Chapter 128
Chapter 128
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 128
Chapter Title: What is Hidden, What Must Be Hidden (3)
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[You have cleared the 8th mission.]
[2000 coins have been awarded as an intermediate reward.]
[You have annihilated all monsters within the dungeon. An additional 1000 coins have been awarded.]
[You have perfectly conquered the hidden dungeon. An additional 1500 coins have been awarded.]
By the time we finished the eighth mission, nine hours had passed.
It had taken longer because we cleared every mission gate that contained a hidden dungeon, but our goal was clear.
“Wow, I can’t believe we earned this many coins in a single day.”
“I know, right…? I think we made almost as much today as we have in total.”
“We’re going to be rich at this rate!”
“You idiot. We have to spend these to get stronger. And don’t you know we have to pay the usage fee?”
“I know, I know. But it’s still exciting.”
The twins chattered excitedly.
Jo Min-ah was exaggerating a bit, but it was true that they had earned a massive amount of coins.
“The difficulty was a bit high, but the rewards are just as appealing.”
“That’s why we did it, even though it took more time.”
“How did you find out about this?”
“I found out when we cleared the first mission.”
I lightly tapped my finger under my eye.
Jeong Ha-yeon already knew I had some sort of eye-related skill, so this would be a sufficient explanation.
“…That’s a really convenient ability. To be able to see things that are invisible to the naked eye.”
“Even without this, there are many other ways. Like maximizing your senses…”
Or Detection.
I shifted my gaze to Jo Min-ah, who was deeply contemplating how to allocate her stats.
Jo Min-ah’s Detection was still B-rank.
If she got it to A-rank and her mana stat was high enough, she could substitute for my Extreme Eye to some extent.
‘Though she wouldn’t be able to check other people’s information.’
A skill like that didn’t even exist in the first place.
It’s advantageous not to easily reveal what powers you possess.
If your opponent knows your powers, they can prepare something to counter them.
In other words, with that ability alone, Extreme Eye was worthy of being called overpowered.
“By the way, Ha-yeon-ssi, don’t you have something similar?”
“Me?”
Jeong Ha-yeon’s eyes widened, and she shook her head.
“I’m not sure why you’d think that, but I don’t have anything like it.”
Jeong Ha-yeon didn’t seem to be lying.
Hmm. Is my memory wrong?
Once she acquires the unique ability ‘Blade of Conviction that Destroys Evil,’ she should naturally get the ‘Eye of Justice’ skill.
Or maybe Jeong Ha-yeon just hadn’t grown enough to obtain it yet.
I gave an awkward smile and moved on with a simple, “Is that so?”
“But there is something a little suspicious.”
Jeong Ha-yeon mumbled, cupping her hand over her mouth.
Her words made me flinch, but I pretended not to be bothered and asked back.
“What is?”
“Given the size of the dungeon, it seems like there should be more monsters, but there aren’t.”
“If the dungeon were that packed with monsters, not even I could guarantee your safety. If it were that dangerous, I wouldn’t have made the decision to bring the twins.”
“I suppose that’s true.”
Fortunately, Jeong Ha-yeon didn’t press the issue further.
She’s as sharp as ever.
‘This should be enough tokens.’
I checked the number of tokens stored in my inventory.
My share had decreased because the twins and Jeong Ha-yeon were included, but it wasn’t exactly a one-fourth split.
I had released the Army of Darkness to kill the monsters on other routes and taken all their tokens.
In terms of percentage, I had probably taken a good 60% or more.
I planned to clear the hidden dungeons for the remaining missions for the coins anyway, so I’d gather more tokens.
[Rank]
1st: Hwang Chan-jin (9)
2nd: Kim Se-hyeon (9)
3rd: Jo Min-ah (9)
4th: Jo Min-woo (9)
…….
We had cleared the missions at what could only be described as lightning speed, and our party now occupied the top ranks.
Han Hyeok-jun was still nowhere to be seen in the top rankings.
With his power, his dungeon clearing speed couldn’t possibly be slow, which meant he must have left Seoul and gone to another region.
If I scrolled down, Jun Bo-ra's name appeared.
She was probably active in the eastern base where her faction was located, which was why she wasn’t seen in the residence.
‘That gate was near the Han River, I think.’
There were only four gates where we could proceed with the 9th mission.
A number of gates designed so that those who arrived late couldn’t even clear the mission.
Since the gates themselves were high-grade, the number of players who would even attempt them was small, so it balanced out.
Among them, the one I wanted was located near the Han River, which required quite a bit of travel.
But one thing was bothering me.
The King of Waves.
Normally, the King of Waves should have been the one we fought this time, but I had already killed him.
‘There’s a high chance that gate has disappeared.’
Or it might have changed for the worse.
The monster that inhabits the Han River.
The S-class monster, Leviathan.
…No, but there’s no way that thing would appear this early.
It’s only Chapter 11. A mission to hunt an S-class monster?
That would mean they have no intention of letting us live.
It wouldn’t be designed to be that absurd.
“Hey kids, you’re not tired?”
“I’m full of energy!”
“Don’t lie. Your legs are shaking right now.”
“That’s just because I’m excited at the thought of facing a strong enemy!”
“…Unni, please understand. He’s watched too much shonen manga.”
Jo Min-ah tapped Jo Min-woo’s leg with a look of pity, and he yelped and fell over.
Jeong Ha-yeon gave a wry smile.
“What about you?”
“Honestly, I’m tired after moving for nine hours straight. Aren’t you tired too, Unni?”
“Hm. I’m okay? If I think of it as a nine-hour workout… I would have collapsed long ago in the past. The power of a player really is amazing.”
Watching the three of them talk, I recalled my original plan.
The timing had become a bit awkward.
If I were alone, it would have taken about six hours to get this far, but I had delayed to help the twins grow.
About one hour until the next important event.
The time was too tight to clear the 9th mission’s requirements and fully conquer the hidden dungeon in that window.
What should I do?
“…”
I stood up.
Naturally, the three of them turned their gazes toward me.
“Let’s call it a day and head back to the residence. The kids seem tired, and I think we’ve done enough for today.”
“That’s a good idea.”
The twins beamed, happy that it was finally time to rest.
I had changed the schedule for another reason, but none of the three seemed to have noticed.
“…!?”
…or so I thought.
Jo Min-ah’s face instantly turned pale.
“Huh? What’s wrong with you? All of a sudden…”
“O-Oppa. This… I’m not feeling this wrong, am I?”
Jo Min-ah’s Detection was more advanced than what was simply indicated on her status window.
I’d forgotten her mana proficiency was high.
“What’s wrong? Min-ah, what’s happening?”
“K-Killing intent… Scary people drenched in killing intent…”
“…Se-hyeon-ssi, is something happening here?”
“Jeong Ha-yeon-ssi. Please take the children and return to the residence quickly. I’ll handle things over there.”
I gave a brief command and moved swiftly.
Their movements were faster than I’d expected.
Still, it was within the margin of error.
I ran toward the source of the killing intent, thinking of Jeong Ha-yeon.
In less than half a day, we had earned an amount of coins that would make other players faint.
And yet, Jeong Ha-yeon’s eyes never showed a hint of greed for those coins.
Her convictions were so firm it was almost absurd.
She said her dream was to be a judge, right?
If the world hadn’t changed so drastically, she probably would have become an excellent judge.
‘More importantly…’
The altruistic Jeong Ha-yeon hadn’t said a word about the Red Zone expanding because of how quickly I was clearing missions.
The Jeong Ha-yeon I knew would have objected to continuing around the 6th stage, saying that was enough.
Has her personality changed slightly?
Or else…
‘…is she convinced that the method Lee Do-hyeon mentioned must exist?’
The moment my thought ended, I reached my exact destination. The information the soldier had given me was spot on.
Three figures.
A thick scent of blood that wouldn’t wash away no matter how much you scrubbed.
I hid myself in the shadows, erasing all traces of my presence, and eavesdropped on the men’s conversation.
“…Are the preparations going well?”
“No problems. The internal discord has already begun, and thanks to the rookie’s exceptional instigation skills, the conflict between the two factions has deepened as much as it can.”
“Good. There’s nothing better than using this opportunity to drastically reduce the power of those five major guilds.”
“What should we do about him?”
“Kim Se-hyeon? Hmm, the rumors are wild, but we haven’t confirmed anything substantial yet, have we? There are already a few others in different regions who have achieved similar feats.”
“Still, there’s always that one-in-a-million chance.”
“That’s true. Then let’s just kill him if the opportunity arises.”
Similar feats, he says.
‘Disasters’ have only appeared in Seoul.
No. Information about the Disaster of Verdure was controlled, so no one except the guild executives would know.
The purge of the Dark Moon Guild was done in secret, and the King of Disease was effectively only witnessed by the executive-level members.
In other words, if you assume the rumors spread without the major details, it’s understandable they’d think that way.
“Rumors are bound to be exaggerated anyway. It’s true he’s done some things, but if you look at each one, he didn’t accomplish any of them on his own. It means he’s not that far outside the scope of a typical player. Especially during the virus incident, he practically did nothing.”
The one among the three men wearing a mask spoke dismissively.
I barely managed to hold back a laugh.
There’s nothing more convenient than having your true strength hidden because of a misunderstanding.
“Extrapolating from that, we can estimate that this Kim Se-hyeon fellow has one or two S-rank abilities and stats in the mid-40s. You should be able to handle that, right? I’m talking to you, Shin Hae-yoo, the ‘Lightning Wheel Sword,’ an A-rank player who can beat most S-ranks thanks to focusing on stats over grade.”
“…Praising me so suddenly is putting me on the spot, Lee Sang-yoon-nim.”
“Praising you? I’m just stating facts. And this one here, Kang Jae-hwan, is no slouch either.”
So the one in the mask is Lee Sang-yoon, and the others are Shin Hae-yoo and Kang Jae-hwan.
‘Shin Hae-yoo?’
I feel like I’ve heard that name before.
I wracked my brain for a moment and managed to recall it.
Lightning Wheel Sword, Shin Hae-yoo.
I never fought him, but he was quite infamous.
He was officially classified as A-rank, but in reality, his skills were on par with an S-rank, and many NPCs were caught off guard by his unexpected power.
I’d heard stories of his exploits during a few clashes with ‘that’ group.
I’ve never heard of Kang Jae-hwan, so he’s probably just an extra.
‘So they’ve finally started to move.’
[Using skill, ‘Extreme Eye’.]
A check of their statuses confirmed that Lee Sang-yoon and Kang Jae-hwan were A-rank players.
I don’t know why the superior is a lower rank, but in effect, it’s one S-rank and two A-ranks.
The fact that they were planning to kill me was reason enough to step forward, but there was a more important point.
“Why don’t you see for yourselves whether the rumors are just rumors.”
I stopped eavesdropping and revealed myself.
A dagger flew at me the instant I did, so I twisted my body slightly to dodge the attack.
“Who are you?”
“Just a player who happened to be passing by?”
“…If you’re passing through this direction, you must be a player from the central Seoul residence. Now that you’ve heard our conversation, we can’t let you live.”
As if to say there was no room for negotiation, all three drew their swords and spread out.
No hesitation, nothing.
Proof that they’ve killed countless people already.
It was funny how they talked about killing me but didn’t even recognize me.
“Looks like he’s alone.”
“Alone? How absurd. He came out so boldly, I thought he must have allies nearby.”
Lee Sang-yoon scoffed.
“You must think you can easily beat the three of us by yourself. That delusion will be the end of you…”
*Shhhk!*
Before Lee Sang-yoon could finish his sentence, Alpha’s sword lopped off Kang Jae-hwan’s head.
In the sudden silence that fell, I spoke briefly.
“And then there were two.”