Welcome to Dungeon Hotel

The group guests, who I had received for the first time, left the hotel with very satisfied faces.

“You’ll be able to go well, right?”

“Yes! Noona!”

“Yes!”

The two answered confidently.

Even if they had done a few hours of required training with the Hunter Association as soon as they Awakened, the dungeon they were going to now was C-Class.

I wasn’t too worried about the fact that there was a hunter with A-Class skills.

That’s not what I’m worried about—.

“Can I just take a picture? I brought a video camera from inside the dungeon.”

…This is it. This. 

I firmly refused the camera equipment Hwang Seongjin shyly offered. 

“You can’t, student.” 

“Ah, yes… I understand.” 

“Can I get an autograph? I don’t think my classmates would believe that we saw the Paladin.” 

With a sullen face, Lim Hyunggeol held out a low-level artifact that was clearly paid free of charge by the Hunter Association. 

I refused, of course.

What would be good for leaving my handwriting.

“Oh, it’s difficult… Still, thank you very much, Noona. From now on, I will definitely tell them that there are angels in the dungeon!” 

Please don’t talk…I wanted to say that, but I gave up. 

Yeah. It would be better to buy time if the absurd rumors keep increasing in vain.

And if I tell them not to say it, I think they will brag about it even more.

“Until you become an adult and officially belong to a guild, never enter a dungeon without permission. Got it?”

I looked at the two with a smile without much reply.

Then, Lim Hyunggeol and Hwang Seongjin both nodded their heads.

Hwang Seongjin looked at me with faint eyes right before checking out and said, 

“I, if I become a cool hunter that suits Noona even if I’m not S-class one day… Please appear in front of me again, Angel Noona!”

“…This brat who falls in love easily.” 

I heard Lim Hyunggeol muttering from behind, but I didn’t know what he was talking about, so I just bowed my head as I usually do to guests.

“I hope you finish your journey well. Hunter-nim.” 

So the two of them checked out.

I woke up from a deep sleep after a long time and washed my body clean.

I grabbed a bottle of water and left the closed hotel, where a cold wind hit me.

“Ugh… It’s getting colder.”

“Woof! Woof woof! (If it’s cold, put on a scarf, boss!)”

Wearing the harness I bought in Seoul, Geumdong came from the staff dormitory with a scarf and sat down in front of me, wagging his tail. 

“Thank you. Geumdong-ah.” 

“Kkyu!” (I can keep your ears warm!)

At that time, Toto came up to my shoulder and hugged my ear.

I burst into laughter as the soft fur tickled my ear.

“…Thank you too.” 

These guys… 

Are you excited to go for a walk?

I took the two of them to a nearby beach and got some fresh air.

Whoosh— whoosh.

Looking at the flowing blue waves always puts my mind at ease.

Realizing that I had been spacing out for 10 minutes, I quickly pulled out my phone.

Han Woohyun. 

I found a friend’s name on KaTalk and hesitated for a while before sending a message. 

What kind of food do you like? 

After sending it, I thought I had talked too much about the main topic, but I couldn’t help it.

I browsed the internet news, waiting for the 1 to disappear. 

I was wondering if there was any news about the return of the runaway youth hunter.

However, instead of such news, the Internet window was covered with stories related to the Baekho Guild.

Baekho Guild, another fatal accident during a raid. What’s wrong with the Guild with ‘S-class healers’?

A Hunter is dead again.

I frowned.

Even before the Baekho Guild gave way to Hanwoon as the No. 1 guild in Korea, rumors of it driving hunters to death with unreasonable raids were circulating.

However, there were many hunters who preferred Baekho for the reason that they could make a lot of money by taking risks because there were so many incentives and by-product acquisition. 

Still, hearing that a Hunter from the Baekho Guild had died, which is something I hear often, used to make me tremble. 

So normally I would never have clicked on this article, but this time it was different.

It was because it reminded me of a hunter from the Baekho Guild who had dark skin and a calm look. 

Shim Jiyoon.

I skimmed through some articles thinking of her.

The content of the article was as follows.

A few days ago, Shim Jihyeok, the second son of the Baekho Guild leader, went out on an A-Class dungeon raid in Jeju Island, and three hunters, including one A-Class hunter, lost their lives. 

Shim Jihyeok also returned with a major injury to his leg and is now being treated by Yoojun.

Most of the comments were like this.

[Comments]

-kdj***: Baekho did just like Baekho.

-d1j2**: Wow, Shim Taeseong, the guild leader, doesn’t even care about his son. Are you going to drive your son to death as well?

└fjw***: Shim Taeseong is famous for being crazy about pseudo-crazy things. Type Sim Taeseong’s testimony of salvation in the search bar. Let’s see before you get fired.

└eli***: This person is giving creeps here too. I think you’ll come to your senses if someone sues you. 

-fjd***: So the guild has to predict even dimension cracks? Even the pre-exploration team didn’t know. How do you know that there are A-Class monsters in A-Class dungeons?

The comments were half and half.

Half of these people say that it is impossible for the guild to know about the level upgrade due to the dimensional rift.

Half of the critics criticize the Baekho Guild for making too dangerous raids and turning guild members around.

In addition, some argued that Shim Taeseong was offering guild members as “scapegoats,” referring to an article that said he was crazy about pseudo-religion.

And a very small number of them even insulted the deceased, mentioning the enormous amount of consolation money the families of the guild members were sacrificed.

When I got to that point, I just left the article.

Then a new window popped up on the screen.

Han Woohyun

I think I sent the wrong message…

I’m not picky. I eat everything.

* * *

The second son of the Baekho Guildmaster, Shim Jihyeok, lived on the top floor of the Seoul Palace.

From the top floor of Seoul Palace, where the view is open, he can see the whole of Seoul. 

Yoojun gazed down at the panoramic view of Seoul and saw the side face of Shim Jihyeok, who was being treated absent-mindedly.

Shim Jihyeok, who was upbeat and liked to hang out with others, sometimes acted like he was out of his mind from two years ago.

“I heard it was a dimensional crack? I’m going to replace all the pre-exploration crew! How the hell do you do things?!”

Beside him, Shim Jihyeok’s mother, Mrs. Lim, was screaming at Shim Jihyeok’s secretary. 

Yoojun frowned as if his ears were burning and examined Shim Jihyeok’s body.

There was no major problem with the internal organs, and there was no sign of being poisoned.

The problem is the right leg, and the muscle rupture was a little serious.

Because he was attacked by an A-Class monster, the rupture range was wide and messy. He must have been something with magical powers, and he could feel the dark energy of mana. 

The pupils of Yoojun’s yellow eyes contracted as thinly as those of a snake. 

Yoojun’s ‘Healing Eye’ skill hit a pretty solid mana barrier. 

Yoojun’s skill was to use magic. Therefore, he was able to sensitively distinguish and recognize other people’s mana. 

However, there were two types of mana in Sim Jihyeok’s body.

One is the mana used by A-Class monsters.

And another one—

‘It’s a familiar mana.’

It was the moment when Yoojun frowned at him.

Shim Jihyeok suddenly grabbed Yoojun’s hand. As Yoojun’s energy was disturbed, the activation of the ‘Healing Eye’ stopped. 

Shim Jihyeok said.

“Please leave for a moment. mother.”

Mrs. Lim looked at Yoojun with her anxious eyes. But she soon got up and left without saying anything. 

When Mrs. Lim left, only Yoojun and Shim Jihyeok were left alone in the room.

Yoojun twisted his hand out of Shim Jihyeok’s and pulled it out.

It was still unpleasant for someone’s body to touch his body. 

‘You don’t like being touched as a healer. You’re so special, June.’

Yoojun remembered Shim Jiyoon’s voice.

Yoojun was a Korean-American.

Although he has changed his nationality now, Yoojun, a second-generation immigrant, went to college in the United States. And he met Shim Jiyoon there.

White people couldn’t distinguish Yoojun’s name ‘Jun’ from Jiyoon’s name ‘Jiyoon’. 

In fact, it would have been close to not distinguishing.

So, Shim Jiyoon tried to stand in front of Yoojun’s dormitory several times with that gruff face.

One would have thought it was the beginning of a fateful love.

Two men and women from the same hometown on a campus full of white people. A relationship that leads to mail that keeps getting wrongly delivered.

However, Shim Jiyoon had a lover. She also said that he was a lover who promised to be with her until the end despite opposition from the family.

Well. 

It didn’t matter.

Still, Jiyoon was the only one who told Yoojun that she was ‘special’ rather than ‘unusual’.

So when Yoojun fully developed his abilities, he chose Korean nationality without hesitation and entered the Baekho Guild.

“Is my body okay?”

Shim Jihyeok looked at Yoojun with a worried face.

Yoojun replied with a sigh.

“Well, there’s no big problem. But should I say congratulations on this… You did the same last year, and this time too, your rating has risen in a non-ideal way, Hyung-nim. Each time you return from a fatal situation, your rank goes up. The person who was a C-Class until the year before last is now an A-Class. Congratulations.”

There was a similar accident last year, and Shim Jihyeok became a B-Class hunter at that time.

Then, this time he rose to A-Class.

It was a little unusual that it happened twice in a row, but it was a rare but real phenomenon that the rank of a hunter who returned from deadly situations was raised.

So there is nothing strange about it.

Yoojun got up from his seat to shake off the strange feeling that kept lingering in his head. At that time, Shim Jihyeok held Yoojun’s hand again.

“Am I really okay? Are there any problems?”

At that moment, the luxury ring on Shim Ji-yeok’s hand sparkled.

Seeing this, Yoojun tilted his head.

Ring.

Come to think of it, when she said she was quitting the Baekho Guild, the ring was also on Shim Jiyoon’s hand. 

It seemed to be a keepsake that was picked up by going to recover the remains of her lover Song Jungmin. 

‘I’m going to propose to Jiyoon.’

Before his death, Yoojun clearly remembered Song Jungmin’s innocent boasting to him.

However, after Song Jungmin’s death, Shim Jiyoon remembered that she felt a different type of mana that she had never felt before in the ring. 

She can’t feel the traces of the caster to be human’s, and it’s too powerful and dangerous to be a monster’s.

Thinking that far, Yoojun looked at Shim Jihyeok’s legs again.

Wasn’t that the mana he felt on his leg just now?

Yoojun sat down.

“If you’re anxious, can I look at you one more time?”

“Oh… yeah…” 

Shim Jihyeok let go of Yoojun’s hand.

Yoojun sat next to him with a cool face and activated the skill on his leg again.

This time, he wanted to look deeper and more closely.

But at that moment, a strong reaction began to absorb Yoojun’s mana.

“….!” 

If Yoojun hadn’t collected his mana quickly, he could have fallen out of mana exhaustion in an instant. 

Seeing Yoojun’s face turn white, Shim Jihyeok’s face turned whiter. 

“W, what’s wrong! Is there a problem? Is something wrong with my body? Damn it… I really can’t eat anymore… No matter how strong I become, coming into contact with that weird thing is really… It’s terrible that people burst out in front of me…” 

“‘That weird thing’?”

It was the moment when Yoojun sensed something strange and asked.

Shim Jihyeok closed his mouth tightly.

Then the door opened and Mrs. Lim entered. In Ms. Lim’s hand was her cell phone.

“Jihyeok-ah. Your father is calling. He told you to go to work right away. He’s saying that the guy’s missing, and he’s a little hurt?”

Mrs. Lim glared at Shim Jihyeok, blocking the phone receiver with her hand.

“Get to work right now. Jiyoon is not there, so this is not an opportunity, you fool.”

Yoojun looked at Shim Jihyeok, who only nodded with a frightened face.

Something was wrong. 

But he won’t gain anything by asking more questions.

Yoojun got up from his seat and patted Sim Ji-hyeok on the back, smiling smirkingly.

“You seem to have suffered a weak mental shock. I’ll give you a good potion. Well, anyway…” 

Yoojun’s eyebrows furrowed. He whispered softly into Jihyeok’s ear.

“Congratulations. You came back alive at the price of someone else’s life.”

Sim Jihyeok threw up as soon as Yoojun left the room. 

Yoojun’s face turned cold.