chapter 455
455 – Gathering
After coming out of the dungeon, we walked around for a while and looked around at the new world.
There were a variety of aggressive plants here, but there were not many monsters to be seen.
“Maybe it’s because this is the beginning of the dungeon, but I can’t see anything other than mosquitos?”
“I wanted to see Priscana. A gem…”
“He’s not an easy guy to see.”
“I heard it’s crowded in the center.”
“I heard that even Hyun Ihwan hasn’t been able to penetrate the innermost part yet.”
“Well, is that it? What kind of dungeon difficulty levels are there from A to Z?”
‘If Hyun Ihwan couldn’t break through… There’s definitely nothing we can do.’
“After taking a quick look, shall we head out?”
After we finished sightseeing, we headed straight to the entrance and exit.
I was the first to get out of the dungeon, and as soon as I came out, I had to receive a skill that came at me with quite a bit of force.
[Ilsum-Second Step]
The purpose is clearly aimed at my neck, and the swing is clean without any trace of suspicion.
Poop-!
“Wow!”
However, even though I was completely surprised, I easily destroyed it, and after making two attacks in succession ineffective, I counterattacked.
Whisk-!
In the end, I knocked out all three people guarding the entrance.
These people must have been very surprised when a man in full body armor suddenly emerged from the gate.
“Wow… In the end, you committed it?”
“There’s nothing I can do about this. Should I just put some sleeping pills on it?”
Noh Hayun pours a lot of sleeping pills into the noses of people who have fainted.
“Hey, hey, you crazy. That’s a lethal dose!”
“Huh? Still, isn’t it better to be certain? And if they are at their level, they won’t die like this.”
“You crazy bitch… Oh my…”
Joo-ah was scared when she saw Noh Hayun, who had used up all the sleeping pills.
‘The effect is certain. At this rate, I might lose several months worth of memory. Hayoon is truly ruthless towards others.’
The hunters of Ilseom are already in a deep sleep, surrounded by a space of blue light around their bodies.
“Si, I think my body’s reaction is okay…”
After examining the hunters who had inhaled a large amount of sleeping pills, Eunyoung wiped the cold sweat from their foreheads and looked at Noh Hayun with a puzzled expression.
“What, what! I’m going to use what’s mine however I want!”
“Ugh… That’s right if you do.”
He said he was quiet for a while, but it looks like his nature is not going anywhere.
Anyway, we got out of Ilseom’s territory right away, grabbed our hungry stomachs, and rushed to Helen’s store.
A dinner that could possibly be our last.
Helen expressed regret that we, at our prime age, had joined her punitive force with such burden and responsibility, but she seemed to be concentrating so as not to miss any meaningful information in our conversation.
Her investigation agency business was quite successful, and Song Jin-kyung said that she was adapting well.
“Ah, sister. I have a request for you.”
“Huh? What? What is it? Just say anything.”
Yeonhee is evaluated as the winner of the guild competition and is certain to become the next generation transcendent.
If it was her request, even if it didn’t make money right away, it was worth jumping in just for the value of the information.
“I was wondering if you could make a list of good hunters in this area.”
The area Yeonhee mentioned is where Cha Jinhyuk and Ha Serin are located.
Haserin has been putting in a lot of effort since joining, but considering her sales methods, the limitations were clear.
Above all, I am worried that among the people I am recruiting, there will be ‘blue-eyed’ believers.
The main purpose is to resolve it.
“Aha, but this requires a fairly extensive investigation, so there must be a sufficient number of investigators…”
“I can give you enough money to start the request.”
“Ahem- Then, shall we give you an estimate right away? The cost of conducting a background investigation related to blue eyes is a bit high, so let’s see.”
“Do you think it’s possible?”
“There is nothing in the world that money can’t do, Yeonhee. Except for the people in charge of the Blue Eyes Organization, the rest are all people who jump in to take advantage of their own interests. The tail is bound to remain long.”
“Aha…”
‘I didn’t even say anything… Thank you for keeping up with me.’
Yeonhee probably knows very well that my intention is to raise Cha Jinhyuk, so she makes such a request.
“Hehe, don’t worry. I will gather all the manpower and bring you satisfactory data.”
The starting price suggested by Yeonhee was eye-popping, so Helen quickly accepted the request.
After a while, Arin left a little early to spend time with her younger siblings.
“Yes, yes. Don’t worry. Kid, tell me you’ll assign someone else.”
Noh Hayun has been holding on to her phone since before, which is proof that there are a lot of people who are worried about her as she leads the Vision Guild.
“What doesn’t her sister and grandmother say?”
Joo-a was chatting with Eun-young for the first time in a long time.
“Huh? Ugh… Grandma always said that she believed I would do well no matter what I did…”
Just looking at the Heo Min-sol incident last time, I think you can tell how ‘Regurgitant’ thinks about Eun-young. If you listen to the story, it was at the level of neglect.
‘That can’t be possible… Maybe they feel safe because they have Azraelon attached.’
In fact, Azraelon was completely preoccupied with eating.
Crackle-crackle-
Azraelon is holding his ribs with his cotton-like front paws and gnawing on them all day long.
It hasn’t been long since it materialized, but it is already capable of the luxurious act of consumption.
‘I’m jealous… I want to feel the taste too.’
(Why are you looking at me like that?)
‘Can you taste it?’
(I don’t have a perfect sense of taste yet, but I will get it soon.)
‘I see… By the way, why didn’t you help Arin when she was in trouble?’
The moment Arin got a hole in her arm, it was difficult for me to help because I was too far away, but Azrael Ron was definitely within reach.
(Hmph, slaves. Let’s see who will help.)
‘Well, I heard it’s different from your world. Prisoners are not a slave class.’
Azraelon seemed to have a tendency to look down on Arini, perhaps because the demon world seemed to be neglecting the beastmen who had animal blood mixed in. Of course, this is something I learned recently.
(It is enough for me to protect Eunyoung.)
‘If you protect Arin, Eunyoung will be happy too.’
(The thing that makes Eunyoung happy is that ice girl over there. I even plan to protect that person.)
‘Hmm… But you don’t have to worry about Hayun. I understand.’
They say they will take care of two people in the party, so that means I am doing my part.
And if you think about it, I am in the same position as Azraelon.
Only after ensuring Yeonhee’s safety do I start caring about the other children.
“Oh, really. It’s bothering me.”
“They say the vision attaches people?”
“I’ve already put it on the subjugation list. The older members of our guild don’t understand how creepy it is that there’s someone watching me from somewhere.”
A ‘witch’ who declared that she would attach someone to protect and monitor Noh Hayun.
‘There’s already someone attached. Hayoon.’
From the moment we returned to the city, hunters with an unfamiliar energy started to cling to us one by one, and before we knew it, three people were staring at us from a certain distance.
They are probably following him in advance in order to stick around throughout the period of subjugating the great monster.
‘One is definitely on the vision side, and the other is on the ‘regurgitation’ side? Then which one is the rest…’
It was clear that there was another gaze that made me uncomfortable, but unlike the other two, I couldn’t sense it clearly, so it bothered me.
‘He is capable of disrupting the perception of my senses… I am saying that if he is that capable, he is not even part of Ilseom’s shadow organization. Which one?’
I think I might be able to detect it if I go to a quiet place… But it was an element of anxiety. It’s a situation where someone with that level of skill is catching up.
After we left, we parted ways, promising to see tomorrow.
I flew home with Yeonhee, and surprisingly, one of the three guards was following us.
The most skilled among the three, the one with the ability to [Stealth].
It became clear that his goal was us.
He even showed caution by widening the distance by blurring his presence as he got closer to a sparsely populated place.
‘This isn’t the same guy who would do that for a day or two. At that level, even a decent S-class hunter wouldn’t notice.’
After arriving home, we exchanged written messages and shared about the current situation.
Nod-
(I can’t summon you today.)
“Tick, tick, tick.”
Yeonhee continued her daily life as usual and went to bed early.
I finished Irmana’s ritual inside the house without activating [Mimicking].
‘There’s no movement. A terrible bastard.’
A faint gaze looking at us.
Spying specialist.
He is a guy whose sole purpose is to collect information.
‘I don’t even know the combat power… So it’s hard to do anything right now.’
Rather, it would be wise to aim for the moment when a loophole is revealed during the subjugation schedule.
That place is definitely full of variables.
‘If you use Red Horn and Jim’s taunt at the same time, it won’t be easy not to react. If he doesn’t hinder our growth… It would be ideal to deal with him when the subjugation schedule is completed.’
It is best to strike after completing all possible growth.
There was an unexpectedly troublesome person, but it was somewhat expected due to this tournament, which opened up a lot of our abilities.
‘If, just in case, those are Jogiman’s instructions… I’d better be prepared.’
I stayed by Yeonhee’s side, keeping the worst-case scenario in mind and running simulations in my head, spreading my energy as sharply as possible.
*
When Ilwol was sitting in the living room, trying to concentrate, there was a man watching her closely.
He was nicknamed ‘The Enemy’, and there were only a handful of people in this world who knew of his existence.
‘As expected… It’s not an average bet.’
As the man looked at Lee Yeon-hee and her summoned beast, he once again understood why he had been summoned.
Instructions to give up the mission of following ‘Heaven’s Hammer’ and follow a mere C-class hunter.
It was surprising, but he was a person who never questioned his superiors’ instructions.
‘There’s something about that skeleton soldier wearing full armor. It’s clear. My long experience speaks for itself.’
The ‘enemy’ was now having fun like never before.
The target was obviously Lee Yeon-hee, but the fact that he was strangely more concerned about the pet that was following closely next to her brought confusion to him and made him feel that way.
It was true that he was worried that he might be pushed out by other competitors because of this case.
However, I was confident that this would be an opportunity to raise my value.
Square- Square-
His eyes begin to vibrate rapidly
Then, surprisingly, letters materialized in the air, and a daily report measuring two pages of A4 paper was quickly completed.
It was immediately moved to the location where the coordinates were set, and now Cho Ki-man’s alter ego, who is scheduled to go to work tomorrow morning, will check his report as soon as he arrives at the office. ﹥
In an age where we can send and receive text messages with just one finger, it seems like a cumbersome and meaningless ability.
It was an amazing ability that included not just text in the report, but also the emotions and sensations he saw and felt, as well as the thoughts that came to mind at the time.
‘Where… Show me. Everything you have.’
It was the day that sleeping with the ‘enemy’ began.
*
Early morning the next day.
Our party moved straight toward Dorasan-ri, adjacent to the ceasefire line.
Since there was no reason for hunters to be seen gathering and moving in droves early in the morning, only the gathering was notified.
“I think only I will read this material. I’ll summarize it. There’s nothing else to do.”
“Oh, good. As expected, Juaneng.”
While flying on the Geomryongi, Bae Joo-ah briefed on the main contents committee of the subjugation preparation materials handed over two days ago.
“Dorasanri, there is a station there. There we will meet a class A hunter who will lead us, and at the gathering point right in front of the ceasefire line, teams 1, 2, and 3 will gather in one place for the first time.”
“Wow, thousands of hunters have gathered… It’s spectacular.”
This is an unprecedented operation in which 30% of Korea’s S-class hunters are deployed.
Of course, the majority are A- and B-class troops, but the main ones are S-class.
“The person who held the position of president was none other than the president of the association, ‘Choi Kang-han.’ As his name suggests, he is a person who knows no compromise.”
After listening to Jua, I scratched my helmet and reminisced about past memories.
‘If you look at me on the phone with Yeonsu, it seems like he’s the king of compromise…’