Chapter 48

< Sometimes You Get Stronger (3) >

C-class defensive hunter Park Sanghoon. He widened his eyes when he saw me.

"No, how-!"

"Where's the key to the Flame Horned Lion's cage?"

Park Sanghoon looked flustered and then sneered.

"Well, for a guy with F-class stats, you managed to escape by luck and didn't even think about running away, but came crawling here? From the looks of it, you used an item, but no matter how good the equipment, it won't work on a C-class. Well, a newbie who hasn't even properly explored the dungeon wouldn't know that, would they?"

He said this while casually getting up from his seat, confident that he could easily catch me if I tried to run.

"Where's the key to the Flame Horned Lion's cage?"

"Why should I?"

His expression, mocking and condescending, irritated me. He doesn't seem like he'll hand it over willingly, so let's give him a taste.

Smack!

"Ugh?!"

I swung a tentacle and slapped his cheek. Though I didn't poison it, a bright red mark was left behind. Park Sanghoon touched his cheek, looking bewildered.

"Wh-What just happened..."

Didn't see it? Then I'll give you another one.

Crack!

"Ugh!"

I slapped the other cheek as well. This time, with more force, his head turned to the side.

He still looked confused, but he seemed to realize what I did.

"...An item?"

"Nope."

"Th-Then..."

What, it's a skill. I raised my middle finger at him and then.

'Thorn Trap.'

"Choke!"

Thud, the chair fell over, and Park Sanghoon writhed like a fish caught in a net.

Blackie, I really like your skills. The tentacles are disgusting, but they're really useful. If it weren't for the 7-day limit, they could be handy in daily life. Like reaching for a remote from the sofa or opening the fridge without going to the kitchen.

...Poor Blackie.

I sighed and approached the trembling Park Sanghoon. When I kicked him, he looked up at me with tearful eyes. Ugh... his eyes are swollen.

'Thorn Trap Cancel.'

As soon as the skill was canceled, his convulsing body stopped. Park Sanghoon twisted his upper body and then,

"Raaah!"

He lunged at me, drooling and screaming. Ugh, gross. Seeing his face, I didn't even want to kick him, so I easily dodged to the side.

Bang!

The metal locker crumpled, and papers flew out of the wobbling door. Park Sanghoon picked up the locker and threw it at me.

Clang!

"Destroy it, destroy it all."

While I took a few steps back, he pulled out weapons and armor.

"You seem to have a hidden skill, but it won't matter without combat experience-."

Forget it, Thorn Trap.

"Choke!"

Park Sanghoon fell again and writhed. His low resistance to curses on his armor was showing.

"If you hand over the key, I'll spare your life."

Of course, I don't really plan to.

I released him from the Thorn Trap again, and Park Sanghoon staggered to his feet. His face was dirty, and he looked resentful.

"...Damn, why were you captured in the first place?"

"That's none of your business. And you don't just have that skill, right?"

I took off my gloves and picked up a pen from the desk. When I applied the sticky poison to my fingertips, the pen melted black. When I shook off the poison and the melted pen, black holes appeared wherever it splashed. The stench and the burning were quite a terrifying sight.

I put my gloves back on and smiled at him.

"Are you going to hand over the key, or do you want to start melting from your toes?"

Finally, a hint of fear appeared on Park Sanghoon's face.

"I-I'll give it to you. Just sign the contract..."

"Sure."

Most likely an illegal contract.

Sure enough, the contract he pulled out from his inventory had no association certification. The curse attached was not a temporary skill seal or stat reduction but permanent vision damage.

"I'll give you the key in exchange for your guarantee of my safety."

"Guarantee of safety? Don't be vague. Set proper conditions. I won't attack you for the next 24 hours. You better run. In return, take the key to the Flame Horned Lion's cage out of your inventory and never mention any information about me."

It doesn't matter if it's written casually, but to avoid any suspicion, I asked for detailed conditions. Park Sanghoon wrote the conditions on the contract with a relieved expression and signed it first, then I did too.

"Here's the key."

He threw the key to me, trusting only the contract. His tone was shorter. I put the key in my inventory and waved the contract.

"I'm really sorry to have to destroy your hope."

I grabbed both ends of the parchment and slowly twisted it.

"One of my hobbies is tearing up contracts."

I felt a slight resistance. But there was no way a contract could resist L-class curse resistance.

The curse the contract held vanished like a bubble. The ordinary parchment split horizontally. I then melted it completely with poison.

"Now it's your turn."

I want to leave his body intact, but there's a girl who can read the memories from corpses.

I dealt with Park Sanghoon and returned to the room where Kim Woojae was.

"Ugh, the smell."

This guy soiled himself. He's crying, snotting, and drooling, but his eyes are still glaring at me.

"From the looks of it, you're not going to talk."

I don't need anything else. If I keep asking for details, I might run into the people who came to save me. Let's end it here. There are still four others left, and there should be some evidence somewhere in this building. The others will take care of the rest.

I took off the inventory seal bracelet I put on Kim Woojae and put it back on my wrist.

I don't want to get blood on me, so I took off my gloves and let the poison drip onto Kim Woojae's face.

"Choke, choke!"

He can't even scream properly because of the Thorn Trap. After a while, it stopped. The poison melted his head and then spread black and sticky over his upper body.

Yerim's white corpse skill requires at least two-thirds of the body to remain. This won't be enough to extract Kim Woojae's memories.

'They'll think a hunter with poison and curse skills did this.'

They might assume there's an internal conflict.

Seeing the mangled body, my mouth felt a bit bitter.

'I didn't think I'd have to kill again.'

I've already killed two people. It's their fault for being kidnapped, but still. Why can't people who want to live peacefully be left alone? Just leave them alone, okay?

"...You're making things complicated."

I turned my head to look at Blackie's corpse. If others find it, it will be collected and used as materials. Monster corpses have many uses. I don't want to leave it like that.

I melted Blackie's already hardened body with poison. He was more resistant than the B-class Kim Woojae but didn't last long.

In the middle of the small pool of poison, a red gem-like stone remained.

A mana stone.

I looked at it for a moment, then picked it up and put it in an empty mana stone powder bottle.

After finishing my business, I returned to where Peace was.

The remaining four were only cursed and left alone. They didn't see me, and they weren't the leaders.

Of course, they weren't innocent. The kidnapping aside, if they were the kind of people who would curse someone for not listening and raise monsters for a guild, they probably committed a few crimes.

Still, if I just restrain them, the people who come to save me will find and deal with them.

"Peace, are you still sleeping?"

I opened the cage door with the key and went inside. The cage was so large that I could stand up without touching the ceiling.

Escaping would be suspicious, and I might face a barrage of questions. If I stay here with Peace, someone will come to save us.

I was also worried that some unexpected people might come before we're rescued, but I doubt an A-class would show up. If there were an A-class, they would have come out already.

'Even if an A-class does show up, I can win if they're complacent.'

I locked the door from the inside and put the key in my inventory. Maybe I should pretend to be asleep too.

I hugged the sleeping Peace and lay down, feeling sleepy. I stayed up late last night. Maybe I'll get a little rest. With my stats now at B-class, I can quickly sense if someone approaches.

I stroked her warm, soft fur and closed my eyes.

"Don't die before me."

As an S-class dungeon boss monster, you should live at least a hundred years longer than an F-class.

Park Yerim bit her fingernail. It was a habit she developed after losing her parents and living with her uncle. After awakening, she thought she wouldn't have to bite her nails and feel helpless anymore.

She was anxious and restless.

Suppressing the urge to run out immediately, she opened her status window and looked at the skill she had never used.

[White Corpse (S)]

She raised her hand and lightly touched the skill name with her fingers.

It was a skill she felt uncomfortable using. She hoped she wouldn't need to use it. But at this moment, it felt more welcome than any other skill.

At that moment, Kim Jiyun's phone rang briefly. Park Yerim's shoulders tensed slightly.

"We've arrived."

At Kim Jiyun's words, Park Yerim shook off her slight tension and walked confidently.

When she arrived, Han Yuhwan, the guild leader of Hyeon, was standing there. His face was cold, and she could smell blood with her sensitive sense of smell.

"He's in that room."

Han Yuhwan said. Park Yerim gave him a cold stare and headed for the room.

Han Yujin wanted them to get along, but it was almost impossible. The higher the stat level, the more sensitive one becomes to the abilities of others, especially those of a certain level or higher. It's like a scent.

The aptitude of an awakened person, especially a high-level offensive aptitude, has a particularly strong scent. It's impossible to ignore, even if you try.

Park Yerim had a cold aura, and Han Yuhwan had a hot one. It's natural not to like someone whose scent could be a weakness.

If their levels were different, it might have been okay, but they were both S-class, just with a level gap. Naturally, they ended up avoiding and being wary of each other.

When Park Yerim entered the room and closed the door, Han Yuhwan sighed.

Both of them were so sharp that just facing each other was stressful. It felt like the string of patience was stretched to its limit.

At that moment, Han Yuhwan's phone rang. It was Sung Hyunje from Seong.

"Master, how is the situation?"

His voice was light, with a hint of laughter.

"It's really ridiculous."

"Is it funny?"

"Well, it's funny. I didn't know Choi Seokwon would lose control to this extent."

A low laugh followed by a soft click of the tongue.

"Master, you know that the possibility of our direct hunters, especially those who have explored an S-class dungeon with an S-class hunter, betraying is almost zero, right?"

Han Yuhwan nodded silently. A-class and B-class hunters who first explored an S-class dungeon with an S-class hunter strongly desire to stay with the S-class hunter's guild.

It's similar to a survival instinct.

When they face an S-class dungeon boss monster that they can't handle with their own abilities, see an S-class hunter fight it on equal terms, and realize that the S-class dungeon could burst at any time, a natural sense of dependence develops.

Of course, it's not 100%.

It doesn't work well with experienced hunters, those with high mental stats or fear resistance, or C-class and below hunters who can't clearly feel the power of S-class monsters and hunters. Even A and B-class hunters who are dependent can be influenced by another S-class hunter and break free.

Still, with a little attention and management, it's possible to build a main guild with reliable members.

Han Yuhwan's position at a young age was largely due to this. If S-class hunters couldn't create loyal followers, it would have been almost impossible to grow the guild so quickly.

For this reason, at least B-class and above direct hunters were sent as Han Yujin's bodyguards.

"Park Mingyu is the deputy guild leader, and Moon Hyuna is like a younger sister to me. I sent her to get a feel for things, and I was planning to send a cute kid who needs a mount the most due to their skill. Choi Seokwon, that fool, messed it up."

The hunters sent from each guild had a dual purpose of protection and fostering relationships.

Han Yujin's taming skill is more effective the more care he puts into the monsters. However, it's not possible to demand that he train them all night. Especially with someone who has declared they want to live comfortably.

So, the solution was to foster relationships with hunters who would get mounts. The idea was that they would take better care of the monsters if they were from someone they were close to.

It was like a one-on-one introduction, but it turned into a kidnapping.

"Are you sure you didn't expect this to happen?"

"I didn't know, did I? I understand you're upset about your brother being kidnapped, but don't take it out on me."

Sung Hyunje spoke in a soothing tone, despite the sharpness in Han Yuhwan's voice.

"Hyeon's rule is to only allow C-class and below outsiders, and the direct hunters who want mounts. With this combination, as long as Han Yujin doesn't leave the building, and no crazy S-class targets him, he should be perfectly safe."

In Hyeon's guild, certain areas were only accessible to C-class and below outsiders. B-class and above outsiders were rarely allowed in, and A-class hunters from the guild were assigned as guards.

So, such an incident should have been almost impossible. It shouldn't have happened.

"MKC was supposed to last at least three more years. It seems to be more corrupt than I thought."

"You didn't expect it, but you had some idea, didn't you?"

Han Yuhwan's words, tinged with blame, made Sung Hyunje laugh softly.

"Master, you couldn't have been completely unaware. Moon Hyuna and Choi Seokwon made the wrong choices. We are not ordinary humans. Haven't we already drifted too far from our own kind?"

Han Yuhwan neither denied nor confirmed.

"Still, they bent and put on a leash. Most importantly, humans who don't know about high-level dungeons can never understand us. Especially the old sponsors of Breaker and MKC, their heads are full of thoughts of just sucking up the crumbs from the dungeons. That's why things like this happen. They can't understand."

Sung Hyunje's voice was unusually excited.

"A skill that can raise the best mounts, how adorable. What S-class would touch Han Yujin knowing about that skill? Especially with the good conditions the guilds received this time, they should protect him, not ruin the opportunity. Master, you know this, which is why you revealed your brother, who you usually kept hidden, this time, right?"

"…I thought he would be safe at least domestically."

"That's normal. I don't know the details, but it's clear that Choi Seokwon is losing influence within his guild."

Unlike Moon Hyuna, who built a strong base and cut ties with the outside, Choi Seokwon tried to expand his influence within the guild and among sponsors.

But dealing with the old, experienced members of society is different from fighting dungeon monsters. He should have created a blood tie through marriage like Park Mingyu in Han Shin. Or, he should have broken away and started anew like Sung Hyunje and Han Yuhwan.

He had other options but ended up revealing his weakness due to unmanageable greed.

Sung Hyunje continued, laughing pleasantly.

"Sooner than expected, but it's time to start dividing the spoils, isn't it?"

"I'm not in the mood for that conversation right now."

"Because your brother was kidnapped, the spoils will fall? Don't worry too much. I already have people in place at the port. Or, should I go myself?"

"I'll pass."

Seeing Park Yerim come out, Han Yuhwan spoke and ended the call. Park Yerim, wrapped in a cold, white glow, approached him and spoke.

"It took a while since it was my first time, but I found it."

"Good job. Let's go now."

< Sometimes You Get Stronger (3) > End

ⓒ Geunseo