There might be.
······Now that I think about it, he suddenly looks pretty.
I gazed steadily at Kim Suho. Looking at him anew, he really did have the face of a protagonist, yet the gukbap must have been so good that he didn’t even notice the grains of rice stuck around his mouth.
“Why are you eating with stuff all over your face?”
I pulled out a few tissues and wiped the grains of rice away.
“Ah, thanks.”
Kim Suho said with a faint smile.
“Oh, right. By the way. For your team project on Friday, you’re doing the PPT presentation, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Aren’t you nervous? I think I’d be super nervous.”
“I’m going to take a Cheongsimhwan.”
I learned long ago that stubbornly refusing the help of medicine for no reason was nothing but recklessness and overconfidence. Though I had taken a leave of absence halfway through to focus on writing, I had still attended university up to my second year. I’d done group projects about four or five times, too.
On top of the Cheongsimhwan, I was also thinking of investing a little SP. For the teammates who were placing far too much expectation on me, especially Rachel.
If I attached some option like increased eloquence or persuasiveness to my horn flute, I’d be able to whip up an item that would help with the presentation.
I asked Kim Suho.
“Anyway, that dungeon is near Suwon, right?”
“Yeah. We have to be careful.”
Suwon was the most dangerous area in the metropolitan region. When Outcall occurred, the terrain had undergone severe deformation, turning more than half of its area into treacherous mountains.
Because of that, the western side, divided along an east-west axis, was completely off-limits to civilians. Geomaksan was located right on that boundary.
It was then.
The door of the gukbap restaurant suddenly opened, and someone wrapped entirely in black entered. A wide-brimmed hat, a mask, even a coat that covered the whole body. Anyone who saw her might mistake her for a criminal.
“Um, I just. Called earlier······”
The woman announced herself to the employee in a small voice. Then she glanced at me and Kim Suho, the restaurant’s only customers, and her shoulders trembled as if they might shatter.
“Ah, yes, just a moment.”
The employee went into the kitchen. I chuckled and turned toward the woman. She was frozen like a statue.
“Well, who do we have here?”
It suddenly came to me. Gukbap, along with hamburgers, was one of her favorite foods.
“Hey, Yoo Yeonha.”
“······.”
Even though I had clearly called her name, Yoo Yeonha was desperately pretending not to know me. Still, seeing as she wasn’t running away, she must have wanted to take the gukbap she had already ordered.
I stood and walked over to her.
“Since you’re here, why don’t you eat with us?”
“Y-Yes? W-Who are you? I don’t know anyone like you······”
She was changing her voice with all her might, but it was completely obvious.
“Hm? Yoo Yeonha? You’re Yoo Yeonha?”
Kim Suho reacted at just the right moment. At that, beneath the wide-brimmed hat, tears slightly welled in Yoo Yeonha’s eyes.
“N-No. I’m not. I told you, I don’t know anyone like that······”
“Here you go.”
Just then, the employee came out and handed over the packaged gukbap. Yoo Yeonha snatched it and hurriedly fled.
“E-Excuse me. You have to pay!”
The employee shouted in bewilderment, but Yoo Yeonha had already disappeared far into the distance. Then the employee’s gaze slowly turned toward me.
Left with no choice, I took out my card.
“I’ll pay for it instead.”
“Yes. Thank you~”
······For reference, for about three days after that.
Yoo Yeonha couldn’t even meet my eyes.
* * *
Friday, the day of the team project presentation for Phenomenon Realm Analysis.
Right now, Chae Nayun was in a very foul mood.
Chae Nayun’s team had just finished their PPT as the first group. Even in Chae Nayun’s eyes, the result was a complete disaster.
Just as Kim Hajin had said, Oh Junsik, who had insisted on giving the presentation, stammered his way through and ruined the entire PPT.
“······Ah. I got a little nervous. Sorry, sorry. I’ll do better next time.”
And that was the crap he said afterward. Chae Nayun wanted to plant her fist in his jaw, but since they were in class, she desperately held herself back.
“Next team.”
Next was Rachel’s team. A man sitting right in front of Chae Nayun stood up. It was Kim Hajin.
He went up to the podium wearing some round glasses.
“The dungeon our Team 3 was assigned is the Washin Dungeon. The Washin Dungeon was a dungeon that actually existed at the foot of Seorak in Gangwon Province, but because the raiding guild, ‘Silent Moon,’ has not disclosed the progress of its conquest······”
Kim Hajin’s presentation was skillful. His voice was smooth, and there was no nervousness. He first introduced the information the team had gathered, then used calculations to infer the dungeon’s interior. He had even prepared cross-sectional diagrams.
With her chin propped on her hand, Chae Nayun stared blankly at Kim Hajin. A voice different from usual, the ease with which he occasionally smiled, and those round glasses. It was as if he were giving a lecture. Smart men were unexpectedly cool.
“Wait. I have a question.”
“Yes.”
“How were you able to infer the mana backflow with just that much information?”
At that moment, the professor cut in.
“Ah. For that, if you look at this formula here······”
But Kim Hajin answered the professor’s question without hesitation. Chae Nayun was briefly entranced by his intellectual appearance. The professor withdrew in satisfaction, and soon after, the presentation ended.
“That concludes our team’s PPT.”
Kim Hajin pushed up his glasses and wrapped up the PPT.
After finishing the presentation, Kim Hajin returned to the seat beside Rachel. With a feeling half regret and half disappointment, Chae Nayun stared at Rachel’s blond head. Rachel and Kim Hajin smiled at each other and high-fived.
*
After regular classes ended, I was heading back to the dorm with Rachel.
The other team members, including Tomer, strongly demanded an after-party, but Rachel and I didn’t participate. I had an appointment, and Rachel just didn’t.
We walked while casually talking about today’s team project. Chae Nayun’s team totally bombed. What was with Shin Jonghak giving his presentation so terrifyingly, and so on······
“······Oh, right. Um, this.”
Then, at the fork where the first and second dormitories split, Rachel held out a sheet of paper to me.
“What is this?”
“By any chance, are you interested in the British Royal Guild?”
“······Pardon?”
Before I could answer, Rachel continued.
“Actually, I asked the Royal Guild to make preliminary contact. But it seems they only looked at your ranking and got the wrong idea about you, Hajin-ssi.”
At those words, I looked at the contract again. Indeed, compared to last time, the terms had improved considerably. It was treatment that I, back on Earth, wouldn’t have dared to imagine.
“······Please think it over carefully.”
Rachel gave a light bow and walked down the path to the right.
I silently watched her back.
* * *
After playing with Evandel for about thirty minutes at the dorm, I headed to the meeting place.
The meeting place was a stop near Suwon Station.
Kim Suho had arrived long ago and was waiting.
“Hey, Hajin, you were really good at presenting.”
Kim Suho was dressed lightly. Right now, Kim Suho had no money. So I had volunteered to take care of food, equipment, and the like.
“Everyone was impressed.”
“Oh, really? But more importantly right now, where do we go?”
“Follow me.”
Kim Suho took the lead, and I followed behind him.
Before long, we arrived at Geomaksan.
Our trek led deep, deep into Geomaksan. Since Geomaksan was home to fairly powerful beast-type monsters, we walked with our eyes wide open so that we wouldn’t run into any.
“It’s here.”
At last, we reached a dead-end mountain wall. The wall Kim Suho pointed to was covered with moss and vines that blanketed its surface.
“······No wonder no one found it.”
It was definitely a location that would be hard to find even if you knew it was there in advance. On top of being covered in all sorts of miscellaneous plants, the passage was far too narrow. At a glance, it was just a crack.
“Yeah. But once we go in, it won’t be easy to run back out. Are you sure you’ll be okay?”
“Of course.”
I took the Desert Eagle out of my pocket.
“This thing’s pretty strong.”
Just in case, I had also prepared a light bullet. The Swordsman of Destruction was an upper-intermediate monster. The difference between intermediate and upper-intermediate was enormous, so even this light bullet that cost 70 SP would likely only buy time. But buying time would be enough. Kim Suho would take care of the rest on his own.
“Then let’s go in.”
Together with Kim Suho, I threw myself into the narrow crack. The more we walked, the wider the crack became, until soon it was as large as a tunnel.
Inside the dungeon, darkness hung thick like fog. Instead of turning on a flashlight, I took Kim Suho’s hand and guided him. If we shone light for no reason, there was a risk of provoking spirit-type monsters.
“It’s chilly.”
“Tell me about it······ Wait.”
In that instant, I stopped walking and opened my eyes wide.
There was another passage on the opposite side. In other words, if we had started from the right, then there was another passage on the left as well. Was it originally like this? No, I don’t think it was.
Two people were walking out from that passage.
—What the hell. Where is this?
—Must be a hidden stage.
I couldn’t tell who they were just by their faces. But judging from the aura I felt and the tattoos painted on their mugs, at the very least, they didn’t seem like good people.
“······Wait. Stay quiet.”
I hurriedly checked my laptop through my smartwatch.
As expected, a message had arrived.
[Criticism—The scale of the ‘Geomaksan Dungeon’ Kim Suho conquers is too small compared to its reward.]
[Solution—Partially resolved by revising the ‘Geomaksan Dungeon’ into a hidden stage connected to a nearby dungeon, the ‘Suwon Devil’s Nest.’]
In other words. [Suwon Devil’s Nest] and this [Geomaksan Dungeon] had ended up connected to each other.
On top of that, of all days, today was August 14. The day the Lord of Demons completed the conquest of Suwon Devil’s Nest. Then those two bastards must be djinn belonging to the Lord of Demons.
“Why?”
Kim Suho whispered.
I clenched my teeth. The Lord of Demons was among the fairly powerful factions of djinn. In fact, each of their cover identities was at least an intermediate-rank Hero, so even the current Kim Suho would have a hard time dealing with them.
“There are other people here.”
“······Damn.”
For now, I observed their conversation and movements.
—Let’s return to the main group for now. Rather than having people say we pocketed something, it’s better to raid it together.
—······Yeah. That’d be better.
Fortunately, they only confirmed the location and quickly went back.
“Let’s finish this as quickly as possible. Before they do.”
I concentrated the magic power of Stigma into Thousand-Mile Eyes. In an instant, my field of vision expanded vastly, and the dungeon’s interior entered my sight all at once.
Where was the Swordsman of Destruction······
After walking straight and turning right twice, there was the boss room. There, the swordsman was sleeping.
*
[Suwon Devil’s Nest]
A mid-sized dungeon coiled in a valley of the Suwon mountain range. At the point when the conquest of the dungeon known as the “Suwon Devil’s Nest” was mostly complete.
Blue (靑色) of the Chameleon Troupe, who had infiltrated the Lord of Demons—the African-American “Kalifa”—looked around.
In the empty cavern, seven of the nine people who had participated in the dungeon raid were sitting on the floor, catching their breath.
“James. Zhaohong. Did you perhaps discover anything else?”
Guild leader Kim Jingyeong asked the two scouts through a communication device.
—Yes. We found a hidden passage. It seems to be a hidden stage.
“Oh. Is that so?”
Kalifa quietly eavesdropped on their conversation.
—We’re returning to the main group now. Let’s go together.
“No. We will go to your side. You two continue scouting.”
—Yes. Understood.
“Now. You all heard that, right? Time to start getting up!”
Two of their forces were gone.
Then now was the opportune moment.
Kalifa tapped his ear. The signal was transmitted. After that, Kalifa released his magic power in the form of a gate.
It was what was called “Phase Shift,” which connected two not-so-distant spaces, and was part of Kalifa’s talent.
“Kaleng. What are you doing right now? Who told you to open a portal?”
There were several points that distinguished it from a “portal,” but since it looked similar anyway, everyone mistook it for an artificial portal. Kalifa didn’t bother correcting them either.
“······Kaleng. Withdraw the portal.”
“······.”
Without a word, Kalifa put on his sunglasses.
“Kaleng!”
The guild leader’s shout was so noisy that he even put in his earphones.
“This bastard, right now······”
The moment the enraged guild leader approached the portal.
A black blade surged out from within it.
The blade split the guild leader cleanly in two, from the crown of his head to his groin. The result was obvious: instant death. The guild leader oxidized into black dust and scattered.
······A heavy silence descended.
Their leader had died in a single blow. The Djinn merely held their breath and stared into the portal, unable to say a word or mount any counterattack.
Soon, a woman emerged from within the portal.
She was of ordinary height, with a pretty face. But the moment they met her murky eyes, their consciousness was sucked into a deep abyss.
One, two, three, four······ six Djinn collapsed like dolls.
“We should keep them alive for now, for the sake of the stock price.”
Boss muttered coldly and looked at Khalifa. Khalifa grinned and said,
“You’re absolutely right. Then shall we go look for the hidden stage now?”
“You stand by.”
“······Pardon?”
Khalifa tilted his head. Boss answered briefly.
“The two who have entered the hidden stage are ‘candidates.’”
“······Aha.”
Candidates. It referred to those whom Boss and the members had, after their own discussions, deemed qualified to potentially become a new color of the Chameleon Troupe.
“Is this a test?”
Without answering, Boss liquefied her body. In an instant, her body turned entirely into black liquid and clung to the floor. In that state, Boss moved swiftly.
tzoa
End
There were monsters scattered along the path leading to the boss room. I wasn’t going to leave even those small fry to Kim Suho. Each one was at a level I could handle with my gun, so I wanted to at least do this much and pretend I had contributed something.
The six monsters standing before me now were “Ghouls.” They were undead monsters corresponding to lower-intermediate grade, rank 9.
I took out the Desert Eagle and gripped it. Even in the pitch-black darkness, its platinum form shone brightly. One shot for each one—I aimed precisely at their right eye sockets. That was where a ghoul’s tiny brain was located.
I pulled the trigger. There was no hesitation in my shooting. The six bullets flew in within an instant that could not be measured by time, piercing the vital points of the six ghouls with perfect accuracy. For a moment, a blue flash seemed to flicker, and then the ghouls lost strength and collapsed.
“Oh, as expected······.”
Kim Suho exclaimed from beside me. But there was no time to feel proud. In any case, my creed was to be strong against the weak and weak against the strong. If my opponent was weak, I could slaughter them whether they came as a legion or a horde, but if the other side was an expert—no, even if they were merely intermediate—I had to run for my life.
“As expected, my ass. Let’s go. We don’t have time.”
We ran through the cave. Monsters lurked at every turn, but fortunately, their ranks were low, so advancing itself was easy.
After swiftly clearing ghouls, zombies, and various ghosts for ten minutes while running onward,
we arrived before a massive stone wall.
At a glance, it could be mistaken for a dead end, but strange characters were engraved on the wall.
This was an ancient language said to exist only in dungeons. These days, thanks to technological advancement, even this level of ancient language could be translated with a smartwatch. In fact, the Kim Suho of the original work had translated it that way too.
I took out my smartwatch and had it recognize the text.
—“This” and “that” are always together.
—When observed from nearby, “this” and “that” feel almost simultaneous.
—However, when observed from afar, “this” precedes “that.”
—What is “this”?
Kim Suho glanced at my watch and looked at the riddle.
“······Ah. Looks like it’s a riddle. I’ve heard there are dungeons like this sometimes.”
In the original work, Kim Suho failed to solve this riddle and asked Yoo Yeonha for help by text. Yoo Yeonha requested assistance from an information guild and gave him the answer in five minutes.
But we didn’t have that kind of time now.
This question was a riddle I had roughly made up from something I’d heard somewhere, and the answer was lightning. “This” was lightning, and “that” was thunder.
Lightning and thunder occur together, but since sound is slower than light, when observed from far away, lightning is seen first and thunder reaches you later. In other words, lightning flashes first, and then, belatedly