Chapter 138
Translator: True Detective
Chapter 138: How to Set a Goal (12)
The black dragon, large enough to fill the sunlit cavern, lazily opened its eyes halfway and looked at us. We felt no killing intent, but its presence alone made us tense up instantly. Na Yuhan quietly gestured for us, who had gripped our weapons at the sight of the dragon, to lower them and stepped forward.
"We are those who have come, at the Oracle's request, to protect the Key from the hands of evil."
Oracle? That one? It seems the seal has begun to break. Is my role over...?>
The dragon's voice resounded in our heads. It wasn't speaking by opening its mouth; it seemed to be talking through telepathy. It looked down on us for a moment, then, as if losing interest, it began to turn its head, before its gaze suddenly fixed on someone. It was Min Jaeyun.
Brother's kin?>
"You know me?"
<Of course I do. This aura. It's impossible not to know.>
The dragon, staring intently at Min Jaeyun, spoke.
<Yes. I have a question.>
The dragon's eyes opened completely.
As its giant eyes turned to Min Jaeyun, the pressure on us lessened. But it was clear that the pressure on Min Jaeyun had intensified just as much.
Brother was special, even among them.>
The dragon exhaled, as if sneering or snorting.
only love that one.>
It almost sounded like self-mockery.
<Did that man, who could only love one, raise a proper family?>
"No."
At those words, the dragon smirked. Ha, haha, hahahaha! As if it had heard something refreshing, it burst out laughing and then spoke.
<Haha, that's right! As if the one who ground his own brother's soul into this place for his love would! The nature of this house, to love only one, will surely be passed down for generations!>
"That's not right, either."
Min Jaeyun replied indifferently to the boisterously laughing black dragon. At that, the dragon, which had been laughing in relief, shut its mouth.
<What?>
"I won't follow the same path as my grandfather or father. Because... I don't have just one precious person."
Min Jaeyun raised a clenched fist and unfolded her fingers one by one.
"Baran, Nahyun, Yuri, Yujeong-sunbae, Hana-sunbae.... and... there are so many."
Min Jaeyun, who had listed the names of her friends, smiled as she finished opening her hand.
"And I'm going to find more. I learned that love isn't about depending on just one person."
<…….>
"You all abandoned me for each other. I was lonely. So I watched your love and stole it. It felt wrong, but I couldn't stop… I learned from Nahyun that it was wrong. Thanks to Baran, I learned how to love without loving only one person. Thanks to my friends, I can stop now. I know now that it's not the right way."
Min Jaeyun smiled brightly. That bright smile was different from the one she'd had when I first met her, the one that seemed to be testing the waters.
"So, I won't become like you."
The black dragon, its face showing it had nothing to say, slowly closed and opened its eyes.
<…What. So it can be changed.>
The dragon, speaking to no one in particular, let out a deep sigh.
Key. Anyway, I've guarded it long enough.>
The dragon closed its eyes as if it had no lingering attachments. At the same time, its body began to grow faint. As if it wasn't supposed to be here in the first place. In the center of where the dragon had been, a staircase and a Golden Door, ornately embossed, had appeared. The moment he saw the door, Na Yuhan quietly clenched his fist and muttered.
"Yes…!"
He sounded excited. Because, in the center of the door, a dragon's head was holding what looked to be the Key. Na Yuhan hurried Min Jaeyun.
"Go and get it!"
"Ah, okay!"
Min Jaeyun, with a dazed expression, climbed the stairs. And as she touched the door, the Key, which had been held in the dragon's mouth, fell into her hand. Min Jaeyun stared at the Golden Key, decorated with brilliant, five-colored jewels, and let out a sound of admiration. Everything was going smoothly.
"You can give that to me."
"Okay!"
"Thank you."
“...Huh? Who?”
“Jaeyun!”
Until Min Jaeyun, hearing a voice next to her, unconsciously handed over the Key. As I came to my senses, I fired my gun at the person who had appeared next to Min Jaeyun: Park Yulhan.
Tang—!
"Whoops, you shouldn't just fire dangerous things!"
But Park Yulhan had already snatched the Key. He leaped backward, Key in hand, dodging my attack. A triumphant smile was plastered on his face. That damned fast mosquito bastard!When did he show up? How did he get in here? No, more importantly, I need to figure out how to respond. I racked my brain. Can I use Omission?
[Park Yulhan dropped the key in his hand.] [20,000,500 Points] [Purchase?]
[Park Yulhan's body momentarily loses strength.] [20,001,000 Points] [Purchase?]
Useless. It's too expensive. Is it because he's holding the Dragon Race's Key? Controlling his actions costs an absurd amount of points. Even trying to neutralize him in a roundabout way, without mentioning the Key, costs a ridiculous amount. It wasn't like this when he was holding other items. Is the Key something different? No, this isn't the time to think about that. I ruthlessly kept firing.
"Die!"
"No thanks!"
In that time, the rest of the group came to their senses and quickly poured Holy attribute attacks at Park Yulhan. But that damned fast mosquito bastard skillfully dodged the flood of attacks and mocked us.
"See, this is why you're supposed to use the Player, not kill him!"
“You bastard…!”
Suddenly, a red line snapped across Park Yulhan's cheek. “...Tch!” The throwing spearPark Siwoo had pulled out and thrown had grazed Park Yulhan. Park Yulhan looked startled, wiped his cheek with his finger, and then burst out laughing.
“Haha, I didn't know you'd gotten this strong already…! This is why protagonists are…!”
Park Yulhan, laughing as he narrowly dodged the arrows of light, soon created an Orb of Darkness in his hand.
Kuuung—!
The darkness he fired shot quickly toward Min Jaeyun, but she absorbed it easily with Curse Absorption.
“Your attacks don't work on me!”
“...Ha, you're all just annoyingly strong.”
Park Yulhan irritably fired orbs of darkness, but Min Jaeyun stepped forward, spread her mana to protect us, and absorbed them. We took some minor scratches from flying rock fragments, but we steadily poured our attacks on Park Yulhan. And as we did, the number of wounds on his body increased.
“Ah, this won't work! Combat isn't my specialty! I'll be going now!”
Looking troubled, he spread his mantle. No, we have to catch him now! I urgently aimed at him as he paused in mid-air and fired. But my timing was off.
“He's getting away!”
"I'd be grateful if you said hello to my little sister!"
Smirking, his body, floating in the air, grew transparent and disappeared. At last, as his form vanished completely, only the sound of the bullet I'd fired cutting through the air and rolling on the ground could be heard in the empty cavern. De-gu-reu-reu— I ground my teeth. Damned mosquito bastard, acting so smug…!
“...I can't believe he followed us.”
“Sorry. I didn't notice.”
I said to Na Yuhan, feeling dejected, but he shook his head.
"What's done is done. He was just that thorough. A lot of time has passed, so let's get out of here. They'll find out we're gone soon."
“...That Key thing. Isn't it important enough to risk coming here? Is it okay to just leave it in his hands?”
“In the first place, what does the Wild Hunt want with the Key? It's... a Key related to the Tower, isn't it?”
At Na Yuri and Park Siwoo's words, Na Yuhan frowned for a moment but answered calmly.
“...It's a big problem. But there's no way to get it back, so we can only hope it's okay.”
“Sorry, it's because of me….”
Min Jaeyun, who had been listening to us with a tearful face, finally burst into tears. Shin Baran, seeing this, flustered and tried to calm her down.
“D-don't cry! Anyone can make a mistake!”
“...It's my fault for not being careful enough.”
Na Yuhan's face contorted as if in pain. Choi Sujeong refuted his words.
“If you're going to put it that way, then the people who didn't notice him following are also at fault, right? This isn't the time to be assigning blame.”
“Yes. Sujeong is right.”
Lee Hana chimed in.
“The important thing is what we do from now on. And comrades exist to cover for each other's mistakes and help each other.”
Lee Hana said, carefully wiping away Min Jaeyun's tears. I nodded and patted Min Jaeyun.
“If you blame yourself, it makes us feel bad too. I wish you wouldn't cry. So let's just think about what to do next.”
“Sniff... okay.”
Min Jaeyun was still so upset that she sniffled for a long time before finally stopping her tears. Na Yuhan watched her, fidgeting, then cleared his throat as if to change the subject.
“Ahem! So, about what to do next.”
“You have an idea?”
“Um… first, should we take the gold?”
…Even in this situation, Na Yuhan seemed intent on taking what he could. At his dumbfounded words, the air, which had been stretched taut with all sorts of emotions, instantly unwound.
"I thought you said we were in a hurry?"
"Gold is important."
Na Yuri said chidingly, a small smile playing on her lips, but I nodded. We have to take the gold.Money is important. Na Yuhan took a gold-colored, horseshoe-shaped item from his Inventory and handed them out.
"It's a Gold Drain. You should be able to pull the gold with this. Gather as much as you can, bring it to me, I'll put it in my Inventory, and give you a new one."
“Okay!”
I smiled brightly and approached the golden staircase in the cavern. The gold was instantly sucked into the Gold Drain. The Gold Drain started as a dull gold color, but as it ate the gold, it began to sparkle, turning a beautiful, clear gold. And so, on our way back, we quickly and swiftly harvested the gold, devastating the underground city.
"This is fun…!"
“Yeah. It's cool how it just sucks it all in.”
“It's kind of addicting.”
Min Jaeyun, Shin Baran, Na Yuri, and the others also started the work thoughtlessly, but soon seemed to get absorbed, focusing on harvesting the gold. Seeing Min Jaeyun, who seemed to have momentarily forgotten what happened, engrossed in gold-harvesting, I felt a little relieved. Anything that cheers her up is good. And as we were engrossed in harvesting gold, by the time we finished and got outside, we realized it was already morning. The sun was visible, rising in the distance.
“...Uh, it's later than we thought….”
“Are we screwed…?”
“Seems like it…?”
Na Yuri and Na Yuhan's faint voices drifted through the desolate Dragon Rock. Well, it's fine.We got the gold.I'm happy. I decided to think that, for now. …And to forget, for a moment, the sting of being beaten by that mosquito bastard. He made my kid cry?I'm going to punch him one day, that mosquito bastard.
"What were you thinking, going out on your own?!"
“We're sorry….”
In conclusion, we got completely chewed out by Shin Barun. It seemed an alert had been raised in the garrison the moment they realized we were gone. Shin Barun brought us to her barracks and yelled at us for a long time. Unlike her usual indifferent self, her genuinely furious appearance clearly showed how worried she had been. Shin Baran looked like she wanted to dig a hole and crawl into it; it seemed it was the first time her sister had ever yelled at her like this. But Shin Barun wasn't going to let Shin Baran off the hook this time. She let out an exhausted sigh.
"Do you know how dangerous the danger zone is? For an entire party to leave the garrison without a report for a mere Fixed-type Gate… I'm disappointed. Was your greed more important?"
“...The Six Races' Key.”
“What?”
Na Yuhan, who had been sitting silently, suddenly spoke, ending Shin Barun's lecture, which had been about to go on forever. Na Yuhan took a sound-blocking barrier item from his Inventory, tossed it on the floor, and spoke.
"The reason we tried to clear that Gate was because it was a Key Dungeon."
"A Key? How do you know that…."
"That's not what's important. What's important is that the Key's seal is breaking."
“...Proof?”
"If you're Captain Shin Barun, you must at least know what a Key looks like, right?"
As Na Yuhan spoke, he took out the Beastkin's Key we had obtained before. The moment she saw it, Shin Barun's eyes widened in shock.
"That's…!"
"It's a Key acquired from a Fixed-type Gate that appeared at the Academy. A Key similar to this one existed in the dungeon we went to."
"The Key that was inside? Did you acquire it?"
“...No. It was stolen by the Wild Hunt.”
At those words, Shin Barun let out a groan.
"This is a huge problem…."
"From what I've investigated, the Wild Hunt's goal seems to be acquiring the Keys and, through them, the Opening of the Tower's Door."
"That is indeed a critical matter. But even so, you should have told us first."
"We couldn't trust you."
"Why not?"
"This isn't a situation that can be dealt with quickly, is it? The higher-ups are divided. And you, Captain Shin Barun, are also tied down, right? Even if we said a Key Dungeon had appeared, it would have taken a long time with demands for proof, or arguments over which party should go. In that time, the Wild Hunt would have taken the Key. Even today, the Wild Hunt moved extremely quickly."
“……”
At Na Yuhan's words, Shin Barun pressed her fingers to her eyes. She let out a deep sigh and spoke.
“...You're right. It's highly likely they would use the Key's seal breaking as a political tool. Especially as a reason to control Lady Yggdrasil's actions.”
"Lady Yggdrasil?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
At my question, Shin Barun was silent for a moment, then very slowly opened her mouth.
"Because Lady Yggdrasil's heart… her core... is the Elven Race's Key right now. It's highly probable they will restrict her actions under the pretext of protecting the Key."
“...!”
Na Yuhan's eyes widened, as if he hadn't known that. Is this information that wasn't revealed in the game?A pure-blood of the races, not a mixed-blood, has a core like a monster where their heart is.And that core is a Key?What on earth happened?
"Lady Yggdrasil is strong. How can such a ridiculous…."
“But they can still argue she must be protected because she has the Key. And it's hard for me to say this, but… Lady Yggdrasil has been providing great power and support to our faction, the one centered on Hunters.”
Shin Barun said with a serious expression.
“If Lady Yggdrasil's hands are tied, the tide will turn to their side. And as the Key's seal breaks and the situation becomes more dangerous, the argument that she must be protected will gain more traction.”
“It's complicated.”
"Yes. So, on their side, they'd rather interfere with protecting the Keys."
"That's…."
"Huu.... I see why Lady Yggdrasil, who must have noticed this situation long ago, didn't say anything…."
Shin Barun sat on a chair and drummed her fingers on the desk, annoyed. Her anxiety was visible. Shin Barun squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them and asked us.
“...Right now, high-ranking Hunters, even mid-level Hunters, are not in a situation where they can move freely.”
“We know.”
"The second and third-year students are being watched by the researcher faction, so they can't always leave the battlefield and move freely. Maybe for a short time, but…."
“We know that, too.”
“...I'll ask first. What was the average danger level of the Key Dungeon?”
"At our current level, we can clear it without issue. For Key Dungeons, knowing the strategy and conditions is what's important, and I know them."
“……”
Shin Barun fell silent at those words. I had a vague idea of what choice Shin Barun was facing, and I watched her silently. Before long, Shin Barun spoke with difficulty.
"If that's the case.... I know this is shameless... but could I temporarily entrust the capture of the Key Dungeons to you?"
Shin Baran looked at her sister worriedly as her cold face contorted in pain. Na Yuhan nodded, his face blank.
"Yes."
“...I'm counting on you. I'll provide as much support as I can.”
And so, a promise was made between Shin Barun and our party.