Chapter 107
Chapter 107
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 107
Chapter Title: The Variable Dungeon Incident
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An interior construction site in a commercial building.
“Groooan.”
Jang Chaewon clutched her hair with both hands.
At her feet lay the wreckage of a shattered lighting fixture, scattered in pitiful ruins.
“Heavenly Demon, what the hell did you just do?”
“Didn’t you tell me to remove the lighting?”
“This lighting was supposed to be removed and reused elsewhere! How many times did I have to say it?”
“Did I?”
The Heavenly Demon’s innocent reply made Jang Chaewon’s eyes roll back white.
“What are we going to do about this? This chandelier lighting isn’t even made anymore!”
“Not made anymore?”
“It’s discontinued. Do you have any idea how rare this is?”
“Rare? It’s cheap junk.”
“What?”
The Heavenly Demon spoke flatly to Jang Chaewon, who was glaring at him with eyes rolled back.
“Lamp-style lighting has already been phased out of the interior design market.”
The Heavenly Demon recalled a booklet he’d read a few days ago on the history of interior lighting. His words flowed smoothly.
“Nowadays, quantum dot LED lights are out—they cut electricity bills drastically and shine brighter.”
“And?”
“This chandelier that guzzles electricity is practically a relic from a bygone era. It needs to be scrapped.”
“Hey, you!”
Unable to stomach the Heavenly Demon’s nonsense any longer, Jang Chaewon jumped up.
“Stuff like this isn’t a relic from a bygone era—it’s called an antique! An antique! An expensive antique!”
“It’s an outdated piece of junk with no aesthetic value and poor performance and efficiency.”
“Who are you to decide that? It’s up to the client.”
“Convincing ignorant clients is part of an expert’s duty.”
Jang Chaewon bared her teeth at his unyielding attitude and twisted logic.
“So. What exactly do you plan to do?”
“Calmly explain it to the client.”
The Heavenly Demon placed a hand on Jang Chaewon’s shoulder and spoke in a soothing tone.
“Tell them you’ll install economical quantum dot LED lighting instead of the inefficient old junk.”
“You think they’ll go for it?”
“It’s free installation. Why wouldn’t they?”
Even explaining exhausted him.
Jang Chaewon turned sharply on her heel, nodding with a resigned expression.
“Fine. I’ll try convincing them.”
“Good thinking.”
“But you, Heavenly Demon—you’re getting docked pay this month. No, no salary except meal allowances. Got it?”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’ll have to dip into your pay to install that fancy new quantum dot LED you rave about, won’t I?”
The Heavenly Demon’s vision went dark.
To think Jang Chaewon—who’d overlooked all his mistakes so far—would be this stingy.
“Free installation was my mistake.”
“What?”
“My Ramas is waiting for new shoes (tires). If there’s no money this month, it’ll have to run on slick, slippery shoes.”
“Not my problem.”
“Store owner!”
Ignoring the Heavenly Demon’s cry, Jang Chaewon turned and strode out coldly.
* * *
Near the Variable Dungeon boundary in the Safe Dungeon zone.
“What the hell is that?”
Awakeners watching the foggy Variable Dungeon boundary from afar buzzed with chatter.
At the edge of the boundary zone stood monsters that had never appeared before, arrayed in formation.
“They look just like Cyclops.”
A massive single eye and mouth taking up eighty percent of their faces. And enormous bodies.
These giant humanoid monsters evoked the one-eyed beasts from mythology: Cyclops.
“But why are they just standing there?”
Dozens of the monsters hadn’t crossed into the Safe Dungeon zone. They were halted in the misty boundary area.
As if waiting for someone.
“Those guys look like they’d drop some amazing relics. Should we take a shot?”
When one Awakener muttered that, his companion shook his head.
“Are you insane? You wanna go in there?”
But a few money-hungry Awakener teams were whispering greedily.
“Let’s take out just one first.”
“Maybe hit them with ranged skills to be safe?”
A few gathered Awakeners edged forward, eyeing the monsters.
Just as faint light began to emanate from their bodies, as if they were about to attack—
“That’s the Association’s job. Touch it and you’re all dead.”
A low, calm shout came from behind.
“Don’t throw your lives away for money.”
“Who’s spouting that arrogant crap?”
The Awakeners whipped around, glaring.
There stood a young man in a customized Nano Suit that looked straight out of a fantasy movie robe.
Receiving all their stares, the young man continued.
“That monster’s called a Cyclops. Estimated threat level: 6,000.”
Stepping forward, he addressed the Awakeners.
“It shoots high-heat beams from its eye that can melt steel, and once it sees you as an enemy, it hunts you relentlessly. You wanna attack a pack like that? Trying to break the shield?”
“6,000?”
The Awakeners murmured at his words.
If he was right, charging those Cyclops would mean melting under dozens of high-heat beams.
“Hey, buddy. You pulling our leg? You don’t look like Association staff—how do you know about Variable Dungeon monsters?”
A man with a buzz cut and an axe-shaped weapon slung on his back from the Awakener group asked. The young man smirked.
“Hey, if you wanna die, be my guest.”
Having said his piece, the young man turned away. With a quiet mutter.
“The real deal’s the one behind those Cyclops. Not that they’d accept anyway.”
The Awakeners watched his fading figure and started buzzing again.
“Who’s that guy? Never seen him before.”
But a woman in a Nano Suit let out an “Ah!” and shouted.
“That’s Seo Dong-ha from Team Phoenix.”
“Team Phoenix?”
Team Phoenix.
A childish name, but one of the elite guilds in the top ten nationwide.
Composed entirely of 1st Grade Awakeners, every member of Team Phoenix possessed multi-class skills.
Seo Dong-ha, however, was a ranged dealer who supported from the shadows, so he was less known than the others.
“Why would a provincial team come here?”
The Awakeners could only watch Seo Dong-ha trudge away in bewilderment.
* * *
Inside the Heavenly Demon’s rooftop room.
Seated before a low table, the Heavenly Demon read a book titled ‘You Can Drive with Homemade Repairs.’
Nameless sat beside him blankly, watching TV with the volume low.
“This method should work.”
Having pored over the book, the Heavenly Demon nodded at a photo of carving tread patterns into bald tires with a knife.
“This should last a month.”
Nameless peeked at the book the Heavenly Demon was staring at and gasped.
[Heavenly Demon. Where on earth did you get a book like this?]
“Kim gave it to me. I asked him to lend money for car repairs, and he handed me this.”
Nameless looked up, mouth agape.
[That Kim Chanwon, who cherishes his car, gave you this?]
“He said it’s like a bible to car poor folks.”
Nameless’s sensor eyes blinked faintly as it replied weakly.
[Do you know what ‘car poor’ means?]
“From what I gathered in Kim’s chatter, it means someone truly devoted to their car.”
Not an entirely contextless interpretation. It just omitted ‘obsessed with buying expensive imports.’
[Heavenly Demon. This book is a compilation of all the wrong info and bogus knowledge floating online. You absolutely must not follow these repair methods.]
“No choice. The store owner’s raging about compensating for the lighting I smashed.”
[Heavenly Demon.]
“Quiet. You watch your TV.”
Nameless’s emotions grew impossibly complex watching the Heavenly Demon, eyes bloodshot, dive back into the book.
Joy? Or pity?
The Heavenly Demon, who could obliterate even Hidden Monsters in one hit if things went south.
To think he’d embody the plight of office workers borrowing from friends at month’s end.
[Oh? Heavenly Demon.]
Then Nameless, watching TV, extended its limbs and spoke.
[Big trouble.]
“What is it?”
Instead of answering, Nameless raised the TV volume.
-…An unusual phenomenon has occurred at the Variable Dungeon boundary. Cyclops from the Variable Dungeon known as the Study Room have appeared en masse up to the Safe Dungeon boundary. Details follow…
The TV screen showed a legion of Cyclops encamped at the Variable Dungeon boundary.
“What of it?”
[It seems related to what you reconstructed the other day, Heavenly Demon.]
A few days ago, the Heavenly Demon had entered the Variable Dungeon with Nameless to gather materials.
On their way out, a peculiar Cyclops chased him relentlessly.
The very monster on TV: the Cyclops.
“I merely caught one beast.”
[What if you smashed the Cyclops along with the Study Room Dungeon?]
Was it because the Heavenly Demon harvested dungeon materials?
For whatever reason, the Cyclops attacked him desperately.
The Heavenly Demon dispatched it in one blow, but the force wrecked part of the Study Room Dungeon.
[Monsters from Variable Dungeons entering Safe Dungeon boundaries like this—never happened before. Especially not in such a pack.]
The Heavenly Demon’s actions had sparked countless unforeseen events so far.
Nameless concluded this incident stemmed from his actions too.
“You blame me for everything.”
The Heavenly Demon spoke flatly, eyeing Nameless’s dimly flickering sensor eyes.
“Dungeons are battlefields where you risk life. Nothing’s out of the ordinary.”
[Still, shouldn’t we check? See if the dungeon changed or reconstructed after you left.]
Only the Heavenly Demon could fix anomalies he caused.
That was Nameless’s takeaway from cleaning up his past messes.
“Too much hassle.”
But the Heavenly Demon showed no interest, eyes back on his book.
[Heavenly Demon.]
“Quiet. I need to solve the vehicle issue now.”
Nameless flinched briefly.
This won’t do. We must check!
Its sensor eyes sparkling with duty, Nameless devised a clever ploy after some thought.
[Ah! Heavenly Demon. Didn’t that Variable Dungeon have lighting?]
The Heavenly Demon frowned at the out-of-left-field remark.
“What’re you on about?”
[The Study Room Dungeon. I remember a huge chandelier inside.]
The Heavenly Demon instantly pictured the Study Room Dungeon interior.
A vast library like an ancient book hall, lined with massive shelves.
Hanging from its ceiling was a tree-shaped chandelier with lush leaves, glimmering softly.
[What if we take that chandelier and use it? It’s a dungeon, so the lighting counts as dungeon material for sure.]
“You can take dungeon structures out and use them?”
[I’m not entirely sure. But worth a try.]
Drawing close to the Heavenly Demon, Nameless coaxed softly.
[It won’t hurt you anyway, right? Check the dungeon’s state, and if we score something good, win-win.]
“Hmm.”
Clever idea.
Hooked by Nameless’s sly words like a mark at a shell game, the Heavenly Demon nodded.
“Might as well go.”
* * *
An office in the Strategic Planning Department of the Korean Awakener Association.
Chohong took a deep breath and knocked on the firmly shut door.
“Special Response Team Leader, Chohong reporting.”
Entering, she beheld a luxurious office.
Across from her stood a man gazing out the window, back turned: Strategic Planning Director Kim Suwoong.
“You called for me?”
“Been a while.”
Chohong bowed slightly, but Director Kim Suwoong muttered without turning.
“Heard you’ve been through a lot lately.”
“No, sir.”
Chohong’s voice stayed low and even.
She always tried to strip emotion from her tone when facing Kim Suwoong.
“How is it? Any inconveniences?”
Chohong furrowed her brow at Director Kim Suwoong’s words, spoken without looking back.
The ink-stained bureaucrat never formed proper sentences.
As Chohong held her silence, Kim Suwoong turned with a smirk.
“I mean the Special Response Team’s new digs. Put real effort into building them.”
Chohong didn’t answer right away.
Truth be told, no complaints so far. But agreeing felt like accepting the unfair treatment.
As she hesitated, Director Kim Suwoong shook his head.
“Never mind. Not why I called you.”
Snow-white hair. Eyes and build honed like a blade, despite nearing fifty.
The phrase ‘not a drop of blood if pricked with a needle’ fit him perfectly.
“You’re lucky, Team Leader Chohong.”
“What do you mean?”
“Han Manjae, Yoo Eunho, Shin Chaeyoung… Top talents even in the Association.”
Director Kim Suwoong’s speech grated on Chohong’s nerves every time.
Finally, fixing her gaze on the floor before lifting it, she said.
“What do you mean?”
“Of course, the best is you, Team Leader Chohong.”
As his circuitous talk grew tiresome, Kim Suwoong spoke again.
“So, about this incident… Handle it with the Special Response Team.”
He glanced at the documents on the desk.
Chohong picked up the folder where Director Kim Suwoong’s eyes lingered, puzzled.
“You saw the news, right, Team Leader? Cyclops packs from the Variable Dungeon appearing at the boundary. Like they’re patrolling, at regular intervals.”
“Impossible.”
Chohong shook her head, scanning the folder detailing the Cyclops monsters.
“Even for us, taking on 40 to 50 clustered in a Variable Dungeon is too much.”
“Not easy, sure.”
“It’s a Raid Team mission from the start. No reason for our understaffed team to risk it.”
Handling Variable Dungeon zones fell squarely to Raid Teams.
And sending a four-man Special Response Team on a veteran squad of ten-plus job?
“You know the Association Raid Team’s core agents are all down in Yangyang.”
“Then commission a guild.”
Director Kim Suwoong pointed to the back of the folder Chohong held.
“Already asked some guilds and top ranker teams. All refused.”
Smiling oddly, Kim Suwoong met Chohong’s eyes.
“No teams with skills to handle the monster behind the Cyclops packs.”
“Behind them?”
“Didn’t see?”
Chohong finally scrutinized the folder’s last page.
Kim Suwoong watched with that odd smile.
“Now you see why I’m assigning this to you?”
“…….”
“No one else can do it.”
Having read to the end, Chohong clenched her fist. Kim Suwoong smiled faintly.
“I authorize skill use.”