Chapter 47
In front of Seongdong Valley in Chuncheon.
Several people stood before the biting wind of deep midwinter.
Seven members had gathered.
Among them, Jonghyeon belonged to the younger side. That being young could turn out to be a problem was something possible only in Korea.
Of course, Jonghyeon very much hated being pushed around because of age.
"Pleased to meet you. Are you not that Ryu Jonghyeon who has been indispensable in the newspapers these days?"
He was Lee Seokcheon, the leader of the Dangun Guild, the largest in Korea.
"Not at all. It is merely popularity obtained by chance. I still have much to learn."
Jonghyeon answered deliberately modestly. Because right beside him—
"We're acquainted, aren't we? These are the aces of our Solver Team."
It was Gang Jeongu. Jonghyeon had no particular intention of harming him.
For now.
Gang Jeongu introduced the members of his Solver Team to Jonghyeon one by one. Jonghyeon, who couldn't be bothered to memorize their names, was conscious of another person while barely listening.
Lee Seokcheon. At a glance, he had a fearsome impression. Of course, a fearsome impression couldn't be the measure of strength, but at the very least, Lee Seokcheon's face was covered in scars.
That meant he had survived fiercely to that extent. From the feeling alone, he was on a different dimension from an immature brat like Gang Jeongu, who fooled around relying a little on talent.
'Well, that's why he's the leader of the guild said to be the biggest in Korea.'
Korea's guild system was weak compared to other countries too. It was a natural sequence, but with no talent, guilds were weak, and with guilds weak, national power was weak too.
Korea, which had been an economic power within the world's top ten, had fallen considerably in rank since dungeons emerged.
Even in such a country, the only guild that couldn't be ignored was the Dangun Guild.
The party that found the dungeon entrance briefly introduced themselves before entering.
It was a sorting of positions.
"I am Gang Jeongu. I take the position of dealer and tanker, and the ability I handle is martial arts."
Gang Jeongu looked around with a confident expression. It was only natural, because while Jonghyeon was a wildcard, the Dangun Guild was an opponent they couldn't help but be wary of.
Dungeons were war too. If you were looked down upon, you were immediately assigned dangerous positions.
"I am Lee Hwiseok. I am a shaman and take the supporter position."
"I am Cha Jiwon. My position is similar to Mr. Gang's."
The Solver Team's introductions were finished.
"Well. I believe you all know me. However, I've barely done team play, so I cannot name my position. If forced to find one, I would be closer to an assassin."
In truth, if one looked only at the abilities Jonghyeon possessed, he could perform the role of every position.
So to speak, he was an all-rounder.
But as Jonghyeon had no intention of revealing his darkness ability, he had introduced himself simply as an assassin.
This time, it was the Dangun Guild's turn.
"Guild Master of Dangun Guild. I am Lee Seokcheon. My position is tanker."
Every word he spoke was quite heavy. It was so in the force he exuded, but it was clear that skill-wise, he could clearly output abilities on par with a dealer.
"I am Seon Jusik of the Dangun Guild. My position is healer."
"I am Mage Kim Hyeonseok of the Dangun Guild. My position is literally mage."
Thus everyone's introductions ended.
What Jonghyeon paid attention to was the Dangun Guild, as expected. But the Solver Team's shaman was also quite a unique position.
Shamans mostly used talismans by nature, taking charge of buffs and debuffs.
'Overall, the Dangun Guild has put together their positions well.'
Certainly, with just those three, they looked like they could clear most B-rank dungeons without any danger.
They had a tanker at dealer-level, a mage with high utility, and even a healer to assist the tanker.
In contrast, Gang Jeongu's Solver Team seemed to have brought the three strongest members of their team without any thought for composition.
"Then let us wrap up the introductions around here and gradually draw up a strategy."
At Lee Seokcheon's words, everyone nodded as if in agreement, and a tent was brought out from the Dangun Guild's car.
"You don't mean to pitch a tent out here in this cold and hold a meeting, do you? Wouldn't it be better to go down to a cafe instead?"
It was Gang Jeongu's opinion.
But Jonghyeon had reflexively almost blurted out, 'If you don't know, keep your mouth shut!'
As if Jonghyeon's prediction had hit the mark, the tent the mage had brought was no ordinary one. Heat-retention magic was cast on it.
A greenhorn.
Everyone here evaluating Gang Jeongu would probably evaluate him exactly the same.
The dungeon's main monster was, according to information given by the exploration team, a Chimera.
Chimeras existed even in D-ranks, and there was no dungeon of any rank without them.
Only, the difference in level was significant.
If it was an A-rank Chimera, it could even use magic and bows. Just as humans divided ranks among themselves, they too had their own classes.
Of course, since it was information from the exploration team, they had not been able to confirm the boss.
"Let us have me and Mr. Jiwon take the tanker positions."
Simple positions were decided.
Cha Jiwon and Lee Seokcheon took the tanker roles, while Gang Jeongu and Kim Hyeonseok took the middle. And Seon Jusik and Lee Hwiseok supported them from the rearmost line.
"Since you said you are an assassin, Mr. Jonghyeon, simply cut down the mages at the right time and place."
It was the same position he had been given at the Nemerek Guild previously.
Once positions were roughly decided, each took their luggage from their cars. There were many backpacks of moderate size.
Jonghyeon had also roughly packed food and drinks in a simple backpack.
The seven wearing backpacks looked nothing short of hikers, except for the weapons they carried.
"Then shall we go in?"
Under Lee Seokcheon's command, everyone began entering the dungeon with hearts half excited and half worried.
★ ★ ★
Flame Master.
He was another figure who had become a hot topic on the internet lately.
He basically used unarmed martial arts, and his skill was estimated to surpass B-rank.
Though one couldn't determine everything from video alone, experts had concluded that he used chakra to utilize elements.
But that was merely the official conclusion. They had reached the conclusion that the Flame Master's flames captured on video were impossible with chakra elemental transformation alone. The reason was—
"It is impossible unless he is essentially a mage."
The shelter of the World Dungeon Committee fell silent at the words of the committee executive.
Tens of thousands of hunters had passed through his hands. Such a man could not possibly be unaware.
"Indeed. To launch attacks of that caliber after performing elemental transformation with chakra, one would have to be at least a Chakra Master. There is only one Chakra Master in the world so far, and even he himself goes around saying he is not a Chakra Master. And even if he were that master, he could not perform this level of external reinforcement."
Martial arts also had basic stages used in the martial world, and in the case of mages, it was expressed with circles.
But since chakra had no particular standard, the Committee separately investigated the ranks and skills of its users and established their own grades.
First, Chakra Runner. It was the most basic stage. When one had just escaped E-rank and risen to D-rank, they were usually called a Runner.
And the next stage was User.
It was the point where one could handle chakra quite skillfully. The User stage had the most chakra users, so there was quite a gap in ranks even among them.
And if one overcame the limits beyond that rank gap, only then were they called a Chakra Expert.
A-rank rankers were usually called such, and it was the point where the diversity of chakra uses was maximized.
And Chakra Master. Only one existed in the entire world, and even he himself still said, 'The development of chakra is infinite.'
"Then what on earth do you all think this is. A martial artist who uses magic? Hmm."
No one could reach a conclusion.
As was often the case, just because it was called a countermeasures meeting did not mean all countermeasures came out.
They merely gathered because they needed time to put their heads together and think about it.
They had replayed the video quite a few times, but it was clearly a truly outlandish ability.
Flames covered the person's entire body. But not even the hem of his clothes were burned by the blaze. As if they were part of him.
But the footage clearly captured countless dungeon monsters being slaughtered without even being able to twitch at his flames, and this video was not a forgery.
And the most important thing was that the one who filmed and posted this video was someone who had not gone through the rank system. In other words, because he was someone who violated the law.
"Wouldn't the probability that he is an esper related to fire be higher instead?"
It was someone's remark.
"We have looked through all esper rankers, but there were absolutely no espers related to fire. In the first place, esper abilities are often far removed from elemental attributes."
Esper abilities were mostly based on psychokinesis. Or supernatural phenomena. That is, things like invisibility or clairvoyance.
"Even so, one never knows. However, what is certain is that this person is not registered in the rank system."
The video titled Flame Master was absolutely not filmed by coincidence.
It was to a degree that it could safely be considered something he had deliberately filmed and uploaded of his own volition.
"Then what could that person have wanted to gain by uploading this video?"
But to that question, no one could say a word.
In the first place, they would have needed to know who he was, what his ability was, or at least a rough outline to be able to explain anything.
"For now. Stop the pointless talk. Let us move on to this matter regarding Korea."
"Korea? What is that country going to do?"
Someone said as if scoffing, but he was immediately rebuked by the chairman.
"You may look down on Korea, but you cannot ignore that Ryu Jonghyeon who destroyed the Red Rose Guild."
"Ah, so that Heukgwi was Korean?"
Jonghyeon's black sword energy. And the black aura emanating from his body. His moving figure was like a ghost, and yet the world called him Heukgwi.
Because Korean pronunciation was harder for foreigners than expected.
In English terms, black ghost.
That was easier to pronounce.
Knowing full well that the meeting would drag on if the nitpicking continued, one person quickly opened his mouth.
"For now, Korea has announced that it will, for the first time, clear an A-rank dungeon using its own strength. Accordingly, the World Dungeon Committee has also granted approval. Because they said they would handle the cleanup themselves if a problem arises."
If they failed to clear the A-rank dungeon on their own, they would ultimately have to receive help from foreign guilds.
And when that time came, the foreign guilds could name any price they wished, so there was no reason to oppose.
Even if they talked about human rights or civilian protection, in the end, the Committee too was fine as long as it took benefits for each member nation. Whatever happened to a country called Korea didn't particularly matter.
"In any case, I heard that Heukgwi is participating in this A-rank. What do you think about the chances of success?"
At the chairman's question, a man who appeared to be in charge adjusted his glasses and spoke.
"First, when comparing their forces, it is judged that it is not impossible. Since it is a dungeon mainly featuring Chimeras, the variable is that the difficulty falls around the middle. Usually, when making a first challenge like this, one starts from the lowest, so. Therefore, depending on the situation, I believe a few people might die."
"That means it could also result in total casualties."
"Not necessarily. The data we have evaluated on Heukgwi is still too small. He will be the focal point of this clear. If his abilities have been overestimated, the clear will be impossible. If his abilities have been underestimated, they will all come out alive. From our side, we can collect data either way, so it doesn't matter which."
The seated members of the Committee nodded as if in agreement with his words.
---------= Author's Afterword =---------
Going for a consecutive release marathon!!!
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There was a mistake where the Dangun Guild was written as the Hwarang Guild.
I have immediately corrected all chapters.
Thank you to laisa-nim for letting me know.