Chapter 13

Yeonhan Kim took Cho-i to the outskirts of Dongwon-dong and began heading towards a low mountain. Cho-i followed her and asked,

“An illegal dungeon is in the middle of a city like this?”

“To be precise, it’s hidden deep inside a mountain where people don’t go. The one here is really low-grade, so hardly anyone looks for it. Even an F-Rank could probably clear it alone with just a kitchen knife?”

“It’s that easy?”

“Yes, since it’s your first illegal dungeon, we came here. Next time, I’ll introduce you to a better place. Most of our Nara illegal dungeons are bought out by loan sharks, so there aren’t many empty ones. This kind of place is about all we can go to in a hurry.”

“It seems Yeonhan Kim also knows a lot about these things, not just Dongju Kim.”

“You know my name?”

“I saw it when I searched yesterday.”

The article Cho-i read yesterday contained not only Dongju’s name but also Yeonhan Kim’s. Most of the photos showed them together. Siblings, and both S-Rank. Everyone called them the Miracle Siblings.

“Then you must also know about that embarrassing nickname.”

“Miracle Siblings?”

“Well, no one calls us that anymore, but it always feels strange when I hear it.”

“So, you beat up everyone who called you that?”

“How did you know?”

“It was in the article.”

They walked for several hours into the mountain, where there was no path. And at some point, a low cave appeared. The blue-glowing cave looked exactly like a dungeon. It was wedged between the cracks of the mountain, so it wouldn’t be visible from above. There was a makeshift safety line nearby. It was just barbed wire wrapped with white string.

“It’s such a low-grade dungeon, so this is all they’ve done for it.”

“I see.”

“Are you going to go in right away?”

“Yes, that’s what I came for.”

“If it’s not too much trouble, can I come with you?”

Cho-i immediately asked,

“Why?”

“Because I’m worried.”

“But it’s a low-level place where even an F-Rank can pass with just a kitchen knife, right?”

“Then let’s just say it’s out of curiosity.”

“That’s a bit unpleasant.”

“I’m sorry. But I also need to be compensated for guiding you this far.”

Cho-i was convinced by that.

“Ah, that’s true.”

Yeonhan Kim was surprised by her quick change of attitude, but she nodded.

“Then you can come with me, on the condition that you don’t do anything.”

“Alright.”

Cho-i then entered the lower-rank dungeon with bare hands, and Yeonhan Kim followed her. After a brief dizzy spell, she opened her eyes to find herself on unfamiliar ground. She had entered the dungeon. Cho-i stepped on the grass covering the floor. It was lush, well-grown grass that rustled softly underfoot. She looked down at her feet for a moment, then looked ahead. Several slimes resembling earthworms were crawling around. In the past, she would have screamed immediately, but she approached the entities with an unconcerned expression. She lifted her foot and immediately stepped on one, killing it. Thwack, splat! The entity burst easily, spewing out a thick liquid as it died. Touching the viscous liquid, it didn’t seem particularly dangerous to her body. Come to think of it, until now, she had only paid attention to the monsters inside the dungeon, never to the surrounding environment. Cho-i looked around. There was moist soil, fresh grass, a white sky, and stones placed everywhere. It was like a beginner hunting map from Syrup Story. She stood there and looked back.

“You promised not to do anything, right?”

“Of course.”

Yeonhan Kim said that, and Cho-i started walking in a certain direction. Yeonhan slowly followed behind her. Cho-i walked, paying more attention to the surroundings than to the monsters. After all, the monsters were so weak that simply stepping on them was enough, so it wasn’t a big problem. As she walked, she discovered a large lake. Flat stones were visible within it, and something seemed to be written on them.

“Have you ever been here before?”

Cho-i asked Yeonhan. Yeonhan shook her head.

“I don’t know. I’ve been S-Rank from the beginning, so I’ve never had a reason to come to a place like this.”

“From the beginning, you say.”

Cho-i subtly smiled, and Yeonhan realized she had made a slip of the tongue. But Yeonhan also readily admitted it and smiled.

“We’ve exchanged secrets now, right?”

“I didn’t intend to, but it seems that way.”

“You could have played innocent, couldn’t you? You didn’t reveal anything big to me.”

“I didn’t want to.”

Yeonhan was an S-Rank from the beginning. If Dongju Kim had also been a born S-Rank, the word ‘we’ would have been used. The two were always mentioned together, and she also seemed to think of herself and her sibling as a unit. But Yeonhan Kim said ‘I’. That means Dongju Kim, one half of the so-called Miracle Siblings, was not an S-Rank from the beginning. Cho-i immediately jumped into the lake water. There were also those earthworm-like monsters in the lake water, but Cho-i swam, avoiding the entities or grabbing them with her hands and killing them as she descended deeper and deeper. She was able to safely reach the bottom where the stones were.

‘These aren’t readable characters.’

She saw characters that looked like earthworms passing by. In fact, if they weren’t written neatly, they were closer to curved lines, so much so that she wouldn’t have even thought of them as characters. She tried to memorize the entity, staring at it for a long time, and when she started running out of breath, she surfaced and exhaled.

“Phew!”

“What’s down there?”

“Stones with something like writing carved on them.”

“Really?”

“Have you ever seen anything like this?”

“I have. I see them quite often when I enter high-level dungeons. I can’t read them though. There are surprisingly many things presumed to be characters in dungeons. It’s just that research can’t proceed because they can’t be taken out.”

“You can’t take them out?”

“No, items classified as such can be taken out, but others return to their original place the moment they go outside the dungeon. That’s why large guilds often send research teams into dungeons they’ve cleared. They’re only open for a few hours, so they can’t investigate for long, though.”

“I see. I didn’t know.”

“That’s only possible for a major guild, financially and in terms of personnel.”

“When you put it that way, I’m a little interested.”

“I’m glad you say that.”

“It doesn’t seem like something to be glad about.”

“Why? It means we could be on the same team, doesn’t it?”

Cho-i immediately came out of the lake and shook her head, scattering water everywhere, but Yeonhan stood beside her without flinching.

“We’re more interested in you than you think.”

“I know that. I’ve been wondering since last time, why is that?”

“We need a tank. A-Rank or higher.”

“There should be quite a few in Paehyeok.”

“Well, we’re not very popular with those guys, so it’s hard to find someone compatible.”

“Oh dear, that’s entirely your own doing. Did you do something terrible?”

“Not terrible, but something similar. But then, an A-Rank tank just appeared before us? Like fate?”

“Don’t people usually call that a coincidence?”

“People usually call meeting by chance when you need it, fate.”

Cho-i replied, wringing the water from her hair.

“I’m a C-Rank tank. Publicly, that is. And I don’t want to fix that yet.”

“I won’t ask how you went from C-Rank to A-Rank. Just be on our team.”

“Honestly, with Paehyeok, I think you could easily find a new A-Rank tank. You don’t have to do this for me.”

“That might be true. But I had a feeling.”

“What feeling?”

“A Fighter’s Temperament. I can see it.”

“Oh dear, I don’t like fighting.”

Cho-i replied. She had come out after thousands and tens of thousands of battles with Mantises. So she was sick of fighting. She thought this might be why she didn’t want to join a guild. But Yeonhan grinned.

“Well, you’ll get restless soon enough, won’t you? My eyes are rarely wrong.”

“Still, you admit you’ve been wrong before. You’ll be wrong again this time. I’m fed up with combat now.”

“That sounds like you have enough experience. Do you know that the more you say that, the more tempting you become?”

“Wow, this is crazy. This is the first time I’ve said something like this to anyone else.”

“I’ll take that as an honor.”

Yeonhan smiled and they headed to the room with the boss monster. On the way, she looked around more but saw nothing special besides the sprawling grass, trees, and wriggling monsters. It seemed the gravestone with the inscription was entirely within the lake. The dungeon’s boss monster was larger than the other Earthworms, and when she jumped on it, it scattered like water with a fizz. They exited very simply, and Yeonhan gestured towards her as if to show her a few more places.

“I’ll show you four or five more places.”

“Why are you so kind?”

“You’ll probably understand when you’re rolling around with monsters that are no match for you. That this isn’t enough.”

“Unfortunately, I don’t think that will happen.”

“Shall we see?”

Yeonhan seemed relaxed. The young man named Dongju truly had a youthful air, but this woman was like a cunning snake. Cho-i watched her with narrowed eyes, then followed her for now.

“The next place we’re going is in Dangseong-dong, and it leads to an underground sewer.”

“There are all sorts of places.”

“Yes, even Nara gave up on managing it. Anyway, even if it’s an illegal dungeon, it’s below rank, so it’s not very dangerous, and lower-ranked Hunters go in and out to make a living, so there’s no chance of it exploding.”

“Wow, you know a lot?”

“My younger brother wanders around so much. Shall we go now?”

After being introduced to four or five lower-rank dungeons by Yeonhan Kim, Cho-i bid farewell to her, who seemed disappointed.