CH 81

“I think you just saw something, something that was unreal.”

How far does this man know? He seemed to know for sure that I had just seen something.

The moment his eyes got even closer between the light silence,

“Ssaeek, ssaeeekk…..”

The shrill breath of the bird evoked the surroundings. The bird was still dying on the rock.

Is it the influence of the fantasy scene I just saw? I can clearly felt the feeling of the Long-tailed Phoenix as if its emotion could be grasped. Pain, sorrow, resentment, murderous intent towards the one who made it this way, and even greater despair.

“I saw something … more than that, what is the state of the phoenix?”

“It’s not good. Even if I remove the pollution, it’s only temporary. It’ll be come back quickly because of the fragment it swallowed inside.”

“If there’s any fruit, I’m not sure, but…….”

“Fruit?”

All of sudden, Kwon Jiwoon opened his mouth.

“They said that the Long-tailed Phoenixes purify the body by eating rare fruits. It’s called the fruit of Yggdrasil, the World Tree.”

“Ah, that.”

I know what it is, I have it━I was about to say that.

“Still, the fruit of Yggdrasil has never actually come into the hands of Hunters. Now the way to get it is … there’s probably no way.”

….Huh?

I’m using it to make coffee beans? The coffee beans that I give Lime as a handful with rice?

That … it’s a very precious thing….

Just this morning, I served Lime a bowl full of that fruits….

I quickly opened my inventory.

All coffee beans are being stored in this space at the store, not in the inventory. It is unknown whether this bird, whose time is on the verge of death, will be able to endure if we go back to the store to pick up the fruit first.

However, if the sight I saw earlier wasn’t a dream, I’m sure it’s here….

There is. Dark red colored fruit with soft texture.

‘It’s the fruit that the saintess gave me earlier.’

Park Heeyoung immediately accepted Kwon Jiwoon’s words. Without mercy, she said again that there was no way, so let’s get rid of this phoenix quickly.

I pushed her away and approached the Long-tailed Phoenix.

“Kwon Rieul? What are you….”

And pushed the small fruit through the gap in the open beak.

When I pressed its beak tightly to prevent it from spitting out the fruit, I saw the bird’s neck moving.

Right after swallowing the fruit, the waves of light fluctuated greatly.

Was it an illusion? Even though it was a room with no windows, a clear wind seemed to have blown from somewhere. The wind blew away the damp stench, making it easier to breathe.

Paaash━

Fine particles of light melted the darkness on its wings, the Long-tailed Phoenix reconciled with light and disappeared.

Flutter, a feather fell on the palm of my hand.

The particles of light scattered into the air slowly formed, and a new Long-tailed Phoenix appeared.

“Beautiful…..”

Without realizing, I let out an exclamation.

On the straight white wings, a long golden tail falling from the sky. The silent eyes, that seemed to be able to erase despair, looked around.

I was immediately understood why it was called a Holy Beast.

Flapping its wings, the bird came closer.

Tiling, the alarm sounded just in time. The Long-tailed Phoenix suddenly came to me as if it knew the contents of the notification window.

[3. Fragment Fused with Sacrifice

Destroy the Last Fragment 0/1: (Completed)]

[4. Stop The Chaos

It’s finally the last step.

Fly the bird resurrected from death near the Otherworld Gate.

The causality will stop the chaos brought by The Faceless One █████.

When the Time Limit (02:27:46) has passed, the quest will fail.

Take the Long-tailed Phoenix to target location: (Incomplete)

Note: 37°33’××.6″N 126°59’××.4″E]

All we have to do is solve the last quest. Now it was time to go out to the ground with a bird that was surprisingly light compared to its size.

“I have to release it outside. Oppa, let’s go together.”

It’s a bird found in their guild, so Kwon Jiwoon must be concerned about the whole story. I recommended it with that in mind.

“Go first.”

However, Kwon Jiwoon gently pushed my back forward.

“I’ve got work to do here.”

The barrier installed under a guild protects individual guild, but at the same it’s also part of the barrier that protects the entire city. Restoration is urgently needed, and as it is unknown how the Long-tailed Phoenix, which broke through the seal and swallowed the fragment, was abandoned, there must be a lot of work to be done.

That’s true, but … I thought we’d surely go together. I felt a little hurt.

“Of course, there are a lot of things I want to ask you. Still … I’ll tell you the details after I get back.”

“All right.”

We have been avoiding each other, but now is the time to really talk to Kwon Jiwoon.

“….I will back soon.”

“Hunter Ki Yoohyun, please take good care of Rieul.”

With those words, Kwon Jiwoon left the door first with Park Heeyoung.

The quest, which suddenly began, is now in its final stage. It will be over soon, so was it because of the relief that I could talk to Kwon Jiwoon about what I couldn’t talk about before?

Why did Kwon Jiwoon’s cold, hardened face go unnoticed? Why….

***

The Long-tailed Phoenix was released near Namsan Park, the target location.

“Woah….!”

After flapping its wings a few times, the bird soon found its strength. It looked back at me for a moment and then immediately moved its wings vigorously.

A bird resurrected from death split the air.

***

In front of the base of the target he had been following for a long time, journalist Kim Taewoon’s mind was surprisingly calm.

There was no such thing as a tremor. Just a little excitement and the joy of finally being able to tell the world the truth.

Why had he forgotten this joy until now?

That day, the moment he drank lemonade at the cafe in front of the Dungeon Gate, Kim Taewoon was truly reborn.

And currently.

“Hey, are you crazy? Don’t you know that there’s a big shot behind them?”

“Department head, this really works. You know my skill. I will make sure that the number of views will explode.”

“Explode? If you ask the wrong question, the company will explode, not the number of views. Don’t pester them, let’s stay quiet.”

“Department head, please trust me once.“

“You said the same thing when you almost shut down the company because you touched Muwon before.”

“At that time … I’m sorry. Still, this time it’s different.”

“Not to mention, the main article of this issue has been decided. We will announce the MBTI of the Top 50 rankers.”

“Who sees stuff like MBTI?”

Bang!

“That bastard….”

As if he had become the main character in a detective movie, he even threw his resignation card so nicely and finally found this place.

The secret hideout of the illegal guild, Neo-Crown Party.

Suspicion of smuggling and various illegal acts, allegations of illegal funds by large guilds, etc. He was going to figure it all out today.

[Paparazzi (E) (In use)

(Lv.1) You can follow the target without being detected for a certain period of time. (0:38:13)]

There is still plenty of time to use the skill.

Kim Taewoon carefully examined the surroundings and entered the hideout decorated with an ordinary store.

“……!”

He held his breath and waited for a while, but he couldn’t feel any movement inside.

At first glance, it looks like an ordinary stationery store. On a shelf on one wall, stationery items with large slimes were lined up. On the other side, there is a checkout counter and a poster for a discount event.

However, when the button hidden under the checkout counter was operated, the display case moved and the hidden safe was revealed.

‘The number is … that’s right.’

This is information obtained by feeding the secret informant with a lot of alcohol, money, and food.

For a moment, he felt nervous about what an opportunity this is.

Click, the safe opened with a sound. Inside were two fairly thick notebooks.

Kim Taewoon immediately picked up one book. When he opened it, each page was full of numbers. Is it a slush fund book?

However, Kim Taewoon, who looked through the numbers closely, realized that the content was different from what he expected.

‘You disgusting guys…..’

This is a record of the Long-tailed Phoenix. These people slowly contaminated its body by continuously injecting dark ether. Then, it was used as a sacrifice to summon ‘something’.

Rare monster smuggling, illegal experimentation … even if the illegality is not considered, the horrors of the attached photo have caused physiological discomfort.

The other notebook contained the flow of funds to acquire dark ether. A huge amount of money was deposited into the account of the Neo-Crown Party. It’s been through the middle bridge many times, but the source is clear … this is an important piece of data.

‘For now, I’ll take pictures of everything.’

Click, click!

If he take the original as it is, there was a risk of being caught breaking in. Kim Taewoon was absorbed in photographing every page of the ledger.

As a result, he was late to notice the signs of an approaching presence.

Kung, thump, kung━

Kim Taewoon was startled by the sound of heavy footsteps.

There should still be plenty of time for the skill to be effective, did someone follow him?

He hurriedly turned the display back and stood in the corner of the wall, covering himself with curtains. It was a poor hiding, but now he had no choice but to hope that he would not be found out.

However, it was neither a pawn of the Neo-Crown Party nor a security guard who entered the hideout.

‘Wha-what, what is that … what is it?’

At first, he thought it was a monster covered in black mucus.

No, it’s not. Trapped in black mucus … was human.

This amorphous black mass had devoured humans and made them a part of itself. Besides, he had seen that face before.

‘The leader of Neo-Crown Party?’

He was a man whom he had been following for a long time, but he disappeared when Kim Taewoon finally caught a clue. At the time, he just thought that he got caught following him….

His thoughts didn’t go any further. His eyes met with the lump of black mucus and, to be exact, the person who was swallowed up in it.

“Uugh….”

His urge to vomit rose sharply. Kim Taewoon covered his mouth with his hand and silenced the sound. He was nauseous.

It feels like it constantly scratches and scrapes his mind with a fine needle. He knew as soon as he saw the lump of black mucus through the gap in the curtain.

There is no way he can stay sane by looking at such a thing. It’s like seeing the chaos crawling from the bottom of the abyss.

Just when Kim Taewoon felt his vision blurred and was about to collapse.

Hwaaak━

A bird with a long golden tail flew into the window.

A particle of light from the bird’s wings fell on him.

“Huk, haa, haa….”

The moment he was surrounded by particles of light, his head became clear again.

The nausea and fear soon subsided. A mass of black mucus that had frightened him was melting by the particles of light.