Chapter 10
Chapter 10
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: Yullas's Garden
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This must be the right place.
- I'll wait here for you.
The Sang-cheol trio had called in cleaners that morning.
They said it would be tomorrow morning by the time the cleaners finished up and settled accounts.
- Take your time coming. I'll be here until you arrive.
There was no way for them to contact me since I'd only returned to Korea yesterday.
To avoid missing each other, the three had decided to wait for me in front of the dungeon.
Good people.
It had been a long time since I'd used that word.
It wasn't that there were no good people in Katabi.
But in absolute numbers, they were sorely lacking.
- The ones who discovered Yullas's Garden were a guild called Miru.
I'd half-expected it, but I hadn't thought I'd hear the word "guild."
Guilds were organizations that had sprung up after the world changed with Kalderon.
They weren't exactly like corporations, but from Kim Sang-cheol's explanation, guilds and corporations shared more than a few connections.
- There are guilds made up of ordinary people, but most get backing from corporations or organizations. They need operating funds, after all.
He said there weren't many cases where people just formed a guild out of shared ideals.
The moment you created a guild, you had to register with the Guild Creation Association and pay taxes based on its scale.
Even so, there were various reasons to form one.
- The second you register, the guild gains credibility. Then it can build fame on a guild level, and once that fame accumulates, nations or corporations will offer support or jobs.
If it was just for camaraderie, there was no need to bother.
But if you aimed for greater profits and prestige, creating a guild seemed essential.
- Be careful with Miru Guild. Their reputation isn't good.
That was Kim Sang-cheol's brief summary of Miru Guild.
Miru mainly operated in Gangbuk, with a tight grip on the Sanggye-dong area.
Judging by their scale, they were clearly getting funding from somewhere.
But the source wasn't disclosed, as Kim Sang-cheol explained.
- There are two reasons the funding isn't official. Either pitying small guilds and donating like charity, or needing the guild to handle dirty work that can't be exposed, so they pay under the table. Most are the latter.
Even I thought the former was unlikely.
Sure, there might be more good Samaritans than I imagined.
But not in the world I'd lived in.
- It's common knowledge that Miru Guild is involved in illegal activities. There are plenty of rumors about people getting tangled up and vanishing without a trace.
At that point, the three had tried to dissuade me from going.
They said unaffiliated hunters like themselves never went near Miru Guild because nothing good came from getting involved.
- It's fine.
I waved them off, telling them not to worry.
Guilds that engaged in illegal dealings and raked in cash.
Far from feeling anxious when I heard that, it actually made me glad.
That kind would be easier to deal with.
If they'd found and entered Yullas's Garden first.
The magic stone was likely in Miru Guild's hands.
If Miru Guild had been a clean, upright organization, it would have been harder to get the magic stone.
I didn't want to stab people who had no intention of fighting just to take it from them.
But.
If they were the type who clearly did shady work, that changed everything.
I'd dealt with countless such types.
I knew they would come at me with weapons first, even if I didn't draw mine.
"Move it over here! Be careful not to bruise the meat!"
I stopped at the sound of voices.
How far had I walked in the direction Kim Sang-cheol indicated?
Even without getting lost, it felt like at least four hours.
"Separate the hides properly and take them over there!"
Those must be the cleaners.
Dozens of people in white outfits like lab coats bustled in and out of what looked like a dungeon.
Monsters loaded onto carts every time they came out suggested the dungeon had already been cleared.
Miru.
Besides the cleaners, there were people surrounding the dungeon.
All wearing badges marked "Miru."
Holding guns and blades with menacing faces, they seemed to be guarding the dungeon while the cleaners worked.
Miru Guild hunters, I suppose.
Now I saw "Miru" embroidered on the cleaners' outfits too.
They had everything set up to clear and clean a dungeon themselves.
And the Fate of the Engraver hadn't even activated.
I'd thought it would guide me to the magic stone like with Daikon's horn, since this was a tutorial.
But the Fate of the Engraver showed no reaction at all.
As if Yullas's magic stone was beyond the range it could detect.
Judging by the atmosphere, going down there would get me shot.
With their rough looks, even asking would probably get me nothing useful.
"Hmm."
Vroom!
Vehicles were hauling away what the cleaners had loaded.
If they'd killed Yullas in the dungeon and taken the magic stone, it was probably at the vehicles' destination.
Step.
After observing the trucks carrying monster meat and the hunters stationed around.
Thud!
I quickly flung myself under one of the vehicles.
* * *
Rumble... rumble... stop.
The truck came to a halt after a long drive.
Step. Step. Step.
The area filled with presences.
At least dozens of them.
"Truck's here! Move it quick!"
"Yes!"
No sooner had the gruff voice rung out than over a dozen people rushed over to unload the cargo.
"It has to ship out by tomorrow! Hurry up!"
Listening to the frantic footsteps.
I focused and checked the Fate of the Engraver.
Still no reaction even after reaching here.
Tsk.
They must have taken it separately.
I hadn't expected the magic stone to be mixed with monster meat just from the name.
I'd just hoped that since this was the cleaners' destination, whoever took it would be here too.
But with no reaction from the Fate of the Engraver, it probably wasn't.
....
Once the busy footsteps faded.
I slipped out from under the truck and hid in a deserted corner.
Heh.
Surveying the arrival point from my hiding spot.
It made sense there was no magic stone.
It was an abandoned factory on the outskirts, looking utterly desolate.
What now.
Maybe I should have grabbed one of those at the dungeon and asked.
I'd hitched a ride all the way to this godforsaken place for nothing.
Should I look around a bit more?
I crouched in the shadows and headed toward the factory where the cleaners came and went.
The factory ran on minimal lighting, as if they didn't want attention from outside.
I climbed the exposed steel beams to the roof.
A sea of blood.
No other words came to mind for the factory's interior.
They were meticulously washing and disassembling the monster corpses brought from the dungeon.
Bloodwater scattered everywhere in the process.
"Yullas incoming!"
"Yullas is coming in!"
A loud voice from the entrance.
Moments later, a massive monster entered.
It looked like a tree but bled from wounds all over.
That must be Yullas.
Live monsters had name bars above them.
This one didn't.
Just guessing from what the cleaners called it.
"Don't even think about pocketing anything that comes out during disassembly! You'll lose a hand if you're caught!"
"Yes!"
Being the dungeon boss's corpse, they handled it with extra care.
Wary of damaging any potentially valuable items that might remain.
"Wash the ones from earlier clean and take them to Donga Village!"
Donga Village?
"Deliver them directly to Brother Dae-wook at the Miru Building in Donga! Got it!?"
"Yes!"
Miru Building and Brother Dae-wook.
I recalled Kim Sang-cheol saying Miru Guild focused on Sanggye-dong.
I didn't know if their headquarters was in Donga or what position this Dae-wook guy held.
But valuables from Yullas were clearly going straight to him.
Hmm.
I pondered as I watched crates being loaded onto vehicles.
I'd agreed to meet the Sang-cheol trio at Daikon's dungeon tomorrow morning for settlement.
If I followed the truck to Donga Village now, I didn't know how long it would take.
I didn't even know Miru Guild's full strength.
Or if going to Donga meant I could just waltz into that building.
Thud.
I leaped down from the factory's steel beams.
I knew where to go and who to find now.
From their enthusiasm earlier, the Sang-cheol trio seemed ready to wait days for me.
Even without them, I needed some money.
So I could buy anything necessary before heading to the building.
Back to the cave.
I turned toward Daikon's cave.
* * *
At that moment, by a small stream in Nowon-gu, Gangbuk District.
One of the gathered people looked up.
"Detective Lee, it's the same as last time."
Crunch.
The one called Detective Lee.
Detective Lee Seo-yeon of Gangbuk's violent crimes unit scowled, her neck-length hair tied back messily.
"No chance of IDing them?"
The body was too mangled for identification.
"What the hell kind of bastards are these?"
Lee Seo-yeon sighed, staring at the corpse before her.
This was the third one.
Badly mutilated bodies beyond recognition washing up in the stream.
"Monster work?"
It was possible.
Besides dungeons in fixed locations, gates opened randomly, and unmanaged monsters scattered everywhere.
A reality where getting attacked anywhere, anytime wasn't strange.
"Nah."
Still, Lee Seo-yeon didn't think it was monsters.
Faint knife marks on the body and cleanly emptied organs.
Once or twice, maybe. But three times with organs completely gutted? Impossible.
She crouched and pointed at various spots on the corpse.
"Anything valuable is gone. Doesn't add up for monsters, right?"
Her junior, Ra Kyung-joo, let out a deep sigh at her words.
"The team chief will just say it's monsters again. They've already ruled the previous ones as such."
In a way, it was a convenient world.
Back then, unsolved cases drew media fire. Now, just call it a monster attack and it stuck.
"This time, we'll find them."
"Come on, you're gonna make a fuss again? Just do what the chief says."
"No."
Lee Seo-yeon turned to Ra Kyung-joo, her eyes flashing with firm resolve.
"Once reasonable suspicion arises, I can't let it go."
Ra Kyung-joo closed his eyes at the ominous feeling.
"We'll catch them no matter what."