Chapter 957 – 957. Rainbow Fruit
I walked through the city, deep in thought. I came to the city to find clues about the Rainbow Fruit, but I was at a loss as to where to start.
‘I can’t just go around asking anyone about the Rainbow Fruit. Even if I did, they probably wouldn’t know much about it.’
I needed to find someone with information.
Could there be an information guild in this world? Even if there was, the thought of finding them and trading information made my head ache.
‘So when am I going to find it? At this rate, I might really have to stay in the dungeon for over a month….’
Should I just enjoy myself as I please and then escape the dungeon when the time is right?
“Make way! Get out of the way!”
A group of soldiers in armor and spears rushed towards the city gate. I stepped aside among the crowd. It must be because of the guards I had just killed.
Seeing the guards gave me an idea of what to do.
‘The lord. I’ll capture the lord of this city and get information about the Rainbow Fruit.’
Ordering the lord to find the Rainbow Fruit for me didn’t seem like a bad idea either. I could just relax until the lord brought the Rainbow Fruit.
The people watched the soldiers pass by with curiosity before returning to their own business. I headed towards the plaza. It seemed like the fastest way to get to the lord’s castle, the center of the city, was through the plaza.
On the way to the plaza, merchants had set up stalls and were selling various goods. There were especially many shops selling fruits and vegetables. Among them, a clothing store caught my eye. It was because the owner of the store was someone familiar.
Kang Seok-soo. Kang Seok-soo, wearing a black coat that didn’t fit this place, was sitting blankly in the store. I kept my distance for a while and watched him, and he was serving customers and selling clothes like a merchant.
I understood what was going on.
He had also been assigned a role, just like me. I was a farmer, and Kang Seok-soo was a merchant, as it seemed.
I approached him.
“Kang Seok-soo.”
“…Sung Yu-jin!”
He, who had been sitting idly on a chair, stood up abruptly with his eyes shining.
“You’re safe! Well, I figured you would be.”
“It was a bit dangerous.”
“Dangerous? It must have been different from me. Did you encounter monsters?”
Kang Seok-soo asked me questions and gestured. I sat down on the empty chair next to him. There was a shade, and a gentle breeze was blowing, so it was quite comfortable.
“I did. This is a magic stone I got from killing them.”
I took out a magic stone and held it in my hand. Kang Seok-soo looked at the magic stone intently for a moment before nodding.
“A B-grade magic stone. I was flustered by this unfamiliar dungeon, but it’s still a B-grade dungeon. What kind of monster was it?”
Kang Seok-soo was very interested in monsters. It was natural. In any dungeon, monsters attack hunters, and hunters hunt monsters and obtain magic stones.
“That monster was….”
I looked around. Countless people were passing by. Men, women, old people, children. Just the number of people I could see at a glance was in the hundreds. What if they all turned into monsters at once? Even I wouldn’t be confident in handling them all.
“It was a person who turned into a monster.”
“What?”
Kang Seok-soo, who didn’t understand my words for a moment, narrowed his brow. Then, he looked around with wary eyes. Many people were passing by.
“…Are you sure?”
“Why would I lie about something like this?”
“All the humans here are monsters? If they were monsters, shouldn’t they be attacking us now?”
“I don’t know the details either. It was the first time I’ve seen a monster like that. Maybe there’s some condition for them to turn into monsters….”
“Did you start outside the city? Tell me in detail.”
I decided to tell him in detail as he wanted. Of course, I left out a few facts.
“My starting point was a field.”
“A field? Did you get the role of a farmer?”
“Yeah. As soon as I arrived, a message popped up saying that I would become weak if I didn’t do farm work for more than three hours a day. And some old couple called me Hans.”
“It’s similar to me. I’m a merchant. I have to do merchant work for more than three hours to avoid the penalty. The people around me called me Romelon.”
Kang Seok-soo sighed after hearing what happened in the small village.
“…If people turn into monsters… this is the worst. I did prepare for it just in case… but it won’t be enough.”
“What about the other hunters?”
This time, I asked. I didn’t expect much. Kang Seok-soo’s reaction was obvious.
“I haven’t met any. They might be somewhere in the city, or they might have started outside the city like you. Or maybe they felt the danger and escaped the dungeon.”
“What are you going to do? This is a completely new dungeon. No one would blame you for escaping.”
“There would be people who would be disappointed. There are many people watching me. This failure will also affect the guild I’m going to create. I’m going to try to conquer the dungeon until it’s deemed impossible.”
“What’s your plan for the future? You’re not just talking without a plan, are you?”
“First, I need to join up with the other hunters, including you. We were supposed to meet in the west… but with the situation like this, there’s a high chance we won’t be able to go to the west. The other hunters must have received roles and penalties like us.”
“Isn’t that going to take too long?”
“That part can’t be helped. I think we need to conquer the dungeon as safely as possible. And I won’t just be waiting around. The role I’ve been given, the merchant Romelon, seems to be a well-connected merchant in this city. I plan to use those connections to gather information about the Rainbow Fruit.”
“So you’re saying you’ll be staying here for a while, watching the situation.”
“That’s right. I’d like you to join me. Since we don’t know when the people here will turn into monsters, it’s better to move together than to move alone, don’t you think?”
“No.”
I immediately shook my head.
It was more comfortable to move alone. I had no desire to be with a man. And more than anything, if I moved alone, I could freely go after any woman I liked.
“It seems like you have your own plan, so I won’t force you. Can I ask what that plan is?”
“I’m going to meet the lord, the most powerful person in this city, and ask for his help.”
“……You’re a farmer. A tenant farmer, didn’t you say?”
It’s not easy to even meet the lord, let alone get his help. You’d be lucky if you didn’t get beaten up for going to see him. That was the common sense of this world.
“You seem to be mistaken, but I’m not Hans the tenant farmer. I’m the hunter Sung Yu-jin.”
Kang Seok-soo’s eyes widened for a moment before returning to normal.
“I spoke out of turn. Sung Yu-jin. Can I ask you for a favor? You can refuse if you’re uncomfortable.”
“What kind of favor?”
“I want you to kill someone.”
•••
“Ugh!”
I entered a mansion near the plaza and beheaded a middle-aged man. He was the person Kang Seok-soo had asked me to kill. This guy was a merchant who was keeping Kang Seok-soo, or rather, Romelon, the role Kang Seok-soo had received from the dungeon, in check. Kang Seok-soo said that it was difficult for him to operate because of this guy.
‘Kang Seok-soo. He’s more cold-blooded and decisive than I thought.’
Kang Seok-soo was doing well.
Just like the hunters on Earth, he didn’t see the humans in the dungeon as fellow humans. Especially since I told him that the people here turn into monsters.
As Kang Seok-soo had asked, I rummaged through the guy’s corpse.
I found a magic stone.
A magic stone that was less than 2cm in diameter.
‘F-grade. The average magic stone size of a dungeon human. When they turned into monsters, it was 8cm.’
I collected the magic stone and waited for a while. I wanted to see if the man would turn into a monster. About 30 minutes passed, but there was no change. Just in case, I took out the man’s heart and stomped on it. The monster’s weakness was its heart. Maybe if it didn’t have a heart, it wouldn’t turn into a monster.
I went to Kang Seok-soo and reported that I had completed the task.
Kang Seok-soo was fiddling with the small 2cm magic stone.
“I see…. So it wasn’t that monsters were hiding under human skin.”
“The corpse might turn into a monster and come back to life. Oh, and don’t let your guard down just because they’re children. Even newborns turned into monsters.”
“I’m not that naive.”
“Then I’ll be going.”
“……I asked you to kill someone, but you’re not asking for the details?”
“What are you talking about? When were monsters ever people?”
“…I misspoke. You’re a better hunter than I am.”
“You’re stating the obvious again. Anyway, I’m leaving. I’ll come back tomorrow afternoon. If I don’t, just assume that I won’t.”
I waved my hand.
A pretty woman passed by me. My eyes naturally followed her. Even if they’re monsters, if they’re pretty, I’m turned on. I didn’t think it was strange. I’m much more normal than the guys who get turned on by animals.
I suddenly remembered a gruesome video I had seen in high school.
At that time, I had watched almost every porn video and was looking for more stimulating ones. I even explored the deep corners of the internet to find masterpieces buried somewhere.
And in the deep corners, there was an abyss that I couldn’t even imagine.
‘I saw a video of a man getting fucked by a large male dog. Damn. Even thinking about it now makes me want to throw up.’
I frowned and quietly followed the pretty woman.
•••
After having my way with the woman in an alleyway until the sun went down, I finally walked towards the lord’s castle.
On the way, the dungeon’s penalty was activated.
〈You have not done the work of a farmer.〉
〈Your body is weakening.〉
My legs became heavy. My vision became blurry. My throat felt stuffy as if I had phlegm, and my stomach started to ache.
I looked at my clenched fist. I couldn’t exert about 30% of my usual strength.
‘Is this the penalty? It’s not just a bad condition. It’s quite serious.’
[Activating Heavenly Heart (天心). Lasts for 1 minute.]
The weakness that was making my body weak disappeared. The reason I didn’t use Complete Recovery was to save it as a trump card.
‘Complete Recovery is an amazing skill that can even bring you back to life.’
The entrance to the lord’s castle was in front of me. As expected, there were soldiers at the entrance. Their equipment was different from the soldiers guarding the city gate. The aura they gave off was also strong.
‘If we were talking about hunters, they’d be low D-grade? Something like that.’
I walked straight ahead with confidence. I was currently wearing the fancy clothes that Kang Seok-soo had given me. According to Kang Seok-soo, it was such expensive clothing that a commoner would have to save money for 10 years to buy it.
The guards’ gazes turned to me. I smiled at them and said.
“I’ve come to see the lord. Announce my arrival.”
The guards’ expressions crumpled.
“A farmer doesn’t know his place.”
Five guards, holding spears, surrounded me.
“What is this? Can’t you see these clothes? I’m a VIP.”
I showed off my fancy clothes as if to boast.
Even after checking my clothes, the guards’ threatening attitude didn’t change. Instead, they mocked me.
“Even if you dress a pig in human clothes, it’s still a pig. Do you think you can hide your vulgar status just because you’re wearing fancy clothes?”
“Of course, I can hide it.”
I was clearly not a farmer. I was tall and had fair skin. And judging by my aura, no one would think I was a farmer.
Yet, the guards immediately recognized that I was a farmer.
‘There’s no way that a guy named Hans is so famous that the lord’s castle guards would know him… it must be the dungeon’s trickery.’
The role assigned by the dungeon was absolute. It felt like the dungeon was mocking me.
“For insulting the lord and ignoring us… I’ll break one of your arms. Be grateful that I’m not taking your life!”
The guards rushed at me. They were holding spears, but they were only threatening me and only using their hands and feet. In response, I decided to only use my fists and feet as well.
‘If I kill these guys here, I’ll have no choice but to be hostile to the lord.’
Thud! Thwack! Thud!
“Kuaaak!”
With one punch and one kick, the guards flew away. They rolled on the ground, groaning in pain, and couldn’t get up.
“Get up, you bastards. You have to guide me to the lord.”
“H-How can a farmer have such strength…!”
“I’m not a farmer.”
Slap.
The guard who was slapped trembled before lowering his head.
“…I’ll guide you…”
