Chapter 400

He said he would kill any other hunter who tried to enter.

Who on earth would stop whom?

Surely the Awakened about to attempt the raid was not going to be subdued like an ordinary person, was he?

When the burly man made that declaration, everyone around him froze for a moment. But in a situation like this, it was also true that no one could realistically stop him if he decided to act recklessly.

What exactly were they supposed to do?

Even if every high-ranking official from the Hunter Association were gathered there.

Honestly, they had no idea what that man might do inside the dungeon. They did not want to let him enter while ignoring every procedure, but with a dungeon break imminent, they could hardly grab him by the sleeve and tell him not to go.

Rather than forcing decent A-rank hunters inside, it seemed better to place their trust in someone like him.

At some point, the officials, police, and most of the other authorities controlling the scene all arrived at the same conclusion.

And the moment Kang Changho realized no one intended to stop him, he moved forward confidently, strolling at an unhurried pace toward the nest of beasts.

Step, step, step.

The Awakened soon disappeared beyond the shimmering passage leading into the otherworld.

"When exactly are the top-tier hunters who went to the 6th [Sin Classification] coming back?"

"They said it'll still take quite a while. The gate appeared far out at sea, so even if they started flying back the instant they received the news, it'll take well over fifteen minutes for them to get here."

As soon as the third S-rank hunter disappeared, the remaining hunters hurriedly gathered to discuss countermeasures.

"He hasn't shown his face at all until now, so why on earth did he suddenly decide to step into this one?"

Still, a certain suspicion lingered in the backs of their minds.

"Could it be that he really went in there for the epic item?"

Kang Changho was the kind of person who could reverse his position as easily as turning over his hand, and no one would be surprised.

Because of that, and because unpredictable variables could arise at any moment, those gathered at the scene summoned additional Awakened security forces to the heart of the city just in case a dungeon break occurred.

***

A few tense minutes passed like that.

For reference, Seoul was a city with an exceptionally complicated layout.

There were even places where towering high-rises stood densely packed from block to block without a single break.

So even if someone managed to pull off a [Teleportation] spell, once they arrived in Seoul, they would still have to struggle through its maze-like streets all over again.

Got it.

Of course, the mere fact that he had managed to land cleanly in Seoul in a single attempt was already an impressive achievement in itself.

Looks like my old skills haven't rusted after all. On an alien planet where I barely even know the terrain, how many mages could pull off a spatial leap this precise?

Smrk.

A few minutes after clearing the Castle of Pride, a familiar figure appeared on the asphalt-covered road.

His golden hair looked so dry that it seemed static electricity might spark from it at any moment. A winter wool coat clung neatly to his body without a single wrinkle out of place.

The man straightened his posture as he adjusted the knot of the robe-like coat wrapped around his torso.

Hmm.

This striking figure was none other than Kim Giryeo, a state-certified S-rank hunter.

In his younger years, his features had often been dismissed as unpleasant, but recently they had suddenly begun receiving high praise abroad.

Such was the way of the world.

Value changed depending on time and perspective.

Of course, duality was hardly something unique to Kim Giryeo alone.

Come to think of it, I've been wondering about this for a while. Why do Earthlings make their phones with built-in batteries? Wouldn't a replaceable power source, like the one used in a remote control or even a golem, have far more advantages?

Tik.

Kim Giryeo raised his device.

Its battery was sitting at roughly 32%.

The moment he returned to the area, he placed another call.

"Hunter Kim Giryeo, have you arrived in Seoul?"

"I just set foot on the ground."

Such an unusual incident had occurred that it was only natural for him to call an Association official immediately and provide updates in real time.

Of course, the fact that he had used teleportation magic regardless of attribute restrictions had already been explained away with the convenient excuse, 'I used an item.'

Earth, with its developed internet, really is convenient. But with so much information floating around, sometimes it almost makes lying too easy—

Anyway, everything aboard the ship had wrapped up without issue.

But no matter how busy he had been perfecting his spell, there had been no need to completely shut his ears for the past few minutes.

In other words, even as an alien lifeform, he had still managed to receive at least some of the latest news.

But this really is unexpected.

Kim Giryeo pushed aside his distracting thoughts and returned to the subject of duality.

That Kang Changho actually showed up at the [Castle of Sloth].

On top of that, Korea's third S-rank hunter had gone so far as to declare that he would conquer the dungeon outright.

What on earth was he planning?

As doubts rose like mist, Kim Giryeo continued thinking.

When he was talking to me, he was so adamant that he wouldn't accept any kind of verbal contract.

The eyes of the man whose eye shape was known in physiognomy as fish eyes shifted slightly.

But this feels less like a prank and more like something I should be suspicious of. Considering the distance between that Earthling's residence and the location where the gate appeared, his arrival time is... rather interesting.

Time was an element that had to be taken seriously.

What was more, even at this very moment, the archmage was literally running on foot because every second mattered.

That primitive mage must have already set out before I even called him. Ah, that explains all the static cutting into the line. If he was riding an open motorcycle like that, the wind would've been rushing past like crazy.

Kim Giryeo finally pieced together the reason behind the mysterious drop in call quality.

But before he could dwell on someone's whimsical choice of transportation, far more shocking news was waiting for him.

"How's the situation on-site? The break hasn't happened yet, right?"

"Y, yes, Hunter-nim."

The measured mana output of the so-called Castle of Sloth had slightly exceeded the recognized upper threshold of A-rank...

Still, unlike the appearance of [Nuckelavee], it had not completely shattered the scale itself.

Even so, the result was an unwelcome miscalculation.

Japan, which had long been prone to natural disasters, had only just begun to seem manageable again when it became the stage for one emergency after another.

The Dungeon Shock.

The [Black Dragon].

The [Sky Island] incident...

Then there was the United States, which had suffered extreme early-stage occupation phenomena such as the sudden appearance of mana auroras.

Of course, countries like those had more than enough reason to ask, 'Why do these extraordinary problems keep happening to us?'

But as always, one's perspective depended entirely on where one stood in the world.

At that moment, Kim Giryeo grumbled that Korea seemed unusually prone to incidents and accidents while continuing on his way.

For the record, ever since stepping off the water and onto dry land, the blond hunter had been running nonstop toward a single destination.

Almost there.

Thanks to a mage's unique ability to detect gates, there was no need to bother opening an application like Y-Map.

Using the innate intuition engraved into his soul, he tracked down the [Castle of Sloth].

But although he had found his way, plenty of concerns still remained.

A monster nest swarming with armed beasts, and the plan is to send in a single fellow S-ranker? That's it?

Kim Giryeo thought briefly.

He had made all those proposals under the firm assumption that the [Sin Classification] would be relatively weak.

But now that the situation had twisted this far, common sense suggested that clearing the gate was impossible, and even a simple holding strategy would be extremely difficult.

Kang Changho mustn't be killed carelessly...

Such trivial concern for a human life.

He had thought he would stop thinking like that once he regained all his magic power.

Even if there were plenty of things in the man's past that could be painted in a favorable light, the truth remained that he was still an S-rank ex-convict who had once casually beaten the weakling Choi Jin.

And yet, since he occasionally proved useful, simply throwing him away would be a waste.

Anyway, for now, he decided to keep him alive.

Having finished that line of judgment, Kim Giryeo hurried toward the center of the incident.

"Huh? Hunter Kim Giryeo..."

"It's Hunter Kim Giryeo!"

"Where? Ah! Over there!"

The industry people surrounding the scene were easy enough to push aside.

Who could possibly stop him when he flashed a hunting license bearing the gleaming words S-rank?

"Just a moment. But before entering, Hunter Kang Changho was behaving extremely aggressively—"

"Ah, I can handle him easily. So the Association members should just update the list of raiders."

The team that had departed first on the [White Bird] would still need several more minutes to arrive.

Therefore, Kim Giryeo wasted no time and entered the Gate first.

Hmm?

The moment he stepped into the otherworldly space, an unexpected sight greeted him.

A towering castle whose spires pierced the sky.

Black plants that had not yet even been assigned scientific names.

Up to this point, nothing looked particularly different from the other [Sin Classifications].

But what on earth was this mountain of corpses scattered everywhere?

People?

No, birds?

Soon, he came across the ambiguous creatures sprawled across the courtyard of the [Castle of Sloth].

They were so difficult to classify that it was questionable whether they could even be called birds.

Every last one of them was dead.

Their swollen muscles seemed to embody, in yet another form, the dungeon's concept of 'diligence.'

Beside them lay various pieces of war machinery that revealed the intelligence level of their enemies.

At a glance, it was obvious that dealing with the countless monsters of the Castle of Sloth should not have been easy.

And yet here they were, scattered across the ground like trash.

They all have holes in their necks.

When he examined the corpses more closely, it looked as though they had fought among themselves like wild beasts.

The actual blood loss is minimal. Still, it looks like they all died from punctured airways.

This isn't some kind of Jenga tower.

Hmm.

Apparently, the [Sin Classification] of Sloth possessed a characteristic of overwhelming numbers.

Even after such an enormous mountain of corpses had been piled up, magical activity could still be detected in various places.

There are still quite a few monsters left.

But there was no reason to chase after such insignificant underlings.

Looking around further, he noticed human footprints in the pools of blood.

The long-strided tracks led all the way toward the nearby black castle.

Realizing that another 'Earthling' body was present here besides his own, Kim Giryeo sharpened his senses.

Then, astonishing information struck his mind with perfect clarity.

He's already fighting the boss...

The report that the king of this tiny world known as [Sin Classification] was being destroyed in real time made his eyes widen as he absorbed the magical information conveyed through the archmage's spirit.

So that means the dungeon is almost cleared.

There's only one primitive hunter in here.

But is this really a plausible speed for clearing a dungeon?

Of course, I arrived after the scheduled dungeon break time, but this progress is far faster than I expected.

At that moment, befitting the owner of the [Dragon's Eye], it seemed the other side had also noticed the intruder.

Soon, near one end of the distant castle, the Awakened seemed to stop whatever he had been doing.

Kim Giryeo wondered what kind of magic had caused it, but if his opponent insisted on concealing his abilities so thoroughly, there was nothing he could do about it for the moment.

First, let's head toward the boss.

Anyway, despite all his concerns, it was a small relief that the human sentinel maintaining the gate boundary was still unharmed.

However, even after confirming that the native had survived, Kim Giryeo could not smile comfortably.

No matter how minor the overflow might appear, the enemies here were monsters assessed at S-rank.

Moreover, despite powerful status-altering magic reportedly exceeding A-rank spreading throughout the entire space, his opponent had still managed to complete a solo raid with ease.

Wow... I mean, I'd had my suspicions ever since the U.S., but... as expected, it really is like that!

What did all of this signify?

The archmage pondered to himself as he estimated the level of skill that the notoriously lazy third S-rank hunter had been concealing.

That damn mammal... he didn't betray me because he was afraid of dying in Kagoshima!

If he wanted to appear more refined, he really ought to start swearing less.

His wandering thoughts did not last long.

Although he was drained from using [Spatial Leap] and all sorts of other magic, his basic physical strength was now fairly decent.

And so Kim Giryeo soon reached the interior of the black castle without difficulty.

Even here, the stairs are a complete mess.

Then, in front of the enormous iron gate marking the entrance to the boss's domain, a man in his thirties sat on one of the highest steps.

Hmm.

Seeing him hunched over with shadows falling across his face, it was difficult not to remember the interview in which he had said, 'If anyone enters the dungeon, I'll kill them.'

The masses of mammals are fools.

Before he could even say his first proper words, the blond Awakened briefly recalled the original owner of the body who happened to share his name.

There are so many people like that on this planet, so why does everyone keep saying this body looks fierce? Now that I look at him, Kim Giryeo's aura is practically sweet. Damn it.

Well, for now, conversation takes priority over complaining about appearances...