Chapter 104

Cho-i Hyeon was standing in a very unexpected place. Right in front of the Gold God Guild building. Gold God was the second-ranked guild in Korea. There was only one reason she came here.

“I wonder if this will work out.”

She scratched her head and looked up at the Gold God building. It seemed a little shorter than the Annihilation building, and it gleamed like new. Perhaps they had built a new building recently. There was only one reason Cho-i Hyeon came to Gold God: she had obtained information about a certain ‘item.’ Something came to mind when Nara Shim said, ‘You can’t even extend your life.’ Is there really no such item? It would obviously be incredibly expensive if there was, but at least if she could get her hands on the Entity, there would be no problem.

‘So, its name was Nine Lives of Myoyeong, right?’

This item, which is said to be probabilistically dropped from an S-Rank dungeon held by Gold God, literally extends a person’s life by nine, and whenever it appeared at auction, it would sell for hundreds of billions. This might be why Gold God has been able to inherit a name just below Annihilation until now.

“Let’s go for it.”

She energetically started towards Gold God. Passing through the main gate guarded by guards, she went to the lobby where staff members stood at the front desk. Cho-i went straight there and approached them. It seemed the front desk staff recognized Cho-i’s face and exchanged glances among themselves for a moment.

“Excuse me.”

“Yes, how may I help you?”

“I’d like to see the Gold God Guild Master. Is he in today?”

“…Do you have an appointment?”

“No. It’s a bit urgent. It’ll only take a moment.”

“Could you please wait a moment?”

If Cho-i hadn’t been a well-known hunter, they wouldn’t have asked her to wait here. They probably would have said that no one was available or that they were busy, or she would have been chased away regardless. Cho-i Hyeon realized for the first time the good side of being well-known. After waiting for about fifteen minutes, an employee received a call and approached Cho-i.

“They said to come up to the Guild Master’s Office.”

“Thank you.”

The employee held out an employee key card.

“Take this and go up.”

“Oh, thanks.”

Cho-i took the key card and headed for the elevator. She used the employee key and went straight to the top floor. The Guild Master’s Office is always on the top floor. And her hunch was not wrong. The elevator doors opened with a hum, revealing a spacious office, much like a penthouse. The layout was not much different from Annihilation.

“So, why did the pretty popular lady come to see me these days?”

And in the middle of it all was a woman. She seemed just under one hundred ninety centimeters tall, and her dark blue hair was distinctive. Cho-i Hyeon smiled brightly and said,

“Straight to the point, huh?”

And she moved closer to her.

“I really like it.”

“Please sit down first. I’m so excited to know why you’re here.”

Cho-i said, sitting on the sofa in the middle.

“Unfortunately, it’s not about leaving the guild right now.”

“Oh, that’s too bad.”

Geumsin’s Guild Master, Jihan Kim, clicked his tongue in regret.

“I want to enter the dungeon that Geumsin owns.”

“The dungeon that Geumsin owns, you mean?”

“Nine-Tailed Myoyeong’s Dungeon.”

“That’s an S-Rank dungeon. Are you planning to go in as a party?”

Then Cho-i Hyeon shook her head.

“Then?”

“I’m going in alone.”

At those words, Jihan Kim chuckled. His tone also became subtly lighter.

“Sister, let’s not joke. No matter how S-Rank it is, it’s a difficult dungeon for an S-Rank to do alone. So if you need a party, our guild members…”

“No, I’m really going in alone.”

“Are you serious?”

“Really.”

“…Hmm, you’re an unusual sister.”

Jihan Kim rested his elbow on the sofa armrest and propped up his chin. Cho-i Hyeon smiled and leaned back on the sofa, crossing her legs. Their gazes continued to meet. And the first to speak was Jihan Kim.

“Still, no. Do you know how difficult it would be for us if we let you in because you’re confident and then had to clean up your corpse? And it’s a bit difficult to let someone else into a dungeon we own. You know how important that dungeon is, don’t you? It’s not like we can’t manage it ourselves.”

“Hmm, then how about we set a condition?”

“A condition? What kind of condition? Is there a condition that would tempt me?”

Cho-i Hyeon leaned her upper body slightly towards Jihan Kim.

“The minimum condition for a hidden dungeon to appear.”

“…What?”

Jihan Kim briefly wondered if his ears had deceived him. But Cho-i Hyeon, sitting in front of him, whispered with wide eyes and a serious face.

“I found out the very first condition that needs to be met for a hidden dungeon to appear. I’ll share it with you.”

“…How can I trust that?”

“Hmm.”

Cho-i Hyeon tapped her chin with her index finger, tilted her head, and then spoke as if she couldn’t help it.

“When I enter the dungeon, I’ll bring Geumsin’s Hunters with me. You can just see for yourselves, right?”

“That’s true, but what if this is a lie?”

“Then you can officially protest to Paehyeok.”

“Will Taehyeok Sa leave you alone?”

“What’s he going to do if he doesn’t leave me alone? Anyway, he’s the one who confidently said he’d take responsibility for me.”

At those words, Jihan Kim said, sounding surprised.

“Taehyeok Sa, they said you dumped him, but it doesn’t seem like that’s the case?”

“Unfortunately, I did dump him. But he said he’d clean up the mess I made, so it’d be a shame to refuse that, wouldn’t it?”

“Aha, being used cheaply?”

“It’s a bit funny to think of that bastard being used, but anyway, it’s something similar to that.

Cho-i Hyeon extended her index finger and pointed at Jihan Kim. Jihan Kim chuckled, then nodded.

“Well, it’s an S-Rank dungeon anyway, so if an S-Rank agrees to go with us for free, we welcome it.”

“Oh.”

“Why?”

“I’m not helping for free.”

“What? So you want something?”

“I want the Nine Lives of Myoyeong.”

“What?”

Jihan Kim’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“That’s not happening. Absolutely not!”

“Oh, why not?”

“Do you even know how much that’s worth?”

“I do.”

“Then why are you asking for it, big sister, when you know so well!”

“Hmm. I guess it’s not possible?”

Cho-i Hyeon tilted her head, pondering. She needed an item that could extend Taehyeok Sa’s life. That meant she needed the Nine Lives of Myoyeong. Then, a thought suddenly crossed her mind.

‘The fact that such an item comes from the Nine-Tailed Myoyeong’s Dungeon means there might be something even better in Myoyeong’s Hidden Dungeon, right?’

She finished her thought and her eyes sparkled. She immediately made a suggestion.

“That item is a 확률 drop, so we don’t know if it will even appear, do we?”

“That’s right. But if it does, it belongs to Geumsin. We can’t hand it over to an S-Rank hunter from another guild.”

‘No, I’m going to hand it over to an SS-Rank guy.’

Thinking that, Cho-i shook her head and spoke again.

“Then what about the items that come out of the hidden dungeon I’ll go to with you?”

“You seem very confident, judging by how you’re talking.”

“Yes, exactly. I’m the one who told you the conditions. Geumsin will acquire the dungeons related to Myoyeong. Since we’ve both been involved, let’s agree that whoever claims the items first from there gets to keep them.”

“What? Are you sure about that?”

“About what?”

Jihan Kim gave a strange smile.

“First, you say ‘dungeons,’ so it seems you need several dungeons. You’re alone, but Geumsin’s Hunters are four in total. It’s a four-on-one fight. Do you think you can win?”

Cho-i Hyeon laughed as if she had just heard the funniest thing.

“Ahahaha, of course. Don’t worry about that too much.”

“You’re really arrogant.”

“Charming, isn’t it?”

“It is. Don’t you want to come over to Geumsin from Paehyeok? No matter how much Paehyeok offers, I’ll give you double that.”

“Oh, unfortunately, I’ve heard that from many places.”

“So many people are after you. It must be annoying. The life of a popular person is tiring.”

“You’re quite easy to talk to.”

“I used to be as popular as you once, big sister.”

“Oh, you’re still popular enough; stop exaggerating.”

“Haha, I don’t mind. So, when is a good time to go to the Nine-Tailed Myoyeong’s Dungeon?”

Then Cho-i Hyeon smiled brightly and said,

“Now.”

“N-now?”

Cho-i nodded.

“Please gather the personnel who can go to the S-Rank dungeon now.”

“…This is going to be tougher than I thought.”

Jihan Kim said, looking troubled.

***

“Still, you gathered quickly, didn’t you?”

“This was all I could gather right now.”

Jihan Kim sighed deeply.

“Don’t sigh in front of people.”

The man in front of them was Yuri Ja, Geumsin’s S-rank Dealer.

“W-what do you mean, suddenly attacking an S-Rank dungeon?”

It was A-Rank healer Seoyeon Ha. The two stood there with slightly bewildered expressions, and Jihan Kim put his hands together as if to apologize.

“Things just ended up this way. Since I’ll be going in too, there’s no need to overexert yourselves.”

Then Yuri Ja looked at Cho-i once.

“But why is a hunter from another guild involved?”

“Ah, how that came to be is…”

Cho-i Hyeon raised a finger to explain. But then.

“This is a dungeon that our guild members can sufficiently manage on their own.”

Yuri Ja cut off Cho-i Hyeon and spoke to Jihan Kim. Jihan Kim gestured to Cho-i Hyeon with an apologetic face. However, Cho-i Hyeon’s eyes were unfocused.

‘Should I kill him?’