m grateful to the hunters here for helping our guild overcome a significant crisis.”
“There were considerable losses. Five B-rank hunters and two A-rank hunters lost their lives. One of them was a member of our White Knight Guild. The legal team will be sending you the details on this matter shortly.”
Typically, when a hunter dies during emergency aid caused by natural disasters, there is compensation from the government and the guild. However, this case was somewhat different.
Park Jin-gon was planning to use this incident to gain authority for entry into the hidden dungeons of the Ilseom Guild, hoping to ease some of the penalties imposed on himself in the process.
‘Even in this situation, he’s busy watching out for himself. I heard he was under probation for supplying an evolved creature to his disciple. Park Jin-gon… I still don’t like him.’
Hyeon Il-hwan’s brow furrowed involuntarily, but since he had his own faults for arriving late, he couldn’t make any excuses.
In reality, Hyeon Il-hwan had just finished training in a secluded training ground in the very center of Ilseom.
After the Great Beast subjugation, he had been mentally drained for a while, and two days ago he had reached enlightenment, went into meditation, and ended up being this late.
So as angry as he was, a refreshing feeling was also pleasantly running through his mind.
‘I finally saw the possibility of overcoming the wall. Just a bit more effort, and I’ll reach a level that won’t be inferior to the First Escalon. By then, bugs like you, Park Jin-gon, won’t even crawl up to me.’
Having shown a fair presence before the hunters, Park Jin-gon no longer irritated Hyeon Il-hwan.
And whether it was due to Park Jin-gon’s skills or not, the following day, the Ilseom Guild decided to conditionally open the hidden dungeons.
It was absurdly stated that only those hunters with verified character and above a certain standard would be allowed entry, which essentially meant that anyone not in Ilseom’s good graces could forget about it.
*
The day after the dungeon break.
We decided to devote the entire day to rest, but ultimately we couldn’t hold back and ended up gathering at Helen’s shop.
“Only those with verified character allowed? Hahaha! Crazy guys.”
The main topic of the drinking session was Ilseom’s ridiculous entry conditions.
“Who verifies whom?”
“Seems they can’t even think of the things they’ve done themselves?”
Noh Ha-yoon and Bae Joo-ah scoffed at the entrance conditions imposed by Ilseom.
“Our guild seems to be in a delusion that we’re morally superior…”
Ah-rin became unnecessarily flustered, repeatedly downing drinks. Her ears were already flushed red, swaying in different directions.
“Still, it was a place that had been kept tightly hidden, so I’m surprised it’s opening up.”
“Right? I didn’t think they’d ever open it.”
“I heard that as an entry fee, we need to pay 20% of the byproducts. With Ilseom at the helm, they must be raking in the cash, huh?”
“That must be the idea of Do-yeon. She’s surprisingly realistic.”
“Do-yeon? That buzz-cut? I never thought she was an important figure since she was just our guide.”
“She’s referred to as Hyeon Il-hwan’s right arm in Ilseom. Her skills are impressive as well… She frequently checked my posture!”
“Oh… I need to remember that.”
Various conversations about Ilseom passed by, but none of it made it to my ears.
‘Ah… My ears are still ringing.’
Last night, after the cooldown period for re-summoning was over and I was summoned back home, I ended up listening to Yeon-hee’s rant for two hours due to my “Disguise.”
Having already gotten scolded by my master, it was like being beaten once more.
‘The mental strength diminished by rants doesn’t heal even with “Calm”…’
Not wanting to experience that pain again, I kindled my will to preserve my life moving forward.
“Ice attribute monsters are rare, so I guess the dungeon will be bustling for a while.”
“I’ve already seen Frizkana’s gems going for high prices in the market.”
As everyone busied themselves with chitchat, Yeon-hee repeatedly stared blankly into space.
“Yeon-hee? What on earth did you do yesterday that you look so tired?”
“Uh…? Ah…”
Yesterday evening, after scolding me plenty, Yeon-hee had attempted a quest and was now suffering the aftereffects.
‘I heard she got wiped out by the Cursed Giant Tribe…’
The Cursed Giant Tribe were event monsters that didn’t appear in typical dungeons, so I had never encountered them, but I had heard they were powerful beings nearly at S-rank.
Yeon-hee bravely challenged such a monster and managed to last a reasonable time without me or “Castle” but ultimately failed to deplete even a single point of health.
Loss.
Yeon-hee had experienced the sensation of losing her life yesterday. Becoming this dazed state could be considered a consequence of that.
‘At least if we could merge with the ogres, it would improve things a bit. But it’s said to take a few more days…’
If I had directly participated, the outcome might have been different, but since the system had excluded me, I could only hope Yeon-hee would perform well.
“Yeon-hee, here’s the information you requested.”
At that moment, Helen approached Yeon-hee, massaging her shoulder while handing over a document.
“Ah— Already?”
“Heh… Don’t underestimate my skills.”
“You’re amazing!”
‘This is information on the Great Evil One Hwang Tae-wook.’
As Yeon-hee praised her, Helen scratched her forehead for a moment before speaking.
“Actually, I didn’t figure this all out by myself. I know someone with excellent skills, and I got this info from them. It’s pretty rare information. It’s just starting to spread in the underground world.”
“Thank you so much!”
In just two days, Helen collected information on Hwang Tae-wook, the so-called “Demon King of the Back Alleys,” and provided it to us.
While my companions were enjoying their meal, I went up to the rooftop of the building to read it and was surprised to find a number of significant details connected to the manufacturing of evolved creatures.
‘Helen’s contact must have an exceptionally high information-gathering ability, but I doubt the Hunter Management Bureau is unaware of this information.’
However, the special department of the management bureau was not a division that acted without solid evidence. They couldn’t just act on rumors that were just beginning to circulate.
I pondered.
Most knowledgeable people were already aware that Hwang Tae-wook and the “Grim Reaper” were involved in businesses related to evolved creatures.
So it’s high likely that they were preparing for unwanted incidents as well.
‘Even if it’s not the management bureau’s special division, if they think they could be attacked at any time… it stands to reason that the Grim Reaper would always be by that guy’s side.’
Ultimately, I would be dealing with three opponents: Warrior-oriented Hwang Tae-wook, a detection-type sorceress, and the S-rank assassin “Grim Reaper.”
‘The balance seems too good to handle all at once. Even if I give the Grim Reaper some credit, I suspect he wouldn’t be stronger than the “Crystal Road,” so there’s a low chance that [Inconsistent Fury] will trigger…’
To take them down without self-destruction, it’s better to exclude one of them.
‘Instead of clashing directly, should I shake their mental state a little first?’
The information that Helen handed over also detailed the trusted subordinates of Hwang Tae-wook, pinpointing dozens of locations where their movements frequently overlapped.
‘Great. Let’s shake things up by hitting this place first.’
Since it was far from home, I had to embrace the risk of taking Yeon-hee along with me.
‘I need to be careful in various ways.’
The next day, I took Yeon-hee along and headed to the closest factory for producing evolved creatures.
“They might not be here, right?”
“Clap, Clap, Clap.”
The information from Helen suggested it was a likely location for an evolved creature factory, but there was no guarantee that it was the right place.
‘That must be it.’
They had disguised the place as a waste disposal facility, but the stench of decay wafted even from 500 meters away, making it clear to anyone that they were doing anything but legitimate business.
There were guards scattered around, but we had already surpassed a certain level, so sneaking in wasn’t an impossible task.
‘With this level of preparation… the chances seem high, right?’
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