Altar Dungeon (4)
Boing… Crash!
Ko Sung-yoon shattered the wraith priest’s torso with a flying kick. It was a hard-won result, seizing the opening that Seo Yun-jae and Yu Ha-rin had worked together to create.
Thud, flop…
Having poured out everything he had, he planted his hands on the ground and collapsed forward. Even his long ears drooped; he looked for all the world like a thoroughly exhausted rabbit.
In front of him, the priest—torso destroyed—lay fallen and stared up at Ko Sung-yoon. Watching the blue-green flame slowly gutter out, he felt an inexplicable sense of lingering regret.
The strange emotion did not last long.
“Hoo… hoo… heh…”
Joy at having hunted the wraith priest came flooding in. The two trainees racing toward him also had faces flushed with excitement.
“That was an awesome finishing kick!”
“That was excellent!”
“It’s only thanks to the two of you making an opening against the wraith priest. Hehe.”
Ko Sung-yoon credited the two of them for the achievement. Alone, he never could have forced a gap in the priest’s defenses. Only because the three of them had worked together had the hunt been possible—that was what he sincerely believed.
Perhaps they felt that sincerity. His sheepish laughter spread to them, and soon all three of them were grinning goofily.
When he thought about it, it really was something remarkable. Three mere hunter trainees had taken down an E-class dungeon boss.
Of course—
“Good work, everyone.”
They all knew. The results they had just earned had not come from their strength alone. Without the training they had repeated until their bodies reacted without thinking, they would have been wiped out by the wraith priest’s Forgotten Touch. Even if they had somehow survived, it would not have been a pretty sight…
“…Are my squinty eyes that fascinating?”
“Huh?”
“You’re not staring at me because of my eyes, are you?”
“No!”
The trainees denied it all at once. Honestly, the eyes were a little fascinating, but that did not mean they would commit the rudeness of staring openly.
…Though if it were just the occasional sideways glance, that might be another story.
“…Well then, shall we check the rewards?”
“Yes!”
With that bright answer, their gazes shifted. The wraith priest that had collapsed in front of Ko Sung-yoon had already crumbled away without a trace. In its place lay the Forgotten Ritual Dagger it had been swinging so fiercely, a jewel that looked like a core, and some random rock.
“Oh, three drops—that’s lucky.”
“Is that how it works?”
“Yeah. Usually you only get one. Especially this.”
Choi Yeon picked up the jewel. Seo Yun-jae’s body gave a violent shudder; the thing’s appearance was far too similar to that red core. Just holding it made him feel as if he would fall under that horrific debuff all over again.
“It only looks similar. The effect is completely different, so don’t worry.”
“Ahem, ahem…!”
“It’s called a Wraith Fragment. If you pour mana into it, it temporarily raises your resistance to mental-type debuffs.”
“Raises resistance? Then with just that, debuffs wouldn’t be scary any—”
“But the duration is only five minutes, so people usually only use it when they’re hunting a wraith priest.”
“Ahh…”
Seo Yun-jae let out a sigh of regret. From the look of him, he had been thinking of carrying a Wraith Fragment into the Cheongeun Dungeon. If the duration had been longer it might have worked, but five minutes was a case of the belly button being bigger than the belly.
“I think Yun-jae should take this one. What do you two think?”
“Me? Why?”
“Why do you think?”
“……”
Seo Yun-jae shut his mouth gloomily. He had learned all too painfully how vulnerable he was to debuffs. He had not even been able to hold up against an F-class one.
After receiving nods of agreement from Ko Sung-yoon and Yu Ha-rin, Choi Yeon handed the jewel to Seo Yun-jae. Next he picked up the rock, and Yu Ha-rin asked a question.
“What on earth is that rock?”
“This is a Destiny Stone.”
“Destiny Stone? That’s a pretty grand name. So what’s it for?”
“Don’t know.”
“What…?”
“I really don’t know. No one’s figured out its use yet.”
“How is that possible? Can’t you just appraise it?”
“An A-class appraiser did. All they got was the phrase, ‘It might be able to change destiny?’”
“Hmm, I see…”
“Since it came out of a dungeon, you can’t just throw it away either… It’s an awkward item to deal with.”
“Ah, I get it.”
Having lost interest, Yu Ha-rin’s replies grew flat. If he gave it to her it would head straight for the trash can. Thinking as much, Choi Yeon handed the Destiny Stone to Ko Sung-yoon. Even watching it change hands right in front of her, she paid it no mind. It was already just a rock.
Choi Yeon looked at the last remaining reward.
“We’ll sell the Forgotten Ritual Dagger.”
“How much would that go for?”
“I’d need a proper appraisal for an exact figure, but it should fetch at least five million won.”
“Wow, that much?”
“Even though it’s F-class, it can still apply mental debuffs. And the flames running along the blade look pretty cool, too.”
“Ah. I see…”
Ko Sung-yoon seemed interested. Watching him stare openly at the Forgotten Ritual Dagger, Choi Yeon fell into thought. He clearly wanted it, but since one reward had already been given out, it could not simply be handed over for free. He would have to propose a distribution trade.
While Choi Yeon finished his internal deliberation, Ko Sung-yoon finished consulting with the trainees as well.
“Distribu—”
“I think Yeon-i hyung should take the Forgotten Ritual Dagger!”
“Huh?”
“You brought us through the dungeon today. It’s a token of our thanks!”
“Ah…”
Choi Yeon felt awkward. He had thought the staring meant interest in the weapon itself, but that had not been it at all. To think they had wanted to give it to him…
“…Thanks, but I’ll pass.”
“What? Why?”
“I just watched. And I’m a Dongdae Hunter, so if I take it—”
“You didn’t come here today as a Dongdae Hunter, though.”
“That’s true, but people who make an issue of it—”
“Just take it, please? Okay?”
Seo Yun-jae and then Yu Ha-rin joined in, and the trainees all stared at Choi Yeon with wide, earnest eyes.
“……”
A sideways glance.
Choi Yeon’s gaze dropped to the Forgotten Ritual Dagger. Like the Dongdae-issue gear it was D-class, but the fact that it applied a debuff made it a little better. It also suited Choi Yeon, who sometimes coated his daggers with poison. And as he had said, the flames wreathing the blade were quite striking.
In the end—
“…All right.”
Choi Yeon decided to accept the Forgotten Ritual Dagger. With any other weapon he might have held firm, but the fact that it was a dagger tilted his heart decisively.
And also—
“Yay!”
Seeing the trainees so happy filled him with a warm feeling of his own.
…Is this why the seniors open gyms after they retire from hunting?
“……”
Anyway, he had come to settle a debt of the heart, and now the dagger had created a new one.
…Well, he could always just take them into another dungeon, right?
Choi Yeon cut the thought short. The flames on the blade were luminous.
“This is the place, right?”
“Yes. I already told you it is.”
Yu Ha-rin answered Seo Yun-jae’s question. After a moment’s thought, Ko Sung-yoon nodded as well.
Casually, Seo Yun-jae glanced back at Choi Yeon walking behind them. His eyes clearly wanted an answer, but Choi Yeon said nothing. It felt like they were looking at each other, but with those squinty eyes it was hard to be sure.
He is looking at me, right?
“Yes. We are looking at each other.”
“I-I didn’t say anything!”
Seo Yun-jae’s voice cracked in surprise. His tone had been more honest than his will.
As he turned back to the front, Yu Ha-rin fixed him with narrowed eyes. If he had simply trusted her words from the start, his voice never would have jumped like that.
“It’s a right turn here.”
“Are you sure…”
“……”
“Okay, I believe you, I’ll believe you, so stop looking at me with those squinty eyes.”
It feels like the teacher is staring at me…
Seo Yun-jae swallowed the rest of the thought. He knew that if he said it out loud, Yu Ha-rin would keep giving him that sidelong glare the whole way.
“Hm…?”
Feet that had been moving silently came to a sudden stop. Then Choi Yeon’s head slowly tilted to the right.
The trainees walking ahead on guard noticed that Choi Yeon had stopped.
“Yeon-i hyung? What’s wrong?”
“Is it a wraith?”
While the two of them asked, Yu Ha-rin already had an arrow nocked. She could not see any blue-green sword light, but she figured their teacher might be different.
Whoosh…
Choi Yeon moved to the very front of the party. As he did so, he guided Yu Ha-rin’s arrow downward.
“Teacher…?”
“It’s not a wraith.”
“What?”
“…Well, maybe it’s not all that different.”
“……?”
The trainees tilted their heads. They tried to meet his eyes and make sense of the words, but no answer came. The usual gentle atmosphere was gone, making it hard to ask further questions.
Once only quiet breathing could be heard, he realized his mistake. He had spent so long handling incidents alone that he had forgotten to explain.
“…It’s nothing serious, so you don’t need to look so grim.”
“Is that… so?”
“Yeah. There are people gathered near the entrance. I’m just being careful.”
“……”
They had an answer, yet the trainees’ questions remained unsolved. People were gathered at the dungeon entrance, so they had to be careful?
…Why?
“Oh…”
Sure enough, just as Choi Yeon had said, six people stood near the entrance as if to block the way. They wore matching black leather jackets with silver shoulder armor layered on top. The silver straps that secured the shoulder armor crossed their chests like long awls.
“…The Awl Guild.”
“Do you know them?”
“No. I just know the name, hunter ranks, and their area of activity.”
“But…”
Seo Yun-jae began carefully. His gaze flicked back and forth between the Awl Guild members and Ko Sung-yoon.
“Doesn’t it look like those people are staring at Sung-yoon?”
“Yeah. They are.”
“Why would they… Ah, don’t tell me…”
“They’re unhappy about it, right? Coming into a dungeon wearing a mascot costume.”
“Ah…”
Choi Yeon’s words and the Awl Guild’s openly disapproving stares made Ko Sung-yoon shrink into himself.
Press.
Choi Yeon firmly pushed down on his hunched back.
“No need to feel small. You’re sincere about this, Sung-yoon.”
“…Yes.”
“Still, think carefully about how you’ll handle it from now on. People like them are going to keep showing up.”
“I will…!”
With Ko Sung-yoon’s firm answer, Choi Yeon started walking again. He had thought that dirty looks would be the end of it, but—
“Hold it.”
Contrary to expectations, one of the Awl members stepped into their path.
…Well now?
“What is it?”
“Looks like we need to have a little talk.”
“A talk?”
“That’s right. This Cheongeun Dungeon is our livelihood, y’know? Not a place for kids to come play.”
“I’m aware.”
“Hard to believe that when I look at that getup.”
“Then that’s your problem.”
As he answered, Choi Yeon took a step forward. The meaning was clear—move aside—but the guild member in front did not step back. Instead he took a matching step of his own.
“…What do you think you’re doing? Master of the Awl Guild, Jin Do-il.”
Choi Yeon spoke not to the man in front of him but to the man standing at the very back with his arms crossed. Jin Do-il, master of the Awl Guild, rolled his shoulders with a smug little bounce.
“Not tryin’ to do anything. Just thinkin’ maybe you oughta apologize before you leave.”
“Apologize? We haven’t done anything wrong. What exactly should we be begging forgiveness for?”
“That’s your opinion. Ain’t ours. Right?”
“That’s right!”
The guild members immediately agreed with their master’s question. Master asks, members answer… It was getting hard to tell who the ones playing around really were.
“Think carefully. This ain’t Seonhwa-dong. No tiger behind the fox.”
“Hoo…”
Choi Yeon let out a sigh. Bringing up the Dongdae made it clear they planned to block the path until an apology was offered.
In that case…
“Sung-yoon.”
“Yes. I’ll—”
“Watch closely.”
“…Huh? Watch what?”
“This is also one of the paths you’ll be able to choose from now on.”
Choi Yeon drew the dagger from his waist holster. The blue-green light of the Forgotten Ritual Dagger looked especially sharp.
Blue-green light clashed with blue-green light.
The Awl Guild, whose territory was the Cheongeun Dungeon, also used Forgotten Ritual Daggers as their main weapons.
Clang, clang…!
Listening to the sound of blade meeting blade, Jin Do-il shook his head. It was truly stupid. Even if the guy was C-class, he was just one Dongdae Hunter. What exactly did he think he was going to accomplish?
Thud.
There were six of them, after all.
Thud.
But why did he keep hearing that collapsing sound—
Thud.
He… ar…
“…Huh?”
Thud.
Jin Do-il blinked his eyes open and shut. The noise that had been coming for a little while now was the sound of Choi Yeon dropping his subordinates one after another. The only one still standing had Choi Yeon’s dagger already resting against his throat. If the blade had not been held reverse-grip, it would have punched straight through his neck.
Thud…
The subordinate’s legs gave out. All five underlings were down; only the guild master, Jin Do-il, remained.
Stride.
Choi Yeon took a clean, unhurried step forward. Jin Do-il, by contrast, hesitated. Both the foot he tried to plant and the hand that swung the Forgotten Ritual Dagger faltered.
Clang, clang.
Jin Do-il’s dagger was stopped. Simply, every single time he swung. The more it happened, the more his eyes wavered. He could not understand at all what Choi Yeon was doing.
Parrying?
The word rose in his mind and was immediately crushed. This was different from deflecting or redirecting an attack. Whether he tried to stab or slash, the man struck first and made sure the action never fully happened. Every single move was blocked with no answer. It felt like being caught in a petrification spell.
Before long Jin Do-il gave up on attacking and leaped backward.
But—
“……!”
Choi Yeon came after him at once.
Am I imagining things? Just now… it felt like that bastard moved before I did.
Jin Do-il swallowed hard as he looked at Choi Yeon. The man standing in front of him was quiet, as if simply waiting for the next action.
“S-stop…”
In the end, Jin Do-il begged. No matter how hard he thought, he could not picture a version of himself that escaped the palm of Choi Yeon’s hand. Whatever he tried, it would only be blocked.
“Please just stop…! I-I was completely in the wrong!”
“……”
“Just once, look the other way just once! Okay? I’ll never pick a fight again!”
“……”
Even under the desperate pleading, Choi Yeon remained still. He did not move at all, yet somehow his intent came through clearly.
It definitely meant: keep going. Until you collapse from exhaustion. Until the marionette’s strings snap.
Ah, fuck. Wrong fight to pick.
Jin Do-il squeezed his eyes shut.