Chapter 77

According to a message from Hyori Hyeon, the dungeon was located beneath a small island called Beondo Island, which required a two-hour boat ride from Taean. He took a taxi from Seoul to Taean and then rented a boat from Taean. The appointment time was until 4 o’clock.

“It’s already 4:30.”

Looking at his Watch while on the boat, the appointment time had long passed. Well, wouldn’t it be okay? Since it was an island, there was nowhere to go, so they would probably just wait. Cho-i was roughly thinking of an excuse that he calculated the time well but was a little late due to traffic. He still thought this much wouldn’t be a problem. So the boat was getting closer to Beondo Island. But in the distance, another boat was coming out of Beondo Island. When the two boats passed each other at a certain distance.

“Oh?”

“Oh.”

Cho-i and the person on the opposite boat, standing on their respective boats, pointed at each other. The S-Ranks recognized each other immediately. Cho-i and he pointed at each other in the same way, then brushed past each other. Vrooom- The opposite boat made a U-turn and came back, concluding the encounter. Cho-i scratched his head and said,

“Ah, that fellow is impatient.”

Of course, it was Cho-i’s fault for being 30 minutes late. He didn’t intend to be late. The traffic was bad on the way, but Cho-i didn’t even have a contact number to inform them he’d be late, so he just had to go, late or not. Cho-i jumped off the boat docked at Beondo Island and looked at the boat making a U-turn and returning. The boat soon docked at the pier. Inside, it was filled with men dressed in all black, and to Cho-i, it looked like a gay bar with a black party concept, no, never mind. He should stop thinking about it.

“You’re late.”

The man spoke in Korean with a slightly awkward accent. It was clear at a glance that he was Chinese. This man, whose long black hair covered his shoulder blades, had a long scar on his face, as if it read, ‘I’m a gangster.’ Ah, since he’s Chinese, maybe it’s not a gangster but a Black Society member?

“Traffic was a bit heavy.”

“Why didn’t you contact me?”

“I didn’t have your contact information.”

“…I see.”

The man nodded more neatly than expected. After all, he wasn’t a civilian; how could he threaten an S-Rank hunter? It wasn’t like two S-Ranks could blow up an island and fight just because someone was a little late for an appointment. But then, a glimpse of white clothing was visible among the black-clothed figures. When I looked closer, wondering what it was,

“Si-sister.”

It was Hyori Hyeon. Well, yes, it’s really good to see her.

“Why are you caught there?”

“You were late, sister…!”

“Ah-ha~”

As Cho-i nodded, the man who could speak Korean said in a very calm voice,

“I hear that one is your blood relative?”

“He is my younger brother.”

“You’re late, but you did come, so we’ll just throw your brother in.”

The man looking at Cho-i, Zhu Rui from China, said with a rather pretty smile. He was thinking of establishing dominance from the start, anyway. He figured the other side would apologize first to save their sibling, and then naturally…

“Give it to me, give it to me.”

Cho-i Hyeon stepped forward and extended her arm.

“You’re going to throw him, right? I’ll throw him!”

“…What?”

“You said ‘throw him in.’ Doesn’t that mean throw him into the sea?”

“No, that’s right, but…”

“Or sashimi! Are you going to slice him for sashimi? Isn’t that what the Japanese do?”

Cho-i squeezed between the black-clothed men and grabbed Hyori Hyeon by the collar.

“Hey, I’m throwing him, okay?”

“Si-sister! Sister! Save me!”

“Save you from what? Die as payment for me being late.”

“Stop, stop!”

Zhu Rui stopped Cho-i Hyeon. This was quite a reversal; the person doing the stopping had changed. But Cho-i Hyeon stubbornly grabbed Hyori Hyeon by the collar, then.

“Aargh!”

Splash! She threw him into the sea. Cho-i Hyeon giggled, pointing and laughing at the flailing Hyori Hyeon.

“Ahahahah!”

“How can you laugh?!”

“I can, why not?!”

“Go get him!”

“Yes!”

It was chaos in many ways. Zhu Rui ordered his subordinates to retrieve Hyori Hyeon. His intention was to scare him from the beginning, not to actually kill Hyori Hyeon. He was a very capable broker. Moreover, he didn’t only deal with them, so he didn’t know what kind of troublesome things would happen if he killed him.

“Ugh, cough.”

Hyori Hyeon, who had swallowed a lot of seawater, came up onto the pier, gagged, and spat out the seawater. Cho-i Hyeon, who had thrown him in herself, stood with her arms crossed and clicked her tongue.

“You can’t even handle the Entity, how do you expect to survive doing illegal things?” “What does that have to do with drinking seawater?!” “Isn’t that what gangsters do? Pour concrete, dispose of bodies, water torture…” “Haven’t you watched too many movies?!”

Cho-i turned her head and looked at Zhu Rui. He shook his head at her questioning look.

“We don’t pour concrete and throw them into the sea. We just cut open their bellies and throw them in, and the fish take care of it.” “Oh, I see.” “Don’t teach them things like that.”

Hyori Hyeon coughed and wiped the corners of his mouth, having seemingly spat out all the water.

“Achoo!”

A soaking wet Hyori Hyeon sneezed, but Cho-i paid him no mind and asked Zhu Rui.

“Aren’t we going into the sea anyway?” “Yes, we are.” “Then it’s fine.” “What do you mean it’s fine! I don’t even have to go in!” “Let’s go in while we’re at it!”

At those words, Hyori Hyeon flinched and backed away.

“No thanks!” “Tsk. No guts. How can I work with someone like that?” “…He’s not that gutless.”

Hyori Hyeon was quite bold. The very act of asking for an advance payment, saying he would bring an S-Rank without even a notarization, showed it. Of course, he almost got soaked because Cho-i Hyeon was late.

“Let’s proceed immediately.” “I have a question.” “Speak.”

Zhu Rui said. Cho-i looked up at Zhu Rui and asked.

“How do you check the dungeon condition here?” “We don’t.” “Oh~ you’re just dying to get killed.”

Cho-i chuckled and walked a few steps ahead, her footsteps clattering.

“Let’s go quickly.”

Zhu Rui looked at her retreating figure with a bewildered expression, then began to follow her. His subordinates trailed behind him like a tail. Hyori Hyeon, who had tried to slip away, was also seen being dragged along by the scruff of his neck.

“By the way, what’s your name?” “Zhu Rui.” “I’m Cho-i Hyeon.” “I know.” “You know?” “You’re quite famous. I recognized you as soon as I saw your face.” “Hahaha, it’s amazing that even a Chinese person recognizes me now.” “Among Hunters, both Paehyeok and you are famous.” “Want an autograph?” “No thanks.”

The two continued their trivial conversation as they began to walk towards the opposite seaside. Cho-i walked with light steps, continuing the conversation.

“What kind of dungeon is it?”

“Whale’s Sea.”

“Are there whales?”

“For now, yes. It might have changed to something else since it was upgraded to S-Rank, but originally it was like that.”

“They say dungeons are appearing everywhere these days with increasing ranks, right?”

“That’s why it’s a headache. If that phenomenon starts happening in the dungeons we already have, it’ll cause management problems.”

“China doesn’t have a hunter registration system, does it?”

“But if you awaken as a hunter, you unconditionally have to serve.”

“Ah, I see.”

“That’s why quite a few hunters join organizations.”

Cho-i nodded. Each country handles hunters differently. If the USA allows hunters to operate freely, China imposes conditional service. Although the exact details are unknown, only a few places, like Korea, implement a hunter registration system. They say it infringes on freedom or something.

“Are you allowed to tell me this kind of thing?”

“How secret can it be?”

“The Entity is like that too. More importantly…”

Cho-i looked back.

“How long are those guys going to follow us?”

“They’re organization members who will be entering with us.”

“Oh, are those guys hunters?”

Cho-i looked back at the men dragging Hyori Hyeon. Every single one of them had at least one knife scar on their face, hands, or somewhere on their body, making them look like ordinary gangsters from every angle, but if they were hunters, they were hunters. That’s why you shouldn’t judge people by their appearance. Cho-i and Zhu Rui arrived at the opposite sea. Cho-i started doing warm-up exercises, and Zhu Rui was saying something in Chinese to her subordinates. Cho-i asked Hyori, who was drenched and shivering.

“What are they saying?”

“Just role assignments.”

“Do you speak Chinese?”

“Didn’t you ask because you knew I could?”

“No.”

“Then why did you ask so confidently?”

“If you didn’t know, I was going to throw you again for not knowing.”

“……”

Hyori Hyeon looked at Cho-i with a face that asked what she had done wrong, and Cho-i looked back at him with an expression that said there was no reason. Just then, Zhu Rui, having apparently finished talking about role assignments, approached Cho-i.

“From the one on the left, it’s one, two, three, four.”

“Easy to remember, I like it.”

“The entrance is under the island. You can swim, right?”

Cho-i said with a bright smile.

“No!”

“……”

Zhu Rui looked at Hyori Hyeon for a moment, and Hyori Hyeon made an X with his arms across his chest as if he didn’t know either. Cho-i chuckled and looked at the two of them with a face that said, “Why, what’s the problem?”

“Common sense… Do you bring a hunter who can’t swim to a dungeon that’s in the sea…?”

“No, I really didn’t know! Sis, why didn’t you say anything!”

“You never asked if I could swim in the first place!”

“Common sense dictates that if it’s under the sea, the first thing you should say is that you can’t swim, shouldn’t you?”

“Why is that common sense?”

Cho-i asked confidently, and Hyori Hyeon and Zhu Rui looked at her with troubled expressions. Cho-i tilted her head slightly and asked.

“The inside of the dungeon won’t be underwater, will it?”

“That’s true.”

“See!”

“Don’t be so confident!”

“But it is seaside.”

“I just need not to fall in! Besides, I’m a tank, so I just need to draw aggro in one spot!”

Zhu Rui nodded, perhaps thinking that there was no way to bring another hunter right now. Then she wrapped her arm around Cho-i Hyeon’s waist, pulling her close, and said.

“For now, I’ll try to manage somehow.”

“See, I told you people can manage somehow.”

“Sis, be quiet…”

“No. You shut up.”

As the siblings exchanged nonsense, Zhu Rui, as if she didn’t want to hear any more, finished her deep breath and, holding Cho-i, jumped into the sea. Splash, splash! And the organization members followed. Only the sound of the waves and Hyori Hyeon remained quietly on the seaside.