Published at 31st of January 2021 12:57:10 PM
Hyeonu was confused about what to do after accessing Arena . It had been a really long time since he last had a day without any purpose . He had no quests to clear and nothing to do . Additionally, it would be a pity to merely hunt . If he did one thing, he should gain two or three benefits from it .
‘Should I take this opportunity to contact them?’
Hyeonu suddenly thought of ‘them’—those who helped him in the past . They were the reason why he asked for one more opportunity from Johannes .
‘I have to contact them sooner or later anyway . ’
-To Ket: Ket, can you talk right now?
Hyeonu contacted Ket, the leader of the Pioneer Guild and one of his biggest sponsors .
‘Did something happen? He is definitely online . ’
The replying whisper didn’t come straight away, so Hyeonu just opened and closed his friends window . The reply came after a long while .
-From Ket: My answer is a bit late because I’m in battle . . . I’m sorry .
‘It came, it came . ’
Hyeonu smiled as he finally received a reply and sent out a whisper again .
-To Ket: It’s fine . It’s just been a long time since we’ve seen each other . I wanted to chat, so I contacted you .
-From Ket: Oh, of course, that is welcome . By the way . . . it’s pretty hard to get to where I am right now . Is that okay?
-To Ket: When have you ever witnessed me quibbling over that type of thing? Please tell me the location, and I will go there .
Hyeonu cleared Ket’s worries instantly . This wasn’t something he even needed to consider .
-From Ket: Yes, I understand . We are currently on Betro Plains . The Betro Plains can be reached from the south gate of Lumeng Castle .
-To Ket: Okay, I will go and see you now .
Hyeonu got up from where he was sitting and dusted his butt . Then he went through his inventory .
‘Shit . . . I don't have a return scroll . ’
First, he had to get a return scroll to Lumeng Castle .
***
“They are really weird people . Why did they choose to come to a place like this?” Hyeonu muttered while holding Tang-E in his arms .
Tang-E nodded and added, “Indeed, it isn’t normal to be in a place like this . ”
It was far from ordinary to go to such a gloomy place . The Betro Plains was a dark place with no sunlight . Dark clouds blocked out the light, and the sky was very black like that of a moonlit night .
‘I’ve arrived, but . . . ’
Hyeonu frowned . He hadn’t asked for a specific location, so he naturally didn’t know where they were . Just then, someone sent a whisper to Hyeonu .
-From Ket: Come to think of it, I didn’t tell you the exact location . That’s why I’m sending you a whisper now . Where are you now?
-To Ket: I just thought of that as well and was about to send a whisper to you . I’m now at the entrance of the Betro Plains .
Hyeonu sent his response while stroking the goosebumps on his arms .
-From Ket: You're really fast . As expected . . . Anyway, walk southwest from the beginning of the Betro Plains, and you will see white rocky hills . We will be waiting there .
-To Ket: I understand . I will get there as soon as possible .
-From Ket: It will probably be hard to get here quickly . Monsters appear very often .
-To Ket: I will keep that in mind .
Hyeonu listened to Ket’s words while wondering how often monsters would emerge .
***
The monsters appeared very often and not in a small number . There was an awfully high number of them .
“Hey, aren’t you going to use magic? Make those beads and fight them . ”
The monsters who appeared in this area were the undead .
‘The difference between having one or two buffs is a bit severe . ’
Hyeonu was particularly powerful against living creatures and humanoid monsters . This was because his stats increased due to his title and item effect . However, he had no such thing for undead or non-living targets . Naturally, he started scolding Tang-E more frequently .
“Master dude, fight harder . I am doing my best . ” Tang-E was frowning .
He was working hard using magic, yet Hyeonu kept scolding him, so his motivation naturally fell .
“Hey!!” Hyeonu screamed and released some pure energy . It was Mysterious Sky Range . The skeleton soldiers covered in hard bone armor instantly crumbled to an extent where it was beyond recovery .
A dark magic skeleton soldier has been defeated . ]
[Experience has been acquired . ]
[A dark magic skeleton soldier has been defeated . ]
[Experience has been acquired . ]
[A dark magic skeleton soldier has been defeated . ]
[Experience has been acquired . ]
Hyeonu didn’t think about picking up the gold coins that had fallen to the ground . Instead, he just walked straight to Tang-E behind him . The moment Tang-E realized where Hyeonu’s gaze was focused, he waved and flattered Hyeonu: “Whoa . As expected of Master . You are really strong, the best!”
“Yes, I got them all . ”
The moment Hyeonu raised his fist, Tang-E wrapped his paws around his head and started running .
“Spare Tang-E!”
***
‘I think that’s them . . . ’ Hyeonu thought while looking at the five people in the distance . They were fighting hard against the undead . Two warriors blocked the party from the undead on both sides . Meanwhile, one priest protected the players, and the magicians controlled the battlefield .
‘They are exactly as I remember them . ’
This battle style matched the Pioneer Guild that Hyeonu knew . Originally, Hyeonu would’ve approached and helped them fight, but the fierce and intense battle was just so interesting to watch that he forgot .
“Tang-E, shall we eat some skewers?” Hyeonu took out two large meat skewers from his inventory and handed one to Tang-E .
“Okay, good food is needed for good attractions,” Tang-E said as he accepted the skewer .
***
“Hello? It has been a long time, everyone . Your items have changed, so I could barely recognize you . ” Hyeonu appeared in front of the Pioneer Guild only after the battle was over . Of course, he left out the fact that he had watched their battle .
“You got here faster than I thought you would . It took us almost two days to reach this place . . . ” Ket replied with a trembling expression .
He hadn’t anticipated Hyeonu to arrive so early .
“Haven’t you been hunting for the two days? Meanwhile, I’m alone . . . Maybe the frequency of battles is low,” Hyeonu said as he looked around at the five people . The sight of them standing amidst the scattered bone fragments was amazing .
“By the way, why do you only go to these types of places? Don’t you hunt or do quests in normal fields?” Hyeonu asked .
It was a great ability to be able to constantly go to places like this . Hyeonu had first met them in a canyon where only ice and snow existed . After that, Hyeonu was told they had continued to roam such places .
“There is nothing in the world that can’t be done with money . We can just buy the information . ” The answer came from someone other than Ket . It was a handsome man with a cold impression—Pioneer’s magician, Asu .
Asu smiled brightly and approached Hyeonu . Meanwhile, Nix—the other magician player—added, “Isn’t this the trouble that famous librarians deal with? Money is money, hard work is hard work . ”
He was also smiling, but it didn’t feel like he was smiling at all . There seemed to be pain hidden behind his smile . Hyeonu smiled gently when he saw Nix’s expression . Of course, Hyeonu’s smile was covered by a mask, so it wasn’t visible .
“Is that so? Well, the reason I came to find you is simple . Do you intend to go to the East Continent?” Hyeonu asked with a smile on his face . This was the biggest reason he came to find the Pioneer Guild .
“You’re doing us this type of favor . . . ?” Ket questioned suspiciously . It might be Alley Leader’s proposal, but this was too sudden . They haven’t had any frequent communications, and it had been a few months since they last met . Ket really couldn’t understand why Hyeonu was making such a good proposal .
“I just thought about it . You’ve helped me out with several things . In fact, this is the last time . I can’t hunt the drake after this . ”
“You can’t hunt the drake any longer?” Asu repeated Hyeonu’s last words with a startled expression . It was quite a shock to hear that Alley Leader could no longer hunt the drake—the monster he had killed alone .
“I made a deal . This is the result . I don’t have any problems with it,” Hyeonu spoke with a casual expression like nothing had happened . “You don’t have to feel burdened . Just think of it as a favor . It is like the gift Ket gave to me . ”
“Um . . . ” Ket thought about it .
Should he take Hyeonu’s words at face value? Or did Hyeonu perhaps have some hidden intentions? After a while, Ket opened his mouth and said, “I think it will be a bit difficult right now . We have something to do here . ”
“What are you doing?” Hyeonu looked back at Ket upon hearing the unexpected answer .
“I found a dungeon . It is a bit unfortunate to just go when we have some good possibilities here . ” Ket smiled like he was sorry .
‘Dungeon?’ Hyeonu’s eyes lit up with great interest at the word, ‘dungeon’ .
He asked, “Can you let me join? I also love doing dungeons . ”
“Of course, you can . Six people make one party . Alley Leader’s presence means the dungeon will be easy to clear,” Asu answered, accepting Hyeonu’s support .
Ket was unable to say anything . Then Nix drove in the wedge by saying, “Of course . It’s good for us to have Alley Leader . ”
Thus, Hyeonu joined Pioneer’s party .
***
They weren’t far from the dungeon, which was at the top of the rocky hill just behind them . There was a small altar that served as the entrance to the dungeon . The moment Hyeonu and the Pioneer Guild members stood in front of the altar, a message appeared .
[Would you like to enter the South Rock Castle?]
“I will enter,” Ket, the party leader, declared his position . Immediately, the landscape in front of the six players’ eyes changed into one of a black world, flowing with a dreary air . Gray clouds covered the sky, and behind them was the full moon . The party had to rely on the faint moonlight to move . All they could see was a wooden fence that was just about to break and a rough, worn-out path .
“Ah, seriously . . . It seems hard to finish it easily . ” Ket smiled despite the anxiety in his body and looked at Hyeonu .
“Well . . . I think we will have to struggle for a few days . Isn’t this originally a dungeon? In addition, it is more serious since we are the first to discover it . ” Hyeonu, on the other hand, was relaxed .
He didn’t think it was impossible to clear . In his head, he was already pleasantly imagining what monsters would appear .
‘It is much better than hunting without thinking . ’
Hyeonu felt that a dungeon hunt was much more fun than simply hunting .
“Then let’s go,” Hyeonu said as he led the Pioneer Guild .