Chapter 78
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 78
Chapter Title: Judge of Authority
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A strange glimmer caught her eye near the lich's corpse.
Lee Ru-ri hurriedly picked it up.
Her eyes widened.
Acquired Judge of Authority ― Magic Stone (Conqueror Dagger Crafting Exclusive).
"Oh."
Lee Ru-ri waved around the S-grade material she'd snagged while glancing back at Zan-yeong.
"Zan-yeong, check this out."
―Shall I summon Lady Keres?
"Yeah, it'd probably be best to ask her how to craft it. Hmm, but everyone's heading this way right now, so I'll head to the gate entrance for the time being. Zan-yeong, just ask her real quick how to use this thing."
―Understood.
Zan-yeong vanished, and Lee Ru-ri blinked straight to the gate entrance in a hurry.
She checked on the hunters Zan-yeong had dropped off there, then shifted them right outside the gate.
And for the first time in ages, she topped off their depleted HP with heals.
'Still pretty underwhelming on people. Well, duh—they're not healers. It's weird they're even taking heals in the first place.'
The healing numbers were pitifully low, but thanks to the massive pool of dark mana, she could spam heals endlessly.
As time ticked by, the injured hunters' HP bars started filling up bit by bit.
By the time Han Seung-woo and his crew arrived, it had taken a while—so the hunters who'd been scraping the bottom were now over halfway recovered.
"Ru-ri!"
Yang Jeong-hyun was the first to show, sprinting straight toward Lee Ru-ri.
"Oh my god, what happened to these people?"
"When Seung-woo messaged, he said there were casualties in the gate. But when I got inside, I found some stragglers who'd fallen behind."
Yang Jeong-hyun immediately called for an ambulance.
Han Seung-woo and Baek Eun-an arrived right after, rushing over to Lee Ru-ri as well.
"Ru-ri, you okay?"
"Auntie, I'm fine."
"What happened to these guys?"
"Stragglers from inside the gate. Ambulance is on the way. What a mess."
"There were two S-rank magic beasts inside. A lich and a black lich."
"A lich?"
"Yeah. They were all collapsed in front of the first one. But why's everyone looking like that...?"
"Oh, sorry. Even Chairman Han, who's been hunting the longest, said he's only ever run into one lich once."
"Really? Must be a rare spawn type."
"Even accounting for S-rank gates not being cleared regularly, two liches in one gate... Horrifying."
"But Ru-ri, support request came in, we got here ASAP, and you cleared it in under fifteen minutes?"
Lee Ru-ri winced inwardly—whoops.
Han Seung-woo jumped in before her fluster showed.
"Didn't you see Ru-ri's stats? Factor in the uniqueness of dark mana, and it's not that surprising."
"Right, forgot again. Never mind being shocked!"
Seemingly picking up on Lee Ru-ri's relief, Han Seung-woo shot her a knowing glance.
She flashed him a grin in return.
Once the injured hunters were loaded into ambulances, Lee Ru-ri handed over the loot she'd gathered to Han Seung-woo.
"Good work. You prevented a major disaster."
"Those guys—what guild are they from?"
"Eleventh in the national rankings. Hunters from Cross Guild, who've been bulking up fast. Their guild master just hit S-rank, so this was their first crack at clearing one."
"Ah, got it. But how'd the support request end up with us? You'd think they'd hit up Yongsan HQ first—wouldn't that route straight to Han Guild?"
"Looks like Han turned them down."
"Turned them down? Why...?"
"Don't know the full internal story, but from what Hurt passed along, they probably don't have enough manpower to dive in themselves anymore."
"Wait, didn't all the top hunters go to Han early on?"
"Quite a few got scouted overseas and bailed."
"Ah... Talk about a backstab..."
Everyone chuckled at Lee Ru-ri's unexpected quip.
"All wrapped up—let's head back to HQ."
Yang Jeong-hyun hopped into her car with Baek Eun-an, and Lee Ru-ri moved toward Han Seung-woo's.
"By the way, Seung-woo, where even is this place?"
"You dove in without knowing the location?"
"Casualties, man—gotta move fast..."
"Yang did that mana teleport trick, so I half-suspected, but damn, for real. We're in Daejeon."
"Ah."
Just then, Zan-yeong returned to her.
―Little Mistress. Lady Keres says she'll wait for you there.
"Yeah?"
"Pardon?"
"Oh, Seung-woo. Gotta head out first."
"Something come up?"
"Keres wants to chat quick. I'll head to HQ right after!"
Han Seung-woo sighed deeply and climbed into his car.
Lee Ru-ri pulled up her status window, checked the nearest gate coordinates, and teleported.
The moment she stepped inside the gate, Zan-yeong vanished briefly before reappearing.
―Still short, but it shouldn't take too long.
"Keres?"
―Yes. Got everything?
"Yep. Just took down the lich with Zan-yeong and grabbed the last piece."
―Humans couldn't refine it enough for you to wield anyway.
"Figured. They called it 'processed,' but nah."
Keres seemed lost in thought for a moment.
Lee Ru-ri examined the material from every angle.
―If I handle it, we can cut the remaining time even further.
"Time?"
―My goal will be out in the open. If you don't reach me in time, I'll vanish.
"What? Vanish? Why?"
―You're meant to uncover the lords' purposes, and I'm your first stop. Instead of laying low, I've been too flashy—might be rushing my own end.
"Ha... Keres, I won't let you vanish. So, how much time's left?"
―Scratch that 'reduced' part. You need to come now.
"Now? Didn't you say I need more training to tangle with Teba?"
―That's once you figure out how to use it yourself. Right now, no one's around to make it yours.
"Sigh... Teba was insanely strong."
Keres stared at her silently.
―You met Eozolde.
"How'd you know?"
―Didn't notice before, but his bell toll is gone now.
"Right. Took him out before contracting with me."
―Good. With Eozolde's help, it's not impossible.
"Yeah, seemed like there was bad blood with Teba."
―Prep to face Teba, then send them to me through Zan-yeong.
"Got it."
Keres departed.
Lee Ru-ri cleared the gate she'd entered with Zan-yeong's return and hustled back to HQ.
She handed Zan-yeong the S-rank material, the Goblin's Tear she'd held back from the guild, and other loot.
"Zan-yeong, deliver this to Keres. We're off to face another monster like last time."
―Understood.
Lee Ru-ri pondered how to break this to Han Seung-woo.
'He's gonna flip...'
She chugged a bottled water from the fridge, brainstorming persuasion tactics.
"Lay out the whole situation."
But what if he insisted on tagging along?
"Eh, no choice. Honesty's the best play."
Steeled, she marched out of her room.
She messaged Han Seung-woo his location—instant reply: 11th floor.
In the elevator, she hit 11 and deep-breathed to calm her pounding heart.
'Whew, please...'
Scanning around, she spotted him.
The whole 11th floor was glass-walled rooms, everything visible.
At the far end, Han Seung-woo glared at a massive monitor in the 'Master' room.
"Seung-woo."
"Come in. What's up?"
"The Inex Gate..."
"Yeah, schedule's set."
"No, uh... I wanna hit the Inex Gate first..."
"First?"
"Straight talk: Keres says if I go now, I can handle Teba-level with my current setup. I'll go with Zan-yeong."
"Keres said that?"
Lee Ru-ri had braced for an explosion, but his calm threw her.
"Yes. Truth is, I've gathered all the S-rank weapon mats I can use. And I held onto the Goblin's Tear too."
Han Seung-woo's eyes lit up.
"Goblin's Tear guarantees an upgrade to the next rank. If you're set to craft an S-rank weapon... It'll outclass even Chairman Han's S-rank shield. A monster of gear."
"Promise. If it's dicey, I bail."
"And if you don't?"
"You avenge me."
"Ha..."
Han Seung-woo shook his head.
"Heading out now?"
"Soon as Zan-yeong's back. Can't delay..."
"Delay what?"
"Or Keres vanishes."
"Why?"
"You know she's not big on details. Nail this, and I'll show you her true form."
"Got it. Just remember, lots of folks worry about you now. Oh, and meeting with Choi Tae-san is set."
"When?"
"Day after tomorrow, evening. I'm going with you to the Oversight Bureau. So come back safe."
His oddly subdued vibe stirred something in Lee Ru-ri.
"Why aren't you chewing me out like usual?"
"I've seen it all firsthand. Every moment of you. Guess I've built some trust. Don't even worry that much anymore."
Their eyes met, and laughter burst out from both—no cue needed.
Zan-yeong's presence returned.
"I'm off."
Lee Ru-ri headed back to her room with purpose.
Zan-yeong had placed the weapon from Keres on the table.
"This it?"
She lifted the weapon slowly and checked its info via her status window.
"Fed it the Goblin's Tear—this thing's basically SS-grade now. Attack power's brutal. Blood Sword's at 500... Whew, Keres said it's enough to scrap with Teba, so let's go test it for real."
―I shall escort you to the place where one bearing that name awaits, Little Mistress.
"Right, Gangnam Inex Gate won't guarantee Teba, huh?"
―Shall we go now?
"Whew, one sec."
Lee Ru-ri deep-breathed to steady her belatedly trembling body.
After a few big inhales and exhales, she told Zan-yeong,
"Let's go."
Zan-yeong scooped her up and raced nonstop to the Inex Gate where Teba could be met.