The Bandits' Conspiracy
The bandits who had successfully secured a massive haul of diamonds in Africa, along with their leader Kang Mi-hyun, had now returned to South Korea. Kang Mi-hyun was an astonishingly beautiful woman with semi-long pink hair and deep pink eyes, yet her cruel nature struck fear into countless people in the underworld. At this moment, one of her subordinates stood before her, carefully gauging her mood as he delivered his report.
"Trigger a dungeon outbreak in the Ui-dong Valley near Bukhansan?"
Kang Mi-hyun repeated the report from her subordinate, Lee Gyu-cheok, in a tone of complete disinterest. Sensing her lack of enthusiasm, the man spoke cautiously.
"Um... Leader. Compared to the enormous diamond haul you secured this time, this is nothing, but Ui-dong Valley is still a decent tourist spot. We have several front businesses operating nearby. If we deliberately unleash monsters to cause damage and then claim government compensation, we could turn a nice profit."
"Is that right?"
"Yes. We've already arranged insurance for monster-related damages. If we force a dungeon outbreak and let the monsters pour out... the payout would be substantial."
"Do whatever you want. I'm not interested."
"Ah, yes..."
At Kang Mi-hyun's words, Lee Gyu-cheok bowed his head and stopped pushing the report. Still, he felt satisfied that she had given him permission to proceed as he saw fit.
'If we trigger an outbreak in the dungeon near Ui-dong Valley and unleash a huge swarm of monsters...'
Since it would appear as a natural monster attack, they could claim an enormous insurance payout. Countless civilians might be caught in the assault, and Ui-dong itself could suffer heavy casualties, but none of that mattered. That was simply how the villainous bandit group operated.
The dungeon that had appeared near Ui-dong Valley was one that many mana awakeners avoided. Though classified as a minor dungeon, its difficulty was high while the rewards were poor. Those who entered and returned complained that the monsters were annoying to deal with and the earnings were disappointing. Left unchecked, the monsters inside such dungeons would multiply until they eventually caused an outbreak. The monsters that poured out would attack defenseless civilians, causing heavy casualties. Though not enormous in scale, the dungeon near the scenic Ui-dong Valley would eventually be handled by the government dispatching mana awakeners once the problem grew too large. Until then, the locals would live in constant anxiety.
"Cheon, as long as this dungeon exists, everyone living nearby will feel uneasy and restless."
"You're right."
"So today, I want to reduce the number of monsters inside as much as possible, or even clear the dungeon entirely, so the people around here can finally feel at ease."
At Yee Eun-chae's words, I nodded.
"I'll help you. It's your job, so I should lend a hand."
"Thanks, Cheon!"
Normally, if I spotted a dungeon like this, I would have simply ordered Yucheon Group's awakeners to deal with it rather than getting involved personally. Perhaps because I lacked the ability to forget, seeing the potential for loss of life left me unable to ignore it—it kept nagging at my mind.
'In that sense, not being able to forget is inconvenient.'
Recalling the side effect of my inability to forget grudges or kindness, I turned my gaze toward the dungeon.
'Hmm, I can feel it.'
The inside of a dungeon was essentially a fragment of another dimension. Understanding its interior was far more difficult than simply exploring a cave, yet I could still perceive what lay beyond the large rift.
'The monsters inside are Killer Ant types.'
A single one wasn't particularly strong, but they were the kind that called for reinforcements. That was only their initial behavior, however. Deeper inside, things became far more troublesome.
'Sticky Ooze, huh.'
A slime-like monster that fired sticky mucus. It had no toxicity and no other offensive abilities besides launching the mucus. Its true role was to support other monsters in hunting intruders. Getting hit by the Sticky Ooze's mucus felt disgusting, and if you were unlucky, your body would slow down, leaving you unable to properly respond to attacks from other monsters and leading to death. This was the main reason the dungeon was so unpopular.
'Most people would hate dealing with this.'
The combination of Sticky Ooze and Killer Ants was truly the worst. The oozes would fire mucus to slow intruders while the ants overwhelmed them with sheer numbers. Even worse, neither the Sticky Ooze nor the Killer Ants dropped valuable mana stones. The effort was high, but the rewards were almost nonexistent.
'And most importantly, this dungeon...'
Judging by its appearance timing, internal structure, and location, this dungeon was clearly one that had appeared in the original novel.
Kiiiiiik!
A massive swarm of monsters poured out of the dungeon and descended upon Ui-dong, attacking countless civilians. Screams and cries filled the air. The slaughter, which spared neither the elderly nor children, only ended when the warriors of the Yee clan arrived late and wiped out the monsters. Yet the wails of children who had lost their parents and the anguished cries of parents who had lost their children echoed from every direction.
"The dungeon shouldn't have reached the outbreak stage yet. How did this happen?"
Yee Eun-chae could not hide her sorrow and rage as she witnessed the tragedy before her. If this outbreak had not been natural but deliberately caused by someone... she would never forgive them.
Approaching a little girl who looked no older than seven and was crying for her lost parents, Yee Eun-chae forced a gentle smile and tried to comfort her.
"It's okay. Big sister will protect you. Your mom and dad asked me to look after you, you know? Can you tell me your name?"
"Hic, waaah! Mom... Dad..."
Feeling helpless at her own poor comforting skills, Yee Eun-chae simply hugged the sobbing child. Though she had arrived in time to help defeat the monsters, she felt bitter that she could not bring happiness back to those who were suffering. Even knowing it was a meaningless thought, regret washed over her—she wished she had come just a little sooner.
"Eun-chae."
Seo Moon-hyun approached her and spoke.
"If this dungeon really was deliberately triggered by someone, just like you said... I won't forgive them either."
"I feel the same, Hyun."
Still holding the exhausted, sleeping girl in her arms, Yee Eun-chae bit her lip hard enough to draw a thin line of blood.
"I will make them pay for this sin."
'This was the scene where Yee Eun-chae had been furious after witnessing the tragedy.'
Recalling the events, I knew from the reader's perspective that the culprits were Kang Mi-hyun's bandit group. More precisely, her subordinate Lee Gyu-cheok had reported it to her, and she had given him permission to proceed as he saw fit. However, Seo Moon-hyun later lied, claiming that Kang Mi-hyun had known nothing about the incident and that Lee Gyu-cheok had acted on his own, allowing her to escape responsibility.
"Eun-chae, Mi-hyun didn't know about what happened back then. Her subordinate acted on his own, and she's sincerely reflecting on it."
Seo Moon-hyun spoke to Yee Eun-chae, who could not forgive Kang Mi-hyun, claiming that while Kang Mi-hyun bore some responsibility for poor subordinate management, she had not been involved. In his mind, Kang Mi-hyun's own admission that she had permitted it no longer existed.
"The world's end is approaching. We need to stop that first, right? So, Eun-chae, give Mi-hyun a chance too. A chance to atone."
"Hyun, can you really be sure she didn't know?"
"Yeah, I can. I'll swear it on my name."
Seo Moon-hyun smiled gently, truly believing his own words. Yet even as Yee Eun-chae accepted his statement, she did not discard the possibility that Kang Mi-hyun had lied. She could never have imagined that Seo Moon-hyun himself was deceiving her and lying to her right now.
"If my friend says so, I'll believe it. But... if that woman really was involved and lied to you, I will definitely kill her and make her pay for her sins."
"Eun-chae. Not every criminal has to die to pay for their crimes, you know? We should give people who are sincerely reflecting and weren't directly involved a chance to redeem themselves."
Seo Moon-hyun spoke sternly to Yee Eun-chae, who believed all evil must be punished without exception.
'In the original work, readers had torn into Seo Moon-hyun during this scene.'
This was the part where his hypocritical, double-standard nature was most blatantly displayed. For reference, at that time, he himself had mercilessly killed his own older brother, Seo Moon-jin.
'Though Kang Mi-hyun's lower organization took the lead, she herself had shown disinterest yet still gave permission by saying to handle it as they saw fit.'
In other words, Kang Mi-hyun's responsibility was also clear.