Chapter 176: The Seeker Who Heralds Ruin (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 176: The Seeker Who Heralds Ruin (4)
The time it took to get from Seoul to Busan was exactly two hours and thirty minutes.
It was only possible because we covered the over 400-kilometer distance at an unbelievable speed without any delays.
Yoon Ji-an's bold driving skills really shone.
The moment I showed a hint of impatience, she hit 150 kilometers per hour as soon as we entered the exclusive highway. We were really flying.
“Where should we go now?”
“Hmm… one moment.”
I glanced at the minimized minimap, and a hologram window immediately expanded.
Around the central red dot, I could see about four blue dots.
After pinpointing the dungeons' locations by comparing it with my smartphone's map, I entered them into the navigation system one by one.
Soon, four routes were plotted.
“Let's hit them in this order.”
“Understood.”
The first place we headed to was a C-rank dungeon called ‘Small Oak Village in the Woods’.
“The naming sense is just killer…”
It was literally just a small oak village sitting there all by itself in a small forest.
“So a Seeker is supposed to be hiding here?”
First, let's clear the dungeon to make the search easier.
I charged straight into the village and unleashed a barrage of magic at the orcs that came rushing at me, their eyes rolling back in fury.
「Fire Ball.」 x 20
Twenty orcs were instantly engulfed in flames, tumbling to the ground.
They were going to die soon anyway, so I skipped the kill confirmation and headed deeper into the village.
The boss monster, an Orc Shaman or Orc Chieftain, should be in the deepest part…
“…What is that.”
The Orc Chieftain who should have been there was nowhere to be seen, and in its place stood a lone man with ashen skin.
A humanoid form with dull, gray skin.
“Doesn't seem like a zombie…”
For a zombie, it didn't have the characteristic smell of rotting flesh, nor did it have any missing or damaged parts.
Most importantly, it wasn't charging at me on sight like a zombie would.
Then there's only one answer.
“Is that one of those 'Seeker' things?”
The creature, which had been staring blankly into space, flinched.
It seems to have reacted to my words…
“Seeker?”
Flinch!
Its hazy pupils shifted toward me.
It seems to be reacting to the word ‘Seeker’.
Upon spotting me, it immediately took a battle stance.
It lowered its posture, switched its one-handed grip on its spear to two hands, and aimed the tip at me.
“Not a bad stance.”
Seeing its solid, well-held form, it looked like it knew what it was doing.
“Kuaaaah!”
The creature suddenly let out a monstrous scream.
Riding on that scream was a vicious killing intent and rage.
What was a little strange was that the emotion wasn't directed at me, but somewhere else.
To be precise, it seemed to be screaming in utter rage at something that wasn't here.
I thought Seekers were simply invaders, but I wonder if there's some story behind this one.
“Kuaak!”
With another scream, it kicked off the ground.
I gauged its rank by the speed at which it closed the 20-meter distance.
At this rate, it's probably around C-rank.
It seems a little higher than the dungeon's original difficulty, but not by much.
The way it charged, the way it thrust its spear, was strangely pathetic.
Its movements weren't those of someone trying to kill an enemy, but of someone struggling to survive, to protect.
“…These movements leave a really bad taste in my mouth.”
I dodged the spear that sharply jabbed toward my heart and immediately gathered my mana.
When you clear enough dungeons, situations like this tend to happen.
Moments when you feel pity for the invaders who have endangered the Earth.
The most common example is seeing a mother monster fighting to protect its young.
A Hunter's blade, wavering for a moment due to that deep maternal love, becomes dull. And that becomes a huge mistake.
A chilling mistake that endangers your own life or the lives of your comrades.
“Sorry, but I'm long past that stage.”
These are things that usually happen when you're a rookie Hunter.
In other words… for a veteran Hunter who's seen it all, it's nothing to get emotional about.
「Flare.」
A blazing wave of fire erupted from my fingertips, rapidly swelling in size as it washed over the creature.
“Kuaaa…!”
Even while suffering the horrific pain of its entire body burning, it stubbornly kept its spear pointed at me.
Its will is commendable… but that's as far as it goes.
Thud!
The Seeker finally collapsed.
Its charred corpse slowly dissipated, turning into a handful of mana.
At the same time, a message window appeared before my eyes.
[Remaining individuals within the Republic of Korea's territory: 278/300]
I just killed one, so does that mean twenty-one were eliminated in the last two and a half hours?
“…The pace isn't as fast as I thought.”
A strange sense of anticipation, that my gamble might just pay off, ran down my spine.
Just as I was about to enter the newly generated Safety Room to finish clearing the dungeon.
“Right, the reward.”
I remembered someone saying there was a special reward hidden in the creature's body.
I extinguished the flames that were covering its slowly disappearing body.
And there, beneath the fading corpse, I saw something small and shiny.
I got closer to check…
“…A mana stone?”
It was a mana stone, but its shape was a little unusual.
Unlike normal mana stones, which are shaped like rough, uncut gems aside from their blue color, the one from the Seeker was a vertically elongated rhombus.
“This is the special reward?”
As I was feeling both puzzled and slightly disappointed, a small message window suddenly popped up above the stone.
[Mana Stone of Stamina Enhancement]
“Oh my.”
It really is special, huh…?
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
I eliminated a total of four Seekers.
The time it took, including travel, was about two hours.
One D-rank, two C-rank, and one B-rank dungeon, so it didn't take very long.
Through all this, I learned one thing: each Seeker has a different rank.
I'd say they're generally a similar rank to their dungeon, but feel a bit stronger.
They even used different weapons and had vastly different movements, so fighting them didn't get boring.
I retrieved the mana stone from the body of the Seeker in the B-rank dungeon, the one that gave me the most trouble out of the four.
[Mana Stone of Mana Enhancement]
“Oh, it's mana this time.”
I gripped the stone in my hand and crushed it. Countless particles of mana poured out and seeped into my body.
[Mana has increased by 1.]
A welcome message appeared.
“Lucky me.”
The mana stones from the Seekers' corpses don't guarantee a 1-point stat increase.
It seems there's a fixed absolute value contained within each stone.
My stamina increased by 1 after I got the second Stamina Enhancement stone, and while I felt my strength increase a little from the Strength Enhancement stone, the number didn't change.
To be precise, it felt like it went up by about 0.3?
“Still, this is great.”
The initial awe has faded a bit, but there's no doubt it's a special reward.
After all, buying an elixir to raise stats costs at least a hundred million.
After pocketing a hefty dungeon reward, we headed to a famous pork soup rice restaurant in Busan.
It was getting to be dinnertime, and while I was looking for a decent place, Yoon Ji-an recommended one.
“Are you sure it's okay to eat here?”
Even after we ordered, I still felt a bit concerned.
I wondered if she'd chosen a place where we could eat and leave quickly because of me.
But she just smiled and shook her head.
“You don't have to worry. I like gukbap.”
“If you say so, that's a relief…”
“Well, if it really bothers you, maybe you could take me somewhere nice later when you have time…”
She looked cute, subtly trying to set up a date.
“Alright. I'll introduce you to a great restaurant I know next time.”
“…Heh, I'll be looking forward to it.”
Seeing her sly smile made me feel a little uneasy.
…She is looking forward to the restaurant, right?
The soup rice came out not long after we ordered, and we started dinner.
The hot, deep-flavored broth and the earthenware bowl filled to the brim with meat.
After filling up on a meal that was as satisfying and complete as a superfood, we immediately headed to the next dungeon.
This time, it was ‘Coral Reef Cave’, a C-rank dungeon located near Haeundae.
The main monster was the ‘Giant Frog.’
As the name suggests, giant frogs appear here. The description said that if you can't properly read the movements of their long, whip-like tongues, you could run into all sorts of trouble.
After skimming the key information, I was about to enter the dungeon when a problem arose.
“They say there's already a party clearing the dungeon.”
“Damn.”
I was denied entry because the dungeon was already being cleared by another party.
Never entering a dungeon that's already occupied.
It's a rule established by law, so not even I can break it.
The crime is so severe that if you trespass illegally, it's legal for the other party to kill you.
“Can't be helped. Then, to the next dungeon…”
No, wait.
This might be a good opportunity.
The fact that they're here at ‘Coral Reef Cave’ now could mean that one of the party members clearing the dungeon might be one of the ‘Ones with Aptitude’, right?
“Ji-an.”
“Yes, Do-jin.”
“Could you find out how many hours ago the party went in?”
“Uh… one moment.”
She walked quickly to the entry management office and returned in no time with an answer.
“They said it's been about three hours.”
“Then they must be almost done…”
Considering the average clear time, they probably have about thirty minutes to an hour left.
It's precious time, but… if I can narrow down the candidates for the ‘One with Aptitude’, wouldn't that be an efficient investment in its own way?
“Let's wait in the car for a bit.”
“Ah, yes.”
We parked the car where we had a clear view of the dungeon entrance and waited for the party to finish their clear and come out.
“Um, Do-jin.”
“Yes.”
“I'm not sure why we're waiting here, but… doesn't that mean we have some free time until then?”
“…I suppose so.”
The look on her face as she spoke was unusual.
Then, her hand slowly reached for my crotch, where I was resting peacefully inside my pants.
“I thought we might have enough time to enjoy ourselves for a bit…”
“Uh, um.”
I never expected her to make the first move in the car.
While I was momentarily flustered, her long fingers carefully unzipped my pants and took out my cock.
“D-Do-jin, you just do what you need to do.”
“……”
After deliberately turning my gaze back to where it was, Yoon Ji-an lowered her upper body and buried her face between my legs.
“Haah…”
Hot breath and wet saliva covered my cock, which had already begun to swell.
“Ugh.”
To be stimulated like this when the excitement from running the dungeons hadn't even faded yet.
“Sluuurp… haah.”
Her technique has even improved since last time.
“…Have you been practicing?”
“Slurp… I just watched some videos online for a bit… bleh.”
…So she did.
I held back the urge to cum, feeling a new sense of admiration.
I never thought we'd use our time this efficiently.
“Ji-an, the underside too… ugh, right there is good.”
“Heuh… you really like it.”
As she held and licked my cock, she looked up at me with two bewitchingly shining eyes.
An expression of pure delight at seeing how much I was enjoying it.
I slowly stroked her hair, sinking deeper into her devoted fellatio.
“Tzup… tzeup… jjuwaap…!”
Her relentless blowjob brought my urge to cum to its peak.
“Kh… Ji-an, I'm coming!”
“Hmph…!”
Just as I emptied my semen into her mouth, my mind going dizzy with pleasure.
Through my momentarily blurred vision, I saw a faint light emanating from the dungeon entrance.
It looked like the people inside had finished their clear and were finally coming out.
“Haaah…”
While feeling her tongue diligently licking my semen-covered cock clean, I examined the faces of the party emerging from the dungeon.
A total of two people were spat out from the dungeon entrance.
“…Huh?”
A blonde woman heavily armed with a thick shield and armor, and a black-haired woman in light gear holding a single sword.
Their overwhelming beauty caught my eye.
No, what was even more surprising was…
“It's Elena and Seo-yeon…”
The people who had just finished clearing the dungeon were people I knew very well.