"Cat!"
Leo swiped at Shin Ji-eum's hand this ti, baring his teeth.
Shin Ji-eum quickly withdrew her hand and laughed.
"Oops, oops. What a feisty cat. This cat, it's your familiar, right? Insane. Wait, how long has it been since you awakened to summon a familiar? No wonder you're called the greatest genius mage of all ti. But still, if it's in a constant summon state, it must use a lot of mana. If you get exhausted, do I have to carry you around...?"
"Take a breath and speak, Shin Ji-eum Hunter."
It wasn’t who said that, but Han Jae-young.
And truly, for the first ti since eting him, I agreed with his words.
It was fortunate that his voice wasn’t unpleasant, but from the mont our eyes t, his words burst out like a machine gun without a single break, to the point where I was getting a headache.
On the other hand, maybe this situation was bothering her.
Shin Ji-eum, whose words were interrupted, glared at Han Jae-young and asked,
"Guild leader, why are you interrupting trying to get friendly with the newbie?"
"I'm not interrupting, I'm helping. If you keep butting in like that, you'll never get close."
"Why, why? I’d love it if soone intervened in my life. It shows they’re interested in , right? Oh, maybe Jeong Da-on Hunter is an introvert? What’s your MBTI?"
I stared at Han Jae-young.
"...Does your guild only recruit talkative people?"
"Your guild, huh? That’s a bit hurtful. Jeong Da-on, you’re part of our guild now."
Han Jae-young said that as he pointed at Shin Ji-eum.
"And this is A-rank Hunter and swordswoman, Shin Ji-eum Hunter. Among our guild's swordsn, she’s the most skilled."
Recently, I had t two S-rank Hunters, so to be honest, A-rank Hunters weren't that common. If you count the active ones, there were maybe about a hundred.
But this seemingly lightweight person is A-rank?
I looked at Shin Ji-eum with a sowhat dubious expression.
"Yeah, even though I look like this, I’m A-rank. I look forward to working with you, Jeong Da-on Hunter."
Shin Ji-eum grinned.
"Now that we’ll be working together often, after we finish the dungeon conquest, let’s grab a al together. What do you think, Guild Leader?"
"Seems like the others might not agree."
Han Jae-young said as he pointed at the other guild mbers, who were standing quietly behind Shin Ji-eum.
There were six guild mbers in total who got off the SUV, including Shin Ji-eum.
However, as soon as they saw , only Shin Ji-eum ca running up and actively started talking.
The others were staring at us, their hoods pulled low, glancing over at us from ti to ti.
It wasn’t that they weren’t interested in , but rather...
"...What’s with that gloomy atmosphere?"
"That's what I’m saying."
Shin Ji-eum slapped her chest as if frustrated.
"I’ve been in this guild for five years, and the only one who eats with is Guild Leader Han Jae-young. Is this even right? Even if they offer lunch with beef using the company card, no one wants to eat together! They say it sucks the life out of them or sothing. Do I look like I’m eating them?"
It seems like a lot of frustration had built up.
And the fact that no one reacted, even though she raised her voice that much, added weight to Shin Ji-eum’s words.
In other words, it seed that everyone had been locked away in the lab, busy with their magical research.
Of course, Shin Ji-eum’s overly outgoing nature was probably the reason they were acting so shy.
Han Jae-young smiled faintly and said,
"I recruited trustworthy people. No matter what items they find, they’re more interested in research, not in stealing things."
"To put it more accurately, they probably don’t even have the interest to talk to other guilds. I’m stunned. I don’t get magicians."
Shin Ji-eum clicked her tongue.
I’m a magician too, so am I being lumped in with them?
Shin Ji-eum complained, but honestly, I was familiar with the type of magician she was talking about.
It seems that most magicians focus solely on their own research, making them sowhat lacking in cooperative skills. It seems to be a common trait worldwide.
Han Jae-young gave a half-smile.
"As a guild leader, let defend them a little. Our guild is better than most. At least we’re functioning as a guild."
"That may be true… but is it really okay to bring this many people to a C-rank dungeon?"
Even Han Jae-young and Shin Ji-eum are A-rank, not to ntion the mages in the back. They were too high-level to bring to a C-rank dungeon.
Han Jae-young shrugged his shoulders in response.
"Well, better safe than sorry. There’ve been too many unexpected things happening lately."
I guess it made sense, given all the problems from the Gwanghwamun Dungeon Break. It was probably understandable.
As for , there was nothing bad about it.
Since traces of Soul Cores were detected, it would be better to have as many strong shields as possible.
"Since two people from the Light Descendants are coming, that’ll make a total of 10 of us."
It was just then.
The door to a temporary building made of container boxes, sitting alone in a vacant lot, opened.
"Ah, already ti... I told you to stop drinking so much, Manager."
"How was I supposed to know the alcohol would be so strong? It was my first ti eting them... Oh, no!"
Two n who had just woken up, scratching their ssy hair like bird nests, hurried over to Han Jae-young and the others, surprised when they saw them.
As they approached, the sll of alcohol hit us.
Leo, in my arms, hissed.
"Ah, Guild Leader Han Jae-young. It’s an honor to et you. I’m Won Deok-cheol from the Light Descendants. Oh, you’re already here! You should’ve contacted ..."
"I’m the type to arrive early before dungeon expeditions."
It turned out they were the ones drinking and passed out, not us arriving late.
‘Is this a psychological tactic to gain the upper hand?’
Seeing Han Jae-young’s smiling face, I thought it might be.
After Han Jae-young shook hands with Won Deok-cheol, he discreetly wiped his hand on his clothes.
"Today, I and Hunter Lee Yoon-ho will accompany you. They’re testing a new magic circle."
"Yes, yes. No recordings, no photos… as you know."
"Ah, of course. Honestly, I wouldn’t even understand it."
Unlike the uninterested Won Deok-cheol, the young man nad Lee Yoon-ho’s eyes sparkled.
It was like he was looking at soone he admired.
"Actually, just watching has a lot of aning. To see magic casting from the HP Guild…!"
Han Jae-young frowned at those words.
"I don’t an for you to just watch and learn. It’s proprietary intellectual property of our guild. Though the situation is such that we’ve borrowed the conquest rights to accompany you..."
"Oh, of course! Oh, I didn’t an to talk so much..."
"I’m sorry! I just ant it in the sense of enjoying the view!"
It seed the HP Guild was quite impressive.
Or maybe it was because Han Jae-young, an S-rank Hunter, was the one involved.
The fact that he seed a little annoyed and yet everyone was nervously waiting made it seem like the conquest rights were being borrowed from them.
The status they had on-site was pretty significant.
Afterwards, Han Jae-young continued speaking in a manner as if he were holding soone’s life in his hands, while Shin Ji-eum shook her head and quietly whispered.
"Our Guild Leader actually dislikes that kind of thing. I think you’ve misread his concept."
"Really? He seems like soone who’d love flattery."
"Ah, Da-on, you haven’t known our Guild Leader for long, have you? He absolutely hates blatant flattery. But that doesn’t an you can cross the line either."
This perspective was interesting.
"Cross the line?"
"Yeah. But surprisingly, the line is pretty loose. Sotis, when I fail a skillshot, I tease him, calling him ‘Ha Jae-young,’ and he likes it."
"..........."
Would he really like it if I kept changing his na?
When I looked at her in disbelief, Shin Ji-eum giggled.
Leo made an uncomfortable noise in my arms.
...........
Would it really be okay to enter a dungeon with these mbers?
For now, getting into the dungeon was smooth.
At least, that’s how it seed to Han Jae-young.
As soon as we entered the dungeon, a foul stench filled the air.
"Ugh."
Among the people he brought, so who had weak stomachs covered their mouths.
Even though most of them were wearing purification items, it was still overwhelming.
Han Jae-young looked around the dungeon with surprise.
He had heard of it, but seeing it in person, the scale was truly enormous. All of this was trash from Earth.
If this trash heap were on Earth, they’d at least sort the recyclables or burn it, but this was in the dungeon.
They just brought it here and dumped it, so the dungeon was a ss, unlike anything I’d ever seen before.
Kkiyuuuuu!
A huge bird flew overhead like it was attacking, nearly brushing over our heads.
Swoosh!
Shin Ji-eum raised her sword with sharp eyes and aid at the sky.
"Step back, Guild Leader."
Once inside the dungeon, Shin Ji-eum, who usually exuded her energetic nature, stepped forward.
Then, one of the hunters from the Light Descendants, laughing broadly, waved his hand.
"Oh, it’s fine. It’s a D-rank monster, a black eagle. It’s not very threatening."
"I’m not guarding against it because I don’t know what it is."
Shin Ji-eum responded sharply while keeping her sword aid.
"Even if it's a D-rank monster, with how it’s circling like that, there might be other monsters nearby. And even if not, if it attacks from the sky, it’ll be a pain."
"Oh, that’s not what I ant. The monsters in this dungeon don’t usually attack humans."
"Really?"
"Ahaha, it’s true. It seems like they know that when we leave, food will be available for them, so they co rummaging through the trash."
"…That’s not completely unreasonable."
Han Jae-young seed convinced as he observed the scattered trash piles.
Monsters in the wild would likely find it easier to search for food in human garbage.
Suddenly, a monster caught my eye.
A rock crab.
Normally, it would burrow into holes in rocks, but this one was squeezing its body between tal cans.
Click, click.
As I watched, Shin Ji-eum frowned.
"This one must have been fed by soone."
"Eh?"
"You can tell by the way it taps its feet. Normally, it’s a skittish creature... but it seems quite used to humans. Soone must be feeding it."
"Then the ecosystem here is a ss."
Jeong Da-on’s voice was quiet.
The man laughed as if he had heard sothing funny.
"Well... it’s probably because Earth’s environnt takes priority, right? The monsters don’t have a choice."
"...Yeah, monsters, I guess."
Jeong Da-on’s voice had a faint tone of contempt.
‘Does she have so moral obsession?’
Her reaction was quite unusual.
Normally, people wouldn’t care if a dungeon full of monsters got filled with trash, but she seed to.
‘She seems a bit like Yoo Han-ul, but also not like him.’
Yoo Han-ul was a rare good person in this modern world, but with Jeong Da-on, there was sothing different about her.
I felt a sense of contempt and disdain toward others.
From her personality alone, she felt closer to than to Yoo Han-ul.
‘But she keeps saving people for so reason.’
She had tried to save a grandmother caught by her ankle during the Yeongdeungpo Dungeon Break.
She also stepped forward, risking danger when children were in danger during the Gwanghwamun Dungeon Break.
And she even actively intervened for those who had beco victims of the cruel human experints from the True Light Church.
In the end, Yoo Han-ul, who was a kind person, had probably dismissed his suspicions of her after being with her for a week.
Even though I thought it was a bit much to help with physical training for a week...
‘She’s really intriguing.’
I wonder if I can solve this curiosity in this dungeon.
And honestly, Han Jae-young’s curiosity wasn’t limited to Jeong Da-on alone.
‘And since Jeong Da-on showed up, sothing’s off about Yoo Han-ul too.’
There were things about the True Light Church incident and this dungeon business.
Yoo Han-ul wasn’t quick on the uptake.
Although he claid soone from the Central Administrative Office told him...
‘There aren’t many people who’d talk to Yoo Han-ul.’
Soone was definitely leaking information to him.
And that information was definitely targeting Jeong Da-on.
Han Jae-young’s eyes glinted.
He had a feeling that sothing interesting would happen in this dungeon.
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