Sensei Guild's Meeting Room.
When the Minotaur with the large horn died, the screen turned off.
The footage recorded and projected by a fistsized marble was within Taguchi's hand.
It wasn't as expensive as a Return Portal, but it was about half its price. This was a play-back marble named 'Harris' Memory'. The information they gained from using such an expensive item was minimal.
“Ha-ah.”
Sensei Guild's president let out a sigh, and the silence within the meeting room was broken.
“Is this it?”
“…yes.”
Taguchi had done nothing wrong, but he irrationally felt guilty when he heard the president's words. He had done three things during the Dungeon clear.
He watched, admired and recorded.
Amongst the four, Sunggoo and Woojin were the only members, who participated in battles. The rest of the party, Baek-jungdoh and Taguchi, followed behind as if they were on field trip.
Even Hong-sunggoo was an ancillary part of the battles as Woojin took the lead. No, his summoned beings were the ones opening up the path. They just followed behind riding the Phantom Steeds.
“How can he clear it so easily?”
“…didn't you just see it right now?”
“I'm saying it, because I'm having a hard time believing it even after seeing him in action.”
“…….”
The greatest Roused of Japan had teamed up, and they had attempted the Dungeon three times.
They had asked for help from the government, since they had failed all three attempts. They didn't expect a clear, so they had evacuated the nearby residents. The Japanese Self-Defence Force was ready to be inserted around the dangerous Dungeon.
When Alandal requested a 7:3 split of the profit, they had easily agreed to it, since they would be making a profit.
Basically, a ticking time-bomb would be turned into a treasure. They would still be gaining profit even if the 30% was 10%.
However, this was only true if they could clear the Dungeon that had been turned into a Mine.
They had inserted Taguchi into the Dungeon to gain the method Woojin used to clear the Dungeon.
They had invested incredible amount of money to use the 'Harris' Memory' to record the footage of the Dungeon Clear.
However, there was a problem. Woojin used a very simple yet overpowering method to clear the Dungeon. This was Woojin' Style. Who would be able to replicate his actions?
“I wonder if we'll be able to excavate with just this….”
The possibility of Artifacts appearing was high when the number of Clears were low. There was no danger of a Dungeon Break, so if they could clear the Dungeon at their leisure. They would be swimming in Artifacts. However, they weren't confident that they'll be able to clear the Dungeon.
It was such an unconventional raid method....
“Hoo-ooh. We have no choice. We'll have to attempt it. Where's Mr. Kahng-woojin right now?”
“He took care of the Dungeon that was about to Break in Tokyo. He is heading towards China right now.”
“Already?”
“Yes.”
“…….”
The Dungeon Business was well-developed in Japan, since there were a lot of subway stations.
If one looked at the number of Roused within Japan to the rest of the world, the number was quite high. There were three times the number of Rank A Roused compared to Korea. The best of their Roused had teamed up to attempt this Dungeon, and they had failed. Yet, Woojin had cleared it by himself.
Moreover, he finished it incredibly fast compared to the normal clear time of a 6 star Dungeon.
“Isn't this a humiliation for Japan? This basically means a single man is better than the a country's entire population of Roused...”
Kahng-woojin had very easily completed a task that everyone failed to complete. He had also displayed his ruthlessness with ease in the Middle East, and it had been enough to put the world into a state of shock.
A private citizen had power that exceeded most countries.
There were countless Roused in this world that was considered to be superhuman, but Woojin was an unprecedently special Roused.
Moreover, Kahng-woojin wasn't Japanese. He was Korean...
“This is the first time I've been envious of Korea.”
If he had been Japanese, Japan would have once again become the strongest nation in the wolrd...
“I thought he isn't Korean any more?”
“Are you talking about Alandal? They haven't even finalized their treaty, so the Korean government hasn't formally acknowledged them as a country.”
“Who is suppose to acknowledge whom? The weak has to acknowledge the strong?”
The president's eyes turned round at the employee's words.
It was an unthinkable thought. A nation submitting under a mere guild? However, this wasn't a joke. This was something that had been discussed in Korean congress.
How was such a thing possible?
Basically, Alandal had the power to make it happen.
While the Dungeons existed, Alandal might be a stronger entity than Korea.
“If we do this right, we might be able to invite Alandal to our country.”
Currently, Korea was in a state of unrest from the scandal caused by the assassination of wealthy citizens and politicians. If Korea turned down Alandal, Japan might be able to bring Alandal to their country.
If one thought about Alandal's fighting power and what they represented as a symbol, they were like an umbrella. If Alandal was on Japan's side, they would be able to avoid the rain called monsters.
“I'll have to meet with the Prime Minister.”
Their guild profit didn't matter right now. This was their golden opportunity, since Korea and Alandal had an uncertain relationship right now.
The heavens were looking out for the great country of Japan. This chance was a gift given by the heavens.
***
After closing the two Dungeons in Osaka and Tokyo, Woojin closed three Dungeons in China. He had cleared 5 Dungeons, yet it had only taken him one day.
“The Chinese are a handful.”
There were differing opinions regarding the cut of the profit in cultivating the Dungeons, but Woojin decided to follow their lead. He hadn't expected a transparent effort in divvying up the profit according to the agreed upon ratio.
These were Dungeons that was close to Breaking.
There might be a Dimensional Lord within one of them. Woojin's aim was to stop any Dimensional lords from linking to earth. That was his goal.
The profit earned from Dungeon Closing was just a side benefit.
“Don't worry too much about it. Money isn't important right now.”
“Uh-whew, president. Thank you for your hard work.”
Woo-soonghoon expressed his true feelings toward Woojin.
Soonghoon was able to speak 3 languages now. He had learned Japanese and Chinese. If he made a round trip around the world like this, he would learn at least 10 languages by doing nothing.
‘Jeez. I would have never thought I would learn English through a drug.’
There were a lot of unreal Artifacts that came out of the Dungeons. He had heard about items that translated a language, but he never expected to gain languages like learning a skill.
“How many is left?”
“There are seven left.”
“Hmmm. Where the next one?”
“It's in Delhi. There's one in Dubai, but the Dungeon in Paris is the urgent one. So our path is a bit crossed.”
After taking care of the Dungeon in India, the closest Dungeon was the one in Dubai, but there was some time to spare for that Dungeon. This was why they would have to travel towards Paris. There was only one day left until the Dungeon Break, so the soldiers had already been dispatched for the monster extermination.
It was a situation where they would be thankful if Kahng-woojin could come as fast as possible.
“Lil bro Kahng. What do think about the offers?”
“Huh? What offers?”
When Woojin responded to the question with a question, Baek-jungdoh spoke with a worried expression on his face.
“I'm talking about the immigration offer you received from Japan and China.”
“Ah, that….”
High ranking officials from the Japanese government had gotten on a private plane, and they came to meet Kahng-woojin in China. Woojin was in the midst of clearing the Dungeons, yet they had come to give an appreciation plaque and a massive amount of reward to him. They also presented Woojin with an offer.
The Japanese government was willing to give up land. They wanted to see if the country of Alandal wanted to make a move to Japan.
That wasn't the only offer.
Japan would quickly sign the treaty Korea was slow to finalize. Moreover, Japan would treat Alandal as a country of equal standing.
“Isn't Japan better for you?”
Woojin smirked at Baek-jungdoh's question.
“Why would I go there?”
“Huh? I knew lil bro would be hesitant to join the Japanese.”
Baek-jungdoh had some anti-Japanese sentiments, so he was happy. Soon, he asked another question with a careful expression on his face.
“Then your heart is leaning towards China...”
The deal put on the table by China was unprecedented.
The Chinese government didn't have to have a special election to vote on this. If Woojin agreed to it, they would give Woojin land that was twice as large as Korea. They would acknowledge Alandal's territory, and they would treat Alandal as a nation.
There were also a lot of additional big perks that was put on the table. It was very tempting.
“I'm not going there either.”
Woojin didn't show a second of hesitation in his answer. This caused the light in Baek-jungdoh's eyes to shake.
“As expected of you, lil bro Kahng. I didn't expect it from you, but you are patriot.”
Patriot…. If the Holy Maiden heard that, what would she say?
Woojin smirked as he spoke.
“I'm not patriotic. It's just a hassle to move. Moreover, the Seoul Station is in Korea.”
If he wanted another Dungeon, he would need another Dimensional Fragment.
Well, if he had numerous Dungeons around Earth, he wouldn't have to travel by airplane. He would be able to freely move from place to place using the Dungeons, but he shouldn't use the Dimensional Fragments for such frivolous reasons.
“Huh? So this is all about the Seoul Station?”
“Of course.”
Baek-jungdoh asked a question after thinking hard on it.
“Is something inside the 1st Exit? Ah. Of course, you don't have to tell me anything.”
The 1st Exit was where Kahng-woojin went into with Lee-sahngho.
The properties of the Dungeon itself made it impossible to know whether Lee-sahngho had been murdered or not. However, the guards that were placed at the 1st exit was part of the KH guild family. Of course, as the guild master, he knew what the guards knew.
At the time, Baek-jungdoh thought Woojin was trying to monopolize the Dungeon he had cleared. He didn't think too much about the fact that other Roused were prevented from entering the Dungeon. Now that he looked back on it he realized it felt as if Woojin had been very protective of that Dungeon.
Was there something special inside the Dungeon?
“It's a Domain. It's a Dimensional Domain.”
He had planned on revealing all of this when the guild representatives were gathered in one place. He didn't have any reasons to hold the information back, so Woojin told Baek-juhngdo everything.
When he heard the entire story, Baek-jungdoh had a slightly shocked expression on his face. Is this how it felt to open the Pandora's box? Or, was it different?
It felt as if he just saw the real identity of Santa. He felt like a child, who just learned where babies came from.
To be precise, he had learned that the formation of the Dungeons might signal the end of Earth. This reason was more shocking to him.
“Lil bro Kahng. Did you know about this from the beginning?”
“I had no idea.”
“Uh-huh. I don't even...”
This was such a big deal that words weren't coming to him easily.
How could anyone have known this?
They had no idea why the Dungeons came to be, and where the monsters originated. They also had no idea why the Roused suddenly appeared. There were a lot of active research into these topics, but not many answers had been forthcoming.
However, Woojin had the answers to these secrets.
“Then do you know how to get rid of the Dungeons permanently?”
“That I do not know.”
How could Woojin know everything?
Baek-juhngdo smacked his lips as if something was lacking. If earth really was going to be saved, the first order of business was shutting down the Dungeons.
“Oh yeah. Int the past, I heard about a Dungeon expert researcher named....”
“Professor Toppler?”
Sunggoo, who was listening from the side, suddenly interjected himself into the conversation. Woojin nodded his head. He was sure that was the name.
“Yes. That's right.”
“Heh heh. I've seen him on TV before. He is very famous.”
He was famous for a reason. Woojin wanted to meet and discuss with Toppler about his research and results. Woojin wouldn't mind just hearing about Toppler’s hypothesis and conjecture.
Woojin would be able prove whether his hypothesis was correct or not.
“Where's he from?”
“He is British.”
“Are there any British Dungeon we have to visit on this trip?”
“Mmmm. No.”
Unfortunately, the schedule didn't contain the UK as a destination. Woojin gave instructions to Soonghoon.
“Send him an invitation. Tell him I want to meet him.”
“Yes.”
The meeting was in the future.
He had the urgent business of closing all the Dungeons that were close to Breaking now. He had to do all of this before his Dimensional Domain's Protection Period ended.
Delhi's Subway Station.
Most stations were located above ground here. There were very few underground stations here. There were few Dungeons here compared to the population living here. India was one of the handful of countries where they didn't require international help to deal with their infrequent Dungeon Breaks.
Moreover, since the population was so high, they were overflowing with high ranked Roused. This meant the Dungeon being requested to be cleared must be very difficult, since the Roused of India couldn't clear it.
The increase in difficulty meant the Dungeon Energy itself was very high.
‘There is a chance that this place might be a Dimensional Domain.’
Woojin, Sunggoo and Baek-jungdoh rode the Phantom Steeds to their appointed Dungeon, since they were short on time.
Blanka of the Vishnu Guild was waiting for them at the station. He immediately entered the Dungeon with them.
<You've entered Dread's Beach.>
As he had predicted, a Dimensional lord was present in this Dungeon. Woojin tilted his head in puzzlement at the familiar name of the Dungeon.
“Uh?”
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