You Will Be Blessed If You Do Good Deeds¿

It was an absurd story.
She had said she wouldn’t come, and yet here they were, meeting like this in the mountains.

Han Jae-young rubbed his throbbing head.
"Right, I could buy the hiking excuse... but how did you end up all the way in Sokcho, Gangwon-do, Cheongdaesan?"
"North Korea Mountain was too crowded."

"No... what kind of shameless lie is that?"
Wasn't she obviously here to join the search party?
Even though Yoo Han-ul had gone missing, she had claimed that it would be better not to search because of the opportunity cost!

Han Jae-young stared at her in disbelief, but Jeong Da-on remained as calm as ever.
"Ah, I told my brother that I had a seminar at HP Guild, so just go along with it."
"...So you’re saying I’m the one lying now?"

"Yeah. That’s a piece of cake, isn’t it?"
It felt like déjà vu.
I was sure I had had this exact same conversation at some point before.

"Oh, so you're Jeong Da-on, the hunter."
Son Hyeong-hwa interrupted the conversation.
Apparently, she couldn’t ignore it, and Jeong Da-on gave a small nod and bowed her head in greeting to Son Hyeong-hwa.

It was the first time Jeong Da-on acted so courteously in a normal way, even though there was no camera.
"Hello, Son Hyeong-hwa, Hunter."
"Do you know who I am?"

"Yes, I’m not totally uninterested in worldly matters."
Even if Son Hyeong-hwa’s name had faded with time, there was enough data left that it would have been impossible not to recognize her if one tried.
"I see. It’s a little pleasant to be recognized."
Son Hyeong-hwa smiled widely.

She seemed to be genuinely glad to see Jeong Da-on.
"Nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you from Han-ul."
That was unexpected, and Jeong Da-on raised her eyebrows.

"...Yoo Han-ul talked about me?"
"Of course, he’s happy to see an S-rank talent emerge. But right now, small talk doesn’t matter... you came to help with the search, right?"
"...I just finished going around near Ju-daesan. Han Jae-young, pass me the map."

Jeong Da-on walked over to Han Jae-young and received the map that marked the dungeon’s locations.
Han Jae-young whispered in a low voice.
"You insisted it was hiking, but now you’re silent in front of your senior?"

"I’m telling you, it was hiking."
"What kind of concept is that, exactly?"
Was she really pretending to be hiking just to not admit she came here for the search? Was she afraid of admitting it?

Jeong Da-on skimmed the map and nodded.
"If this map marks the dungeons we've already searched, then we can skip the Ju-daesan area."
"...There are eight dungeons in Ju-daesan alone. You’re saying you’ve been through all of them?"

"Woof!"
The answer came from somewhere other than Jeong Da-on.
In the darkness, glowing green eyes shone brightly.

The beast, almost wolf-like, approached silently.
Jeong Da-on patted the head of the robot that had come up to her feet.
"There’s a kid faster than a human."

Lee Hyeon-jun’s eyes glinted sharply.
"It seems like you weren’t exaggerating when you said you used incantation magic."
Lee Hyeon-jun had obviously noticed that the robot wasn’t just a simple summon, but something far more significant.

Though he had retired with Son Hyeong-hwa, Lee Hyeon-jun had been one of the first-generation S-rank hunters and an extraordinary magician.
"Less work now, thanks."
"...It’s not like I deserve any thanks. I was just..."

"No matter the reason, gratitude is still gratitude. You’re the first one to come help with this besides Jae-young."
Son Hyeong-hwa’s words made Jeong Da-on raise her eyebrows.
Han Jae-young watched her with a slightly smug look.

‘Looks like yesterday’s frustration is washing away.’
Jeong Da-on’s personality might be twisted, and her words were often so cold you couldn’t tell what she was thinking... but there was one thing that became clear after watching her for a while.
Jeong Da-on was weak in the face of honesty.

Perhaps it was because her personality was so bent that it made her hesitant to express it.
"That wolf..."
"I said we’ll talk later."

"Still... hmm."
Lee Hyeon-jun seemed like he wanted to say something more, but feeling the silent pressure from Son Hyeong-hwa, he fell silent.
Son Hyeong-hwa cheerfully tried to change the subject.

"Anyway, the last dungeon is on top of Cheongdaesan. Let’s check that out first."
-Entered the dungeon.
-System Guide: The current rating of this dungeon is B-rank.

Entering the dungeon was a sensation that would never become familiar, no matter how many times one did it, even after dozens... no, hundreds of attempts.
The landscape that unfolded after entering the dungeon was a vast meadow with thick grass and small flowers that reached up to their calves.
Behind the wide meadow, a series of towering mountains could be seen, their peaks covered in eternal snow.

"...Ugh."
As soon as Lee Hyeon-jun entered the dungeon, he bent over as if he was about to vomit.
"Still getting motion sickness, huh?"

Son Hyeong-hwa patted Lee Hyeon-jun’s back as if it was an everyday occurrence.
"He always does this when we enter the dungeon. How pitiful."
"...Stop. I feel like I might puke up my organs."

While Son Hyeong-hwa and Lee Hyeon-jun bickered, Han Jae-young took out a magical detection tool that looked like a dowsing rod from his inventory.
And...
Han Jae-young frowned.

"There are... quite a few responses detected."
It was hard to distinguish whether they were monsters or people, but within a 10 km radius, multiple magical responses were felt.
"Hmm, let’s see... the dungeon’s exploration journal... it’s here."

Dungeons that were bid on by the guilds required the submission of the dungeon map and exploration journal to the government as soon as the bid was won, alongside the responsibility of managing the dungeon.
Since this dungeon entry had been approved by the government, Han Jae-young already had the pre-information.
"The last recorded exploration was two weeks ago. It’s a B-rank dungeon, and it says a gargoyle group lives here. Could it be we’ve detected a gargoyle group?"

"I’m not sure..."
Han Jae-young carefully examined the magic detector in his hand.
"It feels like there’s a strong magical response for just a gargoyle group."

"Something’s off. Han-ul wouldn’t just fall to a group of gargoyles... hmm?"
Son Hyeong-hwa suddenly made a puzzled sound.
"Jeong Da-on, is something wrong?"

"...What?"
At Son Hyeong-hwa’s words, both Han Jae-young and Son Hyeong-hwa looked at Jeong Da-on.
And then they understood why Son Hyeong-hwa had specifically asked Jeong Da-on.

Jeong Da-on’s expression, looking at the snow-capped mountains in the distance, was very strange.
"It’s nothing. I just... thought my legs would hurt if I walked all the way over there."
She said that, but Han Jae-young was already used to reading Jeong Da-on’s expressions.

She looked like she was either seeing something unpleasant or reminiscing about a distant memory.
It was a twisted expression that wasn’t easy to notice from the usually emotionless Jeong Da-on.
Meanwhile, Lee Hyeon-jun, who didn’t seem to care much about Jeong Da-on, was now holding the map and scanning the surroundings.

"By the way, the landscape described in the exploration journal seems different from what we’re seeing. Even if they drew the map roughly, they couldn’t have missed drawing those mountain peaks, right?"
"...That’s true. We should check the key geographical landmarks first to see if it’s the same terrain. Jeong Da-on, could you help for a moment?"
"What do you need?"

"We need to check if there’s a big spring marked on the map. Since not all four of us can move, the two of us with the best stamina should go."
"...Alright."
Jeong Da-on walked as requested by Son Hyeong-hwa.

‘...Just as I thought.’
As Jeong Da-on walked away, Han Jae-young was certain.
‘This is the place.’

The dungeon where Yoo Han-ul went missing was definitely here.
‘Then, there’s a high chance this dungeon has a figurine monster as well.’
Han Jae-young was quick to pick up on things.

It would be more unusual if he didn’t notice.
Ever since he started traveling with Jeong Da-on, he’d been sucked into a ‘certain’ world.
And in that world, there was always a monster named ‘figurine’ present.

‘...I had a feeling she might not be an entirely human being, just like me.’
Han Jae-young speculated that Jeong Da-on might be a hybrid, someone whose blood was mixed with something other than normal humans.
The fact that she used incantation magic right after awakening and her personality, which was hard to imagine from an ordinary life, made it seem unlikely that she was just a human who had lived in the dimension of Earth.

And it was highly probable that this world was closely tied to Jeong Da-on’s secret.
‘She definitely had the look of someone who had seen this place before.’
Even though he had figured this much out, there were still plenty of questions.

Why were there so many dungeons connected to this specific world, and who was behind all this?
He had a feeling Jeong Da-on might have some personal grudge in the matter.
‘Also... Yoo Han-ul is acting strange too.’

He knew Yoo Han-ul had recently become more secretive.
He was always so stiff and rigid, there was no way he would have a network of information, yet he was asking questions and wandering around dungeons without saying anything.
And when he looked closely, Yoo Han-ul also kept getting tied up with dungeons that involved ‘figurines.’

Jeong Da-on had accidentally gotten caught up in the dimensional accident last time, but Yoo Han-ul seemed like he was actively seeking them out.
What kind of connection did Yoo Han-ul have to this destroyed world?
‘There’s definitely some connection between them... but why would Yoo Han-ul be involved?’

"Your thoughts are audible from here."
At Lee Hyeon-jun’s words, Han Jae-young glanced at him.
"...Hmm, there’s a lot to think about."

"That means you must have a lot of information."
Even though he had been retired for a while, Lee Hyeon-jun still had a sharp way of cutting to the heart of the matter.
Though he had officially retired, he still unofficially continued to raid dungeons.

"Not sharing all that information, is that just a typical wizard personality? I wouldn’t say anything, since I’m a wizard too."
Han Jae-young felt Lee Hyeon-jun’s sharp gaze land on him.
"If there’s information you should share, why not share it now?"

"What information are you talking about?"
Lee Hyeon-jun raised his hand and pointed toward Jeong Da-on’s back, which had already moved quite a distance.
"That Jeong Da-on... is she really human?"

"She looks like a perfectly normal human, doesn’t she? There’s even a fan cafe for her these days."
"I’m not joking."
Lee Hyeon-jun furrowed his brow.

His gaze, like a shadow, focused on the wolf following Jeong Da-on.
"Creating a being like that isn’t the way an ordinary human would think."
Lee Hyeon-jun’s greatest strength lay in his ability to detect magic.

That’s why he hated the feeling of his magic and body temporarily being disconnected when entering the dungeon.
It was impossible for him not to recognize that the robot wasn’t just a summon, but a new creation.
If you are reading this translation anywhere other than .net or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.

Unlike summons that were bound by a wizard’s contract, it was entirely different in terms of the amount of magic it contained.
Han Jae-young honestly admitted.
"...I don’t know if she’s human. It seems unlikely that she’s a completely normal human."

"Then..."
"But does it matter?"
"What?"

Han Jae-young shrugged.
"I’m not human either."
Son Hyeong-hwa and Lee Hyeon-jun. They were two of the few people who knew Han Jae-young’s true identity.

"Jae-young, you’re different."
Lee Hyeon-jun refuted.
"You’re a fairy hybrid. But that... she’s too..."

"I was skeptical at first about whether Jeong Da-on could live among humans too."
Jeong Da-on was definitely suspicious.
Her tendency to fabricate kindness in front of cameras, her unsettling way of speaking that made her seem like a nuisance, and her overall strange personality all contributed to the suspicion.

There were many times when Han Jae-young thought she might just be a personality disaster.
But in the end, Jeong Da-on was here.
"The important thing is... that Da-on always manages to save someone."

Han Jae-young agreed with his own judgment from the Gwanghwamun dungeon, yet she still ran out to save the child.
She had gone into a cult to save the followers, and even though she had said she didn’t want to risk her life for Yoo Han-ul, she was here again.
Han Jae-young thought that was the most important part.

It’s easy to say, but it’s not easy for actions to follow words.
In the end, what remains are the results of actions.
"Regardless of her identity, I think she’s someone you can trust."

Han Jae-young’s words made Lee Hyeon-jun sigh.
"Jae-young, you’ve gotten soft as you’ve aged. Why have you become so soft?"
"Maybe so."

For some, the suspicion that she might not be fully human would distance them from Jeong Da-on, but for Han Jae-young, it didn’t.
He himself was a hybrid, and no matter how much he blended in with humans, he couldn’t help but feel out of place.
In fact, Han Jae-young often thought of himself as closer to a fairy than a human.

Since his body didn’t even have a gender, his awareness of himself as human was faint.
That’s why, even after creating a guild and spending a long time with guild members, there were only a handful of people he could truly call friends.
In that sense, Jeong Da-on’s strangeness and eerie vibe created a sense of kinship.

"In the end, you saved them, so that makes you a good person."
Of course, not everyone agreed with Han Jae-young’s opinion.
Lee Hyeon-jun narrowed his eyes and watched Jeong Da-on’s back.

"I still don’t see it... She doesn’t look like you, Jae-young."
To Lee Hyeon-jun, whose sensitivity to magic was strong, Jeong Da-on didn’t even appear human.
That’s how it had been from the first time they met in the mountains.

The immense magical energy that could even obscure the wide meadow erased any trace of human form.
It was as if a monster was trying to imitate a human.