Chapter 50. The Hero of the People (2)
Not long ago, the incident where the top-ranked Hunter was ambushed occurred.
“Yeeah, I checked again with the latest tester, and there’s nothing wrong. That person is F-Class.”
Jeong Ha-seong recalled the suspect of the incident.
Indeed, the most likely culprit would be Kang Chang-ho. But the cold gaze of Kim Gi-ryeo, who was watching him collapse, still lingered in his mind.
‘Did the test make a mistake?’
Surprised, Jeong Ha-seong requested the related documents.
But now it turned out that the person responsible for the retest was none other than Seonwoo-yeon.
‘In that case, the possibility of tampering for cash is low…’
Given the famous principled nature of the agency’s observer, the testing wouldn’t have been careless.
“Hmph.”
It felt uneasy, but Jeong Ha-seong decided to bury this matter in his heart.
Honestly, it would be better to tackle another dungeon during this time. How long would he keep fretting over this?
“Please list the imminent Dungeon Break gates.”
Upon arriving in Seoul, Jeong Ha-seong immediately set up his next schedule.
Today’s destination was an unpopular nearby gate.
Meanwhile…
Coincidentally, this person was also on a business trip to that unpopular gate.
‘There are so many crazy Earthlings now, I’m getting nervous every time I go out.’
The reason he came to this gate was simple.
‘But for research purposes, I have no choice.’
Kim Gi-ryeo needed the corpses of monsters for research on magic.
It has been revealed that general Earth animals, such as rats and birds, can be controlled.
Now it was time to experiment with the next level.
‘If I can manipulate monster corpses, that would be amazing.’
However.
It was customary for hunters to rummage through monster carcasses for valuable materials.
In fact, obtaining clean specimens turned out to be quite a challenging task.
‘Huhuhuhu…’
Thus, Gi-ryeo devised a cunning plan.
If it was a worthless monster that didn’t drop magic stones and had no significant value in bones or flesh, everyone would just leave its body behind.
So, he purposefully came to a place famous for being a garbage dungeon.
“This place has small monsters, perfect for stealing!”
Oh?
Once he entered the gate, the place was empty.
“Huh.”
This was a Blue Gate, where no boss existed.
Type II Dungeon.
Given its characteristic of constantly re-appearing common monsters, he thought there would be remnants of a previous team’s hunting.
“There’s nothing to pick up?”
Not even a corpse, let alone traces of a battle!
“This is different from what I imagined….”
Gates, if left alone, explode, and it had been a while since this one appeared; shouldn’t someone have checked it out?
Gi-ryeo crouched in a corner, avoiding the monsters’ eyes.
But even after a long wait, there was no sign of anyone coming.
“Damn, no wonder there were no staff guarding the front of the gate. I didn’t expect it to be this unpopular.”
Would it have been better if Ahn Yoon-seung had come along?
Gi-ryeo briefly considered it but shook his head.
‘No way.’
The corpse-controlling technique was an important ritual linked to resurrection magic.
Moreover, a quick search revealed that there didn’t seem to be any Awakened on Earth capable of controlling monsters.
If Ahn Yoon-seung started questioning him because of his actions here one day, that would be a big deal.
‘Relying too much on Earthlings isn’t good either.’
Gi-ryeo decided he needed to lower his dependency on Ahn Yoon-seung.
He should do what he can on his own.
As luck would have it, he had acquired more magic tools to protect himself during the last shopping trip.
“I guess I have no choice. Let’s lower my expectations from B-Class specimens to C-Class.”
Ussha.
He stood up from his spot, as he concluded that staying there would yield nothing.
“Mm?”
But at that moment.
“……!”
Jeong Ha-seong was entering the dungeon.
Kim Gi-ryeo was trying to leave.
The two figures stood face to face around a single gate.
“Uhm… so….”
A young man with a messy blend of gray in his black hair.
And a man with a neat impression like a news anchor seen on TV.
Gi-ryeo eventually recalled the young man’s name.
“Jeong Ha-seong Hunter?”
At that, Ha-seong furrowed his brow.
“You….”
A momentary sense of revulsion flashed across his face.
It wasn’t merely a matter of Gi-ryeo entering the gate without permission; after all, wasn’t this a B-Class gate?
“What were you doing here?”
The doubts he was trying to cover ignited aflame.
Ha-seong thought, “Wasn’t the other guy trying to secretly hunt B-Class monsters?”
“Oh, um.”
“No, how is the association handling their affairs? An Awakened clearly manipulating his rank is running around.”
Ha-seong muttered irritably, and Gi-ryeo stammered.
“It was a mistake! I didn’t do anything inside; I was just about to leave!”
“A mistake that you just briefly stepped into?”
“Yes.”
“I prepared for ten minutes at the front of the gate before entering?”
Before long, Kim Gi-ryeo’s mouth was shut tight.
‘Damn.’
No matter how much he tried to explain, the fact remained that he had illegally entered the gate.
“Uh, I’m sorry. The truth is, I was just curious and took a little look inside.”
In situations like this, it’s usually better to be honest than to spin useless lies.
“Were you hunting? Then I’ll just step out so as not to disturb you….”
“Where do you think you’re going right now?”
“Oh, should I stop? Alright, I got it, so can you please lower your sword first?”
Gi-ryeo began to nervously soothe the S-Class Hunter as he swallowed repeatedly.
But that was not the end of the problems here.
Next, a new figure arrived at the unpopular gate.
‘Those crazy cultist bastards are out for blood over trivial matters.’
It was the involvement of Pyo Na-gil, the boss of a crime organization.
Why had this unregistered person come to such a desolate gate?
This was due to a previous request.
-Then, it’d be fine if you could take care of another S-Class quickly.
Pyo Na-gil had received a hefty advance payment from certain religious groups for something.
However, due to the emergence of Kim Gi-ryeo as a variable, he essentially had to abandon the assassination of Esther.
To make matters worse, not only did he have to pay back the advance, but future dealings were also on the verge of being cut off.
‘Damn.’
The Nachalsawon, that allied organization, posed a threat to Pyo Na-gil beyond imagination.
An unregistered individual living in hiding could make only so much money regardless of how much illegal activity they engaged in.
Recently, they had been on the police’s radar, threatening the group’s continued existence, leading to a withdrawal from their prior insufficient business.
Despite the income his organization had generated not being small in the eyes of the public, human greed is boundless.
‘I have no choice.’
Pyo Na-gil could not give up the resources offered by Nachalsawon.
Greed.
He decided to undertake dangerous requests just to maintain his cash flow.
‘As long as I success with the ambush, that’s all that matters. It won’t be too difficult.’
But the reality was that he was sweating with tension since earlier.
Today’s target was Jeong Ha-seong.
He did come to assassinate another S-Class, as per the demands of the supporting organization, but did he know why that was such a significant event that had been undertaken alone?
In front of an S-Class Hunter, even a mid-tier Awakened would be meaningless.
Considering his tendency for individual actions, Jeong Ha-seong was a monster to be feared.
One flick of his finger could turn an average mid-tier Awakened into ashes.
‘It’s fine. I went undetected even during rehearsal, so I should be safe….’
If necessary, he would stealthily escape.
Pyo Na-gil steeled himself and carefully entered the gate.
‘Huh?’
But lo and behold.
He fled the scene just two seconds after that thought crossed his mind.
‘What? I clearly saw him go in alone!’
Because Jeong Ha-seong was currently engaged in a conversation with some Hunter.
And, if he wasn’t mistaken, that blond Awakened in the gate was definitely.
‘Kim Gi-ryeo!’
A cold sweat broke out on his temples.
‘Could he be reading my moves? No way… But how is he sticking to the Hunter we’re targeting?’
As long as that F-Class was nearby, assassinating Jeong Ha-seong was impossible.
The invisibility spell would have no effect whatsoever.
‘Damn!’
Pyo Na-gil bit his lip from beyond the gate.
In truth, the safest choice here would be to take a step back and wait for another opportunity.
‘It’s annoying.’
Pyo Na-gil couldn’t shake off the nagging thoughts surrounding Hunter Kim Gi-ryeo.
The memory of fleeing from a mere F-Class he had underestimated kept haunting him.
‘Yeah. Speaking of which, among the items those cultists gave me…’
Pyo Na-gil took something out of his bag.
[Destruction Particle-α]
[Description: Upon attachment, it destroys one targeted item.]
This item was essentially a small bomb capable of removing bothersome objects.
Generally used to break competitors’ equipment.
‘I was told to use this if I encountered an S-Class inside the gate.’
But one day, the Nachalsawon discovered a new use for this item.
‘I’ve never used it because I felt uneasy since they gave it to me…’
Fwoop.
Pyo Na-gil tossed the item toward the direction of the gate, feeling uncertainty in his heart.
As a result, the red orb waded in among the gate’s waves, sprouting tiny roots.
‘Huh?’
The surprise was brief.
A few seconds later.
-Clang!
The blue-lit passage was swiftly destroyed and vanished.
‘What? A Dungeon Break?’
It was a phenomenon distinctly different from a normal gate closure. In some ways, it was similar to what he described as a Dungeon Break.
‘Wasn’t this item only effective for destroying equipped items? The gate was included as a target too?!’
This was a discovery made by terrorists disguised as religious groups.
Dungeon passages could be artificially removed.
Furthermore, the effect didn’t stop at just the entrance’s disappearance.
-Clang!
“Hmm?”
“Uh?”
At that moment, inside the dungeon.
The two individuals embroiled in their verbal conflict turned to the strange sound in unison.
“The exit…?”
It was Jeong Ha-seong who first spoke, but Gi-ryeo quickly chimed in.
“Ugh, damn it.”
A plain profanity slipped out.
Once again, they were in a Blue Gate.
Among them, a Type II hunting ground without any bosses, just mooks respawning.
But when they forcibly removed the entrance to this Type II hunting ground, a peculiar phenomenon occurred.
“Why did the gate suddenly close? Was that your doing?”
“Do you think I would do such a thing? I was being grabbed by Ha-seong!”
Typically, the gate would be destroyed once the boss was defeated.
This was the foundational premise of a Type I dungeon.
But unexpectedly losing the passage of a Type II dungeon led to an error based on this premise.
-The gate has been destroyed.
-The destruction of the gate requires a certain number of monsters to be present or for the boss to be killed.
-Has the current number of entities exceeded the allowance?
-NO
-Processed as gate destruction due to boss defeat.
-But there’s no boss here?
It was a domino effect of errors.
-To resolve the contradiction, establishing a new boss.
Gi-ryeo couldn’t fully grasp all the systems at play, but at least he understood that a major crisis was unfolding.
“Jeong Ha-seong, you’re free to report me as much as you want if you manage to get out of this gate. No, I’ll just confess myself for entering illegally.”
Whoooooo…
The blond man followed the sound of wailing coming from beyond the lush swamp.
“So, can’t you spare me until then?”
What the audacity of this grade-inflated fraud!
For a moment, Jeong Ha-seong couldn’t comprehend what the other was saying.
But soon, reality unfolded before them.
“Growww…”
“Mooooo~”
What was happening?
Originally, this gate was a nest for modest, white avian monsters.
But now, giant horns were sprouting everywhere in sight.
The S-Class Hunter began to analyze the red and massive bulls that started to wreak havoc in the dungeon.
Beep.
[Minotaur]
“I recognize this monster.”
The boss of the Labyrinthos dungeon.
Multiple Minotaurs appeared.
Not just one or two, either.
“Ha-seong, I still haven’t heard your answer.”
…All the common monsters in this gate had been randomly replaced by boss-level monsters.
“I should mention that I truly can’t fight.”
Kim Gi-ryeo subtly retreated.
Even at this moment, the herd of Minotaurs was closing in on them.
