Chapter 35: Survivors (2) |
Disclaimer: This is an edited MTL. Thus, I can’t guarantee that my editing to be proficient. But I hope you enjoy this story with me. If there are any corrections or questions, it is highly encourage to leave a comment.
A new dungeon appeared in Seoul.
It was not like the harsh nature of a polar or an underground, but a royal palace that was a trace of civilization.
Although ruins and temples often appeared, such a huge structure had not been seen in a long time.
The quest was also special, so the Hunter Committee assigned a guild to this dungeon.
A total of five people entered the dungeon by reinforcing a certain dealer.
“HyeJin, it’s been a while.”
“Yes, it’s been a while. Nice to meet you.”
Seo HyeJin and the people of the Happy Hunters guild exchanged greetings.
She though that this person would result if we subtracted the softness from Yoo Ji-Ha and added strictness.
“I think we need to get some information before entering the dungeon. HyeJin, do you know anything about this royal palace? If it’s possible, do a briefing.”
The reason SeongHo, the leader, asked HyeJin is that she has the highest ranking.
“No, I have no idea. I think SeongHo should do it.”
HyeJin made it clear that she would respect SeongHo.
In the case of the leaders, they often were the subject of quarrels because they benefited from distribution even by a little.
This is especially the case when two groups come to be cooperative.
Fortunately, the happy hunters and HyeJin were not so bright in their profits.
SeongHo asked SeonYoung, a bookworm.
“You’ve read a lot of books, haven’t you? Where in Estram is here?”
“Um… I think it’s a royal palace, but I don’t know the details. Yoo Ji-Ha knows this very well.”
“Really? Then, go and visit for a while and get some information. Don’t even think about bringing the child.”
SeonYoung was surprised, ‘How did you know?’
“I have a car, so I can go and comeback soon.”
HyeJin suggested, and SeonYoung got into her car and started chattering.
“We have to know the inside of the palace to search.”
“Does Ji-Ha know any such information?”
“I don’t know anything else, but he’s superior to me in the details of each country.”
Maybe it’s because she’s someone who only reads books every day.
But as her class is a paper magician, she thinks SeonYoung, who is known as a book ghost among hunters, would know more things.
When she looked at her with that expression on her face, she said, “Hehe,” and laughed.
“Because I am focused on the character. I recently just found a journal of a knighthood. It is awesome.”
After talking about various things, they arrived at the general store.
The sight of Yoo Ji-Ha wearing glasses, sitting on a chair, and appraising the artifacts of the hunters was nothing short of a normal day.
But Beom was nowhere to be seen. Did he go somewhere?
“You’re HyeJin, aren’t you? What’s brings you to this place?”
“I stopped by because I had some business to do.”
HyeJin smiled slightly and answered the hunters who greeted her.
It would have been unimaginable for her before.
“You seem to have an urgent business, so we’ll make some concessions!”
When someone shouted that, the hunters gave up their turns to HyeJin and SeonYoung.
Hunters yielding concessions is a rare sight that can only be seen at this general store.
The owner used to say that he couldn’t show his greed because he was a little clumsy.
SeonYoung put her butt on the table.
“Where did the Beom go? I can’t see it.”
“He went out to play.”
“If a cat goes out to play, it may not come back.”
“Beom is no ordinary cat. He’ll come back.”
In fact, Beom is in the garden.
Unlike usual, he didn’t follow Ji-Ha and just slept, so he came out by himself.
Ji-Ha wondered if something was wrong, but he ate well and played well.
HyeJin explained why they came here.
“Ah, you came to find out what the structure of Estram’s palace is.”
“It’s usually a secret, but just in case.”
It is even more strange if the interior of the royal palace, which is the key facility of the state, is widely known.
But in the world, there is such a thing as spy’s report.
“Um… the book is somewhere else right now… Hold on. I can sketch it out.”
Ji-Ha brought a paper and drew a picture on the spot.
A very detailed picture was drawn as the good writing skills also affect drawing skill.
SeonYoung was startled and pointed her finger at the rock above the valley.
“You haven’t been to this dungeon, have you? How did you know this valley and rock?”
“…I just know.”
HyeJin was also surprised by the detail.
Can he be this accurate if he hasn’t seen it in person?
Inside the dungeon, the landscape that was looked into and confirmed was drawn on paper.
Yoo Ji-Ha suddenly started to sweat.
‘The Theradrones fought with the Rich. That’s why…’
The memory of that time he moved rock for them was vanish in the picture.
“Usually, there are a lot of compositions like this in the illustrations.”
As they looked around, the two of them thought it was so, and concentrated on the drawing.
SeonYoung was impressed by the structure inside the palace.
“How do you draw something like this just from memory? Aren’t you drawing roughly?”
“You’ll find out when you go there yourself, but it will be almost the same. Noona, don’t you believe me?”
In fact, a spy’s report didn’t go into so much detail.
He only vividly remembered the memories of the theradrones walking and destroying the inside of the palace.
“Huh? Of course, I believe you. It’s just it’s almost the same as if you’ve been there yourself. Right HyeJin?”
Hyejin was also surprised.
The composition inside the dungeon was so detailed inside of the palace.
How did he know that there was a bathroom next to the large bedroom?
Is such a thing also illustrated?
Anyway, a great structure map of the royal palace was completed.
SeonYoung smiled and hugged the paper.
“Thank you, Ji-Ha. I’m thinking of giving you a kiss in return, how about it?”
“It’s not payback, it’s a retaliation.”
“This! I’m a woman too!”
HyeJin smiled softly at the joke between the two.
The two left and the daily life in the general store continued again.
***
A search team with HyeJin added to the Happy Hunters Guild entered the dungeon.
Everyone was surprised that Yoo Ji-Ha’s picture fits perfectly.
Jumi was interested in Ji-Ha’s drawing, saying it was so pretty, and SeongHo, admired how the structure could fit like this when he’d never been there.
Kang HaeSeon took the lead and opened the door.
“Isn’t Ji-Ha meticulous, unlike SeonYoung?”
“I’m not, I am meticulous.”
SeonYoung pouted her lips, but no one believes it because everyone has had the experience of rescuing her once.
The traces of the battle are evident inside the palace.
SeongHo scan the broken wall.
“It seems like a big guy broke through.”
“Yes. The entrance is narrow, so it seems like they just went through it. Is it the least disaster level monster?”
In fact, it was Yoo Ji-Ha’s Theradrone Corps that broke down here and there, but they did not know.
The party searched the inside of the palace and was able to reach the underground waterways.
They look for treasures, but there was nothing left as if they had been thoroughly looted.
The waterway went through the forest in the south of the Tales River.
Traces of fierce battle including broken wagons, fallen wooden posts, etc. greeted them.
Everyone looked around with serious expressions on their faces, but HyeJin looked down.
“…these footprints, no, it looks like an insect stepped on it… Does such a large insect exist?”
HaeSeon came near, saw the traces, and stroked his chin.
“If we look at the gait, is it a Theradrone that appeared in Mt. Jiri?”
“But why did he appear here? That mythical monster.”
“I don’t know, but it has to do with this mess.”
Could it be that the royal family was kidnapped and taken away?
However, they were friendly to humans, such as purifying Mt. Jiri and helping the Eternal Flame Guild.
After analyzing the surroundings, the party discovered that the trail continued beyond the Tales River.
They easily crossed the river when everyone was working together, and finally passed through the forest to find a plain and a high mountain.
SeonYoung pretended to know.
“I’m pretty sure they ran over the Tales river to Mt. Apeto.”
“Is that Mt. Apeto?”
“Yeah. Even if it looks like that, it is very steep because the mountain ranges are connected to the back. There will be a lot of monsters.”
“If there are too many monsters, we can’t afford it with this number.”
SeongHo could not give the order to go further.
Because he knew that the search should be over at the royal palace in the first place.
He thought he would find something, whether it’s a body or a skeleton, but he didn’t now where it would lead to.
He came to a conclusion.
“We will search the foot of the mountain and withdraw once the trail leads to the mountain. We have HyeJin but when I think of the monsters that will come out of that rugged mountain, it’s probably……”
He didn’t finish his words, but everyone understood his concerns.
HyeJin is a single number hunter, but it is too dangerous.
She agreed, and Jumi said sadly.
“The poor people must have been dragged away by the monsters.”
“You don’t have to think that way, because we don’t know who they are.”
“Oh, but if we go to the mountains and meet them, is it our first time meeting them, right?”
When SeonYoung said that, everyone made complicated expressions.
The people of Gehenna that they saw in the illustrations looked not much different from the Earthlings, but what are they like in reality?
SeongHo corrected himself to be the alien, not them, and moved on.
Mt. Apeto is not far away.
***
Beom is curled up in the garden and got up.
He has saved up enough energy and it’s finally time to act.
When he gave his body strength, what appeared was not the snow leopard baby, Beom, but the greatest god’s tooth, Arctus.
—Shut it off.
He stretched in place and ran lightly.
He crossed over the garden and dimension in an instant and arrived at the continent of Gehenna.
He was so large that his head touched the clouds.
—I need to find him.
That bastard who dared defy the will of the World Tree and is still fighting.
One of the reasons Arctus quietly stocked up on his strength in the garden was to bring him back.
Originally, he was going to act earlier, but got lazy because he liked living with the human chosen by the World Tree.
Arctus’ head went down and looked straight at the monsters that were swarming the mountain.
—You said you needed an ether stone.
He has been treated well so far, so should he give him a present?
His front paw struck Mt. Apeto.
It shook as if there was an earthquake in the mountain, and about 100 monsters were annihilated by the shock wave.
As if waiting for that, the Theradrone Corps appeared and retrieved the ether Stone and Essence.
—Take it to your master, servant of the World Tree.
Theradrone Knight delivered a message to Arctus.
It is asking what he’ll do.
—I will go back too. I’ll take a shit dog with me.
The knight with a peace of mind and commanded his men returned to the garden.
And Arctus gave strength to his legs and leaped to the great plains.
woohoo!
The whole of Mt. Apeto shook, and SeongHo and his party who arrived at the foot of mountain were startled.
“Ugh!”
“The mountain is shaking! Get down!”
“Look at that!”
As HyeJin pointed to the sky, everyone’s eyes gathered in one place.
Its movements were so overwhelming that it was impossible to catch them at all.
Big.
It’s too big.
There was an illusion as if the whole mountain were moving.
As the gray walls vanished with the air, a great storm broke out.
The group stared blankly at the sky, speechless.
Whoops!
A huge aftershock of great momentum struck.
“What just passed by?”
“Mom, isn’t that a monster?”
“I don’t think that extinction-level monsters were that big……”
“Anyway, the search will be difficult in the current state. Let’s go back….”
SeongHo looked around and a message popped up saying the quest was complete.
“Wow, that’s ridiculous.”
SeonYoung muttered in despair.
That evening, HyeJin told Yoo Ji-Ha what had happened during the day.
The traces of someone who escaped from the royal palace continued all the way to Mt. Apeto.
And they met a great being on Mount Apeto.
She said that it looked like a gray animal and couldn’t hide her uneasy feelings.
‘Beom didn’t come today, but…’
He hurriedly went back to the garden after eating.
Instead of Beom, hundreds of ether stones and essences greeted him.
Suddenly, the garden became lonely.
“I’ll be waiting for you, so come back.”
Ji-Ha was worried he would go somewhere and get beaten up.