106
106―Is This Really Okay?
Returning home after a long time, even Jin-woo's body was sagging. No matter how comfortable a place outside is, you're bound to be somewhat tense. Especially since he had only been going around dangerous places.
'I went outside the city with Shartia, stopped by Rona's world, then went straight to the 3rd floor.'
Looking back, it was quite a forced march. Well, it's not like there was ever a comfortable day...
As always, he notified the Management Bureau of his return and sent a survival report, then washed his body. No matter how tired he was, it felt too uncomfortable to just collapse and sleep.
After refreshing himself with a wash, Jin-woo threw himself onto the bed. The soft bed in his own home couldn't be more comfortable. He didn't resist the drowsiness that poured over him and let his body surrender to it.
Jin-woo, who fell asleep like that, woke up after sleeping for almost 24 hours straight. He had spent an entire day sleeping. Getting out of bed and awakening his mind with light stretching, Jin-woo prepared a simple meal while checking his contacts.
As usual, there were many contacts from here and there. Some came for Ma Du-sik, some for Shartia, and recruitment offers from various guilds were still overflowing.
'Is it because I'm still alone that I get so many contacts?'
There weren't many Hunters who had Jin-woo's level of fame but didn't belong to a guild and remained alone. Naturally, from various guilds' perspectives, he was a talent they would drool over and covet.
In fact, the matter of Ma Du-sik personally moving to push for Jin-woo's S-rank designation was something all those in the know were aware of. Not only upper-tier guilds but also foreign intelligence agents as well.
From the beginning, Ma Du-sik didn't try to hide the process and rather revealed it as if showing off. There was probably also the meaning of a proclamation to other countries. Something like 'Kang Jin-woo is Seoul's S-rank.'
'Guilds, well.'
He wasn't particularly drawn to them before, but now he had even less interest. In the first place, why do Hunters join guilds? There are various administrative tasks and legal issues, but those are things the Management Bureau helps with sufficiently.
The core reason for joining guilds ultimately comes down to one thing: needing companions.
Since they explore dangerous areas called Gates to bring back resources, the existence of companions is desperately needed. But you can't form teams with new people every time and go in; you want to form a fixed team with sufficient trust. That's why they join guilds, but it didn't really apply to the current Jin-woo.
'There's Kalesian, and besides, I can't take guild members to the Spirit Realm.'
Jin-woo's next destination was almost decided: the Spirit Realm, departing with Kalesian. But he couldn't just take anyone to such a dangerous place. To explore the Spirit Realm, even an A-rank isn't enough.
You need to be at least S-rank, and currently in Seoul, the only S-rank worth entering Gates with was Shin Do-ung. Shartia and Ma Du-sik were people who had long since stopped Gate exploration for their respective reasons.
'While I'm at it, should I contact Kalesian?'
Since they came out of the blue portal together, Kalesian should have returned yesterday too. Unlike himself, he hadn't come out since entering the Gate from New York, so he should be in New York by now. When he called, after a few ring tones, the call was answered.
—Hello? Jin-woo?
"Kal... Mahiri."
It was Mahiri's voice. Since there might be other people around, Jin-woo also didn't mention Kalesian's name.
—You returned safely. Are you in Seoul?
"Yes. I'm at home."
—You haven't forgotten the promise, have you?
How could he forget? It was an opportunity to raid a Dragon's treasure vault.
"When would be good for me to visit?"
—Right now is a bit difficult. I'm still in New York too. How about we both take some rest and meet in about a week?
A week. It was an appropriate period to have a brief vacation.
"Sounds good. I'll contact you again then."
—I'll be waiting.
Since they had already finished the necessary discussion inside the Gate, they now only needed a simple confirmation. Jin-woo, who ended the call, was about to put down his smartphone. However, a thought suddenly came to mind, so he searched through his contacts again.
'Here it is.'
Kurenai Masato's phone number. Even when receiving the number, he said he probably wouldn't have occasion to call it, but he tried calling just in case.
The result was as expected. Only ringtones continued, with no one answering. Was he originally bad at answering contacts, or had he not yet returned from the 3rd floor?
'I wanted to ask if he really took the divine artifact of the God of light.'
If he doesn't answer, there's nothing to be done about it. Though Jin-woo was the only being in the world who could see him, that didn't mean he could go out searching for him. Around that time, the kimchi stew he had put on the fire began bubbling and boiling. Jin-woo's eyes lit up as he threw down his smartphone and set the table.
Spicy kimchi stew after a long time. Rather than refreshing, it was the stimulating version with lots of meat and seasoning thrown in and boiled. With eyes shining brighter than ever recently, Jin-woo approached his meal. Only now was he beginning to feel like he had truly returned home.
***
After thoroughly eating even apple jam-spread waffles for dessert, Jin-woo went online to check the returning atmosphere. News that had come out during that time, new issues.
And he also checked the damage situation caused by the 3rd floor incident. Looking at it, fortunately, there seemed to be no major damage.
Most of the trapped Hunters had returned safely, and since the incident location was a Gate rather than Earth, there was no spread of damage.
'Instead, Pandemonium was almost completely destroyed.'
The 3rd floor's city had completely collapsed, but in reality, no country would care about that. If Seoul had collapsed like that, it would be a terrible disaster, but no one grieves over a city inside a Gate collapsing.
If anything, the guilds that had been operating with Pandemonium as their base would probably be the ones feeling sorry.
'More than that, it's noisier about the 3rd floor changing.'
Since there was no particular damage, that topic wasn't very big. What was more chaotic was about the incident itself and the changes in the 3rd floor. Among the thirteen temples, more than half had collapsed.
Due to that influence, many of the altars in the 2nd floor had also become non-functioning junk. Those who had accumulated contribution points for the disappeared gods showed quite bitter expressions, but that wasn't really damaging either.
High contribution points don't result in a monthly salary or anything.
With the 3rd floor in that state, what most Hunters were focusing on was the 4th floor.
'4th floor... Many will probably ascend to the 4th floor at this opportunity.'
With the 3rd floor's merits almost gone, Hunters' destinations are one of two: either ascending to the 4th floor or descending to the 2nd floor.
However, the 2nd floor was also a place under the influence of the 13 Gods, taking a direct hit from the aftermath of this incident.
In the case of the 2nd floor, because undead monsters appear, there's almost no direct benefit from killing monsters.
The main income there is magic items—items imbued with the power or curses of the 13 Gods.
However, many of those items have now become empty cans, too. Even the helmet cursed by the God of Sky in Jin-woo's inventory right now is nothing more than an old, rusted helmet with the curse gone.
With a situation like this, there probably won't be many descending to the 2nd floor. That place isn't particularly good environmentally, either.
Probably those with even a little ambition left will aim for the 4th floor, while, conversely, Hunters in ambiguous positions will either flock to the 1st floor or retire altogether.
That was roughly the atmosphere going around.
"Somehow the waist got completely smashed."
Jin-woo clicked his tongue. Since the 2nd and 3rd floors were layers that embraced the majority of active Hunters, many Hunters seemed to be floating around now that those two layers were ruined.
Perhaps the entire market might fluctuate and change. Since the supply coming from the 2nd and 3rd floors would decrease significantly.
Then conversely, the resources from those places would become precious and their value would rise, and many Hunters would jump in, aiming for that increased value.
That's how the world turns. Even if it's chaotic for a while, it will eventually stabilize before long.
After roughly checking the issues, there was nothing more to do. Jin-woo sat blankly on the sofa and turned on the TV.
'So what do I do now?'
As he was turning channels without any particular thought, the glass orb began glowing softly again.
[The God of Moonlit Forest is excited.]
Jin-woo gave a bitter smile. Had she been waiting for just this moment? Still, she had behaved quietly, saying she was busy during that time, and had continuously provided blessings to help during battles.
Jin-woo played the animation he had stopped watching last time and watched it together with the God of Moonlit Forest.
In the middle, he also brought out popcorn and cola to drink, and finished dinner right there too. When night came, the God of Moonlit Forest seemed satisfied and left, and Jin-woo stretched with a yawn.
"The day passed faster than I thought."
Since it was leisurely time he had after staying busy, he thought it would flow slowly, but when he actually spent it, it flowed by in the blink of an eye again. It wasn't a complaint.
Through such a day, he could feel all the mental fatigue that had accumulated being washed away. However, this time his hands began to itch. With mental fatigue gone, now his body was causing trouble.
Coming out to the garden, Jin-woo drew the Nebula Sword. Along with the God of Sky's scabbard that now held the Nebula Sword instead of the Sky Sword.
The sky was full of clouds, even blocking the moonlight. In such a night where you could barely see what was in front of you, Jin-woo began slowly swinging his sword. Not striking quickly like when fighting, but rather slowly. Focusing on slowing down even more.
'This side is actually harder.'
Striking quickly is easy. Once you properly distribute strength and find the point where movement achieves optimization, swinging quickly isn't difficult. Rather, cutting slowly was harder. Not just slow, but if it's a sword so slow that from the side it looks almost stopped, even more so.
Jin-woo's sword, which had been getting slower and slower, came to look as if it had stopped entirely. Like the moon hidden by clouds moving very slowly across the distant sky, Jin-woo's sword also moved slowly in a similar manner. In that process, every muscle in his entire body had to be tense without exception, and his concentration reached its peak.
Naturally, all thoughts were emptied and filled with the enlightenment gained from battles fought so far.
'Rondar.'
The greatest among them was undoubtedly Rondar. How much enlightenment and insight had he gained from the battle with that one?
'But it's still not enough.'
It was true that he had gained much from the battle with Rondar. But that was nothing more than the process of embodying what he had seen in his memories with his current body.
Though he had become somewhat familiar, he was still far from the level he had seen in his memories.
—Hmph. Now you're finally somewhat worth watching.
The final battle before Rondar handed over the Nebula Sword and disappeared. Rondar evaluated that battle as 'somewhat worth watching'.
But in his memories, Rondar had never once defeated his past self. He had never even come close to winning. An opponent with such a difference now only said he was 'somewhat worth watching'. That meant he was still far off.
'If I go to the Spirit Realm.'
Perhaps he might discover more clues for enlightenment. That reason was also part of why he decided to entice Kalesian and depart for the Spirit Realm. And he might also hear news of the real Rondar, not an illusion.
With such thoughts, as Jin-woo swung his sword, black energy rippled around him. The Erosion energy is pouring out as if flowing from the sword and scabbard. They wrapped around Jin-woo's arms, groped his chest and sides, and coiled around his legs.
Seeing this, Jin-woo had a similar impression to when he saw Rondar. The impression that the Erosion energy was naturally harmonized without being awkward or creaking.
Is this really okay?
...It was true that he had somewhat anxious feelings. The more he confronted the Monarchs, the more he recalled memories of his past life, the closer he became to Erosion. Whether this was a good sign or a bad sign... No, no. It couldn't be a good sign. That's why he felt anxious.
That night passed like that, and even after a week had passed, Jin-woo couldn't find an answer. Thus, he boarded a plane heading to New Delhi. This time, he was able to land safely at Indira Gandhi International Airport without any incidents.