The Cursed Fortress
I called Captain Im. “Are you following me?”
“That’s correct.”
“You said the contract would be terminated if tailing, surveillance, or wiretapping was discovered. Did you forget?”
“I’m aware.”
“Then why…?”
“Mr. Eun-seong, we’re not tailing or surveilling you. We’re providing close protection.”
“Protection?”
“You’ve been designated a special protection target, so we have no choice but to maintain close escort.”
Ugh. Since getting caught doing it secretly would void the contract, they’re just going to stalk me openly now?
“I understand what you’re saying, but I’m fine on my own.”
“I’m sorry. It’s a direct order from the Minister, so we can’t disobey. We’ll make sure not to cause you any inconvenience.”
“……”
Irritation surged, but I couldn’t exactly take it out on Captain Im when he was just following orders. Was signing that contract a mistake? For a moment, the thought of operating as an unregistered Awakened crossed my mind. Still, I had my reasons for walking into the Defense Strategy Department myself, so I decided to tolerate the minor inconvenience. Nothing in this world is perfect. Advantages always come with drawbacks.
I’d have to discuss this with the Minister separately later.
Because rush hour had passed, traffic wasn’t bad, and we reached Sindorim Station quickly. Choi Yoo-ra was waiting for me, perched on the hood of her Lamborghini.
“What the hell are those guys?” she asked, glancing at Captain Im and his team trailing behind me.
“My stalkers.”
“What kind of bullshit is that?”
“Surveillance disguised as protection.”
“They’re really pushing it.”
Choi Yoo-ra shook her head in exasperation.
“Isn’t this going to get annoying for you?”
She looked uncomfortable because she operated independently without a contract with the Defense Strategy Department. Of course, she was still a registered Awakened.
“You’re not even unregistered.”
“True.”
“Just ignore them and focus on what we came to do.”
“If you say so. Let’s go.”
Choi Yoo-ra started walking. I followed her toward the old Techno Mart building that had once been a landmark at Sindorim Station. It was now a derelict ruin, and all sorts of hunters were loitering in front of it.
The reason was simple. Techno Mart had become a combined shopping mall for hunters. Why? Because it housed a wide variety of gates—single-use, transfer-type, fixed, roaming, and more. In Techno Mart’s case, dozens of fixed gates were crammed inside a single building, forming a cluster. Naturally, hunters gathered here.
“Where to, our one-star newbie?”
“Eighth floor.”
“That place is going to be a headache.”
Choi Yoo-ra frowned. Only one gate existed on the eighth floor. It led to the dungeon known as the Cursed Fortress, a three-star dungeon with an extremely high difficulty that even high-ranking hunters avoided. But the returns were guaranteed. If you got lucky, you could hit the jackpot.
“Doesn’t matter.”
“Hmph.”
“What, scared?”
“As if.”
Choi Yoo-ra snorted. “Then let’s go.”
“Yeah.”
When we reached the eighth floor, I saw a distorted section of space-time.
“Mr. Eun-seong! Mr. Eun-seong!”
Captain Im’s urgent voice called from behind.
“Yes?”
“You’re not planning to go in there, are you?”
“As you can see.”
“It’s dangerous. This is one of the most hazardous three-star dungeons. And you haven’t even completed basic training yet.”
“That’s why I brought a bus driver.”
I pointed at Choi Yoo-ra and smiled at Captain Im.
“Hunter Choi Yoo-ra is certainly strong, but…”
Captain Im looked extremely uneasy. From the Defense Strategy Department’s perspective, Choi Yoo-ra was probably flagged as a person of interest. Which, to be fair, she was.
“It’s fine. We’ve gotten pretty close.”
“Even so, this is far too dangerous.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
I casually replied while gathering my gear. What was the big deal about a hunter walking into danger of their own accord? That was just how a hunter’s life worked—like a moth to a flame.
“Well then, I’ll be back. Let’s go.”
“I’ll go in first.”
“Of course you will.”
I waited about three seconds before stepping into the gate.
“We’re going too.”
“Yes.”
Apparently deciding they couldn’t just stand by, Captain Im and his five soldiers followed us in.
The notification window that appeared before my eyes wasn’t worth paying attention to. The number 331721 was the same. Dungeons connected to fixed gates only shared the same entrance; beyond that, an infinite number of identical dungeons were generated. In other words, that number was simply the unique identifier for one of those infinite dungeons. Unless I planned to use Hunter Link to summon external Awakened, there was no need to worry about it right now.
The dungeon connected to the eighth-floor gate of Sindorim Station’s Techno Mart—the Cursed Fortress—began in a vast grassland. A blood-red sunset. Dark shadows cast by gloomy vegetation. The wind wasn’t cold, but it carried an icy chill. The atmosphere felt like late autumn in medieval Europe—bleak and desolate.
“Let’s form the link first.”
The moment we entered the dungeon, we synchronized our ether with Choi Yoo-ra at the center. It was called linking—essentially forming a party.
“What are you doing? Get over here.”
“Coming, coming.”
Choi Yoo-ra, who had been waiting, urged me forward. That temper of hers. I could never figure out why she was always in such a rush.
We headed toward the massive fortress visible in the distance. Bringing a motorcycle would’ve been nice, but the core of the Cursed Fortress was the battle inside the fortress itself, so there was no real need for transportation.
“Get your shotgun ready.”
“Confirmed.”
At Choi Yoo-ra’s command, I raised my shotgun. Captain Im and his five soldiers also raised theirs and began scanning the surroundings.
The attack came soon after.
Flap-flap-flap-flap!
With an unpleasant sound of wings, a swarm of blood-red bats descended on us. They were called bloodsucking bats for simplicity, but they were on a completely different level from ordinary ones. A single bite caused paralysis and unstoppable bleeding. Get bitten three or four times and your entire body would go numb, leaving you to be torn apart alive by hundreds of bats. On top of that, they were small and extremely fast, making them quite difficult to deal with.
This was where shotguns came in handy. The scattered pellets were highly effective against the low-defense bloodsucking bats. Of course, it would be much easier with a mage around.
Click!
I was about to chamber a round and pull the trigger when Captain Im’s team formed a circle around me and turned to fire at the bats.
“Huh?”
Slightly taken aback, I decided to observe the situation.
Captain Im’s team moved with excellent tactical discipline. Maintaining formation while fighting bloodsucking bats was crucial. If we got tangled up in a melee, we’d end up shooting our own allies instead of the bats.
Whoosh!
Meanwhile, Choi Yoo-ra swung her chains like a windmill, grinding the bats into paste as if they were in a blender.
Ssshh…
The corpses of the dead bats disintegrated into particles and seeped into all of us like magical dust.
Ether absorbed!
Ether absorbed!
Ether absorbed!
This was how Awakened grew. Every monster released ether upon death, and that scattered ether flowed into nearby Awakened. They stored it in their bodies as an energy source or used it to strengthen themselves. In game terms, ether was experience points, an energy resource, and stat points all at once.
If you kept accumulating ether this way, your rank as an Awakened would rise. To reach a higher rank, you needed to gather a massive amount of ether. Of course, not all ether was equal. Once you reached a high rank, the ether from trash mobs like bloodsucking bats became negligible. That was why high-ranking Awakened had to hunt powerful monsters to absorb ether with both high concentration and purity.
“Are you all right? You weren’t bitten, were you?”
“I’m fine.”
“Thank goodness.”
Captain Im let out a huge sigh of relief.
“There will be more battles ahead. You should stay back, Mr. Eun-seong. We’ll handle the monsters.”
“……”
I wasn’t sure who was protecting whom, but I decided to stay quiet for now. No need to act like a seasoned hunter and raise suspicions.
“Stop chatting and get ready to move. More monsters will come if we stand around.”
Just as Choi Yoo-ra said, after walking a little farther, a pack of dozens of wolves charged at us.
Wanting to save ammo, I reached into the Infinite Deck for a Full Moon Card, but once again Captain Im’s team blocked my way.
“Protect Mr. Eun-seong at all costs!”
“Yes!”
Captain Im and his soldiers drew their aura swords and began slaughtering the wolves.
Ah, right. These guys were all hunters too.
“Yip!”
“Yip-yip!”
Thanks to Choi Yoo-ra and Captain Im’s team stepping up, I didn’t have to lift a finger. I just watched the fight.
“Mr. Eun-seong, you just need to finish them off!”
“Huh?”
“Start with that one over there!”
Captain Im pointed at a wolf on the verge of death. In other words, he wanted me to land the killing blow.
Feeling somewhat bewildered, I put away the shotgun and pulled out a Bren 2 carbine instead.
Bang!
The bullet pierced the wolf’s skull.
Ether absorbed!
The wolf’s corpse turned into ether and seeped into everyone. And the largest amount flowed into me.
Ether was automatically distributed among nearby Awakened, with more going to the person who dealt the most damage and the one who landed the killing blow. In short, Captain Im was offering to feed me a large amount of ether on a silver platter.
“Mr. Eun-seong! Please take care of that one too!”
“Over here as well!”
The soldiers shouted, pointing at dying wolves.
“Ahaha…”
Wearing an awkward smile, I pulled the trigger at the dying wolves. Each time, a relatively larger amount of ether flowed into me compared to the others.
Ah… so this is what riding the bus feels like.