087. Thorn Grasslands (3)
087. Thorn Grasslands (3)
[ The name 'Joo Tae-hee' has been changed to 'Joo Tae-rin'. ]
─ Just quietly clear the dungeon and leave. Then I'll turn a blind eye like I'm doing now.
Unable to say a word in response to Shin Se-hee's provocation, Joo Tae-rin had no choice but to shut her mouth and enter the dungeon.
And for good reason....
"Boss, I really don't think this is right... We ended up like this because Cheonhwa caught us at the deal site before."
Indeed.
Some time ago, they had conducted an illegal byproduct trade inside a gate.
Since electronic devices don't work inside gates, it was the ideal setting for such covert deals.
Compared to hunting monsters day and night, a single deal could yield staggering profits, so only a fool wouldn't do it.
But the problem was that Shin Se-hee had discovered them at the scene.
What's more, the deal wasn't just any ordinary trade—it was for Laplace Flower powder, a drug precursor, making it more than enough to be treated as a serious crime.
Cheonhwa held that as leverage and thoroughly squeezed Joo Tae-rin and her party members.
'...We should have dealt with Cheonhwa back then.'
But with the Shin family backing her, plus her own formidable ability that couldn't be ignored,
they'd been reduced to tiptoeing around and only running low-rank dungeons.
"But if they catch us doing something to them... Cheonhwa will blow that wide open, won't she...!"
The Damage Dealer, who had been tormented by Shin Se-hee and felt her terror firsthand, said in a frightened voice.
Joo Tae-rin was no stranger to that unease.
'We really should have dealt with Shin Se-hee then and there...'
But regretting it now was too late.
"I've learned something for certain today."
With a stiff expression, Joo Tae-rin spoke.
"...That bitch has no intention of letting us go, no matter how much we grovel."
"So, you're saying we all die together...?"
"Do any of you know anything about the Shin family?"
She had personally spent a long time investigating, trying to free herself from the weakness Shin Se-hee held over her.
"Don't you think it's strange."
Joo Tae-rin's reasoning was this.
Shin Se-hee, who had been desperate to prove herself, suddenly stepped back and offered to manage a party.
Even after successfully recruiting Kang Do-hee.
Cheonhwa refused a golden opportunity to raise her own fame?
That was clearly strange.
"The Shin family gave her a test."
"...A test?"
"Yes. Shin Se-hee is in competition with the firstborn, Shin Su-yeon. But as everyone knows, Shin Se-hee can never beat Shin Su-yeon in combat."
The party members nodded.
Even if Shin Se-hee was called a promising next-generation hunter, that didn't mean she could surpass Shin Su-yeon, an active S-Rank hunter.
She was merely skilled enough to earn recognition as a scion of a prestigious hunter family.
"So she tried to appeal in a different direction, not through combat power."
"...Ah. W-wait, then that guy who took the party leader position?"
"Probably the son of a wealthy magnate. A man who awakened but has insignificant ability."
"Then making that guy the party leader...."
"Yes. The Shin family made a deal, taking money in exchange for making him a hero. Those Shin bastards act clean, but behind the scenes they're dirtier than us."
The party members' eyes lit up with realization.
At least none here would argue that the Shin family was worse than their own guild, Darkness.
Suddenly, the Damage Dealer shouted with a pale face.
"W-wait, boss! Then we shouldn't mess with them anymore! That's not just Shin Se-hee, that's taking on the Shin family!"
"Who said we're touching them?"
As she said that, she pulled a bottle from her coat, a greenish liquid sloshing inside.
She had been planning to resume illegal trading while Cheonhwa was at the academy.
This was a sample she'd received from that client.
'Bewitching Incense'
A drug that lures monsters and makes them lose their will to fight.
Of course, it had the drawback that the slightest stimulation would quickly snap them out of it, but right now that was no issue.
The Damage Dealer's eyes went wide.
"That's the one the client gave you this time...!?"
"Yes, we'll attract monsters with this and have them attack those bastards. And while they're fighting, we'll immediately head back and clear our route. Running over time happens all the time during a dungeon run anyway, right?"
Joo Tae-rin gave a sinister smile.
"And the Shin family will hold Shin Se-hee responsible for this dungeon's failure."
Hiss─
Joo Tae-rin opened the Bewitching Incense and lit the wick protruding from the bottle's mouth.
Puff—
She blew out the flame.
A wavering green smoke slowly began spreading in all directions.
"Special, wind magic. Spread it as wide as you can."
"Uh, yeah."
At her order, the Wizard behind her began chanting a wind spell.
A gentle breeze rose, and the smoke began spreading everywhere.
A short time later.
Cr-r-rack─
R-r-rumble─
A rumbling sound came from the ground, from the side paths of the route.
It was the sound of Black Hedgehogs catching the scent of the Bewitching Incense and heading toward its source.
Joo Tae-rin watched the approaching horde of monsters with cold eyes.
One Black Hedgehog, perhaps the nearest, came right up to them—but as if it had lost all aggression, its red eyes were dull and dazed.
"It was a sample, they said... but the performance is solid. Then we're off! At a quick pace."
Joo Tae-rin led her party and began tracking the route Jin Yu-ha had taken.
*
As they walked on, burning the Bewitching Incense, Black Hedgehogs followed them one by two like zombies.
"Is this all Kang Do-hee's work...?"
Facing the first traces left by the Utopia Party, Joo Tae-rin couldn't help but stiffen.
Black Hedgehog corpses with burst bodies lay scattered everywhere.
And the ground was stained dark red, as if soaked in dried blood.
Staring intently at the dried blood on the floor, Joo Tae-rin let out a hollow laugh.
"Ha, I see. So he's not completely useless. No, in this case he is still useless, but he wanted to show that he can do something."
"Boss, what do you mean?"
"I've figured out why Cheonhwa chose this as the first clearing spot."
"What?"
"That so-called party leader has the Detection trait."
"...Detection!?"
Joo Tae-rin nodded.
"First, the Black Hedgehogs on top all have one burst spot that killed them."
"...Uh, yeah."
"This is all Kang Do-hee's work."
Joo Tae-rin frowned at the rough, wild traces.
"And this."
She then pointed to a bloodstain on the floor.
"If you look here, there's a hole where a sword was thrust in."
The party members narrowed their eyes and looked at the trace. Indeed, a mark of something deeply stabbed could be seen.
"So this Jin Yu-ha guy only took out the ambushing Black Hedgehogs. While being thoroughly protected from behind."
"Ah...."
Faced with evidence supporting her claim, the anxious party members' faces relaxed.
They had been worried because Shin Se-hee's interview had claimed that party leader Jin Yu-ha was stronger than Kang Do-hee.
"In other words, Kang Do-hee handles the actual damage. Apart from Detection, Jin Yu-ha is nothing special."
"Hehe, then we can really get one over on Cheonhwa...!?"
The Damage Dealer, who had been uneasy just moments ago, chimed in with anticipation.
"Yes, the Shin family is cold even to their own kin. I can't be sure, but Shin Se-hee won't get off lightly."
* * *
Rumble─
It had already been several hours since they started running while emitting the Bewitching Incense.
Now the Black Hedgehogs following behind them numbered close to a hundred.
The pressure on their backs felt immense.
Joo Tae-rin's pupils trembled.
'...They've already gotten this far?'
Even after running all this time without a single fight, Jin Yu-ha's party was nowhere to be seen.
Only the corpses of monsters with their Magic Stones and spikes extracted told her they had passed this way.
'At this rate... this isn't good....'
Originally, the plan was to throw these monsters at Jin Yu-ha's party, then they'd head back to their original route as fast as possible.
They had to avoid suspicion.
Going any further would make it hard to establish an alibi.
But at this point, they couldn't just stop here either.
Since she didn't know when the Bewitching Incense would run out, cold sweat trickled down Joo Tae-rin's back.
"U-um, B-Boss?"
"Yeah?"
"This place is weird. It's supposed to be a route we cleared before, but why does it feel so unfamiliar...?"
At the Damage Dealer's flustered words, Joo Tae-rin looked around.
Realizing that the place she was in was completely unfamiliar, her face stiffened.
"...Did those guys take the wrong path."
She inadvertently said aloud.
"No, the path is right."
Suddenly someone's voice cut into her muttering.
"...!?"
She whipped her head around.
A little way off.
As if he'd been waiting, a man stood smiling.
"Welcome. First time in the unknown?"