“Gulp!”
A sword suddenly flew. It pierced the neck of the guy right next to him.
“……”
Since it was a sudden event, no one could react at first. They just remained silent. But after a moment, as the person whose neck was pierced vomited blood and died in agony, everyone screamed.
“Hic!”
The man in front, Jeongchan Sik, was no exception. He couldn’t believe that the subordinate who had called him ‘hyung’ until just a moment ago was dead.
‘What in the world happened?’
He had heard that the hunter who entered here was an F-Rank hunter. He had even checked their hunter’s license, so it wasn’t a lie. But one of his subordinates was killed by the hunter he thought was F-Rank.
‘Could they have lied about their rank?’
That was a plausible thought. Come to think of it, something was strange. A mere F-Rank hunter entering a dungeon adorned with gold and various jewels? No sane person would do such a crazy thing.
“…It was a trap from the start.”
Just as food placed temptingly in the middle of a battlefield is often poisoned, it was clear.
“Ha!”
Jeongchan Sik, who had grasped the situation, laughed in disbelief.
“I can’t believe I fell for such a trap.”
He muttered, blaming himself. He lost a subordinate without even realizing such a simple situation.
“So you were with them, too.”
“……”
He asked with a meaningful voice, but the other party did not answer at all. However, Jeongchan Sik had already guessed the other party’s identity. Rather, the silence gave him certainty that his guess was correct.
There were such cases sometimes. People who lied about their hunter rank. It was a strategy often employed by those called ‘villains,’ and a quite useful one. It allowed them to catch the opponent off guard.
Villains. Villains were usually different from hunters. They hunted hunters instead of monsters in dungeons. Jeongchan Sik was the same. Jeongchan Sik had always hunted other hunters. He was always in the position of a predator. He had entered this time to hunt other hunters, so he never thought he would become prey.
But the result? He, who thought he was a predator, fell into a trap. Of course, even if he was caught in a trap, the situation wasn’t over, so Jeongchan Sik was calm.
He had finally seen through the opponent’s scheme. Although one subordinate was dead, the numerical superiority was still on their side. Jeongchan Sik, with a smile, watched the being in front of him.
‘Two people, I guess.’
One was a youth who looked like he still had milk on his upper lip. He looked innocent, but he wore a gold necklace, making him look desirable to rob. He probably wasn’t very threatening. That’s why he was bait. Of course, if the opponent was a hunter, he couldn’t let his guard down.
‘The real one must be next to him.’
Thinking so, Jeongchan Sik looked at the being next to him. A figure completely covered in a black robe. He was completely hidden with a mask and gloves. What’s more, the image of him throwing a sword and killing his subordinate just a moment ago was still deeply etched in his mind. But he didn’t think they could do anything now.
“Well, how about we stop here? If you hand over everything you have, I’ll spare your lives. You don’t have any weapons anyway, right?”
Jeongchan Sik said with a vile expression. Regardless of the opponent’s skill, there were only two of them. He didn’t think just two people could deal with him and his subordinates. Moreover, they foolishly threw away their weapons. In the end, it was safe to assume the opponent had nothing but their bare hands.
But the opponent still responded with silence to his consideration.
‘Why are they staying silent?’
The situation was clearly favorable to him. But the opponent was too calm. The opponent’s calmness made Jeongchan Sik anxious. Is it a bluff? Or are they confident in their real skills? Otherwise, they wouldn’t be so composed.
Jeongchan Sik’s mind worked rapidly. If the opponent’s skills were real, it might be best to withdraw from here. But it was too disappointing to give up on the prey in front of him. If he had only seen the gold and jewels adorning one of them, he wouldn’t have taken the risk. Even if he was a villain, his life was precious. Of course, this was also true if he didn’t know about the existence of the purple jewel held by the kobold behind them.
‘It’s definitely a Magic Stone.’
Seeing the purple Magic Stone, Jeongchan Sik erased the option of withdrawing from his mind. And maybe the opponent was playing mind games over the Magic Stone.
‘Yes, it must be.’
Jeongchan Sik tried to shake off his uneasy feelings. He then looked at the sword fallen on the ground. The black sword the opponent had thrown. It looked luxurious.
“Haa… I don’t even know if this is my last chance.”
He muttered softly and slowly reached out his hand towards the sword. But at that moment.
*Thud-*
A presence that had approached unnoticed. It was the one in the black robe.
“How-”
They were clearly far apart, but they suddenly appeared right in front of him and slapped away his wrist as he was about to pick up the sword. Not only that. He picked up the sword that had fallen on the ground and swung it into the air.
“Huh….”
It was instantaneous. In that short time, the opponent approached, picked up the sword, and swung it. It was a simple action, but the result was by no means simple. Jeongchan Sik was the first to sense a subtle change.
‘Huh…?’
The presence of his subordinates behind him suddenly disappeared. He heard a *thud* sound, but he didn’t want to turn around. Jeongchan Sik’s body trembled. He couldn’t figure out what had happened. No, he didn’t want to know.
The smell of blood wafted into his nostrils. Dark red liquid soaked his feet. He wanted to deny what had happened. But he had no desire to turn around and confirm it. He felt he would regret it if he turned around now, so he just kept his mouth shut. At this moment, there was only one action Jeongchan Sik could take.
“P-please…”
He quickly knelt down. He didn’t care about the red liquid soaking the floor. He knelt and hit his forehead on the ground.
“Please save me…!”
The hunter, thought to be F-Rank, was actually a powerful individual with overwhelming skill. Even if there was a slight difference in skill, Jeongchan Sik was no match for him. He could only beg for his life, hoping the opponent would show mercy.
“Clap.”
Suddenly, a sound was heard.
‘Bone sound?’
He was curious about what the sound was, but Jeongchan Sik kept his head down and held his breath. He just closed his eyes and waited for the situation to unfold.
*Clap clap clap-*
“As expected, it’s Maru-nim.”
Another voice was heard. The atmosphere was such that they even applauded and praised the opponent.
‘Maru…?’
Jeongchan Sik listened carefully to the opponent’s words. The name Maru was unusual. He might be a foreigner. He thought in his mind, continuously observing the current situation. Perhaps a way to escape from this moment would arise, as he harbored hope.
Excluding Jeongchan Sik, who was lying on the ground, Bete and Maru began to talk about the current situation.
“Tap tap-”
“Maru-nim is right. They seem to have targeted the dungeon. And that purple stone.”
As Bete spoke, the dungeon owner kobold behind them was startled.
“Th-that…!”
An intruder had entered the dungeon, but the incident was quickly resolved. However, there was another problem.
“It seems like it won’t be good if this purple stone remains here, Dungeon Master.”
To Bete’s words, the kobold nodded vigorously.
“What should I do then! I don’t want to die!”
Even if the Merchant Guild contracted to protect the dungeon, it wasn’t good to have continuous intruders. So, the kobold asked Bete if there was a good solution. But as expected of a Merchant Guild. Bete quickly presented a solution.
“It’s simple. Dungeon Master. Change the 90% transfer condition for the yellow and purple stones stated in the contract to 100%. We will take all of these dangerous items.”
Bete presented a new contract to the kobold with a pleasant smile.
“O-okay! Our dungeon! Protect it well! I’ll give you the stones! All of them!”
The kobold, touched by Bete’s consideration, signed the contract again. Bete, watching with satisfaction, said to Maru.
“With this, the job is done.”
They had secured their first client and defeated the intruders. The dungeon was dirtied by the intruders’ corpses, but the solution was simple. Maru took off his robe and revealed a cloak behind him. It was the ‘Corpse Harvester Cloak.’ A cloak bestowed upon Maru by the great Master.
The black and white cloak with an unknown pattern stirred as it smelled deeply of blood. Then it began to devour the corpses scattered on the floor. Strangely, corpses endlessly entered the cloak. It took less than a minute to process all the corpses on the floor.
As the cloak swallowed all the corpses, Maru put on his robe again.
“Tap tap?”
(What about that guy?)
“I’m also considering how to deal with him, Maru-nim.”
Now, only the one with his head buried in the ground needed to be dealt with. Bete pondered for a moment and then asked the man lying on the ground.
“What’s your name?”
“I-it’s Jeongchan Sik… Please… Please spare my life…!”
The opponent answered Bete’s question with a terrified voice. It felt strange to see him, who had been full of confidence just a moment ago, now begging for his life in a base manner. But Bete had no sympathy. He was simply contemplating how to deal with this human. He was someone who dared to obstruct the Master’s will. Killing him outright would be too merciful. Then, an idea suddenly occurred to Bete.
“Ah, how about this? A diet method.”
“Tap?”
(Diet?)
Maru expressed his confusion at the word he heard for the first time. Maru had spent a considerable amount of time on Earth, but he was no match for Bete, who had learned about the human world by living in a research institute for many years. Bete, as if considerate of Maru, explained in detail.
“Diet is a word some researchers used frequently. It’s a process carried out for the purpose of reducing body weight.”
Maru nodded at Bete’s explanation.
“So, what does reducing body weight mean? It means getting rid of parts of the body, doesn’t it? That’s what a diet is.”
Bete’s explanation continued.
“And this diet is said to be done very slowly. This means slowly cutting off parts of the body, which is tantamount to torture. If I’m not mistaken, peeling off the skin little by little or removing internal organs would also be good methods.”
“Tuk!”
At Bete’s detailed explanation, Maru showed a look of realization. Today, Maru learned new knowledge. Even if it was small knowledge, it would be useful to assist the great Master in the future. Of course, Jeongchan Sik, who had heard Bete’s words, had a different thought.
‘They’re crazy…. They’re really crazy!’
Who would define diet like that? Jeongchan Sik, thinking he had run into crazy people, shouted with a tearful face.
“Save me…! Please!!”
But to Bete and Maru, human lives were nothing more than bugs. No matter what Jeongchan Sik shouted, Bete only said what he had to say.
“Maru-nim, then let’s finish this quickly and look for the Heukil Guild.”
They were actually busy. Even though the Kobold Dungeon was their first trading partner, it was barely the first step. It was still a far cry from the Merchant Guild the great being desired. More importantly, the restrictions were too severe. Even now, Bete had to transform into a human hunter’s appearance to leave the dungeon. Maru, who was a skeleton, also wore a large robe and mask to hide his appearance. There was no avoiding activity restrictions.
Therefore, Bete decided to use humans. The first was the Heukil Guild, to which the hunter he transformed into, Ji Seongmin, belonged. However, based on what he learned, the Heukil Guild was not a formal guild but closer to a scattered organization. For that reason, Bete was contemplating how to find the location of the Heukil Guild. But was it luck?
“I know! I know someone who belongs to the Heukil Guild!”
Jeongchan Sik, who was lying on the ground, shouted.
“I’ll tell you everything, so please spare my life!”
Jeongchan Sik finally had a chance. A chance to survive the crazy guys who arbitrarily defined dieting and were only fixated on killing. Bete, not wanting to miss this opportunity, bent down. Since his main body was slime, Bete’s waist bent in a strange shape. And he whispered to Jeongchan Sik.
“If you lie, you’ll have a painful diet, you know.”
