This time, Leo swiped his paw toward Shin Jieum’s hand, baring his teeth. “
Hiss!
”
Shin Jieum quickly pulled her hand back, laughing. “Oh my, oh my. What a feisty cat. This cat’s a summon, right?
That’s insane
. I mean, how long has it even been since you awakened, and you’ve already summoned one? There’s a reason they’re calling you the greatest genius mage ever. Still, keeping a summon out all the time must cost a ton of mana. If you collapse from exhaustion, am I supposed to carry you while running…?”
“Take a breath before you talk, Hunter Shin Jieum.”
The one who said that wasn’t me, but Han Jaeyeong, and honestly, for the first time since meeting them, I agreed with what they said. Not like her voice was unpleasant, but from the moment our eyes met, words had been pouring out nonstop like a machine gun, to the point where my head was starting to ache.
Meanwhile, perhaps annoyed that her speech had been cut off against her will, Shin Jieum shot Han Jaeyeong a glare and asked, “Guildmaster, I was trying to get to know the newbie. Why are you getting in the way?”
“I’m not getting in the way; I’m helping. If you speak nonstop like that, you’ll never get close to her in your lifetime.”
“Why?
Why?
I like it when people meddle with me. It means they’re interested in me, right? Ah, could it be that Hunter Jeong Daon is an introvert? What’s your MBTI?”
I stared straight at Han Jaeyeong. “…Does your guild only recruit people who talk this much?”
“‘Your guild’? That hurts. You’re part of our guild now, you know.” Saying that, Han Jaeyeong gestured toward Shin Jieum. “And this is Hunter Shin Jieum, an A-rank Hunter and a swordsman. Among the swordsmen in our guild, she’s the best in terms of skill.”
Lately, I’d run into two S-rank Hunters in quick succession, but in truth, A-rank Hunters were hardly common either. Among active Hunters, there were maybe only around a hundred at most.
And yet someone this…lighthearted was A-rank?
I looked at Shin Jieum with a doubtful expression.
“Yup, believe it or not, I’m A-rank. I look forward to working with you, Hunter Jeong Daon.” Shin Jieum grinned broadly. “We’ll probably see each other a lot from now on, so after today’s raid, why don’t we all go grab a meal together? What do you think, Guildmaster?”
“It doesn’t look like the others agree.” As they said that, Han Jaeyeong pointed behind Shin Jieum to the other guild members fidgeting awkwardly.
Besides Shin Jieum, there were five more guild members who had gotten out of the SUV. But Shin Jieum was the only one who had run over immediately and started talking to me. The others had their hoods pulled low, sneaking glances in our direction.
It wasn’t that they had no interest in me, exactly… more like—
“…What’s with that gloomy vibe?”
“My thoughts exactly.” Shin Jieum thumped her chest in frustration. “I’ve been in this guild for five years, and the only person who ever eats with me is Guildmaster Han Jaeyeong. Does that make any sense? Even if I say I’ll buy beef for lunch with the corporate card, nobody eats with me! They say I drain their energy or something. What, do they think I’m going to eat them?”
She seemed to have built up quite a bit of resentment, and the fact that no one reacted, even though she was speaking pretty loudly, only added weight to her complaint. In other words, Han Jaeyeong had brought along people who stayed holed up in laboratories, completely absorbed in their magical research.
Of course, Shin Jieum being excessively outgoing was probably another reason they were shrinking back.
Han Jaeyeong spoke with a faint smile. “At least they’re people we can trust. Even if they find some valuable item, they’re only interested in researching it. They won’t try to sneak it out.”
“Or more like they don’t even have enough interest to talk to other guilds. Honestly, it’s ridiculous. Why are mages all like that?” Shin Jieum clicked her tongue.
I’m a mage too, was I getting lumped into that insult?
She complained, but mages like that were…actually quite familiar to me as well. It seemed that, no matter the world, most mages tended to focus solely on their own research, which made them somewhat lacking in cooperation.
Han Jaeyeong gave a wry smile. “If I can defend them a little as guildmaster, our guild is on the better side. At least it actually functions as a guild.”
“I guess that’s true… but is it really okay to bring this many people to a mere C-rank dungeon?” Han Jaeyeong, Shin Jieum, an A-rank swordswoman, and the mages standing behind them. They were far too high-caliber to take into a C-rank dungeon.
At my question, Han Jaeyeong shrugged. “Well, better safe than sorry. There’ve been too many things going off the rails lately.”
Considering everything that had happened since the Gwanghwamun Dungeon Break, that made sense.
As for me, I had no complaints. If traces of a soul core were being detected, then the more people I could use as shields, the better.
“Since two people from Shining are joining us as well, that makes a total of ten people.”
At that time, the door of a temporary building made from a lone shipping container at the edge of the clearing swung open.
“Uh, already this late… I told you we should cut back on the drinking.”
“Hey, how was I supposed to know it’d be that strong? I’d never seen that stuff before—ow!”
Two men stumbled out, scratching at their bird’s-nest hair as if they’d just woken up. When they spotted Han Jaeyeong and the others, they flinched and hurried over. As they approached, the stench of alcohol hit hard, causing Leo to hiss from inside my arms.
“Ah, Guildmaster Han Jaeyeong! It’s an honor to meet you. I’m Won Deokcheol from Shining, here to accompany you today! Oh wow, you arrived early! You could’ve at least given us a call…”
“I usually arrive with plenty of time to spare before a dungeon raid.”
So that was why they’d been drinking and passed out; it wasn’t that they were careless, we were just early.
Is this some kind of psychological tactic to gain the upper hand?
Judging by the way Han Jaeyeong smiled faintly, it didn’t seem impossible. After shaking hands with a sweating Won Deokcheol, I even saw Han Jaeyeong discreetly wipe their hand on their clothes.
“Today, Hunter Lee Yunho here and I will be accompanying you. You’re testing a newly developed magic circle, correct?”
“Yes, yes. No audio recording, no video; nothing. You’re aware of that.”
“Of course. Honestly, even if I watched, I probably wouldn’t understand it anyway.”
Unlike Won Deokcheol, who genuinely seemed uninterested, the young man named Lee Yunho had stars in his eyes. It was the look of someone gazing at an object of admiration.
“Even just watching is incredibly educational. Magic casting from the HP Guild…!”
At that, Han Jaeyeong frowned. “This isn’t meant as a learning opportunity. It’s strictly our guild’s intellectual property. You’re only accompanying us because circumstances required us to borrow the raid rights…”
“O-of course! Ah, sorry, this kid just runs his mouth…”
“I’m sorry! I only meant it as a visual treat!”
Either the HP Guild really was that impressive or Han Jaeyeong, as an S-rank Hunter, was. Just because they looked slightly displeased, the two of them were trembling like that. Anyone watching might think
they
were the ones who’d borrowed the raid rights. Han Jaeyeong’s standing in the field was unmistakably overwhelming.
After that, Won Deokcheol kept flattering Han Jaeyeong as if his life depended on it. Watching this, Shin Jieum shook her head and whispered quietly to me, “Our guildmaster actually hates that kind of thing. Looks like he picked the wrong approach.”
“Really? I thought they’d like flattery.”
“Ah, Daon, you haven’t known our guildmaster for long yet. They absolutely can’t stand people who butter them up so openly. Though crossing the line is bad too, of course.”
That was an interesting perspective.
“A line?”
“Yeah. Though honestly, the line’s pretty loose. Sometimes when they miss a skill shot, I tease them by calling them
Ha Jaeyeong
instead. They actually like that.”
"…"
Did they really
like
having their name casually butchered? When I stared at her in disbelief, Shin Jieum burst out laughing.
Leo made an irritated noise from my arms.
"…”
…Is it really okay to go into a dungeon with a group like this?
For now, at least, entering the dungeon had gone smoothly…or so it seemed to Han Jaeyeong.
The moment they crossed the threshold, a stench so foul it bordered on physical slammed into their nose.
“Urgh.”
One of the people they’d brought along clapped a hand over their mouth. Most of them were wearing purification items of their own, yet even so, it was this bad.
Han Jaeyeong looked around the interior of the dungeon with a fresh sense of disbelief. They had heard about it only in passing, but seeing it in person was something else entirely. The sheer scale of it was staggering.
All of this was trash from Earth.
If this dumping ground had been located on Earth itself, the waste would at least have been sorted for recycling, or incinerated, at the very least. But this was a dungeon. There was no need to think about cleanup afterward; once it was brought in and dumped, that was the end of it.
As a result, the inside of the dungeon was a level of chaos Han Jaeyeong had never seen before.
Kiiiii!
A massive bird swept low through the sky overhead, passing close enough to feel like an attack.
Schring!
Shin Jieum raised her sword, her sharp gaze fixed on the sky. “Please step back, Guildmaster.”
Once inside the dungeon, Shin Jieum shed her usual loud, restless cheerfulness and moved decisively to the front.
One of the Hunters from Shining who had entered with them waved a hand dismissively, letting out a hearty laugh. “Oh, it’s fine. That’s just a black eagle; a D-rank monster. It’s not particularly dangerous.”
“It’s not that I don’t know that,” Shin Jieum replied sharply, her sword still trained upward. “Even D-rank monsters are worth watching when they keep circling like that. There could be other monster groups nearby. And even if there aren’t, having one dive at us from the air would still be a headache.”
“Oh, no, that’s not what I meant. The monsters in this dungeon don’t attack humans.”
“…What?”
“Hahaha, it’s true. They seem to have figured out that when we come and go, food appears. They do rummage through the piles of trash, though.”
“…That’s not entirely implausible.”
Han Jaeyeong nodded faintly as they looked over the trash scattered in all directions. From the perspective of monsters living in the wild, it would indeed be far easier to find food among the garbage humans left behind.
Then one monster caught Han Jaeyeong’s eye.
A rock crab.
A creature that would normally wedge itself into crevices between stones was instead awkwardly squeezing its bulky body between crushed tin cans.
Click. Click.
Watching it, Shin Jieum frowned. “Looks like someone’s been feeding it.”
“Pardon?”
“The way it’s tapping at shoes. Normally it’s a timid creature…but it seems pretty used to people. Specifically, people who give it food.”
“Then the ecosystem here must be completely ruined.”
The low voice belonged to Jeong Daon.
As if he’d heard something amusing, the man chuckled softly. “Well… I suppose Earth’s environment takes priority, doesn’t it? Monsters can’t really be helped.”
“…Right. They’re monsters, after all.”
From Jeong Daon’s voice as she said that, Han Jaeyeong sensed a faint trace of contempt.
Does she have some kind of moral absolutism?
It was an oddly striking reaction. Most people wouldn’t spare a second thought over a dungeon crawling with monsters being filled with trash.
In that sense, she’s a bit like Yu Hanul…and yet not at all.
Yu Hanul was a rare kind of genuinely good person in modern society, but Jeong Daon felt different. There was an underlying sense of disdain, even disgust, toward others. Judging by temperament alone, she almost felt closer to Han Jaeyeong than to Yu Hanul.
And yet, strangely enough, she keeps saving people.
Back during the Eunpyeong District Dungeon Break, she had originally tried to run, only to turn back to save an elderly woman who’d been grabbed by the ankle. At the Gwanghwamun Dungeon Break, she had stepped forward again, risking herself after hearing that children were in danger. And in the Truelight Sect incident, she had actively intervened on behalf of those who had been subjected to brutal human experimentation.
Because of that, even Yu Hanul, who was generous to a fault, seemed to have quickly set aside whatever suspicions he’d planted. Though even so, sticking around for an entire week just to help with physical training felt a bit excessive.
She really does make people curious.
Would this dungeon finally provide some answers? And in truth, Han Jaeyeong’s curiosity wasn’t limited to Jeong Daon alone.
Ever since Jeong Daon showed up, Yu Hanul has been acting strange too.
The anonymous tip during the Truelight Sect case, and now this dungeon operation. Yu Hanul was not, by nature, quick on the uptake when it came to information. He claimed, plausibly enough, that “someone from the Central Management Office” had told him, but…
There aren’t many people who would bother approaching Yu Hanul in the first place.
Someone was clearly feeding him information, and just as clearly, that information was aimed at Jeong Daon.
Han Jaeyeong’s eyes gleamed. They had a feeling that something interesting was going to happen in this dungeon.