‘W-what? He took down a Slime Knight that easily? And a Gunner did it with a single shot?’
She had secretly obtained permission through the black market to explore a Labyrinth Dungeon said to be operated by a criminal organization. While wandering through the dungeon in search of the item she needed, she had stumbled upon the sound of gunfire and discovered Baek Seon-woo. Her curiosity piqued, she had even used a concealment skill to tail him.
‘He looks pretty skilled. But were Gunners really that strong? I thought they were among the weakest Awakened Classes...’
His nimble movements, completely at odds with his fat build, and the way he easily subdued his enemies like a seasoned Awakened left her staring at Baek Seon-woo in disbelief.
‘He’s fat, but he’s surprisingly agile? And those dead men looked like they were at least High Grade. How did he deal with them so easily...? Who the hell is that man?’
CLACK—!
“Who’s there?”
‘!!! W-what? Did he detect me? Through my concealment? Ah, no way...’
Though she internally insisted that it was impossible, Baek Seon-woo stood with his gun aimed precisely at her, as if he could see her. Shaking her head, she raised both hands above her head in surrender and released her concealment.
“P-please calm down. I’m not a bad person.”
A beautiful woman appeared before me after releasing the concealment skill that had hidden her. She looked extremely nervous, yet she wore a relaxed smile that seemed to conceal something.
I kept my guard up and aimed my gun at her.
“Who are you?”
“Excuse me?”
“I asked who you are. Why did you enter this Labyrinth Dungeon? This isn’t a place just anyone can access.”
“Well... Um... Hahaha! You must be hungry. Why don’t we eat our packed lunches and talk?”
“What?”
“I mean, we’re not enemies, so let’s lower that gun first and have a conversation.”
I studied her for a long while. She handled the situation with surprising ease, as though she had been caught before. Eventually, I set my gun on the ground and sat down.
“I’ll hear your story first.”
“Whew~ Thank you!”
The moment I set down my gun, she smiled brightly as if she had finally relaxed. Watching her sit on the floor as naturally and without hesitation as I had, I fell into thought.
‘Looking at the aura surrounding her through Third Eye, it’s faint, but it has a blue tint. She doesn’t seem like a bad person. Why did she come into a labyrinth operated by a criminal organization? Was she kidnapped by them? Hmm... Judging by her concealment skill, she doesn’t look like someone who would be taken easily.’
“Who exactly are you? Why were you hiding yourself in a place like this?”
“Well...”
After hesitating for a moment, she let out a deep sigh and began explaining why she had come here.
“So, you learned how to get in here through the black market, and you were looking for a medicinal herb?”
“Yes, that’s right! There’s a medicinal herb here that I absolutely have to find.”
“A medicinal herb?”
“Well...”
She hesitated for a moment before letting out a deep sigh.
“You may not believe me, but my grandfather is the Guildmaster of Abel Guild.”
“Abel Guild? The Guildmaster? !!! Could your grandfather be Seo Do-gyeom?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
When I mentioned her grandfather’s name, she blushed slightly in embarrassment.
“Wait! If your grandfather is Guildmaster Seo Do-gyeom, then is your name perhaps Seo... Ha-yoon?”
“Huh?! That’s right. How do you know my name? Do you know me?”
“!!! You’re Seo Ha-yoon? The one known as the Blood Witch? That Seo Ha-yoon?”
“What? What do you mean, ‘Blood Witch’?”
‘Ah... Right. I’m living in the past after taking over Baek Seon-woo’s body.’
After entering Baek Seon-woo’s body, I had discovered a new fact after checking the date on his old smartphone.
‘My existence as the Villain Sniper had disappeared as though someone had deliberately erased it, and I had returned to the past—ten whole years ago.’
Before heading to the Labyrinth Dungeon, I had gone to the house where I had lived as a child to search for traces of the Cha Tae-seok who once existed. But someone else was living there. In this world, Cha Tae-seok had been erased so completely that it was as if he had never existed.
‘Coming to a past where my very existence was erased is strange enough, but now I’m looking at the Blood Witch herself... This is quite a surprise.’
She had earned the epithet of “Blood Witch” because she used vicious poisons as red as her hair to murder countless Awakened, then collected their blood like a medieval witch collecting a prized collection.
‘How did a woman with such an innocent face become one of the worst villains later on? And thankfully, both her eyes seem to be intact right now.’
The Seo Ha-yoon I remembered had worn an eyepatch over one eye, as though she had offered it as a sacrifice to someone. Her face was scarred, and her gaze was filled with madness. Whether her target was an ordinary person or an Awakened, she would conceal herself, ambush them, kill them, extract their blood, and work with criminal organizations to create various potions.
‘Come to think of it, Seo Ha-yoon was also connected to Root in the past... Does that mean she doesn’t have a direct relationship with them yet?’
She had not died by my hand in the future. After being betrayed by Root, she had fled from place to place before ultimately meeting a miserable end at the hands of hunters dispatched by various guilds to pursue the Blood Witch.
As someone who knew her future, I had much to consider as I looked at the woman before me, who tilted her head with an innocent expression.
‘To think I’d meet the Blood Witch right before my eyes... Was she not a villain from the beginning?’
“Blood Witch? What are you talking about?”
“...I must’ve been mistaken. I thought you were someone else for a moment. More importantly, why is the granddaughter of Abel Guild’s Guildmaster in a Labyrinth Dungeon run by a criminal organization?”
“Well...”
Seo Ha-yoon hesitated before carefully speaking, as though confessing the truth.
“My grandfather is very ill.”
“He’s very ill?”
“Yes. Because of that, factions have gradually begun forming within the guild...”
‘Ah... Come to think of it, this was when Abel Guild’s Guildmaster, Seo Do-gyeom, died of an incurable disease. The guild began dividing into factions as everyone fought to become the next Guildmaster, and it eventually fell apart.’
After Guildmaster Seo Do-gyeom died, a faction centered around Seo Ha-yoon fought against a faction led by the elders who had founded the guild. Since Seo Ha-yoon had no real political foundation within the guild, she was quickly pushed out.
Afterward, the remaining factions fought among themselves over who would become Guildmaster. Abel Guild, once called one of South Korea’s top ten guilds, disintegrated in a remarkably futile manner.
‘Abel Guild was famous for producing various buff potions. After Seo Do-gyeom died and the guild collapsed, many of its personnel joined criminal organizations, leading to numerous incidents. The prime example was the Blood Witch standing before me.’
“So Guildmaster Seo Do-gyeom is ill, and factions have begun appearing to seize his position.”
“Yes. So I looked for a solution and began searching for a medicinal herb to treat my grandfather.”
“A medicinal herb?”
“Yes. I heard that there’s a medicinal herb in a hidden area within this Labyrinth Dungeon that can cure my grandfather’s illness...”
‘So she intends to find the herb, treat her grandfather, and stabilize her position within the guild.’
Having roughly understood her intentions, I asked Seo Ha-yoon a question.
“What is the name of the medicinal herb you’re looking for?”
“Excuse me?”
“I’m wondering what illness Guildmaster Seo Do-gyeom has that forced you to enter a hidden area within a Labyrinth Dungeon operated by a criminal organization.”
“Well... Mana poisoning...”
“What? Mana poisoning?”
“Yes. My grandfather was experimenting on his own body and became poisoned by mana...”
‘Ah... Seo Do-gyeom was always like that.’
Seo Do-gyeom had created various buff-type potions to help people, even conducting clinical experiments on his own body. But he had pushed himself too hard, forgetting how old his body had become, and ended up poisoned by mana.
“As far as I know, there’s medication to treat mana poisoning. And an organization like Abel Guild should have been fully prepared for that.”
“Well... Ordinary mana-poisoning treatments were no use. We tried all sorts of things, but they only made my grandfather’s condition worse...”
‘Abel Guild is the best in the country when it comes to researching medicine. If even they’ve given up, there really may be no answer.’
“Then, I happened to read my grandfather’s research journal.”
“A research journal?”
“Yes. According to what was written there, a Mandrake Fruit is needed to detoxify someone who has been poisoned by mana...”
“A Mandrake Fruit? I’ve heard of Mandrake Flowers, but I’ve never heard that they bore fruit.”
“But it was clearly written in my grandfather’s research records. I looked into information about Mandrake Fruits, and that led me here.”
“So you came to this Labyrinth Dungeon through the black market.”
“Y-yes. I heard there was a Mandrake Fruit in a hidden area here, so I was wandering around while concealed when...”
“You happened to see me.”
“T-that’s what happened.”
“...”
After hearing her story, I fell into thought.
‘The woman who will one day become a villain known as the Blood Witch... But what if I can sever that connection?’
I wasn’t certain, but if I could cure her grandfather, Seo Do-gyeom, who was waiting for the day he died from mana poisoning, perhaps Seo Ha-yoon’s fate might change.
“Ms. Seo Ha-yoon?”
“Yes?”
“Have you found this dungeon’s hidden area?”
“No. Not yet...”
“If I find it for you, what can you do for me?”
“Excuse me?”
Seo Ha-yoon looked bewildered by my offer to find the hidden area. I smiled and spoke.
“I’ll find that hidden area for you.”