Chapter 129 – The Problem (５)

“Almost there!”

Woo Jimin, Ha Taehyeong, and White Wood were running at a dead sprint.

They’d blown through two long gates in the blink of an eye.

Monster-free, yes, but this Dungeon was so vast and sprawling that the road to the third gate felt like an eternity.

But the end was in sight.

“What about Mr. Gijun?!”

Ha Taehyeong’s question got a head-shake from Woo Jimin.

“We’re still linked, but he’s not answering.”

It had been a little while since Gijun went silent on comms.

Two possibilities.

Gijun was down—or he was so deep in a fight he couldn’t spare a breath to reply.

All they could do was hope he was still alive.

It was a long shot.

Even the Superhumans here, dropped alone into a Level-9 Dungeon without support, would struggle to guarantee their own survival.

Let alone someone like Gijun—not yet quite at the world-class level.

It wouldn’t have been strange at all if he’d ended up monster chow by now.

And yet.

None of them could really believe he’d fallen.

It was a groundless hope, blooming in the heart on no evidence—but given everything Gijun had shown them so far, maybe it wasn’t so hollow after all.

Wasn’t it?

Gijun had always punched through impossible odds and left the world stunned.

They had faith he’d do the same now.

And with that faith, they pushed their pace faster.

And now—

CRASH! BOOM, BOOM!

The roar of an explosion tore through the air up ahead.

A fight.

The sound of it brought color rushing back to every face.

The noise of battle meant Gijun was alive.

“I knew it….”

“This crazy bastard.”

“Really…!”

Relief colored every exclamation—

“….”

The noise up ahead went dead.

In an instant, every roar died away, and silence began to settle in its place.

“…What could it be?”

“Hard to say.”

“….”

They couldn’t begin to guess.

What the hell was happening?

Had already happened…?

“Let’s move.”

“Yes.”

They started forward again.

It wasn’t long before they reached a wide clearing.

And the moment they arrived, all three of their jaws dropped.

“…My God.”

“What in the world….”

A scene so shocking sprawled before them that words failed entirely.

“All these monsters….”

What they saw were monsters littered across the earth in every direction.

There were so many they couldn’t even count them — and every single one looked formidable.

Yet all of those monsters now lay cold, their bodies growing still in death.

“…Did Mr. Gijun… do this…?”

“How else could you explain this sight?”

White Wood answered Woo Jimin’s question.

That was the plain truth.

This scene was simply unbelievable.

There was no explanation except that Gijun had taken down every last monster alone.

And what’s more — there wasn’t even a trace of Magi in the vicinity.

Meaning, not a single monster remained anywhere nearby.

“…Hah….”

Endless gasps filled the air around them.

“Haah….”

Gijun exhaled raggedly and turned around.

His eyes met theirs.

His body was already spent — he could barely stand, staggering before collapsing onto the ground with a thud.

Woo Jimin rushed to his side.

“Are you okay?”

“…Yes. Nothing serious. Just really worn out, I think.”

“Here, take this first.”

Woo Jimin handed him a high-grade Healing Potion she’d prepared earlier.

Gijun downed it in one go.

“Phew….”

His expression eased noticeably after drinking the potion.

“What… happened? No, wait. Let’s get outside first.”

Woo Jimin started to ask but stopped, realizing this wasn’t the time.

The potion had patched him up temporarily, but his insides were clearly torn to shreds.

He’d been exposed to vicious Magi and some unknown red light for far too long.

“First, let’s get out, have a thorough check-up, and rest. You can tell us the story after.”

“Got it.”

Gijun nodded, his expression a little conflicted.

*

Gijun was now in the medical center.

The medical camp set up at the Raid camp.

“You okay? I pulled some strings.”

Woo Jimin said.

Brad chimed in from beside her.

“We’re going to need this place again and again, so I made sure it’s got every facility we could afford.”

That was the truth.

With the combined strength of Hwarang and The Genesis, this makeshift medical center boasted facilities better than most guild headquarters.

“Whew, do you have any idea how worried I was?”

“I’m well aware.”

Woo Jimin had already repeated herself more times than she could count.

“Still, I came back safe and sound, so isn’t that what matters?”

“That’s true, but… Mr. Gijun, you must never forget. Your body doesn’t belong to you alone.”

“…Huh?”

“Isn’t it true? You’re not just Hwarang’s treasure—you’re this country’s, hell, the whole world’s treasure.”

Brad was nodding along.

“She’s right. Do you know how much White Wood praised you? When you were trapped in that Dungeon, he looked like he’d lost the world.”

“…”

Gijun felt it keenly—White Wood’s affection for him.

No, was it just White Wood?

He felt it from everyone here—how much they cherished him.

These were emotions he had definitely never felt in the past.

Gijun had always been the unwanted one, the castoff.

‘I ought to be grateful.’

He loved this reality — the way things were now.

He wanted to protect it, to make this world a better place.

‘…Hoo.’

But right now, his mind was a tangled mess.

– It won’t be long now. I’ll make you regret this.

Those were the bastard’s last words.

The moment Gijun destroyed the tenth Crystal — and the colossal crystal shattered as his reward.

Of course, he had no regrets about his choice.

Taking its hand had never been an option worth considering in the first place.

But the Ancient Evil’s follow-up had left him unsettled.

– You’re in my palm. No matter what you do, you can’t escape my grip.

Without the experience he’d just had, he might’ve written it off as empty bluster.

But just as the bastard had said, Gijun realized he was being played.

He knew now — even walking into this Dungeon had been part of its design.

“He’s saying the bastard’s influence can’t be ignored in the real world, not just in the game.”

Thinking back, the Dungeon Break in Gangnam not long ago, and the Magin that appeared with it—that might’ve been his doing too.

For a moment, unease brushed past him: maybe that bastard’s plans had already gone further than Gijun realized.

“…But there’s no helping it.”

Gijun shook off the worry, forcing it aside.

The truth was plain: he’d been played by that bastard.

A fact he couldn’t deny, no matter how hard he tried.

But something else mattered more.

Gijun had won.

“Yeah. I won in the end. And I got a lot more out of it.”

It was true.

The ancient evil had tried to trap him with clever tricks, to lure him in and break him, but Gijun had pushed through—and seized a reward beyond anything he’d imagined.

Just how much had he walked away with from that Level-9 Dungeon Raid?

He’d even gotten his hands on one of White Wood’s talents—Mana Booster.

On top of that, he’d learned that the Ancient Evil was wary of him.

‘I just have to keep doing this.’

Even if he fell into that bastard’s trap again, all he had to do was overcome it and grow.

The more the Ancient Evil feared Gijun’s growth, the harder it would be for it to take a hit like this—watching him use its own traps to advance.

‘Good.’

Gijun steeled his resolve once more.

The certainty that he was doing well—and that he could keep doing well—swelled in his chest again.

That was when it happened.

“The test results are out.”

Gijun had been resting in the raid camp’s medical center.

Those words meant his comprehensive examination results were finally here.

Woo Jimin and Brad, standing beside Gijun, hurried over to the doctor.

“Is he okay?”

“Nothing serious?”

Both of them asked the doctor at the same time.

They were on edge.

The doctor’s expression was far too peculiar.

He’d been staring at the report for a long moment with an unreadable, elusive look on his face.

“Please, just tell us…”

Pressed by Jimin’s urgency, the doctor finally opened his mouth.

“There’s nothing wrong. Astonishingly so.”

“…?!”

The words that came out of the doctor’s mouth were staggering.

Baek Gijun was perfectly fine.

“All biometric responses are normal. Cell activity is extremely vigorous. His mana quantity and quality show no irregularities either. In fact, I’d call it the purest mana I’ve ever seen…”

“Then what was with that expression earlier?”

Brad asked.

“As I said—astonishment. It’s normal for even the most outstanding Superhumans to show some Magi poisoning after prolonged exposure in a Dungeon, but Mr. Baek Gijun shows no signs of it whatsoever.”

The doctor seemed genuinely amazed.

It was only natural.

This was literally a first for him.

“How is this even possible…”

Watching the doctor cycle through his wonder, Brad and Woo Jimin exchanged wry smiles.

“Still… I’m a little stuck.”

“On what?”

“We need to send out a press release soon.”

“Ah, right.”

At Jimin’s words, Brad’s expression also turned a bit troubled.

“The confirmation shows the Third Gate was definitely cleared.”

According to reports from the Superhumans who entered later and finished their exploration, the Third Gate was already down.

That meant Gijun was the one who’d cleared it.

That meant he’d solo-cleared the Third Gate without anyone’s help.

“The question is whether people will believe it.”

“…Yeah.”

It was a worry—but not quite a worry.

This was an achievement so absurd it would go down in history.

But whether anyone would believe it… that was the real problem.

Since Ha Taehyeong had already returned, there wasn’t even any footage left behind.

“But still… I can’t very well lie about it.”

“That’s true.”

He had a point.

There was no reason to downplay Jun’s achievements out of some baseless worry that people might not believe it.

Soon, both of their gazes turned to Jun.

Jun wore a peculiar expression himself.

He was probably curious too.

Wondering what kind of reactions would pour in once his story hit the world.

“Well… you’ve gone and caused another stir.”

Woo Jimin shook her head as she said it.