Chapter 139
Translator: True Detective
Chapter 139: How to Enjoy a Festival (1)
Shin Barun saw us off with a bitter expression in the end. As soon as we left Shin Barun'sbarracks, our party was handed over to the senior Hunters assigned to our respective barracks.
"Just how mad was she to use a sound-blocking item?"
“...There are, uh, reasons.”
I dodged Choi Garam's question with a vague smile. The incident of us leaving the garrison without permission had apparently become a pretty shocking issue. Afterward, a flood of complaints came from the Hunter families, so for the few days before we were sent back to the Academy, we had to live stuck to our senior Hunters. And a few days later. All the dispatched students were able to return to the Academy safely, thank goodness. But the matter of the Key Dungeon was not yet finished, and,
"You have to tell us now!"
"Spill everything!"
"Right~ We're curious!"
"Yeah. There are too many mysteries."
"We can't cooperate properly if we have doubts."
Of course, there was no way the group would just let it go. I marveled as I watched Na Yuhan, cornered and trembling, surrounded by an explosion of curiosity from Na Yuri, Shin Baran, Choi Sujeong, Lee Hana, and Park Siwoo. Wow. He's not getting out of this one.
“More importantly, that gold we collected last time… I’d like to receive it as gold, not exchange it for money.”
“Jaeyun, you like gold.”
After returning from the dungeon, Min Jaeyun seemed to have completely awakened her dragon instinct for shiny things. Lately, she seemed to have taken an interest in jewelry, too. Min Jaeyun, decked out in jewelry.It might suit her.
“Th-th-that…”
I was about to get up to rescue Na Yuhan, who was shrinking under the group's interrogation. At that moment, the door to the training room burst open.
"Hmph! So you were all here! I was looking for you!"
It was Yggdrasil. At her sudden appearance, the group's attention focused on her. Na Yuhan secretly let out a sigh of relief, but then tensed up again as Yggdrasil strode straight toward him. Yggdrasil tossed down a sound-blocking item and spoke.
"Right. You spoke of the Key? I heard from Barun."
“...Yes….”
“How did you know about it?”
“...From the library at my house….”
“Don't give me that nonsense.”
At Yggdrasil's attack and Na Yuri's follow-up, Na Yuhan finally seemed to give up. He covered his face with both hands for a moment, let out a deep sigh, and slowly began to speak.
"First… I'll explain the concept of the Key. Lady Yggdrasil, I will first explain what the students don't know, and then I will tell you what you are curious about."
"Hmph. Fine!"
"The Six Races' Keys. Do you know what they are?"
"I've heard of them. That they are Keys that can open and close the Tower's doors."
Na Yuhan nodded at Park Siwoo's words.
"The Six Races' Keys were made by the six-tailed fox and the Hero who belonged to the Savior-capturing team during the war with the other races, along with other race members. They sealed the Tower's doors using the Key's power. That's why the Tower's doors can only be opened with the Keys. And the Keys are sealed in specially prepared dungeons."
“So it’s a big deal that the Key Dungeon's seal is broken.”
“Right. And not only that, even if you don't possess all the Keys, just having one allows you to come and go from the floor that Key governs.”
“...Then you're saying we can enter a part of the Tower with that Beastkin's Key?”
“Correct.”
Na Yuhan patiently answered Na Yuri's and Min Jaeyun's words and continued.
“That's why the Key is an important key item, and an extremely dangerous item. And the Wild Hunt is collecting the Keys right now.”
“Their purpose is what you said before~?”
“Yes. The Wild Hunt's goal is to gather all the Keys, open all the Tower's doors, and release something trapped in the Tower… probably monsters, to destroy the world.”
“That's strange. There's nothing to be gained from that. Not even for the Wild Hunt themselves.”
“I think so too. There is no benefit to opening the Tower's doors. It is purely an act that invites ruin. I have no choice but to think those bastards are completely insane.”
He agreed with Choi Sujeong and Lee Hana's words and spoke forcefully.
“So, for now, we must stop those madmen. The Hunter higher-ups… especially Lady Yggdrasil... cannot move because of the focused attention, so we, who know the situation, must stop them.”
“Hmm… so that's how it is. But, Na Yuhan. You know what question I'm going to ask now, don't you?”
“...How I know, you mean?”
Na Yuhan took a breath. And as he let it out, he spoke slowly.
“I heard it from a being called the Oracle.”
“...Oracle.”
“I don't know its exact identity either. But one thing is certain: it wants to destroy the Tower and protect people, and to do so, it is willing to cooperate with us.”
The moment she heard the word Oracle, Yggdrasil seemed lost in thought for a moment, then lightly shook her head.
"Right. Thank you. I will look more into this Oracle being."
"Yes. Please."
“Um…”
I took the chance to raise my hand. Na Yuhan's red gaze turned to me.
“We decided to be the ones to clear the Key Dungeons, right? If we want to get the jump on the Wild Hunt, shouldn't we be moving busily right now?”
“No. That's fine.”
Na Yuhan smiled gently at me.
“The principle by which the Gates to the Key Dungeons appear in the world is… right, it's like an overstuffed dumpling.”
“Dumpling.”
“The filling, the space that was enveloping the Key Dungeon... the dumpling skin... when it can no longer hold, it tears. That's the Fixed-type Gate leading to the Key Dungeon. And I roughly know when these Key dumplings will burst, and which part of the dumpling skin will tear.”
“I see.”
“I just didn't know where the Elven Race's Key was.”
“I am an extreme exception! I am a sturdy dumpling skin, so do not worry!”
Yggdrasil laughed heartily. Na Yuhan shook his head. I just smiled faintly. Park Siwoo, watching us, spoke as if to summarize.
“Then, is that everything? For now, we'll just live our school lives as usual, and when a Key Dungeon appears, we'll clear it. Is that right?”
“Well, yeah.”
“That's a surprisingly anticlimactic conclusion.”
He just learned a secret that could destroy the world, but for now, he has to just live his daily life. It's understandable to feel let down. But it's much better than always being extremely tense. Until the next Key Dungeon appears, I'll have to be faithful to this Academy life again. I grinned, seeing the group, which had already relaxed.
“Well, as long as we get stronger, it'll be fine! I'll go get Kang Yu, so let's have a joint training session for the first time in a while!”
“Yes! …Huh?”
The laughter vanished in an instant as the conversation so naturally concluded with training. It was the start of another hard training day. I hugged Kang Yu, who ran over to me saying he was happy to see me, and held back the sigh that wanted to escape. Right. I have to get stronger… I jumped into training, resolving to properly beat up that mosquito bastard one day.
Amidst the high-intensity training, September arrived. The sweltering heat had subsided, and it was the season when the leaves were beginning to change color. And in this fine season, at our Academy….
“Ooh, Lord Cheonho! Ooh!”
“He is a god!”
The cult known as the Tower God Cult was becoming seriously popular. I couldn't help but lament as I watched the Fox, who was laughing "hahahoho" in the middle of that damn crowd. Fox, you're so smart, how did you….Ah, well….
‘Hm? Get Mihail out of the Tower God Cult? Difficult. Our Balder Family recognizes freedom of religion.’ ‘...Lies…!’ ‘Right. A joke. The existence of the family head is absolutely above freedom of religion. Above all, Mihail is not the type to fall for a religion. He is infiltrating the Tower God Cult on my orders. The movements of that group are highly suspicious.’
I'd asked Nika and found out the Fox was infiltrating them. Still, seeing him proselytizing right in front of me… something… something… felt like it was breaking….
“Ooh, Savior! Come to us!”
“Noona. Want to be our savior?”
“Refused. Absolutely refused. Completely refused. Refused, even in death.”
I looked at the kids who were either muttering restlessly with hollow eyes or reciting from a suspicious paper, and shook my head fast. For some reason, the cultists, whenever they saw me, would try to pull me in, calling me a 'savior' or whatever. It was incredibly burdensome. Ugh. Hurry up and finish your work, Fox.
“Nahyun-ssi is not joining a place like that. Let's go, Nahyun-ssi!”
“Okay…”
Under Na Yuri's thorough protection, I quickly moved away from the Tower God Cult group. But why did the number of Tower God Cult members suddenly increase so much?Did they hand out items to get people to join?They were handing out some kind of unidentifiable paper…. I shook my head, thinking of the scraps of paper the cult kids were hugging so preciously. Let's not worry about it.Nika said it's just a religious group for now.And the Fox will be out soon.
“Baran-ssi and Jaeyun-ssi are preparing a booth for the festival.”
“Really? Should we prepare something too?”
“Really?”
The young lady in front of me, looking forward to the upcoming Academyfestival, was more important to me. We were strolling, discussing what the Gate Treasure Exploration Club could do, when I saw a familiar, large shadow in the distance. Park Yul-ah and Kim Kang-ha were busily decorating the giant robot they had set up. So that thing didn't get scrapped.
“That robot… it's not going to move on its own again, is it?”
“They swore they'd only use it for decoration, but you can't trust them.”
As Na Yuri grumbled, I unconsciously nodded. Those two would, one hundred percent, do a robot demonstration again. …I just hope it doesn't cause me any trouble.
“But really, what should we do?”
“Hmm. Since we're an exploration club, how about an exploration? We make a dungeon-themed booth and let people have various experiences using our abilities.”
“Exploration…! That sounds great!”
Na Yuri held my hand tightly, looking happy. The idea I'd thrown out without much thought seemed pretty good, so I nodded. Just then, Na Yuhan approached from down the path. He said he was going to take care of the byproducts from the Dragon's Lair, so he must be finished.
“Ah, Yuhan!”
Perfect. I can get his permission right now. With that thought, I approached Na Yuhan and explained our plan.
“So, what do you think of a pseudo-dungeon experience booth?”
“A dungeon, nice.”
Na Yuhan listened to me and smiled as if he had an idea. What? The moment I paused, he said something completely unexpected.
“But will a fakedungeon be enough?”
“Huh?”
“Let's let them experience a realdungeon.”
“What?”
“Excuse me, but are you insane?”
I almost unconsciously nodded at Na Yuri's words. Ugh, almost broke character.Is he really insane?