“Today is going to be an unforgettable day. I can’t believe I found two artifacts!! Il-wol’s senses always leave me astounded, how does he do it so well? Huh? Huh?”
Yeon-hee playfully pokes my side as she walks beside me, curiously asking.
I shrug my shoulders, trying to appear nonchalant, while she hums a cheerful tune, bouncing along like a rabbit.
But every now and then, she pauses, deep in thought, mumbling something about “the one-eyed symbol people…” It seems the blue-eyed ones have caught her attention a bit.
Perhaps if Yeon-hee defeats them, there will be a reward.
“Do they… not have shadow attack capabilities in their robes? The cloak almost reflexively sends out shadows to attack.”
While walking, I recollect when I took down the blue-eyed ones and that thought creeps in. I know not every blue-eyed deity possesses that cloak, but does that mean the ones in robes are just too low-tier to even get one?
Or maybe they just have different roles; I can’t be sure. It’s all just speculation.
“The branch of those guys is so secretive that we can’t really bust in. Best we can hope for is a random encounter in a dungeon, huh?”
Of course, if their goal is to hunt artifacts, then we’re bound to cross paths a lot, but judging by today’s antics, they don’t seem to have navigation skills as good as mine.
Still, ‘Just loitering around the grave suggests they kinda know the location of the artifacts, huh…’
“Ah, there’s the exit.”
Before I knew it, we reached the exit and, as usual, exchanged brief farewells.
“If I wear full-body armor that covers my face, wouldn’t we be able to go together all the time?”
Of course, among hunters, there are those who stroll the streets in gear, but no hunter covers their face completely. They’d definitely get stopped for checks.
Leaving behind Yeon-hee’s disappointed face, I got sucked back into the dark space.
…
After just chatting away with a lively child, stepping into this eerie silence sometimes makes me wonder if I was dreaming.
‘Sometimes this quietness isn’t too bad…’
So I comfort myself and, as usual, begin to move my body while gripping my dagger.
Swish-
Shhh-
‘Yeon-hee seems to be fully on track now… If we just check that hidden space in the fire monkey dungeon, we can dive right into Lizard Swamp or the Hobgoblin dungeon. Then I’ll change jobs…’
Sure, it would be fine to safely grind in the Ent Forest or fire monkey dungeon first before moving on.
‘But we don’t have a lot of time.’
Fwooosh- whoosh!
I remember my former swift movements and engage in mock combat with imaginary foes. It’s all I can really do right now.
* * *
Giant’s Dungeon.
In this world-renowned eighth-rate dungeon located on Geoje Island, Jo Gi-man and his party take a break at the stairs descending to the fifth floor after clearing the fourth.
The reason this dungeon is called one of the eight greatest in the world is that no one has reached its bottom yet. The same goes for the other seven dungeons.
And that includes Jo Gi-man, who is living his seventh life.
“This time, I’ll definitely find out how deep it goes.”
It’s astonishing that he has grown this much without a single skill as a long-term F-rank hunter, but it’s embarrassing to think that he hasn’t cleared this dungeon even once in six lives.
The deepest known level of this dungeon is the sixth floor, a record set by Jo Gi-man himself.
But that achievement belongs to his seventh run, as he reached his highest level of nine floors in his sixth.
Just thinking of the overwhelming force of the gigantic monsters makes me dizzy, and I instinctively rub my forehead.
“Even the Seven-headed Dragon was ultra-cautious when talking about giant monsters. If it weren’t for those blue-eyed bastards, I could focus better on this dungeon. Damn it!”
The ‘blue-eyed’ organization constantly meddles in Jo Gi-man’s affairs whenever he runs these life cycles, making them a bothersome presence.
He can’t just let them be, but actively searching for them is difficult since their main base is so well hidden — he can count those he identified during his six runs on one hand.
So he came up with the idea of using the genius summoner, Lee Yeon-hee, to keep the blue-eyed bastards in check.
“If I just leave them be, they’ll grow too big for me to handle… That monster of a girl…”
During his third run, when they pushed him forward, she not only checked the blue-eyed organization but even rose to become the ruler of hunters, making it clear he couldn’t let her go unchecked.
Because the Seven-headed Dragon wants Jo Gi-man, its incarnation, to grow to be the most influential presence in this world.
So he can allow her to grow just enough for casual use, but he can’t let her ascend endlessly.
“The Orc Legion Commander… That’s the right limit to use her…”
The Orc Legion Commander, as powerful as the monsters that come out on the ninth floor of the Giant’s Dungeon.
With the legion led by the Orc Commander appearing, righteousness-driven Yeon-hee would help thin their numbers. Of course, while she hadn’t beaten the commander without his help before, she’d likely end up in some trouble.
Then, just when Seoul falls into catastrophe and is about to be completely conquered by Orcs, he would emerge, solving everything and etching a heroic image in everyone’s minds.
With that scenario playing in his mind, Jo Gi-man nodded slightly.
“What are you mumbling about all on your own?”
It was Kang Yeon-su who pulled Jo Gi-man out of his thoughts. She, with her fiery personality just as much as her abilities, was as much of a concern to him as Yeon-hee.
While Jo Gi-man could easily overpower her in terms of strength, her influence and role were irreplaceable. Of course, his discomfort about her stemmed from other reasons too.
“You told me to ignore you in the dungeon.”
Jo Gi-man replied indifferently, glancing at her.
“Can you not draw attention to it? Guild Master!”
The way Kang Yeon-su emphasized “Guild Master” made it obvious that she didn’t care for him much.
“Huff- more importantly, sir? Haven’t you found any hidden spaces at all?”
Jung Joo-in, who serves as both Jo Gi-man’s most loyal subordinate and secretary, nodded quietly.
“If we just found one artifact, it would be a jackpot for today. Tsk-”
Kang Yeon-su wanted to crown her accomplishments today after they already achieved enough.
“Haha- if we push through to the sixth floor today, something good will surely come out of it. My instincts say so!”
The newly minted S-rank Tank, Cha Mu-yeol, laughed heartily, while Kang Yeon-su sighed, saying, “Please.”
As the guild’s financial manager, she was always thirsty for results, so she brushed it off as the usual complaints from the team.
“Ah~ I miss our cute Yeon-hee.”
“That summoner, right?”
“Yes, she’s just adorable. Hehe-”
“Are you perhaps into her or something?”
“What the hell are you talking about? You want to die?”
“S-sorry…”
As Kang Yeon-su glared threateningly, the healer Gu Sang-min, who had dared to joke, scratched his head nervously and looked down.
“If she can handle monsters, she’ll be a huge help to the team.”
“I heard that before entering the dungeon, her summoned creatures had already surpassed five. I’m really looking forward to it.”
Watching Kang Yeon-su chatter on about Cha Mu-yeol and Lee Yeon-hee, Jo Gi-man thought,
‘Not bad… there is a big gap compared to other runs, but it’s actually good? I can stay a little longer.’
To ensure his plans come to fruition, he needed to overlook a bit of her growth.
Moreover, from what he gathered through [Search], her summoned creatures’ potential was akin to a long-term F-rank hunter, so he didn’t have anything to fret about. A skeleton soldier won’t grow into a lich just because it uses fireball a bit.
Probably just like the other summoned creatures.
“Let’s head back down.”
As Jo Gi-man descended the stairs, a flicker of scale-like glimmer briefly flashed across his face, but no one noticed.
* * *
The closure of the fire monkey dungeon lingered for another day, so we decided to raid the Ent Forest dungeon once more.
Unfortunately, we didn’t manage to level up, but we finished the raid smoothly and pocketed around 300,000 won, now gathered in a one-room to have a rather odd discussion where only one voiced their thoughts.
“So, you’re saying you want to hit the fire monkey dungeon just one more time? It feels too bad to only do it once, right? Besides, the public officials dispatched from the investigation department didn’t find anything abnormal, so isn’t it okay?”
‘Shouldn’t you be more anxious about the fact that they didn’t find anything, Yeon-hee?’
It was nonsense that 30 people were slaughtered, and the cause completely unfound. Meanwhile, it wouldn’t make sense if the dispatched personnel were completely incompetent; the fact that they genuinely couldn’t find out was unsettling.
I sketched a quick drawing on the notepad Yeon-hee always leaves on the floor and made a few circles.
“Uh… are we just saying we’ll stick around near the entrance?”
Nod-
“Il-wol’s a coward. Hehe.”
‘Well, that’s definitely accurate.’
Feigning surprise, I tilted my head when her eyes sparkled and she chuckled.
‘I’ve lived my whole life with a safety-first mindset, so it’s not wrong.’
But this time, I couldn’t compromise. I can’t be around in a place that might hide danger.
Creak- crack-
Watching Wang-wang’s eating segment, Yeon-hee, whose belly was noticeably round, nodded in agreement to that.
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