Chapter 46
Chapter 46
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: Everyone Harbors Poison
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At first, I just visited the dungeon.
It was to measure Maru's combat power.
But a very small movement of mana caught my senses.
That movement kept watching me and Maru.
"Isn't this too obvious?"
It was too obvious to call it a mere coincidence.
Since then, I hid Maru's power.
I had already hunted down most of the orcs.
And if someone was really watching me, there was no need to show all my cards.
Ding-
And then, right on time, an alarm went off on my smartphone.
Successfully supported the dungeon "Temptation of Illusion."
Successfully repelled intruders.
Successfully completed additional missions.
You can purchase the special promotion package for the Lich once.
The owner of the dungeon "Temptation of Illusion," Azmo, dedicates his dungeon to you.
Became the ruler who owns the dungeon in both dimensions for the first time.
Acquired the ability "True Dungeon Master (EX)."
Due to the ability, the following systems are now open:
[Dungeon Monster Level Up System] (Locked)
[Dungeon Monster Enhancement System] (Locked)
It seems that the Death Knight and the Lich dispatched to the Incubus Dungeon have successfully completed their missions.
"Faster than I thought."
I quickly scanned through the alarm.
By completing the additional mission, I gained the authority to purchase the promotion package related to the Lich.
Of course, what caught my eye the most was...
"It's EX rank?"
The name of the ability is "True Owner of the Dungeon."
What surprised me was that it was labeled as EX rank.
The rank that has been considered a legend in the hunter industry, EX rank, appeared right in front of me.
"I never thought I'd obtain a rank beyond the standard."
The owner of the Incubus Dungeon, Azmo, dedicated the dungeon to me, and that's how the ability came about.
"Two dimensions..."
When I checked it out a bit, it turned out that Azmo's dungeon was on Earth.
I didn't know because it had been marked as another dimension until now. Earth, huh?
This wasn't a problem to think about right now.
I immediately tried to open the status window to see what the ability was about, but unfortunately, I couldn't find any explanation.
"...No explanation?"
Has there been a characteristic that hasn't been explained until now?
As far as I know, all characteristics and skills have always been explained.
However, unlike the skills that have existed so far, this characteristic is not even S-rank, so in a way, it was understandable.
Just by looking at the name, I had a rough idea of what kind of characteristic it was.
The problem is that I only had a rough idea.
"At this rate, I won't be able to accurately understand what ability it is."
If only I had more time, I wanted to look into it in more detail.
I was curious about the monster's level system and enhancement system.
But I couldn't do that right now.
It's because of the beings who have been blatantly watching me up to this moment.
First, it was important to catch the mice hiding far away.
"Let's start moving."
Maru nodded at my words.
Since I had already taken care of most of the orcs, there were no monsters inside the dungeon to interfere.
Even if there were a few orcs left, they didn't seem to be coming towards me.
Even if they saw Maru's massacre, they knew that approaching would only lead to death.
Maru and I immediately left the orc dungeon.
But instead of going straight home, we moved our steps to another dungeon.
To the F-rank Skeleton Dungeon.
"If it's just a skeleton dungeon, there shouldn't be any variables."
Even if I had caught all the orcs in the dungeon, I couldn't relax.
The orcs were intelligent beings who could attack me anytime I showed vulnerability.
Of course, I didn't think I would lose.
Maru was by my side, and he was powerful enough to annihilate any orcs that came rushing in a group.
"But I still need to eliminate all the small variables."
The problem lay with the opponent, not me.
Seeing that those who were currently watching me didn't rush forward, it seemed that they were probably preoccupied with the orcs.
"In that case, the rank might not be that high."
But it wasn't good that the opponent wasn't moving either.
I needed to quickly get rid of the opponent so that I could move freely.
That's why I changed dungeons.
From the D-rank orc dungeon to the F-rank skeleton dungeon.
At this level, the opponent would surely make a move.
And that thought turned out to be correct.
As I and Maru left the Orc Dungeon, naturally, my opponent continued to follow me until I entered the Skeleton Dungeon.
As soon as I entered the dungeon, I positioned Maru nearby.
And.
"Hah. You're not going to hide this time?"
I felt the mana fluctuating outside the dungeon that I had been feeling since earlier.
It meant that the opponent was determined to use their power in earnest.
Well, even if I wanted to think of them as a hunter really trying to hunt skeletons, there was no need to think so blatantly when it came out like this.
In any case, in this world, all you needed to remember was this one thing.
"If you don't kill, you'll be killed."
The moment you hesitate, you die right away.
That was the way to live in this world.
After a short time, the opponent began to move inside the dungeon.
"There are two in total."
Judging by the greater trembling of the mana of the person at the front, their rank must be higher.
It was just perfect.
There was no better opportunity than the strongest-looking person coming in first.
I nodded slightly towards Maru and waited for the uninvited guest.
Finally, one of the uninvited guests met my eyes.
The opponent seemed bewildered, hesitated for a moment, then raised their weapon.
However.
The opponent's weapon did not reach me.
Maru's attack first pierced the side of the opponent.
"Kuk!"
The opponent began to groan in pain.
"You... didn't intend to harm... me.... Kuk, never...."
No, it wasn't a groan, it was nonsense.
If there was no intention to harm, then why raise the weapon?
And his words continued.
In summary, he had received a request, and even if he didn't care about his own life, he begged for his son's life to be spared.
"Hmm...."
The person behind him was his son.
His face looked more troubled than I had expected.
I looked at Maru.
Maru drew his sword and rushed straight toward the son who was standing behind.
Maru's sword pierced the chest of the guy the man called his son.
Of course, his pants were stained red, but he hadn't been killed yet.
For now, I couldn't kill him immediately; I needed to find out the information.
"Why...."
The man looked at his son with a despairing expression.
I laughed once while looking at the man's face.
"Wow, you're really good at acting."
And he approached the son of the man.
In the son's hand was a small throwing dagger.
But there was no need to throw the dagger.
The son was in no condition to throw it, given the pain he was currently feeling.
This is how the world is.
A world where everyone harbors venom within.
A place where one might lose their life due to unnecessary sympathy.
I was able to confirm what kind of place this world was once again.
I turned back towards the suffering boy and continued forward.
"If you listen well, I'll spare your son."
Raising one hand, I continued speaking.
"Can't you see that I have healing skills?"
One of my skills, the Healing of the Goddess.
Even if it's F-rank, the Healing of the Goddess will show much better results than other healing skills.
That's what I observed on the Eldorad continent.
When the opponent heard that I had a healing skill, their expression changed.
"Is it true? Do you really have a healing skill? No, if you give it, I'll say anything!"
The opponent seemed eager to heal his son as quickly as possible, waiting only for the question to come out of my mouth.
"First, tell me your name and affiliation."
To my question, the opponent quickly responded.
"My, my name is Ji Tae-hoon. I belong to the Black Day Guild."
Black Day Guild?
It was a name I hadn't heard before.
As I briefly expressed my confusion, the opponent, Ji Tae-hoon, explained to me.
"...."
In short, they seemed to be a group like a troubleshooter, not an official guild.
I understood that much.
Then I moved on to the most important question.
"You mentioned earlier that this was just a request. Who was the person who made the request?"
Ji Tae-hoon hesitated for a moment at this question, but as I looked at his son, he confessed immediately.
"Kang Jin-su! Yes, he works as a government official at the Awakening Center!"
A familiar name came up.
Kang Jin-su.
The academy's ill-fated connection extends this far.
But I wondered why Kang Jin-su suddenly targeted me.
The Kang Jin-su I knew was definitely not the type to carry out something like this alone.
"I should look into this."
I asked several questions first and listened to the story from the opponent.
The only small talk was about who had received what compensation for the job and why his son was accompanying him.
Among them, the one thing that caught my attention was the compensation.
He asked me to film him in pain, but as I suspected, it didn't seem like something Kang Jin-soo would do alone.
Moreover, the idea that Kang Jin-soo would raise Ji Tae-hoon's son's rank seemed even more unrealistic.
"Someone is behind this."
Could it be Kim Su-ho?
It's still just a guess.
If that's the case, I need to quickly increase my power.
If he notices me, more things will happen in the future than they are now.
As I was lost in thought for a moment, Ji Tae-hoon began pleading again.
"My son is really gentle! He has a good heart. So please spare my son..."
Hmm.
He was the one who had a dagger in his hand just a moment ago, and I didn't think he had a good heart at all.
"Spare my son..."
I did say I would spare him earlier.
But there was a condition.
I took the dagger from Ji Tae-hoon's son and then threw it in front of Ji Tae-hoon.
Beside him, Maru was standing guard.
A warning not to do anything foolish.
At the same time, Ji Tae-hoon, who couldn't help but understand the meaning, sighed with a disappointed expression.
"You'll spare my son's life, right?"
Ji Tae-hoon asked the question again.
I nodded.
"I keep my promises."
With those words, I approached his son.
The boy couldn't bear the pain and had already fainted.
I immediately activated the healing skill.
Goddess's Healing.
Light began to emanate from my hands.
That light slowly began to heal the wounds.
Of course, since it was still an F-rank skill, complete healing was impossible.
It could only stop the bleeding for the time being.
Naturally, the boy wouldn't be able to function normally where he was injured.
But for now, it meant saving his life.
He had tried to kill someone else, so this could be considered mercy.
And above all, there was something I wanted to confirm.
"Celia has offered sacrifices all this time."
The sacrifices Celia made were used to obtain my attributes and skills.
Alternatively, it was also used to obtain the Maru that is currently summoned or the Dark Sword that he is holding.
In that case, can I offer sacrifices in reverse?
When trying to send back the Maru, it was impossible due to the insufficient level of the altar.
But what about a person? Will they be treated the same as monsters?
I planned to experiment with this guy's curiosity.
It may seem cruel, but now it was a matter of survival for me.
I need to thoroughly check what functions there are. I have to use them to enhance my power.
Before that, I wanted to finish the current work.
"Is this enough?"
At least I didn't kill the boy.
Instead, I showed mercy by even using healing skills.
Ji Tae-hoon realized that what I said was really true and nodded his head. Then, after looking at his fallen son once, he took the dagger in his hand.
The next thing happened in an instant.
"Click!"
Ji Tae-hoon's hand holding the dagger went straight to his own neck.
He stabbed himself in the neck with the dagger.
With the sound of gurgling from his throat, Ji Tae-hoon's body collapsed.
At the same time, an alert came up.
Not on the smartphone, but right in front of my eyes.
The ability 'True Owner of the Dungeon' has been activated.
Would you like to make this hunter a sacrifice for your own dungeon?