#20 Infiltrating the War Temple!
#20 Infiltrating the War Temple!
'Opening this thing is going to get me caught no matter what, isn't it?'
I circled around the enormous, ostentatious main door of the shrine. That was when I spotted the emergency exit.
'Fire codes, I guess.'
A building this size had to have an emergency exit by law. Thankfully, that hadn't changed in this novel. Without a second thought, I slipped a claw into the keyhole.
'Transformation.'
I reshaped the claw to match the keyhole, turned it with a click-click, and the door opened. How long had it been since anyone used this route? The interior was already dark, all the lights off. Not a problem with my Dark Vision skill.
'No one's noticed me.'
The shrine building was bigger than the average church, so if I didn't move fast, dawn would break.
'...Where would they keep the roster?'
Let's start with the office. I worked my way from the side door, searching every corner, and moved past the kitchen.
'Hm?'
Someone was coming. I slipped out of sight and hid in a corner of the kitchen. Soon, the figure was rummaging through the refrigerator. I didn't use Spying for fear of getting caught, but the fact that his footsteps were silent told me he was no ordinary person.
'......'
He vanished soon enough, and I was stunned to see the fridge was practically empty. The amount of food he'd taken was absurdly heavy.
'...He's going to eat all that?'
Did he have a Predation skill or something? Anyway, once he left, I resumed my search.
'Where would the office be?'
This is a shrine, so comparing it to a church…
'It won't be on a high floor. Regular followers need to access it.'
That meant the first or second floor was the likely candidate. I cloaked myself in Stealth and searched the first floor thoroughly. Nothing showed up even after a full sweep. The second floor it was, then. I could see an elevator, but using it would be a one-way ticket to getting caught.
'…Let's take the stairs.'
The grand central staircase was covered in decorations. Climbing the red-carpeted steps led to a landing that branched off into the second-floor hallways on either side. And on that landing—
'Actual crazy fanatics.'
A massive painting was hanging there. It was a bizarre image of Jesus holding up a cross.
'That's not a cross.'
It was a sword disguised as a cross. And the Jesus in the painting was weeping bloody tears, screaming something.
'These people are out of their minds.'
I'm not religious, but from a modern perspective, it was seriously hard to understand. Knowing the backstory of how the War Shrine was founded was the only thing saving me from total confusion. The creepiest part, though, was the figures rushing in as if trying to snatch that raised cross. …Ah. Were those supposed to be zombies, not people?
'Anyway, let's just find Gu Ma-jun and get out.'
On the second floor, I found the office. But I could sense someone inside. Late as it was, was someone still working?
"Ah. Brother, you're coming now? But the hour is... rather late."
A man's voice. I couldn't hear the other side of the conversation, so he had to be on the phone.
"Mm... understood. If you insist that much. I'll inform the Father."
I was just perking up my ears when the call ended. The man scratched his head in clear annoyance and headed down the main stairs.
'Why's a bald guy scratching his head?'
Does an itch still bother you? He didn't notice me either way.
'…Guess Stealth in the dark is hard to detect.'
[Stealth (D) Lv.6 proficiency has reached its maximum. Stealth (D) Lv.7]
Stealth was going to hit C-rank before Evil Devouring at this rate. Made sense, considering I used it all day long. I slipped inside; the office was pretty spacious.
'Big building, big office, huh? This is going to take a while.'
But it had to be here. Before searching the personal desks, I started rifling through the office bookshelves.
'Looking through a computer would definitely get me the info.'
But it would be password-protected. And the noise might give me away. There had to be a paper roster somewhere. No matter how good digital tech got, printed records always had their uses. For example, an attendance book for logging work hours—
'...2067. 2068. 2069. This is it.'
[2069 Attendance Record]
I flipped through the pages, divided by department, very carefully. But—
'It's not here?'
I triple-checked. Gu Ma-jun's name was nowhere to be found.
'Has he not infiltrated yet? Is it too early?'
While putting the book back, another one caught my eye.
[2069 Grade-1 Believer Registration Roster]
'No way.'
Acting on instinct, I opened it. It read more like a resume than a roster. Weren't these Grade-1 Believers people who wanted to join the War Shrine? After all, the War Shrine wasn't much different from a clan. What made me so sure was that every single registered believer was a hunter.
'Lee Hyun-sik… Kim Jeok-bae… Dang Woo-jin…'
And Gu Ma-jun. His name, gender, age, career, and other detailed information were all written down meticulously.
'Even a home address, huh.'
I spent about three minutes memorizing Gu Ma-jun's entry, then slipped the book back into the shelf gap. I carefully closed the office door and was about to head back down the main stairs.
"So, the believer is on his way here?"
"Ah, yeah. Not sure what the rush is, but he's insisting he must meet the Father right now."
"What can you do?"
On the surface, this was a religious group. Even at this hour, turning away a visitor on those grounds was awkward. Especially if he insisted it was urgent.
"Maybe I should have told him not to come? The Father did say it was fine."
"Then it's fine. Whatever."
The two grumbling men passed by, and I started moving again. I exited the way I'd come in, through the emergency exit passage, and locked the door behind me.
'Looks like I wasn't spotted, thank goodness.'
—Then, a faint smile crept across my snout.
***
He was close to the shrine now.
'This constant commute is a hassle.'
It would be so much easier if he could just infiltrate the shrine directly. Then there would be no need to keep visiting like this. No need to blackmail the Father into doing his work for him every time; he'd just handle it himself. He'd drafted a recommendation letter, but still no word. Gu Ma-jun shoved his hands into his pockets.
'The world's going to ruin. A priest addicted to gambling.'
Although, it did make him easy to exploit.
'……But.'
He'd been feeling a gaze on him for a while now. Was he imagining it? An ominous prickle made Gu Ma-jun hurry into the shrine, where he was promptly guided to the Father's room.
"Yes, the Father is inside. You may go right in."
"Thank you for the escort."
"You had urgent business. We're practically family, after all."
They exchanged a few pleasantries. Once the monk was gone, Gu Ma-jun wiped the smile off his face. He turned the door handle and entered to find the Father already addressing him.
"You've come?"
"Yes. Let's skip the formalities and get to the point. How far have we progressed?"
"Uh, how... how far do you mean?"
"I doubt you're asking because you don't know."
Gu Ma-jun pulled out a chair and sat himself down without asking, eyes sweeping over the Father's room.
"How much have you copied?"
"A little less than half. It's almost done. If you just give me a bit more time—!"
'Useless fool.'
The deadline was today. This was exactly why he needed to get inside the shrine quickly, to stop having to see this nonsense. Still, he had to use the Father until then. Gu Ma-jun forced a smile without betraying his contempt.
"Well. Fine. Your wrist must be sore. The important thing is that you finish. Oh, and what about the recommendation?"
"The Ju-gyo views it favorably. It seems likely you'll be able to enter the shrine..."
They went on talking for a while until Gu Ma-jun glanced at his watch. 4 a.m. It had taken longer than he'd thought.
"So can you finish by next month?"
"Of course."
"I'll take the copies with me. Ah, and did you record the full internal personnel roster?"
"Yes. Shall I give you that now as well?"
"Huh. Not bad. As long as you keep performing like this."
"So... when might I receive the payment?"
"I'll take care of it once the job is done, won't I? Don't worry too much."
Gu Ma-jun offered a greasy smirk and left the Father's room. Heading back toward the main entrance, he ran into the monk who had guided him earlier.
"Headed back now?"
"Apologies for dropping in so suddenly. I received good words from the Father. It's brought me peace on this late night, you know?"
"Hahaha! With that, who knows, we might be seeing you here in the shrine before long."
"Your words honor me. Well then, I'll be on my way."
"Hoho. I shall await the day we crush dungeons together."
Out on the street, Gu Ma-jun patted down the documents he'd tucked inside his coat.
'Nothing missing.'
All he had to do was get back and report to the organization. He walked for a while, and the ominous gaze he'd felt before arriving at the shrine prickled at him again.
'…Am I imagining it?'
He spun around. No one was there. Of course—who else would be in this alley at 4 a.m.?
"Grrrrr!"
'A dog?'
Gu Ma-jun frowned and turned toward the sound. At the end of a dark alley, a tiny puppy was tilting its head at him.
'This is ridiculous.'
He'd been spooked by a dog of all things...
His pride stung, Gu Ma-jun flicked his wrist. A simple motion, but a hunter's power stirred a gust that slammed into the puppy. Gu Ma-jun snorted.
'Haven't I been too on edge lately?'
He hadn't slept well these past few days, now that he thought about it. He resolved to get some real deep sleep once he got back. But then—
"Grrrrrr..."
The growl came again, stopping Gu Ma-jun in his tracks.
'…Am I that tired?'
Why was it still alive? He'd definitely killed it. The fact that something had survived, somehow, annoyed him. Killing it for good would clear his head. The moment he turned back—
"GRRRRRR—!"
#19. A Prolonged Fight
—Gu Ma-jun found himself staring into the eyes of a creature brimming with killing intent.
***
[Gu Ma-jun (Human)]
[Height 181.6 cm] [Weight 77.4 kg]
[STR 217] [AGI 241] [VIT 209] [MP 256]
I snapped my jaw shut, but the bastard slipped out nimbly. My immediate thought—‘How?’—quickly shifted to ‘Ah. Right.’ I vaguely remembered him having some kind of D-rank Acceleration skill.
‘Slipped my mind for a second.’
It wasn't my fault—the guy just wasn't that important a character. If I had to point fingers, I'd point them at the author.
“A Skull Wolf?! What's it doing here!”
He tried to break away using Acceleration, but flinched when I closed the distance like it was nothing.
“……?!”
He drew a dagger like some kind of hunter, but instead of cutting me, it just snapped clean in half. It really hit me then how insanely tough I could make myself with Hardening.
“Crazy!”
As Gu Ma-jun scrambled to retreat, my Tentacle Bundle lashed out, tangling his leg and yanking him to the ground.
“Gah! Fuck!”
I applied Hardening to the limb wrapped around his and simply snapped it. His ankle bent in an impossible direction. He wasn't going anywhere now. That was it—or so I thought.
‘……?!’
Light began to coalesce and engulf him. I drove my claws frantically into the left side of his chest, but—
‘Missed.’
Didn't kill him.
Torn scraps of paper fluttered to the ground where he'd vanished. When the hell? How'd he find the time? Looking closer, it wasn't just the scroll.
‘Crazy bastard.’
He must have torn it inside his pouch the exact second he drew the dagger.
‘Damned fool.’
He'd made up his mind to run the moment he realized he was being ambushed. I'd dismissed him as an idiot, but he was nimbler than I'd given him credit for. But that didn't mean he could actually get away.
‘—Found you.’
My sense of smell and Perception locked on instantly.
Only 500 meters. At full speed, I could close that gap in thirty seconds. I vaulted into the air and raced across the rooftops.
***
His busted ankle throbbed viciously.
“Goddammit… fuck! What the hell is a monster like that doing in the city!”
Tearing that scroll beforehand, just in case, had been the right call. Putting aside how the damn thing had gotten in, right now escaping was all that mattered. It was a desperation play, but his house was in the opposite direction. Even if he tried to run home, he doubted he'd shake it.
‘…The shrine?’
That was the answer. Being further from home meant he was closer to the shrine. If he could just reach the shrine, he'd be safe from the Skull Wolf. And it was only 500 meters away.
‘That Wolf is anything but normal!’
No way a Skull Wolf could move that fast. Even ignoring the ambush, it was constantly outpacing him.
‘A special species? Just how much of a freak is it?’
A monster faster than him while he was Accelerated. And it clearly had skills to boot. The more he thought about it, the more it defied all reason.
‘…Run 500 meters on a shattered ankle?’
Impossible.
Gu Ma-jun chewed his lip. No matter how well he hid, a Skull Wolf would sniff him out. Should he scream for help? That was a last resort. If the documents on him were discovered, losing his own head alone wouldn't be the end of it.
‘Piece of shit.’
He pulled a vial from his coat and agonized over it. But the hesitation was brief. He popped the cap and downed it in one go.
“—Ghk!”
He forced it down, fighting the urge to retch. A thick mucus oozed from the wound in his chest, squirming grotesquely as it began knitting together into fresh, raw flesh.
“Urp—!”
He swallowed a second wave of nausea at the gruesome sight. But the effects were undeniable. His mangled leg snapped back into place as if nothing had happened.
‘Where the hell did they cook this up?’
He seemed to recall overhearing something about a ‘certain rat' being instrumental…
‘Think later. Run now!’
The odds of beating that monster were slim to none. Gu Ma-jun had always prided himself on being cool-headed and never overestimating his own power.
He ran faster than he'd ever run in his life, burning through his skills without a second thought.
And yet.
‘Damn!’
He hadn't made it even halfway. And all that distance he'd bought with the scroll? Gone. A chill crawled down his newly healed chest, and Gu Ma-jun screamed at the top of his lungs.
“Uwaaaaaagh!”
***
‘You're not slipping away this time.’
I wrapped the wind around my legs and bolted. He finally stopped running in some park.
‘Trying to avoid an ambush, huh?’
There were trees around, but he'd planted himself right in the middle of a wide-open clearing. What really surprised me was that he'd already healed his chest and broken ankle in the meantime.
‘…Did Gu Ma-jun have Regeneration or some kind of recovery skill?’
No, he shouldn't. The only thing he had was Acceleration. Maybe a few other minor tricks, but that was it for actual combat. Even if he'd chugged a potion, there was no way he'd bounce back that fast.
[Gu Ma-jun (Mutating)]
[Height 181.6 cm] [Weight 80.9 kg]
[STR 217] [AGI 241] [VIT 267] [MP 206]
When I Spied on him again, his Status had partially changed.
‘Mutating?’
An ugly suspicion flashed through my head.
‘…No way. That stuff?’
[The Heretic Prodigals]—they'd run countless experiments to create something, and one of those experiments had produced a certain byproduct. The half-finished product of some auxiliary research. Whatever Gu Ma-jun had just drunk, it was probably the unfinished version of that.
‘Why the hell would he have that?’
Maybe the Prodigals had planned to use him as a test subject all along. I had no evidence whatsoever, but something just told me that was the case. But I didn't have time to dwell on it. The longer this dragged on, the worse it got for me.
“Kraaaagh!”
I closed the distance. He tried to hold his ground, but his flesh was shredded to ribbons in an instant. The shock alone should have killed him, but…
‘Figures.’
It just grew back in an eyeblink. Small, glancing blows weren't gonna cut it.
‘—I can't use Ember here.’
If I did, I'd burn this entire park to the ground. If I had time, I'd take it slow and wear him down, but time wasn't on my side.
“Khk… khaha… kahaha!”
He threw his head back and cackled maniacally.
“This… this is incredible! I don't feel like I can die at all!”
Laughing like some third-rate villain from a trashy novel, Gu Ma-jun drove his own thumbs deep into his eye sockets. The most astonishing part was watching the ruptured organs simply regenerate in an instant.
“Haaaaa… I can't believe I waited so long to drink this.”
With a beatific look on his face and bloody vitreous fluid streaming down his cheeks like tears, Gu Ma-jun charged.
‘Idiot.’
Completely linear. Drunk on the regeneration, he'd tossed all sense of control out the window. He'd devolved from a hunter into a crazed beast. And those kinds of beasts?
“……!”
I'd hunted them more times than I could count.
I slammed my weight down on his spine, flattened him onto his belly, and tore into his throat. He screamed with everything he had.
“Kyaaaaaaagh!”
As that soul-wrenching shriek rang out, his head rolled free. I stomped down on it, watching his wide, staring eyes quiver in fear as I applied pressure.
‘Tough.’
I'd meant to crush it flat, but I couldn't. His VIT had somehow shot past 300, while his MP had dropped below 150 in tandem. He probably thought he was getting stronger, but every power has a price.
‘Once his MP runs out.’
The regeneration stops. Evil Devouring was already taking effect, and his mana was plummeting in real time. The head writhing under my paw suddenly stretched its lips into a grotesque grin.
“Keughuk!”
At the same time, the headless body lunged. I shredded it to pieces in seconds, but that bought him just enough time. The body snatched the head back, and his neck, reattached backwards, twisted a full 360 degrees until it snapped into place.
‘You son of a bitch.’
Killing him wasn't hard. I just had to do it maybe two more times. That was his limit. The real problem was the interruption.
“Believer Gu Ma-jun! Are you alright?!”
A man rushed over, worry plastered across his face. A hunter... no, he belonged to the War Shrine.
[Park Yo-han (Human)]
[Height 175.6 cm] [Weight 59.9 kg]
[STR 311] [AGI 318] [VIT 307] [MP 290]
The bald monk. The same one I'd spotted earlier in the shrine's office.
‘This is a headache.’
He wasn't on the level of Aranea, but he wasn't someone I could steamroll, either. The real kicker was not knowing what skills he had. Worst-case scenario: I'm tied up with Park Yo-han while Gu Ma-jun slips away.
‘If my identity gets blown right now, I'm toast.’
Ideally, I wanted to act without tipping off the Prodigals. But allowing Gu Ma-jun to live wasn't an option either—
‘There's no way the War Shrine backs down from a monster.’
My teeth ground together at the mounting pressure. And it wasn't just Park Yo-han. My Detection was pinging at least two more presences closing in fast.
‘No chance of winning.’
Couldn't be helped. There was no way I could blitz both Gu Ma-jun and Park Yo-han at the same time. I moved to cloak myself in Gale and bolt, but Park Yo-han's magic snared my ankle.
‘When did he—?’
I had no clue. Was that a skill of his? A stubborn grip of nearly 290 mana latched onto my leg. I used Evil Devouring to brute-force my way free, but by then, I was already surrounded.
‘Shit.’
Could I break through by force? …No, probably not. The moment that thought registered, a deafening roar tore the ground itself out from under us.
‘Who the hell…?’
No. Not who—!
“A-An earthquake!”
“No, it's not a quake! This is… a Dungeon!”
—The entire park was transforming into a Dungeon!