Chapter 63 – Raid Preparation (2)

“Lift your head, Cool Beauty Chic Pink Justice.”

Olivier, her face buried in her hands, remained silent.

Hey, didn’t you say it was embarrassing?

You teased me so much back when I had no choice. Absolutely no choice but to wear the Justice Red suit.

“Pink Justice!”

“Shut up!”

Olivier reacted violently.

“You only wore fishnets back in the other world, so I guess a full-body suit like this wouldn’t even make you blush.”

“You jerk!”

In the end, overcome with shame, Olivier fled the CEO’s office.

But the ones who remained seemed to have no shame at all, their expressions perfectly calm.

“Mister. Let’s practice our combination move. I came up with a pose… How’s this?”

Katrinne, having taken off only her helmet, struck a pose.

It was… full of bravado. Did I raise this kid wrong?

Princess Maker is every man’s dream, but I think I did something wrong.

“How stylish.”

The Demon King’s eyes sparkled as he looked at Katrinne. He had the expression of someone who had been searching far and wide for a brilliant talent and had finally found the genius he was looking for.

That lunatic.

“Hey, I thought you said you were going out to play. What are you doing here?”

“Since you’re Red, I have to be Yellow. The Yellow Ranger is always the heroine.”

What a show.

“Isn’t it a good thing for a healer to wear a costume armor? It increases their survivability.”

That’s true.

Having worn the Justice Armor—no, the costume armor a few times myself, I knew that for a fact.

I don’t know how to fly something like a helicopter. But when I wear the costume armor, I can.

All I have to do is install the piloting program.

It wasn’t just things like that; the armor itself had decent defense and came standard with various functions to support survival.

“Most importantly, the costume armor hides your face, so it guarantees anonymity.”

The power Katrinne possessed as a priestess was incredible. Modern healers could usually only replenish shield energy and restore one’s condition.

Of course, a few healers did possess true healing powers, but they were likely weak.

The healing power Katrinne held was a miracle, capable of bringing even the dead back to life.

If such a power were exposed, she could become prey for the greedy.

It might be revealed someday anyway, but I hoped Katrinne, who would eventually return to the other world, would avoid as much conflict as possible.

‘We’ve also found a key to dimensional travel.’

According to Seo Hyun-ji, the leader of the moderate Villain faction has the ability to cross dimensions.

With that ability, we should be able to send Katrinne back anytime.

“Time to go show off my costume, heheh.”

Excited, Katrinne scurried down to the Team 3 training room.

“I may have designed it myself, but it certainly suits her well.”

This Demon King invests in the most useless things.

To think that the figure who once plunged a continent into terror is now doing something so pathetic here.

“What about the thing I asked for?”

“It’s ready.”

As he changed out of his costume, Im Jae-joon pushed a file folder toward me.

Investigation Report on Seol Ji-hoon.

The large title on the folder caught my eye.

“You can watch the video on the laptop next to you.”

Following the Demon King’s words as he put on a dress shirt and tied his necktie, I opened the laptop. It contained a video of Seol Ji-hoon subduing Villains.

Seol Ji-hoon.

The tanker hailed as the nation’s strongest shield, and a dual awakener.

‘And a suspected Villain.’

Those who have experienced two dimensions awaken two status windows.

The condition for that is determined by the synchronization rate, just like me.

Seol Ji-hoon looked like a male idol. Besides his nickname ‘Holy Knight,’ he was also known as a ‘face genius.’

He had the air of a nobleman, as if a protagonist from a novel or comic has stepped out into the real world.

He had apparently struggled with a very difficult family situation.

His mother suffered from a rare illness called Mana Stone Sickness, caused by the dungeon’s magnetic field, her body slowly necrotizing.

An immature younger sibling.

The story went that he had risked his life entering dungeons as an E-rank hunter to support his family.

After enduring and surviving multiple near-death experiences, he had his second awakening and became the S-rank hunter known as the Holy Knight. That was the story known to the public.

Truly protagonist material.

“His durability is off the charts.”

Simply by extending his hand, a wall of light formed.

“His execution is fast, too.”

His specialty was a technique that pressured enemies by summoning multiple shields simultaneously.

The shields in the video also looked sturdy.

“Definitely the strongest shield.”

“That’s power that would have been more than enough even in our world. He’s that strong.”

I had no argument with that.

With such a powerful shield on our side, a raid would naturally be much easier.

His control is good, and he has excellent battlefield awareness.

He was certainly a figure worthy of being called S-rank.

*Rustle.*

I flipped a page in the file.

Looking at Seol Ji-hoon’s past, there was nothing unusual.

But all of this felt somehow fabricated.

“On paper, he’s perfect.”

“Yes, on paper.”

I was certain. This guy was probably a Villain.

The Villains I knew were people who hated hunters and were always scheming to cause trouble. But this guy was active as a hunter, as a hero.

And he consistently ranked number one in hunter popularity.

“So, what do you think?”

“About what?”

Im Jae-joon put on his jacket and buttoned it.

“The raid.”

Worried, are we? For a so-called CEO.

“Of course, I’ll win.”

“I know.”

Then why ask?

“Not you. The team members.”

Oh, they’re perfect.

The Kim duo’s potential is off the charts right now.

The other guilds will probably be shocked when they see them hunting in this high-grade dungeon.

I haven’t been working them to the bone all this time because I’m a sadist.

Plus, we have Seo Hyun-ji, who’s shown her true colors(?), and our healing vending machine, Katrinne. It’s a perfect setup.

“I’m looking forward to it.”

A corner of the Demon King’s mouth lifted.

Excited? Thinking about the guild rankings going up?

Honestly, I’m excited too.

Just thinking about knocking the Tushin Guild down a peg.

And what I was looking forward to most of all was…

‘I wonder how he’ll react.’

How the Villain who has delved deep into modern society and become a central figure would respond.

***

-Grade: High+

-Name: Jeungpyeong Undead Dungeon

-Boss: Lich ★★★

-Rewards:

-Legendary: Knight’s Oath

-Unique: Death Knight’s Armament Series

-Rare: Increased Recovery Rate, Magic Nullification

“With so many hunters gathered, there shouldn’t be any major problems with the raid.”

A dungeon manager from the Association was using a projector to display the dungeon status message and explain the precautions.

“According to the current analysis from Wizard, the entire dungeon is an old castle type inhabited by undead monsters. It would be wise to prepare status resistance gear to guard against potential bacteria or infections. The high-tier entity, or boss monster, has been identified as a Lich. As you know, individual variations are significant, so please exercise extreme caution…”

The people here might not know, but this was information I was tired of hearing.

I had already fought these things to death for ten years in the other world.

A lich, a being that was a mage in life, becomes a ghost and can use its former abilities.

Of course, besides me, no one else knew this fact.

So it was strange.

What kind of information does this ‘Wizard,’ with its disaster prediction system, possess to know such details?

I had assumed other dungeons had information because people had participated in their raids before. But the high-grade dungeon opening now was a place no one had ever set foot in.

So how could the Wizard system have such information?

“That concludes the briefing. We wish all you hunters a safe raid.”

After the briefing, a strategy meeting was held in the morning.

“An undead dungeon, of all things. We could probably clear this on our own.”

Kim Shin of the Tushin Guild grinned.

He had every reason to be excited.

It wasn’t for nothing that Tushin’s S-rank, Seol Ji-hoon, was called the Holy Knight.

A knight who wields holy power.

When he casts Turn Undead, the low-level undead in the surrounding area are automatically vanquished.

Furthermore, the dead, with their unholy energy, dare not even lay a hand on the body of a holy knight.

This dungeon was practically made for the Holy Knight, Seol Ji-hoon.

“Mr. Lee Hyunbin. Even among S-ranks, not all S-ranks are the same.”

Kim Shin of Tushin spoke pointedly. The atmosphere in the meeting room instantly froze.

It was a blatant challenge.

“Of course, I’m well aware. Hunter Seol Ji-hoon. He is special.”

Very special indeed.

“I’ve been wanting to meet him personally, too.”

Seol Ji-hoon was also in the meeting room.

He seemed indifferent, even as they discussed him.

‘The one who might be a Villain.’

Whether he was truly a Villain or just a lucky guy was something I’d have to find out.

“I hope this will be a good raid for both of us.”

“For this dungeon, the other guilds can just pick up mana stones without getting their hands dirty. I guarantee it.”

Kim Shin’s words weren’t just arrogance.

The Tushin Guild’s lineup for this raid was dazzling at a glance.

Even excluding Seol Ji-hoon, they had four veteran A-rank hunters, who were considered near S-rank, participating.

The current number of participants in the dungeon raid was 22 from the Tushin Guild, 12 from the Hanul Guild, and a total of 60 from other guilds.

The total number of personnel comes to 94.

We were given time for lunch and preparations. Since the dungeon was scheduled to open around 2 PM, we decided to get plenty of rest before moving.

“I’ve been so busy I haven’t had a chance to greet you. I’m Ha Min-jong from Team 2.”

This time, Team 2 joined us, in addition to our Team 3.

Ha Min-jong, who became the new leader of Team 2 after the director’s cronies were cleared out, was scouted from outside.

He’s a tanker who uses an ether-infused shield and dagger, a man who’s been around the block in this line of work.

“Nice to meet you.”

I greeted the members of Team 2 as well.

But these people seemed more interested in Seo Hyun-ji, who was standing next to me.

“The raid will start soon, so everyone should rest.”

“Ah, yes. Of course. Haha. We’re in the same guild, but this is the first time we’ve met, so I got a little carried away…”

Is this Team 2 leader guy a fan of Seo Hyun-ji?

He’s blatantly fixated on her.

“Ah…!”

Hearing a sigh from behind, I glanced over and saw people from other guilds participating in the raid holding autograph boards and pens.

Seriously… these people are heading into a warzone, and they’re asking for autographs?

Seo Hyun-ji swept her hair to the side and scoffed arrogantly.

Well, what do you want me to do about it?

This girl is really obsessed with autographs.

“I’m still hungry.”

Katrinne, sucking on her chopsticks, looked at me with an expression that said she was starving to death.

*Sigh…*

Her energy efficiency is a real problem, but her performance is undeniable. Guess there’s no helping it.

“Here, eat. We can’t have you running out of fuel inside.”

“Can’t we eat inside the dungeon? That’s not good…”

“Eat up. A lot.”

Like a squirrel preparing for winter, Katrinne began stuffing her mouth full of food.

Her appetite is truly something else.

Actually, I anticipated this and packed my inventory full of food.

But there’s no need to tell her yet. I can’t show my hand this early.

It’s only meaningful if you give it to someone when they least expect it.

I learned how to manipulate people from a game called ‘Dating Master.’

After a decent rest, everyone lined up and waited for the raid to begin in earnest.

The sound of camera shutters clicked from all directions.

A few reporters who had been granted permission to take pictures were frantically photographing the hunters gathered in this rural corner.

In contrast, the local elderly farmers, who knew little about hunters, were marveling at the large crowd.

“Kim In-ho, you holding up?”

“Yes.”

Kim Chang-yeol from the Tushin Guild came over to greet Kim In-ho, his former guild junior.

“If it weren’t for some bastard’s scheming, we’d still be on the same team.”

“It’s fine. I think Hanul is a better fit for me.”

Kim Chang-yeol, who was trying to diss me, immediately scowled.

We even interviewed for the Tushin Guild together. This is too much. He’s so openly showing his dislike. Hey, if you want to make it in the world, you’re not supposed to show it even if you hate someone, right?

At that moment, a loud *thump* echoed, shaking the very ground.

A thick cloud of dust rose. And the massive dungeon, which had been a wireframe structure, materialized with proper texture.

“The Jeungpyeong Undead Dungeon raid will now commence.”

The dungeon raid had begun.