Chapter 87

The Third Dungeon in Pyeongtaek had already transformed into a grotesque jungle landscape.

A fully assimilated field-type dungeon becomes a world completely separate from Earth’s ecosystem.

However, there was a reason this dungeon was classified as D-rank.

The roaming beasts were weak, and their numbers were small.

But instead, the jungle itself was the tricky part.

*[The area is filled with traps, Master.]*

“Eeek!”

When Quay emerged from Suho’s shadow, Instructor Im Do-Gyun shrieked and stumbled backward.

Though his reaction was swift, he quickly returned to Suho’s side, fearful of stepping into a trap by straying too far.

“Esil, come out too.”

As Suho opened the Shadow Dungeon’s door, Esil, who had been waiting below, revealed herself.

“Is it here this time?”

Esil scanned her surroundings, sharpening her senses, while Im Do-Gyun looked on in amazement at Suho’s shadow.

“Suho… no, Guild Master, can I also enter that place?”

“You can, but…”

*[The inside of this shadow is a realm of death. If a living being enters carelessly, their vitality may be drained, and they could wander as a wraith forever.]*

“What? Is… is that true?”

*[Of course, I’m joking.]*

“…”

Beru chuckled at Im Do-Gyun’s awkward expression.

*[But it’s not entirely wrong. For an ordinary human, it wouldn’t be very healthy—physically or otherwise.]*

“Oh.”

At that moment, Im Do-Gyun realized something and shivered.

‘Esil may look human, but she’s a summon after all…’

To Im Do-Gyun, Esil was just a demon summoned by Suho.

In that case…

The only ordinary person here was him.

Of course, Suho was human too, but the way he casually pulled strange creatures out of his shadow was far from normal.

“W-well then, I’ll just stick to running away as usual…”

Im Do-Gyun’s role was primarily as a miner and scavenger.

But whenever such tasks were necessary, Suho would summon shadow mummies to handle them, leaving Im Do-Gyun to serve as a guide, sharing his dungeon knowledge from experience.

“Guild Master! In dungeons like this, as long as you don’t lose your way, it’s not too difficult. Normally, you’d leave markers like stones along the path to avoid getting lost…”

“You mentioned that last time, didn’t you, hyung?”

“…”

Even his advice was running out of value.

‘Once the guild is established, I’ll request a desk job.’

As the beast hunt began in earnest, Im Do-Gyun found himself with even less to do.

His only task was to stay out of the way of the menacing shadow soldiers’ battles.

Then, suddenly, Im Do-Gyun’s expression grew grave as he discovered something.

“Suho, come take a look at this.”

“What is it, hyung?”

“…A human corpse.”

Finding human corpses in a dungeon wasn’t unusual.

The problem was their condition.

“It’s a Mistborne corpse.”

Charred black bodies.

Mistborne occurs when civilians with low magic resistance are exposed to mana for prolonged periods.

They go berserk, rampaging until they burn out completely, collapsing dead.

“But this…”

“This is definitely strange.”

Suho also wore a grim expression.

The ash-like corpses were neatly piled together in one spot.

It was as if someone had deliberately gathered and dumped them here.

One thought crossed Suho’s mind.

“Could this be…”

“Looks like it,” Esil replied.

“It seems demons have made their nest here.”

*A factory.*

These discarded bodies were the residue left from demons producing stardust.

Realizing this, a quiet yet fierce light ignited in Esil’s eyes.

As the eldest daughter of the Radir family, destroyed entirely by demons, Esil exuded a dense bloodlust, prompting Im Do-Gyun to quickly retreat.

—

Manager Lee Youngho ground his teeth.

“Do they dare to ignore Black Tortoise? (TL Note: Before this chapter, it was called as Hyunmoo but I decided to use their English name instead moving forward which is Black Tortoise)”

It was absurd.

“Does he lack any sense at all?”

Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine that Suho would boldly enter after such blatant threats.

‘Does he have no regard for his own life?’

Manager Lee quickly calculated in his head.

After all, Sung Suho was Yoo Jinho’s relative.

If something were to happen to Suho, Yoo Jinho would immediately suspect their involvement.

‘Would it cause us any harm?’

Not really.

The business relationship between Black Tortoise Guild and Ajin Soft had already ended after the last incident.

And no matter how renowned Ajin Soft might be, it was just a gaming company.

As long as it didn’t involve Hunter-related business, there was no reason for a Hunter Guild to fear clashing with them.

‘In fact, they should be the ones fearing us.’

After all, Hunters were a group of superhuman combatants.

Especially in times like these, opposing Hunters could be a death sentence.

Gates could open at any time, and monsters could invade. Even the immense wealth of conglomerates could be annihilated in an instant.

That’s why many corporations were scrambling to establish their own Hunter Guilds.

‘Yoo Jinho was planning to use Sung Suho to create his own guild.’

Having finished his calculations, Manager Lee’s eyes gleamed with malice.

‘Sung Suho, today is the day you die.’

His gaze turned to the government official in charge of the Pyeongtaek Dungeon.

“I don’t think this will do.”

“W-what do you mean…?”

Manager Lee feigned concern, putting on an expression of genuine worry.

“I’m really concerned about the juniors who went in first. Isn’t it unreasonable for just two of them to enter such a dungeon?”

“Well, that is true, but…”

The civil servant began to grow concerned about the hunters who had entered earlier after hearing Lee Youngho’s words.

Initially, the reason only two hunters were allowed to enter this field-type dungeon was due to its specific nature. If it were a typical gate, a minimum of ten hunters would have been required to enter.

Additionally…

“Field-type dungeons allow multiple raid teams to operate simultaneously, don’t they? Since I’m worried about the juniors, we’ll follow them in right away. That’s allowed by the rules, isn’t it?”

Since Suho’s raid team had bid for and entered the dungeon first, there was no significant issue with subsequent teams entering afterward.

“Um, but immediately following them in would technically be against regulations…”

“Ha! Look at this inflexible person! Aren’t you worried at all that just two people went in? What if they’ve already become monster fodder while we waste time debating? And do you even know who that young man I was just talking to is?”

“W-who is he?”

“He’s a very close relative of Yoo Jinho, the CEO of Ajin Soft! If we don’t go in to rescue him immediately, that reckless young master might already be dead!”

“Ah!”

The civil servant’s eyes widened in shock at Lee Youngho’s words.

After all, he was nothing more than a low-ranking public official. If something went wrong, he’d be the first to take the blame…

“I-I’ll issue the entry permit right away!”

As the civil servant hastily flipped through his files, Lee Youngho smirked.

“Let’s go, boys.”

They would personally collect the price for ruining their business.

His smile grew crueler.

—

“This way.”

Esil led the way, sensing the presence of demons as Suho followed, hunting beasts along the path.

Since this was a D-rank dungeon, the monsters were weak.

As a result, it wasn’t profitable and wasn’t prioritized by hunters, making it an area where civilian access was restricted.

‘It’s a perfect place to secretly set up a factory.’

In truth, most of the dungeons Suho had visited to build his experience were of this type.

However, this was the first time he had found traces of demons.

Suho tightened his grip on *Vulcan’s Horn.*

—

*[Item: Vulcan’s Horn]*
*Acquisition Difficulty: ??*
*Type: Sword*
*Attack Power: +40*

*A sword made from the horn of the greedy demon Vulcan. It carries Vulcan’s power and inflicts additional damage.*

– *Effect: “Destructive Desire”* – Increases physical damage by [40%].
– *Effect: “Demon Devourer”* – Vulcan’s power grows stronger as more demon souls are consumed.

*[Demon Souls Consumed: 10]*

The sword’s attack power increases with each demon soul absorbed.

‘I hope there are plenty of demons in this factory.’

Suho licked his lips as he scanned the surroundings.

Then, suddenly—

*Swish!*

An arrow shot through the air, targeting Suho’s back with incredible speed.

Just as Suho sensed the presence and began to turn—

*[Who dares…!]*

*Snap!*

Quay appeared first, catching and snapping the arrow in half before glaring in the direction it had come from.

*[How dare you target my master’s back!]*

“What’s this, a summoned creature?”

From behind a tree in the distance, the figures of the Black Tortoise Guild emerged.

“So the summoner summons some decent creatures, huh? If you were with us, you’d be treated well.”

At the rear of the group, Lee Youngho crossed his arms leisurely, evaluating Suho.

A smirk tugged at Suho’s lips.

“You’ve finally crossed the line.”

“Crossed the line? You brat, you’re the one who crossed it first.”

From the moment they entered the dungeon, Lee Youngho had dropped all pretense of civility. His expression twisted into a cruel grin as he stared at Suho.

“Kid, you know how it works in here, right? The strongest makes the rules. Survival of the fittest.”

“Survival of the fittest…”

A familiar phrase.

*[The Beast Monarch, Fang of the Beast King, bares its teeth approvingly.]*

At that moment—

*Ding!*

A notification appeared before Suho, confirming the seriousness of Lee Youngho’s killing intent.

—

*[Emergency Quest: Eliminate the Enemies!]*
Enemies harboring murderous intent toward the ‘Player’ are nearby. Eliminate them all to ensure your safety.

*Enemies to Defeat: 10*
*Enemies Defeated: 0*

—

“I see your true intentions,” Suho said, nodding. His eyes suddenly sharpened.

The shift in his gaze made Lee Youngho unconsciously tense up, stoking his wounded pride.

‘What the hell am I doing? Getting nervous over a mere C-rank rookie…’

He tried to shake off the ominous feeling, attributing it to his recent neglect of dungeon hunting in favor of business dealings.

“Look at those eyes. These kids these days…”

Just as Lee Youngho was about to order his guild members to attack—

*ROAR!*

“…!”

Suddenly, a surge of murderous intent erupted from all sides, accompanied by countless eerie howls.

“What the…?!”

The Black Tortoise Guild hunters, startled, quickly shifted into defensive positions.

Then, from the jungle, a horde of demons emerged, their grotesque forms glaring menacingly.

Suho’s eyes widened in a different kind of excitement.

‘Found them! Demons!’

As expected, there was a factory in the area!

But Lee Youngho, grappling with the sudden assault of demons, ground his teeth as he shouted at Suho.

“You bastard! Don’t tell me you summoned these things, too!”