28
028 — Underground Temple
I don't usually check my email frequently, but that doesn't mean my emails would accumulate to this extent.
The accumulated emails were only about 400, but suddenly my mailbox exploded.
Over 500 emails came in just the few days I was away in Tokyo—this is something that doesn't make sense by common standards.
After rummaging through his mailbox for a long time, Jin-woo finally began to understand the situation a little.
"First of all, they're not just one type. The emails that poured in."
If all 500+ emails came for similar reasons, that would be truly absurd.
But after looking through them all, the reasons were all different.
The first type that caught his eye was this category:
—Hello. This is Ha-seong, an Erosion specialist Guild. After seeing your activities in Tokyo...
—This is Frena Guild. Our Guild specializes in Erosions rather than Gates...
An enormous amount of love calls poured in from Guilds specializing in Erosions.
Not all Hunters enter Gates. They, too, are ultimately people who weigh safety and profit while deciding their own career paths.
Among these, the most dangerous yet high-profit option was entering Gates, with the next most dangerous being Hunters who specialize in Erosions.
They receive requests from the nation to push back Erosions, or even without requests, they seek out Erosions and hunt the monsters inside.
It's work that involves going outside dangerous cities to battle dangerous monsters, but it's still better than Gates.
In Gates, there's the risk of encountering different races, and in the first place, for a Guild to enter a Gate requires an enormous consumption of Feathers of Fate.
On the other hand, Erosions only required focusing solely on monsters, and Guild members could enter together without Feathers of Fate, so it was appropriately balanced in terms of safety and profit.
In these times, there were actually more Hunters specializing in Erosions than active Hunters entering Gates.
"Erosion specialists... Hmm..."
However, his heart wasn't moved.
While it was true that he had been solving Erosions to gain abilities, that was a means, not an end.
—If it's alright, would you like to enter the next Gate together? Our Age Guild has Hunters with various magical abilities...
Among the emails, there were also emails asking to go to Gates together.
Though fewer in number than the love calls from Erosion specialist Guilds, these were contacts wanting to test Jin-woo's abilities in Gates and definitely welcome him as a Guild member.
There were even messages from Guilds in other countries, not Seoul.
Just as Shartia naturalized to Seoul, Hunter recruitment doesn't discriminate by nationality.
But the fact that his name had spread to foreign countries was fascinating in itself. What could be the reason?
'Still, it doesn't feel bad.'
Perhaps because it was attention he had never received in his lifetime, it didn't feel unpleasant.
Past Jin-woo had been busy squeezing between middle-aged men at employment offices to secure work. But somehow, he had become someone receiving such love calls.
It was quite a moving affair. Though that didn't mean he wanted to join a Guild.
And there were emails with a completely different atmosphere from the above.
—Thank you.
They were emails of gratitude.
Compared to those sent by foreign Guilds with professional translation, these emails clearly had the crude tone of someone using a translator.
But that crudeness brought a smile to his face. It felt much more human than business emails talking about contract fees.
'They must have found my email from Seoul Management Bureau's website.'
To go into hard-to-find foreign websites, individually look up email addresses, and even use translators to send messages.
Jin-woo couldn't help but laugh at the fact that there were this many people with so much spare time.
However, the humanly feeling emails weren't only on this positive side.
—Die.
—What's your relationship with Ayaka?
Conversely, there were many emails with the dark side of humanity, apparently because Ayaka's popularity on SNS was considerable.
'What exactly is SNS anyway?'
When he entered the SNS that Ayaka had used and searched for her name, she had as many as 140,000 followers.
Is this what a celebrity or something is? Even if it's not at the level of a million-subscriber YouTuber, 140,000 is still a sufficiently large number.
Looking through the photos she uploaded, for the four days from when she handled the Erosion, they were filled only with photos of sightseeing with Jin-woo and Shartia. It was almost like some kind of live broadcast.
However, the post with the most views was the post about clearing the Erosion.
That post had explosively high views and comments.
'No wonder the news spread so quickly.'
He seemed to have seen such a column somewhere. Footless SNS travels a thousand miles.
He definitely knew where the cause of his mailbox explosion lay. Jin-woo closed the app and carelessly threw his smartphone next to his pillow.
'There's no need to respond immediately.'
He still had no intention of joining a Guild.
Going into Gates together would be relatively safe, but conversely, they could become risk factors, and the accompanying sense of responsibility would increase.
Many constraints and responsibilities different from when traveling freely alone would arise.
Moreover, he recalled his meetings with Bulkar and Rona. Exchanges with them would have been difficult to achieve if someone had been beside him.
'I don't have the luxury yet.'
Paradoxically, while comrades are needed to overcome overwhelming situations alone, conversely, the leisure of body and mind is needed to consider the variable called comrades.
If he couldn't maintain his center and control the variable called comrades, he would ultimately end up entrusting his life to others.
One might think that in a pinch, he could abandon them and run away, use them as cannon fodder in crude terms. But conversely, there could be cases where he gets betrayed and used as cannon fodder.
Jin-woo didn't yet have enough leisure to consider such variables.
Still, there was no reason to refuse outright. Sending rejection replies one by one would also be work.
For now, he'd put it on hold and look into it later when he became interested in Guilds.
Right now.
"When is the next Gate?"
He was only interested in when the next Gate would open.
***
"Tsk, there are no helpful guys. I thought that old man Kurenai would be possible."
Clatter. Ice melted and rattled in the whiskey glass David held in his hand.
The brown-haired man sitting across from him held an identical glass. A club's VIP room. Originally a place to enjoy with calling women, now only the two of them were there.
The brown-haired man, Johan, asked.
"Possible, what do you mean? Shartia's assassination?"
"Yeah. But he ignored my words. I believed Tokyo was New York's friend, what a pity."
"Tokyo might be New York's friend, but not yours, right? You should have gotten friendlier with him."
"Shut up, Johan. I'm not in the mood to listen to such sarcasm."
Johan shrugged his shoulders at his close friend's rough tone.
"That's your problem. Instead of petty work like assassination, why don't you go find her directly and duel or something? It's been a fine problem-solving method for the noble since ancient times."
"You speak of duels so easily. You know well that fighting between S-ranks isn't easy work. Being an S-rank yourself."
"Well, that's..."
Though Johan spoke easily, he absolutely wouldn't want to fight other S-ranks, risking his life either.
S-rank power has aspects that can't be simply measured, so no one knows what happens if they fight. To use an analogy, they're asymmetric forces to each other, so no one knows what variable might take their head.
Conversely, that's precisely why Kurenai Masato also refused the assassination request for Shartia.
"If direct dueling is a bit much, how about attacking from the side? Kang Jin-woo wasn't it. The lover she made in Seoul."
"There's no report of them being lovers. They're just getting along somewhat."
Johan snorted.
"Where is there friendship between a man and a woman, David. Even if they're just friends, if that close male friend dies, wouldn't she be shaken too?"
"That would be so. But Kurenai Masato annihilated the Tsukikage Guild that attacked Kang Jin-woo. He tacitly protected Kang Jin-woo, so which assassin in Tokyo would go kill that guy?"
"What is needed for Tokyo and such to catch one E-rank. I'll go directly myself. If I kill him cleanly inside a Gate, no one will know."
David made a puzzled expression.
Since entering a Gate drops you in random locations, you can't seek out someone specific. You can only rely on chance.
How exactly does he plan to find Kang Jin-woo in a Gate?
"Can you see this?"
Johan showed the sword he wore at his waist. Though called a sword, it was a mess of a sword wrapped tightly in thick iron chains without even a scabbard.
Perhaps scratched by the iron chains, the blade was all chipped and not even oiled. No matter how you looked at it, it wasn't a normal sword.
"What is it?"
"It's an Ego Sword I obtained recently, containing the soul of an Elf skilled in tracking arts. It has magic specialized in tracking and identification, and also has insight into Wind spirit arts."
"An Elf's?"
David narrowed his eyes. There was physiological rejection from the word Elf, but separate from that, it was exactly the ability needed right now.
Elves are fundamentally a race extremely skilled in tracking arts. On top of that, if it can also handle tracking and identification magic plus Wind spirits, it's a specialist when it comes to finding things.
If it's an Ego Sword containing such a soul, it makes sense that he spoke so confidently.
"Black-haired Earthling, and I know the face, physique, and gender, too. That much information is sufficient. It's just that the Primeval Forest is so vast that the probability of finding him might not even be 10%. But if that guy moves up to the 2nd Floor."
The 2nd Floor is narrow. Not only narrow, but the terrain where escape is nearly impossible.
"Then it's 100%."
There was no existence that this Elf's Ego Sword couldn't track on the 2nd Floor.
***
'Let's go to the 2nd Floor next time.'
After much deliberation, Jin-woo made his decision.
Now E-rank, he had only been to Gates twice. Anyone would be surprised if such a novice had already gone up to the 2nd Floor, but the current Jin-woo was worth going up.
'Should I look into information about the 2nd Floor?'
Information gathering always comes first before going to Gates.
Jin-woo not only searched the internet and libraries but also contacted Shartia to ask about the 2nd Floor.
Not only that, he asked Ma Du-sik and even asked Ayaka using a translator. If he could, he wanted to ask that old man Masato once, but unfortunately, he didn't have the old man's contact information.
Learning about the 2nd Floor, stockpiling various tools and food supplies.
And he practiced swordsmanship.
Calm training while waiting for the Gate opening day. Refining the sword theory Rona taught him while awakening his own senses and instincts.
'The ability gained from handling Tokyo's Erosion.'
—That sword shall be more magnificent.
Being conscious of that ability, he gave his best to each and every swing.
Actually, he didn't know what the ability called magnificent was. Nothing had concretely changed.
It wasn't the type of ability used like Shadow Sword or Rock Sword, and it seemed like an always-active ability, like becoming faster.
But despite swinging his sword daily, he couldn't tell exactly what had changed.
'Something must have changed.'
He doesn't just pass it over but thinks and agonizes each time he swings his sword in daily training.
There's no realization yet. But I believe it will come someday.
Rona said that training the sword is a process of endlessly throwing questions and finding answers. In that light, what Jin-woo is doing now is also a fine part of training.
And finally, the day when the next Gate opens arrived.
***
[ 1st Floor: Primeval Forest ]
[ Find the blue portal. If you want to return home. ]
Anyone entering a Gate starts on the 1st Floor first. And to go up to the 2nd Floor, you had to find a Red Portal.
'The 1st Floor isn't too scary now.'
He wasn't careless, but he didn't tremble like the first time either. The 1st Floor had become quite familiar to Jin-woo.
He had caught boss monsters ruling one area and been chased by Dark Elf groups.
And after being trained daily by an S-rank level Elf swordsman, the 1st Floor came to feel almost like a backyard mountain.
'Right, to bring comrades in, I need to have this level of leisure.'
If this time was also going to end with 1st Floor exploration, he might have looked for comrades.
But Jin-woo was looking toward the 2nd Floor, and in the first place, there aren't many Hunters who consume Feathers of Fate for 1st Floor exploration.
At least until having this level of leisure on the 2nd Floor, let's put comrades or Guilds on hold.
'Found it. Lucky.'
Luckily, the Red Portal could be found in just one day.
After taking several deep breaths in front of the portal, Jin-woo leaped inside.
[ 2nd Floor : Underground Temple of the 13 Gods ]
The surrounding forest scenery suddenly darkened, and a narrow, musty smell began.
In darkness without a single point of light, Jin-woo turned on the lantern he had prepared in advance.
The 2nd Floor environment is an underground temple. An underground labyrinth with altars of the 13 Gods positioned throughout, giving special buffs.
In this labyrinth spread out like an ant hill, even Jin-woo couldn't be at ease. No matter how much he could detect opponents with blue flames, the passages were straight lines.
To pass through passages, he somehow had to get past opponents blocking the passage.
Whether monsters, Hunters, or other races.
All passages in the underground temple were like single-log bridges, making it absolutely impossible to ignore opponents encountered by chance.
Someone on Hunter Net Blind had said this. If the Primeval Forest is a place of exploration, then the Underground Temple is a place of duels.