10

AVARICIOUS VULCAN

Shall we?

Shadow soldiers materialized in rows behind Jinwoo. Not only was the infantry there, but the mage soldiers, shadow beasts, and the two knights were standing at attention as well.

Jinwoo took point, and the two knights stepped forward and flanked him. Jinwoo looked at Igris on his right and Iron on his left and smiled in satisfaction.

How dependable.

Even though it was Jinwoo’s own skill, the fact that he had colleagues who had his back was reassuring.

However…

Clashing head-on would be……

It’d be very dangerous. The main issue was the club Vulcan was brandishing.

I’m amazed that there was a tree tall enough.

Vulcan looked like it could bat away all the soldiers with one swing.

It’s fine if they fall, but…

The real problem was the mana needed to regenerate the fallen ranks. It was obvious he would quickly run out of mana if he had to keep regenerating soldiers pummeled by that ridiculous weapon. That meant there was only one way to do this.

I’ll flay that big chunk of meat myself.

He’d let the soldiers handle the lackeys while he took care of Vulcan. Jinwoo decided that would be the best course of action.

I just have to attack without taking damage.

Unlike his soldiers, he was confident he could avoid Vulcan’s attacks. In order to accomplish that, the first thing he had to do was separate Vulcan from its minions.

Jinwoo ordered the mage soldiers to attack first.

Draw Vulcan’s subordinates to us using range attacks and then subdue Vulcan in a head-to-head battle.

It was a clear and simple plan.

Now.

Jinwoo gave the signal, and the mages shot fireballs from their hands.

Fwoom!

Fwoom!

KABOOM!

The opening salvo exploded near Vulcan’s army.

Ping!

Ping, ping, ping!

Warning notifications rang in quick succession. Vulcan and his minions simultaneously turned toward Jinwoo as the alerts sounded.

Good……

Jinwoo had succeeded in getting their attention. He used Stealth to become invisible in order to sneak behind and attack Vulcan.

Hwoom.

Everything was going according to plan…or so he thought.

Tha-tha-tha-tha-tha-tha-tha-thump!

……!

Unexpectedly, Vulcan charged toward them first.

Huh? It’s like watching a fast-forwarded video!

Vulcan was standing before the shadow soldiers in the blink of an eye.

Shit!

Jinwoo panicked. It was unimaginable for a monster the size of a mountain to move that fast.

Hmmmm! Vulcan hefted its club.

Before the blow could strike the exposed mage soldiers, Iron appeared out of nowhere, holding up his shield.

Hwoosh…

Clang!

Iron had narrowly blocked the attack, but……both his arms were destroyed. The toughest among the shadow soldiers was incapacitated after one blow.

Ca-clank.

Iron’s shattered arms fell to the ground in pieces.

Hmm? Hmm? Unsatisfied with the results, Vulcan examined its club, thinking the last strike had been lacking.

But that didn’t last long. The monster struck with its club again.

Hmm!

Krrrrk!

Unable to defend himself, Iron and the mage soldiers behind him were demolished.

As he witnessed this, something inside Jinwoo snapped.

That bastard……

He bit his lower lip…and impulsively jumped into action.

Tmp!

Jinwoo was already flying toward Vulcan before he realized what he was doing. He was locked on to his target. Despite its massive, mountain-like frame, Vulcan’s head was like a mere lump on its body. Jinwoo twisted his torso in midair, and his muscles bulged as he pulled back his shoulder and arm. As he focused all his power on his tightly clenched right fist, he became visible again.

Hmm?

Vulcan spotted Jinwoo a little too late. By then, Jinwoo’s fist was already about to make contact with its nose.

Fwish!

Faster than a speeding bullet, the fist slammed into the side of Vulcan’s face.

Blam!

Vulcan was sent reeling. It tumbled and rolled, unable to arrest its momentum, until it crashed into the ruins of an old building.

THUD!

The rickety framework collapsed on top of the demon.

Tmp.

Jinwoo stuck his landing lightly and stared in disbelief.

How did Vulcan get thrown so easily?

He looked down at his own fist in disbelief. It didn’t have the tiniest scratch on it, even after hitting such a huge target. A thought popped into his head.

Oh, right……

He raised his head, and the stat window appeared in front of him as soon as he called for it.

[Stats]
Strength:	150
Stamina:	109
Agility:	139
Intelligence:	109
Perception:	111

……That’s right.

He’d earned assassin-type skills, and his job was a mage-type, so he’d been forgetting one thing.

……

Although he usually invested most of his ability points in intelligence, his strength stat was almost one and a half times higher.

I really went all-out with investing in strength.

Plus, his level had exploded recently. Here was the result of that.

Jinwoo looked over at Vulcan, stuck under the rubble, and had to laugh.

“Ha-ha……”

He hadn’t felt it when he was fighting regular monsters like low- and mid-rank demons, but he definitely did after punching that boss-rank monster.

Oh man…… I’ve gotten so much stronger.

He clenched his fist and basked in the feeling of exhilaration.

Just then, he heard that familiar chime.

Ping!

What is it?

He looked around.

Hmm? Hmm? Vulcan was getting up, using its club like a cane.

Was that a warning about the monster coming to?

Had the system always been that concerned for him? Jinwoo soon understood the reason for the warning.

Huh?

Ping, ping, ping!

The alert kept ringing.

That skill……?

Even before Jinwoo could recall what had happened with Cerberus, Vulcan charged him with bloodshot eyes.

Tha-tha-tha-tha-tha-tha-tha-tha-tha-thump!

The ground shook with each thunderous footstep.

Jinwoo glanced over his shoulder. The battle between Vulcan’s minions and his shadow soldiers raged behind him.

“Graaaaawr!”

Kreeee!

Jinwoo searched for Iron in the melee. A testament to Vulcan’s powerful blows, Iron still hadn’t fully regenerated.

“Iron!” shouted Jinwoo.

As he did, Iron threw his shield to the hunter. Jinwoo caught it, but when he spun around, Vulcan had already reached him.

If I don’t block its attack, my soldiers will sustain damage.

It’d be difficult to kill Vulcan and all its henchmen without his soldiers, so he chose to protect them as much as he could. Jinwoo raised the shield and braced his arms for impact.

Hmm! Vulcan smashed down its club.

Bam!

Bam!

Bam!

Despite not being able to catch a breath during Vulcan’s relentless onslaught, Jinwoo calmly withstood the attacks. His high percentage of physical damage reduction and increased stamina made that possible.

Hmm? Hmm? When his attack did nothing, Vulcan angrily pounded harder with its club.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Jinwoo’s knees bent but did not buckle.

Still……

It would take more than this for Jinwoo to defeat the big lump. His brow furrowed. Cerberus’s Rage skill had been more powerful, but there also had been a time limit, while Vulcan’s Rage skill was less effective but had no time constraints. That meant Jinwoo had no idea how long he’d have to stay like this.

Bam! Bam!

Jinwoo gritted his teeth.

My fighting style isn’t really to lie back and take the punches anyway……

Bam!

When Vulcan pulled the club back from the shield to wind up for another blow, Jinwoo, who had been readying a counterattack, took this opening to leap toward Vulcan’s head. However, he wasn’t the only one waiting for a chance.

Hmmmm!

Vulcan leaned back at the same time Jinwoo jumped.

What?

The club was coming at him from the side.

……It tricked me.

There was nothing for his hands could grab or his feet to land on. There was no way to avoid the attack in midair. Even if he blocked it, he had no idea where he’d end up being thrown from the impact.

Hwoooo.

Jinwoo watched the club come closer in slow motion.

Is there anything I can do? Anything?

If he could move his body, he could avoid the impact. At that thought…

Move my body?

An idea popped into his head. There was no time to work out the math. Jinwoo instantly used Ruler’s Hand to shove Vulcan.

Hmmmm?

Needless to say, Ruler’s Hand didn’t have sufficient power to move a creature of Vulcan’s size. It was, however, enough to push Jinwoo away.

Fwoooosh.

The tip of the club missed him by a whisker.

Yes!

Jinwoo was sent tumbling to the ground, but it was a relatively safe landing compared to the alternative.

“Phew!” Jinwoo managed to get back on his feet and let out a sigh of relief.

Hmm?

On the other hand, there was no relief on Vulcan’s twisted face. It seemed frustrated that its finisher hadn’t connected.

Hmm, hmm!

Jinwoo frowned as he watched Vulcan’s face turn red.

What do I do now?

Vulcan could easily avoid Jinwoo’s frontal assault. Plus, it didn’t look like Jinwoo could deal fatal damage if he attacked anything but its head because of the layers of flesh covering its body.

I have to create a situation where it won’t be able to evade.

Suddenly, Jinwoo had a good idea. The corners of his mouth rose.

He turned around and bolted. Vulcan assumed Jinwoo was trying to escape and gave chase.

Tha-tha-tha-tha-tha-tha-tha-tha-tha-thump!

Jinwoo paced himself to make sure Vulcan could keep up. His eyes lit up when he found an appropriate building.

That one.

Meanwhile…

Hmm! As Vulcan caught up to Jinwoo, it raised its club.

This bug-like creature! This was its chance to finally kill the annoying pest. A sinister smile crept across Vulcan’s face. As it was about to bring down its club…

The bug creature suddenly sped up and scaled the exterior wall of a half-collapsed building.

Hmm? Vulcan knew something wasn’t right, but it was unable to slow down in time. Hmm, hmm?

The pest climbed up to Vulcan’s eye level before it gave the wall a powerful kick.

Crack!

Vulcan was watching the cracks on the wall spread like a spiderweb when something shot toward it at a speed it had never seen anything move at before. It was the pest.

Hmm!

The demon’s eyes widened. Jinwoo met its gaze and smirked. With Barca’s Dagger, he severed a vein bulging in Vulcan’s neck.

Shhhk!

A fountain of blood erupted that could’ve filled a human body.

Fshhhhh!

Hmm? Hmm! Vulcan dropped its club and tried to stop the bleeding with its hands. Hmm!

But that wasn’t nearly enough to keep the blood from gushing out. Vulcan started to panic. H-hmm?

By now, Jinwoo had already climbed up the creature’s back, and he proceeded to stab at its neck with the two daggers in his hands.

One hit’s not good enough…

Jinwoo pulled the blades out and used his skill again.

Fatal Strike!

Two daggers burrowed into Vulcan’s neck again.

Shhhk!

Shhhk!

Finally, Jinwoo received the message he’d been waiting for.

Ping!

BOOM!

Vulcan slumped to the ground. Jinwoo casually emerged from the clouds of dust hanging in the air and surveyed his surroundings. He was going to join his soldiers, but it looked like they were wrapping up as well.

Kreeeeee!

Kik kek!

Kreeee!

Thanks to his soldiers’ swordsmanship, the number of Vulcan’s minions was dropping rapidly.

Stats.

Jinwoo examined the stats window. His stamina and mana were full, since he’d just leveled up.

I’ve got plenty of mana, so they don’t really need my help.

As long as he had enough mana, the shadow soldiers were practically immortal. That was the power of an army of undead. Jinwoo decided to let his soldiers take care of the last demons while he collected loot.

“Hmm.”

It felt like he was opening gifts. The sight of Vulcan’s dead body made him smile.

What are we getting this time?

The corpse displayed several pinpoints of light. Jinwoo reached for them and received messages about the items he’d acquired.

Ping!

No wonder Jinwoo’d had a good feeling even before engaging Vulcan. As expected, there was a lot of loot. He couldn’t contain his happiness as he checked the list.

Vulcan’s horns are most likely miscellaneous items.

Based on the name and how many there were, Vulcan’s horns were clearly miscellaneous items for earning gold, just like demon’s horns.

He focused on the big prizes, and one in particular got his attention.

What’s a material item?

Could he make something with it, or was it a necessity for a quest? He was curious, since he’d never seen this kind of item before. He had to acquire something before he could read its description, so he decided to acquire them all.

“Accept all.”

The shining lights transformed into items and materialized at Jinwoo’s feet: a pair of earrings, a red sphere, and a large hunk of wood the size of a grown woman. He could tell immediately which was the World Tree Fragment.

Jinwoo stared at the wood, and its info popped up.

An ingredient for crafting advanced magic tools?

Jinwoo was curious what he could make with it, but unfortunately, that was all the information the description offered. Nevertheless, it was undoubtedly an extraordinary find. He could feel an intense energy just being next to it.

I’m not sure what the best use of this would be……

He sent the World Tree Fragment straight to the inventory instead of selling it at the shop. Following that, he looked up the info for the other items one by one.

This one has a set buff…

The Demon Monarch’s earrings had similar effects to the A-rank Warden’s Collar, but they also had additional, hidden set buffs.

They were great even without that, though, as both strength and stamina would increase by twenty points.

I get five ability points per level-up, so…

It was like leveling up eight more times. Jinwoo joyfully grabbed the earrings.

Equip.

Like previous items, the earrings disappeared, and the stat boosts were applied. Jinwoo looked contentedly at his increased stats.

A set of Demon Monarch’s accessories…

The other accessories should be here somewhere, right?

Based on their names, it was pretty obvious they were to be found within the Demon’s Castle. What could the set buffs be? Even with only one part of the set in hand, he was already very excited.

But Jinwoo’s smile didn’t last long.

What’s this……?

The red orb was the size of a billiard ball. Jinwoo took the Sphere of Avarice in his hand. His stats didn’t change. He looked at the stats of his job-exclusive skills, but there was no change in the number of shadows he could extract or store.

Maybe I can’t use it?

Jinwoo cocked his head.

Doubling magic damage was an amazing buff. Tools to amplify magic were incredibly expensive, so very few mage hunters could afford them. Jinwoo had never heard of a tool that doubled output, though, at any price. If such a thing existed, it would have been all over the news, and he definitely would’ve heard about it by now. Nevertheless, according to the description, this Sphere of Avarice or whatever could double magic damage.

Either way, if I can’t use it, who cares?

Jinwoo felt bitter about it. If this item only doubled magic damage and nothing else, it didn’t affect him at all. Extracting and storing shadows had nothing to do with dealing damage, and none of his other skills was magic related. It would’ve been better if he’d gotten something that boosted his intelligence.

Tsk.

Jinwoo wistfully tossed the Sphere of Avarice into the air and caught it as his shadow soldiers reported back to him after completing their tasks.

Igris was the first to arrive and delivered six demon heads in total to Jinwoo, holding three in each hand.

“……” Jinwoo scratched his head in frustration as he looked at the kneeling Igris. “Can you knock that off?”

Of course, Igris did not reply, keeping his head bowed in deference.

“Because when you do that…”

Jinwoo looked over at Iron, who had severed Vulcan’s head and was now dragging it back to offer to Jinwoo.

“Look! He copies you.”

Moreover, Jinwoo had been the one who’d killed Vulcan. The hunter sighed deeply as he gazed at Iron, when suddenly, an interesting idea popped into his head.

Can my men use the Sphere of Avarice the way I was able to use Iron’s shield earlier?

Just then, Jinwoo caught sight of the mage soldiers, who moved slower than both the knights and infantry soldiers, trailing behind the infantry. Jinwoo called over the first among the three mages to arrive. When he gestured to them, the one that had worn his black robes inside out tried in vain to hurry over.

……It’ll be faster if I go there.

Jinwoo shook his head and strode toward the mage, then handed the sphere to him. He then pointed at the building he’d climbed earlier. Since he could control the shadow soldiers at will, he didn’t have to explain anything to them.

He signaled. “Fire.”

Suddenly, fireballs twice their usual size appeared in the raised hand of the mage.

Whoa!

Jinwoo couldn’t believe his eyes. He’d barely had time to react when the fireball flew from the mage’s palm.

Fwoosh…

Kabooooom!

“Whoa!” Jinwoo’s jaw hit the ground.

The fireball incinerated the building as if it were made of paper. Even with the building destroyed, the flames raged.

Crackle, crackle!

Jinwoo continued admiring the blaze as he quickly reclaimed the Sphere of Avarice from his minion. He then carefully reread its description.

Nothing. There’s definitely nothing about it.

He read it again and again several times, but there was nothing saying he couldn’t transfer the sphere to someone else. Could he possibly sell it to another person?

Gulp.

Jinwoo swallowed. His eyes turned to the burning building again.

Fwoooosh!

Another part of the structure collapsed with a loud noise. Jinwoo couldn’t stop smiling as he watched.

Oh wow……

Mage hunters would go crazy for this, wouldn’t they? The disappointment that had been in his eyes earlier was now replaced by anticipation.

It was a sunny afternoon…

“The young man from 902?” a middle-aged woman repeated. “Well, I haven’t seen him in a while.”

“Ah, I see. Thank you, then.” Kichul bowed to her.

He had been waiting for Hunter Sung near his apartment building for three days now. Not once had he seen Jinwoo. He’d brought his homemade vegetable juice each day in vain.

Kichul sighed deeply and pulled out his phone.

Riiing, riiing.

The person on the other side picked up shortly.

“Ah, Kichul.”

“Manager An.”

It was Sangmin.

“No sign of Hunter Jinwoo Sung, sir. His neighbors say they haven’t seen him in a while.”

“Really?”

“Yes, sir.”

“There’s nothing we can do, then. Just come straight to the office starting tomorrow.”

“Understood.”

Click.

Sangmin hung up the phone and gave it some thought. Where had Jinwoo gone? Sangmin hadn’t been able to contact him at all in the past few days. He’d sent Kichul to check on his apartment in case the hunter was avoiding his phone calls, but he hadn’t been seen near his home, either.

Suddenly, Sangmin worried that something might have happened to him.

Although, do I even need to worry about him?

In any case, he felt ill at ease.

Tap, tap.

Someone had tapped him on the shoulder, and he turned to see Heejin standing there.

“Seems like he told his sister he was going on a trip with a friend for a week.”

“Are you talking about Hunter Sung?”

“Yes.”

“Then……that means he’s not on the face of the earth.”

“Pardon?” Heejin’s eyes widened.

Sangmin quickly explained. “Naturally, there are no records of him leaving the country, and there hasn’t been any activity on his bank account or credit card for several days.”

“You can check that stuff?”

“It’s my job to monitor hunters, after all.”

“Oh wow.”

“Also, according to the association, they last tracked his cell signal somewhere in the middle of the city. That was five days ago. Mysterious, isn’t it?”

“He hasn’t been kidnapped, has he?” The question slipped from Heejin’s mouth.

They looked at each other, then started laughing. Jinwoo, kidnapped? He was the hunter who had cleared a high-rank dungeon all by himself—and a red gate, no less.

Sangmin scratched his cheek and responded. “It’d have to at least be the hunter-exclusive Chinese Special Forces to bring in Jinwoo.”

Heejin nodded in agreement.

Sangmin had a question for her. “By the way, how did you know he went on a trip?”

“Oh, from Songyi. We’re still in touch. She goes to the same school as Jinwoo’s sister, so I asked Songyi to check with her.”

“I see……”

With that, their conversation stalled as both of them wondered the same thing.

Just where the heck is he?

The upper floors are a whole different game.

Jinwoo recalled Avaricious Vulcan, the only boss monster he’d met in the Demon’s Castle thus far. Its title had been Lord of the Lower Floors. After the fiftieth floor, where it had been stationed, the level of difficulty drastically increased.

Previously, he’d clear at least ten floors, sometimes closer to twenty, in a day. But that had slowed to the point where he found it challenging to clear even seven or eight a day.

He now stood on the seventy-fourth floor.

High-rank demons were common on these floors, and he also occasionally ran into top-rank demons, whose size alone set them worlds apart from those found on the lower floors.

Shunk!

A top-rank demon the size of a two-story building slowly fell to the ground with a dagger sticking out of its chest.

Thud!

Jinwoo pulled Barca’s Dagger out of the dead demon’s chest. That was the last one for this floor. Yet another battle was over.

The victorious shadow soldiers began gathering around Jinwoo. He inspected his troops. Somehow, they appeared exhausted, even though that wasn’t possible for an undead army. But the monsters on these upper floors were powerful. At least this last battle had been easier because no archdemons had appeared.

Each one of those is basically a boss.

And this wasn’t just a theory with no evidence. He’d acquired the Sphere of Avarice after defeating Vulcan, and its description said that the sphere was made from the solidified blood of the archdemon Vulcan. If “archdemon” indicated Vulcan’s rank, then those on the upper floors were no different.

Archdemons appeared more frequently after the seventieth floor.

The increasingly powerful monsters are one thing, but……

There was a bigger problem. The environment had completely shifted as Jinwoo ascended. All the cities were on fire after the fifty-first floor. The higher he climbed, the more intense the fires became. Starting from the seventieth floor, it had gotten so hot that his health was drained just standing there. His fatigue increased with the slightest movement.

He’d been right on the nose to call the Demon’s Castle a “flaming fortress.”

……I need to go down.

That was enough for this raid. He needed to find a countermeasure for the fires.

I need an artifact that works against fire magic.

Equipment used by high-rank hunters was incredibly expensive, and it went without saying that that included items with defensive magic. He’d once seen an item on the news that cost tens of billions of won.

He’d made a lot of money working with Jinho, but he was still worried whether he could afford the artifact he required. That was why he needed insurance.

Selling this should cover it.

Jinwoo smiled at the Sphere of Avarice safely stored in his inventory. It was an item every mage hunter would lust after. How much would the sphere fetch in an auction? If he could demonstrate its quality, high-rank mage hunters would line up for it.

He closed the inventory. His goal for this raid had been to level up, which he’d done successfully. Therefore, he wasn’t disappointed having to postpone clearing the dungeon.

But one thing did bother him. Jinwoo looked up higher.

Just under four hundred to go…

If he could just collect a few more demon souls, his quest would be over. Today was day six. One day would be more than enough time to complete the quest. The only good thing about the upper floors was that he could get multiple souls from killing one demon. He could collect four hundred more in no time.

Let’s just finish this and get out of here.

Jinwoo came to a decision and turned around. There was a spring in his step because he had a clear goal.

Jinwoo stood in the middle of the magic elevator or, rather, the teleportation circle and said, “Floor seventy-five.”

How lucky was this? Jinwoo grinned from ear to ear while observing the monster guarding the teleportation circle in the distance.

The name alone made it clear this was a boss monster.

Its black robes and silver necklace made it stand out from the others.

I bet that’s the Demon Monarch’s necklace.

Jinwoo had been aiming only to complete the quest, but now he was going to get to collect another item for that set.

But that wasn’t what brought a smile to his face. Good items or not, it was useless if he couldn’t kill the monster.

Jinwoo held a dagger in each hand and charged forward.

The skeleton mage in the black robe spotted Jinwoo running toward it.

Ping!

As expected of a boss monster, the creature cast a spell instantly. A red magic circle appeared beneath its feet as ominous dark energy swirled around it.

An undead army rose to answer Metus’s call, and they numbered in the thousands. An average person would have been horrified by this, but Jinwoo was not in the least bit fazed, even as he was surrounded.

I knew it……

He’d expected this to happen. With all the black smoke filling the area, it wasn’t difficult to guess what kind of monster Metus was.

Guide of Souls.

The name had confirmed it. And as Jinwoo had predicted, Metus had summoned a powerful undead army. Luckily, Jinwoo had the best job in this field.

“Arise!”

Ahhhhhhh!

Soldiers emerged from the shadows of the undead, screaming in agony. They numbered several hundred. Their ranks paled in comparison to Metus’s army, but they were more than sufficient because he had the real deal.

“Make way!”

Ebony soldiers materialized from Jinwoo’s shadow. They were the true army. While the several hundred soldiers Jinwoo had extracted from the shadows bought time, the army he commanded quickly cleared a path for him that led to a single destination.

Igris and Iron led the way, crushing the undead at an impressive pace. The distance to Metus shrank in an instant.

This is close enough.

Jinwoo bolted ahead.

Dash!

Because he’d run around a lot inside the Demon’s Castle, Dash went up another level.

Nice.

Jinwoo grinned. Having escaped the encroaching undead army, Jinwoo came face-to-face with Metus in a flash.

Jinwoo looked the creature dead in the eye.

Not what you’d expected, eh?

Jinwoo looked relaxed, like he’d already won, and this made Metus flinch. No, it only appeared to flinch.

Do monsters feel fear?

No time to think about that. Jinwoo’s dagger was a blur.

Whump.

The boss-rank monster dropped lifelessly to the ground.

He knew from experience that mage-type monsters were weak and relied on controlling others to fight for them.

The moment he’d laid eyes on Metus, Jinwoo had pictured this outcome.

Jinwoo sent his daggers back to inventory.

Soon, a message came up.

Ping!

Jinwoo pumped his fists. Two hundred and twenty souls at once. He hadn’t expected that.

A smile played on his lips.

Almost there.

He had less than thirty to go. He could do it by merely killing a few demons. Jinwoo really wanted to get the quest over with, so he quickly grabbed all the drops and entered the teleportation circle.

“Floor seventy-six.”

On the East Coast of the United States, Dongsoo’s body twitched as if he was having a nightmare before he suddenly bolted upright.

……?

The white ceiling was the first thing he saw. He looked around at the unfamiliar environment.

“The……hospital?”

It… It wasn’t a dream?

Wiping the sweat trickling under his chin, he discovered that he was in a hospital gown with his arm connected to an IV.

Dongsoo was pissed. He spoke icily. “If you have something to say, say it and get out of here.”

The assistant director of the Hunter Command Center was in the room with him. The middle-aged white man who had more gray hair than black slowly approached Dongsoo.

“I was waiting for you because there was something I needed to personally ask you.”

What did he want with Dongsoo? The hunter raised his head.

The assistant director looked him directly in the eye. “That man Ilhwan Sung…… Are you certain he’s a magic beast?”

“Are you saying I attacked another human being?”

“It’s not that I don’t believe you. I just want to verify what I saw with my own eyes.”

He handed his cell phone to Dongsoo. A video was playing on the screen.

“Is this……?”

“Footage from a surveillance camera nearby.”

In the video, an Asian man was rescuing employees from the collapsing Command Center building. There was no need to ask who that man was. How could Dongsoo forget? It had been the last face he’d seen before he lost consciousness.

The man was Ilhwan Sung.

The assistant director had a dark expression. “I’ve…never heard of a magic beast that helps humans. You haven’t changed your mind about this man?”

“……He’s definitely a magic beast.”

“I see.” The assistant director took back his phone. “Once you’re discharged from here, please stop by the Command Center. There’s some paperwork you need to fill out.”

He began to walk away but stopped when Dongsoo asked a question.

“What happened to that man?”

“He vanished right after he fought you. We tried chasing after him, but I don’t know if we can capture someone powerful enough to defeat you……”

Before he left, the assistant director asked in a forced tone, “Any chance you know where he might have gone?”

“……”

Dongsoo’s silence made it clear he wouldn’t talk, so the assistant director took his leave.

As soon as he was gone, Dongsoo yanked out his IV. “Dammit!”

He was embarrassed about losing the fight. Ilhwan had his foot on Dongsoo’s neck even before he’d realized what had happened. Dongsoo’d pathetically cowered on the ground. As he gasped for air, Ilhwan had given him a warning.

“Don’t ever set foot in Korea. I say this not for my son’s sake but for your own. You won’t be able to close your eyes even when you’re dead.”

Dongsoo couldn’t remember anything after that. When he’d come to, he was in the hospital.

I won’t be able to close my eyes even when I’m dead?

What did that mean? Was he threatening Dongsoo with a slow and painful death?

How dare he threaten me……?!

Dongsoo’s fist trembled. Not only had he lost to a magic beast, but he’d been humiliated by it.

I know where that prick went.

Dongsoo vowed to capture him. But how? Magic beast or not, he couldn’t deny that the bastard was strong.

I’ll need better gear to catch him.

Luckily, he could easily get his hands on some.

I need to contact my guild.

Dongsoo was a member of the Scavengers, one of the top guilds in the world. There was even a joke about the Scavenger Guild’s artifacts being worth more than the annual budget of a small country.

I’ll be fine as long as I have an artifact.

Dongsoo’s gaze was furious.

South Korea. That would be his destination.

[You have defeated an archdemon.]

[You have acquired 2,200 experience points.]

[You have acquired 1 demon soul.]

[You have acquired 3 slave demon souls.]

It’s over!

Jinwoo couldn’t hide his delight. Luckily, he’d acquired four souls from the last monster he’d killed and was able to surpass the quest goal.

Ping!

Of course.

At his response, the list popped up.

Ping!

The other rewards caught his eye, but Jinwoo was most interested in the first one for now. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that he’d completed the quest mainly for that.

Accept reward one.

Ping!

Any item he wanted. Of course, he’d had one specific prize in mind since the moment he’d seen the quest.

Had he chosen differently, would the outcome have been different? He’d been curious about it since that day. He wasn’t sure if it counted an item, but he had nothing to lose by asking.

The system asked again, as if rushing him.

After much deliberation, Jinwoo gave his answer.

“A cursed mystery box.”