Chapter 190: Destruction King (6)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 190: Destruction King (6)
After tucking in Hornet, who had fainted from satisfaction, and covering her with a blanket, I step out of the room.
Back in my own quarters, I am reviewing the current progress of the Dungeon Impact strategies I received from Song Jae-ah when I hear a knock.
"Yes, come in."
The members of Black Unicorn respect me, but they usually don't bother knocking, so it’s easy to tell who it is.
"Excuse me."
Yoko enters with a polite greeting. Seeing me sitting at the table looking at my tablet, she gives a shy smile.
"I apologize for visiting so late. The open-air bath is ready, so you may use it whenever you like."
"Already?"
"Yes. I’ve cleaned it thoroughly and filled it with fresh water and supplies."
When I express my surprise, Yoko responds with a bright smile.
Her short bob and cheerful expression are so cute that I can't help but smile back. I was planning on going straight to sleep, but I can't turn her down after she went to all that trouble.
I set down the tablet, stand up, and follow Yoko toward the bath.
"Have you ever used a hot spring in Japan before?"
Of course I have, but I pretend to know nothing.
As expected, the kind Yoko follows me inside like a tour guide and introduces the bath to me. From basic bathing etiquette to the specific health benefits of the water, she explains everything fluently, just as expected of the innkeeper's daughter.
Steam rises from the bath, and the surrounding area is decorated to look like it's nestled in the middle of nature. It’s a beautiful sight.
Yoko sits by the edge of the bath, which is surrounded by rounded stones, and tucks up her sleeves to check the water temperature with her hand.
"The temperature is perfect. It will be great for your recovery."
"Yes, thank you for taking care of me."
"It’s only natural. Please let me know if you need anything else."
As Yoko stands up to leave, I glance toward the showerhead and speak.
"It’s a shame I’m alone. It’s hard to scrub my own back."
"Ah, you're right. It really feels like a proper bath when someone scrubs your back for you."
Yoko nods and thinks for a moment before speaking.
"Shall I call for a male attendant?"
No!! Absolutely not!!
Since I only intended to drop a hint this time, I shake my head and decline. I have to lay the bait now so I can reel something in later.
"No, that won't be necessary. You've already prepared the bath; I shouldn't ask for too much."
Yoko suggests it a few more times, but when I keep refusing, she looks a bit disappointed. She tells me to call her if I need anything and heads out.
I head to the changing room, strip down, give my body a quick rinse, and sink into the hot spring.
"Phew..."
This is nice.
It’s not that the hot spring actually has some miraculous effect, but being able to relax in a spacious bath designed to look like nature—and having it all to myself—feels incredible.
I look down at my cock swaying gently in the warm water, then tilt my head back to see the night sky.
Man—this is the life.
Staring at the stars while bathing gives such a sense of liberation that all my fatigue seems to melt away. This must be why people seek out hot springs.
As I soak my body in the warm water, feeling drowsy, another thought crosses my mind.
The inn staff don't come into the bath except for cleaning, which means I'm the only one who can come here. That means there would be no problem even if I brought someone else along.
No, not yet. Down, boy.
I suppress my rising cock and finish enjoying my bath before heading back up to my room.
*
The next day, we conduct anti-personnel training as scheduled.
Satomi oversees the swordwork of Yoon A-young and Anna, while Kwon Ye-jin and Hornet enter the training ground to spar.
After setting up a whiteboard and giving Lee Yu-na a lecture on tactics, I take a short break to watch the members train.
Sipping the tea provided by the inn, Lee Yu-na brings over a measuring device. She checks the contamination levels on my arm and records them on her tablet.
I’m truly lucky to have Lee Yu-na, who handles even these tedious administrative tasks so meticulously. After checking everyone’s levels, she returns and shares the data with my tablet.
"The levels are gradually accumulating."
"It can't be helped. We're clearing dungeons at an excessive rate."
"Oh my, so you are aware that the number of clears is high."
Lee Yu-na teases me with a laugh.
Hmm, maybe it really is too much overwork. I’ve been keeping an eye on the members while clearing the dungeons, and it didn't feel like they were reaching a point of extreme exhaustion, but...
If I just get excited and clear dungeons on my own, it’ll only breed resentment and won't help the party in the long run.
"You don't have to reduce the number of clears."
Lee Yu-na gives me a soft smile, seeing my concern.
"How did you know what I was thinking?"
"Because you're always thinking about Black Unicorn, Yeon-woo. You were worried the members might be finding it too difficult, weren't you?"
"Well... yeah."
"It's fine. I've talked to them a lot when you weren't around, and everyone is doing okay."
Lee Yu-na looks toward the training members as she speaks.
"They take pride in the fact that they're resolving the Dungeon Impact more diligently than anyone else, and they're satisfied because they're getting stronger with every dungeon. All that talk about rest and fatigue is just them joking around, so don't let it get to you."
"But it is actually hard."
"The harder it is, the more pride and satisfaction they feel. Everyone trusts and follows you, so please, feel free to use Black Unicorn to your heart's content."
Well, if she puts it that way.
The new members, Hornet and Satomi, are starting to bond with the team, so I should push hard while I can.
"But the contamination levels are still an issue."
"I don't know if it'll be a huge help, but I have prepared a countermeasure."
"Haha, as expected, you always prepare so thoroughly."
"But I really don't know if it'll work or not. It's still a prototype."
"A prototype?"
Lee Yu-na tilts her head and looks at me. I explain the equipment I’m developing by investing in Park Su-jin’s company.
"Removing mana pollution... that’s incredible equipment. You could win a Nobel Prize for that."
"It can't treat people who have already reached a critical level of contamination and can no longer use mana. It simply accelerates the rate at which it’s naturally discharged from the body."
"Even that is amazing. Everyone’s dungeon clears are being delayed because of contamination levels."
That’s true. If the equipment had been properly approved before the Dungeon Impact, it would have been a massive help to the heroes here.
"I heard they were coming today... Ah, speak of the devil."
I pick up the phone call from Park Su-jin.
—"Hey, what the hell did you guys do to make the roads so impassable here?"
Sorry, man. I cleared dungeons like a madman but couldn't solve the traffic problem.
Park Su-jin starts complaining the moment she picks up. She says she traveled by ship to get as close as possible, but the road from the pier to the inn is blocked.
"Isn't there anyone directing traffic nearby? The Association should have cleared a path."
—"Huh? Wait a sec. Excuse me! Hey! Do you speak Korean? English?"
What kind of person asks if someone speaks Korean in Korean?
Over the phone, I hear the voice of Kang Hye-in, her secretary who handles all the business affairs. She has someone right next to her who speaks Japanese fluently; I don't know why she was trying to talk herself.
—"Oh, found it! I'm coming now, so wait for me!"
Park Su-jin hangs up abruptly after saying what she wanted to say. I’ll have to give that brat a lesson in manners when she gets here.
Lee Yu-na, who overheard the call, just gives an awkward smile.
A short while later, a luxury sedan and a massive cargo truck arrive in front of the inn.
"Yeon-yu!"
Dressed flashily like a fashionista, Park Su-jin jumps out of the car and runs to hug me.
"Did you miss me? What about food? Are you eating? Want to go get something delicious? I know a great place in Tokyo."
"It's been a while. But isn't Tokyo a bit far to go just for a meal?"
"Ugh, playing hard to get again. Well, I guess that's your charm."
Is this playing hard to get? She’s a strange one, asking someone who came for relief efforts to go that far just for dinner.
Behind her, Secretary Kang Hye-in and a blonde foreigner I’ve never seen before step out of the sedan.
"Jung Yeon-yu?"
"It's Yeon-woo, not Yeon-yu."
"Oh! Yeon-yu. You are a total genius. Genius? Is that right?"
When the blonde asks, Kang Hye-in nods with an awkward smile.
I guess this is her. I appreciate the greeting in awkward Korean, but I think it would be better if she just spoke English.
"Jane Hudwood? Nice to meet you. I'm Jung Yeon-woo."
"Oh, you speak English. Of course, you're a genius, so naturally you can."
Jane keeps calling me a genius.
This is the first time I've met her in person, but Jane is a foreign researcher I was introduced to through Lana Grace’s connections—the one who bought my hero card. She is the chief researcher at Park Su-jin’s company and was in charge of the prototype they built this time.
"No, I only provided the idea. I know nothing about the research. It’s all thanks to Jane."
"No! That kind of brilliant idea is what separates a genius from the mediocre. A mediocre person like me just memorizes theories all day, but a genius like Yeon-yu can come up with ideas that change the world."
Sorry, I just passed on Rahiya's lines exactly as they were.
There’s no way a former soldier like me would have any knowledge related to research. Jane, who took a nonsensical theory she only heard in dialogue and made it a reality, is the real genius.
Having a genius mistake me for a genius and call me one is incredibly embarrassing.
"I have so much I want to talk about. Do you have any other ideas? How did you extract the mana lines created by mana pollution? What kind of calculation formula did you use for the mechanics?"
Jane fires questions at me without pause.
I'm sorry. I have no idea what you're talking about.
I look at Park Su-jin bitterly, and she looks just as fed up, as if she’s washed her hands of Jane.
"She's a bit weird, but she's competent."
"She certainly seems competent."
Watching Jane nod to herself and provide her own answers after firing off questions, we share an awkward laugh and look at the cargo truck behind her.
"It's bigger than I thought."
"We focused on functionality, so we haven't been able to downsize it yet."
"Oh, you sounded like a real businesswoman just now."
"I am a businesswoman, okay? Though your help was a big part of it... anyway, I'm working hard."
I pat Park Su-jin’s head as she grumbles like a child wanting praise.
With Park Su-jin leaning into my hand with a goofy grin, I check out the cargo truck. It feels like they turned the entire container on the truck into a machine. It’s filled with wires as thick as forearms running in every direction, and in the center is a capsule large enough for one person to enter.
"We have completed the second stage of clinical trials."
When Kang Hye-in speaks quietly from the side, I nod.
As the prototype is revealed, Jane starts babbling excitedly about something, but I can't understand even half of it. Anyway, it means it's safe, right?
Since the machine essentially just aids natural healing, there’s no risk of contamination levels suddenly spiking or side effects occurring. Unless we cranked the output much higher, that is.
"Uh, what's this? Isn't that the shit-colored skin?"
Among the members who finished training and came out late, Kwon Ye-jin spots Park Su-jin and scowls.
"The Purple One isn't dead yet, I see."
"You sound like you wish I were."
"Of course I wish you were dead, you bitch."
They’ve been at each other's throats since their days at the Break Line. The two of them, chests pressed together as if they might kiss, growl and bicker.
Lee Yu-na looks at Park Su-jin and then stares blankly at me for a moment. I suppose it looks strange to her that I’m close with Park Su-jin, the daughter of Park Sung-jun, with whom I’m an enemy.
Jane stands behind me and grins.
"Would you like to test it?"
"Me?"
"Yes. I guarantee its safety. In fact, the output is so low that you couldn't do anything bad with it even if you tried. There’s still a lot left to develop."
Jane’s beautiful green eyes sparkle with the hope that I’ll test it. Having realized my theory—or rather, Rahiya’s theory delivered through my mouth—into reality, she seems to want to show off her masterpiece to me.
Looking at Jane’s overwhelmingly sparkling eyes, I nod and approach the capsule.
"Wait! Master! You're going in when there might be side effects?!"
"Side effects?! You bitch, are you insulting a product made by my company?!"
Leaving the two of them to fight again, Jane activates the device and opens the capsule.
Rahiya made a bracelet just like that, but seeing this massive equipment makes me realize how absurd her feat was.
Once the capsule closes, my levels appear on the glass door at the entrance.
"Commencing discharge."
Jane excitedly operates the device, while Park Su-jin and Kang Hye-in look at me with confident expressions.
After the members wait for about thirty minutes with worried faces, I am able to step out. Jane rushes over and attaches a measuring device to my wrist.
"Please keep this on for the next twenty-four hours."
The device records not just contamination levels, but also my heart rate and other physical data. She probably wants to see what changes occur.
"Master, are you okay?"
"I'm fine. And it definitely helps."
I marvel at my data displayed on the monitor. It’s not quite at the level of the bracelet Rahiya made, but the speed at which the contamination levels are disappearing has increased.
"How long does this effect last?"
"Um... five hours. I haven't been able to fully express Yeon-yu's genius ideas yet."
The previously confident Jane looks away with a bitter smile.
Thirty minutes of work for five hours of maintenance. That’s not bad for a prototype.
Lee Yu-na, who is wearing a measuring device for comparison, looks at my contamination levels and nods.
"We'll have to keep watching, but for now, it's about 1.3 times faster. This alone is enough to release as a product."
"Did you hear that, Purple One?"
"It's only 0.3 times faster. What are you acting so proud for?"
"1.3 is plenty," Lee Yu-na says, looking at Kwon Ye-jin. "At this speed, Black Unicorn can clear dungeons without worrying about mana pollution."
"Eh... really?"
"Since our contamination levels are so low to begin with... as long as the number of clears doesn't increase further... we can maintain it just barely."
Since Black Unicorn accumulates mana pollution at an almost unnaturally low rate, Lee Yu-na gives an awkward laugh.
But why did she glance at me when she mentioned the number of clears? It’s not like I’m some evil boss driving them like slaves.
"Does that mean... we don't have any days off?"
"We're open 365 days a year."
Seeing Kwon Ye-jin despair, Park Su-jin cackles with laughter.
Hmm... I suppose I should give them some rest.
The prototype turned out quite well, even if it is a bit large, so now all we have to do is clear dungeons diligently.
Everyone’s going to keep following my lead, right?
...Why is everyone avoiding my eyes?