Before entering the cleared gate, Ji-hoon stood with one hand tucked into the pocket of his work clothes, staring at the window floating before him.
[Demon King’s Secret Ledger]
A UI resembling an old leather-bound ledger appeared over the transparent window.
Its pages rapidly flipped on their own, and several entries appeared in succession like a table of contents.
[Demon King’s Castle Management Records: Access Denied]
[Demon King’s Castle Supply Purchase History: Access Denied]
[Hell Market Shortcut: Connection Available]
“Hell Market?”
Ji-hoon tilted his head.
“Was there a market like this?”
He had lived in Hell for a hundred years, but this was the first he had heard of any Hell Market.
Muttering to himself, Ji-hoon pressed [Hell Market Shortcut].
DING–
[Connecting to Hell Market.]
[Hell Market – ‘Heartwarming trades with demonic creatures near you!’]
[Welcome! ElegantNavyWisp!]
“…What kind of Wisp?”
Is this Abel’s account?
[My Ledger] – Currency: 0 Dephor (Dephor)
Hell Temperature: 99.9℃ (New Member)
‘A new member at 99.9 degrees?’
Could it be that?
Since it is the Hell Market, is it one of those systems where being too friendly puts you at a disadvantage, while acting viciously lowers your temperature and makes you more popular?
Just then, a voice called from behind him.
“Trainee Lee Ji-hoon?”
“Yes!”
Startled, Ji-hoon hurriedly closed the Hell Market.
“What are you doing?”
“Ah, well, um… It’s my first time in a gate, so I found it fascinating. Ha ha ha.”
“I understand your fascination, but if you zone out for too long and lose track of your group, you could be in serious trouble.”
“Yes, I’m sorry.”
“Please focus on your assignment.”
The field supervisor sighed.
“I am more concerned precisely because you are F-rank. There are more than a few F-rank and E-rank Hunters who die because they do not follow instructions.”
“Ah….”
“Do not so much as look toward the boss room. Only collect items within the marked area.”
“Yes, understood.”
Ji-hoon adjusted his grip on the salvage tongs and small pickaxe.
A cleared F-rank gate.
As he stepped inside, the smells of damp soil and metal rose together.
Blue minerals were embedded here and there in the walls, while byproducts that had fallen from monster carcasses remained scattered across the floor.
The people divided the area among themselves and moved about.
“Low-Grade Mana Crystal Fragment here.”
“That one’s broken, so collect it separately.”
“Test the leather byproducts for contamination first!”
“Trainees, don’t mine the walls! Start by collecting from the floor!”
Ji-hoon also crouched down and began gathering the Mana Crystal Fragments scattered across the floor.
[Low-Grade Mana Crystal Fragment]
[Quality: Low]
[Low-Grade Mana Crystal Fragment]
[Quality: Very Low]
“Will this even cover a meal?”
This should at least earn me enough for a spicy pork rice bowl today, right?
With that thought, he started to rise so he could move on.
At that moment, a single golden line appeared before him.
“Hm?”
[Golden Guidepost (S) responding.]
[Scanning for the most valuable nearby item.]
Oh, this.
Isn’t this the skill that appeared earlier when it said something about the Demon King’s ledger?
Ji-hoon narrowed his eyes at the skill that had suddenly activated.
“Hmm….”
Taking care not to let anyone else notice, Ji-hoon slowly walked toward the wall indicated by the golden line.
He lightly tapped a small lump of mineral embedded near the bottom of the wall with his pickaxe.
TAP– TAP TAP–
Something as hard as stone.
This time, he swung the pickaxe down with a little more force.
CRACK–
A crack formed in the wall, and blue light leaked through.
[Mid-Grade Mana Crystal]
[Quality: Good]
“Oh?”
If it’s mid-grade rather than low-grade, it should be more expensive.
While a low-grade Mana Crystal resembled a cloudy shard of glass, the mid-grade crystal shone as though a tiny blue flame were trapped inside it.
Perhaps it was like an LED light inside a snow globe.
“What’s next?”
The golden line pointed to the wall beside it.
He worked the pickaxe there too.
CRACK–
[Mid-Grade Mana Crystal]
[Quality: Good]
“Oh-ho?”
“Trainee Lee Ji-hoon?”
At that moment, he heard the supervisor’s voice.
“What are you doing outside your assigned area…? Wait a moment. Is that a Mid-Grade Mana Crystal?”
“What? Ah, yes.”
“What? A Mid-Grade Mana Crystal?”
“This gate has mid-grade crystals, not just low-grade ones?”
The supervisor patted Ji-hoon on the back encouragingly.
“Excellent! Even at F-rank, you can succeed if you gather byproducts and resources this thoroughly.”
“Are mid-grade crystals much more expensive?”
“Of course! But you really did mine it out cleanly. Have you spent much time shoveling before?”
I’ve never done any shoveling outside the army.
Oh.
Trimming a Dragon’s claws, washing between Jörmungandr’s scales, and picking out weeds caught between a Griffin’s wings.
Well, if that sort of grunt work counted as shoveling, I’d done it for a hundred years.
“Ahaha, I guess I was just lucky.”
“Luck is a skill too. Anyway, if you keep gathering like this….”
Just then.
WHOOOOOOOOOSH–
A powerful wind blew from the depths of the gate.
“What is that?”
“The wind suddenly….”
“Is this gate a wind-attribute gate?”
“It shouldn’t be….”
The people began murmuring.
At the same time, a system window appeared before each of them.
[Warning: Gate mana unstable.]
[Warning: Gate reactivation underway.]
WHOOOOOOOOSH–!
WHOOOM WHOOOM WHOOOM WHOOOM WHOOOM–!
“AAAAAAAARGH!!!”
The sudden gust hurled the people into the air.
“Everyone, run!”
The instant the supervisor shouted.
[Gate Grade resetting.]
[Previous Grade: F]
[New Grade: S]
“…S?”
Everyone froze at the message floating before them.
“R-R-R-Run!”
“It’s S-rank! The boss is reviving!”
Every employee threw down their collection tools and ran toward the entrance.
The supervisor held his communication device and shouted.
“This is an emergency! The cleared F-rank gate has been reset to S-rank! This isn’t April Fools’ Day bullshit, it’s real! Get an S-rank Hunter here, now!”
Before he had even finished speaking.
A massive shadow surged up from the direction of the boss room.
THUD–
A single footfall shook the floor as though it were about to cave in.
THUD–
Mana Crystal Fragments rained down from the walls.
And finally.
Enormous wings tore through the darkness and emerged.
GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!
A golden mane.
The body of a lion.
The head of an eagle.
A razor-sharp beak and talons.
Overwhelming golden mana spreading from his back.
“A Grif…fin…?”
[Gate Boss appearing.]
[King of Griffins (S)]
The Griffin parted his beak slightly and spread his wings.
GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!
Golden mana exploded from his wings along with his roar.
The people fled in utter panic from the mana storming through the area as though it would destroy everything around them.
Everyone fled.
The supervisor who had been using the radio fled, as did the collection team, the trainees like Ji-hoon, and even the C-rank Hunters stationed there as a precaution.
But one person did not move.
“Trainee Lee Ji-hoon! Run!”
“….”
“That’s the wrong way, you fucking bastard! Are you trying to get yourself killed?!”
Ji-hoon did not listen.
He threw both the salvage tongs and pickaxe onto the floor.
He even tossed aside the bag, heavy with Mana Crystals.
“You… Is that really you…?”
Golden feathers.
The way he would whimper through tears and say he was sorry whenever he thought he was about to be scolded.
There was no mistaking it.
For a hundred years, Ji-hoon had fed him every day.
He had brushed his fur every day.
And soothed him whenever he caused trouble and cried.
The eldest brother among Hell Farm’s demonic creatures, who had approached Ji-hoon and accepted him as Hell Farm’s manager when he first fell into Hell.
“Poppy!!!!!!”
How could I ever forget you?
“Pop! Py!!!!!”
An S-rank Boss Monster.
The sovereign of the skies.
A king even among Griffins.
“Hey! Poppy! It’s me! I’m Ji-hoon, your big brother, you brat!!!”
At that moment.
The Griffin raised his head.
His eyes, gleaming viciously, turned toward Ji-hoon.
And then.
GRRRRRR….
A very familiar cry emerged amid the monstrous roar.
“Yeah, don’t cry, punk.”
[Big… Brother…?]
It really is him.
Poppy, the eldest brother at Hell Farm!!!!
“Do you recognize me, Poppy?”
[Big… Brother… really… ngh…!]
Something about him looked pained.
Did he get caught in some kind of trap?
Or did the Hunters attack him?
“Poppy!”
[Big Brother… destroy….]
Destroy?
“What do you….”
[I will… destroy… everything….]
Sometimes, when Poppy lost his reason, his destructive instincts would surface.
Is he in that state now?
“Calm down first, Poppy!”
While Ji-hoon tried to soothe the younger brother from Hell Farm he had finally reunited with, everyone else was struggling desperately to escape as fast as possible.
“Get us out! Let us out of here!”
They had somehow managed to reach the entrance.
But the gate’s exit was closed.
“I-It won’t open! They say people can enter from outside, but the way out from inside is blocked!”
“Fucking hell…!”
The three C-rank Hunters who had fled looked at one another, cold sweat pouring from them.
“Huff… huff….”
“Sh-Should we… try…?”
“Are you fucking insane?! It’s S-rank!”
“But he isn’t attacking that F-rank Hunter.”
“Maybe he’s weaker than we think? Maybe only his rank is high?”
The supervisor and the workers added their voices to the Hunters’ discussion.
“Th-That’s right! That boss may be weaker than it looks. I am C-rank myself, so I will help!”
“Please, do something! We only came because they said it was safe!”
“Just get us out of here!”
Just as the people’s voices were rising.
CREEEAK–
“Hey, hey! Wait!”
“Whether we die trapped here or die fighting, it’s all the same!”
A long-range sniper-type Hunter raised a bow.
TWANG–!
WHIIIZZZ–
The arrow flew.
Fired from a distance, it flew straight toward the space between the Griffin’s eyes.
TING–
It struck the golden mana barrier surrounding the Griffin and fell to the floor.
“H…haha….”
The Hunters sank to the ground.
Ji-hoon looked back and forth between the fallen arrow and the Hunters behind him, then pressed a hand to his forehead.
“These idiots…!”
Attacking an agitated animal only riles it up more!
“Poppy! Calm down. First, take a deep breath….”
GRRRK–GRRK–
“There, that’s it. Just like that….”
SKRREEEEEEEEEEEE–!!!!
Fucking hell.
“Why did you have to provoke him?! Why?!”
“W-We, w-we were trying to save everyone….”
“Oh, come on!”
What do I do?
When Poppy gets worked up, he sometimes detonates his mana like a bomb.
His destructive instincts are really going to take over!
GRRRRRRR–
“…What’s wrong with your eyes?”
Something was wrong with Poppy.
His eyes were red.
They looked as though something had contaminated them.
“Could this be…?”
Red mana spread like capillaries between his golden feathers.
It was not Poppy’s mana.
It was mana that someone had forcibly overlaid onto him.
“What bastard dared do this to our Poppy?!”
GRR…AAAH!
FLASH–
BOOM BOOM BOOM–!
Golden mana erupted from Poppy’s body. The torrent of mana made the people clutch their chests and collapse.
“Ghk…!”
“Just from… the pressure….”
“Save… me….”
“No…!”
Ji-hoon planted himself in front of Poppy.
STEP–
“If you’re going to get past me, kill me first.”
GRRRRR–
“I’ll make sure every one of the younger ones at Hell Farm hears all about this humiliating display before I croak! If you’re going to kill me, go ahead!”
GRRR– GRRRRR–
[You… must not… spread… rumors….]
What? He’s back to his senses!
“Then hurry up and purge that weird toxin, you stupid brat!”
[The… poison mana… is rapidly….]
“Finish it quickly, then let’s have a snack, punk!”
FLASH–
The Griffin’s body shone once more.
This time, however, there was no sense of oppressive pressure at all.
The mere sight of it was healing.
Being enveloped in the golden mana brought a sense of security.
It was mana that put them at ease without any effort.
[Big… Brother….]
“Are you back to your senses?”
[Big Bro…! Is it really you, Big Brother?!]
“That’s right, you brat!”
Ji-hoon ran toward the enormous Griffin.
CLASP–
“Your big brother’s here!!”
[I missed you, Big Brother!!!!!]
F-rank Tamer Hunter Lee Ji-hoon.
An S-rank Boss Monster, a Griffin.
Two beings that should never have appeared in the same frame were embracing in the middle of the gate.
“Tami…ng…?”
“Seriously…?”
Unable to accept the unbelievable sight before them, the others could only blink.
DING
[Successfully tamed S-rank Boss Monster (Griffin)!]
[Unstable Gate cleared.]
[Personal Reward: 20 Griffin Feathers (B)]