Igyeol hid his trembling hands and exited the alley. Damn it, I seriously thought I was going to die. Igyeol secretly wiped away cold sweat and let out a deep sigh. He’d only seen Holy Power from that eccentric monk ahjussi who’d gone to the Gate of Reversed Heaven together, so today was the first time he’d directly faced proper Holy Power like this.
When it clashed with the corroding demonic energy, his whole body hurt as if it would shatter, but the system window was saying something different.
[Curse has been alleviated.]
[Curse has been alleviated.]
[…Fragment’s’ demonic energy has decreased.]
“Damn it….”
The contaminated body was definitely getting better. But he never wanted to experience that damn pain again. He was a bit tempted, but… no. I have honey water. Igyeol quickly dismissed the thought. Anyway, if it’s curse alleviation, honey water can solve it too. Even if it can’t be a fundamental solution.
Igyeol quickly headed toward Dumang Mountain. When he arrived at the entrance of the Dumang Mountain walking trail, the first thing he encountered was elderly grandfathers sitting closely together on a bench press placed at the entrance. Igyeol smiled promisingly and greeted them.
“Hello, ahjussis.”
“Oh, isn’t it Igyeol? Did you come to exercise? What to do, they say a gate opened at Dumang Mountain right now?”
“Ah~ It’s not a gate but a dungeon, ahjussi.”
“Isn’t that the same thing?”
“It’s a bit different. I came because of that too. To do some gathering.”
“I see.”
The leader-like Old Man Jang grinned and patted Igyeol’s shoulder. The arm strength of Old Man Jang, whose muscles stood out, was twice as strong as an ordinary person’s. Igyeol went “Ah, ah— it hurts,” and moved aside. Besides Old Man Jang, grandfathers of similar age looked at Igyeol as if seeing their grandson.
“It hurts~ Grandpa!”
“Looking all scrawny like that. Are you eating your meals properly?”
“Starting tomorrow, come out and exercise. Igyeol-ah, look. This body.”
Old Man Go, who was showing off his firmly bulging biceps, grinned while showing his teeth. Everyone burst into hearty laughter. These were grandfathers who, possessed by the madness of exercise, ruled over the Dumang Mountain walking trail. Moreover, they were regulars who’d been coming and going to the Jangchun Health Clinic that Igyeol operated since Grandmother Oksoon was alive. All of them had eaten Grandmother Oksoon’s special elixir and were all experiencing a new prime.
“To beat down the boss mob, like this, like this! Igyeol-ah, look!”
Among them, Old Man Seoksam, who claimed to be a master in his day, stood up abruptly and lifted his leg strangely, imitating Bruce Lee. Old Man Go tried to stop him, but Old Man Seoksam excitedly made a strange sound—”Abyoot!”—and jumped up doing a kick. Igyeol made an “aigoo” sound and waved his hands.
“Ah, ahjussi, stop it! If you get hurt doing that, even honey water won’t help!”
“That’s right! Stop it! If you fall at this age, you’ll die!”
At Old Man Go’s shout, the other grandfathers laughed heartily. It wasn’t a sight they’d seen just once or twice.
“I’ll be going now. Did Seoksam ahjussi request extract this time?”
“I’ll come pick it up next week. I’m looking forward to it, Igyeol-ah.”
“I’ll prepare it well. I’ll fill it with only good stuff, so use us often. Other ahjussis too. You know?”
“Of course, of course.”
Igyeol grinned at the heartily laughing grandfathers, left them behind, and climbed the Dumang Mountain walking trail. When he passed the entrance and went up a bit more, he discovered the boundary line that was a sign that a dungeon had opened.
In front, a barrier was set up in a circle to block the magic waves emitted by monsters. In front of it, a middle-aged ahjussi with a protruding belly wearing an orange vest was sitting in a plastic chair holding a glow stick. He was someone Igyeol knew too.
“Kwon ahjussi, you’re in charge here?”
“Isn’t it Igyeol?”
Kwon Seonghyeon ahjussi. That man, commonly known as Kwon ahjussi, was a B-rank Hunter belonging to the international police UNP who mainly did work guarding the entrances of low-grade dungeons. He and Igyeol were on friendly terms, having often seen each other whenever doing gathering work. Igyeol also occasionally slipped him bribes. Igyeol grinned and lightly tapped Kwon’s shoulder.
“What, you were sucking honey.”
“Sucking honey, what~ It’s tough these days. Making money isn’t easy.”
“C-rank level is honey though.”
“Igyeol, can’t you count the alphabet? A, B, then C. I can’t handle C-rank anymore.”
“Don’t talk weak.”
Igyeol giggled, then asked about something that just occurred to him.
“Ah, but ahjussi, by any chance… was there a kid among the people entering this dungeon?”
“A kid?”
“Yes. I heard that a kid about middle school age headed this way.”
“Earlier, gathering Hunters rushed in all at once, so I couldn’t count properly….”
Igyeol frowned slightly. No way. Did that bastard Kang Yeongwon enter the dungeon on his own? On top of that, with a border Hunter guarding the front. Even if Kwon ahjussi was a pot-bellied ahjussi, he was still a Hunter. Kwon also waved his hand as if it was nonsense.
“Still, I looked carefully. I didn’t see any kids. What kind of kid would be at a dungeon? Don’t you know minors under 18 can’t even come in front of this?”
“Ah, I just asked in case.”
“They’re not an Awakened, right? Among the kids running wild these days, there are always kids like that. Even if it’s C-rank, a dungeon is still a dungeon.”
“Right, that’s right.”
A dungeon is a dungeon. No matter how gutsy a brat was, there’s no way they entered a dungeon alone. Igyeol nodded. It seemed he could brush off the little bit of worry that remained.
Just as he was about to enter the dungeon. Kwon, who’d been checking Igyeol’s watch, suddenly looked behind Igyeol, his eyes widening as his mouth gaped open. Igyeol, who’d been looking down, saw Kwon’s surprised expression and turned around.
“S… S…”
“Eh. Followed all the way here.”
Sung Yohan was there. Igyeol frowned deeply. That persistently unlucky face was staring intently at him. Igyeol quickly turned his head. He didn’t want to keep facing that face. He urged Kwon ahjussi.
“I can enter, right?”
“S… S… Sung Yohan….”
“That’s him. I’m entering?”
Kwon was still out of it. Igyeol was dumbfounded. Is Sung Yohan such a great bastard? Was he such a great, terrifying bastard to be this startled?! Huh?! Irritation shot up sharply. Igyeol pulled his hand from the dazed Kwon ahjussi’s hand and stood in front of the entrance gate with pursed lips. From behind, Sung Yohan asked quietly.
“Are you entering the dungeon? In that state?”
“Then what, does it look like I came to play?”
When he answered with irritation packed in, Kwon ahjussi’s eyes rounded as if they’d pop out as he looked at Igyeol. Kwon took one step toward Igyeol and tapped his shoulder. He whispered with his mouth shape. A-are you acquainted? Igyeol answered out of courtesy with his mouth shape. We don’t know each other.
After briefly answering, Igyeol quickly entered the dungeon. Sung Yohan tried to say something from behind, but he ignored it.
[Dumang Mountain C-rank Dungeon
Hesse’s Castle
Clear Gauge 56%]
A system window appeared before his eyes. The first thing visible was a blue sky. And visible far away… a Gothic-style castle. And… a terrible sulfur smell that seemed to sting the nose.
Igyeol’s eyebrows twitched. This smell was too familiar.
‘Igyeol-ah, those bastards smell like sulfur.’
‘You have a dog’s nose, ahjussi. This entire place is a volcanic crater, of course it smells like sulfur.’
‘No, those demon bastards. They all go around reeking of sulfur.’
Memories from the past surfaced. Igyeol took out the necklace he’d kept inside his hoodie and fiddled with one missed name. The necklace with several name tags hanging from it felt heavy in his hand.
Mage Gwanun, the Wandering Soul Mage, a mage who used Holy Power and was renowned as a monk inside the Gate of Reversed Heaven.
‘…That fraud ahjussi was right.’
Igyeol’s expression hardened coldly. There was a demon in this dungeon. A demon belonging to the Demon Realm.
