Part of the Monster
"It seems the hunters who died to that monster became part of it."
"What?"
Seoya doubted her own ears and asked again, prompting Kwon Yooseok to elaborate.
"That NPC straight-up compared us to bugs, so I think it was dropping a hint. The missing hunters each turned into a single bug and got absorbed by the monster~."
"And it told us to serve that weird monster. 'Serve' probably means exactly that."
Baek Yena picked up from Kwon Yooseok, covering her mouth mid-sentence as if the mere thought made her want to puke.
Seoya, her face blank, finally spoke.
"...Uh, so then...?"
"It's fine. By the time they became part of the monster, they were already dead. Their bodies just got absorbed into it."
Spotting Seoya's hesitation, Baek Yena quickly schooled her expression and added firmly,
"You didn't kill anyone."
Logically speaking, there was no reason for Seoya to feel guilty about killing the monster. If she hadn't, they couldn't have cleared the dungeon—and by the time she struck it down, the hunters were long gone anyway. Sure, the aftertaste was bitter, but...
"Yeah~ Just like Hunter Baek Yena said, this is how the dungeon story was scripted from the start~."
Kwon Yooseok, back to his usual laid-back vibe, chimed in.
"With you around, Seoya, we kinda wrecked the original plot. Treating those headless folks as monsters and killing them, wiping out the crow swarm... That approach probably led straight to the boss."
"Did I mess up?"
"Nah. Sticking to the script would've drained our mental strength to zero. Thanks to you, we survived."
Kwon Yooseok addressed Seoya, who still looked confused.
"Get it? The concept was probably something like, 'Uncover the village's hidden secret: they're sacrificing travelers to a great monster!' But we beelined for the boss and cleared it anyway."
"Aha...?"
"The whole dungeon vibe was creepy as hell from the jump. No matter what you did, those dead hunters weren't coming back."
That eased the nagging feeling a bit.
'Is this ominous dungeon style a higher world taste...?'
But more pressing concerns loomed now.
'It was stronger than me.'
A being stronger than her—something Seoya had never encountered since birth. Today, she'd finally grasped what that meant.
It was a pretty big shock.
'Gonna have to keep facing things like that from now on?'
How the hell had Earth's humans fought monsters stronger than themselves all this time?
The idea terrified her a little, but more than anything...
'Bruises my pride.'
It wounded the pride of Seoya, who had never known fear.
She bit her lip hard.
She couldn't back down now. With higher world interference underway, she'd face even stronger foes ahead. Time to adapt, accept the new reality, and find ways to grow stronger.
'First, rethink that dungeon I cleared today.'
As Kwon Yooseok said, the NPC had dropped hints—messages from the higher world, no less.
'Serve something higher.'
The NPC had urged them not to resist the higher world that ravaged Toda and Earth—instead, revere and serve it.
And...
"How could lowly things like us dare influence the higher ones? We're no more than bugs they could squash without a thought."
The NPC had been warning them. To higher world beings, Seoya was just a bug.
'But something like higher world energy definitely helped me...'
Her head spinning, Seoya pulled a sulky face and opened her System window.
The messages looked kinda urgent, so Seoya tilted her head.
She didn't push, closing the window to wait for a reply.
After parting with Kwon Yooseok, Seoya and Baek Yena linked up with Park Haejun.
Leaning her head against the car window on the drive back to Seoul, Seoya caught Park Haejun watching her via the rearview mirror. He spoke up.
"Miss Seoya, how are you holding up?"
"Mm, I'm good... More importantly, what's the situation elsewhere?"
"You mean nationwide?"
"Just the world in general. Any weird dungeons? Like ones that shred mental strength."
"It's similar to regular monsters on the mental drain front...?"
No sightings yet of monsters like the ones in that Cheongju dungeon.
Seoya nodded and opened her chat window again.
A message from Jeong Sira had arrived.
'So I shouldn't lump all higher world beings together?'
Jeong Sira's words only muddled things more. As Seoya blinked into space, Park Haejun got a call and pulled over to step out.
Then, a somewhat urgent message from Jeong Sira popped up.
Bam! Park Haejun, who'd stepped out for his call, yanked open the door and jumped back in, voice urgent.
"Miss Seoya, that mental-drain monster you mentioned earlier..."
"Yeah?"
"Does it come with anomalies in the dungeon, and strength way above the dungeon's rank?"
"Yeah, spot on."
"Looks like those phenomena you described are happening now...?"
Seoya's eyes widened as another message from Jeong Sira arrived.
Higher world monsters suspected worldwide.
The world was changing again.
"We need a resolution to this situation."
Meanwhile, an emergency meeting raged at the Dungeon Safety Bureau.
Several team leaders sat grim-faced, one piping up first.
A team leader bellowed in frustration.
"What the hell is a level-up?!"
"The whole world doesn't know, so how should we?!"
"Still, Korea's the hunter powerhouse with world ranks 0 and 1. Foreign press expects us to figure it out."
"We gotta draw some kinda conclusion, right?"
"Rank 0's Korean on paper, but nobody knows jack about 'em...!"
"Hey, hey, calm down."
Han Daejun soothed the heated room—a pro at wrangling these top-hunter clusterfucks.
"Anyway, we need to steady the national mood."
"Mood? Fatality rates are spiking in the stats—who's gonna miss that, idiots?"
"Can't announce this update's monsters. Hunters going in leave weird notes then go dark. Public knows? Mass panic."
"Listen up, everyone."
Han Daejun slammed the desk.
All eyes on him, he cleared his throat and got to it.
"Guilds are griping they can't spare more manpower. Hunters on 24/7 standby—if this drags, they'll ram through some half-assed hunter labor law."
He lowered his voice.
"You know hunters can make laws to suit themselves anytime."
"...If hunters bail, we're done. No more meddling."
At that, a white-bearded man spoke.
"Then, to make things look less shaky... we need a show. Reassure the civilians at least."
"Exactly. Make it seem like we've got solid countermeasures."
Han Daejun scanned the room.
"We'll convene an emergency task force. Officially, with press coverage."
"But one meeting won't calm the public..."
"Of course, real reassurance comes from field hunters, not desk-jockeys like us."
The team leaders nodded.
"Calling in the hunters, eh."
"Yes. All domestic top-10 rankers."
Han Daejun declared firmly.