Chapter 342

Chapter 342

Cha Jin-Hyeok used Marlenvia’s Underground Warehouse Key to open the heavy iron door.

“Wow!” he softly exclaimed as he felt the damp air envelop him. “It’s like I’m underwater. If I weren’t Korean, I would probably find it hard to breathe in this thick, heavy air.”

-What does that mean?

-Are Koreans immune to fine dust or something?

-What’s fine dust?

-But wouldn’t the fine dust levels be low if the humidity is that high?

-Go away, science nerd.

“The passage is extremely narrow, and it feels like the path will swallow me whole. I will try moving forward. The ceiling is low, so I need to bend down,” he said as he walked toward the narrow space.

“The floor is slippery and wet. Sticky water is seeping through my shoes.”

Inside the underground warehouse, the silence was so profound that the viewers could hear only Jin-Hyeok’s voice and breathing.

-Wow, even his breathing sounds sexy.

-I am saving the audio of his breathing.

“There is a musty smell of mold and dirt here... but the place seems pretty normal otherwise.”

After exiting the narrow passage, he reached a small room. It was an old space filled with mold and dust.

“See? I told you there was nothing. Cough, cough!” Katrina had caught up to him. “I searched this area thoroughly, thinking there was something hidden, but I found nothing. It wasn’t just me. My ancestors and their ancestors also combed through the area in their times.”

Katrina walked closer to Jin-Hyeok and seductively said, “How about we switch to adult content now?”

“...”

‘Adult content?’ Those words reminded Jin-Hyeok that this was a secluded place. With the surroundings swallowing every sound, even their breathing appeared loud. ‘This can get good views for my channel.’

For a moment, he thought of filming adult content if he found nothing valuable, but he immediately shook his head. “Do I look like someone obsessed with views?”

“Huh?”

‘Isn’t adult content a continuation of fake marriage content?’ Jin-Hyeok remembered Wang Yu-Mi insisting that such type of content was off-limits. Cold sweat appeared on his back; he had nearly given in to the prospect of small gains, risking much bigger losses.

“There is definitely something here. I feel it,” he said.

But even Broadcaster’s Insight showed nothing. At this moment, Han Sae-Rin could help him.

‘She’s probably not watching my livestream right now.’

If she were, she would have relayed some tips through Yu-Mi.

Jin-Hyeok was disappointed.

‘Should I just go back?’

Clearing Dungeons in one go was rare. Continually attempting to find a path would eventually create one.

‘I should come back later...’

Just then, a very Korean thought crossed Jin-Hyeok’s mind.

‘This place is extremely humid. I can hardly breathe.’ If even Jin-Hyeok felt this way, then ordinary people would find it challenging to breathe here—it was not exactly like being underwater, but was close to it. ‘Yet, there is so much dust in the air!’

This situation was like having a lot of fine dust on a rainy day; it just didn’t make sense.

“Shall we try to clear out this damp humidity?”

***

Katrina shook her head. “The humidity here has been a nuisance for a long time. I have tried to get rid of it, but...”

[You have activated the Skill Summon Cute Elly, Ta-da!]

Elines—the daughter of the Spirit Kin of Fire, Alkinas—showed up at the scene.

“Hehe!” As always, Elines hugged Jin-Hyeok’s leg and rubbed her cheek against it, expressing her joy.

Taken aback at first, Katrina burst out laughing. ‘That’s right! I completely forgot that Chul-Soo can summon Spirits!’

He was not just any Spirit Mage; he could command the daughter of a Spirit King.

Chul-Soo Landers were scattered across the universe. According to Yu-Mi, the universe was assisting Chul-Soo.

‘I also got help from the Succubi, which was crucial,” Jin-Hyeok added.

“Ah, I see. I forgot about them.”

Katrina hadn’t considered the covert network of Succubi operating across all Servers; such feats were possible with their full support.

‘Just the Succubi or Chul-Soo Landers alone aren’t enough. This feat is possible only with the support of both,’ she thought.

Therefore, only Chul-Soo could pull this off.

Katrina chuckled. “I almost feel inadequate.”

She had all the materials she needed.

“But you do realize that all this combined is worth billions of Dias, right?” she said.

“Really?”

By now, Jin-Hyeok had lost interest in money. No matter how fast he spent his money, he gained it even faster. He had reached a point where he did not even know how much money was in his account.

‘I don’t think he’s worrying about me just running off with all these materials.’ Katrina smirked. ‘Yes! This is so like Chul-Soo!’

“Getting the materials was the hard part. The ampule won’t take long to create. I will work on it with Lessefim. Just wait a bit longer, okay?” Katrina said.

***

Several hours later, the door to Katrina’s laboratory opened. With a whoosh of hot air, Katrina emerged holding a small ampoule, sweat running down her body. “I finished it, Chul-Soo.”

“Wow!” Jin-Hyeok immediately inspected it with Broadcaster’s Insight.

[???? ????]

Although he did not know what it said, the item was marked in red.

‘When was the last time I saw something in red!’ he thought.

Items marked in red usually exceeded his current Level by quite some margin. Jin-Hyeok was exhilarated, though he tried not to show it.

“I think I deserve a kiss on the cheek after all this effort,” Katrina said.

“No.”

Such behavior would be detrimental to his livestream. No matter how minor the action, Jin-Hyeok was firmly committed to never harming his livestream.

Katrina shrugged. “You look sexy even when you reject me.”

She was not upset about being openly rejected. Instead, she was surprisingly pleased, which startled even herself.

“But... who the hell...?” Katrina’s gaze started to lose focus, and she instantly collapsed. “You...”

She had fainted. Jin-Hyeok tried to catch her, but he did not have the luxury to do so.

‘Player Hunter?’ he wondered, feeling tense for the first time in a while. ‘I can sense their presence, but...’

They were invisible. Even Broadcaster’s Insight could not pinpoint their location.

‘Hmm... they must be a universe-level ranker.’

Clearly, someone of immense power, potentially in the top ten of the universe’s rankings, was lurking here. Jin-Hyeok had never encountered someone of this caliber even during his days as the Sword King. He could feel a watchful gaze on him, biding its time.

‘Hold on. I should not get too excited.’ Getting overly excited could lead to mistakes. ‘I can’t see the opponent. Katrina was unable to react and collapse instantly, so they must possess stealth and agility of an extraordinary degree.’

Jin-Hyeok also felt a slight dizziness. The poison affecting him now had to be at least of the Snake King level, as he was immune to any venom below that.

‘No, this is beyond the Snake King’s level.’

Jin-Hyeok could tell this because Spilling Wind had activated on its own. He was lucky to have avoided the poison attack; otherwise, he could have suffered much more severe damage.

‘A Player Hunter using a venom above the Snake King’s level?’ Such individuals were exceedingly rare across the universe. ‘But this is Katrina’s laboratory.’

The laboratory was located within the mansion of the Goldium family, one of the Seven Great Families of Arvis. This mansion was overflowing with treasures and jewels and boasted ironclad security and vigilance. Even a universe-level Player Hunter would find it difficult to move in and out of this mansion like it was their house, let alone ambush and incapacitate one of the heirs.

‘They must have the Goldium family’s permission.’

If a Player Hunter with such capabilities had a special relationship with the Goldium family, that narrowed it down to only one Player.

‘Emperor Marco. Oh, this is going to be interesting.’

Jin-Hyeok grinned, excited at the chance of facing someone he would not even have dared to confront during his days as the Sword King.