Episode 50
Jonghyeon suppressed his tingling hands, thinking he should at least hear them out before deciding.
“What we’re saying is simple.”
Soon, Gang Jeongu began explaining his plan to Jonghyeon.
“So, you just have to block that one time. Simple, right?”
‘As if it’s simple!’
Gang Jeongu’s plan was far more idiotic than he had expected.
While the troubleshooter team led by him dealt with the Hound first, he wanted Jonghyeon to take care of the Chimera.
It was obvious to anyone that this was stupid.
He couldn’t even guarantee they could take down the Hound easily, but even if they did, how was he supposed to face a Chimera with nothing but talismans for anti-air capabilities?
But Gang Jeongu seemed to have something he firmly believed in, so Jonghyeon pretended to go along with them for now.
Because a good idea had come to mind.
“Uh… isn’t that too dangerous?”
He’d refuse once. Then Gang Jeongu would try harder to persuade him, and if he pretended to be convinced, the other party would trust him even more.
As if to prove Jonghyeon’s prediction, Gang Jeongu flashed his uniquely greasy smile and spoke to Jonghyeon.
“Hey. Do you know why we boil water in a kettle? There are pots, there are frying pans, right? The reason we boil water in a kettle is simply because it’s easy to pour into a cup. Because it was made for that purpose. Everyone has a role that suits them. Think about it. If you just dodge the Chimera’s charge once or twice, what we can do in that time changes. We chose you as the easiest way to pour water. Decide. Die by my hand. Or try dodging the Chimera.”
There had never been such absurd nonsense.
Jonghyeon truly could not understand these words and reached a conclusion.
‘Ah. This guy is a complete moron.’
But since he couldn’t reveal that thought, Jonghyeon pretended to be afraid and agreed on the spot.
Upon hearing Jonghyeon’s consent, Gang Jeongu set up a formation.
Gang Jeongu would take the left, Cha Jiwon the right, and Yi Hwiseok would support from the rear.
And if the Chimera charged at Yi Hwiseok, Jonghyeon would protect him. That was the strategy.
In essence, it was no different from saying they would throw Jonghyeon in instead of Yi Hwiseok.
“Now. Let’s go.”
Gang Jeongu spoke with a nervous look. To Jonghyeon, it was laughable, but it was a serious posture in its own way.
Gang Jeongu and Cha Jiwon ran out almost simultaneously and began drawing aggro.
The Hound and Chimera reacted immediately; as the Hound charged, the Chimera spread its wings and soared into the sky.
“Grrrr!”
The Hound kept the two at bay using the horn on its head. Since they were fighting split on both sides, the Hound had to attack and defend in two directions simultaneously, so the battle flowed more favorably toward Gang Jeongu’s side than expected.
And at the same time, Yi Hwiseok pulled out several talismans and began muttering something.
The Chimera watched the battle from the air, only descending to help the Hound the moment an opening appeared.
“Chain Binding!”
In the gap when the Chimera had helped the Hound and was rising again, Yi Hwiseok’s talisman flew toward the sky.
At the same time, the talisman transformed into chains and seemed to surround the Chimera.
‘This bastard even hid his ability?’
If he had used this ability when fighting the horde of Hounds and Chimeras earlier, Seon Jusik wouldn’t have died.
But Yi Hwiseok had only used an Anti-Magic Barrier and deliberately hidden his main ability.
The bound Chimera tried to break the chains with unknown energy. The Chimera’s body glowed red, and the chains seemed about to burst.
But something unexpected happened.
A scream was heard from Gang Jeongu and Cha Jiwon’s side, who had been superior in power.
“You fucking moron!”
Gang Jeongu seemed to be shouting at Cha Jiwon. Jonghyeon deliberately didn’t move from beside Yi Hwiseok and watched.
The battle had been favorable, and they had started to leave scratches on the Hound’s body to some degree, but Cha Jiwon got greedy and dove in, only to get his stomach pierced by the Hound’s horn.
With Cha Jiwon impaled on its horn, the Hound began charging at Gang Jeongu.
“Hey! Ryu Jonghyeon! Get over here and block this bastard!”
The tanker giving up aggro and coming back to the supporter?
It was no different from suggesting they all die together.
Meanwhile, the Chimera was almost breaking free of the chains, and Yi Hwiseok bit his lip and said,
“Tch. I prepared this to finish off the Chimera.”
The talisman Yi Hwiseok held was slightly larger than when he had cast the Anti-Magic Barrier or Chain Binding.
He looked at the talisman while muttering for a moment, then threw it at the Hound.
“Burst!”
The talisman flew like a dagger and embedded itself between the Hound’s eyebrows.
At the same time, cracks gradually formed from between the Hound’s eyebrows, and the Hound’s face began to split open.
Quite a horrific sight to the eyes.
Gang Jeongu blabbered that he was lucky to be alive and thrust his final sword into the dying Hound.
At that moment, the Chimera broke free of the Chain Binding and began flying toward Yi Hwiseok.
“Hurry up and block it as planned!”
But where Gang Jeongu turned to look, Jonghyeon was not there.
Gang Jeongu quickly pulled the sword lodged in the Hound and swung it at the Chimera, but Yi Hwiseok’s head had already been shredded by the Chimera’s claws.
“Damn it! Ryu Jonghyeon, you son of a bitch! You cowardly bastard! Where the hell are you running?”
“Why are you looking for me so loudly. It hurts my ears.”
While all eyes were focused on the Hound, Jonghyeon had immediately hidden his body in the shadows.
And as soon as Yi Hwiseok died, he reappeared and began taunting Gang Jeongu as if he had been waiting.
“I gave it some thought. That kettle talk you mentioned earlier. I just can’t relate to it at all. Do you know why?”
“What kind of bullshit is that!”
What the hell, in this situation.
Gang Jeongu looked at Jonghyeon with a blank expression, and Jonghyeon saw the Chimera flying at him from behind.
“My house uses a water purifier.”
With those words, Gang Jeongu’s head was shredded by the Chimera’s claws just like Yi Hwiseok’s.
It was a natural result. Since Jonghyeon hadn’t attacked the Hound or the Chimera, Gang Jeongu was the number one target for elimination.
And with this, Jonghyeon was now convinced that the dungeon’s monsters also moved under some form of intelligence.
“Now then, shall you play with me for a bit?”
Jonghyeon was at the point where his body was slowly getting stiff.
“Keeaaack!”
The Chimera let out a rough cry and began flying toward Jonghyeon.
★ ★ ★
A few days ago.
Yu Jinseong had been surprised to see Bori requesting a spar with him.
A spar, all of a sudden.
When asked the reason, she said she was taking the D-Class exam in a few days and asked him to see if she was at D-Class level.
Yu Jinseong made a deal that he would go easy on her if she hid the fact that he had gone easy from Chairman Yi, and Bori accepted readily without a second thought.
And as a result of Yu Jinseong’s test, Bori had more than enough skill to be D-Class. So he had even guaranteed it confidently.
“Yes. But? Was there some problem with the D-Class exam? At your level, Miss Bori, you should have naturally passed.”
At Yu Jinseong’s answer, Bori began explaining the whole story.
Although Yu Jinseong was under Chairman Yi, he was one of South Korea’s undisputed powerhouses.
Some even said that Yu Jinseong was a powerhouse representing Korea.
And such a Yu Jinseong had quite many disciples.
“Hmm. What might the examiner’s name be?”
Bori went to the lady who had guided her and asked the examiner’s name, then answered with it. Of course, it was a name Yu Jinseong had never heard of.
“I’ll check and contact you.”
Shortly after, the three letters spelling Yu Jinseong appeared on Bori’s phone.
“Someone will probably come find you and resolve it soon. I’m too busy, so I sent someone in my stead.”
“Yes? Yes, I understand. I’ll hang up since you’re busy.”
The Yu Jinseong that Bori knew did not say empty words.
Therefore, Bori didn’t ask any further questions and simply ended the call.
And barely a moment after ending the call with Yu Jinseong, a fairly neat-looking man with a shaved head came looking for Bori.
“Excuse me. Might you be Ranker Yi Bori?”
“I’m… not a ranker, but I am Yi Bori.”
Bori said so, flustered by the extreme honorifics.
The examiner had been a perennial D-Class. He had applied to be an examiner because he was actually afraid of entering dungeons.
He had almost failed the examiner test as well, but barely passed thanks to a bit of lobbying.
In that way, he lived taking pleasure in tormenting E-Class rankers who wanted to advance to D-Class.
But today, some woman had come to take the exam. Among women, there was not a single one who had beaten him.
‘I’ll toy with her appropriately today and fail her. Well, if she’s decent, maybe I’ll feel her up.’
Since he was someone who habitually committed sexual harassment under the pretext of sparring, Bori looked like nothing but prey.
But the situation flowed in the exact opposite direction of his prediction. He had almost been devoured by that prey.
He had barely won because an opening appeared at the end, but if this woman had possessed just a bit more internal strength, he would have lost.
‘This is the first time I’ve seen such a disgusting woman. I need to quickly fail her.’
Having declared her failure, he had tried to move on to the next participant.
“Huh? Why are you back?”
It was the woman who had confronted him earlier. But the man entering behind her was very familiar.
“No way. Chief, how did you get here?”
“Did you fail this young lady? I heard she fought you for over ten minutes.”
“Ah, yes. I… that is…”
He had nothing to say. He had simply failed her because he was annoyed. By the original standards, she should have passed.
The chief, seeing the hesitating examiner, shook his shining head and said,
“I believe I’ve told you many times that this sort of thing is problematic.”
It wasn’t once or twice.
He was an examiner who had already caused problems with all sorts of reports: sexual harassment, toying with examinees, and so on. But this time, he had even touched someone he shouldn’t have.
“I won’t listen to excuses. You’re fired.”
“What? But so suddenly…”
“I’ve warned you many times.”
Of course, it wasn’t grounds for dismissal.
In the case of domestic examinations, they hadn’t been established long, and there were few separate principles regarding dismissal, so they had left him alone all this time.
And this ranker examiner position, with its paltry pay, was now difficult to find a replacement for. As the Dungeon System became fully activated and guilds became active, there were no fools who would dedicate themselves to the country for a pittance.
If you received a guild’s protection, you could clear dungeons relatively safely; why would you work as an examiner for a pittance?
For that reason, they had left him be despite his many problems.
“But if you tell me to quit like this…”
The examiner spoke, tears welling up. Because he had absolutely no confidence to enter dungeons now.
“You… you bastard. Just you wait. You snitched, didn’t you?”
The examiner suddenly opened his tear-filled eyes wide and glared at Bori with a look that could kill.
But conscious of the shaved-head man standing there, he immediately tucked his tail between his legs.
“You truly were a despicable person.”
After the incident was concluded, Bori received a polite apology along with news of her D-Class pass.
‘If Master learns of this, will he be surprised? Will he be happy?’
With such excited thoughts, Bori left the testing center with light steps.
---------= Afterword ---------=
Jonghyeon’s patience has grown more than expected, hasn’t it?
This concludes the first consecutive serialization fulfilling a promise to the readers who allowed this to be posted on To Be.
Ah.. and for reference, that kettle talk is something I actually heard in some lecture. Since it was a lecture, I couldn’t argue, haha..
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Trying to prepare for the consecutive serialization without stockpiled chapters… it got too late.
I’m sorry.
But still, my first work finally reached Episode 50!!!
And it turns out there’s something called a manuscript fee coupon…
Thank you so much to those who sent me gifts!!!!!
The reason I don’t comment on questions or criticism is in case it becomes a spoiler for other readers reading that episode.
It’s not that I’m ignoring your opinions…
(Though honestly, I’d like to receive a bit more praise… heh.)
Thank you so much for always taking interest, and I will repay you through my hard work.
Thank you.
ps. I’ve reached Episode 50 too, so… please… recommend…