I went to the dungeon at first.
It was to measure Maru’s combat power.
However, a very small movement of mana was caught in my senses.
That movement kept watching me and Maru.
‘It’s too blatant.’
It was too blatant to be just a coincidence.
From then on, I hid Maru’s full power.
I had already hunted most of the Orcs.
Besides, if someone was watching me, there was no need to show all my cards.
*Ding-*
Just then, an alarm rang from my smartphone.
– You have successfully supported Dungeon ‘Illusionary Temptation’.
– You have succeeded in repelling the intruders.
– You have successfully completed the additional mission.
– You can purchase the Lich’s promotion perk package once.
– Azmo, the owner of Dungeon ‘Illusionary Temptation’, dedicates his dungeon to Master.
– You have become the first ruler to own dungeons in two dimensions.
– You have acquired the trait ‘True Dungeon Master (EX)’.
– The following systems are unlocked due to the trait.
[Dungeon Monster Leveling System] (Locked)
[Dungeon Monster Strengthening System] (Locked)
It seemed that the Death Knight and the Lich dispatched to the Incubus Dungeon had successfully completed their missions.
‘That’s faster than I thought.’
I quickly scanned the alarm.
By completing the additional mission, I had even gained the authority to purchase the promotion perk package related to the Lich.
Of course, what caught my eye the most was.
‘EX rank?’
The name of the trait was ‘True Dungeon Master’.
What was surprising was that the rank was written as EX.
A rank that had only been rumored and considered legendary in the hunter industry had appeared right in front of me.
‘I can’t believe I obtained an off-the-books rank.’
This trait was created when Azmo, the owner of the Incubus Dungeon, completely dedicated his dungeon to me.
‘Two dimensions…’
I checked briefly and found that Azmo’s dungeon was on Earth.
I didn’t know until now because it was marked as ‘other dimension,’ but it was on Earth.
This wasn’t something I needed to think about right now.
I wanted to open my status window immediately to check the explanation of that trait, but unfortunately, I couldn’t.
‘…There’s no explanation?’
Were there any traits that didn’t have explanations until now?
As far as I knew, all traits and skills always had explanations.
However, unlike the skills I had encountered so far, this trait was not S-rank but an off-the-books rank, so in a way, I understood.
Judging by the name alone, I had a rough idea of what the trait was.
The problem was that it was only a feeling.
‘I can’t know exactly what abilities these are.’
If I had more time, I would have liked to examine it more closely. I was also curious about what the monster leveling system and strengthening system were.
But I couldn’t do that right now. It was because of the beings that were blatantly watching me even at this moment. The priority was to catch the rats hiding far away.
“Let’s get going.”
Maru nodded at my words.
Since most of the Orcs had already been eliminated, there were no monsters left inside the dungeon to interfere. Even the few Orcs that remained didn’t dare to approach me. They knew that if they approached after witnessing Maru’s massacre, only death awaited them.
Maru and I immediately left the Orc dungeon.
Instead of going straight home, we headed to another dungeon.
It was the F-rank Skeleton Dungeon.
‘With a Skeleton Dungeon, there shouldn’t be any variables.’
Even after eliminating the Orcs in the dungeon, I couldn’t let my guard down. Orcs were intelligent beings that would attack if given an opening.
Of course, I didn’t think I would lose. Maru was by my side, and Maru was strong enough to annihilate even a horde of Orcs.
‘Still, I need to eliminate all the small variables.’
The problem lay with the opponent. Seeing that they were hesitating to make a move, it seemed they were preoccupied with the Orcs.
‘Then their rank probably isn’t that high.’
However, it wasn’t good for the opponent to remain completely still. I wanted to get rid of them quickly so I could move freely. That’s why I moved dungeons. Not to the D-rank Orc Dungeon, but to the F-rank Skeleton Dungeon. I figured that at this level, the opponent would definitely make a move.
And my guess was correct. As soon as Maru and I left the Orc Dungeon, the opponent naturally followed us. This continued until we entered the Skeleton Dungeon.
As soon as we entered the dungeon, I made Maru stand nearby. And then.
“Ha. Not even hiding this time?”
I could feel the mana I had sensed from outside the dungeon fluctuating intensely. It meant the opponent had decided to use their full power.
Well, even if I wanted to think of them as hunters who were simply trying to hunt skeletons, their actions were too obvious. There was no need to think otherwise. After all, in this world, one only needed to remember this one thing.
‘If you don’t kill, you die.’
Hesitate, and you die immediately. That was the way to live in this world.
A moment later, the opponent began to step into the dungeon.
‘Two in total.’
Seeing that the mana of the person in front was fluctuating more intensely, their rank would likely be higher. This was a good thing. There was no better opportunity than for the strongest-looking one among the two to enter first. I gave Maru a slight nod and waited for the uninvited guests.
Finally, one of the uninvited guests made eye contact with me. The opponent seemed surprised and hesitated, then raised their weapon. But.
The opponent’s weapon never reached me. Maru’s attack had already pierced the opponent’s side.
“Keuk!”
The opponent began to groan in pain.
“I… had no intention… of harming you….. Keuk…”
No, it wasn’t a groan, it was a lie. If they had no intention of harming me, why did they raise their weapon?
And his words continued. In summary, he said he had received a request and asked me to spare his son’s life, even if he couldn’t spare his own.
“Hmm…”
So the one behind was his son. He looked younger than I expected. I looked at Maru. Maru drew his sword and immediately lunged towards the son behind him. Maru’s sword pierced the groin of the person the man called his son. Of course, only the pants were dyed red; he wasn’t dead yet. I needed information, so killing him immediately was out of the question.
“Why…”
Seeing his son, the man’s face contorted in despair. I chuckled at the man’s expression.
“Wow, you’re a really good actor.”
Then, I approached the son. The son had a small throwing knife in his hand. But he would never throw that knife. The son was also in a terrible condition from the pain he was experiencing.
This is how the world is. A world where everyone harbors poison in their hearts. A place where one might lose their own life due to misplaced sympathy. I could confirm once again what kind of world this was. I moved forward again, looking at the suffering man.
“If you cooperate, I’ll spare your son.”
I raised a hand and continued, “I have healing skills, you know?”
One of my skills is Goddess’s Heal. Although it was F-rank, Goddess’s Heal would show much better results than other healing skills. That’s what I saw on the El Dorado Continent. Hearing that I had healing skills, the opponent’s expression changed.
“R-really? Do you really have a healing skill? No, if you promise to do it, I’ll tell you everything!”
The opponent seemed to want to heal his son as quickly as possible, so he just waited for my questions.
“First, tell me your name and affiliation.”
The opponent quickly answered my question. “My name is Taehun Ji. My guild affiliation is the Heukil Guild.”
Heukil Guild? It was the first time I had heard that name. Seeing my slightly puzzled expression, Taehun Ji explained. “…” In short, they were a group of fixers; it didn’t seem to be an official guild. I understood up to this point. And then I moved on to the most important question.
“You said earlier, right? That you just received a request for this job. Who requested it?”
Taehun Ji hesitated for a moment at this question, but when I looked at his son, he immediately spilled the truth. “Kang Jinsoo! Yes, he’s a public official at the Awakened Center!”
A familiar name surfaced. Kang Jinsoo. It seemed the past grievances from the academy extended this far. But I was curious as to why Kang Jinsoo suddenly targeted me. The Kang Jinsoo I knew was definitely not the type to cause trouble like this alone.
‘I need to look into this.’
First, I asked him several questions. Like what kind of reward he received for taking this job, why he brought his son along, and other trivial matters. Among them, one detail seemed suspicious: the reward. He asked me to film him causing me pain, which, as I suspected, meant this was definitely not something Kang Jinsoo did alone. Moreover, the claim that Kang Jinsoo would raise Taehun Ji’s son’s rank seemed even less plausible.
‘Someone is behind this.’
Could it be Kim Suho? It was just a suspicion for now. If so, I needed to strengthen myself quickly. If he noticed me, more things would happen in the future than now. As I fell into thought, Taehun Ji began to plead again.
“My son is really gentle! He’s kind-hearted too. So please spare my son…”
Hmm. The guy who was holding a dagger just moments ago didn’t seem kind-hearted at all.
“You want me to spare your son…”
I had already said I would spare him earlier. But there was a condition. I picked up the dagger that Taehun Ji’s son was holding and threw it towards Taehun Ji. Maru was guarding beside him. It was a warning not to try anything foolish. At the same time, Taehun Ji, who knew exactly what it meant, sighed with a look of despair.
“You’ll spare my son’s life, right?”
Taehun Ji asked again. I nodded.
“I keep my promises.”
With those words, I approached his son. The son had already fainted from the pain. I immediately activated my healing skill. Goddess’s Heal. Light began to emanate from my hand. The light slowly began to heal the wound. Of course, as it was still an F-rank skill, complete healing was impossible. It was only enough to stop the bleeding. Naturally, the place where the son was pierced would no longer function properly.
But even that was enough to save his life for now. Considering he was trying to kill someone else, this could be seen as mercy. And, more importantly, there was something I wanted to confirm.
‘Celia has offered sacrifices.’
The sacrifices offered by Celia were used to obtain my traits or skills. Or they were used to obtain Maru’s summon or the Demonic Sword he held. So, conversely, could I offer sacrifices? When I tried to send Maru again, the altar’s level was insufficient, so it was impossible. But what about humans? Would they be treated the same as monsters? I planned to experiment with this guy for that.
Although it might seem cruel, my survival was now at stake. I had to thoroughly check what functions were available and use them to increase my strength. Before that, I wanted to finish what was happening now.
“This should be enough, right?”
At least I didn’t kill the son. In fact, I showed mercy by casting a healing skill. Taehun Ji realized that my words were true and nodded. He then glanced at his fallen son and gripped the dagger. The next event happened in an instant.
“Gack!”
Taehun Ji’s hand, holding the dagger, immediately went to his own throat. He stabbed himself in the throat with the dagger. With a gurgling sound from his neck, Taehun Ji’s body collapsed. Simultaneously, an alarm appeared. Not on my smartphone, but in front of my eyes.
– Trait ‘True Dungeon Master’ has been activated.
– Do you wish to use this hunter as a sacrifice for your dungeon?
