A Hidden Dungeon and a Hidden Enemy
Long after midnight, a black sedan and two vans pulled up at the entrance to the dungeon that Hyun-jun and the Wraith Guild assault team had cleared.
When one of the Dungeon Management Bureau security officers guarding the gate approached cautiously, the doors of the parked vehicles flew open and the men in black suits filed out in perfect order.
“Um, which department are you with?”
The security officer asked carefully. From among the black-suited group, a clean-cut man wearing glasses stepped forward at an unhurried pace. Judging by the air around him, he seemed to be the leader.
“Lee Jin-hyung, Team Leader of Investigation Team 4, Dungeon Management Bureau. You didn’t receive word from above?”
“Ah...! I’m sorry. We weren’t given an exact time, so I thought you’d be arriving in the morning.”
“That was the original plan. A minor schedule change came up.”
“I-I see. I’ll open the gate now.”
With a gesture from the security officer, the others opened the gate leading down into the underground dungeon.
“You may enter.”
“We’re going in.”
As soon as the security officers stepped back, Jin-hyung moved forward and gave his subordinates their orders. Investigation Team 4 followed behind him. At the end of the stairs, the dungeon entrance came into view.
“Don’t be too tense. This dungeon has already been cleared, so there’s no chance of a monster appearing.”
There had been one rookie mixed into today’s investigation, so Jin-hyung said that to put him at ease. The trainee had probably already received instruction beforehand, but Jin-hyung knew that being reassured on site made a real difference psychologically.
“We’re beginning a full inspection now. Everyone, move.”
“Yes, sir!”
With brisk answers, the investigators sprang into motion. They gathered and analyzed the lingering mana left throughout the dungeon, pushing deeper inside. Since headquarters had ordered them to finish as quickly as possible, Jin-hyung kept pressing his subordinates even as the work continued.
Because they moved almost without rest, the inspection of the boss room ended before long. Jin-hyung and the team used the warp gate to exit the dungeon.
“Have you organized the data?”
“For now, I’ve separated it into broad categories. I’ll send it over now.”
To save time, the handoff and organization of the investigation materials took place while they rode back to the Dungeon Management Bureau.
“Well?”
The investigator who had organized the data and passed it along asked Jin-hyung carefully. He had no ability to determine the dungeon’s rank from the compiled material, so he was curious.
“You said the assault team cleared it. Do you know which guild they were from?”
“I was told they were from the Wraith Guild.”
“Wraith...”
Jin-hyung narrowed his eyes and let the word trail off. He had heard the name before. During the guild war against the old Echo Guild, the guild master had displayed overwhelming combat power, and as a result the Wraith Guild’s name had become fairly well known.
“What is it?”
Seeing Jin-hyung’s face harden, the investigator asked. Jin-hyung shook his head and opened his mouth.
“You have the assault team’s report, right?”
“Yes. I thought we might need it, so I brought it from the Assault Office.”
“Send it to me.”
“I’ll send it right now.”
After the investigator tapped the tablet a few times, the data was transmitted. And as Jin-hyung read it, his pupils trembled violently.
“Team Leader?”
“The highest-ranked hunter among the assault team that entered the dungeon was A-Class... and there was only one? This is verified data, right?”
“Of course. The confirmation process is already finished.”
“If the investigation results aren’t wrong, then that dungeon will be classified at the very bottom of S-Class.”
At Jin-hyung’s words, the investigator was hit with a heavy shock.
“What? But from the force of the assault team I checked, it would have been impossible to clear an S-Class dungeon.”
“Right. But the investigation data couldn’t have been wrong.”
“If that’s true, this is going to become a huge issue.”
“The Wraith Guild will be reassessed.”
Before the conversation could even end, the vehicle stopped. They had arrived at the Dungeon Management Bureau. Jin-hyung straightened the tablet PC and document folder in his hands and said, “Let’s talk about the rest in the office.”
Then, the moment he stepped out of the car and entered the Dungeon Management Bureau, men in black suits approached as if to surround the investigation team. Instinctively, Jin-hyung drew up his mana. He was a B-Class mage-type hunter, after all.
“Where are you from?”
Jin-hyung asked in a calm voice as he let the mana subside. Since they were inside the Dungeon Management Bureau building, he seemed to believe nothing unusual would happen.
“Team Leader of Internal Affairs Team 3.”
The man who appeared to be their leader stepped forward and showed his identification.
“Confirmed. But what brings Internal Affairs here...?”
“We heard you just finished a dungeon investigation a little while ago.”
“Yes... that’s right.”
“We’d like you to hand over all related materials.”
“The materials?”
Jin-hyung wore an expression of utter incomprehension at the Internal Affairs team leader’s demand.
“What on earth is going on?”
“I can’t tell you the details because they’re classified, but I’d appreciate it if you would understand that we need those materials to confirm certain information.”
As expected, there was no further explanation. The Dungeon Management Bureau’s Internal Affairs Division was full of secretive people. Even this much could be considered a major disclosure.
“Will you cooperate?”
The Internal Affairs team leader asked politely, but from the start Jin-hyung had no choice. Even within the Dungeon Management Bureau, Internal Affairs held tremendous authority. With a formal order from above, they could investigate any department, and there was no area inside the Bureau they were forbidden to enter.
“I’ll cooperate.”
“Thank you.”
And just like that, all the materials were handed over to Internal Affairs Team 3.
When he woke from his dream, it was late morning, nearly eleven. Hyun-jun checked his smartphone just in case, but there were no missed calls or messages. Tae-min had said he would contact him in the morning, but it seemed he had delayed the call out of concern for Hyun-jun’s condition.
“Hoo.”
Hyun-jun took a short breath, then fully woke himself with a glass of cold water. After that, he went straight down to the second floor. The second floor was noisy, but So-jin was nowhere to be seen. The younger children from the orphanage were just running around and playing in the living room.
“Where’s So-jin noona?”
“She’s still asleep.”
When he asked the boy running around with a small ball, he answered at once. She must have been exhausted too. Having suddenly gained power, her mind was probably in chaos for the time being. Right now, she needed rest, and time to gather her thoughts and accept that power.
After exchanging a few words with the younger children, Hyun-jun headed down to the first floor, where the bodyguards stayed. Tae-min was sitting on the living room sofa at the foot of the stairs, drinking coffee. The moment he noticed Hyun-jun, he rose carefully and bowed his head.
“I was waiting because you seemed to be resting.”
“I was tired anyway... thanks.”
Hyun-jun said with a faint smile. Tae-min straightened his clothes and approached.
“We received a call from the Dungeon Management Bureau two hours ago. Let’s continue the conversation while we head to the guild office. The vehicle is waiting.”
He started toward the garage first, and Tae-min followed behind. A driver was waiting there with the car, but Tae-min sent him away and took the driver’s seat himself. Once Hyun-jun got into the back seat, the vehicle set off.
“What did the Dungeon Management Bureau say?”
“They said the investigation results came out this morning.”
At Hyun-jun’s question, Tae-min answered. Even after a dungeon was assaulted and cleared, it didn’t vanish immediately. The Dungeon Management Bureau had to go through the proper procedures to close it before it disappeared completely. Of course, if a situation like sending in an investigation team arose during that process, the closure procedure would be temporarily suspended.
“What was the ruling?”
“It was classified as a bottom-tier S-Class dungeon.”
“That came out faster than I expected.”
“It had to. They already knew from the preliminary inspection that it was a hidden dungeon.”
Up until the assault was scheduled, it had clearly been an B-Class dungeon. But the Dungeon Management Bureau had known it was a hidden dungeon of the lowest S-Class?
“They knew...? What do you mean by that?”
“It seems someone deliberately omitted the preliminary investigation results.”
The atmosphere inside the car turned serious in an instant. What mattered was that this was not a mistake, but deliberate action.
“Are you certain it was deliberate?”
“Internal Affairs confirmed it.”
If Internal Affairs, known for its integrity, had reached that conclusion, then it could be trusted.
“I thought Internal Affairs rarely moves at all... so what happened?”
Hyun-jun asked. He knew enough to understand that Internal Affairs did not move lightly.
“We still haven’t been able to determine exactly why Internal Affairs acted so suddenly. If we make a cautious guess based on the current situation...”
The traffic light turned red and the car stopped. Tae-min broke off for a moment, quickly scanning the surroundings before speaking again in a calm voice.
“Some force likely omitted or altered the dungeon’s preliminary inspection results to inflict losses on our guild’s assault team, and during that process, evidence was left behind. Or perhaps a third party opposed to that force leaked the information to Internal Affairs. If solid evidence had been passed along or secured, it wouldn’t be strange for Internal Affairs to reach a conclusion in about twelve hours.”
“Do we have any information on that force?”
“None. But the power behind the old Echo Guild is definitely involved.”
At Tae-min’s answer, Hyun-jun frowned. Things had been quiet for a while, so he hadn’t expected a move like this. He had not failed to anticipate something like this since the full-scale guild war with Echo in the past, but that didn’t make it any less frustrating or foul.
Unlike their side, where almost all the information had been exposed, the side behind the scenes remained completely hidden. With Wraith’s current intelligence network, they couldn’t find a single clue about them. It was like a blade waiting in the dark for the heart.
“I know that much too.”
His voice turned sharp with frustration.
“I’ll allocate half of the slush funds I secured from Choi Na-young to the guild budget. Use it to strengthen the Executive Division and the Intelligence Division.”
In the past, most of Choi Na-young’s hidden funds had flowed into Hyun-jun, and only a portion had been secured by Wraith as guild money. That had made laundering easier. But enough time had passed since then that further laundering shouldn’t be a problem now.
“If we use half of it, we can strengthen the current Executive Division and Intelligence Division by more than three times.”
“Move as fast as possible. When the enemy starts attacking, we need to be ready.”