Chapter 178
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 178
Ju-hyeon used to say:
“If you want to properly pretend to be human…”
“Pretend? Are you asking to see a crying portrait? It’d be a first for you, wouldn’t it?”
“I’m not finished, so stop getting ready to cry and just listen, Mr. Gio.”
He worried that this scatterbrained portrait would eventually be worshiped as some cult god that mere mortals couldn’t handle. You could get the gist by looking at what most Evil Gods did during their so-called “amusements.”
“It’s better to use items than to step forward yourself.”
Ju-hyeon was worried about Gio.
“Don’t get frustrated and step in yourself, only to end up creating some weird cultists. Just listen to me.”
“I am a pure sun. I don’t deal in cultists.”
“There isn’t just the sun inside you right now, is there? I have more life experience than you, Mr. Gio.”
“If you add it all up, shouldn’t mine be longer?”
“I phrased that poorly. What I mean is, I know the standard of ‘normal’ far better than you do.”
“I can’t deny that.”
Gio gave two thumbs up.
“I do tend to lack a bit of tact.”
“I don’t think it’s just a matter of tact… In any case, I heard from Mr. Yoo Seong-un.”
Ju-hyeon’s voice was full of worry as he asked, “You said you created a passage through the sea in the ‘Deep Sea Kingdom’ dungeon?”
“I heard it wasn’t illegal, so I feel I’ve been wrongly accused.”
“I’m not scolding you, so just listen. I heard you made stairs instead of a slide. Is that true?”
“Of course I made stairs. Think about it, Mr. Ju-hyeon. If I made a slide down that immense depth, how much acceleration would they build up? People would die.”
“I’m very grateful that you value human life, but humans can’t just create a staircase in the middle of the ocean simply because they don’t want to die. Especially not in a dungeon.”
“I know exactly what you’re worried about.”
Gio nodded.
“But I’ve lived on Earth for a whopping twenty-nine years. Please trust me.”
“You’ve lived for twenty-nine years and you’re still like this. How on earth am I supposed to trust you?”
“Should I show you a crying portrait?”
“If you want to stop pretending to be human, feel free to keep making remarks like that.”
“……”
It wasn’t exactly a pretense, but since his conscience wasn’t completely clear, Gio quietly shut his mouth. Ju-hyeon nodded as if thanking him for his cooperation and continued.
“But you’re not the type to stay out of human affairs, are you, Mr. Gio?”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“The moment I found out your nickname was the ‘Smiling Tyrant of the Sea Village,’ my trust in you hit rock bottom. Isn’t that right, Mercy Bomber?”
“Mercy Bomber?”
“Since I know you’re not one to stay quiet, I’ll only give you one piece of advice.”
Ju-hyeon said solemnly, “Don’t step forward yourself.”
“And use items instead?”
Gio feigned sorrow.
“I’m a beggar. I don’t have any items.”
“Amazingly enough, everything in your cabin, down to the last drop of water, consists of items.”
“Please don’t disparage my peaceful and cozy cabin like that.”
“Since it seems you already know and are just playing dumb, I’ll say it again. Use items.”
Ju-hyeon advised with the utmost sincerity.
“That way, you’ll at least have an excuse later. Don’t forget that the only reason you weren’t treated as some sort of divinity during the last summoning incident was because Dana existed as an intermediary.”
“So what am I making an excuse for later?”
“It gives you room to excuse yourself as a human. You shouldn’t go around throwing miracles left and right this time just because you find what humans are doing interesting or pitiful. If you absolutely must, do it out of human sight and eliminate the witnesses somehow.”
“Does eliminating witnesses mean silencing them permanently? Highly intriguing.”
“Don’t bring out Arjio just for times like this, Mr. Gio. I am dead serious. No matter how big a corporation the Collector Guild is, cover-ups are difficult in a raid with this many participants. Above all, this is an event hosted by the Sun Cult.”
“I’ll behave and come back safely.”
And Ju-hyeon never once said he trusted him. He was a truly thorough man.
* * *
However, there was one thing even the thorough Ju-hyeon had missed.
“The… the bleeding stopped?”
“What? Warmth is… returning to my body.”
“…My organs have recovered.”
He should have also placed a limit on the types and quantity of Gio’s items.
Severed arms reattached, lost flesh and organs regenerated, the wounds of hunters afflicted with bleeding curses stopped flowing in an instant, and bodies that had been growing cold experienced a miracle akin to resurrection.
The culprit was Gio’s Blood Dumplings.
“……”
He had thrown about seven of them.
“……”
“…Ugh…”
From afar, Gio saw Priest Kang Seo-dam covering his face with both hands, struggling to hold back what looked like tears.
“Pr-Priest! Please don’t cry! Everyone has recovered…!”
“Ah… I didn’t know Priest Kang Seo-dam cared so much about us…”
“Surprisingly, the priest is a very warm-hearted person…”
For some reason, despite the warm comfort and gratitude of those around him, Gio felt the aura of sorrow emanating from Kang Seo-dam grow even stronger. It didn’t seem to be his imagination, as the priest fought to compose himself.
No matter how little Gio cared about what others thought, he couldn’t ignore this. Shrugging off the gazes directed at him, Gio stealthily slunk over to Garasani’s side.
Then, he whispered, “I think I’ve made a huge mistake.”
“Don’t worry. I will explain it away as an item from the Collector Guild.”
“Thank you.”
Gio thought to himself, How do you write an apology letter again?
He was someone who received written apologies, not someone who wrote them. But in the face of such a colossal blunder, he was perfectly fine with throwing his dignity as a teacher beyond the dark matter of the universe. Gio apologized to Ju-hyeon in advance.
I should write a letter and send it as soon as I have time today.
Even if it would just be a pretty, aesthetically pleasing letter that the recipient couldn’t even read, it seemed better than doing nothing. Sensing presences approaching, Gio raised his head.
“Excuse me, Priest…?”
“I am not a priest.”
“Ah, yes. Hunter.”
“You must still be out of it since you haven’t fully recovered. Wouldn’t it be better to lie down a bit longer?”
“No. After receiving such a precious gift… how could I just lie here…?”
A hunter who had just returned from the dead—literally becoming a perfectly healthy living person from the brink of death—teared up, overcome with emotion. Gio felt an intense urge to stuff himself back into a portrait. This was incredibly burdensome.
“H-how could you give us such… such an elixir…”
“Ah, that medicine…”
At that moment, Gio realized something new.
This can’t be explained away simply as an item from the Collector Guild.
He could try to force the excuse, but the atmosphere simply wouldn’t allow for it.
The Collector Guild was not a charity that readily handed out precious items to other guilds’ members, and to any observer, the owner of these Blood Dumplings was clearly Seo Gio.
“……”
Giovanni decided to rely solely on his own air of holiness and bluff his way through.
“…I named that medicine the Blood Dumpling.”
“Blood Dumpling?”
“Yes. It was a dumpling kneaded from medicinal herbs obtained through the mercy of the god I serve. Fortunately, I discovered a colony of these herbs in a place the Sun revealed to me, and I prepared the medicine the day before coming to the dungeon.”
“To think…”
“To be honest, I didn’t know its exact effects. But when I saw the herbs, I thought they would be of great help in stopping bleeding and aiding recovery, so I made them. I never imagined they would be used like this.”
Gio drew the sign of the cross with the face of a holy priest.
“This, too, must be the will of the Sun. The divinity I serve with love and respect likely wished for this raid to succeed. I am merely His servant who faithfully followed His will, so please… direct your gratitude not to me, but to the Sun.”
It was a story full of loopholes, but the hunters found themselves convinced by Priest Giovanni’s devout behavior, which seemed filled with sincerity, and his melancholy appearance.
“Come to think of it, the Collector Guild joined the expedition with barely any time left before departure…”
“No wonder. Did Hunter Seo Gio’s divinity give him a hint to participate in this dungeon?”
“This means two suns are wishing for the success of this raid…!”
“Indeed. If a divinity hadn’t helped, people wouldn’t have survived like this.”
Exhausted people, lacking the energy to think deeply, were easily swayed by emotional appeals. Of course, some still had doubts, but when left alone, they resolved them amongst themselves.
“But wasn’t Hunter Seo Gio a Tamer?”
“You idiot, it’s not like only priests can serve a god.”
“Ah, really? I didn’t know that…”
“It does seem to be a rare case.”
“Even priests find it hard to be chosen by a god, but a Tamer…”
“At this rate, isn’t he practically saint-class? He must be incredibly loved.”
“But seeing as he’s not from the Sun Cult, is it a sun from another dimension?”
“The Seoul branch of the Sun Cult must be feeling pretty sore about this.”
Perhaps because they were hunters who constantly risked their lives, they grew boisterous the moment their injuries healed. Taking in the sight of these resilient humans, Gio whispered to Garasani, who was standing beside him.
“How long will this excuse hold?”
“If the Collector Guild pulls some strings, it will last quite a while.”
“I will also devise a solution once I return, so I’m counting on your help this time.”
“Of course. Without a doubt.”
Gio’s excuse wasn’t theoretically impossible, but it was indeed a rare case that might happen once in an era. Once they regained their senses, doubts would surely arise.
But that was only if no action was taken. If Giovanni continuously brainwashed—no, informed them of the truth—and the giant corporation known as the Collector Guild used its tyranny—no, provided a little assistance—this story would become an established fact.
So what? We say it’s true, so what are you going to do about it? What can you possibly do?
“……”
Of course, there were those on whom such tactics didn’t work.
“The Sun God?”
“Yes.”
“The Sun God…”
“Yes.”
“……”
“……”
Sa Na-rae looked at Gio, whose face was completely devoid of its usual smile. It was a subtle expression that couldn’t be deciphered immediately, but Gio understood. It was a look that said, Isn’t that excuse a bit weak?
And Gio ignored it.
It’s not an absolute lie.
His stepdad was, after all, the Sun God. Although he currently took the form of a cute teddy bear, his solar majesty remained intact.
He even lives with me in my house.
How much had Gio supported and served him with all his heart and soul? His claim of serving the Sun was by no means a lie. Even if, unlike a typical priest, it carried a strong sense of financial support.
Fortunately, Sa Na-rae didn’t pry any further.
“…You must really be loved by the Sun.”
“You see it correctly, Hunter Sa Na-rae. We are practically family.”
“At that level, you’d definitely be saint-class. I wonder how the Sun Cult will react.”
“Those are ominous words.”
Drawing from experience, Gio asked, “Don’t tell me I’ll be branded a heretic, put on trial, and stoned by the citizens?”
“Are you crazy?”
“Or perhaps imprisoned without a trial, locked in a water tank, or thrown in with man-eating fish…”
“What are you even talking about?”
“Being eaten alive isn’t a very pleasant sensation.”
At that point, Kang Seo-dam, who had approached them at some point, stepped in.
“Please do not view the Sun Cult as such a primitive order, Hunter Seo Gio.”
“Ah, dear. Was that primitive?”
“…There might be such religions somewhere, but we are not one of them.”
“My apologies.”
“As Hunter Sa Na-rae said, the Sun Cult might just show some reaction.”
“What kind of reaction would that be?”
“……”
After hesitating, Kang Seo-dam replied.
“…At the very least, it won’t be hostility.”
“Then what is it?”
“To put it nicely, recruitment, perhaps.”
“But the divinities we serve are clearly different, aren’t they?”
“If it were an order that cared about such things, it wouldn’t have established itself as the representative religion of Seoul.”
“That is surprising indeed. I see you in a new light.”
“…I… will do my best to block it. In my own way, diligently… Sigh…”
Seeing Priest Kang Seo-dam looking as if he were about to cry again, Sa Na-rae cast a subtle glance at Gio.
“Speak.”
“No, it’s nothing…”
“Speak.”
“Really, it’s nothing.”
“Spit it out.”
“My bad.”
Rubbing his hands together apologetically, Sa Na-rae quickly slipped away. It seemed he went to greet a hunter from the Haeryeong Guild who was on the same team as the priest. Only Gio, Kang Seo-dam, and Garasani remained.
Looking at the chaotic surroundings, Garasani asked Kang Seo-dam, “What happened? The communication equipment was in poor condition, so I couldn’t hear the exact details…”
“I believe I mentioned this much, but monsters appeared during the time of the Fake Moon.”
“We are well aware that monsters become exceptionally ferocious during that period.”
“The monsters we encountered will likely be quite unfamiliar to you as well.”
Furrowing his brow in frustration, Kang Seo-dam continued, “They were undead monsters.”
“Undead?”
“Yes, rotting corpses. Perhaps we only tripped a minor trigger, as they disappeared again quickly…”
“……”
At Garasani’s silence, Kang Seo-dam nodded.
“It is certainly a difficult situation to understand.”
Why would undead monsters inhabit a rainforest like this?
“I thought it was a typical vegetation-type dungeon, but it seems there is more to the story.”
“Then there is a high probability that this is a dungeon with a storyline.”
“And in dungeons like this, it’s often difficult to clear them without knowing the story.”
“Were you able to identify the monsters?”
“It was dark, but as a Priest of the Sun, I did check.”
“Fortunately, they weren’t anyone you knew.”
“The clothes they wore were slightly different from Earth’s style.”
“They could have changed clothes. Did you check their faces as well?”
“Their faces were damaged beyond recognition, so I couldn’t check. But since I didn’t feel even a hint of a familiar aura… they probably weren’t Priests of the Sun.”
Prior to this raid, the Sun Cult had already attempted to clear the dungeon once and failed. He had wondered if the Priests of the Sun who died back then had turned into the undead, but Kang Seo-dam shook his head, denying it.
“It is puzzling. The bodies of our brothers are nowhere to be seen.”
“I understand that the quadrupedal beast-type monsters here do not eat corpses?”
“Even if the order’s information was wrong, their equipment should have at least remained, but there’s no sign of it.”
“Since it’s such a vast dungeon, there must be many places we haven’t fully explored yet.”
“Yes, but…”
Kang Seo-dam, lost in thought, continued.
“There is some information our team discovered.”
“What a coincidence. We have some too.”
“We confirmed traces of something heavy, about the size of a corpse, being dragged somewhere.”
“Our team discovered that the monsters that appear in the evening are moving toward a single location.”
“…Then it seems what we must do is clear.”
Kang Seo-dam looked at Gio for a moment.
“……”
“How can I help you?”
“…No, this is…”
Biting his lip, Kang Seo-dam asked cautiously, “…If the raid succeeds, would you be willing to attend the Sun Cult’s funeral mass?”
“Of course. Is there anything else you need?”
“No, that is all. I feel a mountain of gratitude for the warmth and mercy you have shown.”
As Kang Seo-dam whispered softly so others wouldn’t hear, Gio thought to himself.
Why doesn’t anyone ask me to help with the funeral itself…?
After all, who was more specialized in funerals than him?
While Gio was secretly thinking, Am I not a very reliable god compared to Father? So unreliable that they won’t even let me help with a single funeral? Do I really need to study imperial leadership or something?, Kang Seo-dam gathered the surviving hunters.
“We will move out after a brief reorganization.”
Up until now, it had been a process of exploration. Now that they had this many clues, the story had changed. It was the start of the raid in earnest, and a hunter, seemingly sensing this while checking his injuries, asked, “Excuse me, Priest. Where are we moving to?”
“Further inside,” Kang Seo-dam replied.
“We are going to where the monsters gather.”
Surely, something would be there.