Egypt (1)
Annoying errands?
Just ask Park Juhee.
She still runs the wholesale shop on the side, so when it comes to dungeons and the black market, she knows the ins and outs better than anyone.
After all, she used to work in that industry.
Having put his dungeon schedule on hold, Seo Hwarang headed straight to Park Juhee's store.
***
"You're—wait, you're going global?"
Park Juhee asked, staring at him in disbelief.
"That's technically illegal, you know..."
The state guards its borders with burning eyes to keep its own awakened hunters from slipping out of the country.
Ever since the world changed.
Several nations had been completely wrecked by the hunters that leaked overseas.
And if you actually wanted to be dispatched to a foreign dungeon?
You had to clearly state your dispatch period and your intent to return, and obtain government permission.
Or emigrate outright.
"Off the top of my head, there are five countries that are famous for it. Argentina, Venezuela, Libya, Pakistan, and Egypt."
Park Juhee folded down her fingers one by one as she spoke.
The reasons were all similar.
Government corruption or civil war.
And the resulting hemorrhaging of awakened talent abroad.
With no hunters left, dungeon breaks kept happening one after another...
Their major cities, she said, were already in ruins.
"They're a global headache. And it's not like dungeon breaks stop just because one already happened, right? At this point it's basically hell. Literal hell. The cities are probably crawling with monsters. Most awakened hunters these days can't even touch those places."
"So what you're saying is, there are plenty of dungeons."
His appetite was stirring.
Over there, whether they were B-rank or A-rank.
He could charge into anything without discrimination, couldn't he?
There wouldn't even be any association staff standing guard.
'Come to think of it.'
You never know.
He might even earn coins hunting monsters that had already spilled out from dungeon breaks.
Now that would be an absolute jackpot.
No coins had dropped for the horned bats, but back then he might have just been fighting a fifty-fifty chance.
"But wouldn't that be way too dangerous?"
Park Juhee's face clouded with worry.
"Forget the dungeons — there's no real government control over there, and criminals flock to those places in droves. It's lawless territory, plain and simple."
"So there is a way to get in."
"..."
She hesitated for a moment, then let out a short sigh and spoke.
"You could go through a broker."
"A broker?"
"The easiest route is getting a travel visa to a neighboring country first, then crossing over secretly through a broker. The borders are meaningless at this point anyway, so nobody ever gets caught."
"Any brokers you could connect me with?"
"Well, I've never actually reached out to one... but every now and then, when I'm doing black market business, ads come my way."
Wow.
That's Park Juhee for you.
Ask and you shall receive!
Right on the spot.
Yes.
Why suffer through hunting under everyone's watchful eye at home, when he could play on the international stage instead?
It would be risky, sure — but it felt like it would let him grow far faster.
"Then try to set it up. Any country you'd recommend?"
"...You're actually going?"
Park Juhee was uneasy.
She knew from experience how strong Seo Hwarang was.
The problem was where he intended to go.
A place so dangerous that even S-rank hunters gave it a wide berth.
And yet here he was, planning to waltz in with total confidence.
'What on earth is this man's deal?'
Confusion mingled with rising curiosity.
Her good grades back in her school days had come from this very instinctive curiosity.
The thirst to explore the unknown!
And the knowledge gained along the way!
"Alright, fine. My top recommendations are Egypt and Libya. They're connected to each other, which makes the whole region even more of a mess — but you can fly into Turkey and just head south across the Mediterranean."
"Turkey, huh."
He knew it from books.
The capital Ankara, the hot air balloons of Cappadocia, the travertine terraces of Pamukkale, the ruins of ancient Greece and Rome.
Kreh.
So his first overseas trip in life was going to be that kind of trip.
"On one condition."
"A condition?"
"Take me with you."
"Huh?"
What on earth was she talking about now.
"You're not even an awakened hunter, Miss Juhee."
"Exactly. If I'm left behind here alone, I could be in danger again. Sure, the White Tiger Guild is protecting us, but they're not exactly going to guard me with their lives."
"It'd be a lot more dangerous over there."
"Besides, talking to a broker means speaking decent Turkish. Do you happen to speak it well?"
"..."
As if he would.
The only things Seo Hwarang could read in a book and truly understand were skill books.
Frankly, with everything else, he read it and forgot most of it.
He was simply, pathologically, addicted to the moment of reading itself.
"And honestly, there's a lot I want to see over there with my own eyes. So much I'm curious about."
"Hmm."
But well.
The robes had all been sold off, anyway.
They were in the same boat now, one way or another.
No real reason to keep hiding things, was there?
His deliberation was brief.
"You know we could all die in there if I'm not up to the task, right?"
"Obviously. I've made my peace with that much."
"Very well. Sales have been strong lately, so think of it as a company workshop. But—"
Seo Hwarang smiled.
"All the tedious grunt work goes to Director Park. Agreed?"
My, my.
A real-life Bella, this one. Truly a Bella.
"Yes sir! I'll get the tickets sorted right away, boss!"
Park Juhee bowed her head, her expression a blend of relief and anticipation.
***
While Park Juhee prepared for the trip.
Seo Hwarang and Yoo Seon-ah ran dungeons nonstop.
Exactly one week.
C-rank and D-rank, ground down relentlessly — and this was all the coins they'd stacked.
Coins Held: 1,550
Clearly.
This wouldn't do.
There was no way around it — the math just didn't work.
At this rate for a week, a month would net him around 6,000.
A year, 72,000.
'Ugh.'
And that was grinding dungeons nonstop, without a single day of rest.
It wouldn't even buy one random Unique blueprint box.
Regardless.
Park Juhee smoothed out all the travel paperwork, and so—
Seo Hwarang, Yoo Seon-ah, and Park Juhee.
The three of them gathered at Incheon International Airport in the early morning.
She'd even arranged the broker.
Chartering a high-speed ferry outright, plus payment for the captain's life on the line — it apparently came at quite a steep price.
The cost: $150,000.
Roughly 200 million won, which they agreed to pay without a flicker of hesitation.
The broker made his living dealing with awakened hunters, so Seo Hwarang understood why the price was steep.
And besides, they'd simply have to bring back that much more to make up for it.
***
"Yaaawn."
"Haaaah, I'm exhausted."
Yoo Seon-ah and Park Juhee groaned like they were dying.
Istanbul Airport.
Business class or not, eleven solid hours in the air wears a person down.
The only one bright-eyed and fresh was Seo Hwarang.
'This is nice.'
Seo Hwarang had circulated the Pure Breath technique for the entire flight.
Absorbing the crisp, clean energy of the heavens through every pore of his body, he hadn't had a moment to feel fatigue.
The sky's energy was pure and light, and yet at times utterly untamed.
And that was precisely what doubled its effect.
Even the founder of the Pure Breath technique would never have known this.
You'd have to soar through the sky yourself to find out!
"Hello there!"
Once they cleared immigration and stepped outside, a Turkish man greeted them with a bright smile — in Korean.
So that was the broker.
Well... fair enough.
He had every reason to be cheerful.
Risk a sliver of danger, and earn 200 million won in a single day.
"Tourists, yes? Korean, awa—awakened folks?"
"Yes."
"This way, please! Thank you! Boat! We're moving!"
Seo Hwarang nodded, and Park Juhee took the lead, chattering away about something or other.
Turkish.
To Seo Hwarang, it might as well have been an alien language.
Following the man, a black van came into view.
Park Juhee took the passenger seat, while Seo Hwarang and Yoo Seon-ah climbed into the back.
"First things first."
Park Juhee turned to speak to them.
"We have to depart from Mersin Port. We'll slip onto the coast before we reach Egypt proper, and the return trip is set for a month from now, like we agreed. The captain says he'll wait at the same stretch of coast at the same time — but he'll only hold out for exactly one hour. If we're not there, he leaves without us. What do we do about that?"
Seo Hwarang nodded absently.
"Tell him that's fine."
Well, no big deal.
If it became a problem, they could figure it out then.
If it was truly urgent?
All three of them could simply cross over into Etherion and make arrangements from there.
Whoosh.
Seo Hwarang tilted his head back and gazed out the window.
The scenery of Istanbul raced past.
'Overseas, huh.'
Before arriving, he'd been brimming with excitement.
Now that he was actually here, it all felt... rather ordinary.
'Then again.'
To a man who roamed the Etherion Continent — a destination that ordinary criminals couldn't even dream of glimpsing...
Istanbul.
Of course it felt dull.
He glanced over to find Yoo Seon-ah fast asleep, mouth hanging wide open.
Drool and all.
'Incredible, honestly.'
Seo Hwarang himself felt no tension, but Yoo Seon-ah seemed just as utterly relaxed.
Trust, probably.
Trust in Seo Hwarang's strength.
And that didn't feel bad at all.
***
Thankfully, the broker didn't try to pull any tricks.
Dark night.
VRRRRROOOOM!
The high-speed ferry roared to life and began to move.
The captain flashed a yellow-toothed grin.
"Twenty hours! Twenty hours, we go!"
"You bet."
Roughly twenty hours, they said.
Couldn't very well sit around sleeping the whole way.
"Unnie?"
"Hm?"
"Let's get some training in."
"Okay."
He had Plantman grow a training dummy.
A wooden practice sword, too.
Using the spare hours to sharpen both his Brandel Swordsmanship and his magic!
Watching them, Park Juhee swallowed hard.
'Maybe I should.'
Maybe she should try becoming an awakened hunter herself.
There was exactly one way for a non-awakened to awaken.
Mastering a skill book.
But once you awakened that way... you had no clear-cut class.
You'd have to repeat the skills you'd learned over and over, waiting for an opportunity to find you.
'Nah, forget it.'
Park Juhee shook her head.
Her job was simply to do well at what she already did.
Running the company.
And making sales.
She planned to live out this life as a director and shareholder of Seona Couture and call it a life well spent.
Whirr.
Pulling out her tablet, Park Juhee got to work on Seona Couture designs, tapping away at the screen.
***
How much time had passed?
Late in the evening.
"There!"
The broker approached and pointed ahead with his finger.
Park Juhee nodded and murmured.
"Sounds like we're almost there."
Oh, right?
Had that much time really gone by already?
Once they stepped out onto the deck, a bleak, eerie landscape slowly emerged from the dark haze.
Desolate land.
A shoreline long abandoned by human feet.
In the far distance, even the skeletal remains of collapsed buildings were visible.
"Mm."
Seo Hwarang sharpened his senses.
He could feel it, unmistakably.
The presence of the monsters lurking within.
"Wow."
Yoo Seon-ah let out a breath of awe.
"That place really would be hell, huh? It looks even more dangerous than I imagined."
"It would have to be."
Park Juhee, apparently, was beginning to feel uneasy too.
"And it's not just dungeon breaks — there are probably quite a few Calamity-grade beasts roaming around too. Gah, look at the hair on my arm. Do you see that? Goosebumps."
The ferry came to a stop at a fair distance from the shore.
"We go only to here! No further!"
"Understood."
Seo Hwarang nodded.
"We give you small boat!"
"No, we won't need a boat."
How far could it be to there, anyway.
"Huh?"
"Sorry?"
Park Juhee and Yoo Seon-ah both tilted their heads.
Even if it was relatively close, there was still quite a stretch of water to the shore...
And he was saying they wouldn't take a boat?
"It's fine."
Seo Hwarang smiled.
He had ways.
It wasn't for nothing that he was a Master, and it wasn't for nothing that his grasp of skills ran deeper than any other mage's.
"Follow me."
Starting now, he intended to show Yoo Seon-ah exactly that.
What magic was truly meant to be used for.