86. Lord is going to a Dungeon
“Oh! You came. Did you eat?”
“Hey, I came right out as soon as I got the call. What are you eating? You said you had to go fast.”
When Ko Byeong-gap spoke with a dry look, Jeong Seon-kyung giggled and laughed.
“After work, I’ll buy you a meal. Hurry up and get in.”
He climbed into Jeong Seon-kyung’s luxury SUV, and she moved the car without delay.
“Where did you say it was?”
“Pyeongtaek.”
“It will take two hours.”
“We have to be there in an hour.”
Ko Byeong-gap furrowed one eyebrow and looked at the driver’s seat.
“How do I get from Seoul to Pyeongtaek in 1 hour? It’s the weekend, so there’ll be traffic.”
“That’s why we have to step on it.”
“If you were in such a hurry, you might as well have taken the train.”
“Why take the train when you have a car?”
Jeong Seon-kyung pressed the accelerator pedal hard, and the speedometer’s needle tilted steeply. She overtook them like a rascal as if she wouldn’t allow anyone to run in front of her.
“What’s wrong with you, unnie?! If we get into an accident…!”
“Come on. We’re not going to die in an accident.”
“No, it’s you. Of course, you won’t die…”
He said so, but the chances of an accident were slim. The Awakeners transcended humans in many ways that included driving skills. Jeong Seon-kyung would be able to avoid a 25.5-ton dump truck from the opposite lane.
The road opened up as they entered the highway. Fortunately, there was no more need for acrobatic driving.
“By the way, I couldn’t ask you earlier because I was in a hurry, but what kind of dungeon are you talking about?”
“I’m not subjugating with them, I’m just the supervisor. There’s not much to it.”
“Tell me the details. I should know what’s going on. It’s not a crack, it’s a dungeon.”
Jeong Seon-kyung looked through the cabinet next to her, fixing her gaze on the front. Soon after she found her pack of cigarettes, she put a cigarette in her mouth.
“We have new hunters in the guild. Class A and B kids. That’s why we’re going around the dungeon to test their skills. It’s kind of like a hazing.”
She continued after she spat out smoke.
“Usually, if it was a crack, they only need one senior hunter, but dungeons are a bit tricky. Two S-class people should accompany as supervisors in case of an emergency.”
“In case of emergency?”
“Yeah. Anyway, I wonder if anything great will happen in the B-rank dungeon… Anyway, there was a kid I was supposed to go with but suddenly left today, so I got a substitute.”
“That substitute is me.”
“Yeah, actually, the other kid was going to be a substitute, but I refused.”
“You refused? Why?”
“He’s a jerk. I can’t deal with him.”
“…”
Hmm. Ko Byeong-gap looked out the window, breathing out a short breath. The forest of buildings disappeared without a trace, and only mountains were lined up.
“But can I be a supervisor? I am a D-class.”
“Hey… Don’t I know you? I saw you killing the Balrog right in front of me. Why are you so humble?”
“… No, apart from that, my actual grade is D. Isn’t there some sort of paperwork needed?”
“That’s no problem. The document will include the name of the kid who was supposed to go.”
“This isn’t illegal, is it?”
“Come on, what’s illegal? Even if it’s illegal, it’s okay because I’m close to the guild leader. I’ve been in Undermoon for years.”
Jeong Seon-kyung showed a sad expression on her face, and she continued to speak.
“Even if I were paid twice my annual salary at Illumination, I wouldn’t go, so you shouldn’t be rude with something like this. Don’t you think so?”
“Why wouldn’t you go? They’d pay you twice.”
After a brief thought, she answered indifferently.
“I have enough money already. It’s annoying to adjust to a new place.”
“That’s true.”
Kim Hana naturally came to mind when Illumination was mentioned. To be exact, he remembered something meaningful she said. He told her not to get involved with Illumination Hunters…
“Oh, unnie, I have a question.”
“Tell me.”
“Do you know a hunter named Kim Hana? She’s an S-class hunter.”
“Who? Kim Hana?”
She thought of the name Kim Hana a few times. Soon, she tilted her head and asked again.
“Who is it? It’s not a familiar name.”
“Really? You don’t have to know.”
“Oh, what is it? Kim Hana is a girl’s name. What kind of woman is she?”
Jeong Seon-kyung inquired persistently. Ko Byeong-gap couldn’t bear to say, “She’s the main culprit behind the attack on the power plants.”
So he said, “I met her a long time ago, and she introduced herself as Kim Hana. However, no matter how hard I look, I can’t find any information on her.”
“Hmm… are you sure she’s S-class?”
“That’s for sure.”
“There’s no information. So that’s it.”
“That’s it…?”
“Sometimes there are people like that. People who live quietly after they retire without notice. I have a few acquaintances. He erased all his personal information, even changed his name, and went abroad and lived quietly.”
“Wow.”
“You know, a hunter’s work is very tiresome. If it doesn’t suit you, it’s hard to do for a long time.”
“That’s true.”
Being a hunter was hard work; they were like modern-day butchers. It wasn’t as easy as one might think to make killing a business.
“How long have you been doing this?”
“Me? About nine years.”
“Wow… You’re on your 10th next year. Aren’t you retiring?”
He asked in admiration. Jeong Seon-kyung bit her cigarette and answered with a slurred pronunciation.
“Well, I don’t really want to give up right now. I’m not getting old, so I’ll probably do it until my sixtieth birthday. What’s the point of not playing?”
“I guess you’re cut out for it.”
“I mean… Hehe. Well, these days, I’ve been getting sore after just one or two days off. It’s an occupational disease. Phew, I can’t marry either. Who’s going to take a bitch like me?”
Jeong Seon-kyung said so and looked side by side. Ko Byeong-gap only looked ahead.
“Sigh.”
She smiled and focused on driving. As she said, they arrived at my destination about an hour later.
It wasn’t downtown Pyeongtaek where the dungeon occurred. They found a rest stop when they went down the highway. The crack was in the mountain behind it.
There were already eight hunters on standby. There are five A-class and three B-class, which was a perfect power to beat a B-rank dungeon.
“Hello, senior!”
“Good afternoon. I’m Kim Ha-sun, the newbie!”
“I’m Oh Yeon-woo! It’s an honor to meet you!”
They saw Jeong Seon-kyung and greeted her politely. It was obvious that they were nervous since she waved her hands lazily.
“Come on, I’m not a senior. Don’t do that to me. I’m a little late, right? I’m sorry.”
“No!”
They were like soldiers interacting with their chief. On the other hand, they only tilted their heads at Ko Byeong-gap.
“Who is he?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never seen him before. Do you know him?”
“I don’t know. Hunter Jeong Seon-kyung and Hunter Joo Ae-kyung were supposed to be the ones coming, right?”
“More than that, is he S-class?”
The hunters buzzed. Jeong Seon-kyung put her arm around Ko Byeong-gap’s shoulder and said, “This is a friend who will help instead of Ae-kyung. I’m sure of his skills, so you don’t have to worry.”
“Oh… Yes.”
Hunters couldn’t argue anymore because Jeong Seon-kyung guaranteed it. Ko Byeong-gap thought he should introduce himself, but Jeong Seon-kyung led the staff without any time to do so.
“Let’s start right away. Are you all ready?”
“Oh, yeah!”
“That’s great. Where’s our luggage? Oh, this is it.”
Jeong Seon-kyung wrapped a backpack on one side. It wasn’t a magic stone backpack but a bag of food and potions.
“Let’s go.”
In total, ten people moved to the crack. Ko Byeong-gap and Jeong Seon-kyung walked behind the group, and she whispered.
“Ko Byeong-gap, it’s funny to ask now, have you ever been in a dungeon?”
“Oh, I’ve been to one.”
“I knew it! I knew it.”
Jeong Seon-kyung smiled brightly and bounced her finger. This time, Ko Byeong-gap asked a question.
“How long do you think it’ll take? By dungeon time.”
“Well, it’ll be over in five or six hours at the latest.”
Five or six hours. He checked his watch at around 2:38 pm. Even after defeating the dungeon, it would be less than three o’clock. Six hours inside the dungeon was only fifteen minutes outside.
“There’s nothing for you to do. They’ll take on all the monsters anyway, and I’ll take care of them if anything goes wrong. You just have to keep me company.”
“That’s good, by the way, how’s the pay?”
“1,500 in cash, or dinner alone with me. Pick one of the two.”
Jeong Seon-kyung said jokingly.
“Since you said you’d buy me food anyway, I’d be happy to have 1,500.”
“Ugh, you’re such a tough guy too.”
While chatting, they reached the front of the crack. Unlike other cracks, it was as black as a black hole. Dungeons were different from the usual back worlds. There had to be more than 1,000 monsters wriggling in there. The new hunters were as stiff as soldiers before a war. Jeong Seon-kyung took the lead.
“Me and this guy will go in first. Come in after about 15 seconds.”
“Alright!”
“Let’s go, Byeong-gap.”
“Okay.”
Ko Byeong-gap and Jeong Seon-kyung. The two immersed themselves in the black crack without hesitation. As if being sucked into a swamp, the unique discomfort of the dungeon came over. At that time, he wasn’t as scared as he was before.
***
“Oh, my God!”
“You’re fucking right from the beginning.”
As soon as they entered the dungeon, a monster fell from the ceiling. It was a giant bat-shaped monster, not a familiar one. Jeong Seon-kyung didn’t even pull out her sword. She just radiated a sharply drawn Karma around herself. The bat monster died torn to pieces.
It didn’t seem to be a powerful monster. Was it E or F-class at most?
That was the difference between a crack and a dungeon. Behind the scenes, the back world imitated reality. On the other hand, dungeons were a whole new world.
Ko Byeong-gap calmly swept the surrounding area. It was inside a cool, damp cave, and then, a straight passage stretched downward. He could feel a huge mass of presence deep down there. Hundreds and thousands of monsters were moving around.
“They won’t be here in five minutes, so let’s burn a cigarette.”
“Alright.”
Both of them bit cigarettes in their mouths. Ko Byeong-gap lit the fire and suddenly looked back. It was in the opposite direction of the dungeon. There was a reddish glow at the end of the climb.
‘It’s like a cave exit.’
“Huh? Hey, where are you going?”
“Just for a second.”
He headed up the hill toward the exit. Before long, he reached the end of the cave, and there was an outside view beyond the big exit. One step out of the cave was a cliff, so he would be seriously hurt if he missed a step. Well, it was impossible to get out anyway.
There was a transparent membrane hanging over the exit, like a barrier. So it was possible to see through, but he couldn’t go beyond. Ko Byeong-gap looked outside for a long time. There was a large forest with thick trees, a large river stream across it, and high mountains in the distance.
The sun was slowly setting there. The sun was hanging at the end of the mountain range, and the sun shone red. It was a pretty nice view, but Ko Byeong-gap didn’t think ‘cool’ or ‘beautiful.’ Around this time, he felt a different feeling.
‘What? Why is it familiar?’
He was used to it, and he felt like he had seen it one day, especially that sunset…
“Yay… The view is awesome. I don’t know anything else, but it’s good to see things like this in hunting jobs. Don’t you think so?”
Jeong Seon-kyung, who came to him when he didn’t know, asked in an old-fashioned way. Ko Byeong-gap couldn’t answer since he was distracted.
He took out his cell phone as if he were possessed and went into the photo album. He tapped one of the few recent photos on the screen.
He took this picture because the scenery was good, while he was scouting around Valtadren with Doran. He raised his cell phone at eye level and compared the picture with the view. Either way, Jeong Seon-kyung was busy admiring the scenery.
“But aren’t you really curious? Where the hell is this place? Every time I enter a dungeon, I’m amazed.”
“Ashvilam…”
“Huh? What?”
Ko Byeong-gap muttered in a drained voice.
This was… Ashvilam.
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