Chapter 107. Reunited with Junseok (1)
“Why do we even run dungeons?”
Because I need to gauge your current strength, obviously.
That’s what Jeonghyeon wanted to say, but he held his tongue.
Garibaldi was undoubtedly a valuable asset.
He was even better suited than Jeonghyeon for rallying and leading people—like a knight commander.
But that was the Garibaldi from Jeonghyeon’s memories.
Just as the Jo Jeonghu from his memories had been a sniveling piece of trash, but the current one was nothing like that, Jeonghyeon needed to figure out just how different this Garibaldi was from the one he remembered.
Assess their current state, then push them to improve from there.
That was the basics of training.
“Think of it as a warm-up for the raid.”
Jeonghyeon brushed it off vaguely.
“But what now? There aren’t any dungeons around here.”
Hwang Dooman cut in.
“No dungeons? What do you mean?”
“Exactly what I said. No dungeons are spawning. Even with the field still active.”
“Same in the north and east?”
“Nah, those areas are seeing more. But the west? Not a single one since it all started.”
Hwang Dooman added at the end, sounding frustrated himself.
“Ever since you left.”
“Ever since I left...?”
Jeonghyeon had wiped the Jo family off the map of Seoul’s Western District, turned it fully into his own territory, and left.
Before that, the entire west had been one massive dungeon.
To the point where they’d had to send in convict laborers just to clear the underground ones.
That’s why he’d chosen the dungeon-heavy west to train more hunters. And now, no dungeons were spawning?
What the hell?
Jeonghyeon’s mind raced.
Timing-wise, it’s right after I turned this into my territory... Hmm?
Suddenly, a familiar unease prickled at him.
“Territory.”
He channeled mana into his right eye, pulling up the status window.
Seoul Western District (Demon King Jeonghyeon's Territory)
Territory Rank: E
Max Load Capacity: 42/50
Residents: 154
Seoul’s Western District was Jeonghyeon’s territory.
“No way...”
His mind spun into overdrive.
“Hey, Philip. Remind me why dungeons spawn.”
He urgently turned to Philip, the resident hunter otaku with encyclopedic trivia knowledge.
“Uh, um... The Demon King’s mana flows through the field, eroding the present world...? It clumps together to form a dungeon core, spawning the Demon King’s forces around it. Trash mobs respawn, but bosses don’t...”
“Yeah, that’s it. Good enough.”
The Demon King’s mana erodes the present world through the fields.
That’s what created dungeons. Which meant in the Western District field, fully under Demon King Jeonghyeon’s control, no dungeons could spawn.
He wouldn’t erode his own territory, after all.
Hold on, so that means...
A hypothesis clicked into place.
There’s more than one Demon King... so maybe dungeons aren’t made by just one?
While Jeonghyeon pondered, Nus provided a refreshingly straightforward answer, as usual.
“What’re you stressing over, you idiot? Just hit up dungeons in other regions.”
“...Yeah. That’ll work.”
If anything, it was perfect.
This was a chance to test Garibaldi’s current abilities and poke around dungeon mechanics too.
If only Malekith could create dungeons, taking him out would slow the erosion of the present world.
If not, that was valuable intel in its own right.
Great. Now I’ve gotta juggle Afraksas and the present world.
It’d make things messier, sure.
“For now, let’s head east.”
“Why the east?”
Nus asked, and Jeonghyeon replied matter-of-factly.
“To face something at least halfway strong.”
***
(Putting aside Jeonghyeon’s hunch that other Demon Kings could spawn dungeons too) Malekith had always tailored dungeons to the “overall hunter level.”
Which meant no dungeon could threaten Jeonghyeon’s current party, no matter how tough it seemed.
And now they had Garibaldi, who’d soloed the entire tower and reached Afraksas.
This was a miracle party that could smash average dungeons—or even raids—without breaking a sweat.
If only Serin could join too.
The one confirmed Solgaleh awakener besides Jeonghyeon himself would make it even better, but even without her, they could clear dozens of dungeons effortlessly.
Upon arriving in the east, Jeonghyeon’s group immediately scoured dungeon intel.
The Kingdom Guild dominated the east, monopolizing all the decent ones.
“Hah. Every damn dungeon’s already snatched by Kingdom.”
As expected, the top of the dungeon commission board was cleared out by Kingdom.
Unless you knew the rules like Hwang Dooman, finding the strongest available dungeon wasn’t easy.
“Guess there’s only one way.”
Jeonghyeon headed straight for the Kingdom Guild headquarters, like dropping by the local community center.
Beep.
Unauthorized outsider detected.
Some cutting-edge tech—or whatever—flagged them as unauthorized outsiders right at the front gate. Guards blocked their path immediately.
“What’s your business?”
The burly guard, built like he could match Philip’s frame, loomed over Jeonghyeon.
“Uh, here to see the guild master.”
“...Go home.”
“Come on, tell her my name and she’ll know. Kim Jeonghyeon. I caused a bit of a scene here recently.”
“Yes. Got it. Go home.”
Figured it wouldn’t work.
Time to force their way in again? He hated the hassle.
Especially since he needed a favor from Guild Master Serin this time—going aggressive wasn’t ideal.
Still, no choice. As Jeonghyeon reached for his sword, a strange beep echoed behind him.
Beep.
VVIP Hunter Combat Instructor. Welcome, Garibaldi.
“...Huh? What?”
“Ah, if I’d known you were coming to Kingdom, I would’ve said something. This was my next stop anyway.”
Garibaldi grinned sheepishly.
The guards’ attitudes flipped instantly as they turned back.
“W-Welcome, VVIP sir! You should’ve said you had guests! Come on in!”
The guard bowed at a perfect 90 degrees, his massive frame folding like origami, straining his tailored suit to the brink.
“Ah. Yeah. Sure. Lead on, Instructor Garibaldi.”
Right. Let’s play it as his entourage.
Avoid extra trouble.
“This way, please.”
The guard hustled his bulk across the first floor to the elevator.
Jeonghyeon had finally infiltrated Kingdom without a fight.
“By the way, what’s this ‘hunter instructor’ gig?”
“Oh, I give combat feedback here sometimes.”
“Ah~.”
You should be doing that for us. Tch.
Were all the real talents already scooped up elsewhere?
In Jeonghyeon’s memories, Garibaldi hadn’t been tied to any major guild. Just loosely affiliated with the Red Lion Group, Ignirn awakeners banding together.
But this was way earlier in the timeline than when Jeonghyeon had been active. Things were different.
Ding!
The elevator chimed, doors opening to a vast training hall.
“Ugh... This place is full of bad memories.”
The Kingdom training hall where Philip—abandoned by Jeonghyeon—had been forced into endless spars with Serin, “enjoying” infinite healing loops(?).
Today, it buzzed with hunters clashing in spars.
“Let’s go.”
Garibaldi took the lead this time.
Jeonghyeon felt eyes sidelong-glancing at their group amid the duels.
The vast hall’s air grew chill and heavy.
This hostility. Not good.
As they reached the center, familiar mana prickled from the far end.
“Garibaldi! You’re finally ba—...”
Park Junseok, Albatron’s awakener, sprinted toward Garibaldi with excitement—then froze solid upon spotting Jeonghyeon’s face.
“Why the hell are you here?”
He awkwardly halted, hand slipping behind his back.
“Nah, forget it. Wrong idea. Don’t mind me.”
Jeonghyeon shook his head blankly with dead eyes...
“Why the—?! Who said you could waltz in here?!”
But Junseok drew his spear and lunged.
Whoosh!
Not riding the wind—he was the wind, swimming through it at blinding speed. Junseok became a living spear hurtling at Jeonghyeon.
“Hah. Knew it. Jeonghu.”
“Yes sir!”
Defying Junseok’s assumption he’d call Philip, Jeonghyeon summoned Jeonghu instead.
“Storm Dragon Fist... One Strike!”
Jeonghu timed a straight punch to match the spear’s trajectory.
His gauntlet, brimming with Mirtus’s mana, sharpened into a spear-tip of pure power.
Clang!
The clashing mana from gauntlet and spear shredded the air, unleashing a deafening roar and shockwave.
Boom!
Damn. Didn’t want the attention.
And yet, here they were.
Every eye in the training hall locked onto Jeonghyeon’s group.
“What the—? You again...?”
More pissed that his ambush failed than surprised, Junseok rode the wind skyward, hovering.
“What’s the deal, Garibaldi? Why’re you with these guys? They got something on you?”
“Haha! Nothing like that. We just want to talk.”
“Fine. Talk all you want.”
Junseok answered Garibaldi but kept his razor gaze fixed on Jeonghyeon.
“Staring won’t make me vanish, kid.”
“Shut your trap. I ain’t talking to you.”
Junseok poised his spear for another thrust anytime.
Philip and Jeonghu matched, entering combat stances.
In seconds, every hunter in the hall trained weapons on Jeonghyeon’s group.
“Haha. Sorry, but I can’t shut him up.”
“Pardon? What do you mean, Garibaldi?”
“The one who wants to talk... is this guy, Kim Jeonghyeon.”
“...Pardon?”
Junseok blinked in confusion, glancing between Jeonghyeon and Garibaldi.
“Hah. Fucking hell.”
He exhaled a deep sigh laced with curses from his core.
“You again?”
Jeonghyeon smirked, flashing his index and middle fingers obnoxiously.
“Hehe. Yup, me. Where’s Serin?”
“Don’t call the guild master by name... before I skewer that hand.”
“Got it. Where’s Miss Serin?”
“You little shit—!”
Junseok itched to impale him a dozen times but restrained himself.
“Guild master’s out. Busy dungeon-running for an upcoming raid. Spit it out. What do you want?”
His words stabbed as sharply as his spear.
But Jeonghyeon, the ethereal slime of verbal deflection, grinned back.
“Yeah. Let us run a dungeon. Your toughest one.”
“...What?”
“We take all the rewards, obviously. But make it tough enough to worry even you guys.”
Jeonghyeon, who’d just minutes ago wanted to stay low-key, fully provoked Junseok, Serin’s proxy.
“Nope. You need a beating first.”