CH 20

Returning to the guild building after a whopping seven days, Seo Taeju sprawled on the sofa in the vice-guild leader’s office. Trying to soothe his troubled mind, he had frenziedly cleared dungeons but only to have the pain he had forgotten for a while come back to him.

Mild fever, headache, and muscle pain.

The more the pain worsened, the more he agonizingly recalled the figure he wished to forget along with the memories of purification.

‘I don’t want to think about anything.’

“Did you come?”

At that moment, the door flung open, and Seo Moon-no-eul entered the guild.

Looking at Seo Taeju lying on the sofa and covering his eyes with his arm, she clicked her tongue.

‘I knew it from the moment I prepared the potion.’

It was a mistake to commit to clearing everything when the deadline for strategy wasn’t even that urgent. Even if he’s an SS-rank, rushing to conquer eleven dungeons nonstop is just like a suicide. She had warned, but the man wouldn’t listen.

“Tsk tsk. Hey, are you dead yet?”

“I’m not dead.”

“Yeah, seems like your mouth is still alive.”

Sitting across from Seo Taeju who closed his mouth tightly again, Seo Moon-no-eul said, “Are you hurt anywhere?”

“No, I just want to rest.”

Seo Moon-no-eul, who came to talk about Seo Go-woon due to Seo Taeju’s plead, hesitated for a moment.

She felt guilty and had come to talk, but if she didn’t ask…

‘Right, there’s no need to specifically tell him. He might just end up getting leeched by Seo Go-woon again if I bring it up.’

Since Seo Taeju didn’t ask, Seo Moon-no-eul justified herself that there was no need to speak first and stood up.

“I understand. I’ll give you a break for a while, so forget about guild business and rest.”

Seo Moon-no-eul decided to give Seo Taeju a vacation under the guild leader’s discretion and attempted to leave the room.

“…And hyung?”

If it weren’t for the faint voice…

“Do you still want to call him hyung?”

There was no answer to the sharp question.

Seo Taeju sat up, let out a sigh, and said, “Did he cause another incident? What does the Holy Spirit Guild have to say?”

“Why do you ask?”

Seo Taeju ran his hands over his face a few times.

Seeing his tired look, Seo Moon-no-eul sighed and sat back down on the opposite sofa. “If you decided not to support him, just let it go. Why do you want to hear news about him again?”

“…Noona. I’m really tired now. Just tell me.”

Seo Moon-no-eul roughly scratched her head. She really didn’t want to tell him, but she had contemplated the matter all the way here and finally decided. Ah, damn it, Seo Go-woon.

“There’s been no accident so far.”

“What about that contact from the Holy Spirit Guild?”

“Not the guild, but the guild leader, Michael, contacted us saying he owed Seo Go-woon a favor and that he would like to meet him later to show his gratitude.”

Seo Taeju raised his head with a shocked look on his face.

“Grateful?”

“Yeah, I don’t know the details. I don’t know how he did it, but Seo Go-woon managed to create water and wiped out all the golems before Michael’s shield broke.”

“What does that mean? Seo Go-woon created water? And with that, he wiped out all the golems?”

That’s what an alchemist does, which was what Seo Go-woon was.

But alchemists are a profession that creates something in exchange for something else, they can’t summon water.

“I don’t know. Michael said he didn’t know the details either. He just knew that water was summoned from behind Seo Go-woon.”

Seo Taeju frowned. He heard what Seo Moon-no-eul said, but it didn’t register in his mind.

Could Seo Go-woon really have summoned water, was that even possible?

Suddenly, the words Seo Go-woon said that day flashed through his mind.

‘I just went because I could handle the situation.’

‘Hey, I really wanted to do it because I could. If you see-‘

Seo Taeju’s vision suddenly blacked out. That day, Seo Go-woon was trying to prove that what he was saying was true. He was trying to explain it to him, who kept swearing and expressing his disappointment.

But the one who cut off all those words was Seo Taeju himself.

At the sight of Seo Taeju’s face falling into despair in an instant, Seo Moon-no-eul was about to say something.

A loud bell sound rang out.

Seo Moon-no-eul, who pulled out her cell phone, tilted her head. It was a call from her younger brother, who didn’t want to show he was her family and went to and from work separately.

“Yes, Do-hoon.”

-Sob, noona, s-sob, help me, sob.

Even though she didn’t put it on speakerphone, her younger brother’s voice echoed in the vice-guild leader’s room, it was so loud.

“What! What happened? Did you have an accident? Are you hurt?”

-Sob… Seo, sniff, sob. Seo Go-woon seems like he’s going to die…sob, it’s all my fault, hurry up and help. Sob.

Even before Seo Moon-no-eul could ask Kang Do-hoon what he meant, Seo Taeju snatched the phone and shouted, “Where are you?!”

-Sob, Taeju hyung.

“Where!”

-Seohyeon-dong, sob. Soojung, Crystal Cave, sniff sob. I came here with Seo Go-woon……

‘Seo Go-woon? Is he really trying to die?’

“I can’t feel the need to listen. After all, you’re just going to spout nonsense, why should I have to listen? Let’s just live like strangers now. Ha. Right, you’ve always told me we’re not family, we’re strangers. Yes. We’re strangers.”

“Don’t contact me whether you’re entering a dungeon or caught up in a monster wave. I won’t come to save you. You’re going to die? Well then… just die.”

Seo Tae-ju stumbled and dropped his phone.

“Tae-ju? Are you okay?”

“No, no… no. Hyung!”

“Hey! Seo Tae-ju!”

Seo Tae-ju, who had been sitting down, suddenly rushed out of the guild master’s office. Seo Moon-no-eul, who had been in a daze from the sudden turn of events, came back to her senses at the loud sobbing noise and picked up the phone.

“Do-hoon. Stop crying and explain clearly. What happened?”

As he quickly exited the guild master’s office, Seo Moon-no-eul asked Kang Do-hun.

-Sob, I, the crystal, sob… broke, sob, the hidden boss.

“We’re doomed.”

Seo Moon-no-eul let out a sigh at the mention of the hidden boss.

No matter the grade of the dungeon, a hidden boss was always S-class.

There was no way D-class Seo Go-woon could handle it.

Then, a car’s sudden departure could be heard from outside.

“Crazy!”

Seo Moon-no-eul, who was looking out the window, spat out a curse.

“Seo Tae-ju! What are you doing leaving the teleport behind!”

Seo Moon-no-eul’s voice, shouting against the window, regrettably did not reach the departed Seo Tae-ju.

“Whew.”

After seeing the last poisonous bat burst, I relaxed my tense body.

‘This is kind of fun?’

A moving target. Plus, it wasn’t a human, so there was no guilt, which made it more fun.

But it seems like I forgot something…

‘Ah. Shin Soo-ha.’

“I’m sorry. I just forgot for a moment… Huh? Where did he go?”

I turned my head toward where Shin Soo-ha had been, but there was no one there.

What? He was quiet so I thought he was watching me for sure. Where did he go? Was he bored and went somewhere else?

Unless you go to the entrance gate, you can’t get to the escape gate without defeating the boss.

“Well. He’ll come back.” I shrugged my shoulders and went inside.

Unlike the narrow path, the boss room was very spacious. I could see a giant spider hanging from thick web ropes. Not only was the balanced size absurd, but the boss, the spider, was also not easy.

“Hmm.”

With my current condition, it’s too much to fight with a sword, and how much magic bullet is left?

“Check.”

[Crystal Magic Gun]

Description: A gun made by an alchemist using balanced crystals and magic stones.

It uses the magic power of the magic stone, not the user’s magic power, to shoot magic bullets.

Usable Count: 0/50

“All used up.”

I thought it wasn’t infinite, but I didn’t expect I could only shoot 50 times. I wanted to make a magic gun that uses my magic power instead of crystals.

‘It’s my lack of imagination.’

The gun structure I knew required loading bullets. It was possible to make one with magic stones, but it was difficult to imagine creating a gun that uses my own magic power as bullets.

“Sigh. How am I supposed to beat it without this?”

As I was putting the gun back in the bag, I heard a beeping sound in the distance.

“Right. Salt.”

I was thinking about Shin Soo-ha, but I forgot about Salt. Due to the bats, Salt, who couldn’t come closer, came into the boss room and circled around me, shedding tears like chicken droppings.

“Ppi-ppi-ppi. Ppi-ppi-ppi. Ppi-ppi-ppi.”

Its monotonous squeaking was awkward, but it was too cute to see it shedding tears.

However, if I laughed here, the pecking from hell would start, so I tried my best to keep the corners of my mouth down and looked pitiful.

“I intended to call you after defeating them all.”

“Ppi-ppi-ppi-ppi-ppi-ppi-ppi.”

“No, I just forgot. I really intended to call you later. And stop worrying. Look at this. I haven’t been hurt at all, only they diligently died, right?”

Salt’s tears stopped. 

My words were getting through, so I needed to drive home the point here. “Let’s quickly get rid of that one and go home.”

As I reached out my hand to Salt, it came into my hand.

‘Phew. It fell for it.’ Heaving a sigh of relief internally, I lifted Salt up over my head.

‘Ack.’

Judging by the strong grip on my hair, he was still feeling a bit miffed.

Alright, alright. It’s only natural if his temper hasn’t fully cooled down yet.

Striving to maintain a compassionate attitude, I looked back at the spider monster.

‘But how am I going to eliminate that thing?’

The only thing I have left is my crystal magic gun, which can no longer fire bullets. The only fortunate thing is that the boss monster hasn’t moved yet, independent of the venomous bats.

“Will it work if I just bash it with the horn?”

The fur-covered body looks hard and shiny like the back of a beetle, the horn might just bounce off.

“Should I give it a try? What do you think, Salt?”

“Ppi.”

Look at that brutal tone of voice. What kind of pet talks back to its owner like that? If I ask once more, it’s going to grow bigger and eat me. It’s going to eat me.

Grumbling words I couldn’t say, I looked around. ‘Is there anything that could be used as a weapon? But the boss room seems a bit different?’

Since I entered the dungeon, all I’ve seen are glowing crystals and rocks, but strangely, the boss room had a bunch of grass and flowers. Since the dungeon is a lower version of the tower, it should have a consistent atmosphere like the tower.

‘Grass in a crystal cave.’

No matter how I look at it, it’s strange. I walked towards the grass. There was enough distance from the boss spider that the sleeping spider didn’t wake up.

“Hmm.”

The grass doesn’t look different from what’s outside. Why does it only grow here? There must be a reason, since it’s bugging me.

“As the saying goes, a detective must look at and question everything, even the smallest things. That’s how you find the traces left by the culprit.”

‘Yes. The evidence that catches the criminal usually comes from trivial things.’

“Appraisal.”

[The appraisal skill has been used.]

[The appraisal has been successful.]

+

[Wild Spider Grass]

Description: A communal plant that sprouts from the droppings of the Giant Spider, Arachne. If you crush the grass, a deep juice comes out, and this juice works as poison to Arachne.

+

Sprouts from droppings. So that’s why the grass grows so lushly here.

“It works as poison.”

So, I should kill the Arachne spider using this. I can make the juice with alchemy, but how should I attack with thie juice?

I looked around again. There must be something, but all I could see was the wild spider grass.

“I’ll need to gather some crystals.”

I collected the crystals that were immediately visible upon leaving the boss room. After I had collected enough to fill both hands, I used alchemy to form beads.

I made a total of 10 beads, and with the remaining crystals, I made a teapot.

“Appraisal.”

+

[Precarious Crystal Bead]

Description: A crystal bead made by an alchemist. There’s a hole to contain liquid. It is very thin and breaks easily with a small impact.

+

[Crystal Teapot]

Description: A teapot made by an alchemist that can hold liquid. The part where you put water is wide, but the spout is very narrow, which can be frustrating to use as a normal teapot.

+

“Great. They turned out just right.”

Humming a tune, I returned to the boss room with the beads and teapot in hand.

“Let’s pluck some grass. Pluck some grass.”

Detective Kim always said that—When you’re doing simple labor, humming a song is the best.

And he was right. It’s quite uplifting. Indeed. The words of adults always come back to benefit us in the end.

“I think this should be enough for now. Now what I need is a stick.”

I took out my crystal gun, now useless.

“Refine.”

The crystal gun transformed smoothly into a sleek stick, just as I had imagined. As I had imagined the end to be flat, every time I pounded with it, juice seeped out from the spider grass.

“Hmm. Should this be enough?”

I carefully poured the green juice into a crystal bead.

“Ppi-ppi?”

“This is to chase the spider away.”

“Ppi-ppi. Ppi-ppi. Ppi-ppi-ppi-ppi.”

“I know you could catch it, but that won’t work. I need evidence that you can catch it.”

I answered nonchalantly, but a question suddenly arose.

Salt can only chirp, so why does it sound like words in my head?

Even though I’m the owner and he’s the pet, he understood even before I named him.

“Is it a characteristic of Salt?”

“Ppi-ppi?”

What are you talking about? I’m just talking to myself.

I used to talk to myself a lot when I was young, but after becoming a police officer, I didn’t talk as much. Oddly, I’ve become more talkative since I fell into this place. The answer flashed in my mind for a moment, but I ignored it and continued to fill the crystal beads with the remaining juice.

The tenth crystal bead was only half full, but the other nine were filled to the brim. That should be enough.

“Salt, let’s catch it quickly and go.”

“Ppi.”

If it gets hit, it might charge, so keep a safe distance.

“If you feel like it’s dangerous, fly away.”

“Ppi-ppi.”

“Listen to me. That way, I can run away too.”

“Ppi-ppi-ppi.”

It always takes one more statement for him to listen.

Although it was a complaint, he gave an answer that meant he would comply, so I took one of the crystal beads in my hand.

“Here I go.”