Chapter 57
Chapter 57
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 57
Chapter Title: Legions of Death (3)
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It's been 25 years since monsters first appeared in the world.
In that time, humanity has advanced significantly, developing systems so robust that even major incidents can now be handled swiftly.
When something huge like a Monster Wave breaks out, the Awakener Centers in the affected area detect it first.
From there, reports go up to higher authorities like the Dungeon Management Bureau, and eventually, the situation reaches the Hunter Association quickly.
Of course, to minimize casualties, hunters are deployed right away in the initial stages.
But it wasn't just hunters being sent to the scene of the incident.
"Breaking news! A Monster Wave has occurred in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province!"
The announcer delivered the urgent bulletin in a tense voice.
"We'll provide more details as soon as we receive updates!"
Even in the dead of night, every channel was broadcasting related news without exception.
Reporters already on site were pumping out live breaking stories in real time.
"...In connection with this breaking news, we've invited Professor Oh Dong-seok from Hunter Academy, a long-time monster researcher."
Some outlets had been quick—not only deploying cameras to the scene but already securing experts.
"Hello, I'm Oh Dong-seok."
The man who gave a brief introduction was Professor Oh Dong-seok, currently teaching at Hunter Academy.
Though introduced as a monster researcher, he had originally been a hunter himself.
One of the first-generation hunters from the early days, no less.
Having fought on the front lines in his prime, he still had an impressive physique even in middle age.
His massive build was imposing enough to look out of place at the news desk.
"Yes, Professor, it's a pleasure. Please forgive us for bringing you on under such urgent circumstances."
The announcer transitioned smoothly.
"Haha, no worries."
Oh Dong-seok gave an awkward smile and waited for the next question.
"A Monster Wave has hit our country. Could you explain to our viewers exactly what a Monster Wave is?"
At the announcer's question, Professor Oh Dong-seok began.
"Sure. A Monster Wave refers to monsters bursting out from inside a dungeon. The leading theory is that it happens when the monster population inside surges dramatically. Think of it like monsters escaping an overcrowded house—easy enough to grasp."
"I see. So, as you describe it, a Monster Wave occurs when the dungeon can no longer contain the monsters. Doesn't that mean neglecting dungeons until this point is the real issue?"
Oh Dong-seok nodded at the announcer's question.
That was why governments and guilds periodically cleared dungeons.
They either destroyed the dungeon core to eliminate it entirely or regularly culled the monsters to keep using the dungeon.
For instance, if a dungeon was deemed too dangerous or poorly located for management, they just wiped it out.
On the flip side, if it was manageable or valuable, they used it for training hunters or harvesting resources.
25 years ago, when the great cataclysm hit Earth.
Humanity had gained hope amid despair—that was Oh Dong-seok's view.
Dungeons and monsters had forced another massive leap forward for mankind.
Monster byproducts, resources buried in dungeons, and unique flora and fauna that only grew there—they all presented new paradigms.
In short, dungeons were both a curse and a blessing to humanity.
"Before blaming neglect, we need to check who was managing that dungeon. If the government or a guild slacked off and let it escalate, they can't escape responsibility."
The government couldn't handle all these dungeons alone.
That's why guilds managed them too, with government permission.
Of course, it wasn't the government offering first.
Guilds had pressured the government to let them manage dungeons for their own interests.
"Thank you for that insight, Professor. We've just heard that the Association's emergency response team has been dispatched.
It's rare for the Association to step in directly these days—they must see this as serious. What's your take?"
"Well, without an official statement, I'm hesitant to speculate... but it seems the Association is rating this Monster Wave at least B-rank or higher."
Oh Dong-seok took a sip from the water in front of him and continued.
"What matters most is the types of monsters involved. Broadly, they fall into two categories."
He held up two fingers.
"One acts purely on instinct and desire—primal monsters, essentially. The other has intelligence."
"Intelligent monsters... Professor, if the one leading this has intelligence, won't our hunters struggle?"
The announcer emphasized "our hunters."
"Can't say for sure. Intelligent ones might even be open to negotiation."
Oh Dong-seok kept explaining.
Intelligent monsters sometimes approached humans first with offers.
There were cases where they bribed hunters to protect their dungeons and survive.
Conversely, hunters had begged dungeon lords for mercy.
So, intelligent monsters always carried the potential for talks.
As Oh Dong-seok spoke, the announcer cut in.
"Breaking update! The Hunter Association's emergency team has arrived on site. Switching to our field camera."
The screen shifted from the announcer and professor to the Monster Wave site.
The emergency team's hunters were gathered there.
And in front of them. ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ "I wish to negotiate with you." The leader of the Monster Wave spoke.
"Just as you said, Professor—the word 'negotiation' is out. Looks like an intelligent one."
But the hunter rejected the offer.
Oh Dong-seok watched the screen silently.
The negotiating monster seemed to say something, but no sound came through.
Instead, hunters were pushing reporters back, and the camera was pulling away.
"Oh, looks like the hunters are about to attack!"
One hunter from the emergency team moved.
Light poured from their body.
'Hunter Im Mi-rae.'
Oh Dong-seok stared at the screen, lost in thought briefly.
Im Mi-rae.
A Hunter Academy alum he'd personally taught as a student.
'With her stepping up, it'll be over quick.'
She was officially B-rank now.
But Oh Dong-seok saw her differently.
She could easily pass for A-rank.
Her abilities were top-tier.
That's why she'd joined the best guild, and now, by her own choice, the emergency team.
'Holy power attacks...'
Plus, most of this wave consisted of undead.
Including what looked like Death Knights and Liches.
All darkness-attribute.
'Darkness is weak to light.'
Im Mi-rae's power was holy-based—pure light attribute.
'They had a trump card.'
The team had rejected the monster's negotiation offer right away.
The situation was tricky, after all.
Accepting it would brand the Association as betraying humanity.
Reject and take heavy losses? That'd draw fire too.
So, they went straight in.
Im Mi-rae leading, with supports buffing her.
"How do you see the situation unfolding, Professor?"
Even amid this, the announcer kept questioning.
Probably needed reassurance.
"Eh, all talk. I think this wave ends here."
Even A-rank Death Knights struggled solo.
So Oh Dong-seok was optimistic.
"As expected. Oh, the hunter's attack is starting now!"
The announcer's face lit up.
Im Mi-rae's holy blast rocketed toward the monsters.
A massive explosion boomed, smoke billowing thickly.
"At least it's good news. The wave blocked with minimal—"
The announcer cut off.
"......"
Oh Dong-seok stared silently too.
No—the entire studio fell quiet.
"Huh?"
As smoke cleared, the revealed scene shocked everyone.
The hunter's attack... was blocked.
By the Death Knight.
But that wasn't the issue.
The Death Knight's massive shield.
And the maid outfit dangling from it.
Amid the stunned silence, only the maid outfit fluttered, asserting its presence.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
After the broadcast, the hunter community and HunterNet went crazy.
It was absolute chaos.
📰 Breaking News
Maid Cafe Pops Up in Anyang!!
— Anonymous
(Photo of maid outfit flapping.jpg)
PThat's none other than Death Maid-chan lolololololololol
—User123
↳ Reply Japan dropped poison in Korea! Japan apologize!(x3)
—GoblinSlayer
↳ Reply The monster became a maid ooyoo
—Denbro
↳ Reply Den-hyung, something's off about that place...
— Gaydar
↳ Reply Gaygayya.....
📰 Breaking News
Hunter Association Water Rocket Confirmed?
— RageQuit
If this Association President is that incompetent, He should resign lololol
Likes: 674 Dislikes: 1
—TaxHater
Damn What the hell does the Association even do? Just suck fees from us, total incompetents
—Loler
Fr lol gonna lose to that thing? Lmaoooo
—ImpeachNow President disrecommend real-name system lololol
📰 Breaking News
No way fucking way they blocked that attack?
— Gearhead
Turns out the maid outfit is broken OP gear?
—O
—O...
O...
⭐ Top Comment
—Thinker
Has some real merit to it?
— PartyFinder
Recruiting Death Knight sub party (1/10)
— Lolz
10 ppl and you get wiped lololol
📰 Breaking News
But who's that hunter next to the monster?
— Suspicious Why's that guy with the monster?
— EagleEye
Huh? Yeah now that you mention it.
— TraitorHunt
What? That dude siding with monsters?
📰 Breaking News
Lmaoooo Death Knight you madlad
— GifMaster
(Death Knight blocking all hunter attacks.gif)
He blocks like a boss? What's this guy's deal?
—Scaredy
I'm scared...
— Doomer
Ah lolololololololol!! Korea doomed gg
— RankCheck
That thing S-rank monster?
— FactCheck
Bs Death Knight is A-rank wtf
— Real
For real
Even Yi Kang-hyun, who was in the midst of playing a gacha game, was now connected to HunterNet.e.
"Whoa, what the hell happened."
Emergency texts about the Monster Wave kept coming.
It wasn't the atmosphere for playing gacha while something like this was happening.
He checked the posts flooding HunterNet.
Most of the real-time posts were related to Monster Wave.
Among them, the posts related to Death Knight were overwhelming.
"This is insane."
Seeing the Death Knight block attacks gave him chills.
"That guy's a total madlad."
But spotting the shield's maid outfit, Yi Kang-hyun burst out laughing.
"Ahahaha. What even is that."
The maid outfit attached to the shield caught his eye.
The combination of Death Knight and the shield didn't match at all, creating even more discomfort.
In fact, most of the real-time reactions were only about Death Knight and the maid outfit.
"Gotta be the dungeon lord, right? Whaddya think, Maru?"
Yi Kang-hyun addressed Maru.
That impactful? Definitely the boss.
"Huh?"
Maru, who always reacted, stayed still now.
"Maru, what's up?"
Turning, he saw Maru standing frozen, staring intently.
"Why you staring like that? Something on my face?"
Maru finally responded as he kept prodding.
"Tap-tap-"
In the past, Yi Kang-hyun wouldn't have understood Maru's words, but now it's different.
Since gaining a special ability, he began to hear the words of monsters.
"Huh? 'You are the master'?"
In response to Yi Kang-hyun's question, Maru spoke again..
"Tap-tap-"
This time, Maru pointed with his hand at the Death Knight Yi Kang-hyun was looking at, then pointed at Yi Kang-hyun.
"Tap-tap-"
Hm?
"That Death Knight is me...?"
Yi Kang-hyun shook his head, then something flashed.
"Nah, no way."
Maru nodded.
"...No friggin' way?"
He fired up the game quick.
Clicked Azmo's dungeon.
"Shit!"
Azmo's dungeon: empty.
No Death Knight or Lich either.
Checked everywhere—no trace.
"Ha..."
Yi Kang-hyun looked at the news with a bewildered look.
A Death Knight blocking hunters' attacks with a maid outfit shield was visible.
Because the maid outfit designs were all so similar, I had forgotten.
The costume selection voucher received as a reward for the first payment.
He picked maid outfit, gifted to Celia.
After that, when a dress came out, I gave it to Celia again, and I let Celia use the existing maid outfit on her own.
But the result turned out like this.
"This is ridiculous."
The owner of the Death Knight emitting a crazy presence while wearing a maid outfit is me.
I tried touching the screen here and there just in case, but there was no way to call them back after they had already left the dungeon.
Someone had to control them.
He had to go himself.
As he pondered...
📜 NEW QUEST 📜
An Emergency Mission has occurred.
📍 Objective: Rescue Azmo and Vetter!
🎁 Reward: Dungeon 'Temptation of Illusion' Relocation Ticket
Emergency mission.
Rescue dungeon manager Azmo and lieutenant Vetter.
There was no problem at the moment because there were Death Knights and Ark Lich.
But if the current situation continued, the government would eventually issue an order to mobilize hunters as a last resort.
No matter how strong they are, there was a limit to responding to the numerous hunters rushing in.
Ultimately, someone might be subdued.
Of course, people might get hurt or even die in the process.
But this was life-or-death for Yi Kang-hyun.
"Gotta clean this up fast."
They are precious assets guarding Yi Kang-hyun's dungeon.
It's a dungeon that is even connected to life itself.
If Death Knights and Ark Lich are subjugated, there will be a significant gap in the power of Celia's dungeon.
It was unknown how that gap would be filled later.
That's why a decision had to be made quickly.
"Before things get bigger, can't we just take them?"
We can't afford to see any more damage.
But if those guys cause more damage here, it will become irreversible.
If we were to say there was any silver lining, it would be that those guys didn't cause much harm to the hunters.
Instead, they seemed to focus solely on defense.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙
Measuring emergency mission difficulty.
Emergency mission difficulty does not match current dungeon master Yi Kang-hyun's level.
Excluding all causality temporarily for adjustment.
Lifting entry restrictions on dimensional gate between Dungeon 'Nest of the Evil God' and Dungeon 'Temptation of Illusion'.
"?"
Removal of entrance restrictions for the dimensional gate!
It was like a godsend for Yi Kang-hyun..
But he had no intention of making the same mistake again.
Ultimately, it was his fault that Azmo caused this incident.
"I will personally manage all monster waves from now on."
He painfully realized that at least the monster waves should never be released freely.
At the very least, he planned to set up safety measures.
And one more thing.
"Wait, how did Death Knight and Arch Lich even get out?"
Haven't we always been fussing about causality?
So even if they were dispatched, he thought Death Knight and Arch Lich couldn't leave the dungeon.
His thinking was too naive.
"Jeez, who knows."
Whether a loophole was found or some kind of conflict occurred, he would find out later.
For now, that wasn't important.
Taking this incident as a lesson, Yi Kang-hyun immediately gave orders to Celia.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙
【Rescue Azmo and bring those bastards back】
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙
【Minimize casualties in the process】
Of course, there was an important emphasis.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙
【Absolutely no more incidents! Quietly extract just them. By any means.】
Now, the only person he could trust was Celia.
"Maru."
Yi Kang-hyun called.
"We're heading out too!"
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
【Rescue Azmo and bring him back】
Celia, who was working, raised her head.
It had been a long time since her master had given an order.
【Minimize casualties in the process】
"I obey the Great One."
Celia bowed.
This mission was quite a difficult one, rescuing comrades.
According to her master's orders, they had to minimize the damage.
Of course, before taking action, they had to prepare at least some measures.
"Shadow."
A shadow appeared behind at her call.
"Relay to Irena."
Princess Ilena of the Sale Kingdom.
But now, she was on Celia's side.
"Tell everyone in the kingdom to prohibit entry into the mountains until I return. Those who violate this will be punished accordingly."
Shadow bowed once and vanished.
At least, there would be no humans entering the mountains through the Sale Kingdom.
Moreover, even if they did, it wouldn't be a big problem.
Not only had they dispatched the shadow to Princess Ilena, but they had also infiltrated the kingdom with skeleton knights disguised as well.
Of course, those who had received the master's mercy had limits on where they could go, so the skeleton knights relied on the power of the association.
It was possible to some extent because the association had been influenced by Celia's power.
Celia immediately summoned the Goblin Lord.
"Goblin Lord, gather your forces from now on. You will accompany me. Of course, you must leave some units to scout the forest."
Goblin Lord received Celia's command and promptly summoned his scouting party.
"Denver."
She called Denver, who roamed the dungeon.
Once an adventurer, he had now become a ghoul and part of the dungeon.
"Go to the nearby dungeons and inform everyone."
Under Celia's control, there were four dungeons.
There used to be more, but the great master had combined all but four dungeons.
It was truly a miraculous ability.
"Raise the borders of all the dungeons to the highest level. From now on, consider any being entering the area as an enemy."
She particularly urged the nagas in the fourth area to raise their defenses to the maximum.
As soon as Celia gave the order, the nagas emerged from the lake and began guarding the surroundings.
Even with these measures, there should be no intruders in the dungeon, but Celia checked everything until the end.
The core at the center of the dungeon.
And she glanced at the being guarding that core.
A figure cloaked in a large robe.
"Well, this should be enough to ease any concerns."
Celia turned her eyes away.
Now it was time to depart to carry out the master's orders.
Celia even called the skeleton knights who guarded her workspace.
Clack-
At that moment, Goblin Lord had also finished all the preparations.
Under his command, goblins armed to the teeth were lined up.
Celia nodded as she looked at them.
They belong to the reconnaissance unit guarding the forest around the dungeon.
So, through trade, they specially outfitted their equipment to the best.
You shouldn't think of them as ordinary goblins.
"Now, let's go carry out the master's orders."
A distorted space appeared in front of Celia.
It was a dimensional portal.
Moreover, it was a dimensional portal connected to the "Temptation of Illusion" dungeon on Earth.
Celia and Goblin Lord began to enter the dimensional portal.
Following them, skeleton knights and goblins also headed into the dimensional portal.