Chapter 94
"..."
Annaby was looking at Kang Dohyeon with an expressionless face, as if she couldn't understand what he was talking about.
"Agent Kang Dohyeon, what you're saying doesn't seem to be the most important thing right now. This Demon Realm is dangerous, and the flow of ti here is distorted."
"It doesn't matter. We're going to conquer it anyway."
His words may have sounded arrogant, but his voice was so calm that it didn't co across as boastful. After giving Seo Gangrim a brief glance, he walked towards the inner part of the city.
The party mbers muttered to themselves with a bit of hesitation. "As expected, agents are on a different level."
"Yeah, you have to be lucky to be chosen as an agent."
Seo Gangrim felt relieved that Kang Dohyeon couldn't hear their conversation. Their words sounded too casual and frivolous to him.
'Lucky? Kang Dohyeon is far from being just lucky.'
Considering that even typical agents were Dragon or Spirit class, Kang Dohyeon's current position was unreasonable. To beco an agent when you were nothing more than average was an achievent that required significantly more effort than others.
'He was always a hard worker.'
Soone with no extraordinary talents or abilities, Kang Dohyeon had buried himself in all kinds of books to beco a shaman. Seo Gangrim couldn't even begin to imagine how many books were stored in his head.
"Seo Gangrim-ssi, for now, we should also start moving."
Annaby's words made Seo Gangrim nod in agreent. An unexplored area that hadn't been conquered for months, maybe even longer, could potentially trap Seo Gangrim as well if he wasn't careful. Following Kang Dohyeon into the city, they encountered demon beasts that appeared from various places. Dealing with the demon beasts themselves was not difficult, but they made no progress in their search.
"There should be at least so corpses here, but I can't see anything."
Annaby's words were accurate. Despite the passage of ti, they couldn't find any survivors or corpses.
After Kang Dohyeon crushed a struggling demon, he spoke, "Considering the passage of ti here, it's not strange that there are no corpses. There's probably enough ti for the demons to eat and dispose of them."
His words were harsh, but his expression remained unchanged. Annaby seed to agree with him, maintaining her silence instead of arguing.
"It seems like there are no survivors. Let's prioritize conquering this place."
"But we still can't see the statue. It won't be easy to find."
Annaby was right. They had examined the city, but the target statue was nowhere to be found. She appeared slightly perplexed.
"First, it would be good to get an idea of the general layout of this place."
The place was vast with nurous buildings, making it challenging to search. Seo Gangrim listened to Annaby and summoned a spirit beast from the Spirit Realm.
"Woong!"
Yorn was currently assigned as Suah's guardian, so Linnie was the only one brought forth from the Spirit Realm. The party mbers were astonished when they saw it.
"What is this?"
"Is it a monster? Are you controlling monsters now?"
They seed unfamiliar with the concept of spirits beasts. Seo Gangrim just nodded in response and addressed Annaby.
"I'll have Linnie scout from above. It should be easier to spot things that way."
Upon Seo Gangrim's instructions, Linnie levitated into the air.
"Search from above, and if you see anything noteworthy, let us know."
"Woong!"
Linnie gracefully floated up into the sky. anwhile, Annaby looked up at Seo Gangrim with a straight face.
"I'll search the interior of the buildings."
[Ability 'Tou's Manipulator' activated!]
As soon as she finished speaking, magical power gathered in her hand, and small Tous began pouring out of it. In no ti, a swarm of Tous had gathered around her.
"If you find anything – survivors, the statue, or anything suspicious – please report it."
"Ot, ot!"
The Tous dashed toward the buildings like a swarm of bees, disappearing quickly from sight. While leaving the search to Linnie and Tous, the group decided to take a brief break. Seo Gangrim wet his dry lips with water and suddenly looked up at the sky.
"Co to think of it, why are the gods so quiet?"
Normally, upon entering the Demon Realm, there would be a lot of noise. When Seo Gangrim checked, he saw an alert ssage.
[Currently, the connection to telepathic communication is severed.]
[Currently, the connection to the shop system is severed.]
It seed that due to the distortion of ti, so systems had been blocked. Not being able to use the shop was regrettable, but not hearing the voices of the gods was quite convenient.
Seo Gangrim took another sip of water and turned his gaze toward Kang Dohyeon.
'I should talk to Kang Dohyeon... but he still seems reluctant.'
He pondered how best to approach the situation. As he contemplated, Annaby approached him discreetly.
"Seo Gangrim-ssi, if you don't mind, would you like to explore the area with ?"
"Ah, sure, why not."
Seo Gangrim got up from his seat and walked with Annaby to a quiet alley, distancing themselves from the others. Once they were away from the group, Seo Gangrim spoke. "Is there sothing you want to say?"
"Well... Are you still undecided? About joining our team, I an."
"I'm sorry, but I have no intention of joining the Destiny Protection Bureau."
"...I see."
Annaby seed sowhat disappointed. She hesitated for a mont before continuing. "I was secretly hoping you would. That Seo Gangrim-ssi would join our team..."
Seo Gangrim remained silent.
"I even prepared a spot for you, planned a welco party, and made a list of great restaurants near the Protection Bureau..."
Her voice carried sincerity. Seo Gangrim felt slightly taken aback.
"Aren't there many hunters better than ?"
"Among the students I've seen, Seo Gangrim-ssi is the most outstanding. That's why I really wanted you to join our team..."
With that, Annaby fell silent, and her disappointnt was evident.
"I heard that you and Agent Kang Dohyeon are acquainted. If that's the reason for your refusal... It's disappointing, but even if you go to Team 1, I'll still be glad you joined the Bureau."
She spoke with a faint smile.
"I've grown quite fond of you as your instructor. You seem like my junior in a way..."
As Seo Gangrim listened to Annaby's story, he also thought that she was quite a unique type. Annaby probably knew about Destiny Theft as well. Or perhaps, like Team Leader Gong Joo, she didn't care whether soone was an assassin or not, as long as their skills were good.
"Woong, woong!"
At that mont, cries from the sky indicated that Linnie had completed her reconnaissance. Annaby also returned to her usual expression.
"It seems the reconnaissance is done. Let's go back."
When they returned to where the group had gathered, Linnie had already arrived. Linnie hopped in place, excitedly making noises.
"Woong!"
"Did you find sothing?"
"Woong!"
Linnie nodded and began moving her feet quickly. Seo Gangrim followed her, and the rest of the group followed suit. They arrived at a rather large mansion.
'It's certainly a conspicuous place.'
Not only was it large, but sothing about it seed different. Once they entered, the eerie feeling beca even more pronounced. Inside the mansion was unlike any other building; it was exceptionally neat and orderly, as though it had avoided the passage of ti.
"Woong, woong..."
In the midst of it, Linnie wagged her tail like a dog and seed to be sniffing sothing. Then, she sensed sothing and tugged on Seo Gangrim's clothes, turning her body toward the left corridor.
'There's a sll of sothing...'
Seo Gangrim, too, could detect an overwhelming sll coming from sowhere in the mansion. He followed the scent, and upon opening a door, he was blinded by the light.
"Wow, what is this place?"
The party mbers who had been following him were left in awe as they looked inside the room. The interior was a restaurant, and inside, a banquet was laid out. The food looked freshly prepared, with steam rising from it, and a delightful aroma filled the restaurant, as if the food had been freshly made.
Seo Gangrim heard the sound of soone swallowing saliva behind him. It had been quite so ti since they entered this place, and the man was beginning to feel hungry.
"It's better not to eat," Kang Dohyeon advised the party mbers.
One of the party mbers smiled sheepishly and made an excuse, "Well, it just looks so delicious..."
"It's blatantly suspicious food. Even thinking about it is foolish. It's perfect for poisoning."
Indeed, the food laid out here was extrely suspicious. A feast in the middle of the Demon Realm? The party mbers seed to agree, wearing expressions of disappointnt as they backed away.
"Nevertheless, there's sothing different about this mansion. It seems worth investigating."
Annaby said so and began searching the restaurant. The others followed her lead, rummaging through different corners of the restaurant. Seeing that there was no need for him to be inside the restaurant, Seo Gangrim stepped outside. As he was about to explore the second floor, he suddenly turned back.
"Do you have sothing to say?"
Kang Dohyeon, who had been following him, stopped abruptly in his tracks. He remained silent for a mont before speaking. "I saw the Geohae's Shackle around your body."
It was an unexpected topic. Seo Gangrim couldn't understand why Kang Dohyeon was bringing it up.
In the anti, Linnie watched the two of them alternately, her face showing bewildernt.
"Do you know that the number of Geohae's Shackle increases according to the owner's karma?"
"Yeah."
"After leaving ho, what have you been doing exactly?"
Since leaving Seo Hwakyung's house, a lot had happened. Seo Gangrim didn't know where to start or what to talk about. As Seo Gangrim was choosing his words, both of them simultaneously turned their heads toward the direction of the second floor. Sothing was coming down the dark staircase.
-Gi, Gigi.......
On the staircase stood a statue. What set it apart from a typical statue was the fact that it was moving. Kang Dohyeon imdiately drew his sword.
"A statue... Is that the condition for clearing this mission?"
Before he could finish his sentence, the statue let out a scream as if it were about to shatter into pieces and charged. A stone fist slamd into the railing, which imdiately shattered. However, even that level of destruction posed no threat to a Destiny Protection Bureau Agent like Kang Dohyeon. His eyes glead sharply, and his sword was as sharp as his gaze.
-Kaah!
The clash of swords rang out as the statue attacked. Kang Dohyeon swung his sword and clashed with it.
"What are you doing?" Kang Dohyeon asked, his gaze sharp as he looked at the person in front of him. Seo Gangrim was blocking with his own sword. In the anti, when the statue swung at Seo Gangrim, he didn't dodge but took the hit directly.
"Kugh...!"
An agonized sound escaped his lips as he couldn't swallow back the pain. Kang Dohyeon, bewildered, quickly pulled Seo Gangrim downstairs.
"Are you insane? Why did you block it?"
"Don't kill it. That wasn't a demon."
Seo Gangrim endured the throbbing pain as he looked up at the statue standing above.
"That's a human."
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