Chapter 249
Chapter 249
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 249
Chapter Title: The Heavenly Punishing Dragon (1)
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Three hours had passed since Oh-jin's celebratory party began.
Just as the once-heated atmosphere of the party began to cool and the sound of a song from the TV filled the noisy living room.
People, sensing it was about time to leave, started getting up one by one.
“Haha. The party was a blast! I'll be in touch!”
“Bye-bye, Director Gorilla!”
“G-Gorilla!”
Director Han grimaced.
“You take care too! If you ever need any equipment, stop by the lab!”
“Oh, are you going to make it for free?”
“If it's fun?”
“Just kidding. I'll bring a ton of Sacred Relic Stones next time and ask you then.”
Ha-eun grinned and patted Kim Si-hoo's shoulder.
“Well, we'll be taking our leave now.”
“Okay~ Get home safe!”
Director Han left with Kim Si-hoo.
“But what's up with that guy? Did he drink too much or something?”
The woman with dark green hair, Rebecca, asked as she gulped down the rest of her drink.
Her gaze fell upon Oh-jin, who was slumped over the dining table, breathing heavily.
“Huh? I saw him earlier, and he barely drank anything.”
Ha-eun tilted her head in confusion and tapped the slumped Oh-jin's shoulder.
“Oh-jin, what's wrong?”
“…It's nothing.”
Oh-jin lifted his head and shot a glare at Isabella, who was sitting across from him.
Isabella stood up with a satisfied expression, as if she had just eaten a hearty, restorative meal.
“Well then, I'll start cleaning up~”
Isabella hummed as she cleared the plates.
Ha-eun tilted her head, sensing the strange atmosphere between the two.
“Hmm.”
Rebecca, who had been quietly watching, let out a smirk.
“Looks like there's more than one competitor, huh?”
Rebecca got up from her chair and leaned slightly toward Oh-jin.
With a mischievous smile, Rebecca whispered into Oh-jin's ear.
“But still... isn't that a bit too bold in front of everyone?”
“……!”
*Flinch.*
Oh-jin's eyes widened.
When he turned to look at Rebecca with horrified eyes, he saw her clutching her stomach, roaring with laughter.
“What? What is it? Why are you suddenly laughing?”
Only Ha-eun was tilting her head, completely clueless.
“Ahahaha! It's nothing.”
After having her fill of laughter, Rebecca stood up.
“Well, I'm gonna head out too~ Invite me again next time, Mr. Pagunseong?”
Rebecca winked and walked to the entrance.
“…Haaah.”
Oh-jin touched his forehead as if he had a headache.
[Is everyone leaving now?]
Vega, her belly full and round, flew over to Oh-jin.
[Whoa?]
Was it because she ate too much?
As she flew, Vega lost her balance and tumbled down.
Riak quickly rushed in and caught the falling Vega on his back.
“Are you alright, Lady Vega?”
[K-Khem! I-I just lost my balance for a moment because I was drunk!]
“Come on, it's obvious you just ate too much. Why blame it on the alcohol?”
[Silence!]
“Aack!”
Vega, her face blushing, flew up to Ha-eun and yanked her earlobe.
Just as the living room was about to get noisy again.
“Oh-jin.”
Lee Woo-hyeok, who hadn't left yet, approached Oh-jin.
“Are you about to head out too, Woo-hyeok?”
“Yes. But before that, I have something to ask you, Oh-jin. Ah, to be precise... it's for Ha-eun.”
“Yes?”
“Huh? Me?”
Ha-eun, who was bickering with Vega, widened her eyes.
Lee Woo-hyeok glanced at Ha-eun with a troubled expression.
“Um... this isn't really something to bring up at a party, but I'm going on an overseas business trip tomorrow.”
After beating around the bush, Lee Woo-hyeok sighed deeply and began to speak.
“Have you, by any chance, heard the news that named monsters have become active again recently?”
“Ah, yes. I have.”
He didn't know what the connection was between the two topics, but he had heard that after the Black Star Society started its activities in earnest, named monsters that had been dormant for a while had recently started to move again.
“It wasn't on the same scale as in other countries, but... there was a time when a great disaster occurred in Korea because of a named monster.”
“……”
Oh-jin was well aware of it.
No.
It was impossible for him not to know.
The name of the monster that had caused that disaster was…
“The Heavenly Punishing Dragon, Barbatos.”
A cold, murderous glint flashed in Oh-jin's eyes.
Lee Woo-hyeok nodded grimly.
“Yes. We've recently detected signs that the Heavenly Punishing Dragon has resumed its activities in North Korea.”
Six years ago, when Ha-eun had just become a fourth-year Awakened.
A named monster that had devastated North Korea and made its lair there had once led a horde of beasts south.
A great war broke out in the heart of Seoul, and thousands were slaughtered.
Faced with an unprecedented crisis, guilds that had been vying for their own interests joined hands, and Awakened who had quietly been going in and out of gates alone gathered in one place.
And there…
“The Heavenly Punishing Dragon… has reappeared?”
Ha-eun had been there too.
Back then, when the skill level and number of Awakened were far lower than they are now.
Ha-eun, who was among the top-tier Awakened, was assigned to the team that would face the Heavenly Punishing Dragon directly.
They managed to drive the Heavenly Punishing Dragon back at the cost of dozens of Awakened lives, but they couldn't kill it in the end.
And.
Before retreating, the Heavenly Punishing Dragon laid one final curse upon her.
A cruel dragon's curse that stole the light.
“Yes. It's not showing any major activity yet, but it has definitely reappeared.”
Lee Woo-hyeok took a photo out of his pocket.
It clearly showed a purple dragon walking through the ruins of Pyongyang, a city devastated by a monster invasion.
“……”
Ha-eun's expression hardened as she looked at the photo.
A dragon with purple scales, symbolizing curses and poison.
It was the image of the Heavenly Punishing Dragon, still vivid in her memory.
“…Huh?”
No, there was one difference.
“What are these black horns?”
Two horns protruded from the Heavenly Punishing Dragon's head.
Nowhere in her memory did it have such horns.
“We don't know about that either. But, aside from the horns, it's identical to the Heavenly Punishing Dragon from the past.”
“…I see.”
Ha-eun nodded with a heavy expression.
Lee Woo-hyeok continued cautiously.
“From what I understand, you participated in the subjugation operation for the Heavenly Punishing Dragon back then... is that correct, Ha-eun?”
“Yeah, that's right.”
“Could you possibly tell us what you know about the Heavenly Punishing Dragon?”
If they wanted information on the Heavenly Punishing Dragon, there was no better person than Ha-eun, who had fought it directly.
“Are you planning to subjugate it?”
“Yes, we are. We don't know when it might lead another horde of beasts south.”
If they were going to subjugate the Heavenly Punishing Dragon, the wisest course of action was to attack its lair directly, now that it had just resumed its activities and before it could build up its forces.
“……”
Ha-eun furrowed her brow, as if recalling a nightmare she'd rather forget.
“First off, its curse attacks are tricky. True to its name, it uses a variety of curses.”
From basic weakening curses to ones that induce headaches and vomiting, curses that slow your feet, and even curses that inflict terrible pain.
Just as its name implied, it used countless curses.
“When its scales are glowing, that's when it's using a curse. The intensity of the curse also changes depending on how many scales are lit up.”
“I see.”
“One moment, Ha-eun.”
Kim Seon-yeong quickly took out her smartphone and started recording her words.
“Yes. Please continue.”
“For its size, it's definitely weak in close combat. Its movements are on the slower side, too.”
“What about its flight capabilities?”
“That bastard can't fly. It has wings, but I've never once seen it fly.”
Ha-eun recounted the horrific memories from that time, sharing as much information as she could.
“Then, do you happen to know... where its lair is?”
“Lair? I don't know where its lair is.”
“I see. If you don't know, then perhaps a guess as to where it might be…”
“Hmm. Even a guess... I really don't know.”
Ha-eun scratched her head, looking troubled.
A deep sigh escaped Lee Woo-hyeok's lips.
“So even you don't know the location of the lair.”
To subjugate the Heavenly Punishing Dragon, they needed to attack its lair directly before it could gather its forces, but they had no way of finding out the location of that crucial lair.
“If only we could find out the lair's location…”
Just as Lee Woo-hyeok trailed off bitterly.
*—If only we could find out the lair's location…*
*Fzzt.*
For a moment, Oh-jin's vision distorted, and Lee Woo-hyeok's voice, muttering the exact same words, echoed in his mind.
‘This is…’
Oh-jin's eyes gleamed sharply.
It was the feeling he got when Déjà Vu, the new trait of Black Heaven, activated.
*—Woo-hyeok! Th-There! That's the monster's lair!*
Along with the frantic voice of Lee Shin-hyeok, the location of the Heavenly Punishing Dragon's lair flowed into his mind.
“Hoo. I'm sorry for making you recall unpleasant memories on such a nice day.”
“It's fine. You're going on a business trip tomorrow?”
“Yes. Named monsters have resumed their activities overseas as well, so I'm going to see if there's any useful information.”
“That's tough.”
“Haha. It's a job someone has to do.”
Lee Woo-hyeok grabbed his coat and stood up.
“Well then, we'll be going now. The meal was delicious.”
“Yes. Take care.”
Oh-jin saw Lee Woo-hyeok off without a word.
*Click.*
The door closed, and the boisterous party was officially over.
“Alright, should we start cleaning up?”
[I shall help as well!]
Ha-eun and Vega began to clean the messy house.
“……”
Oh-jin closed his eyes, recalling distant memories.
A hospital room filled with the smell of medicine.
The image of Ha-eun lying in a hospital bed, trembling in an unfamiliar darkness.
The being that had stolen the light from her.
As he slowly opened his eyes, a faint blue will-o'-the-wisp flickered within them.
“Everyone, I have something to say.”
“Huh?”
[What is it?]
The gazes of Ha-eun, Isabella, and Vega turned to Oh-jin.
“That story we just heard about the Heavenly Punishing Dragon?”
“Ah, yeah.”
He felt bad for the Valhalla Guild, but…
“We're going to hunt that bastard down.”
If this was a job someone had to do…
then that someone should be him, not Lee Woo-hyeok.