Chapter 171
Chapter 171
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 171
Chapter Title: Show the World
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“I’m recruiting B-rank or higher mercenaries for an expedition to a foreign dungeon from a top guild!”
“Anyone heading out want to grab a healing potion for the road? Cheap, cheap! Top-shelf stuff made by an A-rank alchemist at this price!”
“Enjoy the buff effects from these assorted dungeon bento boxes made by a B-rank chef!”
It was a madhouse.
Ever since dungeons appeared in the world and every human gained their unique abilities.
Incheon International Airport was always buzzing like this.
Hunters waiting for their flights, street vendors preying on them.
And guild scouts looking to hire mercenaries.
The reason so many people flocked here was simple.
“There are no dungeons left in the country.”
A hunter with his hands in his pockets muttered.
His blue nameplate marked him as B-rank.
“Right?”
The hunter across from him nodded.
He was B-rank too.
“Damn those top guilds and top hunters... They’ve gobbled up all the domestic dungeons. It’s a narrow peninsula, after all. Folks like us have no choice but to ship out overseas.”
“What can you do? At least we can take comfort in being the world’s second-strongest hunter nation. Our families are safe, right?”
A strong nation has its pros and cons.
Safe public order comes at the cost of fierce dungeon competition.
And if you don’t have the skills, you naturally get left behind in domestic dungeons.
But sitting around doing nothing?
You’ve got to eat, so you head overseas to build your strength.
That’s how you get hired by top guilds and raise your value—a virtuous cycle.
That’s why the airport was always packed with hunters.
“So, where are you headed?”
“Hmm, not sure. These days, you’ve got to pick your country as carefully as your dungeon... Heard the latest from Russia?”
“Oh, the new dungeon there?”
“Yeah, no one who went on that expedition has come back. Sigh. Even the Russian government’s got their hands tied because of the mafia. Tsk tsk. Why go to a place like that?”
“It’s an S-rank dungeon. They’re lured by stories of people striking it rich with some lucky encounter.”
“Sigh, come on. Life’s more important than that. Who goes to Russia these days...? Huh?”
The younger B-rank hunter suddenly widened his eyes.
“Huh? What’s up?”
“Look over there. Isn’t that the gate to Russia?”
“Sure looks like it.”
In the direction they were staring, a man with a staff trudged along.
Sturdy build, face that looked vaguely familiar.
“That guy looks familiar...”
“Don’t know him myself.”
Maybe he had a nameplate.
Nothing hanging from his belt.
What is it, a civilian?
Or hiding it because he doesn’t want to show off?
Hunters who don’t enter dungeons sometimes go without their nameplates.
“But that guy’s heading to Russia alone? Ballsy.”
“Tsk tsk, must be an idiot. Greed like that, and he’ll regret it on the way to the afterlife. What’s the point?”
“I’m just shocked there’s even a flight to Russia taking off. Heh.”
The two B-rank hunters clicked their tongues and mocked the passing man.
“He’ll be on the news soon enough.”
“Damn it. What an embarrassment to the nation. If you suck, just retire already...”
Tap!
At that moment, some figure clapped their shoulders as they passed.
“What the hell! Who was that bastard?”
The impact was strong.
The younger hunter scowled out of habit and spat a curse.
“Watch where you’re going, you...”
But.
The moment he laid eyes on the figure.
His mouth snapped shut politely.
“Crazy.”
The older one, who seemed like his brother, muttered in shock.
“G-Golden nameplate?”
The emblem given only to S-rank and above hunters hung from her belt.
And.
A black-haired woman in her twenties with her hair neatly tied up, an S-rank hunter.
With a dagger symbolizing an assassin to boot?
In Korea, there was only one who fit that description.
“T-The Dark Emperor... Gi So-yul?”
The younger one clamped his mouth with both hands.
His body trembled.
‘Did I just curse at the hunter called the Queen of Assassins?’
And Gi So-yul.
She was the serious type with no smile even on TV.
One of the rankers you most wanted to avoid, the Dark Emperor.
“Want to say that again?”
Her voice was so icy cold.
The two B-rank hunters felt their hairs stand on end.
“S-Sorry! I didn’t recognize you, Dark Emperor...!”
“No, not me.”
The woman with the low voice pointed her chin toward the Russia gate.
“What did you just say to that man?”
“P-Pardon?”
Suddenly, scenes flashed through the B-rank hunter’s mind like a montage.
The Demir Workshop that Gi So-yul belonged to.
And the workshop owner, Joo Dong-hoon, who’d recently become a high ranker.
‘No way...!’
The guy they’d been calling an idiot was the world’s rank 78 hunter?
The two B-rank hunters gaped, frozen in shock.
They’d seen his face.
But he’d risen to ranker so quickly, they hadn’t recognized him.
Gi So-yul sighed faintly at them.
“You’d better watch those mouths. Especially in a place like this—lots of ears around. The moment someone feels insulted, you never know what they might do.”
A blatant threat.
“W-We’ll keep that in mind!”
“Y-Yes!”
The two hunters snapped to attention.
They had no choice.
Life is precious to everyone.
* * *
“Joo Dong-hoon?”
I turned at the woman’s voice.
There was Gi So-yul approaching in her usual getup, backpack and all.
The sight was so awkward I chuckled.
The Dark Emperor with a backpack.
“Why are you laughing?”
She tilted her head.
“It’s just... weird. Just a few months ago, I was your luggage boy in dungeons.”
E-rank scrub that I was.
Now I outranked her.
Me at 78.
Gi So-yul at 151.
“Yeah.”
Gi So-yul smiled back.
“Back then, I thought your eyes had a sharp glint, but I never dreamed you’d grow this fast.”
“All thanks to you, Dark Emperor.”
She accounted for over 50% of why I became a ranker.
Hiring me as luggage boy let me get the old man.
Recommending me for Delaila’s Trial gave me my shot.
“But how long are you going to keep calling me Dark Emperor?”
That’s when Gi So-yul asked out of the blue.
“Huh?”
I blinked in surprise.
What else would I call the Dark Emperor?
“I’m just an employee at Demir Workshop, and you’re the owner. Calling me Dark Emperor all the time feels weird, right?”
Gi So-yul’s lips twisted awkwardly.
‘They said she has no expressions.’
Why so expressive around me?
Well, better than blank-faced.
“So what should I call you?”
“Just call me So-yul like you do. Why ask something like that?”
“So-yul?”
“Yeah. Oh, first things first. Flight’s boarding soon, so let’s hurry.”
Tap tap tap!
Her light footsteps hurried off somewhere.
‘What?’
Just in case, I checked my watch.
Still 30 minutes till departure?
“......”
Was she embarrassed?
Makes sense.
Someone who never expressed herself would need guts to start.
Looking at her.
She was like a hikikomori stepping into the world for the first time.
Of course.
The darkest, strongest hikikomori ever.
“Yeah, yeah, let’s go.”
Amused by her fresh side, I followed slowly behind.
* * *
Vrooom!
The plane roared to life and took off.
Surprisingly.
The only passengers on the Russia flight were me and Gi So-yul.
The association requested it just to send us off?
Once we reached cruising altitude.
Rustle!
Gi So-yul sitting next to me spread something out.
“Dong-hoon, look at this.”
“What’s that?”
“Info on the Russian dungeon that’s been uncovered so far, plus the current Russian government situation. Printed it all out.”
“Ooh.”
That’s why I brought Gi So-yul on this expedition.
She knew more about dungeons than me and had even joined advance parties.
‘Plus, Demir Workshop’s fine now.’
We were relocating the base.
And Eldrin’s ritual had installed a ‘warning’ alarm.
No need for her bodyguard services anymore.
‘Also.’
I checked Delaila’s stone necklace.
‘Impressive.’
Dungeon artifacts worked fine inside other dungeons.
Meaning my base.
Was now my personal subspace, connectable from anywhere.
“As you know, Dong-hoon, this dungeon... Got its S-rank designation from the World Association exactly a week ago.”
“Heard that from the Association President.”
S-rank dungeon means.
Even five A-rank hunters couldn’t clear it.
“You know not to think of S-rank as just any S-rank, right?”
“Yeah. Grades are just humanity’s convenient labels anyway.”
Dungeons don’t have inherent grades.
And no one knows the grade until you enter.
Some say you can gauge it from the gate’s glow.
‘That’s baseless superstition.’
Humanity’s just had too little time to figure out dungeons properly.
“So I think we should gather intel around before diving in.”
“Around?”
I asked, and Gi So-yul nodded.
“Yeah, the place we’re going is Krasnoyarsk in Siberia.”
“Whew, tough to pronounce.”
“First, we’ll head to a village called Kanski there.”
“Kanski...”
I’d heard it talking with the Association President.
A crime-ridden hellhole like Harlem in the US.
‘Wow.’
This woman.
She’s tough.
Talking about a scary place like it’s a tourist spot.
“Dong-hoon. Just a hunch, but want to see some photos from the files?”
Rustle! Rustle!
She flipped through the pages gracefully and showed me one.
Satellite photo of the dungeon gate.
“Feel anything from this?”
“Hmm.”
Feel anything.
“Well, it’s just a normal gate you’d see every day.”
“Exactly.”
“Huh?”
“That’s it. It’s too normal.”
“......?”
“Like how someone used to real luxury can spot fakes, after enough dungeons, you get a feel just looking.”
“Oho.”
I listened intently, student mode on.
“See how faint the glow is, and the hole’s small. Not definitive, of course, but...”
“No way. It might not be a high-difficulty dungeon after all?”
“Exactly. We’ll have to check it out. If it’s being used for crime, the folks in Kanski probably know.”
“I see.”
Listening beside her.
It made sense.
“And since you’ve picked up some dark arts yourself...”
She went on chattering about her research and plans.
Roughly 30 minutes?
I nodded along appropriately and closed my eyes.
Suddenly, Kim Jin-ah’s plea came to mind.
- Workshop owner! Go wild out there, okay?
- You know how the Association bumped up security? Rumors will spread eventually.
- Your feats are Demir Workshop’s feats!
Right.
This expedition was my ranker debut.
‘Fine.’
I’ll show you, world.
Just how strong the MVP of Delaila’s Trial really is.