A Trivial Hidden Piece (Not Really)

Dang Gyu-young asked.

"So things wrapped up nicely with the Swordsmanship Club?"

"They did, but something new came up."

"Something new?"

I explained the deal I'd struck with Paeng Mi-ryeong.

In exchange for handing over the strategy guide, I would be allowed to assemble a party of up to five and enter the Gathering of Evildoers.

Once inside the dungeon, Paeng Mi-ryeong would focus on the main route and the treasure map, while I pursued the other hidden pieces.

And neither side would encroach on the other's territory.

Dang Gyu-young nodded, a rough picture evidently forming in her head, though plenty of questions still lingered in her eyes.

"But Dungeon 88 is in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Deep Layer. Did you find a guide?"

"I firmly believe they'll help."

Dang Gyu-young's eyes narrowed.

Only slightly, but a flicker of displeasure showed through.

"Kim Ho, I'd obviously help if you asked, but shouldn't you run something like this by me first before deciding?"

Deep Layer dungeons were guarded several times more heavily than the underground floors, so sneaking in meant the Thief Club would have to commit its top-tier personnel.

When we'd infiltrated the Black Snake Chamber, for instance, Dang Gyu-young and Chae Da-bin had both lent a hand.

But if I simply demanded a Deep Layer guide without a word of explanation, there was a real risk the job would collide with Dang Gyu-young's or Chae Da-bin's schedule on the day itself.

And being handed an assignment like a notice in the mail wouldn't exactly feel great either.

So consulting the Thief Club first was the proper move.

I readily conceded the point.

"You're right. But this time, I figured I could skip it."

"Why?"

"Because I was certain you'd both say yes no matter what."

"……Really? And what's in it for us?"

"Oh, there's plenty."

Me speaking with that much confidence meant one thing: something existed inside that dungeon, something compelling enough that Dang Gyu-young and Chae Da-bin would approve my proposal without hesitation.

Dang Gyu-young's eyes gleamed as she waited for my next words.

"The first hint is in the name itself — Gathering of Evildoers."

Just as the title promised, it was a dungeon where notorious demon-blades gathered to squabble over spoils.

Which meant, naturally, that a lure existed — one juicy enough to draw them all to a single place.

And there was one thing, without fail, that drove martial artists of every stripe — righteous or demonic — into a frenzy.

"A treasure weapon, an elixir, or a fortuitous encounter. In this case, the last one."

"Right. And in this case, it's a fortuitous encounter."

And the more an encounter matched one's nature, the better it served you.

For a demon-blade to claim an encounter suited to the Daoist or Buddhist path would be awkward in every possible way.

Whereas an inheritance left behind by a master of the Demonic Cult would fit them like a glove.

"So, following the treasure map — since I'll spoil the answer for you right now—"

"Oh! I was curious about that too. What's the answer? Tell me!"

"There's a martial art left behind by the Blood Ghost Blade Demon."

"The Blood Ghost Blade Demon, of the Four Demons of the World?"

Dang Gyu-young exclaimed in awe.

The Four Demons of the World were the four supreme masters who stood at the very peak of the demonic path in their era.

That was how immense their legend was — even a master from the distant past, and Dang Gyu-young still remembered his epithet.

"Wow……. If it's really the Blood Ghost Blade Demon, that's huge. Lucky you, Paeng Mi-ryeong. You'd better buy us all dinner."

Only a small minority of Swordsmanship Club members practiced the saber, so the Blade Demon's inheritance would, eight times out of ten, end up in Paeng Mi-ryeong's hands.

As the party leader, her odds were higher still.

Then Dang Gyu-young asked, as if something had just clicked.

"I doubt you're telling me this just to make me jealous. So what do we get?"

"Something similar. Another of the Four Demons."

"That dungeon was an absolute gold mine. Another Four Demons inheritance? Who left it?"

"The Phantom Demon."

"……!"

Dang Gyu-young's eyes went wide with shock.

Then she lowered her voice and double-checked with me.

"Kim Ho, don't tell me……. Is that the thing I think it is?"

"It is exactly that thing."

The true identity of the Phantom Demon's inheritance.

Something that not only Dang Gyu-young, but anyone whose class had even the faintest connection to the thief lineages, would ache for with every fiber of their being.

"Ghost Without Shadow."

"……If it's Ghost Without Shadow, then yeah, you could absolutely skip the formalities. That's a guaranteed yes."

I had promised Dang Gyu-young, Chae Da-bin, and Shin Byung-cheol a chance at obtaining Ghost Without Shadow in return for helping me infiltrate the Black Snake Chamber — and that chance had finally arrived.

There was no telling when another opportunity like this would come, so refusal was simply not an option.

Even if schedules clashed, everything else would have to be shoved aside.

"You said next week is the next conquest week? When are you going in?"

"They need to finish their preparations first, so for now we wait."

"Fair enough."

By now Paeng Mi-ryeong would be running around frantically recruiting members for the expedition.

Since we were, in effect, tagging along, all we could do was follow their schedule once it was set.

Dang Gyu-young gave an understanding little nod.

"Then we'll wait until next conquest week. What about our dungeon?"

Up until now I'd done most of the underground floors with Go Hyeon-woo, but the frequency had gotten a bit excessive.

So to give Go Hyeon-woo both a rest and time to shore up his foundations, I planned to take this week's final dungeon with Dang Gyu-young instead.

The main objective was to meet the Crow Tailor and conduct our trade.

I'd already pinned down its location and appearance window through recently cleared replays.

"We go in Friday."

"294, right?"

"Yes. Rainbow Lake."

"What kind of place is that?"

"A raid dungeon."

Under raid rules, the primary goal is simple: take down the boss monster at the heart of the dungeon.

"But if we want to see the crow, we'll have to drag things out a bit."

"Right, we should plan for a long run."

The moment the boss monster died, the dungeon would collapse, so we needed to keep it alive until our business with the Crow Tailor was finished.

Which meant the clear time would inevitably stretch.

"So how long are we talking?"

"Budget at least four or five hours. If luck's bad, it could take longer."

This dungeon had a slightly different flavor from the ones I'd cleared before.

The objective was clear-cut, but there was no story underpinning it.

And while there was a established method to it, the boss's patterns depended heavily on luck.

Depending on the draw, the clear time could shrink or balloon.

Not exactly my favorite kind.

I preferred clears with zero gaps and one hundred percent certainty.

If it weren't for the crow, I wouldn't have bothered entering at all.

Dang Gyu-young, on the other hand, took it in stride.

"If luck's bad, we stay a little longer, no big deal. Anything you need me to prepare?"

"I'll handle everything. Just bring yourself."

"Heh. So you really do just want my body?"

The clear itself didn't require much in the way of supplies, and I already had everything stockpiled anyway.

If there was anything else I actually needed—

"This has nothing to do with the clear, by the way. A long dungeon run gets boring, you know."

"Mm-hm."

"And the place is pretty deserted too. Except when we're fighting the boss."

"Sounds like I'd better bring something to kill time with."

Dang Gyu-young's lips curled up in a sly grin.

Somehow she seemed more interested in the entertainment than the expedition itself.

I added a word of caution.

"Just don't go overboard with the preparations. It might wrap up faster than you think, so keep it light — like a little picnic."

"I know, I know. I'll handle everything myself."

Dang Gyu-young answered as if it were obvious — but of everything I'd seen from her today, that was the look that pleased her most.

Even more than when Ghost Without Shadow had come up.

We set the underground floor dungeon for Friday.

Meanwhile, I gathered in one place with Go Hyeon-woo and Seo Ye-in.

The reason was none other than this:

"Today, we open boxes again."

It was time for the random box opening ceremony.

The dungeon had been so short that the rewards had amounted to just three random boxes — and Shin Byung-cheol had already traded one of them away for a tea set.

That left two.

But even two D-rank boxes held real potential for something genuinely useful, depending on who opened them.

With the utmost courtesy, I held the random boxes out to Seo Ye-in.

"Lucky Charm, pray work your magic once more today."

"……."

Seo Ye-in was slumped half-across the table we all sat around, more melted than seated.

Lately the sloth battery seemed to be draining faster than usual, for some reason.

The Kim Ho Pillow was probably the culprit.

At the same time, this was a chance to test a hypothesis of mine.

Is there, in fact, any correlation between the sloth battery and luck?

"……."

As I watched her with that thought in mind, Seo Ye-in — still slumped flat — slowly dragged the random box toward herself.

Then she laid a light hand on the lid and flipped it open in one smooth motion.

— Flash!

What emerged was a single, elegant sheet of parchment.

Among the items that came out of D-grade boxes, this was a decidedly respectable pull.

Seeing a Rank Up pop out on the spot from someone who looked that sleepy, maybe there really was no meaningful link between the sloth battery and luck after all.

Though it would take a few more experiments to say for certain.

Before using the Rank Up, I asked Go Hyeon-woo for his blessing.

He was a teammate — that was the proper courtesy.

"Mind if I use this?"

"Of course not."

And as always, Go Hyeon-woo agreed without a moment's hesitation.

Before long, the light pouring from the parchment was absorbed into my body.

— Fwoooosh!

And with that, it's fully on track.

Everything of mine was now C-rank, with the sole exception of the newly learned Wind Barrier.

I offered the last remaining random box to the Lucky Charm.

With twice the deference as before.

"This one too, please."

"Mm……."

Seo Ye-in had no enthusiasm, but she never refused a request.

Still slumped across the table, she gave her head a slight roll from side to side.

Nodding while face-down was apparently too much effort, so a lazy wobble had to suffice.

Before long, she dragged the random box toward herself just as before.

And as she slowly gripped the lid and lifted—

Light burst out as if it had exploded.

— FLAAASH—!

"Oh."

"Oh."

Go Hyeon-woo and I let out gasps of admiration at the exact same moment.

The radiance was a full step brighter than the last one.

Which meant an item one tier above D-rank had just come out.

But when the light died ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠down, what lay in its wake sat rather awkwardly against all that brilliance.

An unidentified black lump.

It looked as if someone had soaked wet clay in ink and then given it a careless squeeze.

The smell wasn't much better either — something like medicinal herbs, cut through with a fishy, rancid stench.

Go Hyeon-woo, who had been studying it intently, lit up with recognition.

"This is……."

"You know what it is?"

"I believe it may be an inner core pellet."

"Nailed it on the first guess."

Typical of a martial artist — the moment something was good for the body, he identified it with uncanny precision.

The Venomhorn Black-Blood Serpent was a serpent bearing a long, needle-sharp horn upon its brow — and legend held that any martial artist, however mighty, who was pierced by that horn would be reduced to a fistful of bloody mist in an instant.

Wound it, and black blood came seeping out — itself a poison among poisons.

By every measure, the wise course was to keep one's distance.

And yet the Venomhorn Black-Blood Serpent ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was not merely a venomous creature, but a spirit creature as well.

It was simply hellishly difficult to hunt. But if one could claim its inner core—

"Extraordinarily good for the body."

"It should greatly aid the cultivation of inner energy."

"Inner energy aside, it's a poison, you know."

Eat it, and your resistance to poison would rise.