Chapter 28

28. Junction

“Ugh…”

Prose Guild, B-class Hunter Yeom Jeong-hwa.

She opened her eyes and felt the sun that shone over the blinds. As she stood up, a slight headache came upon her.

‘This is… a hospital.’

She glanced at the room she was in. Bed, IV, patient clothes, etc. There were many indicators to tell her that that was a hospital. There was no one else since it was a single room.

‘If I’m still alive… Does that mean that Mr. Byeong-gap did it?’

She recalled the past for a moment.

Monsters poured in like exploding water… A storm of noise… A huge cocoon… And the final charge…

She had also been in A-rank cracks before, but that was the first time she pushed herself to the limit. At any rate, it was obvious that it was her worst subjugation of all time.

‘What the hell was that?’

Yeom Jeong-hwa found a strange part in her fragmented memory. It was a scene that she vaguely saw in her repeated fainting and waking up.

Three Goblins were around Ko Byeong-gap, and they fought together with him.

She saw it in a very brief moment, and her memory was foggy because her body and mind were out of order. Did she just see it incorrectly? Or was it the C-class hunters that she entered the dungeon with?

Creek!

Suddenly, a nurse opened the door and came in. The nurse’s eyes grew when she saw the conscious Yeom Jeong-hwa.

“Oh, my. You’re awake.”

“Ah… Yes.”

“Huhu. Wait a minute. Let me check.”

The nurse skillfully touched the medical equipment. She didn’t come there in urgency, but she seemed to be doing a routine check.

“How long have I been asleep?”

“Well, it hasn’t been a day, has it? You were brought in around noon yesterday.”

Yeom Jeong-hwa looked reflexively at the wall clock. It was 11:16 am.

“You had no major injuries. You have some severe symptoms of overwork and exhaustion, but you’re in a better condition compared to the people who came with you.”

“What happened to them? Is everyone alive?” Yeom Jeong-hwa asked urgently.

“You don’t have to worry. Their conditions are not life-threatening. However, one person may retire… Huh? Patient, you can’t do that!”

Yeom Jeong-hwa grabbed the IV needle stuck in her arm and ripped it off. The nurse was startled and immediately intervened, but the needle had already been pulled out.

“Where’s their hospital room? Let me know!”

“Oh my gosh…”

The nurse told her the room where the others stayed. Yeom Jeong-hwa hurried over there. They were in a 4-person ward. Yeom Jeong-hwa grabbed the handle with a trembling heart.

“Whoa.”

She took a deep breath and opened the door. She saw the neatly organized hospital room at a glance. Four beds, but there were only three people.

“Hmm? Oh, B-class lady. You’re awake.”

Park Soo-tae, who was drinking from the refrigerator next to the door, greeted her. He had bandages all over his body, but his appearance was somewhat awkward.

There was only one arm.

“Soo… Soo-tae’s arms…?”

“Oh, this?”

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Park Soo-tae casually raised his right shoulder.

“Some bastard took it. I was unlucky. Did it have to take my arm? Gee.” Park Soo-tae gulped down his orange juice while he said that.

“I’m sorry.”

“That’s enough. I’ve kept my life in exchange for an arm.”

“Are the others alright?”

Yeom Jeong-hwa looked at Jo Young-hoon and Choi Min-young.

Jo Young-hoon punctured his lungs and was told that he needed to be rehabilitated for a while. Choi Min-young suffered major fractures to his arm and neck, but it was said that no amount of treatment could allow him to go back to work again.

And…

“The D-class guy went out this morning.”

“Oh, he went out this morning? You mean he’s been discharged?”

“That’s right. The strange thing is that he was clean with no scars.”

Yeom Jeong-hwa forgot her words.

“I heard what the guild said. They said he carried us out. What a complete monster.”

“I have a question for you.”

“Huh? To me?”

“To everyone here.”

The attention of the three was focused on Yeom Jeong-hwa.

“Are you the one who killed the boss monster with Mr. Byeong-gap?”

The group had question marks on their faces.

“What kind of question is that?”

“Boss monster? Well, I fainted then, so I didn’t even see the boss monster…”

“You didn’t defeat the dungeon boss, did you?”

Park Soo-tae, Choi Min-young, and Jo Young-hoon also responded that they didn’t know. Yeom Jeong-hwa answered with a short sigh.

“I wasn’t the one who defeated the boss monster. I also fainted halfway through.”

“Uh? Did the B-class guy also pass out? So you mean he even killed the boss monster? Huh. I don’t know if he really is a monster or not.”

“Who the hell is he? Is he really D-class?”

Choi Min-young trembled. In his memory, Ko Byeong-gap was a fearsome creature.

Jo Young-hoon raised his upper body and said, “I guess he lied about his grade. Didn’t you all see it? What D-class could have a power like that?”

“But his Karma was like ours, wasn’t it?”

“I’m sure he’s good at hiding it. If you’re an assassin hunter, hiding your Karma would be nothing.”

“Hey, is that so?”

“No, it doesn’t make sense for a D-class hunter to have that kind of power unless it’s a lie. He was almost as good as a B-class hunter.”

Park Soo-tae nodded and agreed, while Choi Min-young still had a puzzled face.

“But why did he cheat on his rating?”

“Well, I don’t know, but maybe it was just for fun.”

“Fun?”

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“Wouldn’t it be pretty fun to pretend to be a junior and make fun of a real junior like us?”

“Ah…”

For the three C-class people, they seemed to conclude that Ko Byeong-gap must’ve deceived his grade. However…

‘No.’

Yeom Jeong-hwa was confident. Ko Byeong-gap was a D-class.

Of course, as Jo Young-hoon said, some hunters were good at hiding their Karma, and they could look as low-level as one could be on the surface.

However, Yeom Jeong-hwa saw the light blue Karma on the blade clearly.

It was a low-level color and was infallibly poor. Furthermore, no matter how good an assassin he was, it was impossible to hide Karma during intense battles.

‘In the first place, he didn’t even use Karma in combat.’

What Ko Byeong-gap had was mastery.

‘Should I go find him and see?’ That thought occurred to her for a second, but she shook her head.

‘No, if we’re meant to know each other, we’ll meet again.’

“Then rest. I hope you get well soon.”

“Get some rest too, B-class lady. Let’s say hello when we run into each other on the street later. We almost crossed the Jordan River together.”

“Yes, let’s do that.”

Yeom Jeong-hwa left the hospital room afterward.

Back in her room, she shook off all her thoughts and slept like a corpse.

***

“Well. You came right in.”

Ko Byeong-gap looked into his virtual account and nodded his head.

-Korea Hunter Association

Deposit: 4,500,000￦

4.5 million won was deposited to him as an emergency subjugation reward. The amount was 3 million won higher than the originally planned 1.5 million won.

However, there was no compensation from the fact that the crack was not identified as a dungeon. That was because the association didn’t admit it was their mistake.

‘It was impossible to figure out because it was a in the observations.’

The association was a bummer. In the mandatory documents filled out before participating in the emergency subjugation, terms that thoroughly defended the association were clearly stated for every possible scenario.

‘You bastards! D-rank crack? It was a damn B-rank dungeon!’

However, there was no use complaining about that. It was annoying, but he decided to let it go.

Even if he went to court on that matter, there was no way he could win against such a large group, and whatever the case, at least he came back in one piece, so that was it.

“Wow, I feel refreshed after getting an IV.”

The Prose Guild paid the hospitalization fee.

He wished he could be in the hospital for a few days. However, he got out of the hospital quickly. There was no particular reason, but the hospital meal just didn’t suit his taste.

As soon as he left the hospital, he hit a cold bowl of soup. After he finished eating, he smoked a cigarette in the smoking area attached to the restaurant. The cigarette taste was bad.

“Whoa. Now I have to go back to Seoul.”

He had accomplished his goal of collecting 300 goblins, so he had no more reason to be out there. On top of that, his pockets were full of reward money.

Cigarette smoke then filled the air. Ko Byeong-gap thought that cigarette smoke resembled the Queen Arachne.

‘If that monster bastard had been in perfect condition, I probably wouldn’t have been able to win.’

It was pure luck that he was able to kill the Queen Arachne. The situation had multiple help from the Goblins?

He shouldn’t be arrogant since he somehow managed to defeat a B-class crack.

‘Let’s not get distracted. I haven’t reached the top yet.’

Ko Byeong-gap told himself this many times.

He went to the place where he parked his car.

On the far side of the apartment complex, Ko Byeong-gap’s car was parked.

The summer heat heated the inside of the car. So he ran the car with the four windows wide open. The sultry air gave it such a fine flavor.

He arrived in Seoul after 2 hours and 30 minutes.

What he was carrying was heavy. There was a mountain of ramen, snacks, and pork in his car, which he bought for the Goblins.

‘Now that there are more than 300 people, we won’t be able to have dinner parties often.’

When there were about 100 of them, he got excited and bought them pork hind legs once in a while.

The next day when he sobered up, his pocket was lonely, but it wasn’t an amount he couldn’t afford. However, he couldn’t handle more than 300 citizens. If he wanted to have a get-together, he would break a million won.

If they did it as often as before, he would go broke.

‘But let’s try to do it at least once a month.’

Maybe someday they could have a beef dinner. Ko Byeong-gap thought about it and smiled.

He unpacked and washed his weary body. After he changed into casual clothes, he took the items he had bought and went to Ashvilam.

‘It’s still peaceful here.’

“Hmmm? L-Lord?”

“Lord!”

“What?”

“Lord, sir!”

The Goblins, who worked in the field, came running around after they spotted Ko Byeong-gap. There was sadness in their crying voices.

“Lord, sir, are you feeling well?”

“Lord! Why! Yesterday! He didn’t come!”

“You didn’t come. I was worried!”

“No, I got an IV yesterday at the hospital.”

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“It’s Lord! Lord is here!”

Suddenly, a cry was heard from the cave. After a while, the Goblins burst out. It was like discharging a dam.

“Lord, sir!”

“Oh, Gobung, Gobung, Gobung. It’s only one day.”

“The body. Are you okay? I heard that you were hurt!”

“It wasn’t too bad, man. Why? Were you worried?”

“Of course! I do!”

“What the…”

It felt good. It was pretty gratifying that someone cared about him.

“Lord. Greetings from Dorma.”

“Oh, Dorma. Did you sleep well?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, yes. How have you been since coming to Ashvilam? No. Let’s talk about that later. Come on, pay attention! Everyone be quiet!”

For a moment, the bustling Ashvilam became calm.

“Gobung, have you eaten yet?”

“I didn’t eat!”

Ko Byeong-gap shouted with a big smile, “Good. I’m done for the day! Now that new family is in, let’s have a feast!”

“…”

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“Hey, guys. Shouldn’t you be shouting at this time? I told you to be quiet, but not like that.”

“Oh! We… We didn’t know.”

“You don’t have good senses. Hmm. I’ll do it again, so react properly.”

Ko Byeong-gap gathered his breath and shouted again, “Since we have new members in our family, let’s have a feast!”

“Wow, wah!”

“Go and put water in the pot! Let me spread the menu for you today.”

“Eh, menu?”

“Maybe your eyes will open. Hehe.”

The Goblins stopped working and prepared for the feast. They grilled meat, cooked ramen, and served snacks and drinks. It wasn’t the best food for a feast, but what about it? As long as the party was good.

“Don’t pick it up with your hands because it’s hot.”

“Yes!”

“Hey. Eat a lot.”

“Thank you for the meal!” The Goblins scurried away at the food.

“It’s so delicious!”

“Lick! It’s good! What’s this?”

“Cough! Spicy! But it’s good!”

“You’ll have an upset stomach. Eat slowly.”

Ko Byeong-gap happily watched the Goblins eat. Just looking at them eat was enough for him to feel full, and he wasn’t very hungry in the first place.

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He walked over to Dorma while he sipped a beer. He then sat down on his ass next to Dorma.

“Lord, sir, you’re here.”

“Yes, yes. Eat.”

“Don’t you want to eat together?”

“Uh. I ate. How does the food suit your taste?”

“Yes, I’ve never had such delicious food in my life.”

“That’s a relief.”

Ko Byeong-gap gulped down the beer.

“Gulp… Okay, how do you feel about being in Ashvilam? Can you trust me a little now?”

“…”

Dorma’s face became solemn. He suddenly shook his head.

“Please forgive me for the rudeness of the past!”

“Hey! Why are you suddenly doing this while eating? Raise your head.”

“I misjudged. Lord is a much better man than I thought.”

“Oh, stop it.”

Ko Byeong-gap only drank beer with no embarrassment. Dorma looked up while his tears welled up, and were about to burst into tears. He glanced at the goblins and said, “I never knew that my people could have such a happy expression on their face.”

“… Is that so?”

“Yes, we always had to be angry to survive. I thought laughter was just a luxury.”

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“There will be more things to laugh about in the future.”

After a moment’s pause, Ko Byeong-gap said, “Listening to you, I thought a lot, too. It might be embarrassing for you to think that I’m the Lord, someone who isn’t even a Goblin.”

“Please forget about that. It’s a slip of the tongue.”

“No, you’re not wrong.”

“…”

“Right. I can’t promise much. At least it can help you sleep with your back to a warm place, without starving, without getting hurt. There’s a lot I’m lacking, but this is my best shot right now.”

“Humph! Humph!” Dorma burst into tears.

Ko Byeong-gap patted him on the shoulder.

“What is it with your crying?”

“Hik… I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”

“Everyone is working hard. Then one day, Ashvilam will be back to its old self. I’ll try harder, too.”

“The Lord already loves us enough.”

“That’s enough, man. I can’t help but feel embarrassed when I hear your sniffing.”

Ko Byeong-gap emptied the can of beer, but it didn’t even cross his liver. He should drink soju instead.

“Welcome to Ashvilam anyway. There’s a lot of work for you to do in the future.”

“I’ll work until my body breaks.”

“Yes. Eat and enjoy today. Let go of the gloomy past.”

“Yes, Lord.”

The firewood was burning. The flames showed a different appearance every moment.

Yes, all life was like a flame. Everyone burned in different shapes, but in the end, they all turned into the same ashes.

‘An intense flame with no regrets.’

Ko Byeong-gap and the 324 Goblin made the same promise in their hearts that day.

They would burn with no regrets.