Chapter 39
Chapter 39 – Dungeon Terror (4)
“Chairman of the union! It’s a disaster!”
A catastrophe where dozens of dungeons located near Seoul burst open simultaneously.
When the incident first occurred, Choi Dong-woo was dealing with a backlog of paperwork.
“What’s going on?”
“It’s a Monster Wave!”
This incident, later called the ‘Third Monster Wave’, has a clear difference from the previous two waves.
Namely, it was caused intentionally by someone.
“A Monster Wave?”
“The gates of numerous dungeons located near Seoul have been opened.”
“What…?”
“We don’t know the exact reason, but currently monsters are pouring out onto the streets in real-time.”
“Summon all direct union members immediately! I’ll head out right away.”
“Yes, sir!”
The method to open a dungeon is simple.
You just remove the main core while ignoring the boss.
Then, the monsters remaining in the dungeon had no choice but to jump into the portal leading outside to survive the collapsing dungeon.
“What in the world is happening…”
Choi Dong-woo, who arrived at the scene leading the union members, looked around with sad eyes.
Bodies strewn everywhere.
Although they rushed out as soon as they heard the news, countless people had already fallen victim to the monsters.
“We must save the remaining people! Hurry!”
“Yes, sir!”
Leading hundreds of ability users, Choi Dong-woo took the vanguard and slaughtered monsters.
Anything that stood in his way was instantly split and pierced.
“Kragh!”
-Kwaaang!
A repetition of simple battles.
After two hours of fierce fighting, the Ability User union was able to drive the monsters out of one area.
“Chairman, it seems this area has been cleared.”
“Phew, where’s next?”
Without taking even a moment’s rest, Choi Dong-woo immediately asked for the next destination.
“Yes. Now, next is…”
“Chairman!”
At that moment.
Interrupting the branch manager’s explanation of the next destination, someone came running urgently.
The woman who ran up was breathing heavily, apparently having rushed over in a hurry.
“Chairman. It’s a request for support!”
“Which branch are you from?! Do you think there’s only one or two places requesting support right now?”
Places needing help against the pouring monsters were overflowing.
The branch manager looked at the woman making an unnecessary report in an already busy situation with displeasure.
“Well, it’s such an important matter…”
“Don’t mind him, go ahead and speak.”
When Choi Dong-woo stepped in and spoke, the woman nodded.
“They say the door to Daience’s laboratory has opened. Many ability users have requested support.”
“Hmm…”
Choi Dong-woo swallowed a groan at the name of Daience’s laboratory.
‘I shouldn’t have left that place…’
It was a dungeon whose conquest he had been postponing, worried about significant casualties among his subordinates.
‘So it comes back to bite us like this.’
In fact, there was no particular reason why Choi Dong-woo himself had to conquer it. However, Choi Dong-woo felt guilty as if this situation was his fault.
“I’ll go myself. The rest of you move to the next location as planned and save the citizens.”
“That’s not acceptable. If something were to happen…”
The branch manager tried to stop him, worried that Choi Dong-woo might be in danger, but Choi Dong-woo shook his head.
“Enough. I won’t hear any objections. Select 50 elites to accompany me.”
“Understood…”
With a grave expression.
The branch manager could only bow his head and answer.
***
Ippotranslation
***
“Puhoo!”
Kang Hyeon spat out blood rising up his throat.
“Damn, there’s no end to them no matter how many I kill.”
He wasn’t sure how many he had cut down so far.
Around Kang Hyeon, not only chimeras but all kinds of corpses were terribly scattered.
-Give up.
“Don’t you know that’s usually when the protagonist awakens in stories?”
Kang Hyeon chuckled at the Lich’s words echoing in his head.
-You’ve lost your mind.
“Lost my mind my ass. Aren’t you embarrassed as a boss to just flap your mouth from behind… Cough!”
Kang Hyeon, who was speaking to buy time, coughed up blood again.
‘My magic is bottoming out. Even body regeneration is reaching its limit…’
He really felt it was the end. But he didn’t feel too bad. Rather, he felt a bit happy.
‘It’s quite a worthwhile death, isn’t it?’
He had saved many lives. He had also cut down monsters to his heart’s content after a long time.
Looking around, there seemed to be at least 200 monster corpses lying with severed limbs.
-I’ll say it one last time.
“What?”
-Don’t resist and become my subordinate. Then I’ll spare your life.
“Ooh…”
Kang Hyeon grinned at the Lich’s generous words.
“Fuck off.”
[You resist mental domination]
The skill that had been attacking Kang Hyeon since the beginning of the battle struck again.
Mental domination was the Lich’s trump card to unite different types of monsters. However, Kang Hyeon had the Ring of Strong Spirit he received in the tutorial.
Name: Ring of Strong Spirit
Grade: B
Durability: 100/100
Ability: Grants the wearer immunity to all mental magic and status effects of grade A or lower.
If it weren’t for this, Kang Hyeon might have been attacking other people alongside the monsters by now.
-Fool. Die.
As magic failed to affect Kang Hyeon until the end, the Lich ordered the final attack.
With a light wave of the Lich’s hand, all remaining monsters rushed in at once.
“Uwaaa!”
[Roar of the Enraged Lion activates]
Kang Hyeon also charged forward with a shout, squeezing out his last bit of strength.
-Kwaaang!
Suddenly, something fell in front of Kang Hyeon, causing a tremendous explosion.
“Waaah! Follow the union Chief!”
At the same time, a huge cheer began to be heard from behind Kang Hyeon.
“What…?”
Kang Hyeon wore a dumbfounded expression at the sudden turn of events.
“I don’t know who you are, but you’ve done something truly amazing.”
A baritone voice exuding masculinity. A man with tanned skin, a strong jawline, and broad shoulders that stood out.
“Choi Dong-woo…?”
The Korean Ability User Union.
Union Chairman Choi Dong-woo.
A celebrity Kang Hyeon had only seen on TV was standing in front of him.
‘Making such an unnecessarily cool entrance…’
With that, Kang Hyeon’s consciousness faded.
***
Ippotranslation
***
Choi Dong-woo and the Ability Users Union pushed back the monsters like a tidal wave.
It was offensive by the most elite members of the union, and Choi Dong-woo, who is called the best in Korea.
The monsters, already exhausted from fighting Kang Hyeon, had no choice but to be pushed back helplessly.
“Union Leader. Thank you for your hard work.”
“You did well too.”
“Phew… In the end, he escaped. Should we chase after him now?”
The Lich left without hesitation when the situation turned unfavorable.
Choi Dong-woo tried to pursue immediately, but ended up losing him due to the monsters that interfered recklessly.
“No need. It’s already too late. First, take care of the injured.”
“Understood, Union Leader. But…”
An executive of the alliance looked at Choi Dong-woo and trailed off.
“Do you have something to say?”
“Who is that man?”
Choi Dong-woo was carefully carrying an unfamiliar man. The executive expressed his doubt at this sight.
“Is he someone you know, Union Leader?”
“I’m seeing this man for the first time too.”
“Huh? Then why…”
Choi Dong-woo smiled brightly at the executive’s words.
“When else would I get to hold a man who’s about to become a hero?”
***
Ippotranslation
***
As I opened my eyes, an unfamiliar ceiling came into view.
‘This isn’t my room ceiling. Did I… Survive?’
I had been prepared to die.
I didn’t think it was a great sacrifice.
By now, death was just something a bit unpleasant and uncomfortable for Kang Hyeon.
‘I managed to survive, huh.’
Feeling something on his arm, Kang Hyeon turned his head. He saw Kang A-hyun sleeping with her head resting on the bedside.
‘Kang A-hyun… Did she come back from work? Come to think of it, what day is it today?’
Kang Hyeon had left home after the Bait Guild incident. Since then, he had been fighting nonstop, not knowing what day or even what day of the week it was.
“Phew…”
As if hearing Kang Hyeon’s sigh, Kang A-hyun stirred.
“Mmm… Huh?!”
At a distance where their noses almost touched.
Kang A-hyun, who faced Kang Hyeon’s face as soon as she opened her eyes, jumped up in surprise.
“You’re awake?”
Kang Hyeon said calmly.
Having grasped the situation, Kang A-hyun immediately flared up.
“You bastard! Is this why you left home?!”
“What, what?! You meet your brother after a long time and this is how you greet him?!”
Because Kang Hyeon was wrapped in bandages all over his body, Kang A-hyun couldn’t bring herself to hit him and just shouted at the top of her lungs.
“Do you know how shocked I was? A guy who never contacts me suddenly gets hospitalized and makes me worry. What on earth have you been doing?”
“You know I can’t die anyway.”
“I don’t know! Whether you die and come back to life, or just lie there and I never see you again! How would I know!”
Kang Hyeon frowned at the lion’s roar right next to his ear.
“You call that a mouth?!”
***
Ippotranslation
***
Kim Ji-seon is the nurse on duty today.
“What’s this noise?”
The hospital, which should have been quiet at this hour, was strangely noisy. Listening carefully, she could tell it was coming from a nearby room.
“…!”
That place is a special room with a patient that an important person asked to take special care of.
She hurriedly ran down the corridor.
“Kyaa…”
“You, this…”
Hearing the noise coming from the room, Kim Ji-seon urgently opened the door.
“Patient, is something wrong?!”
Kim Ji-seon’s face, who opened the door, turned to bewilderment.
“Let go!”
“You let go first!”
“I said I’d let go if you let go first!”
In front of her eyes were a brother and sister shouting while grabbing each other’s hair.
“…”
***
Ippotranslation
***
The next morning.
Kang Hyeon, who received the doctor’s confirmation, left the hospital.
“Geez, I told them there’s nothing to examine, how annoying.”
Once magic recovers, all wounds heal with the bodily regeneration skill. However, that’s a fact only Kang Hyeon knows.
From the hospital’s perspective, a patient who could have died at any moment insisting on being discharged after just one day, they had no choice but to try to stop him.
“Anyway, that’s a relief.”
As it turned out, two days had passed since Kang Hyeon fainted. In the meantime, the monsters had been cleared up and things had become quite stable now.
Although Kang Hyeon had been prepared to die, he ended up surviving, so everything worked out well.
▫Name : Kang Hyeon
▫Title : Tutorial Graduate and 3 others
▫Level : 50
▫Detailed Stats :
Strength 27 (+4)(+2)
Agility 25 (+3)
Stamina 27 (+3)(+2)
Magic 26 (+3)(+4)
Additional Stats : –
▫Unique Ability : Resurrection
▫Abilities : Intermediate Swordsmanship(D), Lower-grade Shield Technique(E), Lowes-gradet Crossbow Technique(F), Lower-grade Martial Arts(E), Lowest-grade Blunt Weapon Technique(F), Magic Detection(E)
▫Skills : Roar of the Enraged Lion (C), Advanced Bodily Regeneration(A), Bisection(D), Giant’s Strength(B), Magic Explosion(D), Wayne’s Secret Technique(D), Entria’s Outer Shell(E)
Kang Hyeon’s status window had changed quite impressively.
The ability ‘Martial Arts’ had risen to Lower rank, and he had acquired new abilities ‘Blunt Weapon Technique’ and ‘Magic Detection’.
For some reason, Magic Detection started at E rank.
In addition, the skills ‘Entria’s Outer Shell’ and ‘Wayne’s Secret Technique’ had also increased in rank.
“Very impressive.”
He was particularly pleased that Wayne’s Secret Technique had increased in rank.
“Wait a moment… A title has been added?”
Originally, Kang Hyeon had a total of three titles.
One Who Does Not Hold Back.
Tutorial Graduate.
Cruel Family Destroyer.
But seeing four titles appearing on the status window, Kang Hyeon quickly checked.
Indomitable Will : A title given to those who have unwavering will even in extreme situations.
Effect : All stats +1, concentration increases as the body approaches its limit.
“Oh, what’s this?”
It’s good news that a title that doesn’t consume magic has appeared.
Moreover, the effect was also very excellent.
“Mr. Kang Hyeon.”
It was when Kang Hyeon was absorbed in his stat window. Someone approached Kang Hyeon and spoke to him.
“Yes?”
“Could you spare some time?”
A man dressed in a black suit politely spoke and handed over a business card.
“Republic of Korea Special Ability Management Team?”
“I’m Team Leader Shin Tae-gil.”
It was the first time someone affiliated with the government had made contact.
‘I guess it wouldn’t hurt to hear what he has to say.’
Kang Hyeon slowly nodded.
“If it’s alright with you, how about we talk over a meal?”
“Sure, that’s fine with me.”
As he was feeling hungry anyway, Kang Hyeon gladly agreed.
“By the way, Mr. Shin Tae-gil.”
“Yes.”
“I know it’s rude to ask this when we’ve just met, but I must say this.”
“Go ahead…”
As Kang Hyeon suddenly put on a serious expression and spoke, a nervous Shin Tae-gil swallowed hard.
“Dinner.”
“…?”
“Can we have beef?”