Chapter Find Mephistopheles!
Geuru met the golden eyes shining down at her.
Though she had felt puzzled by the appearance so different from usual, it was only for a moment.
“Sheyer…….”
The instant Beillak muttered that name, her heart dropped with a thud.
If it was Sheyer, that was the name of the lord of the 99th floor.
‘It’s not Dad, right?’
Thump, thump.
Her heart began to race wildly.
Could it be that the gloves had failed to do their job and the worst had finally happened?
Then, overcoming the pressure from Sheyer, Beillak spoke.
“What… is it?”
“Is this not Karmirak’s domain?”
When Sheyer reached out and mimed clenching his fist, the fog dispersed instantly.
“It seems Karmirak has fled.”
“That is not a reason.”
“It is a dangerous place for a child.”
“You were not one to obsess over a mere child.”
“Indeed, it seems I have come to discern the reason for that.”
Though the words appeared benevolent, the tone was somehow listless and hollow.
Listening to their conversation, Geuru hugged the baby rabbit tightly.
‘I have to open the Yorang.’
According to Beillak, all Geuru had to do was separate Jurim and Sheyer.
However, for now, unless Lucifer helped, she could not open the snowfield.
Lucifer, holding the sprout up high, cried out resolutely as if reading Geuru’s mind.
“Kyu……!”
‘Alright, now……!’
“—Open!”
Geuru’s mouth, about to shout ‘Open, Yorang!’, was forcibly clamped shut.
From the way Beillak shook his head, it seemed to be his doing.
Did that mean it was impossible right now?
“But…….”
As Geuru opened her mouth, Seyer’s gaze pierced straight down at her.
Startled, Geuru pressed her lips shut again.
Yet for some reason, the gaze that approached her felt quite affectionate.
‘Why?’
It was then.
Ding!
[Attachment index fulfilled. Caretaker registration is possible.]
‘Caretaker registration?!’
Geuru gaped.
If the caretaker registration had appeared, it meant the lord of the 99th floor was not dangerous.
It was in that moment that Geuru’s mind grew increasingly complicated.
“Geuru!”
“Yellow Geuru!”
Right then, Gidan and Sereuhi entered the inner quarters together.
“……Hyung?”
“Was Onjurim here too?”
The two who discovered Sheyer showed troubled expressions.
Geuru, placing the baby rabbit back atop her head, stepped forward.
“It’s not Dad.”
Before the two could ask what she meant, Sheyer replied in a listless tone.
“It is Sheyer. On Earth, do they call me the lord of the 99th floor?”
Nod, nod.
When Geuru nodded in agreement, Sheyer’s hand twitched, and he stroked her head.
“How clever.”
“Cwever?”
“It means you are smart.”
‘A- a compliment!’
Geuru blushed at the praise, then shook her head vigorously.
He has Dad’s face, but he’s not Dad! I can’t let my guard down!
A momentary silence enveloped them as Gidan and Sereuhi assessed the situation.
And what broke that silence—
“The lord of the 99th floor?!”
—was Gidan’s shout.
At the same time, Sereuhi, chewing gum, spun around.
“Hey! Where are you going!”
“I was gonna send a quick text before I die.”
Gidan grabbed Sereuhi’s shoulder.
“Why would you die!”
“Yes, do your best.”
Between the fussing Gidan and the resigned Sereuhi, Geuru blinked.
“…….”
“…….”
Only then did the two realize Sheyer was standing right beside Geuru, and they froze stiff.
Judging that this was not the time, Gidan opened his inventory and drew a weapon. Sereuhi stepped back and raised his mana.
Both looked ready to use their skills at any moment.
Gidan bent down and spoke cautiously.
“Geuru, come here slowly.”
Geuru looked at Gidan and Sereuhi once each, then looked up at Sheyer.
“Geuru will be right back.”
“Alright.”
Sheyer replied rather affectionately.
Geuru toddled over to her oppas, and Beillak sauntered after her.
At the sight of the children approaching without a hint of tension, Gidan and Sereuhi showed clear confusion.
The two immediately sandwiched Geuru between them and opened a barrier. It was to prevent Sheyer from overhearing their conversation.
Even with the barrier open, Gidan did not let down his guard and whispered.
“……Is that, by any chance, not dangerous?”
Nod, nod.
Since the caretaker registration had appeared, it meant he was not a dangerous person.
Unable to believe it, Sereuhi asked in rapid succession.
“He’s not trying to take over the world or anything?”
“Uh-uh, he didn’t say that…….”
“Then what’s he doing here?”
The one who answered was not Geuru, but Beillak.
“He appeared because the master looked dangerous. An SSS-rank dungeon almost opened here.”
“What? That wasn’t your dungeon?!”
“……?”
Beillak furrowed his brows at Gidan’s astonished face.
“Why would I have to open a dungeon?”
‘It’s because you had weird things done to you by that pervert—’ They couldn’t bring themselves to say it and shut their mouths.
Setting aside the kidnapping incident for now, they had to return to the most important problem.
Sereuhi, who had been lost in thought for a moment, asked.
“Then since Geuru is safe, shouldn’t he go back inside?”
“If he intended that, he wouldn’t have come out in the first place.”
“Then Jurim hyung is……!”
“He’s probably asleep inside Seyer’s consciousness.”
“How do we get him out?”
“Even if I told you, could you actually do anything to Sheyer?”
Beillak asked back.
Those words carried the implication to not entertain vain thoughts, and Gidan ran a hand down his face.
It was a relief that he was not a threat to the world, but in another sense, it was hopeless.
How could they possibly handle the lord of the 99th floor with their strength alone, when even Onjurim had failed?
As Gidan lost his words, the frustrated Sereuhi opened his mouth.
“Did the gloves fail? Can’t we ask another guild or organization for help?”
To that, Gidan let out a groan and shook his head.
“Absolutely not. There are so many people bearing their teeth at Hyeonak. The moment rumors spread that Onjurim has gone crazy, they’ll say to subjugate Onjurim and destroy Hyeonak.”
“S-subjugate?!”
Geuru raised her voice in surprise.
Subjugation! It was a word that often appeared in fairy tales with heroes and Demon Kings.
A diagram began to form in Geuru’s mind.
Lord of the 99th floor = Demon King
Hunters = Heroes
Dad is asleep inside the Demon King.
That meant Dad could be vanquished by the heroes!
Boom!
Under the shock of what felt like the sky collapsing, Geuru exploded in anger.
“That’s why you should be good!”
“Yeah, that’s why you should have lived a better life!”
Geuru and Sereuhi spoke as if scolding him at the same time, and Gidan bowed his head.
For once, he could not make excuses for his past misdeeds.
“No, but it’s not just that…….”
Gidan swept his hair back and continued, as if frustrated.
“Hyung is Onjurim, after all……. We absolutely can’t tell.”
No matter what anyone said, Onjurim was a pillar of Korea.
The moment it was revealed that something was wrong with Onjurim, not only Hyeonak but all of Korea would have emergency alarms raised.
“Onjurim not being in Korea is a disaster on the same level as a war breaking out.”
“……Crazy.”
Sereuhi let out a sigh, and Geuru glanced at Sheyer, rolling her eyes.
“Dani oppa, so right now Dad is a secret?”
“Yeah. For now, don’t tell anyone and let’s just watch how things go…….”
Before Gidan could finish, the door to the inner quarters slammed! and collapsed.
“What. Why are you guys already here?”
The one who broke through the door was Cheongyuri.
“Huh? What brings Guild Master On here?”
Following behind was Gusinhu.
After them, the 1st Teams of each guild and government-affiliated agents also revealed themselves.
They had rushed over after receiving word that a mega dungeon had occurred.
As people swarmed in an instant, the nervous Geuru exchanged glances with her oppas.
‘Wh-what do we do?’
She hadn’t expected so many people to suddenly rush in.
“Shh.”
Sereuhi put his index finger to his lips, gesturing to be quiet.
For now, revealing to a third party that ‘the lord of the 99th floor has possessed the guild master’ was impossible in this situation.
They had to smooth things over somehow.
The three exchanged signals with their eyes and nodded.
Soon, Geuru pitter-pattered over and grabbed Seyer’s hand.
It was to shut his mouth, in case Sheyer spouted nonsense in front of the crowd.
Sereuhi and Beillak stood by Geuru’s side like guards. It was in case Sheyer suddenly acted against her.
And Gidan, stepping forward, clapped his hands to draw people’s gazes to himself.
“Everyone’s here? But what do we do. We just arrived too, but there’s not even a trace of a dungeon?”
Gusinhu let out a snicker.
“Don’t tell me Hyeonak already cleared the unknown dungeon again?”
“Come on, even we couldn’t conquer a mega dungeon this quickly.”
It was suspicious for Hyeonak, but Gidan’s words weren’t wrong either.
They had rushed over almost immediately after receiving the text, so even Hyeonak would find it hard to clear a dungeon in that time.
“Hmm. Was it a false report?”
“These things happen sometimes…….”
“But is this a residential area? Why is it so empty?”
“Right?”
Gidan laughed awkwardly and chimed in with those looking around the inner quarters.
“I know, right. Please look around to your heart’s content. That’s all we know too.”
Eventually, while people were inspecting the inner quarters here and there, Gidan signaled to Geuru with his eyes and approached Hyeonak’s Team 1.
Geuru stood a little closer, dragging Sheyer and her guards along.
“Gidan, what happened? Why are you and the guild master here before us?”
“Well, you see…….”
Gidan glanced at the lord of the 99th floor and swallowed dryly.
That was not Jurim. It was still unknown whether they could make him act like Jurim.
Above all, since Team 1 were also members of Hyeonak, they would inevitably notice Onjurim’s abnormal behavior at any moment.
Then there was only one way to break through this situation!
“Something was there. I don’t know if it was an SSS-rank dungeon, but there was an anomaly. Though it suddenly disappeared.”
“Then why didn’t you say anything? So what happened?”
“Nothing much happened after that… but that’s not the problem…….”
Gidan clenched his fist.
“Ju-Jurim hyung. I don’t know if it’s because of that influence, but I guess you could say his memory is a bit… incomplete…….”