‘Are we really going to an RP dungeon?’
In the meantime, Mephisto had fluttered up onto Geuru’s head and settled down there.
Geuru stood with his arms crossed, staring at the tablet as he deliberated.
‘For a con man, he sure is trying to go somewhere insane.’
No matter how supremely brave an S-rank Hunter Geuru was, and no matter how much the black flame dragon sleeping within him desired Ham Honggi’s blood—
The presence radiating from the very rank of an RP dungeon was overwhelming.
Blood vengeance, or personal safety.
That was the question.
Just then, as Mephisto made a gesture of pecking the air in front of him with his beak, a quest window appeared before Geuru’s eyes.
Ding!
[Caregiver Quest!]
[Caregiver “Mephisto” is not in a complete state! Find “Mephisto’s Fragment” in the RP dungeon and show your filial devotion!]
[Reward: Filial Piety Points 100,000]
Geuru’s eyes wavered when he checked the reward.
‘This is……?’
He had poured in every filial piety point he had saved up for Mephisto’s hatching. Because of that, the filial piety points he currently had were 0. He had become a pauper in an instant.
But the filial piety points he could gain from this quest were…….
‘100,000?!’
It was an amount of filial piety points far too great to refuse.
*
“It’s hard to even catch a glimpse of you, Team Leader Jin.”
“I’ve been a little busy……. It’s been a while, Doctor.”
Jin Siwon smiled mildly, scratched his cheek, and sank back into the sofa.
The doctor sitting across from him pushed up her glasses and smiled.
“Team Leader Jin Siwon. If you were to rate how you’ve felt over the past month on a scale from 1 to 10, what score would you give it?”
“Hmm, 4 points? I’m living normally. Is that the right way to put it?”
“The expression is awkward, but I understand the nuance.”
“No matter how much I learn, language is still difficult…….”
“Even so, you’re quick to pick things up. Surprisingly so.”
“Thank you. I’m doing my best every day.”
Aja aja, Jin Siwon pumped himself up.
“When I go to these things called company dinners, people keep doing this. I think it’s some kind of Korean magic spell. Everyone turns into a beast with this.”
“The person who says aja aja is rather old, aren’t they?”
“A little? No, a lot?”
The doctor burst into laughter and asked while tapping on her keyboard.
“Team Leader, are you no longer having that dream?”
“If I’d known there was such a bothersome procedure, I wouldn’t have sought asylum in Korea. You should have told me in advance when I was naturalized.”
Jin Siwon gave a pointed joke and smiled faintly.
“I tell you every time, but this is a process all S-ranks go through. It would probably be similar even if you went to another developed country. You’re people who can annihilate a city as easily as morning exercise, so if a problem were to occur up here…….”
She tapped her own temple.
“It would be troublesome. You understand, don’t you? But wasn’t it even stricter when you were in the intelligence department?”
“Ugh, you caught me.”
Jin Siwon raised both hands as if surrendering.
“Don’t try to deceive a doctor. This may look useless, but it all becomes flesh and blood in the end. So please focus.”
“It isn’t only because of that……. An RP dungeon has appeared outside right now.”
“Korea’s guilds are highly elite, even compared to those of other developed countries.”
“Not Hyeonak?”
At Siwon’s question, the doctor’s eyes widened.
“Pardon?”
“The Association designated the guilds to be deployed for this RP raid, but Hyeonak wasn’t among them.”
“Ah, if it truly seems dangerous, they’ll push Guild Master On Jurim in first, so it should be fine. Isn’t that what the Special Awakened Act was made for?”
Jin Siwon suddenly thought of On Jurim and nodded. He certainly was an incredible human being. No, was he even human?
“Korea seems to have tremendous faith in Guild Master On Jurim.”
In any other country, the moment an RP dungeon appeared, there would have been panic.
In reality, from S-rank dungeons onward, if a raid failed, it was as good as announcing at least thousands upon thousands of casualties.
But Korea was calm.
A country where, since the Cataclysm, not a single dungeon break had occurred only grumbled that traffic control was clogging the commute home.
Jin Siwon now knew that On Jurim was the reason for that quiet.
“That’s true…….”
Although he often received unkind looks, On Jurim was Korea’s pillar.
A first-generation survivor of the Tower. The one and only S-rank who had closed a Great Dungeon alone one year ago. An absolute powerhouse who did not waver under any offensive.
The director of the Management Bureau would often complain, saying, “Annoying as it is, that bastard’s easygoing, languid face actually helps national security.” The moment that bastard’s face crumpled, the panic they had been holding back would finally arrive.
“Would you like a cup of coffee?”
“I’d love one.”
Siwon sipped the coffee she handed him and smiled.
“By the way, caffeine must be all right? It’s a psychoactive drug.”
“Foreigners are surprisingly better at difficult words……. There’s also a famous caffeine addict among the S-ranks, so drink as much as you like. Would you like more?”
Siwon shrugged.
She suddenly recalled her first consultation with Jin Siwon.
A man from a ruined country.
His ash-blond hair and green eyes made him seem even more mysterious.
“Have you chosen a name? A Korean-style name.”
“I’m going to go with Jin Siwon. There’s no reason. It’s just easy to pronounce.”
“Then I’ll call you Mr. Jin Siwon from now on. Is that all right? If there’s anything you’re curious about, you can ask me anything. Anything at all. For now, talking to a local about whatever comes to mind will help you adapt.”
Yevgeny Markov—no, the man who had now become Jin Siwon—fell into deep thought.
“Then, Doctor. Do you know how many people it takes to destroy a country?”
The question from the man seeking asylum was both mischievous and deliberately touched on an extremely sensitive point.
It was a question that seemed to test the heart of someone who, acting under orders from the state, wanted to learn anything she could from him.
“I wonder……. In the past, you would have needed an army, but now, you wouldn’t need quite so many people. Perhaps a unit of rankers?”
At that, Jin Siwon said with a smile.
“One person.”
Siwon lowered his eyes.
“I do dream.”
A mansion burning red. The noise of tanks and fighter jets. The ear-splitting sound of sirens. Screams that continued without cease. The smell of blood and gunpowder.
And flowing golden hair.
It was a dream of her laughing and spinning round and round in a scene where everything looked red, as if it were burning.
“This isn’t the end. Look over there.”
The place she pointed to was the entrance of a Great Dungeon.
“Doctor.”
“Yes.”
“Will I be able to protect it this time?”
Among people passing by without any sense of crisis, Jin Siwon felt with stark clarity that he was a foreigner.
Within their bottomless, ungrounded sense of security, he could never blend in with them.
“Every day frightens me so much.”
*
Mapo District RP Dungeon Countermeasures Situation Room, inside Hyeonak’s tent.
“What in the world is RP~~”
Kim Jongwon, the leader of Hyeonak’s Raid Team 1, sang lyrics he had made up to an inexplicable tune.
“Hyung, you’re seriously awful at singing.”
“Team Leader, your singing is really fun.”
Gidan criticized him for being bad at singing, and Nayeon burst into laughter.
“Hunter Nayeon, are you looking down on me because you used to be an idol? Are you that good at singing?”
“I wasn’t an idol, I was a trainee. Once this is over, shall we all go to karaoke?”
“Noona, my ears have already burst. If we go to karaoke, there’ll be big trouble. If my ears hurt, I can’t go to school, and then I’ll have to repeat a year, and if I repeat a year, I can’t run dungeons, and then the country will collapse, and the world will tremble…….”
“Hmm, Dan. Then I’ll protect the world.”
“Nooo. Before world peace, please worry about Dan’s attendance first.”
Gidan whined and shook his head.
While they chattered away, Jurim exhaled cigarette smoke.