Episode 14. Parasite
Corpses of monsters filled the surroundings.
The vast majority were monsters that made Shindae’s mouth water!
And to top it off, he still didn’t know what kind of being had caused this.
When Shindae sneakily butchered an ogre’s rib and tossed it into his mouth, a pleasant message appeared before his eyes.
[Stamina increases by 6.]
Perhaps because it wasn’t a monster that Gluttony desired, only his Stamina stat had increased by 6.
Even so, Shindae broke into a broad grin.
“Isn’t this a buffet?”
Ownerless corpses strewn about.
He hadn’t sensed any presence in the passage yet, so there was clearly time to butcher them.
‘If that’s the case….’
It was entirely possible to butcher them quickly while hiding on the stairs and keeping watch!
“Not bad…”
Snickering, Shindae began butchering the surrounding monsters.
***
“Amazing.”
For six hours, he had suppressed his breath against the immense aura coming from the passage while butchering away!
Shindae looked at his risen stats in amazement as he consumed the meat of the monsters in the cavern.
Strength: 205
Agility: 180
Stamina: 179
Mana: 144
Every stat had increased by at least 10 compared to before he came here.
And seeing that his Strength had even surpassed 200, Shindae smiled in satisfaction.
‘To think I could raise my stats this quickly…’
It was possible because every monster he consumed was one he was seeing for the first time, and some of them were meat desired by Gluttony.
Looking at his stats, which would soon surpass 200 across the board, he stroked his chin.
‘And to top it off, the effects of the meat are incredible too…’
After consuming Ogre meat, his Defense had increased by 30%, and Troll meat had granted his body the amazing effect of an 80% increase in regeneration, befitting its reputation.
“I need to pack all of this up for now.”
Shindae packed Ogre and Troll meat into his bag so it could be used for the time being.
While wondering what kind of being could have created this place, he felt an immense aura from the passage and hurriedly threw himself toward the stairs.
‘Is that him?’
A being wearing a worn hood pulled over its head, dragging a 5-star monster, Hippogriff, along as it approached the cavern.
Shindae’s eyes went wide as he suddenly felt a spine-chilling demonic energy from that being.
‘Good heavens, demonic energy!?’
A being emanating demonic energy.
In other words, it was undoubtedly a Demonkin, one that humanity and the allied races had barely succeeded in subjugating five years ago by joining hands.
‘A… a Demonkin…’
During the war with the Demonkin back then, not only had smaller nations collapsed, but North Korea, closely connected to South Korea, had crumbled as well, and to this day, the byproducts of Demonkin occasionally crossed the ceasefire line to harm civilians.
‘Th… this needs to be reported to the Association!’
Shindae was deeply troubled, thinking of the occasional incidents caused by the Demonkin’s remaining forces.
He thought of the search party that would arrive here in three days.
‘There will definitely be an S-rank Awakened among them.’
Shindae watched the back of the Demonkin as it threw a few more monsters into the cavern and headed off somewhere along the passage again.
Fortunately, since the Demonkin wasn’t King-rank, he let out a sigh of relief.
‘If it were King-rank, it would be dreadful…’
The seven King-rank Demonkin who were known as the leaders of their race.
Though it was said that two of them had been successfully subjugated, the whereabouts of the remaining five were unknown, so the world was still said to be in a silent war with the Demonkin.
“Sigh… still, it’ll be safer to stay here for the time being…”
Outside, 7-star monsters were roaming about, and before him was a Demonkin.
But because the Demonkin strangely didn’t even glance at the stairs, Shindae instinctively thought this place was safer.
‘On top of that, food supply is possible too…’
Thanks to the monsters the Demonkin brought, he could secure food and even raise his stats.
He suddenly recalled a movie he had seen before, *Parasite*, and let out a hearty laugh.
‘For the time being, at least…’
Letting out a sigh, Shindae descended the stairs to examine the monsters the Demonkin had left behind.
***
“Which dungeon has gone on a rampage?”
The Association headquarters at Gyeongbokgung Palace.
Yoo Jaehyun, the Association President and an S-rank Awakened, furrowed her fine brows at the secretary’s report.
“We have a report that the 7-star dungeon owned by the Osiris Guild, the Temple of Yuter, has gone on a rampage.”
Checking the documents handed over by the secretary, her expression hardened again at the fact that one of the S-ranks had already been dispatched as part of the rescue team.
‘Damn… that guy is there.’
The secret of the Temple of Yuter that only a select few, including herself, knew.
Yoo Jaehyun caressed the snake tattoo on her wrist, lost in thought.
‘Surely he won’t be discovered?’
To enter the place where that guy was, one had to move a statue that only reacted to their aura…
Yoo Jaehyun looked at the snake tattoo once more and frowned.
‘Too many things are happening that even the higher-ups don’t know about…’
Awakened who were growing strong enough to defy expectations…
On top of that, because unexpected incidents that even the higher-ups couldn’t foresee kept occurring, Yoo Jaehyun was displeased that the plans of ‘Abyss,’ to which she belonged, seemed increasingly disrupted.
As she looked through the list of Osiris Guild members who had gone missing in the dungeon, her eyes widened.
“Oh?”
“Is something wrong, President?”
“Ah… it’s nothing…”
Looking at the documents, Yoo Jaehyun sighed inwardly upon seeing the name Park Shindae written on the list.
‘Why is this man here…’
A being designated as an Irregular by the higher-ups of Abyss, including herself.
However, for some reason he hadn’t been working as a hunter, so she was quite flustered that this person outside her notice had entered a dungeon again.
‘No… I’m worrying too much…’
Those with Unique-grade skills were all classified as Irregulars, but his skill was so similar to a certain missing King-rank’s skill that he was registered as a major person of interest even among Irregulars.
If by any chance he harbored King-rank energy,
and if he arrived there by coincidence…
“It’s going to be a headache…”
Finding someone with King-rank energy that they had searched so desperately for was good, but it was clear that the plans of Abyss, including hers, would be greatly derailed.
“Secretary Kim, I need to go too.”
“You, President?”
“Yes, have a vehicle ready now.”
The secretary asked in surprise at the fact that Yoo Jaehyun, the Association President, was personally heading to a place where an S-rank Awakened had already been dispatched, and she nodded.
‘It’s best if I confirm it with my own two eyes.’
***
“Where in the world do they get monsters like this?”
A monster that looked similar to a giant tuna.
But upon discovering two giant horns and sharp teeth on it, Shindae suppressed a hollow laugh and began butchering the fish before him.
It had already been two days.
Shindae, who had been living in a bizarre cohabitation with the Demonkin, swallowed his saliva and consumed the meat of the tuna-type monster before his eyes.
[You have consumed meat desired by Gluttony.]
[Stamina increases by 10.]
‘So it was a 5-star monster!’
On top of that, the majority of the monsters it brought were meat desired by Gluttony.
Shindae looked at his rapidly rising stats in satisfaction.
‘It’d be a shame if this guy got subjugated right now…’
The Demonkin brought corpses of monsters that were helpful to him like some kind of restaurant.
It had clearly been severely injured, so its strength wouldn’t return properly for the time being.
‘Wait, if that’s the case… wouldn’t it be better to make use of this place a bit longer?’
Hiding the Demonkin’s existence pricked his conscience a little, but if he grew stronger and dealt with it later, that would be that.
‘I’m the only one who knows about this place anyway…’
Shindae weighed his conscience against his stats.
Looking at his status window where every stat except Mana had surpassed 200, he let out a smirk.
“Yeah, yeah, what could possibly go wrong?”
Thinking there was no way it would suddenly recover its strength and cause an incident, Shindae thought it was about time to head back to the surface.
‘Are the others safe…’
As he began climbing the stairs, Shindae started to worry whether the other Osiris Guild Collection Team 1 members were alright.
When he came back out through the spiral staircase, his face reflexively scrunched up at the blinding sunlight.
‘Fortunately, there don’t seem to be any monsters around?’
As if to show that Golems rarely entered the temple, only the temple’s ruins remained in the surroundings.
As Shindae completely exited the stairs, the statue began to return to its original position.
“No one will know…”
Shindae had been worrying about how to hide the traces, but looking at the statue cleanly returning to its original state, he stroked his chin.
‘Please let me not run into any Golems from here on out…’
No matter how much his stats had increased except for Mana, fighting a 7-star monster was close to suicide.
Feeling uneasy, Shindae came out of the temple.
As he carefully surveyed the surroundings and headed toward the entrance, he discovered a hunted Golem and let out a sigh of relief.
“Thank goodness… the rescue team has arrived…”
Traces he hadn’t found before coming here.
They were hunting traces indicating that the rescue team had arrived.
Walking along the hunting traces of the Golems like that,
he could see hunters in the distance who spotted him and were surprised.
“Huh!? A survivor!”
Hunters hurriedly approaching him.
Seeing the government employee IDs hanging around their necks, Shindae could tell they were people dispatched by the Association.
“Are you alright?”
“Goodness… but why is your whole body covered in blood…”
He had met the rescue team in two days when it should have taken at least three.
At their surprise at his appearance, he couldn’t help but smirk inwardly.
“What about the others….”
As Shindae looked around and saw no other Osiris Guild Collection Team 1 members besides himself, he asked, and the Association employees’ expressions darkened.
“Well…”
“I’ll explain that.”
A voice came from behind the troubled Association employees.
Shindae’s eyes went wide at the being approaching him.
‘Good heavens… isn’t that the Association President!?’
Yoo Jaehyun, an S-rank Awakened and the President of the Hunter Association.
She was approaching him with a relaxed smile.
“You’re Hunter Park Shindae, correct?”
“Ah… yes…”
‘Why is the Association President here?’
Setting aside why she was here, Shindae was bewildered as to why she was personally handling something a low-level employee could do.
As Shindae nodded in surprise, Yoo Jaehyun let out a smirk.
“Would you walk with me for a moment?”