Chapter 41

Chapter 41 – Guild Establishment (2)

“Kieeeee!”

A sharp high-pitched sound scratched past the ears.

Looking up, numerous giant birds could be seen flying in the sky.

They were harpies appearing in the D-rank dungeon ‘Harpy Cliff’.

Harpy is a familiar name that appears in various myths.

Often depicted as a giant bird with a woman’s upper body, the actual monster was slightly different.

“Kiaaaa!”

“It’s coming!”

One of the harpies wandering in the air spotted Kang Hyeon and quickly descended.

A bizarre face, similar to a human but with indistinguishable gender, gradually came closer.

-Twang!

“Kieee!”

The sound of a released bowstring was heard and the harpy let out a scream.

Suddenly, an arrow was lodged in its right eye.

The harpy writhed in pain, shedding bloody tears.

“Magic Explosion!”

While the harpy hesitated momentarily, Kang Hyeon threw a magic sphere towards its face.

-Kwang!

Half of the harpy’s face was helplessly blown away by the direct hit from the magic sphere.

Eventually, the harpy could no longer fly and crashed to the ground.

Watching this scene, Kang Hyeon gave a thumbs up.

“Nice shot.”

“Thank you.”

Two weeks had already passed since the three of them started hunting together.

Kang Hyeon, An Yu-seong, and Shin Seong-a.

The three, who seemed unlikely to get along, surprisingly worked well together.

“Kieeek!”

“Die! Die! Hahaha!”

Their combat style involved Kang Hyeon and An Yu-seong playing individually while Shin Seong-a supported from behind.

The effect of this seemingly insignificant teamplay was far better than Kang Hyeon had thought.

‘The battle has certainly become easier.’

Kang Hyeon knew that his fighting style was quite reckless.

So until now, he couldn’t even imagine hunting with someone else.

However, hunting with these people was more efficient and satisfying than expected.

“Phew, good work.”

Shin Seong-a said, wiping the sweat flowing on her forehead.

More than ten harpies that had come down near them had all fallen by now.

“Are you mining magic stones again? I told you, you don’t have to do that.”

At Shin Seong-a’s strong request, Kang Hyeon had been speaking casually to her since the first day.

Shin Seong-a, who was rummaging through the harpy corpses looking for magic stones, shook her head.

“No. I’m doing this because I want to.”

Even without meticulously collecting magic stones, their income overwhelmed that of ordinary raid parties.

This was because they could remove cores that other raid parties couldn’t touch.

The current reward for clearing a D-rank dungeon is as follows:

Normal Core: 40 million won.

Main Core: 200 million won.

This was even the minimum amount.

“We’re smashing cores almost every day, so why are you so fixated on magic stones? Just rest comfortably at that time.”

“...”

“Do you need a lot of money or something?”

“That’s not it.”

“Then why?”

“...”

Shin Seong-a didn’t give any answer to Kang Hyeon’s words.

“Sigh, fine. Do as you please.”

“Yes.”

“I can sense the main core nearby. The boss will likely appear soon, so get ready.”

Kang Hyeon’s magic sensing ability was improving day by day.

Now he could sense monsters and cores from quite a distance.

“Hyeon. After we’re done with this dungeon, want to try a C-rank dungeon?”

An Yu-seong, who was wiping blood and debris from his mace, said.

“Just the three of us? Are you confident?”

“I’m not saying we should clear it, just do some light hunting.”

“And then?”

“If it seems doable, we could break the core and challenge the boss too. What do you think?”

“A nice plan that puts our lives on the line. Tsk tsk.”

Kang Hyeon clicked his tongue, shaking his head.

‘I might revive even if I die, but what is making him to say such things?’

Suddenly, something occurred to him.

‘How has this guy been running dungeons until now?’

An Yu-seong is strong.

But that alone is not enough to solo clear dungeons.

‘There’s a reason why the recommended number for dungeon raid parties is four or more.’

Unless one had lives to spare like Kang Hyeon, they would need a few people to provide support.

“Hey.”

“What?”

An Yu-seong turned his head at Kang Hyeon’s call.

“How have you been clearing dungeons until now? Alone? Or in a party?”

“Why are you suddenly curious about that?”

“Just answer, man.”

“Well... Of course, I hired people with money.”

Kang Hyeon made an overtly unpleasant expression.

“Then why don’t you keep doing that instead of asking to hunt with me?”

“People kept dying in every dungeon we went to, so they stopped coming. It’s also annoying to keep finding new people.”

“You crazy bastard...”

Kang Hyeon seemed to see the situation clearly without even looking.

‘I bet he just jumped into the middle of enemy lines and caused chaos.’

There was something Kang Hyeon had clearly felt while working with An Yu-seong.

An Yu-seong always thinks and moves for his own survival in any situation.

He never gambles with his life.

‘At first glance, he seems to charge in recklessly like me, but that guy moves after thorough calculation.’

However, that calculation doesn’t include the safety of others.

Many people probably gave up and left due to the chaos that An Yu-seong repeatedly caused.

“You’re confessing too easily. Are you lying?”

“Where’s the loyalty in this field? I don’t want to die here.”

Dungeon terrorism, now officially named dungeon breaking.

It seemed that even those who cause such terrorism value their own lives.

“I hate to say it myself, but I’m a high-quality resource. I know a lot more information compared to others. I’m sure I can be useful.”

Kang Hyeon stroked his chin as he listened to Jung Young-sik’s self-promotion.

“That’s good.”

He thought Team Leader Shin Tae-gil would be very pleased to see this terrorist.

“Let’s hear the details once we get out.”

Since they couldn’t tackle the boss with such a lump, Kang Hyeon decided to leave the dungeon right away.

“I’m suddenly curious about something.”

On the way back, Kang Hyeon spoke to Jung Young-sik.

“Why do you do this kind of thing?”

“Pardon?”

“No, I just honestly don’t understand.”

“...”

“Isn’t this an era where we’re lacking even when we all work together? No matter how little sense of crisis you have, you’re still human. Why terrorize fellow citizens of the same country?”

Jung Young-sik smiled bitterly at Kang Hyeon’s words.

“Most of those in the organization were at the bottom of society until the dungeon incident.”

“...”

“From homeless people to those burdened with huge debts from fraud. Various people dissatisfied with society. You know, right?”

“So?”

“When the world changed like this and we gained power, we wanted revenge. We wanted many people to fear us, to look up to us.”

“Tsk.”

Kang Hyeon clicked his tongue and shook his head.

“That doesn’t justify doing this.”

‘Honestly, it’s not that I don’t understand at all...’

Perhaps from their perspective, the world had already ended.

In a hellish life that couldn’t get any worse, suddenly being given power made them think they could do anything.

“Still, you shouldn’t do that, you bastard.”

-Puk!

Kang Hyeon smacked the back of Jung Young-sik’s head.

‘Damn. He asks and then...’

Jung Young-sik vowed never to answer questions again.

***

Ippotranslation

***

After exiting the dungeon, Kang Hyeon immediately called Team Leader Shin Tae-gil.

-Mr. Kang Hyeon. What’s the matter?

“I’ve caught a bad guy.”

-Pardon?

Kang Hyeon explained the situation to a surprised Shin Tae-gil.

-I’ll be there right away. Please wait a bit.

“Alright.”

As soon as he hung up, An Yu-seong spoke to him.

“What did he say?”

“He’s coming right now.”

“What should we do until then? Should we eat hamburgers?”

“Suddenly...?”

While Kang Hyeon was pondering An Yu-seong ‘s unexpected suggestion,

“Hey, isn’t that the person from TV?”

“Seeing him in person, his aura is no joke.”

“Those muscles are insane.”

Until now, when Kang Hyeon and An Yu-seong walked together, the crowd parted like the Red Sea.

People avoided them so much that even in broad daylight, the area within 2 meters around them was quiet.

However, since that day when they first met Shin Tae-gil, Kang Hyeon had become a national hero in just a few days.

-The man who single-handedly stopped a D-rank dungeon

-Mystery hero. Actually already famous Goblin Slayer?

-Union Leader Choi Dong-woo’s statement: That man has the makings of a hero!

On the day of the massive terror attack.

Kang Hyeon had sent people away and faced the monsters alone.

-We’ll handle this matter, so don’t worry about it.

When Kang Hyeon was being cursed for causing a disturbance on the main street,

As soon as Shin Tae-gil uttered those words, suddenly the events of that day became a social issue.

And CCTV footage, interviews with ability users, and testimonies literally poured out.

Thanks to this, Kang Hyeon rose to stardom in an instant.

-That person was really on a different level. I doubted if he was even the same kind of ability user as us.

-Was he that good?

-Yes. Not only did such a person save us, but he also said he would stay alone until the end to protect this place. It really brought tears to my eyes.

-Outstanding ability and a spirit of sacrifice. He’s an amazing person.

-That’s right. Personally, I think he might be stronger than Mr. Choi Dong-woo or Ms. Han Se-yeon.

Kang Hyeon’s rampage with Ururg’s hammer was buried as if it never happened, and the whole of South Korea was busy praising Kang Hyeon.

It was certainly better than being cursed, but he couldn’t help feeling a bit bitter about it.

“Excuse me... Could I get an autograph?”

Just then, a female student approached hesitantly.

Kang Hyeon nodded with a pleased smile.

“Yes. Give it here.”

“No, not you, mister. I mean that handsome brother over there.”

The student’s finger was pointing at An Yu-seong.

The corners of Kang Hyeon’s mouth, which had been forming a business smile, trembled.

“Hahaha! What were you expecting, Hyeon?”

“Shut up.”

“Even if it’s Kang Hyeon, minors are off-limits.”

“What nonsense is that?!”

These days, even Shin Seong-a was starting to enjoy teasing Kang Hyeon along with An Yu-seong.

-Puk!

An irritated Kang Hyeon smacked the back of Jung Young-sik’s head.

“Why are you hitting me?!”

When Jung Young-sik glared fiercely and spoke, Kang Hyeon also tensed his eyes in response.

“What?!”

-Puk!

“Shit...”

Realizing that communication was impossible, Jung Young-sik cursed and lowered his head.

For some reason, his eyes looking at the ground seemed to be moist.