Chapter 85

Chapter 85

Yet at the same time, I also made it clear that if there wasn’t a desperate reason for Adam Rogers and the British side to come to me like that, I would never accept.

“If it weren’t for the fact that signs of an MP (Monster Parade) were detected in the Britten Dungeon, and that those signs were Red — the highest risk level — I would never have accepted.”

Risk level Red. This was a grade created to judge the danger of Monster Parade signs when they were discovered.

The most dangerous — that is, a level requiring multiple S-Rank or higher hunters — was Red. Yellow was when it wasn’t quite that severe but still required an emergency hunter call-up, and Green was a level that could be handled with just a few B-Rank or higher hunters.

When signs of a Monster Parade like this were detected, humanity had two main options.

First: gather hunters in preparation for the MP breaking out. And second: urgently launch a dungeon assault, kill a large number of monsters, and resolve the MP signs themselves.

The British government had taken the former stance for the two Monster Parades related to the Britten Dungeon. But that was only because the latter was physically impossible, leaving them no choice.

No matter how well the responding side handled a Monster Parade, it always left at least minimal damage.

First, the gap in dungeon raids created by calling in a large number of hunters was one problem.

And the second, biggest problem — except for the very first Monster Parade — was the passive skill that all subsequent MP monsters possessed: ‘Reality Erosion.’

‘The area around the Britten Dungeon has already been significantly affected by Reality Erosion due to the two previous Monster Parades. If it were a low-rank dungeon, the rank of the Reality Erosion skill would have been as low as the monsters that came out… but the Britten Dungeon is a dungeon that received an S-Rank Judgment.’

I recalled what Adam had told me not long ago and nodded.

I didn’t know about the rest, but the fact that Reality Erosion had progressed considerably was a really big problem. In places where no dungeon response was being carried out at all, there had been cases where the area itself had completely turned into a dungeon after enough Reality Erosion had progressed.

Of course, Britain wasn’t a ‘place with no dungeon response at all,’ but that changed when you had a dungeon like Britten — impossible to clear, yet Monster Parades kept happening.

Anyway, time steadily passed, and four days after my meeting with Adam Rogers, I ended up boarding a plane to England along with four S-Rank hunters, including Jeong Seojin.

When I first heard about the S-Rank hunters coming along this time — Joo Minjeong, Joo Minju, and Lee Yoomyeong — I thought maybe each of them had their own reason to go to England.

“Why would they send precious manpower to England for free? They’re all escort personnel to protect Master. Escort personnel.”

But the story Jeong Seojin told me was completely different from what I’d thought.

Not only Jeong Seojin, sitting in the seat across from me, but also Hunter Joo Minjeong and Hunter Joo Minju sitting near my seat, and Hunter Lee Yoomyeong, sipping wine alone in a corner seat far away — all of them were hunters assigned to escort me.

“That’s how valuable an S-Rank production-type hunter is. As it happens, quite a few countries failed to clear that bizarre tutorial the Administrator gave us.”

The one who spoke to me in a voice as smooth as the sound of a musical instrument, while I stood there dazed from the shock of what Jeong Seojin had told me, was S-Rank joint 8th place Gunslinger, Hunter Joo Minju — the twin older sister of S-Rank joint 8th place Archer, Hunter Joo Minjeong.

“England was probably one of the countries that didn’t clear it. I heard they took some penalties because of it. From what I’ve heard, the MP penalty cycle for each dungeon got shorter.”

“Ah, so that’s why…”

I’d thought there was still quite a bit of time left before the Monster Parade cycle for the Britten Dungeon, based on what was written in the report, but I guess that was the reason. I nodded to show I understood and accepted the tangerine Jeong Seojin held out to me.

“Um, by the way, Hunter Yoon Seohee. I have something I’d like to ask you personally… is that okay?”

“Huh? I don’t know what it is, but it’s fine…”

“Hunter Yoon Seohee. Don’t let yourself get swept away by this person’s words.”

While Hunter Joo Minju was talking to me, Hunter Joo Minjeong, who had been silently maintaining her crossbow, lifted her head and stared at me. I blinked quietly, meeting those sprout-green eyes I felt like I hadn’t seen in a long time.

“Huh?”

“That’s her. Severe case of love-at-first-sight and romance addict. Not only does she go crazy every time she catches feelings herself, but she’s way too interested in other people’s love lives too. She’s a hundred percent about to ask about that dating rumor from last time.”

“Hey, Joo Minjeong! What do you mean I’m a love-at-first-sight type? You’re one to talk, never even had a relationship in your life — what do you know?”

“I didn’t *fail* to have one, I *chose* not to!”

The sight of twin sisters who only differed slightly in hairstyle growling at each other was something I’d never seen before — a truly unique scene.

I dodged Hunter Joo Minju’s question about the “dating rumor” and, to enjoy the amusing sisterly fight, munched on the tangerine Jeong Seojin had placed in my hand, silently watching their quarrel.

“What? You didn’t fail, you chose not to? Oh please. That’s hilarious! Everyone in our family knows you confessed to a boy in your class in middle school and got rejected!”

“What are you talking about? That wasn’t a confession! I just liked the kid and said let’s be friends!”

“Hey, do you normally call someone to a secluded spot just to say let’s be friends?”

I see. So Hunter Joo Minjeong had once confessed to a boy her age and been rejected. I nodded, tasting the sweet yet sour tang of the tangerine in my mouth.

I wasn’t the only one paying attention to the verbal sparring between Hunter Joo Minjeong and Hunter Joo Minju.

Jeong Seojin, who had been peeling and handing me tangerines, was also pretending not to listen but was clearly tuned into their conversation, and Lee Yoomyeong, sitting far off in a corner, had even turned their chair around to stare openly.

Oh, and Adam, who had been sitting separately near the plane door, was also cautiously glancing toward Hunter Joo Minjeong and Hunter Joo Minju.

“Damn, and what about you? You didn’t like your alias, so you went to a bar, chugged a bottle, and smashed your head into a telephone pole! Hey, I heard that pole actually fell over and blacked out the whole neighborhood!”

“What, hey, hey! Where did you hear that story!”

“Where do you think! The Hunter Daily bastards were about to blab it everywhere, and I scraped it out of them! You should be thanking me, you idiot!”

“Thanks, but why would you say it here?! Everyone here can hear!”

“So what? So what. I’ve got more to say, you know? Want me to tell them your alias was supposed to be ‘Gunner’ (Chongsu), but because you’re my twin, they forced the ‘sa’ character to match mine, and that’s how it ended up?”

“You already said it!!”

So that’s it… I had no idea there was a backstory like that behind Joo Minju’s alias, ‘Chongsa.’

While Jeong Seojin and I silently exchanged glances at the amusing sisterly fight, and the Joo twins continued their near-exposé-level bickering, time steadily passed.

After the twin sisters held a total of three rounds of exposés (during which it was revealed that Hunter Joo Minju had a significant amount of interest in Adam Rogers’s face), and after two lulls caused by in-flight meals, the plane finally arrived at its destination.

I stepped onto the airport tarmac, feeling stiff from two hours of watching the sisters fight, six hours of sleep, and four hours of movies and music, and stretched as I set foot on the ground.

Beside me, Jeong Seojin, who had been slightly furrowing his brow, glanced at the twins still glaring at each other like enemies and added a weary comment.

“Are all sisters like that?”

Of course, that was a question I couldn’t answer.

* * *

After finally arriving in England, Adam immediately guided us to a nearby hotel.

“The government has specially chartered this entire hotel, so you can rest comfortably without worrying about other people’s eyes.”

As Adam said, the hotel was empty except for us and the staff.

I stared at the deserted lounge with unfamiliar eyes. Never in my life did I think the first hotel I’d ever stay at would be a chartered one. I guess you really have to live a long life to know things.

Adam said that if I needed anything, I could tell the hotel staff, and then he disappeared somewhere, following a man in a suit who I assumed was from the government.

I figured he was probably going to report to the government that I had arrived safely in England.

Jeong Seojin silently watched Adam Rogers’s retreating back, only looking away after he disappeared around a corner.

“Uh, Jeong Seojin. Your eyes are…”

“Shh.”

“……”

Could it be that he used the ‘Eye of Tamine’ skill? I recalled the flash of red in Jeong Seojin’s eyes that had passed by in an instant, nodded, and added in the smallest voice possible so no one else could hear.

“Actually, I wanted to ask this from the start… but those eyes of yours, can they really see into other people’s privacy?”

“I don’t look.”

Jeong Seojin answered with an incredulous expression, as if to say why would he ever do something like that.

“I don’t even use these eyes unless it’s absolutely necessary. They come with a penalty, after all.”

“Hmm.”

Come to think of it, I had heard something like that before. That using the Eyes of Tamina allowed you to see something more fundamental, or on a larger scale, but the penalty was severe enough that he didn’t use them.

“Now that I think about it, I’ve never actually heard what that penalty is. Can you tell me what it is?”

“I can tell you, but…”

For a moment, Jeong Seojin’s eyes swept the surroundings. The hotel lounge, empty of guests except for us and the staff, was quiet to the point of silence. Jeong Seojin furrowed his brow briefly as if thinking something over, then carefully took my hand.

“Let’s talk about that once we’re inside. It’s a bit awkward out here.”

All I could see was a scenery empty of people and utterly silent, but maybe Jeong Seojin’s eyes were seeing something different.

I looked around once with a puzzled expression, then silently followed his lead. After all, I knew well enough that he wasn’t the type to do anything that would harm me, so in this situation, it was best to follow his words.