What is the Black Tower?
And what are the dungeons within it?
Some considered them a once-in-a-lifetime chance to change their lives.
A place where lumps of gold wrapped in flesh walked around.
If only you awakened, you could live in luxury for the rest of your life.
Some considered them hell on earth.
A place awash in blood.
A place where, if you could not kill, you would be killed.
It might have been better if all one had to face were slightly oversized wolves or trolls, but the dungeons held many things far more dreadful than that.
Veteran porter Lee Seok-hun had seen all manner of horrors inside dungeons.
Even when he tried not to recall them, nightmare-like memories came back at night.
Mostly, his comrades died.
At times, a hunter became the sacrifice as well.
The sight of those who had thought themselves unmatched beneath the heavens being crushed to death beneath a massive club was satisfying, yet terrifying enough to make his knees tremble.
Ten years had passed since he began living off dungeons.
He had thought himself accustomed to most forms of death.
But every so often, scenes that crossed his threshold would appear and turn his stomach.
The things here, suddenly reduced to bloody pulp, were one such sight.
***
Knock, knock—
“Chairman, it’s the chief secretary.”
“Come in.”
When the door opened, a spacious office came into view.
Beyond the full-length glass windows, the panorama of Seoul stretched out in full.
No one but a person of considerable stature could enjoy such authority.
In truth, the owner of this place possessed more power than any businessman or politician.
Kim Tae-hwan, chairman of the Hunter Association.
In influence, wealth, and force, there was no one in South Korea who could compare to him.
Impressive credentials, considering he was a young man idly solving a Rubik’s Cube with his feet propped up on the desk.
“What is it?”
“It’s regarding D-rank hunter Gu Cheon-hwan and the F-rank hunters under him.”
“Gu Cheon-hwan? Who was that again?”
“He’s the hunter who was put in charge of the mana ring production project.”
“Ah, right, I remember. That ignorant fellow. What about Mr. Gu Cheon-hwan? Did he cause trouble?”
“He’s dead. Along with both hunters under him.”
Kim Tae-hwan frowned and looked at the chief secretary.
Though he had not infused his gaze with mana, pressure still flowed from him.
The chief secretary let out a heavy groan and handed over the report.
“It was compiled based on testimony from the porters who accompanied them.”
“Just give me the conclusion.”
“They say that the moment they left the safe zone on the 39th floor, they exploded to death without any warning. All three of the deceased died in the same manner.”
Kim Tae-hwan tapped his foot as he read through the report.
One page after another, documents depicting the grisly scene turned over.
“Was there a monster on the 39th floor capable of making hunters explode to death?”
“Unless there was some sudden anomaly in the dungeon’s composition… no, there wasn’t.”
“What are the odds the porters lied?”
“Their testimonies are consistent. There are no mental health issues, financial problems, or particular grudges to speak of.”
“Is that so? I see.”
Kim Tae-hwan slid the report back toward the chief secretary.
“But is there any reason to report this to me? Do I need to know that some D-rank who scraped by on pocket change died? It sounds like something cheap news outlets would toy with as a conspiracy theory.”
“There are some suspicious points.”
“Suspicious?”
“There is testimony from a porter that, before the climb, Gu Cheon-hwan expressed hostility toward the Association. He allegedly said that he was already paying enormous commissions through the ring business, so why should he continue risking his life to offer up mana stones… My apologies, but that was the nature of the statement.”
“Enough. Why make such a fuss over that? They say even kings get cursed when they’re not present.”
“There is speculation that he may have fled in order to avoid paying mana stones—”
“Can they run just because they want to? They should know that best of all. If you happen to catch them, talk some sense into them properly. Make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
Kim Tae-hwan waved his hand, dismissing him.
There had been a time when he had taken an interest in handmade artifacts.
‘A barrier that gets neutralized by the hands of a mere C-rank hunter.’
With such middling performance, it no longer drew his attention.
“Anything else to say? Chief Min, you should get back to your duties too.”
“The blacksmith has also gone missing.”
“The blacksmith?”
“She was the woman who made rings under Gu Cheon-hwan. We understand she was working while half-confined, and on the day Gu Cheon-hwan’s group went up the tower, she disappeared.”
“Tch, ignorant bastards. Of course everyone runs away when you treat people like that.”
“…Ahem. We cannot rule out the possibility that the blacksmith assassinated Gu Cheon-hwan.”
The foot that had been tapping all along stopped.
“Assassinated him? How?”
“If you refer to the materials in the report, the estimated points of explosion are all presumed to be near their left hands.”
“She modified the rings for assassination?”
“It is entirely possible.”
“How entirely possible?”
“Given the circumstances, we are placing more weight on the assassination theory than the escape theory—”
“So how much?”
“I would say there is roughly a 90% chance it was an assassination…”
Chairman Kim Tae-hwan pressed a hand to his forehead.
He had thought she had merely managed to make a toy by luck.
In truth, it had been a dagger capable of targeting a hunter’s life.
He could show mercy to a coward hiding behind a shield, but there was no way he could leave a lunatic who thrust a blade at him alive.
“Have you caught the woman?”
“We’re tracking her.”
“Chief Min, you should have caught her before reporting to me.”
“My apologies. The CCTV along multiple points of the blacksmith’s escape route was disabled, so there has been some delay.”
“Does the media know?”
The chief secretary flipped through the report until he found the desired page.
It contained several articles claiming that Gu Cheon-hwan’s group had confined an underage awakened individual and forced her to produce artifacts.
“Public opinion is poor. Somehow, the articles are going out in great detail…”
“Wrap it up as Gu Cheon-hwan’s personal misconduct. Send people to the media outlets and coax them into getting along. And just in case, keep track of the Mercenary Bureau’s movements as well.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Make sure you deal with that blacksmith bitch. Quietly and cleanly, before those government bastards snatch her up. Understood?”
“Understood.”
“Good. You may go.”
Chief Secretary Min Seong-gyun bowed deeply and went outside.
His back was drenched in sweat.
Even for him, a top-tier A-rank, a private audience with the chairman was no easy thing.
***
It had been three days since we rescued Ji Su-yeon.
At last, we returned to the house in Gyeongju.
It took quite some time, since we had to move between fake residences and scrub our trail to shake off pursuit.
Not only Ji Su-yeon and I, but Lee Min-yeong and Pyo Yeo-jeong, who had helped with the escape, all had faces steeped in fatigue.
Among us, Ji Su-yeon was watching our expressions while unable to hide her excitement.
“Thank you, everyone…!”
“No need to thank us. Hey, Ha Iseon! If you lay a hand on her, you die by mine.”
“Why would I lay a hand on her…”
“Aaaah, I’m so jealous. Can’t I live with you too?”
“I told you, we’re not living together.”
She was living next door.
Since I was moving out of the studio apartment into a decent apartment, I got Ji Su-yeon the unit right beside mine.
It was fifteen pyeong, so it wouldn’t be lacking for living alone.
For the time being, she wouldn’t be able to go out properly, so it would feel stifling, but there was nothing to be done about that.
Until the situation stabilized, she had no choice but to stay hidden as much as possible.
I could only hope that getting some fresh air while commuting to the smithy would be enough.
“When you get off work, you have to study hard for the GED too. Are you going to live as a middle-school graduate?”
“Studying, ugh. I’d rather go ba— No, no! I’ll study hard!”
Her schooling would be replaced with the qualification exam as well.
I was worried about issues with social skills, but since she had lived a compressed, real-world social life at the orphanage, there probably wouldn’t be any major trouble.
“Then get some good rest. We’ll be going back.”
“Suuyeoni, take care of yourself! If you get scared, call me, okay?”
“Ah, ah, yes.”
“There are other uncles guarding the area nearby, so just relax and make yourself comfortable!”
“Yes… Um, please go in!”
After the noisy housewarming ended, we gathered at our place right next door.
Lee Min-yeong, who had been making a fuss in a cutesy voice until just moments ago, hardened her expression.
“The hunters aren’t giving up.”
“I thought we shook them off.”
“It seems they deployed a high-ranking search-type ability user and formed a new tracking team.”
“When will they find us?”
“Five days at the earliest, a week at the latest.”
Lee Min-yeong rose from her seat. Pyo Yeo-jeong also read the room and prepared to leave.
“I should hurry and get to work. We need to buy even a little time.”
“I’ll get going too. Even if I stay here, I’ll only draw attention.”
“I’ll do everything I can from here as well.”
After seeing them off, I immediately returned home.
I had expected it, but the hunters’ pursuit was tenacious and relentless.
How was I supposed to resolve this?
If the pursuers had been deliberately sent by the hunter side, they had to be fairly skilled.
They were likely powerful individuals of at least B-rank or higher.
Even if we gathered every mercenary and agent in the country, we probably wouldn’t be able to handle them.
The special police armed with weapons and armor from the tower would be just as powerless. It was uncertain whether we could even receive their help.
‘Do I have to stop them myself…?’
I was a secret force they didn’t know about.
So secret that even I couldn’t gauge my own combat power.
If I planned well, and if I made use of the Legendary dagger, I might be able to stop them.
Of course, perhaps I wouldn’t be able to so much as scratch them.
‘Should I ask the artisans?’
Since they had so much experience, they might know better than I did.
I opened the gallery for the first time in a while.
└Python: So what am I supposed to do?
└Metallurgist: Are you actually insane? I told you to just quietly supply artifacts, so why do you keep making things worse?
└Metallurgist: Are you doing this because you don’t want to? Do you want to escape even if it means dying? Should I just kill you myself? I don’t understand. Why on earth are you like this?
└└Yoiyoi: She’s just saying she’s worried, so newbie shouldn’t mind it too much, yoi!
└└Dagger Lord: But she’s also half serious!
└Didn’tBuyAShield: Let’s just slaughter them all.
└Underdressed: Even wrapping yourself head to toe in items won’t help right now. This won’t be easy.
└NorthStationExit3: If gear can’t make up for an overwhelming gap in power… It may sound cold, but I recommend that even you get yourself out, newbie.
Unfortunately, the artisans could not offer a clear answer either.
It couldn’t be helped, since weapons alone could not close the gap, nor could my combat skill be raised drastically in a short period.
Then, at that moment, the black mage appeared.
└BlackMageSobSob: Honey, I can solve this for you. What do you think?
└└Python: Are you going to tell me to learn black magic again?
└└BlackMageSobSob: Mmm, no. How could I force you when you don’t want to, honey?
└└BlackMageSobSob: If you just do me one favor, I’ll handle it very cleanly for you.
└└Python: ……What is it?
└└BlackMageSobSob: Make me one ritual dagger within three days. It’d be even better if you enhance it too. A reasonable offer, right?
One dagger and enhancement.
As it happened, the cooldown from the Legendary enhancement had already passed.
No one could know how the dagger I made would be used.
But now did not seem like the time to nitpick over such minor details.
└└Python: I’ll do it.
└└BlackMageSobSob: You won’t be disappointed, honey.