Chapter 83 – Scout (1)

We came to a rice soup restaurant called Grandma’s Flavor. Cube had all sorts of restaurants, but this was the only one open 24/7.

“…”

I became lost in thought as Kim Suho ate a bowl of rice soup. Kim Suho was at least as strong as an intermediate rank hero, but this world still had many undiscovered secrets.

Among these, some would fall into the antagonists’ hands. I wouldn’t dare seek out items like Lucifer’s Feather or the Snaketooth of Beginning, but I might be able to prevent them from falling into the antagonists’ hands with Kim Suho’s help.

Kim Suho suddenly became much more attractive. He looked like a true main character. The rice soup must’ve been delicious since he didn’t notice the grain of rice on his mouth.

“You have a grain of rice here.”

I wiped it off with a napkin.

“Ah, thanks.”

Kim Suho smiled.

“By the way, are you presenting for your group?”

“Yep.”

“Aren’t you nervous? I would be.”

“I’ll eat a serenity pill before, so don’t worry.”

I learned long ago that it was foolish to not use medicine. Although I quit college to write, I attended until sophomore year. I had ample experience with 4-5 group projects. I also planned on investing some SP into the serenity pill to meet my members’ expectations. It should be a breeze if I also add a persuasion effect to the horn flute.

“Anyways, the dungeon is near Suwon, right?” I asked Kim Suho.

“Yeah, we should be careful.”

Suwon was the most dangerous of the three capitals that also included Seoul and Incheon. During Outcall, more than half the region terraformed into a horrifying mountain zone. The public could not enter west of Suwon. Kamak Mountain was at the border of this restricted zone.

The restaurant door opened and someone entirely clad in black walked in. She wore a big hat, a black mask, and a long, full-body coat. This person could easily be mistaken for a criminal.

“Um, I just called.”

The woman in black quietly notified the staff. Then she glanced at us, the only other customers. Suddenly, her shoulders trembled.

“Ah, wait just one moment.”

The staff went into the kitchen. I smirked and turned towards her. She froze like a statue.

“Oh, who’s this?”

Along with hamburgers, rice soup was also one of her favorites.

“Yo, Yoo Yeonha.”

“…”

She pretended not to hear me. She must’ve wanted that rice soup since she didn’t run away. I stood up and approached her.

“Why don’t you join us since you’re here?”

“Y-Yes? Who, who might you be? I don’t know anyone like you.”

She desperately tried to change her voice, but it sounded too obvious.

“Eh? Yoo Yeonha? You’re Yoo Yeonha?” Kim Suho exclaimed in surprise. Yoo Yeonha began to tear up under her big hat.

“N-No, no, I’m not. I don’t know anyone by that name.”

“Here you go.”

The staff came out and handed her a packaged rice soup. Yoo Yeonha quickly snatched it before running away.

“A-Ah, wait! You need to pay!”

The staff shouted, but Yoo Yeonha had disappeared. Then the staff slowly turned towards me. I took out my card without a choice.

“I’ll pay for it.”

“Yes, thank you.”

For the record, Yoo Yeonha couldn’t meet my eyes for the next three days.

***

The day of their presentations finally arrived on Friday. Chae Nayun felt terrible. Her team had presented first and it ended disastrously. Like Kim Hajin predicted, Oh Junsik stuttered throughout the entire presentation and ruined it.

“Ah, I felt too nervous. Sorry, I’ll do better next time.”

Chae Nayun wanted to smack his head, but she held back as the class continued.

“Next team.”

Team Rachel would present next. Kim Hajin sat in front of Chae Nayun and stood up. He wore a pair of round glasses and walked to the podium.

“Hello, I am from Team 3. We will present about the Walsin Dungeon. This dungeon is located at the foot of Gangwondo Snow Mountain, but because Desolate Moon hasn’t released any information…”

Kim Hajin’s presentation proceeded smoothly. His voice sounded soft, and he didn’t seem nervous. He explained their data and calculated the dungeon's internal structure. He even prepared a cross-sectional map. Chae Nayun stared in a daze as she rested her chin on her hands. His voice sounded slightly different, and his occasional smiles carried a sense of ease. He felt like a real professional. Chae Nayun thought a smart guy was surprisingly cool.

“Wait, I have a question.”

“Yes.”

“How can you estimate the counterflow of magic power with such a small amount of data?” The professor interrupted with a question.

“Ah, about that, if you look at the calculations here…”

Kim Hajin effortlessly explained. Chae Nayun fell into a trance at his intellectual side. The professor backed down with a smile as the presentation concluded.

“That’s it for our team’s presentation.”

Kim Hajin pushed his glasses up and returned to his seat next to Rachel. Chae Nayun stared at them with regret and envy as they high-fived.

***

I returned to the dorms with Rachel after class. The other members wanted to celebrate, but Rachel and I didn’t participate. I had another appointment, and Rachel always refrained.

We walked together and talked about today’s team challenges. Chae Nayun’s team bombed the presentation and Shin Jonghak presented so intimidatingly.

“Oh right, here.”

Rachel handed me a piece of paper when we reached the crossroad between Dorm 1 and Dorm 2.

“What’s this?”

“Are you perhaps interested in the English Royal Court guild?”

“Huh?”

Rachel continued speaking before I could properly answer.

“Honestly, I asked the Royal Court guild to contact you, but it seems they made assumptions based on your rank.”

I looked at the paper. Indeed, this contract had better conditions than the one in the email. I would’ve never imagined such treatment back on Earth.

“Please consider it.”

Rachel lightly bowed before walking away. I watched her leave quietly.

***

I headed to the bus stop near Suwon Station after playing with Evandel for about 30 minutes. Kim Suho had already arrived.

“Hey Hajin, your presentation was amazing.”

Kim Suho wore light clothing. He didn’t have much money, so I volunteered to take care of food and equipment.

“Everyone praised you.”

“Really? Well more importantly, which way should we go?”

“Follow me.”

Kim Suho took the lead. We hiked deep into Kamak Mountain and carefully proceeded to avoid the powerful monsters.

“It’s here.”

Finally, we arrived at a dead end. Kim Suho pointed at the wall in front of us covered in moss and vines.

“So this is why it hasn’t been discovered.”

It would be difficult even if you knew. All sorts of vegetation covered the narrow entrance. It only looked like a tiny gap at first glance.

“It won’t be easy to escape once we enter. Are you ready?”

“Of course.”

I took out the Desert Eagle.

“This is pretty strong.”

I prepared a light bullet just in case. The Swordsman of Destruction should be a high-intermediate rank monster. The difference between intermediate rank and high-intermediate rank was immense. Even this light bullet, which cost 70 SP, would only distract it for a moment. However, a moment was enough. Kim Suho would take care of the rest.

“Then let’s go.”

Kim Suho and I jumped into the narrow gap. It widened as we walked and eventually became a tunnel. However, inside was completely dark. Instead of a flashlight, I guided Kim Suho by the hand since any light could provoke spirit monsters.

“It’s kinda creepy.”

“Tell me about it. Hold on.”

I suddenly stopped and widened my eyes. Another pathway appeared from the other side. If we started from the right that meant the left also had another entrance. Was it like this in the original story? No, I didn’t think so. Two people appeared from the other pathway.

— Where is this?

— A hidden stage I’m guessing?

I didn’t recognize them, but they didn’t look kind considering their face tattoos.

“Wait, be quiet for a second.”

I checked my smartwatch. As expected, an alert had popped up.

[Criticism – The Kamak Mountain Dungeon that Kim Suho conquered is too small considering its reward.] [Solution – The Kamak Mountain Dungeon has become a hidden stage in Suwon Devil’s Nest.]

Suwon Devil’s Nest became connected to the Kamak Mountain Dungeon. Coincidentally, today was August 14th when Packhorse Master would conquer Suwon Devil’s Nest. Those two men should be djinns from Packhorse Master.

“Why?” Kim Suho whispered. I clenched my teeth. Packhorse Master’s djinns were fairly powerful. They disguised as heroes and were at least intermediate rank in power. Even Kim Suho would struggle against them.

“There are other people in here.”

“Damn.”

For now, I closely watched their movements and eavesdropped.

— Let’s go back first. It’ll be better to conquer it together rather than arguing with the rest about what we received.

— Yeah, you’re right.

Thankfully, they left after confirming the hidden stage's location.

“Let’s finish this fast.”

I concentrated magic power into my thousand-mile eyes. My vision expanded as the dungeon’s internal structure entered into view. We would reach the Swordsman of Destruction after proceeding straight and taking two right turns. The Swordsman of Destruction slept inside the boss room.

***

[Suwon Devil’s Nest]

The medium-scale dungeon was located in the Suwon Mountain Range’s valley. The Chameleon Troupe’s blue seat, an African American man named Khalifa, looked around at the Packhorse Master members. He had infiltrated their guild. Seven of the nine members in the dungeon raid sat on the ground to catch their breath.

“James, Johong, did you find anything?”

The guild master contacted the two scouts with a communication device.

— Yes, we discovered a hidden path. It seems to be a hidden stage.

“Oh, is that so?”

Khalifa quietly listened in.

— We’re on our way back so we can conquer it together.

“No, we’ll come to you guys. Continue your investigation.”

— Yes, understood.

“You hear that? It’s time to get up!”

Two men were currently missing. Now was the best time as Khalifa tapped his ears and sent a signal. Then he unleashed his magic power, which formed a door. It was an ability called phase shift that connected one space to another, so long as the locations were close enough. This was part of Khalifa’s gift.

“Cullen, what are you doing? Who told you to open a portal?”

Most people mistook it for an artificial portal, but Khalifa didn’t bother to correct them.

“Cullen, close the portal.”

“…”

Khalifa silently put on a pair of sunglasses.

“CULLEN!”

He even put on earplugs because of the guild master’s annoying voice.

“You son of a bitch…”

The guild master walked up to the portal as a black blade shot out.

The blade cleanly severed him in two as the guild master scattered into black dust. Silence descended as the other djinns stared at the portal. They couldn’t move or speak. Soon, a woman walked out. She had an average height, but a beautiful appearance. A deep abyss sucked their consciousness when they saw her. One, two, three, four… six djinns collapsed like lifeless dolls.

“We’ll have to keep one for the sake of the stock prices.”

Boss stared at Khalifa and coldly murmured. Khalifa grinned.

“You’re right. Now then, should we head to the hidden stage?”

“You wait here.”

“What?”

Khalifa tilted his head as Boss briefly replied, “The two people inside the hidden stage are candidates.”

“Ah.”

Candidates referred to individuals the Chameleon Troupe had selected with the qualifications of joining them.

“Is it a… test?”

Boss liquified her body without answering. Her body turned into a black liquid that quickly scurried away on the ground.