Chapter 89: Chaos (12)
Chapter 89: Chaos (12)
Just as Kang Yujin had toured the southern regions of Korea all night upon her return, entering and clearing dungeons in rapid succession to eliminate them, Han Shin and his party were also clearing dungeons one after another.
As a member of Wolyeong receiving support from the Association, Kang Yujin had been able to take some breaks due to the physical distance between portals. However, that was not the case for Han Shin’s group.
Through the Awakener Manager App in Han Shin’s possession, they could enter dungeons immediately, leaving almost no gap between them.
At first, Han Shin considered resting a bit before entering the next one, but he decided to push through.
Currently, if there were strong monsters inside a dungeon, they appeared only after some time had passed since they were in a sealed state. Because of this, a natural thirty-minute break always occurred after entering, and Han Shin decided to use this time for rest.
Grace and Laysia also saw no reason to oppose Han Shin’s enthusiastic drive to clear as many dungeons as possible, so they agreed.
They felt that for Han Shin’s growth, it was necessary for him to engage in tighter, more demanding combat to gain experience and sharpen his focus, rather than fighting only in overly comfortable environments.
The first dungeon they entered, filled with Giant Mantises, was cleared in an instant with irresistible force.
Even in Grace’s eyes, Han Shin’s spearmanship was now superb, giving off the aura of a seasoned master.
Han Shin’s talent is truly remarkable.
His body, brimming with the Power of the Dragon, was sturdier than any other Awakener.
Boasting incredible recovery, endurance, and durability, his physique was not overly muscular, allowing for perfect agility. Grace marveled at the athletic ability displayed by Han Shin’s body, which felt as though it had been meticulously designed for combat.
It was impressive enough that he could use a one-handed sword and shield with such skill, but seeing him handle a spear as if it were an extension of his own limbs was truly awe-inspiring.
This was especially meaningful to Grace, who had seen many knights in her time.
Laysia felt the same.
Before entering combat, Laysia had been subconsciously aware of Han Shin because of their passionate night together, and lewd scenes from the previous day occasionally flickered through her mind.
Of course, once the battle began, she calmed her heart and engaged the enemy with the sharp, cold demeanor of a martial artist.
Like Grace, as a follower of Tiamat, her goal was to protect Han Shin and ensure his proper growth. Naturally, she tried to keep her eyes on him at all times during the fight.
As a result, Laysia also realized anew that Han Shin’s skills were even greater than she had anticipated, and a desire to teach him herself began to grow.
Since she had already planned to teach Han Shin Body Arts when they had the time, Laysia made a mental note to bring it up again when the opportunity arose.
Han Shin, Grace, and Laysia continued to enter and clear dungeons back-to-back, and the process was quite relaxed.
Unlike the previous day, no exceptionally powerful monsters appeared; instead, the monsters were consistently one rank higher than the original portal rank. Thanks to this, clearing the dungeons took very little time.
In reality, it wasn't the case, but it felt as though they spent more time waiting for the monsters to appear than actually clearing the dungeon.
After clearing one dungeon in a flash, Han Shin’s party immediately moved to the next.
“Hmm… is this the eleventh one…?”
“Yes, Han Shin.”
The dungeon they had just entered was a cemetery.
The three of them found places to sit and rest, while Han Shin immediately activated the Manager App to check how many dungeons they had cleared and how much Mana from the Dungeon Cores they had collected.
He confirmed they had cleared eleven dungeons and checked the accumulated Mana.
The amount of Mana collected from the Dungeon Cores was less than he had expected.
After thinking for a moment, Han Shin realized that, contrary to his fears, the dungeons appearing in Nepal didn't contain an overwhelming number of uncontrollable monsters.
“The monsters today seem a bit weak…”
Grace and Laysia agreed with Han Shin’s observation.
“Yes, this has been the smoothest hunt we’ve had so far.”
“You’re right. The monsters were a bit weak today.”
“That’s a relief, though. If this area kept spawning powerful monsters, it would have been incredibly difficult to manage…”
As Han Shin feared, in regions like Nepal—where national and geographical issues prevented smooth dungeon clearing—the current situation could have been catastrophic.
Just as Han Shin worried, the Awakeners of Nepal were also in an uproar, moving with extreme caution.
Interestingly, due to their circumstances, Nepal’s Awakeners did not clear dungeons individually. Instead, they operated on a fixed schedule, forming large-scale expeditionary forces to clear all portals in a single sector at once.
Because of this, the Awakeners based in Nepal were relatively more accustomed to and skilled at moving in groups. A command structure was quickly established to conduct investigations.
Unlike in Korea, Nepal’s Awakeners responded by forming parties specialized in reconnaissance. These teams would enter a dungeon to identify the monsters and then immediately retreat.
Since identifying a dungeon’s rank through the Mana of the Dungeon Core from outside the portal was no longer possible, they had implemented this method as a desperate measure. It turned out to be surprisingly efficient.
Since they could directly confirm the types of monsters, they could accurately identify what was inside each portal and deploy the appropriate Awakeners to deal with them.
It worked because they had a grace period of about a week before a portal would burst, rather than it happening within hours of formation.
Han Shin, Laysia, and Grace were unaware that the Nepalese Awakeners were responding so organizedly and nimbly.
Hmm… I should go out in disguise later and look into things.
Normally, gathering and investigating such information would have been Kang Yujin’s role. Since she already operated as Wolyeong, she was quite adept at such tasks.
However, since she had returned to Korea and was not in Nepal, someone else had to go in disguise to contact the Awakeners and gather information.
Grace and Laysia were both too beautiful and would easily draw suspicion. Therefore, Han Shin decided he would be the one to step forward and gather intel.
Creeeeeak…
In the meantime, the sealed monsters were released, and bone-chilling sounds began to echo throughout the cemetery.
The most basic of these undead monsters were Skeletons.
The three of them raised their weapons again to dive into battle.
Han Shin’s spear gleamed menacingly, reflecting the light emitted by the Sphere of Light.
They had identified the environment as a cemetery as soon as they entered. Seeing the skeletons rising, weapons in hand and glowing with ominous red light in their eye sockets, Han Shin steeled himself.
Holding his spear slightly forward, Han Shin charged at the skeletons first.
Boom!
With a sound like a small explosion, a skeleton’s bones were shattered in a single blow, scattering in all directions.
Normally, one had to be careful because the attacking Awakener or those nearby could be injured by flying fragments. However, in Han Shin’s case, it was difficult for him to be hurt by debris thanks to the armor Tiamat had crafted for him.
Skeletons were being pulverized all around with explosive sounds.
Skeletons typically appeared in D-Rank portals. This was an even easier difficulty than before, but that wasn't what mattered.
After smashing even the boss monster—a giant skeleton—in an instant, Han Shin gathered the Mana from the Dungeon Core.
Hmm… given the time, I wonder if Noona is awake yet?
Once again, Han Shin’s party had cleared a dungeon in record time.
He felt it was about time to stop the dungeon runs and go see Kang Yujin. After all, they had cleared twelve dungeons in a row.
Although they had collected less Mana from the Dungeon Cores than expected because the runs were so smooth, Han Shin decided to go see her.
They had gathered their own data from twelve dungeon runs, and he needed to find out from Kang Yujin how the situation was unfolding globally.
“Grace. Let’s go see Noona.”
At Han Shin’s words, Grace nodded in response.
“Yes, Han Shin. However, I think it would be best if you washed up first.”
“Ah… right.”
He realized belatedly that the house in Korea only had one bathroom, and they were currently a bit dirty after twelve consecutive hunts. If they went home like this, they would make a mess, and there would be complications with everyone trying to shower at once.
“Then let’s go wash up.”
“Yes.”
Han Shin operated the Manager App to return to the villa in Kathmandu, Nepal, where they went their separate ways to clean up.
A short while later, everyone had showered, changed clothes, and gathered in the living room.
“Then, I will move us immediately.”
“Yeah. Please do.”
Grace took Han Shin and Laysia’s hands, moving first to her Sanctuary and then to the house.