Chapter 1718 – 1718. The Dark Merchant
I explained the current situation to Park Jeong-gu. A guild employee had been bought off by someone inside the dungeon.
“It’s highly likely that the Black Guild is inside the dungeon.”
-Ah, shit. Things got complicated. Don’t misunderstand, I didn’t know about this either. I only selected the location based on the dungeon’s position and environmental factors… I didn’t consider this variable.
“Shouldn’t you have considered this variable?”
-There was no information. Usually, this kind of information comes naturally… The fact that I didn’t know means the other guys are not ordinary. Give up on that place and go somewhere else. There are other places I marked for you.
“No, I’m too lazy to drive. It’ll take longer.”
-Is laziness more important than danger? Are you crazy?
“If it seems too dangerous, I can just run. Besides, I don’t think the guys doing this kind of thing here are that dangerous.”
-Shit! My money is in danger…
I hung up before Park Jeong-gu could make any more noise.
Of course, I had a backup plan.
The Thread of Origin.
It was an item to take when attacking closed dungeons. If used once, you could escape the dungeon. There was no reason not to use it in an open dungeon. However, it was ridiculously expensive and large guilds would sweep them up first, so no one used them in open dungeons.
‘Even if I don’t have the Thread of Origin, I have the Illusiter. If I run away while invisible, how are they going to chase me?’
I was confident.
I used the Illusiter again and headed to the dungeon. The guild employees guarding the dungeon entrance were disorganized and not properly on guard. It was because of the party that had gone in earlier. Thanks to that, I could enter the dungeon more easily.
Once inside the dungeon, I could feel the dense mana concentration.
‘Not a bad place.’
I looked around. There were trees. Between them was a dirt path. It seemed like it was telling anyone to walk down that path.
‘If I use the path openly, I’ll get caught.’
I went into the forest first. Then, I climbed up the tallest tree. I needed to survey the area. Of course, I used the Illusiter. I planned to deactivate the Illusiter after checking the surroundings.
‘I need to use it when I run away, so I can’t keep it on.’
When I got to the top of the tree, I slightly opened my mouth. There was a small city in front of me. An old city made of dirt and rocks was there. There were some pieces of equipment that didn’t fit the city. Things like tents and bags.
‘They’ve completely settled in. They’re not ordinary Black Guild members.’
[The Heavenly Eye is opened.]
My vision became stronger. I could see things far away as if I was looking through a telescope. Even when I looked at the tents and equipment, there were no specific markings. It seemed like they had intentionally erased them.
‘Maybe they’re from a named guild.’
Then, I found a bloodstain. It was a bloodstain that could be from a person or a monster, and it led to the center of the city.
In the center of the city was a huge building.
‘It’s a bit unique when I focus on it.’
It had different levels.
That building alone was sunken underground. It looked normal when looking at the whole city, but when I focused on it like this, it was the most special.
I could see large pillars that made up the building, rather than walls. The pillars were so big that they felt grand and sacred.
‘I see why the dungeon is called the Fourth Temple.’
It was a temple, just like the name. I didn’t know why it was the fourth. No one would know that. Only this dungeon would know.
‘I’m suddenly curious.’
But it wasn’t a strong enough curiosity to find out at all costs.
It was something I could look into after finishing what I had to do first.
‘The land where mana seeds would grow well is…’
The back of the city particularly caught my eye. The trees were denser there than anywhere else. I quietly started to move.
I encountered a monster.
“Kyaaaaak!”
A Necrowoman.
It was a monster with blood-red skin, and arms and legs like blades. Instead of a human face, it had four rose-shaped muzzles on its head. It also had a strong smell of rotting corpses. It was called a woman because its torso was female.
Large breasts, a slender waist, and wide hips. Just looking at the torso, it had a nice figure. If you only looked at the figure, women would be jealous. But if you looked closely, it was horrifying. The breasts were relatively intact, but there was an eye in the area where the navel should be, and vein-like things were wriggling in the groin area where the genitals were. It was grotesque and unpleasant to keep looking at.
The Necrowoman, having found me, slightly bent its waist and then jumped up like a spring. It kicked off the trees and moved around, trying to shake off my gaze.
‘As expected of a B-rank monster, it’s fast.’
But it couldn’t shake off my gaze.
‘From top to bottom.’
I took two steps back. The Necrowoman fell where I had been, extending its blade-like arms. The Necrowoman stretched out both arms. Then, it spun around like a top and charged at me. The trees and branches around it were ground up like a mixer by the Necrowoman’s arms.
“I’ll show you what real speed is.”
I summoned the Hwaryeon Flying Blade and held it in my right hand. I clenched my hand tightly. Mana rushed through my meridians.
Crack.
A red spark flashed on the blade of the Hwaryeon Flying Blade.
I inhaled and used the Moment.
[Moment is used. Remaining stacks: 6]
I leaped forward and sliced through the Necrowoman’s body. When the Moment stopped, the Necrowoman’s body fell to the ground behind me.
I went past it and then came back. It was to take out the magic stone. A B-rank monster’s magic stone was worth a lot of money. And besides selling it, I could use it for other things.
No matter what I used it for, there was no harm in keeping it.
And less than a minute later, I encountered another Necrowoman. There were more Necrowomen than I had thought.
‘It’s better to save the Moment.’
It wasn’t a big problem. It would just take a little longer.
‘I’ll go around the city.’
After 30 minutes, I arrived at my destination.
‘No need to waste time.’
I took out the mana seed fruits of HB-1 and Vanilla. I split the fruits and took out the mana seeds with a knife. The mana contained in the seeds was still low. The flesh didn’t smell like anything. I put a little in my mouth out of curiosity, but it didn’t taste like anything either.
I buried the mana seeds in the ground and dropped a drop of HB-1. The effect was immediate. A sprout appeared and started to grow right away. The plant grew to my waist and then stopped. The flower looked like a purple morning glory rather than a vanilla flower.
‘Vanilla in Vanilla’s mana seed is probably the name of the person who first discovered the mana seed.’
The brightly bloomed flower quickly withered. Instead, fruits formed. There were a total of three fruits.
‘Hmm?’
The flow of mana changed. The mana in the ground and the mana in the air were all sucked into the mana fruits. The mana fruits grew larger and larger. Conversely, the surroundings died.
‘It’s sucking in my mana. What the hell.’
I quickly focused so that my mana wouldn’t be taken. Fortunately, the mana with my will wasn’t taken.
Thud, thud, thud.
The three fruits fell to the ground. The soil became as dry as a desert, and the trees withered and died in an instant.
I held the fruits. Considering that they had grown by taking all the nutrients and mana from the surroundings, they didn’t feel like they had that much mana.
‘Each one is worth 500 million, so I’ve made 1.5 billion. If I do it two more times, I’ll break even. The problem is…’
I looked around.
The surrounding area was dead. It was about a 15-meter radius around the plant. The ground and trees were black. The leaves seemed to have rotted instantly.
‘It’s too noticeable.’
The land was vast, so I could break even with HB-1. I could probably get 100 from one bottle of HB-1. This was according to Park Jeong-gu’s calculations.
‘If I do it like this, the guys in the city will 100% notice.’
They were the kind of guys who did strange things in dungeons. It wouldn’t end well.
‘I should stop for now and see what those guys are doing.’
They didn’t know I was there yet. The right to surprise was on my side.
‘Let’s see who they are.’
It was time to satisfy my curiosity. I quietly moved towards the city. When I got close to the city, the party that had entered the dungeon earlier was captured by people wearing black uniforms. The party members’ hands and feet were bound by chains. They seemed to be special restraints that suppressed mana and strength.
They had an organization that was not easily seen in the Black Guild, which was a gathering of criminals. They were not ordinary Black Guild members. I smiled and summoned a camera to start filming the scene.
“Let us go, you bastards! Do you know who my brother is?! He works in the audit department of the guild! If my brother wanted to, he could take you down right now! My brother knows I’m in this dungeon!”
The man with the most prominent beard among the black-clad men shook his head. A woman with short hair stepped forward and smacked the party leader, who was shouting, on the head.
“Kim Jae-hwan. That’s your brother’s name, right? We’ve already investigated everything. He’s not an employee of the audit department, he’s just a low-level guy who does what they tell him to do.”
“Sh, shit. You already investigated that? Who, who are you?! You’re not just a Black Guild, are you? I heard there’s a Black Guild secretly run by the top 10 guilds! Is that you?!”
“Even if you know who we are, there’s nothing you can do.”
The short-haired woman ruthlessly used violence. The party leader screamed and resisted, but he quieted down after three minutes. In the process, the party leader’s right eye was burst and his left arm was twisted. The party members who saw the scene were terrified.
“We, we’ll give you money if you want! We’ll give you everything we have! Please just let us live! We won’t tell anyone what we saw in this dungeon!”
One of the party members shouted. The black-clad people openly sneered at him. The bearded man put a cigarette in his mouth, took a puff, and then said.
“We’re going to take everything you have anyway, so why should we let you live? And it’s more helpful to us if you die.”
“Th, then please make me one of your members! I’ll do anything!”
“We don’t take in rookies.”
“Wh, what are you people?!”
“We are.”
“Boss.”
The short-haired woman interrupted and looked at the bearded man. The bearded man clicked his tongue.
“These guys are going to die anyway. It doesn’t matter if I tell them.”
“There’s a principle.”
“Ah, right. Do Hae-young. You’re too inhuman. Are you like that with your lover too?”
“I don’t have a lover.”
“I guess not. How about me?”
“……”
The woman made a face like she was going to throw up. The bearded man chuckled and turned his body, saying.
“We are Berta.”
What the hell is that, you bastard.
