Chapter 17

Chapter 17

I called Captain Im.

“Are you following me by any chance?”

“That’s correct.”

“I said that if any tailing, surveillance, or wiretapping was discovered, I would terminate the contract. Were you unaware of that?”

“We are aware.”

“Then why……?”

“Mr. Cha, we are not surveilling or tailing you. We are providing protection.”

“Protection?”

“You have currently been designated a special protection target, so we have no choice but to provide close protection.”

Ugh.

Since getting caught doing it secretly would probably get the contract terminated, were they just going to stalk me openly instead?

“I understand what you’re saying, but I’m fine.”

“I’m sorry. It is the Minister’s order, so there is nothing we can do either. We will make sure not to inconvenience you.”

“…….”

I felt irritation surge up at once, but I could hardly take it out on Captain Im, who had done nothing wrong.

‘Was signing that contract a mistake?’

For a moment, the thought crossed my mind that I might have been better off operating as an unregistered Awakened.

Still, there had been various reasons I had gone to the Defense Strategy Department of my own accord, so I decided to tolerate a little inconvenience.

Nothing in this world was perfect.

If something had advantages, it was bound to have disadvantages as well.

I would have to speak separately with the Minister about this issue later.

Perhaps because rush hour had already passed, the roads were not bad, so I arrived at Sindorim Station quickly.

Choi Yura was waiting for me, perched on the hood of a Lamborghini.

“What are those hangers-on?”

Choi Yura said that while glancing at Captain Im and his group, who had followed me.

“My stalkers.”

“What kind of bullshit is that?”

“Probably surveillance disguised as protection.”

“They sure go overboard.”

Choi Yura shook her head.

“Isn’t that just going to make things exhausting for no reason?”

Since Choi Yura was a Hunter who operated independently without signing with the Defense Strategy Department, she clearly seemed uncomfortable about it.

Of course, she must have registered as an Awakened.

“It’s not like you’re even an unregistered Awakened.”

“That’s true.”

“Forget about them and just do what we came here to do.”

“Easy for you to say. Let’s go.”

Choi Yura started walking.

Together with her, I headed toward TechnoMart, which had once served as the landmark of Sindorim Station.

The building had now become a grotesque abandoned ruin, and all kinds of Hunters were loitering in front of it.

The reason was simple.

TechnoMart was now a shopping complex for Hunters.

Why?

Because there were many different kinds of Gates.

Single-use, Transference-type, fixed, roaming, and so on.

In TechnoMart’s case, dozens of fixed Gates were packed tightly into a single building, forming a cluster.

That was why Hunters loitered around here.

“So, where shall I escort our 1-Star newbie?”

“The eighth floor.”

“That place is going to be a headache.”

Choi Yura frowned.

There was only a single Gate on the eighth floor.

That Gate led to a dungeon called [Cursed Citadel], and although it was only a 3-Star dungeon, its difficulty was so troublesome that even high-ranking Hunters avoided it.

But the return was guaranteed.

If you were lucky, you could even hit the jackpot.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Hmm.”

“What, are you scared?”

“As if.”

Choi Yura snorted.

“Then let’s go.”

“All right.”

When we reached the eighth floor, I saw a place where space and time were warped.

“Mr. Cha! Mr. Cha!”

Captain Im’s urgent shout came from behind me.

“Yes?”

“Surely you are not planning to go in there?”

“As you can see.”

“It’s dangerous. This is an extremely dangerous place even among 3-Star dungeons. And you haven’t even received basic training yet, Mr. Cha.”

“That’s why I brought the one who’ll carry me.”

I pointed at Choi Yura and smiled at Captain Im.

“Hunter Choi Yura is certainly strong, but…….”

Captain Im looked deeply uneasy.

Fair enough.

From the Defense Strategy Department’s perspective, Choi Yura was bound to look like a person of interest.

Which was true enough.

“It’s fine. We’ve gotten fairly close.”

“Even so, it’s too dangerous.”

“Yes, yes.”

I answered absentmindedly as I gathered up my gear and put it on.

What was so remarkable about a Hunter crawling into danger of his own accord?

A Hunter’s life was that of a moth from the start.

“Well then, I’ll be off. Let’s go.”

“I’ll go in first.”

“Of course you should.”

I waited about three seconds, then entered the Gate.

“We’re going in too.”

“Yes, sir.”

Apparently deciding they could not allow it, Captain Im and the five soldiers followed us inside as well.

***

★★★

1. 331721

I did not need to pay attention to the notification window floating before my eyes.

The same went for the number 331721.

Dungeons linked to fixed Gates shared only the entrance. Beyond that, identical dungeons were generated endlessly.

In other words, that number was merely the unique serial number of one instance among infinitely many dungeons.

Unless I intended to use Hunter Link to call in Awakened from outside, I did not need to care about it for now.

The dungeon connected to the Gate on the eighth floor of TechnoMart at Sindorim Station, [Cursed Citadel], began in a certain grassland.

A sunset red as blood.

Black shading drawn by the vegetation lying beneath murky shadows.

A wind that was not cold, yet endlessly chilling.

The whole place had a bleak atmosphere, like late autumn in medieval Europe.

“Bonding first.”

The moment we entered the dungeon, we aligned our Ether around Choi Yura.

It was called bonding. Put simply, it was like forming a party.

“What are you doing? Get over here.”

“I’m coming, I’m coming.”

Choi Yura, who had been waiting, urged me on.

Honestly, that temper of hers.

I had no idea why she was always in such a hurry.

We moved toward the massive citadel visible far in the distance.

It would have been nice to bring the motorcycle, but the core of [Cursed Citadel] was the battle fought inside that citadel over there, so there was no particular need for transportation.

“Get the shotgun up.”

“Roger.”

At Choi Yura’s order, I raised my shotgun.

Captain Im and the five soldiers also raised their shotguns as if they had been waiting for the moment and kept watch over the surroundings.

Soon, the attack began.

FLAPFLAPFLAPFLAP!

With the revolting sound of beating wings, a swarm of bats red as blood descended on us.

We simply called them Vampire Bats, but they were on an entirely different level from ordinary vampire bats.

If they bit you, your body was paralyzed, and the bleeding would not stop.

Even after only three or four bites, your whole body would be paralyzed, and you would be devoured alive by hundreds of bats.

On top of that, they were small and extremely fast in flight, which made them quite troublesome to deal with.

This was exactly when a shotgun proved useful.

Because it scattered shot, that is, small metal pellets, it was quite effective against Vampire Bats, whose defense was weak.

Of course, it would have been far easier if we had a Mage.

Click!

Just as I was about to load and pull the trigger, Captain Im’s group formed a circle around me, turned outward, and opened fire at the Vampire Bats.

“Huh?”

Slightly taken aback, I decided to watch the situation for the moment.

Captain Im’s group was moving with excellent tactical discipline.

When dealing with Vampire Bats, maintaining formation was extremely important.

If you got tangled together and turned it into a chaotic melee, you were more likely to shoot an ally than a Vampire Bat.

WHIRRRRR!

Meanwhile, Choi Yura swung her chains like windmill blades and ground the Vampire Bats apart like some sort of blender.

Shhhhhh!

The corpses of the dead Vampire Bats broke down into fine particles, then seeped into all of us like magical dust.

You have absorbed Ether!

You have absorbed Ether!

You have absorbed Ether!

This was the growth mechanism of the Awakened.

When monsters died, they scattered into Ether, and that dispersed Ether flowed into the surrounding Awakened.

The Awakened stored this Ether within their bodies, using it as an energy resource and also to strengthen themselves.

In game terms, Ether was experience points, an energy resource, and stat points all at once.

As you gathered Ether like this, your rank as an Awakened would rise.

To become a higher-ranked Awakened, you had to gather that much more Ether.

Of course, not all Ether was equal.

Once you reached the higher ranks, the Ether given by trash mobs like Vampire Bats barely made any difference at all.

That was why higher-ranked Awakened had to absorb Ether high not only in concentration but in purity as well, making the hunting of powerful monsters essential.

“Are you all right? You weren’t bitten anywhere, were you?”

“I’m fine.”

“That is a relief.”

Captain Im pressed a hand to his chest as though immensely relieved.

“There will be fighting from here on out, so you can stay back, Mr. Cha. We will deal with the monsters.”

“…….”

I had no idea who was protecting whom here, but for now, I decided to keep quiet.

There was no need to draw suspicion by seeming like some battle-hardened Hunter.

“Enough chatter. Get yourselves reorganized. More monsters will jump us as we go.”

Just as Choi Yura said, after we walked a little farther, a pack of several dozen wolves lunged at us.

I was about to draw the [Full Moon] card from the [Deck of Infinity] to save ammunition, but once again Captain Im’s group cut in front of me.

“Protect Mr. Cha thoroughly!”

“Yes, sir!”

Captain Im and the squad members drew their Spirit Swords and began slaughtering the wolves.

Ah, right.

These people were all Hunters too.

“Yelp!”

“Yelp-yelp!”

With Choi Yura and Captain Im’s group stepping in and taking down the wolves, I watched the battle without lifting a finger.

“You only need to finish them off, Mr. Cha!”

“What?”

“Kill that one first!”

Captain Im pointed to a wolf that was just about to breathe its last.

So he wanted me to land the last hit?

Feeling somewhat dazed, I pulled out the Bren 2 carbine instead of the shotgun.

Bang!

The bullet pierced the wolf’s skull.

You have absorbed Ether!

The wolf’s corpse turned into Ether and seeped into each of us.

And the greatest amount of Ether seeped into me.

Ether was automatically distributed among the surrounding Awakened, but it had the characteristic of flowing more heavily to the person who dealt the most damage and the person who delivered the finishing blow.

In other words, what Captain Im meant was that he was going to spoon-feed me so I could absorb a large quantity of Ether.

“Mr. Cha! Please take care of that one too!”

“There’s another one here!”

The squad members shouted to me while pointing at the dying wolves.

“Ahahaha.”

Wearing an awkward smile, I pulled the trigger at the dying wolves.

Each time I did, a relatively larger amount of Ether flowed into me than into the others.

Ah, so this was what being carried felt like.