Chapter 67

“You’ll take care of it yourself?”

So instead of spilling everything at once, he says he’ll handle it himself. Strange. I coaxed him much the same way I did with Kwon Taehan, but the answer came out different.

Joo Seowon grabbed my shoulder and pushed me back a little as he spoke.

“It’s not a big deal.... Yeah, really, it’s nothing. You don’t need to worry about it.”

My eyes narrowed on their own. If it wasn’t a big deal, it wouldn’t have dragged all the way into the mid-to-late part of the original novel before getting resolved. Could he really take care of it himself?

“Are you confident it won’t become a problem?”

“......”

Fuck, and again—no answer. Joo Seowon licked his dry lips quickly, then feigned calm as he answered a beat late.

“Even if there’s risk, I’ll handle it.”

“You will?”

That was laughable. If he really could’ve handled it, it would’ve been long resolved. But it wasn’t, was it?

I tilted my head to the side and pressed him.

“Seowon... if you could handle it, you wouldn’t have gone into hiding. You vanished because you had something to be afraid of.”

“I had... circumstances.”

“What the hell kind of circumstances?”

“......”

What the hell is this?

'He says he’ll take care of it but won’t explain. Just wants to brush me off....'

Even with me pressing, Joo Seowon stubbornly clamped his mouth shut. Not like he showed the will to just run off on his own, either—he only looked away with an awkward expression. I followed his gaze toward nowhere in particular and tilted my head slightly.

“L-let’s just talk after the dungeon tomorrow. After we come back.”

“......”

The silence stretched until Seowon cut in hastily. At this point, suspicion was unavoidable.

'Should I push a little harder and make him talk?'

He’d laid everything bare to Kwon Taehan in exchange for protection. Was it timing? Or was there ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) some other variable? For now, Seowon kept his lips sealed and only rolled his eyes around.

'Is it really the dungeon that’s weighing on him?'

Hard to say. But with tomorrow’s run right ahead of us, it was awkward to keep pressing now. In the end, I just rose from my seat in silence.

“Hey, Seo Jehyun....”

“What?”

“That...”

I paused, thinking maybe he finally had something to say. But Seowon only hesitated, lips twitching, then bit the words off.

“Tomorrow’s dungeon... is it safe?”

“It should be. Song Hwayoung’s going.”

Didn’t sound like that’s what he’d originally meant to ask, but if he’d deflected on purpose, pressing further wouldn’t make him confess. I gave him a dissatisfied look and shut the door.

'Doesn’t make any sense.'

Whatever. If it really bothered me, I could always dig it out another way. Even after I went back to my room, I stayed lost in thought for a while before finally starting to pack my own gear.

***

The next day.

We did our final dungeon check and got in the car.

The dungeon was located in Incheon’s Yeongjong Island, thankfully a good distance from the airport, near the mountains. Its rank was D—well within manageable limits.

Since SH had claimed it, the police were currently stationed around the perimeter.

“Relax. A D-rank dungeon is nothing serious.”

Song Hwayoung, who’d insisted on the passenger seat instead of the comfortable back, let out a light laugh. Easy for her to say.

But I knew from experience that talking back to an A-rank hunter who also happened to be my superior was a stupid idea. So I just focused on driving.

'Still, is it fine to start training with a D-rank dungeon?'

As far as she knew, I was only F-rank. And for my first training ground, she picked a D-rank dungeon?

The tedious drive ended and we soon arrived. After parking near the entrance, Song Hwayoung hopped out and began chatting with the nearby police.

The day before, Joo Seowon had been running his mouth plenty. But now, faced with the dungeon, he was quiet.

“Got your gear?”

“Huh? Yeah.”

He pulled out a space-saving box and started equipping himself.

Invisible Shield (B)

Defensive armor. Compresses nearby air to form a barrier in the desired shape.

So he went all in on defense. His determination not to get involved in the actual clear was clear as day.

Layering artifact after artifact over the combat suit provided by SH, he strapped the box back to his thigh. Finally, he checked his gear one last time, adjusting the piercing I’d attached for him, and let out a deep, shaky breath.

Just then, Song Hwayoung gestured to us.

“Alright, time to head in. Seowon and I are only support. But I’ll help with the dungeon boss.”

“Yes.”

“...Okay.”

Simple plan. After glancing over our faces once, she gave her short order.

“Let’s go.”

Instead of nodding, I turned my eyes to the Status Window flaring before me.

D-rank Gate (Desolate Garden)

A garden made of stone.

Dungeon Boss – Big Gargoyle

Other dungeon creatures... [View More]

'Would you like to view information on ‘Big Gargoyle’?'

The first step inside, my foot crunched on rubble as if it had fallen from a massive rock. Lifting my gaze, I saw what looked like an artificially designed garden sprawled out before me.

Though abandoned for perhaps a century.

“Looks like artificial structures overall.”

Song Hwayoung gave a brief comment. I agreed.

The snowy mountain dungeon in Sokcho, or the quest-type dungeon we’d run before—those had screamed otherworldly the moment you entered. This one felt more like something straight out of a media set.

An abandoned 17th-century garden—that sort of name fit.

“...There are a lot of monsters nearby.”

Seowon reported it the instant he took a single step forward. Nearby?

Ignoring both my and Song Hwayoung’s stares, he bent down and picked up a stone fragment from the ground.

'Wait. That’s not just a stone fragment....'

And then—

Crunch. Crackle.

With a sound like a great boulder collapsing, Seowon, who had been staring at the stone, jerked his head up.

“Oh... that’s the kind of ‘nearby’ you meant?”

Song Hwayoung’s voice rose a notch as she smirked.

No way I wasn’t checking now.

'Status Window.'

Garden Gargoyle (F)

Frozen like statues in the garden. When another lifeform is detected entering, they awaken.

From the pillars that had looked like mere decorations, shards began to chip away as hard wings unfurled.

Flap—

And then—

The statues—no, the gargoyles—all took flight at once.

“Fuck....”

Seowon dropped the stone piece—the gargoyle shard—he’d been holding and stumbled back reflexively.

'This much, I can handle.'

Feeling the mark on my trembling right hand resonate with nearby mana, I clenched my fist.

Screech!

At that moment, the gargoyles swooped toward us. Each the size of a large bird—only ten times uglier. Not a sight you want lingering.

“Hunter Seo!”

Song Hwayoung cocked her head at me like asking what the hell I was doing. I triggered my skill.

Mimic (S) has been activated.

A penalty occurs due to rank difference between you and the target.

Mimic (S) Duration: 450 seconds

No.

This time, a slightly different method.

I hadn’t just been pondering how to wield foreign abilities—I’d also been practicing control over my own skill.

The mana rising from my palm, I slowly redirected into my body. Much weaker. Much easier to handle.

Mimic (S) Duration: —

Only as much as my body could endure.

Ice burst from my palm, racing across the ground and erecting a frozen barrier in front of us.

Bang! Screeech—

The gargoyles slammed into the suddenly formed wall, claws scraping sharp against the ice before they dropped.

'This is about what an E-rank skill could manage.'

By lowering the grade to what my body could handle, the duration extended. Of course, there were side effects.

“The ice is breaking!”

Several F-rank gargoyles battered the wall, cracks spreading fast through the brittle ice. Hwayoung only stood with her hands clasped behind her back, smiling faintly as she watched.

“No, wait a bit.”

Ignoring Seowon’s panicked glance, I counted the gargoyles crowding ahead.

One, two, three, four....

Not one but four F-ranks at once? I looked at Song Hwayoung for help, and she grinned, pulling an item from her pocket.

“Didn’t expect four to pop at once.”

She tossed it high into the air. With A-rank strength, the item soared skyward, halted at its peak, then flared with light.

“This is how I use my skill.”

Behind the gargoyles, the burst of light threw shadows over us. From her coat, she drew out a tiny artifact, pressed a button—click—and it extended into a long staff in an instant.

Shadow Step (A) has been activated.

She gripped the staff and stabbed straight down through the center of a gargoyle’s shadow, then dragged it in a clean line.

Screeech!

Kieeeek!

Each time her staff tore a shadow, shrieks ripped through the air, and gargoyles flapping above plummeted.

Like bugs sprayed with poison.

“Alright, Mr. Jehyun, finish the last one.”

“Yes.”

Watching the gargoyle flailing on the ground, I stretched my palm upward.

Flash!

The ice surged from my hand, sharpened into a blade, and fell.

Thud!

Piercing straight through the gargoyle’s heart.

Screeeech!

(Death) Garden Gargoyle (F)

Frozen like statues in the garden. When another lifeform is detected entering, they awaken.

Manageable. I let my lips curl faintly.