Chapter 50: Encounter (7)
Chapter 50: Encounter (7)
The Yuseong Clan and the Association launched an investigation immediately after receiving reports from the Awakeners who had spotted Han Shin and Grace from a distance.
Their first priority was to keep the dungeon open by neutralizing the Raptor boss—which served as the Dungeon Core—without killing it.
Though the Raptor boss was clever and cunning, it was nothing more than a toy to Awakeners who were seasoned in raiding such dungeons.
After its subordinates were wiped out in a second ambush against Han Shin and Grace, the boss had approached to assess the situation, only to be captured by the Association and clan Awakeners and thrown into a cage.
The dungeon was now brightly lit.
The investigators had brought equipment to install lighting throughout the interior, illuminating the space completely.
While many Awakeners from the Association and the clans had been skeptical that someone was actually doing this, the truth had finally been laid bare.
They now knew for certain that someone had been clearing dungeons in secret.
There had been concerns that the witnesses might have been lying, but the various traces left behind by Han Shin and Grace—the cleared brushwood and the clean cuts from spears and swords—confirmed their testimony.
Comparing these marks with the weapons of the reporting Awakeners proved that the witnesses hadn't been the ones doing the hunting.
Only two people.
It was revealed that only two people had been clearing the dungeons without authorization, and that their weapons of choice were the spear and the sword.
This was the conclusion drawn by cross-referencing the testimonies of those who saw Han Shin and Grace from afar with the marks on the Raptor carcasses.
The investigation began with the expectation that their identities would be uncovered in no time.
However, the more they investigated, the more puzzling questions arose.
First, despite the witnesses guarding the portal, they never saw Han Shin or Grace attempt to exit.
Since they hadn't been seen leaving and weren't found despite a thorough search of every corner, the natural conclusion was that they had escaped the dungeon using an unknown method.
While supernatural abilities were common and various mysterious artifacts were being unearthed nowadays… space movement remained the stuff of novels and movies.
Researchers only speculated that artifacts capable of space movement might exist, and magic of that nature was purely theoretical.
So, when a situation arose that strongly suggested actual space movement, everyone was stunned.
The dungeon, currently under investigation, was bustling with Association officials and high-ranking executives from various clans who had come to observe the scene personally.
The Association investigators, who had been the first to arrive and had been working without rest, stepped back for a moment to smoke a cigarette away from the crowd.
Their leader, a middle-aged man, muttered, "If this is the case... they probably used space movement to enter the dungeon, too."
"Exactly. That's why they haven't been caught until now."
"It must be an artifact, right? I mean, they don't seem like world-class powerhouses."
Those who examined the Raptor carcasses judged the intruders to be skilled due to their clean strikes, but they didn't think they were exceptionally powerful.
If they were, they would have cleared the Raptors faster and taken down the boss monster as well.
"Man... I just don't get it. If they have an artifact capable of space movement, what are they even doing here?"
"My thoughts exactly. If you had an ability like that, every organization would be falling over themselves to recruit you."
This was the part the investigators understood the least.
To current Awakeners, space movement was a power of the imagination, yet these intruders possessed it.
The ability to come and go as they pleased.
At the very least, it was clear they could enter and exit portals at will.
Such an ability would draw global attention, so the investigators couldn't fathom why they were acting this way.
Just then, a commotion broke out behind them, and their eyes naturally turned to see who had entered.
"Huh? It's Lee Jeong-jin."
"I heard he's absolutely livid about catching these guys..."
"Sigh... Everyone, get ready. We'd better watch our step."
The men speaking were veteran Awakeners with the Association who knew exactly what Lee Jeong-jin was like in the past.
Lee Jeong-jin was a man who showed no mercy to anyone who touched what was his.
Furthermore, his recent actions showed he was aggressively trying to catch Han Shin and Grace, making him the first leader of a large clan to arrive on the scene.
The men hurried to extinguish their cigarettes and went out to greet him.
"Welcome, sir. I'll show you the way immediately."
Unlike his public image, those who knew Lee Jeong-jin's ferocious nature always treated him with the utmost respect.
After all, Lee Jeong-jin was the type to return the favor as long as he was properly catered to.
★ ★ ★
Lee Jeong-jin, the leader of the Yuseong Clan, viewed the people clearing the dungeons without permission as nothing more than thieves.
He listened to the reports from the Awakeners who had personally witnessed Han Shin and Grace, followed by the findings from the Association investigators.
Being quite sharp, he reached the same conclusion as the investigators the moment he heard the details.
Though Lee Jeong-jin remained silent as he listened, he was cursing inwardly.
'Fuck... who the hell are these bastards?'
These days, he tended to keep his cursing internal to maintain his public image.
He had never let anyone who messed with his property go unpunished, but he couldn't see a way to catch these two.
Lee Jeong-jin wanted to catch these two arrogant punks and make them pay, which was why he was being so proactive.
But if they really had an artifact capable of space movement, catching them seemed nearly impossible even if he ran into them.
It was frustrating that they hadn't found a single clue to identify them yet.
"For now, we can assume the artifact's range is within Chungcheong Province, so they likely live in this area."
"Yes, that seems likely."
'You idiot. Do you think they'll just sit still after almost getting caught today? They'll either lay low for a while or move somewhere else...'
Lee Jeong-jin maintained a smiling face, but insults were flying in his head.
Now that the intruders realized someone was tracking them, there was no reason for them to continue this behavior.
Lee Jeong-jin's hunch was correct. Han Shin and Grace were already planning to head overseas with Kang Yujin.
After hearing the general explanation, Lee Jeong-jin told them they had done good work and immediately left the dungeon. There was no reason to stay any longer.
He was certain that searching every nook and cranny would yield no clues, so he only verified the traces they had left behind.
As soon as he got into his car, Lee Jeong-jin told the driver to head home.
Being an incredibly expensive luxury vehicle, the interior was perfectly still.
Sinking into the soft leather seat, Lee Jeong-jin irritably tapped the armrest with his index finger.
'There are only two of them, and they're stronger than expected, but strangely, there's almost no trace of Qi being used.'
There was a subtle difference between a cut made with Sword Energy and one made without it.
For instance, when cutting through a carcass, a strike using Qi left a cleaner, sharper wound.
As an Awakener powerful enough to recognize such things, Lee Jeong-jin had noticed it instantly.
'Her swordsmanship is clearly top-tier, yet she doesn't use Qi...'
Recognizing Grace's skill just from the marks on the carcasses, Lee Jeong-jin found the lack of Qi usage incredibly bizarre.
Even as the officially ranked number one Awakener in Korea, this anomalous situation left him deep in thought.
For the next month, the Association and the large clans kept a very close eye on portals opening in the Chungcheong region.
They also checked other regions to see if anyone was clearing dungeons without authorization there.
But after that day, everything went quiet.
No more dungeons were cleared ahead of them.
It was as if the culprits had evaporated into thin air, leaving everyone wondering who they could be.
Whatever the reason, they concluded that the intruders had been scared off and had ceased their activities.
In his office, Lee Jeong-jin didn't know how to feel about this hollow victory.
He wanted to hunt them down and crush them, but they had stopped all activity entirely.
He felt a surge of irritation at being unable to deliver the punishment he felt they deserved.