Chapter 28
Chapter 28
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: The Dwarf's Compass
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Lucia wanted to know why she could no longer sense divine power from Kang Jin-hyuk.
Kang Jin-hyuk could tell it was pure curiosity without a trace of malice.
So he intended to open up honestly without any reluctance.
“Actually…….”
The moment Kang Jin-hyuk started to explain what had happened so far, the glove the dwarf threw accurately stuffed into his mouth.
“Eup?”
Startled and struggling, Kang Jin-hyuk locked eyes with the dwarf who had jumped right in front of him.
The dwarf reached out, grabbed Kang Jin-hyuk by the collar, and landed on the ground.
Thanks to that, Kang Jin-hyuk ended up on his knees, sprawled out on all fours.
“Guh! What the hell are you doing?!”
“Shut your mouth and stay still, you punk.”
Instead of letting go of the collar, the dwarf rummaged through Kang Jin-hyuk's pocket and pulled out a small brooch.
“You can't fool my eyes with a toy like this.”
Recognizing it as the brooch the detectives had given him for surveillance, Kang Jin-hyuk looked shocked.
“Ah, that thing……!”
“Why so surprised? Were you working as some kind of front man elsewhere, punk?”
The dwarf's face grew fierce, looking ready to swing the hammer in his hand at any moment.
Just as flustered as Kang Jin-hyuk, Lucia was confused about how to react to the sudden situation.
“What? What is it? What did you find?”
“You don't need to know, pointy-ears.”
The dwarf's blunt dismissal flushed Lucia's face red again.
“This runt really…….”
Kang Jin-hyuk tried to calm Lucia, who was trembling with anger but holding it in.
She had enough sense not to make a scene, but still fuming, she kept crunching through several candies.
Kang Jin-hyuk continued the conversation before the dwarf could provoke her more.
“I'm not working as a front man. I had my reasons for taking it.”
“What reasons?”
“I can't go into details.”
“Why not? Got something to hide?”
Instead of answering, Kang Jin-hyuk pointed at the brooch in the dwarf's hand.
If he spoke carelessly about the case, that brooch would definitely be listening in, so he had no choice but to hope the dwarf would handle it wisely.
Fortunately, the dwarf, who had figured out the brooch's purpose, nodded as if understanding.
“Well, no one would entrust spy work to a clueless guy like you anyway.”
Even though it stung his pride, Kang Jin-hyuk didn't argue back.
After all, it meant the dwarf believed he was innocent, so for now, he was satisfied with that.
“How did you spot it?”
“Tsk tsk, it's obvious something this crude can't fool my eyes.”
Kang Jin-hyuk couldn't hide his bewilderment at the dwarf's words.
An item?
The dwarf had clearly called what he thought was just a simple listening device an 'item.'
‘Police who aren't even hunters using items?’
Items dropped from monsters with abysmal probability when hunted.
They were extremely rare, and using them for personal matters was strictly forbidden.
Only hunters could handle items.
They could only be used when hunting monsters.
Breaking either rule resulted in severe punishment from the association.
‘Has the association allowed police to use items?’
Using items was a privilege exclusive to hunters, so if it had been extended to police, he surely would have heard about it.
But Kang Jin-hyuk hadn't heard a thing.
He checked news and internet communities daily, so he couldn't have missed it.
‘Looks like it's being traded under the table without public announcement.’
With the rise in hunter-related crimes lately, it made sense.
Police facing hunters couldn't manage with ordinary gear alone, that much was true.
The gap in 'stats' was unavoidable, but at least with items, they'd be on equal footing to arrest criminal hunters.
‘Whatever the circumstances, it's a win for me.’
For Kang Jin-hyuk, it was fortunate that what the detectives gave him was an item, not a machine.
Since it wasn't a machine but an item, it was the dwarf's specialty.
“Um, mister. Could you maybe tweak that thing a bit?”
“Toys worse than children's playthings? Of course I can tweak it.”
“Then just break the surveillance function so the ones who gave it to me won't notice.”
Hearing Kang Jin-hyuk's request, the dwarf chuckled with a 'look at this guy' expression.
“Now you're making demands outright.”
“It's not a demand, it's a request. A request.”
“A request, huh…… Well, empty words won't cut it.”
“Come on~ You did the club for free.”
“Punk, that was because I felt like it.”
The dwarf had no intention of doing work that wasn't with precious metals or interesting for free.
“I don't want to waste my valuable time fixing cheap junk like this.”
Considering all the things the dwarf had done for him so far, it wasn't stingy at all.
He'd done so many invaluable favors that any request now was a fair exercise of rights.
Thinking there was no need to haggle, Kang Jin-hyuk asked what the dwarf wanted.
“What do I need to do then?”
“Nothing big, just do me one favor.”
A favor for a favor—an equal exchange, the dwarf rationalized his demand.
He'd have done it even without that phrasing.
The emphasis made it feel somehow suspicious.
Maybe he was about to ask for something excessive.
“It's not that hard, so don't make that scared face already.”
“Ugh, was it that obvious?”
“I could hear your eyeballs rolling, you thought that wouldn't give you away?”
His brief thoughts had shown plainly on his face, exposing his mind, so excuses were pointless.
That left only one possible response.
“Sigh, alright. I'll do it.”
“Why didn't you say that from the start, all compliant like.”
The dwarf laughed and handed Kang Jin-hyuk an item that looked like it had been prepared in advance.
Then he began explaining the purpose of the compass-like item.
* * *
Beyond the labyrinth with the temple, deeper into the dungeon.
The 5th floor looked like countless cliffs stacked like stairs, unlike the other labyrinths.
Kang Jin-hyuk swallowed hard as he peered down.
Staring into the pitch-black abyss of unknown depth made him feel like acrophobia was kicking in even if he didn't have it.
“Don't stare like that or you'll fall. Lose your balance and you won't even leave bones behind.”
Lucia crunched the candy she was sucking on, then spun her arms to loosen up.
She looked just like an athlete preparing for takeoff.
“I figured you'd ignore the dwarf's request.”
“I want to, but him having no materials is a big loss for me too.”
Only the dwarf could make arrows strong enough to withstand Lucia's strength and aura.
So she had no choice but to step up, however grudgingly.
“And if I don't go, how are you gonna get through here alone?”
“Urgh…….”
Kang Jin-hyuk couldn't refute Lucia's words.
He swallowed again, relaxed his tension, and tied a rope around himself.
Then he firmly anchored the hook at the rope's end into the ground.
If it wasn't secure, it could snap while descending the cliff, so he was extra careful.
“Follow exactly the path I take. Don't go anywhere else on your own.”
When Kang Jin-hyuk nodded, Lucia didn't hesitate and threw herself off the cliff.
Unlike him, she jumped without even a rope, stabbing her dagger into the cliff face to slow her descent.
When she closed the distance to the next cliff, she yanked out the dagger and kicked off the wall with her legs.
She flew like an arrow, but landed as lightly as a feather.
“Insane.”
The whole sequence took barely 15 seconds—something Kang Jin-hyuk could never replicate.
No, was there anyone besides her who could?
Even an S-rank Hunter probably couldn't move that lightly.
“Not the time to gawk.”
He wouldn't get down that cliff just by admiring.
Unable to match Lucia's masterful movements, Kang Jin-hyuk calmly gripped protruding rocks and crawled down the cliff.
“Never dreamed I'd start rock climbing like this.”
He'd thought about trying it someday, but not under these circumstances.
Descending a cliff with his life on the line without mental prep was heart-pounding.
“Huff huff.”
Finally reaching Lucia with trembling limbs, Kang Jin-hyuk let out a deep breath.
His greatly improved stats meant no issue with strength, but mental fatigue was unavoidable.
Just glancing down conjured visions of himself splattering below, which was utter torture.
Lucia looked at the panting Kang Jin-hyuk with pity.
“Why so scared? For your level, this cliff should be a breeze.”
“Intellectually I know, but actually doing it is terrifying.”
“How delicately were you raised to lack even this experience?”
“Born poor as dirt, what delicate upbringing?”
He'd lived without ever doing what others took for granted.
Hearing he'd been raised delicately anyway just wasn't funny.
“Get up quick. We need to go down five more times to reach the lower floor.”
Hearing that drained the motivation that had just started to rise.
Just in case, he checked the compass the dwarf gave him, but the arrow pointed down.
No need to look further—it clearly meant the goal wasn't here but below.
“A compass for finding mines…… You really made something amazing.”
He understood needing a new mithril mine since the 2nd floor's supply was exhausted.
But he couldn't fathom why the dwarf dumped it on him.
“Why make me do it instead of going himself?”
“Pfft. That runt going himself?”
Lucia burst into laughter like she'd heard a perfect zinger.
“Think about it. Him crawling down this cliff with those stubby limbs.”
“……Yeah.”
Crude as the appearance jab was, it held water.
Compared to average people, the dwarf's height was elementary school kid level.
Descending all these cliffs with that body would be several times harder.
Asking Kang Jin-hyuk wasn't unreasonable.
“And I've already taken the advance payment, can't back out now.”
In Kang Jin-hyuk's pocket was the brooch the dwarf had tampered with.
The police would think it was working fine, but in reality, it was hollow junk.
“So basically, that runt smashed the item that was surveilling you?”
“Something like that.”
“What was it surveilling?”
“There was stuff I couldn't talk about.”
“So what was it?”
“The reason my cleric class changed.”
Lucia showed great interest in Kang Jin-hyuk's words.
It was a story she hadn't heard because the dwarf interrupted, so she wanted to hear it properly now.
“Then since the surveillance item is broken, you can tell me now.”
Kang Jin-hyuk felt Lucia staring at him with sparkling eyes.
“Wanna hear it?”
Seeing her nod, Kang Jin-hyuk found a suitable rock nearby and sat down.
“Then sit there. I'm about to tell you a freaking awesome story.”