Of course, Ran has never seen her body shine since being summoned.
– Agility +9
Still, Ran’s buff ability was slowly but steadily increasing.
After Yeon-hee’s final bow attack, we had defeated a total of 800 monsters and began to feel our bodies fading away.
In this dungeon, uniquely, after clearing the boss battle, we were immediately transported outside the gate.
Arin, seemingly incredulous that we cleared the boss battle in just four hours, kept cheering.
“Oh my god, aren’t we too strong? I feel like we’re twice as fast compared to my last party!”
“Isn’t it all thanks to Il-wol and the summoned creatures?”
“Hehe…”
Yeon-hee also looked extremely happy, perhaps because she had achieved results through direct combat after a long time. After all, hunters are hunters. It’s clear that such tendencies are strong in Yeon-hee’s heart as well.
Whoooosh—
In an instant, we were moved outside the gate, and we took a moment to sit on the ground, resting our heads from the sudden headache.
The faces of the hunters who entered the dungeon late passed by with surprise. They expressed astonishment at seeing us who had cleared it and come out at this hour.
“Okay! Yeon-hee, then how about we have a company dinner today—”
“I’m s-sorry… something important came up.”
“Hiiing…”
Once again, Arin’s suggestion for a company dinner was turned down. To suggest a dinner at this hour when the sun hasn’t even set yet is just…
We postponed the dinner for now and stopped by a café to have a meeting about the battle tomorrow.
After a 30-minute meeting, Arin’s back as she turned away from us with Bae Joo-ah felt somewhat lonely. What’s so great about a company dinner anyway…
Yeon-hee, sensing that, spoke quietly to Arin, who was dragging her feet slowly.
“If… if you’re okay, let’s have dinner tomorrow…”
Even with her very quiet suggestion, Arin reacted quickly as if she had heard right next to her. Her droopy ears perked up as she responded happily.
“Oh?! Then yes! Our party’s first dinner tomorrow!”
“Phew… Arin, you really… well, we’ll go to Helen’s place tomorrow.”
“Yes, sounds good.”
Yeon-hee sent a bright smile of affirmation to Arin, then immediately took my hand and headed home.
[Stealth]
Taking advantage of the brief moment when people’s gazes were absent, we discreetly climbed into a taxi reserved for hunters.
The fare is twice as expensive as a regular taxi, but the vehicle itself is enchanted to reduce damage when attacked by hunters. If we’re making a lot of money, we might as well spend it on this.
“… Hoo—”
‘I’m super tense.’
Her palm was soaked. Even though she doesn’t have hyperhidrosis, sweating this much means she’s extremely nervous.
Upon arriving home and emerging from her shower, she immediately approached me with a question.
“When can we do that?”
‘…… She’s in a hurry.’
We got home about two hours earlier than yesterday’s closed school dungeon, so I’d estimate a cooldown of about two hours left.
<02:14:44>
When I gestured with my fingers to show the time, she took a deep breath and nodded.
She couldn’t sit still, bustling around the house. The summoned creatures seemed to be engaged in Irmana’s quest, quietly with their eyes closed.
I spent my time manufacturing bombs while observing the daily life unfolding in the small room. It was an unusual yet exceedingly peaceful scene.
Then I recalled the biggest achievement from today’s dungeon exploration.
=====
Fireball Lv.2
– Deals 200% damage of magical attack power.
– 25% chance to inflict status effect [Burn].
– Burn: Health recovery effect -30%, Defense -25%
=====
Finally, Fireball leveled up from the boss battle.
‘It increased by 50%? The damage boost is huge? This is strange…’
Magic Missile and Fireball are known to be the most basic forms of magic. The damage of these kinds of skills is not particularly great, matching their intuitive abilities.
‘I thought it usually increases by 10-20%…’
That being the case, it makes sense that Fireball’s level-up isn’t very fast.
‘No! Even if the damage increase is small, I just want it to level up quickly… I want to use Flame Explosion!’
Of course, I still hadn’t found a way to reduce the damage incurred from Flame Explosion… but who knows? Maybe it was because of the first time being a little too reckless.
Bop-bang— bop-bang—
And time quickly passes.
‘Oh right.’
I had already expanded the wave of senses to its maximum.
Currently, the range had surpassed 440m. As Agility reached the 70s, the expanded range of senses increased dramatically.
Would I be able to discover another sinister group within 440m using [Stealth]?
‘If I use Stealth, I’ll have to run right away. But that might be tough today.’
Another hour passed, and the 24-hour cooldown for [Stealth] was lifted.
“Haa— haa—”
The living room, already narrow, was filled only with Yeon-hee’s heavy breathing. All the summoned creatures except Wang-wang had long since been released, leaving just the two of us and one mutt in that small space.
She seemed unable to sit still, staring at me while standing. Her hands, neatly clasped while holding Wang-wang, looked as if she were praying for something.
In the end, I had to stand up too. If the master is standing, the summoned creature can’t just sit comfortably.
“Haah—”
That breath, heavy with anxiety and excitement, made me tense up as well.
‘This could be a… turning point…’
The day I first entered the dungeon with Yeon-hee and defended against the Slime’s acidic fluid might have been the biggest turning point.
This might be another moment that brings a comparable wave.
“Hoo… I’m ready, Il-wol.”
Nod—
‘Guide… transforming into Yoon Han-gyeol.’
– Temporarily entering the path of Guide Yoon Han-gyeol.
It felt different compared to transforming into Yeon-hee.
‘Well, it’s the future version of Yoon Han-gyeol’s path, so it can’t be the same…’
A door similar to the one I usually entered into Dark Space opened, emitting a small blue light that perfectly fit my body, and in that moment, I was sucked into it.
Quickly, my past memories flashed by. I didn’t have many happy memories as a child, but I felt like I had lived a fairly enjoyable life since becoming an adult.
Unlike Yeon-hee, I had remarkably fewer instances of stopping along the way. That means I had fewer painful memories.
It was ironic.
Having grown up as an orphan, I had fewer moments of misfortune than Yeon-hee, who was born into a family with adoptive parents.
‘That’s just how life goes…’
And before long, the flow of memories reached its conclusion, revealing Jo Gi-man’s nasty grin as I blended into Yoon Han-gyeol’s view. Shit.
“Did you think I wouldn’t know?”
“……”
A breeze rushed into my empty eye. I shuddered in terrible pain.
Jo Gi-man walked leisurely before me, with my eyeball stuck on his dagger.
“I know that girl likes you. Since I contacted her, she should be arriving soon. Unfortunately, you won’t see your corpse, turned into a rag, being mourned.”
“… Kang Yeon-su hasn’t done anything wrong.”
“No guilt? You think she’s innocent? The one who always dares to defy me, the one who aspires to be a god? Ha! How absurd. Besides, Kang Yeon-su has done more than her fair share of dirty work. There’s more than enough reason for her to die.”
“…… You crazy bastard. Go to hell.”
“Hahaha—”
He continued to nag for a while.
Before long, Kang Yeon-su arrived. The instant our eyes met, his dagger pierced through my empty eye, penetrating my head.
The despair in Kang Yeon-su’s eyes was beyond explanation with just one word.
……
That was the last page of Yoon Han-gyeol’s memory.
‘Even after looking back, it’s still damn annoying. Ha…’
Whoooosh—
I took a step forward as the door opened. Despite the similar height of my vision when I was a skeleton, my senses felt distinctly different.
“……”
However, my mood was plummeting. I didn’t receive a comprehensive set of status ailments like when I transformed into Yeon-hee, but I realized once more that forgotten memories are often better off staying forgotten.
‘Hoo…’
Swish—
I raised my hand to take in the sight.
I saw long, thin fingers that seemed to have never known hardship.
I had always been dissatisfied with these hands.
To me, it felt like they were saying that the things I’ve been through were nothing compared to the life you’ve known.
‘But upon closer inspection, they’re filled with calluses and scars…’
Still, I had never engaged in physically exhausting tasks like most combat-type hunters, so I had no retort if people said I lived comfortably.
‘Still dressed in formal wear…’
Unless I was entering a dungeon, I always wore a suit. The reason was that I found picking an outfit bothersome. It was convenient because wherever I went, I wouldn’t offend anyone by being well-dressed.
I habitually put my hands in my trouser pockets. The door I was sucked into was breaking apart into small, glowing blue particles, fading away.
By coincidence, I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the mirror hanging on the wall. Though I had forgotten, I still thought it was a pretty decent frame.
Thump!
‘Huh?’
Yeon-hee dropped Wang-wang, who she had been holding, onto the floor. Wang-wang sprawled out like dough that had yet to be kneaded.
“Uh… uh-oh?”
“……”
Right. I forgot what was happening for a moment because I was caught up in the flood of memories.
Right now is an important moment to show my true self to Yeon-hee. Only then did the tension rush back.
Yeon-hee was clearly startled by my changed appearance. Not only did she drop Wang-wang, but she was also taking small steps back, shaking her head slightly.
“Ah, no… th-this…”
She looked at me with disbelief, scanning me up and down until our eyes finally locked.
“Yeon-i—”
“Ahhhhh—!”
Boom—!!
“Ah……”
Oh no. This is bad.
The moment our gazes met, Yeon-hee bolted into the room and slammed the door tightly shut.
“Ow…”
This is awkward. I never expected she’d run away into the room…
– Successfully transformed into Guide Yoon Han-gyeol with [Stealth].
– All attributes except Sense have decreased by 50.
– Remaining time <00:29:23>
– Identified a sinister group located nearest to you. I will track their positions for the remaining time left.
‘…This is a rather vague distance.’
500m to the northeast. They were moving rapidly in and out of the range of my senses.
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