88. Lord is going to a Dungeon
A day at a dungeon was an hour outside. So even if the timer on the electronic clock had exceeded four hours, only about 10 minutes had elapsed outside.
However, as long as they set foot in a dungeon, they would be governed by the laws there, and hunters would be exhausted after four hours, not ten minutes.
“If it’s five days outside, it’s four months here. So, on the surface, the mutation would seem to progress at an incredible rate.”
“Oh.”
“That’s why dungeons are always the top priority. Days… No, leaving it alone for a day increases the risk exponentially.”
“I guess so.”
Jeong Seon-kyung gave a speech like an instructor. The hunters listened with concentration without a hint of boredom.
“You know the world-famous unattacked cracks? Almost all of them are dungeons. I wouldn’t even think about targeting them because it’s too risky. The same goes for the expedition teams that are in North Korea now. They would never touch a dungeon.”
“So we’re just going to let it go? For the rest of our lives?”
Lee Jin-yeol asked a question with a serious look on his face. Jeong Seon-kyung answered after catching her breath for a moment.
“Not necessarily. Several times a year, they are beaten under the leadership of the International Hunter Federation. All of the participating hunters are SS-class.”
“Oh… SS-class.”
When the word ‘SS-class’ was mentioned, the hunters gulped down their saliva. There were only 68 SS-class hunters in the world. They were like suns.
“Hunter Jeong Seon-kyung, have you ever met SS-class hunters?”
“Me? Well…”
She rolled her eyes and was lost in thought.
“A few times.”
“Who? Who did you see?”
“I used to see them when I was in New York, but James Carter and Robinson Alfie were in the same neighborhood, so I often saw them. Who else was there? Oh, I’ve seen Ryuko Satsuki. I saw him on a trip to Japan, and we ate together.”
“Wow!”
There were exclamations everywhere. At this point, Ko Byeong-gap also exclaimed with one thought in mind. He secretly thought of her as a neighborhood sister, but she seemed to live in a different world.
“Have you seen Go Geon-ryong and Seo Si-hee?”
These two Koreans were mentioned extra excitedly. Especially, wasn’t Go Geon-ryong the most powerful man on Earth? Even just mentioning his name, any domestic hunter would feel their heart flutter.
Unfortunately, Jeong Seon-kyung shook her head.
“No, I haven’t seen either of them. And Seo Si-hee… No, I’d rather not talk about this.”
She glossed over her words. The hunters seemed curious about the story behind them, but they didn’t ask.
“Hunter Ko Byeong-gap, have you ever seen an SS-class hunter?”
“Me?”
“Yes!”
When the question suddenly came in, the embarrassment spread over Ko Byeong-gap’s face. The attack squad looked his way with anticipation.
It was rare to see an S-class, to be honest, let alone an SS-class. However, he felt a bit embarrassed to say it as it was. Above all, he didn’t think he should let them down.
“… I’ve never seen SS-class hunters, but I’ve seen Lee So-ri and Heo Gil-nam at a kalguksu restaurant before, and a lot of S-class hunters on the expedition we went on. Well, that’s it.”
“Oh… I see.”
“…”
Suddenly, the atmosphere became solemn.
“I almost work alone. That’s why I don’t see anyone very often.” He added urgently.
“Oh, hahaha. I see. It’s great that you work alone!”
‘What’s the big deal? I’ll just keep my mouth shut up.’
It was too late to have regrets. Jeong Seon-kyung was busy laughing at what he said, thinking it was funny.
After chatting like that, there were two ways to go. Jeong Seon-kyung thought about it for a while and soon suggested a direction.
“Let’s go to the right.”
“Yes!”
The attack squad gently took the lead. Ko Byeong-gap and Jeong Seon-kyung also went into the right pathway, but the two stopped as soon as they entered the passageway.
“Wait!”
“Stop for a moment.”
The two of them said at the same time. The attack squad immediately stopped and looked back. They also seemed to feel something was wrong.
“Hunter Jeong Seon-kyung. This…”
“Quiet.”
Jeong Seon-kyung closed her eyes and focused on her five senses. Ko Byeong-gap glanced around with fierce eyes.
‘What? Why do I feel presence everywhere?’
It felt as if they had entered a room of thousands of mirrors. Presence appeared and disappeared in dozens of ways, like some game of mole catching.
Simply put, the radar in his head was dead.
“Something’s not right… Come out, everyone. We’ll take the left road.”
The party immediately got out of there, and then, the phenomenon disappeared. They turned to the left path without delay.
“Oh… Damn it!”
It was the same even at that time, and entering the path made them suffer from the same abnormalities as before. The attack squad suddenly became a ship that entered the Bermuda Triangle.
“This is driving me crazy! What should we do?”
“I… Hunter Jeong Seon-kyung. Can’t we just follow the road?”
“No, it’s not that simple.” Ko Byeong-gap answered instead.
“We can’t move without knowing how wide this dungeon is and how twisted it is. If you get lost, you might be lost forever. What’s more, we’re running out of water and food.”
It didn’t matter now. However, if they moved without knowing, they might end up in a maze.
“We should head for the escape portal…”
“The escape portal isn’t an escape portal! Did you forget what I explained earlier? Once you come in, you can’t get out of the dungeon until you’ve cut the boss’ throat!”
Jeong Seon-kyung was so annoyed. Kim Hye-in, who asked the question, bowed her head in a hurry.
“Sorry, I’m sorry!”
“Whoa… No. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be annoyed.”
Jeong Seon-kyung controlled her anger by breathing deeply. She then suddenly drew her sword.
Flick!
A deep trough was cut in one wall of the cave, and it left a mark. She spoke in a cold tone, trying to be less serious.
“We can’t. Let’s proceed while leaving a milestone—”
“Ahhhhh!”
It was then they heard a scream out of nowhere. All eyes turned in the direction of the sound, and something hard to believe was happening there.
“Oh my God!”
“Come on, hold on!
Kim Ha-sun, one of the attack squad healers, was being sucked into the ground.
***
“…”
There was silence in the dungeon, and suddenly, everyone froze and looked down. Kim Ha-sun had disappeared. She was sucked into the ground without a trace!
Nam Woo-hyun, who had been dazed, came to his senses and started digging into the ground. Jeong Seon-kyung shouted.
“Don’t be silly and get out of here! hurry!”
“Ha, but!”
“Darn it! It’s no use digging a hundred days. Get out! Now!”
Her angry voice caused the hunters to scurry out of the aisle. She looked around and bit her lips.
‘There are traps like these in a B-rank dungeon? Don’t fuck with me!’
Jeong Seon-kyung gritted her teeth. She approached the land that absorbed Kim Ha-sun.
‘As expected.’
There were unrecognizable characters and round patterns on the ground. It was radiant with a subtle blue glow, which was currently slowly fading away.
It seemed that Kim Ha-sun accidentally touched it, and as a result, a trap was triggered. What this told them was…
‘This dungeon isn’t just a beast’s den. There are monsters with high intelligence. A tricky monster who knows how to wield superpowers.’
Whether it was a humanoid or a monster, it would be hard to deal with. She rose with an uncharacteristically anxious look, and suddenly, her eyes focused on Ko Byeong-gap. He touched the ground with his eyes closed.
“Hey, what are you doing? I told you to get out!”
“Be quiet.”
He did that for a few seconds and then opened his eyes and spoke.
“I found it.”
“You found what?”
“I’ve located Kim Ha-sun.”
“What?”
Jeong Seon-kyung responded that she couldn’t believe it. How could he find Kim Ha-sun when there were presences all over the place?
“Are you learning something like Feng Shui?”
“There’s plenty of room to talk nonsense.”
In reality, before Kim Ha-sun was completely sucked in, Ko Byeong-gap gave off a small amount of aura and formed a string that connected to her. He really didn’t know it would work.
She was lucky. It would’ve been impossible if it didn’t happen when he woke Marilyn from hibernation. Anyway, thanks to the string connected to Kim Ha-sun, he could figure out the approximate location.
“…”
Jeong Seon-kyung couldn’t understand at all, but she didn’t even doubt him since she was sure he wasn’t the one to brag about things in this situation.
“I have an idea.”
“… What is it?”
“I’ll go find Kim Ha-sun. In the meantime, unnie could take the rest of the people and kill the boss.”
“Hey, are you kidding me? If I had known where the boss was, I’d say–”
“Unnie.”
Ko Byeong-gap grabbed Jeong Seon-kyung’s shoulders.
“Calm down. Calm down. What would they do if Unnie lost it?”
Her pupils trembled. She nodded and took a slow deep breath.
“Whoa… Okay.”
“Alright.”
Ko Byeong-gap let her go and looked around. He then suddenly swung his sword and poured out aura in front of him.
Boom! Boom!
The whole cave vibrated with a tremendous roar. Jeong Seon-kyung, who barely regained stability, freaked out and stopped him.
“Hey! Are you crazy?”
“The owner of the dungeon is hiding in its house. What should we do?”
“What are you talking about!?”
“Drive it out of its hiding or take down the whole house. I’m sure Unnie and the hunters could handle it enough.”
Jeong Seon-kyung squealed like a carp. Ko Byeong-gap only smiled.
“I’ll save Kim Ha-sun somehow. Unnie, grab the boss and open the escape portal. You understand, don’t you?:
“Hey… It’s easier said than done.”
Jeong Seon-kyung burst out laughing. Ko Byeong-gap took a cigarette case out of his pockets and gave it to her.
“Smoke a refreshing blow and blow this whole damn place up.”
“Anyway, you’re not normal either.”
Ko Byeong-gap turned away. His nerves were focused on one point of this vast dungeon. Just as he was in a hurry to take off, Jeong Seon-kyung called him.
“Hey, Byeong-gap!”
He stopped suddenly and looked back.
“What?”
“I’m sorry, really.”
“Come on, buy me a meal after this.”
He jumped into the darkness.
***
“Come out.”
Ko Byeong-gap, who had moved away from the party, summoned the Goblins. The seven members of the attack squad showed up.
“Lord, did you call us?”
“Where are we?”
The Goblins questioned the unfamiliar environment. Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to explain.
“I’ll explain it to you later. Changsik, Taesik.”
“Yep!”
“Yes!”
“We have to find a human being. Can you pick up the smell of a human being other than me?”
“I’ll give it a try.”
The two Beast Goblins stepped forward. They sniffed for some time before pointing in one direction. It was where Jeong Seon-kyung and Hunters were located.
“There’s a lot of scents there that’s like yours, Lord.”
“No, there’s no point there. Can’t you feel it anywhere else?”
“Hmm… Other than that, I don’t know. I’m sorry.”
“No, you both did well.”
‘I can’t help it. I have no choice but to go in the direction that I checked earlier.’
With that in mind, Dorma spoke to him.
“Lord, if you’re looking for someone, would you mind if I stepped up?”
“You?”
“Yes. Apparently, there’s a strange magic hanging here. It looks like it’s full of monsters.”
“Yes, exactly.”
“There must be something I can do if I find a human being among them. Sigh!”
Soon, Dorma let out a shout. After a while, a storm spread around him. The dark winds spread throughout the cave.
Dorma closed his eyes and concentrated. Ko Byeong-gap waited nervously for him to open his mouth. In about a minute, Dorma raised his big eyes and stared in one direction.
“I found a human. It’s pretty far down.”
“That’s right. It’s down there!”
“I think I can guide you. Follow me!”
“Alright, kids, let’s go!”
“Yep!”
Ko Byeong-gap and the seven Goblins crossed the dark cave very quickly.
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